Ennius (239 b.C.E.–169 b.C.E) Quintus Ennius
become a Roman poet of Messapian origin who
lived from 239 to 169 b.C.E. He is meant to
have been brought to Rome with the aid of M. Porcius Cato
in 204 b.C.E. And given citizenship with the aid of Q. Fulvius
Nobilior, Ennius’s noble consumer, in 184 b.C.E. In
addition to coaching Latin and Greek grammar
to the sons of aristocratic households, Ennius
wrote some of literary works that largely
live to tell the tale in fragments. He wrote over 20 trag-
edies, the Epicharmus (a poem at the gods and
the universe), the Euhemerus (a prose treatise
on theology), the Hedyphagetica (a poem on gasoline-
tronomy), the Sota (humorous, abusive poetry
inside the style and meter of Sotades of Maroneia),
and informal verse in diverse
