This companion addresses a topic of continuing contemporary relevance, both cultural and literary. * Offers both a wide-ranging exploration of the classical novel of antiquity and a wealth of close literary analysis * Brings together the most up-to-date international scholarship on the ancient novel, including fresh new academic voices * Includes focused chapters on individual classical authors, such as Petronius, Xenophon and Apuleius, as well as a wide-ranging thematic analysis * Addresses perplexing questions concerning authorial expression and readership of the ancient novel form * Provides an accomplished introduction to a genre with a rising profile