Memorable Doings and Sayings

Valerius Maximus compiled his handbook of notable deeds and sayings during the reign of Tiberius (14-37 CE). The collection was very popular in the Renaissance and has recently attracted renewed scholarly attention. Yet to date there has been no modern English translation of Memorable Doings and Sayings. This work is now added to the Loeb Classical Library, a freshly edited Latin text facing D. R. Shackleton Bailey's pleasing and authoritative translation.Valerius arranges his instructive examples in short chapters, each focused on a particular virtue, vice, religious practice, or traditional custom--including Omens, Dreams, Anger, Cruelty, Bravery, Fidelity, Gratitude, Friendship, Parental Love. The moral undercurrent of this collection is readily apparent. But Valerius tells us that the book's purpose is practical: he decided to select worthwhile material from famous writers so that people looking for illustrative examples might be spared the trouble of research. Whatever the author's intention, his book is an interesting source of information on Roman attitudes toward religion and moral values in the first century.

Greatly admired in antiquity and the Renaissance, no complete translation has been rendered in English since 1678. Composed during the reign of Tiberius, this compilation provides valuable insight into the religion and morality of the Silver-Age Roman gentleman…The translation is highly readable and authoritative, true to the Latin intent and the English idiom. This is a splendid and useful addition to the Loeb Classical Library., Shackleton Bailey's translation is a welcome addition…The editor/translator has also prefaced the volumes with a brief introduction to Valerius Maximus and his text added a helpful bibliography of the latest scholarship on the author, and included a glossary and thorough index of names…Shackleton Bailey has done good work in providing his own version of the Latin text, and he has also produced a readable and accurate English translation… Shackleton Bailey is best known to the scholarly community for his excellent translations of Cicero's letters. His version of Valerius Maximus also deserves praise, merits inclusion in the fine Loeb Classical Library, and fills a major need for an English version of this valuable source.

D. R. Shackleton Bailey was Pope Professor of Latin Language and Literature at Harvard University.