Augustan Poetry Essay -- Literature

Augustan Poetry Often through hardship and nearly insurmountable difficulty great works of art are born. Although years of bloodshed and civil war had plagued Rome since the death of Julius Caesar, some of the most powerful and influential literature in the western world was developed in that timeframe. During the Age of Augustus (approximately 43 BC – 17 AD) such great writers as Virgil, Horace, Livy, Propertius, and Ovid created epic masterpieces of literature and philosophy. It was through the collective efforts of these great poets and writers as well as Augustus himself, that the rise of a new facet of Roman literature was possible. Seeing the opportunity to foster a great rebirth of Roman culture (specifically literature), Augustus and his closest advisor Maecenas created a situation advantageous for the great writers of the time to write (for the government) and profit from their skills. Augustus genuinely wanted lasting peace and a solid foundation for his new government, and so he es sentially helped out the writers who in turn, indirectly helped him. The great literature was not pure propaganda for Augustus (although it was a little biased towards him) but from this revival of Roman identity through a revolution in literature, Augustus was able to ensure a great deal of peace, pride, prosperity, and power from his people and respect from the rest of the ancient world. The great literary resurgence of the Augustan Age would not have been possible without the great writers of the time. Some of the most influential, persuasive, and powerful writing emerged out of Caesar’s murder, the civil wars, and the peace thereafter. Virgil was the first to begin the literary explosion as he claimed a classic Greek style of ... ...d evolution of society in Rome, Ovid tore literature’s power, and his own success, to shreds. Although it ultimately came to an end, the Augustan Age created some of the most influential, powerful, and beautiful works of western literature of all time. The environment created by Augustus and Maecenas, the unfathomable skills of the writers and their willingness to adventure, explore, and take risks, to benefit Roman culture led to (probably) the greatest collection of literature the western world has ever seen. Works Cited Wikimedia Foundation. â€Å"Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.† Last Updated: May 21, 2004. Date Visited: May 20, 2004. Wheelock, Frederic M. 6th Edition Wheelock’s Latin. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 2000. Conte, Gian B. Latin Literature: A History. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1994.