Mare magnum: the Romans and the Mediterranean Sea between myth and history in the early Latin epic

Abstract

This article aims to illustrate the significant presence of images of the sea in the early Latin epic poetry as a mirror of the evolution of Roman society, which was originally founded on land and agriculture. This presence was mainly due to the first Punic War, which took place largely at sea, and was experienced by the poets themselves, Livius Andronicus and Naevius, and subsequently remembered by Ennius. A review of literary passages, which implicitly refer to the Mediterranean, shows (albeit in fragmentary form) the interest in the mare magnum between Greek myth and Roman history, changing from the dramatic representation of the sea as an enigmatic and hostile environment, to that of a pragmatic relationship between man and sea that offered new chances in peacetime and a wider perspective on the world.