3.73 avg rating — 860 ratings

"Bloom's tr. rec."

3.75 avg rating — 116,605 ratings

"Good prose version by N. K. Sandars."

3.91 avg rating — 6,087 ratings

3.99 avg rating — 125 ratings

"KJV, as prescribed."

4.39 avg rating — 4,799 ratings

"I highly recommend this Pocket Canons series from Grove/Canongate. Beautiful small-trim paperbacks for all the 'literary' books of the Bible with great intros from famous authors (even Bono). The other Old-Testamentary titles in the series are: Exodus, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Samuel, Isaiah, Jonah, Song of Solomon. Also, Wisdom from the apocrypha."

4.01 avg rating — 642 ratings

"Good one-volume KJV intertestimental apocrypha."

4.37 avg rating — 19 ratings

"Bloom's ed. rec."

4.32 avg rating — 12,081 ratings

"Bloom's ed. rec. BRILLIANT retelling. Highly recommended, entrancing gateway into the Sanskrit epics and their ethos."

4.26 avg rating — 272 ratings

"Bloom also recommends this dramatic version from Carriere, translated by Brook."

4.19 avg rating — 80,507 ratings

"Bloom's tr. rec. Glorious translation. This added to Buck's Mahabharata is a winning combination."

4.19 avg rating — 5,291 ratings

"Bloom's secondary ed. rec. Narayan's RAMAYANA is pretty short and sweet."

3.93 avg rating — 502,552 ratings

"Personally I think Fagles' translations of Homer are on par with the King James. Sounds like a big claim, I know, but, just wait a few centuries: it'll outlast the competition. ;)"

4.37 avg rating — 647 ratings

"For a totally different, astonishing take on the Iliad, try Logue's adaptations. They're unlike anything else. Similarly, Anne Carson re-renders classical lit in modern idiom in profound and unsettling ways. The rest of Logue's Iliad can be found in: Kings, The Husbands, All Day Permanent Red, and Cold Calls. Tip: read em out loud."

3.83 avg rating — 1,173,577 ratings

"Bloom's rec. tr. My opinion: Meh. Fitzgerald's Aeneid is wonderful, though. (To be fair to Bloom, he wrote WESTERN CANON before the Fagles ODYSSEY was published, and, I believe, before his ILIAD, too. I wouldn't be surprised, if asked to revise his Appendix A, if Bloom swapped Lattimore and Fitzgerald for Fagles."

4.05 avg rating — 6,518 ratings

"First of several books I'm recommending that Bloom 'overlooked,' meaning I literally think he simply forgot to put them on the list. (If you spend time with his works, get to 'know' him, and scrutinizse these appendices, it seems like he (amazingly) dashed off these lists off the top of his head; they even look unedited on the page.) Anyway, this is the translation of the anonymous 'Homeric Hymns' I worked with in college, still haven't found a better one. 'Hymn to Demeter' is the most celebrated. The Penguin Classics translation is also quite good."

3.95 avg rating — 3,635 ratings

"Bloom's rec. tr. Couldn't agree more. Athanassakis's is also wonderful."

4.12 avg rating — 52 ratings

"I believe this is the exact edition Bloom had in mind when he wrote "Archilochos, Sappho, Alkman translated by Guy Davenport." However, check out '7 Greeks' by the same poet."

4.39 avg rating — 313 ratings

"This brilliant volume has Davenport's translations of the three Greek lyric poets Bloom specifically recommends, as well as the fragments of Heraclitus, also recommended later on in Appendix A, though he specifies no translation. Davenport's introduction alone is a small masterpiece and his translations, particularly of Archilochus and Diogenes, are astonishing. If you buy one book of lyric poetry from Ancient Greece, make it this one."

3.94 avg rating — 354 ratings

"If you buy a second book of Greek lyric poetry, make it this one. Slim volume, pretty much every poet in the Ancient Greek canon. His Pindar alone is fantastic. Other highlights are Anacreon, Alcaeus, Xenophanes, Theognis, Simonides (especially), Bacchylides, and definitely Empedocles, who's specifically listed by Bloom later on in Appendix A."

4.43 avg rating — 21,274 ratings

"Anne Carson is one of our greatest treasures, as a poet, translator and critic. I'd suggest reading anything of hers, period. Her Sappho is gorgeous. While Carson didn't make it onto Bloom's lists (again, the book predates her maturity), either as translator or poet, he praised her enormously: "The Canadian poet Anne Carson is so original and authentic in her works that I can think of only two other poets of her eminence now alive and writing in English: John Ashbery and Geoffrey Hill, and they are both a full generation older.""

3.86 avg rating — 1,614 ratings

"Bloom's rec. ed. Long out of print but still the best, in my opinion. My edition is practically taped together. Pindar is hard to read and even tougher to translate but Lattimore did it, and for all time, just after he got home from WWII."

4.02 avg rating — 46,244 ratings

"Bloom's rec. tr. Fagles' Aeschylus is not as wondrous as his Homer, and it's certainly not fluid on the stage, in my view. It's more Milton than Shakespeare, if that makes sense, which is fine."

3.73 avg rating — 3,857 ratings

"Bloom's rec. tr. Almost every translation in the Greek Tragedy in New Translations series from Oxford is worth looking at. They all balance contemporary poetic idiom with faithful translation."

3.99 avg rating — 8,772 ratings

"Bloom doesn't recommend a specific translation for Aeschylus' three other extant plays but here's the collected Oxford GTiNT editions, to match his SEVEN AGAINST THEBES recommendation."

3.73 avg rating — 234,806 ratings

"Again, Bloom recommends the GTiNT version. And this one's particularly stellar, in my opinion. And, it's kinda the greatest single Greek tragedy of em all."

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 70,260 ratings

"Bloom recommends Fitzgerald's OEDIPUS AT COLONUS, Sophocles' late, bleak 'sequel' to OEDIPUS REX. This edition has all three of the Theban plays translated by Fitzgerald."

4.26 avg rating — 5,285 ratings

"Bloom doesn't recommend specific translations for Sophocles' four non-Theban plays, but I can't rave about this edition enough. Bagg and Scully really do give Sophocles the 'Fagles treatment,' as some critics have noted, meaning that the translations and apparatus are lucid, top-notch and have voice. If you're new to Greek tragedy, start here. If you're just coming down from Fagle's Homeric high, pick this up."

3.95 avg rating — 85,885 ratings

"Bloom's tr. rec. Except no substitutions when it comes to MEDEA, possibly Euripides' best. And Dover's edition is less than $2 list price. I'll say no more"

3.86 avg rating — 4,970 ratings

"In his appendix, Bloom lists 12 out of the 17-19 extant Euripides plays, and 7 of those 12 he suggests going with William Arrowsmith, the general editor of the GTiNT series."

4.01 avg rating — 681 ratings

"This is where, for collectors, it gets a bit frustrating to follow all of Bloom's recs. One of the plays in this volume, HECUBA, is Arrowsmith's per Bloom. While Bloom recommends ANDROMACHE by Arrowsmith, too, it's not in this volume, and in fact I've never actually found it elsewhere, so it may just be a typographical hiccup by Bloom or Riverhead. Either way, the ANDROMACHE in this edition is fine. Bloom also recommends a different ION than the one found here, which I list below, and THE TROJAN WOMEN isn't on Bloom's list at all."

3.80 avg rating — 15 ratings

"Bloom's tr. rec. Good luck finding a copy! But you totally should try. H.D. was an incredible modernist poet similar to (if not better than) Pound. In a way, she gives ION the Anne Carson treatment, if that makes sense."

4.18 avg rating — 3,873 ratings

"Here's Arrowsmith's THE BACCHAE, one of Euripides' best if not THE best. This edition also contains translations of THE PHOENICIAN WOMEN and ELECTRA (not to be confused with Sophocles' ELECTRA), both of which plays are not on Bloom's list of 12--so you might as well get em here."

4.27 avg rating — 943 ratings

"Here we have Arrowsmith's CYCLOPS and HERACLES. Bloom lists Lattimore's HELEN, which I think is another hiccup like with Arrowsmith's ANDROMACHE, b/c, as with Arrowsmith, Lattimore is the editor of this volume, and within it has translated a play: IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS (which play, not being on Bloom's list, should be read in this volume anyway). The HELEN here is fine and I'm pretty sure what Bloom meant to recommend."

4.18 avg rating — 647 ratings

"And here's Arrowsmith's ORESTES, together with a so-so IPHIGENIA IN AULIS (Bloom lists it but recommends the W.S. Merwin translation), and two plays Bloom doesn't list: RHESUS and THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN (not to be confused with Aeschylus' play of the same name)."

4.03 avg rating — 6,184 ratings

"Bloom's tr. rec. Tip: anytime you see Merwin's name on a translation, get it. His original poetry is also excellent, and listed in Bloom's Appendix D."

4.17 avg rating — 58 ratings

"And finally, Bagg's HIPPOLYTUS, recommended by Bloom, is in the GTiNT series from Oxford, here packaged with CYCLOPS, HELEN and ALCESTIS, all great versions, none specifically recommended by Bloom. Let me just say here that, if you want a first-rate collection of all the Greek tragedians, get these anthologized volumes of the GTiNT series alongside the more traditional 'Complete Greek Tragedies' series edited by Grene and Lattimore from U of Chicago Press. Between those two sets, Warner's MEDEA, the Bagg/Scully Sophocles, Hughes' ORESTEIA, H.D.'s ION, and Carson's ORESTEIA, you'll be all set."

4.06 avg rating — 6,787 ratings

"Bloom recommends the Arrowsmith translations of BIRDS and CLOUDS. He lists 5 more Aristophanes plays but doesn't specify translations. For my money this is the edition to buy, as Arrowsmith truly brings Aristopahes hilariously to life in the first two plays, and you also get brilliant versions of LYSISTRATA (always popular) and FROGS."

4.02 avg rating — 1,897 ratings

"Good versions of WASPS and FROGS in this one, plus THESMOPHORIA."

4.11 avg rating — 1,672 ratings

"And this rounds out your Bloom-Aristophanes list with KNIGHTS and ASSEMBLYWOMEN, plus PEACE and WEALTH and yet another BIRDS."

4.01 avg rating — 55,088 ratings

"Bloom lists Herodotus of course but doesn't specify a translation. I'll put my two cents in here and say: de Selincourt is the bomb. His prose is perfectly chatty and robust, just as it should be. Not only is this the best version out there, it's also the easiest to come by. You may want to pick up THE LANDMARK HERODOTUS also, because it's loaded with maps that could help you follow some the 'action' a bit more, but the actual translation in that edition is subpar and, besides, the Penguin Classics edition here has maps that are just fine. Herodotus is nowhere near as tough to follow as Thucydides, for whom you'll want the LANDMARK edition. If I had to pick one more Ancient Greek author to read after Homer, it'd be Herodotus."

3.94 avg rating — 40,253 ratings

"Bloomy doesn't specify a translation for THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR so feel free to read whichever floats your trireme. Personally, I find it mandatory to have detailed maps if I'm to follow Thucydides' dense, detail-laden military narratives, and, if you're gonna go the distance and read a classic this old, you should get as much out of it as you can. This Landmark series (they also have Herodotus, Xenophon and Arrian) is a godsend, truly. It's almost like reading these ancient historians with a fully interactive map app. The only one I wouldn't recommend is their Herodotus b/c the Penguin translation is soooo much better and you really don't need maps to read Herodotus like you do all his descendants."

4.18 avg rating — 7,814 ratings

"Bloom says to read Heraclitus and Empedocles, listing them under 'the Presocratics.' Heraclitus is in another volume on this list, '7 Greeks' by Guy Davenport. This one's good, too, with really great apparatus. Get this one if only for the cover."

3.95 avg rating — 966 ratings

"Bloom lists 'The Presocratics,' specifying Heraclitus and Empedocles, both of whom are in this volume. Presocratic is a tricky label, since all Greek philosophers pre Socrates don't necessarily form one school of thought. For the literary reader, those that wrote their profundities in poetry will probable have more appeal (sort of like reading about existence through Lucretius' eyes instead of Cicero's: way better). Some are more bland to read. The Sophists were contemporary to Socrates and were something like professional lecturers/teachers/bullshit artists. They make appearances as straw men in some Platonic-Socratic dialogues. All in all, a solid edition from OUP."

4.12 avg rating — 45,356 ratings

"Bloom lists 'Plato: Dialogues,' no recommended translation. But certainly he means ALL of them. According to Bloom, if you can only get to two authors in all of ancient literature, make sure it's Homer and Plato. I'd personally put Herodotus above Plato for sheer reading enjoyment but there's no contesting Plato's craftsmanship, brilliance and significance. After all, our best 'record' of Socrates, possibly the greatest wordsmith of all time, is right here in Plato's Dialogues. Elsewhere Bloom calls the dialogues a new perfection of dramatic writing (meaning post-classical tragedy & comedy), one that isn't rivaled until Shakespeare. Maybe so. Since we're free to choose our own translation, I'm recommending starting here with Penguin. The earliest dialogues are the easiest to digest and are the most 'Socratic,' the least 'Platonic,' meaning more about the Socratic method of how to question and think rather than the Platonic idea of abstract forms. Ideally Plato's Socrates should be funny and snappy and witty. If the translation you're reading feels stuffy or slow, not fluid, put it down and find another one. There are plenty out there."

4.38 avg rating — 11,998 ratings

"For the entire collection of Dialogues, go with this one. Again, you'll want to compare the way each one reads to competing translations. What matters is that they sound kinetic and engage your thoughts, like a stirring conversation happening right there in front of you. Penguin Classics has a great readable Plato list."

4.22 avg rating — 159 ratings

"Invaluable apparatus in this edition. THE REPUBLIC is included, complete. I've read four versions of REP and this is still the one I favor."

3.83 avg rating — 29,049 ratings

"For Aristotle, Bloom lists POETICS and ETHICS and nothing more. If you're a student of philosophy, or just a curious rigorous thinker, you should go further, but it's fair to say that, beyond these two works, Aristotle is outside the realm of aesthetic (a word he invented) value and more firmly rooted in science. So, what art there is in Aristotle can be found here. And as Bloom doesn't recommend specific translations (they're all slow-going, period), we're on our own. THIS edition is brand new and excellent, especially in its intro and its inclusion of canonical Platonic and post-Aristotelian poetic criticism. In other words, just get this book and check Aristotle off your list."

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 58,768 ratings

"Bloom doesn't specify a translation. Along with Plato's REPUBLIC, ETHICS stands as the cornerstone of secular Western philosophical thought. (Key books of the Old and New Testaments being the non-secular.) If you've ever wondered what goodness is, how we should live our lives, and all that fun stuff, you should try getting in touch with the source. It is dry and takes a lot of concentration but you'll be richer for it afterwards."

4.24 avg rating — 2,459 ratings

"If you must read more Aristotle, get this brick. (Another lovely Modern Library cover, btw.) It's got choice bits of ORGANON, Aristotle's big treatise on how to think about categories and organizing things in the world."

3.10 avg rating — 142 ratings

"Moving on to HELLENISTIC GREEKS in Appendix A, Bloom recommends this translation of Menander's GIRL FROM SAMOS, and nothing more by that comic playwright. Fair enough. You'll have to find this one used. In short, Greek New Comedy, and Roman Comedy for that matter, is like watching an episode of Three's Company."

3.56 avg rating — 762 ratings

"If you really need a pretty copy of Menander, complete with all the fragments, go with Oxford's."

3.84 avg rating — 219 ratings

"Bloom lists ON THE SUBLIME by "Longinus," a classical bit of lit crit with the wrong authorial name slapped on it. This anthology puts it together with some REPUBLIC bits, POETICS and Horace's ARS POETICA."

3.63 avg rating — 91 ratings

"Bloom lists Callimachus' HYMNS and EPIGRAMS but doesn't specify a translation. This is pretty much the only option and it's great b/c Lombardo knows his stuff."

3.70 avg rating — 137 ratings

"Burton Raffel appears again and again as translator throughout all the appendices because he's translated from nearly every language that's ever existed. It's insane. And he's consistently brilliant to read, especially for the non-specialist. Get to know Raffel and your experience of world literature will be greatly heightened. This slim volume is his lovely treatment of a host of Greek lyric poets from the Archaic period thru the Byzantine middle ages. Praised by none other than Robert Fagles, and with an intro by none other than Guy Davenport."

3.84 avg rating — 726 ratings

"This is not Bloom's recommended translation of the IDYLLS; he lists the Canadian poet Daryl Hine's renditions, long out of print. If you can't get your hands on the Hine, I highly recommend Verity. Read them slowly and aloud. This is the birth of bucolic verse. For fans of Wordsworth and Coleridge."

4.10 avg rating — 6,050 ratings

"Bloom lists the indispensable Plutarch's LIVES in the classic Dryden translation from the late 1600's, which Modern Library has in two volumes. Dryden's prose is immaculate and clear, not ornamented or purple like so many other early modern English prose stylists after him. That said, you might want to try out more current translations if Restoration-era prose is not your thing."

4.21 avg rating — 306 ratings

"Bloom lists Plutarch's MORALIA with no translator. Plutarch was the premiere Greek 'essayist' of the ancient world and this selection of his moral essays from Penguin is good fare. If you want something briefer, try the Penguin Great Ideas volume IN CONSOLATION TO HIS WIFE."

4.05 avg rating — 129,138 ratings

"Bloom lists FABLES under "Aesop" with no translation suggested. This edition is the one to get, unless you want a kid's picture book. Read the first fable of this edition to get a sense of how un-childish the fables actually can be."

4.08 avg rating — 156 ratings

"Blooms lists Lucian's SATIRES with no translation recommended. I have trouble committing to just one edition. Lucian is sort of the Mark Twain or Jonathan Swift of Ancient Greece: he's extremely witty, sardonic and hilarious at his best. Like Plato, you want your Lucian in English to just sound right. This edition, for me, nearly nails it, and the selection and organization of the book is wonderful. For the absolute best translations, in my opinion, dig up H. W. Fowler's from about 100 years ago."

3.79 avg rating — 48 ratings

"Appendix A's THE ROMANS starts here with Plautus. Bloom lists no translator and only four plays, which is more than enough. They are PSEUDOLUS, THE ROPE, THE BRAGGART SOLDIER and AMPHITRYON. The first two are in this edition, translated by the same dude who did Lucian on this list. Also, the title work, TWINS, is sort of Plautus' best, so I'm not sure why Bloom skipped it. All in all, Plautus is funny, pretty much an adapter of Mendander. Nothing life-altering."

3.44 avg rating — 18 ratings

"AMPHITRYON is listed under Plautus in Appendix A but with no translation suggestion. This one's fine."

3.73 avg rating — 586 ratings

"And BRAGGART is in this edition, rounding off our Bloom-Plautus shelf. This edition is really vibrant though maybe makes a bit too much of Plautus' significance to Shakespeare. Just my opinion."

3.80 avg rating — 1,397 ratings

"Bloom lists three Terence plays, all of which are in this volume. No translation specified. They are GIRL FROM ANDROS, THE EUNUCH and THE MOTHER-IN-LAW. Terence is more genteel than Plautus and also the first African author on record. (Terence was Roman citizen from what's today Algeria. His ethnicity is unknown.)"

3.97 avg rating — 14,376 ratings

"If you want Lucretius in prose, go for it. But you're being lame. (Actually, this edition's prose is quite poetic at times. Just not as good as Esolen.)"

3.83 avg rating — 1,199 ratings

"Bloom lists one work under Cicero's name, ON THE GODS, no translation cited. This relatively new translation by Walsh is fluid, eloquent, poised, has force, and has the rhythm the periods just right. Cicero's most compelling philosophical treatise -- though he is more of a conductor or communicator (of Greek ideas) than an originator -- GODS is a frank meditation on whether or not extra-human divinity exists and in what manner and what the implications are if yes or if no. Compared to other classical prose writers and essayists, Cicero is way more approachable and frank, if wordy. He wrote more than any other author from Greece or Rome, and nearly all of it has always been in print. Between Penguin and Oxford, you have it all. His legal/persuasive orations are, many feel, the height of the art; his Philippics against Mark Antony are justly legendary. AN ATTACK ON AN ENEMY OF FREEDOM is a good quick taste."

4.05 avg rating — 1,148 ratings

"Bloom lists under Horace the ODES in this edition by Michie. Don't know how else to say it: it's perfect. Facing Latin gives you a chance to catch the original sound and rhythm(Latin like Italian is completely phonetic), if not the meaning. Luckily there are beautiful English versions across the fold. The W. H. Auden blurb on the cover says it all."

3.76 avg rating — 131 ratings

"The other works Bloom lists are here, and he has no translation selected, so go to town. His Epistles include the ARS POETICA, his poem-treatise on what makes good language art. Here it's rendered in prose, and excellently, all the better to get its earnest advice across, advise to writers, with a compelling and humble (from the greatest lyric poet in the Latin language) arguments about what art should be, and how the artist should produce it. It's still pretty mindblowing. Just read 25-75, a page and a half. Language and its usage never changes, yet that's all it does. If Lucretius conveyance of wisdom is radical, thrilling and overpowering, Horace's is balanced, engaging and lucid. He may be the most 'familiar' of Roman writers."

3.64 avg rating — 74 ratings

"Merwin again. Remember, don't hesitate when you see his name. Bloom recommends this translation. Enjoy. Persius is a bit more biting than Horace when it comes to satire; he was living in a more biting time, you could say, with Nero on the throne."

4.10 avg rating — 11,487 ratings

"#2 translation, in my book, and very different from Gregory's, more crisp and cutting than sinuous and shocking. But Catullus is all of these, so both translations only complement each other. As for the other poet-translators Bloom mentions, you'll usually find some Catullus in those poets' own works, often anthologized. Crashaw and Cowley were contemporary with Milton, Landor with Shelley. Which reminds me..."

4.13 avg rating — 186 ratings

"BUY THIS. 1,200 pages. An amazing monument of UK poetry from Old English to today. Including the guys we just talked about. It's arranged by year, too, not poet, so you're reading a flow of works by overlapping writers as time goes on. A novel way to arrange it all and it makes for compelling reading. Yeah. Technically, I guess you could say it spans late Appendix A thru the end of Appendix D and beyond. All English lyric poets in the Appendices are included. So, if you're a completist, feel confident that you can check off all the 'minor' lesser-known ones."

3.87 avg rating — 141,642 ratings

"The peak of Latin literature is Virgil's AENEID, the language's answer to the Homeric epics, both in excellence of style and power of content. Bloom recommends this now classic translation and, yep, it's pretty unassailable. The same translation is available in HC from Everyman's Library, if you want a snazzier looking shelf."

3.90 avg rating — 3,221 ratings

"So Bloom recommends the classic Dryden translations, like he did with Plutarch. It'll be tough to find Dryden's ECLOGUES and GEORGICS standalone, but they're public domain so you can dig them up. Dryden's AENEID is available as a Penguin Classic. Anyway, for Virgil's earlier non-epic work, I recommend Dave Ferry, incidentally the Gilgamesh poet/translator Bloom recommended at the very start of this appendix."

3.73 avg rating — 2,500 ratings

"Wonderful version of what's considered by many to be his greatest work: a pastoral almanac in shimmering Latin verse. Learn how to keep bees and learn how bees = existence."

3.92 avg rating — 1,620 ratings

"Bloom lists Lucan's PHARSALIA, which is often translated as CIVIL WAR. No translator specified. That's fine, because the Fox edition is all you need. Before this came out, all the Lucan I found in English was either uncomfortably tortuous or just plain scattershot-sounding. THIS version, by the great Fagles' protege, carries power, drive, and Lucanian wit in spades. This epic, Latin's number two martial epic behind Virgil's, is under-appreciated, and this version of it can't be famous enough."

4.10 avg rating — 77,344 ratings

"Ok, same thing here as with Virgil. Bloom's rec is great but I have to stump for Mandelbaum once more. METAMORPHOSES is an epic poem that's really an anthology of greco-roman myths. To catch the narrative drive and the wondrous imagery takes chops, and Mandelbaum gives us a tour de force. I was hooked from the first rhyme: 'metamorphoses' with 'are the source of these.' It's slick like that. Accept no (modern) substitutes."

3.71 avg rating — 7,403 ratings

"Ovid's erotic love poetry. Bloom lists THE ART OF LOVE without any translator. Take your pick."

4.12 avg rating — 3,765 ratings

"Bloom lists HEROIDES and names Daryl Hine again as poet/translator. This time, his edition is available, if only barely. "

4.04 avg rating — 688 ratings

"Ovid has a lot more worthy stuff, by the way, than what Bloom lists. Try out this POEMS OF EXILE volume. Powerful late-in-life stuff from the naughty, popular, jocular titan of Latin poetry as he rotted in backwater exile near the Black Sea, which was like Emperor Augustus' Gulag Archipelago. Fun times."

3.89 avg rating — 2,850 ratings

"Bloom lists Juvenal's SATIRES, no translator. Stick with this one. Juvenal can be absurdly angry one second, then fleet and articulate and proper the next. He's got a touch of the 'Falling Down' about him. His satires' are the most vicious Rome has to offer."

4.01 avg rating — 955 ratings

"The work and translation Bloom recommends. Martial's EPIGRAMS are more than done justice by Michie, who also gave us a spectacular Horace."

3.98 avg rating — 523 ratings

"Under Seneca, Bloom says Tragedies, "particularly MEDEA and HERCULES FURENS, as translated by John Heywood." Another suggestion to go with a classic translation of a classic, but for the life of me I can't find any sign of Thomas Heywood having translated Seneca. However there was a JASPER Heywood who did so, a generation earlier, mid-sixteenth century. But good luck finding it. I believe both of them appear in that huge English Poetry anthology I recommended earlier in the list. Anyway, in the lack of Heywoods, try this contemporary edition, which has both plays Bloom lists and several others."

4.16 avg rating — 44,318 ratings

"What Bloom doesn't list is any of Seneca's prose, which throws me a bit b/c his plays are generally thought of as derivative and his letters and essays are held up as masterpieces of Latin composition. He shares that distinction with Cicero, only, where C is more florid and wordy, S is spare and minimalist, which can give his writing immediacy. (For centuries, English writers adapted 'Ciceronian' and 'Senecan' style into their writing, as the two poles of how one could compose. English has been profoundly effected by both Romans.) This little volume has a great sampling of S's best philosophical musings. "

3.78 avg rating — 9,565 ratings

"Bloom recommends Arrowsmith's SATYRICON and it's still the funniest, most accessible reading edition."

3.85 avg rating — 16,967 ratings

"Just like with SATYRICON, Bloom recommends the standard, awesome translation of THE GOLDEN ASS by novelist Robert Graves, author of I, CLAUDIUS. Graves is another name to always look for when it comes to translations."

3.96 avg rating — 9,814 ratings

"Apuleius is Bloom's final entry under Roman literature and then we're off to the Middle Ages. (See Part II of this list.) Before we go, though, I'm dropping in a few more brilliant nonfictional prose works from some of Latin's best and brightest. Livy is something approaching the Roman Herodotus. His AB URBE CONDITUM is a prose epic history of the Eternal City from its mythic/legendary foundation to Livy's day (1st century AD). It's available in excellent translations from Penguin Classics in four volumes. The first and third are the most exciting and interesting. Basically, if you like Roman history, ancient writers and Herodotus' Histories, you'll love Livy."

3.99 avg rating — 9,254 ratings

"It's even more odd that Tacitus didn't make it into Appendix A. He's celebrated as the ancient world's premier historian, even above Herodotus, and one of the Latin language's greatest practitioners. I recommend the slightly older translation by one of the world's great classicists, Michael Grant (RIP). Newer Tacitus editions just don't have the certainty of this volume, and Grant ate, slept and breathed Tacitus for many many years. You can't be in better hands than Grants's when reading about ancient history or literature."

4.02 avg rating — 22,471 ratings

"Grant introduces and Robert Graves translates Suetonius' gossip-column-ish book of biographies THE TWELVE CAESARS. Don't even consider getting a different version, it's pointless."

3.99 avg rating — 584 ratings

"Like Livy and Herodotus, Pliny the Elder is a quirky joy to read, more storyteller than scientific historian, which is to say: sometimes inaccurate but always entertaining. This is an ancient encyclopedia, so you'll read about everything from giraffes to quartz. It's a miscellany that's occasionally reminiscent of Burton's ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY."

4.28 avg rating — 333,418 ratings

"And this omission must have been a mistake. Marcus Aurelius' MEDITATIONS is one of the most powerful, moving, comforting and fascinating books from the ancient world, written in Greek by the emperor who saw the long, painful decline of the Rome begin. Go with this edition: there are many out there but this one is clear and well-edited. You really don't need apparatus, just pick it up (skip the first few pages maybe) and just listen to what the sage emperor has to say about living life and the meaning of it."