section_path: Culture/Art, music and literature/Literature and Libraries
section_name: Literature and Libraries
paragraph_text: Literature and Libraries
  
  Latin literature was, from its start, influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest extant works are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy.
  
  Ancient Rome's literary contributions are still recognized today and the works by ancient Roman authors were available in bookshops as well as in public and private libraries. Many scholars and statesmen of ancient Rome cultivated private libraries that were used both as demonstrations of knowledge and displays of wealth and power. Private libraries were so commonly encountered that Vitruvius wrote about where libraries should be situated within a villa. In addition to numerous private libraries, the Roman Empire saw the establishment of early public libraries.
  
  Although Julius Caesar had intended to establish public libraries to further establish Rome as a great cultural center like Athens and Alexandria, he died before this was accomplished. Caesar's former lieutenant, Gaius Asinius Pollio, took up the project and opened the first public library in Rome in the Atrium Libertatis. Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Vespasian, Domitian, and Trajan also founded or expanded public libraries in Rome during their reigns. These included the Ulpian Library in Trajan's Forum and libraries in the Temple of Apollo Palatinus, the Temple of Peace in the Roman Forum, the Temple of Divus Augustus, which was dedicated to Minerva when it was rebuilt under Emperor Domitian's orders. Some of these, including the library at the Temple of Divus Augustus also served as archives. By the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city of Rome had more than two dozen public libraries. Rome was not the only city to benefit from such institutions. As the Roman Empire spread, public libraries were established in other major cities and cultural centers including Ephesos, Athens, and Timgad.
  
  Most public libraries of this time were not built expressly for that purpose, instead sharing space in temples, baths, and other community buildings. In addition to serving as repositories for books, public libraries hosted orations by authors. These recitations served as social gatherings and allowed those who may not be literate to be entertained by poetry, epics, philosophical treatises, and other works.