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This mixture of ideas complicates understanding of Propertius' works, but simultaneously it reveals great originality of his literary approaches10. The vocabulary of Propertius' verse is not exposed to any conventions, either Greek or Romans; it is full of unusual idioms and new meanings. However, Propertius' poetry reflects some elements of earlier Latin writing, as well as the impact of his contemporaries.

Latin poetry gradually looses its popularity, and by the end of the late Republic Roman authors reveal their interest in the formation of Latin prose. According to Conte, All the Roman poets of that period who are known to us write for the stage, frequently shifting among the various established genres11. Early Latin prose is particularly attributed to Cato's works, which reflect Cato's indelicate humour and constitute the beginning of Roman prose literature. In the times of Cicero, the prose of Cato was really popular; however, it was lost in further centuries. Such popularity is explained by the fact that Cato's works are written in an unusual manner of annals, in which the author masterfully combines historical facts with his own treatment of various political, legal, military, social and ethnographic issues. Virgil constantly applies to Cato's fragments in his works, such as the Georgics, and Plutarch states that his [Cato's] very manner of speaking seemed to have such a kind if idea with it; for it was courteous, and yet forcible; pleasant, yet overwhelming; facetious, yet austere; sententious, and yet vehement12. Cato creates an unusual system of prose writing, which is followed by further generations of Roman authors. Cicero acclaims Cato's speeches, considering them as examples of delicacy, wittiness, satire and accuracy. Adhering to a specific style 'rem tene, verba sequentur': keep to the subject and the words will follow13, Cato nevertheless demonstrates a great interest in earlier rhetoric and earlier literary works. It is Cato who introduces Quintus Ennius to Roman population, but he is also the author of splendid verse proverbs, which are written in the form of two hexameters and are further called as Catonis disticha.
Some elements of Cato's satire can be found in the comedies of his contemporary Statius Caecilius. However, oratory is not the only genre of prose writing in the late Republic and the early Empire. As the later Roman literature develops from earlier Latin writing, which is preoccupied with epic, some Roman authors begin to create historical monographs, where they present Roman history. Cato is regarded as the first Roman author who writes the history of Rome in an encyclopedic form; it is 7-volume work called Origines. However, one of the most famous historians of that period is Sallust who records various crucial events that occurred in Rome, such as the Jugurthine war.