[Sidenote: The literary activity of Horace.] As we look back upon the literary activity of Horace, we find that he turned at first to satires in hexameters and epodes in the simple epodic metre. Then he enriched Roman literature by odes in imitation of the early Greek lyrists, to return afterward to his original style in the more refined form of epistles. It was only at the command of Augustus that he once more composed elaborate lyrics. His lyric poems are not natural outpourings of sentiment, but deliberate attempts to add to the beauty of Roman literature and thereby to the glory of the Roman Empire. And it is chiefly to these poems that he owes his fame. They are not equal in merit, but they are the most perfect productions of Roman lyric poetry. As such they were recognized in Horace’s own lifetime, and as such they have been admired and loved through the succeeding ages, never more than in recent times. Countless scholars, poets, and men of letters have read them with delight, and many have been the attempts to render their inimitable charm in translations. But their subtle beauty defies the translator’s art. None but Horace himself has been able to express his delicate feeling and poetic fancy in such perfect form. The _Satires_ and the _Epistles_ are full of brilliant and witty sayings, of critical and historical remarks; they throw much light upon the social and literary life of the period, and make us acquainted with the character of the poet; but the _Odes_ are “a monument more enduring than bronze,” testifying to the genius, the industry, the good taste, and, in some cases, to the patriotic spirit of the most perfect of Roman lyric poets. CHAPTER X TIBULLUS—PROPERTIUS—THE LESSER POETS Roman society—The amorous elegy—Cornelius Gallus, 70-27 B. C.—Gaius Valgius Rufus, consul 12 B. C.—Albius Tibullus, about 54 to about 19 B. C.—Lygdamus, born 43 B. C.—Sulpicia—Sextus Propertius, about 50 to about 15 B. C.—Domitius Marsus, about 54 to about 4 B. C.—Albinovanus Pedo—Ponticus—Macer—Grattius—Rabirius—Cornelius Severus—Gaius Melissus and the Fabula Trabeata—Manilius—The Priapea—Poems ascribed to Virgil and Ovid.