12 h 12 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 12 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Hear Rome change its voice, from the rough beginnings of Latin verse to the hymns of the late empire.
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse gathers Roman poetry in its own language, arranged in the order of its time. Editor H. W. Garrod leads you from early fragments shaped by Greek models through Rome’s great age of poetry and onward into the late empire.
Along the way, soldiers and farmers share the page with lovers, satirists and Christian hymn writers. Lucretius explores nature and atoms in his long poem on the nature of things. Across the selections, farms, rivers and seasons return, letting you trace familiar images through a changing poetic world.
What you’ll discover
- A journey through time Follow Latin verse from its earliest scraps to the poetry of the late empire.
- Nature in verse Meet Lucretius as he turns his long poem toward nature and atoms.
- Fields, rivers and seasons Discover the countryside as a recurring presence across the work of Roman poets.
- Many kinds of voices Move among the worlds of soldiers, farmers, lovers, satirists and Christian hymn writers.
- The sound of Latin Read slowly aloud and give the poems room to reveal their sounds.
Who will love it
Readers who love a bright poem read aloud, and who are curious about Roman love, grief, farm life, gods, and jokes, will find a rich companion here.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Verse serves the needs of life
- Ennius gives Rome a poetic memory
- Understanding can loosen the grip of fear
- Catullus gives private feeling exact words
- Fields and ordinary days become art
- Love becomes a world of service
- Ovid makes love playful and exposed
- Later voices keep the forms alive
- Many forms carry distinct human voices
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Oxford Book of Latin Verse in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse
Love and hate stir Catullus, wine flows for Horace, and Ovid writes in exile.
Medium level10–20 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What do a prayer to the war god Mars, a love poem about a lost heart, and a letter from a man exiled to the edge of the known world have in common? They are all Latin verse, and they all sit in this book.
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse at a glance
- Reading time
- About 10 h 10 min8 h 5 min fast, 12 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 145,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Latin verse begins with prayers, charms, and tombs
The book opens with scraps that Romans sang long before there was any literature. The hymns of the Salii invoke the gods. The Arval Brotherhood chant repeats its petitions three times as the singers beg Mars to keep blight and ruin away.
Short charms follow, and they are practical. One asks the earth to hold a disease, so that health may stay in the feet of a man with gout. A lullaby of a few repeated words tells a child to sleep.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-latin-verse.
The Oxford book of Latin verse. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-latin-verse
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-latin-verse.
@book{anonymous2026oxford,
title = {The Oxford Book of Latin Verse},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-oxford-book-of-latin-verse}
}
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What is The Oxford Book of Latin Verse about?
It is an anthology of Latin poetry arranged by date, from the earliest hymns and charms of Rome to poets of about 500 A.D. It includes epic, tragedy, love poems, epitaphs, and epigrams, followed by English translations.
Which poets are in The Oxford Book of Latin Verse?
It includes Ennius, Lucretius, Catullus, Vergil, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Sulpicia, Ovid, Seneca, Statius, Martial, Ausonius, Claudian, and many lesser-known or anonymous writers, each with a few poems or longer selections.
Is the book easy to approach for a new reader?
Yes, because the poems are short, arranged by date, and set under clear headings. You can read a single epitaph, a love poem, or a farm scene, then move on to the next.
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