Compare and contrast the Golden and the Silver Ages in Latin literature.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. The sponsorship of Augustus brought about the Golden Age and focused on celebrating not only the glory of Rome, but the patronage of Augustus as well. The poet Horace wrote that Augustus had returned Rome to its roots of morality and virtue. Vergil and Livy focused on histories that portrayed the foundations of Rome, but still glorified the accomplishments of Augustus. Ovid wrote a summary of Greek and Roman mythology that put Rome in the same category as Greek classics. The Silver Age, as opposed to the Golden Age, is in the latter period of the Empire, marked by the time period after the death of Augustus. The shift in political format dominated the form of literature; see, for example, Suetonius who wrote biographies of the Twelve Caesars when he was secretary to Emperor Hadrian. Tacitus also wrote about recent history in his works. Silver Age literature is also classified as more practical in nature than glorifying. A rhetoric manual by Quintilian became a standard school text, and several scientific works were authored that built off previous texts and knowledge. The Silver Age maintains a cultural perspective that is much wider in view, and is comparable to the turn in Greek literature that occurred during the Alexandrian period, in that it became more inclusive of other cultures and less focused on traditional, solely Roman perspectives.