Latin Literature Glossary

Virgil's epic poem in twelve books recounting the journey of Aeneas from Troy to Italy and the mythological origins of Rome.

Horace's verse epistle on the principles of literary composition, one of the most influential works of literary criticism in Western history.

The period of Roman literature during the reign of Augustus (27 BCE - 14 CE), considered the apex of the Golden Age, when Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Livy were active.

Pastoral verse depicting idealized rural life, often featuring shepherds. Virgil's Eclogues are the most famous Latin examples of the genre.

Latin for 'songs' or 'poems,' commonly used as the title of Horace's Odes and Catullus's collected verse.

A metrical line of six feet, each primarily a dactyl (long-short-short) or spondee (long-long), used as the standard meter for epic and didactic poetry in Latin.

Verse that aims to instruct the reader on a particular subject, such as Lucretius's De Rerum Natura (philosophy) or Virgil's Georgics (farming).

A short pastoral poem, typically in the form of a dialogue between shepherds. Virgil's ten Eclogues established the genre in Latin.

A verse form pairing a dactylic hexameter line with a pentameter line, used for love elegy, epigram, and other non-epic genres.

A moral example or illustrative anecdote from history or myth, frequently employed in Roman historiography and oratory to teach virtue.

The 'grand style' of Latin rhetoric, characterized by elaborate diction, complex periods, and emotional power, suitable for weighty subjects.

An eleven-syllable verse form used frequently by Catullus for informal, witty, or invective poems.

A six-foot metrical line; in Latin, dactylic hexameter is the standard form used for epic and didactic verse.

The writing of history as a literary and moral endeavor. Major Roman historians include Livy, Tacitus, Sallust, and Caesar.

The Roman practice of creatively adapting and transforming literary models, especially Greek ones, rather than merely copying them.

A literary attack using harsh, abusive language directed at a specific person. Practiced by Cicero in oratory and Catullus in verse.

Short poems expressing personal emotion, often accompanied by music. Horace adapted Greek lyric meters (Alcaic, Sapphic) for Latin in his Odes.

A group of late Republican poets (poetae novi) including Catullus who championed short, highly polished, emotionally intense poetry influenced by Hellenistic Greek models.

The art of public speaking, central to Roman political and legal life. Cicero was its greatest practitioner; Quintilian its most systematic theorist.

A formal public speech or written text praising a person, typically an emperor. Pliny the Younger's Panegyricus to Trajan is the most famous Latin example.

A literary form alternating between prose and verse, exemplified by Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy and Petronius's Satyricon.

The art of persuasion through language. In Rome, rhetoric was the cornerstone of education and public life, codified by Cicero, Quintilian, and others.

A Roman literary genre using humor, irony, and moral criticism to expose vice and folly. Claimed by Romans as their original invention.

The influence of Stoic philosophy on Roman writers, evident in Seneca's moral essays, Cicero's philosophical works, and the poetry of Lucan and Persius.

Works written during or about the Roman civil wars of the 1st century BCE, including Caesar's commentaries, Cicero's Philippics, and Lucan's Pharsalia.