Rome’s military successes under the late Republic brought enormous riches to Rome. That wealth, and the power that came with it, was very unevenly distributed, however, leading to growing civil unrest and a fast-moving cultural revolution. Latin love poetry was born into that maelstrom, flourished, and died within fifty turbulent years. Catullus, the originator of Latin love poetry grew up in the shadow of Spartacus’ slave revolt and rebellions across the Roman world. Tibullus and Propertius established the genre of love elegy against the backdrop of a wave of failed uprisings and violent political power struggles. The revolution that brought the emperor Augustus to power soon metamorphosed into an autocratic empire incompatible with the ideals of love elegy, which Ovid abandoned when he was sent into exile.
In the last few years, several scholars have intertwined and transformed the way we look at the literary, cultural, and political revolutions that accompanied the bloody death of the Republic and the rise of the Imperial princeps. In this class, we will explore the role of Latin love poetry in Rome’s cultural revolution that was made possible by the very chaos and uncertainty of the political transition from republic to empire. Within this setting, we can find the roots of important themes, like the violence of love, the disruption of traditional hierarchies (gender, religion, class, master-slave), and elegiac topoi like servitium amoris (slavery of love/enslavement by love) and militia amoris (military service of love). Rather than opting out of the revolution, these love poets were fully committed to overthrowing the establishment, but through literary and cultural engagements rather than violent means.