EARLY ROMAN
LITERATURE
An Introduction
Roman Literature
• Holds a secondary
position in classic
literature
• Romans were less
thinkers and less
imaginative
Roman Literature
• Greatly imitative of Gk
models
• Gk Literature was
translated into Latin
Roman Literature
Zeus Jupiter
Hera Juno
Hades Pluto
Apollo Apollo
Artemis Diana
Ares Mars
Roman Literature
Hestia Vesta
Poseidon Neptune
Athena Minerva
Aphrodite Venus
Hephaestus Vulcan
Hermes Mercury
Roman Literature
• Predominance of satire:
purpose was to attack
the evils in society
Roman Literature
• Uses deus ex machina
(god out of a machine)
term applied to any
artificial trick or
unexpected intervention
• Made little progress in
literature until the
enslavement of
Greeks.
ROME
• Capital: Italy
• With 2.8M residents
• Referred to as “Eternal
City”
VIRGIL
• Greatest writer that
Rome has produced
• Counterpart of Homer
in Gk.
• A lover of nature
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• One of the founding myths
was that of Aeneas.
• Cousin of Hector, believed to
be the son of Venus
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• Destination was Latium,
but was swept to
Carthage under Queen
Dido= heartbroken=
committed suicide
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• Reached Latium= King
Latinus= Lavinia whom
Aeneas married
• Started conflict with Turnus
who was supposed to marry
Lavinia
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• Lineage= Rhea Silvia,
priestess of Hestia=
impregnated by either
Mars or Hercules
• Romulus and Remus
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• Twins were abandoned
• River Tibet
• Suckled by a she-wolf until
were found by Faustulus
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• Became bandits
• Returned to Rome to take
power but quarreled
• Romulus killed Remus
• Romulus reigned for 38 years
THE FOUNDING OF ROME
• Disappeared in a violent
storm
• Rome began with a fratricide
• Founding date: April 21
National Holiday of Rome
VIRGIL
• Had an excellent
education in philosophy
• Works were combination
of content and form
VIRGIL
• A great lyric poet
• His masterpiece was
the AENEID
HORACE
• Great lyric poet of
Rome
• Poems were short and
meditative in nature
HORACE
• Had a very loving father
who helped him in every
way
• Had a very successful life
MARTIAL
• Born in Spain but migrated
to Rome
• Became a court poet
• Known for his violent satires
EPICTETUS
• Was born in Asia Minor
but grew up in Rome
• Wrote nothing but the
many discourses made
him popular
