MINOR POETS:
(a) The poets immediately after Afranius include
(1) Hostius.—He was perhaps the grandfather of Cynthia (Hostia), Propertius’ mistress. Prop. iv. 20, 7,
‘Est tibi forma potens; sunt castae Palladis artes,
splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo.’
There are nine lines extant from his epic poem Bellum Histricum, which was probably on the war of B.C. 125. Frag. 5 (Bährens),
‘Non si mihi linguae
centum atque ora sient totidem vocesque liquatae,’
is from Il. ii. 489, and is imitated by Verg. Aen. vi. 625 (as noticed by Macrob. Saturn. vi. 3, 6).
(2) Writers of epigrams—Pompilius, Valerius Aedituus, Porcius Licinus, and Q. Lutatius Catulus (cons. B.C. 102).
(3) Q. Valerius Soranus wrote verse on philology and archaeology.
(4) Volcacius Sedigitus wrote verse on literary history up to the time of the fabula palliata. He wrote indices of Plautus (Gell. iii. 3, 1), and a work De Poetis, which included his canon on the comic poets (Gell. xv. 24).
‘Caecilio palmam Statio do mimico.
Plautus secundus facile exuperat ceteros.
Dein Naevius, qui fervet, pretio in tertiost.
Si erit, quod quarto detur, dabitur Licinio.
Post insequi Licinium facio Atilium.
In sexto consequetur hos Terentius,
Turpilius septimum, Trabea octavum optinet,
nono loco esse facile facio Luscium.
Decimum addo causa antiquitatis Ennium.’
(b) The following poets wrote during Cicero’s youth, B.C. 106-84:
(1) Cn. Matius, author of Mimiambi, and a translation of the Iliad. An example of the last is Frag. I (Bährens) = Il. i. 56,
‘Corpora Graiorum maerebat mandier igni.’
(2) Laevius, author of Erotopaegnia, of a lyrical character. Porphyr. ad Hor. Od. iii. 1, 2, ‘Romanis utique non prius audita, quamvis Laevius lyrica ante Horatium scripserit; sed videntur illa non Graecorum lege ad lyricum characterem exacta.’
About sixty lines are extant. Gell. xix. 7 speaks of Laevius’ curious vocabulary, and instances oblittera for oblitterata; trisaeclisenex, dulciorelocus, etc.
(3) A. Furius of Antium. Only six lines are extant.
(4) C. Iulius Caesar Strabo, a tragic writer and orator.
(5) Sueius. His works are (a) Moretum, an idyll; (b) Pulli, on the breeding of fowls; (c) Nidus; (d) an epic poem, Annales.
(6) Writers of fabula Atellana;[24] Novius and L. Pomponius (Bononiensis). Fronto p. 62 (ed. Naber), ‘Elegantis Novium et Pomponium et id genus in verbis rusticanis et iocularibus ac ridiculariis.’
Of Novius forty-three titles and over one hundred lines are preserved, and of Pomponius about seventy titles and two hundred lines. The well-known characters of the fabula Atellana are retained, as is seen from the titles. Cf. Duo Dosseni, Maccus Copa of Novius; Bucco Adoptatus, Maccus Miles, Maccus Sequester, Maccus Virgo of Pomponius.