CONTENTS

[CHAPTER I.]

GENERAL CHARACTER OF ROMAN POETRY.

PAGE
Recent change in the estimate of Roman Poetry[1]
Want of originality[2]
As compared with Greek Poetry[2]
" " with Roman Oratory and History[3]
The most complete literary monument of Rome[5]
Partly imitative, partly original[6]
Imitative in forms[7]
" in metres[8]
Imitative element in diction[9]
" " in matter[11]
Original character, partly Roman, partly Italian[13]
National spirit[14]
Imaginative sentiment[15]
Moral feeling[16]
Italian element in Roman Poetry[17]
Love of Nature[17]
Passion of Love[19]
Personal element in Roman Poetry[20]
Four Periods of Roman Poetry[23]
Character of each[24]
Conclusion[26]

[CHAPTER II.]

VESTIGES OF INDIGENOUS POETRY IN ROME AND ANCIENT ITALY.

Niebuhr's theory of a Ballad-Poetry[28]
The Saturnian metre[29]
Ritual Hymns[31]
Prophetic verses[33]
Fescennine verses[34]
Saturae[36]
Gnomic verses[37]
Commemorative verses[37]
Inferences as to their character[38]
" from early state of the language[39]
No public recognition of Poetry[40]
Roman story result of tradition and reflection[41]
Inferences from the nature of Roman religion[43]
" from the character and pursuits of the people[44]
Roman Poetry of Italian rather than Roman origin[45]

FIRST PERIOD.

FROM LIVIUS ANDRONICUS TO LUCILIUS.

[CHAPTER III.]

BEGINNING OF ROMAN LITERATURE. LIVIUS ANDRONICUS,
CN. NAEVIUS, 240-202 b.c.

Contact with Greece after capture of Tarentum[47]
First period of Roman literature[49]
Forms of Poetry during this period[50]
Livius Andronicus[51]
Cn. Naevius, his life[52]
Dramas[55]
Epic poem[57]
Style[59]
Conclusion[60]

[CHAPTER IV.]

Q. ENNIUS, 239-170 b.c., LIFE, TIMES, AND PERSONAL TRAITS.
VARIOUS WORKS. GENIUS AND INTELLECT.

Importance of Ennius[62]
Notices of his life[63]
Influences affecting his career[64]
Italian birth-place[64]
Greek education[65]
Service in Roman army[66]
Historical importance of his age[68]
Intellectual character of his age[69]
Personal traits[71]
Description of himself in the Annals[72]
Intimacy with Scipio[74]
His enthusiastic temperament[75]
Religious spirit and convictions[77]
Miscellaneous works[79]
Saturae[81]
Dramas[83]
Annals[88]
Outline of the Poem[89]
Idea by which it is animated[92]
Artistic defects[93]
Roman character of the work[94]
Contrast with the Greek Epic[96]
Contrast in its personages[96]
Contrast in supernatural element[97]
Oratory in the Annals[98]
Description and imagery[100]
Rhythm and diction[102]
Chief literary characteristics of Ennius[106]
Energy of conception[107]
Patriotic and imaginative sentiment[110]
Moral emotion[112]
Practical understanding[113]
Estimate in ancient times[116]
Disparaging criticism of Niebuhr[118]

[CHAPTER V]

EARLY ROMAN TRAGEDY. M. PACUVIUS, 219-129 b.c.
L. ACCIUS, 170-ABOUT 90 b.c.

Popularity of early Roman Tragedy[120]
Partial adaptation of Athenian drama[121]
Inability to reproduce its pure Hellenic character[123]
Nearer approach to the spirit of Euripides than of Sophocles[125]
Grounds of popularity of Roman Tragedy[126]
Moral tone and oratorical spirit[129]
Causes of its decline[131]
M. Pacuvius, notices of his life[133]
Ancient testimonies[135]
His dramas[136]
Passages illustrative of his thought[137]
" " of his moral and oratorical spirit[139]
Descriptive passages[141]
Drama on a Roman subject[142]
Character[142]
L. Accius, notices of his life[143]
His various works[145]
Fragments illustrative of his oratorical spirit[147]
" " of his moral fervour[148]
" " of his sense of natural beauty[149]
Conclusion as to character of Roman Tragedy[150]

[CHAPTER VI.]

ROMAN COMEDY. T. MACCIUS PLAUTUS, ABOUT 254 TO 184 b.c.

Flourishing era of Roman Comedy[153]
How far any claim to originality?[154]
Disparaging judgment of later Roman critics[155]
Connection with earlier Saturae[156]
Naevius and Plautus popular poets[157]
Facts in the life of Plautus[158]
Attempt to fill up the outline from his works[160]
Familiarity with town-life[161]
Traces of maritime adventure[162]
Life of the lower and middle classes represented in his plays[163]
Love of good living[164]
Love of money[166]
Artistic indifference[166]
Knowledge of Greek[167]
Influence of the spirit of his age[167]
Dramas adaptations of outward conditions of Athenian New Comedy[169]
Manner and spirit, Roman and original[172]
Indications of originality in his language[173]
" " " in his Roman allusions and national characteristics[174]
Favourite plots of his plays[178]
Pseudolus, Bacchides, Miles Gloriosus, Mostellaria[179]
Aulularia, Trinummus, Menaechmi, Rudens, Captivi, Amphitryo[182]
Mode of dealing with his characters[191]
Moral and political indifference of his plays[192]
Value as a poetic artist[195]
Power of expression by action, rhythm, diction[200]

[CHAPTER VII.]

TERENCE AND THE COMIC POETS SUBSEQUENT TO PLAUTUS.

Comedy between the time of Plautus and Terence[204]
Caecilius Statius[204]
Scipionic Circle[206]
Complete Hellenising of Roman Comedy[207]
Conflicting accounts of life of Terence[207]
Order in which his Plays were produced[209]
His 'prologues' as indicative of his individuality[210]
'Dimidiatus Menander'[212]
Epicurean 'humanity' chief characteristic[213]
Sentimental motive of his pieces[214]
Minute delineations of character[215]
Diction and rhythm[217]
Influence on the style and sentiment of Horace[218]
Modern estimates of Terence[220]
Comoedia Togata, Atellanae, Mimus[220]

[CHAPTER VIII.]

EARLY ROMAN SATIRE. C. LUCILIUS, DIED 102 b.c.

Independent origin of Roman satire[222]
Essentially Roman in form and spirit[224]
" " in its political and censorial function[225]
Personal and miscellaneous character of early satire[227]
Critical epoch at which Lucilius appeared[229]
Question as to the date of his birth[229]
Fragments chiefly preserved by grammarians[232]
Miscellaneous character and desultory treatment of subjects[233]
Traces of subjects treated in different books[234]
Impression of the author's personality[236]
Political character of Lucilian satire[238]
Social vices satirised in it[239]
Intellectual peculiarities[243]
Literary criticism[245]
His style[246]
Grounds of his popularity[249]

[CHAPTER IX.]

REVIEW OF THE FIRST PERIOD.

Common aspects in the lives of poets in the second century b.c.[253]
Popular and national character of their works[256]
Political condition of the time reflected in its literature[257]
Defects of the poetic literature in form and style[259]
Other forms of literature cultivated in that age[260]
Oratory and history[260]
Familiar letters[262]
Critical and grammatical studies[263]
Summary of character of the first period[264]

[SECOND PERIOD.]

THE CLOSE OF THE REPUBLIC.

[CHAPTER X.]

TRANSITION FROM LUCILIUS TO LUCRETIUS.

Dearth of poetical works during the next half century[269]
Literary taste confined to the upper classes [271]
Great advance in Latin prose writing[272]
Influence of this on the style of Lucretius and Catullus[273]
Closer contact with the mind and art of Greece[273]
Effects of the political unsettlement on the contemplative life and thought[275]
" on the life of pleasure, and the art founded on it[277]
The two representatives of the thought and art of the time[278]

[CHAPTER XI.]

LUCRETIUS. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Little known of him from external sources[280]
Examination of Jerome's statement[284]
Inferences as to his national and social position[287]
Relation to Memmius[288]
Impression of the author to be traced in his poem [290]
Influence produced by the action of his age[290]
Minute familiarity with Nature and country life[292]
Spirit in which he wrote his work[294]
His consciousness of power and delight in his task[295]
His polemical spirit[298]
Reverence for Epicurus[299]
Affinity to Empedocles[300]
Influence of other Greek writers[302]
" of Ennius[303]
His interests speculative, not national[304]
His Roman temperament[305]

[CHAPTER XII.]

THE PHILOSOPHY OF LUCRETIUS.

Three aspects of the poem[307]
General scope of the argument[308]
Analysis of the poem[308]
Question as to its unfinished condition[321]
What is the value of the argument?[324]
Weakness of his science[329]
Interest of the work as an exposition of ancient physical enquiry[331]
" " " from its bearing on modern questions[332]
Power of scientific reasoning, observation, and expression[335]
Connecting links between his philosophy and poetry[340]
Idea of law[341]
" of change[344]
" of the infinite[347]
" of the individual[348]
" of the subtlety of Nature[349]
" of Nature as a living power[350]

[CHAPTER XIII.]

THE RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE AND MORAL TEACHING OF LUCRETIUS.

General character of Greek epicureanism[356]
Prevalence at Rome in the last age of the Republic[358]
New type of epicureanism in Lucretius[360]
Forms of evil against which his teaching was directed[363]
Superstition[364]
Fear of death[369]
Ambition[374]
Luxury[375]
Passion of love[376]
Limitation of his ethical views[378]
His literary power as a moralist[381]

[CHAPTER XIV.]

THE LITERARY ART AND GENIUS OF LUCRETIUS.

Artistic defects of the work[384]
" " arising from the nature of the subject[385]
" " from inequality in its execution[387]
Intensity of feeling pervading the argument[388]
Cumulative force in his rhythm[389]
Qualities of his style[390]
Freshness and sincerity of expression[392]
Imaginative suggestiveness and creativeness[394]
Use of analogies[395]
Pictorial power[397]
Poetical interpretation of Nature[398]
Energy of movement in his descriptions[400]
Poetic aspect of Nature influenced by his philosophy[402]
Poetical interpretation of life[403]
Modern interest of his poem[406]

[CHAPTER XV.]

CATULLUS.

Contrast to the poetry of Lucretius[408]
The poetry of youth[409]
Accidental preservation of the poems[410]
Principle of their arrangement[412]
Vivid personal revelation afforded by them[413]
Uncertainty as to the date of his birth[414]
Birth-place and social standing[417]
Influences of his native district[419]
Identity of Lesbia and Clodia[422]
Poems written between 61 and 57 b.c.[425]
Poems connected with his Bithynian journey[429]
Poems written between 56 and 54 b.c.[433]
Character of his poems, founded on the passion of love[436]
" " " " on friendship and affection[439]
His short satirical pieces[444]
Other poems expressive of personal feeling[450]
Qualities of style in these poems[452]
" of rhythm[453]
" of form[454]
The Hymn to Diana[455]
His longer and more purely artistic pieces[456]
His Epithalamia[457]
His Attis[461]
The Peleus and Thetis[462]
The longer elegiac poems[469]
Rank of Catullus among the poets of the world[472]