This selection includes 450 lines of Martial and 580 of Pliny the Younger. The introduction deals with scansion and gives an outline of Martial's life and this relations with Pliny. Thirty-three epigrams follow, arranged by their traditional numbering, with copious notes on each extract. The extracts from Pliny follow, covering topics such as the eruption of Vesuvius and the Christians in Bithynia.