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52-478: The gods were listed by the poet Ennius in the late 3rd century BCE in a paraphrase of an unknown Greek poet: Juno , Vesta , Minerva , Ceres , Diana , Venus Mars , Mercurius , Iovis , Neptunus , Vulcanus , Apollo Livy arranges them in six male-female pairs: Jupiter-Juno, Neptune-Minerva, Mars-Venus, Apollo-Diana, Vulcan-Vesta and Mercury-Ceres. Three of the Dii Consentes formed

104-654: A context". Some have proposed that the work was written before the Annales , and others have said that the work was written after Scipio's 201 BC triumph that followed the Battle of Zama (202 BC). The Sota was a poem, potentially of some length, named after the Greek poet Sotades . The work, which followed a metre established by Sotades known as the "Sotadeus", concerned itself with a number of disparate topics and ideas. Latin literature Latin literature includes

156-572: A continual development over several centuries, the beginnings of formal Latin literature started with the regular performance of comedies and tragedies in Rome in 240 BC, one year after the conclusion of the First Punic War . These initial comedies and tragedies were adapted from Greek drama by Livius Andronicus , a Greek prisoner of war who had been brought to Rome as a slave in 272 BC. Andronicus translated Homer 's Odyssey into Latin using

208-631: A historical epic in hexameters called the Annales . Other minor works include the Epicharmus , Epigrammata , the Euhemerus , the Hedyphagetica , Praecepta / Protrepticus , Saturae (or Satires ), Scipio , and Sota . The Annales was an epic poem in fifteen books, later expanded to eighteen, covering Roman history from the fall of Troy in 1184 BC down to the censorship of Cato

260-505: A logical unit. Latin can be used with conciseness, as in the works of Sallust and Tacitus . Or it can have wide, sweeping phrases, as in the works of Livy and the speeches of Cicero . Latin lacks poetic vocabulary that marks the Greek poetry. Some earlier Latin poets tried to make up for this deficiency by creating new compound words, as the Greeks had done. But Roman writers seldom invented words. Except in epic poetry, they tended to use

312-504: A long poem, De rerum natura . One of the most prolific writers of the period was Marcus Terentius Varro . Referred to as "the most learned of the Romans" by Quintillian , he wrote about a remarkable variety of subjects, from religion to poetry, but only his writings on agriculture and the Latin language are extant in their complete form. The emperor Augustus took a personal interest in

364-410: A reader might find the best type of fish. Most of the fragments, replete with unique terms for fish and numerous place names, are corrupt or damaged. The Hedyphagetica is written in hexameters , but differs from the Annales in regards to "metrical practices"; this difference is largely due to each works' distinct subject matter. The titles Praecepta and Protrepticus were likely used to refer to

416-454: A recollection of a dream in which the ancient epic-writer Homer informed him that his spirit had been reborn into Ennius. It is true that the doctrine of the transmigration of souls once flourished in the areas of Italy settled by Greeks, but the statement might have been no more than a literary flourish. Ennius seems to have been given to making large claims, as in the report by Maurus Servius Honoratus that he claimed descent from Messapus,

468-546: A recount[ing]" of Euhemerus's original work the Sacred History , but it is unclear if this means Ennius simply translated the original from Greek into Latin, or added in his own elements. Most of what is preserved of this work comes to us from Lactantius, and these snippets suggest that the Euhemerus was a prose text. The Hedyphagetica took much of its substance from the gastronomical epic of Archestratus of Gela. The extant portions of Ennius's poem discuss where

520-503: A separate work, greatly influenced later poetic theories. It stated the basic rules of classical writing as the Romans understood and used them. After Virgil died, Horace was Rome's leading poet. The Latin elegy reached its highest development in the works of Tibullus , Propertius , and Ovid . Most of this poetry is concerned with love. Ovid wrote the Fasti , which describes Roman festivals and their legendary origins. Ovid's greatest work,

572-479: A traditional Latin verse form called Saturnian meter . In 235 BC, Gnaeus Naevius , a Roman citizen, continued this tradition of producing dramas that were reworkings of Greek originals, or fabula palliata , and he expanded on this by producing a new type of drama, fabula praetexta , or tragedies based on Roman myths and history, starting in 222 BC. Later in life, Naevius composed an epic poem in Saturnian meter on

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624-438: A variety of poetic metres. The poems in this collection "were mostly concerned with practical wisdom, often driving home a lesson with the help of a fable." Ennius's Scipio was a work (possibly a panegyric poem) that apparently celebrated the life and deeds of Scipio Africanus . Hardly anything remains of this work, and what is preserved is embedded in the works of others. Unfortunately, "no quotation of [ Scipio ] supplies

676-655: A vivid picture of the public and private life among the Roman governing class. Cicero's works on oratory are our most valuable Latin sources for ancient theories on education and rhetoric. His philosophical works were the basis of moral philosophy during the Middle Ages. His speeches inspired many European political leaders and the founders of the United States. Julius Caesar and Sallust were significant historical writers of Cicero's time. Caesar wrote commentaries on

728-432: A young man who is accidentally changed into a donkey. The story is filled with tales of love and witchcraft. Pagan Latin literature showed a final burst of vitality from the late 3rd century till the 5th centuries – Ammianus Marcellinus in history, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus in oratory, and Ausonius and Rutilius Claudius Namatianus in poetry. The Mosella by Ausonius demonstrated a modernism of feeling that indicates

780-666: Is Sulpicia . In prose, Livy produced a history of the Roman people in 142 books. Only 35 survived, but they are a major source of information on Rome. From the death of Augustus in AD 14 until about 200, Roman authors emphasized style and tried new and startling ways of expression. During the reign of Nero from 54 to 68, the Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote a number of dialogues and letters on such moral themes as mercy and generosity. In his Natural Questions , Seneca analyzed earthquakes, floods, and storms. Seneca's tragedies greatly influenced

832-711: Is a possible reflex of the Lycians' twelve gods: By 400 BCE, a precinct dedicated to twelve gods existed at the marketplace in Xanthos , Lycia. Herodotus mentions a group of twelve gods in Egypt, but this cannot be confirmed in any Egyptian sources. The Greek cult of the Twelve Olympians can be traced to 6th century BCE Athens and has no apparent precedent in the Mycenaean period . The altar to

884-651: The Capitoline Triad : Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The grouping of twelve deities has origins older than the Greek or Roman sources. The Greek grouping may have Hittite origins via Lycia , in Anatolia . A group of twelve Hittite gods is known both from cuneiform texts and from artistic representation. All the Hittite Twelve are male, with no individualizing features. The Roman Empire period group

936-611: The Etruscans had a set of six male and six female deities which they called consentes and complices because they rose and set together, implying an astronomical significance, and that these twelve acted as councillors of Jupiter. Scholarly evaluation of this account depends on the hypothesis that the Etruscans originally immigrated to Italy from Anatolia . In this case, the Etruscan Twelve might have been cognate to

988-525: The Metamorphoses weaves various myths into a fast-paced, fascinating story. Ovid was a witty writer who excelled in creating lively and passionate characters. The Metamorphoses was the best-known source of Greek and Roman mythology throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It inspired many poets, painters, and composers. One of the few female poets of ancient Rome whose work has survived

1040-468: The Elder in 184 BC. It was the first Latin poem to adopt the dactylic hexameter metre used in Greek epic and didactic poetry, leading it to become the standard metre for these genres in Latin poetry. The Annals became a school text for Roman schoolchildren, eventually supplanted by Virgil 's Aeneid . About 600 lines survive. The Epicharmus was inspired by the philosophical hypotheses developed by

1092-442: The Elder . Cato wrote the first Latin history of Rome and of other Italian cities. He was the first Roman statesman to put his political speeches in writing as a means of influencing public opinion. Early Latin literature ended with Gaius Lucilius , who created a new kind of poetry in his 30 books of Satires (2nd century BC). He wrote in an easy, conversational tone about books, food, friends, and current events. Traditionally,

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1144-534: The Gallic and civil wars in a straightforward style to justify his actions as a general. He wrote descriptions of people and their motives. The birth of lyric poetry in Latin occurred during the same period. The lyrics of Catullus , whom the writer Aulus Gellius called "the most elegant of poets", are noted for their emotional intensity. Contemporary with Catullus, Lucretius expounded the Epicurean philosophy in

1196-462: The Greeks had already written about. Even when they copied the Greeks, their translations were not straightforward replicas of the original Greek works. Only fragments of their plays have survived. Considerably more is known about early Latin comedy, as 26 Early Latin comedies are extant – 20 of which were written by Plautus ; the remaining six were written by Terence . These men modeled their comedies on Greek plays known as New Comedy , but treated

1248-744: The Hittite Twelve. However, Etruscan artifacts show extensive use of Etruscan translations of Greek mythology; it is just as likely that both the Etruscan Twelve and the Roman Twelve were simply adaptations of the Greek Twelve. In the Japanese manga Future Diary by Sakae Esuno , each Future Diary Holder is named after one of the Dii Consentes. Ennius Quintus Ennius ( Latin pronunciation: [ˈkᶣiːnt̪ʊs̺ ˈɛnːiʊs̺] ; c.  239  – c.  169 BC )

1300-534: The Romans' interest in rhetoric, the art of speaking and persuading. Public speaking had great importance for educated Romans because most of them wanted successful political careers. When Rome was a republic , effective speaking often determined who would be elected or what bills would pass. After Rome became an empire , the ability to impress and persuade people by the spoken word lost much of its importance. But training in rhetoric continued to flourish and to affect styles of writing. A large part of rhetoric consists of

1352-518: The Sicilian poet and philosopher Epicharmus of Kos , after which Ennius's work took its name. In the Epicharmus , the poet describes a dream he had in which he died and was transported to some place of heavenly enlightenment. Here, he met Epicharmus, who explained the nature of the gods and taught Ennius the physics of the universe . The Euhemerus presented a theological doctrine based on

1404-706: The Twelve Olympians at Athens is usually dated to the archonship of the younger Pesistratos , in 522–521 BCE. By the 5th century BCE, there are well-attested cults of the Twelve Olympians in Olympia and at the Hieron on the Bosphorus . The references to twelve Etruscan deities come from later Roman authors, writing long after the influence of the Greek pantheon had become dominant, and must be regarded with skepticism. Arnobius states that

1456-480: The ability to present a familiar idea in a striking new manner that attracts attention. Latin authors became masters of this art of variety. Latin is a highly inflected language, with many grammatical forms for various words. As a result, it can be used with a pithiness and brevity unknown in English. It lends itself to elaboration, because its tight syntax holds even the longest and most complex sentence together as

1508-529: The capture of Ambracia , at which he was present, the subject of a play and of an episode in the Annales . It was through the influence of Nobilior's son Quintus that Ennius subsequently obtained Roman citizenship. But he himself lived plainly and simply in the literary quarter on the Aventine Hill with the poet Caecilius Statius , a fellow adapter of Greek plays. At about the age of 70 Ennius died, immediately after producing his tragedy Thyestes . In

1560-415: The completion of a great career is expressed in the memorial lines which he composed to be placed under his bust after death: "Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men." Ennius continued the nascent literary tradition by writing plays in Greek and Roman style ( praetextae and palliatae ), as well as his most famous work,

1612-427: The elegance and Classicism of their style. Examples of these were Anthony Alsop and Vincent Bourne , who were noted for the ingenious way that they adapted their verse to describing details of life in the 18th century while never departing from the purity of Latin diction. One of the last to be noted for the quality of his Latin verse well into the 19th century was Walter Savage Landor . Much Latin writing reflects

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1664-426: The end of classical literature as such. Writers who laid the foundations of Christian Latin literature during the 4th century and 5th century included the church fathers Augustine of Hippo , Jerome , and Ambrose , and the first great Christian poet, Prudentius . Some Latin writing by Christian women also survives: the prison diary of the martyr Perpetua of Carthage , and an account of a Christian pilgrimage by

1716-474: The epigram achieved the stinging quality still associated with it. Juvenal satirized vice. The historian Tacitus painted an unforgettably dark picture of the early empire in his Histories and Annals , both written in the early 2nd century. His contemporary Suetonius wrote biographies of the 12 Roman rulers from Julius Caesar through Domitian . The letters of Pliny the Younger described Roman life of

1768-491: 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. The classical era of Latin literature can be roughly divided into several periods: Early Latin literature , The Golden Age , The Imperial Period and Late Antiquity . Latin

1820-606: The first Punic War, in which he had fought. Other epic poets followed Naevius. Quintus Ennius wrote an historical epic, the Annals (soon after 200 BC), describing Roman history from the founding of Rome to his own time. He adopted the Greek dactylic hexameter, which became the standard verse form for Roman epics. He became well known for his tragic dramas. Successors in this field include Marcus Pacuvius and Lucius Accius . These three writers rarely used episodes from Roman history , but they wrote Latin versions of tragic themes that

1872-515: The growth of tragic drama in Europe. His nephew Lucan wrote the Pharsalia (about 60), an epic poem describing the civil war between Caesar and Pompey . The Satyricon (about 60) by Petronius was the first picaresque Latin novel. Only fragments of the complete work survive. It describes the adventures of various low-class characters in absurd, extravagant, and dangerous situations, often in

1924-877: The height of Latin literature has been assigned to the period from 81 BC to AD 17, although recent scholarship has questioned the assumptions that privileged the works of this period over both earlier and later works. This period is usually said to have begun with the first known speech of Cicero and ended with the death of Ovid . Cicero has traditionally been considered the master of Latin prose. The writing he produced from about 80 BC until his death in 43 BC exceeds that of any Latin author whose work survives in terms of quantity and variety of genre and subject matter, as well as possessing unsurpassed stylistic excellence. Cicero's many works can be divided into four groups: (1) letters, (2) rhetorical treatises, (3) philosophical works, and (4) orations. His letters provide detailed information about an important period in Roman history and offer

1976-399: The ideas of Euhemerus of Messene, who argued that the gods of Olympus were not supernatural powers that interference in the lives of humans, but rather heroes of old who after death were eventually regarded as deities due to their valor, bravery, or cultural impact (this belief is now known as euhemerism ). Both Cicero and Lactantius write that the Euhemerus was a "translat[ion] and

2028-474: The last book of his epic poem, in which he seems to have given various details of his personal history, he mentioned that he was in his 67th year at the date of its composition. He compared himself, in contemplation of the close of the great work of his life, to a gallant horse which, after having often won the prize at the Olympic Games , obtained his rest when weary with age. A similar feeling of pride at

2080-479: The legendary king of his native district. The partially Hellenised city of Rudiae , his place of birth, was certainly in the area settled by the Messapians . And this, he used to say, according to Aulus Gellius , had endowed him with a triple linguistic and cultural heritage, fancifully described as "three hearts… Greek, Oscan and Latin". The public career of Ennius first really emerges in middle life, when he

2132-708: The literary works produced during his years of power from 27 BC to AD 14. This period is sometimes called the Augustan Age of Latin Literature. Virgil published his pastoral Eclogues , the Georgics , and the Aeneid , an epic poem describing the events that led to the creation of Rome. Virgil told how the Trojan hero Aeneas became the ancestor of the Roman people. Virgil provided divine justification for Roman rule over

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2184-520: The period. Quintilian composed the most complete work on ancient education that we possess. Important works from the 2nd century include the Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius , a collection of anecdotes and reports of literary discussions among his friends; and the letters of the orator Marcus Cornelius Fronto to Marcus Aurelius . The most famous work of the period was Metamorphoses , also called The Golden Ass , by Apuleius . This novel concerns

2236-412: The pilgrim Egeria . During the Renaissance there was a return to the Latin of classical times, called for this reason Neo-Latin . This purified language continued to be used as the lingua franca among the learned throughout Europe, with the great works of Descartes , Francis Bacon , and Baruch Spinoza all being composed in Latin. Among the last important books written primarily in Latin prose were

2288-438: The plots and wording of the originals freely. Plautus scattered songs throughout his plays and added to the humor with puns and wisecracks, as well as comic actions by the actors. Terence's plays were more austere in tone, dealing with domestic situations. His works provided the chief inspiration for French and English comedies of the 17th century AD. The prose of the period is best known through On Agriculture (160 BC) by Cato

2340-445: The same (possibly exhortatory) work. However, given this work's almost non-existent nature (only the word pannibus —an "unusual" form of the word pannis , meaning "rags"—is preserved in the work of the Latin grammarian Charisius ), this position is extremely difficult to verify. The Saturae is a collection of about thirty lines from satirical poems—making it the first extant instance of Roman satire. These lines are written in

2392-518: The works of Swedenborg (d. 1772), Linnaeus (d. 1778), Euler (d. 1783), Gauss (d. 1855), and Isaac Newton (d. 1727), and Latin remains a necessary skill for modern readers of great early modern works of linguistics, literature, and philosophy. Several of the leading English poets wrote in Latin as well as English. Milton's 1645 Poems are one example, but there were also Thomas Campion , George Herbert and Milton's colleague Andrew Marvell . Some indeed wrote chiefly in Latin and were valued for

2444-841: The world of petty crime. Epic poems included the Argonautica of Gaius Valerius Flaccus , following the story of Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece, the Thebaid of Statius , following the conflict of Oedipus's sons and the Seven Against Thebes, and the Punica of Silius Italicus , following the Second Punic War and the invasions of Hannibal into Italy. At the hands of Martial ,

2496-522: The world. Although Virgil died before he could put the finishing touches on his poem, it was soon regarded as the greatest work of Latin literature. Virgil's friend Horace wrote Epodes , Odes , Satires , and Epistles . The perfection of the Odes in content, form, and style has charmed readers for hundreds of years. The Satires and Epistles discuss ethical and literary problems in an urbane, witty manner. Horace's Art of Poetry , probably published as

2548-483: Was a writer and poet who lived during the Roman Republic . He is often considered the father of Roman poetry . He was born in the small town of Rudiae , located near modern Lecce (ancient Calabria , today Salento ), a town founded by the Messapians , and could speak Greek as well as Latin and Oscan (his native language). Although only fragments of his works survive, his influence in Latin literature

2600-657: Was serving in the army with the rank of centurion during the Second Punic War . While in Sardinia in the year 204 BC, he is said to have attracted the attention of Cato the Elder and was taken by him to Rome. There he taught Greek and adapted Greek plays for a livelihood, and by his poetical compositions gained the friendship of some of the greatest men in Rome whose achievements he praised. Amongst these were Scipio Africanus and Fulvius Nobilior , whom he accompanied on his Aetolian campaign (189). Afterwards he made

2652-403: Was significant, particularly in his use of Greek literary models. Very little is reliably known about the life of Ennius. His contemporaries hardly mentioned him and much that is related about him could have been embroidered from references to himself in his now fragmentary writings. Some lines of the Annales , as well as ancient testimonies, for example, suggest that Ennius opened his epic with

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2704-634: Was the language of the ancient Romans as well as being the lingua franca of Western and Central Europe throughout the Middle Ages . Latin literature features the work of Roman authors, such as Cicero , Virgil , Ovid and Horace , but also includes the work of European writers after the fall of the Empire; from religious writers like Aquinas (1225–1274), to secular writers like Francis Bacon (1561–1626), Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), and Isaac Newton (1642–1727). Although literature in Latin followed

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