Cicero: Catilinarians (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)

This commentator knows Latin. The topic is conspiracy. Very political. I don’t recommend this book because it is not as interesting as other ciceronean works. But I do really enjoy the series. Recommended for upper class women and men.

I have mixed feelings about Dyck's Cicero. One the one hand, he offers flawless introductions to each of the speeches, which help to perfectly summarize their context and outline their content. One the other hand, his notes at the back are a scatterbrained mess of commentary on oratorical style and references to Sallust (given in Latin), making them incredibly difficult for the reader to view quickly. Let's be honest--the Catlianarians are child's play, a stepping-text for intermediate students, and Dyck ought to baby his readers with straightforward, orderly, English notes. That said, I don't see any issue with the notes themselves; they are incredibly thorough, well-reasoned and insightful. Dyck has a good sense of Cicero's style, and he's happy to show you the twenty-something other passages that align or do not align with each phrase he annotates. The notes are a professional weave, so I'm only dissatisfied because I was forced to make use of them while still a novice.

Think of this review as being 2 1/2 stars rather than a 3.No real surprises here: it's a textbook of Cicero's orations against Cataline, with notes and commentary. 'Nough said.My issue is with the particular, physical copy of the text I received. I do not expect much from a used textbook, but I hope the notations of prior owners will be not too intrusive.And for the most part, so it is. Unfortunately, the text of the first oration was so overwritten as to be effectively unreadable.Happily, I found a copy in the library of my local college library, photocopied the required pages; cut the damaged pages out of the book, and with a neat cut-and-paste job made the volume suitable for use. Problem solved.Future buyers: rejoice ! This copy belongs to me now, and will be unavailable for resale to unsuspecting customers.