: Poets like Catullus , Tibullus , and Ovid (the "inventor of Latin love elegy") shifted the focus to personal, often agonizing emotional experiences. These works frequently explored themes of obsession, betrayal, and the "servitium amoris" (slavery of love), where the lover is submissive to his mistress.

The term "Romance" itself derives from the Latin romanice ("in the Roman way"), originally referring to the vernacular languages (Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) that descended from .

Classical Latin literature established many of the tropes that still define romantic storytelling.

In the 19th century, Romanticism became a dominant literary and political force in Latin America, deeply tied to movements for national independence. Love Plots in Menander and his Roman Adapters1 | Ramus