Horace does not pretend that his Satires (or Epistles) are poetry, and makes several statements to that effect. Sat. ii. 6, 17,

'Quid prius inlustrem satiris musaque pedestri?'

Ep. ii. 1, 250,

'Sermones ... repentes per humum.'

So Sat. i. 4, 39-44.

The Epodes are called Epodi in the MSS. Epodos was the name given to a piece composed of couplets, the first line of which is longer than the second. Horace calls them iambi (Epod. 14, 7; Od. i. 16, 3). Their style is an imitation of that of Archilochus of Paros. Ep. i. 19, 23-5,

'Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.'

This is seen in the personal attacks made in many of them, as well as in the aischrologia employed, and also in the versification. The dates of several can be fixed. Epod. 16 was written B.C. 41, and refers to the Perusian war. Horace takes no part with either side, but advises his countrymen to leave Rome, like the Phocaeans of old. Epod. 7 was written B.C. 39; and Epod. 1, 9, and 14, about B.C. 31. The order is strictly metrical. Epodes 1-10 are simple iambics (trimeter and dimeter alternately); 11-16 more complicated forms; 17, the last, in iambic trimeters.

The Odes Horace himself calls carmina. The metres are nearly all taken from Sappho and Alcaeus, the two poets whose works Horace wished to present to his countrymen in a Roman dress. Cf. Od. iii. 30, 13-4,

'Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos deduxisse modos.'

The metrical differences between himself and his originals are due to the difference in the genius of the two languages and to the fact that he adopted the views on metre current in his time. Catullus' metre, on the other hand, was closely modelled on that of the Alexandrian poets. The odes are largely founded on the best Greek lyric poetry, with which Horace was thoroughly familiar; cf. his first intention to write in Greek (Sat. i. 10, 31-5). Alexandrian influence is little seen, and his mythological allusions are seldom obscure. Examples of imitation (which is commonest in Book i.) are: Od. i. 9, the beginning of which is from Alcaeus (so i. 10; 11; 18); i. 12 (beginning) is from Pindar; i. 27 from Anacreon. Bacchylides is imitated, e.g. in ii. 18.

Subjects of the Odes.—1. Love and wine form the themes of many. Od. i. 6, 17,

'Nos convivia, nos proelia virginum sectis in iuvenes unguibus acrium cantamus.'

Cf. Od. ii. 1, 37-40; iii. 3, 69-72.

The love-poems show no trace of personal passion, and the names of the women whose charms are sung are taken from Greek; thus Pyrrha (a well-known name from Attic comedy) i. 5; Lydia, i. 13, etc.; Lalage, i. 22; ii. 5. Cinara (iv. 1; iv. 13) is probably the only one that represents a real person. Wine is celebrated, e.g. in i. 9; 18; 27; ii. 7; iii. 21. A tone of moderation is observed throughout the drinking-songs. It is highly probable[59] that in Od. i. 27, 1-4 the unrestrained bacchanalian spirit of Catullus (cf. c. 27) is reproved,

'Natis in usum laetitiae scyphis pugnare Thracum est. Tollite barbarum morem verecundumque Bacchum sanguineis prohibete rixis.'

2. In Od. i. 24 we have the beautiful dirge on the death of Quintilius Varus.

3. On political subjects.—The chief of these are as follows: i. 2 (towards the end of B.C. 28); i. 12; i. 14; i. 35 (in B.C. 26); i. 37 (in B.C. 30); ii. 1. The most important, however, are Od. iii. 1-6, which form one whole, and are written on the new name of Augustus, and the ideas therewith connected. They were all written about B.C. 27.[60]

In iii. 1, which is general, the rising generation is addressed by the prophet of the empire; ll. 3, 4,

'Musarum sacerdos virginibus puerisque canto.'

The lesson of the ode is 'A moderate life is the best. Lucky is the man who is spared the trouble of managing the State.'

iii. 2 praises courage and honesty, but with special reference to two institutions of Augustus: (1) the professional soldier as opposed to the citizen-soldier of the republic. The officers were taken from the two privileged classes, and there was no promotion from the ranks. This is the explanation of ll. 1-4,

'Angustam amice pauperiem pati robustus acri militia puer condiscat et Parthos ferocis vexet eques,'

lines which also refer to the resuscitation by Augustus of the citizen-cavalry. The soldier is not to trouble about politics (ll. 17-20), and must not fear death (l. 13). (2) The new imperial administrative officers, employed not only in collecting taxes, but in administrative business of every kind. Speaking of them, Horace pays a tribute to loyal silence, and emphasizes the curse that clings to breach of faith; l. 25,

'Est et fideli tuta silentio merces';

l. 31,

'Raro antecedentem scelestum deseruit pede Poena claudo.'

iii. 3 touches intimately the political questions of the day. Pointed reference is made to Cleopatra; she is the mulier peregrina (l. 20), the Lacaena adultera (l. 25), who brought Troy low, and would bring Rome low, if she and her famosus hospes (l. 26) could raise Troy again. The reference here is to a report current about Antony, that he intended to make Troy the capital. It is certain that he intended to restore to Cleopatra her kingdom with extended frontiers, and to make himself ruler of the Eastern empire. This, which would have meant the subjection of Rome to the Greeks and half-Greeks, was prevented by the 'iustum et tenacem propositi virum' (l. i), who for his services is honoured as one of the gods; ll. 11-12,

'Quos inter Augustus recumbens purpureo bibit ore nectar.'

In iii. 4 the poet's personality comes out strongest. He describes his protection by the Muses in his early years, and this leads him to speak of one of the monarch's chief works of peace, his encouragement of literature; ll. 37-40,

'Vos Caesarem altum, militia simul fessas cohortes abdidit oppidis, finire quaerentem labores Pierio recreatis antro.'

iii. 5 is a defence of Augustus' foreign policy. Publicly he kept up Caesar's war policy, hence ll. 2-5,

'Praesens divus habebitur Augustus adiectis Britannis imperio gravibusque Persis';

but that this concealed his real policy of non-intervention is shown by his action regarding Parthia. Hence Horace, by a speech put into the mouth of Regulus (l. 18 sqq.) warns the Romans against trying to rescue the survivors of Crassus' army, who, by becoming captives, had ceased to be citizens. That some of the Senate wished to interfere in this matter is probably shown by ll. 45-6,

'Donec labantis consilio patres firmaret auctor numquam alias dato.'

iii. 6 refers (ll. 1-8) to Augustus' policy in restoring the ancient religion, as is seen by the fact that he rebuilt 82 temples. Lines 21-32 refer to a law of Augustus on adultery, the date of which is unknown.

In Book iv., Odes 2, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15, are political. They show traces of adulation, and sing the praises rather of the imperial family than of the nation. Cf. iv. 2, 37 (of Augustus),

'Quo nihil maius meliusve terris fata donavere bonique divi,' etc.

The Epistles.—Sermones is the name given them by Horace; they are also called Epistulae in the MSS. Social, ethical, and literary questions are treated of, and the style is much more careful than that of the Satires. The motto, one might say, of the book is Ep. i. 1, 10.

'Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono: quid verum atque decens, curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum.'

The dates of Ep. ii. 1, 2, have already been mentioned. Both treat of literary criticism, and the first deals particularly with that of the drama. Iulius Florus, to whom Ep. ii. 2 is addressed, was the representative of the younger literary school at Rome. The Epistula ad Pisones or De Arte Poetica is an essay in verse on literary criticism, specially pointing out how necessary art is to composition. In it, according to Porphyrion, Horace 'congessit praecepta Neoptolemi tou Parianou[61] de arte poetica, non quidem omnia, sed eminentissima.' Horace probably was also indebted to Aristotle's Poetics. Porphyrion says that Horace wrote the Ars Poetica 'ad L. Pisonem qui postea urbis custos fuit eiusque liberos.' This does not fit in with the probable date, B.C. 17 or 16, as L. Piso was born B.C. 49, and his sons could not have been old enough for the letter to be addressed to them. It is probable that Porphyrion is wrong, and that the A.P. was addressed to Cn. Piso, who served with Horace under Brutus, and his two sons.

Horace and nature.—Besides references to his Sabine villa, Horace refers to natural scenery in many passages. Such are Epod. 2; Od. i. 7, 10; ii. 6, 13; iii. 13, 9; Sat. ii. 6, 1 sqq.; Ep. i. 10, 6 sqq., i. 16, 1 sqq.[62] Horace is fond of comparing dangers to the plague of floods,[63] a plague from which Italy has always suffered. Cf. Od. i. 31, 7,

'rura quae Liris quieta mordet aqua taciturnus amnis.'

So Od. iii. 29, 32 sqq., and many other passages.

Popularity of Horace.—Horace's prediction that his works would become school-books, Ep. i. 20, 17,

'Hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus,'

was early fulfilled. Cf. Iuv. 7, 226,

'Quot stabant pueri, cum totus decolor esset Flaccus et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni.'



CONTEMPORARY POETS:

The following writers were friends of Horace:

(a) C. Valgius Rufus, consul suffectus B.C. 12, belonged to the circle of Maecenas (Hor. Sat. i. 10, 82).

Valgius' works, of which only a few lines are extant, included (1) Elegiae. Cf. Hor. Od. ii. 9, 9-12,

'Tu semper urges flebilibus modis Mysten ademptum, nec tibi Vespero surgente decedunt amores nec rapidum fugiente solem.'

(2) Epigrammata, (3) Miscellanies, (4) A translation of Apollodorus' techne. (See Quint. iii. 1, 18.) (5) A book on herbs. (Pliny, N.H. xxv. 4.) An epic was also expected of him, but whether written is unknown. Tibull. iv. 1, 179,

'Est tibi, qui possit magnis se adcingere rebus, Valgius; aeterno propior non alter Homero.'

(b) M. Aristius Fuscus, a poet and grammarian (Porphyr. ad Sat. i. 9, 60); Od. i. 22, and Ep. i. 10, are addressed to him.

(c) The Visci. Comm. Cruq. ad Sat. i. 10, 83, 'Visci duo fratres fuerunt optimi poetae et iudices critici.'

(d) C. Fundanius, wrote comedies (Porphyr. ad Sat. i. 10, 40).

(e) Servius Sulpicius, a love poet (Ovid, Trist. ii. 441; Hor. Sat. i. 10, 86).

(f) Iulius Florus was 'saturarum scriptor' (Porphyr. ad Hor. Ep. i. 3, 1). Hor. Ep. i. 3 and ii. 2, are addressed to him.

(g) Titius wrote Pindaric odes, and tragedies, Hor. Ep. i. 3, 9-14.

(h) Albinovanus Celsus. See Hor. Ep. i. 3, 15-7.

(i) C. Iullus Antonius, B.C. 44-B.C. 2, was a son of the triumvir M. Antonius. The Schol. on Hor. Od. iv. 2, 2, says of him, "Heroico metro Diomedeam scripsit et nonnulla alia soluta oratione."

(k) Furnius, an orator; died B.C. 37. He is mentioned by Hor. Sat. i. 10, 86.

Other poets contemporary with Virgil and Horace are:

(a) L. Varius Rufus (cf. Verg. Ecl. 9, 35). His works were:

(1) Epics (a) on the death of Julius Caesar (Macrob. Saturn. vi. 1, 39), (b) in praise of Augustus. Hor. Ep. i. 16, 27-29 is a quotation from this poem (Acron ad loc.), and it is probably referred to in Od. i. 6, 1 (to Agrippa),

'Scriberis Vario fortis et hostium victor Maeonii carminis aliti, quam rem cumque ferox navibus aut equis miles te duce gesserit.'

(2) A tragedy, Thyestes, praised by Quint. x. 1, 98, 'iam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Graecarum comparari potest.'

(3) Elegies: Porphyr. ad Hor. Od. i. 6, 1, 'fuit L. Varius et ipse carminis et tragoediarum et elegiorum auctor.'

(b) Aemilius Macer was a native of Verona, and died B.C. 16: Jerome yr. Abr. 2001, 'Aemilius Macer Veronensis poeta in Asia moritur.' He was a friend of Virgil, and was the 'Mopsus' of Ecl. 5, according to Serv. ad loc. Ovid in his youth enjoyed his acquaintance; cf. Tr. iv. 10, 43, where three didactic poems are referred to: (1) Ornithogonia, on birds; (2) Theriaca, on venomous serpents; (3) De Herbis, on plants.

For his obligations to Nicander, see under 'Virgil,' p. 158. Quintilian calls him 'humilis' (x. 1, 87).

(c) C. Cornelius Gallus was born at Forum Iulii B.C. 70, and died by his own hand B.C. 27. Jerome yr. Abr. 1990, 'Cornelius Gallus Foroiuliensis poeta ... xliii. aetatis suae anno propria se manu interficit.' Having commanded a division in the war against Antony, he was appointed by Octavian the first prefect of Egypt, B.C. 30, but incurred his anger and was banished from Caesar's house and provinces (Sueton. Aug. 66). The cause of his downfall was indiscreet language about Augustus, according to Ovid, Tr. ii. 445,

'Non fuit opprobrio celebrasse Lycorida Gallo, sed linguam nimio non tenuisse mero';

and Am. iii. 9, 63,

'Tu quoque, si falsum est temerati crimen amici, sanguinis atque animae prodige, Galle, tuae.'

The tenth eclogue of Virgil is a testimony to his friendship for Gallus, l. 2,

'Pauca meo Gallo, sed quae legat ipsa Lycoris, carmina sunt dicenda; neget quis carmina Gallo?'

Lines 44-49 are said by Servius, ad loc., to be quoted from Gallus ('de ipsius translati carminibus'). For the tribute to Gallus in the original draft of Georgic iv. see under 'Virgil,' p. 157.

He wrote four Books of love-poems to Cytheris, the liberta who afterwards deserted him for Antony: Serv. ad Ecl. x. 1, 'amorum suorum de Cytheride scripsit libros iv.' According to Servius he also translated the poems of Euphorion of Chalcis. Cf. Verg. Ecl. x. 50,

'Ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena.'

Compared with Tibullus and Propertius, he was 'durior' (Quint. x. 1, 93).

(d) Codrus, mentioned by Virgil, Ecl. 7, 22 and 26; 5, 11, was a contemporary poet (Serv. ad Ecl. 7), and was praised by Valgius (Schol. Veron. ad loc.), but nothing is known of his writings. The name is not Roman, and is probably a disguised form of Cordus. He is sometimes identified with the Iarbitas of Hor. Ep. i. 19, 15.

(e) Bavius and Mevius were enemies of Virgil and Horace. Verg. Ecl. 3, 90,

'Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Mevi.'

Horace, Epod. 10, prays for the shipwreck of Mevius. He wrote about the prodigal son of the actor Aesopus (Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 3, 239). Bavius died B.C. 35, according to Jerome.

(f) Anser wrote a poem in praise of Antony, and was rewarded with a grant of land (Serv. ad Ecl. 9, 36; Cic. Phil. xiii. 11). He is mentioned by Ovid, Tr. ii. 435,

'Cinna quoque his comes est, Cinnaque procacior Anser.'

Servius sees an allusion to him in Ecl. 9, 36,

'Argutos inter strepere anser olores.'

(g) Domitius Marsus. His epigram on Tibullus (see p. 186) shows that he was alive in B.C. 19; he was, however, dead when Ovid was exiled in A.D. 8.

Ovid, Ex Pont. iv. 16, 3,

'Famaque post cineres maior venit; et mihi nomen tunc quoque, cum vivis adnumerarer, erat, cum foret et Marsus, magnique Rabirius oris, Iliacusque Macer sidereusque Pedo.'

He was a member of Augustus' literary circle. Mart. viii. 56, 21,

'Quid Varios Marsosque loquar, ditataque vatum nomina, magnus erit quos numerare labor?'

His works were:

1. Cicuta, a collection of epigrams, often referred to by Martial. Cf. ii. 71, 3,

'aut Marsi recitas aut scripta Catulli.'

2. Amazonis, an epic poem.[64] Mart. iv. 29, 7,

'Saepius in libro memoratur Persius uno quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.'

3. Amores or Elegiae. Mart. vii. 29, 7,

'Et Maecenati, Maro cum cantaret Alexin, nota tamen Marsi fusca Melaenis erat.'

4. Fabellae.

5. De Urbanitate (in prose). Quint. vi. 3, 102, 'Domitius Marsus, qui de urbanitate diligentissime scripsit.'

(h) Pupius, a tragedian, sneered at by Hor. Ep. i. 1, 67, 'lacrimosa poemata Pupi.'

(i) C. Melissus, a freedman of Maecenas, invented the trabeata, a variety of the togata.

Sueton. Gramm. 21, 'Fecit et novum genus togatarum inscripsitque trabeatas.'



TIBULLUS.

(1) LIFE.

Albius Tibullus (his praenomen was perhaps Aulus, which, from the abbreviation A. being followed by Albius, was lost in the MSS.) seems to have been born near Pedum in Latium. (1) Horace, in Ep. i. 4, 2, addressed to Tibullus, asks, 'Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana?' apparently referring to the 'sedes avitae' of Tibullus (Tibull. ii. 4, 53). (2) The Life contained in the best MSS., and probably to be attributed to Suetonius, calls him 'Albius Tibullus, eques Romanus' (codd. Paris. and Lips. 'regulis'). Baehrens (Tibullische Blaetter) holds that Romanus is an erroneous correction of regulis, for which he proposes to read R. (= Romanus) e Gabis (= Gabiis). Gabii was within a short distance of Pedum.

The date of his birth can be fixed only by indirect evidence.

(1) The Life says 'obiit adulescens,' and the epigram of Domitius Marsus, found in the best MSS., calls Tibullus 'iuvenis' at the time of his death, which must have occurred about the same time as Virgil's, in B.C. 19,

'Te quoque Vergilio comitem non aequa, Tibulle, mors iuvenem campos misit ad Elysios, ne foret aut elegis molles qui fleret amores aut caneret forti regia bella pede.'

(2) Ovid (Tr. iv. 10, 53) says of Tibullus,

'Successor fuit hic tibi, Galle, Propertius illi.'

Since Gallus was born B.C. 70, and Propertius about B.C. 49, the birth of Tibullus must have fallen between those years.

(3) Tibullus accompanied Messalla when he left for Aquitania, B.C. 30 or 29, according to the Life: 'Ante alios Corvinum Messallam oratorem dilexit, cuius etiam contubernalis Aquitanico bello militaribus donis donatus est.' Cf. Tibull. i. 7, 9,

'Non sine me est tibi partus honos; Tarbella Pyrene testis et Oceani litora Santonici.'

Putting together these references we may place the date of Tibullus' birth in B.C. 54. (The statement of the Life in the Codex Guelferbytanus, 'Natus est Hyrtio et Pansa coss.' is clearly wrong).

He was of equestrian rank, and at one time possessed considerable wealth, apparently inherited from a long line of ancestors; i. 1, 41,

'Non ego divitias patrum fructusque requiro quos tulit antiquo condita messis avo.'

Cf. ii. 1, 1; ii. 4, 53; Hor. Ep. i. 4, 7,

'Di tibi divitias dederunt.'

His family property, however, had been greatly diminished; i. 1, 19,

'Vos quoque, felicis quondam nunc pauperis agri custodes, fertis munera vestra, lares: tunc vitula innumeros lustrabat caesa iuvencos; nunc agna exigui est hostia parva soli.'

Cf. i. 1, 5 and 37.

It has been supposed that Tibullus suffered these losses in the agrarian disturbances of B.C. 41, and that his lands, like those of Virgil and Propertius, were confiscated. No town in Latium, however, is mentioned by Appian as having its territory thus assigned. Tibullus' property may possibly have been restored to him through the influence of Messalla.[65] Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 4, 11,

'Et mundus victus non deficiente crumena';

also Tibull. i. 1, 77,

'Ego composito securus acervo despiciam dites despiciamque famem.'

Of Messalla Tibullus always speaks with the greatest affection. He refused at first to accompany him to the East after the battle of Actium, but afterwards followed him, and was forced through illness to remain at Corcyra: i. 1, 53,

'Te bellare decet terra, Messalla, marique, ut domus hostiles praeferat exuvias: me retinent vinctum formosae vincla puellae';

i, 3, 3,

'Me tenet ignotis aegrum Phaeacia terris.'

In the Aquitanian campaign he was Messalla's contubernalis, and had military distinctions conferred on him (see p. 186).

No further particulars of Tibullus are known, save his love for his mistresses Delia and Nemesis, and the fact mentioned by Ovid, in a poem on his death, that his mother and sister survived him; Amor. iii. 9, 50,

'Mater et in cineres ultima dona tulit. Hinc soror in partem misera cum matre doloris venit inornatas dilaniata comas.'

Delia's real name was Plania (delos = planus): cf. Apuleius, Apol. 10, 'eadem igitur opera accusent ... Tibullum quod ei sit Plania in animo Delia in versu.' She was a libertina, for the name is not known as a nomen gentilicium, and she had had a husband (i. 2, 41, 'coniunx tuus'), who appears to have been serving with the army in Cilicia: i. 2, 65,

'Ferreus ille fuit, qui te cum posset habere, maluerit praedas stultus et arma sequi. Ille licet Cilicum victas agat ante catervas,' etc.

A divorce had probably taken place, as she was not entitled to wear the distinctive dress of the Roman matron; i. 6, 67,

'Sit modo casta, doce, quamvis non vitta ligatos impediat crines nec stola longa pedes.'

Nemesis was a meretrix; ii. 4, 14,

'Illa cava pretium flagitat usque manu.'

She appears to be the 'immitis Glycera' of Hor. Od. i. 33, 2, addressed to Albius (so Kiessling ad loc.). Both Delia and Nemesis are represented by Ovid as present at the funeral of Tibullus. Amor. iii. 9, 53,

'Cumque tuis sua iunxerunt Nemesisque priorque oscula nec solos destituere rogos.'

Tibullus was on friendly terms with Horace, who addressed to him Od. i. 33 and Ep. i. 4. Horace was doubtless attracted by the frank nature of Tibullus (Ep. i. 4, 1, 'Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide iudex'), and by the community of taste which led them both to imitate the classical Ionic rather than the Alexandrian elegy. Horace corroborates the statement of Life i. ('insignis forma cultuque corporis observabilis') that Tibullus had a fine presence; ibid. 1. 6,

'Non tu corpus eras sine pectore: di tibi formam, di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi.'

Ovid had met and admired him, and has numerous imitations of him in his poems; but the difference of age and the early death of Tibullus prevented any long acquaintance; Ovid, Tr. iv. 10, 51,

'Nec amara Tibullo tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae.'

Of friendship between Propertius and Tibullus there is no evidence: they never mention one another.

(2) WORKS.

Four Books of elegiac poems are attributed to Tibullus, who ranks first among Roman elegists in the view of Quintilian, x. 1, 93, 'Elegia quoque Graecos provocamus, cuius mihi tersus atque elegans maxime videtur auctor Tibullus.'

Book i., on the poet's love for Delia and Marathus (El. 7 is to Messalla), was published by himself, and was apparently composed in the years B.C. 31-27. This agrees with Ovid, Tr. ii. 463,

'Legiturque Tibullus et placet, et iam te principe notus erat,'

if we assume that 'principe' refers to the title of Augustus.

Book ii., the chief subject of which is Nemesis, appears to have been written several years later. It is unfinished, not having received the author's final revision, and was probably published soon after his death, certainly several years before Ovid's Ars Amatoria (cf. A.A. 535 sqq.).

Book iii. (six Elegies) is professedly the work of Lygdamus. No poet of that name is mentioned in ancient literature, and it has been suggested that the author may have been a young relative of Tibullus who used a Greek adaptation of the gentile name Albius (lygdos = white marble). He speaks as a man of good social position (iii. 2, 22). From the fact that he belonged to the circle of Messalla, his poems came to be added to those of Tibullus, whom he constantly imitates. There are also many reminiscences of Horace, Ovid, and Propertius. The six Elegies are addressed to Neaera, who was probably the poet's cousin and was married or betrothed to him (iii. 1, 23; 2, 12). Lygdamus was born in the same year as Ovid, B.C. 43; iii. 5, 17,

'Natalem primo nostrum videre parentes, cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.'

The remarkable coincidence between iii. 5, 15-20, and Ovid, A.A. ii. 669-70, Tr. iv. 10, 6, Amor. ii. 14, 23-4, is best explained by Hiller (Hermes, xviii. 360-1), who suggests that Lygdamus may have composed the poem in his earlier years merely to amuse Neaera, without publishing it, and that after Ovid's works had appeared he may, to oblige a friend or patron (e.g. Messalinus), have published his collection of elegies, adding in the process of revision the lines copied from Ovid.

The remaining poems belong to Book iii. in the MSS., but in most editions are printed as a separate Book iv. iv. 1, in hexameters, is the Panegyricus Messallae, written in honour of Messalla's consulship, B.C. 31. Its rhetorical exaggeration and want of taste forbid its being attributed to Tibullus, written, as it was, so shortly before he reached the summit of his powers. Its date puts Lygdamus out of question: doubtless it is by some young member of Messalla's circle.

The rest of the Book has for its theme the love of Sulpicia, the daughter of Servius Sulpicius and Valeria, the sister of Messalla, for a young Greek named Cerinthus. El. 2-6 are apparently by Tibullus himself, who may have amused himself by turning into verse the letters of the young lovers. El. 7 is of disputed authorship; but it resembles the work of Sulpicia rather than that of Tibullus. El. 8-12 are by Sulpicia to Cerinthus. El. 13 purports to be by Tibullus. El. 14 is an epigram, of doubtful authorship.

Two Priapea are found in MSS. of Tibullus, but probably neither of them is by him.



PROPERTIUS.

(1) LIFE.

The name by which the poet designates himself is Propertius simply; the praenomen Sextus rests on the authority of Donatus. The additions in some MSS., 'Aurelius' and 'Nauta,' are clearly erroneous.

He was certainly a native of the district of Umbria, and probably of the town of Asisium (the modern Assisi). Cf. iv. 1, 121,

'Umbria te notis antiqua penatibus edit, (mentior? an patriae tangitur ora tuae?) qua nebulosa cavo rorat Mevania campo, et lacus aestivis intepet Umber aquis, scandentisque Asisi consurgit vertice murus, murus ab ingenio notior ille tuo.'

'Asisi' in l. 125 is Lachmann's emendation for 'Asis' of the MSS., and is rendered almost certain by the topography of the district. Asisium agrees better than Hispellum (the modern Spello) with the description in the passage quoted; with iv. 1, 65,

'Scandentes quisquis cernet de vallibus arces, ingenio muros aestimet ille meo';

and with the epithet 'proxima' in i. 22, 9, as Asisium is nearer than Hispellum to Perusia. Cf. i. 22, 3-10,

'Si Perusina tibi patriae sunt nota sepulcra, Italiae duris funera temporibus, ... proxima supposito contingens Umbria campo me genuit terris fertilis uberibus.'

At Assisi, moreover, have been found several inscriptions of the Propertii, one of which, C. PASSENNO C. F. SERG. , PAULLO PROPERTIO BLAESO,[66] probably refers to the Passennus Paullus mentioned by Pliny, Ep. vi. 15, as 'municeps Propertii.'

Propertius was younger than Tibullus, and older than Ovid. His birth, therefore, took place between B.C. 54 and 43 (Hertzberg gives 46, Postgate prefers 50). Cf. Ovid, Tr. iv. 10, 53,

'Successor fuit hic [Tibullus] tibi, Galle; Propertius illi; quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui.'

He came of a family well known in the neighbourhood (cf. iv. 1, 121, 'notis penatibus,' already quoted), but not 'noble' in the technical sense; ii. 34, 55,

'Aspice me, cui parva domi fortuna relictast, nullus et antiquo Marte triumphus avi.'

His childhood was clouded by the early death of his father, and by the confiscation of his estate in B.C. 41; iv. 1, 127,

'Ossaque legisti non illa aetate legenda patris; et in tenues cogeris ipse lares, nam tua cum multi versarent rura iuvenci, abstulit excultas pertica tristis opes.'

His mother then took him to Rome, where he studied law for a short time after assuming the toga virilis, but abandoned it in favour of poetry; iv. 1, 131,

'Mox ubi bulla rudi demissast aurea collo, matris et ante deos libera sumpta toga, tum tibi pauca suo de carmine dictat Apollo et vetat insano verba tonare foro.'

Meanwhile he was engaged in his first love affair with Lycinna, who is otherwise unknown (iii. 15, 3 sqq.). In B.C. 29 or 28 his acquaintance with Cynthia began. Her real name was Hostia (Apuleius, Apol. 10, 'Accusent ... Propertium, qui Cynthiam dicat, Hostiam dissimulet'), and she was possibly a grand-daughter of the poet Hostius (p. 65). Cf. iii. 20, 8,

'Splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo.'

A courtesan of the higher class, she is represented by Propertius as possessed of great personal charms and varied accomplishments (i. 2, 30, 'Omnia quaeque Venus quaeque Minerva probat'), combined with many faults of temper and character. She had a house at Rome in the Subura, and we hear of her also at Tibur, where she was buried (iv. 7, 15; 85). She was considerably older than Propertius; ii. 18, 19,

'At tu etiam iuvenem odisti me, perfida, cum sis ipsa anus haud longa curva futura die.'

At the end of two years the unfaithfulness of Propertius led to twelve months of estrangement; iii. 16, 9,

'Peccaram semel, et totum sum pulsus in annum.'

Cynthia was reconciled to him about the beginning of B.C. 25; but the passion on both sides gradually cooled until, in 23, Propertius harshly cast her off (iii. 24 and 25). Possibly there was a second reconciliation before her death (iv. 7). The five years of bondage (iii. 25, 3, 'Quinque tibi potui servire fideliter annos,') will thus be B.C. 28, 27, 25-23.

Propertius lived chiefly at Rome; but i. 18 was written near the Clitumnus, and in ii. 19 he promises to join Cynthia in that region. In iii. 21 he contemplates a voyage to Athens; l. 1,

'Magnum iter ad doctas proficisci cogor Athenas, ut me longa gravi solvat amore via.'

A few years earlier he had refused to accompany his friend Tullus to Athens and Asia (i. 6).

Nothing is known of the subsequent life of Propertius, but from two passages in the younger Pliny it is natural to infer that he married, in obedience to the Lex Iulia of B.C. 18, and had issue. Pliny, Ep. vi. 15, 'Passennus Paullus ... inter maiores suos Propertium numerat'; ix. 22, 'Propertium ... a quo genus ducit.'

We cannot tell even when he died. He must have been alive in B.C. 16, because iv. 6 was written for the ludi quinquennales, which were held for the first time in that year; and iv. 11. 65, is an allusion to the consulship of P. Cornelius Scipio, also in B.C. 16.

In personal appearance Propertius was pale and thin, and rather fond of dress; i. 5, 21,

'Nec iam pallorem totiens mirabere nostrum, aut cur sim toto corpore nullus ego';

ii. 4, 5,

'Nequiquam perfusa meis unguenta capillis, ibat et expenso planta morata gradu.'

He had been introduced to Maecenas after the publication of his first Book, but naturally was not on such intimate terms with him as older men like Virgil and Horace were. ii. 1 and iii. 9 are addressed to Maecenas. In the first of these poems Propertius declares that he is unequal to the composition of an epic, which his patron had urged upon him, but adds (l. 17)

'Quod mihi si tantum, Maecenas, fata dedissent ut possem heroas ducere in arma manus, ... bellaque resque tui memorarem Caesaris, et tu Caesare sub magno cura secunda fores.'

For poems referring to Augustus cf. ii. 10, iv. 6 (on Actium), iii. 18 (on the death of Marcellus).

Horace and Propertius do not mention each other by name. Chronology forbids the identification of the bore in Hor. Sat. i. 9 with Propertius, who, on the same ground, cannot be meant in Sat. i. 10, 18,

'Neque simius iste, nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.'

But Hor. Ep. ii. 2, 87-101, is undoubtedly aimed at Propertius. Cf. especially l. 99,

'Discedo Alcaeus puncto illius; ille meo quis? quis nisi Callimachus? Si plus adposcere visus, fit Mimnermus et optivo cognomine crescit.'

Though both poets belonged to the same literary circle, they differed widely in temperament as well as in age. With Tibullus, who was a member of Messalla's circle, Propertius may have had no personal acquaintance; at all events, neither alludes to the other.

For Virgil Propertius expresses warm admiration in ii. 34, written during the composition of the Aeneid. Ovid, who calls him 'blandus' (Tr. ii. 465) and 'tener' (A.A. iii. 333), was an intimate friend of his; cf. Tr. iv. 10, 45 (quoted p. 206). The minor poets to whom he writes are Ponticus (i. 7 and 9), Bassus (i. 4), and a tragic poet, Lynceus (a pseudonym, ii. 34, 25).

(2) WORKS.

The extant Elegies, divided in the MSS. into four Books, are probably all that Propertius ever wrote. On account of the disproportionate length of Book ii., and the number 'tres' (which, however, may be said in anticipation) in ii. 13, 25,

'Sat mea sat magna est si tres sint pompa libelli, quos ego Persephonae maxima dona feram,'

some editors make Book ii. consist only of El. 1-9, and assign the remainder (10-34) to a new Book iii. Books iii. and iv. of the MSS. then become iv. and v. respectively. In the most recent editions, however, the MSS. arrangement is retained, and it is here followed.

Book i.—All the Elegies in Book i., except the last two, are amatory. El. 2-10 belong to the first months of the poet's love, when Cynthia was gracious, though capricious. She had refused to accompany a rival of his, who was going to Illyricum as praetor (El. 8); but afterwards she left Rome for Baiae, and the rest of the Book is full of complaints of her harshness. El. 1, written after the year of separation, introduces the whole Book in a melancholy strain.

The clearest indication of date in Book i. is 8, 21, 'Nam me non ullae poterunt corrumpere taedae,' where Propertius protests that he will never marry, in spite of the Lex Iulia of B.C. 27. (He could not legally marry a woman of Cynthia's class.) The Book was published probably in B.C. 25, under the title of 'Cynthia.' Cf. ii. 24, 1,

'Cum sis iam noto fabula libro et tua sit toto Cynthia lecta foro.'

Her name was a recommendation for the Book, and it was probably her satisfaction at the fame which it brought her that caused her to relent towards Propertius. Cf. Mart. xiv. 189,

'Cynthia, facundi carmen iuvenile Properti, accepit famam, nec minus ipsa dedit.'

At all events, a few months afterwards we find the old relations re-established; ii. 3, 3,

'Vix unum potes, infelix, requiescere mensem, et turpis de te iam liber alter erit.'

Book ii.—Cynthia is the theme of nearly all the thirty-four poems of Book ii., which give lively expression to her lover's varying moods. Only three Elegies (1, 10, and 31) are given to other subjects.

Of the few poems to which dates can be assigned, the earliest is El. 31 (on the dedication of the temple of the Palatine Apollo, B.C. 28), and the latest is El. 10, to Augustus (written shortly before the invasion of Arabia by Aelius Gallus in B.C. 24. Cf. l. 16, 'et domus intactae te tremit Arabiae'). The Book was therefore published B.C. 24 at the earliest.

Book iii.—In this Book the poems on Cynthia form a far smaller proportion; 7, 12, and 22 show the warmth of the poet's friendship; events of national interest are treated in 4, 11, and 18. In 5, 23-47, Propertius looks forward to spending his later years in the study of natural science ('naturae perdiscere mores,' l. 25).

There are few hints of the date of any of the poems in iii. El. 20 is apparently as early as B.C. 28; 18 certainly belongs to B.C. 23; 4 perhaps refers to the expedition against the Parthians planned in B.C. 22. The last-mentioned year is the earliest possible date of publication.

Book iv., in which there is no principle of arrangement, probably appeared after the author's death. His archaeological tastes come out in four Elegies written, in imitation of the Aitia of Callimachus, on Roman antiquities—El. 2 on Vertumnus, 4 on Tarpeia, 9 on Cacus, 10 on Jupiter Feretrius. In this way Propertius fulfilled his promise to Maecenas, iii. 9, 49,

'Celsaque Romanis decerpta Palatia tauris ordiar et caeso moenia firma Remo, eductosque pares silvestri ex ubere reges, crescet et ingenium sub tua iussa meum.'

El. 7 and 8 relate to Cynthia; in 7 her ghost appears to the poet. El. 3, a letter from Arethusa to Lycotas, possibly suggested to Ovid the plan of his Heroides, just as the antiquarian poems already mentioned may have suggested the Fasti. The Book ends with a lament for Cornelia, daughter of Scribonia, Augustus' first wife (El. 11).

The date of 6 and 11 is certainly not earlier than B.C. 16, while 8 seems to have been written before the rupture with Cynthia. The antiquarian poems are considered by some to have been among Propertius' earliest efforts.

Propertius was familiar with the whole range of Greek poetry—Homer (iii. 1, 25-34), Mimnermus (i. 9, 11), Pindar (iii. 17, 40), the dramatists, Theocritus, and Apollonius Rhodius. As his models he names especially the Alexandrians Callimachus and Philetas, whom he claims to follow more closely than any of his predecessors; iii. 1, 1,

'Callimachi Manes et Coi sacra Philetae, in vestrum, quaeso, me sinite ire nemus. Primus ego ingredior puro de fonte sacerdos Itala per Graios orgia ferre choros.'

Cf. iv. 1, 64,

'Umbria Romani patria Callimachi.'

In wealth of mythological illustration Propertius is peculiarly Alexandrian. He is continually drawing parallels and contrasts from Greek legend; e.g. i. 15, Cynthia how unlike Calypso! iii. 12, Aelia Galla a modern Penelope. Of Roman poets, he names as his predecessors in amatory verse Virgil, Varro Atacinus, Catullus, Calvus, and Cornelius Gallus (ii 34, 61-92). Once he dreams of writing an epic on the Alban kings in the vein of Ennius; iii. 3, 5,

'Parvaque tam magnis admoram fontibus ora, unde pater sitiens Ennius ante bibit.'

In Propertius love of social pleasures appears side by side with a strain of deep melancholy e.g. in. 5, 21,

Me iuvat et multo mentem vincire Lyaeo et caput in verna semper habere rosa,

contrasted with the numerous passages where he is thinking of the grave, e.g. ii. 1, 71,

'Quandocumque igitur vitam mea fata reposcent, et breve in exiguo marmore nomen ero.'

There is no greater patriot than Propertius. Cf. the denunciation of Cleopatra (iii. 11) and the frequency of the epithet 'Romanus.'



OVID.

(1) LIFE.

Ovid's own writings (especially Tr. iv. 10) supply nearly all the information we possess regarding his life. The biographies in the MSS. are valueless.

P. Ovidius Naso was his full name, in which the MSS. agree. He speaks of himself as Naso simply, and Statius and Martial refer to him by that name; Tacitus and the two Senecas use the nomen Ovidius.

He was born in Sulmo, one of the three divisions of the Paelignian country, B.C. 43—the year in which Hirtius and Pansa fell at Mutina. Tr. iv. 10, 3,

'Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis, milia qui novies distat ab urbe decem. Editus hic ego sum; nec non ut tempora noris, cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.'

His birthday was 20th March—the second day of the festival of the Quinquatria (cf. Fast. iii. 809-814), l. 13,

'Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae, quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.'

He belonged to an equestrian family, and he frequently contrasts himself with those who had reached that dignity by military service or by possessing the requisite fortune; ibid. l. 7,

'Si quid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis heres, non sum fortunae munere factus eques.'

Cf. Am. i. 3, 7; iii. 8, 9; iii. 15, 5; Pont. iv. 8, 17.

Along with his elder brother, he received a careful education at Rome, and studied also at Athens. He practised rhetoric under Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro. Tr. iv. 10, 15,

'Protinus excolimur teneri, curaque parentis imus ad insignes urbis ab arte viros.'

Tr. i. 2, 77,

'Non peto quas quondam petii studiosus Athenas.'

Sen. Contr. ii. 10, 8, 'Hanc controversiam memini ab Ovidio Nasone declamari apud rhetorem Arellium Fuscum, cuius auditor fuit, nam Latronis admirator erat, cum diversum sequeretur dicendi genus.' Seneca says that Met. xiii. 121, and Am. i. 2, 11, were borrowed from Latro.

But, in spite of his father's remonstrances, Ovid preferred poetry to public life. Tr. iv. 10, 19,

'At mihi iam parvo caelestia sacra placebant, inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus. Saepe pater dixit, "studium quid inutile temptas? Maeonides nullas ipse reliquit opes." Motus eram dictis totoque Helicone relicto scribere conabar verba soluta modis: sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos; quicquid temptabam dicere, versus erat.'

In due time he assumed the toga virilis, and with it the broad purple stripe worn by prospective senators. He also held two of the minor offices of the vigintiviratus, the preliminary to a senatorial career, being (1) triumvir capitalis or else triumvir monetalis, (2) decemvir stlitibus iudicandis. Tr. iv. 10, 28,

'Liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga est, induiturque umeris cum lato purpura clavo';

l. 33,

'Cepimus et tenerae primos aetatis honores, deque viris quondam pars tribus una fui.'

Fast. iv. 384,

'Inter bis quinos usus honore viros.'

In virtue of this second office he sat in the centumviral court;[67] and he also acted as an arbitrator. Tr. ii. 93,

'Nec male commissa est nobis fortuna reorum lisque decem deciens inspicienda viris. Res quoque privatas statui sine crimine iudex.'

He sought no higher office, having neither strength nor inclination for the Senate; he assumed the narrow stripe of the eques, and devoted himself to poetry and pleasure. Tr. iv. 10, 35,

'Curia restabat: clavi mensura coacta est: maius erat nostris viribus illud onus. Nec patiens corpus, nec mens fuit apta labori, sollicitaeque fugax ambitionis eram. Et petere Aoniae suadebant tuta sorores otia, iudicio semper amata meo.'

He made a tour in Asia (including Troy) and Sicily in the company of the poet Pompeius Macer: the date of this journey is unknown, but he was almost a year in Sicily. Pont. ii. 10, 21-29 (to Macer),

'Te duce magnificas Asiae perspeximus urbes, Trinacris est oculis te duce nota meis, ... Hic mihi labentis pars anni magna peracta est.'

Fast. vi. 423,

'Cura videre fuit: vidi templumque locumque,'

(of the temple of Pallas at Troy).

Towards the end of A.D. 8, Ovid was banished by imperial edict to Tomi, on the Black Sea, near the mouth of the Danube, the cause alleged being the publication of the Ars Amatoria. Ovid mentions this edict, but also hints at another reason, connected with the imperial family. Tr. ii. 207,

'Perdiderint cum me duo crimina, carmen et error, alterius facti culpa silenda mihi; nam non sum tanti renovem ut tua vulnera, Caesar, quem nimio plus est indoluisse semel. Altera pars superest, qua turpi carmine factus arguor obscaeni doctor adulterii.'

He was guilty of no crime of his own, but was banished for witnessing the crime of another. Cf. Tr. iii. 5, 49,

'Inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, plector, peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum.'

It is probable that the real reason[68] of Ovid's banishment was that he was privy to a guilty intrigue between D. Silanus and Julia, the grand-daughter of Augustus. Julia was banished in A.D. 9, and Tacitus (Ann. iii. 24) tells us of the intrigue, for which Silanus (like Ovid) suffered relegatio. His knowledge of the offence was betrayed by friends and domestics. Cf. Tr. iv. 10, 101,

'Quid referam comitumque nefas famulosque nocentes?'

The date of his banishment is given Tr. iv. 10, 95,

'Postque meos ortus Pisaea vinctus oliva abstulerat decies praemia victor equus, cum maris Euxini positos ad laeva Tomitas quaerere me laesi principis ira iubet.'

[Here an Olympiad is reckoned as five years.] His punishment was relegatio, involving banishment to a fixed spot, but not confiscation of property; Tr. ii. 135,

'Adde quod edictum, quamvis immite minaxque, attamen in poenae nomine lene fuit; quippe relegatus, non exul, dicor in illo, privaque fortunae sunt ibi verba meae.'

In Tomi he spent the remaining years of his life, far from friends and books; Tr. v. 12, 53,

'Non liber hic ullus, non qui mihi commodet aurem, verbaque significent quid mea norit, adest';

suffering from illness (Tr. iii. 3) and the climate, and fighting against the barbarians; Tr. iv. 1, 71,

'Aspera militiae iuvenis certamina fugi, nec nisi lusura movimus arma manu: nunc senior gladioque latus scutoque sinistram, canitiem galeae subicioque meam.'

On the other hand he learned the language of the people, and actually wrote poems in it; Tr. v. 12, 57,

'Ipse mihi videor iam dedidicisse Latine: nam didici Getice Sarmaticeque loqui.'

Pont. iv. 13, 19,

'A! pudet, et Getico scripsi sermone libellum, structaque sunt nostris barbara verba modis, et placui—gratare mihi—coepique poetae inter inhumanos nomen habere Getas! materiam quaeris? laudes de Caesare dixi.'

For his popularity with the natives cf. Pont. iv. 14, 53,

'Solus adhuc ego sum vestris immunis in oris, exceptis si qui munera legis habent. Tempora sacrata mea sunt velata corona, publicus invito quam favor imposuit';

also Pont. iv. 9, 101.

Ovid's death took place in A.D. 18: Jerome yr. Abr. 2033, 'Ovidius poeta in exilio diem obiit et iuxta oppidum Tomos sepelitur.' He was thrice married; Tr. iv. 10, 69,

'Paene mihi puero nec digna nec utilis uxor est data, quae tempus per breve nupta fuit; illi successit quamvis sine crimine coniunx, non tamen in nostro firma futura toro; ultima, quae mecum seros permansit in annos, sustinuit coniunx exulis esse viri.'

His third wife belonged to the gens Fabia. Cf. Pont. i. 2, 138 (to Fabius Maximus),

'Ille ego, de vestra cui data nupta domo est.'

The filia mentioned Tr. iv. 10, 75, may have been either a daughter or step-daughter of Ovid's. Some think that she is the Perilla of Tr. iii. 7.

Ovid's social position was of the highest, as may be inferred from his relations with the palace. He was intimate with Messalla, the patron of Tibullus, and wrote an elegy on him (now lost). Cf. Pont. i. 7, 27 (to Messalinus),

'Nec tuus est genitor nos infitiatus amicos, hortator studii causaque faxque mei: cui nos et lacrimas, supremum in funere munus, et dedimus medio scripta canenda foro.'

Among the friends to whom the Epp. ex Ponto are written may be mentioned Albinovanus, Carus, Rufus, Severus, Fabius Maximus Cotta, Tuticanus, the younger Macer, all poets; and other literary men of distinction, e.g. Graecinus, Atticus, Brutus, Sex. Pompeius, Gallio. For his intimacy with the learned Hyginus cf. Sueton. Gramm. 20, 'fuit familiarissimus Ovidio poetae.'

He was old enough to have seen Virgil, and hear Aemilius Macer and Horace recite; with Propertius, Tibullus, Ponticus, and Bassus he was on terms of close intimacy (Am. iii. 9 is a lament for Tibullus), Tr. iv. 10, 41-52,

'Temporis illius colui fovique poetas, quotque aderant vates, rebar adesse deos. Saepe suas volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer. Saepe suos solitus recitare Propertius ignes, iure sodalicii qui mihi iunctus erat. Ponticus heroo, Bassus quoque clarus iambis dulcia convictus membra fuere mei. Detinuit nostras numerosus Horatius aures, dum ferit Ausonia carmina culta lyra. Vergilium vidi tantum; nec amara Tibullo tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae.'

Besides the rura paterna at Sulmo, Ovid possessed an estate on the via Clodia, near Rome; Pont. i. 8, 41,

'Non meus amissos animus desiderat agros ruraque Paeligno conspicienda solo, nec quos piniferis positos in collibus hortos spectat Flaminiae Clodia iuncta viae.'

He cannot have been poor, in spite of his complaints, e.g. Pont. iv. 8, 32,

'Carpsit opes illa ruina meas.'

(2) WORKS.

1. Amores, at first in five Books, but in a second edition reduced to three; cf. the motto prefixed to the Book,

'Qui modo Nasonis fueramus quinque libelli, Tres sumus.'

The poems are nearly all on Corinna, a name which probably does not stand for any real person, but merely for an abstraction around which Ovid groups his own fancies. To suppose, as Sidonius Apollinaris did (23, 157)[69] that Augustus' daughter Julia was meant, is absurd, for Corinna is a meretrix. The identity of Corinna was unknown; Am. ii. 17, 28,

'Et multae per me nomen habere volunt. Novi aliquam, quae se circumferat esse Corinnam';

and twenty years afterwards Ovid could write (A.A. iii. 538),

'Et multi, quae sit nostra Corinna, rogant.'

The Amores, in their original form, constituted Ovid's earliest work, written in his youth. The extant poems are not all that he wrote on Corinna; Tr. iv. 10, 57,

'Carmina cum primum populo iuvenilia legi, barba resecta mihi bisve semelve fuit. Moverat ingenium totam cantata per urbem nomine non vero dicta Corinna mihi. Multa quidem scripsi; sed quae vitiosa putavi, emendaturis ignibus ipse dedi.'

The lament for Tibullus (iii. 9) must have been written in Ovid's twenty-fourth year.

2. Heroides.—Some of these at least were written before the second edition of the Amores, for in Am. ii. 18, 21-6 nine of them are mentioned by name. The title Heroides is due to the grammarian Priscian; in the MSS. they are called Epistulae, and so Ovid himself refers to them, A.A. iii. 345,

'Vel tibi composita cantetur epistula voce: ignotum hoc aliis ille novavit opus.'

Of the twenty letters in our collection 1-14 are letters from heroines to their lovers; 15-20 are in pairs, e.g. Paris to Helen and Helen to Paris. The authenticity of these last six is doubted, partly because the title Heroides cannot apply to half of them, and also because of their inferiority in style. In the use of the epistolary form in love poetry Ovid had no predecessor, and he himself calls attention to the novelty (A.A. above). The style shows the influence of Ovid's rhetorical training: the Epistles are suasoriae in verse, and of suasoriae we know that he was particularly fond (Sen. Contr. ii. 10, 12, 'Declamabat Naso raro controversias et non nisi ethicas: libentius dicebat suasorias. Molesta illi erat omnis argumentatio.'). His matter he would naturally draw from Homer, the Cypria, Apollonius Rhodius, and the Greek tragedians.

3. Between the two editions of the Amores he wrote the lost tragedy Medea. It was later than Am. iii. 1, where he pictures the Muses of Elegy and Tragedy as contending for his homage, and he finally decides (ll. 67-8),

'Exiguum vati concede, Tragoedia, tempus: tu labor aeternus; quod petit illa breve est.'

On the other hand, it was earlier than Am. ii. 18, 13,

'Sceptra tamen sumpsi, curaque tragoedia nostra crevit, et huic operi quamlibet aptus eram.'

The drama enjoyed a high reputation in antiquity. Cf. Quint. x. 1, 98, 'Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere, quantum ille vir praestare potuerit, si ingenio suo imperare quam indulgere maluisset.'

4. Medicamina Faciei Femineae, an incomplete poem of 100 lines, giving directions for the toilet. Cf. A.A. iii. 205,

'Est mihi, quo dixi vestrae medicamina formae, parvus, sed cura grande, libellus, opus.'

5. Ars Amatoria, a didactic poem in three Books, on the art of love-intrigue. The title given by the MSS. is doubtless correct: Ovid himself speaks of 'ars amandi,' or simply 'ars' or 'artes.' It was written about B.C. 2, from the allusion, i. 171, to the 'naumachia' in that year,

'Quid, modo cum belli navalis imagine Caesar Persidas induxit Cecropiasque rates?'

The Ars must have been in view when he wrote Am. ii. 18, 19,

'Quod licet, aut artes teneri profitemur amoris— ei mihi, praeceptis urgeor ipse meis!'

6. Remedia Amoris, written next, while professing to be a recantation of the last-named work, exhibits, if possible, a more immoral tone. Cf. l. 487,

'Quaeris, ubi invenias? artes, i, perlege nostras.'

7. Ovid now produced a work of greater compass, the Metamorphoses, in fifteen Books of heroic verse. When it was composed is not known, but he had the idea of it in his mind when he wrote Am. iii. 12, 21-40. At the time of his banishment the poem had been written, but not revised. He committed his MS. to the flames, but copies were in the hands of friends; Tr. i. 7, 13-16,

'Carmina mutatas hominum dicentia formas, infelix domini quod fuga rupit opus. Haec ego discedens, sicut bene multa meorum, ipse mea posui maestus in igne manu.

Quae quoniam non sunt penitus sublata, sed extant, (l. 23) pluribus exemplis scripta fuisse reor.

Ablatum mediis opus est incudibus illud, (l. 29) defuit et scriptis ultima lima meis.'

The poem consists of a collection of stories of the transformation of human beings into animals. Cf. i. 1,

'In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora.'

The idea, title, and much of the subject-matter was borrowed from the Alexandrians, e.g. the Metamorphoseis of Parthenius, the Heteroioumena of Nicander.

8. In the Fasti, in six Books, Ovid furnishes a poetical calendar of the Roman year. Each month has a Book allotted to it, and he speaks of having written twelve Books; Tr. ii. 549,

'Sex ego Fastorum scripsi totidemque libellos, cumque suo finem mense volumen habet. Idque tuo nuper scriptum sub nomine, Caesar, et tibi sacratum sors mea rupit opus.'

Probably the second six Books were never completed; but there are references to portions of them, e.g. iii. 57,

'Vester honos veniet, cum Larentalia dicam; acceptus Geniis illa December habet.'

The Fasti had been written side by side with the Metam. and interrupted at the sixth Book by Ovid's banishment. During his exile he added some passages, but found that his Muse was fit only for melancholy themes; iv. 81,

'Sulmonis gelidi—patriae, Germanice, nostrae— me miserum, Scythico quam procul illa solo est!'

i. 540,

'Felix, exilium cui locus ille fuit!'

The design is stated at the outset, i. 1-8,

'Tempora cum causis Latium digesta per annum lapsaque sub terras ortaque signa canam ... Sacra recognosces annalibus eruta priscis, et quo sit merito quaeque notata dies.'

The work is thus a medley of religion, history, and astrology, and in its explanations of customs may be compared to the Aitia of Callimachus. For information about religious rites, and for derivations of names (e.g. Agnalia, i. 317-332), he would have recourse to Varro; for history, to Livy (cf. ii. 193-242, the story of the Fabii, from Livy, ii. 49, and vi. 587, etc., the story of Tullia, from Livy, i. 48); for astronomy, to Clodius Tuscus.

It was begun some time after Augustus regulated the Julian calendar in B.C. 8, and was originally addressed to Augustus, as Ovid himself says (Tr. ii. 552 above); 'Caesar' is addressed ii. 15, vi. 763, and elsewhere. After the death of Augustus, Ovid began to remodel it and dedicate it to Germanicus. Cf. i. 3,

'Excipe pacato, Caesar Germanice, voltu hoc opus et timidae dirige navis iter.'

But the task was stopped by his death; and while Book i. has the remodelled form, Books ii.-vi. remain as first written.

Poems written in exile.—9. Tristia, five Books of letters to Augustus, to Ovid's wife and friends (who, however, are not named), praying for pardon or for a place of exile nearer Rome. Book i. was written on the journey to Tomi, the other books not after A.D. 11 or 12, Cf. v. 10, 1,

'Ut sumus in Ponto, ter frigore constitit Hister.'

10. The Ibis was written at the beginning of his exile. Cf. l. 1,

'Tempus ad hoc, lustris bis iam mihi quinque peractis.'

The title was taken from the poem in which Callimachus attacked Apollonius Rhodius under the name of Ibis. Cf. l. 55,

'Nunc, quo Battiades inimicum devovet Ibin, hoc ego devoveo teque tuosque modo.'

Ovid studiously conceals the identity of the enemy whom he attacks; l. 61,

'Et quoniam, qui sis, nondum quaerentibus edo, Ibidis interea tu quoque nomen habe.'

He had once been a friend of the poet, but had proved false to him, doubtless in connexion with the circumstances which caused his banishment; cf. l. 85, 'capiti male fido,' l. 130, 'perfide.' He persecuted Ovid's wife, and tried to get possession of his property.

The conjectures that the unknown was Messalla Corvinus or the poet Manilius may be dismissed at once. Many hold that Hyginus is meant; Prof. Ellis suggests the delator Cassius Severus (Tac. Ann. iv. 21), or T. Labienus (Sen. Contr. x. praef. 4), or the astrologer Thrasyllus (Tac. Ann. vi. 20). To the same person probably are addressed Tr. iii. 11, iv. 9, v. 8; Pont. iv. 3.

11. The Epistulae ex Ponto, in four Books, were written A.D. 12-16. In tone they resemble the Tristia, but the composition is more careless, and the friends to whom he writes are mentioned by name.

12. Halieuticon, a poem on fish, in hexameters, in a fragmentary condition. Ovid wrote this towards the end of his life.

Pliny, N.H. xxxii. 152, 'His adiciemus ab Ovidio posita nomina quae apud neminem alium reperiuntur, sed fortassis in Ponto nascentium, ubi id volumen supremis suis temporibus incohavit.'



MANILIUS.

Manilius is not mentioned by any other writer, and his own poem gives no particulars of his life. There is uncertainty even as to the true form of his name, the MSS. giving variously M. Mallius, Manlius, or Manilius, with the addition in one case of EQOM (probably = equitis Romani). In some MSS. the poem is wrongly attributed to Aratus or Boetius, both of whom wrote on the same subject as Manilius.

Bentley conjectured that Manilius was an Asiatic Greek, but the poet speaks of Latin as 'nostra lingua' (ii. 889), while Greek is 'externa lingua' (iii. 40), and he uses no Greek constructions.

His poem, the Astronomica, in its present form, consists of five Books of hexameter verse: probably a sixth Book has been lost. It may have been wholly composed in the reign of Tiberius, or begun under Augustus. Book v. was written under Tiberius, if the burning of Pompey's theatre in A.D. 22 is alluded to in ll. 513-515. The earlier Books contain nothing which might not have been written after the death of Augustus—the allusions to the disaster of Varus in A.D. 9 (i. 899), and to the sojourn of Tiberius at Rhodes (iv. 764). Either Augustus or Tiberius may be the 'Caesar' of i. 7 and i. 386. On the other hand, if Ovid is referring to Manilius (as Prof. Ellis suggests) in Tr. ii. 485,

'Ecce canit formas alius iactusque pilarum, hic artem nandi praecipit, ille trochi,'

it would follow that the whole poem had been published before the death of Augustus, for the descriptions of ball-play and swimming occur in v. 165-171 and 420-431.

Astronomy is treated only in Book i.; the rest of the poem is devoted to astrology. This is in accordance with the author's statement of his theme (i. 1-3), which he was the first Roman to treat in verse (i. 4, 113, ii. 57). As his object is to convey instruction rather than to give pleasure (iii. 36-39), he does not scruple to use Greek technical terms (ii. 693, 829, 897, iii. 40). The subject does not lend itself readily to verse (i. 20, iii. 31), and the poem is intolerably dry, except the introductions to each Book, which reveal considerable poetical power. The chief peculiarities of Manilius' language are his strange use of prepositions and his fondness for alliteration; imitations of Virgil are found throughout.

Manilius is a fatalist (iv. 14 and 22): still fate does not abolish the moral quality of actions (iv. 108-118). The universe is directed by a 'vis animae divina' or 'divinum numen' (i. 250, 491).



LIVY.

There is no ancient biography of Livy, and very little light is thrown on his life by his own writings or by allusions in other authors.

Titus Livius was born at Patavium (the modern Padua) B.C. 59: Jerome yr. Abr. 1958, 'T. Livius Patavinus scriptor historicus nascitur.' (The Armenian version gives Ol. 180, 4 = B.C. 57.) Near Patavium there was a famous sulphur spring known as Aponus or Aponi fons, whence Martial calls the district Apona tellus (i. 61, 3, 'Censetur Apona Livio suo tellus'). There is no reason to suppose from this that Livy's birthplace was not Patavium itself, but a village Aponus, which is nowhere mentioned. Statius (Silv. iv. 7, 55) calls him 'Timavi alumnus.' For Livy's acquaintance with Patavium cf. x. 2, 14 and 15.

From his tone we may infer that he came of a good family, and he must have possessed a fair income. The charge against his style of Patavinitas implies that he spent a considerable part of his life in his native town, but he probably settled at Rome about B.C. 30. That he took no part in public life is clear from his own words: i. praef. 5, 'Hoc laboris praemium petam, ut me a conspectu malorum, quae nostra tot per annos vidit aetas, tantisper certe, dum prisca illa tota mente repeto, avertam, omnis expers curae, quae scribentis animum etsi non flectere a vero, sollicitum tamen efficere posset.'

He enjoyed the intimacy of Augustus, whom he himself mentions, iv. 20, 7, 'hoc ego cum Augustum Caesarem ... se ipsum ... legisse audissem.' Tac. Ann. iv. 34, 'T. Livius, eloquentiae ac fidei praeclarus in primis, Cn. Pompeium tantis laudibus tulit, ut Pompeianum eum Augustus appellaret; neque id amicitiae eorum offecit.' It was at Livy's suggestion that the future emperor, Claudius, started to compose a history: Sueton. Claud. 41, 'historiam in adulescentia, hortante T. Livio, Sulpicio vero Flavo etiam adiuvante, scribere adgressus est.' On the other hand, Caligula would have liked to remove Livy's writings and his bust from all the libraries, calling him 'verbosum in historia neglegentemque' (Sueton. Calig. 34).

Nothing more is known of his life, except that he visited Campania, xxxviii. 56, 3, 'Nam et Literni monumentum monumentoque statua superimposita fuit, quam tempestate disiectam nuper vidimus ipsi.'

He died at his native town, A.D. 17: Jerome yr. Abr. 2033, 'Livius historicus Patavii moritur.'

He had at least one son (Quint. x. 1, 39, 'apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta'), and one daughter (Sen. Contr. x. praef. 2, 'L. Magius gener T. Livi').

Livy wrote philosophical works, probably popular treatises like Cicero's, some of them in the form of dialogues.

Sen. Ep. 100, 9, 'Nomina adhuc T. Livium. Scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentis libros.'

A book on rhetoric was known to Quintilian and Seneca the elder, apparently in the form of a letter addressed to the author's son (Quint. x. 1, 39, above).

Quint. ii. 5, 20, 'quemadmodum Livius praecipit' (on models of style); Sen. Contr. ix. 2, 26, 'Livius de oratoribus ... aiebat' (on obscurity of expression); Sen. Contr. ix. 1, 14, 'T. Livius tam iniquus Sallustio fuit ut hanc ipsam sententiam ... obiceret Sallustio.'

These minor works have perished, and of his great history only a portion survives.

Its title, according to the oldest MSS., the summaries of the lost Books, and the grammarians, was Ab urbe condita libri; and this is corroborated by Livy's own language: i. praef. 1, 'si a primordio urbis res populi Romani perscripserim'; and by Pliny, N.H. praef. 16, 'T. Livium ... in historiarum suarum, quas repetit ab origine urbis, quodam volumine.' Livy refers to it loosely as meos annales (xliii. 13, 2). Separate parts may have had special titles: thus Books cix-cxvi. were known as Civilis belli libri viii. (Codex Nazarenus of the Periochae).

The number of Books now extant is thirty-five, viz., i.-x., which carry the history down to B.C. 293, and xxi.-xlv., covering the period B.C. 218-167. Of these xli. and xliii. are incomplete. But we possess summaries (Periochae or Argumenta) of Books i.-cxlii., except cxxxvi. and cxxxvii., which show that the narrative was continued to the death of Drusus in B.C. 9. There is no evidence that it actually went further; but as the death of Drusus is hardly an event of sufficient importance to form the conclusion of so great a work, it has been thought that Livy may have intended to finish with the death of Augustus—the point from which Tacitus starts. The total number of Books would then have been probably one hundred and fifty.

The division into Books (libri or volumina) is due to the author: vi. 1, 1, 'quae ab condita urbe Romani gessere quinque libris exposui.' The division into decades (i.e. sets of ten Books) is first mentioned towards the end of the fifth century; it is merely a conventional arrangement, the subject-matter falling naturally into sets of fifteen Books, which again sometimes embrace three sub-divisions each a half-decade, or two, a half-decade and a decade.

An epitome was known to Martial, xiv. 190,

'Pellibus exiguis artatur Livius ingens, quem mea non totum bibliotheca capit.'

The evidence of the date of composition is as follows:

(a) i. 19, 3, 'Bis deinde post Numae regnum [Ianus] clausus fuit, semel T. Manlio consule post Punicum primum perfectum bellum, iterum, quod nostrae aetati dei dederunt ut videremus, post bellum Actiacum ab imperatore Caesare Augusto pace terra marique parta.' Now, as the first closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus was in B.C. 29, and as Livy is silent as to the second closing after the Cantabrian war in 25, it follows that this passage was written B.C. 29-25. The use of the title Augustus, conferred on Octavian in 27, puts the earliest possible date two years later. The history therefore was not begun before B.C. 27.

(b) ix. 36, 1, 'Silva erat Ciminia magis tum invia atque horrenda quam nuper fuere Germanici saltus.' In this Niebuhr found an allusion to the campaigns of Drusus, B.C. 12-9, and accordingly assumed that the first decade was not published till B.C. 9. But the passage may equally well refer to earlier campaigns, e.g. of Julius Caesar. Nor can it be shown that the history of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, published B.C. 7, was used by Livy for Books viii.-x. Book ix. must have been written before B.C. 20, or Livy would have mentioned the recovery of the standards from the Parthians in ix. 18, 9.

(c) xxviii. 12, 12, 'Hispania prima Romanis inita provinciarum, quae quidem continentis sint, postrema omnium nostra demum aetate ductu auspicioque Augusti Caesaris perdomita.' This was written not earlier than B.C. 19, if it refers to Agrippa's victory over the Cantabrians.

(d) Book lix. mentioned the lex de maritandis ordinibus, and consequently cannot have been earlier than B.C. 18.

(e) The books in which Pompeius figured were composed in the lifetime of Augustus (Tac. Ann. iv. 34, above).

(f) Book cxxi., according to the oldest MS. of the Periochae, was published after the death of Augustus; so doubtless were the remaining Books (A.D. 14-17).

A work of such compass, and occupying so many years of the author's life, would naturally be published in sections. This a priori view is corroborated by several considerations: (a) There are separate prefaces to various sections (vi. 1; xxi. 1; xxxi. 1); (b) Livy's style was censured[70] by Asinius Pollio, who died A.D. 5; (c) Augustus was acquainted with Livy's sympathetic treatment of Pompeius (see above); (d) Livy had great fame in his lifetime: Pliny, Ep. ii. 3, 8, 'Numquamne legisti Gaditanum quemdam T. Livi nomine gloriaque commotum ad visendum eum ab ultimo terrarum orbe venisse statimque ut viderat abisse?'

The historians from whom Livy derived his materials, and whom he himself mentions are: Fabius Pictor (i. 44, 2, etc.). Livy refers to him six times, but it may be questioned whether he used him at first-hand. More probably he took his opinions on the authority of later annalists like Macer, Antias, and Tubero. Cincius Alimentus (xxi. 38, 3): the Cincius quoted in vii. 3, 7, may be the same, or an antiquarian of the Ciceronian or Augustan age; Cato (xxxiv. 15, 9); Calpurnius Piso (xxv. 39, 15); Coelius Antipater (xxix. 25, 3); Claudius Quadrigarius (vi. 42, 5, etc.); Valerius Antias, quoted thirty-five times—far more frequently than any other authority; Licinius Macer; Aelius Tubero (iv. 23, 1); Clodius Licinus (xxix. 22, 10); Rutilius (xxxix. 52, 1); Polybius; Silenus (xxvi. 49, 3), a Greek, whose account of the Second Punic War was favourable to the Carthaginians.

A criticism of Livy's use of these sources is impossible, except in the case of Polybius, all the others having perished. His tone in alluding to the Greek historian is remarkable for its coldness: xxx. 45, 5, 'Polybius haudquaquam spernendus auctor'; cf. xxxiii. 10, 8. Although Polybius is not mentioned till Book xxx., he was undoubtedly used throughout the third decade, as well as in the fourth and fifth. Livy follows him very closely. Where Livy differs from Polybius he is probably following the account of Coelius Antipater, who is his leading authority for the Second Punic War.

Livy is not careful to reconcile his sources, and so frequently contradicts himself. His way of explaining a discrepancy between his authorities is by striking an average (xxvi. 49, 6, 'si aliquis adsentiri necesse est, media simillima veris sunt'). His irresolution was noted by Quintilian, ii. 4, 19, 'saepe quaeri solet de tempore, de loco, quo gesta res dicitur, nonnumquam de persona quoque, sicut Livius frequentissime dubitat.' This of course has its good side: it saves him from dogmatizing on uncertain points, and he has a hearty appreciation of the confusion in his authorities: xxxvii. 34, 5, 'is ubi et quando et quo casu captus sit, sicut pleraque alia, parum inter auctores constat.' He recognizes the value of contemporary evidence: xxii. 7, 4, 'Fabium aequalem temporibus huiusce belli potissimum auctorem habui'; xxi. 38, 3, 'L. Cincius Alimentus, qui captum se ab Hannibale scribit, maxime auctor moveret.' Criticism of his authorities is most conspicuous in the case of Valerius Antias, whom at first he followed in good faith; he condemns him again and again for exaggeration and credulity, e.g. xxxiii. 10, 8, 'si Valerio qui credat, omnium rerum immodice numerum augenti'; xxxix. 43, 1, 'Valerius Antias, ut qui nec orationem Catonis legisset et fabulae tantum sine auctore editae credidisset.' He also recognizes the bias of Licinius Macer: vii. 9, 5, 'quaesita ea propriae familiae laus leviorem auctorem Licinium facit.' For the untrustworthiness of family records, cf. viii. 40, 4, 'vitiatam memoriam funebribus laudibus reor falsisque imaginum titulis, dum familiae ad se quaeque famam rerum gestarum honorumque fallenti mendacio trahunt.'

Livy often refers to authorities whom he does not name: 'invenio apud quosdam,' 'satis constat'; and to tradition: 'fama est,' 'dicitur,' 'fertur,' 'traditur.' Tradition was the sole source for events prior to the sack of Rome by the Gauls, cf. vi. 12, 2 sqq.

There is no trace in Livy of any use of original documents.

He constantly resists the temptation to digress from his proper theme: e.g. xxxix. 48, 6, 'cuius belli et causas et ordinem si expromere velim, immemor sim propositi, quo statui non ultra attingere externa, nisi qua Romanis cohaererent rebus.'

In spite of his love of truth (xxii. 7, 4, 'nihil haustum ex vano velim, quo nimis inclinant ferme scribentium animi': cf. Tac. Ann. iv. 34, 'fidei praeclarus'), partiality blinds him to the faults of his own countrymen, and he fails to do justice to opponents like the Samnites and Carthaginians.

In dealing with the legendary period he admits that his narrative has no trustworthy foundation, and gives it merely for what it is worth: Praef. 6, 'Quae ante conditam condendamve urbem poeticis magis decora fabulis quam incorruptis rerum gestarum monumentis traduntur, ea nec adfirmare nec refellere in animo est. Datur haec venia antiquitati, ut miscendo humana divinis primordia urbium augustiora faciat.'

The numerous speeches exemplify Livy's rhetorical tendency, representing what he thought the speaker would have said under the given circumstances: iii. 67, 1, 'ibi in hanc sententiam locutum accipio.'

His power of describing character is noted by Seneca, Suas. vi. 21, 'Quoties magni alicuius viri mors ab historicis narrata est, toties fere consummatio totius vitae et quasi funebris laudatio redditur. Hoc ... T. Livius benignius omnibus magnis viris praestitit.'

Religion and morality.—Livy believes in the influence of the gods on human affairs: ix. 1, 11, 'cum rerum humanarum maximum momentum sit, quam propitiis rem, quam adversis agant dis.' Superior to the gods is necessitas (ix. 4, 16), and fortuna is also powerful (ix. 17, 3; v. 37, 1). He condemns the irreligion of his own day (x. 40, 10, 'iuvenis ante doctrinam deos spernentem natus'), cf. iii. 20, 5; viii. 11, 1. He retains the old belief in prodigies and portents, every war being introduced by a list of them, but recognizes that many reported instances were fictitious: xxi. 62, 1, 'Multa ea hieme prodigia facta, aut, quod evenire solet motis semel in religionem animis, multa nuntiata et temere credita sunt.'

He condemns the vices of his own age, and lauds the old Romans: Praef. 12, 'Nuper divitiae avaritiam et abundantes voluptates desiderium per luxum atque libidinem pereundi perdendique omnia invexere.'

Politics.—Livy is an aristocrat, with a poor opinion of the lower orders: e.g. xxiv. 25, 8, 'Ea natura multitudinis est: aut servit humiliter aut superbe dominatur; libertatem, quae media est, nec cupere modice nec habere sciunt.' His political attitude is influenced to a great extent by the earlier historians, who had mostly been on the aristocratic side. Yet he is not a defender of the aristocratic party through thick and thin; and though he admired the character of some leading republicans, there can be no question of his loyalty to the Empire. Cf. Tac. Ann. iv. 34, 'Scipionem, Afranium, hunc ipsum Cassium, hunc Brutum nusquam latrones et parricidas, quae nunc vocabula imponuntur, saepe ut insignes viros nominat.'

Livy's view of Caesar is quoted by Seneca, N.Q. v. 18, 4, 'in incerto esse utrum illum nasci magis rei publicae profuerit, an non nasci?'

Contemporaries of Livy.—1. Pompeius Trogus, whose history is known to us only through the abridgment made by M. Iunianus Iustinus, probably in the time of the Antonines. Trogus was of Gallic descent. His grandfather had received the Roman civitas from Pompey; his father was one of Caesar's officers, and is possibly to be identified with the Cn. Pompeius of Caes. B.G. v. 36 (Iustin. xliii. 5, 11). His chief work, Historiae Philippicae, in forty-four Books, was concerned chiefly with the history of Macedonia and the Diadochi; but it embraced also the empires of the East and the history of Greece down to the time of Philip, as well as Parthia, Spain, Carthage, and the early history of Rome.

2. Fenestella, who died, according to Jerome, in A.D. 19 at the age of seventy. Nothing is known of his life, or of the poems which Jerome attributes to him; but he certainly wrote Annales (Nonius, p. 154). He is also quoted as an authority on miscellaneous antiquarian and constitutional points.

3. M. Verrius Flaccus, tutor to the grandsons of Augustus (Sueton. Gramm. 17), was the author of Fasti, fragments of which have been discovered near Praeneste, and which were used by Ovid for his poem of that name. Of Verrius' grammatical works, the greatest was that entitled De verborum significatu (Gell. v. 17, 1), arranged alphabetically. It is lost, but we possess part of an abridgment (nine out of sixteen Books) made by Sex. Pompeius Festus before the third century A.D. The abridgment of Festus was in turn epitomized by Paulus Diaconus in the time of Charlemagne, and his work is extant in a complete form.

4. C. Iulius Hyginus, a freedman of Augustus and librarian of the Palatine library (Sueton. Gramm. 20), wrote De vita rebusque illustrium virorum (Gell. i. 14, 1); Exempla (Gell. x. 18, 7); De situ urbium Italicarum (Serv. ad Verg. Aen. iii. 553); De familiis Troianis (ibid. v. 389); theological works, e.g. De dis Penatibus (Macrob. Saturn. iii. 4, 13); commentaries on Virgil and Helvius Cinna; and De Agricultura, a treatise to which Virgil was indebted (Colum. i. 1, 13). The Hyginus who wrote Fabulae and De Astrologia probably lived in the second century A.D.



VITRUVIUS.

Vitruvius Pollio (the cognomen appears only in the abridgment of his book) served under Caesar in Africa B.C. 46; viii. 3, 25, 'C. Iulius Masinissae filius ... cum patre Caesari militavit. Is hospitio meo est usus. Ita cottidiano convictu necesse fuerat de philologia disputare ...'

Under Augustus he was an officer of engineers, and was enabled to spend the rest of his life in comfort through the liberality of that prince and his sister Octavia: i. praef. 2, 'Cum M. Aurelio et P. Minidio et Cn. Cornelio ad apparationem ballistarum et scorpionum reliquorumque tormentorum refectionem fui praesto et cum eis commoda accepi. Quae cum primo mihi tribuisti, recognitionem per sororis commendationem servasti. Cum ergo eo beneficio essem obligatus, ut ad exitum vitae non haberem inopiae timorem ...'

He wrote the treatise De Architectura, in ten Books, when he was no longer young (ii. praef. 4, 'faciem deformavit aetas'), between the years B.C. 16 and 13. The temple of Quirinus, mentioned iii. 2, 7, was built in the former year; and he speaks of only one stone theatre in Rome (iii. 2, 2), whereas in B.C. 13 there were three.

The arrangement of the subject-matter is as follows: Book i., sciences on which architecture is based, chief divisions of the subject, choice of site, and method of laying out a town; ii., building materials; iii., temples—Ionic order; iv., Doric and Corinthian orders; v., public buildings, e.g., forum, theatre; vi., private houses—construction; vii., decoration; viii., water-supply; ix., methods of measuring time, e.g., sun-dials; x., engines and machines used in war and in the arts.

The work is dedicated to Augustus, who is addressed throughout, and is meant to be of practical use to him in his building operations.

The body of the work is severely technical; the introductions to the Books are in a more ambitious style. Vitruvius writes as a professional man, not as a scholar: i. 1, 17, 'Non uti summus philosophus nec rhetor disertus nec grammaticus summis rationibus artis exercitatus, sed ut architectus his litteris imbutus haec nisus sum scribere.' He freely confesses his obligations to Greek authors, whom he enumerates vii. praef. 10-14. Diagrams were appended to the text: i. 6, 12, 'Quoniam haec a nobis sunt breviter exposita, ut facilius intellegantur visum est mihi in extremo volumine formas, sive uti Graeci schemata dicunt duo explicare.'



SENECA THE ELDER.

(1) LIFE.

Annaeus Seneca (for the praenomen Marcus, usually given, there is no authority: in the best MSS. it is Lucius, possibly through confusion with his son) was a native of Corduba: Mart. i. 62, 7,

'Duosque Senecas unicumque Lucanum facunda loquitur Corduba.'

The date of his birth is probably about B.C. 55, for he was old enough to have heard Cicero if the civil wars had not prevented him leaving his native town: Contr. i. praef. 11, 'Omnes magni in eloquentia nominis excepto Cicerone videor audisse: ne Ciceronem quidem aetas mihi eripuerat, sed bellorum civilium furor, qui tunc orbem totum pervagabatur, intra coloniam meam me continuit.'

He was of equestrian rank; cf. the speech of Seneca the younger, Tac. Ann. xiv. 53, 'Egone, equestri et provinciali loco ortus, proceribus civitatis adnumeror?'

Most of his life appears to have been spent in Rome, where alone he could have acquired his vast knowledge of contemporary rhetoric. Together with his countryman Porcius Latro, he attended the lectures of the rhetorician Marullus: Contr. i. praef. 22, 'Hoc Latro meus faciebat, ut sententias amaret. Cum condiscipuli essemus apud Marullum rhetorem ...' Asinius Pollio he had heard at two different periods: Contr. iv. praef. 3, 'audivi illum et viridem et postea iam senem.'

Seneca's wife was Helvia, whose noble character is described by her son (ad Helv. 14, 3; 16, 3): by her he had three sons, M. Annaeus Novatus, L. Annaeus Seneca, and M. Annaeus Mela.

He survived Tiberius; for (1) he alludes to events which happened after his reign, (2) Sueton. Tib. 73, quotes from 'Seneca' an account of the death of Tiberius, and we know that the elder Seneca wrote history: that his son did likewise there is nothing to show. Hence he was alive after A.D. 37. On the other hand, he was dead before his son's exile in A.D. 43, for Sen. ad Helv. 2, 5, after enumerating the calamities which had befallen his mother—among them his father's death—concludes with the words 'raptum me audisti: hoc adhuc defuerat tibi, lugere vivos.'

Seneca was a man of stern character: for his old-world views and dislike of innovation cf. his son's words (ad Helv. 17, 3), 'Patris mei antiquus rigor ... Virorum optimus, pater meus, maiorum consuetudini deditus.' He disapproved of the higher education of women, 'propter istas quae litteris non ad sapientiam utuntur, sed ad luxuriam instruuntur.'

(2) WORKS.

The only extant works of Seneca are Oratorum et Rhetorum Sententiae, Divisiones, Colores Controversiarum et Suasoriarum.

1. The Controversiae were written at the request of his three sons, but were intended for a wider circle of readers: i. praef. 10, 'Quaecumque a celeberrimis viris facunde dicta teneo, ne ad quemquam privatim pertineant, populo dedicabo.' Seneca here gives a criticism of the rhetoricians of his time, with specimens of the style of each: i. praef. 1, 'Exigitis rem magis iucundam mihi quam facilem; iubetis enim quid de his declamatoribus sentiam qui in aetatem meam inciderunt indicare, et si qua memoriae meae nondum elapsa sunt ab illis dicta colligere, ut quamvis notitiae vestrae subducti sint, tamen non credatis tantum de illis, sed et iudicetis.' The specimens are given from memory, and the arrangement is not systematic: i. praef. 4, 'Illud necesse est impetrem, ne me quasi certum aliquem ordinem velitis sequi in contrahendis quae mihi occurrent.' Seneca treats only of those rhetoricians whom his sons had not themselves heard: i. praef. 4, 'Neque de his me interrogatis quos ipsi audistis, sed de his qui ad vos usque non pervenerunt.' His hero is Cicero, since whose time oratory has steadily degenerated: i. praef. 11, 'Illud ingenium quod solum populus Romanus par imperio suo habuit'; ibid. 7, 'Omnia ingenia quae lucem studiis nostris attulerunt tunc nata sunt: in deterius deinde cottidie data res est.'

Of the ten Books of Controversiae only five have come down to us, viz., i., ii., vii., ix., and x. The deficiency is to some extent supplied by an abridgment (Excerpta) made in the fourth or fifth century A.D., which adds thirty-nine themes to the thirty-five contained in the surviving part of the original work. Each Book had a separate preface. Those to v., vi., and viii. are entirely wanting; for the prefaces to ii., iii., and iv. we are indebted to the abridgment.

The Controversiae were written when Seneca was an old man, and when his two elder sons were preparing for public life, probably about A.D. 20: x. praef. 1, 'Sinite me ab istis iuvenilibus studiis ad senectutem meam reverti'; ii. praef. 4 (to Mela), 'Fratribus tuis ambitiosa curae sunt foroque se et honoribus parant.'

As to the date of publication, it has been argued[71] that they appeared after the fall of Seianus and before the death of Mamercus Scaurus, i.e., between A.D. 31 and 34. Probably, however, the publication did not take place till after the death of Tiberius, A.D. 37; the protest against the burning of books (x. praef. 6-7) would have been as offensive to him as to Seianus.

2. There is only one book of Suasoriae, and the beginning of it is lost. It gives specimens of the treatment of seven themes, e.g., 3, 'Deliberat Agamemnon an Iphigeniam immolet negante Calchante aliter navigari fas esse.' It is certainly later than the Controversiae: Contr. ii. 4, 8, 'Quae dixerit suo loco reddam, cum ad suasorias venero.' One passage cannot have been written before A.D. 34: 2, 22, 'Scaurum Mamercum, in quo Scaurorum familia exstincta est.' It was not published in the lifetime of Tiberius, for Seneca calls the accuser of Scaurus 'homo quam improbi animi tam infelicis ingenii' (2, 22), and quotes Cremutius Cordus (6, 19) whose books had been burned in Tiberius' time.

3. Seneca wrote also on Roman history from the commencement of the civil wars to his own time, but left the work of publication to his son.

L. Seneca de vita patris (Haase, vol. iii. p. 436), 'Si quaecumque composuit pater meus et edi voluit iam in manus populi emisissem, ad claritatem nominis sui satis sibi ipsi prospexerat ... Quisquis legisset eius historias ab initio bellorum civilium, unde primum veritas retro abiit, paene usque ad mortis suae diem,' etc.



Footnotes to Chapter III

[41] M. Valerius Probus of Berytus (Sueton. Gramm. 24) who flourished, according to Jerome, A.D. 56, prepared critical editions of Lucretius, Virgil, and Horace. A commentary on the Eclogues and Georgics passes under his name, but most of it is spurious.

[42] A grammarian of the fifth century A.D., who merely versifies Donatus.

[43] On this point Professor W. M. Ramsay writes to us: 'Virgil's farm was certainly not at Pietole (which is two miles south of Mantua, out in the flat plain): for (1) the farm was a long way from the city (cf. Ecl. 9, 59 sqq.); (2) it was beside hills (ibid. 7 sqq.); (3) woods were on or by it (cf. Donatus "silvis coemendis"), and the flat fertile valley was certainly not abandoned to forests. After exploring the country, I felt clear that the farm was on the west bank of the Mincio, opposite Valeggio, where the northern hills sink to the dead level of the Po valley.'

[44] His knowledge of science is reflected in his works. Cf. Georgics, passim, and Ecl. 3, ll. 40-2.

[45] The latter part of this statement is worthless: Augustus was only a child when Virgil came to Rome.

[46] Probus is manifestly wrong in saying that the distribution of land took place 'post Mutinense bellum.'

[47] For details see H. Nettleship, Ancient Lives of Vergil, who holds that there was really only one eviction.

[48] The writings of Augustus are enumerated by Sueton. Aug. 85—(1) Rescripta Bruto de Catone, a reply to Brutus' pamphlet on Cato; (2) Hortationes ad Philosophiam; (3) De Vita Sua; (4) Life of Drusus (Sueton. Claud. 1); (5) Poems: 'Sicily' in hexameters, Epigrams and Fescennine verses; a tragedy, 'Ajax' (never finished).

[49] Servius wrote 'triennio' perhaps because he thought only of the dates of Ecl. 1 and 10 (H. Nettleship, ibid.).

[50] C. Schaper's view is that Ecls. 4, 6, and 10 were not written till B.C. 27-25 for a second edition. He supposes Ecl. 6 to allude to the marriage of Marcellus and Julia in 25 (referring 6, 3 to the Aeneid), and Ecl. 10 to be a lament for Gallus, who committed suicide B.C. 27.

[51] Iulus is properly spelt Iullus (as in inscriptions), and is for Iovillos, a diminutive from the stem of Iuppiter.

[52] L. Orbilius Pupillus of Beneventum, who in his Perialges complained of the wrongs of his profession (Sueton. Gramm. 4 and 9).

[53] Maecenas wrote, besides smaller prose works, a history of his own times (Hor. Od. ii. 12, 9; Pliny, N.H. vii. 148).

[54] For Horace's relations to Propertius see Ep. ii. 2, 91-101, and under 'Propertius,' p. 196.

[55] See G. Boissier, Nouvelles Promenades Archeologiques: Horace et Virgile (Paris, 1886).

[56] Dr. A. W. Verrall's argument (Studies in Horace, pp. 25 sqq.) that Od. i.-iii. were published B.C. 19 is not convincing.

[57] Ed. by Mommsen in Ephemeris Epigraphica, 1892, p. 225.

[58] For Horace's eclectic position in philosophy, cf. Ep. i. 1, 14-15,

'Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.'

[59] As suggested to us by Prof. W. M. Ramsay. For Horace's opinion of Catullus cf. Sat. i. 10, 18-9,

'Simius iste, nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.'

[60] See Th. Mommsen, Sitzungsberichte der koenigl. preuss. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. 24 Jan. 1889.

[61] A Peripatetic of the third century B.C., who wrote a popular account of the literary and philosophical views of his school.

[62] E. Voss, Die Natur in der Dichtung des Horaz (Duesseldorf, 1889).

[63] As pointed out by A. W. Verrall, Studies in Horace, p. 134 sqq.

[64] This poem is probably referred to by Hor. Od. iv. 4, 19-22.

[65] M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus, author of memoirs of the Civil War (Tac. Ann. iv. 34), love poems (Pliny, Ep. v. 3, 5), and works on grammar (Quint. i. 7, 35).

[66] Dessau, Inscr. Lat. Sel. 2925. Serg. stands for Serg[ia tribu], and is not a cognomen Sergio.

[67] See Pliny, Ep. v. 9, 2.

[68] This question was first satisfactorily worked out by T. Dyer, Classical Museum for 1847, p. 229 sqq.

[69] See under 'Juvenal,' p. 323.

[70] Pollio accused him of Patavinitas, i.e. the use of provincialisms (verba peregrina, as opposed to Latina, Quint. i. 5, 55, curiose loqui rather than Latine, Quint. viii. 1, 2).

[71] By A. Diepenbrock, L. Annaeus Seneca, p. 12 (Amsterdam, 1888).



CHAPTER IV.

POST-AUGUSTAN WRITERS.



VELLEIUS PATERCULUS.

C.[72] Velleius Paterculus was born at latest B.C. 19, as he was quaestor-elect A.D. 6. He was descended from a distinguished family in Campania (Vell. ii. 16, 2; Liv. xxiii. 7 sqq.). His father was a praefectus equitum (ii. 104, 3). After some military experience in Thrace and Macedonia, Velleius accompanied C. Caesar, the grandson of Augustus, on his mission to the East, A.D. 1. His rank at this time was tribunus militum.

ii. 101, 2 (of the meeting of C. Caesar and the Parthian king), 'Sub initia stipendiorum meorum tribuno militum mihi visere contigit: quem militiae gradum ante sub patre tuo, M. Vinici, et P. Silio auspicatus in Thracia Macedoniaque, mox Achaia Asiaque et omnibus ad Orientem visis provinciis et ore atque utroque maris Pontici latere, haud iniucunda tot rerum, locorum, gentium, urbium recordatione fruor.'

In A.D. 4, as praefectus equitum, he accompanied Tiberius to Germany: ii. 104, 3, 'Hoc tempus me, functum ante tribunatu, castrorum Ti. Caesaris militem fecit; quippe protinus ab adoptione missus cum eo praefectus equitum in Germaniam, successor officii patris mei, caelestissimorum eius operum per annos continuos viii. praefectus aut legatus spectator et pro captu mediocritatis meae adiutor fui.'

In A.D. 6, when quaestor-elect, he commanded reinforcements sent from Rome to Tiberius in Pannonia, and at the expiration of his term of office as quaestor in Rome, he returned to Tiberius as a legatus: ii. 111, 3, 'Habuit in hoc quoque bello mediocritas nostra speciosi ministerii locum. Finita equestri militia designatus quaestor necdum senator aequatus senatoribus, etiam designatis tribunis plebei, partem exercitus ab urbe traditi ab Augusto perduxi ad filium eius. In quaestura deinde remissa sorte provinciae legatus eiusdem ad eumdem missus sum.'

In A.D. 9 Velleius served in Dalmatia (ii. 115, 5), afterwards spending two years in Germany (ii. 104, 3 above). In the winter of A.D. 12-13 he took part in the triumph of Tiberius: ii. 121, 2, 'Ex Pannoniis Delmatisque egit triumphum ... quem mihi fratrique meo inter praecipuos praecipuisque donis adornatos viros comitari contigit.'

Velleius was praetor-elect in A.D. 14: ii. 124, 4, 'Quo tempore mihi fratrique meo, candidatis Caesaris, proxime a nobilissimis ac sacerdotalibus viris destinari praetoribus contigit, consecutis ut neque post nos quemquam divus Augustus neque ante nos Caesar commendaret Tiberius.'

The publication of his history, sixteen years later, is the only circumstance recorded of Velleius after this date.

The Historia Romana, in two Books, was published A.D. 30, in the consulship of M. Vinicius, to whom the book is addressed (i. 8, 1, and often). The beginning of Book i. is lost; the first eight chapters in our text are occupied with a rapid survey of the history of Greece since the Trojan war, the Phoenician settlements in the Mediterranean, and the chief events in the history of the world before the foundation of Rome. C. 8 breaks off at the rape of the Sabine women, and there is a great lacuna before we reach, in c. 9, the defeat of Perseus at Pydna in B.C. 168. Ch. 9-13 carry the narrative down to the destruction of Carthage and Corinth. Book ii. commences at that point, and ends with the death of Livia, A.D. 29 (ii. 130, 5, 'cuius temporis aegritudinem auxit amissa mater').

Velleius is constantly calling attention to the brevity and compression of his treatment, in such phrases as 'omnia transcursu dicenda' (ii. 55), 'artatum opus' (ii. 86), 'recisum opus' (ii. 89). Much that the plan of his book compels him to omit, he promises to publish later in a larger work, e.g. ii. 99, 3, 'iusto servemus operi,' ii. 114, 4, 'iustis voluminibus ordine narrabimus.' Even as it is, he occasionally pauses to describe a great character (ii. 41, Caesar), or to express his personal opinion (ii. 66, 3, denunciation of Antony for Cicero's murder). Specially noticeable are the digressions on the Roman colonies (i. 14-15) and provinces (ii. 38-39), on the prominence of different types of genius at certain epochs (i. 16-18), and on literary history (ii. 9, the chief writers of the time of the Gracci; ii. 36, of the Ciceronian and Augustan ages; i. 5, praise of Homer; i. 7, of Hesiod). As is natural in so short a book, Velleius names very few authorities.

The motive of the history is evidently the glorification of the author's old general, Tiberius, whose actual reign, however, he dismisses in eight chapters. Probably he felt the subject too risky, and devoted his strength to the earlier life of Tiberius, which occupies the greater part even of the chapters nominally devoted to the reign of Augustus (ii. 59-123). Tiberius is spoken of throughout in terms of unqualified praise, and no hint is given of the darker side of his character. Seianus also is extolled (ii. 127-8), as he was in high favour at the time when Velleius wrote.



VALERIUS MAXIMUS.

Nothing is known of the life of Valerius Maximus beyond the fact that he visited Asia in company with Sex. Pompeius, the friend of Ovid and of Germanicus. Pompeius was consul A.D. 14, and between A.D. 27 and 30 became proconsul of Asia.

Val. Max. ii. 6, 8, 'Consuetudinem ... illam etiam in insula Cea servari animadverti, quo tempore Asiam cum Sex. Pompeio petens Iulidem oppidum intravi.'

Valerius dwells on his obligations to Pompeius in his chapter on friendship (iv. 7, ext. 2).

His sole work, Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, in nine books, is a collection of notable incidents and sayings, classified under appropriate headings, for the convenience of speakers seeking illustrations for their subject-matter. Cf. the preface, 'Urbis Romae exterarumque gentium facta simul ac dicta memoratu digna, quae apud alios latius diffusa sunt quam ut breviter cognosci possint, ab illustribus electa auctoribus digerere constitui, ut documenta sumere volentibus longae inquisitionis labor absit.'

The illustres auctores from whom he draws most of his material are Livy, Cicero (each mentioned only once), Sallust, and Trogus; but thirteen Latin and twenty Greek authors are mentioned by name. He frequently misrepresents his authorities.