ASPER

asper, aemilius, latin grammarian, possibly lived in the 2nd century a.d. he wrote commentaries on terence, sallust and virgil. numerous fragments of the last show that as both critic and commentator he possessed good judgment and taste. they are printed in keil, _probi in vergilii bucolica commentarius_ (1848); see also suringar, _historia critica scholiastarum latinorum_ (1834); grafenhan, _geschichte der klassischen philologie im alterthum._ iv. (1843-1850). two short grammatical treatises, extant under the name of asper, and of very little value, have nothing to do with the commentator, but belong to a much later date--the time of priscian (6th century). both are printed in keil, _grammatici latini_. see also schanz, _geschichte der romischen litteratur_, s 598.