A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

18 ENNIUS. ENNIUS.
Although under these circumstances: it is ex- fhcts; he was left to work his will upon the rude
tremely difficult to form any accurate judgment ballads of the vulgar, the wild traditions of the
with regard to his absolute merits as a poet, we old patrician clans, and the meagre chronicles of
are at least certain that his success was triumph- the priests. Niebuhr conjectures that the beautiful
ant. For a long series of years his strains were history of the kings in Livy may have been taken
read aloud to applauding multitudes, both in the from Ennius. No great space, however, was almetropolis and in the provinces; and a class of lotted to the earlier records, for the contest with
men arose who, in imitation of the Homeristae, Hannibal, which was -evidently described with
devoted themselves exclusively to the study and great minuteness, commenced with the seventh
recitation of his works, receiving the' appellation book, the first Punic war being passed over altoof Ennianistae. In the time of Cicero he was gether, as we are told by Cicero. (Brut. 19.)
still considered the prince of Roman song (En- II. Fabulae. The fame of Ennius as a dramatist,
nium summum Epicum poetam —de Opt. G. 0. 1. was little inferior to his reputation as an epic bard.
Summus poeta noster-pro Balb. 22); Virgil was His pieces, which were very numerous, appear to
not ashamed to. borrow many of his thoughts, and have been all translations or adaptations from the
not a few of his expressions; and even the splen- Greek, the metres of the originals being in most
dour of the Augustan age failed to throw him cases closely imitated. Fragments have been preinto the shade. And well did he merit the grati- served of the following tragedies: Achilles, Achitles
tude of his adopted countrymen; for not only did (Aristarchi), Ajax, Alemaeon, Aletxandeir, Androhe lay the basis of their literature, but actually macha, Andromeda, Antiope, Athamas, Cresphontes,
constructed their language. He found the Latin Dulorestes, Erectheus, Ezumenides, Hectoris Lytra,
tongue a rough, meagre, uncultivated dialect, Hecuba, Iliona (doubtful), Iphigenia, Medea,
made up of ill-cemented fragments, gathered at.Medus, Melanippa or Melanippus, Nemea, Neoptrandom from a number of different sources, subject olemnus, Phoenix, Telamon, Telephus, Thyestes; and
to no rules which might secure its stability, and of the following comedies, belonging to the class
destitute of any regular system of versification. of palliatae: Ambracia, Cupiuncula (perhaps CaHe softened its asperities, he enlarged its vocabu- prunculus), Celestis (name very doubtful), Pancralary, he regulated its grammatical combinations, tiastes,.s. Pancratiastae.
he amalgamated into one harmonious whole its For full information as to' the sources from
various conflicting elements, and he introduced the whence these were derived, consult the editions of
heroic hexameter, and various other metres, long Hesseiius and Bothe, together with the dissertacarefully elaborated by Grecian skill. Even in tions of Osann referred to at the end of this arthe disjointed and mutilated remains which have tide.
been transmitted to us, we observe a vigour of III. Satirae. In four (Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. i.
imagination, a national boldness of tone, and an 10), or according to others (Donat. ad Terent.
energy of expression which amply justify the Phorm. ii. 2. 25) in six books, of which less than
praises so liberally launched on his genius by the twenty-five scattered lines are extant, but from
ancients; and although we are perhaps at first these it is evident that the Satirae were composed
repelled by the coarseness, clumsiness, and antique in a great variety of metres, and from this circumfashion of the garb in which his high thoughts are stance, in all probability, received their appellainvested, we cannot but feel that what was after- tion.
wards gained in smoothness and refinement is a IV. S Cpio. A panegyric upon the public career
poor compensation for the loss of that freshness of his friend and patron, Africanus. The measure
and strength which breathe the hearty spirit of adopted seems to have been the trochaic tetramthe brave old days of Roman simplicity and free- eter catalectic, although a line quoted, possibly by
dom. The criticism of Ovid, " Ennius ingenio mistake, in Macrobius (Sat. vi. 4) is a dactyvlic
maximus arte rudis," is fair, and happily worded; hexameter. The five verses and a half which we
but the fine simile of Quintilian, " Ennium sicut possess of this piece do not enable us to decide
sacros vetustate lucos adoremus, in quibus grandia whether Valerius Maximus was entitled to term it
et antiqua robora, jam non tantam habent speciem, (viii. 14) rude et impolitum praeconium. (Suidas,
quantam religionem," more fully embodies our s. v.'Eznios; Schol. vet. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 1. 16.)
sentiments. Some scholars have supposed that the Scipio was; We subjoin a catalogue of the works of Ennius, in reality a drama belonging to the class of the
in so far as their titles can be ascertained. praetextatae.
I. Annalium Libri XVIL The most important V. Asotus. Varro and Festus when examining
of all his froductions was a history of Rome in into the meaning of certain uncommon words, quote
dactylic hexameters, commencing with the loves from " Ennius in Asoto," or as Scaliger, very erroof Mars: and: Rhea, and reaching down to his own neously, insists "in Sotadico." The subject and
times. The subject was selected with great judg- nature of this piece are totally unknown. Many
ment.- The picturesque fables, romantic legends, believe it to have been a comedy.
and chivalrous exploits with which it abounded, VI. Epicharmus. From a few remnants, amountafforded full scope for the exercises of his poetical ing altogether to little more than twenty lines, we
powers; he was enabled to testify gratitude to- gather that this must have been a philosophical
wards his personal friends, and to propitiate the didactic poem in which the nature of the gods, the
nobles as a body, by extolling their own lofty human mind and its phaenomena, the physical
deeds and the glories of their sires; and perhaps structure of the universe and various kindred
no theme could have been chosen so well calcu- topics, were discussed. From the title we conlated to awaken the enthusiasm of all ranks elude, that it was translated or imitated from
among a proud, warlike, and as yet unlettered Epicharmus the comic poet, who was a disciple of
people.; His fancy was cramped by none of those Pythagoras and is known to have written De
fetters imposed by a series of well ascertained Rerum Natura.