Nil tamen hoc habuisse viro praeclarius in se,
Nec sanctum magis, et mirum carumque videtur[63].
The inscription which Ennius composed for his own bust directly expresses his sense of the greatness of his work, and his confident assurance of fame, and of the lasting sympathy of his countrymen—
Aspicite, O cives, senis Enni imagini' formam,
Hic vestrum panxit maxima facta patrum.
Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu
Faxit. Cur? Volito vivu' per ora virum[64].
Two lines from one of his satires—
Enni poeta salve qui mortalibus