Epitome

Herodotus (Greek: Ἡρόδοτος, Hērodotos) is one of Greece's first historians. His major work was the Histories, which chronicled the rise of the Persian Empire and its subsequent clash with Greece…

Introduction For this site, Old Latin is the name given to Latin from its first literary production with Livius Andronicus in c. 240 until the career of Cicero begins in 80…

Imperial Latin is defined as the literary output from the reign of Tiberius through the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the last of the so-called “Five Good Emperors,” after which point…

Introduction to the Classical Period Any classification of Latin (or any language!) into periods is arbitrary, but it is especially so in defining Classical Latin (Latina classica). The term originally was coined…

Life Very little is known of Grattius. Ovid mentions him as a contemporary, but he is otherwise not mentioned in any extant sources. Despite the lack of biographical notice, some…

The Appendix (or Corpus) Tibulliana contains various elegies that were transmitted under Tibullus' name in the manuscripts, but in fact differ in authorship. Two of the authors are directly named (Lygdamus and Sulpicia)…

Life Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (the name Asconius is uncertain) was likely born around 30 CE. His place of birth or early life is unknown (he is generally assumed…

Life Nothing for certain is known about the life of Aulus Cornelius Celsus. Pliny the Elder’s reference to his works in the Historia Naturalis (written 77 CE) provides the terminus ante quem for his life,…

Life Thanks to an ancient biography attributed to Valerius Probus, we are fortunate to know a good deal about Aulus Persius Flaccus. He was born 6 December 34 CE in Volterra, a…

Life For a man who chronicled much of Roman history, the life of Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus is actually for the most part shrouded in mystery. His date of birth and…