The Poems

Cicero's poetry has often been adversely, but unfairly criticised on the basis of the unfortunate line "O fortunam natam ne consule Roman". But this book argues there is much to admire in his translations from Homer, from Greek tragedy and especially from the "Phaenomena" of Aratus which influenced Virgil's use of that poem in the "Georgics". Cicero's hexameter verse, which is closely analyzed in this edition, marks a stage in the development of Latin metre, midway between Lucretius and Virgil. This edition was first published in 1933 and collects together all of the surviving lines and provides a full introduction and commentary.