Cleoetes the Athenian when Athens was still a small and insignificant
town, to the last outpourings of the ancient spirit on the tombs
reared, among strange gods and barbarous faces, over Paulina of
Ravenna or Vibius Licinianus of Nimes.[4]

It has already been pointed out by how slight a boundary the epigram
is kept distinct from other forms of poetry, and how in extreme cases
its essence may remain undefinable. The two fragments of Theognis and
one of Mimnermus included here[5] illustrate this. They are examples
of a large number like them, which are not, strictly speaking,
epigrams; being probably passages from continuous poems, selected, at
least in the case of Theognis, for an Anthology of his works.

The epigrams extant in literature which are not in the Anthology are,
with a few exceptions, collected in the appendix to the edition of
Jacobs, and are reprinted from it in modern texts. They are about four
hundred in number, and raise the total number of epigrams in the
Anthology to about four thousand five hundred; to these must be added
at least a thousand inscriptional epigrams, which increase year by
year as new explorations are carried on. It is, of course, but seldom
that these last have distinct value as poetry. Those of the best
period, indeed, and here the best period is the sixth century B.C.,
have always a certain accent, even when simplest and most matter of
fact, which reminds us of the palace whence they came. Their
simplicity is more thrilling than any eloquence. From the exotic and
elaborate word-embroidery of the poets of the decadence, we turn with
relief and delight to work like this, by a father over his son:

{Sema pater Kleoboulos apepsthimeno Xenopsanto
thexe tod ant aretes ede saopsrosunes}[6]