Top 87 Ancient works in the Loeb Classical Library

Of the some 450 volumes in the Loeb series, here are the most widely read!

Updated November 17, 2023
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The Oresteia : Agamemnon, Libation-bearers, Eumenides
Aeschylus
Ebook
The tragic cycle of justice. Aeschylus (ca. 525-456 BC), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art forms, witnessed the establishment of democracy at Athens, fought against the Persians at Marathon and probably also at Salamis, and had one of his...
Persians. Seven against Thebes. The suppliants. Prometheus bound
Aeschylus
Ebook
Four unconnected but unforgettable plays from ancient Athens' first great tragedian. Aeschylus (ca. 525-456 BC), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art forms, witnessed the establishment of democracy at Athens, fought against the Persians at Marathon...
Argonautica
Apollonius, Rhodius.
Paper Book
The Greek epic account of the quest for the golden fleece. Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica, composed in the 3rd century BC, is the epic retelling of Jason's quest for the golden fleece. Along with his contemporaries Callimachus and Theocritus, Apollonius refashioned Greek...
Metamorphoses
Apuleius.
Paper Book
A beguiling tale of mistaken transformation. In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, also known as The Golden Ass, we have the only Latin novel which survives entire. It is truly enchanting: a delightful romance combining realism and magic. The hero, Lucius,...
Acharnians, Clouds, Knights, Wasps
Aristophanes
Paper Book
Frogs Assemblywomen ; Wealth
Aristophanes
Ebook
The master of Old Comedy. Aristophanes of Athens, one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its...
Aristophanes
Aristophanes.
Paper Book
The master of Old Comedy. Aristophanes of Athens, one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its...
Aristophanes
Aristophanes.
Ebook
The master of Old Comedy. Aristophanes of Athens, one of the world's greatest comic dramatists, has been admired since antiquity for his iridescent wit and beguiling fantasy, exuberant language, and brilliant satire of the social, intellectual, and political life of Athens at its...
Art of rhetoric
Aristotle
Ebook
Persuasion analyzed. Aristotle (384-322 BC), the great Greek thinker, researcher, and educator, ranks among the most important and influential figures in the history of philosophy, theology, and science. He joined Plato's Academy in Athens in 367 and remained there for twenty...
Categories On interpretation ; Prior analytics
Aristotle
Paper Book
The philosopher's toolkit. Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, researcher, reasoner, and writer, born at Stagirus in 384 BC, was the son of a physician. He studied under Plato at Athens and taught there (367-347); subsequently he spent three years at the court of a former pupil...
Politics
Aristotle
Ebook
The natural state of mankind. Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, researcher, reasoner, and writer, born at Stagirus in 384 BC, was the son of a physician. He studied under Plato at Athens and taught there (367-347); subsequently he spent three years at the court of a former...
The "art" of rhetoric
Aristotle.
Ebook
Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, researcher, reasoner, and writer, born at Stagirus in 384 BCE, was the son of Nicomachus, a physician, and Phaestis. He studied under Plato at Athens and taught there (367-47); subsequently he spent three years at the court of a former pupil, Hermeias, in Asia...
The Athenian constitution ; The Eudemian ethics ; On virtues and vices
Aristotle.
Paper Book
Government of state and self. Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, researcher, reasoner, and writer, born at Stagirus in 384 BC, was the son of a physician. He studied under Plato at Athens and taught there (367-347); subsequently he spent three years at the court of a former...
The Nicomachean ethics
Aristotle.
Ebook
Antiquity's most influential account of life's Supreme Good. Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, researcher, reasoner, and writer, born at Stagirus in 384 BC, was the son of a physician. He studied under Plato at Athens and taught there (367-347); subsequently he spent three...
On the heavens
Aristotle.
Ebook
Peripatetic cosmology. Aristotle, great Greek philosopher, researcher, reasoner, and writer, born at Stagirus in 384 BC, was the son of a physician. He studied under Plato at Athens and taught there (367-347); subsequently he spent three years at the court of a former pupil in...
Poetics
Aristotle.
Ebook
Classic criticism. This volume brings together the three most influential ancient Greek treatises on literature. Aristotle's Poetics contains his treatment of Greek tragedy: its history, nature, and conventions, with details on poetic diction. Stephen...
Alexandrian war African war ; Spanish war
Caesar, Julius
Ebook
Arrivals, inspections, victories. In this volume are three works concerning the campaigns engaged in by the great Roman statesman Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), but not written by him. The Alexandrian War, which deals with troubles elsewhere also, may have been written by...
Civil war
Caesar, Julius
Ebook
The struggle that ended the Roman Republic. Caesar (C. Iulius, 102-44 BC), statesman and soldier, defied the dictator Sulla; served in the Mithridatic wars and in Spain; entered Roman politics as a "democrat" against the senatorial government; was the real leader of the...
The Gallic war
Caesar, Julius.
Ebook
The conquest that begot the Roman Empire. Caesar (C. Iulius, 102-44 BC), statesman and soldier, defied the dictator Sulla; served in the Mithridatic wars and in Spain; entered Roman politics as a "democrat" against the senatorial government; was the real leader of the...
Testimonia. Origines
Cato
Paper Book
Ancient Rome's original archconservative. M. Porcius Cato (234-149 BC), one of the best-known figures of the middle Roman Republic, remains legendary for his political and military career, especially his staunch opposition to Carthage; his modest way of life; his integrity of...
On agriculture
Cato, Marcus Porcius
Ebook
Cato (M. Porcius Cato) the elder (234-149 BCE) of Tusculum, statesman and soldier, was the first important writer in Latin prose. His speeches, works on jurisprudence and the art of war, his precepts to his son on various subjects, and his great historical work on Rome and Italy are lost. But we...
Catullus
Catullus, Gaius Valerius
Ebook
Catullus (Gaius Valerius, 84-54 BCE), of Verona, went early to Rome, where he associated not only with other literary men from Cisalpine Gaul but also with Cicero and Hortensius. His surviving poems consist of nearly sixty short lyrics, eight longer poems in various metres, and almost fifty...
Brutus Orator
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Ebook
The statesman on the history and practice of Roman oratory. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius...
De finibus bonorum et malorum
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Ebook
The philosopher-statesman on Epicureanism, Stoicism, and the Old Academy. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and...
De inventione De optimo genere oratorum ; Topica
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Paper Book
Three rhetorical treatises. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In...
De officiis
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Paper Book
Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his...
De re publica De legibus
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Ebook
The statesman on statecraft. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In...
Rhetorica ad Herennium
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Ebook
Spurious composition. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his...
Letters to Quintus and Brutus ; Letter fragments ; Letter to Octavian ; Invectives ; Handbook of electioneering
Cicero, Marcus Tullius.
Paper Book
Private correspondence and dubious disquisitions. Cicero had an affectionate relationship with his only brother, Quintus, down to the closing years of their lives. The letters from Cicero to him in this collection offer an intimate look at their world. Cicero's close friendship...
De natura deorum ; Academica
Cicero, Marcus Tullius.
Paper Book
The philosopher-statesman on theology and epistemology. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar...
De senectute ; De amicitia ; De divinatione
Cicero, Marcus Tullius.
Paper Book
Three late dialogues. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his...
Tusculan disputations
Cicero, Marcus Tullius.
Ebook
Philosophical dialogues of a grieving statesman. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a...
Bacchae ; Iphigenia at Aulis ; Rhesus
Euripides.
Ebook
Three plays by ancient Greece's third great tragedian. One of antiquity's greatest poets, Euripides has been prized in every age for the pathos, terror, and intellectual probing of his dramatic creations. The new Loeb Classical Library edition of his plays is in six volumes.
Children of Heracles ; Hippolytus ; Andromache ; Hecuba
Euripides.
Ebook
Four plays by ancient Greece's third great tragedian. One of antiquity's greatest poets, Euripides has been prized in every age for the pathos, terror, and intellectual probing of his dramatic creations. The new Loeb Classical Library edition of his plays is in six volumes. ...
Euripides
Euripides.
Paper Book
Three plays by ancient Greece's third great tragedian. One of antiquity's greatest poets, Euripides has been prized in every age for the pathos, terror, and intellectual probing of his dramatic creations. The new Loeb Classical Library edition of his plays is in six volumes.
Helen ; Phoenician women ; Orestes
Euripides.
Ebook
Three plays by ancient Greece's third great tragedian. One of antiquity's greatest poets, Euripides has been prized in every age for the pathos, terror, and intellectual probing of his dramatic creations. The new Loeb Classical Library edition of his plays is in six volumes.
Suppliant women ; Electra ; Heracles
Euripides.
Ebook
Three plays by ancient Greece's third great tragedian. One of antiquity's greatest poets, Euripides has been prized in every age for the pathos, terror, and intellectual probing of his dramatic creations. The new Loeb Classical Library edition of his plays is in six volumes.
Trojan women ; Iphigenia among the Taurians ; Ion
Euripides.
Ebook
Three plays by ancient Greece's third great tragedian. One of antiquity's greatest poets, Euripides has been prized in every age for the pathos, terror, and intellectual probing of his dramatic creations. The new Loeb Classical Library edition of his plays is in six volumes.
Hygiene
Galen
Paper Book
Antiquity's most prolific and influential medical writer and practitioner. Galen of Pergamum (129-?199/216), physician to the court of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, was a philosopher, scientist, medical historian, theoretician, and practitioner who wrote forcefully and...
On temperaments ; On non-uniform distemperment ; The soul's traits depend on bodily temperament
Galen
Paper Book
Antiquity's most prolific and influential medical writer and practitioner. Galen of Pergamum (129-?199/216), physician to the court of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, was a philosopher, scientist, medical historian, theoretician, and practitioner who wrote forcefully and...
On the constitution of the art of medicine ; The art of medicine ; A method of medicine to Glaucon
Galen
Ebook
Antiquity's most prolific and influential medical writer and practitioner. Galen of Pergamum (129-?199/216), physician to the court of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, was a philosopher, scientist, and medical historian, a theoretician and practitioner, who wrote forcefully and...
Method of medicine
Galen.
Paper Book
Antiquity's most prolific and influential medical writer and practitioner. Galen of Pergamum (129-?199/216), physician to the court of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, was a philosopher, scientist, and medical historian, a theoretician and practitioner, who wrote forcefully and...
Greek elegiac poetry : from the seventh to the fifth centuries B.C.
Gerber, Douglas E.
Ebook
Noble verse. The Greek poetry of the archaic period that we call elegy was composed primarily for banquets and convivial gatherings. Its subject matter consists of almost any topic, excluding only the scurrilous and obscene. In this completely new Loeb Classical Library...
Greek iambic poetry : from the seventh to the fifth centuries BC
Gerber, Douglas E.
Ebook
Scurrilous verse. The poetry of the archaic period that the Greeks called iambic is characterized by scornful criticism of friend and foe and by sexual license. The purpose of these poems is unclear, but they seem to have some connection with cult songs used in religious...
Hesiod
Hesiod
Paper Book
Antiquity's original didactic poet. Hesiod describes himself as a Boeotian shepherd who heard the Muses call upon him to sing about the gods. His exact dates are unknown, but he has often been considered a younger contemporary of Homer. The first volume of this...
Ancient Medicine. Airs, Waters, Places. Epidemics 1 and 3. The Oath. Precepts. Nutriment
Hippocrates
Paper Book
Hippocrates, said to have been born in Cos in or before 460 BCE, learned medicine and philosophy; travelled widely as a medical doctor and teacher; was consulted by King Perdiccas of Macedon and Artaxerxes of Persia; and died perhaps at Larissa. Apparently he rejected superstition in favour of...
Hippocrates. Volume 1
Hippocrates
Paper Book
The definitive English edition of the "Father of Medicine." This is the first volume in the Loeb Classical Library's complete edition of Hippocrates' invaluable texts, which provide essential information about the practice of medicine in antiquity and about Greek theories...
Iliad
Homer.
Paper Book
The epic tale of wrath and redemption. Here is a new Loeb Classical Library edition of Homer's stirring heroic account of the Trojan war and its passions. The eloquent and dramatic epic poem captures the terrible anger of Achilles, "the best of the Achaeans," over a grave insult...
The Odyssey
Homer.
Paper Book
The hero's journey home from war. Here is a new Loeb Classical Library edition of the resplendent epic tale of Odysseus' long journey home from the Trojan War and the legendary temptations, delays, and perils he faced at every turn. Homer's classic poem features Odysseus'...
Odes and epodes
Horace.
Ebook
Monumental verse. The poetry of Horace (born 65 BC) is richly varied, its focus moving between public and private concerns, urban and rural settings, Stoic and Epicurean thought. The Loeb Classical Library edition of the great Roman poet's Odes and Epodes boasts a...
Satires, Epistles and Ars poetica
Horace.
Ebook
Artful hexameters. Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65-8 BC) was born at Venusia, son of a freedman clerk who had him well educated at Rome and Athens. Horace supported the ill-fated killers of Caesar, lost his property, became a secretary in the Treasury, and began to write...
Juvenal and Persius
Juvenal.
Ebook
Mordant verse satire. The bite and wit of two of antiquity's best satirists are captured in this Loeb Classical Library edition. Persius (AD 34-62) and Juvenal (writing about sixty years later) were heirs to the style of Latin verse satire developed by Lucilius and...
Early Greek Philosophy, Volume I: Introductory and Reference Materials
Laks, André
Paper Book
A major new edition of the so-called Presocratics. The fragments and testimonia of the early Greek philosophers (often labeled the 'Presocratics') have always been not only a fundamental source for understanding archaic Greek culture and ancient philosophy but also a...
History of Rome
Livy
Paper Book
Rome, from the beginning. Livy (Titus Livius), the great Roman historian, was born at Patavium (Padua) in 64 or 59 BC, where after years in Rome he died in AD 12 or 17. Livy's history, composed as the imperial autocracy of Augustus was replacing the republican system that had...
The civil war (Pharsalia)
Lucan
Paper Book
Epic history. Lucan (M. Annaeus Lucanus, AD 39-65), son of wealthy M. Annaeus Mela and nephew of Seneca, was born at Corduba (Cordova) in Spain and was brought as a baby to Rome. In AD 60 at a festival in Emperor Nero's honor Lucan praised him in a panegyric and was promoted to...
De rerum natura
Lucretius Carus, Titus.
Ebook
Atomic atheism in verse. Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus) lived ca. 99-ca. 55 BC, but the details of his career are unknown. He is the author of the great didactic poem in hexameters, De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things). In six books compounded of solid...
Epigrams
Martial.
Paper Book
Poetic concision in abundance. It was to celebrate the opening of the Roman Colosseum in AD 80 that Martial published his first book of poems, "On the Spectacles." Written with satiric wit and a talent for the memorable phrase, the poems in this collection record the broad...
Ars Rhetorica
Menander, of Laodicea
Ebook
How to write a speech in ancient Greek. This volume contains three rhetorical treatises dating probably from the reign of Diocletian (AD 285-312) that provide instruction on how to compose epideictic (display) speeches for a wide variety of occasions both public and private....
The art of love, and other poems
Ovid
Ebook
Seductive verse. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BC-AD 17), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his Ars...
Fasti
Ovid
Ebook
The Roman book of days. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BC-AD 17), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his...
Heroides ; and, Amores
Ovid
Ebook
Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE-17 CE), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his Ars Amatoria, and was banished...
Tristia ; Ex Ponto
Ovid
Ebook
The poet in exile. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BC-AD 17), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his Ars...
The Greek anthology
Paton, W. R.
Ebook
A gathering of poetic blossoms. The Greek Anthology contains some 4,500 short Greek poems in the sparkling and diverse genre of epigram, written by more than a hundred poets and collected over many centuries. To the original collection, called the Garland (...
Lives of the sophists
Philostratus, the Athenian
Paper Book
Two sophists on the history of sophistry. Flavius Philostratus, known as "the Elder" or "the Athenian," was born to a distinguished family with close ties to Lesbos in the later second century, and died around the middle of the third. A sophist who studied at Athens and later...
Pindar
Pindar.
Paper Book
The preeminent lyric poet of ancient Greece. Of the Greek lyric poets, Pindar (ca. 518-438 BC) was "by far the greatest for the magnificence of his inspiration" in Quintilian's view; Horace judged him "sure to win Apollo's laurels." The esteem of the ancients may help explain why...
Charmides Alcibiades I and II ; Hipparchus ; The lovers ; Theages ; Minos ; Epinomis
Plato
Ebook
Mostly doubtful dialogues. Plato, the great philosopher of Athens, was born in 427 BC. In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded the famous school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of his life is uncertain; that he left Athens for a time...
Cratylus Parmenides ; Greater Hippias ; Lesser Hippias
Plato
Ebook
On names, forms, beauty, and lies. Plato, the great philosopher of Athens, was born in 427 BC. In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded the famous school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of his life is uncertain; that he left Athens for a...
Euthyphro Apology ; Crito ; Phaedo
Plato
Ebook
The fundamental tetralogy on Socrates' final days. Plato of Athens, who laid the foundations of the Western philosophical tradition and in range and depth ranks among its greatest practitioners, was born to a prosperous and politically active family circa 427 BC. In early life an...
Lysis ; Symposium ; Phaedrus
Plato
Paper Book
Platonic forms of love. Plato of Athens, who laid the foundations of the Western philosophical tradition and in range and depth ranks among its greatest practitioners, was born to a prosperous and politically active family circa 427 BC. In early life an admirer of Socrates, Plato...
Republic, Volume I
Plato
Paper Book
The Platonic ideal of government. Plato of Athens, who laid the foundations of the Western philosophical tradition and in range and depth ranks among its greatest practitioners, was born to a prosperous and politically active family ca. 427 BC. In early life an admirer of...
Republic, Volume II
Plato
Paper Book
The Platonic ideal of government. Plato of Athens, who laid the foundations of the Western philosophical tradition and in range and depth ranks among its greatest practitioners, was born to a prosperous and politically active family ca. 427 BC. In early life an admirer of...
Statesman Philebus ; Ion
Plato
Ebook
On politics, pleasure, and poetry. Plato, the great philosopher of Athens, was born in 427 BC. In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded the famous school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of his life is uncertain; that he left Athens for a...
Timaeus Critias ; Cleitophon ; Menexenus ; Epistles
Plato
Ebook
On the creation of the world, and the destruction of Atlantis. Plato, the great philosopher of Athens, was born in 427 BC. In early manhood an admirer of Socrates, he later founded the famous school of philosophy in the grove Academus. Much else recorded of his life is uncertain;...
Natural history
Pliny, the Elder.
Paper Book
An unrivaled compendium of ancient Roman knowledge. Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23-79), a Roman of equestrian rank of Transpadane Gaul (N. Italy), was uncle of Pliny the letter writer. He pursued a career partly military in Germany, partly administrative in Gaul...
Lives, Volume I
Plutarch
Paper Book
Comparative biographies of distinguished Greeks and Romans. Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. AD 45-120, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor...
The histories
Polybius.
Paper Book
Hellenistic history. The historian Polybius (ca. 200-118 BC) was born into a leading family of Megalopolis in the Peloponnese (Morea) and served the Achaean League in arms and diplomacy for many years, favoring alliance with Rome. From 168 to 151 he was held hostage in Rome,...
Tetrabiblos
Ptolemy
Ebook
Classic astrology. The Tetrabiblos of the famous astronomer and geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus (ca. AD 100-178) of Egypt consists of four books, the title given in some manuscripts meaning "Mathematical Treatise in Four Books," in others "The Prognostics addressed to Syrus...
The major declamations
Quintilian
Paper Book
Mock trial--Roman style. The Major Declamations stand out for their unique contribution to our understanding of the final stage in Greco-Roman rhetorical training. These exercises, in which students learned how to compose and deliver speeches on behalf of either the...
The orator's education
Quintilian.
Paper Book
A central work in the history of rhetoric. Quintilian, born in Spain about AD 35, became a widely known and highly successful teacher of rhetoric in Rome. The Orator's Education (Institutio Oratoria), a comprehensive training program in twelve books, draws on his...
Hercules ; Trojan women ; Phoenician women ; Medea ; Phaedra
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus
Paper Book
Spectacular verse drama. Seneca is a figure of first importance in both Roman politics and literature: a leading adviser to Nero who attempted to restrain the emperor's megalomania; a prolific moral philosopher; and the author of verse tragedies that strongly influenced...
Naturales quaestiones
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus
Ebook
Following nature in pursuit of ethics. Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, born at Corduba (Cordova) ca. 4 BC, of a prominent and wealthy family, spent an ailing childhood and youth at Rome in an aunt's care. He became famous in rhetoric, philosophy, money-making, and imperial service. After...
Ajax. Electra. Oedipus Tyrannus
Sophocles
Paper Book
Ancient Athens' most successful tragedian. Sophocles (497/6-406 BC), with Aeschylus and Euripides, was one of the three great tragic poets of Athens, and is considered one of the world's greatest poets. The subjects of his plays were drawn from mythology and legend. Each play...
Suetonius
Suetonius
Paper Book
Antiquity's imperial biographer par excellence. Suetonius (C. Suetonius Tranquillus, born ca. AD 70), son of a military tribune, was at first an advocate and a teacher of rhetoric, but later became the emperor Hadrian's private secretary, 119-121. He dedicated to C....
Agricola. Germania. Dialogue on Oratory
Tacitus
Paper Book
Tacitus (Cornelius), famous Roman historian, was born in 55, 56 or 57 CE and lived to about 120. He became an orator, married in 77 a daughter of Julius Agricola before Agricola went to Britain, was quaestor in 81 or 82, a senator under the Flavian emperors, and a praetor in 88. After four years'...
The Woman of Andros. The Self-Tormentor. The Eunuch
Terence
Paper Book
The Roman comic playwright "whose every word delights." Terence brought to the Roman stage a bright comic voice and a refined sense of style. His six comedies--first produced in the half dozen years before his premature death in 159 BC--imaginatively reformulated in Latin plays...
Apology De Spectaculis
Tertullian
Paper Book
Austere apologetics. Q. Septimus Florens Tertullianus (ca. AD 150-222) was born a soldier's son at Carthage, educated in Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and medicine, and later studied law to became a pleader, remaining a clever and often tortuous arguer. At Rome he...
Argonautica
Valerius Flaccus, Gaius
Ebook
The Roman epic retelling of the quest for the golden fleece. Valerius Flaccus, Gaius, Latin poet who flourished in the period ca. AD 70-90, composed in smooth and sometimes obscure style an incomplete epic Argonautica in eight books, on the auest for the golden fleece. The...
Virgil
Virgil.
Paper Book
"The classic of all Europe." --T. S. Eliot Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) was born in 70 BC near Mantua and was educated at Cremona, Milan, and Rome. Slow in speech, shy in manner, thoughtful in mind, weak in health, he went back north for a quiet life. Influenced by the group...
Anabasis
Xenophon.
Ebook
Greek mercenaries on the march. Xenophon (ca. 430 to ca. 354 BC) was a wealthy Athenian and friend of Socrates. He left Athens in 401 and joined an expedition including ten thousand Greeks led by the Persian governor Cyrus against the Persian king. After the defeat of Cyrus, it...

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