Of all the literary works to have survived from the ancient world, few have been as celebrated – or as outrageously provocative – as the Satyrica. Traditionally ascribed to the Petronius who lived and died under Nero’s rule, one of the most darkly fascinating periods of Roman history, the Satyrica recounts a bizarre odyssey through contemporary everyday life. With its startling originality, bawdy humor, and vivid characterizations, Petronius's brilliant, but fragmentary, novel has inspired countless writers and artists through the ages, most famously the Italian film director Fellini. The grotesqueries and excesses of the book's most best-known extant section, Trimalchio’s feast, are particularly notorious and influential.
Reflecting the Satyrica's unique stature in world literature, Petronius: A Handbook features a dozen original essays that explore the world portrayed by Petronius. Commissioned from leading scholars specializing in the ancient novel, Julio-Claudian culture, and early Roman imperial history, each essay tackles a specific aspect of the Satyrica – from the novel's literary structure to its social and historic contexts and modern reception in literature and film. Collectively, the essays provide the first comprehensive, multi-dimensional approach to the study of the Satyrica and its relevance to our understanding of the early Roman Empire. Authoritative and insightful, Petronius: A Handbook will unravel the mysteries of one of the greatest literary works that antiquity has bequeathed to the modern world.