I have been tackling poetry for the first time since I started studying Latin. Reading about accentuation, I discovered that the stress accent I had been using might not be correct : some sources indicate that golden age Romans spoke with a pitch accent. What is the current consensus ?
Would you happen to have a link to an article or a book on this matter, either in English, French or Spanish (I do not have a good command of German) ?
Stress accent, probably. There are mentions of pitch accent in some authors, but Allen thinks they represent “slavish” misapplication of Greek sources and terminology. In addition, the history and development of Latin support the stress accent. In other words, wherever the effect of accent can be observed (poetry, development and structure of words), it points to stress. (Allen p.83—)