FLORUS, LUCIUS ANNÆUS, a Latin historian. Respect-
ing the time when he flourished, and the country from which
he sprung, we have no certain information. Some have
supposed him to be of Spanish origin, connected with the
family of Seneca; others have imagined that he came from
Gaul. It has been suggested that he may be the same with
Julius Florus Secundus, celebrated by Quintilian for his
eloquence; whilst others have ascribed the work which we
possess under his name to Lucius Annæus Seneca. But be-
this as it may, there seems good reason for believing that
he lived under Hadrian or Trajan. The work left by him
entitled Epitome de Gestis Romanorum, in four books, is
a summary of Roman history from the building of the city
to 29 B. C. (725 U. C.), when Augustus closed the temple
of Janus. He does not seem to have followed Livy entirely
in his narrative, but to have had recourse to older historians.
It can scarcely however be considered as a history; it is ra-
ther a panegyric pronounced on the whole conduct of the
Roman people, written with great elegance of language,
and imbued with a rhetorical spirit. The treatment of the
subject is poetical, and far removed from the severe dignity
of history. In the language, we have sometimes cause to
regret the purity of the Augustan age; but in other respects
the style is flowing and eloquent, rising far above the age
in which the author must have flourished. The short ar-
guments prefixed to the books of Livy are also ascribed to
Florus. The best editions of his work are that of Grænius,
Traject. ad Rhem. 1680; Leipsic, 1760; Bipont, 1754;
Titze, 1819; Amer. Par. 1822. See Titze, de Flori Aetate,
Linz. 1804.