(506)
I. The science of grammar 842 was in ancient times far from being in vogue at Rome; indeed, it was of little use in a rude state of society, when the people were engaged in constant wars, and had not much time to bestow on the cultivation of the liberal arts 843. At the outset, its pretensions were very slender, for the earliest men of learning, who were both poets and orators, may be considered as half-Greek: I speak of Livius 844 and Ennius 845, who are acknowledged to have taught both languages as well at Rome as in foreign parts 846. But they (507) only translated from the Greek, and if they composed anything of their own in Latin, it was only from what they had before read. For although there are those who say that this Ennius published two books, one on “Letters and Syllables,” and the other on “Metres,” Lucius Cotta has satisfactorily proved that they are not the works of the poet Ennius, but of another writer of the same name, to whom also the treatise on the “Rules of Augury” is attributed.
II. Crates of Mallos 847, then, was, in our opinion, the first who introduced the study of grammar at Rome. He was cotemporary with Aristarchus 848, and having been sent by king Attalus as envoy to the senate in the interval between the second and third Punic wars 849, soon after the death of Ennius 850, he had the misfortune to fall into an open sewer in the Palatine quarter of the city, and broke his leg. After which, during the whole period of his embassy and convalescence, he gave frequent lectures, taking much pains to instruct his hearers, and he has left us an example well worthy of imitation. It was so far followed, that