Introducing the work of 20 of the ancient world's greatest authors, this work presents brief, readable essays, fully illustrated with quotations from modern (and some ancient) translations. The writers covered include Homer, Sappho, Herodotus, the Greek tragedians, the comic poets, sexy and subtle love poets such as Catullus, and vicious but witty satirists like Martial and Juvenal.

Peter Jones is co-founder of The Friends of Classics and one of the best-known figures in the teaching and appreciation of the Classics, a regular contributor to national newspapers and the author of many books and articles.