The celebrated Amores, comprising the four poems ‘The Loves’, ‘The Art of Beauty’, ‘The Remedies for Love’ and ‘The Art of Love’, are the product of Ovid’s late youth and jaunty middle age. In these verses, not only do we hear the passionate voice of one of the most talented poets of antiquity, but we can perceive the hum and stir of the Roman streets, the crowds in the fashionable walks, the light of parties at evening, the theatres, the races, the shops and the chatter in the boudoirs.

Taken together, these poems – presented here in Rolfe Humphries’s faithful and witty translation – form a poetical masterpiece of enduring appeal, as well as a manual of dos and don’ts for lovers of all ages.

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