Timeline of Latin Literature

1.Preliterary Period

• Until 240 BC

• Only some inscriptions

survive

• Oldest inscriptions from 6th

and 7th Century BC

• Corresponds to time until

First Punic War

2. Archaic Period (240-281

BC)

• From Livius Andronicus to

Cicero

• Highly developed language

• Simpler grammar and

structures

• Development of new Latin

works

Roman ComedyPlautus and Terence

81 BC- 14 AD

Cicero to death of Augustus

Stylistic perfection and technicality

Period of development of vocabulary

Archaisms used to evoke earlier times

3. Golden Age

14 AD- 180 AD

death of Augustus to death of Marcus Aurelius

Reaction against rigid precision and

standardization

Flourishing of idioms and colloquial expressions

4. Silver Age

Overlaps with Silver Age

Imitation of Archaic Period

Style adapted by certain authors

5. Archaizing Period

180 AD- 6th Century

Rapid and radical alterations to the language

Introduction of local idioms and peculiarities

New words introduced from local languages as

Latin transforms into Romance languages

6. Declining Period

Colloquial idiom- develops into the

Romance languages

Literary Language- used in courts,

by scholars, and in Catholic Church

7. After the 6th Century