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198 LATIN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ruption of Rome, and is frequently rather sen- timental. His Historic^, being the narrative of the events of the reigns of Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, has not been entirely preserved. His Annales is also incomplete. The literary activity of Pli- ny the Younger consisted chiefly in the wri- ting of letters for publication, extending in a studied variety over a large number of subjects. His style is fluent and egotistic, but graceful and frank. Pompeius Planta and other histo- rians show a great preference for relating re- cent events. Jurisprudence was represented by Proculianus Neratius, Juventius Oelsus, Ja- volenus Priscus, Varius Lucullus, Arrianus, Vivianus, and others. The principal gramma- rians were Urbanus, Velius Longus, probably also Flavius Caper, and Hyginus. Balbus wrote on geometry. During the time of Hadrian (117-138) literature suffered somewhat from the preferences of the emperor, whose own pro- ductions hardly go beyond dilettantism. The most important literary character now is Sue- tonius Tranquillus. His Viri Illustres and " Lives of the Twelve Emperors " are inaccu- rate in chronology, though derived from good sources ; the style is rhetorical, but monotonous. AnnsBus Floras wrote an abridgment of Ro- man history down to Augustus, which is rhetor- ical and inaccurate. Justinus, the historical writer, may have lived about this time ; other compilers of history were Greeks and wrote in Greek. Among jurists, the most eminent was Salvius Julianus, who was intrusted by Hadrian with collecting the edicts of the prae- tors in the republican period; others of im- portance are Aburnus Valens, Pactumeius Cle- mens, and Pomponius. Among rhetoricians, the majority of whom wrote in Greek, the most noted were Castricius and the learned Spaniard Antonius Julianus. The principal grammarian of this age is Terentius Scaurus, who wrote on Latin grammar and poetry. Philosophical studies were chiefly represented by the Greeks, as by Plutarch and Calvisius Taurus. Caslius Aurelianus, an African au- thor, left two badly written works on med- ical art. Writers of verse, mostly in iambic dimeter, were Annianus, ^Elius Verus, Voco- nius, and others; but Hadrian's time pro- duced no poet of great note. The time of the Antonines (138-180) closes this period. The excellent reign of Antoninus Pius did not prevent a further decline of Latin literature. The national taste was so low that a man like Fronto could be the highest authority; we have the greater part of his correspondence with Marcus Aurelius, from which he appears equally wanting in genius and taste. Erudi- tion and the affectation of it became the fashion. Greece and the Grsecized East fur- nished the majority of the ablest authors, who all wrote in their native language. Among the professors of archaic scholarship appear the names of Apollinaris of Carthage, Gel- lius, Pertinax, and Arruntius Celsus. Histor- ical pursuits were not in great favor; it is possible that Ampelius, the author of a meagre abridgment, and Granius Licinianus belong to this time. Volusius Majcianus wrote, besides juridical works, a treatise still extant on the divisions of money, weights, and measures. The most famous of the numerous works of Gaius, the Res Cotidiance and the Institution*, are exceedingly graceful, lively, and natural; the latter served as the foundation of Justin- ian's Institutiones. The poetical productions of this age are insignificant, unless the Per- mgilium Veneris and the jocular epic called Vespa were composed in it. The literature of the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180) re- mained under the influence of Fronto and his pupils Aufidius Yictorinus, Servilius Silanus, and Postumius Festus. The 20 books of Noctes Atticm by Aulus Gellius are very important for many departments of literature and for an accurate knowledge of this time. His diction is rather sober, but he seems to have collected his material with much care and industry. The Platonic philosopher and rhetorician Apuleius of Madaura possessed great originality, facility, and vivacity. Cervidius Scaavola, the jurist, wrote 40 books of Digesta, which have been much used in the Pandects. In the same time Papirius Justus composed a collection of impe- rial constitutions, and Paturnus wrote a work on military affairs. The Fourth Period, 180 to 500. This is the period of the dissolution of the national literature. The emperors had little favor to bestow upon it, and could not prevent its decline. They themselves had to struggle to keep the fragments of the former imperial power together; most of those in the 3d century had li ttle culture, and those of the next centuries still less. During the time from the accession of Commodus to the death of Septimius Severus (180-211) the Christian religion gained ground even among the educated, and was defended by the elo- quent Minucius Felix and Tertullian. The former has left us the earliest extant works of Latin Christian literature, in the dialogue Octavius. The author had the usual philo- sophical and sesthetical training of his period, and he imitates ancient models in a fluent and elegant style. Septimius Florus Tertul- lianus is an author of much independence and genius, endowed with a lively imagina- tion, whose eloquence often oversteps all lim- its. His works are all somewhat unpolished, intricate, and obscure. The great jurist ^Emil- ius Papinianus is distinguished for great lu- cidity, and the most important of his works, the Qucestiones and Responsa, were much used in Justinian's collections. Contemporaries of Papinian were the jurists Messius, Callistratus, and Claudius Tryphoninus. In the beginning of the 3d century we have a grammar by Do- sitheus, but of the writings of the learned Sammonicus Serenus the elder nothing has come down to us. Among jurists of the first half of the 3d century is Ulpianus, probably the