Bøger i Understanding Classics serien

Marcus Valerius Martialis is celebrated for his droll, frequently salacious, portrayal of Roman high and low society during first century rule of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. This title provides an overview - for students of classics and ancient history, as well as comparative literature - of the chief themes of his sardonic writings.

Pindar, though still respected, is considered a difficult poet, and is sometimes dismissed as a reactionary, celebrating an aristocratic world that was passing and that deserved to pass. In this first work on the subject for many years, Richard Stoneman shows that Pindar's works, while at first seeming obscure and fragmentary, reward further study.

It examines the literary origins of Latin elegy, highlights the poets' key themes and traces their reception by later writers and readers. Introducing the chief Latin elegists, as well as these poets' main sources of inspiration, the book shows that love elegy is the defining genre of Roman poetry.