Ancient Roman Deities, Language, and Literary Eras

Ancient Roman Deities and Spirits

• The Penates: Protective deities of the house and the city, famously brought by Aeneas from Troy.
• The Lares: Of Etruscan origin, these Latin and Sabine spirits represent the ancestors.
• The Manes: Spirits associated with the cult of the dead.
• The Geniuses: Protective deities of weddings and links related to the sexual character in men.
• Saturn: Related to the Greek god Cronos.
• Flora: Goddess protector of vegetation.
• Silvanus and Faunus: Silvanus is related to forests and uncut land, while Faunus is associated with the fertility of fields and livestock.
• Pales: Ancient Roman goddess protector of shepherds and flocks.
• Terminus: Patron god of boundaries and the limits between fields.

Evolution of Latin Language Terms

• Cultisms: Terms incorporated into our language that had formed and functioned differently from their original Latin.
• Semicultisms: Terms that began their evolution but stopped at a given time, not completing the full phonetic changes.
• Patrimonial Terms: Terms that completed their evolution and sometimes barely resemble the words from which they come.
• Doublets: Terms derived from the same Latin word, resulting in both a cultism and a patrimonial term.
• Romanesque or Neo-Latin Languages: Those derived from Latin, which currently include: Castilian, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, French, Provençal, Italian, Sardinian, Romanian, and Romansh (or Retroromance).

Key Periods in Roman Literature

Roman literature can be broadly divided into three significant periods:

1. Early Roman Literature

   This period saw foundational works such as:

   • Livius Andronicus: Translated Homer's Odyssey into Latin.
   • Gnaeus Naevius: Composed a poem on the historical theme of the Punic War.
   • Quintus Ennius: Author of the Annales, which traces the history of Rome.

2. Golden Age of Latin Literature

   This era reached its maximum splendor with poets like Ovid and Virgil. Ovid's Metamorphoses, for instance, explains the origin of the world up to the arrival of Julius Caesar.

3. Later Roman Literature

   Notable figures include:

   • Poet Lucan: Born in Corduba, his work Pharsalia is a historical epic about the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar.

The Aeneid and Virgil's Legacy

The Aeneid: An epic poem of 12 books. Although some parts remained unfinished, scholars associate it with Homer's two Greek epics as follows:

• Books I-VI have points in common with the Odyssey.
• Books VII-XII have points in common with the Iliad.

Publius Vergilius Maro: He was one of the greatest poets of Latin literature and the author of the Aeneid, a poem that follows the journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, and his arrival in Italy.

Ancient Rome: Geography and Cultures

Geographic Framework

The Italian peninsula features three significant plains where much of its history unfolded. These three plains are formed by:

• The Po River, known as Cisalpine Gaul, in the north.
• The Tiber River, in the middle.
• Campania, to the south.

Cultural Groups

Various peoples inhabited or influenced the region:

• Liguria and Veneto: Early inhabitants of the northern plains.
• Etruscans: A people renowned for their superior cultural level.
• Greeks: Who occupied an area known as Magna Graecia.
• Gauls: Who posed a serious threat to the Romans.
• Latins: Those who occupied the plain of Latium and settled in the surrounding hills.
• Septimontium: Refers to the primitive villages of the Latins, which eventually formed Rome.