Latin literature
Latin literature Literature of the Roman Empire. The earliest works date from the 3rd century bc, and were imitations of Greek drama and Greek literature by Livius Andronicus and Naevius. In the 2nd century bc, the influence of Greek drama was adapted to Roman themes by Plautus. The ‘Golden Age’ of Latin literature (c.70 bc–c.ad 14) was heralded in the prose works of Cicero and the poetry of Catullus and Lucretius. The Augustan Age (43 bc–ad 14) produced the Metamorphoses of Ovid, the Aeneid of Virgil, the lyrics of Horace, and the prose histories of Livy. The writings of Pliny (the Elder) marked the reign of Trajan. The so-called ‘Silver Age’ (ad 98–138) saw the tragedies of Seneca, the satires of Juvenal, and the sceptical histories of Tacitus. Generally, Latin literature declined until its revival in the 5th century as the lingua franca of Christian discourse by Saint Augustine. The trend was continued by Boethius and Bede. Latin writers of the Middle Ages included Pierre Abélard, Thomas Aquinas, and Thomas à Kempis. Erasmus and Sir Thomas More revived Latin during the age of humanism.
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Latin literature