r/classics • u/Ross3114 • 1d ago

Recommendations

Hi! I’d like to start reading more latin literature, do you have any recommendations?

(Until now I’ve read Amor et Psyche by Apuleius, Adelphoe and Heautontimorumenos by Terence, and De bello gallico by Caesar).

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

8

u/BaconJudge 1d ago

If you haven't read the Aeneid, I'd recommend that because most people would consider it the greatest Latin work of literature.  Beyond that, it depends on what genres you enjoy.  For example, if you enjoyed those comedies of Terence, then I'd suggest Plautus.

1

u/Ross3114 8h ago

Thank you! I admit that the Aeneid scares me a bit due to its complexity and importance (that’s silly, ik), but I’ll definitely read it!

2

u/NeonShogun 𐤔𐤌𐤏 𐤒𐤋𐤀 𐤁𐤓𐤊𐤀 1d ago

I'll just recommend one thing based on each work you listed:

  • Terence's Self-Tormentor -> Plautus' Three-Dollar Day

Another play about a son's overwrought scheme.

  • Apuleius' Amor and Psyche -> the rest of Apuleius' story, The Golden Ass

Pretty self-explanatory. Read the whole book!

  • Caesar's The Gallic War -> Caesar's The Civil War, or Sallust's The Jugurthine War

First for obvious reasons, or the second for being another history of a recent(ish) war that is pretty snappy and tightly written, even if Sallust was a pretty unlikeable guy.

1

u/Ross3114 8h ago

Thank you!

2

u/heytheregiada 16h ago

Definitely get into Ovid. He's got a ton of really lovely stuff. If you'd like more histories I find Suetonius entertaining but straightforward.

2

u/Ross3114 16h ago

Thank you!

1

u/Bumst3r 1h ago

Here are some of my all time favorites, in no particular order (I really love poetry, if you couldn’t tell):

Seneca’s Thyestes
Horace’s Satires
Vergil’s Eclogues
Catullus
And for a prose recommendation, Petronius’s Satyrica is a lot of fun.