Ars Poetica and Carmen Saeculare: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Ars Poetica and Carmen Saeculare, credited to Horatius Flaccus, Quintus, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recordings in Latin and English of Ars Poetica (translated by Masom & Watt and Andrew Wood) and Carmen Secularae (translated by John Conington) by Quintus Horatius Flaccus. Reading by Leni, proofed and produced by Karen Merline. The Ars Poetica, by Horace, also known as Epistula ad Pisones, is a treatise on poetry written in the form of a letter, and published around 18 B.C. In it, Horace defines and exemplifies the nature, scope and correct way of writing poetry. This work, inspired by the book of the same name by Aristotle, is one of the most influential in Latin literature, and the source of famous concepts in poetics, such as "in medias res" and "ut pictura poesis". The text itself is a poem in 476 dactilic hexameters.The Carmen Saeculare, or "Song of the Ages", is a hymn written by Horace in 17 b.C. for the Ludi saeculares of the same year. It is believed that the poem was commissioned by the Emperor Augustus and sung by a choir of young men and women during the opening ceremony of the Games of the Century, a religious celebration that happened in Rome once every saeculum (century). The saeculum was considered to be the maximum length of a human life, which means the Games happened once every generation. The poem was written is nineteen sapphic stanzas, and in an elevated and religious tone. (Summary by Leni)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Ars Poetica and Carmen Saeculare
• Author credits: Horatius Flaccus, Quintus
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 7
• Listed recording duration: 1:58:26

Catalogue topics

• audio books
• ancient classics
• classics
• Latin language
• poetry

Track guide

1. 1 - Latin - Ars Poetica — 39:28
2. 2 - English Prose: The Art of Poetry - Part 1, trans. Masom & Watt — 12:44
3. 3 - English Prose: The Art of Poetry - Part 2 trans. Masom & Watt — 20:01
4. 4 - English Verse: The Art of Poetry - Part 1, trans. Andrew Wood — 19:08
5. 5 - English Verse: The Art of Poetry - Part 2, trans. Andrew Wood — 19:17
6. 6 - Latin - Carmen Saeculare — 4:24
7. 7 - English - Carmen Saeculare — 3:25

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.