The Roman literature covers the compendium of works written in Latin by Roman authors. Latin is considered the natural language of Roman literature, although there are works that were written in Greek.
This is because the flourishing of literature in the Roman Empire coincides with the acceptance of Latin as an official language.
Consequently, it is also recognized as Latin literature. Roman literature prior to the empire is reduced to religious myths that seek to explain the origin or legends of heroes. This is known as Aboriginal Greek literature.
The Roman Empire was built with marked influence from Greece and its literature was defined by it. Therefore, this is called imitated Roman literature.
The innovations of Roman literature enriched world literature. It is this responsible for great changes that represented the evolution of satire and poetry.
Main features
The Roman Empire was one of the most important in history. But much of their culture and way of life was built on the remains of Greek culture. An example of this is Roman mythology and architecture.
The same thing happened with literature. There are many recognizable features and styles of Greek art in Roman works.
Even the literary genres were adopted directly. Over time these were modified by the styles of the authors themselves.
It was characterized by becoming an instrument of the Roman State; Through its oral dissemination, the government influenced public opinion.
In this sense, the literature helped social segregation, since only lawyers had direct access. The common people had to conform to the versions that the rulers prepared for them.
The authors of most works remained anonymous, especially in early Roman literature.
While the literary style evolved, some authors were establishing themselves as teachers.
Roman authors
Roman literature had great representatives whose names are among the masters.
Among the most important is Livio Andrónico, the first great author of Roman literature.
Virgil and Ovid were the capital authors of the golden age of Roman literature. The first was the author of The Aeneid, and the second of The Metamorphoses.
Seneca, Horacio, Seutonio and Plinio El Joven also stand out.
The 3 main genres of Roman literature Roman literature adopted the literary genres of ancient Greece. At first it was an imitation, but over time they added traits that transformed these genres.1- Latin lyric poetry
This genus was the least cultivated and evolved of the three. He always followed the Greek structures and did not propose innovations in the form.
This probably because it was the closest to the upper social spheres and difficult to access for the lower classes.
Its main representative was Ovid and reached its maturity in the 1st century BC. C.
2- Latin epic poetry
The structure of Latin epic literature has the same structure of Greek epic literature.
They are distinguished by the themes and the stories they tell; while the Greek collects legends about great heroes, the Latin collects great stories of common men.
The main representative of the Latin epic is Virgilio, with his capital work La Eneida.
3- The Latin theater
Comedy was the protagonist of the Latin theater. There were important representations of epic battles, but the comedic acts always had a greater audience and popularity.
It evolved a style in which artists began to perform without having a guiding story.
Thus the presentation was developed by the spontaneous responses of the moment. This is one of the antecedents of improvisational theater.
References
- Latin literature. (2017) britannica.com
- Ancient Rome. (2009) ancient-literature.com
- Roman Literature (2017) ancient.eu
- Ancient Rome Literature. (2017) mariamilani.com
- History of Roman literature. (2015) escaramuza.com.uy