Lucius Annaeus, a Latin historian. Respecting 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 Annaeus 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 rather 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 arguments prefixed to the books of Livy are also ascribed to Florus. The best editions of his work are that of Grevius, Traject. ad Rhenum, 1680; Leipsic, 1760; Bipont, 1754; Titze, 1819; Amer. Par. 1822. See Titze, de Flori Æste, Linz, 1804.