Latin literature
The literature of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire was largely written in Latin (from around 200 onwards, Greek also played an important role). The periods of Latin literature are traditionally divided into Golden Latinity , which roughly covers the period from the beginning of the 1st century BC. Until the middle of the 1st century AD, and the Silver Latinity , which includes the later Classical period. After the end of the 2nd century, late Latin literature finally follows , the epoch of which extends to the end of late antiquity around AD 600 and the development of the Romance languages .
Early Latin literature
Early Latin literature (approx. 240–90 BC) was already heavily dependent on Greek models, but it also showed striking peculiarities. Most of the literary production of this period is lost, however. Only the comedy poets Plautus and Terenz have survived from the poetry of such large coherent texts that they could be described as complete works, and in the prose mostly non-fiction such as De agri cultura by Cato. Its origines were the first historical work in Latin. Prior to that, Quintus Fabius Pictor and Aulus Postumius Albinus had written historical works about Rome in Greek to justify the influence and sudden power of Rome in the known world.
poetry
prose
- Cato Censorius : u. a. De Agri Cultura , Origines (lost)
Golden latinity
The so-called Golden Latinity (approx. 90 BC to 14 AD) falls during a period of bloody civil wars when the Roman Republic fell and was replaced by a monarchy under Augustus . At that time, works were created that reflected the examination of Greek culture and literature even more than before and were already regarded as classic by contemporaries. Significant works were created in almost all genres. In the prose, the work of Cicero deserves to be mentioned, whose speeches on the one hand shaped the style and latinism per se for centuries, but on the other hand led to the standstill and extinction of the Latin language. After Quintilian and later Petrarch , Cicero became the measure of all things in Latin prose and the model for the Latin taught at the school. Virgil is his poetic counterpart.
poetry
Typical of the ancient epic is the hexameter and its proverbial length, which includes at least two ancient books .
- Virgil : Aeneid (Roman counterpart to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey), Georgica (teaching poses about rural life), Bucolica (teaching poses about pastoral life)
- Lucretius : De Rerum Natura (doctrinal pos in the tradition of Hesiod's theogony)
- Ovid : Metamorphoses (competitive epic to Virgil's Aeneid), Ars amatoria (ironic teaching pos about love for hetairians )
- Catullus : Carmen 64 (so-called Epyllion , minor poem in the Callimache tradition)
For them, the lyric meter (like the Sapphic or Alkean stanza ) is typical. It differs from other poetic genres in that the number of syllables is fixed.
- Horace : Odes , Carmen saeculare and epodes (Not all meter measures have a fixed number of syllables in Horace; dactylically constructed verses can usually become anapaestic and thus lose syllables.)
- Catullus : Carmina 1-60
- Horace : satires , epistula (also art letter )
- Varro : satires (lost)
This summarizes the poetry, the subject of which is entwined with pastoral life and which is usually written in dactylic meter.
Elegian or representative of the love elegance
The shape of the elegiac distich is typical for this. In most cases a loved one is sung about.
- Catullus : Carmina 1–60 (including a few elegiac lesbian poems as a model for the Roman elegance of love )
- Gallus : Elegies of love to Lycoris (lost)
- Tibullus
- Properz
- Ovid : Amores , Heroides
- Sulpicia the Elder
They are also mostly written in the elegiac distich , but in the minority of cases exceed four verses.
- Catullus : Carmina 69-116
prose
- Talking: u. a. In Catilinam , In Verrem , Pro Milone , Pro Roscio Comodeo , Pro Sexto Roscio
- Philosophical writings: u. a. De re publica , De Officiis , "De natura deorum"
- Letters: ad Familiares , ad Brutum , ad Quintum Fratrem , ad Atticum
- State theoretical writings: De re publica
- Rhetorical writings: De oratore , Orator
Historian, war correspondent and biographer
- Nepos : u. a. De Viris Illustribus
- Caesar : De Bello Gallico (eighth book probably written by the officer Hirtius ), De bello civili
- Sallust : De Coniuratione Catilinae , Bellum Iugurthinum
- Livy : From Urbe Condita
Non-fiction and specialist literature
- Hyginus : De astronomia
- Varro : u. a. De Lingua Latina (Linguistics), De Re Rustica (Agriculture)
- Vitruvius : De Architectura
Silver latinity
The Latin poetry of the early and high imperial period broke away from the Greek models in many cases (although these were still of importance) and now arose rather in confrontation with the works of golden latinism, which were already perceived as classic . This phase also produced a number of extremely important texts, Seneca being particularly noteworthy. His style was not as strongly imitated as the Ciceros, but the move away from the artfully constructed syntactic period towards the more concise sentence was a major cut and a defining factor in the further course of linguistic development. Seneca was the most popular writer in his own day and was devoured by the youth. Later, his chopped up style was again discarded. The post-classical period can be divided into three major sub-periods: 1. The time of Seneca , 2. Mannerism and Classicism , 3. Archaism
poetry
epos
- Lucan : De Bello Civili
- Silius Italicus : Punica
- Valerius Flaccus : Argonautica
- Statius : Thebais , Achilles
- Marcus Manilius : Astronomicon (teaching pos)
tragedy
- Seneca the Younger : u. a. Medea , Oedipus , Hercules Oetaeus
satire
epigram
Bucolic
prose
Philosophical writings
- Seneca the Younger : u. a. Epistulae Morales , Dialogi (e.g. De Vita Beata , De Brevitate Vitae, De Ira) , De Beneficiis (German "about benevolence")
- Mark Aurel : Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν (German "self-contemplation"; the work is written in Greek)
Art letter
Novel (in satirical tradition)
- Seneca the Younger : Apocolocyntosis
- Petronius : Satyricon
- Apuleius : Metamorphoses
rhetoric
- Seneca the Elder : Controversiae , Suasoriae (both patterns for disputes)
- Quintilian : Institutio Oratoria , Declamationes
- Fronto
Antiquarian colored fonts
- Aulus Gellius : Noctes Atticae
- Censorinus
Historiography
- Velleius Paterculus : Historiae Romanae
- Valerius Maximus : Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium (German "memorable deeds and words")
- Curtius Rufus : Historiae Alexandri Magni
- Tacitus : u. a. Historiae , Gemania , Annales
- Suetonius : De Vita Caesarum , De Poetis
Specialist literature
- Pomponius Mela : De Chorographia (geography)
- Celsus : Artes (medicine)
- Scribonius Largus Compositiones (Medicine)
- Columella : De Re Rustica (Agriculture)
- Masurius Sabinus : Ius Civile
- Pliny the Elder : Naturalis Historia (History of Science)
- Frontinus : u. a. De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae (German "Over the water pipes of Rome"; architecture)
- Hyginus Mythographus : De Astronomia (Astronomy)
- Apicius : De Re Coquinaria (German "About Cooking")
- Cornelius Labeo : Fasti , De diis animalibus , De oraculo Apollinis Clarii (Roman religion)
The first representatives of Christian Latin literature
2nd century
3rd century
Late Latin Literature (The Pagan and Christian Latin Literature of Late Antiquity)
Older research still judged that Latin literature of late antiquity (around 300 to 600 AD) reflected a general decline everywhere. Today this is seen in a more differentiated manner. Up to the threshold of the Middle Ages, some works were predominantly or completely committed to older, pagan forms and materials (e.g. those of Claudian ); in addition, however, there were more and more contributions from Christian authors. The Latin historiography witnessed Ammianus Marcellinus 400 a final climax (he tried to Tacitus to tie) and created another in the 6th century Gorippus one last major epic, which at Virgil oriented Iohannis .
In the late late antiquity, however, the majority of ancient Latin literature was lost ( book losses in late antiquity ). The narrow holdings of ancient writings by medieval authors are often considered to be similar to our present-day holdings.
4th century
- Arnobius the Elder
- Lactantius
- Marius Victorinus
- Pervigilium Veneris
- Aelius Donatus
- Ausonius
- Aurelius Victor
- Ammianus Marcellinus
- Paulinus of Nola
- Ambrose of Milan
- Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
- Jerome
- Egeria
- Flavius Vegetius Renatus
- Avienus
- Servius
- Hilary of Poitiers
- Optatus by Mileve
- Eusebius of Caesarea
- Filastrius of Brescia
- Eutropius
- Palladius
- Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius
- Theodorus Priscianus
- Pelagonius
- Juvencus
- Rufinus of Aquileia
- Nonius Marcellus
- Firmicus Maternus
5th century
- Historia Augusta
- Prudentius
- Sulpicius Severus
- Augustine of Hippo
- Claudian
- Rutilius Claudius Namatianus
- Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius
- Martianus Capella
- Leo the Great
- Sidonius Apollinaris
- Arnobius the Younger
- Nicetas of Remesiana
- Orientius
- Orosius
- Blossius Aemilius Dracontius
- Gennadius of Marseilles
- Johannes Cassianus
- Flavius Merobaudes
- Sedulius
- Salvianus of Marseilles
- Symphosius
- Prosper Tiro of Aquitaine
- Caelius Aurelianus
- Cassius Felix
- Maximus of Turin
- Pomerius
6th century
- Eugippius
- Priscian
- Boethius
- Benedict of Nursia
- Cassiodorus
- Gorippus
- Arator
- Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus
- Ennodius of Pavia
- Fulgentius of Ruspe
- Maximianus
- Jordanes
- Venantius Fortunatus
- Gregory of Tours
The Middle Latin Literature (The Latin Literature of the Middle Ages)
6th century
- Gildas
- Martinus Bracarensis
- Gregory of Tours
- Gregory the Great
- Venantius Fortunatus
- Columban of Luxeuil
- Sisebut
- Leander of Seville
7th century
- Isidore of Seville : Etymologiae
- Fredegar
- Hisperica Famina
- Braulio of Saragossa
- Eugenius III. from Toledo
- Ildefons of Toledo
- Julian of Toledo
- Adomnan of Iona
- Visio Baronti
- Aldhelm from Sherborne
8th century
- Beda Venerabilis
- Boniface
- Chrodegang
- Paul Deacon
- Arbeo from Freising
- Peter of Pisa
- Alcuin
- Paulinus of Aquileia
- Angilbert
9th century
- Theodulf of Orléans
- Einhard
- Modoin
- Dicuil
- Rabanus Maurus
- Nithard
- Hilduin of Saint-Denis
- Frechulf of Lisieux
- Thegan
- Radbert from Corbie
- Lupus from Ferrières
- Walahfrid Strabo
- Florus of Lyon
- Rudolf of Fulda
- Gottschalk from Orbais
- Ratramnus of Corbie
- Hinkmar from Reims
- Sedulius Scottus
- Heiric from Auxerre
- John Scotus Eriugena
- Notker Balbulus
- Remigius of Auxerre
- Tutilo from St. Gallen
10th century
- Hucbald
- Navigatio Sancti Brendani
- Odo from Cluny
- Flodoard from Reims
- Waltharius
- Liutprand of Cremona
- Widukind by Corvey
- Hrotsvit
- Tanner of Aurillac
- Abbo of Fleury
- Froumund from Tegernsee
11th century
- Fulbert of Chartres
- Berno von Reichenau
- Ekkehard IV.
- Wipo
- Petrus Damiani
- Berengar of Tours
- Hermann von Reichenau
- Ecbasis captivi
- Lanfrank from Bec
- Ruodlieb
- Lambert von Hersfeld
- Carmina Cantabrigiensia
- Guido of Arezzo
- Humbert from Silva Candida
- Anselm of Canterbury
- Sigebert from Gembloux
- Marbod from Rennes
- Balderich of Dol
- Eadmer
12th Century
- Hildebert of Lavardin
- Sextus Amarcius
- Peter Abelardus
- William of Malmesbury
- Suger from Saint-Denis
- William of Conches
- Bernhard of Clairvaux
- Hugo Primate of Orléans
- Petrus Lombardus
- Hugo of St. Victor
- Nivardus of Ghent
- Vitalis from Blois
- Hildegard von Bingen
- Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Herrad von Landsberg
- Joseph of Exeter
- Bernardus Silvestris
- William of Blois
- Adam of St. Victor
- Otto von Freising
- John of Salisbury
- Helmold von Bosau
- Alanus from Insulis
- Archipoeta
- Matthew of Vendôme
- Bernhard of Cluny
- Joachim of Floris
- Peter of Blois
- Petrus Riga
- Nigellus from Longchamps
- Walter of Châtillon
- Walter Map
- Galfredus de Vino Salvo
13th Century
- Saxo Grammaticus
- Alexander Neckam
- Michael Scotus
- Gervasius of Tilbury
- Jacob of Vitry
- Robert Grosseteste
- Caesarius von Heisterbach
- Francis of Assisi
- William of Auvergne
- Alexander of Hales
- Thomas von Celano : Dies Irae
- Vincent de Beauvais
- Carmina Burana
- Vagant seal
- John de Garlandia
- Albertus Magnus
- Roger Bacon
- Wilhelm von Moerbeke
- Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
- Thomas Aquinas
- Johannes Peckham
- Jacobus de Voragine
- Hugo von Trimberg
- Siger of Brabant
- Raimundus Lullus
- Jacopone da Todi
- Dietrich von Freiberg
- Peter of Abano
- Gertrud von Helfta
- John Duns Scotus
14th Century
- Engelbert of Admont
- Bernard Gui
- Dante Alighieri
- Albertino Mussato
- Walter Burleigh
- Marsilius of Padua
- William of Ockham
- Francesco Petrarch
- Giovanni Boccaccio
- Nicholas of Oresme
15th century
Renaissance and Neo-Latin
Most authors wrote as well in their national languages as they did in Latin, but each left a Latin work of significant quantity and quality.
14th Century
15th century
- Poggio Bracciolini
- Thomas von Kempen
- Nikolaus von Kues
- Leon Battista Alberti
- Lorenzo Valla
- Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini
- Marsilio Ficino
- Rudolf Agricola
- Girolamo Savonarola
- Angelo Poliziano
- Johannes Reuchlin
- Konrad Celtis
- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
16th Century
- Konrad Peutinger
- Erasmus from Rotterdam
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Thomas More
- Philipp Melanchthon
- Petrus Lotichius Secundus
- Jan Kochanowski
17th century
- Francis Bacon
- John Barclay
- Galileo Galilei
- Jakob Bidermann
- Johannes Kepler
- Hugo Grotius
- Thomas Hobbes
- René Descartes
- John Milton
- Blaise Pascal
- Baruch Spinoza
- Isaac Newton
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
18th century
19th century
20th century
See also
literature
- Michael von Albrecht : History of Roman literature: from Andronicus to Boethius; taking into account their importance for modern times . 2nd Edition. Francke, Bern 1994.
- Handbook of Classical Studies 8 and 9
- Henri Bardon : La littérature latine inconnue. 2 volumes, Paris 1952/1956.
- Herbert Hunger : History of the text transmission of ancient and medieval literature . 1961. Reprints as The Textual Transmission of Ancient Literature and the Bible . dtv, Munich 1975 and 1988.
- Manfred Fuhrmann : History of Roman Literature. (Reclam Universal Library 17658) Stuttgart 2005.
- Wilfried Stroh : Latin is dead, long live Latin! Small story of a great language . List, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-548-60809-4 .
- Cornelius Hartz : Roman writer . Zabern, Mainz 2010, ISBN 3-8053-4067-2 .