who wrote good comedies, and Plutarch,
the author of the famous Lives. See Jebb's
Primer of Greek Literature.
Roman Literature
Of literature, properly so called, there was nothing in Rome till the 3d century B. C. Marcus Porcius Cato, whose Origines (extant only in fragments) tells of the origin of Rome and some other Italian cities, is held to be the father of Latin prose. At the same time lived Ennius, a man of considerable genius, who wrote Roman history (Annales) in verse. Only fragments of the latter's works remain. In the 3d century, also, arose the drama. Andronicus, the first playwright, adapted his plays from the Greek. Of comedy the chief representative is Plautus, from whose work we have 20 plays, full of bright, witty dialogue and funny, laughable incidents. Plautus wrote at the end of the 3d and the beginning of the 2d century B. C. Soon after came Terence, six of whose comedies have come to us, which address a more refined and cultivated taste.
The drama was based on Greek plays, but the satire was wholly Roman. This was a general term to include most poetry which was not epic or dramatic. But the satire, in our sense of the term, or the really satirical satire was founded by Lucilius in the early half of the 2d century B. C. His satires were skits on the public men of the day and a free criticism of contemporary life; but we have only a few scraps of his poetry.
In the 1st century before Christ Varro was a writer of great learning on many subjects, and also a witty satirist. Cicero was ten years younger than Varro, and is held to have created a perfect prose style. His speeches show the power they must have had over the senators to whom they were addressed. He was the author also of many philosophical works. Cicero is noted more for his style than for deep thinking. Catullus was the first Roman to write lyrics in the Greek style. By many his odes are held to contain more real poetry than those of Horace. Lucretius sang of epicureanism in On the Nature of Things, which, like all of his work, is noted mainly for fine passages.
The Augustan age of Roman poetry—the latter part of the 1st prechristian century—was its greatest age, the time of Vergil, Horace and Ovid, familiar names throughout the civilized world. Vergil's Pastorals and his four Georgics, poems on farm life, are imitations of the Greek. His Æneid, in which he emulates Homer, was written to stir up Roman patriotism by tracing Rome's origin to Troy and the gods. Horace's father had been a slave, but he was given a good schooling. His Odes, though they imitate Greek lyric poetry, have much that is Roman and original. Their grace, beauty and finish of language are so exquisite as to escape even the most skillful translation. His satires and epistles were the most popular of his writings, because so full of homely common-sense. Ovid's great poem is the Metamorphoses, a collection of stories which turn on the change of men and women into animals, trees, plants or flowers.
In the same century the great prose-writers were Cæsar, Sallust and Livy. Cæsar told of his campaigns in a simple, straightforward style and in the best and purest Latin. Sallust, who wrote of the Catilinian conspiracy and the war with Jugurtha, was the first who really deserved to be called a historian. Of Livy's history of Rome the later and more important books are lost. His style is bright and picturesque.
Except for Seneca, the essayist, and Martial, the witty writer of epigrams, there was no writer of importance till the age of Domitian (81-96 A. D.), the age of Juvenal, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger and Quintilian. Juvenal's satires are bitter and savage. They grew out of his honest indignation against the vulgar rich and the fortune-hunters with whom Rome swarmed. Tacitus was a successful lawyer and a man of the world as well as a writer. His style is concise and nervous. His Agricola, the life of his father-in-law who was governor of Britain, is a masterpiece of biography. His Annals and Histories rank near Thucydides. His other main work was his Germany, a description of the region and its people. Pliny, as governor of a Roman province in Asia Minor, came into collision with the early Christians and gave his opinion of them to Emperor Trajan in a letter. His many other letters also are of interest, as illustrating sides of Roman life which would otherwise be unknown to us. Quintilian, a professor of rhetoric, has left a valuable treatise on this and kindred subjects, taking in the whole subject of education. See Wilkins' Primer of Latin Literature.
Syriac Literature
This is Christian. The oldest work we have is a translation of most of the Bible, known as the Peshito version, which is of great value to scholars. St. Ephraem, who lived in the 4th century, is the first important author. He was followed by a steady stream of writers until the 9th century, but most of their writings are lost. The work of these authors was chiefly important in that it acquainted the Arabs with classical learning. Among these scholars and authors were Jacob of Edessa, Bar-Ali and Bar-Hebræus.
Arabian Literature
Long before the time of Mohammed celebrated Arabian poets sang the feuds of tribes and the praises of heroes and fair
