versatile writer, Ennius wrote plays, elegies, epigrams, satires,
and even a philosophical poem, Epicharmus, which describes
the physical nature of the universe. His most lasting work was
an epic poem, the Annales, which is a history of Rome and
became the model for future Roman epics. Th e Annales be-
gins with the story of Aeneas, who fl ees Troy when that city
is overrun and destroyed by the Greeks. Aeneas eventually
arrives in Italy, where he settles; according to Roman legend,
it would be his descendants Romulus and Remus who would
found Rome. Ennius’s elegies appear to have made the fi rst
use of the elegiac couplet in Roman poetry, while his Annales
fi rst used dactylic hexameter.
Th e fi rst Latin prose history was begun just before En-
nius’s death. In 168 b.c.e. Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149
b.c.e.), who was known as the Elder and the Censor and who
was an important military and political leader of his time,
wrote the Origines, a seven-volume history of the founding of
Rome. Left unfi nished on Cato’s death, Origines was the fi rst
Roman history written in Latin and became the model for
subsequent histories. Cato also wrote a treatise on agricul-
ture, De agri cultura, and produced many political speeches,
which he may have revised for publication and which were
studied as models of the eff ective use of rhetoric by later Ro-
man orators such as Cicero.
Not long aft er Cato’s death, Gaius Lucilius (ca. 180–ca.
102 b.c.e.) wrote the fi rst important Roman satires. Using
Greek hexameter, Lucilius wrote some 30 books of verse,
much of the verse attacking both the public and private be-
havior of his fellow citizens, particularly infl uential people
and other writers. He remained popular until the end of the
empire. Th e period from 70 b.c.e. to 17 c.e. is termed the
golden age of Roman literature. Th e golden age saw the ap-
pearance of many major Roman writers, more than at any
other period in Roman history. Among prose authors were
Cicero and Julius Caesar, and among the poets were Virgil,
Horace, and Ovid.
CICERO
Th e fi rst half of the golden age is sometimes called the Cicero-
nian age aft er the Roman orator and statesman Marcus Tul-
lius Cicero (106–43 b.c.e.). Cicero’s literary reputation rests
on some 60 speeches, 800 letters, and numerous books that
he wrote during his successful career as lawyer and politi-
cal leader. Born to a minor aristocratic family in Arpinum,
a small town southeast of Rome, Cicero studied philosophy
and rhetoric in both Rome and Greece before launching his
legal career in 81 b.c.e. by successfully defending a client ac-
cused of murdering his father.
Cicero’s earliest-known speech was given in 81 b.c.e.
and was a plea in a case whose outcome is unknown. His
most famous speeches were the four In Catilinam (Against
Catiline), which he gave in 63 b.c.e. Catiline had organized
an unsuccessful takeover of the Roman government. Cicero’s
speeches argued successfully for the execution of Catiline
and his followers.
Cicero’s letters covered a wide range of topics, from poli-
tics to poetry to idle gossip. His most important other writ-
ings are numerous works on rhetoric and political theory.
Among his works on rhetoric was De claris oratoribus (On
Clear Speaking) (ca. 46 b.c.e.), a study of Roman oratory and,
in particular, Cicero’s own style. Among his political works
was De legibus (On Laws), which he fi nished in 45 b.c.e. and
which describes the laws of an ideal state. Cicero’s prose, par-
ticularly his speeches, came to be seen as excellent examples
of t he u s e of a rg u ment at ive l a ng u a ge a nd have b e en u s e d f rom
classical times to the present to teach the art of persuasion.JULIUS CAESAR
Th e other major prose writer of the Ciceronian period was
Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44 b.c.e.). Caesar produced several
books, including one of jokes and sayings, and a little poetry.
He is best remembered for two histories, De bello Gallico (On
the Gallic War) (ca. 51 b.c.e.) and De bello civili (On the Civil
War), begun in 49 b.c.e. and left unfi nished at his assassina-
tion.
Both of Caesar’s histories are vivid accounts, told in
straightforward prose, of his military career. In De bello Gal-
lico, Caesar details his campaign (58–50 b.c.e.) that added
much territory to the Roman province of Gaul. In his sec-
ond history Caesar describes the war between himself and
Pompey the Great (106–48 b.c.e.). Both histories were fi rst
and foremost propaganda to enhance Caesar’s image and to
help him fulfi ll his political ambitions. In addition, however,
both accounts are fi lled with details of Roman military life
and tactics. Th e commentary on the Gallic War also provides
a great deal of information on the land and its people. Nev-
ertheless, De bello Gallico does not reveal the brutality that
oft en marked Caesar’s war against the Gauls.LUCRETIUS AND CATULLUS
Th e Ciceronian age also produced many poets, two of the
most notable being Titus Lucretius Carus (98–ca. 55 b.c.e.)
and Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84–ca. 54 b.c.e.). Little is
known about Lucretius except for his single long philosophi-
cal poem De rerum natura (On the Nature of Th ings). A fol-
lower of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (ca. 340–ca. 270
b.c.e.), Lucretius explains in his poem how being modest in
the pursuit of pleasure combined with an understanding of
the workings of the physical world leads to tranquility that in
turn frees one from the fear of death. Th e polished hexameter
meter of De rerum natura was studied by later poets such as
Virgil.
As with Lucretius, few details of Catullus’s life are known
except that he came from a wealthy family. Also like Lucre-
tius, Catullus infl uenced the poets who came aft er him and
who were impressed with the polish and sophistication of his
verse, which ranged in length from a mini-epic to epigrams.
Using a variety of Greek meters, Catullus wrote more than
100 poems on erotic love and friendship, with some 25 ad-
dressed to a married woman whom he calls Lesbia and with662 literature: Rome