The Satyricon is a classic of comedy, a superbly funny picture of Nero's Rome as seen through the eyes of Petronius, its most amorous and elegant courtier. William Arrowsmith's translation - a lovely, modern, unexpurgated text - recatpures all the ribald humor of Petronius's picaresque satire. It [...]
The Gourdification of Claudius the God has instant and lasting appeal. It is a uniquely surviving specimen of prose-and-verse satire from the Roman world - and satire, a Roman speciality, is one of the few types of ancient literature to survive, and thrive, in modern society. Its author, Seneca, was[...]
Petronius (C. or T. Petronius Arbiter), who is reasonably identified with the author of this famous satyric and satiric novel, was a man of pleasure and of good literary taste who flourished in the times of Claudius (41-54 CE) and Nero (54-68). As Tacitus describes him, he used to sleep by day, and [...]