I apologize if there is already a post about this (this would be my first post in a while).
I am looking for an extensive anthology of literature in Latin. Less of a “learner’s selection of texts” and more of a “this is basically what is worth reading in Latin” kind of thing. Does such a thing exist?
I come from a background in Classical Chinese, and they have these large anthologies which are basically created with the assumption that you will have a good (or at least fundamental) classical education after reading them. (The volume of their preserved literature, of course, far surpasses what we have left of Latin and Greek, so that may be one reason why they did that.)
I am perfectly aware that this may not be the right approach towards classical literature, especially with the idea of the “fixed canon” being criticized more and more in recent years, but such an anthology would help me immensely, seeing that I am not majoring in Classics and don’t have a teacher at hand to tell me what I need to read. I have already a certain amount of Latin under my belt (a smattering of Quintilian, Pliny the Younger, Catullus, and the things I read a long time ago in high school) but it is almost wholly random and doesn’t satisfy my urge for comprehensive, guided reading.
I have already browsed through some university curricula, but they seem to differ quite a lot. Readers’ anthologies are also somewhat lacking (Wheelock includes only several authors, while a certain intermediate reader whose name I can’t remember only focuses on obscure authors for some reason). On the other hand, the Loebs are perfectly copious, but I can’t just read all the Loebs.
Is there such a comprehensive anthology? In the lack of one, a list would help.
I don’t think there is any such anthology. You could go to the website of a major classics department and look at the reading requirements for PhD candidates (not just the curriculum). That would keep you busy for a long time.
I know this probably is not very helpful, but this reminded me of something that the 16th century Flemish scholar Justus Lipsius wrote about the question of which authors to read:
Utinam ea copia scriptorum hodie, ut iure ambigua haberi haec lis possit! Pauci relicti veteres: Quis controvert quin ii legendi omnes sint?
If you happen to read German, I recommend Michael von Albrecht’s “Die römische Literatur in Text und Darstellung”, which was published by Reclam. This is an overview of ancient Latin literature from the very beginnings up to the 6th century AD and will give you a good overview of the important authors and genres.
If you decide to make up your own reading list, a good idea might be to start by reading one work from each of the major genres (epic poetry, history, philosophy, comedy, elegy, and so on).
If you don’t mind French footnotes and introductions, Les Lettres latines by Morisset and Thévenot is a nice anthology. There is a 1-vol. edition, which is around 1300 pages long. It is a thick book but the format remains very convenient (just slightly bigger than a Penguin book, if you see what I mean).
I’m not sure it’s in print anymore but it was (is?) standard reading for advanced students and second-hand copies are not too hard to find (got mine years ago for 10€).
Thank you, this is indeed quite close to the thing I’m looking for! I can’t read French, but the selections are what’s important (and there’s always Google Translate.. )
You seem to be well aware about the difficulties involved in selecting pieces for such an anthology and the instability of any “canonic” list so we need not dwell too much on that.
Grant has chosen these translations as “those which seem to me, in their own right and in our own day, comprehensible and enjoyable”. Presumably he also though this selection was worth reading in Latin too! In any event it is always useful to see what past generations made of the texts we read. You could use the book as a manageable guide to your reading. You can easily find all the Latin texts on line.
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