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What was Roman literature like?
What is Latin literature?
What influenced Roman literature?
What is the classical era of Latin literature?
Sep 27, 2017 · From its infancy, Roman literature borrowed heavily from the Greeks. However, they were able to shake the shackles and create a vibrant literature of their own; poetry, prose, and history. The Roman authors influenced countless others in the decades and centuries that followed – Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, and many more.
- Donald L. Wasson
Latin literature, the body of writings in Latin, primarily produced during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, when Latin was a spoken language. When Rome fell, Latin remained the literary language of the Western medieval world until it was superseded by the Romance languages it had generated.
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature flourished for the next six centuries.
- Colin Ricketts
- The anthology of Catullus. Gaius Valerius Catullus (84 – 54 BC) was an aristocrat who moved in powerful circles, dining with Julius Caesar even after he’d mocked the great leader in verse.
- Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ovid (43 BC – 18 AD) was an aristocrat, holding minor public offices before devoting most of his time to writing poetry. In 8 AD, the Emperor Augustus sidestepped all established legal authority to personally banish Ovid, apparently over a poem.
- Horace’s Odes. Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65 – 8 BC), is still admired for his technical skill and wisdom. His father was a freed slave, and Horace was educated for the bureaucracy, but served as a soldier, before buying a civil service role.
- Virgil’s Aeneid. Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC – 19 BC) wrote the great epic poem of Rome in the shape of the Aeneid, the story of Aeneas, a Trojan refugee who according to myth arrived in Italy to found the city.
The history of Roman literature begins around the 3rd century BC. It reached its "Golden Age" during the rule of Augustus and the early part of the Roman Empire. The Romans wrote a lot of poetry and history. They also wrote letters and made a lot of formal speeches. What language did they use?
