The greater part of the book is naturally taken up with the extant literary works and their authors; but I have devoted some space to the lives and works of authors whose writings are lost. This I have done, not because I believe that the reader should burden his memory with useless details, but partly in order that this book may be of use as a book of reference, and partly because the mention of some of the lost works and their authors may impress upon the reader the fact that something is known of many writers whose works have survived, if at all, only in detached fragments. Not a few of these writers were important in their day, and exercised no little influence upon the progress of literature. Of the whole mass of Roman literary production only a small part—though fortunately in great measure the best part—now exists, and it is only by remembering how much has been lost that the modern reader can appreciate the continuity of Roman literature. The literature of the third, fourth, and fifth centuries after Christ is treated less fully than that of the earlier times, but its importance to later European civilization has been so great that a summary treatment of it should be included even in a book of such limited scope as this. The Bibliography will, I hope, be found useful. It is by no means exhaustive, but may serve as a guide to those who have not access to libraries. The purpose of the Chronological Table is not so much to serve as a finding-list of dates as to show at a glance what authors were living and working at any given time. In the Index the names of all Latin writers mentioned in the book are to be found, together with references to numerous topics and to some of the more important historical persons. Besides the works of the Roman authors, I have consulted the general works mentioned in the Bibliography and numerous other books and special articles. I have made most use of Teuffel’s _History of Roman Literature_, Schanz’s _Römische Litteraturgeschichte_, and Mackail’s admirable _Latin Literature_. My thanks are due to my colleague, Prof. Samuel Ball Platner, who read the book in manuscript and made many valuable suggestions, and to Professor Perrin, who read not only the manuscript, but also the proof, and suggested not a few desirable changes. HAROLD N. FOWLER. CLEVELAND, OHIO. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I.—INTRODUCTION—EARLY ROMAN LITERATURE—TRAGEDY 1 II.—COMEDY 17 III.—EARLY PROSE—THE SCIPIONIC CIRCLE—LUCILIUS 32 IV.—LUCRETIUS 47 V.—CATULLUS—MINOR POETS 56 VI.—CICERO 65 VII.—CÆSAR—SALLUST—OTHER PROSE WRITERS 83 VIII.—THE PATRONS OF LITERATURE—VIRGIL 97