The Epodes, with the first book of the Satires, were Horace's first published work. They consist of a collection of seventeen poems in different versions of the iambus, the metre traditionally associated with lampoon and in particular with the seventh-century Greek poet Archilochus. In none of Horace's works is his originality more brilliantly displayed than in this creative appropriation of a hitherto unexploited Greek genre.

David Mankin's introduction and commentary examines all aspects of Horace's relationship with his models and of the technical accomplishment of his verse; it also gives help with linguistic problems. His edition places the Epodes firmly in their literary and historical context: Rome at the time of its greatest crisis, the Civil War which ended the Republic and led to the establishment of the Principate.

1. Students and scholars alike will welcome this commentary, only the second in any language since the 1930s and the only one providing a full and detailed interpretation in English.