Literature of the world : an introductory study . an group of Italian tribes es-tablished themselves. They were akin to the Celts in blood andlanguage. Farther south, at the foot of the peninsula and in theisland of Sicily, were the Greek colonies. This was the generalsituation as late as 600 The Italians mingled freely with theother peoples, took over their civilization, and became the domi-nant race of the peninsula. Rome, built on the Tib€r, not far 106 LATIN LITERATURE 107 from the sea, was the center of their political life. The Etruscans,pressed by Gauls at the north and Romans at t
Literature of the world : an introductory study . an group of Italian tribes es-tablished themselves. They were akin to the Celts in blood andlanguage. Farther south, at the foot of the peninsula and in theisland of Sicily, were the Greek colonies. This was the generalsituation as late as 600 The Italians mingled freely with theother peoples, took over their civilization, and became the domi-nant race of the peninsula. Rome, built on the Tib€r, not far 106 LATIN LITERATURE 107 from the sea, was the center of their political life. The Etruscans,pressed by Gauls at the north and Romans at the south, lost theirseparate identity by the end of the fourth century , though theymade an indelible impression upon the Italic tribes in the arts andin such matters as road-building and military fortifications. Withinanother hundred years Rome was in control as far south as Naplesand beyond. Of the final conquest of all Italy, the conflict of Rome. THE ROMAN FORUM with Carthage (264-146 b. c), the expansion of Rome to includenorthern Africa and the Greek world, the astonishing conquests ofJulius Caesar in Gaul, and the position of the Roman Republic asmistress of the civilized world, it is unnecessary to speak at close of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire—moreparticularly the Age of Augustus, the first emperor (31 b. 14)—was the great period of the literature of Rome. It will be evident from this brief sketch that the Romans were ofmixed blood. Oscan, Umbrian, Sabine, Latin, Etruscan, and Greekdialects were spoken during the early period. The first Latin writ- io8 LITERATURE OF THE WORLD ers had a cosmopolitan character: Andronicus was a Greek by race,Plautus an Uml)rian, Ennius came from Calabria, and Terencefrom Africa. It was Rome that hound all Italy together. The riseof this Latin town from its humble beginnings to its proud positionas the greatest city in the world constitutes one of the ph
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