Chapter I
Reading edition
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF ROMAN POETRY.
PAGE
Recent change in the estimate of Roman Poetry 1
Want of originality 2
As compared with Greek Poetry 2
" " with Roman Oratory and History 3
The most complete literary monument of Rome 5
Partly imitative, partly original 6
Imitative in forms 7
" in metres 8
Imitative element in diction 9
" " in matter 11
Original character, partly Roman, partly Italian 13
National spirit 14
Imaginative sentiment 15
Moral feeling 16
Italian element in Roman Poetry 17
Love of Nature 17
Passion of Love 19
Personal element in Roman Poetry 20
Four Periods of Roman Poetry 23
Character of each 24
Conclusion 26
CHAPTER II.
VESTIGES OF INDIGENOUS POETRY IN ROME AND ANCIENT ITALY.
Niebuhr's theory of a Ballad-Poetry 28
The Saturnian metre 29
Ritual Hymns 31
Prophetic verses 33
Fescennine verses 34
Saturae 36
Gnomic verses 37
Commemorative verses 37
Inferences as to their character 38
" from early state of the language 39
No public recognition of Poetry 40
Roman story result of tradition and reflection 41
Inferences from the nature of Roman religion 43
" from the character and pursuits of the people 44
Roman Poetry of Italian rather than Roman origin 45
FIRST PERIOD.
FROM LIVIUS ANDRONICUS TO LUCILIUS.
CHAPTER III.
BEGINNING OF ROMAN LITERATURE. LIVIUS ANDRONICUS, CN. NAEVIUS, 240-202 b.c.
Contact with Greece after capture of Tarentum 47
First period of Roman literature 49
Forms of Poetry during this period 50
Livius Andronicus 51
Cn. Naevius, his life 52
Dramas 55
Epic poem 57
Style 59
Conclusion 60
CHAPTER IV.
Q. ENNIUS, 239-170 b.c., LIFE, TIMES, AND PERSONAL TRAITS. VARIOUS WORKS. GENIUS AND INTELLECT.
Importance of Ennius 62
Notices of his life 63
Influences affecting his career 64
Italian birth-place 64
Greek education 65
Service in Roman army 66
Historical importance of his age 68
Intellectual character of his age 69
Personal traits 71
Description of himself in the Annals 72
Intimacy with Scipio 74
His enthusiastic temperament 75
Religious spirit and convictions 77
Miscellaneous works 79
Saturae 81
Dramas 83
Annals 88
Outline of the Poem 89
Idea by which it is animated 92
Artistic defects 93
Roman character of the work 94
Contrast with the Greek Epic 96
Contrast in its personages 96
Contrast in supernatural element 97
Oratory in the Annals 98
Description and imagery 100
Rhythm and diction 102
Chief literary characteristics of Ennius 106
Energy of conception 107
Patriotic and imaginative sentiment 110
Moral emotion 112
Practical understanding 113
Estimate in ancient times 116
Disparaging criticism of Niebuhr 118
CHAPTER V
EARLY ROMAN TRAGEDY. M. PACUVIUS, 219-129 b.c. L. ACCIUS, 170-ABOUT 90 b.c.
Popularity of early Roman Tragedy 120
Partial adaptation of Athenian drama 121
Inability to reproduce its pure Hellenic character 123
Nearer approach to the spirit of Euripides than of Sophocles 125
Grounds of popularity of Roman Tragedy 126
Moral tone and oratorical spirit 129
Causes of its decline 131
M. Pacuvius, notices of his life 133
Ancient testimonies135
His dramas136
Passages illustrative of his thought 137
" " of his moral and oratorical spirit139
Descriptive passages 141
Drama on a Roman subject 142
Character 142
L. Accius, notices of his life 143
His various works 145
Fragments illustrative of his oratorical spirit 147
" " of his moral fervour 148
" " of his sense of natural beauty 149
Conclusion as to character of Roman Tragedy 150
CHAPTER VI.
ROMAN COMEDY. T. MACCIUS PLAUTUS, ABOUT 254 TO 184 b.c.
Flourishing era of Roman Comedy 153
How far any claim to originality? 154
Disparaging judgment of later Roman critics 155
Connection with earlier Saturae 156
Naevius and Plautus popular poets 157
Facts in the life of Plautus 158
Attempt to fill up the outline from his works 160
Familiarity with town-life 161
Traces of maritime adventure 162
Life of the lower and middle classes represented in his plays 163
Love of good living 164
Love of money 166
Artistic indifference 166
Knowledge of Greek 167
Influence of the spirit of his age 167
Dramas adaptations of outward conditions of Athenian New Comedy 169
Manner and spirit, Roman and original 172
Indications of originality in his language 173
" " " in his Roman allusions and national characteristics 174
Favourite plots of his plays 178
Pseudolus, Bacchides, Miles Gloriosus, Mostellaria 179
Aulularia, Trinummus, Menaechmi, Rudens, Captivi, Amphitryo 182
Mode of dealing with his characters 191
Moral and political indifference of his plays 192
Value as a poetic artist 195
Power of expression by action, rhythm, diction 200
CHAPTER VII.
TERENCE AND THE COMIC POETS SUBSEQUENT TO PLAUTUS.
Comedy between the time of Plautus and Terence 204
Caecilius Statius 204
Scipionic Circle 206
Complete Hellenising of Roman Comedy 207
Conflicting accounts of life of Terence 207
Order in which his Plays were produced 209
His 'prologues' as indicative of his individuality 210
'Dimidiatus Menander' 212
Epicurean 'humanity' chief characteristic 213
Sentimental motive of his pieces 214
Minute delineations of character 215
Diction and rhythm 217
Influence on the style and sentiment of Horace 218
Modern estimates of Terence 220
Comoedia Togata, Atellanae, Mimus 220
CHAPTER VIII.
EARLY ROMAN SATIRE. C. LUCILIUS, DIED 102 b.c.
Independent origin of Roman satire 222
Essentially Roman in form and spirit 224
" " in its political and censorial function 225
Personal and miscellaneous character of early satire 227
Critical epoch at which Lucilius appeared 229
Question as to the date of his birth 229
Fragments chiefly preserved by grammarians 232
Miscellaneous character and desultory treatment of subjects 233
Traces of subjects treated in different books 234
Impression of the author's personality 236
Political character of Lucilian satire 238
Social vices satirised in it 239
Intellectual peculiarities 243
Literary criticism 245
His style 246
Grounds of his popularity 249
CHAPTER IX.
REVIEW OF THE FIRST PERIOD.
Common aspects in the lives of poets in the second century b.c. 253
Popular and national character of their works 256
Political condition of the time reflected in its literature 257
Defects of the poetic literature in form and style 259
Other forms of literature cultivated in that age 260
Oratory and history 260
Familiar letters 262
Critical and grammatical studies 263
Summary of character of the first period 264
SECOND PERIOD.
THE CLOSE OF THE REPUBLIC.
CHAPTER X.
TRANSITION FROM LUCILIUS TO LUCRETIUS.
Dearth of poetical works during the next half century 269
Literary taste confined to the upper classes 271
Great advance in Latin prose writing 272
Influence of this on the style of Lucretius and Catullus 273
Closer contact with the mind and art of Greece 273
Effects of the political unsettlement on the contemplative life and thought 275
" on the life of pleasure, and the art founded on it 277
The two representatives of the thought and art of the time 278
CHAPTER XI.
LUCRETIUS. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
Little known of him from external sources 280
Examination of Jerome's statement 284
Inferences as to his national and social position 287
Relation to Memmius 288
Impression of the author to be traced in his poem 290
Influence produced by the action of his age 290
Minute familiarity with Nature and country life 292
Spirit in which he wrote his work 294
His consciousness of power and delight in his task 295
His polemical spirit 298
Reverence for Epicurus 299
Affinity to Empedocles 300
Influence of other Greek writers 302
" of Ennius 303
His interests speculative, not national 304
His Roman temperament 305
CHAPTER XII.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF LUCRETIUS.
Three aspects of the poem 307
General scope of the argument 308
Analysis of the poem 308
Question as to its unfinished condition 321
What is the value of the argument? 324
Weakness of his science 329
Interest of the work as an exposition of ancient physical enquiry 331
" " " from its bearing on modern questions 332
Power of scientific reasoning, observation, and expression 335
Connecting links between his philosophy and poetry 340
Idea of law 341
" of change 344
" of the infinite 347
" of the individual 348
" of the subtlety of Nature 349
" of Nature as a living power 350
CHAPTER XIII.
THE RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE AND MORAL TEACHING OF LUCRETIUS.
General character of Greek epicureanism 356
Prevalence at Rome in the last age of the Republic 358
New type of epicureanism in Lucretius 360
Forms of evil against which his teaching was directed 363
Superstition 364
Fear of death 369
Ambition 374
Luxury 375
Passion of love 376
Limitation of his ethical views 378
His literary power as a moralist 381
CHAPTER XIV.
THE LITERARY ART AND GENIUS OF LUCRETIUS.
Artistic defects of the work 384
" " arising from the nature of the subject 385
" " from inequality in its execution 387
Intensity of feeling pervading the argument 388
Cumulative force in his rhythm 389
Qualities of his style 390
Freshness and sincerity of expression 392
Imaginative suggestiveness and creativeness 394
Use of analogies 395
Pictorial power 397
Poetical interpretation of Nature 398
Energy of movement in his descriptions 400
Poetic aspect of Nature influenced by his philosophy 402
Poetical interpretation of life 403
Modern interest of his poem 406
CHAPTER XV.
CATULLUS.
Contrast to the poetry of Lucretius 408
The poetry of youth 409
Accidental preservation of the poems 410
Principle of their arrangement 412
Vivid personal revelation afforded by them 413
Uncertainty as to the date of his birth 414
Birth-place and social standing 417
Influences of his native district 419
Identity of Lesbia and Clodia 422
Poems written between 61 and 57 b.c. 425
Poems connected with his Bithynian journey 429
Poems written between 56 and 54 b.c. 433
Character of his poems, founded on the passion of love 436
" " " " on friendship and affection 439
His short satirical pieces 444
Other poems expressive of personal feeling 450
Qualities of style in these poems 452
" of rhythm 453
" of form 454
The Hymn to Diana 455
His longer and more purely artistic pieces 456
His Epithalamia 457
His Attis 461
The Peleus and Thetis 462
The longer elegiac poems 469
Rank of Catullus among the poets of the world 472