Ovid, Ars Amatoria Book Three

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In Ars amatoria, Book Three, the last and longest book of his guide to seduction, Ovid claims to teach women how to find, catch, and keep a male lover. The Ars itself is one of the brightest gems of Roman literature, and Book 3 is the most eye-catching of all. The text offers generous helpings of Ovidian wit and absurdity as well as a smorgasbord of references to Roman culture and society: architecture, theatres, gladiatorial spectacles, temples, baths, men's and women's clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, music, poetry-reading, letter-writing, games, slavery, parties, sexuality, and sex. In short, there is nothing quite like it in ancient literature, and no other work opens the same sort of window onto Augustan culture. Ars amatoria, Book Three helps us see ancient Rome in a new light.