Quintus Ennius

Quintus Ennius (239-169 bc), early Roman poet, called the founder of Roman literature. He was born at Rudiae in Calabria and is said to have served in the Second Punic War. In Sardinia he became acquainted with the Roman statesman Cato the Elder, who took him to Rome in 201 bc. Ennius earned his living in Rome by teaching Greek and by translating Greek plays. His work led to his friendship with the Roman general Scipio Africanus the Elder.

Ennius is credited with introducing shorthand into Latin and with inventing the Saturae, or literary miscellany, containing essays on many subjects. In his poetry he adapted the hexameter (used by Homer) to Roman verse. Ennius's most notable work was in tragedy and epic poetry. He wrote over 20 tragedies, dealing mainly with themes from the Trojan cycle, and expressing passion and pathos in poetic diaogue. His most celebrated epic, the eighteen-book Annales, which influenced Virgil in the writing of his Aeneid, told the history of Rome from the time of the legendary ancestor of the Romans, Aeneas. Although only fragments remain of the Annales and of the writings of Ennius today, his influence can be seen in the writing of Ovid, Lucretius, Virgil, and Cicero.