Series: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers

The second-century Greek physician Galen, the most famous doctor in antiquity after Hippocrates, is a central figure in Western medicine. A talented doctor, surgeon, writer, philosopher, teacher, pharmacologist, and inventor, Galen attended the court of Marcus Aurelius, living through outbreaks of plague (likely smallpox) that devastated the Roman Empire. He also served as a physician for professional gladiators, boasting that...

An entertaining and enlightening anthology of classical Greek and Roman writings on animals - and our vital relationships with them. How to Care about Animals is a fascinating menagerie of passages from classical literature about animals and the lives we share with them. Drawing on ancient writers from Aesop to Ovid, classicist and farmer M. D. Usher has gathered a...

There are times when we've all felt that we haven't been treated as we deserve—that we've been misjudged, shortchanged, or given a raw deal. And, at one time or another, other people have probably felt that we've treated them just as unfairly. How to Do the Right Thing draws on the principles of ancient Stoicism as articulated by the Roman...

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is one of the greatest guides to human flourishing ever written, but its length and style have left many readers languishing. How to Flourish is a carefully abridged version of the entire work in a highly readable and colloquial new translation by Susan Sauve Meyer that makes Aristotle's timeless insights about how to lead a good life...

Distraction isn't a new problem. We're also not the first to complain about how hard it is to concentrate. Early Christian monks beat us to it. They had given up everything to focus on God, yet they still struggled to keep the demons of distraction at bay. But rather than surrender to the meandering of their minds, they developed powerful...

In 63 BC, frustrated by his failure to be elected leader of the Roman Republic, the aristocrat Catiline tried to topple its elected government. Backed by corrupt elites and poor, alienated Romans, he fled Rome while his associates plotted to burn the city and murder its leading politicians. The attempted coup culminated with the unmasking of the conspirators in the...

Timeless techniques of effective public speaking from ancient Rome's greatest orator All of us are faced countless times with the challenge of persuading others, whether we're trying to win a trivial argument with a friend or convince our coworkers about an important decision. Instead of relying on untrained instinct—and often floundering or failing as a result—we'd win more arguments if...

What would Caligula do? What the worst Roman emperors can teach us about how not to lead If recent history has taught us anything, it's that sometimes the best guide to leadership is the negative example. But that insight is hardly new. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Suetonius wrote Lives of the Caesars, perhaps the greatest negative leadership book of all...

Whether you farm or garden, live in the country or long to move there, or simply enjoy an occasional rural retreat, you will be delighted by this cornucopia of writings about living and working on the land, harvested from the fertile fields of ancient Greek and Roman literature. An inspiring antidote to the digital age, How to Be a Farmer...

A splendid new translation of one of the greatest books on friendship ever written. In a world where social media, online relationships, and relentless self-absorption threaten the very idea of deep and lasting friendships, the search for true friends is more important than ever. In this short book, one of the greatest ever written on the subject, the famous Roman...

What are the secrets to a contented life? One of Rome's greatest and most influential poets, Horace (65-8 BCE), has been cherished by readers for more than two thousand years not only for his wit, style, and reflections on Roman society, but also for his wisdom about how to live a good life—above all else, a life of contentment in...

An irresistible anthology of ancient Greek writings that explore queer desire and love 'Eros, limb-loosening, whirls me about again, that bittersweet, implacable creature.' Sappho The idea of sexual fluidity may seem new, but it is at least as old as the ancient Greeks, who wrote about queer experiences with remarkable frankness, wit, and insight. How to Be Queer is an...

A spirited new translation of a forgotten classic, shot through with timeless wisdom Is there an art to drinking alcohol? Can drinking ever be a virtue? The Renaissance humanist and neoclassical poet Vincent Obsopoeus (ca. 1498-1539) thought so. In the winelands of sixteenth-century Germany, he witnessed the birth of a poisonous new culture of bingeing, hazing, peer pressure, and competitive...

A modern translation of the ancient Roman poet Ovid's Remedies for Love—a witty and irreverent work about how to fall out of love. Breakups are the worst. On one scale devised by psychiatrists, only a spouse's death was ranked as more stressful than a marital split. Is there any treatment for a breakup? The ancient Roman poet Ovid thought so....

A delicious feast of ancient Greek and Roman writings on living well by eating well Today, we're stuffed with dietary recommendations from every direction. Social media, advertising, food packaging, diet books, and doctors all have advice on what, how much, and when to eat. This would have been no surprise to ancient Greeks and Romans. Their doctors were intensely interested...

To give and receive well may be the most human thing you can do, but it is also the closest you can come to divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4 BCE–65 CE) in his longest and most searching moral treatise, On Benefits (De Beneficiis). James Romm's splendid new translation of essential selections from this work...

An engaging new translation of a timeless masterpiece about coping with the death of a loved one. In 45 BCE, the Roman statesman Cicero fell to pieces when his beloved daughter, Tullia, died from complications of childbirth. But from the depths of despair, Cicero fought his way back. In an effort to cope with his loss, he wrote a consolation...

Worried that old age will inevitably mean losing your libido, your health, and possibly your marbles too? Well, Cicero has some good news for you. In How to Grow Old, the great Roman orator and statesman eloquently describes how you can make the second half of life the best part of all - and why you might discover that reading...

When it comes to innovation and creative thinking, we are still catching up with the ancient Greeks. Between 800 and 300 BCE, they changed the world with astonishing inventions - democracy, the alphabet, philosophy, logic, rhetoric, mathematical proof, rational medicine, coins, architectural canons, drama, lifelike sculpture, and competitive athletics. None of this happened by accident. Recognising the power of the...

A vibrant new translation of Seneca's On the Shortness of Life, a pointed reminder to make the most of our time. Who doesn't worry sometimes that smartphones, the Internet, and TV are robbing us of time and preventing us from having a life? How can we make the most of our time on earth? In the first century AD, the...

Lively new translations of two classical works that offer wise advice about how to resist temptation. How to Have Willpower brings together two profound ancient meditations on how to overcome pressures that encourage us to act against our own best interests. Plutarch's essay, On Dysopia or How to Resist Pressure, and Prudentius's poetic allegory, Psychomachia or How to Slay Your...

Inviting new translations of classical Buddhist texts about why the self is an illusion and why giving it up can free us from suffering. From self-realisation and self-promotion to self-help and the selfie, the modern world encourages us to be self-obsessed. We are even told that finding ourselves is the key to happiness. Better to lose yourself! More than 2,500...

An entertaining and enlightening collection of ancient Roman writings about home design and decoration. The idea that our homes can communicate professional as well as personal identities may seem as new as the work-from-home revolution. But it was second nature to the ancient Romans, for whom the home was in many ways the centre of public and private life. Roman...

Timeless wisdom on controlling anger in personal life and politics from the Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman Seneca In his essay On Anger (De Ira), the Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4 BC-65 AD) argues that anger is the most destructive passion: 'No plague has cost the human race more dear.' This was proved by his own life, which he...

An enriching collection of classical writings about how ancient Romans made and thought about money Ancient Romans liked money. But how did they make a living and sometimes even become rich? The Roman economy was dominated by agriculture, but it was surprisingly modern in many ways: the Romans had companies with CEOs, shareholders, and detailed contracts regulated by meticulous laws;...

Along with Stoicism and Epicureanism, Skepticism is one of the three major schools of ancient Greek philosophy that claim to offer a way of living as well as thinking. How to Keep an Open Mind provides an unmatched introduction to skepticism by presenting a fresh, modern translation of key passages from the writings of Sextus Empiricus, the only Greek skeptic...

Explore the nature of love in this charming new translation of selections from Plato's great dramatic work, the Symposium. What is love? In poetry, songs, fiction, movies, psychology, and philosophy, love has been described, admired, lamented, and dissected in endless ways. Is love based on physical attraction? Does it bring out our better selves? How does it relate to sex?...

Can jokes win a hostile room, a hopeless argument, or even an election? You bet they can, according to Cicero, and he knew what he was talking about. One of Rome's greatest politicians, speakers, and lawyers, Cicero was also reputedly one of antiquity's funniest people. After he was elected commander-in-chief and head of state, his enemies even started calling him...

Aristotle's Poetics is the most important book ever written for writers and readers of stories—whether novels, short fiction, plays, screenplays, or nonfiction. Aristotle was the first to identify the keys to plot, character, audience perception, tragic pleasure, and dozens of other critical points of good storytelling. Despite being written more than 2,000 years ago, the Poetics remains essential reading for...

An accessible modern translation of essential speeches from Thucydides's History that takes readers to the heart of his profound insights on diplomacy, foreign policy, and war. Why do nations go to war? What are citizens willing to die for? What justifies foreign invasion? And does might always make right? For nearly 2,500 years, students, politicians, political thinkers, and military leaders...

An entertaining and enlightening collection of ancient writings about the philosophers who advocated simple living and rejected unthinking conformity. The Cynics were ancient Greek philosophers who stood athwart the flood of society's material excess, unexamined conventions, and even norms of politeness and thundered 'No!' Diogenes, the most famous Cynic, wasn't shy about literally extending his middle finger to the world,...

A vivid new translation of selections from an inspiring guide to self-transformation through kindness by an eighth-century Buddhist monkWritten by the medieval Indian Buddhist monk Shantideva, The Bodhicaryavatara is one of the most beloved and frequently taught works in Buddhism and a favourite of the Dalai Lama. An inspiring and powerful poem that uses a gripping, first-person, confessional voice, it...

A delightful Aztec work that has much to teach us about the value of giving thanks to our contemporaries, our elders, and our ancestors.Centuries before anyone ever thought of keeping a gratitude journal, the Aztecs understood the profound value of being grateful. For generations, specially trained Aztec public speakers presented traditional dialogues at marriages, births, funerals, government ceremonies, and other...

What do you do when your life has fallen apart? Fifteen hundred years ago, a Roman nobleman named Boethius (ca. 480-524 CE) asked this question as he was sitting in a prison cell waiting to die, accused probably unjustly of treason. Boethius had been a rich and powerful man with all a person could want in life, but now he...

A vivid and accessible new translation of Cicero's influential writings on the Stoic idea of the divine Most ancient Romans were deeply religious and their world was overflowing with gods - from Jupiter, Minerva, and Mars to countless local divinities, household gods, and ancestral spirits. One of the most influential Roman perspectives on religion came from a nonreligious belief system...

A new translation of the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness and how it can help us to be less controlled by our emotions.To feel is to suffer. But do we have to suffer as much as we do? Twenty-five hundred years ago, the Buddha discovered that practices of mindfully observing our feelings and emotions can help us gain some distance from...

Timeless political wisdom from ancient history's greatest statesman Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest statesman and orator, was elected to the Roman Republic's highest office at a time when his beloved country was threatened by power-hungry politicians, dire economic troubles, foreign turmoil, and political parties that refused to work together. Sound familiar? Cicero's letters, speeches, and other writings are filled with timeless...

Sports and philosophy went hand in hand for the ancient Greeks and Romans, and philosophical conversation was a recognised part of gym life throughout Greco-Roman antiquity. Athens's Lyceum was a gym and reportedly a hangout of that philosophical gym rat Socrates before it became the site of Aristotle's school. Fittingly, that gym is the setting of the Greek satirist Lucian's...

Does happiness come from the pursuit of pleasure or moral virtue? A vivid new translation of Cicero's exploration of a timeless question. 'Of course, we all want to be happy.' So wrote the Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. He and his fellow Greek and Roman philosophers agreed that the secret to happiness—or what they called the 'good...

Listening is a skill—even an art—and it's essential to learning and to life. Indeed, as Plutarch writes in How to Listen, "listening well is the foundation for living well". In this volume, Jeffrey Beneker presents a vivid and accessible new translation of Plutarch's classic essay about how to become a skilled listener, complete with an inviting introduction and the original...

Timeless advice on how to be a successful leader in any field The ancient biographer and essayist Plutarch thought deeply about the leadership qualities of the eminent Greeks and Romans he profiled in his famous—and massive—Lives, including politicians and generals such as Pericles, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony. Luckily for us, Plutarch distilled what he learned about...

Timeless wisdom on death and dying from the celebrated Stoic philosopher Seneca. 'It takes an entire lifetime to learn how to die,' wrote the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca (c. 4 BC-65 AD). He counselled readers to 'study death always,' and took his own advice, returning to the subject again and again in all his writings, yet he never treated it...

How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines. In 64 BC, when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign. What follows in his short letter are...

A superb new edition of Epictetus's famed handbook on Stoicism - translated by one of the world's leading authorities on Stoic philosophy. Born a slave, the Roman Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 55-135 AD) taught that mental freedom is supreme, since it can liberate one anywhere, even in a prison. In How to Be Free, A. A. Long—one of the world's...