iii. is an addition by Ritschl, as we know Caecilius to have been alive in B.C. 166, when Terence’s Andria was performed. Some read iv. The date of his death will then be B.C. 166 or 165. Caecilius probably came to Rome among the Insubrian prisoners of war at some time between B.C. 200 and 194. The year of his birth is unknown; he is never mentioned, like other old writers, such as Plautus and Ennius, as having lived to a great age. If he died B.C. 166, we might suppose that he was born about B.C. 219, as that would make him of military age when the Insubrian war began in B.C. 200. His name as a slave was Statius. His patron is unknown.
Gell. iv. 20, 13, ‘Statius servile nomen fuit ... Caecilius quoque ille comoediarum poeta inclutus servus fuit; et propterea nomen habuit “Statius.” Sed postea versum est quasi in cognomentum: appellatusque est Caecilius Statius.’
Elsewhere he is sometimes called merely Caecilius (as Cic. de Or. ii. 40), but never Statius alone.
(2) WORKS.
Caecilius’ works were at first unsuccessful; cf. the actor Ambivius’ words in Ter. Hec. prol. ii. 6-7,
‘In eis quas primum Caecili didici novas,
partim sum earum exactus, partim vix steti.’
Later he examined plays before they were acted, as, e.g. Terence’s Andria in B.C. 166 (see under ‘Terence,’ [p. 42]). This implies that he occupied a responsible and leading position in the guild of poets.
We have two hundred and ninety lines of fragments, and titles of forty-two comedies, sixteen of which correspond with those of plays by Menander. For Caecilius’ imitation of Menander see Gell. ii. 23. Cf., e.g., ‘Caecilii Plocium legebamus; hautquaquam mihi et qui aderant displicebat... Sed enim postquam in manus Menander venit, a principio statim, di boni, quantum stupere atque frigere quantumque mutare a Menandro Caecilius visus est!’
Among the views on Caecilius are:
Cic. ad Att. vii. 3, 10, ‘(Caecilius) malus auctor Latinitatis est’ (probably because he was an Insubrian).