Whether read as the first European novel, a parody of classical romance, a sophisticated example of pagan pornography or a gay classic, Petronius' picaresque account of the Priapic adventures of Encolpius and his beautiful lover, Giton, takes us deep into the underworld of the Roman empire. Told in the first-person by Encolpius, the Satyrica offers a brilliant comic exploration of an ancient empire in decline and of the energies released by its decay. Since it was first translated into English by William Burnaby in 1694, the Satyrica has never ceased to delight and scandalize