Prosaic Analysis

Two weeks ago, we read the first letter of Pliny the Younger's two-part series detailing his first-hand (and, at times, second-hand) account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This first letter functioned one part as history, attempting to crystallize the image of Pompeii's eruption to an audience who had not been present, and another part as a memorialization of the heroism of Pliny the Younger's uncle, Pliny the Elder. Having literally ran into the fire to save and comfort

Today, I am going to tell you another story. If you recall, the last story I relayed to you from the long-deceased Ancient Roman legend Pliny the Younger was Halloween-themed, riddled with ghosts and inexplicable hauntings. Therefore, it is highly debatable whether any of these events occurred (the broad consensus on the existence of ghosts, both then and now, is that there is none). However, the story I am going to tell you now is far more rooted in history. Although Pliny's

Today, I am going to tell you a story. Although Halloween was a few months ago, for many, the countdown to spooky season has begun again. And even for the rest of us not as invested in the October 31st festivities, we are entering the season of ghosts as well. As we venture into 2026, we will make many resolutions: eat better, save more money, give more compliments, and other variations on the theme of self-improvement. Will we succeed in those resolutions? Maybe for a month

We are back yet again with another analysis of Pro Archia, although this one will likely be our last. I can envision many reacting to this statement in fury, pondering why on earth I did not progress linearly through the text (although that anger would have originated in our latest Pro Archia post), and why I appear to harbor such great disrespect for Cicero that I continue to handpick sections of his magnum opus for translation and analysis. To those who feel this strongly,

We are back with an analysis of the following few sections of Pro Archia, but this post will be formatted slightly differently. Insofar as the history of Cicero, Archias, and this case has not changed over the course of one chapter (it has not), instead of being redundant and repeating aforementioned biographies (see the previous two Prosaic Analyses for a history recap if needed), I believe we’d be better served taking Pro Archia in larger chunks. Sections 13-15 inclusive ar

We are back, for the second week, with another prosaic analysis! But despite Pro Archia continuing to differ stylistically from the majority of Ancient Roman poems, it still carries with it a certain poetic quality. Indeed, if you groaned after realizing that this would be a post about prose rather than poetry, you might find some solace in knowing that the prose we'll be discussing is practically a love letter to poetry itself. Cicero, always the fan of tangents, departed f

Yes, I acknowledge that this is not typical content for an Aeterna Poesis post. With our name translating to “Eternal Poetry,” analyzing Latin Poetry goes without saying. But Latin prose? That type of analysis requires a different format and style, deviating from the beloved and comfortable form established in our previous posts. Rather than seeing a “Meter” or “Theme and Voice” section, this post will feature sections devoted to history and the structure of a Roman defense