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]

THE ROMAN POETS OF THE REPUBLIC.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF ROMAN POETRY.

A great fluctuation of opinion has taken place, among scholars and critics, in regard to the worth of Latin Poetry. From the revival of learning till the end of last century, the poets of ancient Rome, and especially those of the Augustan age, were esteemed the purest models of literary art, and were the most familiar exponents of the life and spirit of antiquity. Their works were the chief instruments of the higher education. They were studied, imitated, and translated by some of the greatest poets of modern Europe; and they supplied their favourite texts and illustrations to moralists and humourists, from Montaigne to the famous English essayists who flourished during the last century. Up to a still later period, their words were habitually used in political debate to add weight to argument and point to invective. Perhaps no other writers, during so long a period, exercised so powerful an influence, not on literary style and taste only, but on the character and understanding, of educated men in the leading nations of the modern world.