et iuxta eum in Ianiculo sepultus.'

iii. is an addition by Ritschl, as we know Caecilius to have been
alive in B.C. 166, when Terence's _Andria_ was performed. Some read
iv. The date of his death will then be B.C. 166 or 165. Caecilius
probably came to Rome among the Insubrian prisoners of war at some
time between B.C. 200 and 194. The year of his birth is unknown; he is
never mentioned, like other old writers, such as Plautus and Ennius,
as having lived to a great age. If he died B.C. 166, we might suppose
that he was born about B.C. 219, as that would make him of military
age when the Insubrian war began in B.C. 200. His name as a slave was
Statius. His patron is unknown.

Gell. iv. 20, 13, 'Statius servile nomen fuit ... Caecilius quoque ille
comoediarum poeta inclutus servus fuit; et propterea nomen habuit
"Statius." Sed postea versum est quasi in cognomentum: appellatusque
est Caecilius Statius.'

Elsewhere he is sometimes called merely Caecilius (as Cic. _de Or._
ii. 40), but never Statius alone.

(2) WORKS.

Caecilius' works were at first unsuccessful; cf. the actor Ambivius'
words in Ter. _Hec._ prol. ii. 6-7,

'In eis quas primum Caecili didici novas,
partim sum earum exactus, partim vix steti.'

Later he examined plays before they were acted, as, _e.g._ Terence's
_Andria_ in B.C. 166 (see under 'Terence,' p. 42). This implies that
he occupied a responsible and leading position in the guild of poets.

We have two hundred and ninety lines of fragments, and titles of
forty-two comedies, sixteen of which correspond with those of plays by
Menander. For Caecilius' imitation of Menander see Gell. ii. 23. Cf.,
_e.g._, 'Caecilii Plocium legebamus; hautquaquam mihi et qui aderant
displicebat... Sed enim postquam in manus Menander venit, a principio
statim, di boni, quantum stupere atque frigere quantumque mutare a
Menandro Caecilius visus est!'

Among the views on Caecilius are:

Cic. _ad Att._ vii. 3, 10, '(Caecilius) malus auctor Latinitatis est'
(probably because he was an Insubrian).

Cic. _de Opt. Gen. Or._ 1, 'fortasse summus comicus.' Sedigitus ap.
Gell. xv. 24,

'Caecilio palmam Statio do mimico.'

Hor. _Ep._ ii. 1, 59,

'(dicitur) vincere Caecilius gravitate.'

The contemporaries of Caecilius include _Trabea_, _Atilius_ ('poeta
durissimus,' Cic. _ad Att._ xiv. 20, 3), _Aquilius_ (possibly the
author of the _Boeotia_, attributed by Varro to Plautus, Gell. iii. 3,
4), _Licinius Imb