Latin and Roman Literature

[AureliaeLacrimae]

Latin and Roman Literature

 

Well, as the title says, I wish to say something about the importance of the Roman literature. Many experts have claimed that it's not really a literature, merely a copy of the Greek original, but it's more than that. Yes, Romans kept most of the Greek forms, but they also added some of their own ideas and changed many of the forms. Then, there's the difference in values. Greeks loved philosophy, Romans loved law. Their works show these two affinities.

 

When it comes to Roman poetry, it's very important, and it's significance isn't only with Virgil, Horace and Ovid, though these three were the greatest Roman poets. There were also other notable poets such as Catullus and Martial who were excellent at what they were doing. Drama is also very vital. I won't even talk about the value of Plautus and many others - the list would be too long. Reading poetry and drama, though, is a little tricky as you must be familiar with the metrics system. They're still beautiful in translation, though.

 

Roman prose is very varied. It goes from historic books and philosophy to orations on various topics. Cicero is excellent at prose. So is Caesar (though I dislike him) and Augustus. And they're not that difficult to read for beginners, though of course, it's better to get acquainted with them through translations for the time being.

 

What I wished to point out with this is that there are so many excellent works written in Latin. Some of them are elegies, some romantic poems, some orations held at court. Latin texts are very diverse. The theme varies so much that there will always be something you like. You just have to be patient enough to look.