Lucius Accius

Lucius Accius
Born170 BC
Pisaurum
Diedc. 86 BC
NationalityRoman

Lucius Accius (/ˈæksiəs/; 170 – c. 86 BC), or Lucius Attius,[1] was a Roman tragic poet and literary scholar. Accius was born in 170 BC at Pisaurum, a town founded in the Ager Gallicus in 184 BC.[2] He was the son of a freedman and a freedwoman,[3] probably from Rome.[4]

The year of his death is unknown, but he must have lived to a great age, since Cicero[5] (born 106 BC, hence 64 years younger) writes of having conversed with him on literary matters.[6]

  1. ^ Jocelyn, H.D. (1996). "Accius, Lucius". In Hornblower, Simon (ed.). Oxford Classical Dictionary. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 3.
  2. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, xxxix, 44
  3. ^ Seyffert, Oskar (1899). "Accius or Attius (Lucius)". A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, Mythology, Religion, Literature & Art. London: Swan Sonneschein and Co. p. 2.
  4. ^ Svetonius, De Poetis, 8
  5. ^ Cicero, Brutus, 72–73
  6. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Accius, Lucius". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 114.