Part 6 (1/2)

For the first time in any consecutive way he introduced the hexameter into Latin poetry. It is true that Plautus had composed his epitaph in that measure, if we may trust Varro's judgment on its genuineness. [4] And the Marcian oracles, though their rhythm has been disputed, were in all probability written in the same. [5] But these last were translations, and were in no sense an epoch in literature. Ennius compelled the intractable forms of Latin speech to accommodate themselves to the dactylic rhythm.

Difficulties of two kinds met him, those of accent and those of quant.i.ty.

The former had been partially surmounted by the comic writers, and it only required a careful extension of their method to render the deviations from the familiar emphasis of daily life harmonious and acceptable. In respect of quant.i.ty the problem was more complex. Plautus had disregarded it in numerous instances (_e.g. dari_), and in others had been content to recognize the natural length or shortness of a vowel (_e.g. senex ipse_), neglecting the subordinate laws of position, &c. This custom had, as far as we know, guided Ennius himself in his dramatic poems; but for the epos he adopted a different principle. Taking advantage of the tendency to shorten final vowels, he fixed almost every doubtful case as short, _e.g.

musa, patre, dare, omnibus, amaveris, pater_, only leaving the long syllable where the metre required it, as _condiderit_. By this means he gave a dactylic direction to Latin prosody which it afterwards, though only slightly, extended. At the same time he observed carefully the Greek laws of position and the doubled letters. He admitted hiatus, but not to any great extent, and chiefly in the caesura. The lengthening of a short vowel by the ictus occurs occasionally in his verses, but almost always in words where it was originally by nature long. In such words the lengthening may take place even in the thesis of the foot, as in--

”non enim rumores ponebat ante salutem.”

Elision played a prominent part in his system. This was natural, since with all his changes many long or intractable terminations remained, _e.g. enim, quidem, omnium_, &c. These were generally elided, sometimes shortened as in the line quoted, sometimes lengthened as in the comedians,--

”inimicitiam agitantes.”

Very rarely does he improperly shorten a naturally long vowel, _e.g.

contra_ (twice); terminations in _o_ he invariably retains, except _ego_ and _modo_. The final _s_ is generally elided before a consonant when in the thesis of the foot, but often remains in the arsis (_e.g. plenu'

fidei, Isque dies_). The two chief blots on his versification are his barbarous examples of tmesis,--_saxo cere comminuit brum: Ma.s.sili portant invenes ad litora tanas_ (= cerebrum, Ma.s.silitanas), and his quaint apocope, _cael, gau, do_ (_caelum, gaudium, domum_), probably reflected from the Homeric _do, kri_, in which Lucilius imitates him, _e.g. nol._ (for _nolueris_). The caesura, which forms the chief feature in each verse, was not understood by Ennius. Several of his lines have no caesura at all; and that delicate alternation of its many varieties which charms us in Homer and Virgil, is foreign to the conception, as it would have been unattainable by the efforts, of the rugged epic bard. Nevertheless his labour achieved a great result. He stamped for centuries the character and almost the details of subsequent versification. [6] If we study the effect of his pa.s.sages, we shall observe far greater power in single lines or sentences than in a continuous description. The solemn grandeur of some of his verses is unsurpa.s.sable, and, enshrined in the Aeneid, their dignity seems enhanced by their surroundings. Such are--

”Tuque pater Tiberine tuo c.u.m ilumino sancto.”

”Unus h.o.m.o n.o.bis cunctando rest.i.tuit rem.”

”Quae neque Dardaniis campis potuere perire Nec quom capta capi, nec quom combusta cremari, Augusto augurio postquam incluta condita Roma est.”

On the other hand he sometimes falls into pure prose;

”Cives Romani tum facti sunt Campani,”

and the like, are scarcely metre, certainly not poetry. Later epicists in their desire to avoid this fault over elaborate their commonplace pa.s.sages. Ennius tries, however clumsily, to copy Homer in dismissing them without ornament. The one or two similes that are preserved are among his least happy efforts. [7] Among battle scenes he is more at home, and these he paints with reality and strength. There are three pa.s.sages of considerable length, which the reader who desires to judge of his narrative power should study. They are the dream of Ilia and the auspices of Romulus in the first book, and the description of the friend of Servilius in the seventh. This last is generally thought to be a picture of the poet himself, and to intimate in the most pleasing language his relations to his great patron. For a singularly appreciative criticism of these fragments the student is referred to Sellar's _Poets of the Republic_. The ma.s.sive Roman vigour of treatment which shone forth in the _Annals_ and made them as it were a rock-hewn monument of Rome's glory, secured to Ennius a far greater posthumous renown than that of any of the other early poets. Cicero extols him, and has no words too contemptuous for those who despise him, Lucretius praises him in the well known words--

”Ennius ut noster cecinit, qui primus amoeno Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam, Per gentis Italas hominum quae clara clueret.” [8]

Virgil, it is true, never mentions him, but he imitates him continually.

Ovid, with generous appreciation, allows the greatness of his talent, though he denies him art; [9] and the later imperial writers are even affected in their admiration of him. He continued to be read through the Middle Ages, and was only lost as late as the thirteenth century.

Ennius produced a few scattered imitators, but not until upwards of two generations after his death, if we except the doubtful case of Accius. The first is MATIUS, who translated the Iliad into hexameters. This may be more properly considered as the sequel to Livius, but the few fragments remaining show that his versification was based on that of Ennius.

Gellius, with his partiality for all that was archaic, warmly praises this work.

HOSTIUS wrote the _Bellum Istric.u.m_ in three books. This was no doubt a continuation of the great master's _Annales_. What the war was is not quite certain. Some fix it at 178 B.C.; others as late as 129 B.C. The earlier date is the more probable. We then have to ask when Hostius himself lived. Teuffel inclines to place him before Accius; but most commentators a.s.sign him a later date. A few lines are preserved in Macrobius, [10] which seem to point to an early period, _e.g._

”non si mihi linguae Centum atque ora sient totidem vocesque liquatae,”

and again,

”Dia Minerva, semol autem tu invictus Apollo Arquitenens Latonius.”

His object in quoting these is to show that they were copied by Virgil. A pa.s.sage in Propertius has been supposed to refer to him, [11]

”Splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo,”

where he would presumably be the grandfather of that Hostia whom under the name of Cynthia so many of Propertius's poems celebrate. Another poet of whom a few lines are preserved in Gellius and Macrobius is A. FURIUS of Antium, which little town produced more than one well-known writer. His work was ent.i.tled _Annals_. Specimens of his versification are--

”Interea Oceani linquens Aurora cubile.”