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The marvelously entertaining parody of imperial Rome. One of the most outrageous and strikingly modern works to have survived from the ancient world, "The Satyricon" offers an unmatched satirical portrait of the age of Nero, in all its excesses and chaos. It recounts the adventures of Encolpius and his companions as they travel around Italy, encountering courtesans, priestesses, con men, brothel-keepers, pompous professors, and, above all, Trimalchio, the nouveau riche millionaire whose debauched feasting and pretentious vulgarity make him one of the great comic characters in literature.

The Satyricon is the most celebrated prose work to have survived from the ancient world. It can be described as the first realistic novel, the father of the picaresque genre. It recounts the sleazy progress of a pair of literate scholars as they wander through the cities of the southern Mediterranean in the age of Nero, encountering en route type-figures whom the author wishes to satirize. P.G. Walsh captures the spirit of the original in this new and lively translation. His introduction and detailed notes provide the reader with a comprehensive guide to the meanings and intentions of the story and the later history of its literary influence.

Perhaps the strangest and most strikingly modern work to survive from the ancient world, The Satyricon relates the hilarious mock epic adventures of the impotent Encolpius, and his struggle to regain virility. Here Petronius brilliantly brings to life the courtesans, legacy-hunters, pompous professors and dissolute priestesses of the age and, above all, Trimalchio, the archetypal self-made millionaire whose pretentious vulgarity on an insanely grand scale makes him one of the great comic characters in literature. Seneca's The Apocolocyntosis, a malicious skit on the deification of Claudius the Clod', was designed by the author to ingratiate himself with Nero, who was Claudius' successor. Together, the two provide a powerful insight into a darkly fascinating period of Roman history. For this edition Professor Sullivan has updated his translation & his literary & historical introductions in the light of the latest research. He's included all Petronius' surviving verse. Petroneus: Introduction -- The authorship and date of The Satyricon -- The extent of the work and the plot -- The literary qualities of the Satyricon -- On the text and translation -- The Satyricon -- Puteoli -- Dinner with Trimalchio -- Eumolpus -- The road to Croton -- Croton -- The fragments and the poems -- List of characters -- Notes on the Satyricon -- Notes on the fragments and poems -- Seneca: Introduction -- The authorship and date of the Apocolocyntosis -- The place of the work in Seneca's writings -- The literary qualities of the Apocolocyntosis -- On the text and translation -- The Apocolocyntosis of the divine Claudius -- Notes on the Apocolocyntosis