Epodes

The Epodes, with the first book of the Satires, were Horace's first published work. They consist of a collection of seventeen poems in different versions of the iambus, the metre traditionally associated with lampoon and in particular with the seventh-century Greek poet Archilochus. In none of Horace's works is his originality more brilliantly displayed than in this creative appropriation of a hitherto unexploited Greek genre.

David Mankin's introduction and commentary examines all aspects of Horace's relationship with his models and of the technical accomplishment of his verse; it also gives help with linguistic problems. His edition places the Epodes firmly in their literary and historical context: Rome at the time of its greatest crisis, the Civil War which ended the Republic and led to the establishment of the Principate.

. Students and scholars alike will welcome this commentary, only the second in any language since the 1930s and the only one providing a full and detailed interpretation in English.