Editing Ennius (section)

===The ''Annales''===
The ''[[Annales (Ennius)|Annales]]'' was an [[Epic poetry|epic poem]] in fifteen books, later expanded to eighteen, covering Roman history from the fall of [[Troy]] in 1184 BCE down to the censorship of [[Cato the Elder]] in 184 BCE.  It was the first Latin poem to adopt the [[dactylic hexameter]] metre used in Greek epic and didactic poetry,<ref>{{cite web|title=FJCL Latin Literature Study Guide|url=http://www.fjcl.org/uploads/4/3/4/0/4340783/latin_lit_study_guide.pdf|publisher=Florida Junior Classical League|access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref> leading it to become the standard metre for these genres in Latin poetry.  The ''Annals'' became a school text for Roman schoolchildren, eventually supplanted by [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''. About 600 lines survive.