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ILIAS LATINA
Pompeian fresco depicting Briseis, Achilles' war prize and concubine, whose seizure by Agamemnon leads to Achilles' own fateful withdrawal from the fight against Troy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briseis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briseis
The Ilias Latina, believed to be the work of a Baebius Italicus, is a summary in 1070 lines of Latin verse of Homer's Iliad. Although not highly rated as literature, the poem is of immense importance in cultural history since throughout the Middle Ages, when Greek was largely unknown by western European scholars, it was the major source for knowledge of Homer's original story. In addition, the relatively straightforward hexameters make the work very suitable for readers new to the genre. The most up-to-date scholarly treatment of the work is Steven Green's Ilias Latina: Introduction, Text, Translation and Commentary (OUP 2025), before which the standard edition was that of Marco Scaffai (1982), with Italian translation and commentary. Scaffai's Latin text, with a largely reliable English translation by Kathryn L. McKinley, is included in vol. 22 (1997) of Allegorica (pp.3-61, pdf freely downloadable from Academia.edu ). For a freely accessible Latin text with apparatus criticus (variant readings) included, see volume III of Baehrens' Poetae Latini Minores at https://archive.org/details/poetaelatinimino34baeh/mode/2up and for the Latin with hyperlinked definitions and parsing of each word see the IUNO site. An appreciative review of Green's edition is provided by retired teacher John Godwin here.
For discussion of the Ilias Latina and its influence, see Maria Jenifer Falcone and Christoph Schubert (eds.), Ilias Latina: Test, Interpretation and Reception (Brill 2022). Massimo Cè's contribution to this volume,`The Ilias Latina in the Context of Ancient Epitome Translation', which argues that the poem shold be seen as part of an entire sub-genre of Latin literature, is freely available on-line and can be downloaded from the button below.
The attribution to `Baebius Italicus' is directly made only in one late manuscript but is generally accepted because, with emendation of the clearly corrupt start of line 7, first letters of the opening and closing lines of the poem produce the acrostic ITALICOS SCRIPSIT, `Italicos' being the archaic spelling of `Italicus'. The author can most probably be identified with Publius Baebius Italicus, consul in 90 AD and internal evidence suggests a date of composition around 65, towards the end of Nero's reign. For further discussion and general introduction see McKinley's article, Eleanor Dickey's review of George Kennedy's privately published text and translation, and R.S. Kilpatrick's 'The "Ilias Latina" Acrostic: a Milder Remedy"', Latomus 51: 4 (1992), pp.857-859, available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/41536453
The Latin text with interlinear translation, commentary and illustrations has been uploaded to this site, with the first file containing lines 1-595 and the second 596-1070 Information about persons and places mentioned is included in the commentary but for a full listing of lines in Homer's original where these names occur, see the indices on the Poetry in Translation site, with hyperlinks to A.S.Kline's English translation of the Greek text. I have not seen either Scaffai's or Green's editions, so this page is not a contribution to serious scholarship but simply a pedagogical resource. I have largely followed Scaffai's text as given in McKinley's article but sometimes adopted emendations suggested by Baehrens, whose changes are more drastic than most editors would approve but do make Baebius's work more reader-friendly.
I have as now (February 2026) not gone through the privately published edition by George Kennedy (1998) mentioned above and also free to download. He gives the text, largely following Scaffai, with some notes of variant readings and then the translation, with commentary highlighting in particular differences in Baebius's treatment of episodes from Homer's. More details of his approach are provided in Eleanor Dickey's review (see the link above).
Another interlinear translation is John Cunyus's Ilias Latina - "The Latin Iliad", which in November 2025 was available as a Kindle from Amazon for US$5. Although his version is very literal, it re-arranges the translation into English word order, whereas I place a gloss under each Latin word, using colour coding to help the reader identify noun-adjective phrases and noun with dependent genitive when the compenents are separated by other words, the feature of Latin poetry known as hyperbaton. I also provide a fuller commentary as well as many illustrations.
The audio files, which at the moment (February 2026) cover only lines 1-898, are meant only as a very rough guide, as, besides hesitations, some syllables are mispronounced. These recording will be replaced when I have time, and ones for the remainder of the poem added.
For discussion of the Ilias Latina and its influence, see Maria Jenifer Falcone and Christoph Schubert (eds.), Ilias Latina: Test, Interpretation and Reception (Brill 2022). Massimo Cè's contribution to this volume,`The Ilias Latina in the Context of Ancient Epitome Translation', which argues that the poem shold be seen as part of an entire sub-genre of Latin literature, is freely available on-line and can be downloaded from the button below.
The attribution to `Baebius Italicus' is directly made only in one late manuscript but is generally accepted because, with emendation of the clearly corrupt start of line 7, first letters of the opening and closing lines of the poem produce the acrostic ITALICOS SCRIPSIT, `Italicos' being the archaic spelling of `Italicus'. The author can most probably be identified with Publius Baebius Italicus, consul in 90 AD and internal evidence suggests a date of composition around 65, towards the end of Nero's reign. For further discussion and general introduction see McKinley's article, Eleanor Dickey's review of George Kennedy's privately published text and translation, and R.S. Kilpatrick's 'The "Ilias Latina" Acrostic: a Milder Remedy"', Latomus 51: 4 (1992), pp.857-859, available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/41536453
The Latin text with interlinear translation, commentary and illustrations has been uploaded to this site, with the first file containing lines 1-595 and the second 596-1070 Information about persons and places mentioned is included in the commentary but for a full listing of lines in Homer's original where these names occur, see the indices on the Poetry in Translation site, with hyperlinks to A.S.Kline's English translation of the Greek text. I have not seen either Scaffai's or Green's editions, so this page is not a contribution to serious scholarship but simply a pedagogical resource. I have largely followed Scaffai's text as given in McKinley's article but sometimes adopted emendations suggested by Baehrens, whose changes are more drastic than most editors would approve but do make Baebius's work more reader-friendly.
I have as now (February 2026) not gone through the privately published edition by George Kennedy (1998) mentioned above and also free to download. He gives the text, largely following Scaffai, with some notes of variant readings and then the translation, with commentary highlighting in particular differences in Baebius's treatment of episodes from Homer's. More details of his approach are provided in Eleanor Dickey's review (see the link above).
Another interlinear translation is John Cunyus's Ilias Latina - "The Latin Iliad", which in November 2025 was available as a Kindle from Amazon for US$5. Although his version is very literal, it re-arranges the translation into English word order, whereas I place a gloss under each Latin word, using colour coding to help the reader identify noun-adjective phrases and noun with dependent genitive when the compenents are separated by other words, the feature of Latin poetry known as hyperbaton. I also provide a fuller commentary as well as many illustrations.
The audio files, which at the moment (February 2026) cover only lines 1-898, are meant only as a very rough guide, as, besides hesitations, some syllables are mispronounced. These recording will be replaced when I have time, and ones for the remainder of the poem added.
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Paris and Helen as depicted in the film Troy
The opposing armies (from Troy)
The Trojan Plain, showing the coastline as it probably was in 1200 BC and possible locations of features mentioned in the Iliad.
/www.worldhistory.org/image/15243/map-of-the-trojan-plain-c-1200-bce/
/www.worldhistory.org/image/15243/map-of-the-trojan-plain-c-1200-bce/
Venus saving Aeneas from Diomedes (drawn from an Attic Red Figure vase of the early 5th century BC, now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts )
https://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K10.18.html
https://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K10.18.html
Venus diplaying her wounded hand after fleeing Diomedes' attack (Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (ca. 1800–1803)). The figure behind her is presumably Iris, who in Homer's own account escorted her from the batlefield. The warrior on the left may be Mars, whose chariot Venus borrowed for her return to Olympus
https://mythopedia.com/topics/dione/
https://mythopedia.com/topics/dione/
The Greek and Trojan heralds intervene at sunset to halt the duelv between Hector and Ajax
(from Alfred John Church's summary translation, The Story of the Iliad, 1895
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Iliad/Chapter_9
(from Alfred John Church's summary translation, The Story of the Iliad, 1895
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Iliad/Chapter_9
Ulysses and Diomedes capture Dolon during their night expedition to spy on the Trojans
(Greek vase c. 390-370 BC, British Museum)
https://maryh10000.substack.com/p/dolon-what-kind-of-hero
(Greek vase c. 390-370 BC, British Museum)
https://maryh10000.substack.com/p/dolon-what-kind-of-hero
Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus (Gavin Hamilton, c.1760)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamilton_Achilles_Patroclus.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hamilton_Achilles_Patroclus.jpg
Water, or the fight of Achilles against Scamander and Simoeis
(Auguste Couder, 1819, photo Marie-Lan Nguyen)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Achilles_Xanthos_Simoeis_Couder_decoration_Louvre_INV3379.jpg
(Auguste Couder, 1819, photo Marie-Lan Nguyen)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Achilles_Xanthos_Simoeis_Couder_decoration_Louvre_INV3379.jpg
Achilles slays Hector (Peter Paul Rubens, c.1630-35)
https://tonalli8.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/iliad-book22/
https://tonalli8.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/iliad-book22/
Hector on his funeral pyre (Giovanni Maria Benzoni, 19th cent.)
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/209062
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/209062
Also much read in the Middle Ages was a condensed Latin account of the earlier history of Troy and of its eventual destruction (Daretis Phrygii de excidio Trioae historia). This purports to be a translation by the 1st century BC biographer Cornelius Nepos of the Trojan priest Dares’ own Greek original, but it was probably written much later; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dares_Phrygius. The Latin text is at https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/dares1.html and an English translation at https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html A line-by-line translation of the entire Iliad into Latin prose, originally published in 1838 but recently digitalised by Project Gutenberg, can be accessed at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52692/52692-h/52692-h.htm#ILIAS-1
