Ennius
Writer during the period of the Roman Republic, and is often considered the father of Roman poetry.
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No sooner said than done - so acts your man of worth.
By delaying he preserved the state.
To later Romans Ennius was the personification of the spirit of early Rome; by them he was called "The Father of Roman Poetry." We must remember how truly Greek he was in his point of view. He set the example for later Latin poetry by writing the first epic of Rome in Greek hexameter verses instead of in the old Saturnian verse. He made popular the doctrines of Euhemerus, and he was in general a champion of free thought and rationalism.
Ennius was the father of Roman poetry, because he first introduced into Latin the Greek manner and in particular the hexameter metre.
Quod est ante pedes nemo spectat, caeli scrutantur plagas.
The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us.
How like us is that ugly brute, the ape!
Ennius qui primus ameno
Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam.
On the traditions and heros of ancient times stands firm the Roman state.
The idle mind knows not what it is it wants.
Let no one pay me honor with tears, nor celebrate my funeral rites with weeping.
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