1. Literature Ancient Rome

2. Roman Literature  Was written in the Latin language  Remains as a legacy of the culture of ancient Rome  Some of the more earlier extents are historical epics about early military history of Rome, and as the Republic expanded, followed by poetry, comedies, histories, and tragedies.  Drew heavily on others traditions, mostly Greece.

3. Latin Language  Latin was brought to Italy by about 1,000 B.C. by Indo-European immigrants from Northern Europe, and was the official language of the Roman Empire.  The people of Latium, a small territory on the banks of Tiber River, developed in an organized community, which eventually founded the city of Rome around 753 B.C.  Latin quickly spread over a larger part of Italy by Roman conquest. From the Roman structure, the western world would speak variations of Latin, forming a common bond among different people.  Latin widely affected other languages, like Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and other major languages.

4. Roman Alphabet  Evolved from pictorial hieroglyphs from Ancient Egypt to the form of alphabet we use today.  Mostly came from the Greeks, but the Romans made their own forms and techniques so it could fit their style.  Consisted of all uppercase letters, and some letters was not even present. The missing letters were substituted for different letters in their alphabet.

5. Augustus Age  Mostly from poets, with the exception of Livy.  The poets had an advantage over most writers, like wealthy patrons who afforded the leisure to write and read since there was a library to read from.  Was influenced by the Latin literature, Syracusan and Alexandrian Greek literature.  Wrote in many forms, varying from epics, love elegy, satire, which is a literary book from others, history, and didactic poetry.

6. Virgil Latin Literature Augustus, a Roman emperor Latin Language

7. Views of Roman Literature Positive:  Had stable laws and economics.  Had a stable social context to let people study.  Had a need in society for people with higher educations.  Benefitted individuals by pursuing higher levels of education and knowledge.  Had cultural backgrounds which gives value to production and making of literature. Negative:  Literature was a copy of Greece

8. History of Roman Literature  Began with drama. Exhibitions were introduced in Rome around 363 B.C., but were only pantomimic scenes to music of the flute, without any speech or songs. Around 240 B.C. drama was preformed with a plot.  Literature rose to its highest under Augustus, declined under his successors, and was lost with the fall of the Western empire.

9. History of Roman Literature Cont.  First Period. The sixth and seventh centuries of the city of Rome (240 B.C. – 80 B.C.) This makes up the history of drama, early epos and satires, and the beginning of the prose actions. Its marked by its adolescence of art and language.  Second Period. The Golden Age, from Cicero to Ovid (80 B.C. – 14 A.D.) Has the highest improvements in prose and poetry. The prose era came first, and is marked by Cicero, Sallust, and Caesar.  Third Period. Around the decline of Rome, from the accession, or rise to power, of Tiberius to the death of Marcus Aurelius (14 A.D. – 180 A.D.) Mostly made up of political writings, epochs, and religious phenomena. These make up the Periods of Literature in Rome.

10. Ancient Roman Writers Some famous writers of ancient Rome were:  Caesar, whom had written Bellum Gallicum, and Bellum Civile. He was born c. 100 B.C. – 44 B.C.  Horace, whom had written odes and poetry, and had lived around 65 B.C. – 8 B.C.  Ovid, whom had lived around 43 B.C. – 17 B.C., and had written Metomorphoses, Fasti, and love poetry.

11. Ancient Roman Writers Continued  Quintus Ennius – (239 B.C. – 169 B.C) Was an epic poet, dramatist, satirist, which is a person whom ridicules other people’s stupidity. Wrote Annales, a narrative poem of Rome from a wanderers point of view.  Gnaeus Naevius – (c. 270 B.C. – c. 200 B.C.) Epic poet, dramatist, historical plays on Rome or legendary figures and events. Wrote Romulus and Clastidium.  Marcus Pacuvius – (220 B.C. – c. 130 B.C.) A Roman tragic dramatist.  Plautus – (c. 254 B.C. – 184 B.C.) Was a Roman comic dramatist, which established true Roman drama in the Latin language.  Terence – (c. 195 B.C. – c. 159 B.C.) Was a comedy of manners writer, which is comedy that criticizes a particular social group.

12. Epics  Epic poetry is one of the major forms of narrative literature. It retells the life and works of a hero or mythological person or group of people.  Epic poetry was supposed to be accompanied with a lyre.  The first epics were connected together before illiterate societies and speaking poems became traditions. In the traditions, poetry is spoken to the audience and from performer to performer by only talking.  Is a long poem that tells of the deeds of heroic figures.

13. Prose  Developed by Herodotus, it was written as history.  In Rome, satire was a recognized and somewhat described literary genre.  In the reign of Augustus many people said that the arrival of the Golden Age would bring them back to traditional values.  Is a written or spoken form of language.

14. The Golden Age of Roman Drama  Was adapted by Greek comedy and tragedy on a Roman stage by Livius Adronicus.  Was the beginning of formal Latin literature.  Dates to 240 B.C.  Coincides with the end of the first Punic War, when Romans came into contact with Greeks of southern Italy and Sicily.

15. Sources Roman Literature http://www.unrv.com/culture/literature.php Latin Language http://www.unrv.com/culture/latin-language.php Ancient Roman Writers http://www.musesrealm.net/rome/writers.html Roman Alphabet http://library.thinkquest.org/26907/arts.htm# Augustus Era http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/latinliteratur e/tp/012811-Augustan-Age-Literature.htm History of Roman Lit. http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman- life/roman-literature.htm Pictures from Google Images Views of Rom. Lit. http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/Anc ient_Rome_Literature.htm Hist. of Rom. Cont. http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_hi stromlit_intro.htm Roman Writers Continued www.britannica.com/ Epics http://www.crystalinks.com/romeliterature.html Prose http://www.crystalinks.com/romeliterature.html The Golden Age http://www.crystalinks.com/romeliterature.html