TITUS LIVIUS left a history of Rome, of which thirty-five books have been preserved. (See page 181.)
PHAEDRUS, a writer of fables, flourished in the reign of Tiberius (14-37). He was originally a slave. His fables are ninety-seven in number, and are written in iambic verse.
For an account of this writer see the chapter on the Emperor Nero, page 189.
QUINTUS CURTIUS RUFUS was a historian who lived in the reign of Claudius (50 A.D.). He wrote a history of the exploits of Alexander the Great.
PERSIUS, a poet of the reign of Nero, was a native of Volaterrae. He wrote six satires, which are obscure and hard to understand.
LUCAN, a nephew of Seneca, wrote an epic poem (not finished) called _Pharsalia_, upon the civil war between Caesar and Pompey.
GAIUS PLINIUS SECUNDUS, of Northern Italy, was a great scholar in history, grammar, rhetoric, and natural science. His work on _Natural History_ has come down to us.
STATIUS, MARTIAL, QUINTILIAN, JUVENAL. STATIUS (45-96), a native of Naples, had considerable poetical talent. He wrote the _Thebaid_, the _Achilleis_ (unfinished), and the _Silvae_.
MARTIAL (42-102), wrote sharp and witty epigrams, of which fifteen books are extant. He was a native of Spain.
QUINTILIAN (35-95), was also a native of Spain. He was a teacher of eloquence for many years in Rome. His work _On the Training of an Orator_, is preserved.
JUVENAL(47-130), of Aquínum, was a great satirist, who described and attacked bitterly the vices of Roman society. Sixteen of his satires are still in existence.
TACITUS (54-119). CORNELIUS TACITUS was the great historian of his age. His birthplace is unknown. His writings are interesting and of a high tone, but often tinged with prejudice, and hence unfair. He wrote,--
1. A dialogue on orators. 2. A biography of his father-in-law, Agricola. 3. A description of the habits of the people of Germany. 4. A history of the reigns of Galba, Otho, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian (_Historiae_). 5. _Annales_, a narrative of the events of the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.
PLINY THE YOUNGER (62-113). Pliny the Younger was the adopted son of Pliny the Elder. He was a voluminous correspondent. We have nine books of his letters, relating to a large number of subjects, and presenting vivid pictures of the times in which he lived. Their diction is fluent and smooth.