Note 2 — Chapter II · EARLY TRAGEDY AND EPIC

Livius and Naevius were both very fond of the septenarii; the iambic tetrameter appears in the tragic fragments of Naevius once; cretics are found in the Equos Trojanus, and bacchiacs apparently in Naevius’ Danae and in his Lycurgus. Fraenkel, Hermes (1927), 357 ff., has shown that the trochaic septenarius (quadratus) was an old Latin meter. We need not, however, assume with him that it was derived from the Greek. As a marching rhythm it is too natural to require explanation. The assumption of an Indo-European Urvers needs to be exiled from our books. Song and dance are very old.