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Greetings, I am returning after a long absense. I want to know what is everyones favorite Roman text and/or your favorite author or Poet. I will kick things off. My favorite Roman Text, even though it is a pain to translate, would have to be the First Catilinian Oration by Cicero. My favorite Roman author is Livy for his works on Roman history, and my favorite poet is Martial for his magnificent usage of cynicism throughout his lines.
"Freedom was at stake- freedom, which whets the courage of brave men"- Titus Livius
Nil recitas et vis, Mamerce, poeta videri.
Quidquid vis esto, dummodo nil recites!- Martial
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My try is for a novel: The Golden Donkey (?) from Apuleius.
Another option is Plauto's Miles Gloriosus.
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My favourite author is Plutarque for all of his works, my favourite text is the Church history of Eusebius, and my favourite poet is the author(s?) of Sibylline Oracles.
a.k.a. Yuriy Mitin
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I am not generally fond of Greco-Roman literature - it is too contrived for my taste. Give me Biblical epic any time. But I will make a happy exception for Martialis and Juvenal, and Petronius.
Nonetheless, my favourites are strictly speaking nonfiction writers, Athenaios of Naucratis (Deipnosophists) and Pliny the Elder (Natural History). They are so much more fun to read than any poet I have yet come across.
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!
Volker Bach
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I do not remember an ancient author that has shocked me like, for example, a modern novel like Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Still, I like almost every ancient author, one of my favorites being Appian of Alexandria.
Jona Lendering
Relevance is the enemy of history
My website
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The Satyricon of Petronias. I've always preferred disreputable lowlifes to heroes, and it's our only good source for how the lower orders (even the rich lower orders) really talked.
Pecunia non olet
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catallus..........and his little bird :lol: people who speak conversational latin will understand the double meaning :wink: .
I also like caesar, and Plautus especially Trinummus.
I don't really know if I like greek authors because I don't read greek, and I prefer to read works in their original language when possible. however, I do enjoy homer, and subsequently Vergilius.
aka., John Shook
Being a fan of mythology, Ovid's Metamorphoses have got to be my favorite bit of Roman literature. It is probably the definitive work of original Roman mythology. Granted some of his tales are either taken from the Greeks or added upon Greek myth, most of it is pretty original.
I love it.
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For historical purposes I love Pliny's history of painting, for obvious reasons and Vitruvius' ten books on architecture.
For poety, no contest, Ovid's Metamorphoses, or Juvenal's satires.
For just pure enjoyment and more of a byzantine flavor, Procopius' Secret History. Makes 'Desperate Housewives' look like 'Leave it to Beaver'
Travis
Update:
OH my heck!! how could I forget to make a plug for Cosmas Indicopleustes!! Duh!
Theodoros of Smyrna (Byzantine name)
aka Travis Lee Clark (21st C. American name)
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Let's see, I'd have to say that my favorite author from Roman times is most definitely Suetonius. His Twelve Caesars is very animated, full of funny anecdotes and conveys a lot of history. As far as poetry goes, nobody can go wrong with Catullus (I have an examination on his poetry this morning). His poems are rather dirty, crude, and vulgar, but a hoot to read. I'm also a big fan of Virgil's Aeneid just because of the blending of The Odyssey and The Iliad into one work. Plus the references to events that have happened in Rome at the time is really fun to look at (even though it was written after most of them, obviously).
Also, the plays by Plautus and Terence are also fun to read, especially The Haunted House, which is right up there in vulgarity as Catullus.
Just a thought!
Gaius Tertius Severus "Terti" / Trey Starnes
"ESSE QUAM VIDERE"
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Hmmm...I'd have to pick Caesar's and his Commentaries as one of my favorite author and works.
aka: Julio Peña
Quote:"audaces Fortuna iuvat"
- shouted by Turnus in Virgil\'s Aeneid in book X just before he is utterly destroyed by Aeneas\' Trojans.
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Khairete,
In the literary field, I would have to say that the Greeks dominated over the Romans.
My favorite Roman author is Virgil.
My favorite Roman poet is, predictably, Virgil.
My favorite text is 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius.
Khairete,
-Aedon
Felix Lucini
It will not be long before you have forgotten all the world, and in a little time all the world will have forgotten you.
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Guess it should not come as a surprise that a pastor would choose a Patristic theologian as his favorite Latin writer. I enjoy Augustine, of course, but would single out QUINTUS SEPTIMIUS FLORENS TERTULLIANUS as my favorite. Like many authors who flourished around AD 200, he wrote in both Greek and Latin. Tertullian was the son of a centurion in the proconsular service.
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