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POETRY
characteristics. The first is the loosening of the link between form and content
which has already been mentioned. Annianus' and Serenus* poems on the
joys of country life follow neither the pattern of Virgil's Eclogues nor that of
Tibullus' elegiac poems, but are written in a variety of metres. Avitus' poem
on Roman history rejects the epic hexameter for the iambic dimeter, a metre
found in the Epodes of Horace, and in choral passages in the tragedies of
Seneca. The second trait common to these poets is metrical innovation, i.e.
the creation of new metres by modification or combination of established
patterns. Their third common feature is the abandonment of the traditional
vocabulary of the various poetic genres and the use of vulgar, archaic, rustic,
diminutive and other forms. Whether these poets formed a School or not is a
matter of debate. But they all in various degrees appear to have rejected much
of the classical tradition of Latin poetry and attempted to strike out in new
directions. The few fragments surviving suggest an antiquarian taste, a
baroque embellishment of the trivial and a rather self-conscious avoidance of
the grand manner and the solemn tone of voice. None of them appears to have
been more than a gifted minor versifier.
In the period which is the subject of these chapters many of the trends
marking the previous period continue to prevail. Minor subjects, a light, sometimes
idyllic and sometimes frivolous tone, a taste for realism, are the order of
the day at first. There are no long poems. The classical genres no longer
impose themselves. But the elaborate metrical experiments of the later second
century were abandoned, and most of what was written was in the well-tried
hexameter or elegiac couplet. Most of the productions of the third century and
the early fourth century cannot be securely dated; and sometimes the uncertainty
extends even over more than a century. So there can be no question of
reconstructing the history of poetry until we reach the second half of the
fourth century. From the earlier part of the period we have a number of works,
most of which can at best be dated somewhere between A.D. 250 and 350.
Marcus Aurelius Olympius Nemesianus of Carthage was the author of a
didactic poem in hexameters on hunting, the Cynegetica, of which only the
first 325 lines survive, and of four bucolic poems modelled on those of Calpurnius
Siculus. Poems on fishing (Halieuticd) and on sailing (Nauticd) are
also attributed to him, but do not survive. The Cynegetica can be dated to c.
A.D. 284, and appears to draw on the Greek poem on the same theme by
Oppian of Apamea in Syria, written in the first half of the third century. In
spite of his avoidance of legendary material and his claim to originality,
Nemesianus* inspiration is purely literary. The Eclogues embody traditional
pastoral themes: lament for the death of an old shepherd-poet, rival shepherds
singing the praises of their respective loves, Pan appearing to shepherds, a
singing match between two shepherds. Both the Cynegetica and the Eclogues
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