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| Toynbee "Ennius" |
Quintus Ennius, Roman poet, born at Rudiae in
Calabria, 239 B.C., died c. 169; he was born in south Italy, but
became a Roman citizen (184 B.C.), and was regarded by the Romans
as the father of their poetry. His most important work was an eplc
poem in dactylic hexameters, entitled Annales, being the
history of Rome from the earliest times to his own day. With the
exception of a few fragments none of his works has been preserved.
D. does not mention Ennius by name, but quotes a speech of Pyrrhus,
which occurs as a quotation from E. in Cicero's De offciis
({Cic. De off. I. xii. 38}), whence D. evidently took it,
Mon. II. ix. 8.
[Pirro_2.]
©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee
(1968) by permission of Oxford University Press