PREFACE

I have attempted in this book to provide something of an introduction to the poetical literature of the post-Augustan age. Although few of the writers dealt with have any claim to be called poets of the first order, and some stand very low in the scale of poetry, as a whole the poets of this period have suffered greater neglect than they deserve. Their undeniable weaknesses tend in many cases to obscure their real merits, with the result that they are at times either ignored or subjected to unduly sweeping condemnation. I have attempted in these pages to detach and illustrate their excellences without in any way passing over their defects.

Manilius and Phaedrus have been omitted on the ground that as regards the general character of their writings they belong rather to the Augustan period than to the subsequent age of decadence. Manilius indeed composed a considerable portion of his work during the lifetime of Augustus, while Phaedrus, though somewhat later in date, showed a sobriety of thought and an antique simplicity of style that place him at least a generation away from his contemporaries. The authorities to whose works I am indebted are duly acknowledged in the course of the work. I owe a special debt, however, to those great works of reference, the Histories of Roman Literature by Schanz and Teuffel, to Friedländer's Sittengeschichte, and, for the chapters on Lucan and Statius, to Heitland's Introduction to Haskin's edition of Lucan and Legras' Thébaïde de Stace. I wish particularly to express my indebtedness to Professor Gilbert Murray and Mr. Nowell Smith, who read the book in manuscript and made many valuable suggestions and corrections. I also have to thank Mr. A.S. Owen for much assistance in

the corrections of the proofs.

My thanks are owing to Professor Goldwin Smith for permission to print translations from 'Bay Leaves', and to Mr. A.E. Street and Mr. F.J. Miller and their publishers, for permission to quote from their translations of Martial (Messrs. Spottiswoode) and Seneca (Chicago University Press) respectively.

H.E. BUTLER.

November, 1908.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE DECLINE OF POST-AUGUSTAN POETRY

Main characteristics, p. 1. The influence of the principate, p. 1. Tiberius, p. 2. Caligula, p. 4. Claudius, p. 5. Nero, p. 6. Decay of Roman character, p. 9. Peculiar nature of Roman literature, p. 10. Greatness of Augustan poets a bar to farther advance, p. 11. Roman education: literary, p. 12; rhetorical, p. 14. Absence of true educational spirit, p. 16. Recitations, p. 18. Results of these influences, p. 19.

CHAPTER II

DRAMA

i. THE STAGE. Drama never really flourishing at Rome, p. 23. Comedy, represented by Mime and Atellan farce, p. 24. Legitimate comedy nearly extinct, p. 25. Tragedy replaced by salticae fabulae, p. 26; or musical recitations, p. 28. Pomponius Secundus, p. 29. Curiatius Maternus, p. 30.

ii. SENECA: his life and character, p. 31. His position in literature, p. 35. His epigrams, p. 36. His plays, p. 39. Their genuineness, p. 40. The Octavia, Oedipus, Agamemnon, and Hercules Oetaeus, p. 41. Date of the plays, p. 43. Their dramatic value, p. 44. Plot, p. 45. Descriptions, p. 48. Declamation, p. 49; at its best in Troades and Phaedra, p. 51. Dialogue, p. 55. Stoicism, p. 58. Poetry (confined mainly to lyrics), p. 63. Cleverness of the rhetoric, p. 65. Sententiae, p. 68. Hyperbole, p. 69. Diction and metre; iambics, p. 70; lyrics, p. 71. Plays not written for the stage, p. 72. Influence on later drama, p. 74.

iii. THE OCTAVIA. Sole example of fabula praetexta, p. 74.

Plot, p. 75. Characteristics, p. 76. Date and authorship, p. 77.

CHAPTER III

PERSIUS

Life, p. 79. Works, p. 81. Influence of Lucilius, p. 83; of Horace, p. 84. Obscurity, p. 85. Qualifications necessary for a satirist; Persius' weakness through lack of them, p. 87. Success in purely literary satire, p. 88. Lack of close observation of life, p. 90. Persius' nobility of character, p. 91. His Stoicism, p. 93. His capacity for friendship, p. 95.

CHAPTER IV

LUCAN

Life, p. 97. Minor works, p. 99. His choice of a subject, p. 101, Choice of epic methods, p. 102. Petronius' criticism of historical epic, p. 103. Difficulties of the subject, p. 104. Design of the poem, p. 106. Characters: Pompey, p. 106. Caesar, p. 108. Cato, p. 109. Descriptive passages, p. 112. Hyperbole, p. 115. Irrelevance, p. 116. Lack of poetic vocabulary, p. 116. Tendency to political satire, p. 117. Speeches, p. 120. Sententiae, p. 122. Metre, p. 123. Summary, p. 123.

CHAPTER V

PETRONIUS

Authorship of Satyricon: character of Titus Petronius, p. 125. Literary criticism, p. 127. Attack on contemporary rhetoric, p. 128. Eumolpus the poet, p. 129; laments the decay of art, p. 130. Poem on the Sack of Troy, p. 130. Criticism of historical epic, p. 131. The poetic fragments, p. 133. Epigrams, p. 134. Question of genuineness, p. 135. Their high poetic level, p. 136.

CHAPTER VI

MINOR POETRY, 14-69 A.D.

I. DIDACTIC POETRY

i. THE AETNA. Its design, p. 140. Characteristics of the poem, p. 141. Authorship, p. 143. Date, p. 145.

ii. COLUMELLA. Life and works, p. 146. His tenth book, a fifth Georgic on gardening, p. 147. His enthusiasm and descriptive power, p. 148.

II. CALPURNIUS SICULUS, THE EINSIEDELN FRAGMENTS, AND THE PANEGYRICUS IN PISONEM

Pastoral poetry, p. 150. Calpurnius Siculus; date, p. 151. Who was he? p. 152. Debt to Vergil, p. 152. Elaboration of style, p. 153. Obscurity, affectation and insignificance, p. 154. Einsiedeln fragments; was the author Calpurnius Piso? p. 156. Panegyricus in Pisonem, p. 157. Graceful elaboration, p. 158. Was the author Calpurnius Siculus? p. 159.

III. ILIAS LATINA

Early translations of Iliad, p. 160. Attius Labeo, p. 160. Polybius p. 161. Ilias Latina, a summary in verse, p. 161. Date, p. 162. Authorship: the question of the acrostic, p. 162. Wrongly attributed to Silius Italicus. p. 163.

IV. MINOR POETS

Gaetulicus, p. 163. Caesius Bassua, p. 164.

CHAPTER VII

EMPERORS AND MINOR POETS, 70-117 A.D.

I. EMPERORS AND POETS WHOSE WORKS ARE LOST

Vespasian and Titus, p. 166. Domitian. The Agon Capitolinus and Agon Albanus, p. 167. Literary characteristics of the Flavian age, p. 168. Saleius Bassus, Serranus, and others, p. 169. Nerva, p. 169. Trajan, p. 170. Passennus Paulus, p. 170. Sentius Augurinus, p. 171. Pliny the Younger, p. 172. Almost entire disappearance of poetry after Hadrian. p. 174.

II. SULPICIA

Sulpicia, a lyric poetess, p. 174. Martial's admiration for her, p. 175. Characteristics of her work, p. 176. Her Satire, p. 176. Is it genuine? p. 177.

CHAPTER VIII

VALERIUS FLACCUS

Epic in the Flavian age, p. 179. Who was Valerius? His date, p. 180. The Argonautica, unfinished, p. 181. Its general design, p. 182. Merits and defects of the Argonaut-saga as a subject for epic, p. 183. Valerius' debt to Apollonius Rhodius, p. 183. Novelties introduced in treatment; Jason, p. 184; Medea, p. 185. Valerius has a better general conception as to how the story should be told, but is far inferior as a poet, p. 186. Obscure learning; lack of humour, p. 187. Involved language, p. 188. Preciosity; compression, p. 189. Real poetic merit: compared with Statius and Lucan, p. 191. Debt to Vergil, p. 191. Metre, p. 192. Brilliant descriptive power, p. 193. Suggestion of mystery, p. 193. Sense of colour, p. 195. Similes, p. 195. Speeches, p. 197. The loves of Jason and Medea, p. 198. General estimate, p. 200.

CHAPTER IX

STATIUS

Life, p. 202. Character, p. 205. The Thebais; its high average level, p. 206. Statius a miniature painter, p, 207. Weakness of the Theban-saga as a subject for epic, p. 208. Consequent lack of proportion and unity in Thebais, p. 210. Vergil too closely imitated, p. 211. Digressions, p. 212. Character-drawing superficial, p. 213. Tydeus, p. 214. Amphiaraus, p. 216. Parthenopaeus and other characters, p. 218. Atmosphere that of literature rather than life, p. 220. Fine descriptive passages, p. 221. Dexterity, often degenerating into preciosity, p. 224. Similes, p. 225. Metre, p. 226. The Achilleis, p. 227. The Silvae, p. 227. Flattery of Domitian, p. 228. Extraordinary preciosity, p. 229. Prettiness and insincerity, p. 230. Brilliant miniature-painting, p. 232. The Genethliacon Lucani, p. 233. Invocation to Sleep, p. 234. Conclusion, p. 235.