CHAPTER VIII.

THE ROMAN EPIC BEFORE THE TIME OF VIRGIL 280-294 Distinction between primitive and literary epic 280 Absence of primitive epics from Roman literature 281 The Roman epic originates in the imitation of the 282 Greek epic New character given to the Roman epic from the 283 national sentiment and commemorative instinct ---- from admiration of great men 284 ---- from capacity for works of massive execution 285 National characteristics of the poem of Naevius 286 Historical substance of the early Roman epic 287 Representative character of the Annals of Ennius 288 Later annalistic and panegyrical poems 289 New type of Roman epic introduced by Varro Atacinus 291 Type of historical epic rejected in the maturity of 292 Roman art