This text describes the relationship between Latin literature and the politics of ancient Rome. The author argues that literature was a cultural practice that emerged from and intervened in the political and social struggles at the heart of the Roman world. He considers works by such authors as Cato, Cicero, Horace, Ovid, and Seneca. He aims to demonstrate that, from its beginnings in the late third century BC to its eclipse by Christian literature six hundred years later, classical literature served the evolving interests of Roman and aristocratic power.