This anthology brings together substantial selections from 28 ancient authors, taken mainly from existing translations in the Oxford World's Classics series. Each author's work is introduced by a short essay that sets it in its social and historical context, and followed by an afterword that traces the most significant points of its textual transmission and Nachleben. The volume is divided into five sections covering the early Republic, the late Republic, the age of Augustus, the early Empire and the high Empire; it begins with Plautus and ends with Marcus Aurelius. The anthology includes both expected canonical authors (Virgil, Ovid) and more unusual choices (Statius, Lucian). The editors have laudably included some work by Greek writers, which makes this one-volume compilation a remarkably full and affordable introduction to the literature of the Roman world.
The volume presents a versatile collection of sources that could support a wide range of courses taught in translation at all undergraduate levels. There is a slight bias towards prose (sixteen prose works to twelve poetry), representing the full gamut of genres (elegy, comedy, historiography, legal speeches, epic, letters and more). Selections vary in size from entire works (Plautus' Menaechmi) to a book of poetry (Book 1 of Propertius) or of a longer prose work (Plutarch's Life of Antony). Where selections have been trimmed (such as the extirpation of chapters 33 to 49 of Sallust's Conspiracy of Catiline), a concise précis summarises the missing sections. All selections give readers a clear and accessible sense of the author and his output. This is partly due to the framing essays, which are informative and straightforward. They provide considerable background interpretative material; for instance, the introductory essay on Caesar clearly explains the intricacies of late Republican politics. Other useful resources include a selection of maps, a timeline of significant historical events and a glossary; however, there is no index.
As is inevitable with any book with a wide-ranging yet selective scope, every instructor will identify things they would have done differently. For instance, I would have liked the introductory essay for Ovid to discuss the problematic aspects of elegy in more detail, and would have argued for the inclusion of some Senecan prose alongside his Medea. However, these quibbles were counter-balanced by delight at the presence of Josephus, Quintilian and Pliny the Elder, who can often be perceived as too difficult for inclusion in this kind of compilation.
The production values are high and the text is well presented. My one worry is that a rather small font has been used to get so much material into a book of a useable size, which might pose accessibility problems. However, this is a minor concern; the anthology offers a valuable resource for instructors seeking a single textbook to assign their students, and an exciting introduction to the richness of Roman literature for those encountering it for the first time.
