What Shakespeare Stole From Rome analyses the multiple ways Shakespeare used material from Roman history and Latin poetry in his plays and poems. Three important tragedies deal with the history of the Roman Republic: Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra. From the tragedies of Seneca, Shakespeare took the theme of evil in the ruler, as in Richard III and Macbeth. The comedies of Plautus lie behind the early play The Comedy of Errors. From Ovid, Shakespeare took nearly all his Greek mythology, as in the miniature epic Venus and Adonis. Shakespeare, who knew Latin very well, introduced some 600 new Latin-based words into English.

Brian Arkins is Professor Emeritus of Classics at NUI, Galway. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, and at University College, Dublin, where he obtained an MA in Classics and a PhD in Latin. His books include three on Latin poetry and four on Greek and Roman themes in Irish Literature.