Propertius finds his Cynthia beautiful enough without fancy cosmetics. See the illustrated blog post with Velasquez’s Rokeby Venus here; hear Propertius’s Latin and follow in English here.
In Lucan’s poem on the civil war with Pompey, Ceasar’s centurion, Laelius, utters a chilling oath of loyalty. Hear the extract in Latin and follow in English here.
See the blog post with David’s “Oath of the Horatii” here.
Who was Lucan? In preparation for a short series of extracts from his poem on the civil war that followed Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, read about him in his poet page here.