ABSTRACT
The historian of Latin literature before the age of Cicero is in little better case. The great Pvblivs Cornelivs Scipio Africanvs maior, the conqueror of Hannibal, was also a very tolerable speaker, according to Cicero. The paradoxical Greek maxim that slaves are human beings he probably regarded as outside the scope of a good Roman’s interests. In the natural course of things, verse comes first and prose later, for prose, as a literary medium, carefully written and having rules of its own, is apparently beyond the capacity of barbarous peoples, but some barbarians produce poems which are very far from contemptible and often show developed artistry. Around Scipio gathered a little group of men including some of the most intelligent then living in Italy.
