Afranius imitated Menander, and probably Terence. 'Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro.' Macrob. Saturn. vi. 1, 4, ‘Afranius togatarum scriptor in ea togata, quae Compitalia inscribitur, non inverecunde respondens arguentibus, quod plura sumpsisset a Menandro, "Fateor" inquit "sumpsi non ab illo modo, sed ut quisque habuit conveniret quod mihi, Sueton. vit. Ter. p. 33 R., 'Terentium Afranius omnibus comicis praefert.' MINOR POETS: (a) The poets immediately after Afranius include (1) Hostius. He was perhaps the grandfather of Cynthia (Hostia), Propertius' mistress. Prop. iv. 20, 7, 'Est tibi forma potens; sunt castae Palladis artes, There are nine lines extant from his epic poem Bellum 'Non si mihi linguae centum atque ora sient totidem vocesque liquatae,' is from Il. ii. 489, and is imitated by Verg. Aen. vi. 625 (as noticed by Macrob. Saturn. vi. 3, 6). (2) Writers of epigrams-Pompilius, Valerius Aedituus, Porcius Licinus, and Q. Lutatius Catulus (cons. B.C. 102). (3) Q. Valerius Soranus wrote verse on philology and archaeology. (4) Volcacius Sedigitus wrote verse on literary history up to the time of the fabula palliata. He wrote indices of Plautus (Gell. iii. 3, 1), and a work De Poetis, which included his canon on the comic poets (Gell. xv. 24). 'Caecilio palmam Statio do mimico. Plautus secundus facile exuperat ceteros. Dein Naevius, qui fervet, pretio in tertiost. In sexto consequetur hos Terentius, Decimum addo causa antiquitatis Ennium.' (6) The following poets wrote during Cicero's youth, B.C. 106-84: (1) Cn. Matius, author of Mimiambi, and a translation of the Iliad. An example of the last is Frag. 1 (Bährens) = Il. i. 56, Corpora Graiorum maerebat mandier igni.' = (2) Laevius, author of Erotopaegnia, of a lyrical character. Porphyr. ad Hor. Od. iii. I, 2, 'Romanis utique non prius audita, quamvis Laevius lyrica ante Horatium scripserit; sed videntur illa non Graecorum lege ad lyricum characterem exacta.' About sixty lines are extant. Gell. xix. 7 speaks of Laevius' curious vocabulary, and instances oblittera for oblitterata; trisaeclisenex, dulciorelocus, etc. (3) A. Furius of Antium. Only six lines are extant. (4) C. Iulius Caesar Strabo, a tragic writer and orator. (5) Sueius. His works are (a) Moretum, an idyll; (6) Pulli, on the breeding of fowls; (c) Nidus; (d) an epic poem, Annales. (6) Writers of fabula Atellana;1 Novius and L. Pomponius (Bononiensis). Fronto p. 62 (ed. Naber), 'Elegantis Novium et Pomponium et id genus in verbis rusticanis et iocularibus ac ridiculariis.' Of Novius forty-three titles and over one hundred lines are preserved, and of Pomponius about seventy titles and two hundred lines. The well-known characters of the fabula Atellana are retained, as is seen from the titles. Cf. Duo Dosseni, Maccus Copa of Novius; Bucco Adoptatus, Maccus Miles, Maccus Sequester, Maccus Virgo of Pomponius. PROSE WRITERS OF THE SAME PERIOD: L. Cornelius Sisenna (praetor B.C. 78), author of Historiae of the Social and Civil Wars (Vell. Pat. ii. 9). Cicero thought him superior to his predecessors, but childish (Brut. 228, De Leg. i. 7), and Sallust remarks his want of frankness in speaking of Sulla's career (Iug. 95). He avoided a piecemeal and desultory treatment of events; cf. his own words quoted by Gell. xii. 15, 2, 'Nos una aestate in Asia et Graecia gesta litteris idcirco continentia mandavimus, ne vellicatim aut saltuatim scribendo lectorum animos impediremus.' His translation of the Miλnoiaká of Aristides is mentioned by Ovid, Tr. ii. 443. Contemporary with Sisenna were Q. Claudius Quadrigarius, and Valerius Antias, whose narrative was coloured by partiality for the Valerii and for Scipio Africanus (see under 'Livy'). C. Licinius Macer, father of the poet Calvus, was one 1 The fabula Atellana was a species of farce adopted by the Romans from the Oscan town of Atella in Campania. See Livy, vii. 2, for this and the early history of the Roman drama. of Livy's sources for the early history. Dion. Hal. (vi. 11 and vii. 1) complains of his carelessness and the weakness of his chronology. He claimed that he used original authorities, e.g. the libri lintei, lists of magistrates written on linen. He was a strong democrat, and is looked upon by Mommsen (R.H. iv., p. 602) as manufacturing authorities in support of his political views. Sulla wrote memoirs of his own life (Plut. Lucull. 1), and Lucullus composed in Greek a history of the Marsian War (ibid.). CHAPTER II. THE CICERONIAN AGE. CICERO. (1) LIFE. 700-953C M. TULLIUS CICERO, the son of a Roman knight, was born at Arpinum on 3rd January, B.C. 106. Jerome yr. Abr. 1911, M. Tullius Cicero Arpini nascitur matre Helvia, patre equestris ordinis ex regio Volscorum genere.' Cic. ad Att. xiii. 42, 3, 'Diem meum scis esse iii. Non. Ian.' He gives an account of his education in Brut. 306 sqq. In civil law he was a pupil, in B.C. 89, of Q. Scaevola the Augur, and afterwards of the pontifex of the same name (de Am. 1). In B.C. 88 he studied philosophy under Philo the Academic, and rhetoric under Molo of Rhodes. Dialectic he practised with the Stoic Diodotus, who lived and died in Cicero's house (B.C. 87-5). Other teachers of Cicero were the poet Archias (pro Arch. 1), the orator Antonius (de Or. ii. 3), the actors Roscius and Aesopus (Plut. Cic. 5), the rhetorician M. Antonius Gnipho (Sueton. Gramm. 7), and the philosophers Phaedrus and Zeno. After establishing a reputation at the bar by his defence of Quinctius and of Roscius of Ameria, hè visited Asia |