Exhaustive Guide to Classical Latin Literature and Roman History
Vergil - Aeneid: Book 1
The Proem (Lines 1-33): * Opening Statement: “Arma virumque cano.” (I sing of arms and the man). The man is identified as a Trojan exile by fate who first reach the shores of Italy and Lavinia. * The Conflict: Aeneas was tossed on land and sea by the force of the gods above, specifically due to the “mindful and savage anger of Juno.” * Objective: He suffered in war while attempting to found a city and bring his gods to Latium. This process eventually leads to the Latin race, the fathers of Alba Longa, and the high walls of Rome. * Invocation of the Muse: The speaker asks the Muse to recall the causes of Juno’s grief and why she impelled a man distinguished by piety to suffer such hardships. * Questioning Divine Nature: “Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?” (Was the anger of the celestial souls so great?) * The City of Carthage: An ancient city held by Tyrian colonists, located across from Italy and the mouths of the Tiber. Described as wealthy and harsh in war. * Juno’s Motivations: * She loved Carthage more than all lands, even Samos. * She kept her weapons and chariot there and intended it to be a kingdom for her people. * The Prophecy: She had heard a race of Trojan blood would one day overturn the Carthaginian citadels and bring destruction to Libya (the Parcae/Fates had so spun). * Historical Grievances: Juno remembers the Trojan War (waged for the Greeks/Argives). She harbors deep-seated pain from the Judgment of Paris (the injustice of her rejected beauty), her hatred for the Trojan race, and the honors given to the stolen Ganymede. * Conclusion of the Proem: Juno kept the Trojan survivors (remnants of the Greeks and Achilles) wandering for many years. “Tantae molis erat Romanam condere gentem!” (It was such a great burden to found the Roman race!).
The Storm (Lines 88-107): * Weather Conditions: Clouds snatch the sky from the Trojans; black night lies on the sea. The poles thunder and the upper sky flashes with light; all things threaten instant death. * Aeneas’ Reaction: His limbs are loosened by fear. He extends his palms to the stars and laments, wishing he had died at Troy before his father’s faces. * Named Heroes: He mentions Diomedes (Tydide), the bravest of the Greeks, and Hector, who died by Achilles’ (Aeacidae) spear, as well as Sarpedon. * Shipwreck Imagery: A north wind (Aquilo) strikes the sail and raises waves to the stars. The oars break, the bow turns, and the side of the ship is exposed to a “steep mountain of water.” Men hang on waves, while the tide mixes with sand.
Dido as Diana (Lines 496-508): * The Epic Simile: Dido is compared to Diana leading dances on the banks of the Eurotas or the ridges of Mt. Cynthus. * Imagery: Diana towers over all goddesses, carrying a quiver on her shoulder, bringing joy to the heart of her mother, Latona. * Dido’s State: She is beautiful and happy, urging on the work of her future kingdom. She sits on a high throne in the temple, enclosed by guards, giving laws and distributing labor justly or by lot.
Vergil - Aeneid: Book 2
Laocoon’s Warning (Lines 40-56): * Laocoon’s Descent: He runs down from the citadel, warning citizens against the Trojan Horse. * Famous Quote: “quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.” (Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.) * Suspicions: He suspects Greeks (Achivians) are hidden inside or it is a machine built to look into their homes. He mentions the trickery of Ulysses. * The Act: He hurls a huge spear into the side/belly of the horse. The hollow caves of the horse resound with a groan.
The Death of Laocoon (Lines 201-249): * The Sacrifice: Laocoon, chosen as priest for Neptune, was sacrificing a bull. * The Omens: Twin snakes emerge from Tenedos across the calm sea. They have bloody crests and huge spiraling backs. * The Attack: They first devour the small bodies of Laocoon’s two sons. When Laocoon intervenes with weapons, they bind him in huge spirals, towering over him. * Simile: Laocoon’s screams are compared to the bellowing of a wounded bull that has escaped an altar. * Conclusion: The snakes flee to the citadel of Athena (Tritonidis) and hide under her shield. The Trojans interpret this as punishment for Laocoon striking the horse and decide to bring the horse into the city. * Cassandra: She prophesies the future but is never believed by the Trojans.
Vergil - Aeneid: Book 4
Dido’s Passion (Lines 74-89): * Dido leads Aeneas through Carthage, showing off the city's wealth. She is unable to finish her sentences due to her emotion. * She longs for more banquets and hears the story of Trojan labors again. * When Aeneas is absent, she hallucinates his presence, or clings to his son, Ascanius, as a surrogate. * Neglect of the State: The construction of towers and ports stops; the youth no longer exercise.
The Cave and Rumor (Lines 165-197): * Dido and Aeneas take shelter in a cave during a storm. Earth and Juno give a signal with lightning and nymphs wailing. * Dido calls it a “marriage” to cover her blame. * Fama (Rumor): Described as the swiftest of all evils. She has as many feathers on her body as alert eyes, tongues, and ears. She travels through Libya, telling of Aeneas and Dido spending the winter in luxury and lust, unmindful of their kingdoms. * King Iarbas: Rumor inflames his mind; he is the rejected suitor of Dido.
The Confrontation (Lines 305-361): * Dido calls Aeneas “perfide” (treacherous), accusing him of trying to leave in secret. * She cites their love, her safety (she is hated by the nomads and Tyrians because of him), and her lost reputation. * Aeneas’ Response: He acknowledges his debts to her but claims he never offered marriage (“nor did I ever come into these treaties”). * Divine Command: He explains that Apollo and the Lycian lots order him to Italy. He sees the troubled image of his father, Anchises, and Mercury has descended from Jupiter with orders. “Italiam non sponte sequor” (I follow Italy not by my own will).
Vergil - Aeneid: Book 6
The Meeting in the Underworld (Lines 450-476): * Aeneas finds Dido in the Great Forest, “fresh from a wound.” * He compares her to the moon seen through clouds. He laments that he was the cause of her death and swears he left her shore unwillingly, driven by the gods. * Dido’s Reaction: She remains silent, her eyes fixed on the ground like “harsh flint or Marpesian marble.” She flees to her first husband, Sychaeus, who returns her love.
The Pageant of Heroes (Lines 788-800): * Anchises points out the future Romans: Caesar and the offspring of Julus. * Augustus Caesar: Described as the son of a god who will establish a new Golden Age in Latium, ruling over lands beyond the stars and the paths of the sun.
The Roman Mission (Lines 847-853): * Other nations (Greeks) may forge better statues or plead cases better or describe the stars. * The Roman’s duty: “tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento” (you, Roman, remember to rule the people with authority), to impose peace, spare the subdued, and conquer the arrogant.
Vergil - Aeneid: Book 7, 11, & 12
Book 7 (Latinus and Turnus): * King Latinus: Ruling Latium in peace; his lineage goes back to Faunus, Picus, and Saturn. * Turnus: The most handsome suitor for Latinus’ daughter, Lavinia. He is described as being a head taller than everyone. * Turnus’ Armor: His helmet holds a Chimaera breathing Etnan fires; his shield depicts Io as a cow and the guard Argus. * Camilla: A warrior maiden of the Volscian race. She avoids feminine tasks like the distaff, preferring war and speed. She is so fast she could fly over cornfields without harming the kernels.
Book 11 (Camilla’s Origin): * Metabus: Her father, driven from his kingdom. To save infant Camilla while crossing the river Amasenus, he tied her to a spear and dedicated her to Diana. * She was raised in the wild, suckled by a mare, and used a bow and sling from a young age.
Book 12 (The Final Duel): * Jupiter and Juno’s Compromise: Juno agrees to stop the war if the Latins keep their name, language, and customs. Troy has fallen and should stay fallen; the Romans will be powerful through Italian virtue. * The Death of Turnus: Aeneas hurls his spear like a black tornado, striking Turnus in the thigh. Turnus begs for his life or his body to be returned to his father, Daunus. * Aeneas almost relents until he sees the belt of Pallas on Turnus’ shoulder. Aeneas sacrifices Turnus as a penalty for Pallas’ blood.
Pliny the Younger - Letters
Letters to Calpurnia (6.4 & 6.7): * Pliny expresses deep concern for his wife’s health while she is in Campania. He finds it suspenseful to know nothing of her condition. * Calpurnia finds solace in Pliny’s books and letters while they are apart. Pliny reading her letters repeatedly as if they are new.
Vesuvius Eruption (Letters 6.16 & 6.20): * Written to Tacitus to document the death of Pliny the Elder. * Date: August 24, at the seventh hour (approx. 1:00 PM). * The Cloud: Described as resembling a pine tree, rising with a long trunk and spreading into branches. Sometimes white, sometimes splotched with ash. * Pliny the Elder’s End: He sailed from Misenum toward Stabiae to help Rectina and others. He died on the third day of the eruption, likely suffocated by fumes. His body was found intact, looking more like he was sleeping than dead. * Pliny the Younger’s Account: He stayed at Misenum to study Livy. He describes the earthquakes, the sea being sucked back, and the total darkness that followed, where one could hear the screams of women and children.
The Ghost Story (Letter 7.27): * Pliny asks Sura if ghosts are real. He tells the story of a haunted house in Athens. * The Ghost: A thin, filthy old man with a long beard and rattling chains on his hands and feet. * Athenodorus: A philosopher who buys the house. He waits for the ghost while writing to keep his mind busy. He follows the ghost to a spot in the yard where later, bones wrapped in chains are found. Once buried, the haunting stops.
Correspondence with Trajan (Book 10): * Citizenship for Harpocras: Pliny requests Roman citizenship for his doctor, Harpocras. There is a technicality where Harpocras must first receive Alexandrian citizenship because he is Egyptian before he can receive Roman citizenship. * Aqueducts (10.37 & 10.90): * Nicomedia: The citizens spent sesterces on a failed aqueduct, then another on a second one that was also abandoned. * Pliny recommends using brickwork because it is easier and cheaper and asks for a conduit-master or architect to be sent. * Sinope: Pliny requests an aqueduct for a thirsty colony, noting the water source is 16 miles away.
Augustus - Res Gestae
Building Program (Chapter 19-21): * Constructed the Senate House (Curia), the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine, the Temple of Divine Julius, the Lupercal, and resurrected 82 temples. * Restored the Capitol and Pompey’s theater at great cost without his name inscribed. * Doubled the capacity of the Aqua Marcia aqueduct. * Finances: Dedicated gifts totaling approximately sesterces from spoils of war. He sent back gift gold (coronal gold) totaling pounds to Italian municipalities.
Lyric Poetry and Inscriptions
Catullus: * Carmen 5: “Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus.” A call to value one night of love over all rumors, requesting thousands of kisses. * Carmen 101: A lament for his brother, traveling through many nations to perform funeral rites. “Ave atque vale.” * Carmen 64: The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, transitioning into the story of Ariadne abandoned by Theseus on the island of Dia.
Inscriptions: * Amymone (ILS 8402): A praise of a wife: “lanifica, pia, pudica, frugi, casta, domiseda” (weaved wool, loyal, modest, thrifty, chaste, stayed at home). * Ummidia Quadratilla (CIL 10.5183): Noted for building an amphitheater and temple for the people of Casinum with her own money.
Ovid: * Tristia 1.3: Describes the wretched night he was exiled from Rome by Caesar. He compares the scene to the fall of Troy. * Tristia 3.7: A letter to Perilla, encouraging her to maintain her poetic studies despite his own misfortune, noting that while fortune/death takes everything else, the “goods of the mind and genius” remain. * Fasti (Arion): The story of the musician Arion, who was forced off a ship by a greedy crew but was saved by a dolphin whom he charmed with his lyre.