_, a grammatical
treatise which extended to 24 books, but six only have been preserved,
and these are in a mutilated condition. The remains of this treatise are
particularly valuable. They have preserved many terms and forms which
would otherwise have been altogether lost, and much curious information
connected with the ancient usages, both civil and religious, of the
Romans.

C. JULIUS CAESAR, the great Dictator, was also distinguished as an
author, and wrote several works, of which the _Commentaries_ alone have
come down to us. They relate the history of the first seven years of the
Gallic War in seven books, and the history of the Civil War down to the
commencement of the Alexandrine in three books. Neither of these works
completes the history of the Gallic and Civil Wars. The history of the
former was completed in an 8th book, which is usually ascribed to
Hirtius. The history of the Alexandrine, African, and Spanish Wars was
written in three separate books, which are also ascribed to Hirtius, but
their authorship is uncertain. The purity of Caesar's Latin and the
clearness of his style have deservedly obtained the highest praise.

C. SALLUSTIUS CRISPUS, a contemporary of Caesar, and one of his
supporters, was also distinguished as a historian. He was born B.C. 86
at Amiternum, in the country of the Sabines, and died in B.C. 34. After
the African War (B.C. 46) he was left by Caesar as governor of Numidia,
where he acquired great riches by his oppression of the people. Two of
his works have come down to us, the _Catilina_, the history of the
suppression of Catiline's conspiracy, and the _Jugurtha_, the history of
the war against Jugurtha. Sallust made Thucydides his model, and took
great pains with his style.

CORNELIUS NEPOS, the contemporary and friend of Cicero and Atticus, was
the author of numerous works, all of which are lost, with the exception
of the well-known Lives of Distinguished Commanders (_Vitae Excellentium
Imperatorum_). But even these Lives, with the exception of that of
Atticus, are probably an abridgment of the original work of Nepos, made
in the fourth century of the Christian era.

Of the prose writers of the Augustan age the most distinguished was the
historian TITUS LIVIUS, usually called LIVY. He was born at Patavium
(_Padua_), B.C. 59. The greater part of his life appears to have been
spent in Rome, but he returned to his native town before his death,
which happened at the age of 76, in t