Cneus Nævius flourished about the year 500, and acquired great fame by some successful comedies which are now lost: he offended Lucius Cæcilius Metellus, a man of great power, and consular dignity, by whose influence the unfortunate poet was banished to Africa, where he died. Volcatius assigns to Nævius the third place. NOTE 42. _Plautus._ Marcus Accius Plautus was a native of Sarsina, a town of Umbria, near the Adriatic sea, and died at Rome, 182 B. C., at the age of forty, leaving behind him a literary reputation which very few, of any age or county, have ever been able to equal. Of those who refused to allow Plautus the title of the _First comic poet of Rome_, scarcely any have disputed his right to be second in the list, where Terence holds the _first_ place: some critics, indeed, have gone so far as to prefer Plautus, even to Terence himself; but Volcatius Sedigitus, whose judgment did Terence great injustice, makes Plautus second only to Cæcilius. The saying of Ælius Stilo is worthy of being recorded; “Musas Plautino sermone locuturas fuisse, si Latinè loqui vellent,” _that if the Muses wished to speak in Latin, they would speak in the language of Plautus_. This celebrated man wrote 27 or 28 comedies, which, notwithstanding the change of manners, kept possession of the stage for nearly 500 years; and were performed with applause as late as the reigns of Carus and Numerian. Only 20 of them are now extant. The following is the poet’s epitaph, written (as is supposed) by Varro, though Pietro Crinito affirms it to be the production of Plautus himself, of whom Crinito has written a biographical account. “_Postquam est morte captus Plautus, Comœdia luget, scena est deserta, Deinde risus, ludus jocusque et numeri Innumeri simul omnes collacrymarunt._” The comic muse bewails her Plautus dead, And silence reigns o’er the deserted stage; The joyous train that graced the scene are fled, And weep to lose, the wittiest of his age. While jests and sports their patron’s death deplore, And even laughter, now can smile no more. NOTE 43. _Cæcilius._ Cæcilius Statius was born in Gaul, and raised himself into eminence, from the condition of a slave, by his poetical talents: he died at Rome five or six years before the Andrian was first published. Volcatius gives Cæcilius the first place: Horace draws a sort of comparison between him and Terence in the following line, “Vincere Cæcilius gravitate, Terentius arte.” _Cæcilius Excelled in force, and grandeur of expression, Terence in art._ Quintilian tells us, “Cæcilium veteres laudibus serunt.” _The ancients resounded the praises of Cæcilius._――Also Varro, “Pathè vero, Cæcilius facile moverat.” That _Cæcilius knew how to interest the passions_.