Men of letters By: John Helm

Vocab words Maecenus Volumenia Parchment Codex Virgil Horace Carpe diem Ovid Seneca Plutarch Tacitus Celsus Galen

The kings of literature Augustus was Rome’s first king of literature He collected poems from all around Rome. Helped us have a richer understanding of Rome Had an assistant, Maecenus to spread the word Caesar was a king soon after Augustus. Built 28 libraries like the one in Alexandria Egypt Is a very popular king Probably inspired the Caesar Salad Yummy again . Caesar Augustus

Papyrus scrolls Scrolls were the modern day books Scrolls were made of Papyrus Scrolls were also read from left to right They were called volumenia which makes our word volume Were later replaced with parchment which is dried animal skin It was made into a book called a Codex

Rome’s Great Poets There were 3 main poets of Rome They were all in the timeline of Augustus They all inspired many people The first poet was Virgil He was well educated and quite rich He wrote the Aeneid where Aeneas founded Alba Longa

Rome’s Great Poets Continued The second poet was Horace He was a good lyric poet for music Wrote about love, beauty and death Invented the phrase Carpe Diem or “Seize the day” The third poet was Ovid Loved to write poems about love Banished to live a horrible life

The social critics Many writers were developed in Rome Wealthy class type were deprived of rights and driven to write Seneca was a statesman, philosopher, and playwright Was inspired by stoic philosophers Was very wealthy but still attacked the Roman Elite

The historians Livy was a wonderful historian Wrote 142 books but only 35 survived Wrote a side piece to the Aeneid Plutarch is a world renowned historian He witnessed the assassination of Julius Caesar Exaggerated almost everything. Lacitus is considered Rome’s greatest historian Wrote in a straightforward manner.

Roman Medicine To rome science was a collection of nature and observation of nature. They made little help to our current understanding of science Romans acknowledged that poor hygiene was a main reason for disease If the people of Rome didn’t wash their hands then the whole population might get sick This could cause death because their medicine wasn’t modern.