Book 10
1.97
Among writers of tragedy Accius and Pacuvius Accius (170 90), Pacuvius (220–132). are most remarkable for the force of their general reflexions, the weight of their words and the dignity of their characters. But they lack polish, and filed to put the finishing touches on their works, although the fault was perhaps rather that of the times in which they lived than of themselves. Accius is generally regarded as the most vigorous, while those who lay claim to learning regard Pacuvius as the more learned of the two.
1.98
The Thyestes of Varius L. Varius Rufus, friend of Virgil and Horace, editor of the Aeneid; wrote epic and a single tragedy. is a match for any Greek tragedy, and the Medea of Ovid shows, in my opinion, to what heights that poet might have risen if he had been ready to curb his talents instead of indulging them. Of the tragic writers whom I myself have seen, Pomponius Secundus Pomponius Secundus, died 60 A.D.; wrote a tragedy entitled Aeneas. is by far the best: his older critics thought him insufficiently tragic, but admitted his eminence as far as learning and polish were concerned.
