Translation and Culture

We know almost nothing of the Roman author Lucretius, except that he gave to the world a didactic poem that is the oddest of ducks: a passionate, philosophic/scientific treatise that explains Epicurus's theory of atoms and touts reason and exacting knowledge of the way things are as antidotes to uncertainty and the fear of death. In six books that teeter between celebratory creation and total annihilation, its narrative is driven by pounding logic and determined pedagogical prodding. Studded as it is with vivid stories and meticulous observations of natural phenomena, The Nature of the Universe is an ancient work still able to grab hold of modern readers and not let go. As timely today as it was 2,000 years ago, it proves that the humanities and sciences can inspire and complete one another.

Rutenberg's adaptation of Seneca's Oedipus is the first translation of this Roman tragedy to interpolate excerpts from Seneca's moral philosophies into the text. This juxtaposition of Seneca's calm, rational thought with the passionate, highly theatrical language of his play creates an exciting synergy of powerful emotional and intellectual appeal. Seneca believes that human beings live at the whim of blind chance or divine will. He is interested in how we face a tragedy not of our own making, how we respond to something beyond our control. His central tenet is that we must try to accept suffering with dignity, grace, and mercy. This philosophy is as relevant today, in a world filled with repeated horrors against innocents, as it was in ancient times.

Rutenberg's adaptation of Seneca's Oedipus is the first translation of this Roman tragedy to interpolate excerpts from Seneca's moral philosophies into the text. This juxtaposition of Seneca's calm, rational thought with the passionate, highly theatrical language of his play creates an exciting synergy of powerful emotional and intellectual appeal. Seneca believes that human beings live at the whim of blind chance or divine will. He is interested in how we face a tragedy not of our own making, how we respond to something beyond our control. His central tenet is that we must try to accept suffering with dignity, grace, and mercy. This philosophy is as relevant today, in a world filled with repeated horrors against innocents, as it was in ancient times.

The trouble with reading history is that some earnest scholar has organized it into all the pertinent (and usually dreary) facts. Facts, like good bread, need a little yeast and perhaps a mite of salt to be palatable. History is a diary of humans, and even in the most somber human life funny things happen. The Romans made quite a splash in human history; and of course any bunch that hung around for twelve hundred years had its ironies, foibles, and grins.

Poet and Artist is a winning combination of a CD that features the Ogilby plates (included by John Dryden in his translation of the Aeneid) and a student edition of the AP* lines of Vergil's epic, complete with questions about Vergil's Latin masterpiece. By juxtaposing the images on the plates, the text of Vergil, and the useful questions to be used as guidelines, the authors have enabled students to increase their comprehension of the Latin passage and its textual details and to reflect more critically upon the text and the artist's canvas.

First Comprehensive History of Icaria in English

Anthony J. Papalas has assembled a true "peoples" history by bringing together unusual documents such as dowry agreements and Ottoman court records, memoirs, and accounts of Icaria by people who were involved in the events he describes, all interwoven with informative and perceptive descriptions from forty years of interviews with Icarians from all areas and conditions. Here is a history on the social level, not grand politics or great battles, but rather the everyday existence and immediate choices which, once made, shape succeeding events.

First Comprehensive History of Icaria in English

Anthony J. Papalas has assembled a true "peoples" history by bringing together unusual documents such as dowry agreements and Ottoman court records, memoirs, and accounts of Icaria by people who were involved in the events he describes, all interwoven with informative and perceptive descriptions from forty years of interviews with Icarians from all areas and conditions. Here is a history on the social level, not grand politics or great battles, but rather the everyday existence and immediate choices which, once made, shape succeeding events.

Touching tomb inscriptions from the ancients, in Greek and Latin, with English tranlsations.

Roman Imperial Coins is the final volume of Kevin Herbert's series on Greek and Roman coins.

A Roman Map Workbook meets the needs of today’s students and introduces them to the geography of Rome and the Roman world. Veteran high school and college Latin teacher Elizabeth Heimbach provides students, especially those studying Latin, with a thorough grounding in the geography of the Roman world. The workbook walks students through each map, discussing the importance of each place-name, making connections to Roman history and literature. The carefully chosen maps complement subjects and periods covered in the Latin and ancient history classroom.

Satura quidem tota nostra est Satire is altogether ours was the claim of the Roman Quintilian, the first century C.E. commentator on rhetorical and literary matters, for the literary world had not previously seen the likes of satire. Not for the faint of heart, satire is characterized by its wide-ranging themes, its tone that is sometimes humorous and distinctively biting, and its undeniable perspicacity. As an antidote to life's frustrations and human foibles, satire is the undisputed queen of genres.

Whether you're an armchair tourist, are visiting Rome for the first time, or are a veteran of the city's charms, travelers of all ages and stages will benefit from this fascinating guidebook to Rome's ancient monuments. Rome Alive describes the Site and Foundation of Rome, Walls and Aqueducts, the Capitoline Hill, the Roman Forum, the Upper Sacra Via, the Palatine Hill, the Colosseum Area, the Imperial Fora, the Campus Martius, the Forum Boarium and Aventine, and the Circus Maximus to Tomb of Scipios, all using the words of the ancients who knew them best. Aicher's commentary orients the visitor to each site's ancient significance. Photographs, maps, and floorplans abound, all making this a one-of-a-kind guide.