Lays of Ancient Rome

First published in 1842, this is a set of narrative ballads that retell episodes from early Roman legend as if they were songs of the republic. Horatius holds the Tiber bridge against Lars Porsena; the Battle of the Lake Regillus brings the Twin gods into a Latin war; Virginia dies under Appius Claudius; the Prophecy of Capys greets Romulus and looks toward later conquest. Macaulay writes in marching English meters with notes on the supposed popular tradition. There is no continuous novelistic plot. The book is a cycle of historical lays, not a prose history of Rome and not a translation from Latin verse.

Quarter-bound in dark red moire silk with marbled paper covers, spine and cover labels. Glassine cover, no slipcase.