THE PORTABLE ROMAN READER

Not to know Roman history is not to know one of the great historic dramas"" says as Davenport in his introduction to this new Portable. Rome gave us a conception of the rights of man, of the Law of Nations. Rome left us a heritage of literature that helps us reconstruct a comprehensive picture, and Basil Davenport has chosen from the available material, extracts from this literature that makes the reader recognize the enormous vitality of the writers. Included are passages from each of the four main periods and names we all knew well in school and college days take on fresh significance: (1) Plautus, Terence, Lucretius, Caesar, Cicero, Catullus; (2) Virgil, Horace, Livy, Ovid; (3) Seneca, Lucan, Petronius, Tacitus, Juvenal; (4) Apuleus, Saint Augustine, Boethius. An interesting experiment- and a challenging one.