Phædrus, Manilius if, as conjectured, of the Augustan age, Paterculus, Quintus Curtius, whose period of existence, however, is not accurately fixed, Pliny the elder, Silius Italicus, Martial and Statius. A considerable portion of the productions of these writers is extant. Nepos and Phædrus are unrivalled in elegance and simplicity. Curtius is spirited and interesting. Pliny has amassed information of the most varied kind, both curious and interesting. Silius, though occasionally elegant and accurate in description, is tame and nerveless. Statius, bold, energetic and frequently sublime, has not yet had justice done him, for, though sometimes tumid, unnatural, and gigantic in his imagery, his Thebaid is upon the whole, a work of considerable genius. In his Sylvœ, of which five books are extant, are many very beautiful and highly pleasing poems.

Of the authors posterior to the age of Quintilian and his friends Tacitus and Pliny, little in the way of commendation can be said. The expiring genius of Rome seemed to revive in the writings of Claudian and Boethius, and criticism and biography still preserved their 31

VOL. II.

lustre in the compositions of Aulus Gellius and Suetonius. On the Epitomisers, Florus, Justin, Eutropius and Victor, being devoid of all claim to originality, it is altogether unnecessary to dwell; history indeed, except in the pages of Marcellinus, seems to have been nearly extinct; a total want of energy and genius characterized Europe at this period, and shortly afterwards Ferocity and Ignorance overturned the ancient temple of the Muses.

Sudden the Goth and Vandal, dreaded names,
Rush as the breach of waters, whelming all
Their domes, their villa's; down the festive piles,
Down fall their Parian porches, gilded baths,
And roll before the storm in clouds of dust.

Vain end of human strength, of human skill,
Conquest, and triumph, and domain, and pomp,
And ease and luxury! O luxury,

Bane of elated life, of affluent states,

What dreary change, what ruin is not thine?
How doth thy bowl intoxicate the mind!
To the soft entrance of thy rosy cave
How dost thou lure the fortunate and great!
Dreadful attraction! while behind thee gapes
Th' unfathomable gulph where Ashur lies
O'erwhelm'd, forgotten; and high-boasting Cham;

And Elam's haughty pomp; and Beauteous

Greece;

And the great queen of earth, Imperial Rome. Dyer.

I now proceed to marshal the authors of Rome on the same plan I have adopted with regard to their predecessors of Greece, and I flatter myself these tables, giving at once a direct and clear view of the present state of ancient literature, will prove strongly illustrative of the object of my papers.