C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
G. R. Lomer, ed. The Student’s Course in Literature.
A College Curriculum in Literature: Latin Literature
By Gerhard Richard Lomer (1882–1970)
16. An Introduction to Latin Masterpieces
No country influenced so thoroughly or for so long a time the history of Europe as did Rome. An acquaintance with the outlines of Latin Literature is a necessary part of a general education. In this course the student will gain an idea of the times and writings of the greater Latin authors who may fairly claim a not unimportant place in the world’s best literature. He will also be given some conception of the significance, history, and influence of Rome upon the life and literature of Europe.
Reading:Cicero; Livy; Tacitus; Virgil; Horace.
In this course the student will follow the development of Latin Literature from the earliest times down to the golden age. He will see the influence of Greece and will be able to trace the gradual emancipation of the Roman mind, and then he will follow the development of an age of great prose, of which Cicero is the outstanding figure.
Reading:Livius Andronicus; Plautus; Ennius; Cato; Terence; Lucretius; Catullus; Cicero; Cæsar.
Virgil, the greatest of Roman poets, and the chief literary figure of the Augustan Age, will receive chief attention in this course, but the student’s attention will also be turned to other important figures of the day, among whom Horace and Ovid stand out prominently.
Reading:Virgil; Horace; Livy; Tibullus; Ovid; Propertius; Phædrus.
The aim of this course is to acquaint the student with some of the more important figures in the history of Latin prose, with the emphasis placed upon its later development. Attention is given to critical and philosophical ideas which interpret tendencies in Roman life and which lie at the foundation of much of mediæval scholarship.
Reading:Cato the Censor; Cicero; Seneca; Pliny the Elder; Quintilian; Pliny the Younger; Petronius; Marcus Aurelius; Apuleius; St. Augustine; Boethius.
Much of our knowledge of the history and the life of the Romans comes from their own writers. This course acquaints the student with some of the masterpieces of great historical writing in Latin and at the same time helps him to interpret Roman civilization by seeing it through Roman eyes.
Reading:Cæsar; Sallust; Tacitus; Livy; Aulus Gellius; Ælianus Claudius; Suetonius.
This course involves a large amount of reading in the more or less important writers of the Silver Age of Latin Literature. It will help the more mature student to round out his knowledge of this literature.
Reading:Seneca; Pliny the Elder; Persius; Quintilian; Martial; Statius; Petronius; Tacitus; Titus Calpurnius Siculus; Juvenal; Pliny the Younger; Suetonius; Publius Annius Florus; Lucius Apuleius; Aulus Gellius; Claudius Claudianus; Decimus Magnus Ausonius; Roman Poets of the Later Empire.
Seneca, Plautus, and Terence are significant on account of their strong influence upon European drama. To the student of the development of English Drama and of Shakespeare this course will be particularly valuable. From a comparative point of view it is well suited to supplement the course on the Greek drama.
Reading:Seneca; Plautus; Terence.
The slender but not uninteresting remains of the later writers of Roman poetry are here brought to the attention of the student who wishes to supplement his knowledge of the outlines of Latin literature with some familiarity with its less-known names.
Reading:Selections from the following: Annius, Florus, Hadrian, the ‘Pervigilium Veneris,’ Calpurnius Siculus, Ausonius, Claudius Claudianus, Claudius Rutilius Numatianus, and Boethius.