Paul the Silentiary was a Byzantine Greek civil servant who lived in the sixth century AD. As well as a devoted servant of the Emperor, he was also a gifted poet. He is an obscure figure today, largely forgotten even by classical scholars. In so far as he is remembered at all, he is remembered as the author of great, set-piece ceremonial works in praise of church and state. But Paul had a poetic double life. He was also responsible for penning some of the most witty and accomplished epigrams that survive from antiquity, on subjects ranging from love to drinking to death. This is the first ever dedicated English translation of Paul's epigrams.