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Appian: Wars of the Romans in Iberia

Appian wrote his Roman history in the second century AD as a series of books arranged geographically to chronicle the rise of the Roman Empire. His Iberike, of which this is the first translation ... More

Appian wrote his Roman history in the second century AD as a series of books arranged geographically to chronicle the rise of the Roman Empire. His Iberike, of which this is the first translation with historical commentary in English, deals with the Romans' wars in the Iberian peninsula from the third to the first centuries BC. It is the only continuous source for much of the history of this crucial period in one of the earliest regions of Rome's imperial expansion, and so fills in the gap made by the loss of Livy's later books. He describes the major campaigns of the conquest from the defeat of the Carthaginians by Scipio Africanus, the wars against the Celtiberians, the war against the Lusitanians under Viriathus and the siege of Numantia. The value of the text is not merely as a chronicle of otherwise obscure events, Appian was an historian who deserves to be studied in his own right. This scholarly edition presents the Greek text with facing-page English translation, accompanied by an introduction, historical commentary and copious notes.Less

Cicero: Verrines II.I

Cicero's first major triumph was the prosecution of Caius Verres for misgovernment in Sicily. Cicero's speech was given in the second part of the trial and shows the development of Cicero's rhetoric. ... More

Cicero's first major triumph was the prosecution of Caius Verres for misgovernment in Sicily. Cicero's speech was given in the second part of the trial and shows the development of Cicero's rhetoric. This edition communicates the literary flavour of the original speech and discusses the historical and political background to the trial, with examination of noteworthy textual cruces and problems of interpretation. The book presents Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Greek Orators III: Isocrates: Panegyricus and To Nicocles

Two contrasting works, both in style and content, illustrate the versatility of Isocrates, the most accomplished writer of polished periodic Greek prose. The Panegyricus is a patriotic work of ... More

Two contrasting works, both in style and content, illustrate the versatility of Isocrates, the most accomplished writer of polished periodic Greek prose. The Panegyricus is a patriotic work of Athenian propaganda composed with great care and also intended to advertise his skills to potential pupils at his school for leading statesmen. In it he argues the case for Athenian leadership of a pan-Hellenic expedition against Persia, representing it as a cultural as well as a military crusade. In To Nicocles, he offers advice to one of his pupils, the newly crowned king of Cyprus, on how to rule acceptably to his people and tolerably to himself. From it emerges a portrait of the ideal Hellenistic monarch. Less elaborately written than the Panegyricus, it displays its author's ability to write with clarity and economy. The book consists of Greek text with parallel English translation.Less

Greek Orators VI: Apollodorus Against Nearia: [Demosthenes] 59

Rational persuasion and appeal to an audience's emotions are elements of most literature, but they are found in their purest form in oratory. The speeches written by the Greek orators for delivery in ... More

Rational persuasion and appeal to an audience's emotions are elements of most literature, but they are found in their purest form in oratory. The speeches written by the Greek orators for delivery in law courts, deliberative councils and assemblies enjoyed an honoured literary status, and rightly so, for the best of them have great vitality. There is no crude, primitive stage of development: the earliest speeches are perfect in form and highly sophisticated in technique. They inform the reader about aspects of Greek society and about their moral values, in a direct and illuminating way not paralleled in other literature.Less

Plutarch: Lives of Aristeides and Cato

David Sansone

Plutarch's Lives have always attracted a large number of admirers, particularly because of his pragmatic concern with ethics and politics. But Plutarch intended his Lives to be read in pairs, an ... More

Plutarch's Lives have always attracted a large number of admirers, particularly because of his pragmatic concern with ethics and politics. But Plutarch intended his Lives to be read in pairs, an intention that is often ignored by those who treat these works as merely historical sources. This new text and translation provides the first commentary in English on the pair Aristeides and Cato. In addition to supplying commentary on historical, stylistic and textual matters, the book also explores Plutarch's purpose in comparing the fifth-century Greek statesman, Aristeides, with the second-century Roman, Cato the Elder. The book provides Greek text with facing translation, notes and introduction.Less

Plutarch: The Malice of Herodotos

The Malice of Herodotus can perhaps best be described as the world's earliest known book review. But it is much more than that, for in the course of 'correcting' with considerable vituperation what ... More

The Malice of Herodotus can perhaps best be described as the world's earliest known book review. But it is much more than that, for in the course of 'correcting' with considerable vituperation what he saw as Herodotus' anti-Greek bias, Plutarch tells us much about his own attitude to writing history. So that together with Lucian's How to Write History, it forms a basic text for the study of Greek historiography. It is also perhaps the most revealing example of Plutarch's prose style with its rhetorical variety and energy and odd mixture of good and bad argument. But in citing lost works, Plutarch has preserved valuable fragments which don't exist elsewhere and need to be assessed by all students of the Persian Wars. The book presents Greek text with translation, introduction and commentary.Less

Sallust: The War Against Jugurtha

Catalina Balmaceda and M. Comber

The Roman historian C. Sallustius Crispus, better known as Sallust, wrote about the war against the Numidian king Jugurtha. For Sallust, the Jugurthine War revealed the problems of the Republic at ... More

The Roman historian C. Sallustius Crispus, better known as Sallust, wrote about the war against the Numidian king Jugurtha. For Sallust, the Jugurthine War revealed the problems of the Republic at that time. The fact that a man such as Jugurtha could rise to power by buying Roman military and civil officials reflected a moral crisis in Roman politics. Sallust's account of the nobles' tactics in conducting the war, the rise of the homo novus, Marius, and the beginnings of Sulla's career are particularly effective at showing how Romans sought individual power and advantages often at the expense of the state. Sallust is determined to illustrate decay. He is the creator of a particular manner of writing history. His style has attracted attention and discussion both in ancient times and nowadays because it shows itself at the same time as archaic and innovatory, abrupt and artistic. The translation of this new edition seeks to be faithful to that characteristic Sallustian style and the commentary aims to be useful not only to specialists, but also to readers who know little or no Latin. The introduction deals with Sallust's life and career as a historian, the Jugurthine war itself, and also with the important Sallustian topic of virtus and the development of the ideology of the 'new man'.Less

Tacitus: Annals V and VI

Ronald Martin

Books V and VI of Tacitus' Annals, when complete, carried the narrative of Tiberius' reign from AD 29 to 37. Unfortunately, most of Book V has been lost, and, with it, Tacitus' account of the ... More

Books V and VI of Tacitus' Annals, when complete, carried the narrative of Tiberius' reign from AD 29 to 37. Unfortunately, most of Book V has been lost, and, with it, Tacitus' account of the sensational events that led to the execution on 18 October in AD 31 of Aelius Sejanus. Nevertheless, Annals VI contains a fascinating variety of incidents both at Rome and on Capri, to which Tiberius had retired permanently in AD 27. But, in addition to all the material that portrays Tiberius in a highly unfavourable light, there is much in Annals VI that shows a very different side to his character. Whereas Suetonius talks of an elderly emperor who discarded all interest in public affairs from the time he retired to Capri, Tacitus portrays a more complex character — one in which cruelty and vice stand alongside a deep concern for Rome's prosperity at home and abroad. Annals VI provides an absorbing account of the varied aspects of the behaviours and personality of Rome's most enigmatic emperor during the final years of his life. The book consists of Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.Less

The 'Old Oligarch': The Constitution of the Athenians Attributed to Xenophon

J. L. Marr and P. J. Rhodes

'Old Oligarch' is a label often applied to the unknown author of the Athenian Constitution preserved with the works of Xenophon. Probably written in the mid-420s B.C., it is the earliest surviving ... More

'Old Oligarch' is a label often applied to the unknown author of the Athenian Constitution preserved with the works of Xenophon. Probably written in the mid-420s B.C., it is the earliest surviving Athenian prose text, and its author was probably a young pupil of the teachers known as sophists. It is an essay which replies to oligarchic criticisms of the Athenian democracy by agreeing with the critics that democracy is distasteful, but arguing that it is appropriate for Athens as a city whose power depends on the poorer citizens who row the navy's ships, and that it is successful and could not easily be overthrown. This edition provides a Greek text and English translation, with an introduction, commentary and appendixes that discuss the date, authorship and character of the work, the historical background, the statements and arguments presented by the author and features of the author's style.Less

Thucydides: History Book III

P. J. Rhodes (ed.)

This book is a continuation of Thucydides' books on the Archidamian War, providing an introduction (on Thucydides' history and on the Peloponnesian War), Greek text with selective critical apparatus ... More

This book is a continuation of Thucydides' books on the Archidamian War, providing an introduction (on Thucydides' history and on the Peloponnesian War), Greek text with selective critical apparatus and facing translation, and a commentary which should be useful not only to specialists but also to readers who know little or no Greek, and which assumes no previous acquaintance with Thucydides. Matters of text and language are discussed when necessary, but the emphasis is on the war which formed Thucydides' subject matter and on the way in which he has chosen to treat the subject.Less

William of Newburgh: The History of English Affairs: Book 2

The History of English Affairs, covering the years 1066–1197, was written at the close of the twelfth century and has been described as being “both in substance and in form... the finest historical ... More

The History of English Affairs, covering the years 1066–1197, was written at the close of the twelfth century and has been described as being “both in substance and in form... the finest historical work left to us by an Englishman of the twelfth century” (The Dictionary of National Biography). The author's critical ability, gifts of acute observation, clear judgment and tolerant impartiality justify his high reputation as an original authority. Book Two covers the years 1154–75, and incorporates the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, the capture of the King of Scots at Alnwick, and the first subjugation of Ireland by the English. It also documents the career of Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman to become Pope.Less

William of Newburgh: The History of English Affairs: Book 1

The History of English Affairs, covering the years 1066–1198, was written at the close of the twelfth century and has been described as being “both in substance and in form... the finest historical ... More

The History of English Affairs, covering the years 1066–1198, was written at the close of the twelfth century and has been described as being “both in substance and in form... the finest historical work left to us by an Englishman of the twelfth century” (The Dictionary of National Biography). The author's critical ability, gifts of acute observation, clear judgment and tolerant impartiality justify his high reputation as an original authority. Book One contains a summary treatment of the period 1066–1135 (the Norman Conquest to the death of Henry I), followed by an extensive exposition of the political, military and religious events of the reign of Stephen (1135–54), including the Second Crusade and events in Scotland. William's Latin is spare and elegant. At university level, this is the ideal text for students of medieval history seeking original source material and for students in Classical departments looking for a combination of interesting content and manageable Latin. Schools will find it a helpful aid to increase fluency in reading Latin and develop a knowledge of English history. The book provides Latin text with facing-page translation.Less

Xenophon: Hellenika I-II.3.10

Peter Krentz

The Peloponnesian War, according to Thucydides, was the result of the growth of Athenian power. Beginning with the battle of Abydos in 411, this edition covers the Ionian or Dekeleian War, whose end ... More

The Peloponnesian War, according to Thucydides, was the result of the growth of Athenian power. Beginning with the battle of Abydos in 411, this edition covers the Ionian or Dekeleian War, whose end in 404 also brings to a close the Peloponnesian War as a whole. The narrative is all the more valuable for the fact that Xenophon is likely to have been present at a number of the events described. In his very first sentence he mentions a naval battle in which the Athenians are defeated, and in doing so heralds their eventual defeat in the war. It is a tale of decline, and of expansionism gone awry.Less

Xenophon: Hellenika II.3.11 - IV.2.8

Peter Krentz

The second part of the Hellenika, covering the decade after the end of the Peloponnesian War, is Xenophon at his best. It unfolds in a series of discrete, often dramatic, episodes: The Thirty at ... More

The second part of the Hellenika, covering the decade after the end of the Peloponnesian War, is Xenophon at his best. It unfolds in a series of discrete, often dramatic, episodes: The Thirty at Athens, the campaigns of Thibron and Derkylidas in Asia Minor, the Spartan War against Elis, the accession of King Agesilaos, the conspiracy of Kinadon, the campaigns of Agesilaos in Asia Minor, the outbreak of war against Sparta in Greece, and Agesilaos' recall. It includes several of Xenophon's best speeches, some of his wittiest dialogue, and several choice turns of phrase. This edition follows the pattern of the Hellenika III.3.10 (Warminster 1989). The commentary tries both to interpret the text and to assess its historical accuracy. Throughout the book uses the rest of Xenophon's works to throw light on the Hellenika. The edition presents Greek text with facing-page translation.Less