We all know to start with the Greeks. Well, I finished the Greeks (or at least as much of the Greeks as I care to read: much of Plato and Aristotle, Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, various Pre-Socratics and Sophists, I'm done with the Greeks for now).
Does anyone have a good guide for getting into Roman literature? I'd like to keep up this momentum by getting into the Romans. Obviously I know the big shit (Vergil, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, etc.), but outside of that I don't know much about Roman literature/philosophy/history. Something like pic related, with a rough ordering, recommended translations, and a brief description would be ideal. But anything would be welcome really, I just want to start reading some Roman literature.
You are just now starting to scratch the surface of the Greeks. If you want to be able to understand the Romans, you are going to need to continue with the Greeks for a bit longer.
Don't be so reliant on charts and the likes, do your own research into Roman literature and you can devise your own reading plan with ease.
Pick a narrative history of Rome
Pick some poetry that you want to read
Pick a philosophical work that you want to read
Pick a play
Pick a history
Or just research a bit and read what interests you; not everything has to be ordered
>>7465182
Here's an example (My Roman Plan so far, I'm not choosing everything at once, I'll add more as my Roman interests grow; there's no point in buying every Stoic work if I find I have no interest in Stoicism for example):
History of Ancient Rome - Simon Merchant(?)
The Aeneid - Virgil (Fitzgerald Translation)
The Metamorphoses - Ovid (Mandelbaum Translation)
The Histories - Polybius (Waterfield(?) Translation)
Commentaries on the Gallic War - Julius Caesar
Parallel Lives - Plutarch (Dryden Translation)
I'm not going to make a chart but I'll just kick you off with some big ones.
Vergil as you said. He doesn't have that many works, and reading all of it is worthwhile. Oxford World Classics has a good edition of Eclogues and Georgics, and for Aeneid I recommend the Fitzgerald translation.
Ovid is probably next in importance, Metamorphoses by far the most important. The Penguin or Oxford should be fine for this, but there isn't a really "great" translation out there. His love poetry is also great and worth reading, as are his Heroides.
Horace next, again he doesn't have that many works so you might as well read it all. I recommend Oxford again.
If you want something other than poetry, try reading Caesar's writings and some Cicero. Gallic wars best for Caesar, Cicero you can read some prosecution speeches, maybe his book on the gods, some family letters. Just get a smattering. I don't really have a preferred translation. Suetonius' Twelve Caesars is also important, but if you want to know and understand the history you'd be better off with a modern book. This is more for cultural understanding (though it will of course give you most of the history too)
That's generally the most important stuff, and what I'd recommend starting with. I don't know or care too much about Roman plays or philosophy.
Further reading: back to Poetry. Catullus, Propertius, Lucretius, Lucan, Statius are my favourites not mentioned above. Again all have few works so can be read complete. I actually hate Lucretius but he's pretty important and mentioned by a lot of writers so mentioned here. Lucan and Statius are much later than the others, but still good. More popular in the medieval period than they are now.
For history Tacitus is the next best. Agricola is a good read on Britain, but it's all good.
Feel free to ask me any questions
Just start with aeneide, pharsalia, satyricon and ovidio or de rerum natura from lucretius, something from seneca and something from aurelio. This could be a noice start
>>7464834
There is a tide in the affairs of men
>>7465182
Man, but I don't know shit about it. Why would I be the best authority on what the best history of Rome is, or which philosophical work I'd be most interested in? I appreciate what you're saying, it's lame to be dependent on lists and charts, but I'd rather have guidance from someone who knows what they're talking about than trust myself.
>>7465182
>>7466492
>>7464834
I agree with OP, it´s very helpful to get ideas for which to read and which not to read from people who have read through it. Then we do our research keeping in mind what guise with xp told us and make our own decisions based on all the wisdom we got from the interweb and such
nigger fucking google. what is with /lit/ needing basic shit being spoofed. look at bloom's list. read it chronologically if you're autistic (you are). google translations. search wikipedia for descriptions.
>>7467027
You never have to many opinions you ignorant fucktard, now let us be and go back to your miserable life.
>>7467060
*tips fedora*
>>7464834
Start with Wheelock you fucking faggot.
>>7467871
Already studying Latin in university, though we're using Shelmerdine. Still, the English I translate it into in my head will not be better than what professionals would be doing in a good translation. And I won't be able to read without doing a translation for longer than I care to wait.
>>7465825
Thanks!
>>7465201
This is all really helpful. I might have more questions later, but for now I'll ask, is there a good modern history of the Romans that you would recommend? I read Brief History of Ancient Greece before I started into Greek literature and I thought it was really helpful to start with something like that. Anything similar for the Romans that would give a good, neutral overview? Especially one which focuses on social and cultural history would be awesome.
Otherwise, all the rest were great suggestions, thank you.
>>7467018
ding ding
>>7468729
Tom Holland has a couple books (Rubicon and Dynasty) that cover from late Republic up until the 5th emperor which are very readable and enjoyable. This is the most important/interesting period, and covers the period pretty much all the writers you're going to read lived in. You might want to read about late empire, but you could probably leave that for later.
The other book that might be good is Mary Beard has just written a book called SPQR, which I haven't read yet, but she's a very good and readable classicist. The book is supposed to cover the entire history of the western roman empire I believe, so it's probably a bit briefer than Tom Holland but it might be more suitable. Narrative histories like these are probably much better than a textbook for your purposes. Mary Beard would probably have more of a focus on social and cultural history, though there is generally less of this in roman histories than later stuff as we just know less about it.
>>7468729
For a good narrative history, go for Ancient Rome by Simon Baker. It goes from the Rise to the Fall, and has chapters focusing on key times and emperors. It also had a great Further Reading section, which has advice for secondary and primary sources.
>>7469020
Excellent, thank you.
I would really recommend Plautus plays, and amphitruo over all of them
What's are the best translations of Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days?
