| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Actium | The naval battle in 31 BCE where Octavius defeated the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, establishing Octavius's sole power. |
| Aeneas | A legendary Trojan hero and son of Venus, presented in the Aeneid as the ancestor of Augustus and the founder of Rome. |
| Aeneid | An epic poem by Virgil that tells the story of Aeneas and includes the character Camilla and her relationship with Diana. |
| allusions | Indirect or implied references to people, literary works, or historical events that readers are expected to recognize. |
| Apollo | The Roman god of music, medicine, prophecy, archery, and the sun, son of Jupiter. |
| Augustus | The first emperor of Rome (27 BCE-14 CE), born Gaius Octavius, adopted heir of Julius Caesar who consolidated power and established a stable empire. |
| Battle of Philippi | A military engagement in which the Second Triumvirate defeated the conspirators responsible for Julius Caesar's assassination. |
| Cleopatra | The Egyptian queen whose armies were defeated alongside Mark Antony at Actium in 31 BCE. |
| dactyl | A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short syllables. |
| dactylic hexameter | A metrical pattern used in epic poetry consisting of six feet per line, typically composed of dactyls and spondees. |
| diphthong | A combination of two vowel sounds pronounced as a single unit. |
| divine ancestry | The concept that Augustus descended from Aeneas and Venus, establishing his preordained status as ruler of Rome. |
| Eclogues | A collection of pastoral poems composed by Vergil, also known as the Bucolics. |
| elision | The partial suppression of the end of a word when reading verse, occurring when a word ending in a vowel, vowel plus m, or diphthong is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, diphthong, or h. |
| epic poetry | A long narrative poem that typically recounts the deeds of heroes and is written in a formal, elevated style. |
| figurative language | Language that uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, and symbolism to convey meaning beyond the literal sense of words. |
| foot | The basic repeating unit of meter in poetry, composed of a specific sequence of long and short syllables. |
| genre | A category or type of literary work with distinctive characteristics, conventions, and features. |
| Georgics | A didactic poem by Vergil about agriculture and rural life. |
| Greco-Roman mythology | The combined body of myths and legends from both Greek and Roman cultures, often shared or adapted between the two civilizations. |
| Helen | In Greek mythology, the queen of Sparta whose abduction by Paris triggered the Trojan War. |
| implied meaning | The meaning suggested or understood indirectly from a text, rather than stated explicitly. |
| in medias res | A narrative technique in which an epic poem begins in the middle of the action rather than at the beginning of the story. |
| inferences | Conclusions drawn from evidence and reasoning based on textual clues rather than explicit statements. |
| invocation to the muses | A formal appeal to the muses (goddesses of inspiration) at the beginning of an epic poem, requesting their aid in telling the story. |
| Julius Caesar | A Roman military and political leader who invaded Gaul and established a dictatorship (49-45 BCE) before his assassination in 44 BCE. |
| Juno | The queen of the Roman gods and mother of both Venus and Vulcan. |
| Jupiter | The king of the Roman gods and father of both Venus and Vulcan. |
| long syllable | A syllable that takes up more time in pronunciation, represented in metrical notation and forming part of metrical feet. |
| Marcus Lepidus | One of the three members of the Second Triumvirate alongside Octavius and Mark Antony. |
| Mark Antony | A Roman military leader and member of the Second Triumvirate who was defeated by Octavius at Actium in 31 BCE. |
| Mars | The Roman god of war and son of Jupiter. |
| Mercury | The Roman god of merchants and thieves who also served as messenger of the gods, son of Jupiter. |
| meter | The regular, predictable pattern of long and short syllables that forms the rhythmic structure of Latin poetry. |
| Minerva | The Roman goddess of handicrafts and war, daughter of Jupiter, equivalent to the Greek Athena. |
| narrative | The story or sequence of events in a literary work, which in epic poetry is often advanced by divine intervention. |
| Neptune | The Roman god of the seas and bodies of fresh water, son of Saturn. |
| Paris | A Trojan prince who judged the contest between three goddesses in the Judgement of Paris myth. |
| Pluto | The Roman god and ruler of the underworld, also called Dis Pater or Dis, son of Saturn. |
| polytheistic religion | A religious system based on the belief in and worship of multiple gods. |
| proem | A preface or prologue that introduces an epic poem. |
| propaganda | Information and messaging used by Augustus through art, literature, coinage, and architecture to promote his peaceful reign and stable empire. |
| references | Direct mentions or citations of specific people, places, events, or concepts in a text. |
| Roman Empire | The vast political and territorial dominion that encompassed the Mediterranean Basin and surrounding regions during antiquity. |
| Roman Republic | The political system of Rome before the establishment of the empire, which transitioned to imperial rule through civil wars. |
| Saturn | The Roman god of time, wealth, and renewal, father of Jupiter, who ruled over a mythical golden age of abundance and peace. |
| Second Triumvirate | The political alliance of Octavius, Marcus Lepidus, and Mark Antony that ruled Rome and eventually led to civil war. |
| short syllable | A syllable that takes up less time in pronunciation, represented in metrical notation and forming part of metrical feet. |
| spondee | A metrical foot consisting of two long syllables. |
| the Fates | Three goddesses in Roman mythology who controlled human destiny, determining how long people would live, what they would accomplish, and what they would suffer. |
| the Judgement of Paris | A Greek myth in which the Trojan prince Paris judged a beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, choosing Aphrodite as the fairest. |
| trochee | A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by one short syllable. |
| Venus | The Roman goddess of love, beauty, sexual desire, and victory; mother of Aeneas in the Aeneid. |
| Vergil | A Roman poet (70-19 BCE) who composed the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid, works that had lasting influence on Western literature. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| accusative case | A Latin grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a verb and, without a preposition, to indicate direction or destination ('place to where'). |
| adjective | Words that modify nouns and must agree with them in case, number, and gender in Latin. |
| Aeneas | A legendary Trojan hero and son of Venus, presented in the Aeneid as the ancestor of Augustus and the founder of Rome. |
| allusions | Indirect or implied references to people, literary works, or historical events that readers are expected to recognize. |
| anaphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or lines, used to emphasize ideas and create momentum. |
| Carthage | An ancient city in northern Africa founded by Dido, which became a major Mediterranean power. |
| case | The grammatical form of a Latin noun, pronoun, or adjective that indicates its function in a sentence (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, or vocative). |
| chiasmus | A rhetorical figure in which two corresponding pairs are arranged in inverted order (a-b-b-a) to create emphasis and draw attention to a particular point. |
| dative case | A grammatical case used for nouns that indicate the person to whom, for whom, or to whose advantage an action is being done, commonly used with verbs of speaking, giving, and showing. |
| declensions | The system of noun and adjective endings in Latin that indicate gender, number, and case; there are five declensions for nouns and three for adjectives. |
| Dido | The legendary founder of Carthage, also known as Elissa, who was originally queen of Tyre and fled after her husband Sychaeus was murdered by her brother Pygmalion. |
| direct object | The noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb in a sentence. |
| future perfect tense | A verb tense in the indicative mood expressing an action that will be completed before another future action, translated as 'will have _ed.' |
| future tense | A verb tense in the indicative mood expressing an action that will happen, translated as 'will _.' |
| Gaetulians | An ancient people of northern Africa whose leader Iarbas encountered Dido when she arrived to found Carthage. |
| gender | The grammatical classification of Latin nouns, adjectives, and pronouns as masculine, feminine, or neuter. |
| Greco-Roman mythology | The combined body of myths and legends from both Greek and Roman cultures, often shared or adapted between the two civilizations. |
| Iarbas | The leader of the Gaetulians who offered Dido land in northern Africa and later proposed marriage to her, which she rejected. |
| imperfect tense | A verb tense in the indicative mood expressing a past action in progress or habitual action, translated as 'was/were _ing' or 'used to _.' |
| indicative mood | The mood of verbs used to express facts, statements, and questions; includes six tenses: present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect. |
| Juno | The queen of the Roman gods and mother of both Venus and Vulcan. |
| Jupiter | The king of the Roman gods and father of both Venus and Vulcan. |
| metaphor | A rhetorical figure in which an implied comparison is achieved through figurative use of words, where words are used in an analogous rather than literal sense. |
| noun | Words that name persons, places, things, or ideas and function as subjects, objects, or complements in Latin sentences. |
| number | The grammatical distinction between singular and plural forms of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns in Latin. |
| perfect tense | A verb tense in the indicative mood expressing a completed past action, translated as '_ed,' 'has/have _ed,' or 'did _.' |
| pluperfect tense | A verb tense in the indicative mood expressing an action completed before another past action, translated as 'had _ed.' |
| present tense | A verb tense in the indicative mood expressing an action happening now or habitually, translated as 'is/are _ing.' |
| pronoun | Words that replace or refer to nouns and have gender, number, and case forms in Latin. |
| Punic Wars | A series of conflicts fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BCE that resulted in Roman expansion and the destruction of Carthage. |
| Pygmalion | The brother of Dido who murdered her husband Sychaeus for his wealth, forcing Dido to flee Tyre. |
| references | Direct mentions or citations of specific people, places, events, or concepts in a text. |
| repetition | The deliberate reuse of words, phrases, or grammatical structures in a text to create emphasis, rhythm, or stylistic effect. |
| rhetorical figure | A device of language used to create specific effects and enhance meaning in writing or speech. |
| simile | A rhetorical figure that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, typically using 'like' or 'as'. |
| stem | The base form of a word to which endings are added to indicate grammatical information such as case, number, and degree. |
| stylistic device | A technique or literary tool used by an author to create a particular effect or enhance the meaning and impact of a text. |
| substantive | An adjective used as a noun to represent an implied noun, functioning independently in a sentence. |
| superlative adjectives | Adjectives that show the highest degree of a quality, typically translated as '___est' or 'very ___' in English. |
| Sychaeus | The husband of Dido who was murdered by her brother Pygmalion for his wealth. |
| Tyre | An ancient Phoenician city (in present-day Lebanon) where Dido was originally queen before fleeing to Africa. |
| Venus | The Roman goddess of love, beauty, sexual desire, and victory; mother of Aeneas in the Aeneid. |
| verb | Words that express actions, states, or conditions and are central to Latin sentence structure. |
| verbals | Non-finite verb forms in Latin (such as infinitives, participles, and gerunds) that function as other parts of speech while retaining verbal characteristics. |
| Vulcan | The Roman god of fire, metalworking, and the forge; husband of Venus. |
| word order | The arrangement and sequence of words in a Latin sentence, which can be manipulated as a stylistic device to create emphasis or convey meaning. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Aeneid | An epic poem by Virgil that tells the story of Aeneas and includes the character Camilla and her relationship with Diana. |
| allusions | Indirect or implied references to people, literary works, or historical events that readers are expected to recognize. |
| animal sacrifice | A religious ritual in which Romans offered animals to the gods to seek their favor, protection, or approval. |
| case | The grammatical form of a Latin noun, pronoun, or adjective that indicates its function in a sentence (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, or vocative). |
| condition | A grammatical structure in Latin introduced by si ('if'), nisi ('if not'), or ni ('not') that expresses a hypothetical or conditional situation. |
| conjugation | A group or class of verbs that follow the same pattern of endings and modifications. |
| dactyl | A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short syllables. |
| dactylic hexameter | A metrical pattern used in epic poetry consisting of six feet per line, typically composed of dactyls and spondees. |
| dative case | A grammatical case used for nouns that indicate the person to whom, for whom, or to whose advantage an action is being done, commonly used with verbs of speaking, giving, and showing. |
| dative of purpose | A Latin construction using the dative case to express the intended purpose or function of something. |
| dative of reference | A Latin construction using the dative case to indicate the person or thing with respect to which something is true or relevant. |
| deponent verb | A Latin verb that has passive forms but is translated into English with active meanings. |
| double dative construction | A Latin grammatical structure using two dative cases together, typically combining a dative of reference with a dative of purpose. |
| dreams | Nocturnal visions that Romans believed could convey messages from the gods about future events. |
| ending | The suffix attached to a verb stem that indicates person, number, tense, voice, and mood. |
| enjambment | A poetic device in which the final word of a phrase, clause, or sentence is delayed to the beginning of the following line to create suspense or emphasis. |
| entrails | The internal organs of sacrificed animals that Romans examined for signs of divine approval or disapproval. |
| epic poetry | A long narrative poem that typically recounts the deeds of heroes and is written in a formal, elevated style. |
| figurative language | Language that uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, and symbolism to convey meaning beyond the literal sense of words. |
| foot | The basic repeating unit of meter in poetry, composed of a specific sequence of long and short syllables. |
| gender | The grammatical classification of Latin nouns, adjectives, and pronouns as masculine, feminine, or neuter. |
| Greco-Roman mythology | The combined body of myths and legends from both Greek and Roman cultures, often shared or adapted between the two civilizations. |
| Helen | In Greek mythology, the queen of Sparta whose abduction by Paris triggered the Trojan War. |
| household gods | Roman domestic deities (such as the Lares and Penates) to whom Romans prayed and made offerings at shrines within their homes. |
| implied meaning | The meaning suggested or understood indirectly from a text, rather than stated explicitly. |
| indicative mood | The mood of verbs used to express facts, statements, and questions; includes six tenses: present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect. |
| inferences | Conclusions drawn from evidence and reasoning based on textual clues rather than explicit statements. |
| interlocking word order | A Latin stylistic device involving interlocking word order with elements placed in an a-b-a-b format to create emphasis or surprise. |
| interpretation | The process of determining the meaning and significance of a Latin text based on careful analysis of language, context, and literary elements. |
| irregular verb | A verb that does not follow the expected patterns of its conjugation, such as sum (to be). |
| meter | The regular, predictable pattern of long and short syllables that forms the rhythmic structure of Latin poetry. |
| mood | The grammatical category of Latin verbs that indicates the mode or manner of the action, such as indicative (factual), subjunctive (hypothetical), or imperative (command). |
| number | The grammatical distinction between singular and plural forms of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns in Latin. |
| Paris of Troy | A Trojan prince in Greek mythology who abducted Helen, the wife of the Spartan king, causing the Trojan War. |
| participle | A verbal adjective that modifies nouns, agrees with them in case, number, and gender, and has tense and voice like a verb. |
| person | The grammatical category of Latin verbs that indicates whether the subject is first person (I/we), second person (you), or third person (he/she/it/they). |
| portents | Signs or omens, often unusual natural phenomena, believed by Romans to indicate divine will or future events. |
| principal parts | The key forms of a verb (typically infinitive, perfect, and supine) from which all other forms can be derived. |
| spondee | A metrical foot consisting of two long syllables. |
| stem | The base form of a word to which endings are added to indicate grammatical information such as case, number, and degree. |
| stylistic device | A technique or literary tool used by an author to create a particular effect or enhance the meaning and impact of a text. |
| stylistic information | Literary techniques and devices (such as word choice, sentence structure, imagery, and tone) that an author uses to create meaning and effect in a text. |
| subjunctive mood | A verb mood used in Latin to express wishes, doubts, conditions, and in dependent clauses such as indirect questions. |
| sum, esse | The irregular Latin verb meaning 'to be,' whose forms may sometimes be omitted and must be inferred from context. |
| tense | The grammatical category of Latin verbs indicating the time of an action (present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, future, or future perfect). |
| trochee | A metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by one short syllable. |
| Trojan Horse | A giant wooden horse used as a deceptive gift by the Greeks to enter the city of Troy, containing Greek soldiers who helped end the siege. |
| Trojan War | The legendary ten-year conflict between the Greeks and the city of Troy, originating from Paris's abduction of Helen. |
| Ulysses | The Roman name for the Greek hero Odysseus, credited with devising the strategy of the Trojan Horse. |
| verb | Words that express actions, states, or conditions and are central to Latin sentence structure. |
| verbal | A word form derived from a verb that functions as another part of speech, such as a participle, gerund, or infinitive. |
| voice | The grammatical category of Latin verbs indicating whether the subject performs the action (active voice) or receives the action (passive voice). |
| word order | The arrangement and sequence of words in a Latin sentence, which can be manipulated as a stylistic device to create emphasis or convey meaning. |