Chapter III: The Augustan Age (2)

Albius Tibullus (his praenomen was perhaps Aulus, which, from the abbreviation A. being followed by Albius, was lost in the MSS.) seems to have been born near Pedum in Latium. (1) Horace, in _Ep._ i. 4, 2, addressed to Tibullus, asks, 'Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana?' apparently referring to the 'sedes avitae' of Tibullus (Tibull. ii. 4, 53). (2) The Life contained in the best MSS., and probably to be attributed to Suetonius, calls him 'Albius Tibullus, eques Romanus' (codd. Paris. and Lips. 'regulis'). Bährens (_Tibullische Blätter_) holds that _Romanus_ is an erroneous correction of _regulis_, for which he proposes to read _R._ (= Romanus) _e Gabis_ (= Gabiis). Gabii was within a short distance of Pedum.

The date of his birth can be fixed only by indirect evidence.

(1) The Life says 'obiit adulescens,' and the epigram of Domitius Marsus, found in the best MSS., calls Tibullus 'iuvenis' at the time of his death, which must have occurred about the same time as Virgil's, in B.C. 19,

'Te quoque Vergilio comitem non aequa, Tibulle,
mors iuvenem campos misit ad Elysios,
ne foret aut elegis molles qui fleret amores
aut caneret forti regia bella pede.'

(2) Ovid (_Tr._ iv. 10, 53) says of Tibullus,

'Successor fuit hic tibi, Galle, Propertius illi.'

Since Gallus was born B.C. 70, and Propertius about B.C. 49, the birth of Tibullus must have fallen between those years.

(3) Tibullus accompanied Messalla when he left for Aquitania, B.C. 30 or 29, according to the Life: 'Ante alios Corvinum Messallam oratorem dilexit, cuius etiam contubernalis Aquitanico bello militaribus donis donatus est.' Cf. Tibull. i. 7, 9,

'Non sine me est tibi partus honos; Tarbella Pyrene
testis et Oceani litora Santonici.'

Putting together these references we may place the date of Tibullus' birth in B.C. 54. (The statement of the Life in the Codex Guelferbytanus, 'Natus est Hyrtio et Pansa coss.' is clearly wrong).

He was of equestrian rank, and at one time possessed considerable wealth, apparently inherited from a long line of ancestors; i. 1, 41,

'Non ego divitias patrum fructusque requiro
quos tulit antiquo condita messis avo.'

Cf. ii. 1, 1; ii. 4, 53; Hor. _Ep._ i. 4, 7,

'Di tibi divitias dederunt.'

His family property, however, had been greatly diminished; i. 1, 19,

'Vos quoque, felicis quondam nunc pauperis agri
custodes, fertis munera vestra, lares:
tunc vitula innumeros lustrabat caesa iuvencos;
nunc agna exigui est hostia parva soli.'

Cf. i. 1, 5 and 37.

It has been supposed that Tibullus suffered these losses in the agrarian disturbances of B.C. 41, and that his lands, like those of Virgil and Propertius, were confiscated. No town in Latium, however, is mentioned by Appian as having its territory thus assigned. Tibullus' property may possibly have been restored to him through the influence of Messalla.[65] Cf. Hor. _Ep._ i. 4, 11,

'Et mundus victus non deficiente crumena';

also Tibull. i. 1, 77,

'Ego composito securus acervo
despiciam dites despiciamque famem.'

Of Messalla Tibullus always speaks with the greatest affection. He refused at first to accompany him to the East after the battle of Actium, but afterwards followed him, and was forced through illness to remain at Corcyra: i. 1, 53,

'Te bellare decet terra, Messalla, marique,
ut domus hostiles praeferat exuvias:
me retinent vinctum formosae vincla puellae';

i, 3, 3,

'Me tenet ignotis aegrum Phaeacia terris.'

In the Aquitanian campaign he was Messalla's _contubernalis_, and had military distinctions conferred on him (see p. 186).

No further particulars of Tibullus are known, save his love for his mistresses Delia and Nemesis, and the fact mentioned by Ovid, in a poem on his death, that his mother and sister survived him; _Amor._ iii. 9, 50,

'Mater et in cineres ultima dona tulit.
Hinc soror in partem misera cum matre doloris
venit inornatas dilaniata comas.'

Delia's real name was Plania (+dêlos+ = _planus_): cf. Apuleius, _Apol._ 10, 'eadem igitur opera accusent ... Tibullum quod ei sit Plania in animo Delia in versu.' She was a _libertina_, for the name is not known as a _nomen gentilicium_, and she had had a husband (i. 2, 41, 'coniunx tuus'), who appears to have been serving with the army in Cilicia: i. 2, 65,

'Ferreus ille fuit, qui te cum posset habere,
maluerit praedas stultus et arma sequi.
Ille licet Cilicum victas agat ante catervas,' etc.

A divorce had probably taken place, as she was not entitled to wear the distinctive dress of the Roman matron; i. 6, 67,

'Sit modo casta, doce, quamvis non vitta ligatos
impediat crines nec stola longa pedes.'

Nemesis was a _meretrix_; ii. 4, 14,

'Illa cava pretium flagitat usque manu.'

She appears to be the 'immitis Glycera' of Hor. _Od._ i. 33, 2, addressed to Albius (so Kiessling _ad loc._). Both Delia and Nemesis are represented by Ovid as present at the funeral of Tibullus. _Amor._ iii. 9, 53,

'Cumque tuis sua iunxerunt Nemesisque priorque
oscula nec solos destituere rogos.'

Tibullus was on friendly terms with Horace, who addressed to him _Od._ i. 33 and _Ep._ i. 4. Horace was doubtless attracted by the frank nature of Tibullus (_Ep._ i. 4, 1, 'Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide iudex'), and by the community of taste which led them both to imitate the classical Ionic rather than the Alexandrian elegy. Horace corroborates the statement of Life i. ('insignis forma cultuque corporis observabilis') that Tibullus had a fine presence; _ibid._ 1. 6,

'Non tu corpus eras sine pectore: di tibi formam,
di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi.'

Ovid had met and admired him, and has numerous imitations of him in his poems; but the difference of age and the early death of Tibullus prevented any long acquaintance; Ovid, _Tr._ iv. 10, 51,

'Nec amara Tibullo
tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae.'

Of friendship between Propertius and Tibullus there is no evidence: they never mention one another.

(2) WORKS.

Four Books of elegiac poems are attributed to Tibullus, who ranks first among Roman elegists in the view of Quintilian, x. 1, 93, 'Elegia quoque Graecos provocamus, cuius mihi tersus atque elegans maxime videtur auctor Tibullus.'

Book i., on the poet's love for Delia and Marathus (_El._ 7 is to Messalla), was published by himself, and was apparently composed in the years B.C. 31-27. This agrees with Ovid, _Tr._ ii. 463,

'Legiturque Tibullus
et placet, et iam te principe notus erat,'

if we assume that 'principe' refers to the title of Augustus.

Book ii., the chief subject of which is Nemesis, appears to have been written several years later. It is unfinished, not having received the author's final revision, and was probably published soon after his death, certainly several years before Ovid's _Ars Amatoria_ (cf. _A.A._ 535 _sqq._).

Book iii. (six Elegies) is professedly the work of Lygdamus. No poet of that name is mentioned in ancient literature, and it has been suggested that the author may have been a young relative of Tibullus who used a Greek adaptation of the gentile name Albius (+lygdos+ = white marble). He speaks as a man of good social position (iii. 2, 22). From the fact that he belonged to the circle of Messalla, his poems came to be added to those of Tibullus, whom he constantly imitates. There are also many reminiscences of Horace, Ovid, and Propertius. The six Elegies are addressed to Neaera, who was probably the poet's cousin and was married or betrothed to him (iii. 1, 23; 2, 12). Lygdamus was born in the same year as Ovid, B.C. 43; iii. 5, 17,

'Natalem primo nostrum videre parentes,
cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.'

The remarkable coincidence between iii. 5, 15-20, and Ovid, _A.A._ ii. 669-70, _Tr._ iv. 10, 6, _Amor._ ii. 14, 23-4, is best explained by Hiller (_Hermes_, xviii. 360-1), who suggests that Lygdamus may have composed the poem in his earlier years merely to amuse Neaera, without publishing it, and that after Ovid's works had appeared he may, to oblige a friend or patron (_e.g._ Messalinus), have published his collection of elegies, adding in the process of revision the lines copied from Ovid.

The remaining poems belong to Book iii. in the MSS., but in most editions are printed as a separate Book iv. iv. 1, in hexameters, is the _Panegyricus Messallae_, written in honour of Messalla's consulship, B.C. 31. Its rhetorical exaggeration and want of taste forbid its being attributed to Tibullus, written, as it was, so shortly before he reached the summit of his powers. Its date puts Lygdamus out of question: doubtless it is by some young member of Messalla's circle.

The rest of the Book has for its theme the love of Sulpicia, the daughter of Servius Sulpicius and Valeria, the sister of Messalla, for a young Greek named Cerinthus. _El._ 2-6 are apparently by Tibullus himself, who may have amused himself by turning into verse the letters of the young lovers. _El._ 7 is of disputed authorship; but it resembles the work of Sulpicia rather than that of Tibullus. _El._ 8-12 are by Sulpicia to Cerinthus. _El._ 13 purports to be by Tibullus. _El._ 14 is an epigram, of doubtful authorship.

Two _Priapea_ are found in MSS. of Tibullus, but probably neither of them is by him.

PROPERTIUS.

(1) LIFE.

The name by which the poet designates himself is Propertius simply; the praenomen Sextus rests on the authority of Donatus. The additions in some MSS., 'Aurelius' and 'Nauta,' are clearly erroneous.

He was certainly a native of the district of Umbria, and probably of the town of Asisium (the modern Assisi). Cf. iv. 1, 121,

'Umbria te notis antiqua penatibus edit,
(mentior? an patriae tangitur ora tuae?)
qua nebulosa cavo rorat Mevania campo,
et lacus aestivis intepet Umber aquis,
scandentisque Asisi consurgit vertice murus,
murus ab ingenio notior ille tuo.'

'Asisi' in l. 125 is Lachmann's emendation for 'Asis' of the MSS., and is rendered almost certain by the topography of the district. Asisium agrees better than Hispellum (the modern Spello) with the description in the passage quoted; with iv. 1, 65,

'Scandentes quisquis cernet de vallibus arces,
ingenio muros aestimet ille meo';

and with the epithet 'proxima' in i. 22, 9, as Asisium is nearer than Hispellum to Perusia. Cf. i. 22, 3-10,

'Si Perusina tibi patriae sunt nota sepulcra,
Italiae duris funera temporibus, ...
proxima supposito contingens Umbria campo
me genuit terris fertilis uberibus.'

At Assisi, moreover, have been found several inscriptions of the Propertii, one of which, C. PASSENNO | C. F. SERG. |, PAULLO | PROPERTIO | BLAESO,[66] probably refers to the Passennus Paullus mentioned by Pliny, _Ep._ vi. 15, as 'municeps Propertii.'

Propertius was younger than Tibullus, and older than Ovid. His birth, therefore, took place between B.C. 54 and 43 (Hertzberg gives 46, Postgate prefers 50). Cf. Ovid, _Tr._ iv. 10, 53,

'Successor fuit hic [Tibullus] tibi, Galle; Propertius illi;
quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui.'

He came of a family well known in the neighbourhood (cf. iv. 1, 121, 'notis penatibus,' already quoted), but not 'noble' in the technical sense; ii. 34, 55,

'Aspice me, cui parva domi fortuna relictast,
nullus et antiquo Marte triumphus avi.'

His childhood was clouded by the early death of his father, and by the confiscation of his estate in B.C. 41; iv. 1, 127,

'Ossaque legisti non illa aetate legenda
patris; et in tenues cogeris ipse lares,
nam tua cum multi versarent rura iuvenci,
abstulit excultas pertica tristis opes.'

His mother then took him to Rome, where he studied law for a short time after assuming the _toga virilis_, but abandoned it in favour of poetry; iv. 1, 131,

'Mox ubi bulla rudi demissast aurea collo,
matris et ante deos libera sumpta toga,
tum tibi pauca suo de carmine dictat Apollo
et vetat insano verba tonare foro.'

Meanwhile he was engaged in his first love affair with Lycinna, who is otherwise unknown (iii. 15, 3 _sqq._). In B.C. 29 or 28 his acquaintance with Cynthia began. Her real name was Hostia (Apuleius, _Apol._ 10, 'Accusent ... Propertium, qui Cynthiam dicat, Hostiam dissimulet'), and she was possibly a grand-daughter of the poet Hostius (p. 65). Cf. iii. 20, 8,

'Splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo.'

A courtesan of the higher class, she is represented by Propertius as possessed of great personal charms and varied accomplishments (i. 2, 30, 'Omnia quaeque Venus quaeque Minerva probat'), combined with many faults of temper and character. She had a house at Rome in the Subura, and we hear of her also at Tibur, where she was buried (iv. 7, 15; 85). She was considerably older than Propertius; ii. 18, 19,

'At tu etiam iuvenem odisti me, perfida, cum sis
ipsa anus haud longa curva futura die.'

At the end of two years the unfaithfulness of Propertius led to twelve months of estrangement; iii. 16, 9,

'Peccaram semel, et totum sum pulsus in annum.'

Cynthia was reconciled to him about the beginning of B.C. 25; but the passion on both sides gradually cooled until, in 23, Propertius harshly cast her off (iii. 24 and 25). Possibly there was a second reconciliation before her death (iv. 7). The five years of bondage (iii. 25, 3, 'Quinque tibi potui servire fideliter annos,') will thus be B.C. 28, 27, 25-23.

Propertius lived chiefly at Rome; but i. 18 was written near the Clitumnus, and in ii. 19 he promises to join Cynthia in that region. In iii. 21 he contemplates a voyage to Athens; l. 1,

'Magnum iter ad doctas proficisci cogor Athenas,
ut me longa gravi solvat amore via.'

A few years earlier he had refused to accompany his friend Tullus to Athens and Asia (i. 6).

Nothing is known of the subsequent life of Propertius, but from two passages in the younger Pliny it is natural to infer that he married, in obedience to the _Lex Iulia_ of B.C. 18, and had issue. Pliny, _Ep._ vi. 15, 'Passennus Paullus ... inter maiores suos Propertium numerat'; ix. 22, 'Propertium ... a quo genus ducit.'

We cannot tell even when he died. He must have been alive in B.C. 16, because iv. 6 was written for the _ludi quinquennales_, which were held for the first time in that year; and iv. 11. 65, is an allusion to the consulship of P. Cornelius Scipio, also in B.C. 16.

In personal appearance Propertius was pale and thin, and rather fond of dress; i. 5, 21,

'Nec iam pallorem totiens mirabere nostrum,
aut cur sim toto corpore nullus ego';

ii. 4, 5,

'Nequiquam perfusa meis unguenta capillis,
ibat et expenso planta morata gradu.'

He had been introduced to Maecenas after the publication of his first Book, but naturally was not on such intimate terms with him as older men like Virgil and Horace were. ii. 1 and iii. 9 are addressed to Maecenas. In the first of these poems Propertius declares that he is unequal to the composition of an epic, which his patron had urged upon him, but adds (l. 17)

'Quod mihi si tantum, Maecenas, fata dedissent
ut possem heroas ducere in arma manus, ...
bellaque resque tui memorarem Caesaris, et tu
Caesare sub magno cura secunda fores.'

For poems referring to Augustus cf. ii. 10, iv. 6 (on Actium), iii. 18 (on the death of Marcellus).

Horace and Propertius do not mention each other by name. Chronology forbids the identification of the bore in Hor. _Sat._ i. 9 with Propertius, who, on the same ground, cannot be meant in _Sat._ i. 10, 18,

'Neque simius iste,
nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.'

But Hor. _Ep._ ii. 2, 87-101, is undoubtedly aimed at Propertius. Cf. especially l. 99,

'Discedo Alcaeus puncto illius; ille meo quis?
quis nisi Callimachus? Si plus adposcere visus,
fit Mimnermus et optivo cognomine crescit.'

Though both poets belonged to the same literary circle, they differed widely in temperament as well as in age. With Tibullus, who was a member of Messalla's circle, Propertius may have had no personal acquaintance; at all events, neither alludes to the other.

For Virgil Propertius expresses warm admiration in ii. 34, written during the composition of the _Aeneid_. Ovid, who calls him 'blandus' (_Tr._ ii. 465) and 'tener' (_A.A._ iii. 333), was an intimate friend of his; cf. _Tr._ iv. 10, 45 (quoted p. 206). The minor poets to whom he writes are Ponticus (i. 7 and 9), Bassus (i. 4), and a tragic poet, Lynceus (a pseudonym, ii. 34, 25).

(2) WORKS.

The extant Elegies, divided in the MSS. into four Books, are probably all that Propertius ever wrote. On account of the disproportionate length of Book ii., and the number 'tres' (which, however, may be said in anticipation) in ii. 13, 25,

'Sat mea sat magna est si tres sint pompa libelli,
quos ego Persephonae maxima dona feram,'

some editors make Book ii. consist only of _El._ 1-9, and assign the remainder (10-34) to a new Book iii. Books iii. and iv. of the MSS. then become iv. and v. respectively. In the most recent editions, however, the MSS. arrangement is retained, and it is here followed.

_Book_ i.--All the Elegies in Book i., except the last two, are amatory. _El._ 2-10 belong to the first months of the poet's love, when Cynthia was gracious, though capricious. She had refused to accompany a rival of his, who was going to Illyricum as praetor (_El._ 8); but afterwards she left Rome for Baiae, and the rest of the Book is full of complaints of her harshness. _El._ 1, written after the year of separation, introduces the whole Book in a melancholy strain.

The clearest indication of date in Book i. is 8, 21, 'Nam me non ullae poterunt corrumpere taedae,' where Propertius protests that he will never marry, in spite of the _Lex Iulia_ of B.C. 27. (He could not legally marry a woman of Cynthia's class.) The Book was published probably in B.C. 25, under the title of 'Cynthia.' Cf. ii. 24, 1,

'Cum sis iam noto fabula libro
et tua sit toto Cynthia lecta foro.'

Her name was a recommendation for the Book, and it was probably her satisfaction at the fame which it brought her that caused her to relent towards Propertius. Cf. Mart. xiv. 189,

'Cynthia, facundi carmen iuvenile Properti,
accepit famam, nec minus ipsa dedit.'

At all events, a few months afterwards we find the old relations re-established; ii. 3, 3,

'Vix unum potes, infelix, requiescere mensem,
et turpis de te iam liber alter erit.'

_Book_ ii.--Cynthia is the theme of nearly all the thirty-four poems of Book ii., which give lively expression to her lover's varying moods. Only three Elegies (1, 10, and 31) are given to other subjects.

Of the few poems to which dates can be assigned, the earliest is _El._ 31 (on the dedication of the temple of the Palatine Apollo, B.C. 28), and the latest is _El._ 10, to Augustus (written shortly before the invasion of Arabia by Aelius Gallus in B.C. 24. Cf. l. 16, 'et domus intactae te tremit Arabiae'). The Book was therefore published B.C. 24 at the earliest.

_Book_ iii.--In this Book the poems on Cynthia form a far smaller proportion; 7, 12, and 22 show the warmth of the poet's friendship; events of national interest are treated in 4, 11, and 18. In 5, 23-47, Propertius looks forward to spending his later years in the study of natural science ('naturae perdiscere mores,' l. 25).

There are few hints of the date of any of the poems in iii. _El._ 20 is apparently as early as B.C. 28; 18 certainly belongs to B.C. 23; 4 perhaps refers to the expedition against the Parthians planned in B.C. 22. The last-mentioned year is the earliest possible date of publication.

_Book_ iv., in which there is no principle of arrangement, probably appeared after the author's death. His archaeological tastes come out in four Elegies written, in imitation of the +Aitia+ of Callimachus, on Roman antiquities--_El._ 2 on Vertumnus, 4 on Tarpeia, 9 on Cacus, 10 on Jupiter Feretrius. In this way Propertius fulfilled his promise to Maecenas, iii. 9, 49,

'Celsaque Romanis decerpta Palatia tauris
ordiar et caeso moenia firma Remo,
eductosque pares silvestri ex ubere reges,
crescet et ingenium sub tua iussa meum.'

_El._ 7 and 8 relate to Cynthia; in 7 her ghost appears to the poet. _El._ 3, a letter from Arethusa to Lycotas, possibly suggested to Ovid the plan of his _Heroides_, just as the antiquarian poems already mentioned may have suggested the _Fasti_. The Book ends with a lament for Cornelia, daughter of Scribonia, Augustus' first wife (_El._ 11).

The date of 6 and 11 is certainly not earlier than B.C. 16, while 8 seems to have been written before the rupture with Cynthia. The antiquarian poems are considered by some to have been among Propertius' earliest efforts.

Propertius was familiar with the whole range of Greek poetry--Homer (iii. 1, 25-34), Mimnermus (i. 9, 11), Pindar (iii. 17, 40), the dramatists, Theocritus, and Apollonius Rhodius. As his models he names especially the Alexandrians Callimachus and Philetas, whom he claims to follow more closely than any of his predecessors; iii. 1, 1,

'Callimachi Manes et Coi sacra Philetae,
in vestrum, quaeso, me sinite ire nemus.
Primus ego ingredior puro de fonte sacerdos
Itala per Graios orgia ferre choros.'

Cf. iv. 1, 64,

'Umbria Romani patria Callimachi.'

In wealth of mythological illustration Propertius is peculiarly Alexandrian. He is continually drawing parallels and contrasts from Greek legend; _e.g._ i. 15, Cynthia how unlike Calypso! iii. 12, Aelia Galla a modern Penelope. Of Roman poets, he names as his predecessors in amatory verse Virgil, Varro Atacinus, Catullus, Calvus, and Cornelius Gallus (ii 34, 61-92). Once he dreams of writing an epic on the Alban kings in the vein of Ennius; iii. 3, 5,

'Parvaque tam magnis admoram fontibus ora,
unde pater sitiens Ennius ante bibit.'

In Propertius love of social pleasures appears side by side with a strain of deep melancholy _e.g._ in. 5, 21,

Me iuvat et multo mentem vincire Lyaeo
et caput in verna semper habere rosa,

contrasted with the numerous passages where he is thinking of the grave, _e.g._ ii. 1, 71,

'Quandocumque igitur vitam mea fata reposcent,
et breve in exiguo marmore nomen ero.'

There is no greater patriot than Propertius. Cf. the denunciation of Cleopatra (iii. 11) and the frequency of the epithet 'Romanus.'

OVID.

(1) LIFE.

Ovid's own writings (especially _Tr._ iv. 10) supply nearly all the information we possess regarding his life. The biographies in the MSS. are valueless.

P. Ovidius Naso was his full name, in which the MSS. agree. He speaks of himself as Naso simply, and Statius and Martial refer to him by that name; Tacitus and the two Senecas use the _nomen_ Ovidius.

He was born in Sulmo, one of the three divisions of the Paelignian country, B.C. 43--the year in which Hirtius and Pansa fell at Mutina. _Tr._ iv. 10, 3,

'Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis,
milia qui novies distat ab urbe decem.
Editus hic ego sum; nec non ut tempora noris,
cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.'

His birthday was 20th March--the second day of the festival of the Quinquatria (cf. _Fast._ iii. 809-814), l. 13,

'Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae,
quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.'

He belonged to an equestrian family, and he frequently contrasts himself with those who had reached that dignity by military service or by possessing the requisite fortune; _ibid._ l. 7,

'Si quid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis heres,
non sum fortunae munere factus eques.'

Cf. _Am._ i. 3, 7; iii. 8, 9; iii. 15, 5; _Pont._ iv. 8, 17.

Along with his elder brother, he received a careful education at Rome, and studied also at Athens. He practised rhetoric under Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro. _Tr._ iv. 10, 15,

'Protinus excolimur teneri, curaque parentis
imus ad insignes urbis ab arte viros.'

_Tr._ i. 2, 77,

'Non peto quas quondam petii studiosus Athenas.'

Sen. _Contr._ ii. 10, 8, 'Hanc controversiam memini ab Ovidio Nasone declamari apud rhetorem Arellium Fuscum, cuius auditor fuit, nam Latronis admirator erat, cum diversum sequeretur dicendi genus.' Seneca says that _Met._ xiii. 121, and _Am._ i. 2, 11, were borrowed from Latro.

But, in spite of his father's remonstrances, Ovid preferred poetry to public life. _Tr._ iv. 10, 19,

'At mihi iam parvo caelestia sacra placebant,
inque suum furtim Musa trahebat opus.
Saepe pater dixit, "studium quid inutile temptas?
Maeonides nullas ipse reliquit opes."
Motus eram dictis totoque Helicone relicto
scribere conabar verba soluta modis:
sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos;
quicquid temptabam dicere, versus erat.'

In due time he assumed the _toga virilis_, and with it the broad purple stripe worn by prospective senators. He also held two of the minor offices of the _vigintiviratus_, the preliminary to a senatorial career, being (1) triumvir capitalis or else triumvir monetalis, (2) decemvir stlitibus iudicandis. _Tr._ iv. 10, 28,

'Liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga est,
induiturque umeris cum lato purpura clavo';

l. 33,

'Cepimus et tenerae primos aetatis honores,
deque viris quondam pars tribus una fui.'

_Fast._ iv. 384,

'Inter bis quinos usus honore viros.'

In virtue of this second office he sat in the centumviral court;[67] and he also acted as an arbitrator. _Tr._ ii. 93,

'Nec male commissa est nobis fortuna reorum
lisque decem deciens inspicienda viris.
Res quoque privatas statui sine crimine iudex.'

He sought no higher office, having neither strength nor inclination for the Senate; he assumed the narrow stripe of the _eques_, and devoted himself to poetry and pleasure. _Tr._ iv. 10, 35,

'Curia restabat: clavi mensura coacta est:
maius erat nostris viribus illud onus.
Nec patiens corpus, nec mens fuit apta labori,
sollicitaeque fugax ambitionis eram.
Et petere Aoniae suadebant tuta sorores
otia, iudicio semper amata meo.'

He made a tour in Asia (including Troy) and Sicily in the company of the poet Pompeius Macer: the date of this journey is unknown, but he was almost a year in Sicily. _Pont._ ii. 10, 21-29 (to Macer),

'Te duce magnificas Asiae perspeximus urbes,
Trinacris est oculis te duce nota meis, ...
Hic mihi labentis pars anni magna peracta est.'

_Fast._ vi. 423,

'Cura videre fuit: vidi templumque locumque,'

(of the temple of Pallas at Troy).

Towards the end of A.D. 8, Ovid was banished by imperial edict to Tomi, on the Black Sea, near the mouth of the Danube, the cause alleged being the publication of the _Ars Amatoria_. Ovid mentions this edict, but also hints at another reason, connected with the imperial family. _Tr._ ii. 207,

'Perdiderint cum me duo crimina, carmen et error,
alterius facti culpa silenda mihi;
nam non sum tanti renovem ut tua vulnera, Caesar,
quem nimio plus est indoluisse semel.
Altera pars superest, qua turpi carmine factus
arguor obscaeni doctor adulterii.'

He was guilty of no crime of his own, but was banished for witnessing the crime of another. Cf. _Tr._ iii. 5, 49,

'Inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, plector,
peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum.'

It is probable that the real reason[68] of Ovid's banishment was that he was privy to a guilty intrigue between D. Silanus and Julia, the grand-daughter of Augustus. Julia was banished in A.D. 9, and Tacitus (_Ann._ iii. 24) tells us of the intrigue, for which Silanus (like Ovid) suffered _relegatio_. His knowledge of the offence was betrayed by friends and domestics. Cf. _Tr._ iv. 10, 101,

'Quid referam comitumque nefas famulosque nocentes?'

The date of his banishment is given _Tr._ iv. 10, 95,

'Postque meos ortus Pisaea vinctus oliva
abstulerat decies praemia victor equus,
cum maris Euxini positos ad laeva Tomitas
quaerere me laesi principis ira iubet.'

[Here an Olympiad is reckoned as five years.] His punishment was _relegatio_, involving banishment to a fixed spot, but not confiscation of property; _Tr._ ii. 135,

'Adde quod edictum, quamvis immite minaxque,
attamen in poenae nomine lene fuit;
quippe relegatus, non exul, dicor in illo,
privaque fortunae sunt ibi verba meae.'

In Tomi he spent the remaining years of his life, far from friends and books; _Tr._ v. 12, 53,

'Non liber hic ullus, non qui mihi commodet aurem,
verbaque significent quid mea norit, adest';

suffering from illness (_Tr._ iii. 3) and the climate, and fighting against the barbarians; _Tr._ iv. 1, 71,

'Aspera militiae iuvenis certamina fugi,
nec nisi lusura movimus arma manu:
nunc senior gladioque latus scutoque sinistram,
canitiem galeae subicioque meam.'

On the other hand he learned the language of the people, and actually wrote poems in it; _Tr._ v. 12, 57,

'Ipse mihi videor iam dedidicisse Latine:
nam didici Getice Sarmaticeque loqui.'

_Pont._ iv. 13, 19,

'A! pudet, et Getico scripsi sermone libellum,
structaque sunt nostris barbara verba modis,
et placui--gratare mihi--coepique poetae
inter inhumanos nomen habere Getas!
materiam quaeris? laudes de Caesare dixi.'

For his popularity with the natives cf. _Pont._ iv. 14, 53,

'Solus adhuc ego sum vestris immunis in oris,
exceptis si qui munera legis habent.
Tempora sacrata mea sunt velata corona,
publicus invito quam favor imposuit';

also _Pont._ iv. 9, 101.

Ovid's death took place in A.D. 18: Jerome yr. Abr. 2033, 'Ovidius poeta in exilio diem obiit et iuxta oppidum Tomos sepelitur.' He was thrice married; _Tr._ iv. 10, 69,

'Paene mihi puero nec digna nec utilis uxor
est data, quae tempus per breve nupta fuit;
illi successit quamvis sine crimine coniunx,
non tamen in nostro firma futura toro;
ultima, quae mecum seros permansit in annos,
sustinuit coniunx exulis esse viri.'

His third wife belonged to the _gens Fabia_. Cf. _Pont._ i. 2, 138 (to Fabius Maximus),

'Ille ego, de vestra cui data nupta domo est.'

The _filia_ mentioned _Tr._ iv. 10, 75, may have been either a daughter or step-daughter of Ovid's. Some think that she is the Perilla of _Tr._ iii. 7.

Ovid's social position was of the highest, as may be inferred from his relations with the palace. He was intimate with Messalla, the patron of Tibullus, and wrote an elegy on him (now lost). Cf. _Pont._ i. 7, 27 (to Messalinus),

'Nec tuus est genitor nos infitiatus amicos,
hortator studii causaque faxque mei:
cui nos et lacrimas, supremum in funere munus,
et dedimus medio scripta canenda foro.'

Among the friends to whom the _Epp. ex Ponto_ are written may be mentioned Albinovanus, Carus, Rufus, Severus, Fabius Maximus Cotta, Tuticanus, the younger Macer, all poets; and other literary men of distinction, _e.g._ Graecinus, Atticus, Brutus, Sex. Pompeius, Gallio. For his intimacy with the learned Hyginus cf. Sueton. _Gramm._ 20, 'fuit familiarissimus Ovidio poetae.'

He was old enough to have seen Virgil, and hear Aemilius Macer and Horace recite; with Propertius, Tibullus, Ponticus, and Bassus he was on terms of close intimacy (_Am._ iii. 9 is a lament for Tibullus), _Tr._ iv. 10, 41-52,

'Temporis illius colui fovique poetas,
quotque aderant vates, rebar adesse deos.
Saepe suas volucres legit mihi grandior aevo,
quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.
Saepe suos solitus recitare Propertius ignes,
iure sodalicii qui mihi iunctus erat.
Ponticus heroo, Bassus quoque clarus iambis
dulcia convictus membra fuere mei.
Detinuit nostras numerosus Horatius aures,
dum ferit Ausonia carmina culta lyra.
Vergilium vidi tantum; nec amara Tibullo
tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae.'

Besides the _rura paterna_ at Sulmo, Ovid possessed an estate on the _via Clodia_, near Rome; _Pont._ i. 8, 41,

'Non meus amissos animus desiderat agros
ruraque Paeligno conspicienda solo,
nec quos piniferis positos in collibus hortos
spectat Flaminiae Clodia iuncta viae.'

He cannot have been poor, in spite of his complaints, _e.g._ _Pont._ iv. 8, 32,

'Carpsit opes illa ruina meas.'

(2) WORKS.

1. _Amores_, at first in five Books, but in a second edition reduced to three; cf. the motto prefixed to the Book,

'Qui modo Nasonis fueramus quinque libelli,
Tres sumus.'

The poems are nearly all on Corinna, a name which probably does not stand for any real person, but merely for an abstraction around which Ovid groups his own fancies. To suppose, as Sidonius Apollinaris did (23, 157)[69] that Augustus' daughter Julia was meant, is absurd, for Corinna is a _meretrix_. The identity of Corinna was unknown; _Am._ ii. 17, 28,

'Et multae per me nomen habere volunt.
Novi aliquam, quae se circumferat esse Corinnam';

and twenty years afterwards Ovid could write (_A.A._ iii. 538),

'Et multi, quae sit nostra Corinna, rogant.'

The _Amores_, in their original form, constituted Ovid's earliest work, written in his youth. The extant poems are not all that he wrote on Corinna; _Tr._ iv. 10, 57,

'Carmina cum primum populo iuvenilia legi,
barba resecta mihi bisve semelve fuit.
Moverat ingenium totam cantata per urbem
nomine non vero dicta Corinna mihi.
Multa quidem scripsi; sed quae vitiosa putavi,
emendaturis ignibus ipse dedi.'

The lament for Tibullus (iii. 9) must have been written in Ovid's twenty-fourth year.

2. _Heroides_.--Some of these at least were written before the second edition of the _Amores_, for in _Am._ ii. 18, 21-6 nine of them are mentioned by name. The title _Heroides_ is due to the grammarian Priscian; in the MSS. they are called _Epistulae_, and so Ovid himself refers to them, _A.A._ iii. 345,

'Vel tibi composita cantetur epistula voce:
ignotum hoc aliis ille novavit opus.'

Of the twenty letters in our collection 1-14 are letters from heroines to their lovers; 15-20 are in pairs, _e.g._ Paris to Helen and Helen to Paris. The authenticity of these last six is doubted, partly because the title _Heroides_ cannot apply to half of them, and also because of their inferiority in style. In the use of the epistolary form in love poetry Ovid had no predecessor, and he himself calls attention to the novelty (_A.A._ above). The style shows the influence of Ovid's rhetorical training: the Epistles are _suasoriae_ in verse, and of _suasoriae_ we know that he was particularly fond (Sen. _Contr._ ii. 10, 12, 'Declamabat Naso raro controversias et non nisi ethicas: libentius dicebat suasorias. Molesta illi erat omnis argumentatio.'). His matter he would naturally draw from Homer, the _Cypria_, Apollonius Rhodius, and the Greek tragedians.

3. Between the two editions of the _Amores_ he wrote the lost tragedy _Medea_. It was later than _Am._ iii. 1, where he pictures the Muses of Elegy and Tragedy as contending for his homage, and he finally decides (ll. 67-8),

'Exiguum vati concede, Tragoedia, tempus:
tu labor aeternus; quod petit illa breve est.'

On the other hand, it was earlier than _Am._ ii. 18, 13,

'Sceptra tamen sumpsi, curaque tragoedia nostra
crevit, et huic operi quamlibet aptus eram.'

The drama enjoyed a high reputation in antiquity. Cf. Quint. x. 1, 98, 'Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere, quantum ille vir praestare potuerit, si ingenio suo imperare quam indulgere maluisset.'

4. _Medicamina Faciei Femineae_, an incomplete poem of 100 lines, giving directions for the toilet. Cf. _A.A._ iii. 205,

'Est mihi, quo dixi vestrae medicamina formae,
parvus, sed cura grande, libellus, opus.'

5. _Ars Amatoria_, a didactic poem in three Books, on the art of love-intrigue. The title given by the MSS. is doubtless correct: Ovid himself speaks of 'ars amandi,' or simply 'ars' or 'artes.' It was written about B.C. 2, from the allusion, i. 171, to the 'naumachia' in that year,

'Quid, modo cum belli navalis imagine Caesar
Persidas induxit Cecropiasque rates?'

The _Ars_ must have been in view when he wrote _Am._ ii. 18, 19,

'Quod licet, aut artes teneri profitemur amoris--
ei mihi, praeceptis urgeor ipse meis!'

6. _Remedia Amoris_, written next, while professing to be a recantation of the last-named work, exhibits, if possible, a more immoral tone. Cf. l. 487,

'Quaeris, ubi invenias? artes, i, perlege nostras.'

7. Ovid now produced a work of greater compass, the _Metamorphoses_, in fifteen Books of heroic verse. When it was composed is not known, but he had the idea of it in his mind when he wrote _Am._ iii. 12, 21-40. At the time of his banishment the poem had been written, but not revised. He committed his MS. to the flames, but copies were in the hands of friends; _Tr._ i. 7, 13-16,

'Carmina mutatas hominum dicentia formas,
infelix domini quod fuga rupit opus.
Haec ego discedens, sicut bene multa meorum,
ipse mea posui maestus in igne manu.

Quae quoniam non sunt penitus sublata, sed extant, (l. 23)
pluribus exemplis scripta fuisse reor.

Ablatum mediis opus est incudibus illud, (l. 29)
defuit et scriptis ultima lima meis.'

The poem consists of a collection of stories of the transformation of human beings into animals. Cf. i. 1,

'In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora.'

The idea, title, and much of the subject-matter was borrowed from the Alexandrians, _e.g._ the +Metamorphôseis+ of Parthenius, the +Heteroioumena+ of Nicander.

8. In the _Fasti_, in six Books, Ovid furnishes a poetical calendar of the Roman year. Each month has a Book allotted to it, and he speaks of having written twelve Books; _Tr._ ii. 549,

'Sex ego Fastorum scripsi totidemque libellos,
cumque suo finem mense volumen habet.
Idque tuo nuper scriptum sub nomine, Caesar,
et tibi sacratum sors mea rupit opus.'

Probably the second six Books were never completed; but there are references to portions of them, _e.g._ iii. 57,

'Vester honos veniet, cum Larentalia dicam;
acceptus Geniis illa December habet.'

The _Fasti_ had been written side by side with the _Metam._ and interrupted at the sixth Book by Ovid's banishment. During his exile he added some passages, but found that his Muse was fit only for melancholy themes; iv. 81,

'Sulmonis gelidi--patriae, Germanice, nostrae--
me miserum, Scythico quam procul illa solo est!'

i. 540,

'Felix, exilium cui locus ille fuit!'

The design is stated at the outset, i. 1-8,

'Tempora cum causis Latium digesta per annum
lapsaque sub terras ortaque signa canam ...
Sacra recognosces annalibus eruta priscis,
et quo sit merito quaeque notata dies.'

The work is thus a medley of religion, history, and astrology, and in its explanations of customs may be compared to the +Aitia+ of Callimachus. For information about religious rites, and for derivations of names (_e.g._ _Agnalia_, i. 317-332), he would have recourse to Varro; for history, to Livy (cf. ii. 193-242, the story of the Fabii, from Livy, ii. 49, and vi. 587, etc., the story of Tullia, from Livy, i. 48); for astronomy, to Clodius Tuscus.

It was begun some time after Augustus regulated the Julian calendar in B.C. 8, and was originally addressed to Augustus, as Ovid himself says (_Tr._ ii. 552 above); 'Caesar' is addressed ii. 15, vi. 763, and elsewhere. After the death of Augustus, Ovid began to remodel it and dedicate it to Germanicus. Cf. i. 3,

'Excipe pacato, Caesar Germanice, voltu
hoc opus et timidae dirige navis iter.'

But the task was stopped by his death; and while Book i. has the remodelled form, Books ii.-vi. remain as first written.

_Poems written in exile._--9. _Tristia_, five Books of letters to Augustus, to Ovid's wife and friends (who, however, are not named), praying for pardon or for a place of exile nearer Rome. Book i. was written on the journey to Tomi, the other books not after A.D. 11 or 12, Cf. v. 10, 1,

'Ut sumus in Ponto, ter frigore constitit Hister.'

10. The _Ibis_ was written at the beginning of his exile. Cf. l. 1,

'Tempus ad hoc, lustris bis iam mihi quinque peractis.'

The title was taken from the poem in which Callimachus attacked Apollonius Rhodius under the name of Ibis. Cf. l. 55,

'Nunc, quo Battiades inimicum devovet Ibin,
hoc ego devoveo teque tuosque modo.'

Ovid studiously conceals the identity of the enemy whom he attacks; l. 61,

'Et quoniam, qui sis, nondum quaerentibus edo,
Ibidis interea tu quoque nomen habe.'

He had once been a friend of the poet, but had proved false to him, doubtless in connexion with the circumstances which caused his banishment; cf. l. 85, 'capiti male fido,' l. 130, 'perfide.' He persecuted Ovid's wife, and tried to get possession of his property.

The conjectures that the unknown was Messalla Corvinus or the poet Manilius may be dismissed at once. Many hold that Hyginus is meant; Prof. Ellis suggests the _delator_ Cassius Severus (Tac. _Ann._ iv. 21), or T. Labienus (Sen. _Contr._ x. praef. 4), or the astrologer Thrasyllus (Tac. _Ann._ vi. 20). To the same person probably are addressed _Tr._ iii. 11, iv. 9, v. 8; _Pont._ iv. 3.

11. The _Epistulae ex Ponto_, in four Books, were written A.D. 12-16. In tone they resemble the _Tristia_, but the composition is more careless, and the friends to whom he writes are mentioned by name.

12. _Halieuticon_, a poem on fish, in hexameters, in a fragmentary condition. Ovid wrote this towards the end of his life.

Pliny, _N.H._ xxxii. 152, 'His adiciemus ab Ovidio posita nomina quae apud neminem alium reperiuntur, sed fortassis in Ponto nascentium, ubi id volumen supremis suis temporibus incohavit.'

MANILIUS.

Manilius is not mentioned by any other writer, and his own poem gives no particulars of his life. There is uncertainty even as to the true form of his name, the MSS. giving variously M. Mallius, Manlius, or Manilius, with the addition in one case of EQOM (probably = equitis Romani). In some MSS. the poem is wrongly attributed to Aratus or Boetius, both of whom wrote on the same subject as Manilius.

Bentley conjectured that Manilius was an Asiatic Greek, but the poet speaks of Latin as 'nostra lingua' (ii. 889), while Greek is 'externa lingua' (iii. 40), and he uses no Greek constructions.

His poem, the _Astronomica_, in its present form, consists of five Books of hexameter verse: probably a sixth Book has been lost. It may have been wholly composed in the reign of Tiberius, or begun under Augustus. Book v. was written under Tiberius, if the burning of Pompey's theatre in A.D. 22 is alluded to in ll. 513-515. The earlier Books contain nothing which might not have been written after the death of Augustus--the allusions to the disaster of Varus in A.D. 9 (i. 899), and to the sojourn of Tiberius at Rhodes (iv. 764). Either Augustus or Tiberius may be the 'Caesar' of i. 7 and i. 386. On the other hand, if Ovid is referring to Manilius (as Prof. Ellis suggests) in _Tr._ ii. 485,

'Ecce canit formas alius iactusque pilarum,
hic artem nandi praecipit, ille trochi,'

it would follow that the whole poem had been published before the death of Augustus, for the descriptions of ball-play and swimming occur in v. 165-171 and 420-431.

Astronomy is treated only in Book i.; the rest of the poem is devoted to astrology. This is in accordance with the author's statement of his theme (i. 1-3), which he was the first Roman to treat in verse (i. 4, 113, ii. 57). As his object is to convey instruction rather than to give pleasure (iii. 36-39), he does not scruple to use Greek technical terms (ii. 693, 829, 897, iii. 40). The subject does not lend itself readily to verse (i. 20, iii. 31), and the poem is intolerably dry, except the introductions to each Book, which reveal considerable poetical power. The chief peculiarities of Manilius' language are his strange use of prepositions and his fondness for alliteration; imitations of Virgil are found throughout.

Manilius is a fatalist (iv. 14 and 22): still fate does not abolish the moral quality of actions (iv. 108-118). The universe is directed by a 'vis animae divina' or 'divinum numen' (i. 250, 491).

LIVY.

There is no ancient biography of Livy, and very little light is thrown on his life by his own writings or by allusions in other authors.

Titus Livius was born at Patavium (the modern Padua) B.C. 59: Jerome yr. Abr. 1958, 'T. Livius Patavinus scriptor historicus nascitur.' (The Armenian version gives _Ol._ 180, 4 = B.C. 57.) Near Patavium there was a famous sulphur spring known as Aponus or Aponi fons, whence Martial calls the district Apona tellus (i. 61, 3, 'Censetur Apona Livio suo tellus'). There is no reason to suppose from this that Livy's birthplace was not Patavium itself, but a village Aponus, which is nowhere mentioned. Statius (_Silv._ iv. 7, 55) calls him 'Timavi alumnus.' For Livy's acquaintance with Patavium cf. x. 2, 14 and 15.

From his tone we may infer that he came of a good family, and he must have possessed a fair income. The charge against his style of _Patavinitas_ implies that he spent a considerable part of his life in his native town, but he probably settled at Rome about B.C. 30. That he took no part in public life is clear from his own words: i. praef. 5, 'Hoc laboris praemium petam, ut me a conspectu malorum, quae nostra tot per annos vidit aetas, tantisper certe, dum prisca illa tota mente repeto, avertam, omnis expers curae, quae scribentis animum etsi non flectere a vero, sollicitum tamen efficere posset.'

He enjoyed the intimacy of Augustus, whom he himself mentions, iv. 20, 7, 'hoc ego cum Augustum Caesarem ... se ipsum ... legisse audissem.' Tac. _Ann._ iv. 34, 'T. Livius, eloquentiae ac fidei praeclarus in primis, Cn. Pompeium tantis laudibus tulit, ut Pompeianum eum Augustus appellaret; neque id amicitiae eorum offecit.' It was at Livy's suggestion that the future emperor, Claudius, started to compose a history: Sueton. _Claud._ 41, 'historiam in adulescentia, hortante T. Livio, Sulpicio vero Flavo etiam adiuvante, scribere adgressus est.' On the other hand, Caligula would have liked to remove Livy's writings and his bust from all the libraries, calling him 'verbosum in historia neglegentemque' (Sueton. _Calig._ 34).

Nothing more is known of his life, except that he visited Campania, xxxviii. 56, 3, 'Nam et Literni monumentum monumentoque statua superimposita fuit, quam tempestate disiectam nuper vidimus ipsi.'

He died at his native town, A.D. 17: Jerome yr. Abr. 2033, 'Livius historicus Patavii moritur.'

He had at least one son (Quint. x. 1, 39, 'apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta'), and one daughter (Sen. _Contr._ x. praef. 2, 'L. Magius gener T. Livi').

Livy wrote philosophical works, probably popular treatises like Cicero's, some of them in the form of dialogues.

Sen. _Ep._ 100, 9, 'Nomina adhuc T. Livium. Scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentis libros.'

A book on rhetoric was known to Quintilian and Seneca the elder, apparently in the form of a letter addressed to the author's son (Quint. x. 1, 39, above).

Quint. ii. 5, 20, 'quemadmodum Livius praecipit' (on models of style); Sen. _Contr._ ix. 2, 26, 'Livius de oratoribus ... aiebat' (on obscurity of expression); Sen. _Contr._ ix. 1, 14, 'T. Livius tam iniquus Sallustio fuit ut hanc ipsam sententiam ... obiceret Sallustio.'

These minor works have perished, and of his great history only a portion survives.

Its title, according to the oldest MSS., the summaries of the lost Books, and the grammarians, was _Ab urbe condita libri_; and this is corroborated by Livy's own language: i. praef. 1, 'si a primordio urbis res populi Romani perscripserim'; and by Pliny, _N.H._ praef. 16, 'T. Livium ... in historiarum suarum, quas repetit ab origine urbis, quodam volumine.' Livy refers to it loosely as _meos annales_ (xliii. 13, 2). Separate parts may have had special titles: thus Books cix-cxvi. were known as _Civilis belli libri_ viii. (Codex Nazarenus of the Periochae).

The number of Books now extant is thirty-five, viz., i.-x., which carry the history down to B.C. 293, and xxi.-xlv., covering the period B.C. 218-167. Of these xli. and xliii. are incomplete. But we possess summaries (_Periochae_ or _Argumenta_) of Books i.-cxlii., except cxxxvi. and cxxxvii., which show that the narrative was continued to the death of Drusus in B.C. 9. There is no evidence that it actually went further; but as the death of Drusus is hardly an event of sufficient importance to form the conclusion of so great a work, it has been thought that Livy may have intended to finish with the death of Augustus--the point from which Tacitus starts. The total number of Books would then have been probably one hundred and fifty.

The division into Books (_libri_ or _volumina_) is due to the author: vi. 1, 1, 'quae ab condita urbe Romani gessere quinque libris exposui.' The division into decades (_i.e._ sets of ten Books) is first mentioned towards the end of the fifth century; it is merely a conventional arrangement, the subject-matter falling naturally into sets of fifteen Books, which again sometimes embrace three sub-divisions each a half-decade, or two, a half-decade and a decade.

An epitome was known to Martial, xiv. 190,

'Pellibus exiguis artatur Livius ingens,
quem mea non totum bibliotheca capit.'

The evidence of the date of composition is as follows:

(_a_) i. 19, 3, 'Bis deinde post Numae regnum [Ianus] clausus fuit, semel T. Manlio consule post Punicum primum perfectum bellum, iterum, quod nostrae aetati dei dederunt ut videremus, post bellum Actiacum ab imperatore Caesare Augusto pace terra marique parta.' Now, as the first closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus was in B.C. 29, and as Livy is silent as to the second closing after the Cantabrian war in 25, it follows that this passage was written B.C. 29-25. The use of the title Augustus, conferred on Octavian in 27, puts the earliest possible date two years later. The history therefore was not begun before B.C. 27.

(_b_) ix. 36, 1, 'Silva erat Ciminia magis tum invia atque horrenda quam nuper fuere Germanici saltus.' In this Niebuhr found an allusion to the campaigns of Drusus, B.C. 12-9, and accordingly assumed that the first decade was not published till B.C. 9. But the passage may equally well refer to earlier campaigns, _e.g._ of Julius Caesar. Nor can it be shown that the history of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, published B.C. 7, was used by Livy for Books viii.-x. Book ix. must have been written before B.C. 20, or Livy would have mentioned the recovery of the standards from the Parthians in ix. 18, 9.

(_c_) xxviii. 12, 12, 'Hispania prima Romanis inita provinciarum, quae quidem continentis sint, postrema omnium nostra demum aetate ductu auspicioque Augusti Caesaris perdomita.' This was written not earlier than B.C. 19, if it refers to Agrippa's victory over the Cantabrians.

(_d_) Book lix. mentioned the _lex de maritandis ordinibus_, and consequently cannot have been earlier than B.C. 18.

(_e_) The books in which Pompeius figured were composed in the lifetime of Augustus (Tac. _Ann._ iv. 34, above).

(_f_) Book cxxi., according to the oldest MS. of the Periochae, was published after the death of Augustus; so doubtless were the remaining Books (A.D. 14-17).

A work of such compass, and occupying so many years of the author's life, would naturally be published in sections. This _a priori_ view is corroborated by several considerations: (_a_) There are separate prefaces to various sections (vi. 1; xxi. 1; xxxi. 1); (_b_) Livy's style was censured[70] by Asinius Pollio, who died A.D. 5; (_c_) Augustus was acquainted with Livy's sympathetic treatment of Pompeius (see above); (_d_) Livy had great fame in his lifetime: Pliny, _Ep._ ii. 3, 8, 'Numquamne legisti Gaditanum quemdam T. Livi nomine gloriaque commotum ad visendum eum ab ultimo terrarum orbe venisse statimque ut viderat abisse?'

The historians from whom Livy derived his materials, and whom he himself mentions are: _Fabius Pictor_ (i. 44, 2, etc.). Livy refers to him six times, but it may be questioned whether he used him at first-hand. More probably he took his opinions on the authority of later annalists like Macer, Antias, and Tubero. _Cincius Alimentus_ (xxi. 38, 3): the Cincius quoted in vii. 3, 7, may be the same, or an antiquarian of the Ciceronian or Augustan age; _Cato_ (xxxiv. 15, 9); _Calpurnius Piso_ (xxv. 39, 15); _Coelius Antipater_ (xxix. 25, 3); _Claudius Quadrigarius_ (vi. 42, 5, etc.); _Valerius Antias_, quoted thirty-five times--far more frequently than any other authority; _Licinius Macer_; _Aelius Tubero_ (iv. 23, 1); _Clodius Licinus_ (xxix. 22, 10); _Rutilius_ (xxxix. 52, 1); _Polybius_; _Silenus_ (xxvi. 49, 3), a Greek, whose account of the Second Punic War was favourable to the Carthaginians.

A criticism of Livy's use of these sources is impossible, except in the case of Polybius, all the others having perished. His tone in alluding to the Greek historian is remarkable for its coldness: xxx. 45, 5, 'Polybius haudquaquam spernendus auctor'; cf. xxxiii. 10, 8. Although Polybius is not mentioned till Book xxx., he was undoubtedly used throughout the third decade, as well as in the fourth and fifth. Livy follows him very closely. Where Livy differs from Polybius he is probably following the account of Coelius Antipater, who is his leading authority for the Second Punic War.