Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 1.5
Clarissimum deinde Homeri illuxit ingenium, sine exemplo maximum, qui magnitudine operis et fulgore carminum solus appellari poeta meruit; in quo hoc maximum est, quod neque ante illum, quem ipse imitaretur, neque post illum, qui eum imitari posset, inuentus est. Neque quemquam alium, cuius operis primus auctor fuerit, in eo perfectissimum praeter Homerum et Archilochum reperimus.
The genius of Homer gleams most clearly, the greatest without peer, who by the breadth of his work and the brilliance of his songs alone deserves to be called a ‘poet’. In this regard the greatest proof is that neither someone before him, whom he imitated, or after him, who could imitate him, has been found. Nor do we find anyone else who was the first author of a genre to be so perfect in that genre except for Homer and Archilochus.
| Relevant guides | Archilochus |
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