ls of style and of language as well as of exact and
beautiful printing. He also completed a whole _corpus_ of lectionaries,
missals, gospels, &c.

See M. Gaster, _Chrestomathie roumaine_ (1881), and "Gesch. d.
rumanischen Litteratur," in Grober, _Grundriss d. rom. Philologie_,
vol. ii. (1899); and E. Picot, _Notice sur Anthim d'Ivir_ (Paris,
1886). (M. G.)

ANTHOLOGY. The term "anthology," literally denoting a garland or
collection of flowers, is figuratively applied to any selection of
literary beauties, and especially to that great body of fugitive poetry,
comprehending about 4500 pieces, by upwards of 300 writers, which is
commonly known as the _Greek Anthology_.

_Literary History of the Greek Anthology._--The art of occasional poetry
had been cultivated in Greece from an early period,--less, however, as
the vehicle of personal feeling, than as the recognized commemoration of
remarkable individuals or events, on sepulchral monuments and votive
offerings: Such compositions were termed epigrams, i.e. inscriptions.
The modern use of the word is a departure from the original sense, which
simply indicated that the composition was intended to be engraved or
inscribed. Such a composition must necessarily be brief, and the
restraints attendant upon its publication concurred with the simplicity
of Greek taste in prescribing conciseness of expression, pregnancy of
meaning, purity of diction and singleness of thought, as the
indispensable conditions of excellence in the epigrammatic style. The
term was soon extended to any piece by which these conditions were
fulfilled. The transition from the monumental to the purely literary
character of the epigram was favoured by the exhaustion of more lofty
forms of poetry, the general increase, from the general diffusion of
culture, of accomplished writers and tasteful readers, but, above all,
by the changed political circumstances of the times, which induced many
who would otherwise have engaged in public affairs to addict themselves
to literary pursuits. These causes came into full operation during the
Alexandrian era, in which we find every description of epigrammatic
composition perfectly developed. About 60 B.C., the sophist and poet,
Meleager of Gadara, undertook to combine the choicest effusions of his
predecessors into a single body of fugitive poetry. Collections of
monumental inscriptions, or of poems on particular subjects, had
previously been formed by Po