Latin Literature in History

Greek literature was one of the numerous Greek accomplishments from which Romans drew immense influence. The Romans picked up first on the Greek embrace of rhetoric, which became an educational standard, given that a man's rhetoric, his ability to "push the buttons" of the subject audience by way of speeches, supplemented the man's rise to political power. But as rhetoric began to diminish from Roman daily life following Rome's imperialization, identical persuasive technique began to show itself in Roman literature. But Greek themes were just a backbone in Roman literature, and as time, progressed, Rome established a unique literary style, which, alongside Greek Literature, had a profound …show more content…

In the Middle Ages, people interpreted the book as a prophecy of the coming of Jesus, and thought Virgil to be a prophet. His writings influenced loads of renaissance writers and were viewed as the literary ideal in the 15-1600's. A friend of Virgil, Horace, was rooted in poetry, expressing love, beauty, friendship, and satire at times. Like Virgil's, his writings expressed great satisfaction with the condition of life in the Pax Romana. His writings also set a standard for writing at that time, and Virgil became Rome's chief poet following Virgil's death. Last, the love poetry and retellings of Roman Mythology from Ovid served as a huge influence on renaissance writers and painters, and was its prime source for Mythology. Writers continued to write following Augustus's death, amongst those was Seneca, a stoic philosopher. He wrote dialogues and letters about morality and generosity, published works examining natural phenomena such as earthquakes, and wrote tragedies, which helped to popularize tragic drama in Europe later on. Several Epic poems were written; Tacitus presented a darker history of Rome, and Suetonius published biographies of 12 Roman rulers. The last creative flow in Ancient Latin literature came in the early 200's, with Marcelinus writing history, Symmachus in oratory, and Ausonius and Rutilius writing masterful poetry. With the fall of the Roman Empire, much of the great works slipped