Editing Lucius Accius

{{Short description|Roman poet and literary scholar (170–c.86 BC)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name         = Lucius Accius
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| birth_date    = 170 BC
| birth_place   = [[Pisaurum]]
| death_date    = c. 86 BC
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| nationality  = Roman
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'''Lucius Accius''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|k|s|i|ə|s}}; 170 – c. 86 BC), or '''Lucius Attius''',<ref name="OCD">{{Cite book  | last = Jocelyn  | first = H.D.  | contribution = Accius, Lucius  | editor-last = Hornblower  | editor-first = Simon  | title = [[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]  | volume = 1  | pages = 3  | publisher = Oxford University Press  | place = Oxford  | year = 1996 }}</ref> was a [[Roman Republic|Roman]] tragic [[poet]] and literary scholar. Accius was born in 170 BC at [[Pisaurum]], a town founded in the [[Ager Gallicus]] in 184 BC.<ref>[[Livy|Titus Livius]], ''[[Ab urbe condita|Ab Urbe Condita]]'', xxxix, 44</ref> He was the son of a [[Freedman#Ancient Rome|freedman]] and a freedwoman,<ref name="DCA222">{{Cite book|last=Seyffert|first=Oskar|title=[[A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, Mythology, Religion, Literature & Art]]|publisher=Swan Sonneschein and Co.|year=1899|place=London|pages=2|contribution=Accius or Attius (Lucius)}}</ref> probably from Rome.<ref>[[Suetonius|Svetonius]], ''De Poetis, 8''</ref>

The year of his death is unknown, but he must have lived to a great age, since [[Cicero]]<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[Brutus (Cicero)|Brutus]]'', 72–73</ref> (born 106 BC, hence 64 years younger) writes of having conversed with him on literary matters.<ref name="Chisholm">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Accius, Lucius|volume=1|page=114}}</ref>

==Literary works==
Accius was a prolific writer and enjoyed a very high reputation.<ref>[[Horace]], ''Epistles'', ii.i, 56; [[Cicero]], ''[[s:Pro Cn. Plancio|Pro Plancio]]'', 24</ref>  The titles and considerable fragments (about 700 lines) of some fifty plays have been preserved.<ref name=Chisholm/> Judging from the titles and fragments, scholars have surmised that most, if not all, of these poems were tragic in nature, although [[Pliny the Younger]] ranks him among the erotic poets.<ref name="OCD"/><ref>[[Pliny the Younger]], ''[[Pliny the Younger#Epistulae|Epistulae]]'' 5.6</ref> His career as a poet can be traced over the course of 36 years from B.C. 140, to B.C. 104.<ref name="DCA">{{Cite book|last=Seyffert|first=Oskar|title=[[A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, Mythology, Religion, Literature & Art]]|publisher=Swan Sonneschein and Co.|year=1899|place=London|pages=2|contribution=Accius or Attius (Lucius)}}</ref>

Most of his poetical works were imitations or free translations of the Greek,<ref name=Chisholm/> especially [[Aeschylus]].  The earliest of these was most likely the ''Atreus'', which was performed in 140, but is now lost.<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[Brutus (Cicero)|Brutus]]'' 229</ref>  He also wrote on some Roman subjects, one of which, an examination of the tyranny of [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|L.&nbsp;Tarquinius Superbus]]<!--Why is "Superbus" misspelled when "superbus" is a vocabulary word??--> and his expulsion by [[Lucius Junius Brutus]], was titled ''Brutus'', and was probably written in honor of his patron [[Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus|D. Brutus]].<ref name="OCD"/><ref>[[Cicero]] ''[[De Legibus]]''. ii.21, ''[[s:Pro A. Licinio Archia poeta|Pro Archia Poeta]]''. 11</ref>  His favorite subjects were the legends of the [[Trojan War]] and the house of [[Pelops]].<ref name=Chisholm />  While only fragments remain, the most important of which were preserved by Cicero, they seem sufficient to justify the terms of admiration in which Accius is spoken of by the ancient writers.  He is particularly praised for the strength and vigor of his language, and the sublimity of his thoughts.<ref>[[Cicero]] ''[[s:Pro Cn. Plancio|pro Plancio]]'' 24, ''[[s:Pro Sestio|pro Sestio]]'' 56, &c.; [[Horace]] ''[[Epodes (Horace)|Epodes]]'' ii.1.56; [[Quintilian]] x.1. § 97; [[Aulus Gellius]] xiii. 2</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia  | last = Smith  | first = William  | title = Accius, Lucius  | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]  | volume = 1  | pages = 6  | year = 1867  | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0015.html  | accessdate = 2007-08-18  | url-status = usurped  | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070405170239/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0015.html  | archivedate = 2007-04-05  }}</ref> Although the [[grandiloquence]] of his literary style was on occasion mocked by some of his peers,<ref>Porph. ''Hor. Serm.'' 1.10.53</ref> he continued to be cited by other writers long after his death.<ref name="OCD"/>

Accius wrote other works of a literary character: ''Libri Didascalicon'', a treatise in verse on the history of Greek and Roman poetry, and dramatic art in particular; also ''Libri Pragmaticon'', ''Parerga'', and ''Praxidica'', of which no fragments remain; and a [[hexameter]] ''Annales''<ref name=Chisholm/> containing the history of Rome, like that of [[Ennius]].

==As a grammarian==
Accius also attempted to introduce innovations in Latin [[orthography]] and [[grammar]], most of which were attempts to change written Latin to more faithfully reproduce its actual pronunciation.  Few of these caught on,<ref name="OCD"/> although his preference against giving Greek names Latin endings had quite a few supporters, particularly [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]], who dedicated his ''De antiquitate litterarum'' to Accius.<ref>[[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]], ''De lingua Latina'' 10.70</ref>

A spelling convention of writing long vowels double (such as ''aa'' for long ''ā'') is also associated with him and is found in texts concurrent with his lifetime.<ref>{{cite book| last =Allen| first =W. Sidney| author-link =W._Sidney_Allen| title =Vox Latina: a Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin| publisher =Cambridge University Press| edition =2nd| date =1978| pages =64| language =English| isbn =0521379369}}</ref>

==Politics and temperament==
Accius was politically [[conservative]], and generally noted for his dignity and reserve.  He did, however, believe that one with literary gifts, such as himself, ought to be accorded more respect than someone who, through no effort of their own, was merely born into the nobility.<ref name="OCD"/>  He was, by some accounts, a self-important man,<ref>''[[Rhetorica ad Herennium]]'' 1.24</ref> and some writers expressed a wry amusement at the larger-than-life statues of himself that he had erected in the temple of the [[Muse]]s.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]'' 34.19</ref>

A fragment of Accius' play ''Atreus'' features the line ''[[List of Latin phrases: O|oderint dum metuant]]'' ("let them hate, so long as they fear").

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

== General sources ==
* G. Manuwald, ''Accius und seine Zeit'' (Würzburg 2002).
* B. Baldarelli, ''Accius und die vortrojanische Pelopidensage'' (Paderborn 2004).
* {{SmithDGRBM| title= Accius, Lucius}}

The cited {{EB1911|noprescript=1|wstitle=Accius, Lucius|volume=1|page=114|postscript=none}} also includes these authorities:

* Boissier, ''Le Poète Accius'', 1856
* [[Lucian Müller|L. Müller]], ''De Accii fabulis Disputatio'' (1890)
* [[Otto Ribbeck|Ribbeck]], ''Geschichte der römischen Dichtung'' (1892)
* Editions of the tragic fragments by Ribbeck (1897), of the others by [[Emil Baehrens|Bährens]] (1886)
* Plessis, ''Poésie latine'' (1909)

==External links==
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|la|Scriptor:Lucius Accius|Lucius Accius}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Accius, Lucius}}
[[Category:170 BC]]
[[Category:80s BC deaths]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC writers in Latin]]
[[Category:1st-century BC writers in Latin]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman tragic dramatists]]
[[Category:People from Pisaurum]]
[[Category:170s BC births]]
[[Category:Attii]]
[[Category:170 BC births]]
[[Category:Accii]]