The aim of this book is to provide a translation and commentary which will help newcomers to Horace, whether or not they know Latin, to understand how the poetry works. This third book of Odes begins with the 'Roman odes' in praise of Augustus, the ruthless politician who had won control over the whole known world. These poems should, therefore, interest historians as poetic presentations of an ideology, and students of literature as the work of a man who found ways of praising while asserting his independence. Part of his strategy is to follow the political odes with an array of poems on love, friendship, country life, religion, and on poetry, all of them filled with delight in life and a unique sense of humour.
