Amores: Essential Latin Love Poetry

Love, or amor as the Romans called it, is universal. Time has not diminished the ability of ancient love poems to speak to every reader who has loved and lost. The authors featured in this volume of amores (love affairs) — Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, Sulpicia, and Ovid — have left us an enduring legacy and record of their passions, joys and sorrows, loves and losses, faithfulness and betrayal. Their poems were written during the latter half of the 1st century BCE and the early years of the 1st century CE when love poetry reached its climax in Rome. This selection of poems, which is meant for the general reader and assumes little to no knowledge of ancient literature, is by no means comprehensive. These pieces, presented here in chronological order, provide an overview of the evolution of this literary genre through works that are the most universal, celebrated, and interesting for the modern reader. The translations are as faithful to the original texts as possible while also ensuring that the beauty of the poems is not sacrificed. This volume focuses on the pleasure of reading, and, hopefully, will whet the reader’s appetite for more Latin love poetry.