Ennius
Videos
Quintus Ennius was a writer and poet who lived during the Roman Republic. He is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was born in the small town of Rudiae, located near modern Lecce, a town
Double herm with the portrait of the Roman poets Virgil or Ennius
Detail from Raphael's Parnassus: Ennius, Dante and Homer
Annales (Ennius)
Videos
Annales is the name of a fragmentary Latin epic poem written by the Roman poet Ennius in the 2nd century BC. While only snippets of the work survive today, the poem's influence on Latin literature was
Ennius
…by writing plays in Greek and Roman style (praetextae and palliatae), as well as his most famous work, a historical epic in hexameters called the Annales. Other minor works include the Epicharmus, Epigrammata, the Euhemerus, the Hedyphagetica, Praecepta/Protrepticus, Saturae (or Satires), Scipio, and…
Fragments of the Annales have been found in the Villa of the Papyri (pictured) in the ruins of Herculaneum (2000).
Despite describing Ennius as "outstanding ... in talent", the Latin poet Ovid (pictured) wrote that "nothing is rougher than" his Annales.
Homer British Museum