the death of Augustus (14
A.D.). In this period the language, especially in the hands of Cicero,
reaches a high degree of stylistic perfection. Its vocabulary, however, has
not yet attained its greatest fullness and range. Traces of the diction of
the Archaic Period are often noticed, especially in the poets, who
naturally sought their effects by reverting to the speech of olden times.
Literature reached its culmination in this epoch, especially in the great
poets of the Augustan Age. The following writers belong here:

Lucretius, about 95-55 B.C. (Poem on Epicurean Philosophy).
Catullus, 87-about 54 B.C. (Poet).
Cicero, 106-43 B.C. (Orations; Rhetorical Works; Philosophical Works;
Letters).
Caesar, 102-44 B.C. (Commentaries on Gallic and Civil Wars),
Sallust, 86-36 B.C. (Historian).
Nepos, about 100-about 30 B.C. (Historian).
Virgil, 70-19 B.C. ("Aeneid"; "Georgics"; "Bucolics").
Horace, 65-8 B.C. (Odes; Satires, Epistles).
Tibullus, about 54-19 B.C. (Poet).
Propertius, about 50-about 15 B.C. (Poet).
Ovid, 43 B.C.-17 A.D. ("Metamorphoses" and other poems).
Livy. 59 B.C.-17 A.D. (Historian).

d. _The Silver Latinity_, from the death of Augustus (14 A.D.) to the death
of Marcus Aurelius (180 A.D.), This period is marked by a certain reaction
against the excessive precision of the previous age. It had become the
practice to pay too much attention to standardized forms of expression, and
to leave too little play to the individual writer. In the healthy reaction
against this formalism, greater freedom of expression now manifests itself.
We note also the introduction of idioms from the colloquial language, along
with many poetical words and usages. The following authors deserve mention:

Phaedrus, flourished about 40 A.D. (Fables in Verse)
Velleius Paterculus, flourished about 30 A.D. (Historian).
Lucan, 39-65 A.D. (Poem on the Civil War).
Seneca, about 1-65 A.D. (Tragedies; Philosophical Works).
Pliny the Elder, 23-79 A.D. ("Natural History").
Pliny the Younger, 62-about 115 A.D. ("Letters").
Martial, about 45-about 104 A.D. (Epigrams).
Quintilian, about 35-about 100 A.D. (Treatise on Oratory and Education).
Tacitus, about 55-about 118 A.D. (Historian).
Juvenal, about 55-about 135 A.D. (Satirist).
Suetonius, about 73-about 118 A.D. ("Lives of the Twelve Caesars").
Minucius Felix, flourished about 160 A.D. (First Christian Apologist).
Apuleius, 125-about 200 A.D