The History of literature begins with the history of writing, in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, although the oldest literary texts that have come down to us date to a full millennium after the invention of writing, to the late 3rd millennium BC. The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, a moon priestess to whom are attributed 42 hymns in Akkadian dating to ca. the 23rd century BC. The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry which attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/hearer/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pieces. ... See also: 13th century in literature, list of years in literature. ... Indian literature is generally acknowledged, but not wholly established, as the oldest in the world. ... Literature in Sanskrit, Indias oldest language, and the mother language of several modern languages in India. ... // Ancient texts The Four Books (四书, Sì shū) are The Great Learning, (大学, Dà Xué). The Doctrine of the Golden Mean (中庸, Zhōng Yóng). ... At the moment this page contains a list of links. ... The literature of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire written in the Latin language. ... Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... Persian literature is literature written in Persian. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry which attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/hearer/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pieces. ... Writing systems evolved in the 4th millennium BC out of neolithic proto-writing. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Sumerian list of gods in cuneiform script, ca. ... (4th millennium BC – 3rd millennium BC – 2nd millennium BC – other millennia) // Events The 3rd millennium BC represents the beginning of factual history, since it is the first time we do have real names to name and detailed stories to tell. ... Enheduanna (c. ... Akkadian language city of Akkad or Agad Akkadian Empire Sargon of Akkad the Amarna letters and Amarna Letters EA 296(Yahtiru) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... (24th century BC - 23rd century BC - 22nd century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2334 - 2279 BC (short chronology) Sargon of Akkads conquest of Mesopotamia. ...

Texts handed down by oral tradition may predate their fixation in written form by several centuries, or, in extreme cases, even millennia. Classical Antiquity is usually considered to begin with Homer, in the 8th century BC. Many older literary texts are known, but often difficult to date. This includes the texts in the Hebrew Bible, the Pentateuch being traditionally dated to the 15th century BC, while modern scholarship puts it to the 10th century BC at the very earliest. A very early example is the so called Egyptian Book of the Dead which was eventually written down in the Papyrus of Ani in approximately 250 BC but probably dates from about the 18th century BC. Oral tradition or oral culture is a way of transmitting history, literature or law from one generation to the next in a civilization without a writing system. ... It has been suggested that Greco-Roman be merged into this article or section. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... (2nd millennium BCE - 1st millennium BCE - 1st millennium) // Overview Events Assyria conquers Damascus and Samaria Nineveh destroyed (789 BCE) First recorded Olympic Games held in Greece (776 BCE) Zhou Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang (771 BC); The Spring and Autumn Period (771-481 BCE) began. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article discusses usage of the term Hebrew Bible. For the article on the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh. ... Look up Pentateuch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For a detailed discussion about the contents of the Pentateuch, see the article Torah. ... This article is about the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. ... The Papyrus of Ani is a papyrus from the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt containing portions of the Book of Going Forth by Day, more commonly known as the Books of the Dead. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC - 250s BC - 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC Years: 255 BC 254 BC 253 BC 252 BC 251 BC - 250 BC - 249 BC 248 BC... // Events 1787 - 1784 BC -- Amorite conquests of Uruk and Isin 1786 BC -- Egypt: Queen Sobekneferu died. ...

There are various different possible answers to the question "Which was the first novel ever written?" (See Candidates for the first novel). DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... There are various different possible answers to the question Which was the first novel ever written? Any of the writings on this list might be the first novel, or possibly just examples of precursors of the novel form. ...

List of ancient texts

Bronze Age

• 23rd to 20th century BC
  • Hymns of Enheduanna
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian version)
• 19th to 17th century
  • The Story of Sinuhe
  • Enûma Elish
  • Atrahasis Epic
• 16th to 14th century
  • Book of the Dead
  • Rigveda
  • Hittite military oath
• 14th to 11th century
  • Great Hymn to the Aten
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh (Akkadian version)
  • Story of Wenamun

The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Enheduanna (c. ... The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian The Epic of Gilgamesh is a literary work from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. ... Unsolved problems in Egyptology: Was the Story of Sinuhe a myth or real? If it was real, did Sinuhe abandon his duty or was he a hero? The Story of Sinuhe is set in the time of the Pharaoh Amenemhat I, founder of the 12th dynasty of Egypt, and is... Enûma Elish is the creation epic of Babylonian mythology. ... The Atrahasis Epic was a story writted in the early 2nd mellennium B.C. deriving a people called the Akkadian. ... ... The Rigveda (Sanskrit: , a tatpurusha compound of praise, verse and knowledge) is a collection of hymns (, plural ) counted among the four Hindu religious texts known as the s, and contains the oldest texts preserved in any Indo-Iranian language. ... The Hittite military oath is a Hittite of two cuneiform tablets. ... The Great Hymn to the Aten was found in the tomb of Ay, in the rock tombs at Akhetaten. ... The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian The Epic of Gilgamesh is a literary work from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. ... The Story of Wenamun (alternately known as the Report of Wenamun, the Misadventures of Wenamun, or [informally] as just Wenamun) is a literary text written in hieratic in the Late Egyptian language. ...

Iron Age

• undated or controversial, ca. 12th to 7th century BC
  • Yajurveda
  • Atharvaveda
  • Brahmanas
  • Torah
  • Book of Joshua
  • Book of Isaiah
• undated or controversial, contemporary with "Classical Antiquity" below
  • The Ramayana (Hindu mythology)
  • The Mahabharata (of which the Bhagavad Gita is a section) (Hindu mythology)

Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The Yajur Veda यजुर्वेद is one of the four Hindu Vedas; it contains religious texts focussing on liturgy and ritual. ... The Atharva Veda is a sacred text of Hinduism, part of the four books of the Vedas. ... The Brahmana (Sanskrit ब्राह्मण) are part of the Hindu Shruti; They are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and the period of their composition is sometimes referred to as the Brahmanic period or age (approximately between 900 BC and 500 BC). ... Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in both the Hebrew Tanakh and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... Isaiah (Hebrew ישׁעיהו Yeshayahu or Yəša‘ăyāhû) is a book of the Jewish Hebrew Bible as well as the Christian Old Testament, containing prophecies attributed to Isaiah. ... The Rāmāyana (Sanskrit: रामायण, march or journey (Ä€yana) of Rāma) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. ... The term Hindu mythology refers collectively to a large body of Indian literature (essentially, the mythology of Hinduism) that detail the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... The term Hindu mythology refers collectively to a large body of Indian literature (essentially, the mythology of Hinduism) that detail the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ...

Classical Antiquity

See also Ancient Greek literature, Latin literature.

• 8th century BC:
  • The Iliad by Homer (Greek mythology)
  • The Odyssey by Homer (Greek mythology)
  • The Theogony by Hesiod
• 6th century BC
  • Psalms
  • Book of Daniel
  • Book of Ezekiel
• 5th century BC:
  • The odes of Pindar
  • The Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus
  • History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
  • The Suppliants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Oresteia by Aeschylus
  • Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, Electra by Sophocles
  • Alcestis, Medea, Heracleidae, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba, The Suppliants, Electra, Heracles, Trojan Women, Iphigeneia in Tauris, Ion, Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes, Bacchae, Iphigeneia at Aulis, Cyclops, Rhesus by Euripides
  • The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae, The Frogs, Ecclesiazousae, Plutus by Aristophanes
  • The Five Classics (Classic of Poetry, Classic of History, Book of Changes, Classic of Rites, and Annals of Spring and Autumn, traditionally by Confucius)
• 4th century BC:
  • Anabasis, Cyropaedia by Xenophon
  • Nicomachean Ethics, Metaphysics by Aristotle
  • Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Theaetetus, Parmenides, Symposium, Phaedrus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno, Menexenus, Republic, Timaeus by Plato
  • Elements by Euclid
  • Book of Job
• 3rd century BC:
  • Liber Linteus
• 2nd century BC:
  • Poenulus, Miles Gloriosus by Plautus
  • Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian
• 1st century BC:
  • Catiline Orations, Pro Caelio, Dream of Scipio by Cicero
  • Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar
  • Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid by Virgil
  • On the Nature of Things by Lucretius
• 1st century:
  • The books of the New Testament
  • Germania by Tacitus
  • Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans by Plutarch
  • Metamorphoses by Ovid
  • Natural History by Pliny the Elder
  • Satyricon by Petronius Arbiter
  • Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion by Josephus
  • Book of Han by Ban Gu
• 2nd century:
  • Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian
  • Almagest by Ptolemy
  • Deipnosophistae by Athenaeus
  • Enchiridion by Epictetus
  • The Golden Ass by Apuleius
  • Liber Memorialis by Lucius Ampelius
  • Description of Greece by Pausanias
  • Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
• 3rd century:
  • De re coquinaria by Apicius
  • Enneads by Plotinus
  • Pervigilium Veneris
  • Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou
  • Distichs of Cato
• 4th century:
  • De Re Militari by Flavius Vegetius Renatus
  • Confessions by Augustine of Hippo
• 5th century:
  • The City of God by Augustine of Hippo
  • Vulgate of St. Jerome
  • Psychomachia by Prudentius
  • Hou Hanshu compiled by Fan Yeh

At the moment this page contains a list of links. ... The literature of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire written in the Latin language. ... (2nd millennium BCE - 1st millennium BCE - 1st millennium) // Overview Events Assyria conquers Damascus and Samaria Nineveh destroyed (789 BCE) First recorded Olympic Games held in Greece (776 BCE) Zhou Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang (771 BC); The Spring and Autumn Period (771-481 BCE) began. ... The Iliad (Greek Ιλιάς, Ilias) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Greek mythology consists of an extensive collection of narratives detailing the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, which were first envisioned and disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek Οδύσσεια) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Greek mythology consists of an extensive collection of narratives detailing the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, which were first envisioned and disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition. ... Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins of the gods of Greek mythology. ... This article discusses the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. ... (7th century BC - 6th century BCE - 5th century BCE - other centuries) (600s BCE - 590s BCE - 580s BCE - 570s BCE - 560s BCE - 550s BCE - 540s BCE - 530s BCE - 520s BCE - 510s BCE - 500s BCE - other decades) (2nd millennium BCE - 1st millennium BCE - 1st millennium) The 5th and 6th centuries BCE were... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This article is about the Biblical book. ... This article is about the Book of Ezekiel. ... (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ... Ode is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. ... Pindar Pindar (or Pindarus / Pindaros) (522 BC – 443 BC), considered the greatest of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village in Thebes. ... The Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. ... Bust of Herodotus at Naples Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: Ἡροδοτος, Herodotos) was a historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC-ca. ... Page from Tenth-Century minuscule manuscript of Thucydides History The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). ... Bust of Thucydides Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC–circa 400 BC, Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídês) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. ... The Suppliants (Greek Hiketides, also translated as The Suppliant Maidens) is a play by Aeschylus. ... The Persians (Πέρσαι) is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. ... The Oath of the Seven Chiefs, an 1897 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Seven Against Thebes is a play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between Eteocles and the army of Thebes and Polynices and his supporters, traditional Theban enemies. ... The Oresteia is a trilogy of tragedies about the end of the curse on the House of Atreus, written by Aeschylus. ... Aeschylus This article is about the ancient Greek playwright. ... Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Rex and Oedipus Tyrannos, Oι̉δίπoÏ…Ï‚ τύραννoÏ‚ in Greek) is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles around 427 BC. The play was the second of Sophocles three Theban plays to be produced, but comes first in the internal chronology of the plays, followed... Oedipus at Colonus (also Oidipous at Kolonos) is one of the three Theban plays of Sophocles. ... Antigone Antigone is a tragedy written in 442 BC by Sophocles. ... Elektra or Electra is a Greek tragic play by Sophocles. ... A Roman bust of Sophocles. ... Alcestis is one of the earliest surviving works of the Greek playwright Euripides. ... Medea is a tragedy written by Euripides, based on the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. Along with the plays Philoctetes, Dictys and Theristai, which were all entered as a group, it won the third prize at the Dionysia festival. ... Heracleidae is a play by Euripides c. ... Euripides wrote two tragedies dealing with the myth of Hippolytus, which in ancient times were distinguished as: Hippolytus Veiled, or Hippolytos Kalyptomenos, or Hippolytos with his head covered Hippolytus Bearer of the Garland, or Hippolytos Stephanephoros, or Hippolytus with a garland Only the latter survives. ... Andromache (c. ... Hecuba is a tragedy by Euripides written c. ... The Suppliants (also known as The Suppliant Women) 423 BC, is an ancient Greek play by Euripides. ... Euripides Electra was probably written in the mid 410s BC, likely after 413 BC. It is unclear whether it was first produced before or after Sophocles version of the Electra story. ... Heracles, also known as Heracles Mad, is a play by Euripides (c. ... The Trojan Women (in Greek, Troiades) is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. ... Iphigeneia in Tauris is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written sometime between 414 BC and 412 BC. It bears much in common with another of Euripides plays, Helen, and is often described as a romance, a melodrama, or an escape play. ... Ion is a an ancient Greek play by Euripides (414-412 BC). ... Helen is a drama by Euripides, probably first produced in 412 BC for the Dionysia. ... The Phoenician Women (Also known by the Greek title, Phoenissae) is a tragedy by Euripides based on the same story as Aeschylus play Seven Against Thebes. ... // Characters and Setting ELECTRA, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra HELEN, wife of MENELAUS CHORUS OF ARGIVE MAIDENS ORESTES, brother of ELECTRA MENELAUS, brother of Agamemnon; King of Argos PYLADES, friend Of ORESTES MESSENGER, formerly servant of Agamemnon HERMIONE, daughter of MENELAUS and HELEN A PHRYGIAN EUNUCH, a servant of Helen... The Bacchae is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. ... Iphigeneia at Aulis, written in 410 BC, is the last surviving work of the playwright Euripides. ... The Cyclops is an Ancient Greek satyr play by Euripides, the only complete satyr play that has survived. ... Rhesus, possibly 450 BC, was once thought to be the earliest play by Euripides. ... A statue of Euripides Euripides (c. ... The Acharnians is a comedic play by the ancient Greek satirist Aristophanes. ... Aristophanes play The Knights is an unbridled criticism of Cleon, one of the most powerful men in ancient Athens. ... The Clouds (Nephelai) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes lampooning the sophists and the intellectual trends of late fifth-century Athens. ... The Wasps is a comedy by Aristophanes. ... Peace is a comedy written and produced by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. ... The Birds (Ornithes) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes in 414 BC, and performed that year for the Festival of Dionysus. ... Aristophanes anti-war comedy Lysistrata, written in 411 BC, has female characters, led by the eponymous Lysistrata, barricading the public funds building and withholding consensual sex from their husbands to secure peace and end the Peloponnesian War. ... Thesmophoriazusae (Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria) is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristophanes. ... The Frogs is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. ... Aristophanes Assemblywomen (or in Greek Ecclesiazousae ) is a play similar in theme to Lysistrata in that a large portion of the comedy comes from women involving themselves in politics. ... In Greek mythology, Plutus (wealth) was a son of Demeter and Iasion and was the personification of wealth. ... Bust of Aristophanes Aristophanes (c. ... The Five Classics (五經, WÇ”jÄ«ng) is a corpus of five ancient Chinese books used by Confucianism as the basis of studies. ... ShÄ« JÄ«ng, translated variously as the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Songs or the Book of Odes, is the first major collection of Chinese poems. ... The Classic of History (書經/书经 Shū Jīng) is a collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. ... Alternative meaning: I Ching (monk) The I Ching (Traditional Chinese: 易經, pinyin y jīng; Cantonese IPA: jɪk6gɪŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jik6ging1; alternative romanizations include I Jing, Yi Ching, Yi King) is the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. ... Classic of Rites The Classic of Rites (禮記 Lǐ Jì, or Liki) was one of the Five Classics of Confucianism; it described social forms, ancient rites, and court ceremonies. ... The Annals of Spring and Autumn (春秋 Chūn Qiū, also known as 麟經 Lín Jīng) was the chronicle of the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period, from 722 BC to 481 BC. Traditionally attributed to Confucius as writer or at least editor, it covers not only annual... The name Confucius is a Jesuit romanisation of Kung Fu-Zi, literally meaning Master Kung. ... (5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) // Events Invasion of the Celts into Ireland Battle of the Allia and subsequent Gaulish sack of Rome 383 BCE Second Buddhist Councel at Vesali. ... Anabasis is the most famous work of the Greek writer Xenophon. ... Cyropaedia (lit. ... Xenophon (In Greek , c. ... Nicomachean Ethics (sometimes spelled Nichomachean), is a work by Aristotle on virtue and character and plays a prominent role in defining Aristotelian ethics. ... Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Aristotle, marble copy of bronze by Lysippos. ... Euthyphro is one of Platos known dialogues. ... The Apology is Platos version of the speech given by Socrates as he defends himself against the charges of being a man who corrupted the young, did not believe in the gods, and created new deities. ... The Crito is a well-known dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, between Socrates and his follower the rich Athenian Crito (or Criton), regarding the source and nature of political obligation. ... Theaetetus ( 417 B.C. – 369 B.C.) was a Greek mathematician of Geometry. ... Parmenides is one of the dialogues of Plato. ... Symposium is a Socratic dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, student of Socrates. ... Platos Phaedrus is a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus. ... Protagoras is the title of one of Platos dialogues. ... Gorgias refers to the last dialogue that Plato wrote before leaving Athens. ... Meno is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. ... The Menexenus is a Socratic dialogue of Plato, traditionally included in the seventh tetralogy along with the Greater and Lesser Hippias and the Ion. ... The Republic is an influential dialogue by Plato, written in the first half of the 4th century BC. This Socratic dialogue mainly is about political philosophy and ethics. ... Timaeus is a theoretical treatise of Plato in the form of a Socratic dialogue, written circa 360 B.C. The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world. ... Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων Plátōn) (ca. ... Euclids Elements (Greek: ) is a mathematical and geometric treatise, consisting of 13 books, written by the Greek mathematician Euclid around 300 BC. It comprises a collection of definitions, postulates (axioms), propositions (theorems) and proofs thereof. ... Euclid Euclid of Alexandria (Greek: ) (ca. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... // Events The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Gaulish migration to Macedonia, Thrace and Galatia 281 BCE Antiochus I Soter, on the assassination of his father Seleucus becomes emperor of the Seleucid empire. ... The Liber Linteus (Linen Book) is a unique ancient document, being both the longest Etruscan text and the only linen book extant. ... (3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) // Events 175 BCE - Antiochus IV Epiphanes, took possession of the Syrian throne, at the murder of his brother Seleucus IV Philopator, which rightly belonged to his nephew Demetrius I Soter. ... Poenulus, a Latin-language play, is one of Plautus comedies. ... Miles Gloriosus (literally, boastful soldier, in the Latin language) is a stock character from the drama of the classical period, specifically from comedy. ... Titus Maccius Plautus (born at Sarsina, Umbria in 254 B.C.) was a comic playwright in the time of the Roman Republic. ... The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China (Chinese: 史記; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shih-chi; literally Historical Records), written from 109 BCE to 91 BCE, was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical... Sima Qian (circa 145—90 BC) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (太史令) of the Han Dynasty. ... (2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century - other centuries) The 1st century BC starts on January 1, 100 BC and ends on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC. (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) // Events The Roman Republic... In 63 BC Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC), orator, statesman and patriot, attained the rank of consul and in that capacity exposed to the Roman Senate the plot of Lucius Sergius Catilina (approx. ... Pro Caelio is one of the most famous surviving speeches by the Roman orator, Cicero. ... The Dream of Scipio (Latin, Somnium Scipionis) is a dream-vision by the Roman philosopher Cicero in which Scipio Aemilianus Africanus meets his grandfather by adoption, Scipio Africanus Major (236 BC - 184 BC), hero of the Second Punic War against Hannibals Carthage. ... Marcus Tullius Cicero (standard English pronunciation ; Classical Latin pronunciation ) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC The Gallic Wars were a series of wars fought between the Romans and the people of Gaul during the mid-first century BC, culminating in the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC which resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic across Gaul. ... A bust of Julius Caesar. ... The Eclogues is one of three major works by the Latin poet Virgil. ... The Georgics, written in 29 BC, is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil. ... The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BCE (between 29 and 19 BCE) that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that... Not to be confused with The Nature of Things, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television show about natural science. ... Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. ... The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 AD to 100 AD, or from 0 to 99 in a more scientific notation (using a year zero), as in astronomical year numbering. ... // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... The Germania (Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanorum), written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the diverse set of Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. ... Plutarchs Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings. ... Plutarch Mestrius Plutarchus (c. ... Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms of Greek and Roman mythology. ... Bush is the worst president~ signed the black shark ... Naturalis Historia Pliny the Elders Natural History is an encyclopedia written by Pliny the Elder. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... Satyricon, or the Petronii Arbitri Saturicon, is a book of randy and satirical Neroic tales by Petronius Arbiter, of whom little is known. ... This article is about the Roman author Petronius. ... Jewish War is a book written by the historian Josephus as a description of Jewish history up to the events of the Destruction of Jerusalem. ... Antiquities of the Jews was a work published by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the year A.D. 93. ... Against Apion was a work written by Flavius Josephus as a defense of Judaism as a classical religion and philosophy, stressing its antiquity against the relatively more recent traditions of the Greeks. ... Josephus (c. ... The Book of Han (Ch: 漢書, Hanshu) is a classic Chinese historical writing covering the history of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE). ... Ban Gu (班固, Wade-Giles Pan Ku) was a 1st century Chinese historian. ... // Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... Anabasis Alexandri The Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian is the most important source on Alexander the Great. ... Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c 92-c 175), known in English as Arrian, was a Roman historian. ... Almagest is the Latin form of the Arabic name (al-kitabu-l-mijisti, i. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece. ... The Deipnosophistes (deipnon “dinner” and sophistae, “the wise ones”) is variously translated as The Banquet of the Learned or Philosophers at Dinner or The Gastronomers is work of some 15 books (some complete and some surviving in summaries only) by the ancient Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis in Egypt, written... Athenaeus (ca. ... The Enchiridion, or handbook of Epictetus, was written in 135 A.D. The text (translated by Elizabeth Carter circa 1750), which is brief, can be found at http://classics. ... Epictetus (c. ... The Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius, referred to as The Golden Ass (Asinus aureus) by Augustine, is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. ... Lucius Apuleius (c. ... The Liber Memorialis is an ancient book in Latin featuring an extremely concise summary—a kind of index—of universal history from earliest times to the reign of Trajan. ... The Liber Memorialis is an ancient book in Latin featuring an extremely concise summary—a kind of index—of universal history from earliest times to the reign of Trajan. ... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. ... // Overview Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east, 230 - 232 Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire Emperor Valerian I is taken captive by the Persian King of Kings Shapur I, 260 End of Yayoi era and beginning of... De re coquinaria is the oldest known cookbook, dating from the 3rd century A.D., still in existence. ... Apicius was a name applied to three celebrated Roman epicures, the first of whom lived during the Republic; the second of whom, Marcus Gavius (or Gabius) Apicius—the most famous in his own time—lived under the early Empire; a third lived in the late 4th or early 5th century. ... The Six Enneads is a book whose title is sometimes abbreviated to The Enneads or Enneads, and was written by the Neo-Platonist Plotinus; it was edited and compiled by his last student Porphyry, in a short period c. ... Plotinus Plotinus (Greek: Πλωτίνος)(ca. ... Pervigilium Veneris, the Vigil of Venus, a is short Latin poem. ... The Sānguó Zhì (Chinese 三国志, or 三國誌), variously translated as Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Records of the Three States and Records of the Three Kingdoms, was the official and authoritative historical text on the Three Kingdoms Period compiled by Chen Shou during the Jin Dynasty (265-420). ... Chen Shou (陳壽) (233-297), courtesy name Chengzuo (承祚) was the author of the Sanguo Zhi, a historical account of the Three Kingdoms period of China. ... The Distichs of Cato (Latin: Catonis Disticha, most famously known simply as Cato), is a Latin collection of proverbial wisdom and morality by an unknown author named Dionysius Cato from the 3rd or 4th century AD. The Cato was the most popular medieval schoolbook for teaching Latin, prized not only... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... De Re Militari (Latin On military matters) was a treatise of late Roman warfare that became a military guide in the middle ages. ... Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus) was a celebrated military writer of the 4th century. ... Confessions is the name of a series of thirteen autobiographical books by St. ... St. ... // Overview Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor 410: Rome sacked by Visigoths 452: Pope Leo I allegedly meets personally with Attila the Hun and convinces him not to sack Rome 439: Vandals conquer Carthage At some point after 440, the Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain. ... This article is about the work by Augustine. ... St. ... The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. ... For other uses see: Jerome (disambiguation) Jerome (about 340 - September 30, 420), (full name Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. ... The Psychomachia (Battle of Souls) by the medieval Latin poet Prudentius is probably the first and most influential medieval allegory, and inspired works as diverse as the Romance of the Rose, Everyman and Piers Plowman. ... Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was an Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis (in Northern Spain) in 348. ... The Book of Later Han (Chinese: 後漢書; pinyin: ) is a history of the Chinese Empire which was compiled by Fan Yeh (范晔; 398-445), using a number of earlier histories as sources. ...

See also

• Pre 13th century in literature
• list of years in literature