Macrobii Ambrosii Theodosii Saturnalia (Oxford University Press)

The Saturnalia, Macrobius' encyclopaedic celebration of Roman culture, has been prized since the Renaissance as a treasure trove of ancient lore, much of it otherwise unattested. Cast in the form of a dialogue and arranged (by modern editors) in seven books, it treats subjects as diverse as the divinity of the Sun and the quirks of human digestion, and above all the poetry of Vergil, whom it presents as the master of all human knowledge, from diction and rhetoric to philosophy and religion. This new edition provides a significantly improved text and critical apparatus.