epistulas

Epistulas is the accusative plural of the Latin noun epistula, meaning letters or dispatches. In classical Latin, an epistula referred to a written message sent from one person to another, and collections of these messages appear throughout literary, legal, and diplomatic contexts. The standard nominative plural is epistulae; epistulas is used when the letters are the objects of a verb, as in duas epistulas misi (I sent two letters). The term underpins the English word epistle and the concept of epistolary writing.

Historically, epistulas occur across a wide range of Latin texts. In rhetoric and philosophy, letters were used to discuss arguments and moral guidance; in public life, letters transmitted official orders or diplomatic negotiations. Notable examples include Seneca’s Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius) and the Epistles of Paul in the Latin biblical tradition, often titled Epistulae Pauli to various churches or individuals.

In literary and scholarly contexts, epistolary forms have influenced genres such as the epistolary novel, which presents narrative through letters. In manuscript studies, epistulas are analyzed for authorship, audience, dating, and the social relations encoded in address formulas, salutations, and closings. While epistulas as a Latin form are chiefly of historical and philological interest, the word remains a key term in discussions of Latin letters and early Christian correspondence, illustrating how written communication shaped social, political, and religious life in the ancient Mediterranean world.