i. THE STAGE. Drama never really flourishing at Rome, p. 23. Comedy, represented by Mime and Atellan farce, p. 24. Legitimate comedy nearly extinct, p. 25. Tragedy replaced by _salticae fabulae_, p. 26; or musical recitations, p. 28. Pomponius Secundus, p. 29. Curiatius Maternus, p. 30. ii. SENECA: his life and character, p. 31. His position in literature, p. 35. His epigrams, p. 36. His plays, p. 39. Their genuineness, p. 40. The _Octavia, Oedipus, Agamemnon,_ and _Hercules Oetaeus,_ p. 41. Date of the plays, p. 43. Their dramatic value, p. 44. Plot, p. 45. Descriptions, p. 48. Declamation, p. 49; at its best in _Troades_ and _Phaedra_, p. 51. Dialogue, p. 55. Stoicism, p. 58. Poetry (confined mainly to lyrics), p. 63. Cleverness of the rhetoric, p. 65. _Sententiae_, p. 68. Hyperbole, p. 69. Diction and metre; iambics, p. 70; lyrics, p. 71. Plays not written for the stage, p. 72. Influence on later drama, p. 74. iii. THE OCTAVIA. Sole example of _fabula praetexta_, p. 74. Plot, p. 75. Characteristics, p. 76. Date and authorship, p. 77. CHAPTER III PERSIUS Life, p. 79. Works, p. 81. Influence of Lucilius, p. 83; of Horace, p. 84. Obscurity, p. 85. Qualifications necessary for a satirist; Persius' weakness through lack of them, p. 87. Success in purely literary satire, p. 88. Lack of close observation of life, p. 90. Persius' nobility of character, p. 91. His Stoicism, p. 93. His capacity for friendship, p. 95. CHAPTER IV LUCAN Life, p. 97. Minor works, p. 99. His choice of a subject, p. 101, Choice of epic methods, p. 102. Petronius' criticism of historical epic, p. 103. Difficulties of the subject, p. 104. Design of the poem, p. 106. Characters: Pompey, p. 106. Caesar, p. 108. Cato, p. 109. Descriptive passages, p. 112. Hyperbole, p. 115. Irrelevance, p. 116. Lack of poetic vocabulary, p. 116. Tendency to political satire, p. 117. Speeches, p. 120. _Sententiae,_ p. 122. Metre, p. 123. Summary, p. 123. CHAPTER V PETRONIUS Authorship of _Satyricon:_ character of Titus Petronius, p. 125. Literary criticism, p. 127. Attack on contemporary rhetoric, p. 128. Eumolpus the poet, p. 129; laments the decay of art, p. 130. Poem on the Sack of Troy, p. 130. Criticism of historical epic, p. 131. The poetic fragments, p. 133. Epigrams, p. 134. Question of genuineness, p. 135. Their high poetic level, p. 136. CHAPTER VI MINOR POETRY, 14-69 A.D. I. DIDACTIC POETRY i. THE AETNA. Its design, p. 140. Characteristics of the poem, p. 141. Authorship, p. 143. Date, p. 145. ii. COLUMELLA. Life and works, p. 146. His tenth book, a fifth Georgic on gardening, p. 147. His enthusiasm and descriptive power, p. 148. II. CALPURNIUS SICULUS, THE EINSIEDELN FRAGMENTS, AND THE PANEGYRICUS IN PISONEM