ROMAN LITERATURE

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.

What language did they use?

Latin was the main language used for writing during Ancient Rome. Greek was also a popular
language because it was used by so many people in the eastern portion of the Roman empire.

What did the Romans write on?

Important documents were written on PAPYRUS SCROLLS (made from the papyrus plant in
Egypt) or on parchment (pages made from animal skin). They wrote with a metal pin that they
dipped in ink. For more temporary day-to-day writing they used a wax tablet or thin pieces of
wood.

The "Golden Age of Roman Literature" is usually considered to cover the period from about
the start of the 1st Century BCE up to the mid-1st Century CE.

The "Silver Age of Roman Literature" extends into the 2nd Century CE, a period during which
the eloquent, sometimes bombastic, poetry of Seneca the Younger and Lucan gave way to the
more restrained, classicized style of Pliny the Younger's letters and the powerful satires of
Juvenal.

Poetry

Perhaps the most famous type of Roman literature is poetry. The three most famous Roman
poets are Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. Virgil (70 BC to 19 BC) - Virgil is known for writing the epic
poem the Aeneid.

The Aeneid tells the story of a Trojan hero named Aeneas. It incorporates many historic events
in the history of Rome. Horace (65 BC 8 BC) - Horace is known for a collection of lyric poems
called the Odes. Other works of Horace include Satires and Epistles. Other Works:

Ovid (43 BC to 17 AD) - Ovid's most famous work was the epic Metamorphoses. It tells the
history of the world from creation to when Julius Caesar was made a god. Ovid was also
famous for writing love poems.

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 Aeneid is considered his greatest work and its 12 books took 11 years to complete,
possibly at the commission of Emperor Augustus.

Homer's great epics of the Trojan War are an obvious influence.

Virgil describes the journeys of Aeneas, who finally arrives in Italy, defeating a local warlord
called Turnus to found the city that would become Rome. Virgil died before it could be
completed, but Augustus ordered it to be published unedited, after the poet read parts of it to
him.

Virgil was enormously popular in Ancient Rome. Ovid referred to the Aenied in the
Metamorphoses. The works were school set texts, and were treated as almost holy texts by
later readers.

Characters

• Aeneas - The hero of the story

• Dido - Queen of Carthage and Aeneas's lover
• Anchises - Aeneas' father
• Aschates - Aneneas' friend and constant companion
• Creusa - Aeneas' first wife
• lulus (Ascanius) - Aeneas' son

Gods

• Juno (Hera) - Enemy of Aeneas and his companions

• Venus (Aphrodite) - Mother and helper of Aeneas
• Jupiter (Zues) - Father and most powerful of the gods
• Neptune - God of the sea, usually friendly
• Fate or the Fates (Moirae) - supernatural forces more powerful than the gods that cause
events

The Aeneid Summary

Virgil's seminal epic, the Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas's journey in search of the land where
he is destined to build the city that will one day become the great Roman Empire.

Largely influenced by Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, the Aeneid begins halfway through Aeneas's
journey, as he nears the city of Carthage, ruled over by Dido, who built the city after fleeing from
her murderous brother. Over dinner one night, he tells Dido and her court about his travels thus
far.
Book One - Storm

• Aneas and companions driven by storm

• Land on the coast of North Africa
• Queen Dido of Carthage welcomes Aneneas
• Aeneas begins to tell his story

Aeneas recounts the story of the fall of Troy, and how he was forced to leave the city of his birth
with his father Anchises, his son Ascanius, and his wife Creusa.

During the flight, he lost Creusa, whose shade appeared to him, telling him to follow his destiny,
which is to build a great city and take a royal bride.

Book Two - The sack of Troy

• The story of the sack of Troy

• War between Greeks and Trojans over Helen
• Wooden horse left outside walls by Greeks
• City of Troy sacked
• Aeneas escapes with his family
• Aeneas' wife dies

BOOK THREE - Journeys

Aeneas describes how and his fellow exiles wandered the Mediterranean for seven years.

Aeneas and the other Trojan refugees set out to sea, where they had a great many adventures
before arriving in Carthage: believing that their destined land was in Crete, they founded a city
there, only to be struck down by a plague that forced them to leave; they fought against the
Harpies and were cursed by their leader, Celeano; they fled the island of the Cyclops to avoid
being slaughtered by the one-eyed beasts; Anchises died on the island of Drepanum.

Book Four - Dido and Aeneas

• Dido falls in love with Aeneas

• Development of the romance
• Mercury reminds Aeneas of his destiny
• Aeneas leaves Carthage and Dido to continue his quest
• Dido kills herself

When Aeneas finishes telling Dido his tale, she realizes that she has become inflamed with love
for him, and she pursues him relentlessly. Juno manipulates the situation so that the pair
spends the night in a cave, where they become lovers. Eventually, however, Aeneas realizes
that he has been abandoning his destiny by dallying in Carthage, so he readies his men to
leave.

BOOK FIVE – Sports

Aeneas sails to Sicily where he holds a sport festival in honour of his dead father, and
then sails on to Italy.

Dido has convinced herself that the two are in fact husband and wife, and she is so distraught
by her lover's abandonment that she builds a funeral pyre and slays herself on it using Aeneas's
sword. As Aeneas and his men sail away from Carthage, they see the city aflame, the residents
in a panic, but they do not know that the queen has died. The fleet sails to Drepanum, where
they engage in celebrations commemorating the one-year anniversary of Anchises's death, and
Aeneas receives a prophecy telling him to travel to the Underworld to meet with his father.

Book Six - The Underworld

• Aeneas descends into the underworld

• He meets both his father and Dido
• He is shown the great destiny which awaits the Roman people

With the Sibyl of Cumae, Deiphobe, as his guide, Aeneas travels through the Underworld in
search of Anchises. On the journey, Aeneas sees a great many terrible sights, including restless
souls who have not received proper burials, the ghosts of dead babies, and the terrifying
fortress Tartarus, where the most horrible sinners live in eternal torture.

When he finally locates his father in the beautiful Elysium, where only the most heroic souls go
to rest, Anchises shows him the shades that, once reincarnated, will become the heroes of the
Roman Empire. Aeneas returns to the land of the living, certain of the need to fulfill his destiny,
and then sets sail for Laurentum, where he will build his great city.

When Aeneas and his men arrive in Laurentum, they are greeted warmly by King Latinus, who
has heard a prophecy that his daughter, Lavinia, should be wed to a foreigner. Juno, however,
angered by the treaty, sends one of the Furies to stir up trouble. The Fury Allecto starts a war
between the Trojans and the Latins by striking anger into the heart of Turnus, Lavinia's other
suitor. She also inspires Latinus's wife, Queen Amata, to do all that she can to prevent the
Trojans from building their city in Laurentum.

Books 7-12

The Trojans fight numerous battles with the people of Italy and are finally victorious

Turnus calls the Latin men to arms against the foreigners, and a terrible, drawn-out battle
ensues. Aeneas seeks the aid of King Evander, ruler of a poor neighboring kingdom, and the
Etruscans, who wish to avenge the wrong done to them by Mezentius, one of Turnus's
supporters. King Evander entrusts his son, Pallas, to fight at the great warrior's side, but Pallas
is brutally slain by Turnus - a move that Turnus will come to regret.

Eventually, even the Latins come to realize the inevitability of the Trojan victory, and they call for
a one-on-one duel between Turnus and Aeneas. Just as the duel is about to begin, however,
Turnus's sister Juturna inflames the Latin troops. A young Trojan is killed, and the battle begins
once again. Finally, even Turnus realizes that the only way to end the slaughter is through a
duel, so the two meet in a field. Aeneas clearly has the upper hand throughout the battle, even
though Turnus is aided by his sister, Juturna, until Jupiter intervenes and declares that the gods
may no longer meddle in mortal affairs.

Finally, Aeneas strikes Turnus to the ground, and the fallen man pleads for his life, or at least for
his corpse to be sent back to his father for burial. Although Aeneas is momentarily moved by his
adversary's plea, he sees that Turnus has callously slung Pallas's belt across his shoulders, and
Aeneas decides not to be merciful. The epic ends with Aeneas plunging his sword through
Turnus's heart and then with Turnus's moaning shade fleeing to the Underworld.