Post-Augustan Poetry | Page 2

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
Pastoral poetry, p. 150.
Calpurnius Siculus; date, p. 151.
Who was
he? p. 152.
Debt to Vergil, p. 152.
Elaboration of style, p. 153.


Obscurity, affectation and insignificance, p. 154.
Einsiedeln
fragments; was the author Calpurnius Piso? p. 156. Panegyricus in
Pisonem, p. 157.
Graceful elaboration, p. 158.
Was the author
Calpurnius Siculus? p. 159.
III. ILIAS LATINA
Early translations of Iliad, p. 160.
Attius Labeo, p. 160. Polybius p.
161.
Ilias Latina, a summary in verse, p. 161.
Date, p. 162.
Authorship: the question of the acrostic, p. 162. Wrongly attributed to
Silius Italicus. p. 163.
IV. MINOR POETS
Gaetulicus, p. 163.
Caesius Bassua, p. 164.
CHAPTER VII
EMPERORS AND MINOR POETS, 70-117 A.D.
I. EMPERORS AND POETS WHOSE WORKS ARE LOST
Vespasian and Titus, p. 166.
Domitian. The Agon Capitolinus and
Agon Albanus, p. 167.
Literary characteristics of the Flavian age, p.
168.
Saleius Bassus, Serranus, and others, p. 169.
Nerva, p. 169.

Trajan, p. 170.
Passennus Paulus, p. 170.
Sentius Augurinus, p. 171.

Pliny the Younger, p. 172.
Almost entire disappearance of poetry
after Hadrian. p. 174.
II. SULPICIA
Sulpicia, a lyric poetess, p. 174.
Martial's admiration for her, p. 175.

Characteristics of her work, p. 176.
Her Satire, p. 176.
Is it
genuine? p. 177.
CHAPTER VIII

VALERIUS FLACCUS
Epic in the Flavian age, p. 179.
Who was Valerius? His date, p. 180.

The Argonautica, unfinished, p. 181.
Its general design, p. 182.

Merits and defects of the Argonaut-saga as a subject for epic, p. 183.
Valerius' debt to Apollonius Rhodius, p. 183.
Novelties introduced in
treatment; Jason, p. 184;
Medea, p. 185.
Valerius has a better
general conception as to how the story should be told, but is far inferior
as a poet, p. 186.
Obscure learning; lack of humour, p. 187.

Involved language, p. 188.
Preciosity; compression, p. 189.
Real
poetic merit: compared with Statius and Lucan, p. 191. Debt to Vergil,
p. 191.
Metre, p. 192.
Brilliant descriptive power, p. 193.

Suggestion of mystery, p. 193.
Sense of colour, p. 195.
Similes, p.
195.
Speeches, p. 197.
The loves of Jason and Medea, p. 198.

General estimate, p. 200.
CHAPTER IX
STATIUS
Life, p. 202.
Character, p. 205.
The Thebais; its high average level,
p. 206.
Statius a miniature painter, p, 207.
Weakness of the
Theban-saga as a subject for epic, p. 208.
Consequent lack of
proportion and unity in Thebais, p. 210. Vergil too closely imitated, p.
211.
Digressions, p. 212.
Character-drawing superficial, p. 213.

Tydeus, p. 214.
Amphiaraus, p. 216.
Parthenopaeus and other
characters, p. 218.
Atmosphere that of literature rather than life, p.
220.
Fine descriptive passages, p. 221.
Dexterity, often
degenerating into preciosity, p. 224.
Similes, p. 225.
Metre, p. 226.

The Achilleis
, p. 227.
The Silvae, p. 227.
Flattery of Domitian, p.
228.
Extraordinary preciosity, p. 229.
Prettiness and insincerity, p.
230.
Brilliant miniature-painting, p. 232.
The Genethliacon Lucani,
p. 233.
Invocation to Sleep, p. 234.
Conclusion, p. 235.
CHAPTER X

SILIUS ITALlCUS
Life, p. 236.
Weakness of historical epic, p. 238.
Disastrous
intrusion of mythology, p. 239.
Plagiarism from Vergil, p. 240.

Skill in composition of early books, p. 240.
Inadequate treatment of
closing scenes of the war, p. 241.
The characters, p. 241.
Total
absence of any real poetic gifts, p. 242.
Regulus, p. 244.
The death
of Paulus, p. 246.
Fabius Cunctator, p. 247.
Conclusion, p. 249.
CHAPTER XI
MARTIAL
Life, p. 251.
The epigram, p. 258.
Martial's temperament, p. 259.

Gift of style, p. 260.
Satirical tone, good-humoured and non-moral, p.
261.
Obscenity, p. 263.
Capacity for friendship, p. 264.
His
dislike of Rome, p. 267.
His love of the country, p. 268.

Comparison with Silvae of Statius, p. 271.
Flattery of Domitian, p.
271.
Laments for the dead, p. 272.
Emotion as a rule sacrificed to
point, p. 275.
The laureate of triviality, p. 276.
Martial as a client, p.
277.
His snobbery, p. 279.
Redeeming features; polish and wit, p.
281.
The one perfect post-Augustan stylist, p. 284.
Vivid picture of
contemporary society, p. 285.
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