The poetical and religious sentiment was the foundation of _Hebrew literature. Lyric poetry received a rich development under David, to whom are ascribed sev eral noble specimens of song and elegy. The fragments of didactic poetry which bear the name of Solomon arc stamped with a character of practical wisdom, and often exhibit an energy of expression, which authorize us to class them among the most extraordinary productions of ancient literature. After the division of the kingdom, the prophets became the great teachers of the people, and have left various collections of their writings, none of which have come down to us with com pleteness. Upon the return of the exiled people from the Babylonish captivity.
the remains of Hebrew literature were collected by a college of learned men un der the direction of Ezra, and from their labors we hare received the books .f the Old Testament in their present form.
Roman Literature.—The language of the ancient Romans is usually called Latin, for though Rome and Latium were originally separate communities, they always appear to have spoken the same language. The Latins, as far as we can decide on such a question at the present day, seem to have formed a part of that great race which overspread both Greece and Italy under the name of Pc lasgians. It is supposed that the Poles gians who settled in Italy originally spoke the same language with the Pelas glans who settled in Greece. The Greek and Latin languages accordingly have many elements in common, though each has its own distinctive character.
The history of Roman literature may be divided into four periods. I. Front the earliest times till Cicero. II. To the death of Augustus, A.D. 14. III. To the death of Trojan. IV. To the con quest of Rome by the Goths. During the first five hundred years of the Roman history, scarcely any attention was paid to literature. Its earliest attempts were translations and imitations of the Greek models. The Odyssey was translated into Latin by Livins Andronieus, a Greek captive of Tarentum, and the earliest writer of whom we have any account. Jibs tragedies and eontedies were taken entirely from the Greek. Ile was fol lowed by Nrevins, who wrote an historical poem on the first Punic war, by the two tragic writers Pacuvius and Attius, and by Ennius, a c. 239, the first epic poet, and who may be regarded as the founder of Roman literature. Being a Greek by birth, he introduced the study of his native language at Rome, and had among his pupils Cato, Scipio Africanus, and other distinguished citizens of that day. At the same time, he taught the.
Romans the art of easy and graceful writing in their own language, and helped to inspire them with a love of literature by his refined taste and elegant cultiva tion. Contemporary with Ennius was Plautus, whose dramatic pieces, in imi tation of the later comedy of the Greeks, were remarkable fur their vivacity of expression and their genuine comic- hu mor. He was followed by Cecilius and Terence, of whom the latter has left several admirable comedies, fully im bue 1 with the Grecian spirit. The first prose writers were Quintus Fabius Pictor and Lucius Cineins Aliment us, who lived ' in the time of the second Punic war, and wrote a complete history of Rome. Their style was meagre and insipid, aiining only at brevity, and entirely destitute of ornament or grace.
With the age of Augustus, in which some earlier writers are usually reckoned, a new spirit is exhibited in Roman litera ture. In didactic poetry, Lucretius sur passed his Grecian masters, by the force of thought and the splendor of diction, which characterize his great philosophical poem on the origin of the universe. Ca tullus attempted various styles of poetry, in all of which he obtained eminent suc cess. fits lyric and elegiac poems, his epigrams and satires, are marked by singular versatility of feeling, frequent flashes of wit, and rare felicity of ex pression. Among the elegiac poets, of whose genius we still possess the remains, the highest distinction was gained by Ti bonus, Properties and Ovid. The former of these poets was pronounced by Quine tilian to be the greatest master of elegiac verse ; Ovid possessed an uncommon fer tility of invention and ease of versifica tion; while Properties tempers the vo luptuous cast of his writings with a certain dignity of thought and vigorous mode of expression. The great lyric poet of the Augustan age is Horace, whose graceful and sportive fancy, com bined with his remarkable power of deli cate and effective satire, continues to make him a favorite with all who have the slightest tincture of classical learning. The noblest production of this period, however, is the Aineid of Virgil, which, with his elaborate poem on rural affairs, the Georgics, and his sweet and tender pastorals, or Eclogues, fairly entitles him to the position which has been given him by universal consent, of the most gifted epic and didactic poet in Roman litera ture.