Teuffel's History of Roman Literature

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THE Geschichte der römischen Literatur, the principal work of the late Wilhelm Sigmund Teuffel, differed from previous histories in its wider range and scope. It was carried from the earliest period down to, and beyond, the sixth century A.D., the literary history of that century being exhaustively treated, with such notice of the minor writers as was needed to present the greater in their true light. Jurisprudence, natural philosophy, and the other technical subjects were included, and its proper literary place was assigned to the Christian as an integral part of the Roman literature. Another special aim of the writer, as explained in his preface, was to make the most of all the fragmentary remains, and to estimate each constituent of the whole by its intrinsic worth and weight apart from the accidents of tradition. And, finally, he claimed to have maintained an unprejudiced and thoroughly impartial stand-point in his criticism -the justice of which claim his readers well understand.

The book was published in 1870. It was considerably enlarged by the author in two subsequent editions (1872 and 1874), in the prefaces to which he acknowledges the assistance of M. Hertz, F. A. Eckstein, L. Müller, E. Wölfflin, H. Nolte, W. Weissbrodt, and of Dr. L. Schwabe, his colleague in the University of Tübingen.

Prof. Teuffel, who died in 1878, left his work in the hands of the last-named scholar. Dr. Schwabe, in discharge of that trust, republished it in 1882, revised throughout in accordance with the latest researches, and much augmented. The additions and

alterations were too important to be thrown into separate notes. The Editor preferred to incorporate his own work in the text, which he modified as he deemed necessary, here and there cancelling the author's statements. This method of editing (he explains in his first preface) was facilitated by what he regards as a characteristic merit of Teuffel's writing, its perfect definiteness and objectivity of view-the reverse of the vague rhetoric which pervades most books concerned with the history of literature.

In his new edition (1890) Dr. Schwabe has further expanded and still more freely recast the original History. In so doing, however, he has continually adhered to the strict chronological plan laid down by the author, though in his own opinion it is not necessarily the best for elucidating the general movement of literature and the interdependence of its different branches. He records in the preface the continued assistance which has been rendered by Prof. Hertz. In the preparation of the previous edition he was aided by F. H. Reusch (in the sections on the Patristic literature) and A. v. Gutschmid (who revised the sections on the historians of the Imperial period); in the preparation of the present edition, by R. Förster, L. Havet, O. Keller, W. Meyer, and especially by his colleague O. Crusius.

An English translation was made, with the author's sanction, by the late Dr. Wilhelm Wagner, from the first German edition -with addenda (incomplete) from the second--and published by Messrs. Bell in 1873. This is retained throughout as the basis of the present translation. But in incorporating the author's additions, together with the larger additions and improvements which the work has acquired under Dr. Schwabe's able editorship, I have likewise revised the translation itself, with so much alteration as appeared requisite to make it more completely accurate, and (I hope) more uniformly idiomatic and readable.

In the bibliographical sections I have occasionally added to the list of editions and treatises, chiefly English.

As regards orthography, I have retained the usual Romanized spelling for Greek names of localities, while I have followed the German edition in writing Greek personal names without exception as in Greek (keeping y as the proper representative of upsilon). It is particularly convenient in a history of Roman literature that the Greek writers should be thus kept distinct from the Roman.

I have adopted the spelling "Vergil" instead of "Virgil," whereas Dr. Schwabe retains the latter side by side with "Vergilius." The juxtaposition of the true and false spelling is obviously awkward, and the latter appears to be fast retreating, at any rate from scholastic literature, in England and America. With these few exceptions the translation, as it now stands, corresponds in all points with the latest German edition. The typographical improvements, which distinguish that edition from the fourth, have also been reproduced, e.g. the printing of the quotations in italics.

KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON, December, 1890.

G. C. W. WARR.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

PART I.-GENERAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECT.

1. The Roman character, p. 1. 2. Literary taste of the Romans, p. 3.

3. POETRY: the Drama. The Roman talent for it, p. 3. 4. Popular

diversions, p. 3. 5. Fescenninae, p. 4. 6. Saturae, p. 5. 7. The Mimus: its

character and early history: Planipes, p. 6. 8. The Mimus at the end of the

Republic and in the Imperial period, p. 8. 9. The Atellanae (popular), p. 11.

10. The Atellanae (literary), p. 13. 11. Roman popular poetry, p. 14.

regular Drama: general view, p. 15. 13. Tragedy, p. 16. 14. The Praetexta,

p. 18.