This poem, inspired by the famous Sappho’s fragment (fr.2 Diehl), describes the devastating effects of love. Nevertheless, it is an evidence of the endless struggle of Latin authors between practical, […]
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Tacitus Annals 4.34-35 (contributed by Jonathan Eaton)
I think the passage shows Tacitus at his absolute best in displaying the courage of a historian in the face of an oppressive tyranny. It is a passage which reflects […]
Herodotus 6.126-9 (contributed by Tom Holland)
This is a passage I loved even before I read it. My first classics teacher combined a love of Herodotus with a genius for drawing on blackboards. I vividly remember […]
Martial Spectacles 1 (contributed by Francesca Sapsford)
The Liber Spectaculorum was probably Martial’s first collection of epigrams and this is the first of three prefatory epigrams introducing the Flavian ampitheatre. Francesca Sapsford Barbara pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis, […]
Martial Epigrams 5.34 (contributed by Francesca Sapsford)
This epigram is often selected by those giving examples of Martial’s poems. It purports to be a eulogy to Erotion, a slave-girl who has recently died. Martial wishes her to […]
Martial Epigrams 1.1, 6.60(61) (contributed by Francesca Sapsford)
The first epigram of Book 1 is fascinating as it proclaims this is to be the work of the world-famous Martial. However, this is his fourth book and is the […]
Ovid Metamorphoses 1.525-58 (contributed by Anne Dicks)
Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne statue group in the Galleria Borghese in Rome – can I get away with giving that as my preferred translation? Notice the desperation of Daphne’s flight, […]
Ovid Metamorphoses 3.368-99 (contributed by Rachel Carter)
I was captivated by this extract when I read it recently with a student: the clever echoing wordplay, and the heartbreaking pathos of the nymph’s hope and disappointment in love. […]