This is the second part of the graduate survey of Latin literature. We will be reading from the Latin literature of the Roman empire (Augustan period to the late Empire); the selected readings are diverse in genre and style in order to reflect the diversity of literary production in the imperial period. We will focus on accurate reading of the Latin texts and on significant issues of interpretation. In addition, we will think about prominent themes in the literature of the period: the impact of the formation of a late Republican/Augustan literary canon; the significance of rhetorical and philosophical education; the role of the imperial social structure in literary production; the possibility of social/political critique.

The pace of reading will be approximately 30 pages of prose or 1000 lines of poetry per week. Readings will be drawn from the PhD reading list for Latin.