A History of Roman Literature

Name: A History of Roman Literature
Author: Fowler, Harold North

Fowler, Harold North

Latin literature -- History and criticism

of God shall rest in the “stability of its eternal seat.” So his
language is still Latin; but his thoughts and sentiments are Christian,
not Roman. The ancient world was still visible about him, but the life
of the Middle Ages had begun.

The fourth century produced a considerable number of poets who
possessed no mean skill in versification, but whose works have for the
most part disappeared. [Sidenote: Optatianus.] Optatianus (Publilius
Optatianus Porphyrius) composed a poem in praise of Constantine in
which he shows his ingenuity by writing lines that take the shape of
an altar or an organ, contriving to make fifteen successive hexameters
each one letter shorter than its predecessor, making nineteen stanzas
of four lines each from the same twenty words, and inventing the
most complicated and elaborate acrostics and the like. Such work is
not poetry, but it shows skill in the manipulation of words. It is
interesting to know that Constantine was so pleased that he recalled
the ingenious author from banishment. [Sidenote: Juvencus.] About the
same time Juvencus (Gaius Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus) made a version
of the Gospel story in hexameters after the manner of Virgil. He shows
intelligent appreciation of the dignity and beauty of his model, and
writes skillfully and easily. This Latin poem is the prototype of the
“Gospel Harmonies” of the Middle Ages. [Sidenote: Avienus.] Avienus
(Rufus Festus Avienus), of Vulsinii, in Etruria, was a descendant of
the Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus (see page 177), and was twice
proconsul—in Africa in 366 and in Greece in 371 A. D. He translated
the _Phænomena_ of Aratus into Latin verse, and tried to improve upon
the translations by Cicero and Germanicus (see pages 70 and 173),
made a similar translation with variations from the _Periegesis_ of
Dionysius, described the coasts of the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the
Mediterranean in iambic trimeters, and made abridgments of Livy and
Virgil in the same metre. These last are lost, as is a large part of
the description of the coasts. Avienus was also the author of several
short poems. He has no little ability as a maker of verses, and has
the good taste to imitate Virgil, but exhibits no poetic originality.
His language is for the most part strictly classic. [Sidenote:
Querolus.] To about the same time as Avienus belongs also a curious
comedy entitled _Querolus_ (_The Discontented Man_), a free imitation
of the _Aulularia_ of Plautus, composed in a remarkable mixture of
prose and verse.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

A History of Roman LiteratureFowler, Harold North

History

A History of Roman Literature

Fowler, Harold North

Latin literature -- History and criticism

of God shall rest in the “stability of its eternal seat.” So his
language is still Latin; but his thoughts and sentiments are Christian,
not Roman. The ancient world was still visible about him, but the life
of the Middle Ages had begun.

The fourth century produced a considerable number of poets who
possessed no mean skill in versification, but whose works have for the
most part disappeared. [Sidenote: Optatianus.] Optatianus (Publilius
Optatianus Porphyrius) composed a poem in praise of Constantine in
which he shows his ingenuity by writing lines that take the shape of
an altar or an organ, contriving to make fifteen successive hexameters
each one letter shorter than its predecessor, making nineteen stanzas
of four lines each from the same twenty words, and inventing the
most complicated and elaborate acrostics and the like. Such work is
not poetry, but it shows skill in the manipulation of words. It is
interesting to know that Constantine was so pleased that he recalled
the ingenious author from banishment. [Sidenote: Juvencus.] About the
same time Juvencus (Gaius Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus) made a version
of the Gospel story in hexameters after the manner of Virgil. He shows
intelligent appreciation of the dignity and beauty of his model, and
writes skillfully and easily. This Latin poem is the prototype of the
“Gospel Harmonies” of the Middle Ages. [Sidenote: Avienus.] Avienus
(Rufus Festus Avienus), of Vulsinii, in Etruria, was a descendant of
the Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus (see page 177), and was twice
proconsul—in Africa in 366 and in Greece in 371 A. D. He translated
the _Phænomena_ of Aratus into Latin verse, and tried to improve upon
the translations by Cicero and Germanicus (see pages 70 and 173),
made a similar translation with variations from the _Periegesis_ of
Dionysius, described the coasts of the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the
Mediterranean in iambic trimeters, and made abridgments of Livy and
Virgil in the same metre. These last are lost, as is a large part of
the description of the coasts. Avienus was also the author of several
short poems. He has no little ability as a maker of verses, and has
the good taste to imitate Virgil, but exhibits no poetic originality.
His language is for the most part strictly classic. [Sidenote:
Querolus.] To about the same time as Avienus belongs also a curious
comedy entitled _Querolus_ (_The Discontented Man_), a free imitation
of the _Aulularia_ of Plautus, composed in a remarkable mixture of
prose and verse.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A History of Roman Literature

A History of Roman Literature

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