Ralph was born before 1080 to an unknown family who likely traced their roots to
Caen in
Normandy. As Ralph's early education was conducted at the cathedral school in Caen under his teacher and life-long friend
Arnulf of Chocques, later
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, this suggests that his family were of significant status. Ralph was ordained as a priest by 1106 and recruited by
Bohemond I of Antioch in that year as his chaplain. In 1107, Ralph traveled with Bohemond on his ultimately unsuccessful campaign in the
Balkans. Ralph of Caen was well educated in the Latin classics. Besides
Virgil, whose work he knew well, he was acquainted with
Ovid, who did not become popular until the
twelfth-century Renaissance, and even
Horace, who never developed much medieval reputation. More directly, in view of his project, he had read
Roman historians:
Livy and
Caesar (in his
Gallic War), whom he took as his models, and also
Lucan's
Pharsalia and
Sallust's history. His narrative (in 157 sections) is in prose when recounting events, rising to poetry to describe Tancred's capture and despoliation of the
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in heroic, less literal terms. ==References==