Livy (Titus Livius, 64 or 59 BC–AD 12 or 17), the great Roman historian, presents a vivid narrative of Rome’s rise from the traditional foundation of the city in 753 or 751 BC to 9 BC and illustrates the collective and individual virtues necessary to maintain such greatness. The fourth decad (31–40) focuses on Rome’s growing hegemony in the East.
Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica, composed between the late second and mid-fourth centuries AD, boldly adapts Homeric diction and style to fill in the story of the Trojan expedition between the end of the Iliad and the beginning of the Odyssey. This edition replaces the earlier Loeb Classical Library edition by A. S. Way (1913).
Seneca (ca. AD 4–65) authored verse tragedies that strongly influenced Shakespeare and other Renaissance dramatists. Plots are based on myth, but themes reflect imperial Roman politics. John G. Fitch has thoroughly revised his two-volume edition to take account of scholarship that has appeared since its initial publication.
