An ancient Greek tale of romance and adventure.

Chariton’s Callirhoe, subtitled “Love Story in Syracuse,” is the oldest extant novel. It is a fast-paced historical romance with ageless charm.

Chariton narrates the adventures of an exceptionally beautiful young bride named Callirhoe, beginning with her abduction by pirates—adventures that take her as far as the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes and involve shipwrecks, several ardent suitors, an embarrassing pregnancy, the hazards of war, and a happy ending. Animated dialogue captures dramatic situations, and the novelist takes us on picturesque travels. His skill makes us enthralled spectators of plots and counterplots, at trials and a crucifixion, inside a harem, among the admiring crowd at weddings, and at battles on land and sea.

This enchanting tale is here made available for the first time in an English translation facing the Greek text. In his Introduction G. P. Goold establishes the book’s date in the first century AD and relates it to other ancient fiction.

"The new Loeb edition of Chariton by professor George Goold provides the best available text of Chariton and a useful translation and introduction... At a time when interest in the ancient novel is growing rapidly a Loeb of Chariton is particularly welcome." - Scholia Reviews

"One of the hottest properties in Classics today is the ancient novel... The high quality and usefulness of this edition of Chariton should persuade teachers that it can be both utilis et dulcis in the classroom." - The Classical Outlook

"Goold gives us the most satisfactory text of the novel currently available." - Greece and Rome