The golden age of Latin literature (Latinitas aurea) is a period consisting roughly of the time from approximately 75 BC to 14 AD, covering the end of the Roman Republic and the reign of Augustus Caesar. Classical Latinists believe that this period represents the peak of quality of Latin literature, and that its Latin usage represents the best norm that other writers should follow. Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC Years: 80 BC 79 BC 78 BC 77 BC 76 BC - 75 BC - 74 BC 73 BC 72... Events First year of tianfeng era of the Chinese Xin Dynasty. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... Augustus Caesar Caesar Augustus (Latin: IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS)¹ (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), known earlier in his life as Gaius Octavius or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was the first Roman Emperor and is traditionally considered the greatest. ... Classical Latin is the language used by the principal exponents of that language in what is usually regarded as classical Latin literature. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Grammatical differences between early Latin and Golden Age Latin

Classical Latin basically had changed the very early -om and -os endings to -um and -us.

Some lexical differences to later Latin include the broadening of meaning later on (eg. forte meant not only 'surprisingly' but also 'hard').

The Classical Golden Authors

Poetry

The earliest poet considered to be Golden Age Latin is the Epicurean philosopher Lucretius, who wrote a long didactic poem On the Nature of Things in which Epicurean philosophy is expounded. Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus (c. ... Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. ... Not to be confused with The Nature of Things, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television show about natural science. ...

Catullus was a slightly later poet. Catullus pioneered the naturalization of Greek lyric verse forms in Latin. The poetry of Catullus was personal, sometimes erotic, sometimes playful, and frequently abusive. He wrote exclusively in Greek metres. The heavy hand of Greek prosody would continue to have a pronounced influence on the style and syntax of Latin poetry until the rise of Christianity made a different sort of hymnody become needed. Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. ... Lyric can have a number of meanings. ... Meter (non-American spelling: metre) describes the linguistic sound patterns of verse. ... Christianity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A hymn is a song specifically written as a song of praise, adoration or prayer, typically addressed to a god. ...

The Grecianizing tendencies of Golden Age Latin reached their apex in Virgil, whose Æneid was an epic poem after the method of Homer; in Horace, whose odes and satires were after the manner of the Greek anthology, and who used almost all of the fixed forms of Greek prosody in Latin; and in Ovid, who wrote long and learned poems on mythological subjects, as well as semi-satirical pieces such as the Ars Amatoria, the Art of Love. Tibullus and Propertius also wrote poems that were modelled after Greek antecedents. 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... 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. ... Epic can mean: Epic poetry, a style of poetry EPIC, an abbreviation Epic Age, a time period in Indian history Epic, a series of wargames Epic Records, a record label Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics Epic Illustrated, an anthology series published by Marvel Comics Epic Games, a computer... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading lyric poet in Latin, the son of a freedman, but himself born free. ... Ode is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. ... Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ... Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Albius Tibullus (c. ... Sextus Aurelius Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet born between 57 BC and 46 BC in or near Mevania, who died in around 12 BC. Like Virgil and Ovid, Propertius was also a member of the poetic circle of neoteric poets which collected around Mæcenas. ...

Prose

In prose, Golden Age Latin is exemplified by Julius Caesar, whose Commentaries on the Gallic Wars display a laconic, precise, military style; and by Marcus Tullius Cicero, a practicing lawyer and politician, whose judicial arguments and political speeches, most notably the Catiline Orations, were considered for centuries to be the best models for Latin prose. Cicero also wrote many letters which have come down to us, and a few philosophical tracts in which he gives his version of Stoicism. Prose blah blah blahProse generally lacks the formal structure of meter or rhyme that is often found in poetry. ... Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS) (b. ... For other uses see Cicero (disambiguation) Marcus Tullius Cicero (January 3, 106 BC - December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin prose stylist. ... 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. ... Stoicism is a school of philosophy founded (308 BCE) in Athens by Zeno of Citium (Cyprus). ...

Historiography was an important genre of classical Latin prose; it includes Sallust, who wrote of the Conspiracy of Catiline and the War Against Jugurtha, his only works that have been preserved complete. Livy, also, was a historian; his Ab Urbe Condita, a history of Rome "from the Founding of the City," was originally in 145 books, of which only 35 have been preserved. Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus) (86-34 BC), Roman historian, belonging to a well-known plebeian family, was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines. ... Catiline (Lucius Sergius Catilina) (108 BC-62 BC) was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC who is best known for the Catiline (or Catilinarian) conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the aristocratic Senate. ... Jugurtha, (c. ... Bust of Livy Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab urbe condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ... Ab urbe condita (AUC or a. ...