LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 



14? 



ancient literature. After the division of the 

 kingdom, the prophets became the great 

 teachers of the people, and have left various 

 collections of their writings, none of which 

 have come down to us with completeness. 

 Upon the return of the exiled people from the 

 Babylonish captivity, the remains of Hebrew 

 literature were collected by a college of learned 

 men under the direction of Ezra, and from 

 their labors we have received the books of the 

 Old Testament in their present form. 



ROMAN LITERATURE. 



The language of the ancient Romans is 

 usually called Latin, for, though Rome and 

 Latium were originally separate communities, 

 they always appear to have spoken the same 

 language. The Latins, as far as we can de- 

 cide on such a question at the present day, 

 seemed to have formed a part of that great race 

 which overspread both Greece and Italy under 

 the name of Pelasgians. It is supposed that 

 the Pelasgians who settled in Italy originally 

 spoke the same language with the Pelasgians 

 who settled in Greece. The Greek and Latin 

 languages accordingly have many elements in 

 common, though each has its own distinctive 

 character. 



The history of Roman literature may be 

 divided into four periods : I. From the earliest 

 times till Cicero. II. To the death of Augus- 

 tus, A. D. 14. III. To the death of Trajan. 

 IV. To the conquest of Rome by the Goths. 

 During the first five hundred years of the 

 Roman history, scarcely any attention was 

 paid to literature. Its earliest attempts were 

 translations and imitations of the Greek models. 

 The Odyssey was translated into Latin by 

 Livius Andronicus, a Greek captive of Taren- 

 tum, and the earliest writer of whom we have 

 any account. His tragedies and comedies were 

 taken entirely from the Greek. He was fol- 

 lowed by Neevius, who wrote an historical 

 poem on the first Punic war, by the two tragic 

 writers Pacuvius and Attius, and by Ennius, 

 B. C. 239, the first epic poet, and who may be 

 regarded as the founder of Roman literature. 

 Being a Greek by birth he introduced the study 

 of his native language at Rome, and had among 

 his pupils, Cato, Scipio Africanus, and other 

 distinguished citizens of that day. At the 

 same time, he taught the Romans the art of 

 easy and graceful writing in their own lan- 

 guage, and helped to inspire them with a love 

 of literature by his refined taste and elegant 

 cultivation. Contemporary with Ennius was 

 Plautus, whose dramatic pieces, in imitation 

 of the later comedies of the Greeks, were 

 remarkable for their vivacity of expression and 

 their genuine comic humor. He was followed 



by Cecilius and Terence, of whom the lattei 

 has left several admirable comedies, fully im- 

 bued with the Grecian spirit. The first prose 

 writers, were Quintus Fabius Pictor and Lucius 

 Cincius Alimentus, who lived in the time of 

 the second Punic war, and wrote a complete 

 history of Rome. Their style was meager and 

 insipid, aiming only at brevity, and entirely 

 destitute of ornament or grace. 



With the age of Augustus, in which some 

 earlier writers are usually reckoned, a new 

 spirit is exhibited in Roman literature. In 

 didactic poetry, Lucretius surpassed his Gre- 

 cian masters, by the force of thought, and the 

 splendor of diction, which characterize his 

 great philosophical poem on the origin of the 

 universe. Catullus attempted various styles 

 of poetry, in all of which he obtained emi- 

 nent success. His lyric and elegiac poems, his 

 epigrams and satires, are marked by singular 

 versatility of feeling, frequent flashes of wit, 

 and rare felicity of expression. Among the 

 elegiac poets, of whose genius we still possess 

 the remains, the highest distinction was gained 

 by Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid. The 

 former of these poets was pronounced by Quin- 

 tilian to be the greatest master of elegiac 

 verse ; Ovid possessed an uncommon fertility 

 of invention and ease of versification ; while 

 Propertius tempers the voluptuous cast of his 

 writings with a certain dignity of thought and 

 vigorous mode of expression. The great lyric 

 poet of the Augustan age is Horace, whose 

 graceful and sportive fancy, combined with 

 his remarkable power of delicate and effective 

 satire, continues to make him a favorite with 

 all who have the slightest tincture of classical 

 learning. 



The noblest production of this period, how- 

 ever, is the jEneid of Virgil, which with his 

 elaborate poem on rural affairs, the Georgics, 

 and his sweet and tender pastorals, or Ec- 

 loyues, fairly entitles him to the position which 

 has been given him by universal consent, of 

 the most gifted epic and didactic poet in 

 Roman literature. 



The prose writings ol the Latin authors, 

 taken as a whole, betray a higher order of 

 genius and cultivation than the works of the 

 poets. In this department, the preeminence 

 belongs to Cicero, whose various productions 

 in eloquence, philosophy, and criticism are 

 among the most valuable treasures of antiq- 

 uity. In history, Caesar, Sallust, and Livy 

 are the most prominent names, who, each in 

 his own peculiar style, have left models of 

 historical composition which have been the 

 admiration of every subsequent age. The lit- 

 erature of the Augustan period partook of the 

 general character of the Roman people. De- 



