[Sidenote: Varro Atacinus.] A poet who continued the national traditions of Ennius and also imitated the Alexandrians was Publius Terentius Varro, called Varro Atacinus. He was born at Atax, in Gallia Narbonensis, in 82 B. C. He wrote a poem in hexameters on Cæsar’s war with the Sequani, and some satires, probably in the manner of Lucilius, In his thirty-fifth year he is said to have turned to the study of the Greek poets, and it is probably about this time that he translated into Latin hexameters the _Argonautica_ of the Alexandrian epic poet Apollonius Rhodius. A geographical poem, probably entitled _Chorographia_, and a series of elegiac poems in the Alexandrian manner probably belong to the time after the year 37 B. C. The few fragments of his poems show that he was a poet of more than ordinary gifts. [Sidenote: Valerius Cato.] The intellectual leader of the school of poets who found their inspiration in the works of the Alexandrians was the grammarian and teacher, P. Valerius Cato, whom Eurius Bibaculus calls “Cato the grammarian, the Latin Siren, who alone reads and makes poets.” Cato’s influence was exerted to lead his followers to imitate their Greek models carefully, to perfect their Latin style, and probably to introduce the new metres into Latin poetry. His own writings were grammatical treatises, poems, and a revision and correction of the works of Lucilius. The poem entitled _Diræ_, which is contained in manuscripts of Virgil, and really consists of two distinct poems, _Diræ_ and _Lydia_, has been ascribed with some probability to Cato. In the first poem the writer curses a veteran named Lycurgus, who has deprived him of his property and his beloved Lydia; in the second he addresses a touching farewell to Lydia, who has remained in the country. [Sidenote: Other poets.] Other poets of this period are M. Furius Bibaculus, who wrote satirical verses, Gaius Memmius, the proprætor of Bithynia in 57 B. C., Ticidas, Quintus Cornificius, and Cornelius Nepos—all of whom belonged to the new school and imitated the Alexandrians. Nepos we shall meet again among the prose writers. Others also, whose chief activity was in other fields, wrote poetry occasionally. Among these Cicero and his brother Quintus may be mentioned. The names of these lesser poets are of little importance to us, but it is worth while to mention them to call attention to the fact that poetry was cultivated by many of the younger men in the Ciceronian period. Through their efforts the various styles and metres of the Greek poets, especially those of the Alexandrian period, were made familiar to the Romans, and thus the way was prepared for Horace, Virgil, and Ovid in the Augustan age. [Illustration: CICERO. Bust in the Vatican Museum, Rome.] CHAPTER VI CICERO Cicero, 106-43 B. C.—His importance—His life—Periods of his literary activity—His works—The orations—Philosophical works—Letters—His character.