Read the great books.Not merely about them.
Clean editions of the classic texts of Western Culture, each introduced by a Christian scholar who loves the book, with accompanying Reader’s Guides for select works.
New Buy the print edition from us and receive the eBook version for free in the Roman Roads app!
New · August 2026
The Aeneid of Vergil, Rolfe Humphries’ translation, with its new Reader’s Guide.
Western Civ, one book at a time
21 books
The Essential IliadHomer$17.99
The IliadHomer$27.99
The OdysseyHomer$27.99
On DutiesMarcus Tullius Cicero$12.99
The Aeneid of VergilVergil$23.95+ GuideNew
The Consolation of PhilosophyBoethius$17.99
Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri$29.95
InfernoDante Alighieri$21.95+ Guide
PurgatorioDante Alighieri$21.95+ Guide
ParadisoDante Alighieri$21.95+ Guide
The Essential DanteDante Alighieri$34.95
The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 1From $9.99
The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 2From $9.99
Word HoardVarious$28.95
Ring Ye the BellsEdmund Spenser$17.95
The Selected Poems of Sir John DaviesSir John Davies$17.99
Paradise Lost & Paradise RegainedJohn Milton$23.95+ Guide
Foundations in LibertyVarious$17.95
The Sacred RiverSamuel Taylor Coleridge$17.99
A Familiar WildernessIrving, Poe, Melville, Twain and others$17.95
The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky$28.95NewEpic poetry
10 books, oldest firstThe Essential IliadHomer$17.99The IliadHomer$27.99The OdysseyHomer$27.99The Aeneid of VergilVergil$23.95+ GuideNewDante AlighieriDante Alighieri$29.95InfernoDante Alighieri$21.95+ GuidePurgatorioDante Alighieri$21.95+ GuideParadisoDante Alighieri$21.95+ GuideThe Essential DanteDante Alighieri$34.95Paradise Lost & Paradise RegainedJohn Milton$23.95+ GuidePoetry
5 books, oldest firstFiction
2 books, oldest firstPhilosophy & theology
5 books, oldest firstGreek
c. 800–300 BC · 3 booksHomer and the beginning of Western literature
Roman
300 BC–AD 476 · 2 booksVergil, Cicero and the Roman mind
Christendom
476–1500 · 8 booksFrom Boethius to Dante: the great books of the Christian Middle Ages
The Consolation of PhilosophyBoethius$17.99Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri$29.95InfernoDante Alighieri$21.95+ GuidePurgatorioDante Alighieri$21.95+ GuideParadisoDante Alighieri$21.95+ GuideThe Essential DanteDante Alighieri$34.95The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 1From $9.99The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 2From $9.99Modern
1500–present · 8 booksFrom Spenser and Milton to Dostoevsky
Word HoardVarious$28.95Ring Ye the BellsEdmund Spenser$17.95The Selected Poems of Sir John DaviesSir John Davies$17.99Paradise Lost & Paradise RegainedJohn Milton$23.95+ GuideFoundations in LibertyVarious$17.95The Sacred RiverSamuel Taylor Coleridge$17.99A Familiar WildernessIrving, Poe, Melville, Twain and others$17.95The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky$28.95New- The Aeneid of VergilVergil · $23.95
- The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky · $28.95
- The Consolation of PhilosophyBoethius · $17.99
- Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri · $29.95
- The Essential DanteDante Alighieri · $34.95
- The Essential IliadHomer · $17.99
- A Familiar WildernessIrving, Poe, Melville, Twain and others · $17.95
- Foundations in LibertyVarious · $17.95
- The IliadHomer · $27.99
- InfernoDante Alighieri · $21.95
- The OdysseyHomer · $27.99
- On DutiesMarcus Tullius Cicero · $12.99
- Paradise Lost & Paradise RegainedJohn Milton · $23.95
- ParadisoDante Alighieri · $21.95
- The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 1 · From $9.99
- The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 2 · From $9.99
- PurgatorioDante Alighieri · $21.95
- Ring Ye the BellsEdmund Spenser · $17.95
- The Sacred RiverSamuel Taylor Coleridge · $17.99
- The Selected Poems of Sir John DaviesSir John Davies · $17.99
- Word HoardVarious · $28.95
All the greats, from Homer on down
Browse the timeline
Christendom476–1500
AD 524
The Consolation of PhilosophyBoethius1315
Dante AlighieriDante Alighieric. 1314
InfernoDante Alighieric. 1315
PurgatorioDante Alighieric. 1320
ParadisoDante Alighieri1308–1320
The Essential DanteDante Alighieric. 1295-1315 AD
The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 11295-1315 AD
The Prose Works of Dante Alighieri: Vol 2Modern1500–present
Across the ages
Word HoardVarious1590s
Ring Ye the BellsEdmund Spenser1596–1599
The Selected Poems of Sir John DaviesSir John Davies1667–1671
Paradise Lost & Paradise RegainedJohn Miltonc. 890–1791
Foundations in LibertyVarious1797–1817
The Sacred RiverSamuel Taylor Coleridge1820–1900
A Familiar WildernessIrving, Poe, Melville, Twain and others1880
The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky · NewThe Aeneid of Vergil
“Arms and the man I sing.” The poem that made Rome, in Rolfe Humphries’ celebrated translation.
Print from us includes the eBook, free in the Roman Roads app.
Read it on paper, or in the app
Roman Roads Classics are available in eBook format in the Roman Roads app. Buy the print edition from us and the eBook is automatically yours for free; or buy the eBook only and access it on your desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
About the Roman Roads appNew releases
We are publishing new Classics throughout the year. The most recent appear here.
Read it with a guide
Each Reader’s Guide follows its Classic section-by-section with summaries, notes on the text, analyses, and discussion questions. The two share the same cover art, so they are easy to pair on the shelf.
“Secular publishing houses are leaving gifts at the gate of your classroom. Don’t let them in.”
Dr. Joe Carlson, “Trojan Penguins”
Read the essayWhat makes a Roman Roads Classic
An Easy-to-Read Text
Only necessary annotations keep the pages clear and free of distraction, so students spend more time with the work itself.
Faithful Introductions
Christian scholars frame the text from a posture of appreciation and delight, helping the reader understand the true intentions of the author and why it matters to us today.
Going Deeper
Reader's Guides take the student deeper, with summaries, textual notes, analyses unafraid of application, and questions to prod further contemplation.
For schools and co-ops
The Classics are used in classrooms, homeschools, colleges and adult study. If your school would like to adopt them, we can help with pricing and planning.
Talk to us about adoptionWhich classic should we publish next?
We have more texts in the works and choices to make about which come first. Tell us what you need; interest decides the order.
Suggest a classic
Free lectures on the great books at Roman Roads Press in Moscow, Idaho: a short talk followed by a panel discussion and Q/A. Recorded and available to watch in the Roman Roads app.
Vergil and the American Dream
The American founders appropriated the Roman Poet and his works to establish an atmosphere of victory, authority, and dignity. Through the use of literary symbols and allusions, the framers of our great country placed their project…
Watch free in the appMore talks
See all in the app ›
Aug 14, 2026 · 1 h 35 minThe Consolation of Philosophy of Boethius - Brent Karding
Aug 11, 2026 · 1 h 38 minShakespeare’s Unfunny Comedy: The problem with The Merchant of Venice
Jul 27, 2026 · 1 h 27 minMemory Eternal: The Urgency of Memory in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov with Dulci Stutzman
May 27, 2026 · 40 minBlock to Brush: Japanese Influence on the Impressionists
May 26, 2026 · 1 h 17 minCuration of the American Dream: The Battle over American Short Stories
Apr 21, 2026 · 1 h 22 minKing Lear: Shakespeare and the Reorientation of Tragedy
Feb 23, 2026 · 1 h 35 minRing Ye The Bells: Poems of Love and Marriage
Jan 30, 2026 · 1 h 43 minThe Sacred River: Coleridge and the Christian Imagination - RR After Hours
Jan 30, 2026 · 1 h 18 minThe Gospel According to Dante - RR After Hours Event
Feb 4, 2026 · 1 h 32 minA Very Milton ChristmasThe Old Western Culture Reader Series
Sixteen volumes of the great books, from Homer’s Iliad to the novels of the nineteenth century, set in clean single-column readers. Made as companions to the Old Western Culture curriculum, they also stand on their own.
The most comprehensive Dante curriculum available
A new blank-verse translation of the Divine Comedy with separate Reader’s Guides for the three canticles, video lectures, a Teacher’s Edition, the complete prose works, and a forthcoming, first-of-its-kind interlinear edition.
Explore the Dante Curriculum