Petronius: Selections from the Satyricon (Latin Edition) (Latin and English Edition)

Petronius is something quite different than any other Latin I've read. There are words in there that I will NEVER need to know again in my entire life, but it was entertaining to be sure. The reader itself is very good - set up a bit like Pharrs Aeneid - vocab on one page and text with notes on the other. It's great if you are looking for something easier and lighter than Cicero or Casear.

I agree that this is a good text for high schoolers and would recommend other texts for higher levels. I have had good success with it, and would use it again.

There is too much reliance on the facing vocabulary. There are also numerous mistakes. But, it gets the job done. Besides Beth Severy-Hoven's new work, there are only a handful of Satyrica commentaries for intermediate to advance students.

I include that quote as evidence against the case that Lawall has skipped ALL the naughty bits in his selections from the Satyricon. I think he's done an admirable job of leaving in enough lewdness to hint at what readers would find if they were to read all of the novel, while at the same time acknowledging the real constraints of designing a text acceptable for use in high schools. If you want to read the real smutty stuff, there are plenty of other sources for the complete Latin text of Petronius... If, however, you want a text that's perfectly user-friendly for a third-year or higher Latin class (I've also used it with a fourth-year class: the notes and facing vocab make it possible for them to virtually sight-read the thing, and lay the groundwork for working on some of the skipped sections as handouts), this is great. Sometimes I feel he translates TOO much in the notes, but that's fine too: since a lot of his 'translations' are matters open to interpretation, they too provide a springboard for further discussion and arguing for alternate interpretations. His occasional mistakes -- or charming little quirks like his fussiness over the gender of the dog in the above quote -- fall in the same category: for a competent teacher they provide toeholds for climbing to other levels than just what Lawall presents. An excellent classroom text, and perfectly safe for reading at home by anybody capable of not accepting absolutely everything the editor tells us.