The Classical Roman Reader

Description

Western civilization is in many ways an outgrowth of the Roman Empire. The Classical Roman Reader, which contains a collection of some of the finest and most important writing of the Roman period, brings the modern reader into direct contact with the literature, political thought, science, art and architecture, and psychology of classical Rome.

Here are the wonders of the Roman world presented in a modern, accessible manner. Each selection is preceded by an introduction that identifies the author and provides information that allows modern readers to consider these texts in a new light. What we discover might be surprising. For instance, in Cicero's orations and Marcus Aurelius' meditations, we hear echoes of today's political forums and popular-psychology talk-show hosts. Virgil's ironic dramatization of the founding myth in the Aeneid prepared the way for America's deeply embedded ambivalence toward the presidency. The Roman preference for practicality over philosophy, leading to a network of superhighways that joined Europe, Asia, Asia Minor, and Africa, literally paved the way for the "global village" of the contemporary world.

From Plautus' wildly comic plays to Cato's instructions on farming, and from Catullus' erotic poems to Petronius' descriptions of the decadent splendor of the declining empire, The Classical Roman Reader provides access to the literary, artistic, social, religious, political, scientific, and philosophical texts that shaped Roman thinking and helped form the backbone of Western culture.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction

PART I
Early Rome (509 -- 65 B.C.)
Plautus / The Rope
Ennius / Annals
Cato the Elder / On Farm Management
Terence / The Brothers
Lucilius / Epigrams
Varro / On Agriculture

PART II
The Late Republic (64-27 B.C)
Cicero / The First Oration Against Catiline and Letters to His Wife and Family in Rome and to Caesar in Gaul
Caesar / The Gallic War
Publilius / Maxims
Laberius / An Old Actor Addresses Julius Caesar
Propertius / Elegies
Sulpicia / Lyrics
Lucretius / On the Nature of Things
Catullus / Lyrics
Sallust / History of Rome
Virgil / Aeneid
Horace / Ars Poetica

PART III
The Empire (27 B.C. -- A.D. 476)
Livy / Early History of Rome
Tibullus / Elegies
Seneca the Elder / Suasoriae
Augustus / Acts
Vitruvius / On Architecture
Ovid / Metamorphoses and The Art of Love
Seneca the Younger / Pumpkinification of Claudius
Celsus / On Medicine
Valerius Maximus / Noteworthy Words and Deeds
Pliny the Elder / Natural History
Silius Italicus / Punica
Quintilian / Education of an Orator
Josephus / The Jewish War
Lucan / Pharsalia
Martial / Epigrams
Frontinus / On the Conveyance of Water
Statius / Thebaid
Pliny the Younger / Letters
Juvenal / Satires
Petronius / Satyricon
Tacitus / Annals: The Mutiny of the Pannonian Legions
Suetonius / from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Julius Caesar
Hadrian / To His Soul
Soranus / Gynecology
Fronto / Correspondence with Marcus Aurelius
Gellius / Attic Nights
Gaius / Institutes
Marcus Aurelius / Meditations
Apuleius / The Golden Ass
Paulus / Opinions
Julian the Apostate / Hymn to the Mother of the Gods
Ausonius / Lyrics
Claudian / The Rape of Proserpine
Avianus / Fables
Macrobius / Commentary on the Dream of Scipio
Vegetius / Military Institutions of the Romans
Anonymous / The Vigil of Venus
Justinian / Institutes

Roman Gods/Heroes and Their Greek Counterparts
Landmarks of Roman History
Glossary
Sources & Recommendations
Acknowledgements
Illustration Credits
Index