Fragments of Roman Poetry c.60 BC-AD 20

Book excerpt: This book aims to fill in the literary history of the greatest period of Latin poetry, about 60 BC to AD 20. Catullus (by a slender thread) has survived, but later contemporaries valued his friend Calvus just as highly; comparison of the two reveals an extraordinarily close relationship. Horace mentions Varius Rufus in the same breath as Virgil. Adrian Hollis prints fragments of up to thirty poets, with an individual introduction and a translation for each. Almost every genre of ancient poetry is represented, from heroic epic to scurrilous lampoon. Hollis's commentary, fuller and richer than any yet published, contains many new ideas. In some cases (such as Varius Rufus) the fragments illumine the history of this period, which saw the collapse of the Roman Republic and establishment of the Augustan Empire. Taken together, these fragmentary texts enable us better to appreciate surviving great poets such as Catullus and Virgil.