A collection of Latin verse, translated into English, of the second to the fifth centuries A.D. from all parts of the Roman Empire and beyond: Italy, Spain, Carthage, Gaul, Ireland. There is a wide variety of themes: pastoral, mythological, Christian philosophical, aristocratic life and customs, the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths and regrets at the passing of the Empire. Running through all this is the theme of the fall of Rome, both literally in the destruction of the city, and generally in its gradual decline as cultural and political world centre.