A HISTORY
OF
OMAN CLASSICAL
LITERATURE.
BY
:
R. W. BROWNE, M.A., Ph. D.
PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S,
AND PROFESSOR. OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON.
Meum semper judicium fuit, omnia nostras aut in.veni.sse per se
sapientius quam Graces ; aut accepts ab illis fecisse meliora, qure
quidem digne statuissent in qnibus elabdrarent.
Crc. Tusc. Disp. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
^ufclisfjcr in ©rtinary to Igcr ittnfestn.
^
V
A
PREFACE.
The history of Eoman Classical Literature, although
it comprehends the names of many illustrious writers and
many voluminous works, is, chronologically speaking,
contained within narrow limits. Dating from its earliest
infancy, until the epoch when it ceased to deserve the
title of classical, its existence occupies a period of less
than four centuries.
The imperial city had heen founded for upwards of five
hundred years without exhibiting more than those rudest
germs of literary taste which are common to the most
uncivilized nations, without producing a single author
either in poetry or prose.
The Eoman mind, naturally vigorous and active, was
still uncultivated, when, about two centuries and a half
before the Christian era, 1 conquest made the inhabitants
B.C. 240 ; A..U. c. 514.
VI PREFACE.
of the capital acquainted, for the first time, with Greek
science, art, and literature; and the last rays of classic
taste and learning ceased to illumine the Eoman world
before the accession of the Antonines. 1
Such a history, however, must be introduced by a
reference to times of much higher antiquity. The
language itself must be examined historically, that is,
its progress and its formation from its primitive ele-
ments must be traced with reference to the influences
exercised upon it from without by the natives who spoke
the dialects out of which it was composed; and the earliest
indications of a taste for poetry, and a desire to cultivate
the intellectual powers, must be marked and followed out
in their successive stages of development. In this inves-
tigation, it will be seen how great the difficulties were
with which literary men had to struggle under the
Eepublic — difficulties principally arising from the physical
activity of the people, and the practical character of the
Eoman mind, which led the majority to undervalue and
despise devotion to sedentary and contemplative pur-
suits.
The Eoman, in the olden times, had a high and self-
denying sense of duty — he was ambitious, but his am-
bition was for the glory, not of himself but his country ;
he thus lived for conquest ; his motive, however, was not
a.d. 138: a.u.c. 891.
PREFACE. Vll
self-aggrandizement, but the extension of the domination
of Borne. When the state came to be merged in the indi-
vidual, generals and statesmen sought to heap up wealth
and to acquire power ; but it was not so in the Kepub-
lican times. Owing to these characteristic features, the
Eoman citizen conceived it to be his duty to devote his
energies to the public service, he concentrated all his
powers, mental and bodily, upon war and politics, he
despised all other occupations and sources of fame; for
he was conscious that his country owed her position
amongst nations to her military prowess, and her liber-
ties at home to the wise administration of her consti-
tution.
Hence it will be seen, that there never was a period in
which literature did not require to be fostered and pro-
tected by the patronage of the wealthy and powerful.
Even tragedy never captivated the feelings or acquired
an influence over the minds of the people at large as it
did in Greece ; it degenerated into mere recitations in
a dramatic form, addressed like any other poetry to a
coterie. Comedy formed the only exception to this rule.
It was the only species of literature which the masses
thoroughly enjoyed. Learning was a sickly plant : pa-
tronage was the artificial heat which brought it to ma-
turity. Accius was patronized by D. Brutus ; Ennius
by Lucilius and the Scipios ; Terence by Africanus and
La3lius ; Lucretius by the Memmii ; Tibullus by Mes-
sala ; Propertius by iElius Gallus ; Virgil and his friends
6 2
Vlll PREFACE.
by Augustus, Maecenas, and Pollio ; Martial and Quin-
tilian by Domitian.
As the conquest of Magna Graecia, Sicily, and, finally,
of Greece itself, first directed to the pursuit of intellectual
cultivation a people, whose national literature, even if it
deserved to be so called, was of the rudest and most
meagre description, Eoman literature was, as might be
expected, the offspring of the Greek, and its beauties a
reflexion of the Greek mind ; and although some portions
were more original than others, as being more con-
genial to the national character — such, for example, as
satire, oratory, and history — it was, upon the whole,
never anything more than an imitation. It had, there-
fore, all the faults of an imitation. As in painting those
that study the old masters, and neglect nature, are nothing-
more than copyists, however high the finish and elaborate
the polish of their works may be ; so in the literature of
Borne, we are delighted with the execution, and charmed
with the genius, wit, and ingenuity, but we seek in vain
for the enthusiasm and inspiration which breathes in every
part of the original.
One faculty of the greatest importance to literary emi-
uence was possessed by the Eomans in the highest per-
fection, because it may be acquired as well as innate, and
is always improved and polished by education. — That
faculty is taste — the ability, as Addison defines it, to
discern the beauties of an author with pleasure, and his
imperfections with dislike.
PREFACE. IX
Of the three periods into which this history is divided,
the first may be considered as dramatic. Eloquence,
indeed, made rapid strides, and C. Gracchus may be
considered as the father of Latin prose ; but the language
was not sufficiently smoothed and polished, the senti-
ments of the orator were far superior to the diction in
which they were conveyed. Jurisprudence also was
studied with thoughtfulness and accuracy ; history, how-
ever, was nothing more than annals, and epic poetry rugged
and monotonous. But the acting-tragedy of the Romans
is almost exclusively confined to this period; and the
comedies of Plautus and Terence were then written, which
have survived to command the admiration of modern
times. Although, at this epoch, the language was
elaborately polished and embellished with the utmost
variety of graceful forms and expressions, it was simple
and unconstrained : it flowed easily and naturally, and
was therefore fall and copious; brevity and epigrammatic
terseness are acquired qualities, and the result of art,
although that art may be skilfully concealed.
The second period consists of two subdivisions, of which
the first was the era of prose, and, consequently, the period
at which the language attained its greatest perfection ;
for the structure, power, and genius of a language must
be judged of by its prose, and not by its poetry. Cicero
is the representative of this era as an orator and philoso-
pher — Ca?sar and Sallust as historians. The second sub-
division or the Augustan age, is the era of poetry, for in
X PREFACE.
it poetry arrived at the same eminence which prose had
attained in the preceding generation. But the age of
Cicero and that of Augustus can only be made subdi-
visions of one great period ; they are not separated from
each other by a strong line of demarcation ; they are
blended together, and gradually melt into one another.
In the former, Lucretius and Catullus were the har-
bingers of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid ; and, in the latter,
the sun of Cicero, Csesar, and Sallust, seems to set in the
sweet narrative of Livy.
The last period is rhetorical : it has been called " the
silver age." It produced Rome's only fabulist, Phsedrus ;
the greatest satirist, Juvenal ; the wittiest epigrammatist;
Martial ; the most philosophical historian, Tacitus ; the
most judicious critic, Quintilian; and a letter-writer,
scarcely inferior to Cicero himself, the younger Pliny;
and yet, notwithstanding these illustrious names, this
is the period of the decline. These great names shed
a lustre over their generation ; but they did not influence
their taste, or arrest the approaching decay of the national
genius : causes were at work which were rapidly pro-
ducing this effect, and they were beyond their control. A
new and false standard of taste was now set up, which
was inconsistent with original genius and independent
thought. Eome was persuaded to accept a declamatory
rhetoric as a substitute for that fervid eloquence in which
she had delighted, and which was now deprived of its
use, and was driven from the Forum to the lecture-room.
PREFACE. XI
This taste infected every species of composition. Seneca
abused his fine talents to teach men to admire nothing
so much as glitter, novelty, and affectation ; and, at
length, all became constrained, hollow, and artificial.
With the national liberty, the national intellect lapsed
into a state of inactivity: a period of intellectual darkness
succeeded, the influence which the capital had lost was
taken up by the provinces, and thus the way was paved
for the inroad of barbarism.
Such is the outline of this work; and if the reader finds
some features, which he considers of great importance,
rapidly touched upon, the extent of the subject, and the
wish to compress it within a moderate compass, must be
offered as the author's apology. In conclusion, the
author acknowledges his deep obligations to those his-
torians and biographers whose works he has consulted
during the composition of this history. He feels that
it would have been presumptuous to offer such a work
to the public without having profited by the laborious
investigations of Wolf, Bayle, Hermann, Grotefend,
Bernhardy, Bahr, Schlegel, Lachmann, Dunlop, Matthise,
Schoell, Krause, Eitter, Nisard, Pierron, Mebuhr,
Milman, Arnold, Merivale, Donaldson, Smith, and the
authors of the " Biographie Universelle."
CONTENTS.
BOOK I.
FIRST ERA.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Comparison of the Latin language with the Greek — Eras of Latinity —
Origin of the Romans — Elements of the Latin language — Etruscan
influence .......... 1
CHAPTER II.
The Eugubine Tables — Existence of Oscan in Italy — Bantine Table —
Perugian Inscription — Etruscan Alphabet and Words — Chant of
Fratres Arvales — Salian Hymn — Other Monuments of Old Latin —
Latin and Greek Alphabets compared .. . . . .14
CHAPTER IH.
Saturnian Metre — Opinions respecting its origin — Early examples of
this Metre — Satumian Ballads in Livy — Structure of the Verse —
Instances of Rhythmical Poetry ...... 32
CHAPTER IV.
Three periods of Roman Classical Literature — Its Elements rude —
Roman Religion — Etruscan influence — Early Historical Monuments
— Fescennine Verses — Fabulae Atellana3 — Introduction of Stage-
Players — Derivation of Satire 39
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
PAGE
Emancipation of Livius Andronicus — His imitation of the Odyssey —
New kind of Scenic Exhibitions — First exhibition of his Dramas —
Naevius a Political Partizan — His bitterness — His Punic War —
His nationality— His versification . . . . . .50
CHAPTER VI.
Naevius stood between two Ages — Life of Ennius — Epitaphs written
by him — His taste, learning, and character — His fitness for being a
Literary Reformer — His influence on the language — His versifica-
tion — The Annals — Difficulties of the Subject — Tragedies and
Comedies — Satiree — Minor Works . . . . . .66
CHAPTER VII.
The New Comedy of the Greeks the Model of the Roman — The
Morality of Roman Comedy — Want of variety in the Plots of
Roman Comedy — Dramatis Personse — Costume — Characters —
Music — Latin Pronunciation — Metrical Licenses — Criticism of
Volcatius — Life of Plautus — Character of his Comedies — Analysis
of his Plots . . ' . 77
CHAPTER VII.
Statius compared with Menander — Criticism of Cicero— Hypotheses
respecting the early life of Terence — Anecdote related by Donatus
— Style and Morality of Terence —Anecdote of him related by
Cornelius Nepos — His pecuniary circumstances and death — Plots
and Criticism of his Comedies — The remaining Comic Poets . .99
CHAPTER VIII.
Why Tragedy did not flourish at Rome — National Legends not
influential with the People— Fabulaa Prastextatse — Roman Religion
not ideal — Roman love for Scenes of Real Action and Gorgeous
Spectacle — Tragedy not patronised by the People — Pacuvius —
His Dulorestes and Paulus 124
CHAPTER IX.
L. Attius — His Tragedies and Fragments— Other Works — Tragedy
disappeared with him — Roman Theatres — Traces of the Satiric
Spirit in Greece — Roman Satire — Lucilius — Criticisms of Horace,
Cicero, and Quintilian — Passage quoted by Lactantius— Laevius a
Lyric Poet " 138
CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER X.
TAGE
Prose Literature — Prose suitable to Roman Genius — History, Juris-
prudence, and Oratory — Prevalence of Greek — Q. Fabius Pic tor —
L. Cincius A limentus — C. Aciliu3_Glabrio — Value of the Annalists
— Important literary period, during which Cai g Ccnsorius
flourished — Sketch of his Life — His character, genius, and style . 149
CHAPTER XI.
The Origj pps of Cnto — Passage quoted by Gellius — Treatise De Re
Rustica — Orations — L. Cassius Hemina — Historians in the Days of
the Gracchi — Traditional Anecdote of Romulus — Autobiographers
— Fragment of Quadrigarius — Falsehoods of Antias — Sisenna —
Tubero . 1G5
CHAPTER XII.
Early Roman Oratory — Eloquence of Appius Claudius Caecus —
Funeral Orations — Defence of Scipio Africanus Major — Scipio
Africanus Minor iEmilianus — Era of the Gracchi — Their Cha-
racters — Interval between the Gracchi and Cicero — M. Antonius — ■
L. Licinius Crassus — Q. Hortensius — Causes of his early popularity
and subsequent failure . . . . . . . .179
CHAPTER XIII.
Study of Jurisprudence — Earliest Systematic Works orrTtoman Law
— Groundwork of the Roman Civil Law — Eminent Jurists — The
Scaevolse — iElius Gallus — C. Aquilius Gallus, a Law Reformer —
Other Jurists — Grammarians . 199
BOOK II.
THE ERA OF CICERO AND AUGUSTUS.
CHAPTER I.
Prose the Test of the condition of a Language — Dramatic Literature}
extinct — Mimes — Difference between Roman and Greek Mimes —
Laberius— Passages from his Poetry — Matius Calvena — Mimiambi
— Publius Syrus — Roman Pantomime — Its licentiousness — Prin-
cipal actors of Pantomime 207
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
PAGK
Lucretius a Poet rather than a Philosopher — His Life — Epic structure
of his Poem — Variety of his Poetry — Extracts from his Poem —
Argument of it — The Epicurean Doctrines contained in it — Morality
of Epicurus and Lucretius — Testimonies of Virgil and Ovid —
Catullus, his Life, Character, and Poetry — Other Poets of tins
period 217
CHAPTER III.
Age of Virgil favourable to Poetry — His birth, education, habits,
illness, and death — His popularity and character — His minor Poems,
the Culex, Ciris, Moretum, Copa and Catalecta — His Bucolics —
Italian manners not suited to Pastoral Poetry — Idylls of Theocritus
— Classification of the Bucolics — Subject of the Pollio — Heyne's
theory respecting it . . . . . . . . .237
CHAPTER IV.
Beauty of Didactic Poetry — Elaborate finish of the Georgics — Roman
love of Rural Pursuits — Hesiod suitable as a Model — Condition of
Italy — Subjects treated of in the Georgics — Some striking passages
enumerated — Influence of Roman Literature on English Poetry —
Sources from which the incidents of the iEneid are derived —
Character of iEneas — Criticism of Niebulu ..... 252
CHAPTER V.
The Libertini — Roman feelings as to Commerce — Birth and infancy
of Horace — His early education at Rome — His Military career —
He returns to Rome — Is introduced to Maecenas — Commences the
Satires — Maecenas gives him his Sabine Farm— His country life —
The Epodes — Epistles — Carmen Seculare — Illness and death . 266
CHAPTER VI.
Character of Horace — Descriptions of his Villa at Tivoli, and his
Sabine Farm — Site of the Bandusian Fountain — The neighbouring
Scenery — Subjects of his Satires and Epistles — Beauty of his Odes
— Imitations of Greek Poets — Spurious Odes — Chronological
Arrangement .......... 282
CHAPTER VII.
Biography of Maecenas — His intimacy and influence with Augustus —
His character — Valgius Rufus — Varius — Cornelius Gallus — Bio-
graphy of Tibullus— His style — Criticism of Muretus — Propertius
— Imitated the Alexandrian Poets — JEmilius Macer . . . 299
CONTENTS. XV11
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGB
Birth and education of Ovid — His rhetorical powers— Anecdote
related by Seneca — His poetical genius — Self-indulgent life —
Popularity — Banishment — Place of his Exile — Epistles and other
Works — Gratius Faliscus — Pedo Albinovanus — Aulus Sabinus —
Marcos Manilins . 313
CHAPTER IX.
Prose Writers — Influence of Cicero upon the Language — His converse
with his Friends — His early Life — Pleads his first Cause — Is
Quaestor, ^Edile, Praetor, and Consul — His exile, return, and pro-
vincial Administration — His vacillating conduct — He delivers his
Philippics — Is proscribed and assassinated — His character . . 328
CHAPTER X.
Cicero no Historian — His Oratorical style defended — Its principal
charm — Observations on his forensic Orations — His Oratory essen-
tially judicial — Political Orations — Rhetorical Treatises — The object
of his Philosophical Works — Characteristics of Roman Philosophical
Literature — Philosophy of Cicero — His Political Works — Letters —
His Correspondents — Varro ....... 341
CHAPTER XL
Roman Historical Literature — Principal Historians — Lucceius —
Lucullus — Cornelius Nepos — Opinions of the genuineness of the
Works which bear his Name — Biography of J. Caesar — His Com-
mentaries — Their style and language — His modesty overrated —
Other Works— Character of Caesar 368
CHAPTER Xn.
Life of Sallust — His insincerity — His Historical Works — He was a
bitter opponent of the New Aristocracy — Profligacy of that Order —
His style compared with that of Thucydides — His value as an His-
torian — Trogus Pompeius — His Histories Philippics . . . 385
CHAPTER XIII.
Life of Livy — His object in writing Ids History — Its spirit and
character — Livy precisely suited to his Age — Not wilfully inac-
curate — His political bias accounted for — Materials which he might
have used — Sources of his History — His defects as an Historian —
His style — Grammarians — Vitruvius Pollio, an Augustan Writer
—Contents of his Work 394
XV111 CONTENTS.
BOOK III.
ERA OF THE DECLINE.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Decline of Roman Literature — It became declamatory — Biography of
Pha?dras— Genuineness of liis Fables — Moral and Political Lessons
inculcated in them — Specimens of Fables — Fables suggested by
Historical events — Sejanus and Tiberius — Epoch unfavourable to
Literature — Ingenuity of Phsedrus — Superiority of JEsop — The
style of Phsedras classical 409
CHAPTER II.
Dramatic Literature in the Augustan Age — Revival under Nero —
Defects of the Tragedies attributed to Seneca — Internal evidence of
their authorship — Seneca the Philosopher a Stoic — Inconsistent and
unstable — The sentiments of his Philosophical Works found in his
Tragedies — Parallel passages compared — French School of Tragic
Poets 424
CHAPTER III.
Biography of Persius — His schoolboy days — His friends — His purity
and modesty — His defects as a Satirist — Subjects of his Satires —
Obscurity of his style — Compared with Horace — Biography of
Juvenal — Corruption of Roman Morals — Critical observations on
the Satires — Their Historical value — Style of Juvenal — He was the
last of Roman Satirists . . . . . • . . 434
CHAPTER IV.
Biography of Lucan — Inscription to his Memory — Sentiments ex-
pressed in the Pharsalia — Lucan an unequal Poet — Faults and
merits of the Pharsalia— Characteristics of his Age — Difficulties of
Historical Poetry — Lucan a descriptive Poet — Specimens of his
Poetry — Biography of Silius Italicus — His character by Pliny —
His Poem dull and tedious — His description of the Alps . . 452
CONTENTS. XIX
CHAPTER V.
PAGE
C. Valerius Flaccus — Faults of the Argonautica — Papinius Statins —
Beauty ofhis minor Poems — Incapable of Epic Poetry— Domitian —
Epigram — Martial — His Biography — Profligacy of the Age in
which he lived — Impurity of his Writings — Favourable specimens
of his Poetry 46 G
CHAPTER VI.
Aufidius Bassus and Cremutius Cordus — Velleius Paterculus —
Character of his Works — Valerius Maximus — Cornelius Tacitus —
Age of Trajan — Biography of Tacitus — His extant Works enu-
merated — Agricola — Germany — Histories — Traditions respecting
the Jews — Annals — Object of Tacitus — His character — His style . 482
CHAPTER VII.
C. Suetonius Tranquillus — His Biography — Sources of his History —
His great fault — Q. Curtius Rufus — Time when he flourished
doubtful — His Biography of Alexander — Epitomes of L. Annaeus
Floras— Sources whence he derived them ..... 499
CHAPTER VIII.
M. Annceus Seneca — His Controversial and Suasoria? — L. Annaeus
Seneca — Tutor to Nero — His enormous fortune — His death and
character — Inconsistencies in his Philosophy — A favourite with
early Christian Writers — His Epistles — Work on Natural Pheno-
mena — Apocolocyntosis — His style . . . . . . 507
CHAPTER IX.
Pliny the Elder — His habits described by his Nephew — His industry
and application — His death in the eruption of Vesuvius — The
Eruption described in two Letters of Pliny the Younger — The
Natural History of Pliny — Its subjects described — Pliny the
Younger — His affection for his guardian — His Panegyric, Letters,
and Despatches — That concerning the Christians — The answer . 515
CHAPTER X.
M. Fabius Quintilianus — His Biography — His Institutions Oratonaa
— His views of Education — Division of his Subject into Five Parts
— Review of Greek and Roman Literature — Completeness of his
great Work — His other Works — His disposition — Grief for the
loss of his son ...... ... 534
XX CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
A. Cornelius Celsus — His merits — Cicero Medicoram — Scribonius
Largus Designatianus — Pomponius Mela — L. Junius Moderatus
Columella — S. Julius Frontinus — Decline of taste in the Silver
Age — Foreign Influence on Roman Literature — Conclusion . . 544
Chronological Table 551
PART II.
ROMAN LITEEATUR E.
Book I. — First Era.
CHAPTER I.
COMPARISON OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE WITH THE GREEK — ERAS OF
LATINITY — ORIGIN OF THE ROMANS — ELEMENTS OF THE LATIN
LANGUAGE — ETRUSCAN INFLUENCE.
The various races which, from very remote antiquity,
inhabited the peninsula of Italy, necessarily gave a com-
posite character to the Eatin Language. But as all of
them sprang from one common origin, the great Indo-
European stock to which also the Hellenic family be-
longed, a relation of the most intimate kind is visible
between the languages of ancient Greece and Eome.
Xot only are then alphabets and grammatical construc-
tions identical, but the genius of the one is so similar to
that of the other, that the Eomans readily adopted the
principles of Greek literary taste, and Latin, without losing
its own characteristic features, moulded itself after the
Greek model.
Latin, however, has not the plastic property which the
Greek possesses — the natural faculty of transforming
itself into every variety of shape conceived by the fancy
and imagination. It is a harder material, it readily
takes a polish, but the process by which it receives it is
B
Z ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
laborious and artificial. Greek, like a liquid or a soft
substance, seems to crystallize as it were spontaneously
into the most beautiful forms : Latin, whether poetry or
prose, derives only from consummate art and skill that
graceful beauty which is the natural property of the
kindred language.
Latin, also, to continue the same metaphor, has other
characteristic features of hard substances — gravity, solidity,
and momentum or energy. It is a fit language for em-
bodying and expressing the thoughts of an active and
practical but not an imaginative and speculative people.
But the Latin language, notwithstanding its nervous
energy and constitutional vigour, has, by no means, ex-
hibited the permanency and vitality of the Greek. The
Greek language, reckoning from the earliest works extant
to the present day, boasts of an existence measured by
nearly one-half the duration of the human race, and yet
how gradual were the changes during the classical
periods, and how small, when compared with those of
other European languages, the sum and result of them
all ! Setting aside the differences due to race and physical
organization, there are no abrupt chasms, no broad hues
of demarcation, between one literary period and another.
The transition is gentle, slow, and gradual. The suc-
cessive steps can be traced and followed out. The literary
style of one period melts and is absorbed into that of the
following one, just like the successive tints and colours
of the prism. The Greek of the Homeric poems is not
so different from that of Herodotus and Thucydides, or
the tragedians or the orators, or even the authors of the
later debased ages, but that the same scholar who under-
stands the one can analyse the rest. Though separated
by so many ages, the contemporaries of Demosthenes
could appreciate the beauties of Homer ; and the Byzan-
tines and early Christian fathers wrote and spoke the
language of the ancient Greek philosophers.
VITALITY OF GREEK. 6
The Greek Language long outlived Greek nationality.
The earliest Roman historians wrote in Greek because
the}' had as yet no native language fitter to express their
thoughts. The Romans, in the time of Cicero, made
Greek the foundation of a liberal education, and fre-
quented Athens as a University for the purpose of
studying Greek literature and philosophy. The great
orator, in his defence of the poet Archias, informs us
that Greek literature was read by almost all nations of
the world, whilst Latin was still confined within very
narrow boundaries. At the commencement of the Chris-
tian era Greek was so prevalent throughout the civilized
world, that it was the language chosen by the Evan-
gelists for recording the doctrines of the gospel. In the
time of Hadrian Greek was the favourite language of
literary men. The Princess Anna Comnena, daughter
of the Emperor Alexis, and Eustathius, the commentator
on Homer, both of whom flourished in the twelfth century
after the birth of Christ, are celebrated for the singular
purity of their style ; and, lastly, Philelphus, who lived
in the fifteenth century, and had visited Constantinople,
states, in a letter dated a. d. 1451, that although much
bad Greek was spoken in that capital, the court, and
especially the ladies, retained the dignity and elegance
which characterise the purest writers of the classical
ages. " Graaci quibus lingua depravata non sit, et quos
ipsi turn sequimur turn imitamur ita loquuntur vulgo
etiam hac tempestate ut Aristophanes comicus ut
Euripides tragicus, ut oratores omnes ut historiographi
ut philosophi etiam ipsi et Plato et Aristoteles. Yiri
aulici veterem sermonis dignitatem atque elegantiam
retinebant." 1
Such was the wonderful vitality of Greek in its ancient
form ; and yet, strange to say, notwithstanding it clung
1 See Forster's Essay on Greek Quantity, c. vi.
B 2
4 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
so to existence, it seems as though it was a plant of such
delicate nature, that it could only nourish under a com-
bination of favourable circumstances. It pined and
withered when separated from the living Greek intel-
lect. It lived only where Greeks themselves lived, in
their fatherland or in their colonies. It refused to take
root elsewhere. Whenever in any part of the world a
Greek settlement decayed, and the population became
extinct, even although Greek art and science, and litera-
ture and philosophy, had found there a temporary home,
the language perished also.
The Greek language could not exist when the foster-
ing- care of native genius was withdrawn: it then shrunk
back again into its original dimensions, and was confined
within the boundaries of its original home. When the
Greeks in any place passed away, their language did not
influence or amalgamate with that of the people which
succeeded them. Latin, on the other hand, was propa-
gated like the dominion of Rome by conquest : it either
took the place of the language of the conquered nation,
or became engrafted upon it and gradually pervaded its
composition. Hence its presence is discernible in all
European languages. In Spain it became united with
the Celtic and Iberian as early as the period of the
Gracchi: it was planted in Gaul by the conquests of
Julius Csesar, and in Britain (so far as the names of
localities are concerned) by his transient expeditions ;
and lastly, in the reign of Trajan, it became permanently
fixed in the distant regions of Dacia and Pannonia.
It is scarcely correct to term Greek a dead language.
It has degenerated, but has never perished or disappeared.
Its harmonious modulations are forgotten, and its delicate
pronunciation is no longer heard, but Greek is still
spoken at Athens. The language, of course, exhibits
those features which constitute the principal difference
between ancient and modern languages ; prepositions and
ITS INDIVIDUALITY.
particles have supplanted affixes and inflexions, auxiliary
verbs supply the gaps caused by the crumbling away of
the old conjugations, and literal translations of modern
modes of speech give an air of incongruity and barbarism ;
but still the language is upon the whole wonderfully
preserved. A well-educated modern Greek would find
less difficulty in understanding the writings of Xenophon
than an Englishman would experience in reading Chaucer,
or perhaps Spenser.
Greek has evinced not only vitality, but individuality
likewise. Compared with other languages, its stream
flowed pure through barbarous lands, and was but little
tinged or polluted by the soil through which it passed.
There is nothing of this in Latin, neither the vitality
nor the power of resistance to change. Strange to say,
although partially derived from the same source, its pro-
perties appear to be totally different. Latin seems to
have a strong disposition to change ; it readily became
polished, and as readily barbarized ; it had no difficulty
in enriching itself with new expressions borrowed from
the Greek, and conforming itself to Greek rules of taste
and grammar. When it came in contact with the lan-
guages of other nations, the affinity which it had for
them was so strong that it speedily amalgamated with
them, but it did not so much influence them as itself
receive an impress from them. It did not supersede,
but it became absorbed in and was corrupted by, other
tongues. Probably, as it was originally made up of many
European elements, it recognized a relationship with all
other languages, and therefore readily admitted of fusion
together with them into a composite form. Its existence
is confined within the limits of less than eight centuries.
It assumed a form adapted for literary composition less
than two centuries and a half before the Christian era,
and it ceased to be a spoken language in the sixth
century.
6 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
As long as the Eoman empire existed in its integrity,
and the capital city retained its influence as the patron
to whom all literary men must look for support, and as
the model of refinement and civilization, the language
maintained its dominion. Provincial writers endeavoured
to rid themselves of their provincialisms. At Borne
they formed their taste and received their education.
The rule of language was the usage of the capital, but,
when the empire was dismembered, and language was thus
set free from its former restrictions, each section of it felt
itself at liberty to have an independent language and
literature of its own, the classical standard was neglected,
and Latin rapidly became barbarized. Again, Latin has
interpenetrated or become the nucleus of every language
of civilized Europe : it has shown great facilities of
adaptation, but no individuality or power to supersede ;
but the relation which it bears to them is totally unlike
that which ancient Greek bears to modern. The best
Latin scholar would not understand Dante or Tasso, nor
would a knowledge of Italian enable one to read Horace
and Virgil.
The old Eoman language, as it existed previous to
coming in contact with Greek influences, has almost
entirely perished. It will be shown hereafter that only
a few records of it remain ; and the language of these
fragments is very different from that of the classical
period. 'Nor did the old language grow into the new
like the Greek of two successive ages by a process of
development, but it was remoulded by external and
foreign influences. So different was the old Eoman from
classical Latin, that although the investigations of
modern scholars have enabled us to decipher the frag-
ments which, remain, and to point out the analogies
which exist between old and new forms, some of them
were with difficulty intelligible to the cleverest and best
educated of the Augustan age. The treaty which Eome
ORIGIN OV THE ROMANS. 7
made with Carthage in the first year of the Republic was
engraved on brazen tablets, and preserved in the archives
of the Capitol. Polybius had learning enough to trans-
late it into Greek, but he tells us that the language of it
was too archaic for the Romans of his day. 1
A wide gap separates this old Latin from the Latin of
Ennius, whose style was formed by Greek taste; another
not so wide is interposed between the age of Ennius and
that of Plautus and Terence, both of whom wrote in the
language of their adopted city, but confessedly copied
Greek models ; and, lastly, Cicero and the Augustan poets
mark another age, to which from the preceding one, the
only transition with which we are acquainted is the style
of oratory of Caius Gracchus, which tradition informs us
was free from ancient rudeness, although it had not
acquired the smoothness and polish of Hortensius or
Cicero.
In order to arrive at the origin of the Latin language
it will be necessary to trace that of the Romans them-
selves. In the most distant ages to which tradition
extends, the peninsula of Italy appears to have been
inhabited by three stocks or tribes of the great Indo-
Germanic family. One of these is commonly known by
the name of Oscans ; another consisted of two branches,
the SabeUians, or Sabines, and the Umbrians ; the third
were called Sikeli, sometimes Vituli and Itali. What
affinities there were between these and the other Indo-
European tribes out of Italy, or by what route they
came from the original cradle of the human race is
Wrapped in obscurity. Donaldson considers that all the
so-called aboriginal inhabitants of Italy were of the
same race as the Lithuanians or old Prussians. The
Oscans evidently, from the name which tradition assigns
to them, claimed to be the aboriginal inhabitants. The
Pol. Hist. iii. 22 : see Donaldson's Varron.
8 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
name Osci, or Opici, which is a longer form of it, is
etymologically connected with Ops, the goddess Earth,
and consequently their national appellation is equivalent to
the Greek terms avroyfioves, or yyjyevew, the " children of
the soil." That the Sabellians and Umbrians are branches
of the same stock is proved by the similarity which has
been discovered to exist between the languages spoken
by them. The Umbrians also claimed great antiquity,
for the Greeks are said to have given them their name
from o/x/3/?o9, rain; implying that they were an ante-
diluvian race, and had survived the storms of rain which
deluged the world. Pliny likewise considers them the
most ancient race in Italy. 1
The original settlements of the Umbrians extended
over the district bounded on one side by the Tiber, on
the other by the Po. All the country to the south was
in the possession of the Oscans, with the exception of
Latium, which was inhabited by the Sikeli. But in
process of time, the Oscans, pressed upon by the
Sabellians, invaded the abodes of this peaceful and rural
people, some of whom submitted and amalgamated with
their conquerors, the rest were driven across the narrow
sea into Sicily, and gave the name to that island. 2
These native tribes were not left in undisturbed pos-
session of their rich inheritance. There arrived in the
north of Italy that enterprising race, famed alike for
their warlike spirit and their skill in the arts of peace,
the Pelasgians (or dark Asiatics), and became the civilizers
of Italy. Historical research has failed to discover what
settlements this wonderful race inhabited immediately
previous to their occupation of Etruria. According to
Livy's account 3 they must have arrived in Italy by sea,
for he asserts that their first settlements were south of
the Apennines, that thence they spread northwards, and
Plin. N. H. iii. 14. 2 See Thucyd. ii. 6. 3 Lib. v. 33.
IMMIGRATION OF THE ETRUSCANS. 9
that the Rhseti were a portion of them, and spoke their
language in a barbarous and corrupt form. His testi-
mony ought to have some weight, because, as a native of
the neighbourhood, he probably knew the Bhsotian
language. Their immigration must have taken place
more than one thousand years before Christ, 1 and yet
they were far advanced in the arts of civilization and
refinement, and the science of politics and social life.
They enriched their newly-acquired country with com-
merce, and filled it with strongly-fortified and populous
cities : their dominion rapidly spread over the whole of
Italy from sea to sea, from the Alps to Vesuvius and
Salerno, and even penetrated into the islands of Elba
and Corsica. 2 Herodotus 3 asserts that they migrated
from Lydia; and this tradition was adopted by the
Romans and by themselves. 4 Dionysius 5 rejects this
theory on the grounds that there is no similarity
between the Lydian and Etruscan language, religion, or
institutions, and that Xanthus, a native Lydian historian,
makes no mention of this migration. Doubtless the
language is unique, nor can a connexion be traced
between it and any family; but their alphabet is
Phoenician, their theology and polity oriental, their
national dress and national symbol, the eagle, was
Lydian, and a remarkable custom alluded to both by
Herodotus 6 and Plautus 7 was Lydian likewise.
Entering the territory of the TJmbrians they drove
them before them into the rugged and mountainous
districts, and themselves occupied the rich and fertile
plains. The head-quarters of the invaders was Etruria ;
the conquered TJmbrians lived amongst them as a subject
people, like the Peloponnesians under their Dorian con-
1 MUller, Etrusk. iv. 7, 8.
2 See authorities quoted by Dennis, Cities of Etruria, i. xxiv.
3 Lib. i. 94. 4 Tac. Ann. iv. 55. 5 Lib. i. p. 22, 24.
b Lib. i. 93. ; Cistell. II. iii. 20.
10 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
querors, or the Saxons under the Norman nobility.
This portion of the Pelasgians called themselves Rasena,
the Greeks spoke of them as Tyrseni, a name evidently
connected with the Greek rvppts or rupees (Latin, Turris),
and which remarkably confirms the assertion of Hero-
dotus, since the only Pelasgians who were famed for
architecture or tower-building, were those who claimed a
Lydian extraction, namely, the Argives and Etruscans. 1
This theory of the Pelasgian origin of the Etruscans is
due to Lepsius, 2 and has been adopted by Donaldson ; 3
and if it be correct, the language of Etruria was probably
Pelasgian amalgamated with, and to a certain extent
corrupted by, the native Umbrian.
Pelasgian supremacy on the left bank of the Tiber
found no one to dispute it. Let us now turn our attention
to the influence of these invaders in lower Italy. As
they marched southwards, they vanquished the Oscans
and occupied the plains of Latium. They did not,
however, remain long at peace in the districts which they
had conquered. The old inhabitants returned from the
neighbouring highlands to which they had been driven,
and subjugated the northern part of Latium.
The history of the occupation of Etruria, which has
been already related, was here acted over again, with
only the following alteration, that here the Oscan was
the dominant tribe, and the subject people amongst
whom they took up their abode were Pelasgians and
Sikeli, by whom the rest of the low country of Latium
was still occupied. The towns of the north formed a
federal union, of which Alba was the capital, whilst of
the southern or Pelasgian confederacy the chief city was
Lavinium, or Latinium. The conquering Oscans were
1 A Cyclopean or Pelasgian wall, built of polygonal stones, without
mortar, exists so far north as Diisternbrook, near Kiel, in Schleswig-
Holstein.
' 2 CTeber die Tyr. Pel. in Etr. Leips. 1842. s Varronianus, i. sec. 10.
ELEMENTS OF LATIN. 1 I
a nation of warriors and hunters, and consequently, as
Niebuhr remarked, in the language of this district the
terms belonging to war and hunting are Oscan, whilst
those which relate to peace and the occupations of rural
life are Pelasgian. As, therefore, the language of Etruria
was Pelasgian, corrupted by Umbrian, so Pelasgian
4- Oscan is the formula which represents the language of
Latium.
But the Roman or Latin language is still more com-
posite in its nature, and consists of more than these two
elements. This phenomenon is also to be accounted for
by the origin of the Roman people. The septi-montium
upon which old Rome was built w r as occupied by different
Italian tribes. A Latin tribe belonging, if we may trust
the mythical tradition, to the Alban confederacy, had
their settlement upon the Mount Palatine, and a Sabine
or Sabellian community occupied the neighbouring
heights of the Quirinal and Capitoline. Mutual jealousy
of race kept them for some time separate from each
other ; but at length the privilege of intermarriage was
conceded, and the two communities became one people.
The Tyrrhene Pelasgians, however, separated only by a
small river from this new state, rapidly rising to power
and prosperity, w T ere not likely to view its existence
without distrust and jealousy. Accordingly the early
Roman historical traditions evidently point to a period,
during which Rome was subject to Etruscan rule. When
the Etruscan dynasty passed away, its influence in many
respects still remained. The religion and mythology of
Etruria left an indelible stamp on the rites and ceremo-
nies of the Roman people. The Etruscan deities were
the natural gods of Rome before the influence of Greek
poetry introduced the mythology of Homer and Hesiod
into her Pantheon. The characters and attributes of
these deities w r ere totally different from those of Greece.
Xo licentious orgies disgraced their worship ; they were
12 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
defiled by none of their vices. 1 Saturn, Janus, Sylvanus,
Faunas, and other Etruscan deities, were grave, venerable,
pure, and delighted in the simple occupations of rural
life. It was only general features of resemblance which
enabled the poets in later ages to identify Saturn with
Kronos, Sylvanus with Pan, the prophetic Camense of
the Janiculum with the muses of Parnassus. 2 The point,
however, most important for the present considera-
tion is that their language likewise was permanently
affected.
The ethnical affinities which have been here briefly
stated, and which may be considered as satisfactorily
established by the investigations of Niebuhr, Miiller,
Lepsius, Donaldson, and others, are a guide to the affini-
ties of the Latin language, and point out the elements of
which it is composed. These elements, then, are Umbrian,
Oscan, Etruscan, Sabine, and Pelasgian ; but, as has been
stated, the Etruscan language was a compound of Oscan
and Pelasgian, and the Sabine was the link, between the
Umbrian and Oscan, therefore the elements of the Latin
are reduced to three, namely, Umbrian, Oscan and Pelas-
gian. These may again be classified under two heads,
the one which has, the other which has not, a resem-
blance to the Greek. All Latin words which resemble
1 Heyne, Esc. Virg. 2En. iii.
2 The religion of Eome furnishes many other traces of Etruscan influ-
ence : — ex. gi\, the ceremonies of the augurs and haruspices were Etruscan,
and the lituus, or augur's staff, may be seen on old Etruscan monuments.
The Tuscan Fortune, Nortia, the etymology of whose name (ne-verto) coin-
cides with that of the Greek 'Arpcnros (the unchangeable), had the nails, the
emblem of necessity, as her device ; and hence the consul marked the com-
mencement of the year hj driving a nail.
The Roman Hymen, the god of marriage, was Talassius ; a fact which
illustrates one of the incidents in the tradition which Livy (book i. c. ix.)
adopts respecting the rape of the Sabine virgins.
The name Talassius was evidently derived from the Tuscan name
Thalna, or Talana, by which was designated the Juno Pronuba of the
Romans, and the c Hpij reAeia of the Greeks.
PELASGIAN ELEMENT. 13
the Greek are Pelasgian, 1 all wliicli do not are Oscan and
Umbrian. From the first of these classes must of course
be excepted those words — such, for example, as Tricli-
nium, &c, — which are directly derived from the Greek,
the origin of which dates partly from the time when
Borne began to have intercourse with the Greek colonies
of Magna Grsecia, partly since Greek exercised an in-
fluence on Roman literature. It is clear from the testi-
mony of Horace that the enriching of the language by
the adoption of such foreign words was defended and
encouraged by the literary men of the Augustan age : —
Si forte necesse est
Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum
Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis
Continget ; dabiturque licentia sumta pudenter,
Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si
Grseco fonte cadant, parce detcrta.
Hor. Ep. ad Pis. 48.
1 Owing to the existence of the Pelasgian element in Latin, as well as in
Greek, an affinity can be traced between these languages and the Sanscrit
in no fewer than 339 Greek and 319 Latin words.
14 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTEK II.
THE EUGUBINE TABLES — EXISTENCE OE OSCAN IN ITALY — BANTINE
TABLE — PERUGIAN INSCRIPTION — ETRUSCAN ALPHABET AND
WORDS — CHANT OF FRATRES ARVALES— SALIAN HYMN — OTHER
MONUMENTS OF OLD LATIN — LATIN AND GREEK ALPHABETS COM-
PARED.
THE UMBRIAN LANGUAGE.
In the neighbourhood of Ugubio, 1 at the foot of the
Apennines (the ancient Iguvium), were discovered, in
a.d. 1444, seven tables, commonly called the Eugubine
Tables. They were in good preservation, and contained
prayers and rules for religious ceremonies. Some of
them were engraved in the Etruscan or Umbrian charac-
ters, others in Latin letters. Lepsius 2 has determined,
from philological considerations, that the date of them
must be as early as from A.u.c. 400, 3 and that the Latin
were engraved about two centuries later. A comparison
of the two shows, in the Umbrian character, the letter s
standing in the place occupied by r in the Latin, and k
in the place of g, because the Etruscan alphabet, with
which the Umbrian is the same, did not contain the medial
letters B, G, D. An analogous substitute is seen in the
transition from the old to the more modern Latin. The
names Eurius and Caius, for example, were originally
written Eusius and Gaius. His also introduced between
1 See Donaldson's Varron., c. iii. 2 Leps. de Tab. Eug., p. 86.
3 B. c. 354.
KKLATION OF UMBRIAN TO LATIN.
15
two vowels, as stahito for stato, in the same way that in
Latin aheneus is derived from aes. It also appears that
the termination of the masculine singular was o : thus,
orfco = ortus ; whilst that of the plural was or ; e.g., subator
= subacid ; screhitor = scripti. This mode of inflexion
illustrates the form amaminor for amamini, which was
itself a participle used for amamini estis, an idiom analo-
gous to the Greek TervjJLjJLevoi hat.
The following extract, with, the translation by Donald-
son, 1 together with a few words which present the
greatest resemblance to the Latin, will suffice to give a
general notion of the relation which the Umbrian bears
to it: —
Teio subokau suboko, Dei Grrabovi, okriper Fisiu, tota-
per Jiovina, erer nomne-per, erar nomne-per ; fos sei,
paker sei, okre Fisei, Tote Jiovine, erer nomne, erar
nomne : Tab. VI. (Lepsius). Te invocavi invoco, Jupiter
Grabovi, pro monte Fisio, pro urbe Iguvina, pro illius
nomine, pro hujus nomine, bonus sis, propitius sis, monti
Fisio, urbi Iguvina?, illius nomine, hujus nomine.
Alfu
albus
white
Asa
ara
altar
Aveis
aves
birds
Buf
boves
oxen
Ferine
farina
meal
Nep
nee
nor
Nome
nomen
name
Parfa
parra
owl
Peica
picus
pie
Periklum
preculum
prayer (dim.)
Poplus
populus
people
Puni
panis
bread
Relite
recte
rightly
Skrehto
scriptus
written
Suboko
sub voco
invoke
Subra
supra
above
Tafle
tabula
table
Tuplu
duplus
double
Tripler
triplus
triple
1 Varronianus, c. iii.
16 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Tota
(analogous to) totus
a city (a whole or collection)
Vas
fas
law
Vinu
vinum
wine
Uve
ovis
sheep
Vitlu
vitulus
calf. 1
THE OSCAN LANGUAGE.
The remains which have come down to ns of this
language belong, in fact, to a composite idiom made up
of the Sabine and Oscan. Although its literature has
entirely perished, inscriptions fortunately still survive;
but as they must have been engraved long subsequently
to the settlement of the Sabellians in Southern Italy, the
language in which they are written must necessarily be
compounded of those spoken both by the conquerors and
the conquered. Although Livy 2 makes mention of an
Oscan dramatic literature," for he tells us that the " Fa-
buhe Atellanse " of the Oscans were introduced when a
pestilence raged at Borne, 3 together with other theatrical
entertainments, he only speaks of the Oscan language
in one passage. 4 This, however, is an important one,
because it proves that Oscan was the vernacular tongue
of the Samnites at that period. He relates that Volum-
nius sent spies into the Samnite camp who understood
Oscan : " Gnaros Oscse linguse exploratum quid agatur
mittit."
It is clear that the reason why the Oscan language
prevailed amongst this people is, that the dominant
orders in Samnium were Sabines. But there is evidence
of the existence of Oscan in Italy at a still later period.
Niebuhr 5 asserts that in the Social War 6 the Marsi
spoke Oscan, although in writing they used the Latin
characters. Some denarii still exist struck by the con-
1 See Grotefend, Rud. Ling. Umbr. Hanov. 1835 ; and Lassen. Beitrage
zur Eug. Tafeln. Rhein. Mus. 1833. 2 Liv. vii. 11.
3 a. u. c. 361 ; B. c. 393. 4 Liv. x. 20.
5 Lect. on Rom. Hist. 1. xxxiii. 6 a. u. c. 664 ; b. c. 90.
THE BANTINE TABLE.
17
federate Italian Government established in that war at
Corrinium, on which the word Italia is inscribed, whilst
others bear the word Viteliu. The latter is the old
Oscan orthography, the former the Latin. One class of
these coins, therefore, was stmck for the use of the
Sabine, the other of the Marsian allies. It is said also
that Oscan was spoken even after the establishment of
the empire.
The principal monument of the Sabello -Oscan is a
brass plate which was discovered a.d. 1793. As the
word Bansw occurs in the 23 rd line of the inscription,
it has been supposed to refer to the town of Bantia,
which was situated not far from the spot where the
tablet was found, and it is therefore called the Bantine
Table. In consequence of the perfect state of the central
portion, much of this inscription has been interpreted
with tolerable certainty and correctness. The affinity
may be traced between most of the words and their
corresponding Latin ; and it is perfectly clear that the
variations from the Latin follow r certain definite rules,
and that the grammatical inflexions were the same as in
the oldest Latin. A copy of the Table may be found
in the collection of Orellius, and also in Donaldson's
" Varronianus." 1 The following are a few specimens
of words in which a resemblance to the Latin will
be readily recognized, and also, in some instances, the
relation of the Oscan to the other ancient languages of
Italy:—
Licitud
Liceto
Comonei
Communis
Multam
Mulctam
Per am doium
Per dolum
Maim as
Maximas
mallom siom
rualum suum
Carneis
Carnes
Iok — lone
hoe — hunc
Senateis
Senatus
Pod
quod
Pis
quis
Valsemon
Valetudinem
1 Pp. i
56—89.
18
ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Hipid
habeat
Fust
fuerit
Pruhipid
prsehibeat
Poizad
penset (Anglicd,
Pruhipust
prsehibuent
poize).
Censtur
censor
Fuid
fuit
Censazet
censapit
Tarpinius
Tarquinius
Censaum, &c.
censum, &c.
Ampus
Ancus
To these other well-known words may be added, which
all philologers allow to be originally Oscan, but which
have been incorporated with the Latin — such as, for
example, Brutus, Cascus, Catus, Ecedus, Idus, Porcus,
Trabea; and names of deities, such as Fides, Terminus,
Yertumnus, Tors, Flora, Lares, Mamers, Quirinus, &c.
THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE.
The difficulty and obscurity in which the Etruscan
language is involved are owing to the nature of the
inscriptions and monuments which have been discovered.
Those records, to which reference has already been made
when speaking of the Umbrian and Sabelio-Oscan, were
of a ceremonial or legal character ; they therefore con-
tained connected phrases and sentences, varied modes
of thought and expression. Monuments such as the
Eugubine or Bantine Tables contribute not a little
towards a vocabulary of the languages, and still more
to a knowledge of their structure and analogies. This,
however, is not the case with the Etruscan monuments
of antiquity which have been hitherto discovered. They
are, indeed, numerous, but they exhibit little variety.
They are sepulchral records of a complimentary kind, or
titles inscribed on statues and votive offerings. Hence
the same brief phraseology continually recurs, and the
principal portions of the inscriptions are occupied by
proper names.
The most important, because the largest, Etruscan
record which has been hitherto discovered, is one which
PERUGIAN INSCRIPTION 19
was found near Perugia, a.d. 1822. 1 This inscription
contains one hundred and thirty-one words and abbre-
viations of words, and of these no fewer than thirty-
eight are proper names. Of the rest, a vast number
are either frequently repeated, or are etymologically
connected. These have not proved sufficient to enable
any philologist (although' many have attempted it) to
give a satisfactory and trustworthy explanation of its
contents.
A comparison of the Perugian with the Eugubine
inscription shows the existence of similarity between
some of the words found in both of them • and this is
exactly what we should a priori expect to result from the
theory of the Etruscan being a compound of the Pelas-
gian and Umbrian. In the Perugian inscription, words
which resemble the Umbrian forms are more numerous
than those which seem to have an affinity for the Pelas-
gian. Indeed, the language in which it is written
appears almost entirely to have lost the Pelasgian ele-
ment. The same observation may be made with respect
to the Cortonian inscription : 2 —
Arses verses Sethlanl tephral ape termnu pisest estu ; i. e. Aver-
tas ignem Vulcane victimarum carne post terminum piatus esto ;
or, Avertas ignem Vulcane in cinerem redigens qui apud terminum
piatus esto.
Probably, therefore, both these belong to a period at
which the old Umbrian of the conquered tribes had been
exercising a long-continued influence in corrupting the
pure Pelasgian of the conquerors.
One example of the Etruscan alphabet is extant. It
was discovered in a tomb at Bomarzo, by Mr. Dennis, 3
inscribed round the foot of a cup, and probably had been
1 Micali, Tav. cxx. 2 Orellii Inscr. 1384.
3 Cities of Etruria, i p. 225.
c 2
20
ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
a present for a child,
and are as follows : —
The letters ran from left to right,
$*f for/ or ph. The
following is a transcription of it, as given by Orellius, to
which an interpretation is subjoined : —
Enos Lases
juvate.
Nos Lares
juvate.
Us Lares
help.
Neve luaerve
Mariner sins incurrere in pleoris.
Neve luem
Mars sinas incurrere plus.
Nor the pestilence
Mars permit to invade more.
1 Schoell. Hist, de Lit. Rom. i. p. 42 ; Orell. Insc. 2270.
2 Circ. a. d. 218.
24 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Satur fufere Mars limen Salista berber.
Satiatus furendo Mars lumen Solis sta fervere.
Satiated with fury, O Mars the light of the sun stop from burning.
Semunis alternei advocapit conctos.
Semihemones alterni ad vos capite cunctos.
Us half-men in your turns to you take all.
Enos Marmer juvato.
Nos Mars juvato.
Us Mars help.
Triumpe, triumpe, triumpe, triumpe, triumpe.
Triumph, &c.
Of the Salian hymn (Carmen Salkre), another monu-
ment of ancient Latin, the following fragments, preserved
by Yarro, 1 are all that remain, with the exception of a
few isolated words :
(1.) Cozeulodoizcso, omina vero ad patula coemisse
Jam cusiones, duonus ceruses dunzianus vevet. 1
This has been corrected, arranged in the Saturnian
metre, and translated into Latin by Donaldson' 2 as fol-
lows : —
Choroi-aulodos eso, omina enim vero
Ad patula' ose misse Jani cariones.
Duonus Cerus esit dunque Janus vevet.
Choroio-aulodus ero, omina enim vero ad patulas aures
Miserunt Jani curiones. Bonus Cerus erit donee Janus vivet.
I will be a flute-player in the chorus, for the priests of Janus have
sent omens to open ears. Cerus (the Creator) will be propitious so
long as Janus shall live.
(2.) Divum empta cante, divum deo supplicante.
i. e. Deorum impetu canite, deorum deo suppliciter canite.
Sing by the inspiration of the gods, sing as suppliants to the god
of gods.
The Leges Regice are generally considered as furnish-
ing the next examples, in point of antiquity, of the old
Latin language ; but there can be little doubt that,
although they were assumed by the metrical traditions to
belong to the period of the kings, 3 they belong to a later
1 De L. L. vii. 26, 27, or vi. 1 — 3. 2 Varronianus, vi. 4.
3 See ex. gr. Liv. i. 26.
LAWS OF THE TWELVE TABLES.
25
historical period than the laws of the Twelve Tables.
Some fragments of laws, attributed to Numa and Servius
Tullius, are preserved by Festus 1 in a restored and cor-
rected form, and, therefore, it is to be feared that they
have been modernized in accordance with the orthogra-
phical rules of a later age.
One of these laws is quoted by Livy 2 as put in force in
the trial of the surviving Horatius for the murder of his
sister when he returned, as the tradition relates, from his
victory over the Curatii. Another is alluded to by Pliny, 3
which forbids the sacrificing all fish which have not
scales ; but they are given in modern Latin, and can only
be restored to their old form by conjecture.
We may, therefore, proceed at once to a consideration
of the Latin of the Twelve Tables, of which fragments
have been preserved by Cicero, Aulus Grellius, Festus,
Graius, Ulpian, and others. These fragments are to be
found collected together in Haubold's " Institutionum
Juris Eomani privati lineamenta " and Donaldson's " Var-
ronianus." 4 The laws of the Twelve Tables were engraven
on tablets of brass, and publicly set up in the Comitium,
and were first made public in b.c. 44 9. 5 Nor had the
Eomans any other digested code of laws until the time
of Justinian. 6 The following are a few examples of the
words and phrases contained in them : —
Ni
nee
Em
eum
Endo jacito
injicito
iEvitas
Eetas
Fuat
sit
Sonticus
nocens
Hostis
Hospes
Diffensus esto
differatur
Se
sine
Venom-dint
venum det
Estod
esto
Escit
est
Legassit, &c.
legaverit.
The next example of the old Latin is contained in the
Tiburtine inscription, which was discovered in the six-
1 S. V. V. Plorare, Occisum, Pellices, Parricidii Quaestores, &c.
* Lib. i. 26. 3 H. N. xxxii. 2. * Oh. vi.
5 Dionys. x. 57. 6 Li v. iii. 54, a.d.
26 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
teenth century at Tivoli, the ancient Tibnr. It came
into the possession of the Barberini family ; but it was
afterwards lost, and has never been recovered. Niebuhr 1
considers (and his conjecture is probably correct) that
this monument is a Senatus-consultum, belonging to the
period of the second Samnite war. 2 The inscription is
given at length in the collection of Grater, 3 and also by
Niebuhr 4 and Donaldson. 5 The Latin in which it is
written may be considered almost classical, the variations
from that of a later age being principally orthographical.
For example : —
Tiburtes is written Teiburtes
Castoris , , Kastorus
Advertit , , advortit
Dixistis , , deixsistis
Publico is written poplieee
Utile , , oitile
Inducimus , , indoucimus
af.
This document is followed very closely, in point of time,
by the well-known inscription on the sarcophagus of
L. Cornelius Scipio 6 Barbatus, and the epitaph on his
son, 7 which are both written in the old Saturnian metre.
Scipio Barbatus was the great-grandfather of the con-
queror of Hannibal, and was consul in a.u.c. 456, the
first year of the third Samnite war. His sarcophagus
was found a.d. 1780 in a tomb near the Appian Way,
whence it was removed to the Vatican. The epitaph is
as follows : —
Cornelius Lucius Scipio Barbatus Gnaivod
Patre prognatus fortis vir sapiensque
Quoius forma virtutei parisuma fuit
Consol Censor Aidilis quei fuit apud vos
Taurasia Cisauna Samnio cepit
Subigit orane Loucana opsidesque abdoucit.
" Cornelius L. Scipio Barbatus, son of Cnseus, a brave
and wise man, whose beauty was equal to his virtue. He
was amongst you Consul, Censor, iEdile. He took Tau-
1 Nieb. E. H. iii. 264. 2 a. u. c. 428—50, Arnold ; 423—44, Niebuhr.
3 Page 499. 4 Rom. Hist. 5 Varron. vi. 20. 6 Orell No. 550.
7 Ibid. No. 552. Meyer's Anth. Nos. 1, 2 ; where see also No. 5.
EPITAPH OF LUCIUS SCIPIO. 27
rasia, Cisauna, and Samnium ; he subjugated all Lucania,
and led away hostages/'
His son was Consul a.u.c. 49 5. x The following in-
scription is on a slab which was found near the Porta
Capona. The title is painted red (rubricatus) : —
L. Cornelio L. F. Scipio, Aidiles, Consol, Cesor.
Hone oino ploirume cosentiunt K.
Duonoro optinio fuise viro
Luciom Scipionem. Filios Barbati
Consol Censor Aidiles hie fuet
Hie cepit Corsica Aleria que urbe
Dedet tempestatebus aide mereto.
" Romans for the most part agree, that this one man,
Lucius Scipio, w^as the best of good men. He was the
son of Barbatus, Consul, Censor, iEdile. He took Corsica
and the city Aleria. He dedicated a temple to the
Storms as a just return/'
It is not a little remarkable that the style of this
epitaph is more archaic than that of the preceding.
The consul of the year B.C. 260 was C. Duilius, who in
that year gained his celebrated naval victory over the
Carthaginians; the inscription, therefore, engraved on
the pedestal of the Columna Eostrata, which was erected
in commemoration of that event, may be considered as a
contemporary monument of the language. 2 Some altera-
tions were probably made in its orthography at a period
subsequent to its erection, for it was rent asunder from
top to bottom by lightning a.u.c. 580, 3 and is supposed
not to have been repaired until the reign of Augustus,
for the restoration of a temple built by Duilius was begun
by that emperor and completed by Tiberius. 4 The prin-
cipal peculiarities to be observed in this inscription are,
that the ablatives singular end in d, as in the words
Siceliad, obsidioned; c is put for g, as in macistratos,
'B.C. 259. a Orellius, No. 549. 3 Liv. xlii. 20.
4 Tac. Ann. ii. 49.
28 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
leciones; e for i, as in navebos, ornavet; o for u, as in
Duilios, aurom; classes, nummi, &c, are spelt clases,
numei, and quinqueremos, triremos, quinresmos, triesmos.
This monument was discovered a.d. 1565, in a very im-
perfect state, but its numerous lacunce were supplied by
Grrotefend.
About sixty years after the date of this epitaph, 1 the Se-
natus-consultum, respecting the Bacchanals, was passed. 2
This monument was discovered a.d. 1692, in the Cala-
brian village of Terra di Feriolo, and is now preserved in
the Imperial Museum of Vienna. 3
There is scarcely any difference between the Latinity
of this inscription and that of the classical period except
in the orthography and some of the grammatical inflex-
ions. The expressions are in accordance with the usage
of good authors, and the construction is not without
elegance. Nor is this to be wondered at when it is re-
membered that, at the period when this decree was pub-
lished, Eome already possessed a written literature.
Ennius was now known as a poet and an historian, and
many of the comedies of Plautus had been acted on the
public stage.
Having thus enumerated the existing monuments of
the old Eoman language and its constituent elements, it
remains to compare the Latin and Greek alphabets, for
the purpose of exhibiting the variations which the Latin
letters have severally undergone.
The letters then may be arranged according to the
following classification : —
r Soft P CKorQ, T.
1 Mutes { Medial B G D.
{ Aspirates F (V) H —
Liquids- - - L, M, N, R.
Sibilants - - S, X.
Vowels - - - - - A, E, I, 0, U.
1 u. c. 568 ; B. c. 186. 2 Livy, xxxix. 18. 3 Schoell, i. 52.
LATIN AND GREEK ALPHABETS. 29
Owing to the relation which subsists between P, B,
and F or V, as the soft medial and aspirated pronuncia-
tion of the same letters, P and B, as well as P and V, in
Latin, are the representatives or equivalents of the Greek
F sound (cp and F), and V also sometimes stands in the
place of ft. For example (1), the Latin fama, few,
fufjio, vir, &c, correspond to the Greek ^^rj, $epw,
(pevyco (7 r )"Ap)/9. (2). Nebula, caput, albus, ambo, to
vecpeX)}, KexpaXi), aXcpo?, a/j.(j)w. Similarly, duonus and
duellum become bonus and bellum; the transition being
from du to a sound like the English w, thence to v, and
lastly to b. The old Latin c was used as the representa-
tive of its corresponding medial G, as well as K; for
example, magistratus, legiones, Carthaginienses were
written on the Columna Hostrata, leciones, macistratus,
Cartacinienses. The representative of the Greek k was
c ; thus caput stands for icecpakf} : the sound qu also,
as might be expected, from its answering to the Greek
koppa (Q), and the Hebrew koph (p), had undoubtedly in
the old Latin the same sound as C or K, and, therefore,
quatio becomes, in composition, cutio; and quojus, quoi,
quolonia become, in classical Latin, cujus, cui, colonia.
This pronunciation has descended to the modern French
language, although it has become lost in the Italian. A
passage from the " Aulularia " 1 of Plautus illustrates this
assertion, and Quintilian 2 also bears testimony to the
existence of the same pronunciation in the time of
Cicero.
The aspirate H is in Latin the representative of the
Greek X, as, for example, hiems, hortus, and liumi corre-
spond to yel\kuv, yopios, %a/xa«, whilst the third Greek
aspirated mute G becomes a tenuis in the mouths of the
early Latins, as in Cartaginienses, and the h sound was
Vcr. 276. 2 Lib. vi. 3, 47.
30 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
afterwards restored when Greek exercised an influence
over the language as well as the literature of Rome.
The absence of the th sound in the old Latin is com-
pensated for in a variety of ways ; sometimes "by an /, as
fera, fores, for Orjp aud 6vpa.
The interchanges which take place between the T and
D, and the liquids L, N, R, can be accounted for on the
grammatical principle, 1 which is so constantly exempli-
fied in the literal changes of the Semitic languages, that
letters articulated by the same organ are frequently put
one for the other. Now D, T, L, N are all palatals, and
in the pronunciation of E also some use is made of the
palate. Hence we find a commutation of r and n in
hwpov, donum ; cereus, emeus ; of t and I in OwprjZ and
lorica ; d and I in olfacio and odere facio, Ulysses and
Odv(Tays, to be "polluted" by the interference of histriones.
According' to the testimony of Cicero, 1 who makes his
statement on the authority of Atticus, Livius first
exhibited his dramas in the year before the birth of
Ennius in the consulship of C. Clodius and M. Tudi-
tanus, a.u.c. 514. 2 This date is also adopted by Aulus
Grellius, 3 who places his first dramatic representations
about a hundred and sixty years after the death of So-
phocles, and fifty-two years after that of Menander.
The titles of his tragedies which are extant show that
they were translations or adaptations from the Greek.
Amongst them are those of Egisthus, Hermione, Tereus,
Ajax, and Helena. From each of the last two one line
is preserved, and four lines are quoted by Terentianus
Maurus from his tragedy of Ino ; 4 but the language and
metre render it far more probable that they were written
by some more modern poet. Two of his tragedies, the
Clytemnestra and the Trojan Horse, were acted in the
second consulship of Pompey the Great, at the inau-
guration of the splendid stone theatre 5 which he built.
N i > expense was spared in putting them upon the stage,
for Cicero writes, in a letter to M. Marius, 6 that three
thousand bucklers, the spoils of foreign nations, were
exhibited in the latter, and a procession of six hundred
mules, probably riclily caparisoned, were introduced in the
1 Brut. 72. 2 b. c. 240. 3 Noct. Att. See also Quinct. I. 0. x. 2, 7.
4 See Bothe, Poetao Seen. Roman. Trag.
s For the slight differences between a Greek and Roman theatre, the
r is referred to Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities, sub voce.
' Ej'. ad Fain. vii. 1.
56 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
former, whilst cavalry and infantry, clad in various armour,
mingled in mimic combat on the scene. He considers,
however, that this splendour was an offence against good
taste, and that the enjoyment was spoilt by the gor-
geousness of the spectacle. The taste of his patrons, the
Roman people, as well as the testimony of antiquity,
render it highly probable that he was the author of
comedies 1 as well as tragedies. Festus speaks of one,
of which he quotes a single line, for the sake of its philo-
logical value.
CN. NyEVIUS.
Nawius was the first poet who really deserves the
name of Eoman. His countrymen in all ages, as well
as his contemporaries, looked upon him as one of them-
selves. The probability is, that he was not actually
born at Rome, though even this has been maintained
with some show of plausibility. 2 He was, at any rate,
by birth entitled to the municipal franchise, and from^
his earliest boyhood was a resident in the capital. Nor
was he a mere servile imitator, but applied Greek taste
and cultivation to the development of Roman sentiments.
A true Roman in heart and spirit in his fearless attach-
ment to liberty ; his stern opposition to all who dared
invade the rights of his fellow-citizens ; he was unsparing
in his censure of immorality, and his admiration for
heroic self-devotion. He was a soldier, and imbibed the
free and martial enthusiasm which breathes in his poems
when he fought the battles of his country in the first
Punic War. His honest principles cemented, in his later
1 Roman critics divide comedy into Comcedia Palliata, in which the
characters, and therefore the costume, were Greek ; and Togata, in which
they were Roman. Comoodia Togata was again subdivided into Trabeata,
or genteel comedy, and Tabernaria, or low comedy. The Fabulse Prse-
textatse were historical plays, like those of Shakspeare.
2 Klussman, Frag. Nssev.
\ 1 VIUS A POLITICAL PART1ZAN. 57
years, a strong friendship between him and the upright
and unbending Cato, 1 — a friendship which probably con-
tributed to form the political and literary character of
that stern old Roman.
It is generally assumed that Naevius was a Campanian ;
but the only reason for this assumption is, that A.
( J ell ius J criticises his epitaph, of which Nsevius himself
was the author, as full of Campanian pride.
The time of his birth is unknown, but it is probable
that his public career commenced within a very few years
after that of Livius. Grellius fixes the exhibition of his
first drama in B.C. 235, 3 and Cicero places his death in the
consulship of M. Cornelius Cethegus and P. Sempronius
Tuditanus, 4 although he allows that Varro, who places it
somewhat later, is the most painstaking of Eoman anti-
quarians. It is also certain that he died at an advanced
age, for, according to Cicero, he was an old man when he
wrote one of his poems. He was the author of an epic
poem, the title of which was the Punic War ; but, owing
to the popularity of dramatic literature, his earliest lite-
rary productions were tragedies and comedies. The
titles of most of these show that their subjects were Greek
legends or stories. It was, therefore, in his epic poem
that the acknowledged originality of his talents was
mainly displayed. ISTsevius was a strong political par-
tisan, a warm supporter of the people against the
encroachments of the nobility. In consequence of the
expenditure during the war, great part of the population
was reduced to poverty, and a strong line of demarcation
was drawn between the rich and the poor. The estrange-
ment and want of sympathy between those two classes
were daily increasing. The barrier of caste was indeed
almost destroyed, but that of class was beginning to be
' Cic. Cat. 14. 8 Noct. Att. i. 24 ; xvii. 21.
? A. U. C. 510 4 A. U. C. 550 ; E. 0. 204.
58 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
erected in its stead. The passing of the Licinian bills 1
had led to the gradual rise of a plebeian nobility. The
Ogulnian law 2 had admitted patrician and plebeian to a
religions as well as political equality, and more than
three-quarters of a century had passed away since Appius
Claudius the blind 3 had given political existence to the
freedmen by admitting them into the tribes, and had
even raised some whose fathers had been freedmen to the
rank of senators, to the exclusion of many distinguished
plebeians who had filled curule offices. The object
which he proposed to himself by this policy was un-
doubtedly the depression of the rising plebeian nobility,
and this object was for a time attained ; but the ultimate
result was a vast increase in the numbers and the power
of those who were opposed to the old patrician nobility,
by the formation of a higher class, the only qualification
for admission into which was wealth and intelligence.
According to the old distinctions of rank it was necessary
that even a plebeian should have a pedigree ; his father
and grandfather must have been born free. Appius, when
chosen for the first time, waived this, and introduced a
new principle of political party. Of this anti-aristocratic
party NaBvius was the literary representative, and the
vehement opponent of privileges derived from the accident
of birth. His position, too, was calculated to provoke a
man of better temper. He was a Roman citizen, but, as
a native of a municipal town, he did not possess the full
franchise which he saw enjoyed by others around him
who were intellectually inferior to himself, and the sense
of his political inferiority was galling to him. Accord-
ingly he used literature as a new and powerful instrument
to foster the jealousy which existed between the orders
of the state. He attacked the principle of an aristocracy
of birth in the persons of some members of the most
B. c. 367. 2 b. c. 300. 3 b. c. 312.
ins SATIRICAL BITTERNESS. 59
distinguished families. He held up Scipio Africanus to
ridicule by making him the hero of a tale of scandal.
Efciam qui res magnaa manu gessit sa3pe gloriose,
Cujus facta viva nunc vigent, qui apud gentes solas
Praestat, euni suns pater cum pallio una ab arnica abduxit.
The public services of the two Metelli could not shield
them from the poet's bitterness, which attributed their
•oiisulships not to then own merits, but to the mere will
of fate. 1 One bitter sentence, "Fato Metelli Bomse fiunt
consoles," made that powerful family his enemies. The
Metellus, who at that time held the office of consul,
threatened him with vengeance for his slander in the fol-
lowing verse : — " Dabunt malum Metelli Nsevio poetsc ;"
and the offending poet was indicted for a libel, in pur-
suance of a law of the Twelve Tables, 2 and thrown into
prison. Whilst there he composed two pieces, in which
he expressed contrition ; and Plautus 3 describes him as
watched by two gaolers, pensively resting his head upon
his hands : —
Nam os columnatum poetse esse inaudivi barbaro,
Quoi bini custodes semper totis horis accubant.
Through the influence of the tribunes he was set at
liberty. 4 As, however, is frequently the case, he could
not resist indulging again in his satiric vein, and he was
exiled to Utica, where he died, 5 having employed the last
years of his life in writing his epic poem. The following
laudatory epitaph was written by himself: —
Mortales immortales flere si foret fas,
Flerent Divse Camense Nsevium poetam.
Itaque postquam est Orcino traditus thesauro
Obliti sunt Rornani loquier Latina lingua.
If gods might to a mortal pay the tribute of a tear,
The Muses would shed one upon the poet Noevius' bier ;
For when he was transferred unto the regions of the tomb,
The people soon forgot to speak the native tongue of Rome.
1 Cic. Verrcs, i. 10. 2 See Arnold's Rome, 1. 289.
J Miles Glorios. IL, ii. 56. 4 A. Gell. iii. 3.
■ b. c. 204. See Cic. Brut. 15.
60 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
The best and most admired writers have paid their
homage to his excellence. Ennius and Virgil discovered
in him such a freshness and power that they unscru-
pulously copied and imitated him, and transferred his
thoughts into their own poems as they did those of
Homer. Horace writes that in his day the poems of
Nsevius were universally read, and were in the hands and
hearts of everybody, and Cicero 1 praises him, although
he had no taste for the old national literature.
We cannot be surprised at the universal popularity of
NsBvius. His stern love of liberty, his unsparing opposi-
tion to aristocratic exclusiveness, was identical with the
old Roman republicanisn. His taste for satire exactly
fell in with the spirit of the earliest Roman literature,
whilst he depicted with life and vigour and graphic skill
the scenes of heroism in which the soldier-poet of the
first Punic War was himself an actor. His tragedies
were probably entirely taken from the Greek, but his
comedies had undoubted pretensions to originality. The
titles of many of them plainly show a Greek origin ; but
probably all more or less presented pictures of Eoman
life and manners, and therefore went home to the hearts
of the people. This is essential to the complete effective-
ness of comedy. Tragedy appeals to higher feelings : it
depicts passions and principles of action which are recog-
nized by the whole human race ; it may, therefore, enlist
the sympathies on the side of those whose habits and
manners differ from our own, as it does in favour of those
characters which are of a heroic and superhuman mould.
Comedy professes to describe real life, and to paint men
as they are ; it therefore loses part of its power unless it
deals with scenes which the experience of the audience
can realize. Thus it is with painting. The high art of
the Italian school, which selected for its subjects the
holy scenes of religion, the heroism of history, and the
1 Ep. ii. 153 ; Brutus, 19.
HIS POEM ON THE FIRST IMMC WAR. 61
creations of classical poetry, was fostered by the taste
of the rich and noble amongst a highly-cultivated and
imaginative people. The homely realities of the Flemish
painters, with their accurate and lifelike delineations,
were the delight of a rude prosaic nation, who could
not appreciate a more elevated style or understand ideal
beauties unless brought down to the level of every-day
life.
The new form with which Nsevius invested comedy
gave him scope for holding up to public scorn the pre-
vailing vices and follies of the day. He had also another
vehicle for personality in his Ludi or Satirse, as they were
termed by Cicero. These w T ere comic scenes, and not
regular dramas, somewhat resembling the Atellan farces,
without their extemporaneous character. But his great
work was his poem on the first Punic War. We cannot
judge of its merits by the few fragments which remain ;
but the testimony borne to it by Cicero, and the use
which was made of it by Ennius and Virgil,' prove that
it fully deserved the title of an epic poem. The idea was
original, the plot and characters Eoman. The author,
although Greek literature taught him how to be a poet,
drew his inspiration from the scenes of his native Italy
and the exploits of his countrymen, To this poem Virgil
owed that beautiful allegorical representation of the un-
dying enmity between Eome and Carthage, and the dis-
astrous love of iEneas and Dido. Here was first painted
in such touching colours the self-devoted patriotism of
Eegulus, whom (although love of historic truth refuses
to believe the legend) the poet represents as sacrificing
home and wife and children to a sense of honour, and as
submitting to a torturing death for the sake of his coun-
try. Probably many other heart-stirring legends and
tales of prowess which had cheered the nightly bivouac
of the soldiers and inspirited them in the field, were em-
bodied in this popular epic. Not that he disdained any
62 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
more than Virgil the aid of Homer. 1 The second book
of the Iliad suggested to him the enumeration of the op-
posing forces at the commencement of the struggle, and
the description of the storm, from which Virgil, in his
turn, copied in the iEneid, 2 owes much of its energy to
the eighth book of the Odyssey. The expostulation of
Venus with the father of gods and men, 3 respecting the
perils of her son, and the promise of future prosperity to
the descendants of iEneas, with which Jupiter consoles
her, as well as the address of iEneas to his companions,
are imitations of passages from this poem of Nsevius;
and Ennius copied so much from him and his prede-
cessors as to have provoked the following rebuke from
Cicero: 4 — " They have written well, if not with all thy
elegance, and so oughtest thou to think who have borrowed
so much from Nsevius, if you confess that you have done
so, or, if you deny it, have stolen so much from him."
The fragments of Nsevius extant are not more numerous
than those of Livius, but some are rather longer. The
two following may be quoted as examples of simplicity
and power : —
Amborum
Uxores noctu Troiad exibant capitibus
Opertis, flentes ambae, abeuntes lacrymis multis. 5
These few words tell their tale with as much pathos as
that admired line in the Andrian of Terence—
Rejecit se in eum flens quam familiariter.
The following lines describe the panic of the Carthagi-
nians ; nor could any Eoman poet have sketched the pic-
ture in fewer strokes or with more suggestive power : — ■
Sic Poinei contremiscunt artibus universim ;
Magnei metus tumultus pectora possidet
Csesum funera agitant, exequias ititant,
Temulentiamque tollunt festam. 6
1 Pierron, Hist, de la R. 42. " 2 Lib. i. 198.
3 Cic. Brut. 19 ; Macr. vi. 2. 4 Brutus, 76.
5 Meyer's Anthol. Lat. 6 Ibid.
HIS NATIONALITY. 63
Whoever can forgive roughness of expression for the
sake oi' vigorous thought, would, if more had remained,
have read with delight the inartificial although unpo-
lished poetry of Nsevius. Without that elaborate work-
manship which was to the Eoman the ouly substitute
for the spontaneous grace and beauty of all that proceeded
from the Greek mind, and was expressed in the Greek
tongue, there is no doubt that JSTsevius displayed genius,
originality, and dignity. The prejudices of Horace in
favour of Greek taste were too strong for him to value
what was old in poetry, or to sympathise with the ad-
miration of that which the goddess of death had con-
secrated. 1 But Cicero, whilst he attributed to Livius
only the mechanic skill and barbaric art of Daedalus, gave
to ISTsevius the creative talent and plastic power of
Myron.
Even when Eoman critics were not unanimous in
assigning him a niche amongst the greatest bards, the
Eoman people loved him as their national poet, and
were grateful to him for his nationality. They paid him
the highest compliment possible by retaining him as the
educator of their youth. Orbilius flogged his sentiments
into his pupils' memories ; and, whilst the niceties of
grammar were taught through the instrumentality of
Greek by Greek instructors, and poetic taste was formed
by a study of the Homeric poems, Naevius still had the
formation of the character of the young Eoman gentlemen,
and his epic was in the hands and hearts of every one.
One more subject remains to be treated of with refer-
ence to the literary productions of ISTaevius, and that is,
the metrical character of his poetry. He appreciated that
important element of Greek poetic beauty. The varied
versification by means of which it appeals at once to the
ear, just as physical beauty charms long before we are
1 II. Epist. i. 49.
64 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
attracted by the hidden power of moral excellence, and
external form creates a prejndice in favour of that which
is of more intrinsic value, but cannot so readily be per-
ceived, so the melody of verse more readily pleases than
the beauty of the imagery and sentiments which the
verses convey. Nsevius, therefore, did not disdain to
recommend his original genius by a study of the prin-
ciples of Greek versification, and by clothing his thoughts
in those, which his ear suggested as being most appro-
priate to the occasion. He does not seem to have over-
come the difficulties of the heroic metre, although he
studied the Homeric poems.
Probably as the Saturnian, the only natural Italian
measure which he found existing, was a triple time, the
Roman ear could not at once adapt itself to the .common
time of the dactylic measures. The versification of our
own country furnishes an analogous example. The usual
metres of English poetry consist of an alternation of
long and short syllables ; dactyles and anapsests are of
less frequent occurrence and are of more modern intro-
duction, and the English ear is even yet not quite ac-
customed to the hexametrical rhythm. The dignity of
the epic is expressed in the grave march of the iambus ;
the ballad tells its story in the same metre, though in
shorter lines ; the joyous Anacreontic adopts the dancing
step of the trochee. For this reason, perhaps, Nsevius,
as a matter of taste, Hmited himself to the introduction of
iambic and trochaic metres, and the irregular features of
Greek lyric poetry to the exclusion of the heroic hexa-
meter.
It was long before the Romans could arrive at per-
fection in this metre. Ennius was unsuccessful. His
hexameters are rough and unmusical ; he seems never to
have perfectly understood the nature and beauty of the
ccesura or pause. The failure of Cicero, notwithstanding
his natural musical ear, is proverbial. No one previous
1I1S VERSIFICATION. 65
to Virgil seems to have overcome the difficulty. Versifi-
cation seems always to have been somewhat of a labour
to the Romans. In the structure of their poetry they
worked by rule; their finish was artistic, but it was
artificial. Hence the Latin poet allowed himself less
metrical liberty than the Greek, whom he made his model.
He seemed to feel that the Greek metres, which the
education of his taste had compelled him to adopt, were
not precisely the form into which Latin words naturally
fell j that this deficiency must be supplied by the care
with which he moulded his verse, according to the
strictest possible standard. One can imagine the extem-
poraneous effusions of a Homeric bard ; but to Eoman
taste which, in every literary work, especially in poetry,
looked for elaborate finish, the power of the improvi-
sator, who could pour forth a hundred verses standing
on one foot, was a ridiculous pretension. 1
As a general rule no Eoman poet attained facility in
versification ; Ovid was perhaps the only exception. In
the early period when Eoman poetry was extemporaneous,
their national verse was only rhythmical, and now that
modern Italy can boast of the faculty of improvisation
verse has become rhythmical again. But although
Nsevius introduced a variety of Greek metres to the
Eomans, the principal part of his poems, and especially
his national epic, were written in the old Saturnian mea-
sure : its structure was indeed less rude, and its metre
more regular and scientific, but still he did not permit the
new rules of Greek poetry to banish entirely the favourite
verses " in which in olden times Fauns and bards sung,"
and which would most acceptably convey to the national
ear the achievements of Eoman arms.
1 Horace, 1 Serm. iv. 10.
66 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER VI.
NtEVIUS stood between two ages— life of ennius— epitaphs
written by him — his taste, learning, and character— his
fitness for being a literary reformer — his influence on
the language — his vershtcation — the annals — difficulties
of the subject — tragedies and comedies — satire — minor
WORKS.
ENNIUS (BORN B. C. 239).
N^ivius appears to have occupied a position between two
successive ages ; he was the last of the oldest school
of writers, and prepared the way for a new one.
Although a true Eoman in sentiment, he admired Greek
cultivation. He saw with regret the old literature of his
country fading away, although he had himself introduced
new principles of taste to his countrymen. He was not
prepared for the shock of seeing the old school superseded
by the new. But still the period for this had arrived,
and in his epitaph, as we have seen, he deplored that
Latin had died with him. A love for old Roman litera-
ture remained amongst the goatherds of the hills and the
husbandmen of the valleys and plains, in whose memories
lived the old songs which had been the delight of their
infancy : it survived amongst the few who could discern
merit in undisciplined genius; but the rising generation,
who owed their taste to education, admired only those pro-
ductions by which their taste had been formed. Greek
literature had now an open field in which to nourish : it
had driven out its predecessor, although as yet it had not
struck its roots deeply into the Eoman mind; a new
school of poetry arose, and of that school Ennius was
LIFE OF ENNIUS. 67
the founder. The principal events in the life of
Ennius are as follows : — he was born at the little village
of Rudia\ in the wild and mountainous Calabria, b. c.
239. 1 Of ancient and honourable descent, 2 he is said 3 to
have begun life in a military career, and to have risen
to the rank of a centurion or captain. The anonymous
author of the life of Cato, which is generally attributed
to Cornelius Nepos, relates that Cato in his voyage from
Africa to Borne 4 visited Sardinia, and finding Ennius in
that island took liim home with him. But no reason
can be assigned why Ennius should have been there, or
why Cato should have gone so far out of his way. If
the Censor did really introduce the poet to public notice
at Borne, he may have made his acquaintance during his
qusestorship in Africa, if Ennius was with Scipio in
that province; or during his prsetorship 5 in Sardinia, if
the poet was a resident in that island. There exists,
however, no sufficient data to clear up these difficulties.
It seems, moreover, strange that Cato should have been
his patron, and yet that he should have reproached M.
Fulvius Nobilior for taking the poet with him as his
companion throughout his iEtolian expedition. 6 With, the
exception of this campaign, Ennius resided during the re-
mainder of his long life at Rome. Greek and Greek litera-
ture were noAV eagerly sought after by the higher classes,
and Ennius earned a subsistence sufficient for his mode-
rate wants by tuition. He enjoyed the friendship and
esteem of the leading literary societies at Eome ; and at
his death, at the age of seventy, he was buried in the
family tomb of the Scipios, at the request of the great
conqueror of Hannibal, whose fame he contributed to hand
down to posterity. His statue was honoiu*ed with a
1 a. u. c. 515. 2 Claudian. xxiii. 7- 3 vSilius It.
4 B. c. 204. 5 b. c. 198. 6 b. c. 189.
f2
68 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
niche amongst the images of that illustrious race. The
following epitaph was written by himself: — 1
Adspicite, cives,, senis Eimi imagini' formam
Hie vostram panxit maxima facta patrum.
Nemo me lacrymis decoret, nee funera fletu
Faxit. cur 1 volito vivu' per ora virum.
The epitaph which he wrote in honour of Scipio
Africanus has also been preserved : — 2
Hie est ille situs, cui nemo civi' neque hostis
Quivit pro factis recldere operse pretium.
It is probable that death alone put a period to his
career as a poet, and that his last work was completed
but a short time before his decease. So popular was he
for centuries, and with such care were his poems pre-
served, that his whole works are said to have existed
as late as the thirteenth century. 3
Literature, as represented by Ennius, attained a higher
social and political position than it had hitherto enjoyed.
Livius Andronicus was, as we have seen, a freedman, and
probably a prisoner of war. Nsevius never arrived at the
full civic franchise, nor became anything more than the
native of a municipality, resident at Rome. Hitherto
the Romans, although they had begun to admire learn-
ing, had not learned to respect its professors. Ennius
was evidently a gentleman ; he was the first to obtain for
literature its due influence. Thus he achieved for him-
self the much-coveted privileges of a Roman citizen, to
which Livius had never aspired, and which Nsevius was
never able to attain. Hence Cicero always speaks of
him with affection as a fellow-countryman. " Our own
Ennius " is the appellation which he uses when he quotes
his poetry. Horace also calls him " Father Ennius/' a
1 Meyer, Anthol. Vet. Eom. No. 19.
2 Meyer, No. 16. 3 Smith's Diet, of Biograph. s. v. Ennius.
HIS LEARNING AND CHARACTER. 69
term implying not only that he was the founder of Latin
poetry, but also reverence and regard.
To discriminating taste and extensive learning he added
that versatility of talent which is displayed in the great
variety of his compositions. He was acquainted with all
the best existing sources of poetic lore, the ancient legends
of the Roman people, and the best works of the Greek
writers ; he had critical judgment to select beautiful and
interesting portions, ingenuity to imitate them, and at
the same time genius and fancy to clothe them with
originality. It was not to be expected that he could be
entirely freed from the antiquated style of the old school.
The process of remodelling a national literature, including
the very language in which it is expressed, and the
metrical harmonies in which it falls upon the ear, is
almost like reforming the modes of thought, and recon-
structing the character of a people. Such a work must
be gradual and gentle : a nation's mind will not bend at
once to new principles of taste and new rules of art. To
attempt a violent revolution would be absurd, and argue
ignorance of human nature. The poet who attempted it
would fail in gaining sympathy, which is an essential
element of success. To cause such a revolution at all
requires a strong will and a vigorous manly mind ; and
these are precisely the characteristic features of the Ennian
poetry.
If we were to paint the character best adapted to act
the part of a literary reformer to a nation such as the
Romans were, it would be exactly that of Ennius. He
was, like his friends Cato the Censor and Scipio Africanus
the elder, a man of action as well as philosophical thought.
He was not only a poet, but he was a brave and stout-
hearted soldier. He had all the singleness of heart and
unostentatious simplicity of manners which marked the
old times of Roman virtue ; he lived the life of the
Cincinnati, the Curii, and Fabricii, which the poets of the
70 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
luxurious Augustan age professed to admire, but did not
imitate. Eome was now beginning to be wealthy, and
wealth to be the badge of rank ; yet the noble poet was
respected by the rich and great even in his lowly cottage
on the Aventine, and found it no discredit to be employed
as an instructor of youth, although it had been up to his
time only the occupation of servants and freedmen. He
was the founder of a new school, and was leading his
admirers forward to a new career; but his imagination
could revel in the recollections and traditions of the past.
To him the glorious exploits of the patriarchs of his race
furnished as rich a mine of fable as the heroic strains of
Homer, the marvellous mythologies of Hesiod, and the
tragic heroes of Argos, My cense, and Thebes. His early
training in Greek philosophy and poetry, and in the
midst of Greek habits in his native village, had not
polished and refined away his natural freshness. He was
a child of art, but a child of nature still. He had a firm
belief in his mission as a poet, an abiding conviction of
his inspiration. He thought he was not metaphorically,
but really, what Horace calls him, a second Homer, 1 for
that the soul of the great Greek bard now animated his
mortal body. He had all the enthusiasm and boldness
necessary for accomplishing a great task, together with a
consciousness that his task was a great and honourable
one.
Owing to this rare union of the best points of Roman
character with Greek refinement and civilization, he ren-
dered himself as well as his works acceptable to the most
distinguished men of his day, and his intimacy and friend-
ship influenced the minds of Porcius Cato, Lselius, Fulvius
Nobilior, and the great Scipio.
A comparison of the extant specimens of the old Latin
with the numerous fragments 2 of the poems of Ennius
1 % ii. i. 50. * Meyer, Anthol. 515—585,
HIS LEARNING AND CHARACTER. 71
which have been preserved, will show how deeply thev
were indebted to him for the improvement of their lan-
guage, not only in the harmony of its numbers and the
convenience of its grammatical forms, but also in its
copiousness and power.
It must not, however, be supposed that Ennius is to be
praised, not only because he did so much, but because he
refrained from doing more, as though he designedly left
an antiquated rudeness, redolent of the old Eoman spirit
and simplicity. A language in the condition or phase of
improvement to which he brought it is valuable in an
antiquarian point of view ; but it is not to be admired as
if it were then in a higher state of perfection than it after-
wards attained. Elaborate polish may, perhaps, overcome
life and freshness, but no one who possesses any correctness
of ear or appreciation of beauty can prefer the limping
hexameters of Ennius to the musical lines of Virgil, or
his Latin style to the refined eloquence of the Augustan
age. As Quintilian says, we value Ennius, not for the
beauty of his style, but for his picturesqueness, and for the
holiness, as it were, which consecrates antiquity, just as
we feel a reverential awe when we contemplate the huge
gnarled fathers of the forest. " Ennium sicut sacros vetus-
tate lucos adoremus in quibus grandia et antiqua robora,
jam non tantam habent speciem, quantam religionem."
His predecessors had done little to remould the rude
and undigested mass which, as has been shown, was made
up of several elements, thrown together by the chances
of war and conquest, and left to be amalgamated together
by the natural genius of the people. Ennius naturally
possessed great power over words, and wielded that power
skilfully. In reconstructing the edifice he did the most
important and most difficult part, although the result of
his labours does not strike the eye as perfect and consum-
mate. He laid the foundation strongly and safely. What
he did was improved upon, but was never undone. The
72 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
taste of succeeding ages erected on his basement an
elegant and beautiful superstructure. To Ennius we owe
the fact that after his time Latin literature was always
advancing until it reached its perfection. It never went
back, because the groundwork on which it was built was
sound.
Ennius imitated most of the Greek metrical forms ;
but he wrote verses like a learner, and not like one
imbued with the spirit of the metres which he imitated.
He attended to the prosodiac rules of quantity, so far as
his observation deduced them from the analogies of the
two languages, instead of the old Roman principle of ictus
or stress ; but, provided the number of feet were correct, and
the long and short syllables followed each other in proper
order, his ear was satisfied : it was not as yet sufficiently
in tune to appreciate those minuter accessaries which
embellish later Latin versification. This is the prin-
cipal cause of that ruggedness with which even the
admirers of Ennius justly find fault. But notwithstand-
ing these defects, there are amongst his verses some as
musical and harmonious as those of the best poets in the
Augustan age.
His great epic poem, entitled " The Annals," gained
him the attachment as well as the admiration of his
countrymen. This poem, written in hexameters, a metre
now first introduced to the notice of the Eomans, detailed
in eighteen books the rise and progress of their national
glory, from the earliest legendary periods down to his
own times. The only portion of history which he omitted
was the first Punic war ; and the reason which he gives
for the omission is that others have anticipated him 1 — ■
alluding to his predecessors Livius and Naavius.
The subject which he proposed to himself was one of
considerable difficulty. The title and scope of his work
Cic. Brut. 76.
DIFFICULTIES OF HIS TASK. 73
compelled him to adopt a strict chronological order
instead of the principles of epic arrangement, and to
invest the truths which the course of history forced upon
his acceptance with the interest of fiction. His subject
could have no unity, no hero upon whose fortunes the
principal interest should be concentrated, and around
whom the leading events should group themselves. But
still no history could be better adapted to his purpose
than that of his own country. Its early legends form a
long series of poetical romances, fit to be sung in heroic
numbers, although from being originally unconnected with
each other, incapable of being woven into one epic story.
Ennius had to unite in himself the characters of the his-
torian and the poet — to teach what he believed to be truth,
and jet to move the feelings and delight the fancy by
the embellishments of fiction. The poetical merit in
which he must necessarily have been deficient was the
conduct of the plot ; but the fragments of his poem are
not sufficiently numerous for us to discover this deficiency.
They are, however, amply sufficient to show that he pos-
sessed picturesque power both in sketching his narratives
and hi portraying his characters. His scenes are full of
activity and animation ; his characters seem to live and
breathe ; his sentiments are noble, and full of a healthful
enthusiasm. His language is what that of an old Roman
ought to be, such as we might have expected from Cato
and Scipio had they been poets : dignified, chaste, severe,
it rises as high as the most majestic eloquence, although
it does not soar to the sublimity of poetry.
The parts in which he approaches most nearly to his
great model, or, as he believed, the source of his inspira-
tion, were in his descriptions of battles. Here the martial
spirit of the Eoman warrior shines forth ; the old soldier
seems to revel in the scenes of his youth. The poem
which occupied his declining years shows that it was his
greatest pleasure to record the triumphs of his country-
74 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
men, and to teacli posterity how their ancestors had won
so many glorious fields. His similes are simply imita-
tions; they show that he had taste to appreciate the
peculiar features of the Homeric poem ; but as must be
the case with mere imitations, they have not the energy
which characterizes his battles.
As a dramatic poet, Ennius does not deserve a high
reputation. A tragic drama must be of native growth,
it will not bear transplanting. The Eomans did not
possess the elements of tragedy ; the genius of Ennius
was not able to remedy that defect, and he could do no
more than select, with the taste and judgment which he pos-
sessed, such Greek dramas as were likely to be interesting.
Probably, however, his tragedies never became popular ;
they were admired by the narrow literary circle in which
his private life was passed. Those who were familiar
with the Greek originals were delighted to see their
favourites transferred into their native language ; those
who were not, had their curiosity gratified, and welcomed
even these reflections of the glorious minds of 2Eschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides.
But the tribute of admiration which the ancient
classical authors paid to Ennius, was paid to him as an
epic not as a dramatic poet. Cicero when he speaks in
his praise generally quotes from the Annals, only once
from a tragedy. 1 Yirgil borrows lines and thoughts, to-
gether with the commencement and conclusion of the
same poem ; and, although the fame of Ennius survived
the decline of Roman tragedy, and flourished even in the
age of the Antonines, 2 and his verses were heard in the
theatre of Puteoli (Pozzuoli), the entertainment did not
consist of one of his tragedies, but of recitations from his
epic poem. Nevertheless his tragedies were very numerous,
Andromache. a A. Gellius.
HIS TRAGEDIES, COMEDIES, AND SATIRiE. 75
and the titles and some fragments of twenty-three remain.
They are all close imitations, or even translations, of the
Greek. Of fifteen fragments of his Medea which are
extant, there is not one which does not correspond with
some passage in the Medea of Euripides : the little which
we have of his Eumenides is a transcript from the tragedy
of ^Eschylus ;* and, according to A. Grellius, his Hecuba
is a clever translation likewise.
His favourite model was Euripides : nor is it surprising
that he should have been better able to appreciate the
inferior excellencies of this dramatic poet, when we re-
member that the birth of Latin literature was coincident
with the decay of that of Greece. Callimachus died just
as Livius began to write. 2 Theocritus expired when
Ennius was twenty-five years old ; 3 and by this decaying
living literature his taste must have been partially
educated and formed.
In comedy, as in tragedy, he never emancipated him-
self from the trammels of the Greek originals. His
comedies were palliatce ; and Terence when accused of
plagiarism defends himself by an appeal to the example
of Ennius. Fragments are preserved of four only.
The poems which he wrote in various metres, and on
miscellaneous subjects, were, for that reason, entitled
Satires or Saturce. Ennius does not, indeed, anticipate
the claim of Lucilius to be considered the father of
Roman satire in its proper sense ; but still there can be
little doubt that the scope of these minor poems was the
chastisement of vice. The degeneracy of Roman virtue,
even in his days, provoked language of Arcliilochian bitter-
ness from so stern a moralist, although he would not
libellously attack those who were undeserving of censure <
The salutation which he addresses to himself expresses
1 Pierron, Rom. Lit. p. 74. 2 b. c. 280. s b. c. 214.
76 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
the burning indignation wliicli he felt against wicked-
ness : —
Enni poeta salve qui mortalibus
Versus propinas flammeos medullitus.
Amongst his minor works were epitaphs on Scipio
and on himself, a didactic poem, entitled Epicharmus, a
collection of moral precepts, an encomium on his Mend
Scipio Africanus, a translation in hexameters of a poem on
edible fishes and their localities, by Archestratus (Phage-
tica), and a work entitled Asotus, the existence of which
is only known from its being mentioned by Yarro and
Eestus for the sake of etymological illustration ; by some
it is thought to have been a comedy. The idea that he
was the author of a piece called " Sabinse " is without
foundation.
Cicero 1 mentions a mythological work (Evemerus), a
translation in trochaics of the *Iepa ' Avcvy pa(j)t] of the
Sicilian writer who bore that name. It was a work well
adapted to the talent which Ennius possessed of relating
mythical traditions, in the form of poetical history. The
theory embodied in the original was one which is often
adopted by Livy in his early history, and therefore most
probably entered into the ancient legends, namely, that
the gods were originally mighty warriors and benefactors
of mankind, who, as their reward, were deified and wor-
shipped.
1 De Nat. Deor. i. 42.
( 77 )
CHAPTER VII.
THE NEW COMEDY OF THE GREEKS THE MODEL OF THE ROMAN — THE
MORALITY OF ROMAN COMEDY — WANT OF VARIETY IN THE PLOTS
OF ROMAN COMEDY DRAMATIS PERSONS — COSTUME CHARAC-
TERS MUSIC — LATIN PRONUNCIATION — METRICAL LICENSES—
CRITICISM OF VOLCATIUS — LD7E OF PLAUTUS — CHARACTER OF HIS
COMEDLES — ANALYSIS OF HIS PLOTS.
It has already been shown that the dramatic taste of the
Eomans first displayed itself in the rudest species of
comedy. The entertainment was extemporaneous and
performed by amateurs, and rhythmical only so far as to
be consistent with these conditions. It was satirical,
personal, full of burlesque extravagances, practical jokes,
and licentious jesting. When it put on a more s} r stematic
form, by the introduction of music, and singing, and
dancing, and professional actors, still the Roman youth
would not give up their national amusement, and a
marked distinction was made in the social and political
condition of the actor and the amateur. Italian comedy
made no further progress, but on it was engrafted the
Greek comedy, and hence arose that phase of the drama,
the representatives of which were Plautus, Csecilius
Statius, and Terence.
Now the old Attic comedy consisted of either political
or literary criticism. In Italy, however, the Fescennine
verses, and the farces of Atella, were not political, neither
was there any literature to criticise or to parody. But
the personalities in which the people had taken pleasure
prepared them to enjoy the comedy of manners, embody-
ing as it did pictures of social life. The new comedy,
78 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
therefore, of the Greeks furnished a suitable model ; and
the comedies of Menander, Diphilus, Apollodorus, and
others formed a rich mine of materials for adaptation or
imitation.
From them the Roman poet could derive much more
than the " vis comica," in which Csesar complained that
they were still so deficient. In the extant fragments of
Menander may be found powerful delineations of human
passions, especially of the pains and pleasures of love,
melancholy but true views of the vanity of human hopes,
elevated moral sentiments, and noble ideas of the divine
nature. A vein of temperate and placid gentleness, inter-
mingled with amiable pleasantry, pervaded the comedies
of Philemon, and his sentiments are tender and serious,
without being gloomy. These good qualities recom-
mended them to Chrysostom, Eustathius, and other early
Christians, by whom so. many of their fragments have
been preserved.
There is no doubt that the comic, as well as the tragic
poet of Greece, considered himself as a public instructor ;
but it is difficult to say how far the Eoman author recog-
nized a moral object, because it cannot be determined
what moral sentiments were designedly introduced, and
what were merely transcriptions from the original. It is
plain, however, that Eoman comedy was calculated to
produce a moral result, although the morality which it
inculcated was extremely low : its standard was merely
worldly prudence, its lessons utilitarian, its philosophy,
like that of Menander liimself, Epicurean, and therefore it
did not inculcate an unbending sense of honour, the self-
denying heroism of the Stoic school, or that rigid Roman
virtue which was akin to it — it contented itself with en-
couraging the benevolent affections.
It did not profess to reform the knave, except by showing
him that knavery was not always successful. It taught
that cunning must be met with its own weapons, and
PLOTS OF ROMAN COMEDIES. 79
that the qualities necessary for the conflict were wit and
sharpness. The union between the moral and the comic
element was exhibited in making intrigue successful wher-
ever the victim was deserving of it, and in representing
him as foiled by accidents and cross-purposes, because the
prudence and caution of the knave are not always on a par
with his cunning. It also had its sentimental side, and
the sympathies of the audience were enlisted in favour of
good temper, affection, and generosity.
But the new Attic comedy presented a truthful por-
traiture of real native life. This was scarcely ever the
case with the Eomans; the plots, characters, localities,
and political institutions, were all Greek, and therefore it
can only be said that the whole was in perfect harmony
and consistency with Eoman modes of thinking and
acting. The comedies of Plautus probably, as will be
seen hereafter, form the only exception.
It cannot be denied that there is a want of variety in
the plots of Eoman comedy; 1 but this defect is owing
to the political and social condition of ancient Greece.
Greece and the neighbouring countries were divided into
numerous independent states ; its narrow seas were, even
more than they are now, infested with pirates, who had
their nests and lurking-places in the various unfrequented
coasts and islands ; and slaves were an article of mer-
chandize. Many a romantic incident therefore occurred,
such as is found in comedy. A child would be stolen,
sold as a slave, educated in all the accomplishments which
would fit her to be an Hetcera, engage the affections of
some young Athenian, and eventually, from some jewels
or personal marks, be recognized by her parents, and re-
stored to the rank of an Athenian citizen.
Again, in order to confine the privilege of citizenship,
marriages with foreigners were invalid, and this restric-
1 See Lecture vii. of A. W. v. Schlegel.
80 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
tion on marriage caused the Hetcera to occupy so promi-
nent a part in comedy ; besides love was little more than
sensual passion, and marriage generally a matter of con-
venience : the Hetserse, too, were often clever and accom-
plished, whilst the virtuous matron was fitter for the
duties of domestic life than for society. The regulations
of the Greek theatre also, which were adopted by the
Eomans, caused some restrictions upon the variety of plots.
In comedy the scene represented the public street, in which
Greek females of good character did not usually appear
unveiled : matrons, nurses, and women of light character
alone are introduced upon the stage, and in all the plays
of Terence, except the eunuch, the heroine is never seen.
As the range of subjects is small, so there is a sameness
in the dramatis persona? : the principal characters are a
morose and parsimonious or a gentle and easy father, who
is sometimes, also, the henpecked husband of a rich wife,
an affectionate or domineering wife, a young man who
is frank and good-natured but profligate, a grasping or
benevolent Hetsera, a roguish servant, a fawning favourite,
a hectoring coward, an unscrupulous procurer, and a cold
calculating slave-dealer.
The actors wore appropriate masks, sometimes partial,
sometimes covering the whole face, the features of which
were not only grotesque, but much exaggerated and magni-
fied. This was rendered absolutely necessary by the
immense size of the theatre, the stage of which sometimes
measured sixty yards, and which would contain many
thousands of spectators; the mouth, also, answered the
purpose of a sounding board, or speaking-trumpet to assist
in conveying the voice to every part of the vast building.
The characters, too, were made known by a conventional
costume : old men wore ample robes of white; young men
were attired in gay particoloured clothes ; rich men in
purple ; soldiers in scarlet ; poor men and slaves in dark-
coloured and scanty dresses.
CHARACTERS AND MUSTC. 81
The names assigned to the characters of the Roman
comedy have always an appropriate meaning. Young
men, for example, are Pamphilus, " dear to all ;"
Charinns, "gracious;" Phaedria, "joyous:" old men are
Simo, " flat-nosed," such a physiognomy being consi-
dered indicative of a cross-grained disposition : Chremes,
from a word signifying troubled with phlegm. Slaves
generally bear the name of their native country, as
Syrus, Phrygia ; Davus, a Dacian ; Byrrhia, a native of
Pyrrha in Caria ; Dorias, a Dorian girl ; a vain-glorious
soldier is Thraso, from Opaoo?, boldness ; a parasite,
Grnatho, from yvaOo?, the jaw ; a nurse, Sophrona
(discreet) ; a freedman, Sosia, as having been spared in
war; a young girl is Gly cerium, from y\vKv?, sweet;
a judge is Crito ; a courtesan, Chrysis, from yjpvao^, gold.
These examples will be sufficient to illustrate the practice
adopted by the Comic writers.
It is very difficult to understand the relation which
music bore to the exhibition of Roman comedy. It is
clear that there was always a musical accompaniment, and
that the instruments used were flutes ; the lyre was only
used in tragedy, because in comedy there was no chorus
or lyric portion. The flutes were at first small and
simple ; but in the time of Horace were much larger
and more powerful, as well as constructed with more
numerous stops and greater compass. 1
Flutes were of two kinds. Those played with the right
hand (tibiae dextrse) were made of the upper part of the
reed, and like the modern fife or octave flute emitted a high
sound : they were therefore suitable to lively and cheerful
melodies ; and this kind of music, known by the name of
the Lydian mode, was performed upon a pair of tibia?
dextrse. The left-handed flutes (tibia? sinistra?) were
pitched an octave lower : their tones were grave and fit
for solemn music. The mode denominated Tyrian, or
1 Ep. ad Pison. 202.
82 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Sarrane, 1 was executed with a pair of tibia? sinistra?. If
the subject of the play was serio-comic, the music was in
the Phrygian mode, and the flutes used were impares
(unequal), i. e., one for the right, the other for the left
hand. 2 In tragedy the lyrical portion was sung to music
and the dialogue declaimed. But if that were the case in
comedy, it is difficult to imagine what corresponded to
the lyrical portion, and therefore where music was used.
Quintilian informs us that scenic modulation was a simple,
easy chant, 3 resembling probably intonation in our cathe-
drals. Such a practice would aid the voice considerably ;
and if so, the theory of Colman is probably correct, that
there was throughout some accompaniment, but that the
music arranged for the soliloquies (in which Terence
especially abounds) was more laboured and complicated
than that of the dialogue. 4
In order to understand the principles which regulated
the Roman comic metres, some remarks must be made
on the manner in which the language itself was affected
by the common conversational pronunciation. In most
languages there is a natural tendency to abbreviation and
contraction. As the object of language is the expression
of thought, few are inclined to take more trouble or to
expend more time than is absolutely necessary for convey-
ing their meaning : this attention to practical utility and
convenience is the reason for all elliptical forms in gram-
matical constructions, and also for all abbreviated methods
of pronunciation by slurring or clipping, or, to use the
1 From Tzur, *yjtf.
2 Colman illustrates the preface to his translation of Terence with an
engraving from a bas-relief in the Farnese Palace, in which these flutes are
introduced. The original represents a scene in the Andria, and contains
Simo, Davus, Chremes, and Dromo, with a knotted cord.
3 I. O. ii. 10.
4 Donatus says, " Diverbia (the dialogues) histriones pronuntiabant ; can-
tica (the soliloquies) vero temperabantuv modis non a poet& sed a perito
artis musicDe factis."
LATIN PRONUNCIATION. 83
language of gTammariaiis, by apocope, syncope, syndesis,
or era sis.
The experience of every one proves how different is
the impression which the sound of a foreign language
makes upon the ear, when spoken by another, from what
it makes upon the eye when read even by one who is
perfectly acquainted with the theory of pronunciation.
Until the ear is habituated, it is easier for an Englishman
to speak French than to understand it when spoken. If
we consider attentively the manner in which we speak
our own language, it is astonishing how many letters
and even syllables are slurred over and omitted: the
accented syllable is strongly and firmly enunciated, the
rest, especially in long words, are left to take care of
themselves, and the experience of the hearer and his
acquaintance with the language find no difficulty in
supplying the deficiency. This is universally the case,
except in careful and deliberate reading, and in measured
and stately declamation.
With regard to the classical languages, the foregoing
observations hold good. In a slighter degree, indeed, with
respect to the Greek, for the delicacy of their ear, their
attention to accent and quantity, not only in poetry but
in oratory, and even in conversation, caused them to give
greater effect to every syllable, and especially to the
vowel sounds. But even in Greek poetry elision some-
times prevents the disagreeable effect of a hiatus, and in
the transition from the one dialect to the other, the
numerous vowels of the Ionic assume the contracted form
of the Attic.
The resemblance between the practice of the Eomans
and that of modern nations is very remarkable ; with
them the mark of good taste was ease — the absence of
effort, pedantry, and affectation. As they principally
admired facility in versification so they sought it in
pr< Hiunci ation likewise . To speak with m outhing (hiulce) ,
r 9
84 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
with a broad accent (late, vaste), was to speak like a clown
and not like a gentleman (rustice et inurbaniter). Cicero 1
admired the soft, gentle, equable tones of the female voice,
and considered the pronunciation of the eloquent and
cultivated Lselia as the model of purity and perfection :
he thought that she spoke as Plautus or Nsevius might
have spoken. Again, he speaks of the habit which Cotta
had of omitting the iota; pronouncing, for example,
dominus, dom'nus, as a prevalent fashion ; and although
he says, 2 that such an obscuration argues negligence, he,
on the other hand, applies to the opposite fault a term
(putidius) which implies the most offensive affectation.
Prom these observations, we must expect to find that
Latin as it was pronounced was very different from Latin
as it is written; that this difference consisted in abbreviation
either by the omission of sounds altogether, or by con-
traction of two sounds into one ; and that these processes
would take place especially in those syllables which in
poetry are not marked by the ictus or beat, or in common
conversation by the stress or emphasis. Even in the more
artificial poetry and oratory of the Augustan age, in
which quantity was more rigidly observed by the Eoman
imitators than by the Greek originals, we find traces of
this tendency ; and Virgil does not hesitate to use in his
stately heroics such forms as aspris for asperis, semustum
for semrustum, oraclum for oraculum, maniplus for mani-
pulus; and, like Terence, to make rejicere (relcere) a dac-
tyle. 3 A number of the most common words, sanctioned
by general usage, and incorporated into the language
when in its most perfect state, were contractions — such as
amassent for amavissent, concio for conventio, cogo from
con and ago, surgo from sub and rego, mala for maxilla,
pomeridianus from post-mediam-diem, and other instances
too numerous to mention..
Cic. de Orat. iii. 45. 2 Ibid. 41.
3 Phorin. Prol 18 : Eel. iii. 96.
METRICAL LICENSES. 85
But in the earlier periods when literature was addressed
still more to the ear than to the eye, when the Greek
metres were as yet unknown, and even when, after their
introduction, exact observation of Greek rules was not yet
necessary, we find as might be expected these principles
of the language carried still further. They pervade the
poems of Livius and Ennius, and the Eoman tragedies,
even although their style is necessarily more declamatory
than that of the comic writers ; but in the latter we have
a complete representation of Latin as it was commonly
pronounced and spoken, and but little trammelled or
confined by a rigid adhesion to the Greek metrical
laws. In the prologues, indeed, which are of the nature
of declamation and not of free and natural conversation,
more care is visible ; the iambic trimeters in which they
are written fall upon the ear with a cadence similar to those
of the Greek, with scarcely any license except an occasional
spondee in the even places. But in the scenes little more
seems to have been attended to, than that the verse
should have the required number of feet, and the
syllables pronounced the right quantity, in accordance
with the widest license which the rules of Greek prosody
allowed. What syllables should be slurred, was left to
be decided by the common custom of pronunciation.
Besides the Licenses commonly met with in the poets
of the Augustan age, the following mutilations are the
most usual in the poetical language of the age of which
we are treating : —
1 . The final s might be elided even before a consonant,
and hence the preceding vowel was made short : thus
malls became mali', on the same principle that in Augustan
poetry audisne was contracted into audm'. Thus the
short vowel would suffer elision before another, and the
following line of Terence would consequently be thus
scanned : —
Ut ma | lis gatt| cleat all | en' atq' | ex In | commo|dls.
86 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
2. Vowels and even consonants were slurred over;
hence Liberius became Lib'rius ; Adolescens, Adlescens ;
Vehemens, Yemens ; Yoluptas, Yluptas (like the French
voila, via) ; meum, eum, suum, siet, fuit, Deos, ego,
ille, tace, became monosyllables ; and facio, sequere, &c,
dissyllables.
3. M and D were syncopated in the middle of words :
thus enimvero became en'vero ; quidem and modo
qu'en and mo'o, circuinventus, circ'ventus.
4. Conversely d was added to me, te, and se, when
followed by a vowel, as Eeliquit med homo, &c, and in
Plautus, med erga.
Observations of such principles as these, enable us to
reduce all the metres of Terence, and nearly all of Plautus,
to iambic and trochaic, especially to iambic senarii and
trochaic tetrameters. Many of those which defy the
attempt have become, by the injudicious treatment of
transcribers or commentators, wrongly arranged: for
example, one of four lines in the Andria of Terence,
which has always proved a difficulty, might be thus
arranged : —
Inna | ta cui j quaro. tant' | ut siet | vecor | dia ;
instead of the usual unmanageable form —
Tanta vecordia innata cuiquam ut siet. Andr. iv. 1.
Yolcatius Sedigitus, a critic and grammarian, assigns
an order of merit to the authors of Eoman comedy in
the following passage : —
Multos incertos certare hanc rem vidimus
Palmam poetse comico cui deferant.
Eum, me judice, errorem dissolvam tibi ;
Ut contra si quis sentiat, nihil sentiat.
Cgecilio palmam Statio do comico.
Plautus secundus facile exsuperat cseteros.
Dein Nsevius qui servet pretium, tertius est.
Si erit, quod quarto dabitur Licinio.
Post insequi Licinium facio Atilium.
TITIS IfACCIUS PLAUTUS. ^7
In Bexto Bequitur hos loco Terentius.
Turpilius septimum, Trabea octavum obtinet ;
Nodo loco esse facile facio Lusciuni.
Decimum addo causa antiquitatis Eimium.
Vvlc. Sedig. ap. Gel. lib. xv. 24.
However correct this judgment may be, Plautus is the
oldest, if not the most celebrated of those who have not
as yet been mentioned.
PLAUTUS.
T. Maccius Plant us was a contemporary of Ennius, for it
is generally supposed that he was born twelve years later, 1
and died fifteen years earlier 2 than the founder of the new
school of Latin poetry. The nourishing period, therefore,
of both coincide. He was a native of Sarsina, in TJmbria,
but was very young when he removed to Rome. Very
little is known respecting his life ; but it is universally
admitted that he was of humble origin, and owing to the
prevalence of this tradition we fmdiPlautinceprosapice homo,
used as a proverbial expression. The numerous examples
in his comedies of vulgar taste and low humour are in
favour of this supposition.
He had no early gentlemanlike associations to interfere
with his delineations of Eoman character in low life. His
contemporary, Ennius, was a gentleman, Plautus was not ;
education did not overcome his vulgarity, although it
produced a great effect upon his language and style, which
were more refined and cultivated than those of his pre-
decessors. Plautus must have lived and associated with
the class whose manners he describes, hence his pictures
are correct and truthful.
The class from which his representations of Eoman
life was taken is that of the cerarii, who consisted of clients,
the sons of freedmen, and the half-enfranchised natives
a. u. C 527 ; B. c. 227. a a. u. C. 570 ; b c. 184. Sec Cic. Brut. 15.
88 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of Italian towns. His plots are Greek, his personages
Greek, and the scene is laid in Greece and her colonies ;
bnt the morality, manners, sentiments, wit, and humonr,
were those of that mixed, half-foreign, class of the inhabit-
ants of the capital, which stood between the slave and the
free-born citizen. One of his characters is, as was observed
by Mebuhr, 1 not Eoman, for the parasite is a Greek, not
a Roman character, bnt then a flatterer is by profession
a citizen of the world, and his business is to conform him-
self to the manners of every society. How readily that
character became naturalized, we are informed by some of
the most amusing passages in the satires of Horace and
Juvenal.
The humble occupation which his poverty compelled
him to follow was calculated to draw out and foster the
comic talent for which he was afterwards distinguished,
for Yarro 2 tells us that he acted as a stage-carpenter
(operarius) to a theatrical company ; he adds, also, that
he was subsequently engaged in some trade in which he
was unsuccessful, and was reduced to the necessity of
earning his daily bread by grinding in a mill. To this
degrading labour, which was not usually performed by
men, except as a punishment for refractory slaves, it has
been supposed that he owed his cognomen, Asinius, which
is sometimes appended to his other names. Eitzsclil,
however, has most ingeniously and satisfactorily proved
that the name of Asinius is a corruption of Sarsinas
(native of Sarsina) : he supposes that Sarsinas became
Arsinas, that this was afterwards written Arsin, then
Asin, and that this was finally considered as the repre-
sentative of Asinius.
This view is further supported by the fact that, in all
cases in which the name Asinius is used, the poet is called
not Asinius Plautus, but Plautus Asinius, like Livius Pata-
Lect. lxx. a A. GeU. iii. 3.
ROMAN TASTE FOR COMEDY. 89
vinus, this being the proper position for the ethnic name.
Another error respecting the poet's name has been per-
petuated throughout all the editions of his works, although
it is not found in any manuscript. It was discovered by
RitzsehF whilst examining- the palimpsest MS. in the
Ambrosian Library at Milan. He thus found that his
real names were Titus Maccius, and not Marcus Accius.
The name Plautus was given him because he had flat
leet, this being the signification of the word in the
Umbrian language. Niebuhr, 2 although he does not
deny his povert}^ gives no credit to the story of his work-
ing at a mill.
The earliest comedies which he wrote are said to have
been entitled " Addictus," and " Saturio," but they are
not contained amongst the twenty which are now extant.
As soon as he became an author there can be no doubt
that he emerged from his state of poverty and obscurity,
for he had no rival during his whole career, unless Csecilius
Statius, a man of very inferior talent, can be considered
one. Comedies began now to be in great demand : the
taste for the comic drama was awakened; it was pre-
cisely the sort of literature likely to be acceptable to an
active, bustling, observant people like the Eomans.
They liked shows of every kind, and public speaking, and
had always then* eyes and their ears open, loved jokes and
rude satire and boisterous inirth, and would appreciate
bold and fearless delineations of character, which they
met with in their every-day life. The demand for the
public games, therefore, began to be quite as great as the
supply, and the theatrical managers would take care
always to have a new play in rehearsal, in case they
should be called upon for a public representation.
Plautus had no aristocratic patrons, like Ennius and
Terence — probably his humour was too broad, and his
1 See Smith's Biog. Diet. s. v. a Lect. on Rom. Hist. lxx.
90 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
taste not refined enough, to please the Scipios and Lselii,
and their fastidious associates. Horace finds fault with
Plautus because his wit was not sufficiently gentleman-
like, as well as his numbers not sufficiently harmonious.
Probably the higher classes might have observed similar
deficiencies ; with the masses, however, the comedies of
Plautus, notwithstanding their faults, retained their ori-
ginal popularity even in the Augustan age. The Eoman
public were his patrons. His very coarseness would recom-
mend him to the rude admirers of the Fescinnine songs and
the Atellan Fabulce. His careless prosody and inharmo-
nious verses would either escape the not over-refined ears of
his audience, or be forgiven for the sake of the fun which
they contained. Life, bustle, surprise, unexpected situa-
tions, sharp, sprightly, brilliant, sparkling raillery, that
knew no restraint nor bounds, carried the audience with
him. He allowed no respite, no time for dulness or
weariness. To use an expression of Horace, he hurried
on from scene to scene, from incident to incident, from
jest to jest, so that his auditors had no opportunity for
feeling fatigue.
Another cause of his popularity was, that although
Greek was the fountain from which he drew his stores,
and the metres of Greek poetry the framework in which
he set them, his wit, his mode of thought, his language,
were purely Eoman. He had lived so long amongst
Pomans that he had caught their national spirit, and this
spirit was reflected throughout his comedies. The inci-
dents of them might have taken place in the streets of
Pome, so skilful was he in investing them with a Poman
dress.
His style too was truly Latin, and Latin of the very
purest and most elegant kind. 1 He did not, like Cato
and Ennius, carry his admiration for Greek so far as to
Quint, x. 1, 99 .
EPIGRAM BY VARRO. 91
11 enrich " his native tongue with new and foreign words.
Nor would this feature he without some effect in gaining
him the sympathy of the masses. They admire elegance
of language if it is elegant simplicity. They appreciate
well-chosen and well-arranged sentences, if the words are
such as fall familiarly and, therefore, intelligibly on their
ears.
The coarseness of Plautus, however, was the coarseness
of innuendo, and even if the allusion was indelicate it was
veiled in decent language. This quality of his wit called
forth the approbation of Cicero. 1 But it is difficult to
conceive how he could compare him, in this particular,
with the old Athenian comedy, the obscenity of which is
so gross and palpable, as to constitute the sole blemish of
those delightful compositions.
The following laudatory epigram written by Yarro is
found in the Noctes Atticae of A. Grellius : 2 —
Postquam est mortem aptus Plautus, comcEdia luget,
Scena est deserta dein risus ludu' jocusque,
Et numeri innumeri simul omnes collacrumarunt.
The same grammarian paid to his style a compliment
similar to that which had been paid to Plato, by saying,
that if the Muses spoke in Latin they would borrow the
language of Plautus. 3 Whatever might have been the
faults of the Plautian comedy it maintained its position
on the Roman stage for at least five centuries, and was
acted as late as the reign of Dioclesian.
It does not appear that Plautus ever attained the full
privileges of a Eoman citizen. Probably he had no
powerful friends to press his claims, and therefore enjoyed
no more than the Italian franchise to the end of his days.
No fewer than one hundred and thirty comedies have
been attributed to him, but of these many were spurious.
Varro considers the twenty which are now extant genuine,
De Off. i. 29. i Lib. i. 24. 3 Quint, x. 1, 99.
92 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
together with the Vidularia, of which only a few lines
remain, and those only in the palimpsest MS. already
mentioned. The rest, the titles of which alone survive,
are of doubtful authority.
All the comedies of Plautus, except the AmpJiitruo,
were adapted from the new comedy of the Greeks. The
statement that he imitated the Sicilian Epicharmus, 1 and
founded the Mencechmi on one of his comedies, rests only
on a vague tradition. There can be no doubt that he
studied also both the old and the middle comedy ; but
still Menander, Diphilus, and Philemon furnished him the
originals of his plots. The popularity of Plautus was
not confined to Rome, either republican or imperial.
Dramatic writers of modern times have recognized the
effectiveness of his plots, and therefore have adopted or
imitated them, and they have been translated into most
of the European languages. The following is a brief
sketch of the subjects of his extant comedies.
i. Amphitruo. This is the only piece which Plautus
borrowed from the middle Attic comedy: the plot is
founded on the well-known story of Jupiter and Alcmena,
and has been imitated both by Moliere and Dry den.
ii., in., iv. The Asinaria, Casina, and Mercator, depict
a state of morals so revolting that it is impossible to
dwell upon them.
v. In the Aulularia, a very amusing play, a miser
finds a pot of gold (aulula), and hides it with the greatest
care. His daughter is demanded in marriage by an old
man named Megadorus, the principal recommendation to
whose suit is, that he is willing to take her without a
dowry. Meanwhile the slave of her young lover steals
the gold, and, as may be conjectured, for no more of the
play is preserved, the lover restores the gold, and the old
man, in the joy of his heart, gives him his daughter.
1 Hor. Ep.'ii. 1,58.
BACCHIDES — CAPTIVI — CURCUL10 — CISTELLARIA. 93
This comedy suggested to Moliere tlie plot of L'Avare,
the best play which he ever wrote, and one in which he
far surpasses the original. Two attempts have been made
to supply the lost scenes, which may be found in the
Dolphin and Variorum edition.
VI. The Bacchides are two twin sisters, one of whom
is beloved by her sister's lover. He does not know that
there are two, and, misled by the similarity of the name,
thinks himself betrayed. Hence arise amusing situations
and incidents, but at length an eclaircissement takes place.
vii. The Captivi for its style, sentiments, moral, and
the structure of the plot, is incomparably the best comedy
of Plautus. In a war between the iEtolians and Eleians,
Philopolemus, an iEtolian, the son of Hegio, is taken
prisoner, whilst Philocrates is captured by the iEtolians.
Philocrates and his slave Tyndarus are purchased by Hegio,
with a view to recover his son by an exchange of prisoners.
The master and slave, however, agree to change places ;
and thus Philocrates is sent back to his country, valued
only as a slave. Hegio discovers the trick and condemns
Tyndarus to fetters and hard labour. Philocrates, how-
ever, returns, and brings back Philopolemus with him,
and it also turns out that Tyndarus is a son of Hegio
whom he had lost in his infancy.
viii. The Curculio derives its name from a parasite,
who is the hero, and who acts his part in a plot full of
fraud and forgery; the only satisfactory point in the
comedy being the deserved punishment of an infamous
panclar.
ix. In the Cistellaria, Demipho, a Lemnian, promises
his daughter to Alcesimarchus, who is in love with
Silenium. The young lady has fallen into the hands of
a courtesan, who endeavours to force her into a vicious
course of life ; she, however, steadily refuses ; and it is at
length discovered, by means of a box of toys (cistella), that
she is the illegitimate daughter of Demipho, and had
94 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
been exposed as an infant. Her virtue is rewarded by
her being happily married to lier lover.
x. The Epidicus was evidently a favourite play with
the author, for he makes one of the characters in another
comedy say that he loves it as dearly as himself. 1 The
plot turns on the common story of a lost child recognized.
The intrigue, which is remarkably clever, is managed by
Epidicus, a cunning slave, who gives the name to the
play.
xi. The Mostellaria is exceedingly lively and amusing.
A young man, in his father's absence, makes the paternal
mansion a scene of noisy and extravagant revelry. In
the midst of it the father returns, and in order to prevent
discovery, a slave persuades him that the house is
haunted. When he discovers the trick he is very angry,
but ultimately pardons both his son and the slave. The
name is derived from Mostellum, the diminutive of Mon-
strum, a prodigy, or supernatural visitor.
xii. The Mensechnii is a Comedy of Errors, arising
out of the exact likeness between two brothers, one of
whom was stolen in infancy, and the other wanders in
search of him, and at last finds him in great affluence at
Epidamnus. It furnished the plot to Shakspeare's play,
and likewise to the comedy of Eegnard, which bears the
name of the original.
xiii. The Miles Grloriosus was taken from the 'AAaf wv
(Boaster) of the Greek comic drama. Its hero, Pyrgopo-
linices, is the model of all the blustering, swaggering
captains of ancient and modern comedy. The braggadocio
carries off the mistress of a young Athenian, who follows
him, and takes up his abode in the next house to that in
which the girl is concealed. Like Pyramus and Thisbe
the lovers have secret interviews through a hole in the
party-wall. (The device being borrowed from the
Bacch. ii. 2.
PSEUDOLUS — PCENULUS. 95
" Phantom," of Menander.) 1 When they are discovered
the soldier is induced to resign the lady by being per-
suaded that another is desperately in love with him, but
the only reward which he gets is a good beating for his
pains.
Xiv. In the Psendolns a cunning slave of that name
procures, by a false memorandum, a female slave for his
young master ; and when the fraud is discovered the matter
is settled by the payment of the price by a complaisant
father. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the plot the
action is bustling and full of intrigue ; and from a passage
of Cicero, 2 it appears that this play and the Truculentus
were favourites with the author himself. The procurer
in this comedy was one of the characters in which. Eoscius
especially excelled.
xv. The Pcenulus derives its name from its romantic
plot. A young Carthaginian slave is adopted by an old
bachelor, who leaves him a good inheritance. He falls in
love with a girl, a Carthaginian like himself, who had
been kidnapped with her sister, and now belonged to a
procurer. The arrival of the father leads to a discovery
that they are free-born, and that they are the first cousins
of the young man. Thus it comes to pass that the girls
are rescued, and the lovers united. The most curious
portion of this comedy is that in which Hanno, the father,
is represented as talking Punic ; 3 and his words bear so
close a resemblance to the Hebrew that commentators
1 The plot of the Phasma of Menander is as follows : — A woman who has
married a second husband has a daughter concealed in the next house,
with whom she has secret interviews by means of a communication through
the party- wall. In order the better to carry on her clandestine plan, she
pretends that she has intercourse with a supernatural being, who visits
her in answer to her invocations. Her step-son by accident sees the
maiden, and is at first awe-struck, thinking that he had beheld a goddess ;
but, discovering the truth, he is captivated with her beauty. A happy
marriage, with the consent of all parties, concludes the play.
8 De Sen. 50. ■ 3 Act v. scene i.
96 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
liave expressed them in Hebrew characters, and rendered
them, after a few emendations, capable of translation. 1
xvi. The tricks played npon a procurer by a slave,
aided by a Persian parasite, furnish the slender plot of
the Persa.
xvii. The Eudens derives its name from the rope of
a fishing-net, and, with the exception perhaps of the
Captivi, is the most affecting and pleasing of all the
twenty plays. The morality is pure, the sentiments ele-
vated, the poetic justice complete. A female child has
fallen into the hands of a procurer. Her lover in vain
endeavours to ransom her, and being shipwrecked, the
toys with which she played in infancy are lost in the
waves, but are eventually brought to shore in the net of a
fisherman. She is thus recognized by her father, and is
married to her lover, whilst the procurer is utterly
ruined by the loss of his property in the wreck.
xvi ii. Stichus is the name of the slave on whom the
intrigue of the play which bears this name mainly de-
pends. The plot is very simple. Two brothers marry
two sisters, and are ruined by extravagant living ; they
determine therefore to go abroad and repair their fortunes.
After they have been many years absent the ladies' father
wishes them to marry again. They, however, steadily
refuse, and their constancy is rewarded by the return of
their husbands with large fortunes.
xix. The Trinummus is a translation from the The-
saurus of the Greek comic poet Philemon. 2 It de-
rived its Latin title from the incident of the informer
being bribed with three nummi. 3 An old merchant on
leaving home places his son and daughter, together with
a treasure which he has buried in his house, under the
guardianship of his friend Callicles. The son squanders
1 See Plaut. Ed. Var. pp. 1320 and 2095. 2 See Prol. 18.
3 See act iv. scene ii.
TRUCULENTUS — PROLOGUES. 07
nis father's property, and is even forced to sell his lionse,
which Callicles purchases. Soon a young man of good
family and fortune makes proposals for the daughter's
hand, and Callicles is at a loss to know how to give her a
dowry without saying something about the treasure. At
length he hires a man to pretend that he has come from
the absent lather, and lias brought one thousand pieces of
gold. The return of the father interferes with the plan ;
but everj-thing is explained, the daughter is married, and
the son forgiven.
xx. The Truculentus, although the moral picture
which it presents is detestable, is remarkably clever,
both for the variety of incidents and the graphic delinea-
tions of character which it contains. The artful courte-
san who dupes and ruins her lovers ; the three lovers
themselves — one a man of the town, another an unpolished
but generous rustic, the third a stupid and conceited
soldier ; and, lastly, the slave, whose rude sagacity and
bluff hatred of courtesans expose him to the imputation
of being actually savage (truculentus), are powerfully
drawn ; but, notwithstanding its merits, it is not a play
which can possibly please the tastes and sentiments of
modern times.
Plautus must not be dismissed without some notice of
his prologues. The prologue of the Greek drama prepared
the audience for the action of the play, by narrating all
the previous events of the story, which were necessary in
order to understand the plot. That of the modern stage
is an address of the poet to the spectators, praying for in-
dulgence, deprecating severe criticism, enlivened frequently
by characteristic sketches and satirical observations on the
manners and habits of the age. In these features it some-
times resembles the parabasis of the old Attic comedy.
The prologues of Plautus united all these objects ; and
whilst they introduced the comedy, their amusing gaiety
was calculated to put the audience in good humour and
H
98 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
secure their applause. The shrewd knowledge which the
author displayed in them of the character of his fellow-
countrymen claimed their sympathies, and called forth
their prejudices in his favour ; whilst their polish and
finish must have been appreciated by an assembly whose
attention had not begun to flag or to weary. Some are
long pieces. That of the Amphitruo, which is the longest,
extends to upwards of one hundred and fifty lines. That
of the Trinummus takes the unusual form of a brief
allegorical dialogue between Luxury and her daughter
Poverty.
( 99 )
CHAPTER VII.
STATIUS COMPARED WITH MENANDER — CRITICISM OF CICERO — HYPO-
THESES RESPECTING THE EARLY LIFE OF TERENCE — ANECDOTE
BELATED BY DONATUS — STYLE AND MORALITY OF TERENCE —
ANECDOTE OF HIM RELATED BY CORNELIUS NEPOS — HIS PECUNIARY
CIRCUMSTANCES AND DEATH— PLOTS AND CRITICISM OF HIS COME-
DIES—THE REMAINING COMIC POETS.
O&CILIUS STATIUS.
Between Plautus and Terence flourished Csecilius Sta-
tius, whom Yolcatius, as well as Cicero, 1 places at the
head of the list of Roman comic poets. He was an
emancipated slave, and was born at Milan. The time of
his birth is unknown, but he died a.u.c. 586, and was
therefore a contemporary of Ennius. He did not depart
from the established custom of transferring the comedy
of the Greek stage to that of Eome, and, as far as a judg-
ment can be formed from the titles of his forty -five
comedies which are extant, they were all " Palliatce!'
The collection of fragments remaining of his works is a
large one, but they are not sufficiently long or connected
to test the favourable opinion entertained by the critics
of ancient times.
Aulus Gellius 2 enables us to estimate the powers of
C. Statius as a translator by a comparison of two
passages taken from his " Plocius " with the original
of Menander. The result is, that the usual fault of
translations is too plainly manifest, namely, the loss of
the spirit and vigour. " Our comedies," he remarks, " are
1 De Opt. Gen. Die. i. 2 Noct. Att. ii. 23.
H 2
100 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
written in an elegant and graceful style, and may be
read with pleasure; but if compared with the Greek
originals, they fall so far short that the arms of Glaucus
could not have been more inferior to those of Diomede :
the Greek is full of emotion, wit, and liveliness; the
Latin dull and uninteresting/' Cicero, likewise, and Varro
have pronounced judgment upon his merits and demerits.
The sum and substance of their criticisms appear to be,
that his excellences consisted in the conduct of the plot, 1
in dignity, 2 and in pathos, 3 whilst his fault was not
sufficient care in preserving the purity of Latin style.
Cicero, 4 though not without hesitation, assigns the
palm to him amongst the writers of Latin comedy, as he
awards that of epic poetry to Ennius, and that of tragedy
to Pacuvius. 5 He says, on the other hand, 5 that the
bad Latin of Caecilius and Pacuvius formed exceptions to
the usual style of their age, which was as commendable
for its Latinity as for its innocence. And in a letter to
Atticus, 6 he writes : — " I said, not as CaBcilius, Mane ut
ex portu in Piramm, but as Terence, whose plays, on
account of their elegant Latinity, were thought to have
been written by C. Lselius, Heri aliquot adolescentuli
coimus in Pirseum." Horace, 7 without stating his own
opinion, gives, as that commonly received in his day,
that Ca3cilius is superior in dignity {gravitate), Terence
in skill {arte).
The prologue of Terence's comedy of the Hecyra
proves that the earlier plays of Ca3cilius had a great
struggle to atchieve success. The actor who delivers it,
an old favourite with the public, and probably the
manager, apologizes for bringing forward a play which
had been once rejected {exacta), on the ground that by
perseverance in a similar course he had caused the recep-
Varro. 2 Horace. 3 Varro. 4 De Opt. Gen. Orat. i.
3 Brut. 258. 6 Lib. vii. 3. 7 Ep. ii. 1.
HYPOTHESES RESPECTING TERENCE. 101
fcion and approval of not one but many of the come-
dies oi' Csecilius which had been unsuccessful, and adds,
that of those which did succeed, some had a narrow
escape.
P. TERENTIDS AEER.
P. Terentius Afer was a slave in the family of a
Roman senator, P. Terentius Lucanus. His early his-
tory is involved in obscurity, but he is generally supposed
to have been born a.u.c. 561. 1 His cognomen, Afer,
points to an African origin, for it was a common custom
to distinguish slaves by an ethnical name. Whether
there is any sufficient authority for the tradition that
he was a native of Carthage is uncertain. He could
not, as was rightly observed by Fenestella, 2 have been
actually a prisoner of war, because he was both born and
died in the interval between the first and second Punic
Wars ; nor, if he had been captured by the Numidians
or Grsetulians in any war which these tribes carried on
with Carthage, could he have come into the possession
of a Eoman General by purchase, for there was no
commercial intercourse between these nations and Eome
until after the destruction of Carthage.
Another hypothesis has been suggested, which is by
no means improbable. 3 During the interval which
elapsed between the first and second Punic Wars, the
Carthaginians were involved in wars with their own
mercenaries, the Numidians, and the southern Iberians.
Some embassies from Eome also visited Carthage. Te-
rence, therefore, may possibly have been taken prisoner
in one of these wars, have been purchased by a Eoman
in the Carthaginian slave-market, and so have been
carried to Eome. What his condition was in the house
1 B. c. 193. 2 See Life of Ter. in Ed. Varior.
3 See Smith's Diet, of Ant. s. v.
102 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of Lucanus is not known ; but it is clear that he had
opportunities of cultivating his natural talents, and
acquiring that refined and masterly acquaintance with
all the niceties and elegancies of the Latin language
which his comedies exhibited; and it is probable, also,
that very early in life he obtained his freedom.
His first essay as a dramatic author was " The Andrian,"
perhaps the most interesting, certainly the most affect-
ing, of all his comedies. Terence, an unknown and
obscure young man, offered his play to the Curule iEdiles.
They, accordingly, we are told, referred the new candi-
date to the experienced judgment of Csecilius Statius, then
at the height of his popularity. Terence, in humble
garb, was introduced to the poet whilst he was at supper,
and, seated on a low stool near the couch on which
Ca3cilius was reclining, he commenced reading. He had
finished but a few lines when Csecilius invited him to sit
by him and sup with him. He rapidly ran through the
rest of his play, and gained the unqualified admiration
of his hearer. This story is related by Donatus, but
whether there is any truth in it is very doubtful. It is,
at any rate, certain that " The Andrian " was not brought
forward immediately after obtaining this decision in its
favour, for the date of its first representation 1 is two
years subsequent to the death of Caacilius.
Talents of so popular a kind as those of Terence, and
a genius presenting the rare combination of all the fine
and delicate touches which characterize true Attic senti-
ment, without corrupting the native ingenuous purity of
the Latin language, could not long remain in obscurity.
He was soon eagerly sought for as a guest and a com-
panion by those who could appreciate his powers. The
great Eoman nobility, such as the Scipiones, the Lselii,
the Scsevobe, and the Metelli, had a taste for literature.
B.C. 166; a. u- c. 588.
HIS STYLE AND MORALITY. 103
Like the Ti/ranni in Sicily and Greece, and like some of
the Italian princes in the middle ages, they assembled
around them circles of literary men, of whom the polite
and hospitable host himself formed the nucleus and
centre.
The purity and gracefulness of the style of Terence,
"per quani dulces Latini leporis facetice nituerunt" 1 show
that the conversation of his accomplished friends was not
lost upon his correct ear and quick intuition. To these
habits of good society may also be attributed the leading
moral characteristics of his comedies. He invariably
exhibits the humanity and benevolence of a cultivated
mind. He cannot bear loathsome and disgusting vice :
he deters the young from the unlawful indulgence of
their passions by painting such indulgence as inconsistent
with the refined habits and tastes of a gentleman.
His truthfulness compels him to depict habits and
practices which were recognized and allowed, as well by
the manners of the Athenians, from whom his comedies
were taken, as by the lax morality of Eoman fashionable
society. ISTor can we expect from a heathen writer of
comedy so high a tone of morality as to lash vice with
the severe censure which the Christian feels it deserves,
however venial society may pronounce it to be. It is as
much as can be hoped for, if we find the principles of
good taste brought forward on the stage to influence
public morals. Even the code of Christian society too
often contents itself with rebuking such vice as inter-
feres with its own comfort or safety, and stigmatises
conduct, not for its immorality, but for its being unbe-
coming a gentleman. It is a standard which has its
use, but it is not higher than the Terentian.
And if the plays of Terence are compared with those
of authors professing to be Christians, which form part
Valerius Paterc.
104 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of the classical literature of the English nation, and were
unblusliingly witnessed on their representation by some
of both sexes, who, nevertheless, professed a regard for
character, how immeasurably superior are the comedies
of the heathen poet ! Point out to the young the
greater light and knowledge which the Christian enjoys,
and the plays of Terence may be read without moral
danger. No amount of colouring and caution would be
sufficient to shield the mind of an ingenuous youth from
the imminent peril of being corrupted by those of
Wycherly and Congreve. Pictures of Eoman manners
must represent them as corrupt, or they would not be
truthful; but often a good lesson is elicited from them.
When the deceived wife reproachfully asks her offending
husband with what face he can rebuke his son because
he has a mistress, when he himself has two wives, 1 one
is far more struck with the honour which the strictness
of Eoman virtue paid to the nuptial tie, than offended at
the lenient view which is taken of the young man's fault.
The knaveries and tricks of Davus 2 meet with sufficient
poetical justice in his fright and his flogging. The very
dress in which the Meretrix, or woman of abandoned
morals, was costumed, kept constantly before the eyes
of the Eoman youth their grasping avarice, and therefore
warned them of the ruin which awaited their victims ;
and the well-known passage, 3 in which the loathsome
habits of this class are described, must have been, as
Terence himself says, a preservative of youthful virtue: —
Nosse omnia hsec saluti est adolescentulis.
The Pandar, who basely, for the sake of filthy lucre, minis-
ters to the passions of the young, is represented as the
most degraded and contemptible of mortals. The Para-
site, who earns his meal by flattering and fawning on his
rich patron, is made the butt of unsparing ridicule.
Phorm. v. viii. 2 Andr. v. ii, 3 Eunuchus, v. iv.
ANECDOTE RELATED BY NEPOS. 105
And the timid, simple maiden, confiding too implicitly
in the affections of her lover, and sacrificing her interests
to that love, and not to Inst or love of gain, is painted
in such colours as to command the spectator's pity and
sympathy, and to call forth his approbation when she is
deservedly reinstated in her position as an honourable
matron. Lastly, her lover is not represented as a profli-
gate, revelling in the indiscriminate indulgence of his
passions, and rendering vice seductive by engaging man-
ners and fascinating qualities ; but we feel that his sin
necessarily results from the absence of a high tone of
public morality to protect the young against temptation ;
and in all cases the reality and permanency of his affec-
tion for the victim of his wrongdoing is proved by his
readiness and anxiety to become her husband.
So far as it can be so, comedy was in the hands of
Terence an instrument of moral teaching, for it can only
be so indirectly by painting men and manners as they
are, and not as they ought to be.
It is said that the patrons of Terence assisted him in
the composition of his comedies, or, at least, corrected
their language and style, and embellished them by the
insertion of scenes and passages. An anecdote is related
by Cornelius Nepos, 1 which, if true, at once proves the
point. He says that Lselius was at his villa near
Puteoli during the festival of the Matronalia. On this
holiday the power of the Roman ladies was absolute.
Lselius was ordered by his wife to come to supper early.
He excused himself on the ground that he was occupied,
and begged not to be disturbed. When he appeared in
the supper-room, he said he had never been so well
satisfied with his compositions. He was asked for a
specimen of what he had written, and immediately
repeated a scene in the " Self- Tormentor " 2 of Terence.
Fr. Incort. 6. i Satis pol, &c, iv. 4. 1.
106 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Terence, however, gently refutes this story in the pro-
logue to the "Adelphi," and gives it a positive con-
tradiction in the prologue to the comedy in which the
passage occurs. Perhaps he may at first have permitted
the report to be credited for the sake of paying a
compliment to his patron.
There is a tradition that he lived and died in poverty,
and this tale is perpetuated in the following lines by
Porcius Licinius : —
Nil Publius
Scipio profuit, nihil ei Laelius, nil Furius,
Tres per idem tempus qui agitabant nobiles facillume,
Eorum ille opere ne domum quidein habuit conductitium
Saltern ut esset quo referret obitum domini servulus.
Nothing did Publius Scipio profit him ;
Nothing did Lselius, nothing Furius ;
At once the three great patrons of our bard.
And yet so niggard of their bounty to him,
He had not even wherewithal to hire
A house in Rome to which a faithful slave
Might bring the tidings of his master's death. Colman.
The patrons of Terence, however, never deserved the
reproach of meanness. Nor could the comic poet have
been very poor. He received large sums for his comedies \
he had funds sufficient to reside for some time in Greece ;
and at his death he possessed gardens on the Appian Way
twenty jugera in extent.
A mystery hangs over his death, which took place
B.C. 158. x It is not known whether he died in Greece,
or was lost at sea, together with all the comedies of
Menander, which he had translated whilst in Greece, or
whether, after embarking for Asia, he was, as Volcatius
writes, never seen more :- —
Ut Afer sex populo edidit comcedias
Iter hinc in Asiam fecit, navim cum semel
Conscendit visus nunquam est. Sic vita vacat.
One daughter married to a Eoman knight survived him.
Hier. Chron. 01. civ. 3.
PLOT OF THE ANDRIAN. 107
Six comedies by Terence remain, and it is probable
that these are all that he ever wrote ; they belong to the
class technically denominated Palliatce.
" The Andrian!'
" The Andrian " was exhibited at the Megalensian
games, a.u.c. 5S8, 1 when the poet was in his twenty-
seventh year. The mnsical accompaniment was per-
formed on equal Antes, right-handed and left-handed
(tibiis paribus dentins et sinistris) ; i. e., as the action was
of a serio-comic character, the lively mnsic of the tibia?
dextrce was nsed in the comic scenes ; the solemn sounds
of the tibia? sinistra? accompanied the serious portion.
The manners are Greek, and the scene is laid at Athens.
The plot is as follows : — Glycerium, a young Athenian
girl, is placed under the care of an Andrian, who educates
her with his daughter Chrysis. On his death Chrysis
migrates to Athens, taking Glycerium with her as her
sister, and is driven by distress to become a courtesan.
Pamphilus, the son of Simo, falls in love with Glycerium,
and promises her marriage. Simo accidentally discovers
his son's attachment in the following manner : — Chrysis
dies, and at her funeral Glycerium imprudently approaches
too near to the burning pile. Her lover rushes forward
and embraces her, and affectionately expostulates with
her for thus risking her life. " Dearest Glycerium !" he
exclaims, " what are you doing ? why do you rush to
destruction ?" Upon this the girl burst into a flood of
tears, and threw herself into his arms. Simo had mean-
while betrothed Pamphilus to Philumena, the daughter
of Chremes ; and although he had discovered his son's
passion, and Chremes had heard of the promise of mar-
riage, he pretends that the marriage with Philumena
shall still take place, in order that he may discover what
1 b. c. 166.
108 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
his son's real sentiments are. In this difficulty, Pam-
philus applies to Davus, a cunning and clever slave, who
advises him to offer no opposition. At this crisis Gly ce-
rium is delivered of a child, which Davus causes to be
laid at the door of Simo. Chremes sees the infant, and,
understanding that Pamphilus is the father, refuses to
give him his daughter. The opportune arrival of Crito,
an Andrian, discovers to Chremes that Grlycerium is his
own daughter, whom on a former absence from Athens
he had entrusted to his brother Phania, now dead. Con-
sequently Grlycerium is married to Pamphilus, and Philu-
mena is given to a young lover, named Charinus, who
had hitherto pressed his suit in vain.
" The Andrian " was, as it deserved to be, eminently
successful, and encouraged the young author to persevere
in the career which he had chosen. The interest is well
sustained, the action is natural, and many scenes touch-
ing and pathetic, whilst the serious parts are skilfully
relieved by the adroitness of Davus, and his cleverness in
getting out of the scrapes in which his cunning involves
him. Cicero 1 praises the funeral scene 2 as an example of
that talent for narrative which Terence constantly dis-
plays. The substance of his criticism is, that the poet
has attained conciseness without the sacrifice of beauty ;
and whilst he has avoided wearisome affectation, has not
omitted any details which are agreeable and interesting.
Nothing can be more 'beautiful than the struggle between
the love and filial duty of Pamphilus, 3 which ends with
his determination to yield to his father's will ; nothing
more candid than his confession, or more upright than
his earnest desire not to be suspected of suborning Crito.
" The Andrian " has been closely imitated in the
comedy of " The Conscious Lovers," by Sir Eichard
Steele ; but in natural and graceful wit, as well as in-
De Orat. ii. 81. 2 Act i. scene i. 3 Act v. scene iii. 25.
PLOT OF THE EUNUCHUS. 109
gonuity, the English play is far inferior to the Roman
original.
" Eunuchns."
" The Eunuch" is a transcript of a comedy by Me-
nander. Even the characters are the same, except that
Gnatho and Thraso together occupy the place of Colax
(the flatterer) in the original Greek. It was represented
in the consulship of M. Valerius Messala and C. Fannius
Strabo. 1 The musical accompaniment was Lydian. It
was the most popular of all Terence's plays, and brought
the author the largest sum of money that had ever been
paid for a comedy previously, namely, 8,000 sestertii, a
sum equivalent to about 65/. sterling. In vain Lavinius,
Terence's most bitter rival, endeavoured to interrupt the
performance, and to accuse the author of plagiarism.
His defence was perfectly successful, and Suetonius states 2
that it was called for twice in one day.
" The Eunuch " is not equal to some of Terence's plays
in wit and humour ; but the plot is bustling and animated,
and the dialogue gay and sparkling : it is also unques-
tionably the best acting play of the whole. There is no
play in which there is a greater individuality of character,
or more effect of histrionic contrast. The lovesick and
somewhat effeminate Phsedria contrasts well with the
ardent and passionate Chserea, the swaggering, bullying
Thraso with the pompous, philosophical parasite, who
proposes to found a Grnathonic School. Parmeno is quite
as crafty, but far more clever, than Davus, and his de-
scription of the evils of love is the perfection of shrewd
wisdom.
The plot is as follows : — Pamphila, the daughter of an
Athenian citizen, was kidnapped in her infancy, and sold
to a Rhodian. He gave her to a courtesan, who educated
her with her own daughter Thais. Subsequently Thais
a. u. c. 592 ; b. c. 167. 2 In Vita Ter.
110 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
removes to Athens j and on the mother's death Pamphila
is sold to a soldier, named Thraso. The soldier, being
in love with Thais, resolves to make her a present of his
purchase ; but Thais has got another lover, Phsedria, and
Thraso refuses to give Pamphila to Thais unless Phaedria
is first turned off. She, thinking that she has discovered
Paniphila's relations, and anxious to restore her to them,
persuades Phaedria to absent himself for two days, in
order that Thraso may present her with the maiden.
Meanwhile Chaerea, Phaedria's younger brother, sees
Pamphila accidentally, and falls desperately in love with
her. He, therefore, persuades his brother's slave, Par-
meno, to introduce him into Thais' house in the disguise
of a eunuch, whom Phaedria had entrusted him to convey
to her during his absence. This leads to an eclair cisse-
ment. Pamphila is discovered to be an Athenian citizen,
and her brother Chremes gives her in marriage to Chorea.
The most skilful part of this play is the method by
which Terence has connected the underplot between
Parmeno and Pythias the waiting-maid of Thais, with
the main action, their quarrels being entirely instrumental
in bringing about the denouement. Of all the comedies
of Terence, the moral tone of this is the lowest and most
degrading. The connivance of Laches, the father of
Chaerea, at his son's illicit amour with Thais, presents a
sad picture of moral corruption, as the arrangement coolly
made between Phaedria and Grnatho 1 displays the mean-
ness, which evidently was not considered inconsistent
with the habits of Poman society.
Grievous as are these blemishes, this comedy must
always be a favourite. There are in it passages of which
the lapse of ages has not diminished the pungency :
take, for example, the quiet satire contained in the con-
trast which Chaerea draws between the healthful and
Act v. scene ix.
BEAUTONTIMORUMENOS. Ill
natural beauty of his mistress and the " every-day forms
of which his eyes are weary :" —
Ch. Haud similis virgo 'st virginum nostramm ; quas matres student
Demissis humeris esse, vincto pectore, ut graciles sient ;
Si qua est habitior paulo, pugilem esse aiunt ; deducunt cibum,
Tametsi bona est natura, reddunt curatura junceas :
Itaque ergo amantur.
Pa. Quid tua istsec.
Ch. Nova figura oris.
Pa. Pa p£ e !
Ch. Color verus, corpus solidum et succi plenum. 1
"The Eunuch" suggested the plot of Sir Charles
Sedley's " Bellaniira," was translated by La Fontaine,
and imitated in " Le Muet " of Brueys.
" Heautontimorumenos."
" The Self-Punisher is a translation from Menander.
It was acted the first time with Phrygian music, the
second time with Lydian, in the consulship of the cele-
brated Ti. Sempronius Gracchus and M. Juventius
Thalna. 2 This play may be considered as the masterpiece
of Terence ; it was a great favourite, notwithstanding its
seriousness, and the absence of comic drollery throughout.
Steele 3 remarks with truth, that it is a perfect picture of
human life ; but there is not in the whole one passage
which could raise a laugh. It is a good specimen of the
refined taste of Terence, who, unlike Plautus, abhorred
vulgarity and ribaldry, and did not often condescend even to
humour. Its favourable reception, moreover, proves that,
notwithstanding the preference which the Eoman people
were inclined to give to gladiatorial shows, and the more
innocent amusements of buffoons and rope-dancers, and
the noisy mirth with which theatrical entertainments
were frequently interrupted, they could appreciate and
enjoy a skilfully-constructed plot, and that quality which
Act ii. scene iii. 2 a. u. c. 590 ; b. c. 163. 3 Spect. No. 502.
112 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Terence especially claims for this comedy, 1 purity of style.
The noble sentiment,
Homo sum, nihil humanum a me alienum puto,
was received by the whole audience with a burst of
applause.
Plot. — Clinia, the son of Menedemus, falls in love with
Antiphila, supposed to be the daughter of a poor Corinthian
woman, and, to avoid his father's anger, enters the service
of the king of Persia. Menedemus, repenting of his
severity, punishes himself by purchasing a farm, and,
giving up all the luxuries of a town life, works hard from
morning to night. Like Laertes, in the Odyssey, he
seeks by occupation to divert his mind from the contem-
plation of his son's absence : —
The mournful hour that tore his son away
Sent the sad sire in solitude to stray ;
Yet, busied with his slaves, to ease his woe
He drest the vine, and bade the garden blow.
Odys. xvi. 145.
Clinia returns from Asia, and takes up his abode at the
house of his friend Clitipho, the son of Chremes. This
Clitipho has fallen in love with Bacchis, an extravagant
courtesan ; and Syrus, an artful slave, persuades liim to
pass off Bacchis as the object of China's affection, and
Antiphila as her waiting-maid. Chremes, next day, to
whom Menedemus had communicated his grief and re-
morse, acquaints him with the return of his son, and re-
commends him to pretend ignorance of his amour. By
the intrigues and knavery of Syrus, Chremes is induced
to pay 10 niinse (40Z.) to Clitipho for the support of
Bacchis. Sostrata, the wife of Chremes, has meanwhile
discovered, by a ring in her possession, that Antiphila is
her daughter. She had, according to the cruel Athenian
practice, given her to the Corinthian in infancy that she
Prol. 46.
m
AMIABLE AND GENEROUS SENTIMENTS. 113
might not be exposed ; she had given the ring, the means
of her discovery, at the same time. Clinia, therefore,
marries Antiphila; and Cliremes, although enraged at
the imposition of Syrus, forgives him and his son, and
Clitipho promises that he will give up Bacchis and marry
a neighbour's daughter.
This play abounds in amiable and generous sentiments
and passages of simple and graphic beauty. The whole
scene, in which the habits of the poor girl whom Clinia
loves is described, is exquisitely true to nature. Her
occupation is like that of the chaste Lucretia in the
legend : —
Texentem telam studiose ipsam offendimus,
Mediccriter vestitam veste lugubri,
Ejus anuis causa, opinor, quse erat mortua ;
Sine auro, turn ornatam, ita uti quae ornautur sibi ;
Nulla mala re esse expolitam muliebri ;
Capillus passus, prolixus, circum caput
Rejectus negligenter. Heaut. II. iii.
Busily plying of the web we found her,
Decently clad in mourning, I suppose,
For the deceased old woman. She had on
No gold, or trinkets, but was plain and neat,
And dressed like those who dress but for themselves.
No female varnish to set off her beauty ;
Her hair dishevelled, long, and flowing loose
About her shoulders.
The reader cannot but sympathise with the remark
of Clitipho, when he has heard this description of
virtuous poverty, — " If all this is true, as I believe it is,
you are the most fortunate of men."
The degraded Bacchis also reads a valuable lesson to her
sex, when she shows the blessings of the path of virtue
from which she has strayed : —
Nam expedit bonas esse vobis ; nos, quibuscum est res, non sinunt :
Quippe forma impulsi nostra, nos amatores colunt :
Haec ubi immutata est, illi suum animum alio conferunt.
Nisi si prospectum interea aliquid est, desertoe vivimus.
I
114 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Vobis cum uno seniel ubi setatem agere decretura 'st viro,
Cujus mos maxume 'st consiniiKs vostmm, hi se ad vos applicant.
Hoc beneficio utrique ab utrisque vero devincimini,
Ut nunquani ulla ainori vestro incidere possit calamitas.
Reaut. II. iv.
Virtue's your interest : those with whom we deal
Forbid it to be ours ; for our gallants,
Charmed by our beauty, court us but for that ;
Which fading, they transfer their love to others.
If, then, meanwhile we look not to ourselves,
"We live forlorn, deserted, and distressed.
You, when you've once agreed to pass your life
Bound to one man whose temper suits with yours,
He too attaches his whole heart to you.
Thus mutual friendship draws you each to each ;
Nothing can part you, nothing shake your love.
How beautiful, too, is the unselfish devotion of An-
tiphila, when she artlessly professes to know nothing of
other women's feelings, but to know this one thing only,
that her happiness is wrapped up in that of her lover ! —
Nescio alias ; me quidem semper scio fecisse sedulo
Ut ex illius commodo meum compararem commodum.
II. iv. 16.
Phormio.
The Phormio is a translation or adaptation of the
Epidicazomene (the subject of the lawsuit) of Apollodorus :
it was entitled Phormio.
Quia prinias partes qui aget, is erit Phormio
Parasitus, per quern res geretur maxume. 1
It was acted four times ; on the last occasion in the
consulship of C. Fannius Strabo and M. Valerius
Messala, 2 at the Eoman or Circensian games.
Plot. — Chremes, an Athenian, although he has a wife at
Athens (jSTausistrata), marries another at Lemnos under
the feigned name of Stilpho. By her he has a daughter,
Prolog. 27. 2 a. u. c. 502 ; b. c. 161.
THE PHORMIO. 115
Phanium. When she has attained a marriageable age,
Chromes arranges with his brother Demipho that she
shall become the wife of his son Antipho. After this,
the two old men leave Athens ; and, in their absence,
Demipho's son, Phaadria, falls in love with a minstrel-
girl, and the Lemnian wife arrives at Athens, together
with her daughter Phanium. There she dies ; and
Antipho, seeing Phanium at the funeral, becomes
enamoured of her. Not knowing what to do, he takes
the advice of Phormio. In the case of a destitute
orphan, the Athenian law compelled the nearest of kin
to marry her or to give her a portion. Phormio brings
an action against Antipho ; the case is proved and he
marries Phanium. The old men return, and Chremes,
not knowing that Phanium is his own daughter, is
desperately angry. Meanwhile, Dorio, the owner of
Pampliila, threatens to sell her to some one else unless
Phsedria will immediately pay him thirty minse. Greta,
a knavish servant of Demipho, procures this money by
telling the old gentleman that Phormio is willing to
take Antipho 's wife off his hands on condition of receiving
thirty minee. Phanium is eventually discovered and
acknowledged, and thus matters are happily concluded.
Nausistrata is at first very angry, but relents on the sub-
mission of the repentant Chremes.
This comedy supplied Moliere with a large portion of
the materials for " Les Fourberies de Scapin."
Hecyra.
This comedy, which, if the inscription may be trusted,
is a translation or adaptation from one by Menander,
was the least successful of all the plays of Terence.
Twice it was rejected; on the first occasion, as the pro-
logue to its second representation informs us, owing
i 2
116 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
to "an unheard-of calamity and impediment." 1 The
thoughts of the public were so occupied by a rope-dancer,
that they would not hear a word. Terence feared to risk a
second representation on the same day ; but such confidence
had he in the merits of the play, that he offered it a
second time for sale to the sediles, and it was acted again
in the consulship of Cn. Octavius and T. Manlius. 2 It
was acted a third time at the funeral games of L. iEmilius
Paulus, when it was again rejected. On its next repre-
sentation, it was successful; and Ambivius Turpio, by
whose theatrical company it was performed, and whose
popularity had already caused the revival of some un-
successful plays, 3 undertook to plead its cause in a new
prologue. This prologue enters fully into the circum-
stances which caused its rejection. It states that some
renowned boxers and expected performances of a rope-
dancer caused a great tumult and disturbance, especially
among the female part of the audience ; that, at the next
representation, the first act went off with applause, but a
rumour spread of a gladiatorial combat, the people flocked
to a show which was more congenial to their taste, and
the theatre was deserted. In conclusion, for the sake of
the art of poetry, for the encouragement of himself to
buy new plays, and for the protection of the poet from
malicious critics, Ambivius entreated the patient atten-
tion of the audience ; and the appeal of the old favourite
servant of the public was successful.
The Hecyra is, without doubt, inferior to the other
plays of Terence, and probably for that reason has never
been imitated in modern literature. It is a drama of
domestic life, and yet the plot is deficient in interest, and
the scenes want life and variety.
Plot. — Pamphilus, at the desire of his father, Laches, mar-
See Prol. i. a B. c. 165 ; a. u. c. 588. 3 See Prol. ii.
THE HKCYRA. 117
ries Pliilumena, the daughter of Phidippus and Myrrhina,
but being involved in an amour with Bacchis, has no
affection for his wife, and avoids all intercourse with her.
Meanwhile, Bacchis, offended at his marriage, shows such
ill-temper, that his affection is weaned from her and
transferred to Philumena. Pamphilus then goes to
Imbrus, and on his return is surprised with the news
that Pliilumena has left his father's house, and subse-
quently discovers that she has given birth to a son. He
refuses, consequently, to receive her as his wife ; but as he
loves her to distraction, he promises her mother that he
will keep her shame secret. As he will neither live with
his wife nor assign any reason, Bacchis is suspected of
being the cause. But she clears herself from the sus-
picion. Myrrhina, however, recognises upon her finger
a ring belonging to her daughter. This leads to the
denouement. Pamphilus had one night when intoxicated
met Philumena, and offered her violence. He had forced
a ring from her finger and given it to Bacchis. He,
therefore, with joy, acknowledges the child as his own,
and restores his injured wife to his affections.
The comedy derives its title, Hecyra (the mother-in-
law), from the part taken by Sostrata, the mother of
Pamphilus. Laches, unable to account for the conduct
of Philumena and his son, is firmly persuaded that his
wife Sostrata had taken a prejudice against her daughter-
in-law, and Pamphilus, notwithstanding his dutiful affec-
tion for his mother, cannot avoid being under a similar
impression. Sostrata, in order to remove this suspicion,
offers with noble generosity to leave the house in order
that Philumena may return.
This amiable rivalry of maternal devotion on the one
hand, and filial respect on the other, constitutes the most
interesting portion of the comedy ; and Terence has thus
endeavoured to rescue the relation of mother-in-law from
the prejudice which, too often deservedly, attached to it.
118 roman classical literature.
Adelphi.
This comedy was acted at the funeral games of L.
iEmilius Paulus Macedonius, the conqueror of Perseus,
in the consulship of L. Anicius Gallus and M. Cornelius
Oethegus. 1 The music was Sarrane or Tyrian, the grave
character of which was suitable to the solemnity of the
occasion. The cost of the representation was borne by
Q. Fabius Maximus, and P. C. Scipio Africanus, the
sons of the deceased.
Plot. — Demea, a country gentleman and a strict disci-
plinarian, has two sons,iEschinus and Ctesipho. iEschinus,
the elder, is adopted by his uncle Micio, a bachelor of in-
dulgent temper and somewhat loose principles, who lives
a town life at Athens. Whilst Ctesipho is brought up
strictly in the country, iEschinus is educated with too
great indulgence, and pursues a course of riot and extra-
vagance. One night, in a moment of drunken passion,
he offers violence to Pamphila, a young maiden, well born
but poor; for which outrage he makes amends by a pro-
mise of marriage. Ctesipho soon after falls in love with
a minstrel-girl whom he accidentally meets; and iEschinus,
to save his brother from his father's anger, conceals his
amour and takes the discredit of it upon himself. At
last he assaults the pandar to whom the girl belongs,
takes her away by force, and gives her to his brother.
The affair comes to Demea' s ears, who severely reproves
Micio for ruining his son by injudicious indulgence.
Matters are at length explained, and the marriage be-
tween iEschinus and Pamphila takes place, the minstrel-
girl is assigned to Ctesipho, and the price for her paid.
The old bachelor, Micio, marries Sostrata, the mother of
Pamphila, and, according to the usual rule of comedy, all
the inferior persons of the drama are made happy.
1 A. u.c. 593; B c, 161.
MORAL OF THE ADELPHI. 119
Lax as the morals are which Micio refrains from cor-
recting, his conduct illustrates a valuable principle in
education ; that —
There is a way of winning more by love
And urging of the modesty than fear.
Force works on servile humours, not the free.
Ben Jonson.
Nor are the evils likely to arise from indifference to
moral principle left entirely without an antidote. A wise
and not indiscriminate indulgence is upheld by Demea ;
and, at the conclusion of the play, he announces his de-
liberate change of character, but, at the same time, points
out the pernicious errors of that kindness and indulgence
which proceeds from impulse and not from principle.
Dicam tibi :
Ut id ostenderem, quod te isti facilem et festivum putant,
Id non fieri ex vera vita, neque adeo ex aequo et bono ;
Sed assentando atque indulgendo et largiendo, Micio.
Nunc adeo, si ob earn rem vobis mea vita invisa, iEschine, est,
Quia non justa, injusta, prorsus omnia omnino obsequor ;
Missa facio ; effundite, emite, facite, quod vobis lubet.
Sed si id voltis potius, quae vos propter adulescentiam
Minus videtis, magis impense cupitis, consulitis parum,
Haec reprehendere et corrigere quam, obsecundare in loco ;
Ecce me qui id faciam vobis.
Now, therefore, if I'm odious to you, son,
Because I'm not subservient to your humour
In all things, right or wrong ; away with care ;
Spend, squander, and do what you will. But if,
In those affairs where youth has made you blind,
Eager, and thoughtless, you will suffer me
To counsel and correct you, and in due season
Indulge you, I am at your service. Colman.
This twofold lesson is by no means a useless one to
parents, not to purchase the affection of their children by
injudicious indulgence like Micio, nor, on the other hand,
like Demea, to strain the cord too tight, and thus tempt
their children to pursue a course of deceit, and to refuse
then confidence to their natural advisers and guardians
120 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
The most beautiful feature, however, of the play is the
picture which it gives of fraternal affection. This was
the last comedy of the author. It furnished Moliere
with the idea of his "Ecole des Maris," and Baron
with great part of the plot of "L'Ecole des Peres."
Shadwell was also indebted to it for his " Squire of
Alsatia," and Garrick for his comedy of " The Guardian."
The following comparison of the two great Eoman
comic poets by a French critic is a just one ■ —
" Ce poete (Terence) a beaucoup plus d'art, mais il me
semble que T autre a plus d'esprit. Terence fait beaucoup
plus parler qu'agir ; l'autre fait plus agir que parler : et
c'est le veritable caractere de la comedie, qui est beau-
coup plus dans Taction que dans le discours. Cette
vivacite me paroit dormer encore un grand avantage a
Plaute ; c'est que ses intrigues sont bien variees, et ont
toujours quelque chose qui surprend agreablement ; au lieu
que le theatre semble languir quelquefois dans Terence,
a qui la vivacite de Taction et les nceuds des incidens et
des intrigues manquent manifestement."
If Terence was inferior to Plautus in life and bustle
and intrigue, and in the powerful delineation of national
character, he is superior in elegance of language and re-
finement of taste : he far more rarely offends against
decency, and he substitutes delicacy of sentiment for
vulgarity. The justness of his reflections more than
compensates for the absence of his predecessor's humour :
he touches the heart as well as gratifies the intellect.
If he was deficient in vis comica it is only the defect
which Csesar attributed to Eoman comedy generally; and
Cicero, who thought that Eoman wit was even more
piquant than Attic salt itself, paid him. a merited com-
pliment in the following line : —
Quicquid come loquens atque omnia dulcia dicens.
It has been objected to Terence that he superabounds
AFRAXIUS — ATILIUS. 121
in soliloquies; 1 but it is not surprising that he should have
delighted in them, since no author has ever surpassed
him in narrative. His natural and unaffected simplicity
renders him the best possible teller of a story : he never
indulges in a display of forced wit or in attempts at
epigrammatic sharpness; there are no superfluous touches,
although his pictures are enlivened by sufficient minute-
ness ; his moral lessons are conveyed in familiar proverb-
like suggestions, not in dull and pedantic dogmatism.
The remaining comic poets will require but brief
notice. L. Afranius was a contemporary of Terence, and
nourished about b. c. 150. His comedies were all of the
lowest class of fabulce togatce (tabernariae) ; and he was
generally allowed by the critics to possess great skill in
accommodating the Greek comedy to the representation
of Eoman manners : —
Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro.
Hot. Ep. II. i. 57.
His style was sharp and eloquent (perargutus et dis-
ertus), 2 but he was a man of low tastes and profligate
morals ; 3 and, therefore, although from living amidst the
scenes of vulgar vice which he delighted to paint his
characters were true to nature, they were revolting and
disgusting. His immorality, probably, as much as his
talent, caused him to continue a favourite under the most
corrupt times of the empire. Fragments and titles of
many of Ms comedies have been preserved.
The name of Atilius is made known to us by Cicero,
who mentions him three times. In a letter to Atticus, 4
he calls him a most crabbed poet (poeta durissimus), and
quotes the following line from one of his comedies : —
Suain cuique sponsam, mihi meam ; suum cuique amorem, mini meum.
Warton, in the Adventurer. 2 Cic. Brut. 167. 3 Quint, x. i. 100.
4 Lib. xiv. 20.
122 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
In the treatise " De Finibus" 1 he speaks of him as
the author of a bad translation of the Electra of So-
phocles, and refers to the testimony of Licinius, who
pronounces him as " hard as iron " —
Ferreum scriptorem ; verum opinor ; scriptorem tamen
Ut legendus sit ;
and, lastly, in the " Tusculan Disputations/' 2 he gives the
title of one of his plays — Miaoyvvos (the Woman-hater).
Of his birth and private history nothing has been re-
corded.
P. Licinius Tegula is generally supposed to have been
one of the oldest of the Latin comic writers, having
flourished as early as the beginning of the second century
b. c. The few fragments which remain of his works
afford no opportunity of determining how far he deserved
the place assigned to him in the epigram of Yolcatius.
Lavinius Luscius is severely criticised by Terence in
his prologues to the Eunuchus, Heautontimorumenos, and
Phormio, although he is not mentioned by name. Te-
rence, however, defends the severity of his strictures, on
the ground that Luscius was the first aggressor. In the
first of the above-mentioned prologues, we are informed
that he translated well ; but, by unskilful alterations and
adaptations of the plots, made bad Latin comedies out of
good Greek ones : —
bene vertendo et describendo male
Ex Greecis bonis Latinas fecit non bonas.
Two plays of Menander are mentioned as having been
thus ill-treated — the Phasma (Phantom), and the The-
saurus (Treasure). How he spoilt the plot of the former
is not stated • but, in the version of the Thesaurus, Te-
rence convicts Luscius of a legal blunder. A young
prodigal has sold his inheritance, on which his father's
Lib. L 2. 2 Lib. iv. ii.
■**■
Q. TRABEA SEXTUS TURPILIUS. 123
tomb stands, to an old miser. The father, foreseeing
the consequence of his son's extravagance, had, before
his death, bid him open the tomb after the expiration of
ten years. He does so, and finds a treasure. The old
man claims the treasure as his own, and the young man
brings an action to recover it. The mistake of which
Luscius was guilty, was, that in the conduct of the
cause he made the defendant open the pleadings instead
of the plaintiff.
Of the works of Q. Trabea no fragments remain except
the short passages quoted by Cicero, 1 and the time at
which he flourished is unknown. There is an anecdote
which relates that Muretus presented to Jos. Scaliger a
translation in Latin verse from a poem of Philemon, pre-
served by Stobseus, which he pretended was by Trabea.
Scaliger was imposed upon ; and, in his notes on Varro,
quoted the verses of Muretus as the work of Trabea,.
When he discovered the trick, he suppressed them in the
Latin editions of his notes, and revenged himself on
Muretus by a libellous epigram. 2
The last of these dramatic writers who remains to be
mentioned is Sextus Turpilius. A few fragments, as well
as the titles of some of his plays, are still extant. All
the titles are Greek, and, therefore, probably his comedies
were Fabulce Palliatce. He flourished during the second
century b. c, and died, according to the Eusebian Chro-
nicle, at the commencement of the first century. 3
1 De Fin. ii. 4 ; Tusc. Dis. iv. 31. ' 2 Diet. Univ. s. v.
8 See Smith's Diet of Antiq. s. v.
124 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTEK VIII.
WHY TRAGEDY DID NOT FLOURISH AT ROME — NATIONAL LEGENDS
NOT INFLUENTIAL WITH THE PEOPLE — FABUL^ PR^TEXTAT^E —
ROMAN RELIGION NOT IDEAL — ROMAN LOVE FOR SCENES OF REAL
ACTION AND GORGEOUS SPECTACLE — TRAGEDY NOT PATRONISED
BY THE PEOPLE — PACUVIUS — HIS DULORESTES AND PAULUS.
From what has been already said, it is sufficiently clear
that the Italians, like all other Indo-European races, had
some taste for the drama, but that this taste developed
itself in a love for scenes of humorous satire. Whilst,
therefore, Roman comedy originated in Italy, and was
brought to perfection by the influence of Greek literature,
Roman tragedy, 1 on the other hand, was transplanted
from Athens, and, with the exception of a very few cases,
was never anything more than translation or imitation.
In the century, during which, together with comedy,
it flourished and decayed, it boasted of five distinguished
writers — Livius, Nsevius, Ennius, Pacuvius, and Attius.
The only claim of Atilius to be considered as a tragic
poet is his having been the translator of one Greek
tragedy. But, in after ages, Rome did not produce one
tragic poet unless Yarius can be considered an exception.
His tragedy, Thy est es, enjoyed so high a reputation
amongst the critics of the Augustan age, that Quintilian,
whose judgment generally agrees with, them, pronounces
1 See on this subject Lange, Vind. Trag. Rom. Leips. 1823.
WHY TRAGEDY DTD NOT FLOURISH. 125
it as able to bear comparison with tlie productions of the
Greek tragic poets. It was acted on one occasion,
namely, after the return of Octavius from the battle of
Actium, and the poet received for it 1,000,000 sesterces
(about SjOOO/.). 1 The tragedies attributed to Seneca
were never acted, and were only composed for reading
and recitation.
Some account has already been given of Livius, Nsevius,
and Ennius, because their poetical reputation rests rather on
other grounds than on their talents for dramatic poetry.
But, before proceeding with the lives and writings of
Pacuvius and Attius, it will be necessary to examine the
causes which prevented tragedy from nourishing at
Eome.
In endeavouring to account for this phenomenon, it is
not sufficient to say, that in the national legends of the
Hellenic race were embodied subjects essentially of a
dramatic character, and that epic poetry contained in-
cidents, characters, sentiments, and even dramatic ma-
chinery, which only required to be put upon the stage.
Doubtless, the Greek epics and legends were an inex-
haustible source of inspiration to the tragic poets. But
it is also true that the Eomans had national legends
which formed the groundwork of their history, and were
interwoven in their early literature. These legends,
however, were private not public property ; they were
preserved in the records and pedigrees of private families,
and ministered to their glory, and were therefore more
interesting to the members of these houses than to the
people at large : they were not preserved as a national
treasure by priestly families, like those of the Attic
Eumolpidse, nor did they twine themselves around the
hearts of the Eoman people, as the venerable traditions of
Greece did around those of that nation. The Eomans
Hor. Serm. i. 9, 23 ; Ep. Pis. 55 ; Mart. Ep. viii. 18.
126 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
did not live in them — they were embalmed in their poets
as curious records of antiquity or acknowledged fictions —
they did not furnish occasions for awakening national
enthusiasm. Although, therefore, they existed, they
were comparatively powerless over the popular mind as
elements of dramatic effect.
They were jealously preserved by illustrious houses,
furnished materials in a dry and unadorned form to the
Annalists, and were embellished by the graphic power of
the historian, but it is not probable that they ever con-
stituted, in the same sense as the Greek legends, the folk-
lore of the Roman people. In themselves, the lays of
Horatius and of the lake Eegillus were sufficiently stir-
ring, and those of Lucretia, Coriolanus, and Yirginia suffi-
ciently moving, for tragedy, but they were not familiar to
the masses of the people.
A period at length arrived in which there was a still
further reason why Eoman national legends, however
adapted for tragedy they might be abstractedly, had not
power to move the affections of the Roman populace. It
ceased to have a personal interest in them. The masses
had undergone a complete change. The Eoman people
of the most flourishing literary eras were not the de-
scendants of those who maintained the national glory in
the legendary period. Not only were almost all the
patrician families then extinct, but war and poverty had
extinguished the middle classes and miserably thinned the
lower orders. The old veterans of pure Eoman blood
who survived were settled at a distance from Eome in
the different military colonies. Into the vacancy thus
caused had poured thousands of slaves, captives in the
bloody wars of Gaul and Spain, and Greece and Africa.
These and their descendants replaced the ancient people.
Many of them received liberty and franchise, and some
by their talents and energy arrived at wealth and station.
But they could not possibly be Eomans at heart, or con-
Hfli
NATIONAL TRADITIONS NOT INFLUENTIAL. 1.^7
si dor the past glories of their adopted country as their
own, They were bound by no ties of old associations to
it. The ancient legends had no especial interest in their
eyes. It mattered little whether the incidents and cha-
racters of the tragedy which they witnessed were Greek or
Roman. It was to the rise of this new element of popu-
lation, and the displacement or absorption of the old race,
that the decline of patriotism was owing — the careless
disregard of everything except daily sustenance and daily
amusement/ which paved the way for the empire and
marked the downfall of liberty. From this cause, also,
resulted in some degree the non-influential position which
national traditions occupied at Rome ; and tragedy, though
for a time popular, could not maintain its popularity.
Thus it entirely disappeared ; and, when it revived, it
came forth, not as the favourite of the people, but under
the patronage of select circles, and took its place, not
like Athenian tragedy as the leading literature of the age,
but simply as one species of literary composition.
A people made up of these elements held out no tempt-
ation to the poet to leave the beaten track of his pre-
decessors the imitators of Greek tragedy. They were
stepsons of Rome, as Scipio iEmilianus called the mob,
who clamoured at his saying that the death of Tiberius
Gracchus was just: —
Mercedibus emptse
Et viles operse quibus est mea Roma noverca.
Petron. v. 164.
The poet's real patrons had been educated on Greek
principles ; and hence, Greek taste was completely tri-
umphant over national legend, and the heroes of Roman
tragedy were those who were celebrated in Hellenic story.
The Roman historical plays (Praetextatse), which ap-
Juv. Sat. x. 80.
128 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
proached most nearly towards realizing the idea of a
national tragedy, were graceful compliments to distin-
guished individuals. They were usually performed at
public funerals ; and as, in the procession, masks repre-
senting the features of the deceased were borne by persons
of similar stature, so incidents in his life formed the
subject of the drama which was exhibited on the occasion.
The list of Fabulaz Prcetextatce, even if it were perfect,
would occupy but narrow limits : nor had they sufficient
merits to stand the test of time. They survive but in
name, and the titles extant are but nine in number : —
The Paulus of Pacuvius, which represented an incident
in the life of L. iEmilius Paulus. 1
The Brutus, iEneadse, and Marcellus of Attius. 2
Iter ad Lentulum, a passage in the life of Balbus. 3
Cato.
Domitius Nero by Maternus, in the time of Yespasian.
Vescio by the Satirist (?) Persius.
Octavian by Seneca, in the reign of Trajan.
Nor must it be forgotten, in comparing the influence
which tragedy exercised upon the peoples of Athens and
Eome, that with the former it was a part and parcel of the
national religion. By it, not only were the people
taught to sympathise with their heroic ancestors, but
their sympathies were hallowed. In Greece, the poet
was held to be inspired — poetry was the voice of deified
nature — the tongue in which the natural held communion
with the supernatural, the visible with the invisible.
With the Eomans, poetry was nothing more than an
amusement of the fancy ; with the Greeks it was a divinely-
originating emotion of the soul.
Hence, in Athens, the drama was, as it were, an act
of worship, — it formed an integral part of a joyous, yet
serious religious festival. The theatre was a temple j the
Liv. xxii. 49. 2 Cic. Att. xvi. 2, 5. 3 Cic. Fam. x. 32.
mM
ROMAN RELIGION NOT IDEA!,. 129
altar of a deity was its central point ; and a band of
choristers moved in solemn march and song in honour of
the god, and, in the didactic spirit which sanctified their
office, taught men lessons of virtue. Not that the audi-
ence entered the precincts with their hearts imbued with
holy feelings, or with the thoughts of worshippers ; but
this is always the case when religious ceremonials
become sensuous. The real object of the worship is by
the majority forgotten. But still the Greeks were
habituated unconsciously to be affected by the drama, as
by a development of religious sentiments. With the
Eomans, the theatre was merely a place of secular amuse-
ment. The thymele existed no longer as a memorial of
the sacrifice to the god. The orchestra, formerly con-
secrated to the chorus, was to them nothing more than
stalls occupied by the dignitaries of the state. Dramas
were certainly exhibited at the great Megalensian games,
but they were only accessories to the religious character
of the festival. A holy season implies rest and relaxa-
tion — a holiday in the popular sense of the word — and
theatrical representations were considered a fit and proper
species of pastime ; but as religion itself did not exercise
the same influence over the popular mind of the Eomans
which it did over that of the Greeks, so neither with the
Romans did the drama stand in the place of the hand-
maid of religion.
Again, their religion, though purer and chaster, was not
ideal like that of the Greeks. Its freedom from human
passions removed it out of the sphere of poetry, and, there-
fore, it was neither calculated to move terror nor pity.
The moral attributes of the Deity were displayed in stern
severity ; but neither the belief nor the ceremonial sought
to inflame the heart of the worshipper with enthusiasm.
Eome had no priestly caste uniting in one and the same
person the character of the bard and of the minister of
religion. In after ages, she learned from the Greeks to
K
130 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
call the poet sacred, but the holiness which she attributed
to his character was not the earnest belief of the heart.
The Roman priests were civil magistrates, religion, there-
fore, became a part of the civil administration, and a
political engine. It mattered little what was believed as
true. The old national faith of Italy, not being firmly
rooted in the heart, soon became obsolete : it readily
admitted the engrafting of foreign superstitions. The
old deities assumed the names of the Greek mythology :
they exchanged their attributes and histories for those
of Greek legend, and a host of strange gods filled their
Pantheon. They had, however, no hold either on the
belief or the love of the people : they were mythological
and unreal characters, fit only to furnish subjects and
embellishments for poetry.
Nor was the genius of the Eoman people such as to
sympathise with the legends of the past. The Romans
lived in the present and the future, rather than in the
past. The poet might call the age in which he lived
degenerate, and look forward with mournful anticipations
to a still lower degradation, whilst he looked back ad-
miringly to bygone times. Through the vesta of past
years, Roman virtue and greatness seemed to his ima-
gination magnified : he could lament, as Horace did, a
gradual decay which had not as yet reached its worst
point : —
./Etas parentum pejor avis tulit
Nos nequiores mox daturos
Progeniem vitiosiorem.. Od. III. vi. 46.
But the people did not sympathise with these feelings :
they delighted in action, not in contemplation and re-
flection. They did not look back upon their national
heroes as demigods, or dream over their glories : they were
pressing forward and extending the frontiers of their
empire, bringing under their yoke tribes and nations
which their forefathers had not known. If they re-
ELOMAN LOVE VOW REAL SCENES. 131
garded their ancestors at all, it was not in the light of
men of heroic stature as compared with themselves, but
as those whom they would equal or even surpass : they
lived in hope and not in memory.
These are not the elements of character which would
lead a people to realize to themselves the ideal of tragedy.
The tragic poet at Athens would have been sure that the
same subject which inspired him would also interest his
audience — that if his genius rose to the height which
their critical taste demanded, he could reckon up the
sympathy of a theatre crowded with ten thousand of his
countrymen. A Roman tragic poet would have been
deserted for any spectacle of a more stirring nature — his
most affecting scenes and noblest sentiments, for scenes of
real action and real life. The bloody combats of the
gladiators, the miserable captives and malefactors stretched
on crosses, expiring in excruciating agonies, or mangled
by wild beasts, were real tragedies — the sham fights and
Nauinachia?, though only imitations, were real dramas,
in which those pursuits which most deeply interested
the spectators, which constituted their chief duties and
highest glories, were visibly represented. Even gorgeous
spectacles fed their personal vanity and pride in their
national greatness. The spoil of conquered nations, borne
in procession across the stage, reminded them of their
triumphs and their victories ; and the magnificent dress of
the actors — the model of the captured city, preceded and
followed by its sculptures in marble and ivory — repre-
sented in mimic grandeur the ovation or the triumph
of some successful general, whose return from a distant
expedition, laden with wealth, realized the rumours which
had already arrived at the gates of Eome; whilst the
scene, glittering with glass, and gold, and silver, and
adorned with variegated pillars of foreign marble, told
ostentatiously of their wealth and splendour. 1
1 See Cic. de Off. ii. 16 ; Plin. H. N. 30, 3, &c.
K 2
132 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Again, the Eomans were a rough, turbulent people,
full of physical rather than intellectual energy, loving
antagonism, courting peril, setting no value on human
life or suffering. Their very virtues were stern and
severe. The unrelenting justice of a Brutus, repre-
senting as it did the victory of principle over feeling,
was to them the height of virtue. They were ready to
undergo the extreme of physical torture with Eegulus,
and to devote themselves to death like Curtius and the
Decii. Hard and pitiless to themselves, they were, as
might be expected, the same towards others. They
were, in fact, strangers to both the passions, which it
was the object of tragedy to excite and to purify, Pity
and Terror. 1 They were too stern to pity, too unimagi-
native to be moved by the tales of wonder and deeds
of horror which affected the tender and marvel-loving
imagination of the Greeks. Being an active, and not a
sentimental people, they did not appreciate moral suf-
fering and the struggles of a sensitive spirit. They were
moved only by scenes of physical suffering and agony.
The public games of Greece at Olympia or the Isthmus
were bloodless and peaceful, and the refinements of poetry
mingled with those which were calculated to invigorate
the physical powers and develop manly beauty. Those
of Eome were exhibitions, not of moral, but of physical
courage and endurance : they were sanguinary and
brutalizing, — the amusements of a nation to whom war
was not a necessary evil or a struggle for national existence,
for hearths and altars, but a pleasure and a pastime — the
means of gratifying an aggressive ambition. The tragic
feeling of Greece is represented by the sculptured grief
of Niobe, that of Eome by the death-struggles which dis-
tort the features and muscles of the Laocoon. It was, if
the expression is allowable, amphitheatrical, not theatrical,
Arist. Poet.
TRAGEDY NOT PATRONIZED BY THE PEOPLE. 133
To such a people the moral woes of tragedy were
powerless ; and yet it is to the people that the drama, if
it is to ilourish, must look for patronage. A refined and
educated society, such as always existed at Eome during
its literary period, might applaud a happy adaptation
from the Greek tragedians and encourage a poet in his
task, for it is only an educated and refined taste which
can appreciate such talent as skilful imitation displays,
but a tragic drama under such circumstances could hardly
hope to be national. Nor must it be forgotten, with
reference to their taste for spectacle, that the artistic
accessories of the drama would have a better chance of
success with a people like the Romans than literary
merit, because the pleasures of art are of a lower and
more sensuous kind. Hence, in the popular eye, the
decoration of the theatre and the costume of the per-
formers naturally became the principal requisites, whilst
the poet's office was considered subordinate to the manner
in which the play was put upon the stage ; and thus the
degenerate theatrical taste which prevailed in the days
of Horace called forth the poet's well-known and well-
deserved criticism. 1
It cannot, indeed, be asserted that tragedy was never,
to a certain extent, an acceptable entertainment at Eome,
but only that it never flourished at Eome as it did at
Athens — that no Eoman tragedies can, notwithstanding
all that has been said in their praise and their defence,
be compared with those of Greece, and that the tragic
drama never maintained such a hold on the popular
mind as not to be liable to be displaced by amusements
of a more material and less intellectual kind. It was
imitative and destitute of originality. It was introduced
from without as one portion of the new literature ; it did
not grow spontaneously by a process of natural develop-
1 Epist. II. i. 182.
134 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
ment out of preceding eras of epic and lyric poetry, and
start into being, as it did at Athens, at the very moment
when the public mind and taste was ready to receive and
appreciate it.
Three eras, separated from one another by chasms,
the second wider than the first, produced tragic poets.
In the first of these flourished Livius Andronicus, Nse-
vius, and Ennius ; in the second Pacuvius and Attius ;
in the third Asinius Pollio 1 wrote tragedies, the plots of
which, as the words of Virgil seem to imply, were taken
from Eoman history. 2 Varius either wrote, or, as some
of the Scholiasts assert, stole, the " Thyestes" from
Cassius or Yirgil. Ovid attempted a " Medea," of
which Quintilian speaks, as being, to say the least, a
promising performance j and even the Emperor Augustus
himself, together with other men of genius, tried their
hands, though unsuccessfully, at tragedy. The epistle of
Horace to the Pisos shows at once the prevalence of this
taste, and that general ignorance of the rules and prin-
ciples of art required instruction. Ten rhetorical dramas,
attributed with good reason to the philosopher Seneca,
complete the catalogue of tragedies belonging to this era,
but with the exception of these, no specimens remain ;
most probably they did not merit preservation. The trage-
dies of the older school were of a higher stamp, and they
kept their place in the public estimation long enough to
give birth to the newer and inferior school. Passages
from the old Latin tragedies quoted by Cicero w^ell
deserves the admiration with which he regarded them ;
and a fragment of the " Prometheus" of Attius is marked
by a grandeur and sublimity which makes us regret the
almost total loss of this branch of Roman literature.
1 Asinius Pollio is said by Seneca (Controv. iv. Prsef.) to have introduced
the practice of poets reading their works to a circle of friends.
2 Eel. iii. 86.
LIFE OF PACUVIUS. 135
PACUVIUS : BORN B. C. 220.
The era at which Eoman tragedy reached its highest
degree of perfection was the second of those mentioned,
and was simultaneous with that of comedy. Both
flourished together ; for, whilst Terence was so success-
fully reproducing the wit and manners of the new Attic
comedy, M. Pacuvius was enriching the Eoman drama
with free imitations of the Greek tragedians. He was a
native of Brundisium, and nephew, 1 or, according to St.
Jerome, grandson of the poet Ennius. Although born
as early as b.c. 220, he does not appear to have attained
the height of his popularity until b.c. 154. 2 During his
residence at Borne, where he remained until after his
SOth year, 3 he distinguished himself as a painter as well
as a dramatic poet, and one of his pictures in the temple
of Hercules was thought only to be surpassed by the
work of Fabius Pictor. 4 He formed one of that literary
circle of which Lselius was so great an ornament. The
close of his long life was passed in the retirement of
Tarentum, where he died in the ninetieth year of his age.
A simple and unpretending epigram is preserved by
Aulus Grellius, 5 which may probably have been written
by himself : —
Adulescens, etsi properas, te hoc saxum rogat
TJti ad se aspicias, deinde quod scriptum est, legas.
Hie sunt poetse Pacuvi Marci sita
Ossa. Hoc volebam, nescius ne esses. Vale.
Pacuvius was a great favourite with those who could
make allowances for the faults, and appreciate the merits,
of the great writers of antiquity, and his verses were
1 Math. Hist, of Class. Lit. ; Bernhardy, Grand. 366.
' Hier. in Eus. Chron. 01. 156, 3. 3 Cic. Brat. 64.
4 Plin. N. H. xxxv. 1, 4. 5 N. A. i. 24 ; Meyer, Anth, xxiv.
136 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
popular in the time of J. Caesar, 1 and that lover of the
old Eoman literature, Cicero, though not blind to his
faults, is warm in his commendations. He was not
without admirers in the Augustan age, and even his
defects had zealous defenders in the time of Persius
amongst those who could scarcely discover a fault in any
work which savoured of antiquity. 2 The archaic rug-
gedness of his language, his uncouth forms, such as
axim, tetinerim, egregiissimus, and his unauthorized con-
structions like mi hi piget, were due to the unsettled state
of the Latin language in his days. His strange combi-
nations, such as repandirostrum and incurvicervicum, may
possibly have been suggested by the study of Greek, and
by his overweening admiration for its facility of com-
position. But his polish, pathos, and learning, 3 the
harmony of his periods, 4 his eloquence, 5 his fluency, his
word-painting, 6 are peculiarly his own.
The tragedies of Pacuvius were not mere translations,
but adaptations of Greek tragedies to the Eoman stage.
The fragments which are extant are full of new and
original thoughts. His plots were borrowed from the
Greek, but the plan and treatment were his own. The
lyric portion appears to have occupied an important place
in his tragedies, and displays considerable imaginative
power. It is evident that his mind only required
suggestions, and was sufficiently original to form new
combinations. The titles of thirteen of his tragedies are
preserved, 7 of which the most celebrated were the " An-
tiopa" and " Dulorestes " (Orestes in Slavery). Of the
former, the only fragment extant is one severely criticised
by Persius. The latter was principally founded on the
1 Cic. de Am. 7. ' 2 Pers. Sat. i. 77. 3 Hor. Ep. II. i. 55.
4 Ad Heren. iv. 4 and 11, 23. 5 Varro ap. Gel vii. 14.
6 Cic. de Div. i. 14 ; Orat. iii. 39. 7 See Smith's Diet.
SUBJECT OF THE DULORESTES. 137
" Iphigenia in Tauris " of Euripides, 1 although the author
was evidently inspired with the poetical conceptions of
iEschylus. In fact, Pacuvius is less Euripidean than the
other Roman tragic poets. The very roughness of his
style and audacity of his expressions have somewhat of the
solemn grandeur and picturesque boldness which distin-
guish the father of Attic tragedy.
The subject of the " Dulorestes " was the adventures of
the son of Agamemnon, when driven from the palace
of his ancestors, he was in exile and in slavery. 2 On the
first representation of this play, the generous friendship
of Orestes and Pylades called forth the most enthusiastic
applause from the audience, who then probably heard the
legend for the first time. "What acclamations," says
Lcelius, 3 "resounded through the theatre at the repre-
sentation of the new play of my guest and friend M.
Pacuvius, when the long, being ignorant which of the
two was Orestes, Pylades affirmed that he was Orestes,
that he might be put to death in his place, whilst Orestes
persevered in asserting that he was the man I"
One of his plays, " Paulus," was a Fabula prcetextata ;
its subject was taken entirely from Eoman history, the
hero being L. iEin. Paulus, the conqueror of Perseus.
Besides tragedies, the grammarians have attributed to
him one Satura. 4 He is said also to have written
comedies ; but there is no evidence in favour of any, with
the exception of one, entitled " Mercator."
1 De Pac. Did. A. Steigl. Leips. 1S26. 2 Pierron p. 162.
3 Cic. de Am. vii. 4 Diom. iii.
138 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE,
CHAPTER IX.
L. ATTIUS — HIS TRAGEDIES AND FRAGMENTS— OTHER WORKS —
TRAGEDY DISAPPEARED WITH HIM — ROMAN THEATRES — TRACES
OF THE SATIRIC SPIRIT IN GREECE — ROMAN SATIRE — LUCILIUS
— CRITICISMS OF HORACE, CICERO, AND QUINTILDAN — PASSAGE
QUOTED BY L ACTANTIUS — LM VIUS A LYRIC POET.
L. ATTIUS: BORN ABOUT B.C. 170.
Although born about fifty years later than Pacuvius, 1
Attius was almost his contemporary, and a competitor for
popular applause. The amiable old poet lived on the
most friendly terms with his young rival; and A. Grellius
tells us, that after he withdrew from the literary society
of Eome to retirement at Tarentum, he on one occasion
invited the rising poet to be his guest for some days,
and made him read his tragedy of " Atreus." Pacuvius
criticised it kindly, fairly praised the grandeur of the
poetry; but said that it was somewhat harsh and hard.
" You are right," replied Attius, " but I hope to improve.
Fruits which are at first hard and sour, become soft and
mellow, but those which begin by being soft, end in
being rotten." Valerius Maximus 2 relates that in the
assemblies of the poets he refused to rise at the entrance
of J. Csesar, because he felt that in the republic of letters
he was the superior, If this anecdote is genuine, it does
not prove that the aged poet was guilty of unwarrant-
able self-esteem, for Caesar must then have been quite a
Cic. Brut. 64. 2 Lib. iii. 7, 11.
M
TRAGEDIES OF A.TTITJS. 130
youth, and if he had any claim to reputation as a poet,
he was, at any rate, not yet distinguished as a warrior
or a statesman. Amongst the great men whose friend-
ship the poet enjoyed was Dec. Brutus, who was consul
a.u.c. GIG. 1 Nothing more is known respecting his
private liistory, except that his parents were freedmen,
and that he was one of the colonists settled at Pisaurum,
where, in after times, a farm or estate (fundus Attianus)
continued to bear his name. His tragedies were very
numerous. He is said to have written more than fifty.
Three at least wevePrcetextatce, their titles being "Brutus,"
" The TEneadse," or " Decius," 2 and " Marcellus." His
" Trachinise " and " Phcenissse " were almost translations,
the one from Sophocles, the other from Euripides ; the
rest were free imitations of Greek tragedies. They were
distinguished both for sublimity and pathos; and although
he was warmed by the fiery spirit and tragic grandeur of
iEschylus, he evidently evinced a predilection for So-
phocles. 3 His taste is chastened, his sentiments noble,
his versification elegant. His language is almost clas-
sical, and was deservedly admired by the ancients for its
polish as w^ell as its vigour. The " Brutus " was written
at the suggestion of his friend Decimus. The plot was
the expulsion of the Tarquins, the hero Brutus, the heroine
Lucretia. He had chosen one of the noblest romances in
Eoman history. Two passages, 4 quoted by Cicero, are all
that remain of this national tragedy. In them the tyrant
relates to the augurs a dream which had haunted him,
and they, at his request, give their interpretation of it.
Varro has also preserved the soliloquy of Hercules in the
agonies of death, from the Trachinise, 5 a noble para-
1 Cic. Brut. 64 ; Gell. xiii. 2 ; Brut. 28.
2 Cic. de Leg. ii. 21 ; Pro Arch. ii.
3 Bernhardy, 367 ; Hor. Ep. II. i. 56 ; Quint, x. i.
4 De Divin. i. 22 ; Bothe, Poet. Seen. ft\ p. 191,
5 Bothe, p. 246.
L40 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
phrase of Sophocles. This fine specimen of his genius
extends to the length of forty-five lines. In another
passage, Philoctetes pours forth his sufferings in lan-
guage as touching as the original Greek ; and in a third,
Prometheus, now delivered from the tyranny of Jupiter,
addresses to his assembled Titans a strain of indignant
eloquence not unworthy of iEschylus. 1 The following
lines from the " Phcenissse " and the " Complaint of
Philoctetes," are, though brief, fair examples of his lan-
guage and versification : —
Sol, qui micantem candido curru atque equis
Flammam citatis fervido ardore explicas,
Quianam tarn adverso augurio et inimico omine
Thebis radiatum lumen ostendis tuum ! 2
Heu ! quis salsis fluctibus mandet
Me ex sublinii vertice saxi,
Jamjam absumor ; conficit animani
Vis volneris, ulceris sestus. 3
These are the most important of the numerous frag-
ments which are extant of the various tragedies of the
lofty Attius. 4 He has been considered by some as the
founder of the Tragoedia Prcetextata. This, however, is
not true, for there is no doubt that such dramas were
written by his predecessors. Nevertheless, he brought
the national tragedy to its highest state of perfection.
The time was now evidently approaching when the
Eomans were beginning to show, that although they did
not possess the inventive genius of the Greeks, they were
capable of stripping their native language of its rudeness,
and of transferring into it the beauties of Greek thought ;
that they were no longer mere servile copyists, but could
use Greek poetry as furnishing suggestions for original
1 Tusc. Disp. ii. 10 ; Bothe, p. 239. 2 Ibid. p. 238.
3 Ibid, p. 231. 4 Hor. Ep. II. i. 55.
an
OTHER WORKS OF ATTIUS. 141
efforts. They could not quarry for themselves, but they
could now build up Greek materials into a glowing
and polished edifice, of which the details were new and
the effect original.
The metres which Attius used were chiefly the iambic
trimeter and the anapaestic dimeter, but his prcetextatce
were written in trochaic and iambic tetrameters, the
rhythm of which proves that his ear was more refined
than that of Ins predecessors. 1
It is not known whether he was the author of any
comedies, but he was a historian, an antiquarian, and a
critic, as well as a poet. He left behind him a review
of dramatic poetry, entitled " Libri Didascalion" " Eo-
man Annals" in verse, and two other works — " Libri
Pragmaticon" and " Parerga" The former of these is
quoted by Nonius and A. Grellius. He died at an
advanced age, probably about A.u.c. 670, and is thus a
link, as it were, which connects the first literary period
with the age of Cicero; for the great orator was personally
acquainted with him, and at his death must have been
about twenty-two years of age.
With Attius Latin tragedy disappeared. The trage-
dies of the third period were written expressly for reading
and recitation, and not for the stage. They may have
deserved the commendations which they obtained, but
the merit and talent which they displayed were simply
rhetorical, and not dramatic : they were dramatic poems,
not dramas.
The state of political affairs, which synchronized with
the death of Attius, was less congenial than ever to the
tragic muse. Eeal and bloody tragedies were being
enacted, and there was no room in the heart of the
Eoman people for fictitious woes. If it was improbable
that a people who delighted in the sanguinary scenes of
See Nieb. Lect. 88.
142 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
the amphitheatre should sympathise with the sorrows of
a hero in tragedy, it was almost impossible that tragedy
should flourish when Eome itself was a theatre in which
scenes of horror were daily enacted.
Either then, or not long before, the terrible domination
of Cinna and Marius had begun. Massacre and violence
raged through the streets of Eome. The best and
noblest fell victims to the raging thirst for blood. The
aged Marius, distracted by unscrupulous ambition and
savage passions, died amidst the delirious ravings of
remorse, and thus made way for the tyranny of his
perjured accomplice Cinna, Still there was no respite
or interruption. The cruel Sulla sent his orders from
Antemnae to slaughter 8,000 prisoners in cold blood.
The. massacre had hardly begun when he himself arrived,
had taken his place in the senate, and the shrieks of
his murdered victims were audible in the house whilst he
was coolly speaking. This was the beginning of horrors :
the notorious proscription followed. Besides other vic-
tims, 2,600 Eoman knights perished.
Amidst such scenes as these the voice of the tragic
muse was hushed. Depending for her very existence on
the breath of popular favour, she necessarily could not
find supporters, and so languished and was silenced. It
might appear surprising that literature of any kind
should have lived through such times of savage bar-
barism. But other literature is not dependent upon
public patronage : it finds a refuge beneath the shelter of
the private dwelling. The literary man finds friends and
patrons amongst those who, devoted to the humanities
of intellectual pursuits, shuns the scenes of revolutionary
strife and the struggles of selfish ambition. Even Sulla
himself had a polished and refined taste ; and, when he
resigned the Dictatorship, passed those hours of retire-
ment in literary studies which were not devoted to
depravity and licentiousness.
mm
ROMAN THEATRES. 143
The style in which the Roman theatres were built,
indicates that whatever taste for tragedy the Roman
people possessed had now decayed. The huge edifice
erected by Pompey was too vast for the exhibition of
tragedy. The forty thousand spectators, which it con-
tained, could scarcely hear the actor, still less could they
see the expression of human passions and emotions. The
two theatres, placed on pivots back to back, so that they
could be wheeled round and form one vast amphitheatre,
show how an interest in the drama was shared with the
passion for spectacle, and provision was thus publicly
made for gratifying that corrupt taste which had arrived
at its zenith in the time of Horace, and, as we have seen,
interrupted even comedy so early as the times of Terence.
Satire.
The invention of satire is universally attributed to
the Romans, and this assertion is true as far as the
external form is concerned ; but the spirit of satire is
found in many parts of the literature of Grreece. It
animated the Homeric Margites, the poem on woman
by Simonides, the bitter lyrical iambics of Archilochus,
Stesichorus' attack on Helen, and especially, as Horace
says, the old comedy of Eupolis, Cratinus, and Aristo-
phanes. Some resemblance may also be discerned between
Roman satire and the Greek Silli, poems belonging to
the declining period of Greek literature, 1 the design of
which was to attack vice and folly with severe ridicule. 2
1 b. c. 279.
2 The etymology of o-tXXoi is unknown. Casaubon derived the word from
aiWaivetv, to scoff. The probability, however, is that the substantive is
the root of the verb. The invention of the Silli has been ascribed by some
to Xenophanes, the philosopher of Colophon. He was the author of a
didactic poem, and his invectives were directed against the absurd and
erroneous doctrines of his predecessors. Timon, a sceptical philosopher,
who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, was undoubtedly the
author of Silli. Some of these are dialogues, in which one of the persons
144 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Satire is, in fact, if Horace may be believed, the form
which comedy took amongst a people with whom the
drama did not nourish. Ennius was the inventor of the
name, but Lucilius 1 was the father of satire, in the proper
sense, and was at Eome what the writers of the old
comedy were at Athens. It subsequently occupied a
wider field : Persius and Juvenal confined themselves to
its didactic purpose, but Horace made it a vehicle for the
narration of amusing adventure, and picturesque descrip-
tions of human life.
The Satires of Lucilius mark an era in Roman litera-
ture, and prove that a love for this species of poetry had
already made great progress. Hitherto, science, litera-
ture, and art, had been considered the province of slaves
and freedmen. The stern old Roman virtue despised
such sedentary and inactive employment as intellectual
cultivation, and thought it unworthy of the warrior and
the statesman. Some of the higher classes loved litera-
ture and patronised it, but did not make it their pursuit.
Cato blamed M. Fulvius Nobilior for being accompanied
by poets when he proceeded to his provincial govern-
ment, 2 and did not until advanced in years undertake to
study Greek. 3 C. Lucilius was by birth of equestrian
rank, the first Roman knight who was himself a poet. 4
He was born at Suessa Aurunca B.C. 148, 5 and lived to
the age of forty-six years. 6 At fourteen, he served under
is Xenophanes, whence perhaps he was erroneously considered the inventor
of this kind of poetry. All the Silli of Timon are epic parodies, and their
subject a ludicrous and sceptical attack on philosophy of every kind.
Fragments of Silli are preserved by Diogenes, Lucilius, and Chrysostom. —
Ad. Alex. Orat. See also Brunck's Analecta, and Suidas s. vv. o-ikXaivtiv,
Tificov.
1 Hor. Sat. i. 4, 10. 2 Cic. Tusc. i. 2.
3 Aurelius Victor states (De Vit. Illust. xlvii.) that Cato took lessons in
Greek from Ennius.
4 Juv. Sat. i. 20. 5 Hieron. Chron. Euseb.
6 In defence of the chronology of Lucilius' life, see Smith's Dictionary of
Biography, s. v. Lucilius.
_
CRITICISM OF HORACE. 145
Scipio, at the siege of Numantia. 1 He was the maternal
great-uncle of Pompey, and numbered amongst his friends
and patrons Afrieanus and Laelius. His Satires were
comprised in thirty books, of which the first twenty and
the thirtieth were written in hexameters, the rest in
iambics or trochaics. Numerous fragments are still
extant, some of considerable length. The Satires were
probably arranged according to their subject-matter ; for
those in the first book are on topics connected with
religion, whilst those in the ninth, treat of literary and
grammatical criticism. His versification is careless and
unrefined ; very inferior in this respect to that of his pre-
decessors. He sets at defiance the laws of prosody, and
almost returns to the usage of that period in which the
ear was the only judge.
The prejudices of Horace 2 against the ancient Roman
literature render him an unsafe guide in criticism. Even
in his own time his attacks were considered by some
indefensible ; but his strictures on the style of Lucilius
are not undeserved; it was unmusical, affected, and
incorrect. His sentences are frequently ill-arranged, and
therefore deficient in perspicuity. His mixture of Greek
and Latin expressions, without that skill and art with
which Horace considered it allowable to enrich the
vernacular language, is itself offensive to good taste, and
is rendered still more disagreeable by unnecessary di-
minutives and forced alliteration. On these grounds,
and on these alone, he merits the contemptuous criticism
of Horace.
His real defect was want of facility ; and it is not im-
probable that, if prose had been considered a legitimate
vehicle, he would have preferred pouring forth in that
unrestricted form his indignant eloquence, rather than
that, as Horace says, every verse should have cost him
Veil. Paterc. ii. 9. a See Sat. I. iv. ; I. x. : I. i. 29, &c.
L
146 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
many scratchings of the head, and biting his nails to the
quick. Whilst the criticism of Horace errs on the side
of severity, that of Cicero 1 is somewhat too partial :
firstly, because he himself was deficient in poetical
facility ; secondly, because in his time there were no
models of perfection wherewith to compare the works of
Lucilius. The judgment of Quintilian 2 is moderate ; and
although the taste for poetry was then corrupted by a
love of quaintness and rhetorical affectation, the praise
is well-merited which he bestows on the frank honesty
and biting wit of the Satires of Lucilius. As he took
the writers of old Attic comedy for his models, it cannot
be a matter of surprise that he occasionally added force
to his attacks on vice by coarseness and personality.
Like them, if Lucilius found any one who deserved
rebuke for his crimes, he did not trouble himself to
make general remarks and to attack vice in the abstract,
but to illustrate his principles by living examples.
The education of Lucilius had probably been desultory,
and his course of study not sufficiently strict to give the
rich young Roman knight the accurate training, the
critical knowledge, necessary to make him a poet as well
as a satirist. It had given him learning and erudition —
it had furnished him with the wealth of two languages,
both of which he used whenever he thought they supplied
him with a two-edged weapon — but it had not sufficiently
cultivated his ear and refined his taste. On the other
hand, his Satires must have possessed nobler qualities
than those of style. He was evidently a man of high
moral principle, though stern and stoical, devotedly
attached to the cause of virtue, a relentless enemy of
vice and profligacy, a gallant and fearless defender of
truth -and honesty. He must have felt with Juvenal
" difficile est satiram non scribere." He was under an
De Orat. ii. 6 ; De Fin. i. 3. 2 Inst. Or. x. i.
PASSAGE QUOTED BY LACTANTIUS. 147
obligation which he could not avoid. What cared he
for correct tetrameters or heroics or senarii, so that he
could crush effeminacy and gluttony and self-indulgence,
and restore the standard of ancient morals, to which he
looked back with admiration !
This chivalrous devotion inspired him with eloquence,
and gave a dignity to his rude verses, although it did
not invest them with the graces and charms of poetry.
"Nor is it only when he declares open war against cor-
ruption that he must have made his adversaries tremble,
or his victims, conscience-stricken, writhe beneath his
knife. His encomiums upon virtue form as striking
pictures ; but in both it is the masterly outline of the
drawing which amazes and instructs, not the mere ac-
cessory of the colouring. See, for example, the following
noble passage with its unselfish conclusion, preserved by
Lactantius : 1 —
Virtus, Albine, est pretium persolvere verum
Queis in versanmr, queis vivimu' rebu' potesse.
Virtus est homini scire id quod quseque habeat res.
Virtus, scire homini rectum, utile, quid sit honestum,
Quce bona, quae mala item quid inutile turpe inhonestum.
Virtus, qusorendoe finem rei scire modumque ;
Virtus, divitiis pretium persolvere posse.
Virtus, id dare quod reipsa debetur honori,
Hostem esse atque inimicum hominum morumque malorum ;
Contra, defensorem hominum morumque bonorum ;
Magnificare hos, his bene velle, his vivere amicum ;
Commoda prseterea patriai prima putare,
Deinde parentum, tertia jam postremaque nostra.
Had they been extant, we should have found useful
information and instruction in his faithful pictures of
Eoman life and manners in their state of moral transition
— amusement in such pieces as his journal of a progress
from Borne to Capua, from which Horace borrowed the
idea of his journey to Brundisium, whilst in his love-
poems, addressed to his mistress, Collyra, we should have
Inst. Div. vi. 5.
L 2
148 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
traced the tender sympathies of human nature, which the
sternness of stoicism was unable to overcome.
Besides satire, Lucilius is said to have attempted lyric
poetry : if this be the case, it is by no means surprising
that no specimens have stood the test of time, for he
possessed none of the qualifications of a lyric poet.
After the death of Lucilius, satire languished. Yarro
Atacinus attempted it and failed. 1 Half a century subse-
quently it assumed a new garb in the descriptive scenes
of Horace, and put forth its original vigour in the burn-
ing thoughts of Persius and Juvenal.
Livius.
This literary period was entirely destitute of lyric
poetry, unless Mebuhr is correct in supposing that
Laivius nourished contemporaneously with Lucilius. 2
Nothing is known of his history ; and such uncertainty
prevails respecting him that his name is constantly con-
founded with those of Livius and Nsevius. It is not im-
probable, that some passages attributed to them, which
appear to belong to a later literary age, are, in reality,
the work of Lsevius — for example, the hexameters which
are found in the Latin Odyssey of Livius. He translated
the Cyprian poems, and wrote some fugitive amatory
pieces entitled Eroto-psegnia. They seem to have pos-
sessed neither the graceful simplicity nor the tender
warmth which are essential to lyric poetry, although
they perhaps attained as great elegance of expression as
the state of the language then admitted. Short frag-
ments are preserved by Apuleius and in the Nodes
Atticoe of A. Gellius. 3
Hor. Sat. I. x. 46. 2 Nieb. Lect. lxxxviii. 3 Lib. ii. 24, xix. 9.
( 149 )
CHAPTER X.
PROSE LITERATURE— PROSE SUITABLE TO ROMAN GENIUS — HISTORY,
JURISPRUDENCE, AND ORATORY — PREVALENCE OF GREEK —
Q. FABIUS PICTOR — L. CINCIUS ALIMENTUS — C. ACILIUS GLABRIO —
VALUE OF THE ANNALISTS — IMPORTANT LITERARY PERIOD DURING
WHICH CATO CENSORIUS FLOURISHED — SKETCH OF HIS LIFE— HIS
CHARACTER, GENIUS, AND STYLE.
Prose was far more in accordance with trie genius of the
Romans than poetry. As a nation they had little or
no ideality or imaginative power, no enthusiastic love
of natural beauty, no acute perception of the sympathy
and relation existing between man and the external
world. In the Greek mind a love of country and a love
of nature held a divided empire — they were poets as well
as patriots. Roman patriotism had indeed its dark side
— an unbounded lust of dominion, an unscrupulous am-
bition to extend the power and glory of the republic;
but, nevertheless, it prompted a zealous devotion to
whatever would promote national independence and
social advancement. Statesmanship, therefore, and the
subjects akin to it, constituted the favourite civil
pursuit of an enlightened Roman, who sought a dis-
tinguished career of public usefulness ; and, therefore,
that literature which tended to advance the science of
social life had a charm for him which no other litera-
ture possessed.
The branches of knowledge which would engage his at-
tention, were History, Jurisprudence, and Oratory. They
would be studied with a view to utility, and in a practical
150 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
spirit : they would require a scientific and not an artistic
treatment, and, therefore, their natural language would
be prose and not poetry. As matter was more valued
than manner by this utilitarian people, it was long before
it was thought necessary to embellish prose literature
with the graces of composition. The earliest orators
spoke with a rude and vigorous eloquence which is always
captivating : they wrote but little ; their style was stiff
and dry, and very inferior to their speaking. Cato's
prose was less rugged than that of his contemporaries or
even his immediate successors. Sisenna was the first
historian to whom gracefulness and polish have been at-
tributed; and C. Gracchus is spoken of as a single ex-
ception to the orators of his age, on account of the
rhythmical modulation of his prose sentences — a quality
which he probably owed not more to a delicate ear than
to the softening influence of a mother's education. Even
the prose of that celebrated model of refinement and good
taste, C. Lselius, was harsh and unmusical. 1
Besides the influence which the practical character of the
Eoman mind exercised upon prose writing, it must not be
forgotten that Eoman literature was imitative : its end
and object, therefore, were not invention but erudition;
it depended for its existence on learning, and was almost
synonymous with it. This principle gave a decidedly
historical bias to the Eoman intellect : an historical taste
pervades a great portion of the national literature. There
is a manifest tendency to study subjects in an historical
point of view. It will be seen hereafter that it is not
like the Greek, original and inventive, but erudite and
eclectic. The historic principle is the great characteristic
feature of the Eoman mind ; consequently, in this branch
of literature, the Eomans attained the highest reputation,
and may fairly stand forth as competitors with their
1 See Nieb. Lect. lxxix. and Schol. in Cic. Orell. ii. p. 283.
BISTORT AM) JURISPRUDENCE 151
Greek instructors. Not that they ever entirely equalled
them; for, though they were practical, vigorous, and just
tli inkers, they never attained that comprehensive and
philosophical spirit which distinguished the Greek his-
torians.
The work of an historian was, in the earliest times,
recognized as not unworthy of a Boman. It was not
like the other branches of literature, in which the example
was first set by slaves and freedmen. Those who first
devoted themselves to the pursuit were also eminent in
the public service of their country. Fabius Pictor was
of an illustrious patrician family. Cincius Alimentus,
Fulvius Nobilior, and others, were of free and honourable
birth. Such were Eoman historians until the time of
Sulla; for L. Otacilius Pilitus, who flourished at that
period, was the first freedman who began to write
history. 1 2
Again, the science of jurisprudence formed an indis-
pensable part of statesmanship. It was a study which
recommended itself by its practical nature : it could not
be stigmatised even by the busiest as an idle and fri-
volous pursuit, whilst the constitutional relation which
subsisted between patron and client, rendered the know-
ledge of its principles, to a certain extent, absolutely
necessary. Protection from wrong was the greatest
boon which the strong could confer upon the weak, the
learned on the unlearned. It was, therefore, the most
efficacious method of gaining grateful and attached friends;
and, by their support, the direct path was opened to the
highest political positions. It is not, therefore, to be
wondered at that, even when elegant literature was in
its infancy, so many names are found of men illustrious
as jurists and lawyers.
1 Suet, de Clar. Rhet. iii.
2 The fragments of the ancient Roman historians have been collected by
Augustus Krause, and published at Berlin in 1833.
152 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Practical statesmanship, in like manner, gave an early
encouragement to oratory. It is peculiarly the literature
of active life. The possession of eloquence rendered a
man more efficient as a soldier and as a citizen. Great
as is the force of native unadorned eloquence, vigorous
common-sense, honest truthfulness, and indignant passion,
nature would give way to art as taste became more cul-
tivated. Nor could the Eomans long have the finished
models of Greek eloquence before their eyes, without
transferring to the forum or the senate-house somewhat
of their simple grandeur and majestic beauty.
The first efforts of the Eoman historians were devoted
to the transfer of the records of poetry into prose as their
more appropriate and popular vehicle. The national lays
which tradition had handed down were the storehouses
which they ransacked to furnish a supply of materials.
As far as the records of authentic history are concerned,
they performed the functions of simple annalists : they
related events almost in the style of public monuments,
without any attempt at ornament, without picturesque
detail or political reflection When Cicero compares the
style of Fabius Pictor, Cato, and Piso, to that of the old
Greek logographers, 1 Pherecydes, Hellanicus, and Acu-
silaus, the points of resemblance which he instances are,
that both neglected ornament, were careful only that
their statements should be intelligible, and thought the
chief excellence of a writer was brevity. Probably, the
subject-matter of the Poman annalists was the more
valuable, whilst the Greeks had the advantage in live-
liness and skill. Some of the earliest historians wrote in
Greek instead of Latin. Even, in later times, such men
as Sulla and Lucullus, and also Cn. Aufidius, who
flourished during the boyhood of Cicero, wrote their
memoirs in a foreign tongue. There was some reason
De Orat. ii. 12.
PREVALENCE OF GREEK. 153
for this. The language in winch the higher classes re-
ceived their education was Greek — the tutors, even the
nurses, were Greek, as well as the librarians, secretaries,
and confidential servants in most distinguished families.
Such was the humanizing spirit of literature that these
distinguished foreigners found an asylum in the house-
holds of noble Romans, notwithstanding the severity with
which the law treated prisoners of war. Fashionable con-
versation, moreover, was interlarded with Greek phrases,
and, in some houses, Greek was habitually spoken. Even
so late as the times of Cicero, 1 Greek literature was read
and studied in almost every part of the civilized world,
while the works of Latin writers were only known within
the circumscribed limits of Italy.
Q. Fabius Pictor.
The most ancient prose writer of Roman history was
Q. Fabius Pictor, the contemporary of Nsevius. He
belonged to that branch of the noble house of the Fabii,
which derived its distmguishing appellation from the emi-
nence of its founder as a painter. The temple of Salus,
which he painted, was dedicated b. c. 302, by the dic-
tator, C. Junius Bubulcus; and this oldest known specimen
of Roman fine art remained until the conflagration of the
temple in the reign of Claudius. It must, therefore, have
been subjected to the criticisms of an age capable of form-
ing a correct judgment respecting its merits ; and it ap-
pears from the testimony of antiquity to have possessed the
two essentials of accurate drawing and truthful colouring,
and to have been free from the fault of conventional
treatment. 2
The Fabii were an intellectual family as well as a dis-
tinguished one : perhaps the numerous records of their
exploits which exist were, in some degree, owing to
Pro Arch. x. * Dion. xvi. 6 ; Nieb. II. R. iii. 356.
154 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
their learning. The grandson of the eminent artist was
Fabius Pictor the historian. Livy 1 continually refers to
him, and throughout his narrative of the Hannibalian war,
he professes implicit confidence in him on the grounds of
his being a contemporary historian 2 (cequalem temporibus
hujusce belli) ; he is likewise the authority on whom the
greatest reliance was placed by Dion Cassius and Appian.
Nor did the accurate and faithful Polybius consider him
otherwise than trustworthy upon the whole, although
he accuses him of partiality towards his countrymen. 3
Niebuhr 4 attributes to Fabius Pictor the accurate know-
ledge of constitutional history displayed by Dion Cassius,
and acknowledges how deeply we are indebted to him for
the information which we possess concerning the changes
which took place in the Roman constitution. It is to
his care that we owe the faithfulness of Dion, whilst
Dionysius and Livy too often lead us astray. It con-
stitutes some justification of his partiality as an historian,
that Philinus of Agrigentum had also written a history
of the first Punic war in a spirit hostile to Rome, and
that this provoked Pictor to a defence of his country's
honour. His work was written in Greek, and its prin-
cipal subject was a history of the first and second Punic
wars, especially that against Hannibal. It has been
held by some, on the authority of a passage in the " De
Oratore " of Cicero, 5 that he wrote in Latin as well as in
Greek ; but Niebuhr believes that Cicero is in error, and
has confused him with a Latin annalist, named F. Max.
Servilianus. The period to which his work extended is
uncertain ; but the last event alluded to by Livy, on his
authority, is the battle of Trasymenus, 6 and the last
occasion on which he mentions his name is when he
records his return from an embassy to Delphi in
1 Lib. i. 44, 45 ; ii. 40 ; viii. 30, &c. 2 Lib. xxii. 7. 3 Pol. i. 14.
4 Lect. E. H. iii. xxvi. 5 Lib. ii. 12. 6 Liv. xxii. 7.
L. CINCIUS ALIMENTUS. 155
the following year. 1 The earlier history of Eome was
prefixed by way of introduction ; for his object was not
merely to assist in constructing the rising edifice of
Roman literature, but to spread the glory of his country
throughout that other great nation of antiquity, which
now, for the first time, came in contact with a worthy
rival. The Pontifical annals, the national ballads, the
annals of his own house, so rich in legendary tales of
heroism, furnished him with ample materials ; but he is
also said to have drawn largely on the stores of a Greek
author, named Diodes, a native of Peparethus, who had
preceded him in the work of research and accumulation.
L. Cincius Alimentus.
Contemporary with Fabius was the other annalist of
the second Punic war, L. Cincius Alimentus. He was
praetor in Sicily 2 in the ninth year of the war, and took a
prominent part in it. 3 The soldiers who fought at Cannse 4
were placed at his disposal, his period of command was
prolonged, and after his return home he was sent as
Legatus to the consul Crispinus, on the occasion of the
melancholy death of his colleague, Marcellus. 5 Some
time after this, he was taken prisoner by Hannibal. 6
Like Fabius, he wrote his work in Greek, and prefixed
to it a brief abstract of early Eoman history. * Livy
speaks of him as a diligent antiquarian, and appeals to
his authority to establish the Etruscan origin of the
custom of the Dictator driving a nail into the temple of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus. 8 As his accurate investiga-
tion of original monuments gives a credibility to his early
history, so his being personally engaged in the war in a
high position, renders him trustworthy in the later
1 Lib. xxiii. ii : B. c. 216 ; a. u. c. 538. 2 A. u. c. 544 ; b. c. 210.
:! Liv. xxvi. 23. 4 Ibid. 28. 5 Ibid, xxvii. 29.
''' Ibid. xxi. 31. 7 Dionys. i. 0. 8 Liv. vii. 3.
156 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
periods. It is also said that, when he was a prisoner of
war, Hannibal, who delighted in the society of literary
men, treated him with great kindness and consideration,
and himself communicated to him the details of his
passage across the Alps into Italy.
To him, therefore, and to the opportunities which he
enjoyed of gaining information, we owe the credibility of
this portion of Livy's history 1 on a point on which
authors were at variance, namely, the number of Han-
nibal's forces at this time. Livy appeals to the state-
ment of Cincius as settling the question, and says, Han-
nibal himself informed Cincius how many troops he had
lost between the passage of the Ehone and his descent
into Italy.
His accurate habit of mind must have made his Annals
a most valuable work; and, therefore, it was most im-
portant that the variation of his early chronology from
that which is commonly received should be explained
and reconciled. This task Niebuhr has satisfactorily
accomplished. He supposes that Cincius took cyclical
years of ten months, which were used previous to the
reign of Tarquinius Priscus, in the place of common
years of twelve months. The time which had elapsed
between the building of Eome and this epoch was, ac-
cording to the Pontifical annals, 132 years. The error,
therefore, due to this miscalculation would be 132 — i^J-
= 22 years. If this be added to the common date of
the building of Eome, B.C. 753 = 01. vii. 2, the result
is the date given by Cincius, namely 01. xii. 4. 2
C. ACILIUS G-LABRIO.
A few words may be devoted to C. Acilius Grlabrio,
the third representative of the Grseco-Eoman historic
1 See, on this subject, Lachmann de Font. Hist. Ti. Liv.
2 See Dr. Smith's Diet, of Biogr. s. v.
u.
VALUE OF THE ANNALISTS. 157
literature. Very little is known respecting him, He
was Quaestor a.u.c. 551, Tribune a.tj.c. 557, and subse-
quently attained senatorial rank ; for Gellius 1 relates that,
when the three Athenian philosophers visited Eome as
ambassadors, Acilius introduced them to the senate and
acted as interpreter. His history was considered worthy
of translation by an author named Claudius, and to this
translation reference is twice made by Livy. 2
Valuable though the works of these annalists must
have been as historical records, and as furnishing ma-
terials for more thoughtful and philosophical minds, they
are only such as could have existed in the infancy of a
national literature. They were a bare compilation of
facts, the mere scaffolding and framework of history ; they
were diversified by no critical remarks or political reflec-
tions. The authors made no use of their facts, either to
deduce or to illustrate principles. With respect to style
they were meagre, insipid, and jejune.
M. Porcttjs Cato Censobius.
The versatility and variety of talent displayed by Cato
claim for him a place amongst orators, jurists, ceconomists,
and historians. It is, however, amongst the latter, as
representatives of the highest branch of prose literature,
that we must speak of the author of the " Origines." His
life extends over a wide and important period of literary
history : everything was in a state of change — morals,
social habits, literary taste. Not only the influence of
Greek literature, but also that of the moral and meta-
physical creed of Greek philosophy, was beginning to be
felt when Cato's manly and powerful intellect was flourish-
ing. When he filled the second public office to which
the Roman citizen aspired, Nsevius was still living.
He was censor when Plautus died ; and, before his own
N. A. vii. 14. 2 Lib. xxv. 39 ; xxxv. 14.
158 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
life ended, the comedies of Terence had been exhibited on
the Eoman stage.
Three political events took place during his lifetime,
which must have exercised an important influence on the
mental condition of the Roman people. When Mace-
donia, at the defeat of Perseus, 1 was reduced to the con-
dition of a Eoman province, nearly a thousand Achaeans,
amongst whom was the historian Polybius, were sent to
Eome, and detained in Italy as hostages during nearly
seventeen years. The thirteenth year from that event
witnessed the dawn of philosophy at Eome, for previously
to this epoch, the philosophical schools of Magna Grsecia
appear to have been unnoticed and disregarded. But
now 2 Carneades the Academic, Critolaus the Peripatetic,
and Diogenes the Stoic, 3 came to Eome as ambassadors
from Athens, and delivered philosophical lectures, which
attracted the attention of the leading statesmen, whilst
the doctrines which they taught excited universal alarm.
The following year Crates arrived as ambassador from
Attalus, king of Pergamus, and during his stay delighted
the literary society of the capital with commentaries on
the Greek poets. 4 It is not surprising that one who
lived through a period during which Greek literature
had such favourable opportunities of being propagated
by some of its most distinguished professors, sufficiently
overcame his prejudices as to learn in his old age the
language of a people whom he both hated and despised.
M. Porcius Cato Censorius was born at Tusculum,
B.C. 234. 5 His family was of great antiquity, and num-
bered amongst its members many who were distinguished
for their courage in war and their integrity in peace.
His boyhood was passed in the healthy pursuits of rural
life, at a small Sabine farm belonging to his father ; and
1 a. u. c. 586 ; b. c. 168. 2 a. u. c. 599 ; b. c. 155.
3 Oic. de Oat. ii. 37 ; Quint, xii. 1. 4 Suet, de Gram. 111. 2
5 De Senec. 4.
UFK OF (WTO. 159
his mind, invigorated by stern and hardy training, was
early directed to the stndy as well as the practice of
agriculture. To this rugged yet honest discipline may
be traced the features of his character as displayed in
after life, his prejudices as well as his virtues.
He became a soldier at a very early age, B.C. 217, served
in the Hannibalian war, was under the command of
Fabius Maximus both in Campania and Tarentum, and
did good service at the decisive battle of the Metaurus.
Between his campaigns he did not seek to exhibit his
laurels in the society of the capital, but, like Curius Den-
tatus and Quinctius Cincinnatus, employed himself in the
rural labours of his Sabine retirement.
His shrewd remarks and easy conversation, as well as
the skill with which he pleaded the causes of his clients
before the rural magistracy, soon made his abilities
known, and his reputation attracted the notice of one of
his country neighbours, L. Valerius Flaccus, who invited
him to his town-house at Home. Owing to the patronage
of his noble friend and his own merits, his rise to emi-
nence as a pleader was rapid. He was qusestor in
in B.C. 206, sedile in b.c. 199, praetor the following year,
and in B.C. 195 he obtained the consulship, his patron
Flaccus being now his colleague. His province was
Spain ; l and, whilst stern and pitiless towards his foes, he
exhibited a noble example of self-denying endurance in
order to minister to the welfare of his army. At the
conclusion of his consulship, he served as legatus in
Thrace and Greece; and in b.c. 189 was sent on a civil
mission to Fnlvius Nobilior in iEtolia.
After experiencing one failure, he was elected censor
in b.c. 184 ; and he had now an opportunity of making a
return for the obligations which his earliest patron had
conferred upon him, for, by his influence, Flaccus was
Liv. xxxiv.
160 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
appointed his colleague. This office was, above all
others, suited to his talents ; and to his remarkable
activity in the discharge of his duties, he owes his fame
and his surname.
He had now full scope for displaying his habits of
business, his talents for administration, his uncompro-
mising resistance to all luxury and extravagance, his
fearlessness in the reformation of abuses ; and though he
was severe, public opinion bore testimony to his integrity,
for he was rewarded with a statue and an inscription.
He had now served his country in every capacity, but
still he gave himself no rest; advancing age did not
weaken his energies ; he was always ready as the cham-
pion of the oppressed, the advocate of virtue, the punisher
of vice. He prosecuted the extortionate governors of
his old province, Spain. 1 He pleaded before the senate
the cause of the loyal Ehodians.
He caused the courteous dismissal of the three Greek
philosophers, because the arguments of Carneades made it
difficult to discern what was truth. 2 Although his pre-
judice against Greeks prevented him sympathising with
the sorrows of the Achaean exiles, he supported the vote
for their restoration to their native land. Neither his
enemies nor his country would allow him rest. In his
eighty-sixth, year, he had to defend himself against a
capital charge. In his eighty -ninth, he was sent to
Africa as one of the arbitrators between the Cartha-
ginians and Massinissa, 3 and in his ninetieth, the year in
which he died, 4 his last public act was the prosecution
of Galba for his perfidious treatment of the conquered
Lusitanians. 5
1 B. c. 171. * Plin. H. N. vii. 31. 3 a. u. c. 605.
4 Livy (xxxix. 40) and Niebuhr (Lect. lxix.) state that Cato died at the
age of ninety; Cicero (Brut. 15, 20, 23) and Pliny, at the age of eighty-five.
5 Valerius Maximus relates the following anecdote of the respect in
which this virtuous Eoman was held by his countrymen : — At the Floralia,
the people were accustomed to call for the exhibition of dances, accom-
CHARACTER OF CATO. 1 Gl
Cato loved strife, and his long life was one continued
combat. He never found a task too difficult, because
difficulty called forth all his energies, and his strong will
and invincible perseverance insured success. His in-
herent love of truth made him hate anything conven-
tional. As a politician, he considered rank valueless,
except it depended upon personal merit, and therefore he
was an unrelenting enemy of the aristocracy. As a
moralist, he indignantly rejected that false gloss of
modern fashion which was superseding the old plainness,
and which was, in his opinion, the foundation of his
country's glory. In literature, he distrusted and con-
demned everything Greek, because he confounded the
sentiments of its noblest periods as a nation with those
of the degenerate Greeks with whom he came in contact.
But, at length, his candid and truthful disposition dis-
covered and confessed his error on this point, and his
prejudices gave way before conviction.
Cato, with all his virtues, w r as a hard-hearted man. 1
He had no amiability, no love, no affection ; he did not
love right, for he loved nothing, but he had a burning
indignation against wrong. This was the mainspring of
his conduct. He did not feel for the oppressed, but he
declared war against the oppressor. He never could
sympathise with living men. In his youth, all his ad-
miration was for the past generation. In his old age,
his feeling was that his life had been spent with the past,
and lie had nothing in common with the present.
As is usually the case with those who live during a
period of transition, his feelings were so interested in
that past by which his character was formed, that he was
panied with acts of great indecency. Cato on one of these occasions hap-
pened to be present, and the spectators were ashamed to malfe their usual
demand until he had left the theatre. Martial also alludes to this anecdote
in one of his epigrams.
1 Hor. Od. ii. i.
M
162 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
incapable of discerning any good whatever in change and
progress. For this reason he dreaded the invasion of
refinement and civilization. Accustomed to connect virtue
and purity with the absence of temptations, he was
prepared to take an exaggerated view of the relation
between polish and effeminacy, between a taste for the
beautiful and luxury.
He was a bitter hater of those who opposed his pre-
judices. His enmity to Carthage sprung much more from
his antagonism to Scipio, as the leader of the Greek or
movement party, than from fears for the safety of Home.
Scipio said, Let Carthage be ; therefore Cato's will was,
let Carthage be destroyed. When his hatred of injustice
was aroused, as, for example, by the perfidy of S. Sulpicius
Galba towards the Lusitanians, he could support the
cause of foreigners against a fellow-countryman. His
character is full of apparent inconsistencies. Although
he hated oppression, he was cruel to his slaves ; tyrannical
and implacable, simply because he would not brook
opposition to his will. His integrity was incorruptible,
and yet he was a grinding usurer ; frugal in his habits,
and notwithstanding his few wants, grasping and avari-
cious ; but it was his love of business that he was grati-
fying, rather than a love of money. Trade was with
him a combat in which he would not allow an advantage
to be gained by his adversary. Virtue did not present
itself to Cato in an amiable form. He had but one idea of
it — austerity ; and, as his hatred of wrong was not counter-
balanced by a love of right, the intensity of his hatred
was only kept in check by the practical good sense and
utilitarian views which occupy so prominent a place in
the Eoman character. Being himself reserved and un-
demonstrative, he expected others to be so likewise, and
thought it unbecoming the dignity of a Eoman to exhibit
tenderness of feeling. On one occasion we are told that
he degraded a Roman knight for embracing his wife in
HIS GENIUS AND STYLE. ] 63
the presence of his daughter. His personal appearance
was not more prepossessing than his manners, as we
learn from the following severe epigram ; — 1
Uvppov, TravbaKerrjv, yKavKoufxarov, ovde Oavovra
HopKLOV els dt8r]v lie pcreCpovrj Se'^erat.
With his red hair, constant snarl, and grey eyes, Proserpine would
not receive Porcins, even after death, into Hades.
As, notwithstanding his defects, Cato was morally the
greatest man Borne ever produced, so he was one of the
greatest intellectually. His genius was perfectly original ;
his character was not moulded by other men ; he had no
education except self-education. He had immense power
of acquiring learning, and he ransacked every source to
increase his stores ; but he was indebted to no man for
his opinions — they were self-formed, except those which
he inherited, and in which his own independent convic-
tions led him to acquiesce. He had the ability and the
determination to excel in everything which he undertook,
politics, war, rural economy, oratory, history. His style
is rude, unpolished, ungraceful, because to him wit was
artifice, and polish superficial and therefore unreal. For
this reason he did not profit by the inconceivably rapid
change which was then taking place in the Latin language,
and which is evident from a comparison of the fragments
of Cato's works with the polished comedies of Terence.
His statements, however, were clear and transparent;
his illustrations, though quaint, were striking ; the words
with which he enriched his native tongue were full of
meaning ; his wit was keen and lively, although he never
would permit it to offend against gravity or partake of
irreverence. 2 His arguments went straight to the
intellect, and carried conviction with them.
The character of Cato forms one of the most beautiful
1 Plut. Life of Cato.
2 Cicero tells us (Dc Orat. ii. 64) that, when censor, he degraded
L. Nasica for an unseasonable jest.
1G1< ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
passages in the works of Livy :* — " In hoc viro tanta vis
animi ingeniique fait, ut, quocunque loco natus esset,
fortunam sibi ipse facturus fuisse videretur. Nulla ars,
neque private neque publicse rei gerendae, ei defuit.
Urbanas rusticasque res pariter callebat. Ad summos
honores alios scientia juris, alias eloquentia, alios gloria
militaris provexit, Hnic versatile ingenium sic pariter
ad omnia fuit, ut natum ad id unnm diceres, quodcunque
ageret. In bello manu fortissimus, multisque insignibns
clarus pugnis * idem, postquam ad magnos honores per-
venit, summus imperator : idem in pace, si jns consuleres,
peritissimus ; si causa oranda esset, eloquentissimus.
Nee is tantum, cujus lingua vivo eo viguerit, monu-
men turn eloquentise nullum exstet : vivit immo vigetque
eloquentia ejus, sacrata scriptis omnis generis. Orationes
et pro se multge, et pro aliis et in alios ; nam non solum
accusando, sed etiam causam dicendo, fatigavit inimicos.
Simultates nimio plures et exercuerunt eum, et ipse exer-
cuit eas ; nee facile dixeris, utrum magis presserit eum
nobilitas, an ille agitaverit nobilitatem. Asperi procul-
dubio animi, et linguae acerbae, et immodice Hbera3 fuit ;
sed invicti a cupiditatibus animi, et rigidse innocentise ;
contemptor gratia^ divitiarum. In parsimonia, in patientia
laboris, periculi, ferrei prope corporis animique ; quam
neque senectus quidem, qu.se solvit omnia, fregerit. Qui
sextum et octogesimum annum agens causam dixerit,
ipse pro se oraverit, scripseritque ; nonagesimo anno Ser.
Galbam ad populi adduxerit judicium."
Lib. xxxix. 40.
( 105 )
CHAPTER XI.
THE ORIGIXES OF CATO — PASSAGE QUOTED BY GELLIUS — TREATISE
DE RE RUSTICA — ORATIONS — L. CASSIUS HEMINA — HISTORIANS IN
THE DAYS OF THE GRACCHI —TRADITIONAL ANECDOTE OF ROMULUS
— AUTOBIOGRAPHERS — FRAGMENT OF QUADRIGARIUS — FALSE-
HOODS OF ANTIAS— SISENNA — TUBERO.
Cato's great historical and antiquarian work, " The
Origines," was written in his old age. 1 Its title would
seem to imply that it was merely an inquiry into the
ancient history of his country ; but in reality it compre-
hended far more than this — it was a history of Italy and
Rome from the earliest times to the latest events which
occurred in his own life-time. The contents of the work
are thus described by Cornelius Nepos. 2 It is divided
into seven books. The first treats of the history of the
kings • the second and third of the rise and progress of
the Italian states ; the fourth contains the first Punic
war ; the fifth the war with Hannibal ; the remaining two
the history of the subsequent wars down to the praetor-
ship of Servius Gralba.
It was a work of great research and originality. For
his archaeological information, he had consulted the
records and documents, not only of Rome, but of the
principal Italian towns. It is probable that their con-
stitutional history was introduced incidentally to the
main narrative ; and that the rise and progress of the
About a. u. 0. 600 a Cato, iii.
166 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Roman constitution was illustrated by the political prin-
ciples of the Italian nations. The " Origines " also con-
tained valuable notices respecting the history and consti-
tution of Carthage, 1 his embassy having furnished him
with full opportunity for collecting materials. It was in
fact a unique work : no other Roman historian wrote
in the same spirit, or was equally laborious in the work
of original investigation.
The truthfulness and honesty of Cato must have
rendered the contemporary part of the history equally
valuable with the antiquarian portion. He could not
have been guilty of flattery, he had no regard for the
feelings of individuals. Not only he never mentions
himself, but except in times long gone by, he never
names any one. 2 The glory of a victory, or of a gallant
exploit, belongs to the general, or consul, or tribune, as
the representative of the republic. He does not allow
either individual or family to participate in that which
he considered the exclusive property of his country.
Sufficient fragments of the " Origines " remain to make
us regret that more have not been preserved ; but though
very numerous, they are, with the exception of two, ex-
cessively brief. One of these is a portion of his own
speech in favour of the Rhodians ; 3 the other a simple
and affecting narrative of an act of self-devoted heroism.
A consular army was surprised and surrounded by the
Carthaoinians in a defile, from which there was no
escape. The tribune, whom Cato does not name, but
who, as A. Grellius informs us, was Csedicius, went to the
consul and recommended him to send four hundred men
to occupy a neighbouring height. The enemy, he added,
will attack them, and without doubt they will be slain to
a man. Nevertheless, whilst the enemy is thus occupied,
See frag of book iv. Krause. ' 2 C. Nepos in Vita.
■ Lib. v. Krause, p. 114.
**
PASSAGE FROM THE ORIGIN] B. 107
the army will escape. But, replied the consul, who
will be the leader of this band? I will, said the tribune ;
I devote my life to you, and to my country. The tribune
and the tour hundred men set forth to die. They sold
their lives dearly, but all fell. " The immortal gods,"
adds Cato, for Gellius is here quoting his very words,
" granted the tribune a lot according to his valour. For
thus it came to pass. Though he had received many
wounds, none proved mortal, and when Ins comrades
recognized him amongst the dead, faint from loss of
blood, they took him up, and he recovered. But it
makes a vast difference in what country a generous action
is performed. Leonidas, of Lacedseinoii, is praised, who
performed a similar exploit at Thermopylae. On account
of his valour united Greece testified her gratitude in
every possible way, and adorned his exploit with monu-
mental records, pictures, statues, eulogies, histories. The
Boman tribune gained but faint praise, and yet he had
done the same and saved the Bepublic." The most
pathetic writer could not have told the tale more effect-
ively than the stern Cato.
Circumstances invest his treatise "De Be Bustica " with
great interest . The population of Borne, both patrician and
plebeian, was necessarily agricultural. For centuries they
had little commerce : their wealth consisted in flocks and
herds, and in the conquered territories of nations as poor
as themselves. The Ager Romanics, and subsequently, as
they gained fresh acquisitions, the fertile plains, and
valleys, and mountain sides of Italy, supplied them with
maintenance. The statesman and the general, in the
intervals of civil war or military service, returned, like
Cincinnatus and Cato, to the cultivation of their fields
and gardens. The Boman armies were recruited from
the peasantry, and when the war was over, the soldier
returned to his daily labour ; and, in later times, the
veteran, when his period of service was completed, be-
168 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
came a small farmer in a military colony. To a restless
nation, who could not exist in a state of inactivity, a
change of labour was relaxation; and the pleasures of
rural life, which were so often sung by the Augustan
poets, were heartily enjoyed by the same man whose
natural atmosphere seemed to be either politics or
war.
Besides the possession of these rural tastes the
Romans were essentially a domestic people. The Greeks
were social ; they lived in public ; they had no idea of
home. Woman did not with them occupy a position
favourable to the existence of home-feeling. The Roman
matron was the centre of the domestic circle ; she was
her husband's equal, sometimes his counsellor, and gene-
rally the educator of his children in their early years.
Hundreds of sepulchral inscriptions bear testimony to
the sweet charities of home-life, to the dutiful obedience
of children, the devoted affection of parents, the fidelity
of wives, the attachments of husbands. Hence, home
and all its pursuits and occupations had an interest in
the eyes of a Roman. For this reason there were so
many writers on rural and domestic economy. From
Cato to Columella we have a list of authors whose
object was instruction in the various branches of the
subject. They are thus enumerated by Columella him-
self; 1 — " Cato was the first who taught the art of agricul-
ture to speak in Latin ; after him it was improved by
the diligence of the two Sasernse, father and son ; next it
acquired eloquence from Scrofa Tremellius ; polish from
M. Terentius (Varro) ; poetic power from Yirgil." To
their illustrious names he adds those of J. Hyginus, the
Carthaginian Mago, Corn. Celsus, J. Atticus, and his
disciple J. Grsecinus.
The work of Cato, " De Re Rustica," has come down
Lib. i. i. 12.
THK TREATISE DE RE lU'STK'A. 1 GO
to us almost in form and substance as it was written.
It lias not the method of a regular treatise. It is a
commonplace-book of agriculture and domestic economy,
under 103 heads. The subjects are connected, but not
regularly arranged • they form a collection of useful
instructions, hints, and receipts. Its object is utility,
not science. It serves the purpose of a farmers' and
gardeners' manual, a domestic medicine, a herbal, a
cookery-book ; prudential maxims are interspersed, and
some favourite charms for the cure of disease in man and
beast. Cato teaches his readers, for example, how to
plant ozier-beds, to cultivate vegetables, to preserve the
health of cattle, to pickle pork, and to make savoury
dishes. He is shrewd and economical, but he never
allows humanity to interfere with profits \ for he re-
commends his readers to sell everything which they do
not want, even old horses and old slaves. He is a great
conjuror, for he informs us that the most potent cure for
a sprain is the repetition of the following hocus-pocus : x —
"Daries dardaries astataries dissunapiter ; " or, " Huat
hanat huat hista pista sista domiabo damnaustra ;" or,
" Huat huat huat ista sis tar sis ordannabon dum-
naustra." This miscellaneous collection is preceded by
an introduction, in which is maintained the superiority
of agriculture over other modes of gaining a livelihood,
especially over that of trade and money-lending.
Cato was a conscientious father. He could not trust
Greeks, but undertook the education of his son himself.
As a part of his system, he addressed to him, in the form
of letters, instruction on various topics — historical, phi-
losophical, and moral. A very few fragments of this
work, unfortunately, remain. In one of them he re-
1 The hocus-pocus of Cato resembles Latin about as nearly as did the
gibberish of the Spanish witches in the days of witch-finding. "In
nomine Patrica Aragueaco Petrica agora agora valentia jouando goure
gaito goustra."
170 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
commends a cursory view of Greek literature, but not a
profound study of it. He evidently considered Greek
writings morally dangerous ; but he entertained a still
greater horror of their medicine. He had confidence in
his own old-fashioned charms and rural pharmacopeia;
but he firmly believed, as he would the voice of an oracle,
that all the Greek physicians were banded together to
destroy the Eomans as barbarians.
Of the orations of Cato, ninety titles are extant, to-
gether with numerous fragments. 1 Some of these were
evidently judicial, but the majority deliberative. After
what has been said of his works, it is scarcely necessary
to describe the style of his eloquence. Unless a man is
a mere actor, his character is generally exemplified in his
speaking. This is especially true of Cato. He despised
art. He was too fearless and upright, too confident in
the justice of his cause, to be a rhetorician ; too much
wrapt up in his subject to be careful of the language in
which he conveyed his thoughts. He imitated no one,
and no one was ever able to imitate him. His style was
abrupt, concise, witty, full of contrasts ; its beauty that
of Nature — namely, the rapid alternations of light and
shade. Now it was rude and harsh, now pathetic and
affecting. It was the language of debate — antagonistic,
gladiatorial, elenchtic.
Plutarch compares him to Socrates ; but he omits the
principal point of resemblance, namely, that he always
speaks as if he was hand to hand with an adversary.
Even amidst the glitter and polish of the Augustan age,
old Cato had some admirers. 2 But this was not the
general feeling. The intrinsic value of the rough gem
was not appreciated. Cicero 3 tells us that, to his
astonishment, Cato was almost entirely unknown. The
time afterwards arrived when criticism became a science,
.Meyer, Frag. Rom. Orat. 2 See, ex. gr. Liv. xxxix. 40. 3 Brutus.
L. CASSIUS HEMINA. 171
and lie was estimated as lie deserved to be ; but this
admiration for the antique form was not a revival of the
antique spirit : it was only an attempt to compensate for
its loss ; it was an imitation, not a reality.
Such was the literary position occupied by him whom
Niebuhr pronounces to be the only great man in his
generation, and one of the greatest and most honourable
characters in Eoman history. 1
L. Cassius Hemina.
There was no one worthy to follow Cato as an his-
torian but L. Cassius Hemina. A. Postumius Albinus,
consul b. c. 151, was, according to Cicero, 2 a learned and
eloquent man, and wrote a history of Eome in Greek f
but it was so inelegant that he apologized on the ground
that he was a Eoman writing in a foreign language. 4 It
is probable, also, that he was inaccurate and puerile. He
tells us, for example, that Baise was so named after Boia,
the nurse of one of iEneas' friends, and that Brutus used
to eat green figs and honey. 5
Hemina wrote Eoman annals in five or six books, and
published them about the time of the fall of Carthage : 6
a considerable number of fragments are extant. He was
the last writer of this period who investigated the ori-
ginal sources of history. His researches went back to
very early times ; and he appears to have attempted, at
least, a comparison of Greek and Italian chronology, for
he fixes the age of Homer and Hesiod in the dynasty of
the Silvii, more than 160 years after the siege of Troy.
He relates the original legend of Cacus and the oxen of
Hercules, the finding of Numas coffin, and the cele-
bration of the fourth ssecular games in the consulship of
1 Lect. R. H. lxix. 2 Brut. 3 Gell. xi. 8. 4 Serv. ^En. ix. 70.
5 Macrob. ii. 16. 6 a. u. c. 608.
172 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Lentulus and Mummius. 1 This was probably the last
event of importance previous to the publication of his
work. Only two fragments are of sufficient length to
enable us to form any judgment respecting his style.
Many of his expressions are very archaic, but the story
of Cacus is told in a simple and pleasing manner.
After Hemina, Roman history was, for some years,
nothing more than a compilation from the old chronicles,
and from the labours and investigations of previous
authors. Q. Fabius Maximus Servilianus was consul
a. u. c. 612. His Latin style must have been very defi-
cient in euphony, if he frequently indulged in such
words as litter osissimum, which occurs in one of the
fragments extant. C. Fannius, praetor a. u. c. 617, wrote
a meagre history 2 in not inelegant Latin. Yennonius,
his contemporary, was the author of annals which are
referred to by Dionysius. To this list of historians may
be added C. Sempronius Tuditanus, a polished gentleman
as well as an elegant writer. 3
The clays of the Gracchi were very fruitful in his-
torians and autobiographers. At the head of them
stands L. Cselius Antipater, 4 a Roman freedman, an elo-
quent orator, and skilful jurist. His work consisted of
seven books, and many fragments are preserved by the
grammarians. He seems to have delighted in the mar-
vellous ; for Cicero quotes from him two remarkable
dreams in his treatise on Divination. He is also
frequently referred to by Livy in his history of the
Punic wars,
Contemporaneously with Cselius lived Cn. Gellius,
whose voluminous history extended to the length of
ninety-seven books at least. Livy seldom refers to him.
Probably, in this instance, he acted wisely ; for he seems
1 A. U. C. 608. * Cic. de Leg. ii. 2 ; Brut. 26. 8 Cic. Brut. 25.
4 Ibid. 26.
m
ANECDOTE OF ROMULUS. 1 73
to have boon an historian of little or no authority. Two
other Gellii, Sextus and Aulus, flourished at the same
time.
Pnblius Sempronius Asellio wrote, about the middle of
the seventh century of Borne, a memoir of the Numantian
war. He was an eye-witness of the scenes which he
describes, for he was tribune at Numantia under Scipio
Afrieanus. 1
The only constitutional history of Home was the work
of C. Junius, who was surnamed Gracchanus, in conse-
quence of his intimacy with C. Gracchus. It is certain
that this work must have been the result of original
research, as there are no remains extant of any history
Avhicli could have furnished the materials. The legal and
political knowledge which it contained was evidently con-
siderable, for it is quoted by the jurists as a trustworthy
authority. 2
Servius Fabius Pictor 3 wrote annals ; but his principal
work was a treatise on the Pontifical law, an anti-
quarian record of rites and ceremonies. L. Calpurnius
Piso Frugi Censorius w r as consul in the year in which
Ti. Sempronius Gracchus was killed, and censor the
year after the murder of C. Gracchus :.* he is occasionally
quoted by Dionysius, and twice by Livy, who, on the
points in question, consider his authority less trust-
worthy than that of Fabius Pictor. 5 Gellius 6 quotes
from him the following traditional anecdote of Komulus.
Once upon a time the King was invited out to supper.
He drank very little, because he had business to transact
on the following day. Some one at table remarked, if
everybody did so, wine would be cheaper. " Nay," replied
Eomulus, " I have drank as much as I wished ; if every-
body did so, it would be dear."
1 Gell. ii. 13. ? See Nieb Lect. V. on Rom. Lit. 8 Brut, 21.
4 B. c. 133. 5 Liv. i. 55. u Lib. xi. 14.
174 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Piso was an honest man, but not an honest historian.
He acquired the surname Frugi by his strict integrity
and simple habits ; but his ingenuity tempted him to
disregard historical truth. Mebuhr considers him the
first who introduced systematic forgeries into Roman
history. Seeing the discrepancies and consistencies be-
tween the accounts given by previous annalists, instead
of weighing them together, and adopting those which
were best supported by the testimony of antiquity, he
either invented theories in order to reconcile conflicting
statements, or substituted some narrative which he
thought might have been the groundwork of the mar-
vellous legend. Mebuhr observes, that he treated history
precisely in the same way in which the rationalists
endeavoured to divest the Scripture of its miraculous
character.
M. iEmilius Scaurus, P. Putilius Pufus, and Q. Luta-
tius Catulus were the first Eoman autobiographers ; and
their example was afterwards followed by Sulla, who
employed his retirement in writing his own memoirs in
twenty -two books. Scaurus was the son of a charcoal-
dealer, who, by his military talents, twice raised himself
to the consulship, and once enjoyed the honour of a
triumph. A few unimportant fragments of his personal
memoirs are preserved by the grammarians. Putilius
was consul a. u. c. 649 : he wrote his own life in Latin,
and a history of Pome in Greek. 1 Catulus is praised by
Cicero for his Latinity, who compares his style to that of
Xenophon. 2
The other historians, who flourished immediately before
the literary period of Cicero, were C. Licinius Macer,
Q. Claudius Quadrigarius, and Q. Valerius Antias.
Macer 3 was a prolix and gossiping writer : he was
1 Athenseus, iv. 168. 2 Brut. 35.
3 See Cic. de Leg. i. 2 : Brut. 67.
HISTORY OF QUADRIGAR1US. 175
not deficient in industry ; lie spared no pains in col-
lecting traditions ; but lie had no judgment in selection,
and accepted all the Greek fables respecting Italy without
discrimination. Hence he makes some statements which
were rejected by annalists of greater authority. Niebuhr 1
defends him, and regrets deeply the loss of his annals.
He thinks it not improbable that Cicero's unfavourable
criticism may have been owing to political prejudice.
His work was voluminous, and, probably, traced the
Roman history from the commencement to his own
times.
Quadrigarius is much quoted both by Livy and the
grammarians. From the fragments extant it is clear
that his history commenced with the Gallic wars ; and
from a passage in Plutarch's life of Numa, 2 he appears to
have been actuated by a motive indicative of his truth-
fulness as an historian. He was not content with fabulous
legends, and there were no documents in existence an-
terior to the capture of Rome by the Gauls. His work
consisted of twenty-three books : it carried the history,
as is generally supposed, as far as the death of Sulla, 3
or, as Mebuhr believed, down to the consulship of
Cicero. 4 The longest fragment extant has been preserved
by Gellius, and relates the combat of Manlius Torquatus
with the mgantic Gaul.
The style is abrupt and sententious, and the structure
of the sentences loose ; but the story is told in a naive
and spirited manner. One can realize the scene as the
historian describes it — the awe of the Roman host at the
unwonted sight — the gigantic stature, the truculent
countenance of the Goliath-like youth — the unbroken
silence, in the midst of which his voice of thunder uttered
his defiance — the scorn with which he sneered and put
1 Lect. iii. xliv. ' z Numa, c. i. See Niebuhr, Lect. III. xli.
[i a. u. c. 678. * a. u. c. 691.
17 G ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
out his tongue when no one accepted his challenge — the
shame and grief of the noble Manlius — the struggle — the
cutting off the monster's head, and the wreathing his
own neck with the collar still reeking' with blood.
It has been suggested that this historian received the
surname Quadrigarius because, in the games of the Circus,
celebrated after the victory of Sulla, he won the prize in
the chariot race.
No Roman historian ever made greater pretensions to
accuracy than Valerius Antias, and no one was less trust-
worthy. Livy, on one occasion, 1 accuses him of either
negligence or impudent exaggeration ; but there is no
doubt that he was guilty of the latter fault. Almost all
the places in which he is quoted by Livy have reference
to numbers, and in all he not only goes far beyond all
other historians, 2 but even transgresses the bounds of pos-
sibility. Livy never hesitates to call him a liar. In all
cases he is guilty of falsehood; the only question is
whether his falsehood is more or less moderate. The
following examples are sufficient to convict him. He
undertakes to assert that the exact number of the Sabine
virgins was 527. 3 If one historian states that 60 engines
of war were taken, he makes the number 6,000 ; 4 when all
authors, Greek and Latin, unite in asserting that in
a., u. c. 553, there was no memorable campaign, he says
a battle was fought in which 12,000 of the enemy were
slain and 1,200 taken prisoners. 5 In another place 10,000
slain become 40,000 ; 6 and a fine which Quadrigarius states
was to be paid by instalments in thirty years, he distri-
butes only over the space of ten. 7 With matter of this
unauthentic kind, he filled no less than seventy-five books,
1 Lib. xxx. 19.
2 There is one instance to the contrary (Liv. xxxviii. 23), in which Quad-
rigarius makes the number of the slain 40,000, Antias only 10,000.
3 Plut. Romulus, 14. 4 Liv. xxvi. 49. 5 Lib. xxxii. 6.
Lib. xxxiii. 10. 7 Lib. xxxiii. 30.
m
SI8ENNA AND TUBERO. 177
of which a large portion of passages have been preserved,
especially by Livy.
Hitherto, with one doubtful exception, Latin historical
composition was in the hands of the great and noble ; the
first historian belonging: to the order of the libertini was
L. Otacilius Pilitns. Snetonins 1 says, that he was not only
originally a slave, bnt that he acted as porter, and, as was
the custom, was chained to his master's door. Nothing
is known of his works ; it is probable, therefore, that they
were of no merit.
Two more important names remain to be mentioned
amongst the annalists of this period — L. Cornelius Si-
senna and Q. iElrus Tuber o. Sisenna, according to the
testimony of Cicero, 2 was born between b. c. 640 and
b. c. 630, and tilled the office of quaestor b. c. 676. He
was, according to the same authority, a man of learning
and taste, wrote pure Latin, was well acquainted with
public business, and, although deficient in industry, sur-
passed all his predecessors and contemporaries in his
talents as an historian. Probably his style of writing ap-
proached more nearly to that of the new school, although
still below the Ciceronian standard. The testimony of
Sallust is not so favourable, as he considers him not suffi-
ciently impartial to fulfil adequately the duties of a con-
temporary historian. 3
No fragments are extant of sufficient length to enable
us to form any estimate of his merits, although, on ac-
count of the numerous unusual words which occur in
his writings, no historian of this period has been more
frequently quoted by the grammarians. The probability
is that his twenty-three books are of little or no value,
as they are never referred to in order to illustrate matters
of historical or antiquarian interest.
Tubero was the contemporary of Cicero, and did not
De Clar. Rhet. 3. 2 Brut. 64 and 88. 3 Jug. 95.
178 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
write his annals until after Cicero's consulship. Never-
theless he must be considered as belonging to the old
school, and its last as well as one of its most worthy
representatives. He was the father of L. Tubero, the
legate of Q. Cicero, in Asia. Like Piso he was a stout
ojDponent of the Grracchic policy, and a firm supporter of
the aristocracy. A stoic in philosophy, his life was in
strict accordance with his creed, and his style of writing
is said to have been marked with Catonian rudeness. He
describes, in his history, the cruel tortures of Regulus by
the Carthaginians, and relates the story of the wonderful
serpent at Bagrada. 1 He is once quoted by Dionysius
and twice by Livy.
Gell. vi. 3, 4.
( 179 )
CHAPTER XII.
EARLY ROMAN ORATORY — ELOQUENCE OF APPIUS CLAUDIUS C^CUS
— FUXERAL ORATIOXS — DEFENCE OF SCIPIO AFRICANUS MAJOR —
SCIPIO AFRICANUS MINOR JEMILI ANUS— ERA OF THE GRACCHI —
THEIR CHARACTERS — INTERVAL BETWEEN THE GRACCHI AND
CICERO— M. ANTONIUS — L. LICLNIUS CRASSUS — Q. HORTENSIUS —
CAUSES OF HIS EARLY POPULARITY AND SUBSEQUENT FAILURE.
Eloquence, though of a rude unpolished kind, must have
been in the very earliest times a characteristic of the
Roman people. It is a plant indigenous to a free soil.
Its infancy was nurtured in the schools of Tisias and
Corax, when, on the dethronement of the tyrants, the
dawn of freedom brightened upon Sicily ; and, just as in
modern times it has flourished especially in England and
America, fostered by the unfettered freedom of debate, so
it found a congenial home in free Greece and republican
Rome. He who could contrast in the most glowing
colours the cruelty of the pitiless creditor with the suffer-
ings of the ruined debtor — who could ingeniously connect
those patent evils with some defects in the constitution,
some inequalities in political rights hitherto hidden and
unobserved — would wield at will the affections of the
people and become the master-spirit amongst his fellow-
citizens.
Occasions would not be wanting in a state where, from
the earliest times, a struggle was continually maintained
between a dominant and a subject race, for the use of
those arts of eloquence which Nature, the mistress of all
art, suggests. The plebeians, in then conflicts with the
n 2
180 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
patricians, must have had some leader, and eloquence,
probably to a great extent, directed the selection, even
though there was, in reality, no Menenius Agrippa to
lead them back from the sacred mountain with his
homely wisdom. Cases of oppression, doubtless, inspired
some Icilius or Virginius with words of burning indigna-
tion, and many a Siccius Dentatus, though he had never
learnt technical rhetoric, used the rhetorical artifice of
appealing to his honourable wounds and scars in front
which he had received in the service of his country, and
to disgraceful weals with which his back was lacerated by
the lash of the torturer. In an army where the personal
influence of the general was more productive of heroism
than the rules of a long-established discipline, a short
harangue often led the soldiers to victory. And, lastly,
the relation subsisting between the two orders of patron
and client taught a milder and more business-like elo-
quence — that of explaining with facility common civil
rights, and unravelling the knotty points of the constitu-
tional law. Oratory, in fact, was the unwritten literature
of active life, and recommended itself by its antagonistic
spirit and its utility to a warlike and utilitarian people.
Long, therefore, before the art of the historian was suffi-
ciently advanced to record a speech, or to insert a fictitious
one as an embellishment or illustration of its pages, the
forum, the senate, the battle-field, the threshold of the
jurisconsult, had been nurseries of Soman eloquence, or
schools in which oratory attained a vigorous youth, and
prepared for its subsequent maturity.
Tradition speaks of a speech recorded even before the
poetry of Nsevius was written, and this speech was known
to Cicero., It was delivered against Pyrrhus by Appius
Claudius the blind. 1 He belonged to a house, every
1 Appius Claudius Csecus was also author of a moral poem on Pythago-
rean principles, which was extant in the time of Cicero (Brutus, 16).
ELOQUENCE OF APPIUS CLAUDIUS OECUS. 181
member of which, from the decemvir to the emperor,
was bom to bow down their fellow-men beneath their
strong- wills. Such a character, united with a poetical
genius, implies the very elements of that oratory which
would curb a nation accustomed to be restrained by force
as much as by reason. On this celebrated occasion, 1 the
blind old man caused himself to be borne into the senate-
house on a litter, that he might confront the wily Cineas
whom Pyrrhus had sent to negotiate peace. The Mace-
donian minister was an accomplished speaker, and his
memory, that important auxiliary to eloquence, was so
powerful, that in one day he learnt to address all the
senators and knights by name, yet it is said that he was
no match for the energy of Appius and was obliged to
quit Eome.
Whilst the legal and political constitution of the Eoman
people gave direct encouragement to deliberative and
judicial oratory, respect to the illustrious dead furnished
opportunities for panegyric. The song of the bard in
honour of the departed warrior gave place to the funeral
oration (la uda tio) .
Before the commencement of the second Punic war, 2
Q. Metellus pronounced the funeral harangue over his
father, the conqueror of Hasdrubal; history also speaks
of him as a debater in the senate, and his address to the
censors is found in the fourth decade of Livy. 3 His
funeral oration was admired even in the time of J. Csesar,
and Pliny 4 has recorded the substance of one remarkable
passage which it contained. The period of the second
Punic war produced Corn. Cethegus. Cicero mentions
him in his list of Eoman orators ; 5 and although he
had never seen a specimen of his style, he states that he
retained his force and vigour even in his old age. Ennius
1 b. C. 280. 2 About B. c. 221. 3 Lib. xxxv. 8 ; xl. 46.
4 H. N. vii. 43, 44. 5 Brut. 14, 19, de Sen.
182 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
also bears testimony to his eloquence in the following
line : —
Flos delibatus populi, suaviloquenti ore.
At the conclusion of the second war, Fabius Cunctator
pronounced the eulogium 1 of his elder son ; and Cicero,
although he denies him the praise of eloquence, states,
that he was a fluent and correct speaker.
Scipio Africanus Major, on that memorable day when
his enemies called upon him to render an account of the
moneys received from Antiochus, proved himself a con-
summate orator : he disdained to refute the malignant
charges of his opponents, but spoke till dusk of the
benefits which he had conferred upon his country. Thus
it came to pass that the adjourned meeting was held on
the anniversary of Zama. Livy has adorned the simple
words of the great soldier with his graceful language,
but A. Grellius 2 has preserved the peroration almost in
his own words. " I call to remembrance, Romans," said
he, " that this is the very day on which I vanquished in
a bloody battle on the plains of Africa the Carthaginian
Hannibal, the most formidable enemy Rome ever en-
countered. I obtained for you a peace and an unlooked-
for victory. Let us then not be ungrateful to heaven,
but let us leave this knave, and at once offer our grateful
thanksgivings to Jove, supremely good and great."
The people obeyed his summons — the forum was
deserted, and crowds followed him with acclamations to
the Capitol.
Mention has already been made of the stern eloquence
of his adversary Cato. He was equally laborious as a
speaker and a writer. No fewer than one hundred and
fifty of his orations were extant in Cicero's time, most of
which were on subjects of public and political interest.
Cic. Cat. 4, 12 ; de Sen. 4 ; Brut. 14, 18. 2 Noct. Attic, iv. 18.
KU
sci no \ruicAMs aiMILlANUS. 183
The t'ath or of the Gracchi was distinguished amongst
his contemporaries for a plain and nervous eloquence, but
DO specimens of his oratory have survived.
Seipio Africanus Minor (iEmilianus) was precisely
qualified to be the link between the new and the old
school of oratory. His soldierlike character displayed all
the vigour and somewhat of the sternness of the old.
Roman, but the harder outlines were modified by an
ardent love of learning. His first campaign was in
Greece, under his father iEmilius Paulus. His first
literary friendship was formed there with the historian
Polybius, which ripened into the closest intimacy when
Polybius came as a hostage to Borne. Subsequently he
became acquainted with Pansetius, who was his instructor
in the principles of philosophy. His taste was gratified
with Greek refinement, although he abhorred the effe-
minacy and profligacy of the Greeks themselves. In
the spirit of Cato, for whom he entertained the warmest
admiration, he indignantly remonstrated against the
inroad of Greek manners. In his speech in opposition
to the law of C. Gracchus, he warned his hearers of the
corruptions which were already insinuating themselves
amongst the Roman youth. " I did not believe what I
heard," he says, "until I witnessed it with my own eyes:
at the dancing-school I saw more than five hundred of
the youth of both sexes. I saw a boy, of at least twelve
years old, wearing the badge of noble birth, who per-
formed a castanet dance, which an immodest slave could
not have danced without disgrace."
The degeneracy of Greek manners had not corrupted
his moral nature, or rendered him averse to the active
duties of a citizen ; it had not destroyed the frankness,
whilst it had humanized the rough honesty, of the
Roman, and taught him to love the beautiful as well as
the good, and to believe that the former was the proper
external development of the latter.
184 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
One friend, whose influence contributed to form the
mind of Scipio, was the wise and gentle Lselius. In
other places, as well as in the " de Amicitia," Cicero
associates their names together. These distinguished
friends were well suited to each other. The sentiments
of both were noble and elevated. "Both," as Cicero 1 says,
"were 'imprimis eloquentes. 3 " Their discrepancies were
such as draw men of similar tastes more closely together,
in those hours which they can devote to their favourite
pursuits. Scipio was an active man of business — Lselius
a contemplative philosopher : Scipio, a Roman in heart
and soul — Lselius, a citizen of the world: Scipio was
rather inclined to ostentatious display — Lselius was
retiring. The former had a correct taste, spoke Latin
with great purity, and had an extensive acquaintance
with the literature both of Greece and his own country.
The attainments of the latter were more solid, and his
acquaintance with the mind of Greece more profound.
But Lselius was not equally calculated to occupy a place
in history ; and hence, perhaps, although a few fragments
of the eloquence of Scipio are extant, 2 the remains of that
of Lselius extend only to as many lines. Cheerfulness
(hilaritas), smoothness (lenitas), and learning distin-
guished the speeches of Lselius, whilst spirit, genius, and
natural power marked those of Scipio.
Servius Sulpicius Galba, whom Cato 3 prosecuted for his
treachery to the Lusitanians, obtained from Cicero the
praise of having been the first Roman who really under-
stood how to apply the theoretical principles of Greek
rhetoric. He is said likewise to have carried away with
him the feelings of his auditors by his animated and
vehement delivery. How skilful he was in the use of
rhetorical artifice is shown by his parading before the
assembly of the people, when brought to trial, his two
Bnit. 21. 2 Meyer, Orat. Rom. Fragm, 5 b. c. 149 ; a. u. c. 605.
ERA OF THE GRACCHI. 185
ini ant sons, and the orphan of his friend Sulpicius Gallus.
His tears and embraces touched the hearts of his judges,
and the cold-blooded perjurer was acquitted. External
artifice, however, probably constituted his whole merit.
He had the tact thus to cover a dry and antique style,
destitute of nerve and muscle, of which no specimen
except only a few words remain.
All periods of political disquiet are necessarily favour-
able to eloquence, and the era of the Grracclri was espe-
cially so. Extensive political changes were now esta-
blished. They had been of slow and gradual growth,
and were the natural development of the Roman system ;
but they were changes which could not take place without
the crisis being accompanied by great political convulsions.
In order to understand the state of parties, of which the
great leaders and principal orators were the represen-
tatives, it is necessary to explain briefly in what these
changes consisted. The result of an obstinate and per-
severing struggle during nearly four centuries was that
the old distinction of patrician and plebeian no longer
existed. Plebeians held the consulship 1 and censorship, 2
and patricians, like the Gracchi, stood forward as plebeian
tribunes and champions of popular rights.
The distinctions of blood and race, therefore, were no
longer regarded. Most of the old patrician families were
extinct. Niebuhr believes that at this period not more
than fifteen patrician " gentes". remained; and the indi-
vidual members of those which survived, if they main-
tained their position at all, maintained it by personal
influence. The constitutional principle which determined
the difference of ranks was property. This line of de-
marcation between rich and poor was not an impassable
one like that of birth, but it had now become very broad
and deep, owing to the accumulation of wealth in few
A. u. C. 580. ' l a. u. c. 622.
186 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE
hands ; and thus between these two orders there was as
little sympathy as there had been between the patrician
creditors and the plebeian debtors in the earlier times of
the republic.
But besides this constitutional principle of distinction
there was another of a more aristocratic nature, which
owed its erection to public opinion. Those families the
members of which had held high public offices were
termed nobiles (nobles). Those individuals whose families
had never been so distinguished were termed new men
(novi homines). Thus a man's ancestors were made
hostages for his patriotism ; and so trustworthy a pledge
was hereditary merit considered for ability and fidelity
in the discharge of high functions, that only in a few
exceptional cases was the consulship, although open to
all, conferred upon a new man. One consequence of all
these changes was, that the struggle for political dis-
tinction became hotter than ever, and the strife more
vehement between the competitors for public favour.
These stirring times produced many celebrated orators.
Papirius Carbo, the ultra-liberal and unscrupulous col-
league of Tiberius Gracchus, who united the gift of a
beautiful voice to copiousness and fluency ; Lepidus
Porcina, who attained the perfection of Attic gentleness,
and whom Tib. Gracchus took as his model ; iEmilius
Scaurus, whom Statius libelled as of ignoble birth ;
B,utilius Bufus, who was too upright to appeal to the
compassion of his judges j 1 M. Junius Pennus, who met
by an insulting alien act the bill of Gracchus for the
enfranchisement of the Italians.
The Gracchi themselves were each in a different degree
eloquent, and possessed those endowments and accidents
of birth which would recommend their eloquence to their
countrymen. Gentleness and kindness were the charac-
De Orat. 153.
THE MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI. 1S7
toristics of this illustrious race. Their father, by his
mild administration, attached to himself the ^ warm
affection of the Spaniards. Their mother inherited the
strong* mind and genius of Scipio. To a sound know-
ledge of Greek and Latin literature 1 and a talent for
poetry, she added feminine accomplishments. She danced
elegantly, more elegantly, indeed, than according to the
strict notions of Koman morality a woman of character
need have done. She could also sing and accompany
herself upon the lute. To her care in early youth the
illustrious brothers owed the development of their natural
endowments, and the direction of their generous prin-
ciples. Cicero tells us that he had seen the letters of
this remarkable woman, which showed how much her
sons were indebted to her teaching. Greek philosophers
aided her in her work; and the accomplished Lselius
contributed to add grace and polish to the more solid
portions of education.
Notwithstanding that the political principles which the
Gracchi embraced were the same, their characters, or,
more properly speaking, their temperaments, widely
differed, and their style of speaking was, as might be
expected, in accordance with their respective dispositions.
Tiberius was cold, deliberate, sedate, reserved. The
storms of passion never ruffled the calmness of his
feelings. His speaking, therefore, was self-possessed and
grave, as stoical as his philosophical creed. His conduct
was not the result of impulse, but of a strict sense of
duty. Cicero termed him homo sanctissimus, and his
style was as chastened as his integrity was spotless.
Such, if we may trust Plutarch, was the character of his
oratory, for no fragments remain.
Caius, who was nine years younger than his brother,
was warm, passionate, and impetuous : he was inferior to
Sallust. Cat. 25.
188 ROMA™ CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Tiberius morally, as he was intellectually his superior.
His impulses were generous and amiable, but he had not
that unswerving rectitude of purpose which is the result
of moral principle. He had, however, more genius, more
creative power. His imagination, lashed by the violence
of his passions, required a strong curb ; but for that reason
it gushed forth as from a natural fountain, and like a
torrent carried all before it. On one occasion, to which
Cicero alludes, 1 his look, his voice, his gestures, were
so inexpressibly affecting, that even his enemies were dis-
solved in tears. It is said that in his calmer moments
he was conscious that his vehemence was apt to offend
against good taste, and employed a slave to stand near
him with a pitch-pipe, in order that he might regulate
his voice when passion rendered the tunes unmusical.
His education enabled him to rid himself of the harshness
of the old school, and to gain the reputation of being the
father of Roman prose. But his impetuosity made
him leave unfinished that which he had well begun.
" His language was noble, his sentiments wise, gravity
pervaded his whole style, but his works wanted the last
finishing stroke. There were many glorious beginnings,
but they were not brought to perfection." 2 Several
fragments remain which confirm the correctness of
Cicero's criticism — one of the most beautiful is from his
speech against Popilius Lsenas, which drove that blood-
thirsty tyrant into voluntary exile.
Oratory began now to be studied more as an art, and
to be invested with a more polished garb. The interval
between the Gracchi and Cicero boasted of many distin-
guished names, such as those of Q. Catulus, Curio, Fimbria,
Scsevola, Cotta, P. Sulpicius, and the Memmii. The most
illustrious names of this epoch were M. Antonius,
L. Licinius Crassus, and Cicero's immediate predecessor
Orat. iii. 56. 2 Brut. 33.
MARCUS ANT0NIUS. L89
and most formidable rival, Hortensius. Antony and
Qrassus, says Cicero, were the first Romans who elevated
eloquence to the heights to which it had been raised by
Greek genius. 1 From this complaint it may be inferred
that, notwithstanding the popular prejudice which existed
against Greek taste, and to which even Cicero himself
sometimes conceived himself obliged to yield, 2 the leading
orators had ceased to take the specimens of old Roman
eloquence as then- models. Cicero asserts 3 that both
Antony and Crassus owed their eminence to a diligent
study of Greek literature, and to the instructions of Greek
professors. The former, he says, attended regularly
lectures at Athens and Rhodes, and the latter spoke
Greek as if it had been his mother-tongue. Yet both
had the narrow-minded vanity to deny their obligations :
the}^ thought their eloquence would be more popular, the
one by showing contempt for the Greeks, the other by
affecting not to know them.
M. Antonius.
M. Antonius entered public life as a pleader, and
thus laid the foundation of his brilliant political career ;
bnt he was through life greater as a judicial than as a
deliberative orator. He was indefatigable in preparing
his case, and made every point tell : he was a great master
of the pathetic, and knew the way to the hearts of the
judices. He was not free from the prevailing fault of
advocates, of being somewhat unscrupulous in his asser-
tions ; and the reason which he is said to have given for
never having published any of his speeches was, lest he
should be forced to deny his words. This statement,
however, is refuted by Cicero. 4 Although he did not
himself give his speeches to posterity, some of his most
Brut. 36. - Pro Rose. 25 ; pro Arch. 60 ; in. Verr. iv. 59.
3 Orat. II. i. 4 Pro Cluent. 50.
190 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
pointed expressions and favourite passages left an in-
delible impression on the memories of his hearers : many
are preserved by Cicero, who has given us also a complete
epitome of one of them. 1 In the prime of life, he fell a
victim to political fury ; and his bleeding head was placed
upon the rostrum which was so frequently the scene of
his eloquent triumphs.
L. Licinius Crassus.
L. Licinius Crassus was four years younger than
Antonius, having been born B.C. 140. It is not known
whether he was connected with the distinguished family
whose name he bore. He commenced his career at the
Roman bar. 2 At the early age of twenty-one, he suc-
cessfully impeached C. Carbo, and in the year B.C. 118,
supported the foundation of a colony at Narbo, in Gaul.
A measure so beneficial to the poorer citizens increased
his popularity as well as his professional fame. He
went to Asia as quaestor, and there studied under Metro-
dorus the rhetorician. On his way home he remained a
short time at Athens, and attended the lectures of the
leading professors.
Notwithstanding his knowledge of jurisprudence, and
his early eminence as a pleader, the speech which es-
tablished his reputation was a political one. Under the
Eoman judicial system, the praetor presided in court, with
a certain number of assessors (judices), who gave their
verdict like our jurymen. These were chosen from the
senators. Experience proved that not only in their
determination to stand by their order they were guilty
of partiality, but that they had also been open to bribery.
The knights constituted the nearest approach which could
be found to a rich middle class. C. Gracchus, there-
fore, by the "Lex Sempronia," transferred the ad-
De Orat. ii. 48. 2 B.C. 122.
L. LICTNIUS CRASSUS. 191
ministration of justice to a body of three hundred men,
chosen from the equestrian order. This promised to be
a salutary change ; but so corrupt was the whole frame-
work of Roman society, that it did not prove effectual.
The Publicani, who farmed the revenues of the provinces,
were all Roman knights. The new judges, therefore,
were as anxious to shield the peculations and extortions
of their own brethren as the old had been.
In B.C. 106, L. Servilius Csepio brought in a bill for
the restoration of the judicial office to the senators. In
support of this measure (the first Lex Servilia), Crassus
delivered a powerful and triumphant oration, in which he
warmly espoused the cause of the senate, whom he had
before as strenuously opposed on the question of the
colony to Narbo. This speech was his chef-d'oeuvre. 1
After serving the office of consul, 2 in which he
seems to have mistaken his vocation by exchanging the
toga for the sword, he was raised to the censorship. 3
His year of office is celebrated for the closing the
schools of the Latin rhetoricians by an edict of him-
self and his colleague. The foundations of these schools
had been laid in the ruins of the Greek schools, when the
philosophers and rhetoricians were banished from Borne. 4
Although the censorial power could suppress the schools,
it could not put a stop to the education given there.
The professors found a refuge in private mansions ; and
thus, protected and fostered by intelligent patrons, con-
tinued to fulfil their duties as instructors of youth. How
often did literature at Eome have to seek an asylum from
private patronage against the rude attacks of public pre-
judice ! The reasons for the measure of Crassus are stated
in the preamble. 5 These schools were a novelty ; they
were contrary to ancient institutions ; they encouraged
1 De Orat. i. 52 ; Brut. 43. 2 b. c. 95. 8 B. c. 92.
4 b. c. 161 ; a. u. o. 593. 5 A. Gell. xv. ii.
192 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
idle habits amongst the Eoman youth. Cicero defended
this arbitrary act on the grounds that the professors
pretended to teach subjects of which they were them-
selves ignorant ; but Cicero could scarcely find a fault in
Crassus. He thought him a model of perfection — the
first of orators and of jurists. 1 He saw no inconsistency
in his conduct in the cases of the Narbonne colony and the
Servilian law. 3 He is lavish in his praises of his wit and
faeetiousness (lepor et facetiae 3 ), and applies to his malignant
and ill-natured jokes the term urbanity. The bon-mots of
Crassus were by no means superior to the generality of
Eoman witticisms, which were deficient in point, although
they were personal, caustic, and severe. 4 The grave
Eomans were content with a very little wit : the quality
for which they looked in an oration was not playfulness,
but skill in the art of ingeniously tormenting. Crassus
never uttered a jest equal to that of old Cato, when he
said of Q. Helvidius the glutton, whose house was on fire,
" What he could not eat he has burned." 6
His conduct with respect to the Latin schools and
his self-indulgent life in his magnificent mansion on the
Palatine, prove that he had retained the narrow-minded-
ness of the old Eomans without their temperance and
self-denial, and had acquired the luxury and taste of the
Greeks without their liberality. If, however, we make
some allowance for partiality, Crassus deserves the
favourable criticism of Cicero. 6 His style is careful and
yet not laboured — it is elegant, accurate, and perspicuous.
He seems to have possessed considerable powers of illus-
tration, and great clearness in explaining and defining :
his delivery was calm and self-possessed, his action
sufficiently vehement but not excessive. 7 He took espe-
cial pains with the commencement of his speech. When
1 De CI. Or. 143, 145. 2 Pro Cluent. 51. 3 De Orat. ii. 54.
4 Cic. de Or. ii. G5 ; Plin. H. N. xxxv. 4. 5 Macrobius, Sat.
6 See Brutus, passim. 7 Brutus, 158.
•
CRASSUS IN THE DE ORATORE. 193
he was about to speak, every one was prepared to listen,
and the very first words which lie uttered showed him
worthy of the expectation formed. No one better under-
stood the difficult art of uniting elegance with brevity.
From amongst the crowd of orators which were then
flourishing in the last days of expiring Roman liberty,
Cicero selected Crassus to be the representative of his
sentiments in his imaginary conversation in the de Oratore.
He felt that their tastes were congenial. In this most
captivating essay, he introduces his readers to a distin-
guished literary circle, men who united activity in public
life with a taste for refined leisure. Antony, Crassus,
Scsevola, Cotta, and Sulpicius, met at Tusculum to talk
of the politics of the day. For this especial purpose they
had come, and all day long they ceased not to converse
on these grave matters. They spoke not of lighter
matters until they reclined at supper. Their day seemed
to have been spent in the senate, their evening at Tus-
culum. Next day, in the serene and sunny climate of
Frascati, a scene well-fitted for the calm repose of a
Platonic dialogue, Scsevola proposed to imitate the
Socrates of Plato, and converse, as the great philosopher
did, beneath the shade of a plane-tree. Crassus assented,
suggesting only that cushions would be more convenient
than the grass. So the dialogue began in which Crassus is
made the mouthpiece to deliver the sentiments of Cicero.
Like our own Chatham, Crassus almost died on the
floor of the senate-house, and his last effort was in support
of the aristocratic party. His opponent, Philippus the
consul, strained his power to the utmost to insult him,
and ordered his goods to be seized. His last words were
worthy of him. He mourned the bereavement of the
senate — that the consul, like a sacrilegious robber, should
strip of its patrimony the very order of which he ought
to have been a kind parent or faithful guardian. " It is
useless," he continued, " to seize these ; if you will
o
194 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
silence Crassus, you must tear out his tongue, and even
then my liberty shall breathe forth a refutation of thy
licentiousness I" The paroxysm was too much for him,
fever ensued, and in seven days he was a corpse.
We must pass over numerous names contained in the
catalogue of Cicero, mentioning by the way Cotta and
the two Sulpicii. Cotta's taste was pure ; but his delicate
lungs made his oratory too tame for his vehement coun-
trymen. Publius Sulpicius had all the powers of a
tragic actor to influence the passions, but professed that
he could not write, and therefore left no specimens behind
him. His reluctance to write must have been the result
of reserve or of indolence, and not of inability, for
nothing can be more tender and touching, and yet more
philosophical, than his letter of condolence to Cicero on
the death of his beloved daughter. 1 Servius, like too
many orators, and even Cicero himself, at first despised
an accurate knowledge of the Roman law. The great
Scsevola, however, rebuked him, and reminded him how
disgraceful it was for one who desired the reputation of
an advocate to be ignorant of law. These words excited
his emulation : he ardently devoted himself to the study
of jurisprudence, 2 and at length is said to have surpassed
even Scsevola himself.
Q. Hortensius.
The last of the pre-Ciceronian orators was Hortensius.
Although he was scarcely eight years senior to the
greatest of all Eoman orators, he cannot be considered as
belonging to the same literary period, since the genius
and eloquence of Cicero constitute the commencement of
a new era. He was, nevertheless, his contemporary and
his rival ; and all that is known respecting his career is
derived from the writings of Cicero.
De Fam. iv. 5. 2 Cic. Philip, ix. 5.
QUINTUS HORTENSIUS. 195
Q. Hortensius was the son of L. Hortensius, prsator of
Sicily, b.c. 97. He was born B.C. 114 ; and, as it was the
custom that noble Roman youths should be called to the
bar at an early age, he commenced his career as a pleader
at nineteen, and pleaded, with applause and success,
before two consuls who were excellent judges of his
merits, the orator Crassus and the jurist Scsevola. His
first speech was in support of the province of Africa
against the extortions of the governor. In his second
he defended Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, against his
brother, who had dethroned him. When Crassus and
Antony were dead, he was left without any rival except
Cotta, but he soon surpassed him. 1 The eloquence of
Cotta was too languid to stand against his impetuous
flow, and he thus became the acknowledged leader of the
Roman bar until the star of Cicero arose. They first
came in contact when Cicero pleaded the cause of
Quintius, and in that oration he pays the highest possible
compliment to the talents and genius of Hortensius.
His political connexion with the faction of Sulla, and
his unscrupulous support of the profligate corruption
which characterized that administration both at home
and abroad, enlisted his legal talents in defence of the
infamous Verres ; but the eloquence of Cicero, together
with the justice of the cause which he espoused, pre-
vailed, and from that time forward his superiority over
Hortensius was established and complete. But the ad-
miration which Cicero entertained for his rival had
ripened into friendship, which neither the fact of then
being retained on opposite sides, nor even difference in
politics, had power to interrupt. The only danger which
ever threatened its stability was some little jealousy on
the part of Cicero — a jealousy which must be attributed
to his morbid temperament and susceptible disposition,
Brut. xcii.
o 2
196 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
But Hortensius was always a warm and affectionate
friend to Cicero, and Cicero was affected with the deepest
grief when he heard of the death of Hortensius. 1 The time
at length arrived when identity of political sentiments
drew them more closely together ; and it is to this we owe
the place which Hortensins so often occupies in the
letters and other works of the great Eoman orator.
Cicero had originally espoused the popular cause ; but
his zeal gradually became less ardent, and the Catili-
narian conspiracy threw him entirely into the arms of
the aristocratic party. At the Eoman bar politics had
great influence in determining the side taken by the
leading advocates. They were virtually the great law
officers of the party in the republic to which they be-
longed, and had, as it were, general retainers on their
own side. Hence Hortensius generally advocated the
same side with Cicero. Together they defended Eabi-
rius, Mursena, Flaccus, Sextius, Scaurus, and Milo ; but
the former seems to have at once acknowledged his infe-
riority, and henceforward to have taken but little part in
public life. In B.C. 51, he defended his nephew from a
charge of bribery ; but the guilt of the accused was so plain
that the people hissed him when he entered the theatre. 2
The following year he died, at the age of seventy -five, and
left behind him a daughter, whose eloquence is celebrated
in history. An oration, of which she was the author, was
read in the time of Quintilian for the sake of its own
merits, and not as a mere compliment to the female sex.
Q. Hortensius has been accused of corruption; and his
attachment to a corrupt party, his luxurious habits, extra-
vagant expenditure, numerous villas, and enormous
wealth, make it probable that this suspicion was not
imfounded. He was an easy, kind-hearted, hospitable,
but self-indulgent man. His park was a complete mena-
1 Ad Att. vi. 6. 2 Ad Fam
STYLE OF HIS ELOQUENCE. 197
gerie ; Lis fish-ponds were stocked with fish so tame that
they would feed from his hand. His gardens were so
carefully kept that he even watered his trees with wine.
He had a taste for both poetry and painting, wrote some
amatory verses, and for one picture gave 140,000 sesterces
(about 1,100/.). His table was sumptuous; and peacocks
were seen for the first time in Eome at his banquets. His
cellar was so well supplied that he left 10,000 casks of
Cliian wine behind him. 1
Cicero tells us 2 that the principal reason of Horten-
sius' early popularity and subsequent failure was, that his
style of eloquence was suited to the brilliance and liveli-
ness of youth, but not the dignity and gravity of mature
age. In those days there were two parties, 3 who differed
in their views as to the theory of eloquence ; the one
admired the oratory of the Attic rhetoricians, which was
calm, polished, refined, eschewing all redundancies ; the
other that of the Asiatic schools, which was florid and
ornate.
Cicero 4 tells us that the style of Hortensius' eloquence
was Asiatic ; and as the characteristic of his own eloquence
is Asiatic diffuseness rather than Attic closeness, and he
often seems to consider this quality of Asiatic eloquence
least worthy of admiration, it is possible that Hortensius
carried it to excess, perhaps even to the borders of affec-
tation. In a youthful orator excess of ornament is par-
donable because it is natural ; it gives promise of future
excellence when genius becomes sobered and luxuriance
retrenched.
Hortensius, a prosperous and spoilt child of nature,
was a young man all his life : there was nothing to cast
a gloom over his gaiety ; and to those of his auditors who
possessed good taste this juvenility seemed inconsistent,
1 Smith's Diet, of Antiq. s. v. a Brut. 95.
8 Quint, xii. ; ch. x. ; Brut. Orat. ad Br. in many places.
4 A. Gell. i. 5.
198 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
and threw into the shade the finish, polish, and anima-
tion which characterized his style. His delivery was pro-
bably no less unsuitable to more advanced years. We are
told that JEsop and Eoscins used to study his action
as a lesson ; l and that one Torquatus sneeringly called nim
Dionysius, who was a celebrated dancer of that day.
His defence was clever : "I had rather," he said, " be that
than a clumsy Torquatus." But these very anecdotes
seem to imply that Ms delivery was somewhat foppish
and theatrical.
1 A. GeU. i. 5.
( 190 )
CHAPTER XIII.
STUDY OF JURISPRUDENCE— EARLIEST SYSTEMATIC WORKS ON ROMAN
LAW — GROUNDWORK OF THE ROMAN CIVIL LAW — EMINENT
JURISTS THE SC.EVOL^ — iELIUS GALLUS— C. AQUILIUS GALLUS
A LAW REFORMER — OTHER JURISTS — GRAMMARIANS.
Politics and jurisprudence were the subjects on which
the Eomans especially pursued independent lines of
thought ; but their jurisprudence was the more original of
the two. Although the practical development of their
political system was entirely the work of this eminently
practical people, still in the theory of political science
they were followers and imitators of the Greeks. But in
jurisprudence the help which they derived from Greece
was very slight. The mere famework, so far as the laws
of the Twelve Tables are concerned, came to them from
Athens ; but the complete structure was built up by their
own hands : and by their skill and prudence they were
the authors of a system possessing such stability, that
they bequeathed it as an inheritance to modern Europe,
and traces of Roman law are visible in the legal systems
of the whole civilized world.
Roman jurisprudence is, of course, a subject of too great
extent to be treated of as its importance deserves in a
work like the present ; but still it is so closely connected
with eloquence that it cannot be dismissed without a few
words. It has been already stated that arms, politics,
and the bar were the avenues to distinction ; and thus
200 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
many an ambitious youth who learned the art of war in
a foreign campaign under some experienced general, oc-
cupied himself also at home in the forum. Not only was
the young patrician conscious that he could not efficiently
discharge his first duty to his clients without possessing
sufficient ability and knowledge to defend their rights in
a court of law, but this was an effectual method of showing
his fitness for a public career. Eminence as a juriscon-
sult opened a direct path to eminence as a statesman. 1
He must be like Pollio, " Insigne mcestis prcesidium reis"
as well as " Consulenti curice." 2
Hence the complicated principles of jurisprudence and
of the Eoman constitution became a necessary part of a
liberal education. The brilliant orator, indeed, did some-
times affect to look down with contempt on such black-
letter and antiquarian lore, and stigmatise it as pedantry, 3
but still common sense compelled the sober-minded to
acknowledge the necessity of the study. They saw that
in the courts eloquence could only be considered as the
handmaid to legal knowledge, even though the saying of
Quintilian were true — " Et leges ipsce nihil valent nisi
actoris idoned voce munitce."* When, therefore, a Eoman
youth had completed his studies under his teacher of
rhetoric, he not only frequented the forum in order to
learn the practical application of the oratorical principles
which he had acquired, and frequently took some cele-
brated orator as a model, but also studied the principles
of jurisprudence under an eminent jurist, and attended
the consultations in which they gave to their clients their
expositions of law. In fact, the young Eoman acquired
his legal knowledge in the atrium of the jurisconsult,
somewhat in the same manner that the law student of
the present day pursues his education in the chambers of
1 Cic. Muraen. 8, 19. ; Off. ii. 19, 65. 2 Hor. Od. II. i. 13.
3 Cic. pro Muraen. 4 Inst. Or. xii. 7.
WORKS ON ROMAN LAW. 201
a barrister. He studied the subject practically and em-
pirically rather than in its theory and general principles.
Almost all the knowledge which we possess is derived
from the labours of writers who flourished long after con-
stitutional liberty had expired..
The earliest systematic works on Eoman law were
the Enchiridion or Manual of Pomponius, and the Insti-
tutes of Graius, who flourished in the times of Hadrian
and the Antonines. Both these works were for a long
time lost, although numerous fragments were preserved
in the Pandects or Digest of Justinian. In 1816, how-
ever, Niebuhr discovered a palimpsest MS., in which the
Epistles of St. Jerome were written over the erased Insti-
tutes of Graius. But owing to the decisions and inter-
pretations of the great practising jurists, to the want of
any system of reporting and recording, and to the nume-
rous misunderstandings of the Eoman historians respect-
ing the laws and constitutional history of their country,
the whole subject long continued in a state of confusion :
new contradictory theories had been gradually introduced,
and old difficulties had not been explained and reconciled.
Gian Baptista Yico, in his Scienza Nova, was the first
who dispelled the clouds of error and reduced it to a
system ; and his example was afterwards so successfully
followed by Niebuhr, that modern students can understand
the subject more clearly, and have a more comprehensive
antiquarian knowledge of it, than the writers of the
Augustan age.
The earliest Eoman laws were the Leges Regice, which
were collected and codified by Sextus Papirius, and were
hence called the Papirian Code. But these were rude
and unconnected — simply a collection of isolated enact-
ments. The laws of the Twelve Tables stand next in
point of antiquity. They exhibited the first attempts at
regular system, and embodied not only legislative enact-
202 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
ments but legal principles. 1 So popular were they that
when Cicero was a child every Eoman boy committed
them to memory as our children learn their catechism, 2
and the great orator laments that in the course of his
lifetime this practice had become obsolete. The explana-
tion of these laws was a privilege confined to the pon-
tifical college. This body alone prescribed the form of
pleading, and published the days on which the courts
were held. Hence, not only the whole practice and ex-
position of the law was in the hands of the patricians,
but they had also the power of obstructing at their plea-
sure all legal business. But in the censorship of Appius
Claudius, his secretary, Cn. Flavius, set up, at the sug-
gestion of Appius, a Calendar in the Forum, which made
known to the public the days on which legal business
could be transacted. In vain the patricians endeavoured
to maintain their monopoly by the invention of new for-
mulae, called Notes, for Tiberius Coruncanius, the first
plebeian Pontifex Maximus, who was consul a. u. c. 474,
opened a public school of jurisprudence, and in the middle
of the next century 3 the " Notes " were published by
Sextus iElius Catus.
The oral traditional expositions of these laws formed the
groundwork of the Eoman civil law. To these were added
from time to time the decrees of the people (plebiscita),
the acts of the senate (senatus-consulta), and the praeto-
rian edicts, which announced the principles on which each
successive praetor purposed to administer the statute law.
Such were the various elements out of which the whole
body of Eoman law was composed; and in such early
times was the subject diligently studied and expounded
that the latter half of the sixth century a. u. c. was rich in
jurists whose powers are celebrated in history. Besides
De Orat. 44. 2 De Leg. ii. 23. 3 a. u. c. 552,
THE se.Kvoi, .?■:. 203
S. /Elius Catus, already mentioned, P. Licinins Crassus,
sumamed " the Rich," who was consnl a. u. c. 549, is
mentioned by Livy 1 as learned in the pontifical law, the
canon law of the ancient Romans. L. Acilius also wrote
commentaries on the laws of the Twelve Tables ; and to
these may be added T. Manlins Torqnatus, consnl a. u. c.
5S9, S. Fabins Pictor, and another member of the same
distinguished family, Q. Fabius Labeo, Cato the Censor
and liis son Porcins, Cato Licinianus, and lastly P. Cor-
nelius Nasica, whose services as a jurist were recognised
by the grant of a house at the public expense.
The most eminent jurists who adorned the next century
were the ScaBvolse. In their family the profession of the
jurisconsult seems to have been hereditary ; of so many
bearing that distinguished name, it might have been
said that their house was the oracle of the whole state :
" Domus jurisconsulti totius oraculum civitatis." 2 Quintus
the augur was Cicero's first instructor in the science of
law : his cousin Publius enjoyed also a high reputation ;
and Quintus, the son of Publius, who became Cicero's
tutor after the death of his elder kinsman, combined the
genius of an orator with the erudition of a jurist, and was
called by his distinguished pupil " the greatest orator
among jurists and the greatest jurist among orators."
The compiler of the Digest also quotes as authorities
S£. ManiHus and M. Junius Brutus. 3 Manilius is
one of the characters introduced in Cicero's dialogue
de Republica : he was consul a. u. c. 604, and is said to
have been the author of seven legal treatises ; but of all
these, except three, Cicero denies the authenticity. Brutus
was the son of the ambassador of that name who was
employed in the war with Perseus, and left a treatise in
three books on the civil law. 4
In the next century flourished one iElius Gallus, who
Lib. xxx. 1. * De Or. i. 45. 3 Dig. I. ii. 39. 4 Dc Or. ii. 55.
204 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
was somewhat senior to Cicero, and was the author of a
treatise on the signification of law terms. Several of
his definitions are given by Festus, and fragments are
preserved by A. Gellius, 1 and in the Digest. By some he
has been considered identical with iElius Gallus, the
prefect of Egypt in the reign of Augustus, 2 who was the
friend of the geographer Strabo; but as there is little
doubt that he is quoted by Yarro, 3 such identity is im-
possible, since Yarro died b. c. 28, and yet he speaks of
Gallus as an aged man. Another distinguished jurist of
this era was his namesake C. Aquilius Gallus. He was
a pupil of Q. Mucius Scsevola, and surpassed all his con-
temporaries in that black-letter knowledge of law, which
in olden time was more highly valued than in the more
brilliant days of Cicero. Learning then began to be
ridiculed and lightly esteemed, and oratorical powers were
more admired in proportion as the Eoman mind became
more alive to the refinements and beauties of language.
But Gallus was most eminent as a law reformer. The
written law of Eome presented by its technicality the
greatest impediments to actions on the unwritten prin-
ciples of common right and equity. To obviate this he
invented legal fictions, L e. formulae by which the effects
of the statute could be annulled without the necessity of
abrogating the statute itself. His practice must have
been large, for Pliny mentions that he was the owner
of a splendid palace on the Yiminal Hill. 4 In b. c. 67,
he served the office of praetor together with Cicero, and
both before and after that he frequently sat as one of the
judices. Cicero pleaded before him in the defence both
of Csecina and Cluentius.
Besides Aquilius Gallus, three of the most distin-
guished jurists, who were a few years senior to Cicero,
1 Lib. xvi. 5 ; Dig. L. 16, 157. 2 B.C. 24, 25.
3 De Lat. Lin. iv. 2 : iv. 10 ; v. 7. 4 H. N. vii, 1.
GRAMMARIANS. 205
owed their legal knowledge to the instructions of Mucius
Scsevola. These were — C. Juventius, Sextus Papirius,
and L. Lucilius Balbus, the last of whom is mentioned
by Cicero, 1 and his works are quoted by his eminent pupil
Sulpicius Bums.
Grammarians.
Towards the conclusion of this literary period a great
increase took place in the numbers of those learned men
whom the Eomans termed " Litterati" 2 but afterwards,
following the custom of the Greeks, Grammarians,
(Grammatici). 3 To them literature was under deep
obligations. Although few of them were authors, and all
of them men of acquired learning rather than of original
genius, they exercised a powerful influence over the
public mind as professors, lecturers, critics, and school-
masters. By them the youths of the best families not
only were imbued with a taste for Greek philosophy and
poetry, but also were taught to appreciate the literature
of their own country.
Suetonius places at the head of the class Livius An-
dronicus and Enuius ; but their fame as poets eclipses
their reputation as mere critics and commentators.
The first professed grammarian whom he 'mentions is
Crates Mallotes, who, between the first and second Punic
wars, was sent to Eome by Attalus. The unfortunate
ambassador fell into an open drain and broke his leg, and
beguiled the tediousness of his confinement by reading a
course of philological lectures. After him C. Octavius
Lampadio edited the works of Nsevius ; Q. Vargunteius
those of Ennius ; and Lselius, Archelaus, Yectius, and Q.
- De Orat. iii. 21.
2 Cornelius Nepos ait litteratos quidem vulgo appellari eos qui aliquid
diligenter et acute scienterque possint aut dicere aut scribere.
3 Sueton. de Illust. Gram.
206 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Philocomus read and explained to a circle of auditors the
Satires of Lucilius.
Most of these grammarians were emancipated slaves :
some were Greeks, some barbarians. Saevius Nicanor
and Aurelius Opilius were freedmen : the latter had
belonged to the household of some Epicurean philosopher.
Cornelius Epicadus was a freedman of Sulla, and completed
the Commentaries which his patron left unfinished, and
Lenseus was freedman of Pompey the Great. M. Pompilius
Andronicus was a Syrian ; M. Antonius Gnipho, though
of ingenuous birth, a Gaul. Servius Clodius, however,
and L. iElius Lanuvinus were Eoman knights. Nor
were the labours of these industrious scholars confined to
Eome or even to Italy, for Octavius Teucer, Siscennius
lacchus, and Oppius Chares gave instructions in the pro-
vince of Gallia Togata.
To the names already mentioned may be added those
of L. iElius Stilo, who accompanied L. Metellus Numi-
dicus into exile, and Valerius Cato, who not only taught
the art of poetry, but was himself a poet.
We have now traced from its infancy the rise and
progress of Eoman literature, and watched the gradual
opening of the national intellect. The dawn has gently
broken, the light has steadily increased, and is now suc-
ceeded by the noon-day brilliance of the " golden age."
( 207 )
BOOK II.
THE ERA OF CICERO AND AUGUSTUS.
CHAPTEK I.
PROSE THE TEST OF THE CONDITION OF A LANGUAGE — DRAMATIC
LITERATURE EXTINCT— MBIES — DLFFERENCE BETWEEN ROMAN
AND GREEK MLMES — LABERDJS — PASSAGES FROM HIS POETRY^ —
MATTUS CALVENA — MIMIAMBI — PUBLIUS SYRUS— ROMAN PANTO-
MIME — ITS LICENTIOUSNESS — PRINCIPAL ACTORS OF PANTOMIME.
During trie period upon which we are now entering,
Eoman literature arrived at its greatest perfection. The
time at which it attained the highest point of excellence
is fixed by Kiebuhr 1 about a. u. c. 680, when Cicero was
between thirty and forty years old. Poetry, indeed, still
continued to improve, as regarded metrical structure and
diction, in finish, smoothness, and harmony. There is
ex. gr. in these respects a marked difference between the
works of Lucretius and Virgil; but nevertheless the
principles of language now became fixed and settled. In
fact, the condition of a language must be judged of by its
prose ; so must likewise the .state of perfection to which
its literature has attained. If poetry could be with pro-
priety assumed as the standard, the commencement of
the empire of Augustus would constitute the best age of
Latin literature, rather than the time when the forum
Lect. R. H. cvi.
208 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
echoed with the eloquence of Cicero ; but in the two ages
of Cicero and Augustus, taken together as forming one
era, is comprehended the golden age both of poetry and
prose.
Dramatic literature, however, never recovered from the
trance into which it had fallen. The stage had not
altogether lost that popularity which it had possessed in
the days of Attius and Terence, for iEsopus and Eoscius,
the former the great tragedian, the latter the favourite
comedian, in the time of Cicero, amassed great wealth.
iEsopus lived liberally, 1 and yet bequeathed a fortune to
his son, and Eoscius is said to have earned daily the sum
of thirty-two pounds.
Notwithstanding, also, the degradation attached to the
social position of an actor, both these eminent artists
enjoyed the friendship of Cicero and other great men.
They brought to the study of their profession industry,
taste, talent, and learning, and these qualities were appre-
ciated. iEsopus was on one occasion encored a countless
number of times (milliesf by an enthusiastic audience,
and Eoscius was elevated by Sulla to the equestrian
dignity. But although the standard Eoman plays were
constantly represented, dramatic literature had become
extinct. No one wrote comedy at all, and the tragedies
of Yalgius Eufus and Asinius Pollio were only intended
for reading or recitation. Nor, as has been already
shown, does the Thyestes of Varus really form an excep-
tion to this statement.
The dramatic entertainments which had now taken the
place of comedy and tragedy were termed mimes.
Their distinguishing appellation was derived from the
Greek, but they entirely differed from those compositions
to which the Greeks applied that title. The latter were
written not in verse but in prose ; 3 they were dialogues,
1 Plin. H. N. v. 72. 2 Cic. pro Sen.
3 Schlegel Lect. viii. ; Miiller's Dor. iv. 7, 5.
MIMES OF THE ROMANS. 209
not dramatic pieces, and though they were exhibited at
certain festivals, and the parts supported by actors, they
were never represented on the stage. Even when
Sophron, whose compositions were admired and imitated
by Plato, 1 raised them to their highest degree of per-
fection, and made them vehicles of serious moral lessons,
mingling together ludicrous buffoonery with grave phi-
losophy, their language was only a rhythmical prose,
probably somewhat resembling that in which the cele-
brated despatch of Hippocrates 2 was written. Some idea
may be formed of their nature from the fact that the
idylls of Theocritus were imitated from the mimes of
Sophron, and that Persius took them for his model in his
peculiarly dramatic satires. 3
The Eoman mimes were laughable imitations of
manners and persons. So far they combined features of
comedy and farce ; for comedy represents the characters
of a class — farce those of individuals. Their essence was
that of the modem pantomime ; mimicry and burlesque
dialogue were only accidentally introduced. Their coarse-
ness and even indecency 4 gratified the love of broad
humour, which characterized the Roman people. They
became successful rivals of comedy, and thus came to be
admitted on the public stage. It is most probable that,
like other dramatic exhibitions, they originally grew out
of the Fabuke Atellanae, which they afterwards super-
seded. But notwithstanding their indecency, their satire
upon the living, and their burlesque representations of
the illustrious dead when exhibited at funereal games,
they had sometimes, like the mimes of Sophron, a moral
character, and abounded in shrewd wisdom and noble
sentiments. 5 Schlegel asserts that there is a great afihrity
between the Roman mimes and the pasquinades and
1 Diog. Laert. iii. 18. 2 Xen. Hell. i. 23.
3 Midler's Dorians, Trans, ii. 374. * Or. Tr. ii. 515.
5 Cic. pro Rab. 12 ; de Orat. ii. 59. See also fragm. of Syrus' Mimes.
P
210 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
harlequinades of modern Italy. He conjectures that in
them may be traced the germ of the Comedie delV Arte,
and states that the very picture of Polichinello is found in
some of the frescos of Pompeii.
After a time when mimes became established as
popular favourites, the dialogue or written part of the
entertainment occupied a more prominent position, and
was written in verse like that of tragedy or comedy. In
the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, a Roman knight, named
Decius Laberius, became eminent for his mimes. Re-
specting his merits, we have few opportunities of forming
a judgment, as the fragments of his writings 1 are but few
and short ; but Horace 2 speaks of them in unfavourable
language, and finds fault with their carelessness and want
of regular plan. He was born about B.C. 107, 3 and died
b.c. 45, at Puteoli (Pozzuoli). The profession of an
actor of mimes was infamous ; but Laberius was a writer,
not an actor. It happened, however, that P. Syrus, who
had been first the slave, then the freedman and pupil of
Laberius, and lastly a professional actor, challenged all
his brethren to a trial of improvisatorial skill. Caesar
entreated Laberius to enter the lists, and offered him five
hundred sestertia (about 4,000/.) . Laberius did not submit
to the degradation for the sake of the money, but he was
afraid to refuse. The only method of retaliation in his
power was sarcasm. His part was that of a slave, and
when his master scourged him, he exclaimed, " Porro,
Quirites, libertatem perdimus !" His words were received
with a round of applause, and the audience fixed their
eyes on Caesar. On another occasion his attack on the
Dictator was almost threatening : —
Necesse est multos timeat quern multi timent.
1 Bothe, Po. Sc. Lat. fragm. vol. v.
2 Sat. i. x. 6. See also Sen. Controv., and Met). H. R. ii„ p. 169.
3 Hieron. Eus. Chron.
MIMES OF LABERIUS. 211
He appears to have been always quick and ready in
repartee. When, on being vanquished by his adversary
Syrus, the Dictator said to him with a sneer —
Favente tibi me victus es Laberi a Syro.
He replied with the following sad but true reflections : —
Noil possunt primi esse omnes omni in tempore,
Summum ad gradum cum claritatis veneris
Consistes segre ; et quum descendas decides ;
Cecidi ego, cadet qui sequitur, laus est publica.
Caesar, however, restored to him the rank and equestrian
privileges of which his act had deprived him ; but still he
could not recover the respect of his countrymen. As he
passed the orchestra in his way to the stalls of the
knights, Cicero cried out, "If we were not so crowded
I would make room for you here/' Laberius replied,
alluding to Cicero's lukewarmness as a political partizan,
"I am astonished that you should be crowded, as you
generally sit on two stools." The calm and feeling
rebuke with which, in the prologue to his mime, he
remonstrated against the tyranny of Csesar, is singularly
spirited and beautiful : —
Necessitas, cujus cursus transversi impetum
Voluerunt multi effugere, pauci potuerunt,
Quo me detrusit psene extremis sensibus ?
Quern nulla ambitio, nulla unquam largitio,
Nullus timor, vis nulla, nulla auctoritas
Movere potuit in juventa de statu ;
Ecce in senecta ut facile labefecit loco
Viri excellentis mente clemente edita
Submissa placide blandiloquens oratio !
Etenim ipsi Dii negare cui nihil potuerunt,
Hominem me denegare quis possit pati ?
Ergo bis tricenis actis annis sine nota
Eques Eomanus lare egressus meo
Domum revertas mimus ; Nimirum hoc die
Uno plus vixi mihi quam vivendum fuit
Fortuna, immoderata in bono seque atque in malo,
Si tibi erat libitum literarum laudibus
p 2
212 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Floris cacumen nostrse famae frangere,
Cur quum vigebam niembris preeviridantibus,
Satisfacere populo et tali cum poteram viro,
Non flexibilem me concurvasti ut carperes ?
Nunc me quo dejicis ? quid ad scenam affero ?
Decorem formse, an dignitatem corporis,
Animi virtutem, an vocis jucundse sonum ?
Ut hedera serpens vires arboreas necat,
Ita me vetustas amplexa annorum enecat,
Sepulchri similis nihil nomen retines.
O, strong Necessity ! of whose swift course
So many feel, so few escape the force,
Whither, ah whither, in thy prone career,
Hast thou decreed this dying frame to bear ?
Me, in my better days, nor foe nor friend,
Nor threat, nor bribe, nor vanity could bend ;
Now, lured by flattery, in my weaker age
I sink my knighthood and ascend the stage.
Yet muse not therefore — how shall man gainsay
Him whom the Deities themselves obey ?
Sixty long years I've lived without disgrace
A Roman knight ! — let dignity give place ;
I'm Caesar's actor now, and compass more
In one short hour than all my life before.
Fortune ! fickle source of good and ill,
If here to place me was thy sovereign will,
Why, when I'd youth and faculties to please
So great a master, and such guests as these,
Why not compel me then, malicious power,
To the hard task of this degrading hour ?
Where now, in what profound abyss of shame,
Dost thou conspire with Fate to sink my name ?
Whence are my hopes ? What voice can age supply
To charm the ear, what grace to please the eye ?
Where is the active energy and art,
The look that guides its passion to the heart ?
Age creeps like ivy o'er my withered trunk,
Its bloom all blasted and its vigour shrunk ;
A tomb where nothing but a name remains
To tell the world whose ashes it contains.
Cumberland.
Another poet of this age who composed mimes was
C. Matius, surnamed, from his baldness, Calvena. His
mimes were termed Mimiambi, because he wrote in the
CA1US MAT1US AND PUBLIUS SYRUS. 213
iambic measure, 1 and lie was also a translator of the
Iliad as well as the author of a work on cookery. His
principal merit is said to have been his skill in enriching
his native language by the introduction of new words. 2
He was somewhat younger than Laberius, and enjoyed
the friendship of the greatest amongst his contemporaries.
His intimacy with Julius Caesar, 3 to whom he was
warmly attached, 4 and afterwards with Augustus, 5 gave
him great influence ; 6 but he never took much part in the
political strife which embittered his times, nor did he use
his influence in order to procure his own advancement.
His retired habits and love of literary leisure saved
him from seeking his happiness in the excitements of
ambition. Cicero, who loved him dearly, often mentions
him in his letters, and pays a compliment' to his learning
and amiability. An interesting letter of his, which is
preserved in the collection of Cicero's epistles to his
friends, 8 shows that he possessed an accomplished mind
and an affectionate heart. It cannot be supposed, there-
fore, that his Mimiambi were debased by the too common
faults of coarseness and immodesty. .
Publius Syrtjs.
Publius Syrus was, as his name implies, originally a
Syrian slave, and took his pramomen from the master
who gave him his freedom. All that is known respecting
his life has already been stated in the account of Laberius.
The commendations which his mimes received from the
ancients, especially from Cicero, 9 Seneca, 10 and Pliny, 11
prove them to have been much read and admired. The
fragments which still remain are marked by wit and
1 PI. Ep. vi. 21. 2 A. Gell. xv. 25. 3 Suet. Cses. 52.
* Cic. ad Fam. x. 28. 5 PI. H. N. xii. 2, 6. 6 Tac. An. xii. 60.
7 Ad Fam. vii. 15. 8 Ibid. xi. 28. 9 Ibid. xii. 18.
" Sen. Controv. vii. 3 ; Ep. 8, 94, 108. » PI. H. N. viii. 61
214 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
neatness, and the shrewd wisdom of proverbial philosophy.
Tradition has also recorded a bon-mot of his, which is as
witty as it is severe. Seeing once an ill-tempered man,
named Mucius, in low spirits, he remarked, " Either some
bad fortune has happened to Mucius, or some good
fortune to one of his friends." An accurate knowledge
of human nature, exhibited in pointed and terse language,
most probably constituted the charm of this species of
scenic literature. The large collection of his proverbial
sayings, entitled P. Syri Sententice, are by no means all
genuine ; but the nucleus around which the collection has
grown by successive additions is undoubtedly his, and
those which are the work of after ages are formed after
the model of his apothegms.
The Roman pantomime differed somewhat from the
mime — it was a ballet of action performed by a single
dancer. It was first introduced in its complete form in
the reign of Augustus ; and Suidas, 1 misquoting a passage
from Zosimus, 2 groundlessly attributes the invention to
the emperor himself. As the mime bore some resem-
blance to the Atellan farces, so the pantomime resembled
the histrionic performances introduced by Livius Andro-
nicus. In both, the person who recited the words
(canticum) 3 was different from him who represented the
characters. In the pantomime, the canticum was sung by
a chorus arrayed at the back of the stage. Until the
times of the later emperors, when vice was paraded with
unblushing effrontery, women never acted in pantomime ;
but the exhibition itself was sensual and licentious in its
character, 4 and the actors of it were deservedly deemed
infamous, and forbidden by Tiberius to hold any inter-
course with Eomans of equestrian or senatorial dignity. 5
Nero, however, outraged public decency by himself
'OpxW"> 2 Hist - Rom - *■ 3 P1 - E P- vii - 24 «
4 Juv. vi. 65. 5 Tac. Ann. i. 77.
LICENTIOUSNESS OP PANTOMIME. 215
appearing in pantomime. 1 Fortunate was it for the
dignity of Rome that the face of the emperor was con-
coaled behind a mask which, unlike the performers in the
mimes, the pantomimic actors always wore. The players
not only exhibited the human figure in the most graceful
attitudes, but represented every passion and emotion with
such truth that the spectators could without difficulty
understand the story. Sometimes tlie scenes represented
were founded upon the Grreek tragic drama ; but for its
purifying effect was substituted the awakening of licen-
tious passions.
These were the exhibitions which threw such discredit
on the stage — which called forth the well-deserved attacks
of the early Christian fathers, and caused them to declare
that whoever attended them was unworthy of the name
of Christians. Had the drama not been so abused, had it
retained its original purity, and carried out the object
attributed to it by Aristotle, they would have seen in it
not a nursery of vice, but a school of virtue — not only an
innocent amusement, but a powerful engine to form the
taste, to improve the morals, and to purify the feelings of
a people.
The principal actors of pantomime in the reign of
Augustus were Bathyllus, Hylas, and Pylades. In the
reign of Nero the art was practised by Latinus, 2 and
Paris, who taught the emperor to dance, and subsequently
was put to death by Nero, when he became his rival for
popular applause. 3 But those who attained the highest
degree of popularity were another Latinus, and another
Paris, who flourished in the reign of Domitian. Both
have been immortalized in the epigrams of Martial. 4 To
the former, Martial attributes the power to fascinate such
1 Suet. Ner. 16, 26. 2 Juv. i. 35 ; vi. 44. 3 Suet. Ner. 54.
4 Lib. ix. 29 ; xi. 13.
216 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
stern and rigid moralists as resembled Cato, the Curii
and Fabricii. The epitaph concludes with these lines : —
Vos me laurigeri parasitum dicite Phoebi
Roma sui famulum dum sciat esse Jo vis.
Say ye I gained the laurelled Phoebus' love,
So that Rome hail me servant of her Jove.
The latter, by his popularity, acquired great influence
at Court, but his profligacy proved his ruin. He in-
trigued with the Empress Domitia ; and Domitian con-
sequently divorced his wife, and caused Paris to be
assassinated. He has furnished a plot and a hero to
Massinger's play of the " Roman Actor." The simple
and beautiful epitaph written to his memory by Martial
is as follows : —
Quisquis Flaminiam teris, viator,
Noli nobile preeterire marmor.
Urbis delicise, salesque Nili,
Ars et gratia, lusus et voluptas ;
Romani decus et dolor theatri,
Atque omnes Veneres, Cupidinesque,
Hoc sunt condita, quo Paris, sepulchro.
Whoe'er thou art, traveller, stay !
Mark what proud tomb adorns the way.
The town's delight, the wit of Nile,
Art, grace, mirth, pleasure, sport and smile :
The honour of the Roman stage,
The grief and sorrow of the age :
All Venuses and Loves lie here
Buried in Paris' sepulchre.
( 217
CHAPTER II.
LUCRETTUS A POET RATHER THAN A PHILOSOPHER— HIS LIFE — EPIC
STRUCTURE OF HIS POEM VARIETY OF HIS POETRY — EXTRACTS
FROM HIS POEM — ARGUMENT OF IT — THE EPICUREAN DOCTRINES
CONTAINED IN IT — MORALITY OF EPICURUS AND LUCRETIUS —
testimonies of virgil and ovid — catullus, his life, charac-
ter, and poetry — other poets of this period.
Lucretius Carus (born b. c. 95).
Lucretius Carus might claim a place amongst philoso-
phers as well as poets, for his poem marks an epoch both
in poetry and philosophy. But his philosophy is a mere
reflexion from that of Greece, whilst his poetry is bright
with the rays of original genius. A delineation, there-
fore, of his characteristics as a writer of the imagination
will present the more accurate idea of the place which he
occupies amongst Eoman authors. It was no empty
boast of his, that, as a poet, he deserved the praise of
originality — that he had opened a path through the ter-
ritory of the Muses, untrodden before by poet's foot — that
he had drawn from a virgin fountain, and culled fresh
flowers whence the Muse had never yet sought them to
wreathe a garland for the poet's brow. 1
Few materials exist for the compilation of his bio-
graphy. From two passages 2 in his work, in which he
states that his native language was Latin, it is clear that
he was born within the limits of Italy. The date of his
birth is generally fixed b. c. 95. 3 The prevalence of the
Lib. i. 925 ; iv. I. a Lib. i. 831 ; iii. 261. 3 Clint. F. H
218 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Epicurean philosophy, and the additional popularity
with which his talents invested the fashionable creed,
combined to raise him to the equestrian dignity ; and,
consistently with his cold and hopeless atheism — his
proud disbelief in a superintending Providence — he died
by his own hand in the prime of life and in the forty-
fourth year of his age. 1 The story that his work was
written in the lucid intervals of a madness produced by
a love-potion, as well as his residence at Athens for the
purpose of study, rest upon no foundation.
His poem On the Nature of Things is divided into
six books, and is written in imitation of that of Empe-
docles, who is the subject of his warmest praise and
admiration. "Whilst its subject is philosophical and its
purpose didactic, its unity of design, the one point of
view from which he regards the various doctrines of the
master whose principles he adopts, claim for it the rank
of an epic poem.
This epic structure prevents it from being a complete
and systematic survey of the whole Epicurean philosophy ;
but, notwithstanding this deficiency in point of compre-
hensiveness, the exactness and fidelity with which he
represents those doctrines which he enunciates, renders
him deserving of the credit of having given to his country-
men, as far as epic writing permitted, an accurate view
of the philosophical system which then enjoyed the
highest degree of popularity.
Although Greek philosophy furnished Lucretius with
his subject, and a Greek poem served as a model, he also
saw and valued the capabilities of the Latin language —
he wielded at will its power of embodying the noblest
thoughts, and showed how its copious and flexible pro-
perties could overcome the hard technicalities of science.
Grand as were his conceptions, the language of Lucretius
Hier. Chron.
VARIETY OF LUCRETIUS. 219
is not inferior to tliem in majesty. Without violating
philosophical accuracy, he never appears to feel it a re-
straint to his muse : his fancy is always lively, his imagi-
nation has free scope even when his thoughts are fixed on
the abstrusest theories, and engaged in the most subtle
argumentation. 1
The great beauty of the poetry of Lucretius is its
variety. One might expect sublimity in the philosopher
who penetrates the secrets of the natural world, and dis-
closes to the eyes of man the hidden causes of its won-
derful phenomena. His object was a lofty one ; for,
although the irrational absurdities of the national creed
drove him into the opposite evils of scepticism and un-
belief, his aim was to set the intellect free from the tram-
mels of superstition. But besides grandeur and sublimity
we find the totally different poetical qualities of softness
and tenderness. Eome had long known nothing but war,
and was now rent by that worst and most demoralizing
kind of war, civil dissension. Lucretius yearned for
peace ; and his prayer, that the fabled goddess of all
that is beautiful in nature would heal the wounds which
discord had made, is distinguished by tenderness and
pathos even more than by sublimity. The whole passage
is superior to the poetry of Ovid in force although in-
ferior in facility. His versification is not so smooth and
harmonious as that of Yirgil, who nourished in a period
when the language had attained a higher degree of per-
fection, and the Roman ear was more educated and there-
fore more delicately attuned, but it is never harsh and
rugged, and always falls upon the ear with a swelling
and sonorous melody. Yirgil appreciated his excellence,
and imitated not only single expressions, but almost
entire verses and passages. 2
1 The criticism of Cicero is unjust: — "Lucretii pocmata ita sunt non
multis luminibus ingenii multse tamen artis." — Ep. ad Qu. fratr. ii. 11.
2 See A. Gell. Noct. Att. i. 21.
220 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
As an example of sublimity, few passages can equal
that in which he describes the prostration of human
intellect under the grievous tyranny of superstition, the
dauntless purpose of Epicurus to free men from her op-
pressive rule, and to enable him to burst open the portals
of Nature's treasure-house, and thus gain a victory which
will place him on an equality with the inhabitants of
heaven: —
Humana ante oculos fede quom vita jaceret
In'terris, oppressa gravi sub Religione,
Quas caput a cceli regionibus ostendebat,
Horribili super aspectu mortalibus instans ;
Primum Graius homo mortales tendere contra
Est oculos ausus, primusque obsistere contra ;
Quern neque fama deuin nee fulmina nee minitanti
Murmure compressit ccelum, sed eo magis acrem
Irritat animi virtutem, effringere ut arcta
Naturae primus portarum claustra cupiret.
Ergo vivida vis animi pervicit et extra
Processit longe flammantia mcenia mondi,
Atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque ;
Unde refert nobis victor, quid possit oriri,
Quid nequeat ; finita potestas denique quoique
Quanam sit ratione, atque alte terminus hserens.
Quare Religio, pedibus subjecta, vicissim
Obteritur ; nos exeequat victoria ccelo. Lib. i. 63.
The idea which the poet here presents to the mind of
his readers is of the same kind with that which pervades
the writings of the Greek tragedians ■ it is that of the
limited energies of mortals resolutely struggling with a
superior and almost irresistible power.
The thrilling narrative of the plague at Athens, with
all its physical and moral horrors, is one of the most
heart-rending specimens of descriptive poetry. The stern
rejection of all fear of death, though based upon a denial
of the immortality of the soul, is a noble burst of poetical
as well as philosophical enthusiasm ; and the fifth book
displays that perfect finish and accomplished grace which
characterizes all the best Eoman poets. Amongst the
most affecting passages may be enumerated those which
QUOTATIONS FROM LUCRETIUS. 221
describe the early sorrows of the human race and the grief
of the bereaved animal whose young one has been slain in
sacrifice. 1 Two other fine passages are the philosophical
explanation of Tartarus, and the panoramic view of the
tempest of human desires, seen from the rocky heights of
philosophy — a glorious descriptive piece which has been
imitated by Lord Bacon.
The following lines show how beautifully the poet
has caught the spirit and feeling of Greek fancy, and how
capable the Lathi language now was of adequately ex-
pressing them : —
Aulide quo pacto Triviai virginis arani
Iphianassai turparunt sanguine fede
Ductores Danaum delectei, prima virorum
Cui simul infula, virgineos circumdata comtus,
Ex utraque pari nialarum parte profusa est ;
Et moestum simul ante aras astare parentem
Sensit, et hunc propter ferrum celare ministros,
Aspectuque suo lacrumas effundere civeis ;
Muta metu, terrain genibus summissa, petebat :
Nee miserse prodesse in tali tempore quibat,
Quod patrk> princeps donarat nomine regem
Nam sublata virum manibus, tremebundaque, ad aras
Deducta est ; non ut, solenni more sacrorum
Perfecto, posset claro comitari hymen£eo ;
Sed, casta incerte, nubendi tempore in ipso,
Hostia concideret mactatu mcesta parentis,
Exitus ut classi felix faustusque daretur.
Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum !
By that Diana's cruel altar flowed
With innocent and royal virgin's blood ;
Unhappy maid ! with sacred ribands bound,
Keligious pride ! and holy garlands crowned ;
To meet an undeserved, untimely fate,
Led by the Grecian chiefs in pomp and state ;
She saw her father by, whose tears did flow
In streams — the only pity he could show.
She saw the crafty priest conceal the knife
From him, blessed and prepared against her life !
She saw her citizens, with weeping eyes,
Unwillingly attend the sacrifice.
Lib. ii. 352.
222 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Then, dumb with grief, her tears did pity crave,
But 'twas beyond her father's power to save.
In vain did innocence, youth, and beauty plead ;
In vain the first pledge of his nuptial bed ;
She fell — even now grown ripe for bridal joy —
To bribe the gods, and buy a wind for Troy.
So died this innocent, this royal maid :
Such fiendish acts religion could persuade. Creech.
It cannot be denied that there are in the poem of
Lucretius many barren wastes over which are scattered
the rubbish and debris of a false philosophy ; but even in
these deserts the oases are numerous enough to prevent
exhaustion and fatigue. They recur too frequently to
enumerate them all. If the attempt were made, other
tastes would still discover fresh examples.
The following is, in a few words, the plan and struc-
ture of the poem : — Its professed object is to emancipate
mankind from the debasing effects of superstition by an
exposition of the leading tenets of the Epicurean school.
It is divided into six books. In the first, the poet enun-
ciates and copiously illustrates the grand axiom of his
system of the universe, together with the corollaries
which necessarily arise from it. " Nothing is created
out of nothing." He commences also the subject of the
atomic theory. In the second book he pursues the sub-
ject of creation generally, and the various functions of
animal life. The third treats of the nature of the soul.
The fourth contains the theory of sensation, especially of
sight ; of the relation which thought bears to matter ; of
the passions, and especially of the influence of love, both
physical and moral. The fifth book is devoted to the
history of mankind. The sixth explains the phenomena
of the natural world, including those of disease and death.
The following are the leading Epicurean doctrines em-
bodied in the poem : — There are divine beings, but they
are neither the creators 1 nor the governors of the world. 2
Lib. v. 166. 2 Lib. vi. 378.
ARGUMENT OF THE POEM. 223
They live in the enjoyment of perfect happiness and
repose, regardless of human affairs, unaffected by man's
virtues and vices, happiness or misery. Neither have
they the power any more than the will to interfere in
the atlliirs of the world, for they cannot resist the eternal
laws of nature and destiny. Whilst, in deference to the
innate sense which revolts at the denial of a God, he
acknowledges the existence of divine beings, the proofs
which he adduces as derived from his great master are
weak and unsatisfactory. 1 The corollary of this disbelief
in Divine Providence is practical atheism. The ideas
which man entertains of God are false, because they are
the mere creations of the imagination. Ignorant of the
real causes which lead to natural phenomena, he conjures
up these as the machinery to account for them. 2 The
popular belief is groundless ; and yet the poet believes
that if this system is overthrown there is nothing to sup-
ply its place, and hence all worship, whether prayer or
praise, is grovelling superstition. 3 The only true piety
consists in calm and peaceful contemplation. 4
To those who argue that unbelief leads to ungodliness,
his answer is, that what man calls religion has led to the
greatest crimes. 5 He is not entirely destitute of the
religious sentiment or the principle of faith, for he deifies
Nature 6 and has a veneration for her laws ; and hence Iris
infidelity must be viewed rather in the light of a philo-
sophical protest against the degrading results of heathen
superstition than a total rejection of the principle of reli-
gious faith.
It is here that Lucretius seems for a while to leave the
authority of Epicurus ; and, with the inspiration of a poet,
which is hardly consistent with a total absence of vene-
ration and faith, to forsake his cold and heartless system.
1 Lib. vi. 75. 2 Lib. v. 83, 1163. 3 Lib. v. 1197.
4 Lib. v. 1202. 5 Lib. i. 81. 6 Lib. i. 71, 147.
224 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Although he asserts that the phenomena of nature are
the result of a combination of atoms, that these ele-
mentary particles are self-existent and eternal, he seems
to invest Nature with a sort of personality. The warm
sensibility of the poet overcomes the cold logic of the
philosopher. Dissatisfied with the ungenial idea of an ab-
stract lifeless principle, he yearns for the maternal caresses
of a being endued with energies and faculties with which
he can sympathise. He therefore ascribes to Nature an
attribute which can only belong to an intelligent agent
and overruling power. Nay, he even goes farther than this,
and absolutely contradicts the dogmas of the Epicurean
school. Even the works of nature are represented as
instinct with life. 1 The sun is spoken of as a being who,
by the warmth of his beams, vivifies all things. The
earth, from whose womb all things spring, fosters and
nurtures all her children. The very stars may possibly
be living beings, performing their stated motions in
search of their proper sustenance. 2 These are, doubtless,
the fancies of the poet rather than the grave and serious
belief of the philosopher ; but they prove how false,
hollow, and artificial is a system which pretends to ac-
count for creation by natural causes, and how earnestly
the human mind craves after the comfort and support of
a personal deity.
The denial of the immortality of the soul is inferred
from the destructibility of the material elements out of
which it is . composed. It must perish immediately that it
is deprived of the protection of the body. 3 In accordance
with this psychical theory, he accounts for the difference
of human tempers and characters. Character results
from the combination of the elementary principles : — a
predominance of heat produces the choleric disposition ;
that of wind produces timidity ; that of air a calm and
1 See Ratter, iv. p. 89. 2 Lib. v. 525. 3 Lib. iii. 265, 413.
MORALITY OF EPICURUS AND LUCRETIUS. 225
equable temper. 1 But this natural constitution, the
strength of the will, acted upon by education, is able, to a
certain extent, to modify though it cannot effect a com-
plete change. Thus it is that, although moral as well as
physical phenomena are produced in accordance with
fixed laws, human ills result from unbridled passions, and
may be remedied by philosophy.
Although, if tried by a Christian standard, the Lucre-
tian morality is by no means pure, 2 yet even where he
permits laxity he is not insensible to the moral beauty,
the happy and holy results, of purity and chastity. 3 JSTor,
notwithstanding the assertions of Cicero, 4 can the charge
of immorality or of a selfish love of impure pleasure be
made against Lucretius or Epicurus. The distinction
winch the latter drew between lawful and unlawful plea-
sures was severe and uncompromising. The former
speaks of the hell which the wicked sensualist always
carries within his own breast 5 — of the satisfaction of true
wisdom, 6 and of a conscience void of offence.'
Again, Epicurus was a man of almost Christian gentle-
ness. Stoical grossness and contempt of refinement
revolted him ; the unamiable severity of that sect was
alien to his nature. He was thus driven to the opposite
extreme ; and although he was careful to make pure
intellectual pleasure the summum bonum, his standard
laid him open to objections from his jealous adversaries.
The zeal with which many distinguished females devoted
themselves to his system, and became his disciples because
his doctrines and character especially recommended them-
selves to the female sex, made it easy for his enemies to
stigmatise them as effeminate, instead of praising them as
feminine. With that illiberality which refused to woman
freedom of conduct and a liberal education, his adversaries
1 Lib. iii. 302. B Lib. iv. 1072. 3 Lib. v. 1012. 4 De Fin. ii. 22.
5 Lib. v. 1152. G Lib. iii. 988. 7 Lib. ii. 7.
226 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
calumniated the characters of his pupils, represented them
as unchaste, and their instructor as licentious. Nor did
they hesitate even to support these accusations by forgeries. 1
A careless reception of their calumnies without inves-
tigation, added to the general, and perhaps wilful, misap-
prehension which prevailed among the Eomans in the
days of Cicero, led to the misrepresentations which are
found in his writings. These have been handed down
to after ages ; and thus the doctrines taught by Epicurus
have been loaded with undeserved obloquy. 2 There is,
however, no doubt that Epicurism was adopted by the
Eomans in a corrupt form, and that it became fashion-
able because it was supposed to encourage indifferentism
and sensuality. It is probable, too. that the denial of
immortality contributed much to the depravation and
distortion of his system. Nothing so surely demoralizes
as destroying the hopes of eternity. Man cannot com-
mune with Grod, or soar on high to spiritual things, unless
he hopes to be spiritualized and to see Grod as He is.
Whatever the philosopher may teach as to the true
nature of happiness, man will set up his own corrupt
standard, which his passions and appetites lead him to
prefer : he will act on the principle " Let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we die." Still it must be confessed
that the views of Epicurus respecting man's duty to God
were disinterested — founded on ideas of the Divine perfec-
tions, not merely on hopes of reward. 3 His views of sen-
sual pleasures were in accordance with his simple, frugal
life, diametrically opposed to intemperance and excess.
He taught by example as well as by precept, that he who
would be happy must cultivate wisdom and justice, be-
cause virtue and happiness are inseparable. He attached
his disciples to him by affection rather than by admira-
tion; submitted to weakness and sickness with patient
Diog. La. x. 3. ' 2 Sen. cle Benef. iv. 19. 3 Diog. La. x.
TESTIMONIES OF VIRGIL AND OVID. 227
resignation ; and died with a heroism which no Stoic
could have surpassed.
Such was the master whom Lucretius followed, and
the school to which he belonged ; and, though the stern-
ness of the Eoman character breathed into his protest
against superstition a bolder spirit of defiance than that
of the placid and resigned Greek, his teaching was equally
pure and noble, and he would have proudly disdained to
make philosophy a cloak for voluptuous profligacy. Poets
who surpassed him in gracefulness, and who were fortu-
nate enough to nourish when the Latin language had
become more plastic, paid due honour to his greatness.
Virgil celebrates the happiness of that man : —
qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,
Atque nietus oirmes, et inexorabile fatum
Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari. 1
His muse is instinct with Lucretian spirit when he
describes with such graphic skill the murrain attacking
the brute creation ; 2 and Ovid exclaims that the sublime
strains of Lucretius shall never perish until the day shall
arrive when the world shall be given up to destruction.
Catullus (born b.c. 86).
Contemporary with the great didactic poet, but nine
years his junior in age, flourished C. Valerius Catullus.
He was a member of a good family, residing on the Lago
di Garda, in the neighbourhood of Verona, 3 and his father
had the honour of frequently receiving Csesar as his
guest. 4 At an early age he went to Rome, probably for
education, but his warm temperament and strong passions
plunged him into the licentious excesses of the capital.
During this period of his career, passed in the indulgence
of pleasure and gaiety, and in the midst of a dissipated
1 Gcorg. ii. 490. 2 Georg. iii. 478. 3 Plin. xxxvii. 6.
4 Suet. v. Jul. 73.
Q2
228 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
society, he had no more serious occupation than the culti-
vation of his literary tastes and talents. The elegant
tenderness of his amatory poetry made him a favourite
with the fair sex, for its licentiousness was not out of
keeping with the sentiments and conversation prevalent
in the Roman fashionable world. It must not be sup-
posed that the tone of society amongst the higher classes
was pure and moral, like that of Cicero and his friends,
or that it was not marked by the same licentious freedom
which polluted some even of their most graceful poems.
The poetry of Catullus was such as might be expected
from the tenor of his life. The excuse which he made
for its character was not a valid one j 1 for the line in
Hadrian's epitaph on Yoconius could not possibly be
applied to him : —
Lascivus versu, mente pudicus eras. 2
His mistress, whom he addresses under the feigned name
of Lesbia, was really named Clodia. 3 It has been said
that she was the sister of the infamous Clodius ; but there
are no grounds for the assertion.
A career of extravagance and debauchery terminated in
ruin, and though his fortune had been originally ample,
his aifairs became hopelessly embarrassed ; and in order to
retrieve them by colonial plunder, he accompanied Mem-
mius, the friend of Lucretius, when he went as prsetor to
Bithynia. Owing, however, to the grasping meanness of
his patron his expectations were disappointed. He re-
turned home " with his purse full of cobwebs." Still he
enjoyed the privilege of visiting those cities of Greece and
Asia which were the most celebrated for literature and the
fine arts.
When he went to Asia he visited the grave of a bro-
ther who had died in the Troad, and who was buried on
1 See Carm. cxvi. 2 Anthol. 208. 3 Apuleius.
CATULLUS AT THE GRAVE OF HIS BROTHER. 229
the Khaetian promontory ; and a poem which he ad-
dressed on the occasion to Hortalus, the dissipated son of
the orator ILortensius, as well as another dedicated to
Manlius, bear witness to the warmth of liis fraternal
affection. The former is a beautiful and touching speci-
men of his elegiac style : —
Multaa per gentes et rnulta per sequora vectus,
Adveni has niiseras frater ad inferias.
Ut te postremo donareni miinere mortis
Et mutuin nequidquam alloquerer cinerem.
Quandoquidem fortuna rnihi tete abstulit ipsum
Has miser indigne frater adempte mihi !
Nunc tainen iuterea prisco quae more pareutum
Tradita sub tristes munera ad inferias
Accipe fraterno multum manantia netu
At que in perpetuum frater ave atque vale !
On his return to Borne he resumed his old habits, and
died in the prime of life, probably B.C. 47, as that is the
latest date to which allusion is made in his writings.
His works consist of numerous short fugitive pieces
of a lyrical character; elegies, such as that already quoted;
a secular hymn to Diana ; a poem, somewhat of a dithy-
rambic character, entitled Atys ; and the Epithalamium
of Peleus and Thetis, a mythological poem in heroic
verse. His taste was evidently formed on a study of the
Greek poets, from whom he learnt not only his beautiful
hendecasyllables, but also their modes of thought and
expression. He had skill and taste to adopt the materials
with which his vast erudition furnished him, and to
conceal his want of originality and inspiration. Some of
his pieces are translations from the Greek, as, for example,
the elegy on the hair of Berenice, which is taken from
the Greek of Callimachus, and the celebrated ode of
Sappho. 1 He was one of the most popular of the Eoman
poets — firstly, because he possessed those qualities which
the literary society of Borne most highly valued, namely,
Carm. li.
230 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
polish and learning ; and secondly, because, although he
was an imitator, there is a living reality about all that he
wrote — a truly Roman nationality. He did not merely
disguise the inspiration of Greece in a Latin dress, but
invested Eoman life, and thoughts, and social habits with
the ideal of Greek love and beauty. For these reasons
his fame nourished as long as Eome possessed a classical
literature. Two eminent men only have withheld their
admiration— -Horace in the golden age ; Quintilian in the
period of the decline. The former disparages hini as a
lyrical poet ; the latter almost passes him over in silence.
Horace was jealous of a rival who was so nearly equal to
himself: he could not bear the remotest chance of his
claim being disputed to be the musician of the Eoman
lyre ;* and he dishonestly declared that he first adapted
iEolian strains to the Eoman lyre, 2 notwithstanding the
Lesbian character and hendecasyllabic metres of his
predecessor. Quintilian could not appreciate Catullus,
because his own taste was too stiff and affected, and spoilt
by the rhetorical spirit of his age.
Catullus had a talent for satire, but his satire was not
inspired by a noble indignation at vice and wrong. It
was the bitter resentment of a vindictive spirit : his love
and his hate were both purely selfish. His language of
love expresses the feelings of an impure voluptuary ; his
language of scorn those of a disappointed one. He
gratified his irritable temper by attacking Csesar most
offensively ; but the noble Eoman would not crush the
insect which annoyed him ; and although Catullus insulted
him personally by reading his lampoons in his presence,
not a change passed over his countenance : he would not
stoop to avenge himself ; and the imperial clemency dis-
armed the anger of the libeller. The strong prejudice of
Niebuhr in favour of Eoman antiquity led him to pro-
Od. IV. iii. 23. * Od. III. xx. 13.
(llAR.UTLJl OF HIS POETRY. 231
nouiKV Catullus a gigantic and extraordinary genius,
equal in every respect to the lyric poets of Greece pre-
viously to the time of Sophocles : he believed him to be
the greatest poet Rome ever possessed, except, perhaps,
some few of the early ones ; but that great man also
thought that Virgil had mistaken his vocation in becom-
ing an epic instead of a lyric poet. 1 Catullus certainly
pos sessed great excellences and talents of the most allur-
ing and captivating land. No genius ever displayed
itself under a greater variety of aspects. He has the
playfulness and the petulance of a girl, the vivacity and
shnphcity of a child. He has never been surpassed in
gracefulness, melody, and tenderness. No one, unless
he possessed the coolness and self-command of a Caesar,
could have avoided wincing under the sharp attacks of
his wit : he had passion and vehemence, but he had not
the grandeur and sublimity either of Lucretius or Virgil.
Although the peculiar characteristics of his poetry are
chiefly to be found in his lyric and elegiac poems, there
are in his longer pieces, which are less known and less
admired, passages of singular sweetness and beauty. He
had not sufficient grasp and comprehensiveness of mind
to conduct an epic poem. His knowledge of human
nature, confined as it was to one of its phases — the de-
velopment of the softer affections — did not admit of suffi-
cient variety for so vast a work. His intellectual taste,
like his moral principles, was too ill-regulated to construct
a well-digested plan, necessary to the perfection of an
epic poem; but wherever ingenuity and liveliness in
description, or pathos in moving the affections, are
required, the poetry of Catullus does not yield to that of
Ovid or of Virgil.
The poem, entitled the marriage of Peleus and Thetis,
bears some slight resemblance to an heroic poem. Its subject
Lect. cvi.
232 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
is heroic, for it embodies a legend of the heroic age. The
characters of mythology play a part in it, similar to that
which they support in the poems of Homer or Virgil.
But it is unconnected and deficient in unity ; and the
plan is far too extensive for the dimensions by which it
is circumscribed. Nevertheless, with all these faults, it is
pleasing on account of the luxuriance of its fancy and
the brilliancy of its genius. The most beautiful passage,
perhaps, is the episode relating the story of Theseus and
Ariadne, which is introduced into the main body of the
poem as being woven and embroidered on the hangings
of the palace of Peleus. The following verses are taken
from this episode, 1 and form part of the complaint of
Ariadne for the perfidious desertion of Theseus : —
Siccine discedens, neglecto numine Divum,
Immemor ah ! devota domum perjuria portas 1
Nullane res potuit crudelis flectere mentis
Consilium ? tibi nulla fuit dementia praesto,
Immite ut nostri vellet mitescere pectus ?
At non haec quondam nobis promissa dedisti
Voce ; mihi non hoc miserae sperare jubebas ;
Sed connubia laeta, sed optatos hymeneeos ;
Quae cuncta aerii discerpunt irrita venti.
Jam jam nulla viro juranti fceniina credat,
Nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles ;
Qui, dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci,
Nil metuunt jurare, nihil promittere parcunt ;
Sed simul ac cupidae mentis satiata libido est,
Dicta nihil metuere, nihil perjuria curant.
Certe ego te in medio versantem turbine leti
Eripui, et potius germanum amittere crevi,
Quam tibi fallaci supremo in tempore deessem.
Pro quo dilaceranda feris dab or, alitibusque
Praeda, neque injecta tumulabor mortua terra.
Quaenam te genuit sola sub rupe leaena ?
Quod mare conceptum spumantibus exspuit undis ?
Quae Syrtis, quae Scylla vorax, quae vasta Charybdis,
Talia qui reddis pro dulci praemia vitae ?
Si tibi non cordi fuerant connubia nostra,
Saeva quod horrebas prisci praecepta parentis ;
Attamen in vestras potuisti ducere sedes,
1 Lib. v. 132, 166.
COMPLAINT OF AKTADNE. 233
Quae tibi jucundo femularer sown labore,
Candida permulcena liquidis vestigia lyniphis,
Purpureave tuum consternens veste cubilo.
Sod quid ego ignaris nequicquam conqueror auris,
Externata malo ? quoe nullis sensibus auctee
Nee missas auclire queunt, nee reddere voces. — 132-161.
And couldst thou, Theseus, from her native land
Thy Ariadne bring, then cruel so
Desert thy victim on a lonely strand ?
And didst thou, perjured, dare to Athens go,
Nor dread the weight of heaven's avenging blow ?
Could nought thy heart with sacred pity touch ?
Nought make thy soul the baleful plot forego
'Gainst her that loved thee ? Ah ! not once were such
The vows, the hopes, thy smooth professions did avouch !
Then all was truth, then did thy honied tongue
Of wedded faith the flattering fable weave.
All, all unto the winds of heaven are flung !
Henceforth let never listening maid believe
Protesting man. When their false hearts conceive
The selfish wish, to all but pleasure blind,
No words they spare, no oaths unuttered leave ;
But when possession cloys their pampered mind,
No care have they for oaths, no words their honour bind.
For this, then, I from instant death did cover
Thy faithless bosom ; and for this preferred,
Even to a brother's blood, a perjured lover ;
Now to be torn by savage beast and bird,
With no due form, no decent rite, interred !
What foaming sea, what savage of the night,
In murky den thy monstrous birth conferred 1
What whirlpool guides and gave thee to the light,
The welcome boon of life thus basely to requite 1
What though thy royal father's stern command
The bond of marriage to our lot forbade,
Oh ! safely still into thy native land
I might have gone thy happy serving maid ;
There gladly washed thy snowy feet or laid
Upon thy blissful bed the purple vest.
Ah, vain appeal ! upon the winds conveyed,
The heedless winds, that hear not my behest :
No words his ear can reach or penetrate his breast !
The writers of the Augustan age and their successors
paid Catullus what they considered the highest compli-
234 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
ment, when they called him learned. Criticism referred
everything to the Greek standard. The qualities which
they recognised by this epithet were those which they
deemed most valuable — more so even than originality and
invention — an extensive acquaintance with the materials
of Greek story, an elaborate study of the poets taken
as models, a scientific appreciation of the cadences and
harmonies of Greek versification. They were grateful
for the blessings which they were conscious of having
derived from mental cultivation ; and the highest praise
which they could bestow was to confer upon a poet the
title of a learned and accomplished man.
This period, at which prose reached its zenith, could
boast of other poets, also, besides Lucretius and Catullus,
whose merits were considerable although they did not
satisfy the fastidious taste of the Augustan age. There
flourished C. Licinius Calvus, 1 C. Helvius Cinna, Yalerius
Cato, Yalgius, Ticida, Furius Bibaculus, and Yarro
Atacinus.
The first of these was a lively little man, 2 an orator as
well as a poet. His speeches were elaborately modelled
after those of the Attic orators ; and had his poems dis-
played the same polish, they might have satisfied Horace 3
and his contemporaries, and thus have been preserved.
As it is, the fragments which remain are so brief, that it
is impossible to say whether his merits were such as to
justify Niebuhr in placing him amongst the three greatest
poets of his age. His poetry resembled that of Catullus
in spirit and morality. It was the fashionable poetry of
the day, and consisted of tender elegy, playful and senti-
mental epigram, licentious love-songs, and bitter per-
sonality.
Cinna, 4 besides smaller poems, was the author of an
1 Cic. Brut. 82 ; ad Fam. xv. 21 ; Dial, de Or. 18 ; Quint, xi. 115.
2 Cat. liv. 3 Sat. 1. x. 16. 4 Cat. Carrn. X. xcv.
OTHER POETS OF THIS PERIOD. 235
epic, entitled Smyrna; the subject is unknown: but
Catullus, who was his intimate friend, praises it highly,
and Virgil modestly declares that, as compared with
Varius and Cinna, he himself appears a goose amongst
swans. 1 Valerius Cato was a grammarian as well as a
poet. His two principal poems were entitled Lydia and
Diana ; 2 and a fragmentary poem, to which the title Dirce
or Curses 3 has been given, has been generally attributed
to liim on the grounds that the author pours forth his
woes to a mistress named Lydia. The argument of the
piece is as follows : — The estate of Cato, like that of Virgil,
was confiscated and made a military colony ; and smarting
under a sense of wrong, he imprecates curses on his lost
home. Then the theme changes : his heart softens ; and
in sad accents he bewails his separation from his mis-
tress, and from all his rural pleasures. This poem was
formerly believed to be the work of Virgil, but neither
the language nor the poetry can be compared to those of
the Mantuan bard ; nor do the sentiments resemble the
calmness and resignation with which he bears his mis-
fortunes. J. Scaliger, impressed with these considera-
tions, transferred the authorship from Virgil to Cato.
But there are no sufficient grounds for determining the
question.
Respecting C. Valgius Rufus all is doubt and ob-
scurity. The grammarians quote from him ; Pliny 4
speaks of his learning; Horace 5 refers to him as an
elegiac poet, and expresses the greatest confidence in his
critical taste and judgment. Ticida is mentioned by
Suetonius as bearing testimony to the merits of Valerius
Cato. Bibaculus was a bitter satirist, who spared not the
feelings of his friend Cato when reduced from affluence
to poverty ; 6 who himself had the vanity to attempt an
1 Eel. 9. 2 Suet, de 111. Gram. 2—9. 3 Wemsdorf, Po. Lat. Mi.
4 H. N. xxv. 2. 5 Od. ii. 9 ; Sat. I. x. 6 Wemsdorf.
236 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
epic poem, and by his vulgar taste provoked the severe
criticism of Horace. 1
P. Terentius Varro Atacinus was a contemporary of
Varro Eeatinns ; and for this reason his works have often
been confounded with those of the latter. He was born
b.c. 82, 2 near the river Atax in Gaul, and hence he was
surnamed Atacinus, in order to distinguish him from his
learned namesake, who derived his appellation from pro-
perty which he possessed at Eeati. Very few fragments
of his works are extant, 3 although his poetry was of such
a character that Virgil deemed some of his lines worthy
of plagiarizing. 4 His principal work, which is not spoken
of in very high terms by Quintilian, 5 is a translation of
the Argonautica of Apollonius Ehodius. Besides this,
he wrote two geographical poems, namely, the C/iorographia
and Libri Navales, a heroic poem entitled Bellum Sequa-
nicum, on one of the Gallic campaigns of J. Csesar, and
also some elegies, epigrams, and saturse. 6
A fragment of the Chorographia is preserved by Meyer, 7
the concluding lines of which were evidently imitated by
Virgil, and also the following severe epigram on Li-
cinius : —
Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet, at Cato nullo,
Pompeius parvo ; Quis putet esse Deos ?
Saxa premunt Licinum, levat altum fama Catonem,
Pompeium tituli. Credimus esse Deos.
1 Sat. II. v. 41. 2 Hieron. in Euseb. Chron.
3 See Meyer's Anthol. Lat. 4 Ibid. 77, 78.
5 Lib. x. i. 87. 6 Hor. Sat. I. x. 46. 7 Anthol. 77, 78.
t 237 )
CHAPTER III.
AGE OF VIRGIL FAVOURABLE TO POETRY — HIS BIRTH, EDUCATION,
HABITS, ILLNESS, AND DEATH— HIS POPULARITY AND CHARACTER
— HIS MINOR POEMS, THE CULEX CIRIS MORETUM COPA AND
CATALECTA-— HIS BUCOLICS — ITALIAN MANNERS NOT SUITED TO
PASTORAL POETRY — IDYLLS OF THEOCRITUS — CLASSIFICATION OF
THE BUCOLICS — SUBJECT OF THE POLLIO — HEYNE'S THEORY
RESPECTING IT.
P. VlRGILIUS Maro (BORN B.C. 70).
The period at which Virgil flourished was singularly
favourable both to the development and appreciation of
poetical talent of the most polished and cultivated kind
The indulgent liberality of the imperial court cherished and
fostered genius : the ruin of republican liberty left the
intellect of the age without any other object except
refinement ; imagination was not harassed by the cares
and realities of life. The same causes contributed to
limit the range of prose composition, 1 and therefore the
field was left undisputed to Virgil and Horace and their
friends ; and as the age of Cicero was essentially one in
which prose literature flourished, so that of Augustus
was the golden age of poetry. Of this age, Virgil stands
forth pre-eminent amongst Iris contemporaries, as the
representative. He exhibited all its characteristics,
polish, ingenuity, and skill, and to these he superadded
dignity and sublimity. The life of Virgil, commonly
prefixed to his works, professes to be written by Tiberius
Claudius Donatus, who lived in the fifth century. If, as
1 See, on this subject, Niebuhr's Lectures on Roman History, cvi.
238 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Heyne thought, the groundwork is by him, it has been
overlaid with fables similar to those found in the Gesta
Eomanorum, and owing their origin to the inventions of
the dark ages. From this biography, stripped of those
portions which are clearly fabulous, and from other sources,
the following particulars respecting liim may be derived : —
P. Virgilius Maro was born on the ides (the 15th) of
October, 1 B.C. 70, on a small estate belonging to his
father, at Andes (Pietola), a village of Cisalpine Gaul,
situated about three Eoman miles from Mantua. It has
been disputed whether his name was Virgilius or Vergilius.
Most probably both orthographies are correct, as Diana ;
Minerva, liber, and other Latin words, were frequently
written JDeana, Menerva, leber, &c. 2
Virgil was by birth a citizen of Mantua, 3 but not of
Eome, for the full franchise was not extended to the
Transpadani until b.c. 49, although they enjoyed the
Jus Latii as early as B.C. 89. The varied stores of
learning contained in the Georgics and iEneid, abundantly
prove that Yirgil received a libera! education. It is said
that he acquired the rudiments of literature at Cremona,
where he remained until he had assumed the toga virilism
This event, if the anonymous life is to be depended upon,
took place unusually early ; for it is there assigned to the
second consulships of Pompey the Great and Licinius
Crassus, 5 in the first consulship of whom he was born.
From Cremona he went to Milan, and thence to Naples,
where he studied Greek literature and philosophy under
the direction of Parthenius, a native of Bithynia. Muretus
asserts that he diligently read the history of Thucydides ;
but his favourite studies were medicine and mathematics —
an unusual discipline to engage the attention of the future
poet, but one which, by its exactness, tended to foster
1 Mart. Ep. xii. 68. 2 See Quint, de Inst. Or. 3 Servius.
4 Scalig. in Euseb. Cliron. 6 b. c. 55.
VIRGIL DEPRIVED OF HIS ESTATE. 239
and mature that judgment which distinguishes his poetry.
The philosophical sect to winch he devoted himself was
the Epicurean ; and the unfortunate general, P. Quin-
tilius Varus, to whom he addresses his sixth Eclogue, 1
studied this system together with him under Syron.
After this, it is probable that he came to Eome, but
soon exchanged the bustle of the capital, for which his
bash t'ul disposition and delicate health unfitted him, for
the quiet retirement of Iris hereditary estate. Of this he
was deprived in B.C. 42, with circumstances of great
hardship, when the whole neighbouring district was
divided, after the battle of Philippi, amongst the victorious
legionaries of Octavius and Antony. The town of
Cremona had supported Brutus, and the old republican
party, and Mantua, together with its surrounding district,
suffered in consequence of its too close vicinity. 2 Asinius
Pollio was at that time commander of the forces in
Cisalpine Gaul. He was grinding and oppressive in his
administration ; but being himself an orator, poet, and
historian, he patronized literary men. Congenial tastes
recommended Virgil to his notice, and led him to take com-
passion on the poet's desolate condition. By his advice,
Virgil proceeded to Borne with an introduction to
Maecenas. Through him he gained access to Octavius,
and either immediately or after the peace of Brundisium 3
his little farm was restored to him.
He now became a prosperous man, was a member of
the literary society which graced the table of Maecenas,
and basked in the sunshine of court favour. Horace,
Virgil, Plotius, and Varius, were united by the closest
bonds of friendship with Maecenas, and accompanied him
on that cheerful expedition to Brundisium, 4 when he went
thither in order to negotiate a reconciliation between
Octavius and Antony. Henceforth Virgil's favourite
See v. 7. 2 Eel. ix. 18. 3 b. c. 40. 4 b. c. 38.
240 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
residence was Naples. 1 Its sunny climate suited his
pulmonary weakness far better than the low and damp
banks of his native Mincius (Menzo). He had, besides,
a villa in Sicily, and when at Eome he lived in a pleasant
house on the Esquiline, situated near those of his friends
Maecenas and Horace. It is difficult to say how Virgil
became so rich : patrons were liberal in those days, and
he doubtless owed a portion of his affluence to their
munificence. The liberality of Maecenas is well-known ;
and Martial attributes the prosperity of Virgil to the
favour of "the Tuscan knight/' 2 Augustus also had
great wealth at his disposal, and was profuse in the dis-
tribution of it amongst his favourites.
There is a passage in the Odes of Horace 3 which seems
to hint that he engaged to a slight extent in mercantile
concerns : even if this formed one source of his wealth,
the love of gain (studium lucri), and anxiety about the
means of living, do not appear to have hindered him from
devoting his hours of serious occupation to literary
labours and the diligent use of his well-stored library,
whilst his leisure was given to the delights of social
intercourse, for which he was so eminently qualified by
his sweet temper and amiable disposition.
The poet's term of life was not extended far beyond
fifty years. He had never been healthy or robust : he
sometimes spat blood, and frequently suffered from head-
ache and indigestion. 4 Ill health was the only drawback
to a life otherwise passed in calm felicity. In the year
b. c. 19 he meditated a tour in Greece, intending, during
the course of it, to give the final polish to his great epic
poem. Greece and her classic scenes, the favourite haunts
of the Muses, the time-honoured contests of Olympia,
the living and breathing statues which he beheld in that
1 Alexander, an Italian abbot, states, on the evidence of two spurious
verses, that he was governor of Naples and Calabria.
2 Ep. viii. 56. 3 Carm. xv. 12. 4 Hor. Sat. I. v. 49.
DEATH OF VIRGIL. 241
home of art, evidently inspired the beautiful imagery
which adorns the introduction to the third Georgia He,
however, only reached Athens : there he met Augustus,
who was on his way back from Samos, and both returned
together. On the occasion of this voyage, Horace wrote
that tender ode 1 in which he affectionately calls him "the
half of Ins soul : — "
Navis quae tibi creditum
Debes Virgilium, finibus Atticis
Reddas incolumeni precor
Et serves anirose diniidium rneae.
On the way he was seized with a mortal sickness, which
was aggravated by the motion of the vessel, and he only
lived to land at Brundisium. The powers of nature,
already enfeebled, were now totally exhausted, and he
expired on the 22nd of September. He was buried
rather more than a mile from Naples, on the road to
Puteoli (Pozzuoli). A tomb is still pointed out to the
traveller which is said to be that of the poet. Nor is
this improbable ; for, although it is not situated on the
present high-road, it is quite possible that the original
direction of the road may have been changed. 2 His
epitaph is said to have been dictated by himself in his last
moments : —
Mantua me genuit ; Calabri rapuere ; tenet nunc
Parthenope. Cecini Pascua, Rura, Duces. 3
Virgil was deservedly popular both as a poet and as a
man. His rivals in literature could not envy one so
unassuming and inoffensive his well-merited success, but
loved him as much as they admired his poetry. The
1 Carm. i. 3.
2 There has been much discussion respecting the precise place of bis
burial. (See Cramer's Anc. It. ii. 174.) Addison, in opposition to the
popular belief, thought it almost certain that it stood on that side of the
town which looks towards Vesuvius. (Remarks on Italy, p. 164 ; sec. ed.)
3 Meyer, Anthol. 95.
R
242 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
emperor esteemed him, the people respected him. " Wit-
ness," says Tacitus, 1 " the letters of Augustus, — witness
the conduct of the people itself, which, when some of his
verses were recited in the theatre, rose en masse, and
showed the same veneration for Virgil, who happened to
he present among the audience, which they were wont to
show to Augustus." He was exceedingly temperate in
his manner of living ; so pure-minded 2 and chaste in the
midst of a profligate and licentious age, that the Neapo-
litans gave him the name of Parthenias (from 7rap6evos,
a virgin), unselfish, although surrounded by selfishness,
kind-hearted, and sympathising. His talents and popu-
larity never spoiled his natural simplicity and modesty,
as his moving in the polite circles of the capital never
could entirely wear off his rustic shyness and unfashionable
appearance.
He was constitutionally pensive and melancholy, and
so distrustful of his own poems, that Augustus could not
persuade him to send an unfinished portion of the iEneid
to him for perusal. "As to my iEneas," he writes to
the emperor, 3 when absent on his Cantabrian campaign,
" if I had anything worth your reading I would send it
with pleasure, but the work is only just begun, and I
even blame my folly for venturing upon so vast a task.
But you know that I shall apply fresh and increased
diligence to carrying out my design." It was with real
reluctance that he subsequently read the sixth book to
the Emperor and Octavia. In his last moments he was
anxious to burn the whole manuscript ; and in his will he
directed his executors, Yarius and Tucca, either to improve
it or commit it to the flames. 4 He was open-hearted and
generous, but not extravagant in the expenditure of his
wealth, for he bequeathed to his brother, his friends, and
the Emperor a considerable property.
1 Dial, de Caus. Corrup. El. 13. 2 Hor. Sat. I. v. 41.
3 Macrob. Saturn. I. sub fine. 4 Plin. N. H. vii. 30.
HIS MINOR POEMS. 243
It is said that Virgil's earliest poetical essay was an
epic poem, the subject of which was the Boman wars ;
but that the impossibility of introducing Eoman names
in hexameter verse caused him to desist from the task
almost as soon as he had commenced it. The minor
poems, which are still extant, were probably his first
works. These are the Culex, Ciris, Moretum, Copa,
and the shorter pieces in lyric, elegiac, and iambic
metres, 1 commonly known by the title of Catalecta, The
" Culex" (Gnat) is a bucolic poem, with sometliing of
a mock-heroic colouring, of which the argument is as
follows : 2 — A shepherd, overcome with the heat, falls
asleep beneath the shade of a tree, and a venomous
serpent from a neighbouring marsh stealthily approaches.
A gnat flies to his rescue, and stings him on the brow.
The shepherd, awoke by the smart, crushes his rescuer,
but sees the serpent and kills it. The ghost of the gnat
appears, reproaches him wdth his ingratitude, and de-
scribes the adventures he has met with in the regions
of the dead. The shepherd erects a monument in his
honour, and indites the following epigram : —
Parve culex, pecudum custos tibi tale merenti
Funeris officium vitas pro munere reddit.
Poor insect, thou a shepherd's life didst save ;
Thou gavest a life, he gives thee but a grave.
The " Ciris," which some have attributed to Corn.
Gallus, is the Greek legend of Scylla, who was changed
into a fish, and her father Nisus into an eagle. Great
1 See Meyer's Anthol. 85 — 111.
2 A litle noursling of the humid ayre,
A gnat unto the sleepie shepheard went ;
And, marking where his ey-lids twinckling rare
Shewd the two pearles, which sight unto him lent,
Through their thin coverings appearing fayre,
His litle needle there infixing deep,
Warnd him awake, from death himselfe to keep.
Spenser.
r2
244 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
use has been made by Spenser of this poem in the con-
versation between Britomart and her nurse Glauce, and
also in Glauce's incantations. 1 The " Moretum" was
intended to trace the employments of the agricultural
labourer through the day ; but it only describes the com-
mencement of them, and the preparation of a dish or olla
podrida of garden herbs called moretum. It contains an
ingenious description of a cottager's kitchen garden. The
" Copa" is an Elegiac poem, not unlike in jovial spirit
the scolia or drinking-songs of the Greeks : it represents
a female waiter at a tavern, begging for custom by a
tempting display of the accommodations and comforts
prepared for strangers. It describes the careless enjoy-
ments of rural festivity : the simple luxuries of grapes
and mulberries, the fragrant roses, the cheerful grass-
hoppers, and timid little lizards of Italy. Nor are the
excitements of the dice, the joys of wine, the blandish-
ments of love unsung. Dull care is banished far, and the
enjoyment of the present hour inculcated : —
Pereant qui crastina curant
Mors aurem vellens Vivite, ait, venio.
Amongst the lyric poems of Virgil is a very elegant
one on the villa of his instructor in philosophy, Syron.
The poems which first established his reputation were
his Bucolics or Eclogues. This latter title was given them
in later times, implying either that they were selections
from a greater number of poems or imitations of passages
selected from the works of Greek poets. 2
The characters in Virgil's Bucolics are Italians, in all
their sentiments and feelings, acting the unreal and
assumed part of Sicilian shepherds. In fact, the Italians
1 Faery Queene, book iii. c. ii. 3. See Dunlop, iii.
2 Spenser, adopting the incorrect orthography and etymology of Pe-
trarch, writes the word iEglogue, and derives it from a'iytov Ao'yoi — tales of
goats or goatherds.
ITALIAN RURAL MANNERS. 245
never possessed the elements of pastoral life, and there-
lore could not naturally furnish the poet with originals
and models from which to draw his portraits and cha-
racters. They were a simple people, but their simplicity
was rather Ascrsean than Arcadian : the domestic habits
and virtues of rural life in Italy were not unlike those of
Bceotia, as described by Hesiod. Virgil, therefore, wisely
took him as his model, and produced a more natural
picture of Italian manners in his Georgics than in his
Eclogues. The denizens of the little towns had the
manners and habits of municipal life : their cultivation was
the artificial refinement of town life, and not the natural
sentiments of the contemplative shepherd. Those who
lived in the country were hard-working, simple-minded
peasants, who gained their livelihood by the sweat of
their brow — honest, plain-spoken, rough-mannered, and
without a grain of sentimentality. Pastoral poetry
owes its origin to, and is fostered by, solitude ■ its most
beautiful passages are of a meditative cast. The shepherd
beguiles his loneliness by communing with Ins own
thoughts. His sorrows are not the hard struggles of
life, but often self-created and imaginary, or at least
exaggerated. When represented as Virgil represents
them in his Bucolics, they are in masquerade, and the
drama in which they form the characters is of an alle-
gorical kind. The connexion with Italy is rather of an
historical than a moral nature : we meet with numerous
allusions to contemporary events, but not with exact
descriptions of Italian character and manners. As, there-
fore, we cannot realize the descriptions we can neither
sympathize nor admire. Menalcas and Cory don and
Alexis, and the rest, are as much out of place as the
gentlemen and ladies in the garb of shepherds and
shepherdesses in English family pictures. Even the
scenery is Sicilian, and does not truthfully describe the
tame neighbourhood of Mantua. So long as it is re-
246 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
membered that they are imitations of the Syracusan poet
we miss their nationality, and see at once that they are
"iintrnthful and out of keeping ; and Virgil suffers in our
estimation because we naturally compare him with the
original whom he professes to imitate, and we cannot but
be aware of his inferiority : but if we can once divest
ourselves of the idea of the outward form which he has
chosen to adopt, and forget the personality of the cha-
racters, we can feel for the wretched outcast exiled from
a happy though humble home, and be touched by the
simple narrative of their disappointed loves and childlike
woes \ can appreciate the delicately-veiled compliments
paid by the poet to his patron ; can enjoy the inventive
genius and poetical power which they display ; and can
be elevated by the exalted sentiments which they some-
times breathe. We feel that it is all an illusion ; but we
willingly permit ourselves to be transported from the
matter-of-fact realities of a hard and prosaic world.
Virgil in his Eclogues was too much cramped by fol-
lowing his Greek original to present us with true pictures
of Italian country life ; although the criticism of his
friend Horace with justice attributes to his rural pieces
delicacy of touch and graceful wit : —
molle atque facetum
Virgilio annuerunt gaudentes rare Camoense.
The Idylls of Theocritus are transfusions into appro-
priate Greek of old popular Sicilian legends which had
taken root in the country, and had become part and
parcel of the national character. His subjects are not
always strictly pastoral, for his characters are sometimes
reapers and fishermen. 2 His language, characters, sen-
timents, scenery, habits, incidents, are all Sicilian, and
therefore all are in perfect harmony. The characters of
Sat. I. x. 44. - Id. x. and xxi.
( I.ASSIFICATION OF THE BUCOLICS. '247
Theocritus have a specific individuality, and are therefore
different from each other; those of Virgil are generic,
the representatives of a class, and therefore there is little
or no variety. But still Virgil's defects do not detract
much from the enjoyment experienced in reading his
Bucolic poetry. The Aminta of Tasso, the Pastor Fido
of Guarini, the Calendar of Spenser, the Lycidas of
Milton, the Perdita of Shakspeare, the pastorals oi
Drayton, Drummond, and Florian, are equally open to
objection, and yet who does not admire their beauties?
The Bucolics may be arranged in two classes. Those
in the first are composed entirely after the Greek model,
and contain the following poems : —
i. The first, in which the poet, representing himself
under the character of Tityrus, expresses his gratitude for
the restoration of his property, whilst Melibceus, as an
exiled Mantuan, bewails his harder fortune.
ii. The second, which is generally supposed to have
been the first pastoral written by him, and is principally
copied from the Cyclops of Theocritus.
iii. The third is an imitation of the fourth and fifth
Idylls of Theocritus, and, as well as the seventh, repre-
sent improvisatorial trials of musical skill between shep-
herds.
v. The fifth, in which two shepherds pay the last
honours to a departed friend, the one singing his epitaph,
the other his apotheosis. Scaliger 1 has with good reason
supposed that this poem allegorized the murder and
deification of Julius Csesar. It has been often imitated
by modern poets : the most beautiful imitations are
Spenser's Lament for Dido, Milton's Lycidas, Drayton's
sixth Eclogue, and Pomfret's Elegy on Queen Mary.
viii. The eighth, which is imitated from the second
and third Idylls of Theocritus, consists of two parts ; and,
In Euseb. Chrou.
248 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
from the subject-matter of the second portion, is entitled
" Pharmaeeutria" (the Enchantress). Two shepherds,
Damon and Alphesibceus, rival Orpheus in their musical
skill, for, whilst they sing, heifers forget to graze, lynxes
are stupified, and rivers stop their course to listen. It
was addressed by Virgil to his kind patron Pollio, whilst
employed in his expedition to Ulyricum. 1 Damon, per-
sonifying an unsuccessful lover, laments that a rival has
been preferred to himself. Alphesibceus, in the character
of an enchantress, goes through a formula of magical in-
cantations in order to regain the lost affections of Daphnis.
In this poem a refrain, or intercalary verse, recurs after
intervals of a few hues. In the song of Damon, the
refrain is —
Incipe Meenalios mecum, rnea tibia, versus.
In that of his opponent —
Ducite ab urbe dornum, mea carmina, ducite Daptmim.
ix. In the ninth, two shepherds converse together on
the troubles which have befallen their neighbourhood,
and one of them is represented as conveying a present of
a few kids to court the favour of the new possessor.
The second class are of a more original kind.
iv. The fourth, entitled Pollio, which is the most
celebrated of them all, bears no resemblance to pastoral
poetry. In the exordium, the poet invokes the Muses of
Sicilian song ; but he professes to attune their sylvan strain
to a nobler theme. The melancholy Perusian war had
been brought to a termination. The reconciliation of
Anthony and Octavius had been effected by the treaty of
Brundisium, and all things seemed to promise peace and
prosperity. The contrast was indeed a bright one, after
the havoc and desolation which war had spread through
Italy. The peace ratified with Sextus Pompey at Puteoli
1 b. c. 39.
SUBJECT OF THE FOURTH ECLOGUE. 249
opened the long-closed granaries of Sicily, and plenty
succeeded to famine. The enthusiasm of the poet hailed
the return of the fahled golden age — the reign of Saturn.
The songs which the old bards of Italy professed to have
learnt from the Cumaean Sibyl, and to winch legendary
tradition attributed a prophetical meaning, seemed to
point to the new era which now dawned on the Eoman
empire.
The belief of the civilized world was undoubtedly at
this time concentrated on the expectation of some great
event, which should bring peace and happiness to man-
kind. The divine revelation which God's people enjoyed
taught them now to expect the advent of the Messiah ;
wliilst traditions, probably derived through corrupting
channels from the true light of prophecy, taught the
heathen, though more vaguely, to look for the coming of
some great one. The prophetic literature of the East
might have travelled to Europe ; and the divine pro-
phecies of Isaiah, and the other sacred writers, may have
been incorporated by native bards in Italian legends.
Bishop Lowth even supposed that the Sibylline pre-
dictions derived their origin from a Greek version of
Messianic prophecies. 1 A belief in the inspiration of the
Sibyls prevailed in the early ages of Christianity, and the
Emperor Constantine in one of Iris nations 2 quotes from
them, and paraphrases Virgil's^re pei ° a s &n evidence
to the truths of the Gospel. ■• nam n
Some of the fathers of the Chuiv gani ittributed to them
supernatural power ; and the Italian painters, acting under
the patronage of the Eoman Church, honoured the four
Sibyls as participators in a knowledge of the Divine
counsels. Ambrose 3 allows that they were inspired, but
by the spirit of evil. Jerome 4 believes that this power
1 Prsel. de Sacr. Po. He. xxi. p. 289.
- Orat. ad Sanctos, 19, 20 ; apud Euseb.
3 In I Cor. ii. * Adv. Jor. lib. i.
250 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
was given to them by God as a reward for virginity ; and
Augustine 1 thinks that they predicted many truths con-
cerning Jesus Christ. Justin 2 adopts a legend which
would account for the similarity between the Sibylline
oracles and Hebrew prophecy. He says that the Cumsean
Sibyl, celebrated by Virgil, was born at Babylon, and
was the daughter of Berosus, the Chaldean historian.
If Yirgil, in the fourth eclogue, correctly paraphrased
the Sibylline poems, two parallelisms between them and
the prophecies of Isaiah are remarkably striking : — 3
Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna ;
Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto —
Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri,
Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras —
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem. — v. 6.
Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son. — Is. vii. 14.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even
for ever. — Is. ix. 7.
At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,
Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. — v. 18.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them ; and
the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as a rose. — Is. xxxv. 1.
Many theori^V^j? been proposed respecting the child
to whom aF polli y ade in this eclogue, not one of
which was ss p Gibbon ; 4 but the following is
3 pro °
adopted by 1. % i V the most probable. The peace
of Brundisium wao cemented by the marriage between
Antony and Caesar's half-sister Octavia. She was the
widow of Marcellus, and appeared likely to give birth
to a posthumous child. To this child yet unborn, the
poet applies all the blessings promised by the Sibyl-
1 Contra Faust, i. 13, 2. 2 Orat. Parsen. 3 See notes to Pope's Messiah.
4 Decl. and Fall. c. xx. vol. iii. p. 269.
IMITATION BY MILTON. 251
line oracles, and predicts that, under his auspices, the
peace and prosperity already inaugurated shall be con-
tinned.
Yi. In the sixth, Virgil represents allegorically, under
the character of Silenus the tutor of Bacchus, his own
instructor Syron ; and thus makes it the vehicle of a short
account of the Epicurean philosophy. It was not long
since the same subject had been treated of at greater
length by the eloquent Lucretius ; and it is said that
when Cicero heard it recited by the mime Cytheris,
he was so struck with admiration as to exclaim that he
was "Magnse spes altera Eomae." This eclogue is parodied
by Gay in the Saturday of his Shepherd's Week.
x. The tenth can scarcely be distinguished from any
other amatory poem, except that the heroic metre is not
so usual in that species of poetry as the elegiac. The
loves of the poet Grallus are sung ; Arcadia is fixed upon
as the place of his exile ; and the lay is said to be set to
the music of the oaten-pipe of Sicily : but this eclogue
has no other claim to be entitled a bucolic poem.
One passage in this eclogue, which suggested the follow-
ing beautiful lines in Milton's " Lycidas," illustrates the
truth that poetry often derives additional beauty from
the fact of its being a successful imitation : —
Quae nemora aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellae
Naiades, indigno cum Gallus amore periret ?
Nam neque Parnassi vobis juga nam neque Pindi
Ulla moram fecere, neque Aonia Aganippe. Eel. x. 9.
Where were ye, Nymphs, when the remorseless deep
Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas ?
For neither were ye playing on the steep,
Where your old bards, the famous Druids, lie,
Nor on the shaggy top of Mona high,
Nor yet where Deva spreads her wizard stream.
Milton's Lycidas.
252 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER IV.
BEAUTY OF DIDACTIC POETRY — ELABORATE FINISH OF THE GEORGICS
— ROMAN LOVE OF RURAL PURSUITS — HESIOD SUITABLE AS A
MODEL — CONDITION OF ITALY — SUBJECTS TREATED OF IN THE
GEORGICS — SOME STRIKING PASSAGES ENUMERATED — INFLUENCE
OF ROMAN LITERATURE ON ENGLISH POETRY — SOURCES FROM
WHICH THE INCIDENTS OF THE ^NEID ARE DERIVED — CHARACTER
OF jENE AS— CRITICISM OF NIEBUHR.
Didactic poetry is of all kinds the least inviting. As its
professed object is instruction, there is no reason why
its lessons should be conveyed in poetical language — its
purpose could, in fact, be better attained in prose. Pre-
tending, therefore, to poetry, it demands great skill,
elaborate finish, and such graces and embellishments as
will conceal its dry character, and recommend it to the
reader's attention.
The beauty of a didactic poem depends only partially
on the just views and correct discrimination which it
evinces, and principally on the beauty of the language,
the picturesque force, and pleasing character of the de-
scriptions, and the interest that is thrown into the epi-
sodes. In fact, the accessaries are the parts most admired,
and extracts brought forward as specimens of this kind
of poetry are invariably of this kind. Poetry naturally
deals with the beauties and terrors of external nature —
with the emotions and passions, whether of a tender or
violent kind — the sober practical rules of life are scarcely
within its sphere. True it is that when all literature was
poetical, the precepts of moral and physical philosophy,
ELABORATE FINISH OF TILE GEORGICS. 253
and even the dry commands of laws and institutions, were
embodied in a metrical form; but wlien literature
divides itself into poetry and prose, the subjects ap-
propriated to each become spontaneously separate like-
wise. For this reason, the Greorgics of Virgil especially
display his ability as a poet, his correct taste, the "limse
labor," the pains which he took in polishing and correct-
ing. In none of his poems can we form a better idea of
the description which he gives of his patient toil, when
he says, that " like the she-bear he brought his poetical
offspring into shape by constantly licking them/' 1 The
majesty of the language elevates the subject, and divests
it of so much of the homeliness as would be inappropriate
to poetry, and yet at the same time it is not too grand
or elevated.
The following criticism of Addison 2 is by no means
too favourable : — " I shall conclude this poem to be the
most complete, elaborate, and finished piece of all an-
tiquity. The iEneis is of a nobler kind ; but the Greorgic
is more perfect in its kind. The iEneis has a greater
variety of beauties in it ; but those of the Georgic are
more exquisite. In short, the Greorgic has all the per-
fection that can be expected in a poem written by the
greatest poet, in the flower of his age, when his invention
was ready, his imagination warm, his judgment settled,
and all his faculties in their full vigour and maturity/ '
Eome offered a favourable field for a poet to undertake a
poem on the labours and enjoyments of rural life. Agricul-
ture was always there considered a liberal employment :
tradition had adorned rustic manners with the attributes of
simplicity and honesty, and divested them of the ideas of
coarseness usually connected with them. The traditions
of those ages of national freedom and greatness, to which
the enthusiasm of the poet delighted to carry back the
A. Gell. N. A. xvii. 10. 2 Misc. Works, vol. i.
254 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
thoughts of his readers, had connected some of the noblest
names of history with rural labours. Curius and Cin-
cinnatus were called from the plough to defend and save
their country ; and after their task was performed they
returned with delight to it again. Cato, the representative
of the old and respected generation, and other illustrious
men, had written on the pursuits and duties of rural life.
Agriculture was never connected with ideas of debasing
and illiberal gain, such as attached to trade and commerce.
The poet, moreover, had a model ready at hand, after
which to construct his work. It was Greek, and there-
fore sure to be acceptable upon the recognized principles
of taste. It described a species of rural life, hard, frugal,
and industrious, very much like that led by the agricul-
turists of Italy. It painted a standard of morals, which
even the licentious inhabitants of a luxurious capital could
appreciate, though they had degenerated from it. The
discriminating judgment of Virgil saw that the rural life
of Italy could really be represented, in the same way in
which Hesiod had painted that of Bceotia, and he wisely
determined —
To sing through Roman towns Ascrsean strains.
There exists, however, precisely that difference between
the Greorgics of Virgil and their model that might be ex-
pected. The Hesiodic poem belongs to a period when
poetry was the accidental form — instruction the essential
object; and, therefore, the teaching is systematic, precise,
detailed, homely, sometimes coarse and unpolished. Virgil
looks at his subject from the poetical point of view. His
precepts are often put, not in a didactic but a descriptive
form ; they are unhesitatingly interrupted by digressions
and episodes, more or less to the point ; and out of a vast
mass of materials such only are selected as are suitable to
awaken the sensibilities.
The state of Italy also contributed to enlist a poet's
CONDITION OF ITALY. 255
sympathies in favour of the rural classes, and to devote
his pen to the patriotic task of reviving the old agricul-
tural tastes. War had devastated the land ; the peasant
population had been fearfully thinned by military con-
scriptions and confiscation ; wide districts had been de-
populated and left destitute of cultivation. Instead of
the sword being beat into a ploughshare and the spear
into a priming-hook, the Italian peasant had witnessed
the contrary state of things. The poet laments the sad
change which now disfigured the fair face of Italy : —
noil ullus aratro
Dignus honos, squalent abcluctis arva eolonis,
Et curvse rigidum falces conflantur in ensem.
Geo. i. 507.
The credit of having proposed this subject to Virgil is
given to his patron Maecenas ; and to him, consequently,
the Georgics are addressed : but the poet doubtless gladly
adopted the suggestion. When and where it was com-
menced is uncertain, but the finishing stroke was put to
it at Naples 1 some time after the battle of Actium. 2 Al-
though the " Works and Days " of Hesiod is professedly
his pattern, still he derives his materials from other
sources. Aratus supplies him with his signs of the
weather, and the writers de Re Rustica with his prac-
tical directions. His system is indeed perfectly Italian ;
so much so, that many of his rules may be traced in
modern Italian husbandry, just as the descriptions of
implements in Hesiod are frequently found to agree with
those in use in modern Greece.
The first book treats of tillage, the second of orchards ;
the subject of the third, which is the noblest and most
spirited of them, is the care of horses and cattle ; and the
fourth, which is the most pleasing and interesting, de-
scribes the natural instincts as well as the management
of bees.
1 G. iv. 560—564. 2 G. ii. 171.
256 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
But the great merit of the Georgics consists in their
varied digressions, interesting episodes, and sublime
bursts of descriptive vigour, which are interspersed
throughout the poem. To quote any of them would be
unnecessary, as Virgil and his translations are in every
one's hands. It will be sufficient to enumerate some of
the most striking. These are —
i. The Origin of Agriculture, Gr. i. 125.
ii. The Storm in Harvest, i. 316.
in. The Signs of the Weather, i. 351.
iv. The Prodigies at the Death of Julius Caesar,
i. 466.
v. The Battle of Pharsalia, i., 489.
vi. The Panegyric on Italy, n., 136.
vii. The Praises of a Country Life, n., 458.
viii. The Horse and Chariot Eace, in., 103.
ix. The Description of Winter in Scythia, in., 349.
x. The Murrain of Cattle, in., 478.
xi. The Battle of the Bees, iv., 67.
xii. The Story of Aristseus, iv., 317.
xiii. The Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, iv., 453.
Roman poetry was more generally understood and
more diligently studied in the most polished days of
English literature, than the yet scarcely discovered stores
of Greek learning. Want of originality was not con-
sidered a blemish in an age the taste of which, notwith-
standing all its merits, was very artificial ; whilst the ex-
quisite polish and elegance which constitute the charm of
Latin poetry, recommended it both for admiration and
imitation. Hence English poets have been deeply in-
debted to the Romans for their most happy thoughts, and
our native literature is largely imbued with a Virgilian
and Horatian spirit. This circumstance adds an especial
interest to a survey of Boman literature as the fountain
from which welled forth so many of the streams that have
THE jENEID. 257
fertilized our poetry. The Georgics have been frequently
taken as a model for imitation, and our descriptive poets
have drawn largely * from this source. Warton 1 con-
si do red Philips' " Cyder" the happiest imitation ; and
M The Seasons" of our greatest descriptive poet,
Thomson, is a thoroughly Virgilian poem. Many
striking instances of Virgilian taste might he adduced,
especially the thunderstorm in " Summer," and the
praises of Great Britain, in " Autumn."
From the letter already quoted as preserved by Ma-
erobius, it is clear that the iEneid was commenced when
Augustus was in Spain, 2 that it occupied the whole of
Virgil's subsequent life, and was not sufficiently corrected
to satisfy his own fastidious taste wdien he died. Au-
gustus intrusted its publication to Varius and Tucca,
wdth strict instructions to abstain from interpolation.
They are said to have transposed the second and third
books, and to have omitted twenty -two lines 3 as being
contradictory to another passage respecting Helen in the
sixth book. 4 Hence in many early manuscripts these
verses are wanting.
The idea and plan of the iEneid are derived from the
Homeric poems. As the wrath of Achilles is the main-
spring of all the events in the Iliad, so on the anger of
the offended Juno the unity of the iEneid depends, and
with it all the incidents are connected. Many of the
most splendid passages, picturesque images, and forcible
epithets are imitations or even translations from the
Iliad and Odyssey. The war with Turnus ow r es its
grandeur and its interest to the Iliad — the wanderings of
^Eneas, their wild and romantic adventures to the Odyssey.
Virgil's battles, though not to be compared in point of
vigour with those of Homer, shine with a reflected light.
1 See Dunlop, H. of R. L. iii. s. v. Virg. 2 b. c. 27.
3 Mn. ii. 567—589. 4 Ibid. vi. 5 LI.
258 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
His Necyia is a copy of that in the Odyssey. His
similes are most of them suggested by those favourite
embellishments of Homer. The shield of iEneas 1 is an
imitation of that of Achilles. The storm and the speech
of iEneas 2 are almost translations from the Odyssey. 3
The thoughts thus borrowed from the great heroic
poems of Greece, Yirgil interwove with that ingenuity
which distinguishes the Augustan school by means of the
double character in which he represented his hero. The
narrative of his perils by sea and land were enriched by
the marvellous incidents of the Odyssey ; his wars which
occupy the latter books had their prototype in the Iliad.
Greek tragedy, also, which depicted so frequently the
subsequent fortunes of the Greek chieftains, 4 — the nu-
merous translations which had employed the genius of
Ennius, Attius, and Pacuvius — were a rich mine of poetic
wealth. The second book, which is almost too crowded
with a rapid succession of pathetic incidents, derived, its
interesting details — the untimely fate of Astyanax, the
loss of Creusa, the story of Sinon, the legend of the
wooden horse, the death of the aged Priam, the subsequent
fortunes of Helen — from two Cyclic poems, the Sack of
Troy and the little Iliad of Arctinus. For the legend of
Laocoon he was indebted to the Alexandrian poet,
Euphorion. The class of Cyclic poems entitled the
vootoI suggested much of the third book, especially the
stories of Pyrrhus, Helenus, and Andromache. The
fourth drew its fairy enchantments partly from Homer's
Calypso, partly from the love adventures of Jason,
Medea, and Hypsypile in the Argonautica of the Alex-
andrian poet, Apollonius Phodius, which had been intro-
duced to the Eomans by the translation of Varro.
The sixth is suggested by the eleventh book of the
Odyssey and the descent of Theseus in search of Pirithous
Ma., viii. 626, 2 Ibid. i. 3 Book v. 4 Macrob. Saturn, v. 13,
Vine II- [NDEBTED TO OLD LATIN POETS. 259
in the Hesiodic poems. But notwithstanding the force
and originality — the vivid word-painting which adorns this
book — it is far inferior to the conceptions which Greek
genius formed of the unseen world. In the iEneid the
Legends of the world of spirits seem but vulgar marvels
and popular illusions. Tartarus and Elysium are too
palpable and material to be believed; their distinctness
dispels the enchantment which they were intended to
produce ; it is daylight instead of dim shadow. We
miss the outlines, which seem gigantic from their dim and
shadowy nature, the appalling grandeur to which no one
since iEschylus ever attained, except the great Italian
poet who has never since been equalled.
To this rich store of Greek learning Italy contributed
her native legends. The adventures of iEneas in Italy —
the prophecy, of which the fulfilment was discovered by
lulus — the pregnant white sow — the story of the Sibyl —
the sylph-like Camilla — were native lays amalgamated
with the Greek legend of Troy. Macrobius, 1 in three
elaborate chapters, has shown that Virgil was deeply
indebted to the old Latin poets. In the first he quotes
more than seventy parallel turns of expression from
Ennius, Pacuvius, Attius, Naevius, Lucilius, Lucretius,
Catullus, and Varius, consisting of whole or half lines.
In the second he enumerates twenty-six longer passages,
which Virgil has imitated from the poems of Ennius,
Attius, Lucretius, and Varius, amongst which are por-
tions of "The Praises of Eural Life," and of "The
Pestilence." 2 In the third he mentions a few (amongst
them, for example, the well-known description of the
horse 3 ) which were taken by Virgil from the old Roman
poets, having been first adopted by them from the
Homeric poems. The following passages are a few of
1 Saturn, vi. 1, 2, 3.
8 Compare De Nat. Rer. ii. 24 ; vi. 136, 1143— ] 224 ; with Georg. ii 461,
4G7. &c. ; iii. 478, 505, 509, &c. 3 Iliad, Z. 506 ; Ma. xi. 492.
s 2
260 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
these examples, of what would in modern times be con-
sidered plagiarisms, but which the ancients admitted
without reluctance : —
Qui ccelum versat stellis fulgentibus aptum. Ennius.
Axem humero torquet stellis fulgentibus aptum.
V. JEn. vi. 797.
Est locus Hesperiam quam mortales perhibebant.
Est locus Hesperiam Graii cognomine dicunt.
Mn. i. 530.
Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem.
Unus qui nobis cunctando restituis rem. JEn. vi. 846.
Quod per amoenam urbem leni fluit agmine flumen.
arva
Inter opima virum leni fluit agmine Tybris.
JEn. ii. 781.
Hei mihi qualis erat quantum mutatus ab illo.
Hei mihi qualis erat quantum mutatus ab illo.
Mn.\\. 274.
discordia tetra
Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit.
Belli ferratos rupit Saturnia postes. JEn. vi. 622.
The variety of incidents, the consummate skill in the
arrangement of them, the interest which pervades both
the plot and the episodes, fully compensate for the want
of originality — a defect of which none but learned readers
would be aware. What sweeter specimens can be found
of tender pathos than the legend of Camilla, and the
episode of Nisus and Euryalus ? where is the turbulence
of uncurbed passions united with womanly unselfish
fondness, and queen-like generosity, painted with a more
masterly hand than in the character of Dido ? Where,
even in the Iliad, are characters better sustained and
more happily contrasted than the weak Latinus, the
soldier-like Turnus, the simple-minded Evander, the
feminine and retiring Lavinia, the barbarian Mezentius,
who to the savageness of a wild beast joined the natural
instinct, which warmed with the strongest affection for
CHARACTER OF /ENEAS. 261
his son. The only character of which the conception is
somewhat unsatisfactory is that of the hero himself:
.Eneas, notwithstanding his many virtues, fails of com-
manding the reader's sympathy or admiration. He is
full of faith in the providence of God, submits himself
with entire resignation to His divine will — is brave,
patient, dutiful — but he is cold and heartless, and, if the
expression is allowable, unchivalrous. In his war with
Turnus, he is so decidedly in the wrong, and the cha-
racter of his injured adversary shines with such lustre
and is adorned with such gallantry, that one is inclined
to transfer to him the interest and sympathy which
ought to be felt for the hero alone. This is undoubtedly
a fault, but it is counterbalanced by innumerable excel-
lences.
In personification, nothing is finer than Virgil's por-
traiture of Fame, except perhaps Spenser's Despair. In
description, the same genius which shone forth in the
Georgics, embellishes the iEneid also ; and both the
objects and the phenomena of nature are represented in
language equally vivid and striking.
Notwithstanding the question has been much dis-
cussed, it is most probable that the opinion of Pope
was correct respecting the political object of the iEneid.
He affirmed that it was as much a party -piece as Dryden's
Absalom and Achitophel ; that its primary object was ,t©
increase the popularity of Augustus ; its secondary one
to flatter the vanity of his countrymen by the splendour
and antiquity of their origin. Augustus is evidently
typified under the character of iEneas : both were cautious
and wise in council, both were free from the perturbations
of passion ; they were cold, unfeeling, and uninteresting.
Their wisdom and their policy were calculating and
worldly-minded. Augustus was conscious, as his last
1 Spence's Anecdotes.
262 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
words show, that he was acting a part ; and the contrast
between the sentiments and condnct of iEneas, wherever
the warm impulses of affection might be supposed to have
sway, likewise create an impression of insincerity. The
characteristic virtue which adorns the hero of the iEneid,
as the epithet " Pius " so constantly applied to him
implies, was filial piety ; and there was no virtue which
Augustus more ostentatiously put forward than dutiful
affection to Julius Caesar who had adopted him.
Other characters which are grouped around the central
figure are allegorical likewise — Cleopatra is boldly sketched
as Dido, the passionate victim of unrequited love. Both
displayed the noble, generous qualities, and at the same
time the uncontrolled self-will of a woman, who neither
had nor would acknowledge any master except the object
of her affections : the fortunes of both were similar, for
their brothers had become their bitterest enemies, and
the fate of both alike was suicide.
Turnus, whose character, as has been already stated,
is far more chivalrous and attractive than that of iEneas,
probably represented the popular Antony ; and as the
latter violated the peace ratified at Brundisium and
Tarentum, so the former is represented as treacherous to
his engagements with iEneas. It has even been thought,
and the view has been supported by many ingenious
arguments, that lapis is a portrait of the physician of
Augustus. 1
Virgil is especially skilful in that species of imitation
which consists in the appropriate choice of words, and the
assimilation of the sound to the sense. A series of dac-
tyles expresses the rapid speed of horses, and the still
more rapid night of time : — -
Quadrupedante putrem Sonitu quatit ungula campum.
^En. viii. 591.
Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus. Geo. iii. 284.
1 See, on this subject, Dunlop's Hist, iii, 151.
IMITATIONS OF SOUND. 263
Dignity and majesty are represented by an unusual use
o I' spondees : —
quce Divum incedo regina. JEn. i. 50.
penatibus et magnis Dis. JEn. viii. 679.
Accelerated motion by a corresponding change ^of
metre : —
jarnjam lapsura cadentique
Iinniinet assiinilis JEn. vi. 602.
Effort -by a hiatus : —
Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam.
Abruptness, or the fall of a heavy body, by a mono-
syllable : —
Insequitur cumulo prseruptus aquae mons. JEn. i. 109.
procumbit humi bos. 2En. v. 481.
Many other examples might be adduced 1 of that which,
if it were an artifice, would be a very pleasing one, but
which rather proceeds from the natural impulses of a
lively fancy and a delicately-attuned ear.
Dunlop has well observed, that Virgil's descriptions
are more like landscape-painting than any by his pre-
decessors, whether Greek or Eoman, and that it is a
remarkable fact that landscape-painting was first intro-
duced in his time. Pliny, in his Natural History, 2 informs
us that Ludius, who flourished in the life-time of
Augustus, invented the most dehghtful style of painting,
compositions introducing porticoes, gardens, groves, hills,
fish-ponds, rivers, and other pleasing objects, enlivened
by carriages, animals, and figures. Thus, perhaps, art
inspired poetry.
No one has ever attempted to disparage the reputation
of Virgil as holding the highest rank amongst Eoman
poets, except the Emperor Caligula, J. Markland, and the
1 See Clarke's Homer, II. iii. 363, note. 2 H. N. xxxv. 10.
264 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
great historian Mebuhr. The latter does not hesitate to
say that the nourishing period of Eoman poetry ceased
about the time of the deaths of Csesar and Cicero. 1
Doubtless Eoman national poetry then ceased, and was
succeeded by the new era of Greek taste ; but still the
poems of the new school were equally majestic and
pathetic, and, though less natural, owed to their Greek
originals incomparably greater polish, grace, and sweet-
ness.
It is difficult to understand the low opinion which
Mebuhr entertained of Virgil, and the superiority which
he attributes to Catullus. He not only declares that he
is opposed to the adoration with which the later Romans
regarded him, but he denies his fertility of genius and
inventive powers. Although he acknowledges that the
iEneid contains many exquisite passages, he pronounces
it a complete failure, an unhappy idea from beginning to
end. It is evident that he looked at the iEneid with the
eye of an historian, and that his objections to it were
entirely of an historical character.
"Wrapped up in Eoman nationality and Italian tradi-
tions, he did not forgive Yirgil for adulterating this pure
source of antiquarian information with Greek legends.
He assumes, correctly enough, that an epic poem, in
order to be successful, must be a living narrative of
events known and interesting to the mass of a nation, and
at the same time confesses that, whilst the ancient Italian
traditions had already fallen into oblivion, Homer was at
that time better known than ISTsevius. Surely, then, if
Virgil had drawn from Italian sources exclusively, he
would have omitted much that would have added interest
to his poem in the opinion of his hearers, and would not
have complied with the epic conditions which Niebuhr
himself lays down. Besides, if the traditions of Nsevius
Lect. cvi on R. H.
CRITICISM OF NIEBUHR. 265
wore Italian, were not many of the Greek and Italian
traditions which form the framework of the iEneid iden-
tical ? Xawius must have drawn largely from the Cyclic
poems ; and Niebuhr allows that Virgil copied these parts
of his poem from Nsevius. 1 He asserts his conviction
that Virgil's shield of iEneas had its model in Nsevius,
in whose poem yEneas or some other hero had a shield
representing the wars of the giants ; and yet no one can
doubt that the shield of Nsevius must have been suggested
by the Homeric and Hesiodic poems. Servius also
believed that Virgil borrowed from the poem of Nsevius
the plan of the early books of the iEneid. 2
Some of Virgil's minor poems are undoubtedly very
beautiful ; 3 but it is absurd to say that even the greatest
elegance in fugitive pieces of such a stamp can outshine
the noble and sublime passages interwoven throughout
the whole structure of the iEneid. The dispraise of
Niebuhr is as exaggerated as the fulsome compliment
paid by Propertius to the genius of his fellow-country-
man : —
Cedite, Eomani scriptores, cedite Graii,
Nescio quid majus nascitur Iliade.
Meg. ii. 27.
1 Introd. Lect. iv. 2 Serv. ad iEn. i. 98 ; ii. 797 ; iii- 10.
3 Meyer, Anthol. 85, 93, &c.
266 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER V.
THE LIBERTINI — ROMAN FEELINGS AS TO COMMERCE — BIRTH
AND INFANCY OF HORACE — HIS EARLY EDUCATION AT ROME
— HIS MILITARY CAREER — HE RETURNS TO ROME — IS INTRO-
DUCED TO MAECENAS — COMMENCES THE SATIRES — M^CENAS
GIVES HIM HIS SABINE FARM — HIS COUNTRY LIFE — THE
EPODES — EPISTLES — CARMEN SECULARE — ILLNESS AND DEATH,
Horatius Flaccus (born B. C. 65).
Lyric poetry is the most subjective of all poetry, and the
musician of the Eoman lyre 1 was the most subjective of
all Latin poets : hence a complete sketch of his life and
delineation of his character may be deduced from his
works. They contain the elements of an autobiography ;
and, whilst they constitute the most authentic source of
information, convey the particulars in the most livery and
engaging form.
At the period of Horace's birth, the Libertini, or freed-
men, were rapidly rising in wealth, and, therefore, in
position. The Roman constitution excluded the senato-
rial order from commercial pursuits, and would not even
permit them to own vessels of any considerable burden,
lest they should be made use of in trade. The old
Eoman feeling was even more exclusive than the law.
There were certain trades in which not only none who
had any pretensions to the rank of a gentleman, but
even no one who was free-born could engage without
degradation. Cicero 2 considers that money-lending, ma-
Od. IV. iii. 23. 2 De Off. i. 42.
ROMAN FEELINGS AS TO COMMERCE. 267
nutachires, retail trade, especially in delicacies which
minister to the appetite, are all sordid and illiberal. He
does not even allow that the professions of medicine
and architecture are honourable, except to such as are of
suitable rank. Agriculture is the only method of money-
making which he pronounces to be without any doubt
worthy of free-born men.
Devoted to the duties of public life either as soldiers
or citizens, the Eomans did not comprehend the dignity
of labour. High-minded and unselfish as it may appear
to think meanly of employments undertaken simply for
the sake of profit and lucre, the political result of this
pride was unmixed evil. Commerce was thus thrown
into the hands of those whose fathers had been slaves, and
who themselves inherited and possessed the usual vices of
a slavish disposition.
The middle classes were impoverished, and, as the un-
avoidable consequence of a system in which social position
depended upon property, were rapidly sinking into the
lowest ranks of the population. Here then was a gap to
be filled up — the question was by what means? Had
Eoman feeling permitted the free-born citizen to devote
his energies to labour and the creation of capital, he
would have risen in the social scale, would have occupied
the place left vacant, and would have brought with him
those sentiments of chivalrous freedom which there can
be no doubt distinguished Eome in earlier times, and ad-
vanced her in the scale of nations. Thus the circulation
would have been complete and healthy, and the national
system would have received fresh life and vigour in its
most important part. Instead of this, however, slaves
and the sons of slaves rose to wealth : not such slaves as
those who, well educated and occupying a high or, at
least, a respectable position in the conquered Greek
states, were appreciated by their conquerors, became their
friends and intimates, because of their worth and intellec-
268 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
tual acquirements, imbued their masters with their own
refinement and taste, and were intrusted with the educa-
tion of their children, but slaves who had formed the
masses of degraded nations. These were driven in hordes
to Rome. They swarmed in all the states of Italy and
Sicily. Many of them were not deficient in ability and
energy, and therefore they rose ; but they had little or no
moral principle. Their children intermarried with the
lower classes of the citizens ; their blood infected that of
the higher European races which flowed in their veins ; and
thus the masses of Eome became a mixed race, but not
mixed for the better. The character changed ■ but it
changed because the old race had perished, and a new
race with new characteristics occupied its place.
Under such circumstances, the Libertini became a
powerful and important class, both socially and politically :
they were the bankers, merchants, and tradesmen of
Eome.
Of this class, the father of Horace was one of the most
respectable. His business was that of a coactor, or agent
who collected the money from purchasers of goods at
public auctions. He was a man of strict integrity,
content with his position, and would not have thought
himself disgraced if his son had followed his own
calling. 1 He had made by his industry a small fortune,
sufficient to purchase an estate near Venusia (Venosa),
on the confines of Lucania and Apulia, but not sufficient
to free him from the appellation of " a poor man." 2
Here, on the 8th of December (vi t0 id. Decembr.),
B.C. 65, Q. Horatius Flaccus was born; and on the banks
of the obstreperous Aufidus, 3 the roar of whose waters
could be heard far off, 4 Horace passed his infant years,
and played and wandered in that picturesque neigh-
Sat. I. vi. 86. 2 Ibid. I. vi. 71. 3 Ocl. III. xxx. 10.
4 Ibid. IV. ix. 2.
[NPANCT OF HORACE. 269
bourhood. The natural beauties amidst which he was
nursed, probably did much to form and foster his poetic
tastes, lie himself relates, in one of his finest odes, 1 an
adventure which befel him in his childhood, and which
reminds the reader of the beautiful nursery ballad of the
Children in the AVood : —
Me fabulosce Vulture iu Appulo
Altricis extra limcn Apulise
Ludo fatigatumque somuo
Froude nova puerum palumbes
Texere (miruru quod foret omnibus,
Quicunique celsce niduni AcherontiEe,
Saltusque Bantinos, et arvum
Pingue tenent humilis Ferenti),
Ut tuto ab atris corpore viperis
Dorniirem et ursis ; ut premerer sacra
Lauroque collataque myrto
Xon sine Dis aniniosus infans.
Fatigued with sleep and youthful toil of play,
When on a mountain's brow reclined I lay,
Near to my natal soil, around my head
The fabled woodland doves a verdant foliage spread ;
Matter, be sure, of wonder most profound
To all the gazing habitants around,
Who d well in Acherontia's airy glades,
Amid the Bantian woods, or low Ferentum's meads,
By snakes of poison black and beasts of prey.
That thus in dewy sleep unharmed I lay ;
Laurels and myrtle were around me piled,
Not without guardian gods, an animated child.
Francis.
He remained amongst his native mountains until his
eleventh or twelfth year, when his father, wisely Avishing
to secure for him the benefits of a liberal education,
which the neighbouring village school of Mavius did not
furnish, removed with him to Rome. 2 Thus he quitted
Venusia for ever, of which place many passages in his
works prove that he retained very vivid recollections. 3
1 Od. III. iv. 9. 2 Sat. I. vi. 71.
3 See ex. gr. Ep. II. 41 ; Od. III. vi. 37 .; Sat. II. ii. 112.
270 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
At Borne lie was placed under the instruction of
Orbilius Pupillus, a grammarian, who had been formerly
in the army, and had migrated from Beneventum to the
capital. He was celebrated as a schoolmaster, but still
more for his severity, for he was commonly called the
flogging Orbilius (Plagosus Orbilius). 1 With him,
young Horace read in his own language the poems of
Livius Andronicus and Ennius ; and in the Greek, the
Iliad of Homer, whose divine poetry he soon learnt to
enjoy. 2
Whilst his father took this care of his intellectual
education, he enabled him by dress and a retinue of slaves
to associate on terms of equality with boys far above him
in rank and station ; 3 and, what was still more important,
lie kept him under his own roof, and thus secured for his
son the benefits of home influences, sage and prudent
advice, and the watchful care of the parental eye. 4 For his
father's liberality, good example, and constant attention,
Horace expresses the deepest gratitude, 5 and to him he
acknowledges himself indebted for all the good points of
his character. The practical nature of this indulgent
and devoted father's instruction — how he delighted to
teach by example rather than by precept — is simply told
by Horace himself 6 in one of his satires.
Before he arrived at man's estate, it is probable that
he lost his wise adviser, for he never mentions his father
except in comiexion with the years of his boyhood.
Perhaps this is the reason why, in his earlier poetry, his
genial freedom so often degenerated into licentiousness,
and his love of pleasure tempted him to adopt the dis-
solute manners of a corrupt age. His moral sense was
accurate and just — he could see what was useful and ap-
prove it ; he could censure the vices of his contemporaries — -
: Ep, II. i. 70. 2 Ibid. ii. 41. 3 Sat. I. vi. 76„
4 Ibid. vi. 5 Ibid. vi. 6 Ibid. iv. 103.
Ml UTAH V CAREER OF HORACE. 27 L
but he had lost that wise counsel which had hitherto
preserved him pure.
Athens was at that period the University of Eome.
Thither the Eoman youth resorted to learn language,
art, science, and philosophy : —
Inter sylvas Academi quserere verurn. 1
To seek for truth in Academic groves.
Horace commenced his residence there at a great
political crisis, and the politics of Eome created a vivid
interest in the young students at Athens. He had not
lived there long, when Julius Caesar was assassinated ; and
many of his fellow-students, as was natural to youthful
and ardent minds, zealously embraced the republican
party. Horace, now twenty-two years of age, joined the
army of Brutus, and served under him until the battle of
Philippi in the rank of a military tribune. 2 He must
have already become distinguished, since nothing but
merit could have recommended the son of a freedman to
Brutus for so high a military command. But the event
proved that he had sadly mistaken his vocation, for he
was totally unfit for the position either of an officer or a
soldier.
With the rest of the vanquished he fled from the field
of Philippi ; and in a beautiful and affectionate ode 3
to Pompeius Yarus, he confesses that he even threw
away his shield ; nor was he one of those who rallied,
although his friend was carried back again into the
bloody conflict by the tide of war. So at any rate he
himself tells the story. It may have been, however, that
his vanity prompted him to pretend a resemblance in
this respect to his favourite Alcaaus, or perhaps, he wished
to address a piece of courtly flattery to the conqueror.
Varus was one of his earliest friends : together they had
spent days of study and of festivity ; and when troublous
1 Ep. TT. ii. 43. * Sat. T. vi. 8 Od. II. vii
272 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
times had separated them, nothing can exceed the wild
and tumultuous joy with which Horace looks forward to
a reunion with his friend.
On his return to Eome he found that his father was
dead, and his patrimony confiscated. 1 In order to obtain
a livelihood, he purchased a clerk's place under the
quaestor. 2 For its duties he must have been totally unfit,
for he hated business 3 and loved pleasure and literary
ease. But on the income of this office, and the kindness
of his friends, he lived a life of frugality and poverty. 4
It is possible that even then he gained some profit from
his poems, for he says, 5 " Audacious poverty drove me to
write verses." Perhaps when he became more prosperous,
he resigned his place, for he does not mention it in the
account he gives to Maecenas of the usual daily avocations
of his careless and sauntering life. 6
Soon, however, his fortunes began to brighten. His
talents recommended him, when about twenty -four years
of age, to Yirgil and Yarius. 7 They were then the leading
poets at Borne ; and Maecenas, the polished but somewhat
effeminate friend of Augustus, was the powerful patron
of genius and the head of literary society. These two
poets were warmly attached to Horace, whose affection
for them was equally strong, 8 and to them he owed his
introduction to the favourite of the emperor. 9 He felt
rather timid at the interview : Maecenas spoke to him
with his usual reserved and curt manner, took no notice
of him for nine months, and then sent for him and en-
rolled him in the number of his friends. Thenceforth
Horace enjoyed uninterruptedly his friendship and
intimacy — of the affectionate nature of which many
evidences may be found in those poetical pieces which
Horace addressed to him.
1 Ep, II. ii. 49. 2 Suet, in Vita. 3 Ep. II. xiv. 17.
4 Sat. I. vi. 114. 5 Ep. II. ii. 51. 6 Sat. I. vi.
? b. c. 41. 8 Sat. I. v. 39. 9 Ibid. vi. 55
HORACE BEGINS THE SATIRES. 273
As Maecenas rose in influence and favour with Au-
gustus, he also procured the advancement of his friend.
When he was sent by Augustus on the delicate mission
of effecting a reconciliation with Anthony, Horace ac-
companied him -, 1 and it is not impossible that his ship-
wreck oft' Cape Palinurus occurred when he was sailing
with Maecenas on his expedition against S. Pompey.
At this period of his life he commenced the composition
of his first book of Satires. 2 The knowledge of human
life which he had begun to acquire when he lived, as it
were, upon the town, and became acquainted with the
manners, habits, and modes of thinking of the masses,
was afterwards cultivated, refined, and matured by inter-
course with the best literary society. His observant
miud found ample materials for satire at the table of the
courtly Maecenas, and amidst the brilliant circle by which
he was surrounded. In this, his first publication, he also
introduces himself to the reader's notice, draws a lively
picture of his youth, and describes the life which was
congenial to his tastes, and which his change of circum-
stances permitted him to lead.
But it must not be supposed that he wrote nothing at
that time except satire. Some of his odes, which display
the strength of youthful passions and the loosest mo-
rality, were probably written as separate fugitive pieces,
and circulated privately amongst his friends. The ode
to Canidia narrates a circumstance in the early part
of his poetical career. The Epodes breathe the spirit of
the satirist rather than of the lyric poet ; and therefore the
coarsest of them 3 also, may belong to the same period, 4
although the book which bears that name was not com-
1 Sat. I. v.
2 According to Bentley, he composed them in the twenty-sixth, twenty-
seventh, and twenty-eighth years of his age ; according to Clinton, in the
twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh.
3 Ex. gr. viii. xi. xii. 4 See Od. I. 1(5. 22.
274 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
pleted and published as a whole until some years subse-
quently.
The bitterness of some of the Epodes is more suitable
to his years of adversity, and the hard struggles by
which the temper is soured, than to that life of ease and
comfort which patronage enabled him to lead. Then his
temper resumed its wonted placidity, whilst his moral
taste was refined ; his Archilochian iambics became less
cutting, and his ideas less gross ; personal invective was
laid aside, and his indignation was only aroused by the
prospect of political troubles and the horrors of civil com-
motions.
Maecenas accompanied his friendship with substantial
favours. He gave him, or procured for him by his
influence, the public grant of his Sabine farm. It was
situated in a beautiful valley near Digentia (Licenza).
Being about fifteen miles from Tibur (Tivoli), it was suf-
ficiently near the capital to suit the fickle poet, who when
there often regretted the luxury, and gossip, and bril-
liant society of Eome, and, when at Rome, sighed for the
frugal table, the quiet retirement, the rural employment
of his country abode. The rapid alternation of town and
country life, which the possession of this estate enabled
Horace to enjoy, gives a peculiar charm to his poetry.
The scene is ever changing : his mind reflects the tenor
of his life ; simple pictures of rural life, and the elegant
refinements of polished society, relieve one another, and
prevent dulness and satiety. The property was neither
extensive nor fertile, but it was sufficient for his mode-
rate wants and wishes, which are so beautifully expressed
in his sixth Satire — a poem which has found many modern
imitators.
At Rome, Horace occupied a house on the pleasant and
healthful heights of the Esquiline. Here he resided
during the winter and spring, with the exception of occa-
sional sojourns at Baise, or other places of fashionable
HIS COUNTRY LIFE. 275
resort, on the southern coast of Italy. Summer and
autumn he passed at his Sabine farm, where he was a
great favourite with his simple neighbours, and where he
found all that he ever wished for, and even more.
Modus agri 11011 ita magnus,
Hortus ubi, et tecto vicinus jugis aquae fona,
Et paulum silvae super his. 1
He coveted not his neighbour's field, 2 even though it dis-
figured his own. He never prayed that chance might
throw in his way a buried vase of silver. 3 The calm of
his life contrasted favourably with the hundred affairs —
not so much his own as of other people — which tormented
him at Eome ; 4 the importunities of his friends that he
would use his influence in their behalf with Msecenas ; 5
the growing envy to which his good fortune subjected
him : 6 his only cares were to store up provisions for his
frugal maintenance during the year, 7 so that he might
live in sweet forgetfulness of how he lived. 8 His days
were divided between the books of the ancients, 9 the phi-
losophy of Plato, and the livery scenes of Menander. 10
The pleasing labours of the farm served him by way of
exercise, although his town habits and awkwardness, and
perhaps his short and stout figure, panting and perspiring
under the heat and exertion, sometimes provoked good-
humoured laughter. 11 At times, although he confessed
how dangerous was the siren voice of sloth, he would spend
hours of musing idleness on the margin of his favourite
stream, listening to its murmurs, and to the music of the
shepherd's reed as it echoed through the Arcadian glen. 12
The evenings were devoted to social converse with honest
and virtuous friends, from which scandal and gossip were
1 Sat. II. vi. 1. 2 Ibid. 8. 3 Ibid. 10.
4 Ibid. vi. 33. 5 Ibid. 38. 6 Ibid. 47.
7 Ep. I. 18. 8 Sat. II. vi. 62. 9 Ibid. vi. 61.
10 Ibid. iii. 11. " Ep. I. iv. 15 ; xx. 24 ; Suet. V. H,
12 Ep. I. xiv. ; Od. I. xvii.
T %
276 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
banished ; the conversation usually turning on moral and
philosophical discussion, 1 whilst its seriousness was occa-
sionally relieved by witty anecdotes and pointed fables, of
which those of the town and country mice, and of the mad-
man who, when cured, complained that his friends had
destroyed all the happiness of his dreamy life, furnish ex-
amples. At these petit s soupers, which he called " suppers
of the gods," the guests drank as much or as little as they
pleased of his old wine, and enjoyed perfect freedom from
the absurd laws which Roman custom permitted the
chairman (arbiter bibendi) on such occasions to impose.
Sometimes, when the heat of summer was intense, he
retired to the loffcy Prseneste (Palestrina), where the cli-
mate was always cool and refreshing. 2 At some period of
his life, also, he became possessed of a villa at Tibur
(Tivoli), of which the shady groves and roaring waterfalls
furnished him a delightful refreshment after " the smoke,
and magnificence, and noise of Rome." Here he wrote
many of his Satires, and thus atchieved the reputation as a
satirist of which he had laid the foundation already • and
was enabled to boast that, though earnestly desirous of
peace with the world, it were better not to provoke him ;
that he who dared to offend him should smart for it, and
be the laughing-stock of the whole city. 3
The composition and arrangement of the second book
of Satires probably occupied the thirtieth, thirty-first, and
thirty-second years of the poet's life, 4 and it was not pub-
lished until the following year. This date will allow time
for the expiration of more than seven or eight years since
his intimacy with Maecenas commenced. 5 The Satires
were followed by the publication of the Epodes, very soon
after the battle of Actium, 6 for the ninth is evidently an
epinician ode on the occasion of that victory. Many of
1 Sat. II. vi. 65. 2 Od. III. 4. 3 Sat. II. i. 45.
4 Clinton, Fasti ; B. c. 35, 34, 33. 5 Sat. II. vi.
6 B. c. 31.
THE EP0DES. 277
them contain noble sentiments, patriotic advice, burn-
ing indignation against the Oriental self-indulgence of
Antony, 1 the servility of Bome, its civil strife, and the
degeneracy of the age ; and remind us that, before Horace
became an Epicurean and a courtier, he had fought
against a tyrant in the ranks of freedom. 2 The first
Epode was written just before the battle of Actium ; the
second and third at the period when he first exchanged
the life of a fashionable man about town for that of a
country gentleman. We see in one the delight which
he derived from the consciousness that his estate was
his own ; that he had no pecuniary embarrassments any
longer ; his anticipations of the happiness to be enjoyed
in the regularly-recurring labours of rural life ; in the
absence of all care ; in the kind-hearted anticipations of
humble domestic felicity ; the superiority of a healthful
meal to all the luxuries that wealth could purchase. In
the other, notwithstanding all these professions of senti-
ment, he shows that his refined urbanity is shocked by
the grossness of rural habits. His delicate nose can-
not endure the smell of garlic : to him it is nothing
less than poison, such as Canidia or Medea might have
used. It is more deadly than the malaria of Apulia, or
the envenomed robe steeped in the blood of Nessus. Nay,
in the same spirit that Johnson said " Pie who would
make a pun would pick a pocket," he does not scruple to
affirm that a garlic-eater would commit parricide.
The seventh Epode is a burst of indignant expostula-
tion against the fratricidal madness which, at the bidding
of an unprincipled woman, armed Eomans against each
other in that tragical episode, the Perugian war, when
the first struggle took place between the civilians and the
soldiers for political influence and power. In the Epodes
the spirit is that of the satirist exaggerated. The out-
1 Ex. (jr. ix. xvi. 2 Sec Ep. VII. ix.
278 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
ward form which he had modelled by a careful study of
the Archilochian verse, prepared him for the cultivation of
that poetry in which he stands pre-eminent. It was the
state of transition through which he passed before he
became a lyric poet.
With their publication concludes the first period of
Horace's literary life. It was now flowing on calmly
and peaceably, undisturbed by anxiety either about him-
self or his country. Although the civil wars were not
yet ended, or the peace of the world solemnly and finally
proclaimed until the temple of Janus was closed, 1 the
course of Octavius to universal empire lay plain and open
before him. Home was at his feet, and owed to him its
safety and prosperity.
Public and private well-doing developed a new phase
of Horace's genius. His muse soared to heights which
had only been attempted by Pindar and the other Greek
lyric poets. It cannot, of course, be supposed that he
lived to the age of thirty-five years without having writ-
ten many of those odes, which are so full of a youthful
sprightliness and burning passion ; but it is certain that
many more were written, and the first three books pub-
lished, during the period of eight years included between
his thirty-fifth and forty-second years ; 2 some when he was
approaching, others when he had passed, his eighth lustre.
In these three books it is probable that Horace intended
all the productions of his lyric muse should be comprised :
to this purpose the last ode of the third book 3 seems to
point. He considered his work done ; and he was not
insensible to the successful manner in which he had ac-
complished it. With conscious pride, and in a prophetic
spirit, he exclaimed —
Exegi monumentum sere perennius.
He intended his beloved friend and patron, Maecenas,
b. c. 29. 2 Clinton, F, H. 3 Lib. iii. 30.
FIRST BOOK OF THE EPISTLES. 279
to be the subject of his last, as he was of his first, song.
His introductory satire — the commencement of his pub-
lished works — was addressed to him ; the last ode in the
book 1 (except that final one which proclaims his task
finished) is a noble farewell, breathing the language of
affectionate compliment ; 2 and in the introduction to his
new work, the labour of his maturer years, the fruit of
careful judgment respecting men and things, he states
his determination to finish his career as a poet, and to
devote his last verses to his patron.
A few years after the first three books of the Odes
Horace published the first book of the Epistles. Bentley
assigns the appearance of these finished and elaborate
compositions to B.C. 19, Clinton to B.C. 20. The Carmen
Scevulare, which appeared B.C. 17, on the occasion of the
celebration of the Secular Grames, and the fourth book
of the Odes, which was published b.c 13, were written at
the personal request of the Emperor. He wished him to
celebrate the victories gained over the Yindelici by his
step-sons, Tiberius and Drusus. His compliance with the
wishes of Augustus was a graceful return for the regard
and affection which the letters of the Emperor show that
he felt for the poet. 3 The warm admiration which these
odes express, the praises which are lavished in them upon
Augustus and his step-sons Tiberius and Drusus, may
seem inconsistent with the poet's former republicanism ;
but who could withstand the proffered friendship, the
winning courtesy, the good-tempered condescension of
his patron ?
Besides, the experience of the past years must have
forced him conscientiously to believe that the reign of
Augustus was indeed a blessing to his country, and that
his counhynien were totally unfit for real liberty, as they
showed themselves quite content with the empty shadow
Lib. iii. 29. 2 Ep. I. i. 1—10. 3 See Vit. Hor. Suet.
280 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of the constitution. He felt peace and repose were to be
purchased by almost any sacrifice except that of honour-
able principle ; that not only all the enjoyments of life
were secured to himself to an extent equalling, if not sur-
passing, the wishes of his contented spirit, but that a
similar measure of happiness was pretty generally dif-
fused. He could not sympathise with political ambition,
which had been the fruitful source of civil anarchy, and
it was only the ambitious who had any cause to be dis-
satisfied. Doubtless the older he grew the stronger was
the obligation which he felt to him who, by the lofty
position which he had attained, had apparently prevented
even the possibility of revolution or change. It is cer-
tain that the second book of the Epistles, and that ad-
dressed to the Pisos, which is commonly called the Art
of Poetry, were written and published during the last
years of his life ; but the date cannot be exactly deter-
mined. He had long bid adieu to the excitements of
politics ; nor do these, his latest works, exhibit traces of
his fondnes for discussing questions of moral science, or
for the profounder speculations of natural philosophy.
He limits himself to the neutral ground of literature ; and
writes only as a critic whose judgment would be undis-
puted, because his works in their several departments had
actually formed the taste of his contemporaries.
In November, B.C. 8, a.u.c. 746, Horace was seized
with a sudden attack of illness, and died in the fifty-seventh
year of his age. His old friend Maecenas had expired
but a few months before. They were buried near one
another on the slope of the Esquiline. His death was so
sudden that he was unable to write a will ; he had but
just time before he expired to nominate, according to a
common custom, the Emperor his heir.
Horace was never married ; he was too general an ad-
mirer, and his tastes and habits were too much those of a
bachelor to appreciate the happiness of a wedded life. In
HORACE A VALETUDINARIAN. 281
this respect his feelings resembled those of the voluptuous
and selfish society of his times. He was of small and
slight figure, 1 but afterwards he grew corpulent. 2 The
vigour which he enjoyed in early youth 3 was diminished
by ill health, he became prematurely grey, 4 and a passage
in one of his Odes seems to imply that he was a valetudi-
narian at forty. 5
1 Ep. I. xx. 2 Suet. Ep. Aug. in Vita. 3 Ep, I. vii. 26 ; 3.
4 Ep. I. xx. 5 Od. II. iv. 22.
282 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER VI.
CHARACTER OF HORACE — DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS VILLA AT TIVOLI,
AND HIS SABINE FARM — SITE OF THE BANDUSIAN FOUNTAIN
— THE NEIGHBOURING SCENERY— SUBJECTS OF HIS SATIRES
AND EPISTLES— BEAUTY OF HIS ODES — IMITATIONS OF GREEK
POETS — SPURIOUS ODES — CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT.
The life of Horace is especially instructive, as a mirror
in which is reflected a faithful image of the manners of
his day. He is the representative of Eoman refined
society as Virgil is of the national mind. He who under-
stands Horace and his works can picture to himself the
society in which he lived and moved. One cannot sym-
pathize with Petrarch, when he says " Se ex nullo poeta
Latino evasisse meliorem quam ex Horatio/' or exclaim
with the devoted Maecenas,
Ni te visceribus meis Horati
Plus jam diligo, tu tuum sodalem
Mnnio videas strigosiorem —
but still it is scarcely possible not to feel an affection for
him. Notwithstanding his selfish Epicureanism, he pos-
sessed those elements of character which constitute the
popularity of men of the world. He was a gentleman in
taste and sentiments. He would not have denied himself
any gratification for the sake of others ; but he would not
willingly have caused any one a moment's uneasiness, nor
was he ever ungrateful to those who were kind to him.
He was a pleasant friend and a good-humoured associate,
adroit in using the language of compliment, but not a
CHARACTER OF HORACE. 283
flatterer, because he was candid and sincere. He changed
his politics, but lie had good cause for so doing. The
circumstances of the times furnished ample justification.
His morals were lax, but not worse than those of his
contemporaries : all that can be said is, that he was not
in advance of his age. His principles will not bear com-
parison with a high moral standard ; but he had good
qualities to compensate for his moral deficiencies. He
looked at virtue and vice from a worldly, not a moral
point of view. With him the former was prudence, the
latter folly. Vice, therefore, provoked a sneer of derision,
and not indignation at the sin or compassion for the
sinner, and for the same reason he was incapable of
entertaining a holy enthusiasm for virtue.
Good-tempered as a man, he nevertheless showed that
he belonged to the genus irritabile vatum. He was jealous
of his poetical reputation. Not, indeed, towards his con-
temporaries, but towards the poets of former ages. He
either could not or would not see any merit in old Eoman
poetry. His prejudice cannot be ascribed only to his
enthusiasm for Greek literature, for he did not even
appreciate the excellences which the old school of poetry
had in common with the Greeks. Party spirit had some-
what to do with it, for a feud on the subject divided the
literary society of the day, 1 and hence Horace took his
side warmly and uncompromisingly.
But the principal cause was jealousy — unless he ignored
Lucilius and Catullus, he could not claim to have been
the first follower of Archilochus of whom Eome could
boast ; or, as the representative of Eoman lyric poetry,
to have first turned his lyre to iEolian song.
The scenes in which Horace passed his life are so
interesting to every reader of his works, that a few words
1 This feud continued until the time of Persius. (See Sat. I. 141, and
Gifiord's note.)
284 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
respecting his villa at Tivoli and his Sabine farm will
not be ont of place here. Tibur 1 is situated on one of the
spurs of the Apennines, about fifteen or sixteen miles
from Rome, on the left bank of the Anio (Teverone).
The river winds gently by the town, separating it from
the villa of Horace, and then, falling in a sheet of water
over an escarped rock, disappears beneath a rocky cavern.
Its roaring echoes are heard far and wide, and justifies
the epithet (resonans), which Horace gives to the dwelling
of Albunea, the Tiburtine Sibyl. The villa commanded
fine views, and a garden sloped down from it to the
river's bank. Prom its grounds was visible the palace of
Maecenas : on the opposite shore the wooded Sabine hills
sheltered it from the north ; and the domain of the poet's
friend, Quintilius Yarus, formed its western boundary.
About fifteen miles north-east of Tibur, nestling
amongst the roots of Mount Lucretilis, lay the Sabine
farm. Fragments of white marble, and mosaic, which have
been found there, show that, notwithstanding the simple
frugality, which Horace delights to describe, it was built
and embellished with elegance and taste. From the
mountain side, which rises behind the house, trickles a
clear stream, the source of which is now called Fonte
Bello, and which afterwards becomes the river Digentia
(Licenza), and waters the beautiful valley of the sloping
Ustica ( Usticce Cubantis) . This rill, the parent of Horace's
favourite river, the embellisher of that " riant angle of
the earth," is interesting as being probably the fountain
of Bandusia, " more transparent than glass," 2 with whose
fresh and sparkling waters the poet tempered his wine.
M. de Chaupy 3 assumes that the Bandusian fountain,
mentioned by Horace, was situated near the birthplace
of Horace, on the Lucano-Apulian border. His opinion
1 See De Chaupy, Eustace, Milman, &c. 2 Od. III. 13.
3 Decouverte de la Maison d'Horace, torn. iii. p. 364.
THE BANDUSIAN FOUNTAIN. 285
rests on the words of a grant made by Pope Pascal II. to
the abbot of the Bantine monastery ; and Mr. Hobhouse 1
considers this document as decisive in ascertaining its
position. It is decisive as to the existence of a Bandusian
fountain near Venusia ; but it must be rememoered that
Horace never saw it after the days of his childhood, when
bis paternal estate passed away from him for ever, whilst
he speaks of his Bandusian fountain as near him, when
lie writes and promises to sacrifice a kid to the guardian
genius of the spring. What, then, is more probable than
the suggestion of Mr. Dunlop, 2 that the same pleasing
recollections of his early years, which inspired him to
relate his touching adventure, led him to " name the
clearest and loveliest stream of his Sabine retreat after that
fountain which lay in Apulia, and on the brink of which
he had no doubt often sported in infancy ?" 3 He has, in
one of Iris odes, alluded to this affectionate desire to per-
petuate reminiscences of home — a desire which is illus-
trated by the topographical nomenclature which has been
adopted by colonists of every age and country.
Mr. Dennis, however, in a letter written at Licenza, 4 in
sight of the pleasant shades of M. Lucretilis, although he
makes no doubt of the Bandusian fountain being in the
neighbourhood, does not identify it with the Fonte Bello.
He asserts that, although he has traced every streamlet
in the neighbourhood, the only one which answers to the
classical description is one now called " Fonte Blandusia."
It rises in a narrow glen which divides the Mount Lu-
cretilis from Ustica, which probably derives its modern
name Valle Rustica from a corruption of the classical
appellation. As you ascend the glen it contracts into a
ravine with bare cliffs on either side ; the streamlet with
difficulty winds its way between mossy rocks (musco cir-
1 Illust. to Childe Harold, p. 42. 2 Hist, of Rom. Lit. iii. 213.
3 Od. I. vii. 29. 4 See Milman's Hor. p. 97.
286 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
cumlita saxa), overshadowed with dense woods which
effectually exclude the heat of the blazing Dog-star. The
water issues from a rock, and trickles into two successive
natural basins. " The water is indeed splendidior vitro ;
nothing, not even the Thracian Hebrus, can exceed it in
purity, coolness, and sweetness: "its loquacious waters
still bubble " the very ilices still overhang the hollow
rocks whence it springs.
A reference to Horace's description 1 will prove to the
modern traveller through this classic region with what
fidelity and accuracy the poet has described the natural
features of the scenery. The mountain chain is continu-
ous and unbroken (continui monies), save by the well-
wooded and therefore shady valley of the Digentia,
which intersects it in such a direction that —
Veniens dextrum latus aspiciat sol,
Lsevum decedens curru fugiente vaporet.
Another valley meets it, and on an exposed height, at
the point of junction, stands Bardela, in Horace's time
Mandela, and well described by him as rugosus frigore
pagus. 2 Corn grows on the sunny field (apricum pratum)
which slopes from the farm to the river : the ruins of
other dwellings mark the spot occupied by five domestic
hearths, and sending ^yq honest representatives to the
municipal council of the neighbourhood : —
habitatum quinque focis, et
Quinque bonos solitum Variam dimittere patres. 3
A comparison of the truthful and descriptive verses
of Horace identify the spot which he loved. Nature is
the same now as it was then ; but human skill and per-
severance have adorned with the purple clusters of the
1 Ep. I. xvi. 5. See also Eustace's Class. Tour. 2 Ep. I. xviii. 105.
3 Ep. I. xiv. 2.
THE SATIRES* 287
vine that " little corner of the world" which Horace
said would hear pepper and frankincense more quickly
than grapes. 1
The Satires of Horace occupy the position of the
comedy of manners and the fashionahle novel. They are
much more appropriately described by the title Sermones
(discourses) which is also given to them. They are, in
tact, desultory didactic essays, in which the topics are
discussed just as they present themselves. In them is
sketched boldly but good-humouredly a picture of
Eoman social life with its vices and follies. His object
was (to use his own words) —
Ut omnis
Votivil pateat veluti descripta tabella
Vita. Sat. II. i. 32.
Vices, however, are treated as follies ; and the man of
wit and pleasure seldom uses a weapon more keen than
the shafts of ridicule :—
Omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico
Tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit.
Persius, S. i. 116.
Arch Horace, while he strove to mend,
Probed all the foibles of his smiling friend ;
Played lightly round and round the peccant part,
And won unfelt an entrance to his heart ;
Well skilled the follies of the crowd to trace,
And sneer with gay good humour in his face.
Giffoi-d*
There is nothing of the political bitterness of Lucilius, 3
the love of purity and honour which adorns Persius, or
the burning indignation which Juvenal pours forth at
the loathsome corruption of morals. Horace had been a
politician and a warm champion of liberty ; but the
struggle was now over, both with himself and his
1 Ep. I. xiv. 23.
2 See also Pope's imitation of this passage, Essay on Satire, part iii.
3 See Persius, Sat. I. 114.
288 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
country. Ease and tranquillity were insured to both by
the new regime ; and his contented temper disposed him
to acquiesce in a state of things which gave Borne time
to rest from the horrors of civil war, and did not interfere
with the independence of the individual. Hence the
circumstances of the times, as well as his own temper,
rendered his Satires social and not political. Lucilius
wrote when the strife between nobles and people was still
raging, and the latter had not as yet succumbed. He,
therefore, breathed the spirit of the old Athenian comic
poets whom he followed and emulated; and the war of
public opinion furnished him with topics similar to those
which were discussed in the republican commonwealth of
Athens.
Circumstances also influenced, in some degree, the tone
of Horace's strictures on the habits of social life. Im-
moral as society was, its most salient features were
luxury, frivolity, extravagance, and effeminacy. Yice
had not reached that appalling height which it attained
in the time of the emperor who succeeded Augustus.
Deficient in moral purity, an Epicurean and a debauchee,
nothing would strike him as deserving censure except
such excess as would actually defeat the object which he
proposed to himself — namely, the utmost enjoyment of
life. The dictates of prudence, therefore, would be his
highest standard and his strongest check. He saw that
public morals were already deteriorated, and threatened
to become worse ; but though they were bad enough
to provoke derision, they did not shock or revolt one
who was, and who professed to be, a man of the world.
Had Horace lived in the time of Persius or Lucilius,
even his satire would probably have been pointed and
severe.
Often his satires are only accidentally didactic; he
contents himself with graphic delineations of character
and manners, and leaves them to produce their own
SATIRES AND EPISTLES. 289
moral effect upon the reader. In one 1 he holds up the
superstition of the Eomans to ridicule by a minute
narrative of the absurd ceremonies performed by Canidia
and another sorceress in their incantations. In another, 2
amusingly describes the annoyance to which he was
exposed by the importunities of a gossiping trifler. In
the journey to Brundisium he seems to have had no view
beyond entertainment ; although two incidents give him
an opportunity of exposing the pomposity of a municipal
official and the superstitious follies of a country town. 3
In others, his subjects are the scenery and neighbour-
ing society of his Sabine valley ; 4 the way in which he is
wont to spend his day when at Eome ; his own auto-
biography; 5 a laughable trial in Asia; 6 an essay on
cookery; 7 and a candid exposure of his own faults and
inconsistencies. Not that he is forgetful of his moral
duties as a satirist. He exposes to merited contempt the
prevailing iniquities of the day. The meanness of legacy-
hunting; the absurdity of pretension and foppery; the
folly of an inordinate passion for amassing wealth ; 8 the
dangers of adultery ; 9 the unfairness of uncharitably mis-
interpreting the conduct of others. 10
Such are the varied subjects contained in the Sermones
or Satires of Horace. The Epistles are still more desultory
and unrestrained. Epistolary writing is especially a
Eoman accomplishment. The Eomans thought their
correspondents deserved that as much pains should be
bestowed on that which was addressed to them as on
that which was intended for the public eye ; and, in ad-
dition to the careful polish of which Cicero set the
example, Horace brought to the task the embellishment
of poetry. In the Epistles, he lays aside the character of
1 Sat. I. 8.
2 Ibid.
9.
3 Ibid
. v.
4 Sat.
II
vi.
5 Sat. I. vi.
6 Ibid.
vii.
7 Sat.
II.
iv.
8 Sat.
I.
1.
9 Ibid 2.
10 Ibid.
3.
290 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
a moral teacher or censor. He treats his correspondent
as an equal. He opens his heart unreservedly : he gives
advice, but in a kind and gentle spirit, not with sneering
severity. The satire is delivered ex cathedra ; the epistle
with the freedom with which he would converse with an
intimate friend.
The subjects of the first books are moral, those of the
second critical. The Ars Poetica is but a poetical epistle
addressed to the Pisos, who had been bitten by the pre-
vailing mania for tragic poetry. The usual title claims
a far greater extent of subject than the poet intended.
It is not a treatise on poetry, but simply an outline of
the history of the Greek drama, and the principles of
criticism applicable to it. It harmonizes well with the
literary subjects treated of in the second book of the
Epistles, and might well be included in it. It is, indeed,
longer and more elaborate : a synopsis of so extensive a
subject required more careful treatment; but it is im-
possible to form a correct estimate of the taste and judg-
ment which it displays, unless it is considered as nothing
more than an epistle.
The versification of these compositions is more smooth
than that of the Satires, but only in proportion to the
superior neatness of the style generally. In neither does
the metrical harmony rise to the height of poetry, pro-
perly speaking. Doubtless this was the poet's deliberate
intention. It cannot be supposed that he who could so
successfully introduce all the beautiful Greek lyric metres,
and in some cases improve the delicacy of their structure,
was incapable of reproducing the rhythm of the Greek
hexameter. He felt that in subjects belonging to the pro-
saic realities of life, and hitherto treated with the con-
versational facility of the iambic measure, some appearance
of negligence and even roughness could alone render the
stately hexameter appropriate, and therefore tolerable.
But, admirable as the Satires are for their artistic and
\
BEAUTY OF THE ODES. 291
dramatic power, and the Epistles for their correct taste,
lively wit, and critical elegance, it is in his inimitable
Odes that the genius of Horace as a poet is especially
displayed. They have never been equalled in beauty of
sentiment, gracefulness of language, and melody of versi-
fication. They comprehend every variety of subject
suitable to the lyric muse. They rise without effort to
the most elevated topics — the grandest subjects of history,
the most gorgeous legends of mythology, the noblest
aspirations of patriotism : they descend to the simplest
joys and sorrows of every-day life. At one time they
burn with indignation, at another they pour forth
accents of the tenderest emotions. They present in turn
every phase of the author's character : some remind us
that he was a philosopher and a satirist ; and although
many are sensuous and self-indulgent, they are full of
gentleness, kindness, and spirituality. Not only do they
evince a complete mastery over the Greek metres, but
also show that Horace was thoroughly imbued with the
spirit of Greek poetry, and had profoundly studied Greek
literature, especially the writings of Pindar and the lyric
poets. Numerous as the instances are in which he has
imitated them, and introduced by a happy adaptation
their ideas, epithets, and phrases, his imitations are not
mere plagiarisms or purple patches — they are made so
completely his own, and are invested with so much
novelty and originality, that, when compared with the
original, we receive additional gratification from discover-
ing the resemblance. The sentiments which are para-
phrased seem improved ; the expressions which are trans-
lated, seem so appropriate, and harmonize so exactly with
the context, that a poet, whose memory was stored with
them, would have been guilty of bad taste if he had
substituted any others. Greek feelings, sentiments, and
imagery, are so naturally amalgamated with Roman
manners, that they seem to have undergone a trans -
u 2
292 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
migration, and to animate a Roman form. The following
are some of the most striking parallelisms :* —
Sunt quos curriculo, &c. Carm. 1, 3, seq.
'AeXXo7roSo)z/ pe v Tivas evcppai-
vovaiv "nvnobv ripai kcu are(pavor
tovs §' ev 7rokvxpvcroLs OaXdpois (Siora'
repneraL 8e /cat tls en oidp' akiov
vat 6oa eras dtaa-relx^v. Find. Fragm.
Jam te premet nox, fabulaeque Manes,
Et domus exilis Plutonia : quo simul mearis,
Nee regna vini sortiere talis, &c.
Carm. 1, 4, 16, seq.
Kardavoio-a 8e Kelcr , oiiSeVore p,vapo
yrjpas vrrep KecpaXrjs avrl^ VTrepupep-aTCii.
Mimnerm. Fragm.
Quid brevi fortes jaculamur sevo
Multa? Carm. 2, 16, 17.
■ 'Q, Kevol (3porcov,
ot to^ov ivrelvovres cos Kaipov irtpa.
Eurip. Buppl. 754.
■ Nihil est ab omni
Parte beatum. Carm. 2, 16, 27.
Ovk eanv ovSsv did reXovs evbaip.ovovv .
Furip. Suppl. 281.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
Carm. 3, 2, 13.
Tedvdp,evai yap KaXbv eVi 7rpojLta^oio"i ireaovra
avbp dyadbv 7rep\ r/ TrarpiDi p,apvdp,evov.
Tyrtcei Fragm.
IMITATIONS OK THE GREEK.
Mors et fttgacem persequitur viruin.
*0 iV av QdvciTos ext^e koi tqv (pvydpaxov.
295
Carm. 3, 2, 14.
Simonides.
/Etas parentum, pejor avis, tulit
Nos nequiores, mox daturos
Progeiiiem vitiosioreni.
Carm. 3. 0, 46, seq.
Olrjv xpvcreioi warepes yeverjv iXinovro''-
Xeiporeprjv ! vpels 6e Ka/ccorepa re^eiecrOe.
Arati Plicbnom. 123.
Pulckris excubat in genis.
"Os iv paXcucais Trapeiais
vedviSos ivwxeveis.
Carm. iv. 13, 8.
Soph. Antig. 779.
Dis miscent superis.
Nube candentes humeros amictus.
Erycina ridens.
Officinas Cyclopum.
Nitidum caput.
Duplicis Ulixei.
Superis parem.
Aptum equis Argos.
Ditesque Mycenas.
Nil desperandum.
Deorum nuntium.
'Adavdrois epixOev.
Pindar. Isthm. 2, 42.
Ne(peXr] elXvpevos copovs.
Horn. II. e, 186.
&i\op€ibr)s 'AcppoftiTT).
Horn. II. v\ 424.
'HcpaicTTOio Kapivois.
Callim. Fragm. 129.
Ainapav edeipav.
Simonid. (Anth. Gr.)
AinXovs dvrjp.
Eurip. Bhes. 392.
Aaipovi icros.
Horn. II. e. 438.
"Apyeos itvtto^otolo.
Horn. II. p t 287.
MvKrjvas rds iroKvxpvcrovs.
Sophocl. Elect. 9.
"AeXnTOv ovdev.
Eurip. Fragm.
"AyyeXov ddavdrcov.
Horn. Hymn in Merc. 3.
296
ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Marinse filium Thetidis.
Carpe diem.
Difficile bile.
Melior patre.
Mordaces solicitudines.
Dulee ridentem.
Dulee loquentem.
Funera densentur.
Fulgentes oculos.
Bellum lacrymosum.
Vacuum aera.
Loquaces lymphae.
Fulmine caduco.
Vis consili expers.
Flagitio additis damnum.
Aquae augur cornix.
Lentus amor.
Aquosa Ida.
Obliquum meditantis ictum.
Gelu acuto.
Ilats aXias GeriSos.
Eurip. Androm. 108.
Kcupov Xa/3e.
jfisch. Sept. adv. Th. 65.
XoXov dpyaXeoio.
Horn. II. k, 107.
Jlarepav dpeivoves et»^d/xe^' elvai.
Horn. 11. b\ 405.
Tviofiopovs peXebavas.
Hesiod. 'Epy, 66.
reXdcras lp.£poev.
Sappho.
'Adv (pcovoicras.
Sappho.
Ovrjo-Kov eTrao-avTepot.
Oupara pappaipovra.
Bom. 11. y, 397.
HoXepov baKpvaevra.
Horn. U. e, 737.
^prjpas Si' aWepos.
Find. 01. a, 10.
AaXov vbcop.
Karai/3ar7;s Kepavvos.
JEsch. Pr. V. 359.
*Pd>pr) dpaOfjs.
Eurip>. Fragm.
Upbs alo")(yvy KaKov.
Eurip. Ehes. 102.
,y CzTop.avTis Kopcovq.
Euphoricm.
Bpabiva 'AcppobiTa.
Sappho.
IIoXvTrldaicos "l8rjs.
Bom. II. %, 157.
Aoypco t dtcrcrovre.
Bmn. 11. p!. 148.
Xiovos 6£eias.
Pind. Pyth. d, 39.
SPURIOUS ODES.
297
Dulci fistula.
rx,
v\6s.
Testudinis aurea\
Magna lingua?.
Morti atrse.
Aureo plectro.
Supremuni iter.
Nescios fan infantes.
Noctilucam.
Purpureo ore.
Mens trepidat metu.
Xpvaea (f)6ppiy£.
Pind. Pyth. d, 1.
MeyaX;;? yXcocrcrr/?.
Sophocl. Antiy. 12.
MeXavos Oavaroio.
Horn. II. #, 834.
Xpvcrea) TrXaKTpco.
Pind. Nem. e, 44.
'Yardrrju 686v.
Eurip. Alcest. 686.
Horn. Jl. #,311.
NvKTi\ap7rr]s.
Simonides.
Uop(pvpeov arro aroparos.
Simonides.
Aei/xari 7raAAet.
Soph. Md. Tyr.
The two following 1 odes have been attributed to Horace,
but there is no doubt that they are spurious. It was
pretended that they were discovered in the Palatine
Library at Eome by Pallavicini : no MS., however, of
Horace, containing them, has ever yet been found : —
AD IULIUM FLORUM.
Discolor grandem gravat uva ramum
Instat Autumnus ; glacialis anno
Mox Hiems volvente aderit, capillis
Horrida canis.
Jam licet Nymphas trepide fugaces
Insequi lento pede detinendas ;
Et labris captse, simulantis iram,
Oscula figi.
Jam licet viDO madidos vetusto
De die laetum recitare carmen ;
Flore, si te des, hilarem licebit
Sumere noctem.
1 Meyer, Anthol. Rom 114, 115.
298
ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Jam vide curas aquilone sparsas !
Mens viri fortis sibi constat, utrum
Serius leti citiusve tristis
Advolat aura.
AD LIBRUM SUUM.
Dulci libelio nemo sodalium
Forsan meorum carior extitit ;
De te merenti quid fideiis
Officium domino rependes 1
Te Eoma cautum territat ardua ;
Depone vanos invidiae metus ;
Urbisque, fidens dignitati,
Per plateas animosus audi.
En quo furentes Eumenidum choros
Disjecit almo fnlmine Jupiter !
Huic ara stabit, fama cantu
Perpetuo celebranda crescet.
According to Bentley, the works of Horace were written
m the following chronological order : —
Satires
i j
Epodes
Odes
II.
Epistles
Odes - - -
Secular Hymn -
Epistle to the Pisos
Epistles
Book I. in his 26th, 27th, and 28th years.
31st, 32nd, and 33rd years.
34th and 35th years.
36th, 37th, and 38th years.
40th and 41st years.
42nd and 43rd years.
46th and 47th years.
I.
II.
III.
I.
IY.
II.
49th, 50th, and 51st years,
uncertain.
( 299 )
CHAPTER VII.
BIOGRAPHY OF MAECENAS — HIS INTIMACY AND INFLUENCE WITH
AUGUSTUS — HIS CHARACTER — VALGIUS RUFUS — VARIES —
CORNELIUS GALLUS — BIOGRAPHY OF TIBULLUS — HIS STYLE —
CRITICISM OF MURETUS— PROPERTIUS — IMITATED THE ALEX-
ANDRIAN POETS— ^MILIUS MACER
C. ClLNIUS MAECENAS.
In a literary history it is impossible to omit some account
of one, who, although his attempts at poetry were very
contemptible, exercised, by his good taste and munificence,
a great influence upon literature, and to whom the
literary men of Borne were much indebted for the use
which he made of his confidential friendship with Au-
gustus.
C. Cilnius Maecenas was a member of an equestrian
family, which, though it derived its descent from the old
Etruscan kings, 1 does not appear to have produced any
distinguished indi\dduals. His birth-year is unknown,
but his birth-day was the ides (13th) of April. 2 TVe
have no information respecting the origin of his intimacy
with Augustus. Probably his cultivated taste, his ex-
tensive acquaintance with Greek and Roman literature,
his imperturbable temper, and love of pleasure, first
recommended him as an agreeable companion to Oc-
tavius.
1 Horn. 0.1. I. i. * Od. IV. ii.
300 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
His good sense, activity, and energy in business, and
decisive character, qualities in which his irresolute and
desultory patron was signally deficient, enabled him
rapidly to improve the acquaintance into intimacy. It
is said by Dion Cassius 1 that Augustus obtained from
Maecenas a complete plan for the internal administration
of his newly-acquired empire, and that in it were dis-
played sound judgment and political wisdom. It is
probable that there is some exaggeration in this state-
ment ; but that, without being a great man, he was in
these respects a greater man than Augustus, who, there-
fore, when he required his support, could lean upon him
with safety. And yet his weaknesses were such as to
prevent any feeling of jealousy, or appearance of supe-
riority, from endangering his friendship with the emperor.
His love of pleasure, and of the quiet and careless enjoy-
ments of a private station, proved, as it turned out, a
blessing to his country. His heart was so full of the
delights of refined and intellectual society — of palaces and
gardens, and wit and poetry, and collections of art and
virtu — that there was no room in it for ambition. His
careless and sauntering indolence was openly displayed
in his lounging gait and his toga trailing on the ground.
No one could possibly suspect such a loiterer of sufficient
energy or application to be a politician and an intriguer.
Such being his character, tastes, and habits, he felt no
temptation to abuse his influence with Augustus. He
did not covet honours and office, because he knew they
must bring trouble and distraction, perhaps peril with
them. He exercised his power, which was undoubtedly
great, to promote that luxurious, yet refined elegance, in
which he himself delighted, and to secure the welfare of
his literary friends. He had wealth enough to gratify
his utmost wishes. Augustus, therefore, had nothing
Lib. lii. 14, &c.
INFLUENCE OF MAECENAS. 301
more to confer on him which he valued, except personal
esteem and regard.
The confidence which the Emperor reposed in him is
shown by his employing him in some affairs of great
delicacy : first, in arranging a marriage with Scribonia ;
and. subsequently, on two occasions, in negotiating with
Antony. 1 In B.C. 36, he accompanied Octavius into
Sicily ; but was sent back in order to undertake the
administration of Eome and Italy : 2 and, during the cam-
paign at Actium, 3 Maecenas was again vicegerent, in
which capacity he crushed the conspiracy of the younger
Lepidus. So unlimited was his power, that he was even
intrusted with the signet of Octavius, and with authority
to open, and even to alter, if necessary, all letters which
he wrote to the senate during his campaign ; and when
the victorious general, on his return to Eome, consulted
with him and Agrippa as to the expediency of re-
establishing the republic, Maecenas, in opposition to the
recommendation of Agrippa, dissuaded him from taking
that step. The moral influence also of Maecenas over
Augustus is very striking. So long as it continued, we
see nothing of that heartless cruelty, that disregard of
the happiness of others, which deformed the early life of
the Emperor : if he was heartless, he at least did that as
a matter of taste which a better man would have done
on principle ; and if he was still selfish, he sought fame
and glory by the wise counsels of peace rather than by
the brilliant triumphs of war : he conciliated friends instead
of crushing enemies.
The intimacy between Maecenas and the Emperor con-
tinued for at least ten years after the battle of Actium :
then an estrangement commenced; and in b.c. 16, he
was deprived of his official position, and Taurus was
intrusted with the administration of Eome and Italy.
b. c. 40. 2 Tac. Ann. vi. ii. 3 b. c. 31.
302 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Scandalous stories have been told about his wife Terentia
and the Emperor, in order to account for the interruption
of their intimacy ; but no special causes are necessary to
account for an event so common. The words of Tacitus 1
are a sufficient solution of the problem: — "Idque et
Msecenati acciderat ; fato potentise, raro sempiternse, an
satietas capit, aut illos, cum omnia tribuerunt, aut hos, cum
jam nihil reliquum est, quod cupiant." He retained the
outward appearance of the imperial friendship, although
he had lost the reality. He went to court on the birth-
day, but ceased to be of the Emperor's council. His life
was passed in the voluptuous retirement of his palace on
the Esquiline, which he had built for himself. This hill
was not generally considered wholesome : probably the
fact that it had been a burial-ground 2 created a prejudice
against it ; but the loftiness of the site chosen, as well as
of the building itself (molem vicinam nubibus), and the
breeze which played freely through the lovely garden,
with which it was surrounded, rendered it salubrious.
All the most brilliant society of Eome was found at his
table ; and many of the best of them received still more
substantial marks of his favour. 3 Virgil, Horace, Pro-
pertius, and Yarius, were amongst his friends and constant
associates.
Maecenas was a low-spirited invalid; 4 latterly he could
not sleep, and endeavoured in vain to procure repose by
listening to soft music. 5 In his last distressing illness
he generally resided at his Tiburtine villa, where the
murmuring falls of the Anio invited that sleep which was
denied him elsewhere. He died b.c. 8, and was buried
on the Esquiline. Though married, he left no children,
and bequeathed his property to the Emperor, whom he
besought in his will not to forget his beloved Horace.
1 Annal. iii. 30. 2 Hor. Sat. i. 8, 7. 3 Mart. viii. 56.
4 Plin. vii. 51 : Hor. C. ii. 17. 5 Sen. de Prov. iii. 9.
CHARACTER OF MAECENAS. 303
J I is taste as a critic was evidently far superior to his
talents as a writer. Few fragments of his writings
remain ; and all ancient critics are unanimous in the con-
demnation of his style. Augustus 1 laughed at Ins affected
jargon of mingled Etruscan and Latin. Quintilian 2 quotes
instances of his absurd inversions and transpositions ;
and Seneca 3 shows, by an example, its unintelligible ob-
scurity. 4 He was a sensualist and a voluptuary, 5 and an
unfaithful husband ; and yet he was devotedly fond of
his wife, the beautiful but ill-tempered Terentia, who
had a great influence over him. He would divorce her
one day only to restore her to conjugal rights on the
next ; and Seneca said that, though he had only one wife,
he was married a thousand times. He abhorred cruelty
and severity, and would not let it pass unrebuked even
in the Emperor ; and although he made a boast of effe-
minacy, he was ready to devote himself heartily to
business in case of emergency. In fact, he was a fair
specimen of the man of pleasure and society : liberal,
kind-hearted, clever, refined, but luxurious, self-indulgent,
indolent, and volatile, with good instincts and impulses,
but without principle.
C. Valgius Bufus.
Amongst the poets of the Augustan age, whose writ-
ings were much admired by their contemporaries, but have
1 Suet. 26. 2 Lib. ix. 4, 28.
3 The three passages quoted by Quintilian show a wanton awkwardness
in arrangement, almost inconceivable : —
Sole et Aurora rubent plurima
Inter sacra movit aqua fraxinos :
Ne exequias quidem unus inter miserrimos
Viderem meas.
The last of these he considers especially offensive, because he seems to be
trifling with a melancholy subject.
4 Sen. Ep. 114. 5 Tac. Ann. i. 54.
304 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE,
not stood the searching test of time, was Valgius Eufus.
Of his life no records remain ; but he probably belonged
to that class of authors of whom Pliny says, " Quibus
nos in vehiculo, in balneo, inter ccenam, oblectamus otium
temporis." They were light and pleasing, calculated to
amuse an idle half-hour, or to relieve the tedium of a
journey. They answered the purpose of the railroad liter-
ature of our own days. These writers had a correct taste,
and a critical discernment of poetical beauty, rather than
a genius for poetical composition. Probably their per-
sonal characters had something to do with their reputa-
tion : they were members of a literary coterie ; they lived,
thought, and felt together; they defended each other
against malicious criticism ; and the bonds of friendship
by which they were united tempted the greater poets
to regard their effusions with kind but undue partiality.
Valgius Eufus was a great favourite of Horace, 2 but only
a few short isolated passages are extant of his poems. 3
Quintilian 4 attributes to him a translation of the rhetorical
precepts of Apollodorus. Seneca 5 mentions him by name :
Pliny 6 praises his erudition. The testimony borne to his
transcendent merits as an epic poet, in the Panegyric
of Messala, need scarcely be trusted, because it is almost
certain that this piece is spurious. 7
Varius.
Of L. Varius Eufus also, who was one of the constant
guests at Maecenas' table, scarcely anything is known.
Horace 8 tells us that he was unequalled in epic song,
when Virgil had as yet only turned his attention to rustic
poetry. The high praise bestowed upon his Thyestes by
Quintilian has already been mentioned. To him, together
1 Epp. iv. 14 ; vii. 4. 2 Sat. I. x ; Od. ii. 9.
3 Weichert, Poet. Lat. Bell. 4 Lib. iii. i. 18.
5 Ep. xli. i. 6 H. N". xxv. 2. ? Tib. Op. iv, i. 180.
s Sat. I. x. 44.
C. CORNELIUS GALLUS. 305
with Virgil, we have seen that Horace owed his introduc-
tion to Augustus, and all three were of the party winch
accompanied Maecenas to Brundisium. The titles of two
of his poems are extant, — I. De Morte. II. Panegyric
on Augustus. Of the former, four fragments are preserved
by Maerobius., all of which Virgil has deemed worthy
of imitation. Of the latter, two lines, containing a de-
licate compliment to Augustus, are extant, which Horace
has introduced entire into one of his Epistles. 1 The
passage by no means satisfies modern taste, which has
been formed by the hexametrical rhythm of Virgil;
but Seneca praises his style as free from the usual faults
of Latin declamatory poetry — mere bombast on the one
hand, and excessive minuteness on the other. Mebuhr
conjectures that his Thyestes was too declamatory; and
that, like the later Eoman tragedies of Seneca and others,
it was not an imitation of the Attic drama, but of the
degenerate tragedies belonging to the Alexandrian
period.
C. Cornelius Gallus (born b.c. 66 or 69).
Grallus was more distinguished as a general than as a
poet. Except a single line from one of his elegies, not a
vestige of his poetry remains ; for the short pieces attri-
buted to him 2 are undoubtedly not genuine. He owes
his fame, probably, to the kind verdict of his contempo-
raries ; whose friendship and amiable affection for each
other appear never to have been endangered by the
slightest spark of jealousy.
Born at Erejus, of low parentage, he was a fellow-
student in philosophy with Virgil 3 and Varius — a friend-
ship thus commenced which continued through life. The
patronage of Asinius Pollio 4 brought him into notice as a
1 Ep. i. 16. See Schol. 2 Meyer's Anthol. 3 Eel. vi. 64.
4 Cic. ad Fam. x. 32.
306 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
poet at the early age of twenty. He was one of the first
to attach himself to the cause of Octavius ; and, being
appointed commissioner for allotting the lands to the
military colonies, he had the opportunity of befriending
Virgil and the plundered Mantuans. At Actium he
commanded a brigade, burnt Antony's ships in the
harbour of Parsetonium, was one of the capturers of
Cleopatra, and was rewarded by Octavius with being made
first prefect of Egypt. How so valuable a servant lost
the Emperor's favour is uncertain. Ovid hints that his
crime was one of words not of deeds : —
Linguam nimio non tenuisse mero.
He was recalled, his property confiscated, and himself
exiled. He had not strength of mind to bear his fall,
and he committed suicide in the forty-first or forty-third
year of his age. 1
No judgment respecting his merits can be formed
from the contradictory criticism of the ancients. Ovid
awards to him the palm among the elegiac poets, 2 and
Virgil is said to have sung his praises in his fourth
Georgic, but afterwards to have omitted the passage and
substituted for it the story of Aristseus ; whilst Quintilian 3
applies the epithet durior to his versification. Perhaps
the latter attached too much importance to the grace and
sweetness of diction, but neglected the beauty of the
sentiments ; whilst the former might have been too partial
in his sympathy with a fellow-exile. He was the author
of four books of elegies, in which, under the feigned
name of Lycoris, he sings his love for his mistress
Cytheris. He also translated the Greek poems of Eu-
phorion.
> Dion Cass. liii. 23. 2 Trist. iv. 10, 5.
3 Lib. x. i. 93 ; i, 5, 8.
mistresses of t1bullus. 307
Albius Tibullus.
Tibullus was born of an equestrian family, probably in
B. c. 54. He was a contemporary of Virgil and Horace ;*
and like them, during the troubles of the civil wars, suf-
fered the confiscation of his paternal estate, which was
situated at Pedum near Tibur. After the conclusion of
the straggle a portion was restored to him — small, indeed,
but sufficient to satisfy his moderate wants and contented
disposition.
Disinclined, as well by his love of quiet, to the labours
and perils of a military life, as he was by the tenderness
and softness of his character to the horrors of war,
circumstances, nevertheless, forced him involuntarily to
undertake a campaign. Messala was his patron, to
whom he was evidently under great obligations. 2 When,
therefore, he was sent by Octavia to quell an insurrection
in Aquitania, Tibullus accompanied him. This campaign
and the successes of Messala furnished the poet with
subjects for his muse. 3 Tibullus also fully intended to
continue his services to Messala in the east, during the
following year ; but illness compelled him to stop at
Corcyra, whence he returned to Eome. 4
The mistresses whose beauty, inconstancy, and cruelty
Tibullus celebrates in his elegies were, unlike those of
Horace, real persons. Delia's real name is said to have
been Plautia or Plania; 5 who Nemesis was is not known.
These are the only two mentioned by himself or alluded
to by Ovid ; 6 but Horace addresses an ode to him on his
passion for a mistress whom he names Grlycera. Pro-
bably he is speaking of one of Tibullus's mistresses under
a feigned name, in accordance with his habitual practice,
for the names introduced by him in his poems, generally
speaking, bear no appearance of reality. They are, with
1 See Hor. Od. i. 33 ; Ep. i. 4. 2 El. i. 3 El. i. and iv.
4 El. i. 5 Nieb. Lect. cvii. 6 Amorum iii. 9.
x 2
308 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
very few exceptions, suggested by his study of Greek
lyric poets. Chloris, Lycoris, Neobule, Lydia, Thali-
archus, Xanthias, Pholoe, are all Greek characters trans-
lated to Roman scenes, and made to play an artificial
part in Roman life. Cinara 1 was, perhaps, a real person,
as Bassus, the Novii, Mawius, and Numida, undoubtedly
are. Sometimes, when his object is satire, he speaks of
the subject of his irony under a name somewhat resem-
bling the real one; as, for example, when he ridicules
Maecenas under the name of Malthinus, 2 Salvidianus
Rufus under that of Nasidienus, 3 and lampoons Gratidia
the sorceress as Canidia. But in the poetry of Tibullus,
as in that of Catullus and Propertius, the same names are
found in each of a series of poems. Apuleius 4 asserts
that the real name of the Lesbia of Catullus was Clodia ;
that of the Cynthia of Propertius, Hostia, and that she
was a native of Tivoli.
The style and tone of thought of Tibullus are, like his
character, deficient in vigour and manliness, but sweet,
smooth, polished, tender, and never disfigured by bad
taste. He does not deserve the censure of Niebuhr, who
stigmatises him as a " disagreeable poet, because of liis
doleful and weeping melancholy and sentimentality,
resulting from misunderstanding the ancient elegies of
Mimnermus." 5
After his return from Corcyca, Tibullus passed the
remainder of his short life in the peaceful retirement of
his paternal estate. He died young, shortly after Virgil,
if we may trust to an epigram, ascribed to Domitius
Marsus, contained in the Latin Anthologia : — *
Te quoque Virgilio comitem non aequa, Tibulle,
Mors juvenem campos misit in Elysios,
Ne foret, aut elegis molles qui fleret amores,
Aut caneret forti regia bella pede.
1 Od, iv. 1, 3, 4, 13. ; Ep. i. 7, 27, 14, 33. 2 Sat. I. ii.
3 Sat. II. viii. 4 Apol. p. 279. 5 Lect.'on R. H. 107.
Meyer's Anthol. Vet. Lat. Ep. No. 122.
CRITICISM OF MURKTUS. 309
The poems commonly ascribed to Tibullus consist of
tour books, but only two are genuine, and of these, the
second was published posthumously. Two lines in the
third book, which fix the date of the poet's birth in the
consulship of Hirtius and Pansa, 1 have generally been con-
sidered as spurious, because such a date is inconsistent
with the rest of the chronology ; but Yoss rejected the
whole of that book : and there is no question but that
the spirit and character of the Elegies, as well as the
harmony of the metre, are very inferior to those of the
preceding poems. The same inferiority marks the fourth
also, with the exception of the smaller poems, which bear
the names of Sulpicia and Corinthus. These, as Niebuhr
correctly observed, display greater energy and boldness
than Tibullus possessed, and are the productions of some
poet much superior to Mm.
That elegant scholar and judicious critic, Muretus, 2 has
well attributed to him, as his chief characteristics, sim-
plicity, and natural and unaffected genius : — " Ilium
(i. e. Tibullum) judices simplicius scripsisse quae cogitaret ;
hunc (i. e. Propertium) diligentius cogitasse qua? scriberet.
In illo plus naturce, in hoc plus curse atque industriaB
perspicias."
Sextus Aurelius Propertius.
Very little is known respecting the life and personal
history of Propertius beyond the few facts which may be
gleaned from his poems. He was a native of the border
country of Umbria, and was probably born not earlier
than a. u. c. 703, 3 or later than 700. 4 This period will
sufficiently agree with the statement of Ovid respecting
their relative ages. 5 His family had not produced any
distinguished member, but possessed a competent estate.
Like Virgil and Tibullus, he was a sufferer by the conse-
1 B. c. 45 ; a. u. c. 709. 2 Schol. in Propert. 3 Clinton.
4 Niebuhr. 5 Trist. iv. 10, 45.
310 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
quences of war ; for the establishment of a military colony
reduced him from comfort to straitened circumstances. 1
Like most young Eomans of genius and education, he
was intended for the bar ; 2 but poetry had greater charms
for him than severe studies, and he became nothing more
than a literary man. He inhabited a house in the now
fashionable quarter of the Esquiline, and was on intimate
terms with Gallus, Ovid, Bassus, and Virgil. Cynthia,
his amour with whom inspired so large a portion of his
elegies, was not only a beautiful but an accomplished
woman. She was his first love ; and it appears to have
been some time before she yielded to his solicitations, 3
nor was she even then always faithful to him. 4 She
could write verses and play upon the lyre, 5 and was a
graceful dancer. 6 She owed to him, says Martial, her
immortality; whilst he owed to his love for her the
inspiration which immortalized himself : —
Cynthia, facundi carmen juvenile Properti,
Accepit famam nee minus ilia dedit.
The date of the poet's death is unknown, but the pro-
bability is that he died young.
Although Propertius was a contemporary and friend of
the Augustan poets, he may be considered as belonging
to a somewhat different school of poetry. His taste, like
theirs, was educated by a study of Greek literature ; but
the Greek poets whose works he took for his model be-
longed to a later age. Horace, Virgil, and TibuUus
imitated and tried to rival the Greek classical poets of the
noblest ages : they transferred into their native tongue
the ideas of Homer, Pindar, and the old lyric poets.
Their taste was formed after the purest and most perfect
models. Propertius, on the other hand, was content
with a lower flight. He attempted nothing more than to
1 Prop. IV. i. 128, and ii. 25. 2 Ibid. IV. i. 3 Ibid. II. xiv. 15—18.
4 Ibid. I. 1, 2 ; x. ii. 16. 5 Ibid. I. ii. 27. 6 Ibid. II. iii. 17.
STYLE OF PROPERTIUS. 311
imitate the graceful but feeble strains of the Alexandrian
poets, and to become a second Callimachus or Philetas. 1
Roman perseverance in the pursuit of learning, and the
spirit of investigation in the wide field of Greek litera-
ture, had raised up this new standard of taste, which was
by no means an improvement upon that which had been
hitherto established.
The imitations of Propertius are too studied and ap-
parent to permit him to lay claim to great natural genius.
Nature alone could give the touching tenderness of
Tibullus or the facility of Ovid — in both of which, not-
withstanding his grace and elegance, he is deficient. The
absence of original fancy is concealed by minute atten-
tion to the outward form of the poetry which he ad-
mired. His pentameters are often inharmonious, because
they adopt so continually the Greek rules of construction ;
awkward Greek idioms, and a studious display of his
learning, which was undoubtedly great, destroy that
greatest charm of style, perspicuity.
According to Quintilian, 2 the critics of his day some-
what overrated his merits, for they could scarcely decide
the question of superiority between him and Tibullus.
This, however, is to be expected in an age of affected
rhetoric and grammatical pedantry, when nothing was
considered beautiful in poetry except that which was in
accordance with the arbitrary rules of cold criticism.
They appreciated his correctness, and did not miss the
warm heart of his rival. His poetry is not so polluted
with indelicacy as that of Ovid, but still it is often sensual
and licentious.
It is worthy of remark that the fourth elegy of the third
book, entitled " Arethusa to Lycotas," deprives Ovid of
the credit of being the inventor of the elegiac epistle.
1 Prop. IV. i. 63. 2 Inst. Orat. x. 1.
312 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
iEMILIUS Macer.
The poem of iEmilius Macer is only known through
two verses in the Tristia of Ovid, 1 which state that it
treated of birds, serpents, and medicinal herbs : —
Ssepe suas volucres legit mihi grandior sevo
Quseque necet serpens, quae juvet herba Macer.
He was born at Yerona, and died in Asia, a.d. 16;
and the passage already quoted proves that he was older
than Ovid.
His poem was a paraphrase or imitation of the Theriaca
of Nicander — a physician-poet, who flourished in JEtolia
during the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes. Quintilian
couples his name with that of Lucretius ; and awards him
the praise of elegance, but adds that his style is deficient
in dignity.
1 Trist. IV. x. 33.
( 313 )
CHAPTER VIII.
BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF OVID — HIS RHETORICAL POWERS —
ANECDOTE RELATED BY SENECA — HIS POETICAL GENIUS — SELF-
INDULGENT LIFE — POPULARITY — BANISHMENT — PLACE OF HIS
EXILE— EPISTLES AND OTHER WORKS — GRATIUS FALISCUS—
PEDO ALBINO V ANUS— AULUS SABINUS — MARCUS MANILIUS.
Ovidius Naso (BORN B.C. 43).
Ovid, as he himself states, 1 was born at Sulmo (Sulmone),
a town of the Peligni (Abrnzzi), ninety miles distant from
Rome. The year of his birth was that in which the
consuls Hirtius and Pansa fell in the field of Mntina
(Modena). His family was equestrian, and had been so
for some generations. His father lived to the age of
ninety ; and, as his mother was then alive, it is probable
that she also attained an advanced age. He had a bro-
ther exactly twelve months older than himself. Their
common birthday was the first of the Quinquatria, or
festival of Minerva (March 20th).
Whilst still of tender age, the two boys were sent to
Eome for education, and placed under the care of eminent
instructors. The elder studied eloquence, and was
brought up to the bar ; but he died at the early age of
twenty. Ovid himself also, for a time, studied rhetoric
under Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro, and the results
of his study are visible in his poems ; 2 for example, in the
speeches of Ajax and Ulysses. 3
Trist. iv. 10. * See Cic. Brut. 446. 3 Metam. xiii.
314 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Seneca has left an interesting account of his rhetorical
powers. 1 " I remember," he says, " hearing Naso de-
claim, in the presence of Arellius Fuscus, of whom he
was a pupil ; for he was an admirer of Latro, although
his style was different from his own. The style of Ovid
could at that time be termed nothing else but poetry in
prose : still he was so diligent as to transfer many of his
sentiments into his verses. Latro had said —
Mittamus arma in hostes, et petamus.
Naso wrote —
Arma viri fortis medios mittantur in hostes
Inde jubete peti.
He borrowed another idea from one of Latro's Suasorian
orations : —
Non vides nti immota fax torpeat et exagitata reddat ignes '?
Ovid's paraphrase of this illustration is —
Vidi ego jactatas mota face crescere flammas,
Et rursus, nullo concutiente, mori.
When he was a student he was thought to declaim
well."
On the affecting theme of a husband and wife, who had
mutually sworn not to survive each other, Seneca asserts
that he surpassed his master in wit and talent, and was
only inferior in the arrangement of his topics. He then
quotes a long passage, in which Ovid analyses the prin-
ciples of love, with a sldll and ingenuity well worthy of
one who, as a poet, made love the subject of his song,
and with a purity of sentiment which, it were to be
wished, had dignified the sweetness of his verses. Ovid
preferred suasorice and ethical themes to controversies f for
all argument was irksome to him. In oratory he was
Controv. ii. 10. 2 See distinction between these in ch. viii.
ANECDOTE RELATED BY SENECA. 315
very careful in the use of words : in his poetry he was
aware of his faults, but loved them too well to correct
them. He then adds the following amusing and charac-
teristic anecdote : — Being once asked by his friends to
erase three Hues, he consented on condition that he him-
self should be at liberty to make an exception in favour
of three. He accordingly wrote down three which he
wished to preserve ; his friends those which they wished
to erase. The papers were examined, and both were
found to contain the same verses. Pedo Albinovanus
used to say that one of these was —
Semibovernque virum seniivirunique bovem.
The other—
Egelidum Borean, egelidumque Notum.
Hence it is apparent that judgment was not wanting,
but the inclination to correct. He defended himself by
saying that an occasional mole is an improver of beauty.
The former of these miserable conceits is not now to be
found in his poems. The latter occurs in the Amoves,
but it is usually read —
Et gelidum Borean, egelidumque No turn ;
or —
Et gelidum Borean, pnecipitemque Notum.
The father of Ovid, who took a utilitarian view of life,
is said to have discouraged the cultivation of his poetical
talents, and to have stigmatised the service of the Muses
as barren and unprofitable. Even Homer himself, he was
wont to say, left no property behind him. Ovid endea-
voured to comply with his father's wishes, he deserted
Helicon, and tried to write plain prose. It was all in
vain ; his words spontaneously flowed into numbers, and
whatever he tried to say was poetry. His natural genius
and facility displayed itself when he was quite a boy ; for
he had not yet put on the toga virilis. When he
Amor. II. xi. 10.
316 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
assumed this badge of mature age, it was bordered with a
broad purple stripe, which marked the patrician order ;
but being unambitious and indolent, he never took his
seat in the senate, although he filled several magisterial
and judicial offices.
His rank, fortune, and talents enabled him to cultivate
the society of men of congenial tastes. He became
acquainted with the best poets of his day. Macer and
Propertius would recite their compositions to him. Pon-
ticus and Bassus were guests at his table. He had heard
the lyrics of Horace read by himself. Virgil he had only
seen ; and the untimely death of Tibullus prevented him
from making the acquaintance of that poet. He was ex-
tremely young when his juvenile poems became very
popular, and he wrote far more than he published ; for he
burnt whatever displeased him ; and, when sentenced to
exile, in disgust he committed the Metamorphoses to the
flames.
He himself confesses his natural susceptibility and
amorous temperament; but claims the credit of never
having given occasion to any scandal. He was three
times married. His first wife was unsuitable, and proved
unworthy of him, and accordingly he divorced her. His
second he divorced also, although no imputation rested on
her virtue. From his third, whom, notwithstanding his
fickleness and infidelity, he sincerely loved, he was only
separated by exile. She was one of the Fabian family,
and bore him one daughter.
Epicurean in his tastes, and a sceptic, if not a disbe-
liever in a future state, he lived a life of continual self-
indulgence and intrigue. He was a universal admirer
and as universal a favourite among the female sex in the
voluptuous capital ; for the tone of female morals was in
that age low and depraved, and the women encouraged
the licentiousness of the men. Although his favourite
mistress, whom he celebrated under the fictitious name of
BANISHMENT OF OVID. :* 1 7
Oorinna, is unknown, and all the conjectures concerning
her identity are groundless, there is no doubt that she
was a lady of rank and fortune.
Ovid was popular as a poet, successful in society, and
possossod all the enjoyments which wealth can bestow.
He had a villa and estate in his native Sulmo, a house on
the Capitoline hill, and suburban gardens celebrated for
their beauty. At some period of Ins life he travelled
with Macer into Asia and Sicily ; and, in his exile, recalls
to mind with sorrowful pleasure the magnificent cities
of the former, and the sublime scenery and classic haunts
of the latter. 1 Tins sunny life at length came to an
end. The last ray of happiness, which he speaks of as
beaming on him, was the intelligence that his beloved
daughter Perilla, who was twice married, made him a
grandfather a second time. When his hair became
tinged with white, and he had reached his fiftieth year,
he incurred, by some fault or indiscretion, the anger
of Augustus, and was banished to Tomi (Tomoswar or
Baba).
The cause of his banishment is involved in obscurity.
It was not unknown at Eome ; but in his exile he refrains
from alluding to it, except in dark allusions, out of fear
of giving additional offence to the emperor. 2 He speaks of
it as an indiscretion (error), not a crime (scelus, /acinus 3 ); as
something which he had accidentally witnessed, 4 perhaps
had indiscreetly told — a circumstance which deeply and
personally affected Augustus, and inflicted a wound which
he was unwilling to tear open afresh. He hints also that
he fell a victim to the treachery of friends and domestics, 5
who enriched themselves by his ruin.
There have been many conjectures 6 on this difficult
1 Ep. ex Ponto, ii. 10. 2 Trist. IV. x. 100.
3 Ibid. IY. x. 90, and III. i. 52. 4 Ibid. I. ii. 107.
5 Ibid. iv. 10, 101 ; Ep. ex Pont. P. ii. vii.
6 See Class. Museum, iv. 13.
318 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
point. Some have imagined an intrigue with the elder
Julia, the profligate daughter of Augustus ; but this is
scarcely consistent with the manner in which Ovid himself
speaks of his fault ; and besides this, Julia was banished
to Pandataria eight years before. The banishment of the
younger Julia to Trimerus, about the same time with that
of Ovid, would make it far more probable that his fall
was connected with that of this equally profligate princess.
Tiraboschi supposed that he had surprised one of the
royal family in some disgraceful act ; and some have even
imagined that he might have witnessed such conduct on
the part of the Emperor himself. Dryden believed that
he accidentally saw Livia in the bath ; and the author of
the article in the Biographie Universelle, as well as
Schoell, 1 surmise that he was in some way implicated in
the fortunes of Agrippa Posthumus, and thus incurred
the hatred of Livia and Tiberius.
Whatever the cause may have been, the punishment
was a cruel one, except for a crime of the deepest dye,
and would never have been inflicted by the gentle Au-
gustus so long as he was under the salutary influence of
Maecenas and his party. But in his old age he submitted
to the baneful rule of the dark Tiberius and the im-
placable Livia. Any pretext, therefore, sufficed to remove
one, who, from some cause or other, had excited their
enmity. The alleged reason was the immorality of his
writings ; but they are not more immoral than those of
Horace ; and, besides, the worst of them had been pub-
lished ten years before. Nor was the morality of the
Emperor himself of such a character as to lead him to
punish so severely a licentious poet in a licentious age.
The exclusion of his works from the Palatine 2 library was
a merited and more appropriate visitation. Nevertheless,
this was made the pretext for a banishment, the misery
Hist. Abreg. de la Lit. Rom. 2 Trist. III. i. 65.
SITUATION OF TOMI. 319
of which was solaced by the empty mockery of the reserv-
ation of his civil rights.
Tomi was on the very frontiers of the Eoman empire,
inhabited by the Getse, who were rude and uncivilized.
The country itself, a barren and treeless waste, cold, damp,
and marshy, producing naturally scarcely anything but
wormwood, and yielding scanty crops to the unskilled
toil of ignorant cultivators, was rendered still more desolate
b} T frequent incursions of the neighbouring savage tribes,
who used poisoned arrows, and offered up as sacrifices
their prisoners of war. 1 Ovid, who, with all his faults,
was affectionate and tender-hearted, was torn from all
the voluptuous blandishments of the capital, from the
sjmipatliies of congenial spirits, who could appreciate his
talents, and from the arms of his weeping wife 2 amidst
the voice of wailing and of prayer, which filled every
corner of his desolate dwelling. The blow fell suddenly
upon him like a thunder-clap, 3 and so stupified him, that
he could make no preparations for his voyage. The
season of his departure was the depth of winter, and he
was exposed to some peril by a tempest in the Ionian Grulf.
The climate of his new abode was as inclement as that of
Scythia. Not only the Danube, but even the sea near
its mouth, was for some extent covered with ice : even the
wine froze into blocks, and was broken in pieces before it
could be used. He lived in exile only ten years ; constant
anxiety preyed upon his bodily health ; he suffered lan-
guor, but no pain ; he loathed all food ; the little that he
ate would not digest ; sleep failed him \ his body became
pale and emaciated, and so he died. The Tomitse showed
their respect by erecting a tomb to his memory.
In the midst of such a contrast between the present
and the past, no wonder that his complainings appear
almost pitiful and unmanly, and his urgent petitions to
1 Ex Ponto, IV. ix. 82. 2 Trist. I. iii. 8 Ibid. V.
320 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Augustus couched in too fulsome a strain of adulation.
No wonder that he painted in the most glowing colours
the story of his woes and privations. Yet he was desti-
tute neither of patience nor fortitude : he relied on the
independence and immortality of genius ; and although
the enervating effect of a luxurious and easy life and a
delicate constitution, rendered him a prey to grief, and
he gradually pined away, still he had strength of mind
to relieve his sorrows by devotion to the Muse, and he
suffered with tranquillity and resignation. Poetry was
his resource during his stormy voyage. Poetry gained
him the affection and esteem of his new fellow-citizens,
notwithstanding their barbarism, 1 and procured him the
honour of a tomb.
All the extant poems of Ovid, with the exception of
the Metamorphoses, are elegiac. It was the metre then
most in vogue. All the minor poets, his contemporaries,
wrote in it. One of his earliest works is the " Amores,"
a collection of elegies, most of which are addressed to his
favourite mistress Corinna. Some of them, however,
were composed subsequently to his Epistles and Art of
Love. 2 An epigram which is prefixed, states that there
were originally ixve books, but that the author subse-
quently reduced them to the present number, three.
Licentiousness disfigures these annals of his amours ; but
they teem with the freshness and buoyancy of youth, and
sparkle with grace and ingenuity.
The twenty-one Epistolce Heroidum, i. e., Epistles to and
from Women of the Heroic Age, are a series of love-letters :
their characteristic feature is passion ; the ardour of which
is sometimes interfered with by too laboured conceits and
excessive refinement. They are, in fact, the most pohshed
efforts of one whose natural indolence often disinclined
him from expending that time and pains on the work of
Ex Pont. IV. ix. 97. 2 See II. xviii. 19.
THE ART OF LOVE. 321
amending and correcting, which distinguished Virgil.
Their great merit consists in the remarkable neatness
with which the sentiments are expressed, and the sweet-
ness of the versification ; their great defect is want of
variety. The subject necessarily limited the topics. The
range of them is confined to laments for the absence of
the beloved object, the pangs of jealousy, apprehensions
of inconstancy, expressions of warm affection, and descrip-
tions of the joys and sorrows of love.
With the exception of the Metamorphoses, the Epistles
have been greater favourites than any of the works of
Ovid. Some were translated by Drayton and Lord Hervey.
The beautiful translation, by Pope, of the epistle from
Sappho to Phaon, is familiar to all; and his touching
picture of the struggle between passion and principle, in
the letter of Eloisa to Abelard, owes a portion of its
inspiration to the Epistles of Ovid.
Love in the days of Ovid had nothing in it chivalrous
or pure — it was carnal, sensual. The age in which he
lived was morally polluted, and he was neither better nor
worse than his contemporaries. Great and noble as was
the character of the Eoman matron, the charms of an
accomplished female education were almost as rare as
at Athens. She had sterling worth; but she had not
often the power to fascinate those numbers who con-
sidered woman the minister to the pleasures of man.
She was wise, self-sacrificing, patriotic, courageous — a
devoted mother, an affectionate wife — and a man of heroic
mould valued as she deserved such a partner of his
fortunes. But those who sought merely the allurements
of passion looked only for meretricious pleasure and
sensual enjoyment. Hence grossness is the characteristic
of Ovid's Art of Love. The instructions contained in
the first two books which are addressed to men are fit
only for the seducer. The blandishments in the third
are suited only to the abandoned of the other sex.
322 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
The Art of Love was followed by the Eemedies of Love
in one book : " Let him," he says, " who taught you to
love, teach you also the cure ; one hand shall inflict the
wound and minister the balm. The earth produces
noxious and healthful herbs ; the rose is often nearest
neighbour to the nettle." 1
His Metamorphoses were just finished, and not yet
corrected, 2 when his fall took place. When in his despair
he burnt it, fortunately for the world some copies trans-
pired. Afterwards he prayed that they might be pre-
served to remind the readers of the unhappy author.
The Metamorphoses consist of fifteen books, and contain
a series of mythological narratives from the earliest
times to the translation of the soul of Julius Caesar from
earth to heaven, and his metamorphosis into a star.
This poem is Ovid's noblest effort : it approaches as near
to the epic form as is possible with so many naturally un-
connected episodes. In many parts, especially his de-
scriptions, we do not merely admire his natural facility
in making verses, but picturesque truthfulness and force —
the richest fancy combined with grandeur and dignity.
Amongst the most beautiful portions may be enumerated
the story of Phaeton, including the splendid description
of the palace of the Sun ; 3 the golden age ; 4 the story
of Pyramus and Thisbe ; 5 the cottage home and the
rustic habits of Baucis and Philemon, 6 Narcissus at
the fountain;' the powerfully-sketched picture of the
cave of Sleep, 8 Daedalus and Icarus, 9 Cephalus and
Procris, 10 and the soliloquy of Medea. 11 In this poem,
especially, may be traced that study and learning by
which the Poman poets made all the treasures of Greek
literature their own. In fact, a more extensive know-
3 Eem. Am. 43. 2 Trist. i. vi. 30. 3 Metam. ii i.
4 Ibid. i. 89. 5 Ibid. iv. 55. « Ibid. viii. 628.
7 Ibid. iii. 407. 8 Ibid. xi. 592. p Ibid. viii. 152.
11 Ibid, vii.661, " Ibid. vii. 11.
THE FASTI, TRISTXA, \M) EPISTLES FROM PONTUS. 323
ledge of Greek mythology may be derived from it than
from the Greeks themselves, because the books which
were the sources of his information are unfortunately
bo longer extant.
The " Fasti " is an antiquarian poem on the Eoman
( talendar. Originally it was intended to have formed twel ve
books, one for each month of the year, but only the first
six were completed : — l
Sex ego Fastorum scripsi totidemque libellos
Cunique suo finem mense volumen habet.
It is a beautiful specimen of simple narrative in verse,
and displays, more than any of his works, his power of
telling a story, without the slightest effort, in poetry as
well as prose. As a profound study of Greek mythology
and poetry had furnished the materials for his Meta-
morphoses and other poems, so in this he drew principally
from the legends which had been preserved by the old
poets and annalists of his own country.
The five books of the Tristia and the four books of the
Epistles from Pontus were the outpourings of his sor-
rowful heart during the gloomy evening of his days.
Without the brilliancy, the wit, and the genius, which
beamed forth from his joyous spirit in the time of his
prosperity, without the graceful and inspired querulous-
ness of the ancient models, they are, nevertheless, con-
ceived in the spirit of the Greek elegy — they utter the
voice of complaining, and deserve the Horatian epithet
of miserabiles. 2 It was natural to him to give utterance
to his hope and despair in song : he had sported like a
gay insect in the sunshine of prosperity. He was too
fragile, delicate, and effeminate to bear the storm of ad-
versity — his butterfly spirit was broken; but, with all
his faults, that broken heart was capable of the tenderest
emotions, and his letter to his daughter Perilla 3 is full of
Trist. ii. v. 549 8 Hor. Od. I. 33. 3 Lib. iii. 7.
Y 2
3.24 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
purity and sweetness. The carelessness of one who
would not take the trouble to correct, and who was con-
scious of his dangerous facility, is compensated for by the
commiseration which his natural complaints excite, and
for the powerful descriptions which occasionally enliven
the monotony inseparable from grief.
His minor poems consist of an elegiac poem, " Nux/'
in which a nut-tree bewails its hard fate and the ill-
treatment which it receives ; a long and bitter satire,
entitled Ibis, on some enemy, or, perhaps, some faith-
less friend ; a poem on Cosmetics (Medicamina faciei) j 1
another on Fishing (Halieutica) ; 2 and an address of con-
dolence to Livia Augusta. JSTone, however, of these last
three are universally admitted to be genuine. Other
works which were the offspring of his prolific genius
have perished. During his exile he acquired sufficient
knowledge of the Gretan language to write some poems
in it ; and these were as popular with the barbarians as
his Latin works were at Rome. Lastly, he was the
author of the Medea ; a tragedy of which Quintilian says,
that it shows of what grand works he was capable, if he
had been willing to curb instead of giving reins to the
luxuriance of his genius. 3 Two lines only are extant ;
but we I can judge of the conception which he formed
of the character of Medea from the epistle in the
" Heroides," and her eminently tragic soliloquy in the
Metamorphoses .
Ovid was a voluptuary, but not a heartless one. The
age in which he lived was as immoral as himself, and far
more gross ; he was, therefore, neither a corrupter nor a
seducer. His poetry was popular, not only because of
its beauty, but because it was in exact accordance with
the spirit of the times. His wit was sometimes contrary
to good taste, but it was not forced and unnatural. He
Ar. Am. iii. 205. 2 Plin. H. N. xxxii. 54. 3 In. Or. x.
GRATIUS AND ALBINOVANUS. 325
was betrayed into the appearance, not the reality of affect-
ation, by a luxuriance which required pruning, for which
he had neither patience nor inclination. He stored
himself with the learning of the ancients, and caught
their inspiration; but then* severe taste was to him a
trammel to which he was too self-willed and self-com-
placent to submit. The prevalent taste for elegiac poetry
pointed out the style which was suited to his calibre ; for
one cannot help feeling that his genius was incapable of
mastering the gigantic proportions of a true epic, and,
notwithstanding the favourable criticism of Quintilian, of
soaring to the sublimity of tragedy.
GltATIUS FALISCUS.
The Cynegetica of Gratius, commonly, though without
any reason, surnamed Faliscus, may claim a place beside
the Halieutiea of Ovid, on account of its subject, but not
on the score of genius, poetry, or language. Nothing is
known respecting this author, except that Ovid speaks of
him as a contemporary. 1 The poem is heroic, and con-
sists of 536 lines : its style is hard and prosaic ; it
describes the weapons and arts of the chase, horses and
hounds ; but the science is rather Greek than Italian, and
the information contained in it is principally derived from
Xenophon. 2
Pedo Albinovanus.
Another poet of the Ovidian age was his trusty friend,
C. Pedo Albinovanus. He was of equestian rank, 3 and,
unlike most of his contemporaries, an epic poet. 4 Ovid
in Ins Epistles from Pontus, 5 which are addressed to him,
applies to him the epithet, " Sidereus," either because he
had written an astronomical poem, or because his sublime
language soared into the starry heavens. Martial speaks
1 £p. ex Pont. iv. 16, 33. 2 See Bernhardy, Gr. 440. 3 Bern. 409.
4 Quint, x. 1. s Ibid. iv. 16 6.
326 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of him as having written epigrams which extend to the
length of two pages. 1 A fragment of an epic poem,
describing the voyage of Germanicus related by Tacitus,
is preserved by Seneca. 2 Three elegies are usually
ascribed to him ; but their style is that of more modern
times, and the authority for their genuineness very
suspicious.
A. Sabinus.
Another contemporary of Ovid was A. Sabinus ; and
all that is known respecting him is derived from two
passages in the works of the former poet. 3 In one of
these, 4 he tells us that Sabinus wrote answers to six of
the epistles of the Heroides. None of these, however,
are extant. The three which profess to be written by
him, entitled Ulysses to Penelope, Demophoon to Phyllis,
and Paris to CEnone, are the work of Angelus Sabinus, 5
a philologer and poet of the fifteenth century*.
Two other works are attributed to him by Ovid in a
passage in which he speaks of his death. 6 One of these,
entitled Trcezen, was probably an epic poem, of which
Theseus was the hero ■* the other, Dierum Opus, was a con-
tinuation of Ovid's Fasti. Other elegiac poets nourished
at this period, such as Proculus and Montanus ; but their
poetical talents were of too commonplace a character to
deserve special mention. They confer no obligation on
literature, and contribute nothing towards the illustra-
tion of the literary character of their times.
M. Manilius.
The astronomical and astrological poem of Manilius
furnishes a series of those historical problems, which have
never yet been satisfactorily solved. The author has
1 Ep. ii. 77. 2 Ann. ii. 23 ; Suasor. I. 3 Ex Pont. iv. 16, 13.
4 Amor. ii. 18, 27. 5 Bernhardy, 451. 6 Ep. ex Pont. iv. 16, 13.
7 Smith's Diet. Glaser. im Rhein. Mus. N. F. i. 437.
POEM OF MAN1LIUS. 327
been in turn confounded with every one whom Roman
records mention as bearing that name, and in all cases
with equally little reason. No one knows when he
flourished, where he lived, and of what place he was a
native. Bentley determined that he was an Asiatic;
rluot that he was a Carthaginian. Internal evidence
renders it most probable that he lived in the reign of
Tiberius ; x and yet neither he nor his poem are ever men-
tioned by any ancient author. His work was never
discovered until the beginning of the fifteenth century ;
probably it had never been published, but only a few
copies had been made, some of which have been marvel-
lously preserved.
The philosophical principles of the poem are those of
a Stoical Pantheism. As one principle of life pervades
the whole universe, there is a close connexion between
tilings celestial and things terrestrial. In consequence of
this relation, the astrologer can determine the course of
the latter by observation of the heavenly bodies. Together
with all the assumptions and absurdities of astrology are
mingled extensive knowledge of the state of astronomical
science in his day : gleams of truth shoot like meteors
athwart the darkness. The subject which he has chosen
is as unpromising for poetical effect and embellishment
as that of Lucretius 3 but he does not handle it so suc-
cessfully : he has neither the boldness of thought, the
dignity of language, nor the imaginative grandeur which
marked the old poet-philosopher. The poem is incom-
plete ; and probably owes some of its roughness and
obscurity to its never having been corrected for pub-
lication.
* Lib. i. 798—897 : iv. 763.
328 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER IX.
PROSE WRITERS— INFLUENCE OF CICERO UPON THE LANGUAGE —
HIS CONVERSE WITH HIS FRIENDS— HIS EARLY LIFE — PLEADS
HIS FIRST CAUSE —IS QU^STOR, ^DILE, PR^TOR, AND CONSUL
— HIS EXILE, RETURN, AND PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION —
HIS VACILLATING CONDUCT — HE DELIVERS HIS PHILIPPICS —
IS PROSCRIBED AND ASSASSINATED — HIS CHARACTER.
As oratory gave to Latin prose-writing its elegance and
dignity, Cicero is not only the representative of the
flonrishing period of the language, bnt also the instru-
mental cause of its arriving at perfection. Circumstances
may have been favourable to his influence. The national
mind may have been in that stage of progress which
only required a master-genius to develop it ; but still it
was he who gave a fixed character to the language, who
showed his countrymen what eloquence especially was
in its combination of the precepts of art and the prin-
ciples of natural beauty ; what the vigour of Latin was,
and of what elegance and polish it was capable.
His age was not an age of poetry ; but he paved the
w r ay for poetry by investing the language with those
graces which are indispensable to its perfection. He
freed it from all coarseness and harshness, and accus-
tomed the educated classes to use language, even in their
every- day conversation, which never called up gross ideas,
but was fit for pure and noble sentiments. Before his
time, Latin was plain-spoken, and therefore vigorous;
but the penalty which was paid for this was, that it was
sometimes gross and even indecent. The conversational
PHILOSOPHICAL CONVERSATION. 329
language of the upper classes became iu the days of
Cicero in the highest degree refined ; it admitted scarcely
an offensive expression. The truth of this assertion is
evident from those of his writings which are of the most
familiar character — from his graphic Dialogues, in which
he describes the circumstances as naturally as if they
really occurred ; from his Letters to Atticus, in which he
lavs open the secret thoughts of his heart to his most
intimate friend, his second self. Cicero purified the
language morally as well as sestheticallv. It was the
licentious wantonness of the poets which degraded the
pleasures of the imagination by pandering to the passions,
at first in language delicately veiled, and then by open
and disgusting sensuality.
It is difficult for us, perhaps, to whom religion comes
under the aspect of revelation separate from philosophy,
and who consider the philosophical investigation of moral
subjects as different from the religious view of morals, to
form an adequate conception of the pure and almost holy
nature of the conversations of Cicero and his distin-
guished contemporaries. To them philosophy was the
contemplation of the nature and attributes of the Supreme
Being. The metaphysical analysis of the internal nature
of man was the study of immortality and the evidence for
another life. Cato, for example, read the Phaxlo of
Plato in his last moments in the same serious spirit in
which the Christian would read the words of inspiration.
The study of ethics was that of the sanctions with which
God has supported duty and enlightened the conscience.
They were the highest subjects with which the mind of
man could be conversant. For men to meet together, as
was the habitual practice of Cicero and his friends, and
pa.ss their leisure hours in such discussions, was the same
a- if Christians were to make the great truths of the
Gospel the subjects of social converse.
Again, if we examine the character of their lighter
330 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
conversations when they turned from philosophy to
literature, — it was not mere gossip on the popular litera-
ture of the day — it was not even confined to works written
in their native tongue — it embraced the whole field of
the literature of a foreign nation. They talked of poets,
orators, philosophers, and historians, who were ancients
to them as they are to us. They did not then think the
subject of a foreign and ancient literature dull or pedantic.
They did not consider it necessary that conversation
should be trifling or frivolous in order to be entertaining.
Nor was the influence which Cicero exercised on the
literature of his day merely extensive, but it was per-
manent. The great men of whom he was the leader
and guide caught his spirit. His influence survived
until external political causes destroyed eloquence, and
its place was supplied by a cold and formal rhetoric : it
was felt almost until the language was corrupted by the
admixture of barbarisms. It may be discerned in the
soldier-like plainness of Caesar, in the Herodotean narrative
of Livy, and its sweetness without its difluseness occa-
sionally adorns the reflective pages of Tacitus.
It is difficult in a limited space to do justice to Cicero,
even as a literary man : such was his versatility of
genius, such his indefatigable industry, so vast the range
of subjects which he touched and adorned. Of course,
therefore, it is impossible to do more than rapidly glance
at the leading events of his political career, or at his
public character, since his history is, in fact, a history of
his stirring and critical times.
M. Tullius Cicero (born b.c. 106).
On the banks of the noiseless and gently-flowing 1 Liris
(Garigliano), near Arpinum, the birthplace of Marius, 2
1 Hor. Od. I. xxxi.
2 Cicero, notwithstanding his opposite politics, admired Marius, to whom
he was distantly related, and thought it an honour to have been born near
BABLT LUI OF CICERO. 331
lived a Roman knight named M. Tullius Cicero. A com-
petent hereditary estate enabled him to devote his time
to literary pursuits. He had two sons : the elder, who
bore his lather's name, was born January 3rd, B.C. 106.
The other, Quintus, was about four years younger. As
both, and Marcus especially, displayed quick talents and
a lively disposition, and gave promise of inheriting their
lather's taste for learning, he migrated to Rome, when
Marcos was about fourteen years of age. The boys
were educated with their cousins, the young Aculei. 1
Q. xElius 2 taught them grammar ; learned Greeks in-
structed them in philosophy ; and the poet Archias exer-
cised them in the technical rules of verse, although he
did not succeed in giving them the inspiration of poetry.
Qiiintus prided himself on his poetical skill ; and a poem
by him, on the twelve zodiacal signs, is still extant. 3
Cicero also had in his boyhood some poetical taste ; and
there is great elegance in the translations from the Greek
which we meet with in his works. He wrote a poem
in hexameters, entitled " Pontius Glaucus," as a sort of
juvenile exercise, which was extant in the time of Plu-
tarch ; and also one when he was a young man, in praise
of Marius.
After assuming the toga virilis at sixteen years of age,
M. T. Cicero attended the forum diligently ; and, by care-
fully exercising liimself in composition, made the elo-
quence of the celebrated orators whom he heard his own,
whilst from the lectures and advice of Q. Mucius Scsevola,
he acquired the principles of Roman jurisprudence.
He served but little in the armies of his country : his
Arpimim. He quotes a saying of Pompey's (Cic. de Leg. ii. 3), that Ar-
pinum had produced two citizens who had preserved Italy. Valerius
Maxinms thinks that Arpinum, in this respect, enjoyed a singular
privilege : — Conspicuse felicitatis Arpinum unicum, sive litterarum glorio-
Bissimum contemptorem, sive abundantissimum fontem intueri velis.
1 De Orat. ii. 1. 2 Brut. 56. 3 Meyer, Anthol. Rom. 66.
332 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
only campaign 1 was made under the father of Pompey
the Great in the Social war. During the remainder of
this period, Molo, the Bliodian rhetorician, instructed
him in oratory, whilst Diodotus the Stoic, Phsedrus the
Epicurean, and Philo, who had presided over the New
Academy at Athens, were his masters in philosophy.
The various schools, the principles of which he thus
imbibed, led to the eclecticism which characterises his
pliilosophical creed. The bloody era of the Marian
and Sullan war was passed by him in study : he did not
interfere in politics, and the fruits of his retirement are
extant in the treatise de Inventione Rhetorica.
At twenty-five, he pleaded his first cause, 2 and in the
following year defended S. Eoscius of Ameria ; but his
constitution was not strong enough to bear great exertion.
His friends, therefore, induced him to travel, and he de-
termined to pass some time at Athens. 3 There was also
another reason for this recommendation. His comageous
defence of Eoscius had provoked the enmity of Chry-
sogonus, a creature of Sulla, and it was therefore dan-
gerous for him to remain at Eome. He was accompanied
by his brother Quintus, 4 and found Pomponius Atticus
residing there, who afterwards became his most intimate
friend. Prom Athens he travelled to Asia and Ehodes,
employing his time in the cultivation of oratory, his
principal study at Athens having been philosophy. Prom
Asia he returned to Eome 5 with improved health and
invigorated constitution; where he found a powerful
rival as an orator, in Hortensius, who was then at the
zenith of his popularity.
As soon as he was old enough, 6 he was elected quaestor,
and the province of Sicily was allotted to him. In the
exercise of this office, the unusual mildness and integrity
b. c. 89. 2 Pro Quint, b. c. 81. 3 b. c. 79. 4 De Fin. 5, 1.
5 b. c. 77. 6 b.c. 76; set. 31.
CICERO 4BDILE, PR/ETOR, AND CONSUL. 333
of bis administration endeared him to the provincials;
whilst the judgment with which he regulated the supplies
of corn from this granary of Kome, gained him equal
credit with his fellow-countrymen. It was during his
stay in Sicily that his love of antiquarianism was gratified
by the discovery of the tomb of Archimedes. 1 On his
return home a he resumed his forensic practice ; and, in
B.C. 70, was the champion of his old friends the Sicilians,
and impeached Verres, who had been prsetor of Syracuse,
for oppression and maladministration. In the following
year 8 he was elected curule sedile by a triumphant
majority. In the celebration of the games which be-
longed to the province of this magistrate, he exhibited
great prudence by avoiding the lavish expenditure in
which so many were accustomed to indulge, whilst, at
the same time, no one could accuse him of meanness and
illiberality.
In the year B.C. 67, he obtained the praBtorship, and,
notwithstanding the judicial duties of his office, defended
Omentitis. Hitherto his speeches had been entirely of
the judicial kind. He now for the first time distinguished
himself as a deliberative orator, and supported the
Manilian law, which conferred upon Pompey, to the dis-
comfiture of the aristocratic party, the command in chief
of the Mithridatic war.
The great object of his ambition now was the consul-
ship, wdiich seemed almost inaccessible to a new man.
As all difficulties and prejudices were on the side of the
aristocratic party, his only hope of surmounting them
was by warmly espousing the cause of the people.
Catiline and C. Antonius, who were his principal com-
petitors, formed a coalition, and were supported by Caesar
and Crassus ; but the influence of Pompey and the popular
party prevailed, and Cicero and Antony were elected.
1 T. Q. v. 3. 2 B. c. 74. 8 b. c. 69.
334 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
He entered upon his office January 1, b.c. 63. At
this period, perhaps, the moral qualities of his character
are the highest, and his genius shines forth with the
brightest splendour.
The conspiracy of Catiline was the great event of his
consulship : a plot which its historian does not hesitate to
dignify with the title of a war. Yet this war was
crushed in an unparalleled short space of time ; and a
splendid triumph was gained over so formidable an
enemy, by one who wore the peaceful toga, not the
habiliments of a general. The prudence and tact of the
civilian did as good service as the courage and decision of
the soldier. The applause and gratitude of his fellow-
citizens were unbounded, and all united in hailing him
the father of his country. One act alone laid him open
to attack, and in fact eventually caused his ruin. There
is no doubt that it was unconstitutional, although under
the circumstances it was defensible, perhaps scarcely to
be avoided. This act was the execution of Lentulus,
Cethegus, and the other ringleaders, without sentence
being passed upon them by the comitia. The senate,
seeing that the danger was imminent, had invested Cicero
and his colleague with power to do all that the exigencies
of the State might require (videre ne quid resjjublica detri-
ment caperet) ; and although it was Cicero who recom-
mended the measure and argued in its favour, it was the
senate who pronounced the sentence, and assumed that, as
traitors, the conspirators had forfeited their rights as
citizens.
The grateful people saw this clearly ; and when MeteHus
Celer, one of the tribunes, would have prevented Cicero
from giving an account of his administration at the close
of the consular year, he swore that he had saved his
country, and his oath was confirmed by the acclamations
of the multitude. This was a great triumph ; and in
sadder times he looked back to it with a justifiable self-
ACQUITTAL OF CLODIU8. 335
complacency. 1 He now, as though his mission was
accomplished, refused all public dignities except that of a
senator : but lie did not thus escape peril ; he soon exposed
himself to the implacable vengeance of a powerful and
unscrupulous enemy. The infamous P. Clodius Pulcher
intruded himself hi female attire into the rites of
the Bona Dea, which were celebrated in the house of
Csesar. Suspicion fell upon Caesar's wife, and a divorce
was the consequence. 2 Clodius was brought to trial
on the charge of sacrilege, and pleaded an alibi. Cicero,
however, proved his presence in Borne on the very
da}' on which the accused asserted that he was at Inter-
amnum.
Although the guilt of Clodius was fully established,
his influence over the corrupt Eoman judices was power-
ful enough to procure an acquittal. Henceforward he
never could forgive Cicero, and determined to work his
ruin. He caused himself to be adopted in a plebeian
family ; and thus becoming qualified for the tribunate was
ejected to that magistracy, B.C. 59. No sooner was he
appointed, than he proposed a bill for the outlawry of
any one who had caused the execution of a citizen with-
out trial. Cicero at once saw that this blow was aimed
against liimself. He had disgusted Caesar by his po-
litical coquetry ; the false and selfish Pompey refused to
aid Mm in his trouble ; and, spirit-broken, he fled to Brun-
disium, 3 and thence to Thessalonica. He had an inter-
view with Pompey before his flight, but it led to no
results. 4 He had sworn to help him as long as he felt
that there was danger lest he should join Caesar's party ;
but when he saw that his foes were successful, he de-
serted him.
In his absence his exile was decreed, and his town and
country houses given up to plunder. It cannot be denied
In Pis. iii. ; ad Fam. v. 2. 2 b. c. 61. 3 b. c. 58. 4 Ad Att. x. 4.
33*6 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
that during his banishment he exhibited weakness and
pusillanimity : his reverses had such an effect upon his
mind that he was even supposed to be mad. 1 His great
fault was vanity, of which defect he was himself conscious,
and confessed it ; 2 and disappointed vanity was the cause
of his affliction. He could bear anything better than the
loss of popular applause ; and on this occasion, more than
any other, he gave grounds for the assertion, that " he
bore none of his calamities like a man, except his death."
Rome, however, could not forget her preserver ; and in
the following year he was recalled, and entered Eome
in triumph, in the midst of the loud plaudits of the
assembled people. 3 Still, however, he was obliged to
secure the prosperity which he had recovered by political
tergiversation. The measures of the triumvirate, which
he had formerly attacked with the utmost virulence, he
did not hesitate now to approve and defend.
After his return 4 he was appointed to a seat in the
College of Augurs ; a dignity which he had anxiously
coveted before his exile, and to obtain which, he had
offered almost any terms to Caesar and Pompey. 5 The
following year, much against his will, the province of
Cilicia was assigned to him. Strictly did the accuser of
Yerres act up to the high and honourable principles
which he professed. His was a model administration : a
stop was put to corruption, wrongs were redressed, jus-
tice impartially administered. Those great occasions on
which he was compelled to act on his own responsibility,
and to listen to the dictates of his beautiful soul, " seine
schone seele, ,,% his pure, honest, and incorruptible heart,
are the bright points in Cicero's career. The emergency
of the occasion overcame his constitutional timidity.
In the year B.C. 49, he returned to Rome, and finding
1 Ad Fam. x. iv. 4 ; ad Att. iii. 13. 2 Pro Planco, 26.
3 In Pis. xxii. ; Post red. xv. 4 B. c. 53. 5 Att. ii. 5.
6 Niebuhr.
VACILLATING CONDUCT OF CICERO. 337
himself in a position in which he conld calmly observe
the current of affairs, and determine unbiassed what part
he should take in them, or whether it was his duty to
take any part at all, his weak, wavering, vacillating
temper, again got the mastery over him. He would not
do anything dishonest, but he was not chivalrous enough
to spurn at once that which was dishonourable. Caesar
and Pompey were now at open war, and he could not
make up his mind which to join. 1 He felt, probably,
that the energy, ability, and firmness of Caesar, would be
crowned with success ; and yet his friends, his party, and
Iris own heart were with Pompey, and he dreaded the
scorn which would be heaped upon him if he forsook his
political opinions. His were not the stern, unyielding
principles of a Cato ; but the fear of what men would say
of him made him anxious and miserable. The struggle
was a long one between caution and honour, but at length
honour overcame caution. He made his decision, and
went to the camp of Pompey ; but he could never rally
his spirits, or feel sanguine as to the result. He im-
mediately saw that Pharsalia decided the question for
ever, and consequently hastened to Brundisium, where he
awaited the return of the conqueror. It was a long time
to remain in suspense ; but at last the generous Caesar
relieved him from it by a full and free pardon.
And now again his character rose higher, and his good
qualities had room to display themselves. There were
no longer equally -balanced parties to revive the discord
which formerly distracted his mind, nor were the circum-
stances of the times such as to demand his active inter-
ference in the cause of his country ; but he was as great
in the exercise of his contemplative faculties as he had
been in the brightest period of his political life. The
same faults may, perhaps, be discerned in his philosophical
1 See Letters to Att. j'assim.
338 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
speculations : the same indecision which rendered him in-
capable of being a statesman or a patriot caused him to
adopt in philosophy a sceptical eclecticism. Truth was
to him as variable as political honesty ; but he is always
the advocate and supporter of resignation, and fortitude,
and purity, and virtue.
He had hitherto suffered as a public man : he was now
bowed down by domestic affliction. A quarrel with his
wife Terentia ended in a divorce i 1 such was the facility
with which at Eome the nuptial tie could be severed.
His second wife was his own ward — a young lady of large
fortune ; but disparity of years and temper prevented this
connexion from lasting long. In B.C. 45 he lost his
daughter Tullia. The blow was overwhelming : he
sought in vain to soothe his grief in the woody solitudes
of his maritime villa at Astura, and it was long before
the bereaved father found consolation in philosophy.
The political crisis which ensued upon the assassination
of Csesar alarmed him for his own personal safety, he,
therefore, meditated a voyage to Greece : but being wind-
bound at Ehegium, the hopes of an accommodation be-
tween Antony and the senate (a hope destined not to be
realized) induced him to return. Antony now left Rome,
and Cicero delivered that torrent of indignant and elo-
quent invective — his twelve Philippic orations. 2 He was
again the popular idol — crowds of applauding and admir-
ing fellow-citizens attended him to the Forum in a kind
of triumphant procession, as they had on his return from
exile. But soon the second triumviate was formed.
Each member readily gave up friends to satisfy the ven-
geance of his colleagues, and Octavius sacrificed Cicero.
The story of his death is a brief and sad one. He was
enjoying the literary retirement of his Tusculan villa
when his friends warned him of his approaching fate.
1 B. c. 46. 2 B. c. 43.
DEATH OF CTf'F.RO. 339
1 1 e was too great a philosopher to fear death ; but too high-
principled and resigned to the Divine will to commit sui-
cide. Still he scarcely thought life worth preserving : " I
will die," he said, " in my fatherland, which I have so often
saved." However, at the entreaty of his brother, to whom
he was affectionately attached, he endeavoured to escape.
He first went across the country to Astura, and there em-
barked. The weather was tempestuous, and as he suffered
much from sea-sickness, he again landed at Graeta. A
treacherous freedman betrayed him, and as he was being
carried in a litter he was overtaken by his pursuers. He
would not permit Lis attendants to make any resistance ;
but patiently and courageously submitted to the sword, of
the assassins, who cut off his head and hands and carried
them to Antony. A savage joy sparkled in the eyes of
the triumvir at the sight of these bloody trophies. His
wife, Fulvia, gloated with inhuman delight upon the
pallid features, and in petty spite pierced with a needle
that once eloquent tongue. The head and hands were
fixed upon the rostrum which had so often witnessed his
unequalled eloquence. All that passed by bewailed his
death, and gave vent to their affectionate feelings.
Although it is impossible to be blind to the numerous
faults of Cicero, few men have been more maligned and
misrepresented, and the judgment of antiquity has been,
upon the whole, generally unfavourable. He was vain,
vacillating, inconstant, constitutionally timid, and the
victim of a morbid sensibility ; but he was candid, truth-
ful, just, generous, pure-minded, and warm-hearted. His
amiability, acted upon by timidity, led him to set too high
a value on public esteem and favour ; and this weakened
his moral sense and his instinctive love of virtue. That
he possessed heroism is proved by his defence of Eoscius,
although the favourite of the terrible Sulla was his adver-
sary. He was not entirely destitute of decision, or he
would not so promptly have expressed his approbation of
/ 2
340 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Caesar's assassins as tyrannicides. He had resolution to
strive against his over-sensitiveness, and wisdom to see that
mental occupation was its best remedy ; for in the midst of
the distractions and anxieties of that eventful and critical
year which preceded the consulship of Hirtius and Pansa an
almost incredible number of works proceeded from his pen. 1
There are many circumstances to account for his poli-
tical inconsistency and indecision. He had an early pre-
dilection for the aristocratic party ; but he saw that they
were narrow-minded and behind their age. All the
patricians, except Sulla and his small party, were on the
popular side. He was proud of his connexion with
Marius ; and his friend Sulpicius Rufus, whom he greatly
admired, joined the Marians. For these reasons, Cicero
was inconsistent as a politician. Again, during periods
of revolutionary turbulence, moderate men are detested
by both sides ; and yet it was impossible for a philosophic
temper, which could calmly and dispassionately weigh the
merits and demerits of both, to sympathise warmly with
either. Cicero saw that both were wrong : he was too
temperate to approve, too honest to pretend a zeal which
he did not feel, and, therefore, he was undecided.
Again, having a large benevolence, and a firm faith in
virtue, he was unconscious of guile himself, and thought
no evil of others. He therefore mistook flattery for sin-
cerity, and compliments for kindness. He was vain • but
vanity is a weakness not inconsistent with great minds,
and in the case of Cicero it was fed by the unanimous
voice of public approbation.
As an advocate his delight was to defend, not to
accuse. 2 In three only of his twenty-four orations did
he undertake the office of an accuser.
Gentle, sympathising, and affectionate, he lived as a
patriot and died as a philosopher.
1 He wrote during that year the Be Officiis, Be Bivinatione, Be Fa to,
Topica, and the lost treatise Be Gloria, besides a vast number of Letters.
2 Pro Mursena, 3.
( 841 )
CHAPTER X.
CICERO NO HISTORIAN — HIS ORATORICAL STYLE DEFENDED — ITS
PRINCIPAL CHARM— OBSERVATIONS ON HIS FORENSIC ORATIONS
— HIS ORATORY ESSENTIALLY JUDICIAL — POLITICAL ORATIONS
—RHETORICAL TREATISES — THE OBJECT OF HIS PHILOSOPHICAL
WORKS— CHARACTERISTICS OF ROMAN PHILOSOPHICAL LITERA-
TURE—PHILOSOPHY OF CICERO — HIS POLITICAL WORKS —
LETTERS — HIS CORRESPONDENTS — VARRO.
Such were the life and character of Cicero. The place
which he occupies in a history of Eoman literature is that
of an orator and philosopher. It has been already stated
that he had some taste for poetry : in fact, without
imagination he could scarcely have been so eminent as
an orator ; but though the power which he wielded over
prose was irresistible, he had not fancy enough to give
a poetical character to the language.
Nor had he, notwithstanding the versatility of his
talents, any taste for historical investigation. He de-
lighted to read the Greek historians, for the same purpose
for which he studied the Attic orators, merely as an
instrument of intellectual cultivation ; but he was igno-
rant of Eoman history, because he took no interest in
original research. His countrymen 1 expected from him
an historical work, but he was unfit for the task. It is
plain from his " Republic" how little he knew as an
antiquarian.
The greatest praise of an orator's style is to say that
he was successful. The end and object of oratory is to
Ue Leg., introduction.
342 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
convince and persuade — to rivet trie attention of tlie
hearer, and to gain a mastery over the minds of men.
If, therefore, any who study the speeches of Cicero in the
closet find faults in his style, they must remember that
the very faults themselves were suited to the object
which he was carrying into execution. During the
process of raising the public taste to the highest
standard, he carried his hearers with him: he was not
too much in advance ; he did not aim his shafts too high ;
they hit the head and heart. Senate, judges, people
understood his arguments, and felt his passionate appeals.
Compared with the dignified energy and majestic vigour
of the Athenian orator, the Asiatic exuberance of some
of his orations may be fatiguing to the sober and chas-
tened taste of the modern classical scholar ; but in order
to form *a just appreciation, he must transport himself
mentally to the excitements of the thronged Forum — to
the senate composed, not of aged, venerable men, but
statesmen and warriors in the prime of life, maddened
with the party spirit of revolutionary times — to the
presence of the jury of judices, as numerous as a deli-
berative assembly, whose office was not merely calmly to
give their verdict of guilty or not guilty, but who were
invested as representatives of the sovereign people with
the prerogative of pardoning or condemning.
Viewed in this light, his most florid passages will
appear free from affectation — the natural flow of a speaker
carried away with the torrent of his enthusiasm. The
melodious rise and fall of his periods are not the result
of studied effect, but of a true and musical ear. Un-
doubtedly, amongst his earlier orations are to be found
passages somewhat too declamatory and inconsistent with
the principles which he afterwards laid down when his
taste was more matured, and when he undertook to write
scientifically on the theory of eloquence. Nor must it be
concealed that some of the staid and stern Eomans of his
THE CIIAHM OF CICERONIAN ORATORY. 343
own days were daring enough, notwithstanding his
popularity and success, to find the same fault with him.
" Suorum temporum homines," says Quintihan, "in-
sere audebant eum ut tumidiorem et Asianum 1 et
redundantem et in repetitionibus nimium et in salibus
aliquando frigidum et in compositione fractum et ex-
sultantem et pene viro molliorem."
But it is not only the brilliance and variety of ex-
pression, and the finely-modulated periods, which con-
stituted the principal charm of Ciceronian oratory, and
rendered it so effective. Its effectiveness was mainly
owing to the great orator's knowledge of the human
heart, and of the national peculiarities of his countrymen.
Its charm was owing to his extensive acquaintance with
the stores of literature and philosophy, which his sprightly
wit moulded at will, to the varied learning which his
unpedantic mind made so pleasant and popular, to his
fund of illustration at once interesting and convincing.
Even if his knowledge, because it spread over so wide a
surface, was superficial, in this case profoundness was
unnecessary.
In a w T ork like the present it is only possible to devote
a few brief observations to the most important of his
numerous orations, in which, according to the criticism of
Quintihan, he combined the force of Demosthenes, the
copiousness of Plato, and ihe elegance of Isocrates.
Knowledge of law, far superior to that possessed by the
1 Poverty and barrenness were most probably instrumental in producing
the diffuseness and exuberance of the Asiatic and Ehodian schools. Their
literature and philosophy were deficient in matter, and they sought to
hide this defect by the external ornaments of language. For a long time
Athens, strong in her pure classic taste, successfully resisted this influ-
ence ; and in the time of Cicero the tastes of the two schools were in
direct opposition. But the flowers of rhetoric are captivating : another
generation saw the supremacy of rhetoric at Rome ; and the days of Petro-
nius Arbiter (Satyr, book ii.) witnessed the migration of Asiatic taste to
Athens.
344 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
great orators of the day, 1 distinguishes his earliest extant
oration, the defence of P. Quinctius. 2 Hortensius was
the defendant's counsel. Nsevius, the defendant, who
had unjustly possessed himself of the property of the
plaintiff's deceased brother, was a deserter from the
Marians, and therefore a protege of Sylla ; but, notwith-
standing these disadvantages, Cicero gained his cause.
In the masterly defence of S. Poscius, 3 Cicero again
defied Sulla. His client was accused of parricide : there
was not a shadow of proof, and Cicero saved the life of an
innocent man. The noble enthusiasm with which he
inveighs against tyranny in this oration strikingly con-
trasts with the language, full of sweetness, in which he
describes Eoman rural life. The passage on parricide was
too glowing and Asiatic for the taste of his maturer
years, and he did not hesitate to make it the subject of
severe criticism. 4 Passing over speeches of less interest,
we come to the six celebrated Verrian orations. Of these
chefs-d'oeuvre the first only was delivered. 5 The others
were merely published; for the voluntary exile of the
criminal rendered further pleading unnecessary. The
first is entitled " Divhiatio" i. e., an inquiry as to who
should have the right of prosecuting : Csecilius, who had
been qusestor to the accused, claimed this privilege,
wishing to make the suit a friendly one, and thus quash
the proceedings. Nothing can surpass the ironical and
sarcastic exposure of this fraudulent attempt to defeat the
ends of justice. The noble passages in the succeeding
orations of the series are well known ; the sketch of the
wicked proconsul's antecedent career ; the graceful eulogy
1 Cicero tells us (de Orat. i. 57, 58) that Galba, Antony, and Sulpicius
were ignorant of jurisprudence ; that the chief requisites were elegance,
wit, pathos, &c. For legal knowledge they trusted to jurisconsults. In the
oration pro Murcena, even he himself sneers at a technical knowledge of
law.
2 Delivered b. c. 81. 3 b. c. 80. 4 De Orat. 5 b. c. 70.
PRINCIPAL FORENSIC ORATIONS. 345
of that province, in the welfare of which Cicero himself
felt so warm an interest ; the tasteful description of the
statues and antiquities which tempted the more than
Roman cupidity of Verres ; the interesting history of
ancient art which accompanies it ; the burst of pathetic
indignation with which he paints the horrible tortures to
which not only the provincials, but even Eoman citizens,
were exposed. Transports of joy pervaded the whole of
Sicily at Cicero's success j and the Sicilians caused a medal
to be struck with this inscription — " Prostrato Verre
Trixacria." The oration for Fonteius 1 is a skilful
defence of an unpopular governor; that in defence of
Cluentius 2 is one of the most remarkable causes celebres
of antiquity ; and the complicated scene of villany which
Cicero's forcible and soul-harrowing language paints,
makes one shudder with horror, whilst we are struck
with a(hriiration at the clearness of intellect with which
he unravels the web of guilt woven by Oppianicus and
Sassia. This remarkable oration has been analysed by
Dr. Blair. 3
Again passing over other forensic orations we come to
that on which he had evidently expended all his resources
of art, taste, and skill, — the speech for the poet Archias. 4
If possible it is even too elaborate and polished for so
graceful a theme. Although the object of the advocate
was simply to establish the right of his client to Eoman
citizenship, the genius of the poet of Antioch furnished an
opportunity not to be neglected for digressing into the
fields of literature, and for pronouncing a truly academical
eulogium on poetry. It is satisfactory to the admirers of
Cicero to find that the attack which has been made on the
genuineness of this pleasing oration is groundless and
unwarrantable . 5
1 b. c. 69. 2 b. c. 66. 3 Belles Lettres, Lect. xxviii.
4 b. c. 61. 5 Schroter. Lips. 1818.
346 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
The oration pro Ccelio 1 is the most entertaining in the
whole collection. It contains a rich fund of anecdote,
seasoned with witty observations ; a knowledge of human
nature illustrated in a piquant and humorous style,
expressed in a tone of the most gentlemanlike yet playful
eloquence, and interspersed with passages of great beauty.
It presents a marked contrast to the coarse personal
abuse which defaces the otherwise powerful invective
against L. Piso, which was delivered in the following
year. 2
The list, though many more marvellous specimens are
omitted, must be closed with the oration in defence of
T. Annius Milo. On this occasion Cicero lost his wonted
self-possession. When the court opened, Pompey was
presiding on the bench, and he had caused the Forum to
be occupied with soldiers. The sight, added, perhaps, to
the consciousness that he was advocating a bad cause,
struck Cicero with alarm ; his voice trembled, his tongue
refused to give utterance to the conceptions which he had
formed. The judges were unmoved ; and Milo remained
in his self-imposed exile at Marseilles. When Cicero left
the court his courage and calmness returned. He penned
the oration which is now extant. He had little or no
proof or evidence to offer, and, therefore, as an argu-
mentative work, it is unconvincing ; but for force, pathos,
and the externals of eloquence, it deserves to be reckoned
amongst his most wonderful efforts. When the exiled
Milo read it, he is said to have exclaimed, " 0, Cicero, if
you had pleaded so, I should not be eating such capital
fish here !" The author himself and his contemporaries
thought this his finest oration ; probably its deficiencies
were concealed by its eloquence and ingenuity. It
appears that the oration which he actually delivered was
taken down in writing by reporters, and was extant in
B.C. 56. 2 b. c. 55.
POLITICAL ORATIONS. 347
the time of Asconius Pedianus, tlie most ancient com-
mentator on Cicero's orations. 1 Its feebleness proved the
correctness of the judgment of antiquity.
The oratory of Cicero was essentially judicial : he was
himself conscious that his talents lay in that direction,
and he saw that in that field was the best opportunity for
displaying oratorical power. Even his political orations
are rather judicial than deliberative. He was not born
for a politician. He possessed not that analytical cha-
racter of mind which penetrates into the remote causes of
human action, nor the synthetical power which enables a
man to follow them out to their farthest consequences :
he had not that comprehensive grasp of mind which can
dismiss at once all points of minor importance and useless
speculation, and, seizing all the salient points, can bring
them to bear together upon questions of practical expe-
diency. Of the three qualities necessary for a statesman
he possessed only two, honesty and patriotism : he had
not political wisdom.
Hence, in the finest specimens of his political
harangues, his Catilinarians and Philippics, and that in
support of the Manilian law, we look in vain for the
calm practical weighing of the subject which is necessary
in addressing a deliberative assembly. This was not the
habit of his mind. He was only lashed to action by
circumstances of great emergency ; but even then he is
still an advocate — all is excitement, personal feeling, and
party spirit : he deals in invective and panegyric, and the
denunciation of the enemies of his country ; and the parts
which -especially call forth our admiration differ in nothing
from those which we admire in his judicial orations.
Nevertheless, so irresistible was the influence which he
exercised upon the minds of his hearers, that all his
political speeches were triumphs. His panegyric on
1 Bom about b. c. 2.
348 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Pompey, 1 in the speech for the Manilian law, carried his
appointment as commander-in-chief of the armies of the
East. The consequence of the oration de Provinciis
Consularibus continued to Csesar his administration of
Graul. He crushed in Catiline one of the most for-
midable traitors that had ever menaced the safety of the
republic. Antony's fall followed the complete exposure
of his debauchery in private life, and the factiousness of
his public career. 2
Of the Catilinarians, the first and fourth were delivered
in the senate, the second and third in the presence of the
people. Every one knows the burst of indignation which
the consul, rising in his place, aims at the audacious
conspirator who dared to pollute with his presence the
temple of the Deity, and the most august assembly of
the Roman people. In less than twenty-four hours
Catiline had left Eome, and the conspiracy had become
a war. In four words Cicero announced this to the
assembled Romans the day after he had addressed the
senate. The third is a piece of self-complacent but
pardonable egotism. Success has overwhelmed him — he
sees that all eyes are turned upon himself — he is the
hero of his own story ; still he demands no reward but
the approbation of his fellow-citizens, and reminds them
that to the gods alone their gratitude is due.
Two days pass away, and, after Csesar and Cicero had
spoken, Cicero again addresses the senate, and recom-
mends that measure which was the beginning of his
troubles, the condemnation of the conspirators. The
zeal of the senate made the act their own, but Cicero paid
the penalty. The position which Cicero occupies on this
occasion invests his speech with more dignity than is
displayed in any of the preceding. He is the chief
magistrate of the republic performing the awful duty of
b. c. 56. 2 Phil. ii.
THE PHILIPPIC ORATIONS. 349
pronouncing a capital sentence on the guilty. The ex-
citement oi' the crisis is subsiding; and he has the more
composure, because he knows that he carries with him the
sympathies of the senate and people.
The Philippics, so named after the orations of Demo-
sthenes, ure fourteen in number. Cicero commenced his
attack 1 upon the object of his implacable hatred with a
defence of the laws of Caesar, which Antony wished to
repeal. He followed it up with the celebrated second
oration, in which he demolished the character of Antony ;
a speech which Juvenal pronounced to be his chef-d'oeuvre,
but wliich Mebuhr thought was undeserving of being so
highly exalted. He delivered the remaining twelve in
the course of the succeeding year : they were the last
monuments of his eloquence ; he never spoke again.
The fourteenth is a brilliant panegyric, but nothing
more ; the gallant army of Octavius received then- de-
served applause ; but in this political crisis the orator
could not discern or even catch a glimpse of the future
destinies of his country.
In his rhetorical works, Cicero left a legacy of practical
instruction to posterity. The treatise " De Inventione"
although it displays genius, is merely interesting as the
juvenile production of a future great man; and the
author himself alludes to it as a rude and unfinished pro-
duction. 2 Of the Rhetorical Hand-book, in four sections,
addressed to Herennius, it is unnecessary to speak, as
it is now universally pronounced spurious. 3 The De
Oratore, Brutus sive de claris Oratoribus, and Orator
M. Brutum, 4 are the result of his matured experience.
They form together one series, the principles are first
laid down ; their developments are carried out and illus-
trated; and lastly, in the Orator, he places before
1 Phil. i. ; b. c. 44. 2 De Orat. i. 2.
3 For the arguments on this point see Smith's Diet. i. 726.
* b. c. 55, 46, 45.
350 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
the eyes of Brutus the model of ideal perfection. In
his treatment of this subject, he shows a mind imbued
with the spirit of Plato : he invests it with dramatic
interest, and transports the reader into the scene which
he so graphically describes. The conversation contained
in the first of these works has been already described.
The scene of the second is laid on the lawn of Cicero's
palace at Eome : Cicero, Atticus, and M. Brutus are the
dramatis persona?; and their taste receives inspiration
from a statue of Plato which adorns the garden. In the
third, Cicero himself, at the request of M. Brutus, paints,
as Plato would have done, the portrait of a faultless
orator.
Three more short treatises must be added — (1.) The
dialogue, De Partitione Oratoria, 1 an elementary book
written for his son. (2). The De Optimo GenereOratorum?
a short preface to a translation of the Greek oration,
De Corona. (3). The Topieaf i. e., a treatise on the
commonplaces of judicial oratory.
Philosophy of Cicero.
Cicero somewhat arrogantly claims the credit of being
the first to awaken a taste for philosophy, and to illu-
minate the darkness in which it lay hid by the light of
Eoman letters. 4 He did not confess the obligations
under which he lay to his predecessors, because he never
could forget that he was an orator. 5 He could not deny
that some of them thought justly ; but he denied that
they possessed the power of expressing what they thought.
He felt that there was nothing in the philosophical
writings already existing to tempt his countrymen to
study the subject : they were dry, imadorned, un-
polished. It required an orator to array philosophy in
b. c. 47. ' 2 b. c. 46. s b. c. 45. 4 Tusc. i. 3. See also ii. 2.
*DeOff. i. 1.
miS£ i
ROMAN PHILOSOPHY. 351
an enticing garb. He proposed, therefore, to assuage his
anxieties — to seek repose from the harassing cares of
politics 1 — by rendering his countrymen independent of
Greek philosophical literature.
This was all he proposed to himself: it was all that his
predecessor had attempted ; nor did he pretend to origin-
ality. The periods which he devoted to the task, and to
which all philosophical works belong, were those during
which he was excluded from political life. The first of
these was the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus ;
the second was coincident with the dictatorship of Caesar
and the consulship of Antony. Not only did his con-
templative spirit delight in such studies, but, whilst all
the avenues to distinction were closed against him, his
ambition sought this road to fame, and his patriotism
urged him to take this method of benefiting his country.
But as he was not the first who introduced philosophy
to the Eomans, it will be necessary briefly to sketch its
progress up to the time at which his labours commenced.
Eoman philosophy was neither the result of original
investigation nor the gradual development of the Greek
system. It arose rather from a study of ancient philo-
sophical literature than from an examination of philoso-
phical principles. The Eoman intellect did not possess
the power of abstraction in a sufficiently high degree for
research, nor was the Latin language capable of repre-
senting satisfactorily abstract thoughts. Cicero was
quite aware of the poverty of its scientific nomenclature,
as compared with that of Greece. In one treatise, 2 he
writes, — " Equidem soleo etiam, quod uno Graeci, si aliter
non possum, idem pluribus verbis exprimere." Pliny 3
and Seneca 4 assert the same fact. " Magis damnabis,"
writes the latter, " angustias Eomanas si scieris unam
syllabam esse, quam mutare non possim. Quae haec sit
De Div. TI. ii. l De Fin. iii. 2. 3 Epist. iv. 18. 4 Ibid, lviii.
352 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
quseris ? to oV." The practical character also of the people
prompted them to take advantage of the material already
furnished by others, and to select such doctrines as it
approved, without regard to their relation to each other.
The Eoman philosopher, therefore, or rather (to speak
more correctly) philosophical student, did not throw
himself into the speculations of his age, pursue them con-
temporaneously, or deduce from them fresh results. He
went back to the earlier ages of Greek philosophy, studied,
commented on, and explained the works of the oest
authors, and adopted some of their doctrines as fixed
scholastic dogmas. Consequently, the spirit in which
philosophical study was pursued by the Romans was a
literary and not a scientific one. A taste for literature
had been awakened, and philosophy was considered only
as one species of literature, although its importance was
recognised as bearing upon the practical duties, the highest
interests and happiness of man. The practical view
which Cicero took of philosophy, and the extensive
influence which he attributed to it, is manifest from
numerous passages in his works, 1 and is embodied in the
following beautiful apostrophe in the Tusculan Disputa-
tions : 2 "0 vitse Philosophia dux ! virtutis indagatrix,
expultrixque vitiorum ! Quid non modo nos, sed omnino
vita hominum sine te esse potuisset ? Tu urbes peperisti ;
tu dissipatos homines in societatem vitse convocasti ; tu
eos inter se primo domiciliis, deinde conjugiis, turn
literarum et vocum communione junxisti ; tu inventrix
legum, tu magistra morum et discipline fuisti; ad te
confugimus, a te opem petimus ; tibi nos, ut antea magna
ex parte, sic nunc penitus totosque tradimus."
It is plain, therefore, that the chief characteristics
of Eoman philosophy would be — (1.) Learning, for it
consisted in bringing together doctrines and opinions
1 Ex. gr. De Div. ii. 1 ; Brut. 93. 2 See also T. D. ii. 4 ; x. b. v. ii.
^M^^H^Bitt&
DEFECTS IN ROMAN PHILOSOPHY. 353
scattered over a wide field; (2), generally speaking, an
ethical purpose and object, for Eomans would be little
inclined to value any subject of study which had no
ultimate reference to man's political and social relations ;
(3), Eclecticism ; for although there were certain schools,
such as the Epicurean and Stoic, which were evidently
favourites, the dogmas of dilferent teachers were collected
and combined together often without regard to con-
sistency.
The defects of such a system are fatal to its claim to
be considered philosophical ; for the scientific connexion
of its parts is lost sight of, and results are presented inde-
pendent of the chain of causes and effects by which they
are connected with principles. Such a system must
necessarily be illogical and inconsequential. Even the
liberality which adopts the principle, " Nullius jurare in
verba magistri," and which, therefore, appears to be its
chief merit, was absurd ; and the willingness with which
all views were readily admitted led to scepticism, or doubt
whether such a thing as absolute truth had a real
existence.
Greek philosophy was probably first introduced into
Eonie by the Achaean exiles, of whom Polybius was
one. 1 The embassy of Carneades the Academic, Diogenes
the Stoic, and Critolaus the Peripatetic, followed six years
afterwards. In vain the stern M. Porcius Cato caused
their dismissal; for some of the most illustrious and
accomplished Eomans, such as Africanus, Laelius, and
Furius, had already profited by their lectures^ and
instructions. 2 Whilst the educated Eomans were gaining
an historical insight into the doctrines of these schools,
the Stoic Pansetius, who was entertained in the house-
hold of Scipio Africanus, was unfolding the mysterious
and transcendental doctrines of the great object of his
A. u. c. 592 ; Gell. N. A. xv. 2. a Cic. de Or. ii. 37
2 A
354 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
veneration, Plato. But although the Eomans could
appreciate the majestic dignity and poetical beauty of his
style, they were not equal to the task of penetrating his
hidden meaning; they were, therefore, content to take
upon trust the glosses and commentaries of his expositors.
These inclined to the New Academy rather than to the
Old : in its sceptical spirit they compared and balanced
opposing probabilities ; and went no farther than recom-
mending the adoption of opinions upon which they could
not pronounce with certainty. Neither did the Peri-
patetic doctrines meet with much favour, although the
works of Aristotle had been brought to Rome by the
dictator Sulla, partly, as Cicero says, because of the vast-
ness of the subjects treated, partly because they seemed
incapable of satisfactory proof to unskilled and inexpe-
rienced minds. 1
The philosophical system which first arrested the
attention of the Romans, and gained an influence over
their minds, was the Epicurean. But it is somewhat
remarkable that, although this philosophy was in its
general character ethical, a people so eminently practical
in their turn of mind should have especially devoted
themselves to the study of the physical speculations of
this school. The only apparent exception to this state-
ment is Catius, but even his principal works, although
he wrote one " de Summo Bono/' are on the physical
nature of things.
Cicero accounts for the popularity of Epicureanism by
saying that it was easy — that it appealed to the blandish-
ments of pleasure ; and that its first professors, Amafanius
and Rabirrus, used none of the -refinements of art or
subtleties of dialectic, but clothed their discussions in a
homely and popular style, suited to the simple and un-
learned. There were many successors to Amafanius ; and
1 Tusc. iv. 3. 2 Ritter, H. of Ph. vol. iv. xii. 2, note.
3 Tusc. iv. 3. 4 Ac. Post I. 2.
DISCIPLES OF STOICISM. 355
the doctrines which, they taught rapidly spread over the
whole of Italy. Many illustrious statesmen, also, were
amongst the believers in this fashionable creed ; of whom
the best known are C. Cassius, the fellow-conspirator of
Brutus, and T. Pomponius Atticus, the friend of Cicero.
All the monuments and records, however, of the Epi-
curean philosophy, which were published in Latin, have
perished, with the exception of the immortal work of
T. Lucretius Carus, " De Natura Kerum."
Nor was Stoicism, the severe principles of which were
in harmony with the stern old Roman virtues, without
distinguished disciples : such as were the unflinching M.
Brutus, the learned Terentius Varro, the jurist Scsevola,
the unbending Cato of Utica, and the magnificent
Lucullus — a Stoic in creed, though not in life and conduct.
The part which Cicero's character qualified him to per-
form in the philosophical instruction of his countrymen
was scarcely that of a guide : he could give them a lively
interest in the subiect, and reveal to them the discoveries
and speculations of others, but he could not mould and
form their belief, and train them in the work of original
investigation. Not being himself devoutly attached to
any system of philosophical belief, he would be cautious
of offending the philosophical prejudices of others. He
loved learning, but his temper was undecided and vacil-
lating: whilst, therefore, he delighted in accumulating
stores of Greek erudition, the tendency of his mind was, in
the midst of a variety of inconsistent doctrines, to leave the
conclusion undetermined. Although he listened to various
instructors — Phsedrus the Epicurean, Diodotus the Stoic,
and Philo the Academician — he found the electicism of the
latter more congenial to his taste. Its preference of
probability to certainty suited one who shrunk from the
responsibility of deciding.
It is this personality, as it were, which gives a special
interest to the Ciceronian philosophy. The reflexion of
2 a. 2
356 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
his personal character which pervades it rescues it from
the imputation of being a mere transcript of his Greek
originals. Cicero brings everything as much as possible
to a practical standard. If the question arises between
the study of morals and politics and that of physics or
metaphysics, he decides in favour of the former, on the
grounds that the latter transcends the capacities of the
human intellect j 1 that in morals and politics we are
under obligations from which in physics we are free; that
we are bound to tear ourselves from these abstract studies
at the call of duty to our country or our fellow-creatures,
even if we were able to count the stars or measure the mag-
nitude of the universe. 2 In the didactic method which he
pursues he bears in mind that he is dealing not with con-
templative philosophers, or minds that have been logically
trained, but with statesmen and men of the world ; he
does not therefore claim too much, or make his lessons
too hard, and is always ready to sacrifice scientific system
to a method of popular instruction. His object seems to
be to recommend the subject — to smoothe difficulties, and
illustrate obscurities. He evidently admires the exalted
purity of Stoical morality ; and the principles of that sect
are those which he endeavours to impress upon his son. 3
His only fear is that their system is unpractical. 4
Cicero believed in the existence of one supreme Creator
and Governor of the universe, and also in His spiritual
nature ; 5 but his belief is rather the result of instinctive
conviction, than of the proofs derived from philosophy,
for as to them, he is, as on other points, uncertain and
wavering. He disbelieved the popular mythical religion ;
but uncertain as to what was the truth he would not have
that disturbed which he looked upon as a political engine. 6
Amidst the doubtful and conflicting reasons respecting
1 De Kep. 1. 18, 19. « De Off. i. 43. 3 Ibid.
4 De Fin. iv. 9. d Tusc. i. 27, 28 6 De Leg. ii. 13.
SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY OF CICERO. 357
the human soul and man's eternal destiny, there is no
doubt that, although lie finds no satisfactory proof, lie is
a believer in immortality. 1 It is unnecessary to pursue
the subject of Iris pliilosopliicai creed any further, because
it is not a system, but only a collection of precepts, not
of investigations. Its materials are borrowed, its illus-
trations alone novel. But, nevertheless, the study of
Cicero's philosophical works is invaluable, in order to un-
derstand the minds of those who came after him. It must
not be forgotten, that not only all Eoman philosophy
after his time, but great part of that of the middle ages,
was Greek philosophy filtered through Latin, and mainly
founded on that of Cicero. Cicero's works on speculative
philosophy generally consist of: — (1). The Academics,
or a history and defence of the belief of the New Academy.
(2). The Be Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, dialogues on the
supreme good, the end of all moral action. (3). The Tus-
culance Bisputationes, containing five independent treatises
on the fear of death, the endurance of pain, the power of
wisdom over sorrow, the morbid passions, the relation of
virtue to happiness. In these treatises Stoicism predomi-
nates, although opinions are adduced from the whole range
of Greek philosophy. (4). Paradoxa, in which the six
celebrated Stoical paradoxies are touched upon in a light
and amusing manner. (5). A dialogue in praise of phi-
losophy, named after Hortensius. (6). Translations of
the Timseus and Protagoras of Plato. Of these three
last treatises only a few fragments remain.
His moral philosophy comprehends — (1). The Be
Officiis, a Stoical treatise on moral obligations, addressed
to his son Marcus, at that time a student at Athens.
(2). The unequalled little essays on Friendship and Old
Age. A few words also are preserved of two books
on Glory, addressed to Atticus ; and one which he wrote
1 Dc Sen. 21.
358 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
on the Alleviation of Grief when bereaved of his beloved
daughter. 1 He left one theological work in three parts :
the first part is on the " Nature of the Gods ;" the second
on the " Science of Divination ;" the third on " Fate,"
of which an inconsiderable fragment is extant. His office
of augur probably suggested to him the composition of
these treatises.
His political works are two in number — the De Re-
publica 2 and De Legibus ; both are imperfect. The re-
mains of the former are only fragmentary ; of the latter,
three out of six books are extant, and those not entire.
Nevertheless, sufficient of both remains to enable us to
form some estimate of their philosophical character.
Although he does not profess originality, but confesses
that they are imitations of the two treatises of Plato, which
bear the same name, still they are more inductive than
any of his other treatises. His purpose is, like that of
Plato, to give in the one an ideal republic, and in the
other a sketch of a model legislation ; but the novelty of
the treatment consists in their principles being derived
from the Eoman constitution and the Eoman laws.
The questions which he proposes to answer are, what
is the best government and the best code ; but the limits
within which he confines himself are the institutions of
his country. In the Republic he first discusses, like
the Greek philosophers, the merits and demerits of the
three pure forms of government ; and upon the whole
decides in favour of monarchy 3 as the best. With Aris-
totle 4 he agrees that all the pure forms are liable to de-
generate, 5 and comes to the conclusion that the idea of a
perfect polity is a combination of all three. 6 In order to
prove and illustrate his theory, he investigates, though it
must be confessed in a meagre and imperfect manner, the
B. c. 45. 2 B. c. 54. 3 Lib. i. 26, 35, 45 ; ii. 23. 4 Ethics.
5 Lib. i. 27, 28 ; ii. 39. 6 Lib. i. 29, 35, 45.
THE TREATISE DE LEGIBUS. 359
constitutional history of Borne, and discovers the monar-
chical element in the consulship, the aristocratic in the
senate, and the popular in the assembly of the people and
the tribunitial authority.
The Romans continued jealously to preserve the shadow
of their constitution, even after they had surrendered the
substance. Nominally, the titles and offices of the old
republic never perished — the Emperor was in name no-
thing more than (Imperator) the commander-in-chief of the
armies of the republic, but in him all power centred, he
was absolute, autocratic, the chief of a military despotism. 1
Cicero, as the treatise De Legibus plainly shows, saw,
with approbation, that this state of things was rapidly
coming to pass ; that the people were not fitted to be
trusted with liberty, and yet that they would be contented
with its semblance and name.
The method which he pursues, is, firstly, to treat the sub-
ject in the abstract, and to investigate the nature of law ;
and, secondly, to propose an ideal code, limited by the prin-
ciples of Roman jurisprudence. Thus Cicero's polity and
code were not Utopian — the models on which they were
formed had a real tangible existence. His was the system
of a practical man, as the Roman constitution was that of
a practical people. It was not like Greek liberty, the
realization of one single idea : it was like that of England,
the growth of ages, the development of a long train
of circumstances, and expedients, and experiments, and
emergencies. Cicero prudently acquiesced in the ruin of
liberty as a stern necessity ; but he evidently thought
that Rome had attained the zenith of its national great-
ness immediately before the agitations of the Gracchi.
Both these works are written in the engaging form of
dialogues. In the one, Scipio iEmilianus, Lselius, ScaBvola,
and others, meet together in the Latin holidays (Ferise
See Tac. Annal. I.
360 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Latinse), and discuss the question of government. In the
other, the writer liimself, with his brother Quintus and
Atticus, converse on jurisprudence whilst they saunter on
a little islet near Arpinum at the confluence of the Liris
and Fibrena.
We must, lastly, contemplate Cicero as a correspondent.
This intercourse of congenial minds separated from one
another, and induced by the force of circumstances to
digest and arrange their thoughts in their communication,
forms one of the most delightful and interesting, and at
the same time one of the most characteristic, portions of
Roman literature. A Roman thought that whenever he
put pen to paper it was his duty, to a certain extent, to
avoid carelessness and offences against good taste, and to
bestow upon his friend some portion of that elaborate
attention which, as an author, he would devote to the
public eye. In fact the letter-writer was almost address-
ing the same persons as the author ; for the latter wrote
for the approbation of his friends, the circle of intimates
in which he lived : the approbation of the public was a
secondary object. The Greeks were not writers of letters :
the few which we possess were mere written messages,
containing such necessary information as the interruption
of intercourse demanded. There was no interchange of
hopes and fears, thoughts, sentiments, and feelings.
The extent of Cicero's correspondence is almost in-
credible : even those epistles which remain form a very
voluminous collection — more than eight hundred are ex-
tant. The letters to his friends and acquaintances (ad
Familiares) occupy sixteen books ; those to Atticus sixteen
more ; and we have besides three books of letters to
Quintus, and one to Brutus, but the authenticity of this last
collection is somewhat doubtful. It is quite clear that
none of them were intended for publication, as those of
Pliny and Seneca were. They are elegant without stiff-
ness, the natural outpourings of a mind which could not
iSSl
THE LETTERS OF CICERO. 361
give birth to an ungraceful idea. Wlien speaking of the
perilous and critical politics of the day, more or less re-
straint and reserve are apparent, according to the intimacy
with the person whom he is addressing, but no attempt
at pompous display. His style is so simple that the
reader forgets that Cicero ever wrote or delivered an
oration. There is the eloquence of the heart, not of the
rhetoric school. Every subject is touched upon which
could interest the statesman, the man of letters, the
admirer of the fine arts, or the man of the world. The
writer reveals in them his own motives, his secret springs
of actions, his loves, his hatreds, his strength, his weak-
ness. They extend over more than a quarter of a cen-
tury, the most interesting period of his own life, and one
of the most critical in the history of his country. The
letters to Quintus are those of an elder brother to one
who stood in great need of good advice. Although
Quintus was not deserving of his brother's affection, M.
Cicero was warmly attached to him, and took an interest
in his welfare. Quintus was propraetor of Asia, and not
fitted for the office : and Cicero was not sparing in his
admonitions, though he offered them with kindness and
delicacy. The details of his family concerns form not
the least interesting portion of this correspondence.
There is, as might be expected, more reserve in the letters
ad Familiar es than in those addressed to Atticus. They
are written to a variety of correspondents, of every shade
and complexion of opinions, many of them mere acquaint-
ances, not intimate friends ; but whilst, for this reason,
less historically valuable, they are the most pleasing of
the collection, on account of the exquisite elegance of
their style. They are models of pure Latinity. In the
letters to Atticus, on the other hand, he lays bare the
secrets of his heart ; he trusts his life in his hands ; he
is not only his friend but his confidant, Iris second self.
Were it not for the letters of Cicero, we should have had
362 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
but a superficial knowledge of this period of Eoman
history, as well as of the inner life of Eoman society.
An elegant poetic compliment paid to Cicero by Laurea
Tullus, one of his freedinen, has been preserved by Pliny. 1
The subject of it is a medicinal spring in the neighbour-
hood of the Academy.
Quo tua Romanse vindex clarissime linguae
Silva loco melius surgere jussa viret
Atque Academise celebratam nomine villam
Nunc reparat cultu sub potiore Vetus :
Hie etiam adparent lymphse non ante repertse
Languida quae infuso lumina rore levant.
Nimirum locus ipse sui Ciceronis honori
Hoc dedit hac fontes cum patefecit opes
Ut quoniam totum legitur sine fine per orbem
Sint plures oculis quae medeantur, aquae.
Father of eloquence in Rome,
The groves that once pertained to thee
Now with a fresher verdure bloom
Around thy famed Academy.
Vetus at length this favoured seat
Hath with a tasteful care restored ;
And newly at thy loved retreat
A gushing fount its stream has poured.
These waters cure an aching sight ;
And thus the spring that bursts to view
Through future ages shall requite
The fame this spot from Tully drew. Elton.
The correspondents of Cicero included a number of
eminent men. Atticus was the least interesting, for his
politic caution rendered him unstable and insincere ; but
there was Cassius the tyrannicide, the Stoical Cato of
Utica ; Csecina, the warm partisan of Pompey ; the orator
Csehus Eufus ; Hirtius and Oppius, the literary friends of
Csesar; Lucceius the historian; Matius the mimiambic
poet ; and that patron of arts and letters, 2 C. Asinius
Pollio.
1 See Meyer's Anthol. 67. 2 Hor. Od. ii. 1.
ASINIUS POLLIO. 363
Pollio was a scion of a distinguished house, and was born
at Rome B.C. 76. l Even as a youth he was distinguished
for wit and sprightliness ; 2 and at the age of twenty-two
was the prosecutor of C. Cato. He was with Csesar at
the Kubicon, at Pharsalia, in Africa, and in Spain ; and
was finally intrusted with the conduct of the war in that
province against Sextus Pompey. On the establishment
of the first triumviate, Pollio, after some hesitation, sent
in his adhesion ; and Antony intrusted him with the
administration of Grallia Transpadana, including the allot-
ment of the confiscated lands among the veteran soldiers.
He thus had opportunity of protecting Virgil and saving
his property. In B.C. 40, Octavian and Antony were
reconciled at Brundisium by his mediation. A successful
campaign in Illyria concluded his military career with the
glories of a triumph, 3 and he then retired from public life
to his villa at Tusculum, and devoted himself to study.
He enjoyed life to the last, and died in his eightieth
year. He left three children, one of whom, Asinius
Grallus, 4 wrote a comparison between his father and Cicero,
which was answered by the Emperor Claudius. 5
In oratory, poetry, and history, Pollio enjoyed a high
reputation amongst contemporary critics, and yet none of
his works have survived. The solution of this difficulty
may, perhaps, be found in the following circumstances : —
1 . His patronage of literary men rendered him popular,
and drew from the critics a somewhat partial verdict.
His kindness caused Horace to extol 6 him, and Virgil to
address to him his most remarkable eclogue. 7 2. His taste
was formed before the new literary school commenced.
He had always a profound admiration for the old writers,
and frequently quoted them. His style probably ap-
peared antiquated and pedantic, and, therefore, never
Hieron. in Eus. Ch. 2 Catull. xii. 1. 3 b. c. 39.
Tac. Ann. i. 12. 5 Plin. Ep. vii. 4 ; Suet. CI. 41.
Sat. I. x. ; Carm. ii.l. 7 Eel. iii. 86 ; viii.
364 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
became generally popular. A later writer 1 says, that he
was so harsh and dry as to appear to have reproduced
the style of Attius and Pacuvius, not only in his tragedies,
but also in his orations. Quintilian observes, 2 that he
seemed to belong to the pre-Ciceronian period. Niebuhr,
who could only form his opinion upon the slight frag-
ments preserved by Seneca, for the three letters in
Cicero's collection 3 are only despatches, affirms that he
seems to stand between two distinct generations, 4 namely,
the literary periods of Cicero and Virgil. His great
work was a history of the civil wars, in seventeen books.
He pretended to be a critic, but his criticism was fas-
tidious and somewhat ill-natured. He found blemishes
in Cicero, inaccuracies in Caesar, pedantry in Sallust, and
provincialism (Patavinitas) in Livy. The correctness of
his judgment respecting the charming narratives of the
great historian has been assumed from generation to
generation, yet no one can discover in what this Pata-
vinity consists. It was easier to find fault than to write
correctly; for, whilst all the labours of the critic have
perished, Cicero, Caesar, Sallust, and Livy, are immortal.
Vehemence and passion developed his character.
Still he was one of the greatest benefactors to the
literature of his country ; more especially as he was the
first to found a public library. Books had already been
brought to Pome, and collections formed. iEmilius
Paulus had a library — Lucullus had one also, to which
he allowed learned men to have access. Sulla enriched
Eome with the plunder of the Athenian libraries ; and in
his time Tyrannis the grammarian was the possessor of
three thousand volumes. Julius Caesar employed the
learned Varro to collect books with a view to a national
collection, but death put a stop to his intentions. 5 Pollio
1 Dial, de Orat. 21. 2 Lib. x. i. 113. 3 Ad Fam. x. 31, 32, 33.
4 Lect. R. H. cvi. 5 Plin. H. N. vii. 3 ; xxxv, 2,
PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 305
expended the spoils of Dalmatia in founding a temple to
Liberty in the Aventine, and furnishing it with a library,
the nucleus of which were the collections of Sulla and
Varro. After this time, the work was carried on by
imperial munificence. Augustus founded the Octavian
library in the temple of Juno, and the Palatine in the
palace. Tiberius augmented the latter. Vespasian placed
one in the temple of Peace. Trajan formed the Ulpian ;
Domitian the Capitoline ; Hadrian a magnificent one at
his own villa ; and in the reign of Constantine the number
of public libraries exceeded twenty.
M. Terentius Varro Eeatinus (born b.c. 116).
On an ancient medal is represented the effigy of Julius
Csesar bearing a book in one hand and a sword in the
other, 1 with the legend " Ex utroque Caesar." This
device represents the genius of many a distinguished
citizen of the republic, and that of Varro amongst the
number, for he was a soldier, and at the same time the
most learned of his countrymen. He was born 2 at Eeate
(Eieti), a Sabine town situated in the Tempe of Italy,
in the neighbourhood of the celebrated cascade of Terni.
iElius Stilo, the antiquarian, was the instructor of his
earlier years, 3 and from him he derived his thirst for
knowledge, and his ardent devotion to original investiga-
tion. He subsequently studied philosophy under Anti-
ochus, a professor of the Academic school. 4 In politics
he was warmly attached to the party of Pompey, under
whom he served in the Piratic and Mithridatic wars. He
was also one of his three Legati in Spain, and did not
resign his command until the towns in the south of that
province eagerly submitted to Caesar. After the battle
of Pharsalia, he experienced the clemency of the con-
1 See Exc. in Delph. Cic. a b. c. 116. 3 Cic. Brut. i. 56.
4 Cic. Acad. iii. 12.
366 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
queror, but not*soon enough to save his villa from being
attacked and plundered. 1
Csesar appreciated Varro's extensive learning, and
intrusted to him the formation of the great public
library. 2 Henceforth he shunned the perils of political
life, 3 and in the retirement of his villas devoted himself
zealously to the pursuit of literature. Nevertheless, he
could not escape the unrelenting persecution of political
party; for in that proscription to which Cicero fell a
victim, his name was in the list until it was erased by
Antony. 4 Although he was seventy years old, his
industry was unabated, and he continued his literary
labours until his death, which took place in the eighty-
ninth year of his age. 5 Yarro was a man of ponderous
erudition and unwearied industry, 6 without a spark of
taste and genius. No Roman author wrote so much as
he did, no one read so much except Pliny ; yet, notwith-
standing all this practice and study, he never acquired an
agreeable style. He dissected and anatomized the Latin
language with all the powers of critical analysis ; but he
was never imbued with its elegant polish or its nervous
eloquence.
Wherever, as in the case of his treatise on agriculture,
he had access to sound information and good authority,
his habits of arrangement, the clearness with which he
classified, and the careful judgment with which he adduced
his facts, render his works valuable. Few men have
possessed greater powers of combining and systematizing :
his mind was, as it were, full of compartments, in which
each species of knowledge had its proper place, but it was
nothing more. "Whenever he left the beaten track of
other, men's discoveries, and indulged in free conjecture
or original thought, as in his grammatical works, his
1 Cic. Phil. ii. 18. 2 Caes. B. G. i. 38 ; ii. 17. 3 Cic. ad Fara. ix. 13.
4 B. c. 43. 5 Plin. N. H. xxix. 4. 6 Quint, x i. 95.
II. TERENTIUS VARRO REATINUS. 3G7
learning seems to desert him ; and etymology, wliich has
tempted so many mere conjecturers to go astray, led him
also into absurdity.
One of his works, Antiquitates Divinarum Rerum,
acquires a peculiar interest from the fact of its having
been the storehouse from which St. Augustine, who was
a great admirer of his learning, derived much of his
treatise De Civitate Dei. How this laborious compilation
was lost it is impossible to say. We can only lament
the accident which deprives us of the work to wliich
especially the author owes his reputation. In the treatise,
which together with this forms one work, namely, An-
tiquitates Rerum Humanarum, he investigated the early
history and chronology of Rome, and fixed the date of
the building of the city in the year B.C. 753, a date wliich
is now commonly received by the best historians.
A catalogue of his numerous books and tracts on
almost every subject wliich then engaged the attention
of literary men — on history, biography, geography,
philosophy, criticism, and morals — would be uninterest-
ing, but his principal works were as follows : —
i. De Re Rustica Libri in.
ii. De Lingua Latina Libri xxiv., of which only six
are extant, and these in a mutilated condition.
in. Antiquitates Rerum Humanarum, Libri xxv.
Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum, Libri xvi.
iv. Saturce, partly in prose, partly in verse ; consisting
of moral essays and dialogues, exposing the vices and
follies of the day, and teaching their lessons rather in a
light and amusing than a didactive form.
v. Poems, of wliich eighteen short epigrams of no great
merit are extant.
1 See Meyer's Anthol. 78. 2 Meyer, Anthol. Rom. 34—51.
368 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER XL
roman historical literature — principal historians —
litcceius— lucullus— cornelius nepos— opinions on the
genuineness of the works which bear his name — bio-
graphy of j. c^sar — his commentaries — their style
and language — his modesty overrated — other works
— character of c^sar.
Historical Writers.
In historical composition alone can the Eomans lay claim
to originality ; and in their historical literature especially
is exliibited a faithful transcript of their mind and
character. History at once gratified their patriotism,
and its investigations were in accordance with their love
of the real and practical. Thus those natural powers
which had been elicited and cultivated by an acquaintance
with Greek literature were applied with a naive simplicity
to the narration of events, and embellished them with all
the graces of a refined style. The practical good sense
and political wisdom which the Roman social system was
admirably adapted to nurture found food for reflection :
their shrewd insight into character, and their searching
scrutiny into the human heart, gave them a power over
their materials ; and hence they were enabled in this
department of literature to emulate, not merely imitate,
the Greeks, and to be their rivals, and sometimes their
superiors. The elegant simplicity of Csesar is as at-
tractive as that of Herodotus ; not one of the Greek
historians surpasses Livy in talent for the picturesque,
CATALOGUE OF ROMAN HISTORIANS. 3()i)
and in the charm with which he invests his spirited and
living stories; whilst for condensation of thought, terse-
ness of expression, and political and philosophical acumen,
Tacitus is not inferior to Thucydides.
The subjects which historical investigation furnished
were so peculiarly national, and so congenial to the
character of the mind of tlie Romans, that tliey seem to
have cast aside their Greek originals, and to have struck
out an independent line for themselves.
The catalogue of Eoman historians is a proud one.
At the head of it stand the four great names of Caesar,
Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus ; all of whom, except the last,
belong to the Augustan age. It comprehends those of
Cornelius Nepos, Trogus Pompeius, Cremutius Cordus,
Aufidius Bassus, and Sallust, in the golden age ; Velleius
Paterculus, Valerius Maximus, Q. Curtius, Suetonius, and
Florus, in the succeeding one : nor must L. Lucceius
and L. Licinius Lucullus be passed over without
mention.
L. Lucceius.
L. Lucceius, the friend and correspondent of Cicero, 1
was an orator who espoused the party of J. Csesar, and,
relying on his influence, became, together with him, a
candidate for the consulship. 2 Being unsuccessful, he
quitted politics for the calm enjoyment of a literary life.
His right to be called an historian is founded on his
having commenced a history of the Social and Civil Wars,
but it was never completed or published. Cicero 3 entreats
him to speak of the events which he was recording, as
well as of his own character and conduct, with partiality ;
it is, therefore, impossible to trust the encomiums which
accompany this request, as they were probably dictated
by a wish to purchase his favourable opinion. The
1 See ad Att. i. 3, 5, 10, 11, 14. 2 b. c. 60.
3 Ad Fam. v. 12 ; xv. 21, G.
2 B
370 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
period of his retirement from public affairs was not of
long duration, for he afterwards again engaged in the
civil strife which agitated Eome, and joined the party of
Pompey, who held him in high estimation. 1 On his
downfall he shared with other Pompeians the clemency
of the Dictator.
L. Licinius Lucullus.
L. Licinius Lucullus, 2 the illustrious but luxurious
conqueror of Mithridates, did not disdain to devote his
leisure to the composition of history, although his works
are not of such merit as to claim for him a distinguished
position among the historians of his country. The
stirring events of the Social War tempted him to record
them. 3 Part of his enormous wealth he had expended on
a magnificent library : to the poet Archias he was a kind
friend; 4 and his patronage was liberally granted to
literary men, especially to those philosophers who held
the doctrines of his favourite Academy. Like most of
those who combined with a love of literature a life of
activity in the public service of his country, he was an
orator of no mean abilities. 5 His love of Greek, and his
habits of intercourse with Greek philosophers, led him to
write his history in the Greek language, and to select
and transcribe extracts from the histories of Csslius
Antipater, and Polybius.
Cornelius Nepos.
Cornelius Nepos was a contemporary of Catullus, and
lived until the sixth year of the reign of Augustus. 6
Ausonius says that he was a Graul, Y Catullus that he was
an Italian. 8 Both are probably right, as the prevailing
> 1 Ad Att. ix. 1. 2 Consul, b. c. 74. 3 Ad Att. i. 19.
4 Cic. pro Arch. 5 Cic. Brut. 62. 6 Ad Att. i. 19 ; Liv. iv. 23 ; x. 9.
7 Hieron. Chron. Euseb. 8 Praef. Epigr. i. 3.
I
LOST WORKS OF CORNELIUS NEPOS. 371
opinion is, that he was born either at Verona, or the
neighbouring village of Hostilia, in Cisalpine Gaul.
Besides Catullus, he reckoned Cicero 1 and Atticus
amongst the number of his friends. 2 These circum-
stances constitute all that is known respecting his per-
sonal history.
All his works which are mentioned by the ancients are
unfortunately lost ; but respecting the genuineness of that
with which every scholar is familiar from his cliildhood,
strong doubts have been entertained. His lost works
were, (1.) Three books of Chronicles, or a short, abridg-
ment of Universal History. They are mentioned by
A. Gellius, 3 and allusion is made to them by Catullus. 4
(.2.) Five books of anecdotes styled " Libri Exemplorum," 5
and also entitled " The Book of C. Nepos de Viris illus-
tribiis." (3.) A Life of Cicero, 6 and a collection of Letters
addressed to him. 7 (4.) " De Historicis," or Memoirs of
Historians. 8 The work now extant which bears his name
is entitled " The Lives of Eminent Generals." But
besides the biographies of twenty generals, it contains
short accounts of some celebrated monarchs, lives of
Hamilcar and Hannibal, and also of Cato and Atticus.
The procimium of the book is addressed to one Atticus,
and to the first edition was prefixed a dedication to the
Emperor Theodosius, from which it appeared that the
author's name was Probus. These biographical sketches
continued to be ascribed to this unknown author, until
the latter half of the sixteenth century.
At that time the celebrated scholar Lambinus, Begius
Professor of Belles Lettres at Paris, argued from the
purity of the style that it was a work of classical
antiquity, and, from a passage in the life of Cato, that the
Atticus, to whom it was dedicated, was the well-known
Gell. xv. 28. a CIc. ad Att. xvi. 5. 3 lib. xvii. 21, 3.
Lib. i. 3. 5 A. Gell. vii. 18 ; xxi. 8. 6 Ibid. xv. 28.
Lactant. Inst. Div. iii. 15. 3 C. Nep. Vit. Dion. 3.
.2 B 2
372 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
correspondent of Cicero, and the author no other than
Cornelius Nepos. The argument derived from the
Latinity is unanswerable ; that, however, from the life of
Cato is a " petitio principii" inasmuch as there is no more
evidence in favour of the life of Cato having been written
by Nepos, than the other biographies. The life of
Atticus, which is a complete model of biographical com-
position, is ascribed to him by name in some of the best
MSS. Of the rest nothing more can be affirmed with
certainty, than that they are a work, or the epitome of a
work, belonging to the Augustan age.
The strongest evidence which exists in favour of the
authorship of C. Nepos, is that Jerome Magius, a con-
temporary of Lambinus, who also published an annotated
edition of the " Vitce Illustrium Imperatorum" found a
MS. with the following conclusion : " Completum est
opus iEmilii Probi Cornelii Nepotis." These words
would seem to assert the authorship of Nepos, and at the
same time to admit that Probus was the editor or
epitomator, and thus support the theory of Lambinus,
without accusing Probus of a literary forgery.
C. Julius Cesar (born b.c 100).
To give a biographical account of Caesar would be, in
fact, nothing less than to trace the contemporary history
of Eome ; for Eoman history had now become the history
of those master-minds who seized upon, or were invested
by their countrymen with supreme power. Although
the rapid and energetic talents of Caesar never permitted
him to lose a day, his active devotion to the truly Eoman
employments of politics and war left him little time for
sedentary occupations. His literary biography, therefore,
will necessarily occupy but a short space, compared with
the other great events of his career.
C. Julius Ca3sar was descended from a family of the
BIOGRAPHY OF JULIUS CJESAR. 373
Julian gens, one of the oldest among the patrician families
of Rome, of which all but a very few had by this time
become extinct. The Caesar family was not only of
patrician descent, but numbered amongst its members,
during the century which preceded the birth of the
Dictator, many who had served curule offices with great
distinction. He was born on the 4th of the ides of July
(the 12th), b.c. 100, and attached liimself, both by politics
and by matrimonial connexion, to the popular party : his
good taste, great tact, and pleasing manners, contributed,
together with his talents, to insure his popularity. He
became a soldier in the nineteenth year of his age ; and
hence his works display all the best qualities which are
fostered by a military education, and which therefore
characterise the military profession — frankness, simplicity,
and brevity. He served his first campaign at the con-
clusion of the first Mithridatic war, during which he was
present at the siege and capture of Mitylene, 1 and received
the honour of a civic crown for saving the life of a citizen.
His earliest literary triumph was as an orator. Cn.
Dolabella was suspected of oppressive extortion in the
administration of his province of Macedonia, and Caesar
came forward as his accuser. The celebrated Hor-
tensius was the advocate for the accused; and although
Caesar did not gain his cause, the skill and eloquence
which he displayed as a pleader gave promise of his
becoming hereafter a consummate orator. The following
year he increased his reputation by taking up the cause
of the province of Achaia against C. Antonius, who was
accused of the same crime as Dolabella ; but he was again
unsuccessful in the result.
He subsequently sailed for Rhodes, in order to pursue
the study of oratory under the direction of Apollonius
Molon, 2 who was not only a teacher of rhetoric, but also
b. c. 80. * Suet. Cses. 4 ; Cic. Att. ii. 1,
374 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
an able and eloquent pleader in the courts of law.
Cicero 1 bears testimony to bis being a skilful instructor
and an eloquent speaker, and received instruction from
him when he came to .Rome as an ambassador from
Ehodes. 2 Csesar, on his voyage, was captured by pirates ;
but after he was ransomed, he carried his intention into
effect, and placed himself for a short time under the
tuition of Molon. After his return to Borne, 3 a pro-
position was made to recall from exile those of the party
of Lepidus, who had joined Sertorius, and he spoke in
favour of the measure. Two years subsequently he
delivered funeral orations in praise of his wife Cornelia,
who was the daughter of Cinna, and his aunt Julia, the
widow of Marius.
The Catilinarian conspiracy, in which, without reason,
he was suspected of having been concerned, furnished
him with another opportunity of displaying his ability as
an orator. His speech in the senate on the celebrated
nones of December, would probably have saved the lives
of the conspirators, had not Cato's influence prevailed.
Caesar pleaded that it was unconstitutional to put Eoman
citizens to death by the vote of the senate, without a
trial ; but his arguments were overruled, and the measure
which subsequently led to the fall and assassination of
Cicero was carried. The following year, 4 when Metellus
made this a subject of accusation against Cicero, Csesar
again supported the same view with his eloquence, but
was unsuccessful. ;
Great, therefore, although it is said that his talents as
an orator were, he never appears to have convinced his
hearers. This may have been owing, not to deficiency in
skill, but to the unfortunate nature of the causes which he
took in hand, or to the superior powers of his opponents,
for there is no doubt that his manner of speaking was
1 Brut 91. 'B.C. 81. 3 B. c. 70. 4 B. c. 62,
C/ESAR PONTIFBX MAXIMUS. 375
most engaging and popular. Tacitus speaks of Mm not
only as the greatest of authors, 1 but also as rivalling the
most accomplished orators ; 2 whilst Suetonius praises his
eloquence, and quotes the testimony of Cicero himself in
support of his favourable criticism. 3
Hitherto, with the exception of Ins first campaign, the
life of Ca?sar was of a civil complexion. His literary
eminence took the colouring of the public occupations in
winch he was engaged. Like a true Eoman, literature
was subordinate to public duty, and his taste was directed
into the channel which was most akin to, and identified
with* his life. His intellectual vigour, however, demanded
employment as well as his practical talents for business ;
and for this reason, as has been seen, he devoted himself
to the study of oratory ; and the principal works which as
yet obtain for him a place in a history of Eoman literature
are merely orations.
His next official appointment opened to him a new field
for thought. In b. c. 63 he obtained the office of Pontifex
Ma x im us, and examined so diligently into the history and
nature of the Eoman belief in augury, of which he was
the official guardian, that his investigations were pub-
lished in a work consisting of at least sixteen books (Libri
Ampiciorum)} In order to fit himself for discharging
the duties of his office he studied astronomy, and even
wrote a treatise on that science, 5 entitled " cle Astris," and
a poem somewhat resembling the Phenomena of Aratus.
His knowledge of this science enabled him, with the aid
of the Alexandrian astronomers, to carry into effect some
years 6 afterwards the reformation of the calendar.
The works above mentioned are philosophically and
scientifically valueless, but curious and interesting ; but
we have now to view Caesar in that capacity which was
1 Germ. 28. 2 Annal. xiii. 3. 3 Suet. v. Jul. 55.
* See Macr. Sat. i. 16. 5 Ibid. 6 B. 0. in.
376 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
the foundation of his literary reputation. He ohtained
the province of Hispania Ulterior -, 1 and at this post his
career as a military commander began. As had been the
case during his previous career, so now the almost inces-
sant demands on his thoughts and time did not divert
him from literary pursuits, but determined the channel
in which his tastes should seek satisfaction, and furnished
the subject for his pen. He had evidently an ardent love
for literature for its own sake. It was not the paltry
ambition of showing that he could achieve success, and
even superiority, in everything which he chose to under-
take, although his versatility of talent was such as to
encourage him to expect success, but a real attachment to
literary employment. Hence whatever leisure his duties
as a military commander permitted him to enjoy was
devoted, as to a labour of love, to the composition of his
Memoirs or Commentaries of the Gallic and Civil Wars.
His comprehensive and liberal mind was also convinced
of the embarrassing technicalities which impeded the
administration of the Eoman law. Its interpretation
was confined to a few who had studied its pedantic mys-
teries ; and the laws which regulated the dies fasti and
nefasti had originally placed its administration in the
hands of the priests and patricians. Appius Claudius had
already commenced the work of demolishing the fences
which to the people at large were impregnable ; and Caesar
entertained the grand design of reducing its principles
and practice to a regular code. 2 His views he embodied
in a treatise, 3 which, as is often the case with pamphlets,
perished when the object ceased to exist for which it was
intended.
It is said that he also contemplated a complete survey
and map of the Eoman empire. 4 But his greatest bene-
1 b. C. 61. a Suet. V. Jul. 44. 3 A. Gell. i. 22.
4 Meri vale's II . of R. ii. 422.
THE COMMENTARIES. 377
faction, perhaps, to the cause of Eoman literature was tlie
establishment of a public library. 1 The spoils of Italy,
collected by Asinius Pollio, furnished the materials, just
as the museums of Paris were enriched by the great
modern conqueror from the plunder of Europe ; but it
was, nevertheless, a great and patriotic work; and he
enhanced its utility by entrusting the collection and
arrangement of it to the learned Varro as librarian.
Besides the works already named, Caesar left behind
him various letters, some of which are extant amongst
those of Cicero ; orations, of which, if the panegyrics of
Cicero, Tacitus, and Quintilian 2 are not exaggerated, it is
deeply to be regretted that the titles are alone preserved ; 3
a short treatise or pamphlet, called Anticato ; a work on
the analogy of the Latin language ; a collection of apo-
thegms ; and a few poems.
These are the grounds on which the claims of the great
conqueror to literary fame rest in the various capacities of
orator, historian, antiquarian, philosopher, grammarian,
and poet ; but by far the most important of his works is his
" Commentaries." These have fortunately come down to
us in a tolerably perfect state, although much still remains
to be done before we can be said to possess an accurate
edition. 4 Seven books contain the history of seven years
of the Grallic war, and three carry the history of the civil
war down to the commencement of the Alexandrine.
These are the work of Caesar himself. The eighth book,
" De Bello Gallico" which completes the subject, and the
three supplemental books of the work, " Be Bello Civili"
which contain the Alexandrine, African, and Spanish
wars, have been variously ascribed to the friends of Caesar,
A. Hirtius, C. Oppius, and even to Pansa. The claims
of the latter, however, are entirely groundless. The
1 Suet. 44 ; Plin. H. N. vii. 31.
8 Cic. Brut. 72 ; Tac. Ann. xiii. 3 ; Quint, x. i. 114.
3 Meyer, Fr. Or. Rom. p. 404. 4 Nieb. Leet. R. II. xcv.
378 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
marked similarity between tlie style of the eighth book
of the Gallic war and that of the Alexandrine war proves
that they were written by the same author ; and from
the elegance and purity of the Latinity, and the con-
fidential footing on which the author must have been
with Caesar, there is a probability, almost amounting to a
certainty, that the History of the Alexandrine War must
be the work of A. Hirtius. It may also be remarked
that this opinion is in unison with that of Suetonius. 1
Hirtius was the only one of the three who united in
himself both these important qualifications. C. Oppius
was indeed equally in the confidence of Caesar ; he was
his inseparable companion. 2 But, nevertheless, Oppius
was not so highly educated as Hirtius. Niebuhr, there-
fore, is probably correct in attributing to liim, " without
hesitation," 3 the book on the African war. The intelli-
gence and information displayed in it are worthy of the
sensible soldier and confidential friend, with whom he
corresponded in cipher, and whom he intrusted with
writing the introduction to his defence in the " Anticato;"
whilst the inferiority of the language marks a less skilful
and practised hand than that of the refined Hirtius.
The book on the Spanish war is by some unknown author :
it is founded on a diary kept by some one engaged in the
war; but neither its language nor sentiments are those
of a liberally-educated person. 4 The Greek term " Ephe-
merides " has sometimes been applied to the " Commenta-
ries," though Bayle 5 thought that they were different
works.
1 See DodwelTs Dissert, in Cses. Ed. Yar.
2 The friendship which existed between these great men furnishes an
anecdote (Suet. V. J. C. 72) characteristic of the most amiable feature in
Csesar's character, his devoted and hearty attachment to those whom he
loved. Once, when they were journeying together, they reached a cottage,
in which only one room was to be procured ; Oppius was ill, and Csesar
gave up the room to his sick friend, whilst he bivouacked in the open air.
3 Lect. K. H. xcv. 4 See Niebuhr, Lect. E. H. 5 Smith's Diet, in loco.
STYLE OF THE COMMENTARIES. 379
These memoirs are exactly what they profess to he,
and are written in the most appropriate style. Few
would wish it to be other than it is. They are sketches
taken on the spot, in the midst of action, whilst the mind
was full : they have all the graphic power of a master-
mind, and the vigorous touches of a master-hand. Take,
for example, the delineation of the Gallic character, and
compare it with some of the features still to be found in
the mixed race, their successors, and no one can doubt of
its accuracy, or of the deep and penetrating insight into
human nature which generally indicates the powerful and
practical intellect. Their elegance and polish is that
which always must mark even the least-laboured efforts
of a refined and educated taste, not that which proceeds
from careful emendation and correction. The " Com-
mentaries" are the materials for history; notes jotted
down for future historians. It is evident that no more time
was spent upon them than would naturally be devoted
to such a work by one who was employing the inaction
of winter quarters in digesting the recollections stored up
during the business of the campaign ; and for this reason
few faults have been found with the " Commentaries,"
even by the most fastidious critics. The very faults
which may be justly found with the style of Caesar are
such as reflect the man himself. The majesty of his
character principally consists in the imperturbable calm-
ness and equability of his temper. He had no sudden
bursts of energy, and alternations of passion and in-
activity: the elevation of his character was a high one,
but it was a level table-land. This calmness and equa-
bility pervades his writings, and for this reason they
have been thought to want life and energy ; whereas
in reality they are only deficient in contrast, and light
and shade. The uniformity of his active character is
interesting as one great element of his success ; but the
uniformity of style may perhaps be thought by some
380 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
readers to diminish the interest with which his work is
read.
The simple beanty of his language is, as Cicero says,
statuesque rather than picturesque. Simple, severe,
naked — " omni omatu orationis tanquam veste detracto ;'
and whilst, like a statue, it conveys the idea of perfect
and well-proportioned beauty, it banishes all thoughts
of human passion. It was this perfect calm propriety,
perhaps, this absence of all ornamental display, which
prevented him from being a successful orator, and his
orations from surviving, although he had every external
qualification for a speaker * — a fine voice, graceful action,
a noble and majestic appearance, and a frank and brilliant
delivery.
The very few instances of doubtful Latinity which a
hypercritical spirit may detect are scarcely blemishes, and
fewer than might have been expected from the observation
of Hirtius, 2 " Ceteri quam bene at que emendate, nos etiam,
quam facile ac celeriter eos perscripserit, scimus." When
A. Pollio 3 called his " Commentaries " hasty, his criticism
was fan ; but he was scarcely just in blaming the ^yriter
for inaccuracy and credulity. These faults, so far as they
existed, were due to circumstances, not to himself. His
observing mind wished to collect information with respect
to the foreign lands which were the field of his exploits,
and the habits of the inhabitants, quite as much as to
describe his own tactics and victories. He naturally
accepted the accounts given him, even when he had no
means of testing their veracity. He is, therefore, not
to blame for recording those which subsequent discoveries
have shown to be untrue.
His digressions of this character yield in interest to no
portion of his work ; and though some of his accounts of
the Grauls and Germans are incorrect, many were sub-
Brut. 71, 72, 75. 2 Prsef. to book viii. 3 Suet. 56.
i esar's modesty overrated. 381
sequently confirmed by the investigations of Tacitus.
The only quality in the character of Caesar which has
been sometimes exaggerated is modesty. He does not,
indeed, add to his own reputation by detracting from the
merits of those who served under him. He is honest,
generous, and candid, not only towards them, but also
towards his brave barbarian enemies. Nor is he guilty
of egotism in tlie strict literal sense of the term. This,
however, is scarcely enough to warrant the eulogy which
some have founded upon it. He has too good taste to
recount his successes with pretension and arrogance ; but
he has evidently no objection to be the hero of his own
tale. He skilfully veils his selfish, unpatriotic, and
ambitious motives ; and his object evidently is to leave
such niernoirs, that future historiaus may be able to hand
down the most favourable character of Caesar to posterity.
Though himself is his subject, his memoirs are not
confessions. Xot a record of a weakness appears, nor
even of a defect, except that which the Eomans would
readily forgive, cruelty. His savage waste of human life
he recounts with perfect self-complacency. Vanity was
his crowning error in his career as a statesman ; and
though hidden by the reserve with which he speaks of
himself, sometimes discovers itself in the historian.
The " Commentaries " of Caesar have sometimes been
compared with the work of the great soldier-historian of
Greece, Xenophon. Both are eminently simple and un-
affected; but there the parallel ends. The severe con-
tempt of ornament which characterizes the stern Eoman
is totally unlike the mellifluous sweetness of the Attic
writer.
The " Anticatones " l were two books in answer to
Cicero's panegyric of Cato, which he had written imme-
. diately after the philosopher's death. Hirtius first, at
Juv. vi. 338 ; Suet. 56 ; Gell. iv. 16 ; Cic. Div. ii. 9.
382 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
the request of Caesar, wrote a reply, and sent it to Cicero
from Narbonne. Although he denied the justice of
Cicero's eulogium, he secured the good- will of the orator
himself by liberal commendations. 1 This prepared the
way for Caesar's own pamphlet.
His philological work, de Analogia, or de Ratione Latine
Loquendi, is commended by Cicero 2 for its extreme ac-
curacy, and was held in high estimation by the Roman
grammarians. Probably, in liveliness and originality it
was far superior to any of their works. Wonderful to
say, it was written during the difficulties and occupations
of a journey across the Alps. From the quotations from
it, in the writings of the grammarians, we learn that he
proposed that the letter Y should be written ii, to mark
its connexion with the Greek digamma ; and that the
new orthography, which substituted lacrimce for lucrumce,
maximus for maxumus, &c, was established by his au-
thority.
The " Apophthegmata " is said to have been a collection
of wise and witty sayings by liimself and others, although
it is remarkable not a single witty saying of Caesar is on
record. 3 He began it early in life, and was continually
making additions to it.
His poetical attempts consisted of a tragedy entitled
" OEdipus ;" a short piece, the subject of which was the
praises of Hercules (both of these, as well as the Apo-
phthegmata, were suppressed by Augustus) ; " Iter," an
account of his march into Spain ; the astronomical poem
already mentioned ; and some epigrams of which three
are extant, although their authenticity is somewhat
doubtful. 5
1 Ad Att. xii. 40, 41, 44, 45.; xiii. 37, 40, 48, 50. 2 Cic. Brut. 72.
3 See Nieb. L. R. H. xcv. ; Suet. 66 ; Cic. ad Fam. ix. 16.
4 Meyer's Lat. Anthol. 68, 69, 70.
5 A. Gellius tells us (xvii. 9) that lie was the author of Letters to Oppius,
written in cipher, of which he gives the following interesting descrip-
tion : — " Erat conventum inter eos clandestinum de commutando situ
CHARACTER OF CyESAR. 383
The character of Csesar is full of inconsistencies; but
they are the inconsistencies which are natural to man,
and are sometimes found in men of a strong will and
commanding' talents who are destitute of moral principle.
His faults and excellences, his capability and talents,
were the result of his natural powers — not of pains or
study. He was one of the greatest as well as one of the
worst nien who ever lived. He was an Epicurean in
faith, and yet he had all the superstition which so often
accompanies infidelity. His habitual humanity and
clemency towards his fellow-citizens were interrupted by
instances of stern and pitiless cruelty. He shed tears
at the assassination of Pompey, and yet could massacre
the Usipetes and the Tenchteri, and acted like a savage
barbarian towards his chivalrous foe Yercingetorix. He
delighted in the pure and refined pleasures of literature,
and his intimate associates were men of taste and genius ;
and yet he was the slave of his sensual passions, and
indulged in the grossest profligacy. He was candid,
friendly, confiding, generous; but he was attracted by
brilliant talents, and the qualities of the head, rather than
the affections of the heart. The mainspring of his con-
duct as a general and a statesman exhibits a strong will
and perfect self-reliance ; and in like manner he owes
the energy of his style of writing, and the persuasive
force of his oratory, to the influence of no other minds :
they are the natural fruit of clear perceptions, a pene-
trating intellect, an observing mind capable of taking a
wide and comprehensive view of its subject. Men of varied
acquirements and extensive knowledge, but of pedantic
taste, are said to talk like books, the writings of Csesar,
on the contrary, are like lively and unconstrained con-
literarum ut inscriptio quidem alia alius locum et nomen teneret sed in
legendo locus cuique suus et potestas restitueretur." Suetonius (Vit. Caes.
56) describes in the same way the nature of the cipher which he used, and
illustrates it by saying that he used to put d for a and so forth.
384 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
versation : they have all the reality which constitutes
the great charm of his character.
He was above affectation, for his was a mind born to
lead the age in which he lived, not to think with others
merely in deference to established usage and custom ; and
although his natural vanity and self-confidence led him
to set his own character in the most favourable light, his
vanity was honest : he had no intention wilfully to
deceive. His wonderful memory fitted him for the task
of faithfully recording the events in which he himself
was an actor ; and his power of attention and abstraction,
which enabled him to write, converse, and dictate at the
same time, shows how -valuable must be a work on which
were concentrated at once all the energies of his pene-
trating mind.
so
( 885 )
CHAPTER XII.
LIFE OF SALLUST — HIS INSINCERITY — HIS HISTORICAL WORKS —
HE WAS A BITTER OPPONENT OF THE NEW ARISTOCRACY —
PROFLIGACY OF THAT ORDER — HIS STYLE COMPARED WITH
THAT OF THUCYDIDES — HIS VALUE AS AN HISTORIAN — TROGUS
POMPEIUS — HIS HISTORIC PHILIPPICS.
C. Sallustius Crispus (born b.c. 85).
C. Sallustius Crispus was fifteen years junior to Caesar :
he was born at Amitemum, 1 in the territory of the
Sabines, a.u.c. 669, b.c. 85. He was a member of
a plebeian family ; but, having served the offices of tribune
and quaestor, attained senatorial rank. In a.u.c. 704,
he was expelled from the senate 2 by the censors Ap.
Claudius Pulcher and L. Calpurnius Piso. 3 It is said
that, although he was " a most severe censurer of the
licentiousness of others, 5 ' 4 he was a profligate man himself,
and that the scandal of an intrigue with Fausta, the
daughter of Sulla and the wife of Milo, was the cause of
his degradation.
Through the influence of Caesar, whose party he es-
poused, he was restored to his rank, and subsequently
became praetor. He accompanied his patron in the
African war, and was made governor of Numidia.
Whilst in that capacity, he accumulated by rapacity and
extortion enormous wealth, 5 which he lavished on ex-
1 Matth. H. L. 2 Heind. on Hor. Sat. p. 40. a Dion. Cas. xi. 63.
' Macjob. Saturn, ii. 9. 5 Dion, xliii. 9.
2 C
386 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
pensive but tasteful luxury. The gardens on the Quirinal
which bore his name were celebrated for their beauty;
and beneath their alleys, and porticoes, surrounded by the
choicest works of art, he avoided the tumultuous scenes
of civil strife which ushered in the empire, and devoted
his retirement to composing the historical records which
survived him. His death took place B.C. 35.
Those who have wished to defend the character of
Sallust from the charges of immorality, to which allusion
has been made, have attributed them to the groundless
calumnies of Lenseus, a freedman of Csesar's great rival
Pompey. It is not improbable that his faults may
have been exaggerated by the malevolence of party- spirit
in those factious times ; but there are no sentiments in
his works which can constitute a defence of him. If an
historian is distinguished by a high moral tone of feeling,
this quality cannot but show itself in his writings without
intention or design. But in Sallust there is always an
affectation and pretence of morality without the reality.
His philosopliical reflections at the commencement of
the Jugurthine and Catilinarian wars are empty, cold, and
heartless. There is a display of commonplace sentiment,
and an expressed admiration of the old Eoman virtue of
bygone days, but no appearance of sincerity. The lan-
guage may be pointed enough to produce an effect upon
the ear, but the sentiments always fail to probe the
recesses of the heart. Sallust lived in an immoral and
corrupt age ; and though, perhaps, he was not amongst
the worst of his contemporaries, he had not sufficient
strength of principle to resist the force of example and
temptation.
It is almost certain that, as a provincial governor,
Sallust was not more unscrupulous than others of his
class ; but wealth such as he possessed could not have
been acquired except by extortion and maladministration.
As a politician, he was equally unsatisfactory : he was a
DEFECTS AND MERITS OF SALLUST. 387
mere partisan of Caesar, and, therefore, a strenuous oppo-
nent of the higher classes as supporters of Pompey ; but
he was not an honest champion of popular rights, nor was
he capable of understanding the meaning of patriotism.
If, however, we make some allowance for the political
Mas of Sallust, which is evident throughout his works,
his histories have not only the charms of the historical
romance, but are also valuable political studies. His
characters are vigorously and naturally drawn, as though
he not only personally knew them, but accurately under-
stood them. The more his histories are read, the more
will it be discovered that he always writes with an object.
He eschews the very idea of a mere dry chronicle of
facts, and uses his facts as the means of enforcing a great
political lesson.
For this reason, like Thucydides, whom he evidently
took as his model, not only in style but in the use of
his materials, his speeches are his own compositions.
Even when he had an opportunity, as in the case of
Caesar's and Cato's speeches in the " BellumCatilinarium"
he contented himself with giving the substance of them,
clothed it in his own language, and embodied in them
his own sentiments. According to his own statement,
there is one exception to his practice in this respect.
He asserts that the speech of Memmius, the tribune
of the people, 1 is the very one which he delivered. If
this be really the case, it is a most valuable example
of the style in which a popular leader addressed his
audience. But it is to be feared that this is not strictly
and literally true : the style is, indeed, somewhat different
from that of the other speeches, but does not exhibit
freedom enough to assure us that he has actually reported
it as delivered. It may be only a specimen of that con-
summate skill which constitutes the principal charm of
1 Jug. c. 30.
2 c 2
388 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Sallust's manner, and made him a complete master of
composition. Sallust never attempted anything more
than detached portions of Roman history. " I have
determined," he says, "to write only select portions of
Roman history " (carptim perscribere). 1 He himself
gives an explanation of his motives for so doing, 2 when
he complains of the manner in which this department
of literature was neglected. Wherever a satisfactory
account existed, he thought it unnecessary to travel over
the same ground a second time.
His first work, reckoning according to the chronological
order of events, is the Jugurthine war, which commenced
B.C. Ill, and ended B.C. 106. The next period, com-
prehending the Social war and the war of Sulla, extending
as far as the consulship of M. iEmilius Lepidus, b.c 78,
had already been related by Sisenna, a friend of Cicero. 3
Where Sisenna left off, the Histories of Sallust (His-
toriarum Libri V.), began, and continued the narrative
without interruption until the prsetorship of Cicero. 4 This
work is unfortunately lost, with the exception of some
letters and speeches, and a few fragments relating to the
war of Spartacus. Niebuhr 5 considers this one of the most
deplorable losses in Roman literature ; less, however, on
account of its historical importance, than as a perfect
model of historical composition. A break of two years
ensues, and then follows the " Bellum Catilinarium" or
history of the Catilinarian conspiracy in the year of
Cicero's consulship. 6
This completes the list of those works which are un-
doubtedly genuine. No satisfactory opinion has been
arrived at respecting the authorship of the two letters to
Csesar, " De Republicd Ordinanda ;" and it is now un-
hesitatingly admitted, that the declamation against Cicero
Cat. iv. 2 Bel. Cat. vii. 3 De Leg. i. 2 ; Brut. 64.
4 b. c. 66. 5 Lect. R. H. lxxxviii. 6 b. c. 63.
SOCIAL CONDITION OF ROME. 389
must have been, as well as its counterpart the declama-
tion against Sallust, the work of some rhetorical writer
of a later period. The subject of this imaginary dis-
putation was naturally suggested by the known fact that
►Sallust was no friend to Cicero.
It has already been stated, that Sallust was a bitter
opponent of the principles and policy of the aristocratic
party ; but it must be carefully explained what is meant
by that assertion. The object of his hatred was not the
old patrician blood of Koine, but the new aristocracy,
which had of late years been rapidly rising up and dis-
placing it.
This new nobility was utterly corrupt ; and their cor-
ruption was encouraged by the venality of the masses,
whose poverty and destitution tempted them to be the
tools of unscrupulous ambition. Everything at Eome,
as Juvenal said in later times, had its price. Sallust adds
to the severity of his strictures upon his countrymen by
the force of contrast; he represents even Jugurtha as
asserting that the republic itself might be bought if a
purchaser could be found; and paints the barbarian as
more honest and upright than his conquerors. The
ruined and abandoned associates of Catiline represented
a numerous class among the younger members of the
upper classes, who, by lives devoted to lawless pleasures,
had become ruined, reckless, and demoralized. They
were ripe for revolution, because they had nothing to
lose : they could not gratify their vicious propensities
without wealth ; they had no principles or scruples as to
the means of acquiring it ; their best prospects were in
anarchy, proscription, and confiscation. The debauched
and ruined nobleman, and the vulgar profligate of the
lowest class, forgot their mutual differences, and thus a
combination was formed, the members of which were the
sink and outscourings of society.
Such degenerate profligacy is an ample justification of
390 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Sallust's hatred towards the new aristocracy; and the
object of all his works evidently was to place that party
in the unfavourable light which it deserved. In the
Jugurthine war he describes the unworthiness of the
foreign policy of Eome under its maladministration.
His " Histories," according to the statement of Mebuhr,
describe the popular resistance to the revolutionary
policy of Sulla, the profligate leader of the same party ;
and in the " Catilinarian War" he paints in vivid colours
the depravity of that order of society, who, bankrupt in
fortune and dead to all honourable feelings, still plumed
themselves on their rank and exclusiveness. Neverthe-
less, notwithstanding the truthfulness of the picture
which Sallust draws, selfishness and not patriotism was
the mainspring of his politics ; and it is scarcely possible
to avoid seeing that he is anxious to set himself off to
the best advantage. His hollo wness is that of a vain
and conceited man, who measures himself by too high a
standard, and appears chagrined and disappointed that
others do not estimate him as highly as he does himself.
These are the blots in his character as a man and a
citizen ; but we must not forget his real merits as an
historian. To him must be conceded the praise of
having first conceived the notion of a history in the true
sense of the term. He saw the lamentable defects in the
abortive attempts made by his predecessors j 1 and the
model was a good one which he left for his successors to
follow. It is scarcely too much to suppose, that if it had
not been for Sallust, Livy might not have been led to
conceive his vast and comprehensive plan. He was the
first Eoman historian, and the guide to future historians.
Again, his style, although almost ostentatiously elaborate
and artificial, and not without affectation, is, upon the
whole, pleasing, and almost always transparently clear.
1 Cat. vii ,
STYLE OF SALLUST. 891
The caution of Qiiintilian respecting his well-known
brevity (" vitanda est ilia Sallustiana brevitas" 1 ) is well-
timed in his work, as being addressed to orators, for
public speaking necessarily requires a more diffuse style ;
and it is probable that Quintilian would not appreciate
its merits, because he himself was a rhetorician, and his
taste was formed in a rhetorical age. Seneca, for the
same reasons, finds similar faults, not only with Sallust,
but with the favourite literature of his day. " When
Sallust flourished, abrupt sentences, unexpected cadences,
obscure expressions, were considered signs of a cultivated
taste/' 2 But the brevity of Sallust does not produce the
effect of harsh or disagreeable abruptness, whilst it keeps
the attention awake, and impresses the facts upon the
memory. How powerful and suggestive, for example,
how abundant in material for thought, are those few words
in which he describes Pompey as " oris probi, animo
inverecundo I" There is, however, this difference between
the brevity of Sallust and that of his supposed model,
Thucydides. That of the Greek historian was natural
and involuntary ; that of the Eoman intentional and the
result of imitation. Thucydides thought more quickly
than he could write : his closely-packed ideas and con-
densed constructions, therefore, constitute a species of
short-hand, by which alone he could keep pace with the
rapidity of his intellect. He is, therefore, always vigor-
ous and suggestive; and the necessities of the case
make the reader readily pardon the difficulties of his
style.
The brevity of Thucydides is the result of condensa-
tion ; that of Sallust is elliptical expression. He gives a
hint, and the reader must supply the rest ; whilst Thu-
cydides only expects his readers to unfold and develop
ideas which already existed in a concentrated form.
1 Quint. I. 0. x. 1. " 2 Ep. cxiv.
392 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Sallust requires addition; Thycidides dilution and ex-
pansion. Neither does the brevity of Sallust resemble
that of Caesar or of Tacitus : the former was straight-
forward and business-like, requiring neither addition nor
expansion, because he wished to make his statements as
clearly as they were capable of being expressed, without
ornament or exaggeration. He was brief, because he
never wished to say more than was absolutely necessary,
and therefore his brevity is the very cause of perspicuity.
The mind of Tacitus was, from its thoughtfulness and
philosophical character, the very counterpart of that of
Thucydides : his brevity was therefore natural, and the
result of the same causes.
There is one point of view in which Sallust is inva-
luable as an historian. He had always an object to which
he wished all his facts to converge : he brought forward,
his facts as illustrations and developments of principles.
He analysed and exposed the motives of parties, and the
secret springs which actuated the conduct of individuals,
and laid bare the inner life of those great actors on the
public stage, in the interesting historical scenes which he
undertakes to describe.
Trogus Pompeius.
Trogus Pompeius was a voluminous historian of the
Augustan age, whose father was private secretary to
Julius CaBsar. 1 His work was of such vast extent, and
embraced so great a variety of subjects, that it has even
been termed by Justin, who published a large collection
of extracts from it, an Universal History. Its title, how-
ever, " Historice Philippicw" proves the writer's primary
object was the history of the Macedonian monarchy,
together with the kingdoms which arose out of it at the
death of Alexander ; and that all the rest of the informa-
Justin, xliii, 5.
HISTORY OF TROGUS POMPEIUS. 393
tion contained in it were digressions into which he was
naturally led, and episodes incidentally introduced into
the main stream of the history.
For the materials contained in his work, which con-
sisted of forty-four books, he was indebted to the Greek
historians ; but especially to Theopompus of Chios, 1 from
whose principal work he derived the title, " Philippica"
as well as the practice of branching out into long and fre-
quent digressions. It is easy to imagine over how vast
an area a history of the Macedonian empire was capable of
extending. The subjugation of the East by the conquests
of Alexander naturally made a rapid sketch of the
Assyrian, Median, and Persian empires, an appropriate
introduction to the work : the connexion of Persia with
Greece and Egypt furnished an opportunity of embody-
ing the records of Greek history, and a description of
Egypt and its inhabitants. Once embarked in Greek
history, the writer pursued it until it became interwoven,
through the interference of Philip, with the affairs of
Macedon. Alexander and his successors succeed: the
campaigns of Pyrrhus bring the Eomans upon the stage ;
Carthage and Sicily for a while occupy the scene ; and the
main body of the work is completed by a sketch of the
gradual consolidation of that vast empire, of which sub-
jugated Macedonia became a province. Nor is this all —
other less important nations, cities, and states are ever
and anon introduced, according as they act their part in
the great drama of history.
Born b. c. 378.
394 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER XIII.
LIFE OF LIVY — HIS OBJECT IN WRITING HIS HISTORY — ITS
SPIRIT AND CHARACTER — LIVY PRECISELY SUITED TO HIS
AGE — NOT WILFULLY INACCURATE — HIS POLITICAL BIAS
ACCOUNTED FOR — MATERIALS WHICH HE MIGHT HAVE USED
— SOURCES OF HIS HISTORY — HIS DEFECTS AS AN HISTORIAN
— HIS STYLE — GRAMMARIANS — VITRUVIUS POLLIO AN AU-
GUSTAN WRITER — CONTENTS OF HIS WORK.
T. Liyius Patayinus (born b. c. 59).
The biographical records of many great literary men of
Eome are most meagre and unsatisfactory. Modern
critics who have written their lives have drawn largely
npon their own imaginations for their materials ; whilst
all the information to be derived from ancient writers is
often comprised in a few vague allusions and notices.
Some of these have been misunderstood, and from others
unwarrantable deductions have been derived. These ob-
servations are particularly applicable to him who is the
only illustrious Eoman historian in the Augustan age.
Universal tradition assigns to Patavium (Padua) the
honour of being the birthplace of Titus Livius ; but not-
withstanding the general belief, some doubt has been
thrown upon the fact by an epigram of Martial. 1 He
came to Pome during the reign of Augustus, where he
resided in the enjoyment of the imperial favour and
patronage. 2 He was a warm and open admirer of the
ancient institutions of the country, and esteemed Pompey
1 Ep. I. 62. 2 Tac. Ann. iv. 34.
BIOGRAPHY OF LIVY. 395
as one of its greatest heroes ; but Augustus, with his
usual liberality, did not allow political opinions to inter-
fere with the regard which he entertained for the his-
torian. Livy had a great admiration for oratory, and
advised his son to study the writings of Demosthenes
and Cicero. 1 At his recommendation the stupid Claudius
wrote history ; 2 and it has even been asserted, though on
insufficient authority, that he was his instructor. His
fame rapidly spread beyond the limits of Italy, for Pliny
the younger 3 relates that an inhabitant of Cadiz came to
Eome for the express purpose of seeing him ; a fact which
St. Jerome 4 expands into an assertion that many noble
Grauls and Spaniards were attracted to the capital, far
more by the reputation of Livy than by the splendour of
the imperial city.
His great work is a history of Eome, which he modestly
terms " Annals," in one hundred and forty-two books,
preceded by a brief but elaborately- written preface, 5 and
extending from the earliest traditions to the death of
Drusus. 6 Of this history thirty-five books are extant,
winch were discovered at different periods. 7 Of the rest
we have only dry and meagre epitomes, drawn up by
some uncertain author, and of these two are lost. 8 Besides
his History, Livy is said 9 to have written books which
professed to be philosophical, and dialogues, the subjects
of which are partly philosophical and partly historical.
Late in life he returned to Patavium, and there died
a. d. 18, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 10 He left
one son and one daughter, who married L. Magius, a
teacher of rhetoric, of no great talent, who owed his re-
putation principally to his connexion with the historian. 11
Livy had one great object in view in writing his His-
1 Quint, x. i. 39. 2 Suet. V. CI. 41. 3 Ep. II. 3.
4 Nisard, ii. 405. 5 Lib. xliii. 13. 6 b. c. 9.
~> See Smith's Biog. ii. 791. 8 Viz., 136 and 137. 9 Sen. Suasor. 100.
'" Euseb. Chron. " Sen. Proem, to Controv. V.
396 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
tory, namely, to celebrate the glories of his native country,
to which he was devotedly attached. He was a patriot :
his sympathy was with Pompey, called forth by the dis-
interestedness of that great man, and perhaps by his sad
end, after having so long enjoyed universal popularity.
The character of the historian would lead us to suppose
that his attachment was personal rather than political,
for the general spirit of his work shows that he was a
man of pure mind and gentle feelings. He began his
great work about nine or ten years before the Christian
era, a period singularly favourable for such a design. The
passages in which especially he delights to put forth his
powers, and on which he dwells with the greatest zest,
show the truth of Quintilian's well-known criticism, " that
he is especially the historian of the affections, particularly
of the softer sensibilities." 1 A lost battle is misery to
him ; he trembles at the task of relating it. Nor does
he appear to have been a stern republican. He could
admire enthusiastically, and describe with spirit, the noble
qualities and self-devotion which the old republican
freedom fostered; but his object is rather to paint the
heroes, and to give graphic representations of the
struggles which they maintained in defence of liberty,
than to show any love of liberty in the abstract, or a predi-
lection for any particular form of constitution. To Livy
political struggles were no more than subjects for pic-
turesque delineations, the moral of which was the elevation
of national grandeur, just as successful foreign wars were
the records of national glory. Hence he is a biographer
quite as much as an historian : he anatomizes the moral
nature of his heroes, and shows their inner man, and the
motive springs of their noble exploits. This gives to his
narratives the charm of an historical romance, and makes
up for the want of accurate research and political observa-
Inst. Or. x. 1.
LIT* PRECISELY SUITED TO 1TTS ACK. 307
tion. His characters stand before us objectively, like
epic heroes ; and thus he is " the Homer of the Eoman
people," whilst the charm of his narratives makes him the
" Herodotus of Eoman historians."
Borne was now the mistress of the world : her struggles
with foreign nations had been rewarded with universal
dominion; so that when the Eoman empire was spoken
of, no title less comprehensive than " the world" (orbis)
woidd satisfy the national vanity. The horrors of civil
war had ceased, and were succeeded by an amnesty of its
bitter feuds and bloody animosities. Liberty indeed had
perished, but the people were no longer fit for the enjoy-
ment of it ; and it was exchanged for a mild and paternal
rule, under which all the refinements of civilization were
encouraged, and its subjects could enjoy undisturbed the
blessings of peace and security.
Eome, therefore, had rest and breathing-time to look
back into the past — to trace the successive steps by which
that marvellous edifice, the Eoman empire, had been con-
structed. She could do this, too, with perfect self-com-
placency, for there was no symptom of decay to check
her exultation, or to mar the glories which she was
contemplating.
Livy, the good, the affectionate, the romantic, was pre-
cisely the popular historian for such times as these. His
countrymen looked naturally for panegyric rather than
for criticism. They were not in a temper to bear one
who could remorselessly tear open and expose to view all
the faults and blemishes which blotted the pages of their
history ; who could be a morose and querulous praiser of
times gone by, never to return, at the expense of their
present greatness and prosperity. He lived in happy
times, before Eome had learnt by sad experience what
the tyranny of absolutism really was. He tells his story
like a bard singing his lay at a joyous and festive meet-
ing, chequered by alternate successes and reverses, pros-
398 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
perity and adversity, but all tending to a happy end at
last. These features of his character, and this object of
his work, whilst they constitute his peculiar charm as a
narrator, obviously render him less valuable as an historian.
Although he was not tasteless and spiritless, like Dionysius,
he was not so trustworthy. He would not be wilfully
inaccurate, or otherwise than truth-telling; but if the
legend he was about to tell was captivating and interest-
ing, he would not stop to inquire whether or no it was
true. He would take upon trust the traditions which
had been handed down from generation to generation
without inquiry; and the more flattering and popular
they were, the more suitable would he deem them for
his purpose. Without being himself necessarily super-
stitious, he would see that superstitious marvels added to
the embelhshments of his story, and, therefore, would
accept them without pronouncing upon their truth or
falsehood.
Wilful unfairness can never be attributed to Livy : he
was prejudiced, but he was not party-spirited. He loved
his country and his countrymen, and could scarcely per-
suade himself of the possibility of their doing wrong. He
could scarcely believe anything derogatory to the national
glory. When (to take a striking example), in the case of
the treaty with Porsena, there were two opposite stories,
he was led by this partiality to ignore the well-authen-
ticated fact of the capture of Eome, and to adopt that
account which was most creditable to his countrymen. 1
Whenever Eome was false to treaties, unmerciful in vic-
tory, or unsuccessful in arms, he is always anxious to
find excuses. His predilections are evidently aristocratic ;
and although he states the facts fairly, he wishes his
reader to sympathise with the patricians.
The plebeians of the days in which he lived were not
1 See Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 39, and Tac. Hist. iii. 72.
STATE OF THE LOWER ORDERS. 399
the fair representatives of that enterprising class in the
early ages of the republic, who were as well born as the
patricians, although of different blood ; the strength and
sinew r s of the state in its exhausting wars — dependent only
upon them from stern necessity, because they were ground
down to the dust by poverty, and debt, and oppression,
but independently maintaining themselves by their own
industry, gradually acquiring wealth, rising to the position
of a middle class, waning their way perseveringly, step
by step, to political privileges.
The lower orders of Borne, in the time of Livy, for the
term plebeian, in its original sense, was no longer ap-
plicable, were debased and degraded ; they cared not for
liberty, or political power, or self-government ; their
bosoms throbbed not with sympathy for the old plebeians,
who retired to Mount Sacer, and shed their blood for
their principles. It was difficult, therefore, for him not
to believe that the popular leaders of old times were un-
principled men, who sought to repair their fortunes by
the arts of the demagogue. In his eyes resistance to
tyranny was treason and rebellion. 1 But when, as in the
story of Virginia, his gentler affections were enlisted,
Livy's heart warmed with a generous admiration towards
the champions of the people's rights, and his political
predilections gave way to his sensibilities. In treating
of history almost contemporaneous, Tacitus confesses his
liberality. Although it might have rendered him more
acceptable at the court of his patron if he had vilified Ins
political foes, yet even imperial favour, acting on the
same side as political prejudice, did not tempt him to un-
fairness. 2 He could see and acknowledge noble qualities
and disinterested patriotism, and give credit for sincere
motives, even to those who differed in political opinions.
1 See i. 50 ; iv. 35 ; vi. 27.
1 Augustus, according to Tacitus (Ann. iv. 3), thought Livy so violent a
Pompeian that he once forbade one of his grandsons to read his history.
400 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
From a character such as has been described, much
care is not to be expected as to the sources from which
historical information was derived. Many original docu-
ments must have existed in his day, which he evidently
never took the trouble to consult. A rich treasure of
original monuments relating to foreign and domestic
affairs were ready at hand, which might have been ex-
amined without much trouble. 1 The great Annals of the
Pontifex Maximus were digested into eighty books ; and
these contained the names of the magistrates, all memorable
events at home and abroad — even the very days on which
they occurred being marked. The commentaries not
only of the priests and augurs, but of the civil magis-
trates, were kept with exactness and regularity. There
is no reason for supposing that the Libri Lintei 2 were
lost in Livy's time, although he quotes from Licinius
Macer, 3 instead of consulting them himself. Three thou-
sand brazen tablets, on which were engraved acts of the
senate and the plebeians, extending backwards (says
Suetonius 4 ) almost to the building of the city, existed in
the Capitol until it was burnt in the reign of Vespasian.
The corpus of civil law, which is known to have existed
in the time of Cicero, 5 was full of antiquarian lore ; and
the twelve tables furnished invaluable information, not
only on language, but on the manners and habits of
bygone times. Nevertheless, the fragments of the Leges
Regice and the laws of the twelve tables have been more
carefully examined by critics of modern times than they
were by Livy, when they existed in a more perfect con-
dition.
Lachmann 6 has satisfactorily shown that the assertions
of Livy are not based upon personal investigation, but
1 Cic. Or. ii. 12 ; Quint, x. 2, 7 ; Serv. in ^3n. i. 373.
2 See Arnold's Hist, of Rome. 3 Lib. x. 38 ; iv. 7, 23.
4 Vesp. 8. See also Tac. Hist. iii. 71. 3 Or. i. 43.
6 Com. de Font. Hist. Liv.
SOURCES OF THE HISTORY OF LIVY. 401
that he trusted to the annalists, and took advantage of
the researches of preceding historians. This is all that he
himself professes to do ; and even these professions he does
not always satisfactorily perform. He does not appear to
have profited by the Annals of Varro or the Origines of
Cato, a work which, according to the testimony of Cicero,
must have been invaluable to an historian ; and although
the Arehaeologia of Dionysius were published about the
time at which Livy commenced his history, 1 there is no
evidence that he makes use of it ; certainly he never ac-
knowledges any obligation to the indefatigable researches
of the Greek historian. According to his own confession, 2
Roman history is total darkness until the capture of Rome
by the Gauls ; and although a dim light then begins to
break, a twilight period succeeds, which continues until
the first Punic war. But it cannot be asserted that he
prepared liimself for his difficult task as he ought, or took
advantage of all the means at his disposal to enlighten
the obscurity in which his subject was involved. The
authorities on which he principally depends for the con-
tents of the first Decade were such as Ennius, Fab. Pictor,
Cincius, and Piso. It is evident that he also consulted
Greek writers. In the third, which contains the most
beautiful and elaborate passages of the whole work, he
follows Polybius. Nor could he, in this portion of his
history, follow a safer one. The Romans, notwithstand-
ing all their practical tendencies, did little to promote
geographical science. It is amongst the Greeks that we
find the most accurate and indefatigable geographers, such
as were Polybius, Strabo, and Ptolemy.
Polybius prepared liimself for the task of narrating the
Italian campaign of Hannibal by personal inspection.
Livy did nothing of the kind. The former travelled
Vide Niebuhr (Lect. on Eom. Lit. vii.), who takes the opposite view.
Lib. ii. 21 ; iv. 7 ; vi. 1.
2 1)
402 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
through the Alpine passes ; and his authority was con-
sidered so good that Strabo implicitly followed him. It
is to be lamented that, as he was writing to his country-
men, he seldom mentions the names of places ; probably
he thought they would not be the wiser for the enumera-
tion of unknown barbarian names. But his accuracy in
dates and distances enables us to trace Hannibal's route
with correctness. These prove that the passage of Han-
nibal was by the Alpis Grraia, the Little St. Bernard ; a
statement which had been made by that veracious 1 his-
torian, Caelius Antipater, and also by Cornelius ISTepos. 2
Ifc has been since confirmed by the researches of modern
travellers, such as General Melville, M. de Luc, Cramer,
and Wiekham. Strange to say, Livy, although following
the route marked out by Polybius almost step by step,
at length ends it with the Alpis Cottia (M. Grenevre).
The absence of names left the fireside traveller at fault.
Csesar 3 had crossed the Alps by that pass ; and, perhaps,
Livv named it at a venture, as the most familiar to hnn.
In the succeeding portions of his work, so complete is the
confidence which he reposes upon the guidance of Poly-
bius, that the fourth and fifth Decades are little more
than the history of Polybius paraphrased.
Niebuhr, 4 from internal evidence, gives an interesting
account of the manner in which it is probable that Livy
wrote his history. He supposes that, like most of the
ancients, he employed a secretary, who read to him from
existing authorities the events of a single year. These
the historian mentally arranged, and then dictated his
own narrative. The work, therefore, was composed in
portions ; the connexion of the events of one year with
1 Val. Max. i. 7 ; ad Att. xiii. 8.
2 V. Harm. 22. Cornelius Nepos says that the Alpis Graia derived its
name from Hercules having passed by that route. Probably the real
derivation of the epithet is the root of the German " Grau."
3 Bell. Gall. i. 11. 4 R. L. Lect. viii.
DEFICIENCIES OF LIVY. 403
those of the preceding one was lost sight of, and thus
they seem isolated ; and the conclusion of a series of events
sometimes unaccountably synchronizes with the conclusion
of a year.
To his deficiencies in the habit of diligent and accurate
investigation are added others which singularly disqualify
him for the task of a faithful historian. He was a reader
of books rather than a student of men and things : he took
upon trust what other people told him, instead of acquir-
ing knowledge in a practical manner. He was ill-ac-
quainted with the history of foreign countries. He was
not, like Caesar, a soldier ; and therefore his descriptions of
military affairs are often vague and indistinct, for he did
not understand the tactics which he professed to describe.
He was not, like Thucydides, a politician or a philosopher ;
and hence the little trustworthy information which we
derive from him on questions connected with constitu-
tional changes. He did not fit himself, like Herodotus,
by travelling ; and thus he is often ignorant of the locali-
ties which he describes, even though they are within the
limits of Italy. Hence the difficulties in the way of un-
derstanding the route of Hannibal and his army across
the Alps, the battle of Thrasimene, and the defeat at the
Caudine Forks. He was not a philosopher, a lawyer, or
a politician : he could embrace with the eye and depict
with the hand of an artist everything which was external
and tangible ; but he could not penetrate the secret motives
which actuate the human will, nor form a clear concep-
tion of the fundamental legal and political principles
which animated the institutions, and gave rise to the
peculiarities, of Eoman constitutional history.
With respect to the speeches which he attributes to his
principal heroes, a greater degree of accuracy cannot be ex-
pected, than is found in those of Thucydides. But they do
not possess that verisimilitude which is so admirable in
those of the Greek historian. As works of art they are fault-
2d 2
404 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
less, but Livy does not keep in view the principle adhered
to by Thucydides, that they should be such as the speakers
were likely to have delivered on the occasions in question.
His great authority, Polybius, disapproves of imaginary
speeches altogether j 1 but it must be remembered that,
without some oratorical display, he would not have pleased
the Eoman people. The speeches of Thucydides, although
they bear the stamp of the writer's mind, are, to a certain
extent, characteristic of the speaker, and seem inspired by
the occasion. If a Spartan speaks, he is laconic ; if a
general, he is soldier-like ; if a statesman or a demagogue,
he is logical or argumentative, or appeals to the feelings
and passions of the Athenian people. Consistency pro-
duces variety. The speeches of Livy are pleasing and
eloquent, 2 but they are always, so to speak, Livian ;
they are frequently not such as Eomans would have
spoken in times when eloquence was rude, though
forcible. They partake of the rhetorical and declama-
tory spirit, which was already beginning to creep over
Eoman literature ; and often, from being unsuitable to
time, place, and person, diminish, instead of heightening,
the dramatic effect.
Such are the principal defects which cause us to regret
that, whilst Livy charms us with his romantic narratives
and almost faultless style, he is too often a fallacious
guide as an historian, and gives, not intentionally or dis-
honestly, but from the character of his mind, and the
object which he proposed to himself, a false colouring, or
a vague and inaccurate outline to the events which he
narrates. No one can avoid relishing the liveliness, fresh-
ness, and " lactea ubertas," of Livy's fascinating style ;
but its principal excellence is summed up in the expression
of Quintiiian, " clarissimus candor" (brightness and luci-
dity). 3 On the authority of Asinius Pollio, quoted by the
Lib. ii. 56, 10. 2 Quint, x. i. 101. 3 Lib. x. i. 101.
GRAMMARIANS. 405
same writer, 1 a certain fault has been attributed to him,
termed " Patavinity," i. e., some peculiar ideas not admis-
sible in the purest Latin, which mark the place of his
nativity. So little pains do people take in the investiga-
tion of truth, and so ready are they to take upon trust
what their predecessors have believed before them, that
generation after generation have assumed that Livy's
char, eloquent, and transparent style is disfigured by
what Ave term provincialisms. 2 The penetrating mind of
Niebnhr finds no ground for believing the story. If there
is any truth in it, he supposes the criticism must have
applied to his speaking, and not to his writing. 3 His
style is always classical, even in the later decades : though
prolix and tautologous, it is invariably marked by idio-
matic purity and grammatical accuracy.
Grammarians.
The grammarians may be passed over with little more
notice than the simple mention of their names, because,
although they contributed to the stock of their country's
literature, they added little or nothing to its literary
reputation. The most conspicuous amongst them were —
Atteius Philologus, a freedman and friend of Sallust ;
Staberius Eros, who taught Brutus and Cassius; Q.
Caecilius Epirota, the correspondent of Cicero ; C. Julius
Hyginus, a Spaniard, the friend of Ovid, and curator of
the Palatine library ; Yerrius Flaccus, the tutor to the
grandsons of Augustus ; Q. Cornificius, who was augur at
the same time with Cicero ; and P. Nigidius Figulus, an
orator and philosopher as well as a grammarian.
1 Lib. viii. i. 1, 5, 56.
a Provincialism is not an accurate term ; for the worst Latin was spoken
in Italy, whilst the only Latin spoken in the provinces or conquered de-
pendencies was as polished as that of the capital.
3 Lect. It. L. viii.
406 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
M. YlTRUVIUS POLLIO.
The distinguished name of M. Yitruvius Pollio claims a
place in a catalogue of the Augustan writers. His subject,
indeed, belongs to the department of the fine arts ; but
his varied acquirements and extensive knowledge, as well
as the manner in which, notwithstanding some faults, he
treats Ms subject, shed some lustre upon Eoman litera-
ture, and stamps him as one of the didactic writers of his
country.
Little information exists respecting this celebrated
architect ; and this circumstance has led to his being con-
founded with another professor of the same art, L.
Yitruvius Cerdo. The name of the latter is thus in-
scribed on an arch, which was his work, at Verona: 1
" Q. Yitruvius L. L. Cerdo, Architectus." That Cerdo was
not the author of the treatise extant under the name of
Yitruvius, may be satisfactorily proved : — Firstly. The
letters L. L. signify that he was Lucii Libertus (the
freedman of Lucius), whereas M. Yitruvius Pollio was
born free. Secondly. The arch on which the name ap-
pears belongs to an age when the Romans had begun, in
defiance of the precepts of Pollio, to neglect the principles
of Greek arcMtecture. 2
Both the place and date of Ms birth are unknown.
According to some authorities he was born at Yerona ;
according to others at Formiae ; 3 but he himself asserts
that he received a good liberal education ; and the truth
of tMs statement is confirmed by the knowledge which he
displays of Greek and Eoman literature, and Ms acquamt-
ance with works which treat, not only of arcMtecture, but
also of polite learning and even philosophy 3 — the writings,
for example, of Lucretius, Cicero, and Yarro. But the
great object of Ms studies was, undoubtedly, professional,
and to this he made literature a handmaid.
Orell. Ins. Lat. 4145. 2 See Smith's Diet, of Biogr., sub v.
3 Lib. vi. Prsef. and Vita Vitr. ed. Bipont.
Y1TRUVIUS AN AUGUSTAN WRITER. 407
Vitruvius served under Julius Caesar in Africa as a
military engineer ; and was subsequently employed by one
of the emperors, to whom Iris treatise is dedicated, in the di-
rection and control of that department of the public service.
By his favour, and the kindness of his sister, he was thus
placed in a condition, if not of affluence, at least of com-
petency. Who his imperial patron was has been disputed ;
but the widely-extended conquests, the augmentation of
the empire, the political institutions, and, moreover, the
taste for architecture which Vitruvius attributes to him,
renders it most probable that it was Augustus, the
sovereign who found the city of bricks and left it of
marble. It is clear that his work was written after the
death of Julius Caesar, and not later than that of Titus,
for to the former he prefixes the word Divus, whilst he
does not mention the Coliseum ; and, although he speaks
of Vesuvius, 1 he is evidently not aware of any eruptions
having taken place except in ancient times. Notwith-
standing the arguments adduced by W. Newton 2 to prove
that he wrote in the reign of Titus, it is now universally
admitted that Vitruvius was a writer of the Augustan
age. The inferiority of his style to that of his contem-
poraries, its occasional obscurity and want of method, the
not unfrequent occurrence of inelegant, and even barba-
rous expressions, notwithstanding his classical education,
may be accounted for by what has already been stated
respecting the professional object of all his studies. He
himself claims indulgence on this score, 3 and states that
he writes as an architect, and not as a literary man. So
much of its difficulty as arises from conciseness he con-
siders a matter for boasting rather than apology.
In forming an estimate of the Latinity of an author
like Vitruvius, it must not be forgotten that our taste is
formed by authority and by a study of the best models.
Lib. ii. 6. * Life and Trans, of Vitr. 1791. s See his Preface.
408 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Novelty is exceptional, and therefore displeases. But
technical subjects render not only the introduction of new
terms necessary, but even, owing to the poverty of lan-
guage, awkward periphrases and obscure phraseology.
Nevertheless, upon the whole, the language of Yitruvius
is vigorous, his descriptions bold, and seem the work of a
true and correct hand, and a practised draughtsman.
His work consists of ten books, in which he treats of
the whole subject in a systematic and orderly manner.
The following are its principal contents : — A general
view of the science and of the education suitable to an
architect ; the choice of sites ; the arrangement of the
buildings and fortifications of a city; 1 an interesting
essay on the earliest human dwellings, building materials, 2
temples, altars, 3 forums, basilicse, treasuries, gaols, court-
houses, baths, pabestrse, harbours, theatres, together
with their acoustic principles, and the theory of musical
sounds and harmonies. 4 Private dwellings, both in town
and country ; 5 decoration ; 6 water, and the means of
supply ; 7 chronometrical instruments ; 8 surveying 9 and
engineering, both civil and military.
His work is valuable as a conspectus of the principles
of Greek architectural taste and beauty, of which he was
a devoted admirer, and from which he would not will-
ingly have permitted any deviation. But he was evi-
dently deficient in the knowledge of the principles of
Greek architectural construction. 10 His taste was pure,
too pure, probably, for the Romans ; for, notwithstanding
his theoretical excellence, we have no evidence of his being
employed, practically, as an architect, except in the case
of the Basilica 11 at Colonia Julia Fanestris, now Fano,
near Ancona.
1 Lib. i. 2 Lib, ii. 3 Lib. iii. and iv. 4 Lib. v.
5 Lib. vi. 6 Lib. vii. 7 Lib. viii. 8 Lib. ix.
9 Lib. x. 10 See Philolog. Museum, vol. i. p. 536. ll Lib. v. i. 13.
( 409 )
BOOK III.
ERA OF THE DECLINE.
CHAPTER I.
DECLINE OF ROMAN LITERATURE — IT BECAME DECLAMATORY —
BIOGRAPHY OF PELEDRUS — GENUINENESS OF HIS FABLES —
MORAL AND POLITICAL LESSONS INCULCATED IN THEM— SPE-
CIMENS OF FABLES — FABLES SUGGESTED BY HISTORICAL
EVENTS— SE J ANUS AND TIBERIUS —EPOCH UNFAVOURABLE TO
LITERATURE — INGENUITY OF PH^DRUS — SUPERIORITY OF
.ESOP — THE STYLE OF PH.EDRUS CLASSICAL.
With the death of Augustus 1 commenced the decline of
Eoman literature, and only three illustrious names,
Phaeclrus, Persius, and Lucan, rescue the first years of
tliis period from the charge of a corrupt and vitiated
taste. After a while, indeed, political circumstances
again became more favourable — the dangers which para-
lysed genius and talent, and prevented their free exercise
under Tiberius and his tyrannical successors, diminished,
and a more liberal system of administration ensued
under Vespasian and Titus. Juvenal and Tacitus then
stood forth as the representatives of the old Eoman
independence ; vigour of thought communicated itself to
the langrua^e : a taste for the sublime and beautiful to a
certain extent revived, although it did not attain to the
perfection which shed a lustre over the Augustan age.
1 A. D. 14.
410 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
The characteristic of the first literature of this epoch
was declamation and rhetoric. As liberty declined, true
natural eloquence gradually decayed. "When it is no
longer necessary or even possible to persuade or convince
the people, that eloquence which calms the passions, wins
the affections, or appeals to common sense and the
reasoning powers, has no opportunity for exercise. Its
object is a new one — namely, to please and attract an
audience, who listen in a mere critical spirit : the weapons
which it makes use of are novelty and ingenuity ; novelty
soon becomes strangeness, and strangeness exaggeration ;
whilst ingenuity implies unnatural study and a display of
pedantic erudition — the aiming at startling and striking
effects — and at length ends in affectation.
If this was the prevailing false taste under the imme-
diate successors of Augustus, it is not surprising that it
affected poetry as well as prose ; and that the principal
talent of the poet lay in florid and diffuse descriptions,
whilst his chief fault was a style overladen with ornament.
The tragedies ascribed to Seneca are theatrical declama-
tions; the Satires of Persius are pliilosophical decla-
mations ; whilst the poems of Lucan and Silius Italicus,
though epic in form, are nothing more than descriptive
poems, and their style is rather rhetorical than poetical.
PHtEDRUS.
Fable had been long known and popular amongst the
Romans before the time of Phsedrus. Livy could not
have attributed the well-known one to Menenius Agrippa,
unless it had been a familiar tradition of long standing.
Fables amused the guests of Horace, and furnished sub-
jects to those of Ovid. In this, as in other fields of
literature, Pome was an imitator of Greece ; but never-
theless the Poman fabulist struck out a new line for
himself, and in his hands fable became, not only a moral
instructor, but a severe political satirist. Phsedrus, the
BIOGRAPHY OF PH/EDRUS. 411
originator and only author of Eoman fable, flourished on
the common confines of the golden and the silver age.
His mode of thought, as well as the events which sug-
gested both his original illustrations and his adaptations
of the JEsopean stories, belong to that epoch of transition.
His works are, as it were, isolated: he has no contem-
poraries. Although he was born in the reign of Augustus,
he wrote when the Augustan age had passed away.
Nevertheless Iris solitary voice was lifted up when those
of the poet, the historian, and the philosopher were
silenced.
Phaedrus, like Horace, is his own biographer ; and the
only knowledge which we have respecting his life is fur-
nished by his Fables. In the prologue to the third book
he informs us that he was a native of Thrace : "I," he
says, " to whom my mother gave birth on the Pierian
hill—
Ego quem Pierio mater enixa est jugo."
And, again, he exclaims, "Why should I, who am nearer
to lettered Greece, desert for slothful indolence the honour
of my fatherland? when Thrace can reckon up her
poets, and Apollo is the parent of Linus, the muse of
Orpheus, who by his song endowed rocks with motion,
tamed the wild beasts, and stopped the rapid Hebrus
with welcome delay : — "
Ego literatae qui sum propior Graecite,
Cur somno inerti deseram patrke decus ?
Thre'issa cum gens numeret auctores suos,
Linoque Apollo sit parens, Musa Orpheo
Qui saxa cantu movit, et domuit feras,
Hebrique tenuit impetus dulci mora.
From the title, " Augusti libertus," prefixed to his fables,
it is clear that he adds one more distinguished name to
that list of freeclnien, who were celebrated in the annals
of literature. Although, in the preface to his work, he
modestly terms himself only a translator of iEsop : —
412 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
iEsopus auctor quam materiam repperit
Hanc ego polivi versibus senariis. l
Still, for many of his fables, he deserves the credit of
originality. Probably he enlarged and extended his
original plan ; for he afterwards speaks of simply adopting
the style and not the matter of the iEsopean fable. 2
He does not appear to have gained much fame or popu-
larity ; for he is only twice mentioned by ancient autho-
rities, namely, by Martial 3 and Seneca. 4 The latter,
writing to Polybius, a favourite freedman of Claudius,
encourages him to enter upon the field which Phsedrus
already occupied, asserting that fables in the style of
iEsop constituted a work hitherto unattempted by Eoman
genius {intentatum Romanis ingeniis opus). Either,
therefore, the fables of Phsedrus were little known and
appreciated, or Seneca purposely concealed from the
Emperor's favourite the fact of their existence, in order
to flatter him with the hopes of his thus becoming the
first Eoman writer in his style. The persecution to
which literary men were subject under the worst Em-
perors, of which Phsedrus hints obscurely that he was a
victim 5 — the perils to which he would have been exposed
by strictures upon persons in power, which, concealed
under the veil of fiction, appear now dark and enigmatical,
but which might have spoken plainly to the consciences
of the actors themselves — probably rendered it a wise
precaution to conceal his works during his lifetime;
hence they would be little known, except to a chosen
few, and the few ccpies made of them would account for
the rarity of the extant manuscripts.
Owing to the deficiency of ancient testimony, the
genuineness of the Fables has been disputed; but the
purity of style, and the natural allusions to contemporary
1 Prol. lib. i. 2 Prol. lib. iii. 3 Lib. iii. 20.
4 Cons, ad Polybium 27. 5 Prol. lib. iii.
COLLECTION OF FABLES BY PEROTTO. 418
events, vendor it almost certain that they belong to the
age in which they were supposed to have been written.
No one but a contemporary could have written the fable
commencing —
Narrabo memoria quod factum est mca. 1
The prologue to the third book evidently speaks of the
author's own calamities ; and the way in which the name
of Sejanus is connected with the event, hints, although
obscurely, that that prime minister of tyranny was the
author of his sufferings. It is scarcely probable that he
would have ventured to attack Sejanus during his life-
time. It may, therefore, be assumed that Phsedrus lived
beyond the eighteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, in
which year Sejanus died.
The original manuscript followed in the early editions
of Phsedrus was discovered in the tenth century : it con-
tained ninety-seven fables, divided into five books. But
N. Perotto, an archbishop of Manfredonia, in the fifteenth
century, published a miscellaneous collection of Latin
fables, and amongst them were thirty -two new fables
attributed to Phaedrus, which were not found in the
older editions. These were at first supposed to have
been written by Perotto himself; but the manifest infe-
riority of some poems known to be the work of the
archbishop, and the Augustan purity of style which
marks the newly-discovered fables, leave little doubt of
their genuineness. Consequently, they were published
by Angelo Mai as supplementary to those which had
already appeared.
The circumstances of the times in which he lived
suggested the moral and prudential lessons which his
fables inculcated. The bane of Eome, under the empire,
was the public informer {delator), as the sycophant had
been the pest of Athens. Life and conduct, private as
1 Lib. iii. 40.
414 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
well as public, were exposed to a complete system of
espionage: no one was safe from this formidable inquisition;
a man's familiar associate might be in secret his bitterest
enemy. But the principal victims were the rich : they
were marked out for destruction, in order that the con-'
fiscation of their property might glut the avarice of the
Emperor and the informers. For this reason, Phsedrus
himself professes always to have seen the peril of acquiring
wealth —
Periculosum semper reputavi lucrum.
And we cannot be surprised that the danger of riches, and
the comparative safety of obscurity and poverty, should
sometimes form the moral of his fables.
That of the Mules and the Thieves, which is entirely
his own, teaches this lesson : —
Muli gravati sarcinis ibant duo ;
Unus ferebat fiscos cum pecunia,
Alter tumentes multo saccos hordeo.
Ille, onere dives, celsa cervice eminet,
Clarumque collo jactat tintinnabulum ;
Comes quieto sequitur et placido gradu.
Subito latrones ex insidiis advolant,
Interque csedem ferro mulum sauciant,
Diripiunt nummos, negligunt vile bordeum.
Spoliatus igitur cum casus fleret suos,
Equidem, inquit alter, me contemptum gaudeo,
Nam nihil amisi nee sum lca6app.a (Ed. Tyr. 1227.
FRENCH SCHOOL OF TRAGEDY. 433
from the Romans instead of from the original Greek
sources ; and its poetical taste, as far as it was classical,
was formed on a study of Roman dramatic literature,
before the excellence of the Attic drama was sufficiently-
known to be appreciated.
2f
434 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTEE III.
BIOGRAPHY OF PERSIUS — HIS SCHOOLBOY DAYS — HIS FRIENDS — HIS
PURITY AND MODESTY — HIS DEFECTS AS A SATIRIST — SUBJECTS OF
HIS SATIRES — OBSCURITY OF HIS STYLE COMPARED WITH HORACE
— BIOGRAPHY OF JUVENAL— CORRUPTION OF ROMAN MORALS —
CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SATIRES — THEIR HISTORICAL
VALUE — STYLE OF JUVENAL — HE WAS THE LAST OF ROMAN
satirists.
Aulus Persius Flaccus (born a.d, 34).
Eoman satire subsequently to Horace is represented by
Aulus Persius Placcus and Decimus Junius Juvenalis.
Persius was a member of an equestrian family, and was
born, according to the Eusebian Chronicle, a.d. 34, at
Volaterrse in Etruria. He was related to the best
families in Italy, and numbered amongst his kindred,
Arria, the noble-minded wife of Psetus. His father died
when he was six years old, and his mother, Eulvia
Sisenna, married a second time a Eoman knight named
Pusius. In a few years she was again a widow. Persius
received his elementary education at his native town;
but at* twelve years of age he was brought to Pome, and
went through the usual course of grammar and rhetoric,
under Pemmius Palsemon 1 and Yirginius Flavus. 2 The
former of these was, like so many men of letters, a freed-
man, and the son of a slave. He was, according to
Suetonius, 3 a man of profligate morals, but gifted with
great fluency of speech, and a prodigious memory. He
1 Juv. vi. 451 ; vii. 219. 2 Suet. Pers. Vit.
3 De Illust. Gram. 23
SCHOOLBOY DAYS OF PERSIUS; 435
was rather a versifier than a poet, and, like so many
modern Italians, possessed the talent of improvising. He
was prosperous as a schoolmaster, considering the very
small pittance which the members of that profession
usually earned, for his school brought him in forty
sestertia per annum (about 325J.)- 1 Virginius Flavus is
only known as the author of a treatise on Ehetoric.
Persius himself gives 2 an amusing picture of his
schoolboy idleness, his love of play, and his tricks to
escape the hated declamation which, in Eoman schools,
formed a weekly exercise : 3 —
Ssepe oculos, memini, tangebam parvus olivo,
Grandia si nollem morituri verba Catonis
Discere non sano multuro. laudanda magistro,
Quae pater adductis sudans audiret amicis.
Jure ; etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret,
Scire erat in voto ; danmosa canicula quantum
Raderet ; angustse collo non fallier orcae ;
Neu quis callidior buxum torquere flagello.
Oft, I remember yet, my sight to spoil,
Oft, when a boy, I bleared my eyes with oil :
What time I wished my studies to decline,
Nor make great Cato's dying speeches mine ;
Speeches my master to the skies had raided,
Poor pedagogue ! unknowing what he praised ;
And which my sire, suspense 'twixt hope and fear,
With venial pride, had brought his friends to hear
For then, alas ! 'twas my supreme delight
To study chances, and compute aright,
What sum the lucky sice would yield in play,
And what the fatal aces sweep away ;
Anxious no rival candidate for fame
Should hit the long-necked jar with nicer aim ;
Nor, while the whirling top beguiled the eye,
With happier skill the sounding scourge apply.
Gifford,
At sixteen, Persius attached himself to the Stoic phi-
losopher Annacus Cornutus, by whom he was imbued
with the stern philosophical principles which occupy so
1 Ruperti in Juv. vii. 2 Sat. iii. 44. y Quint. I. 0. ii. 7
2 f 2
436 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
prominent a place in his Satires. The friendship which
he formed thus early in life continued until the day of
his death. The young Lucan was also one of his intimate
associates, whose philosophical and poetical tastes were
similar to his own, and who had a profound admiration
for his writings. He was acquainted with Seneca, but
had no very great regard either for him or his works.
Csesius Bassus, to whom he addressed his sixth Satire,
was also one of his intimates. 1 It redounds greatly to
his honour that he enjoyed the friendship of Psetus
Thrasea, one of the noblest examples of Roman virtue. 2
Persius died prematurely of a disease in the stomach, at
the age of twenty-eight. He left a large fortune to his
mother and sister ; and his library, consisting of seven
hundred volumes, together with a considerable pecuniary
legacy, to his beloved tutor, Cornutus. The philosopher,
however, disinterestedly gave up the money to the sister
of his deceased friend.
Pure in mind and chaste in life, Persius was free from
the corrupt taint of an immoral age. He exhibited all
the self-denial, the control of the passions, and the stern
uncompromising principles of the philosophy which he
admired, but not its hypocrisy. Stoicism was not, in his
case, as in that of so many others, a cloak for vice and
profligacy.
Although Lucretius was, to a certain extent, his model,
he does not attack vice with the biting severity of the
old satirist. He rather adopts the caustic irony of the
old Greek comedy, as more in accordance with that style
of attack which he himself terms —
petulanti splene cachinno. a
1 Quintilian (I. 0. x. 96) pronounces the lyric poetry of Bassus inferior
only to that of Horace ; but only two lines of his poems are extant. He
was destroyed by the same eruption in which Pliny the elder perished.
2 Tac. Am. xvi. 21. 3 Sat. i. 12.
HIS PURITY AND MODESTY. 437
Xor do we find in his writings the fiery ardour, the
enthusiastic indignation, which burn in the verses of
Juvenal; hut this resulted from the tenderness of Ins
heart and the gentleness of his disposition, and not
from any disqualification for the duties of a moral
instructor, such as weak moral principle, cr irresolute
timidity.
Although he must have been conscious that the dan-
gerous times during which his short life was passed ren-
dered caution necessary, still it is far more probable that
his purity of mind and Idnclliness of heart chsmclined
him to portray vice in its hideous and loathsome forms,
and to indulge in bitterness of invective which the pre-
valent enormities of his times deserved. It may be
questioned whether obscenities like those of Juvenal,
notwithstanding purity of intention, best promote the
interests of virtue. It is to be feared that often the
passions are excited and the human heart rendered more
corrupt by descriptions of vice, whilst the moral lesson is
disregarded.
Persius evidently believed that reserve and silence on
those abominations which make the pure-minded shudder
with horror, and call up a blush upon the cheek of inno-
cence, would more safely maintain the dignity and purity
of virtue, than the divesting himself of that virgin
modesty (virgineus Me pador) which constituted the
great charm of his character. His uprightness and love
of virtue are shown by the uncompromising severity with
which he rebukes sins of not so deep a die ; and the heart
which was capable of being moulded by his example, and
influenced by his purity, would have shrunk from the
fearful crimes which defile the pages of Juvenal.
The greatest defect in Persius as a satirist, is, that the
philosophy in which he was educated rendered him too
mdhTerent to the affairs which were going on in the
world around him. Politics had little interest for him ;
438 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
he lived within himself a meditative life ; wealth and
splendour he despised. His contemplative habits led him
to criticise, as his favourite subjects, false taste in poetry
and empty pretensions to philosophy. His modest and
retiring nature found little sympathy with the passions,
the tumults, the business, or the pleasures which agitated
Rome. He was more a student of the closet than a man
of the world. Horace mingled in the society of the
profligate : he considered them as fools, and laughed
their folly to scorn. Juvenal looked down upon the
corruption of the age from an eminence where, involved
in his virtue, he was safe from moral pollution, and
punished it like an avenging Deity. Persius, pure in
heart and passionless by education, whilst he lashes wick-
edness in the abstract, almost ignores its existence, and
modestly shrinks from laying bare the secret pollutions
of the human heart, and from probing its vileness to the
bottom. The amiability, and above all the disinterested-
ness, which characterise Ins Satires, fully account for the
popularity which they attained immediately on then
publication by Cornutus, and the panegyrics of which he
was the subject in later times. " Persius," writes Quin-
tilian, 1 " multum et verse glorise, quamvis uno libro
meruit." Many of the early Christian writers thought
that his merits fully compensated for the obscurity of his
style ; and Grifford 2 observes, " The virtue he recom-
mends he practised in the fullest extent ; and, at an age
when few have acquired a determinate character, he left
behind him an established reputation for genius, learning,
and worth."
The works of Persius are comprised within the com-
pass of six Satires, containing, in all, about 650 lines.
And from the expression of Quintilian, already cited, and
supported by a passage of Martial, there is reason to
Lib. x. 1. 2 Trans, of Juv. and Pers. vol. i. p. lxvii. Introd.
SUBJECTS OF HIS SATIRES. 4<39
suppose that all he wrote is now extant. To his Satires
is prefixed a short but spirited introduction in choliambics,
i. t\ lame iambics, in which, for the iambus in the sixth
plaee, there is substituted a spondee.
This proemium bears but little relation to his work ;
but he was accustomed to similar irrelevancy in the para-
bases of the old Attic comedy, which he had studied. In
his first Satire he exposes and accounts for the false
and immoral taste winch affected poetry and forensic
eloquence, attacks the coxcombry of public recitation, and
parodies the style of contemporary writers, in language
which our ignorance of them prevents us from appre-
ciating. In the second, which is a congratulatory address
to his dear friend Macrinus on his birthday, he em-
bodies the subject-matter of the second Alcibiades of
Plato ; l a dialogue which Juvenal also had in view in the
composition of his tenth Satire. In this poem, the de-
grading ideas which men have formed respecting the Deity,
the consequent selfishness and even impiety of their
prayers, are followed by sentiments on the true nature
of prayer, which even a Christian can read with ad-
miration : —
Quin danius id superis, de magna quod dare lance
Non possit magni Messalge lippa propago ;
Conipositum jus fasque animo sanctosque recessus
Mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto :
Haec cedo, ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo. 2
No, let me bring the immortals what the race
Of great Messala, now depraved and base,
On their huge charger cannot, — bring a mind
Where legal and where moral sense are joined
With the pure essence ; holy thoughts that dwell
In the soul's most retired and sacred cell ;
A bosom dyed in honour's noblest grain —
Deep-dyed ; — with these let me approach the fane,
And Heaven will hear the humble prayer I make
Though all my offering be a barley-cake.
1 See Spect. No. 207. 2 Sat. ii. 71.
440 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
In the third, he endeavours to shame the ingenuous
youth out of an idle aversion to the pursuit of wisdom,
and contrasts the enjoyments of a well-regulated mind
with ignorance and sensuality : the picture which he draws
of the fate of the sensualist is very powerful : —
Turgidus hie epulis atque albo ventre lavatur,
Gutture sulfureas lente exhalante mephites ;
Sed tremor inter vina subit, calidumque trientem
Excutit e manibus ; dentes crepuere retecti ;
Uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris.
Hinc tuba, candelse ; tandemque beatulus, alto
Compositus lecto, crassisque lutatus amomis,
In portam rigidos calces extendit ; at ilium
Hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites. 1
Now to the bath, full gorged with luscious fare,
See the pale wretch his bloated carcase bear ;
While from his lungs, that faintly play by fits,
His gasping throat sulphureous steam emits !
Cold shiverings seize him, as for wine he calls,
His grasp betrays him, and the goblet falls !
From his loose teeth the lip, convulsed, withdraws,
And the rich cates drop through his listless jaws.
Then trumpets, torches come, in solemn state ;
And my fine youth, so confident of late,
Stretched on a splendid bier and essenced o'er,
Lies, a stiff corpse, heels foremost at the door ;
Eomans of yesterday, with covered head,
Shoulder him to the pyre, and — all is said. Oifford.
One more quotation must be made from this noble
Satire, which is alluded to by St. Augustine, 2 and in
which Persius enunciates the sublime truth, that the
most fearful punishment which can befall the profligate
is the consciousness of what they have lost in rejecting
virtue : —
Magne pater divum, saevos punire tyrannos
Haud aha ratione velis, quum dira libido
Moverit ingenium ferventi tincta veneno ;
Virtutem videant intabescantque relicta ! 3
Dread sire of gods ! when lust's envenomed stings
Stir the fierce natures of tyrannic kings —
Sat. iii. 98. 2 De Civ. Dei, v. 3 Sat. iii. 35.
SUBJECTS OF HIS SATIRES. 441
When storms of rage within their bosoms roll,
And call in thunder, for thy just control —
O, then relax the bolt, suspend the blow,
And thus, and thus alone, thy vengeance show.
In all her charms, set Virtue in their eye,
And let them see their loss, despair, and — die. Clifford.
In the fourth Satire, Nero is represented in the cha-
racter of Alcibiades ; and Plato's first Dialogue, which
bears the name of the Athenian libertine, furnished the
foundation and many of the sentiments.
The fifth is the most elaborate of all the poet's works.
It is addressed to Cornutus, and is in the form of a
dialogue between the philosopher and his pupil. The
style is more finished than usual, and more adorned with
the graces of poetry ; his amiable nature beams forth in
all the warmth of a grateful heart ; and although he
does not display any original philosophical research, he
exhibits great learning, and an accurate acquaintance
with the Stoic philosophy.
If the fifth Satire is the most elaborate, the sixth
is, without doubt, the most delightful of the works of
Persius. It is addressed to his dear friend Csesius Bassus,
and overflows with kindness of heart. The poet speaks
of the duties of contentment, and of ministering to the
distresses of others ; the hatefulness of envy ; the mean-
ness of avarice, beneath whatever disguise it may be
veiled ; his own determination to use and not abuse his
fortune ; whilst there may be traced through the whole a
foreboding, yet a cheerful one, that his weary course will
soon be run, and that his heir will soon succeed to his
possessions. 1
Such was the character of Persius as mirrored in his
little volume. The gloomy sullenness of Stoicism was
not able to destroy the natural amiability and placid
cheerfulness of his temper. Its darkness affected his
1 See especially ver. 61.
442 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
style, but not his disposition. The fault which has been
universally found with the style of Persius, is difficulty
and obscurity. This would be the natural consequence
of his Stoical education. The Stoics were proverbially
obscure and dark in their teaching ; and Persius, who had
not imbibed all the profoundness of their philosophy, had
still caught their language and their manner of expres-
sion, and whilst he was infected by their faults he ac-
quired also their picturesqueness and liveliness of illus-
tration. Nor does it appear that his style was considered
obscure enough by his contemporaries to interfere with
its popularity. It is probable that his obscurity is not
absolute, but only relative to the knowledge of the lan-
guage possessed in modern times. His was the conver-
sational Latin of the days in which he lived; and as a
great change had taken place from the Latin of Cicero
and Livy to that of Tacitus and Seneca, doubtless the
conversational Latin of Horace, and even of Juvenal,
would differ from that of Persius. If this be the case,
the Satires of Persius constitute the only example of this
Latin, and we have no other by a comparison of which
we can explain and illustrate his modes of expression.
Whatever, therefore, is unusual becomes at once a source
of difficulty and obscurity. 1 The short description which
Persius represents his preceptor as giving of his style,
supports this assertion : —
Verba togse sequeris junctura callidus acri
Ac teres modico, pallentes radere mores
Doctus et ingenue- culpam defigere ludo. 2
Confined to common life, thy numbers flow,
And neither soar too high, nor sink too low ;
There strength and ease in graceful union meet,
Though polished subtle, and though poignant sweet ;
Yet powerful to abash the front of crime,
And crimson error's cheek with sportive rhyme.
Gifford.
1 See this argument quoted by Gifford, ii. xlvii., from H. Frere, v. 14.
2 Sat. v. .14.
HORACE COMPARED WITH PERSIUS. 1*43
As the toga had, since the time of Augustus, been only
worn by the higher orders, whilst the common people
were content wdth the tunica, it is clear that the words
verba togce signify the language of polished society. One
cause, therefore, of the difficulty of the style of Persius
may be our want of familiarity with the conversational
Latin used in Iris time by the superior classes. Excessive
subtlety may have been mistaken for refinement ; and an
affectation of pliilosophy, and an enigmatic style, may
cause obscurity to us which was quite intelligible to his
contemporaries.
It is evident that Persius had carefully studied, and
was quite well acquainted with, the Satires of Horace;
but tbe influence which. Horace produced upon his mind
went no further than to impress upon his memory certain
phrases whicb lie reproduced in a more perplexed form,
more in unison with the fashionable Latin of his day.
The expression of Horace —
naso suspendis adunco
Ignotos, 1
becomes, in the Satires of Persius —
Excusso populum suspendere naso. 2
Si vis me fiere, dolendum est
Prinium ipse tibi. 3
becomes, when paraphrased by his imitator —
Plorabit qui me volet incurvasse querela. 4
The simplicity of Horace in the words —
Totus teres atque rotundus
Externi ne quid valeat per laeve morari, 5
is exchanged for the more involved phrase —
TJt per laeve severos
Effundat junctura ungues. 6
Sat. I. vi. 5. 2 Ibid. i. 118. 3 A. P. 102. 4 Sat. L 91,
Ibid. Il.vii. 87. ' Ibid. i. 65.
444 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
He adopts Horace's wish, 1 preserving every idea in the
passage —
Osi
Sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro
Hercule. 2
Horace's acquirements in geometry —
Scilicet ut possem curve- dignoscere rectum, 3
are thus awkwardly rendered —
rectum discernis, ubi inter
Curva subit. 4
And, not to multiply examples which, whilst they show
that Persius was an admirer of Horace, prove that what
was pure natural inspiration in the latter, required effort
in the former, the idea of Horace —
Clamant periisse pudorem
Cuncti pene patres, 5
is exchanged by Persius for the forced metaphor —
Exclamet Melicerta perisse
Frontem de rebus. 6
Rhetorical affectation infested all the literature of this
age ; we can scarcely, therefore, be surprised to find that
it is one of the characteristics of the Satires of Persius.
The age of public recitation had already begun, of which
Juvenal speaks some years later. When in one place he
describes the ardour and enthusiasm which pervaded
Eome, on the announcement of a new work by a popular
author — *
Curritur ad vocem jucundam et carmen amicse
Thebaidos lsetam fecit cum Statius urbem
Promisitque diem.
When Statius fixed a morning to recite
His Thebaid to the town with what delight
They flocked to him.
i Sat. II. vi. 10. 2 Ibid. ii. 10. 3 Ep. II. ii. 4. * Sat. iv. 12
5 Ep. II. i. 80. 6 Sat. v. 10, 3. 7 Ibid. vii. 82.
BIOGRAPHY OF JUVENAL. 445
in another, 1 like Horace, lie complains of the annoy-
ance of these recitations ; and in a third, 2 he considers it
one o^ the causes which rendered the most desolate and
solitary country place preferable to Eome.
The style of writing, therefore, snitable to this prac-
tice, was a declamatory one, as the practice itself was in
accordance with the oratorical tastes of the Eoman
people.
Juvenal.
Decimus Jnnins Juvenalis, according to the few lines
of biography generally attributed to Suetonius, was the
son, or the adopted son, of a wealthy freedman. He
amused himself with rhetoric and declamation until
middle life ; but having, on one occasion, written a short
satire upon Paris, the pantomime, he was tempted to
apply himself to this species of writing. After some
time he recited his piece with such success to a large
audience, that he inserted it in one of his later com-
positions. 3 He thus exposed himself to the enmity of
the court, because his lines were supposed figuratively to
apply to an actor who was a court favourite, and he was
exiled to Egypt, under pretence of being appointed to
the command of a cohort. There in a short time he
died of grief at the age of eighty.
The time of his birth is unknown, but he must have
flourished in the reign of Domitian, towards the close of
the first century after Christ ; and it is generally assumed
that he was either born, or resided, at the Volscian town,
which subsequently gave birth to the eminent schoolman,
Thomas Aquinas. 4 Thus the greater portion of the life
of Juvenal was passed, during a period of political horror
and misery. The short reign of Vespasian was doubtless
a blessing to Eome, but it was only a brief temporary
2—13. 2 Ibid. iii. 9. » Ibid, vii. 90, 91. 4 Ibid. iii. 319.
446 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
respite : the dark period of the last ten Caesars saw the
utter moral degradation of the people, and the bloodiest
tyranny and oppression on the part of their rulers. If,
which is most probable, he lived to see the reigns of
Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian, the spirits of the noble-
minded satirist must have revived at seeing again a
promise of national glory and prosperity. In the period
gone by, rich as it was in material for his pen, it was
fatally perilous to give utterance to his burning indig-
nation ; but an opportunity, not to be lost, was then
offered when emperors ruled, who were distinguished for
ability and virtue, when justice and the laws were
constitutionally administered, and the empire, wisely
governed, enjoyed security and tranquillity.
The picture of Roman manners, as painted by the
glowing pencil of Juvenal, is truly appalling. The fabric
of society was in ruins. The popular religion was
rejected with scorn, and its place was not occupied by
the creed of natural religion. Nothing remained but
the empty pomp, pageant, and ceremonial. The admi-
nistration of the state was a mass of corruption : freed-
men and foreigners, full of artful cunning, but destitute
of principle, had the ear of the sovereign, and filled their
coffers with bribes and confiscation. The grave and
decent reserve which was characteristic of every Eoman
in olden times was thrown off even by the highest
classes ; and emperors took a public part in scenes of
folly and profligacy, and exposed themselves as cha-
rioteers, as dancers, and as actors. Nothing was
respected but wealth — nothing provoked contempt but
poverty. 1 A vote was only valued for its worth in
money; that people, whose power was once absolute,
would now sell then souls for bread and the Circensian
games.
1 Sat. iii. 137, 148.
PROFLIGACY OF ROMAN MORALS. 447
Players and dancers had all honours and offices at their
disposal. The city swarmed with informers who made
the rich their prey : every man feared even his most
intimate friend. To be noble, virtuous, innocent, was
no protection : the only bond of friendship was to be
an accomplice in crime. Philosophy was a cheat, and
moral teaching an hypocrisy. The moralists "preached
like Curii, but lived like bacchanals." 1 The very teacher
would do his best to corrupt his pupil : the guardian
would defraud his ward. Luxury and extravagance
brought men to ruin, which they sought to repair by
flattering the childless, legacy-hunting, and gambling;
and even patricians would cringe for a morsel of bread.
The higher classes were selfish and cruel, grinding and
insolent to their inferiors and dependants. 2 Gluttony
was so disgusting that six thousand sesterces (50£.)
would be given for a mullet ; and the glutton would
artificially relieve his stomach of its load, in order to
prepare for another meal. 3 Crimes which cannot be
named were common : men, for the worst of purposes,
endeavoured to make themselves look like women; and
even an emperor personated a female, and was given in
marriage to one of his Greek favourites. 4 The streets of
Rome were as dangerous as the Pomptine marshes or
the Italian forests, from constant robbery, assault, and
assassination.
The morals of the female sex were as depraved as
those of men : ladies of noble and royal blood would
have lovers in their pay, and when they had lost the
attraction of personal charms, would supply their place
by the temptation of gold. One empress publicly cele-
brated her nuptials with an adulterer in the absence of
her lord; another gratified her wantonness by prosti-
Sat. ii. 1. 2 Ibid. i. and v. 3 Ibid. ii.
4 Tac. Ami. xv. 38. See also Juv. S. ii.
448 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
tution. Even those who were not so profligate aped the
manners and habits of men, and would even meet in
mock combat ; and there was no public amusement so
immoral or so cruel as not to be disgraced by the
presence of the female sex. Licentiousness led to murder ;
and poisoning by women was as common as it was in
France and Italy in the sixteenth century. 1
Times like these would even have shocked the urbane
and gentle Horace : had he then lived, he would probably
have thought such vice beyond ridicule, and his tone
might have approached more nearly to the thundering
indignation of Juvenal. " Society in the age of Horace
was becoming corrupt; in that of Juvenal it was in a
state of putrefaction." 2
In this period of moral dearth the fountains of genius
and literature were dried up. The orator dared not
impeach the corrupt politician, or defend the victim of
tyranny, when everyone thought the best way to secure
his own safety was by trampling on the fallen favourite,
now Caesar's enemy. The historian dared not utter his
real sentiments. Poetry grew cold without the genial
fostering encouragement of noble and affectionate hearts.
There was criticism, grammar, declamation, panegyric
and verse writing, but not oratory, history, or poetry.
Juvenal, though himself not free from the declamatory
affectation of the day, attacked the false literary taste of
his contemporaries as unsparingly as he did their de-
praved morality. From Sejanus to Cluvienus he allowed
no one to escape.
But noble as Juvenal's hatred of vice must be allowed
to be, and fearless as are his denunciations, we look in
vain throughout his poetry for indications of an amiable
and kind-hearted disposition. He was not one to recall
the lost and erring to a love of virtue, or to inspire a
Sat. vi. e Nisard, vol. i. 461. 3 Sat.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SATIRES; 449
pure and enthusiastic taste for literature. His prejudices
were violent ; he could see nothing good in a Greek or a
freedman : he hated the new aristocracy with as bitter a
hatred as Sallust. As a critic he is ill-natured; as a
moralist he is stern and misanthropic. Mark, for
example, the gloomy bitterness with which he speaks
of old age, 1 and contrast it with the bright side of the
picture, as drawn by the gentle Cicero in his incom-
parable treatise.
Deficient, however, as he was in the softer affections,
his sixteen Satires exhibit an enlightened, truthful, and
comprehensive view of Eoman manners, and of the in-
evitable result of such corruption. Those whose moral
taste was utterly destroyed would read and listen without
profit, but they could not but tremble : his words are
truth. The conclusion of the thirteenth Satire is almost
Christian. It is unnecessary to quote from an author
who is in every scholar's memory : it would even
occupy too much space to make a fair selection from so
many fine passages. The eleventh Satire is the most
pleasing, and most partaking of the playfulness of
Horace. The seventh displays the greatest versatility
and the richest fund of anecdote. The twelfth is the
most amiable. The description of the origin of civil
society in the conclusion of the fifteenth is full of sound
sense and just sentiments ; whilst the way in which he
speaks of the insane bigotry of the Egyptians, exhibits
his power of combining pleasantry with dignity. But the
two finest Satires are those 2 which our own Johnson h^s
thought worthy of imitation : one of wliicli (the tenth)
Bishop Burnet, in his Pastoral Charge, recommended to
his clerg} r ; and the noblest passage in them is that which
describes the fall of the infamous Sejanus. 3 Few men
could be so well adapted to transfer the spirit of Juvenal
Sat. x. s»h fin. - Ibid. iii. and x. a Ibid. x. 5G— 07.
2 G
450 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
into English as Dr. Johnson. He had the same rude,
plain-spoken, uncompromising hatred of vice ; and, though
not unamiable, did his best to conceal what amiability
he possessed under a forbidding exterior. He was not
without gaiety and sprightliness ; but he concealed it
under that stateliness and declamatory grandeur which
he attributes to Juvenal.
The historical value of Juvenal's Satires must not be
forgotten. Tacitus lived in the same perilous times as
he did ; and when they had come to an end, and it was
not unsafe to speak, he wrote their public history.
Juvenal illustrates that history by displaying the social
and inner life of the Eomans. 1 Their works are parallel,
and each forms a commentary upon the other. When
such were the lives of individuals, one cannot wonder at
the fate of the nation.
The style of Juvenal is, generally speaking, the reflex
of his mind : his views were strong and clear ; his style
is vigorous and lucid also. His morals were pure in the
midst of a debased age : his language shines forth in
classic elegance in the midst of specimens of declining
and degenerate taste. His style is declamatory, but it is
not artificially rhetorical. He could not restrain himself
from following the example of Lucilius : he could not
dam up the torrent of his vehement and natural elo-
quence. Whether his subject is noble or disgusting, his
word-painting is perfect : we feel his sublimity — we
shudder at his fidelity. The nature of the subject causes
his language to be frequently gross and offensive; but his
object always is to lay bare the deformity of vice, and to
1 The authorities from which we derive our knowledge of the inner life
and social habits and affections of the Romans are : — (1.) Ancient monu-
ments. (2.) Cicero's speeches and letters ; Horace and the elegiac poets.
(3.) The later classic poets, such as Juvenal, Martial, Statius. (4.) Gellius,
Petronius, Seneca, Suetonius, the two Plinies. (5.) The grammarians.
(6.) Greek authors, such as Plutarch, Lucian, Athenseus, &c. See, on this
subject, Bekker's Gallus — Preface.
STYLE OF JUVENAL. 451
render it loathsome. He never indulges in indecency, in
order to pander to a corrupt taste or to gratify a pru-
rient imagination. For this reason his pages are less
dangerous than those of more elegant and less indecent
writers, who throw a veil over indelicacy, whilst they
leave those qualities which blind the moral vision and
inflame the passions. It must be remembered, also, that
neither the dress, manners, nor conversation of ancient
Borne were so decent and modest as those of modern
times ; and, therefore, Eoman taste would not be so shocked
by plain speaking as would be the case in an age of
greater social refinement. Juvenal closes the list of
Eoman satirists, properly speaking: the satirical spirit
animates the piquant epigrams of his friend Martial ; but
their purpose is not moral or didactic : they sting the
individual, and render him an object of scorn and disgust,
but they do not hold up vice itself to ridicule and
detestation.
2g2
452 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER IV.
BIOGRAPHY OF LUC AN— INSCRIPTION TO HIS MEMORY — SENTIMENTS
EXPRESSED IN THE PHARSALIA — LUCAN AN UNEQUAL POET —
FAULTS AND MERITS OF THE PHARSALIA — CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS
AGE — DIFFICULTIES OF HISTORICAL POETRY — LUCAN A DESCRIP-
TIVE POET — SPECIMENS OF HIS POETRY — BIOGRAPHY OF SILIUS
ITALICUS — HIS CHARACTER BY PLINY — HIS POEM DULL AND
TEDIOUS— HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE ALPS.
M. Ann^eus Lucanus (born a.d. 39).
At the head of the epic poets who flourished during the
.silver age stands Lucan. He was a member of the same
family as the Senecas, for the celebrated rhetorician of
that name was his grandfather, and the Stoic philosopher
his uncle. Another of his uncles, also, L. Junius Gallio,
is mentioned in the Eusebian Chronicle as a celebrated
rhetorician. This Gallio derived his surname from being-
the adopted son of Jun. Gallio, who, by some, is supposed
to have been the proconsul of Achaia, mentioned in the
Acts of the Apostles. 1
The father of Lucan, M. Annaeus Mela, was a Eoman
knight, who made a large fortune as a collector of the
imperial revenue. He is supposed by some to have been
identical with the geographer Pomponius Mela, who was
the author of a brief description, in three books, of the
coasts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The style of this
writer is concise, as is suitable to a mere sketch or
abridgment ; and his matter, although derived from other
Cli. viii. v. 12.
BIOGRAPHY OF LUCAN. 453
sources, and not from personal observation, is accurate
and interesting. The poet was born at Corduba (Cor-
dova), on the beautiful banks of the Buetis (Guadalquiver).
His birthplace is thus elegantly alluded to by Statius, in
a poem addressed to his widow, on the anniversary of his
birth :—
Vat is Apollinei magno memorabilis ortu
Lux redit, Aonidum turba favete sacris.
Hcec meruit, cum te terris Lucane dedisset
Mixtus Castalise Bsetis ut esset aquse.
Stat. Genethl.
Pliny tells us that on his infant lips, as on those of
Hesiod, a swarm of bees settled, and thus gave presage
of his poetical career ; a tale which owes its origin
entirely to the Greek tradition. Much which rests upon
no foundation has been mixed up with the extant lives of
Lucan; for example, the favour shown him, whilst a
child, by Nero ; his consequent elevation in his boyhood
to the rank of a senator ; and his defeat of the Emperor
in a poetical contest at the quinquennial games, insti-
tuted by the latter, in which no one entered with any
other view than that their royal antagonist might have
the credit of a mock victory. 1 The enmity of the jealous
emperor can be accounted for without having recourse to
so insane a competition.
It is probable that Lucan was very young when he
came to Eome; that his literary reputation was soon
established ; and that Nero, who could not bear the idea
of a rival, forbade him to recite his poems, which was
now the common mode of publication. Nor was he
content with silencing him as a poet, but also would not
allow him to plead as an advocate. 2 Smarting under this
provocation he hastily joined a conspiracy against the
emperor's life, and signalised himself by the bitterness of
his hatred against his powerful enemy. The ringleader
1 Suet. V. Neron. 12. 8 Tac. Ann. xv. 49.
454 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of this plot was Piso, 1 a tragic poet of some talent, a
skilful orator, and a munificent man. But he was de-
ficient in decision and infirm of purpose : the plot
therefore failed. When Lucan's passion cooled he as
quickly repented, and was pardoned on condition of
pointing out his confederates. In the vain hope of
saving himself from the monster's vengeance, he actually
impeached his mother. The upright historian contrasts
this stain on the poet's character with the courage which
Epicharis displayed. This noble woman was incapable of
treason. Tacitus describes the resolution with which she
scorned the question. 2 "The scourge, the flames, the
rage of the executioners, who tortured her the more
savagely, lest they should be scorned by a woman, were
powerless to extort a false confession." Lucan never
received the reward which he purchased by treachery.
The warrant for his death was issued, and he caused his
veins to be cut asunder. As the stream of his life's
blood flowed away, he repeated from his own poem the
description of a soldier expiring from his wounds. 3 He
died in the twenty-seventh year of his age ; and the
following inscription to his memory has been attributed
to Nero : —
M. Annseo Lucano Cordubensi Poetse
Beneficio Neronis. Faraa servata.
The sentiments contained in the Pharsalia, so far as he
dared express them, breathe a love of freedom, and an
attachment to the old Eoman republicanism. Although
the imperial patronage which he at first enjoyed, and,
perhaps, the better promise of the commencement of
Nero's reign, tempted him to indulge in courtly flattery,
still, even at that time, his praises of liberty evidently
came from the heart. As the poem proceeds his senti-
ments become more exalted; his virtuous indignation
Tac. Ann. xv. 48. 2 Ibid, 57. 3 Ibid. iii. 635, or v. 811.
THE rilARSALIA CRITICISED. 455
gradually rises, until it pours forth a torrent of burning
satire on the inhuman tyrant. This poem, the only one
of his works which survives, is an epic in ten books ; its
subject, the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. It
bears evident marks of having been left unfinished, and
oi' not having* received the last touches from the hand of
the author. It was preceded by four other shorter
poems — the first on the Death of Hector; the second on
the Visit of Orpheus to the Infernal Eegions ; the third,
on the Burning of Borne; the fourth addressed to his
wife Polla Argentaria. He also wrote some prose works ;
and Martial attributes to him some poems on lighter
subjects. 1
Lucan is an unequal poet : his Pharsalia is defaced
with great faults and blemishes ; but at the same time it
possesses peculiar beauties. Its subject is a noble one
and full of historic interest, and is treated with spirit,
brilliance, and animation. Its arrangement is that of
annals, and therefore it wants the unity of an epic poem :
it has not the connectedness of history, because the poet
naturally selected only the most striking and romantic
incidents ; and yet, notwithstanding these defects in the
plan, the historical pictures themselves are beautifully
drawn. The characters of Caesar and Pompey, for
example, are master-pieces. Again, some passages have
neither the dignity of prose nor the melody of poetry ;
whilst others are scarcely inferior to any written by the
best Latin poets. This inequality has caused the great
diversity of opinions which have been held by critics
respecting the merits of Lucan. Some have unjustly
depreciated him; others, as groundlessly, have lauded
him to the skies. Quintilian commended his ardent
enthusiasm and lucidity of expression, 2 but qualified his
praise by adding, that he would be admired by orators
1 Ep. i. CI. 8 x. i. 90-
456 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
rather than b}^ poets. ComeiHe preferred him to Virgil,
of whom he was obviously a warm admirer. His poem
furnishes materials and reason for this diversity of judg-
ment ; but it may safely be asserted that his faults were
due to the age in which he lived, whilst his beauties
were the fruits and developments of his own native
genius. His principal merit is originality : although he
was not great enough to lead the taste of the age, and to
rise superior to its false principles, he did not condescend
to be a servile imitator even of those poets whose repu-
tation was firmly established. There are many parallel-
isms between his poetry and that of Virgil, but they are
the parallelisms of a student, not of a plagiarist.
Without adopting the unauthorized assumptions, found
in some of his biographers, that he was educated under
the immediate superintendence of his uncle Seneca, that
Eemmius Palsemon taught him grammar, Virginius
Flaccus rhetoric, and Cornutus philosophy, it is clear
that his taste was formed and his talents drawn out in
an age, the characteristics of which were pedantic eru-
dition, inflated rhetoric, and dogmatic philosophy. It is
clear, also, that even though Seneca was not his tutor,
still the conceit and affectation which dimmed the
transcendant abilities of the philosopher, exercised a
baneful influence over the literary taste of his contem-
poraries. In the midst of these influences Lucan was
educated, and for that reason his poem is disfigured by
commonplace maxims, pompous diction, an affectation of
learning, a rhetorical exuberance which outstripped its
subjects, and therefore produces the effect of frigidity.
In a poem, the characters and events of which are
historical, the real is in too strong contrast to the ideal,
hence the effect of both is marred. The fidelity expected of
the historian circumscribes the creative power of the
poet. To the poet who constructs his work out of the
materials of epochs which are beyond the reach of
DIFFICULTIES OF HISTORICAL POETRY. 457
history, the whole field of the past is open. The only
limits within which he mnst restrain his genius are those
of the probable : within these bounds he may conjure up
the most magnificent ideal forms ; he may use the most
gorgeous imagery, the most supernatural machinery : the
whole wears an air of historic truth; as there are no
realities with which his ideal can be compared and tested,
truth never appears to be violated.
But in history, almost contemporaneous with the age
of the poet, every circumstance is recorded, every cha-
racter well-known and estimated. If an act of bravery
is exaggerated into one of superhuman heroism, or one
who is known to have been a man, although a great
man, recast in the heroic mould, we are struck at once
with the falsehood ; and therefore the poet cannot venture
on such efforts of genius. In a train of events, which
the page of history enables us to trace from the
beginning to the end, no difficulties can occur deserving
of supernatural machinery, no dignus vindice nodus ; and
thus, in the place of the Olympian Pantheon of Homer
and Virgil, Lucan can only deify the popular but un-
poetical principle of chance, and personify Fortune.
This position may appear inconsistent with the charm
which confessedly belongs to the modern historical
romance; but then it is to be remembered, that the
interest we take in the historical portions is purely
historical, enlivened by the events grouping themselves
round the hero : in fact, the interest of biography is
united with that of history. The strictest accuracy,
therefore, in matters wdiich fall within the range of
history is perfectly compatible. The romantic interest
depends on the inner or social life of the characters —
which forms no part of history — in which, as there is no
standard of comparison, the imagination of the poet is
quite free and unfettered. But this is totally different
from the plan on which such a poem as the Pharsalia is
458 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
constructed. The vision of the Genius of Eome which
appeared to Caesar at the fatal Bubicon, those which
haunt the slumbers of the Cesareans in the plundered
camp of Pompey, and the dream of Pompey, in which
the secrets of the infernal regions are laid open by the
shade of his departed wife Julia, are the nearest ap-
proaches to that invisible world which the imagination
of Homer disclosed, and which Yirgil reproduced: 1 but
these are only isolated passages.
It is impossible to be at once an historian and a poet :
in the one character the author must restrain the flights
of his imagination ; in the other, he must sacrifice truth.
Nor is there any doubt of which character .we demand
the conservation, when matters of history are concerned.
We desiderate truth : we wish moot points to be settled
and doubts solved. All imaginative pictures we look
upon as interruptions, and cast them aside as warping
the judgment and giving prejudiced views. Hence, our
admiration of Lucan is called forth, not by considering
his poem as an epic, but for the sake of isolated scenes,
such as the naval victory off Marseilles ; splendid de-
scriptions, such as that of the cruelties of Marius and
Sulla; felicitous comparisons, that, for example, of
Pompey to an aged oak ; and the epigrammatic terseness
which gives force, as well as beauty, to his sayings. In
a single line, for instance —
Pauperiorque fuit tunc primum Caesare Roma —
he describes the wealth and avarice of the conqueror, and
in the well-known verse —
Victrix causa Diis placuit sed victa Catoni —
he depicts the disinterestedness of Cato. To this may be
added, that the subject of the Pharsalia is, although a period
of the deepest historical interest, ill adapted to poetry.
'Lib. iii,
LUCAN A DESCRirTIVE POET. 459
Events so nearly contemporary were fitter for history
and panegyric than for poetry ; and although they give
scope for descriptive power and bold imagery, they are
deficient in that mysterious and romantic character
which is required for an epic poem. His imagination
was rich — his enthusiasm refused to be curbed. They
Were such as we might suppose would be nurtured by
the warm and sunny climate of Spain. His sentiments
often exhibit that chivalrous tone which distinguish the
Spanish poets of modern times. We may discern the
nobleness, the liberality, the courage, which once marked
the high-born Spanish gentleman ; and the grave and
thoughtful wisdom which makes Spanish literature so
rich in proverbs, and which peeps out even from under
the unreal conventionaHsms of the contemporary Eoman
philosophy.
Description forms the principal feature in the poetry
of Lucan; it occupies more than one-half of the Phar-
salia : so that it might almost as appropriately be termed
a descriptive as an epic poem. Description, in fact, con-
stitutes one of the characteristic features of- Eoman
literature in its decline, because poetry had more than
ever become an art, and the epoch one of erudition ; and
thus a treasure of imagery was stored up suitable for
descriptive embellishment. The finest parts of Persius
are descriptive : even Martial, brief though his pieces
are, delights in it ; and facility in this department is the
strong point of Silius Italicus, and the sole merit of
Valerius Flaccus. Owing to the enthusiasm with which
Lucan throws himself into this kind of writing, he
abounds in minute detail. He reminds one of the
descriptive talent possessed in so eminent a degree by
our own Thomson. Not a feature escapes his notice,
whether it suggest ideas of the beautiful, the sublime, or
the terrible. He is not content, as Virgil is, with a
sketch — with broad lights and shadows ; he delights in a
460 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
finished picture; he possesses the power of placing his
subject strongly before the eyes, leaving little or nothing
for the imagination to supply. He omits no means of
attaining descriptive truth i 1 the inward state of feeling,
the character of each passion is presented, not so much
in its moral and psychical as in its physical develop-
ments ; that which is internal is exhibited in its external
symptoms, with the hand of a painter and the skill of
the physiognomist. Virgil sketches, Lucan paints; the
latter describes physically — the former philosophically.
The following passages, which describe the passage of the
Eubicon and the death of Pompey, are noble specimens
of Lucan's style : —
Jam gelidas Caesar cursu superaverat Alpes,
Ingentesque ammo motus, bellumque futurum
Ceperat. Ut ventum est parvi Rubiconis ad undas,
Ingens visa duci patriae trepidantis imago,
Clara per obscuram vultu mcestissima noctem
Turrigero canos effundens vertice crines,
Caesarie lacera, nudisque adstare lacertis,
Et gemitu permixta loqui : Quo tenditis ultra ?
Quo fertis mea signa, viri ? si jure venitis,
* Si cives, hue usque licet. Tunc perculit horror
Membra ducis, riguere comae, gressumque coercens
Languor in extrema tenuit vestigia ripa.
*****
Caesar ut adversam superato gurgite ripam
Attigit, Hesperiae vetitis et constitit arvis, .
Hie, ait, hie, pacem, temerataque jura relinquo ;
Te, Fortuna, sequor ; procul hinc jam fcedera sunto.
Credidimus fatis, utendum est judice bello.
Now Caesar, marching swift with winged haste,
The summits of the frozen Alps had past ;
With vast events and enterprises fraught,
And future wars revolving in his thought.
Now near the banks of Rubicon he stood ;
When lo ! as he surveyed the narrow flood,
Amidst the dusky horrors of the night,
A wondrous vision stood confessed to sight.
1 E. g, v. 165.
PASSAGES QUOTED* tOl
Her awful head Rome's reverend image reared,
Trembling and sad the matron form appeared ;
A towering crown her hoary temples bound,
And her torn tresses rudely hung around ;
Her naked arms uplifted e'er she spoke,
Then groaning, thus the mournful silence broke :
Presumptuous men ! oh, whither do you run ?
Oh whither bear you these my ensigns on ?
If friends to right, if citizens of Rome,
Here to your utmost barrier are you come !
She said ; and sunk within the closing shade ;
Astonishment and dread the chief invade ;
Stiff rose his starting hair, he stood dismayed,
And on the bank his slackening steps were stayed.
*****
The leader now had passed the torrent o'er,
And reached fair Italy's forbidden shore ;
Then rearing on the hostile bank his head,
Here farewell peace and injured laws ! he said :
Since faith is broke, and leagues are set aside,
Henceforth thou, goddess Fortune, art my bride !
Let fate and war the great event decide. Bowe.
Jam venerat horse
Terminus extremee, Phariamque ablatus in alnum
Perdiderat jam jura sui. Turn stringere ferrum
Regia monstra parant. Ut vidit cominus enses
Involvit vultus ; atque indignatus apertum
Fortunae prsebere caput, tunc lumina pressit,
Continuitque anlmam, ne quas effundere voces
Posset et eeternam fletu corrumpere famam.
At postquam mucrone latus funestus Achillas
Perfodit, nullo gemitu consensit ad ictum
Now in the boat defenceless Pompey sate,
Surrounded and abandoned to his fate.
Nor long they hold him in their power aboard,
E'en every villain drew his ruthless sword :
The chief perceived their purpose soon, and spread
His Roman gown, with patience, o'er his head ;
And when the cursed Achillas pierced his breast,
His rising indignation close repressed.
No signs, no groans, his dignity profaned,
No tear his still unsullied glory stained.
Unmoved and firm he fixed him on his seat,
And died, as when he lived and conquered, great.
462 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
C. SlLIUS Italicus.
C. Silius Italicus was born in the reign of Tiberius,
a.d. 25. The place of his birth is unknown. His sur-
name, Italicus ; has led some to suppose that he was a
native of Italica, in Spain. But it is not probable that,
if this were the case, his friend and fellow-courtier
Martial, when he compared his eloquence to that of
Cicero, and his poetry to that of Virgil, 1 called him the
glory of the Castalian sisters, 2 and felicitated him on his
political honours, would have forgotten to claim him as
a countryman. Others, with somewhat more show of
reason, have imagined that his birthplace was the city of
Corfinium, in Pelignia, which was called Italica, 3 because
it was the head-quarters of the confederates in the Social
"War ; whilst Stephens mentions a little town in Sicily, of
the same name, which might have been his native place. 4
Silius was celebrated as an advocate ; but in that age of
affected and rhetorical display, a high reputation does not
prove that his eloquence, although it might have dis-
played a similar elegance of language, was more lively
and stirring than his poetry. He was consul a.d. 68 ; an
office which was also filled by his son, 5 and by another
member of his family. 6 He was afterwards proconsul of
Asia ; the duties of which lucrative office he appears to
have performed with credit to himself. He was very
wealthy ; and, as he grew old, retired from the perils of
public life to enjoy his affluence, and the retirement of
literary ease in his numerous villas. One cannot be
surprised that an orator and a poet especially delighted
in the. house of Yirgil, near Naples, and the Academy of
Cicero, of both which he was the fortunate possessor.
He lived to the age of seventy-five, and then starved
1 Lib. vii. 63. 2 See also iv. 14 ; vi. 64 ; viii. 6Q ; ix. 86 ; xi. 49—51,
3 Strabo, Geog. v. 167. 4 See notes to Plin. Ep. ed. Var.
5 Mart. Ep. viii. 66. 6 Suet. v. Octav. 101.
K*bl
CHARACTER BY PLINY. 463
himself to death, because he could not bear the pain of
disease. " I have just been informed," writes Pliny the
Younger, to his friend Caninius, 1 "that Silius Italicus
lias put an end to his existence by starvation, at his
Neapolitan villa. He had an incurable carbuncle, from
the annoyance of which he took refuge in death, with a
firm and irrevocable constancy. He enjoyed happiness
and prosperity to his dying day, if we except the loss of
the younger of his two sons ; but the elder and superior
one survived him in the enjoyment of prosperity, and
even of consular rank. The belief that he had volun-
tarily come forward as a public accuser injured his
reputation in the reign of Nero ; but, as a friend of
YiteUius, his conduct was wise and his behaviour cour-
teous. His career in the proconsulate of Asia was an
honourable one, for he washed out the stain of his former
activity by a praiseworthy abstinence from public affairs.
He had no influence with the great ; but then he was safe
from envy. All courted him, and were assiduous in
paying their respects to him ; and as ill-health confined
him to Iris bed, Iris chamber was thronged with visitors,
beyond what might have been expected from his rank
and station. Whenever he could spare time for writing,
he passed it in learned conversation. His poems display
elaborate care rather than genius : sometimes he invited
criticism by recitations. Yielding to the suggestion of
advancing years, he at length retired from Rome, and
resided in Campania; nor had the accession of a new
emperor (Trajan) power to entice him from his retire-
ment. High praise to the monarch under whose rule he
was free to act so ! — high praise to him who had courage
to use that freedom ! His love of virtu caused in him a
reprehensible passion for buying : he was the possessor of
more than one villa in the same localities; and he so
1 Ep. iii. 7.
4G4 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
delighted in the newest purchase as to neglect that
which he inhabited before. He had a vast collection of
books, besides statues and busts, which he not only
possessed, but almost worshipped. He kept Virgil's
birthday more religiously than his own, and had more
busts of him than of any one else, especially at Naples,
where he was in the habit of visiting his tomb, as if it
were a temple. In this tranquil retirement he exceeded
his seventy-fifth year, his constitution being delicate rather
than weakly. As he was the last consul made by Nero,
so he died the last of those whom he had made. It is
also worthy of remark that the consul, in whose year of
office Nero died, died the last of Nero's consuls. When
I call this to mind, I feel compassion for human frailty :
for what is so brief as the longest span of human life !"
Little interest attaches to the biography of one who
owed a life of uninterrupted prosperity to his being the
favourite and intimate of two emperors ; the one, a
bloodthirsty tyrant — the other, a gross sensualist. 1 His
ponderous work survives — the dullest and most tedious
poem in the Latin language. Its title is " Punica :" it
consists of seventeen books, and contains a history in
heroic verse of the second Punic War. The iEneid of
Virgil was his model, and the narrative of Livy fur-
nished his materials. Niebuhr states that he read
through the whole of his works with great care, and that
he was quite convinced that he had taken everything
from Livy, of whose work his is only a paraphrase. 2 The
criticism of Pliny the Younger is, upon the whole, just :
" Scribebat carmina majori cura qaam ingenio ,*" for,
although it is impossible to read his poem with pleasure
as a whole, his versification is harmonious, and will often,
in point of smoothness, bear comparison with that of
Virgil. The following passage is quoted by C. Barthius
1 Nero and Vitellius. 2 Inteocl. Lect. on K. H. viii.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ALPS. 405
as one of the most favourable specimens of his senti-
ments and style; and Cellarius, whose praise is extra-
vagantly fulsome, gives it the epithet of " Aurea "
Ipsa quidem virtus sibimet pulclierrima merces ;
Dulce tamen venit ad manes quem gloria vitce
Durat apud superos, nee edunt oblivia laudem.
Some of his episodes, if considered as separate pieces,
will repay the trouble of perusal ; and the following
passage, which Addison thought worthy of translation,
may be taken as a fair specimen of his descriptive
powers : —
THE ALPS.
Cuncta gelu canaque seternuni grandine tecta,
Atque aevi glaciem cohibent : riget ardua montis
iEtherii facies, surgentique obvia Phcebo
Duratas nescit flammis mollire pruinas.
Quantum Tartareus regni pallentis hiatus
Ad manes imos atque atrse stagna paludis
A supera tellure patet ; tarn longa per auras
Erigitur tellus et coelum intercipit umbra.
Nullum ver usquam, nullique sestatis honores ;
Sola jugis habitat diris sedesque tuetur
Perpetuas deformis hyems : ilia undique nubes
Hue atras agit et mixtos cum grandine nimbos.
Nam cuncti flatus ventique forentia regna
Alpina posuere domo caligat in altis
Obtutus saxis, abeuntque in nubila montes.
Stiff with eternal ice, and hid in snow,
That fell a thousand centuries ago,
The mountain stands ; nor can the rising sun
Unfix her frosts and teach them how to run r
Deep as the dark infernal waters he
From the bright regions of the cheerful sky,
So far the proud ascending rocks invade
Heaven's upper realms, and cast a dreadful shade.
No spring, no summer, on the mountain seen,
Smiles with gay fruits or with delightful green,
But hoary winter, unadorned and bare,
Dwells in the dire retreat and freezes there,
There she assembles all her blackest storms,
And the rude hail or rattling tempests forms ;
Thither the loud tumultuous winds resort,
And on the mountain keep their boisterous court,
That in thick showers her rocky summit shrouds.
And darkens all the broken view with clouds. Addison.
2 H
466 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE
CHAPTER V.
C VALERIUS FLACCUS — FAULTS OF THE ARGONAUTICA — PAPINIUS
STATIUS — BEAUTY OF HIS MINOR POEMS — INCAPABLE OF EPIC
POETRY — DOMITIAN — EPIGRAM — MARTIAL — HIS BIOGRAPHY —
PROFLIGACY OF THE AGE IN WHICH HE LIVED — IMPURITY OF HIS
WRITINGS — FAVOURABLE SPECIMENS OF HIS POETRY.
C. Valerius Flaccus.
C. Valerius Flaccus nourished in the reign of Ves-
pasian; and, according to an epigram of Martial, in
which the poet advises his friend to leave the Muses for
the drier bnt more profitable profession of a pleader, he
was born at Patavium 1 (Padua). The frequent addition
of the surnames Setinus Balbus have caused it to be
supposed that he was a native of Setia, in Campania
(Sezzo) ; but it is impossible to form any satisfactory
conjecture as to their signification, and the statement of
Martial is too definite to admit of a doubt. Quintihan 2
asserts that, when he wrote, V. Flaccus had lately died :
he was, therefore, probably cut off prematurely about
A.D. 88.
His only poem which is extant is entitled " Argonau-
tica," and is an imitation, and, in some parts, a trans-
lation, of the Grreek poem of Apollonius Bhodius, on the
same subject. It is addressed to the Emperor, and in the
1 Lib. i. 62, 77. * Inst. Orat. x. i. 90.
DEFECTS OF THE ARGONAUTICA. 467
proemium he pays a compliment to Domitian on his
poetry, and to Titus on his victories over the Jews.
He evidently did not live to complete his original
design : even the eighth hook is unfinished ; and, from
the events still remaining to be related, he probably
planned an epic poem of the same length as that of
Virgil, whose style and versification he endeavoured to
imitate. An Italian poet, John Baptista Pius, continued
the subject, by an addition to the eighth book, and by
subjoining two more, the incidents of which were partly
borrowed from Apollonius.
Of his merits Quintilian speaks favourably in the
passage already alluded to, and says, that in him literature
had sustained a severe loss. The severer criticism of
Scaliger is more precise and more judicious : — " Immatura
morte prsereptus acerbum item poema suum nobis re-
liquit. Est autem omnino duriusculus, penitus vero
nudus Grratiarum comitate." The defects of the Argo-
nautica are, in fact, rather of a negative than a positive
character. There are no glaring faults or blemishes;
none of the affectation or rhetorical artifices which belong
to the period of the decline. There may be a little
occasional hardness, and a few awkward expressions and
paraphrases, but there is no bombast to outrage good
taste, and no unmetrical cadences to offend the ear. But
there is no genius, no inspiration, no thrilling fervour,
no thoughts that breathe or words that burn. He
never rises above a dead level. Everything is in accord-
ance with decent and correct propriety. He has some
talent as a descriptive poet : his versification is har-
monious, and he attains to those superficial excellencies
which are found in the prize poem of a painstaking,
ingenious, and well-educated scholar. Virgil was an
imitator : that is, his taste, like Eoman taste universally,
was formed and trained by imitation; but his spirit
disdained these trammels, and soared to originality.
2 h 2
468 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
V. Flaccus is scarcely ever original except when he is
commonplace : he imitates Yirgil successfully, as far as
the outward graces of style are concerned; but in the
charm of natural simplicity, he always falls short of his
great original.
P. Papinius Statius (born a. d. 61).
Towards the middle of the first century of the
Christian era, 1 there arrived at Borne, from Naples, a
grammarian, named P. Papinius Statius. He opened a
school, and soon became so celebrated as a public in-
structor, that he became tutor to the young Domitian,
whose favour and affection continued after he became
emperor. Some of his fame was also founded on gaining,
in his boyhood, the prize in many public contests of
poetry. Every year, between the ages of thirteen and
nineteen, he is said to have been crowned. These
contests were partly of an improvisatorial character ; and
in an age when public readings and recitations were in
vogue, and were the means which poets had of gaining fame
and patronage, success of this kind was highly valued.
The subject of one of his poems is said to have been the
conflagration of the Capitol, during the struggle between
the Yitellians and the supporters of Yespasian. 2 Statius,
however, seems to have possessed no higher degree of
poetical power, than a happy facility in versification, for
he died 3 and left no works which have stood the test
of time.
A son, however, inherited poetical talents of the same
kind, but of a far higher order than those of his father,
and although, for a long time, he was entirely dependent
upon his works for the means of living, and, notwith-
standing thunders of applause, must starve, unless he
can sell his play to the manager Paris, 4 the sunshine of
A. B. 39. 2 Silv. v. iii. s a. d. 86. 4 Juv. vii. 82.
THE SILV/E OF STATIUS. 469
imperial favour which his father had enjoyed, shone upon
him. 1 He purchased patronage, however, at the expense
of grossly flattering the tyrant. This son, who bore the
same name as his father, was the author of the Silva?,
Thebaid, and Achilleid. He was born a.d. 61, and died
in the prime of life, a.d. 95, at Naples, his native city.
As no interesting particulars are recorded respecting his
life, and as he is never mentioned by any classical author,
except Juvenal, 2 it is impossible to say how the opinion
arose which was entertained by Iris admirer Dante, and
others, that he was in secret a defender of the Christians,
and also himself a believer. 3
He was a true Italian in the character of his genius.
He had a thorough perception of the beauties of nature.
His Silvse are full of truthful pictures. He possessed
ready facility in versification, which was surpassed by no
poet of classic antiquity except Ovid, and that impro-
visatorial power for which his countrymen in the present
clay are so often celebrated. As long as he was content
to be a poet on a small scale, he was eminently suc-
cessful. His Sylvse contain many .poetical incidents
which might stand by themselves as perfect fugitive
pieces. Brief effusions suggested by statues 4 and build-
ings, 5 verses of compliment 6 and delicate flatterv, 7 or con-
dolence 8 or congratulation. It matters not how light or
trifling the subject, he can raise it and adorn it. He
writes with equal beauty on the tree of his friend
Atedius; 9 the death of a parrot; of the emperor's
lion ; 10 the locks of Flavius Earinus ; n the rude freedom of
the Saturnalia. 12 It is in these unpretending poems thai;
we see his natural and unaffected elegance, his har-
monious ear, and the truthfulness of his perceptions.
'. Silv. iv. 2. 2 Lib. vii. 82. 3 Vide Vita Gyraldi, Dial. iv. de Poet. Lat.
4 Lib I. i. 3, 5. 5 Lib. ii. 2. 6 Ibid. ii. 7. 7 Ibid. i. 2.
8 Ibid. ii. 6 ; iii. 3. 9 Silv. ii. 5. 10 Ibid. 3. » Ibid. 4.
12 Ibid. iii. 4.
470 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
But the case is totally different when the subject is
above him. 1 He had neither grasp of mind, nor vigour
of imagination, to fit him for the task of an epic poet ;
and, hence, his great work, the Thebaid, and his other
unfinished epic, the Achilleid, are complete failures.
In his minor poems he seems to trust to the natural
powers of his genius ; he neither strains at producing
effect, nor is he too solicitous about exact finish and
laborious polish. Although not improvisatorial, they
partake of that character, and have all its freshness
combined with the advantage of written and corrected
performances. His thoughts are inspired by his subject ;
and its reality, which he was capable of appreciating,
gives a life to his compositions. But the principal fault
in his Silvse is too great a display of Greek learning.
Every page is full of mythological allusions, which some-
times render his graceful verses dry and wearisome, and
must have rendered them acceptable to those only who
were well versed in Greek literature : they never could
have been universally popular. The qualities which
recommend his SilvaB do not adorn his epic poetry. His
imaginary heroes do not inspire and warm his ima-
gination : he is not affected by their personality in the
same way in which he is by the lawns, and groves, and
forests, and sun, and skies of Italy.
For this deficiency he attempts to compensate by
extravagant bombast, totally out of keeping with the
action of the poem, and by an attention to the
theoretical principles of art, and an elaborate finish
which must have cost him many hours of toil. Yet this
perseverance is thrown away, and the effect produced by
the contrast between the action and essence of the poem,
and the language in which it is externally clothed,
produces an effect contrary to that which was intended,
1 Silv. J. 6 ; iv. 9,
BTATIUS STUDIED HOMER. 471
He was a skilful draughtsman, a gorgeous colourist, a
pleasing landscape-painter, and a diligent student of the
rules of art ; but his genius could not rise to the highest
departments of art — he could not give the mind or the
morale to those characters whose external features he was
so apt in delineating. He owes the estimation in which
he is held as an epic poet not to his absolute but his
relative merit. He was the best of the heroic poets of
his day. Statius, notwithstanding his defects, was evi-
dently a profound student as well as an admirer of the
Homeric poems ; and there are two points in which he
has proved himself a successful imitator. These are his
battles and his similes. His descriptions of the former
are stirring and dramatic, and some of his similes will
bear comparison with the best Latin specimens of this
kind of illustration. When it is remembered that no
epic poet has approached more nearly to Homer in the
use of the simile than Dante, and that he equals the
Greek bard in sublime and picturesque description, it
may easily be imagined that these were the qualities in
the poems of Statius which especially called forth his
admiration.
A few words only are necessary to describe the nature
and subject-matter of the poems of Statius. The Silvse
consist of thirty -two separate pieces. They are all
hexametrical, with the exception of four in hendeca-
syllabics, 1 one in Alcaic, 2 and one in Sapphic metre. 3 Each
of the five books in which these poems are arranged has
a prose dedication to some friend prefixed. The first
being addressed to the poet Stella, the common friend of
himself and Martial. 4 The title Silvse was given to
these poems, on account of the very quality which
constitutes their especial charm. They are the rude
Lib. i. 6 ; ii. 7 ; iv. 3, 9. 2 Ibid. iv. 5. 3 Ibid. 7.
4 SeeEpig. vi. 21.
472 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
materials of thought, springing up spontaneously in all
their wild luxuriance from the rich natural soil of the
poet's imagination, unpruned, untrimmed, ignorant of
that cultivated art which an affected and artificial age
thought necessary to constitute a finished poem. " Such
extemporaneous performances as these," says Quintilian,
" are called Silvse : the author subsequently re-examines
and corrects his effusions." 1 The Thebaid is comprised
in twelve books, and its subject is the ancient Greek
legends respecting the war of the Seven against Thebes.
The composition of this work preceded the publication of
the Silvse. The Achilleid was intended, doubtless, to
embrace all the exploits of Achilles, but only two books
were completed.
Domitian.
A paraphrase of the Phenomena of Aratus belongs to
this age. It has been ascribed to Grermanicus, but its
real author was Domitian, who, as well as Nero, wrote
verses. 2 As far as language and versification are con-
cerned, it is not without merit; but the subject is unsuit-
able to poetry. 3 Domitian had taste, although his talents
did not deserve the adulatory commendations of Quinti-
lian ; 4 but he encouraged learned men ; and to his encou-
ragement we owe those distinguished contemporary
writers who, for one generation, arrested the downward
progress of Eoman literature.
Epigram.
The Greek Epigram was originally, as the word implies,
simply an inscription. It was therefore short and con-
1 I. O. x. 3. 2 See a passage from Nero's Troica, in Meyer's Anthol.
3 Nevertheless, Aratus enjoyed a large share of popularity. Csesar and
Cicero translated his works ; Virgil and Manilius borrowed from them ;
Ovid and Maximus Tyrius compared him with Homer ; and St. Paul was
acquainted with his Phenomena, and quotes from it (Acts xvii. 28). There
is an English translation of his works by Dr. Lamb.
4 Lib. iv. i. 2 ; x. i. 19.
LATIN EPIGRAMMATISTS. 473
cise ; its metre elegiac, as especially suited to the periodic
structure of the sentiment, and its characteristic qualities,
terseness and neatness. So long as it retained this
character it was free from bitterness ; and the principal
element of success in this species of composition was
tact rather than genius, and a cultivated taste rather than
poetical inspiration. Not only were Catullus, Virgil, and
Ovid epigrammatists, but some Eoman literati arrived at
mediocrity, or even excellence, in epigram who were not
capable of becoming great poets. Julius Caesar wrote one
on Terence, and perhaps the following neatly-turned lines ;
although they have been ascribed to Augustus and Grer-
manicus : —
Thrax puer astricto glacie dum ludit in Hebro
Pondere concretas frigore rupit aquas ;
Dumque imee partes rapido traherentur ab amne,
Abscidit tenerum lubrica testa caput.
Orba quod inventum mater duin conderet urna,
Hoc peperi flammis, cetera, dixit, aquis.
Lutatius Catulus was the author of a quatrain on
Eoscius the comedian; and the Anthology, amongst
numerous others, contains one by Augustus, 1 and four of
no merit by Maecenas, 2 together with those beautiful lines
addressed by Hadrian to his soul, which Pope has imitated
in his " Dying Christian :" —
Animula vagula blandula,
Hospes comesque corporis,
Quae nunc abibis in loca 1
Pallidula rigida nudula
Nee ut soles dabis jocos.
To the original characteristics of epigram the Eomans
added that which constitutes an epigram in the modern
sense of the term, pointedness either in jest or earnest,
and the bitterness of personal satire. Common sense,
shrewdness, and an acute observation of human nature
1 See Meyer's Anthol. 2 Anthol. 52, 80, 81—84.
474 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
were thus superadded to Greek gracefulness and elegance ;
and the same nation which reduced the wild and unpre-
meditated sarcasms of the Greek stage into the symme-
trical form of satire, produced also the epigram as written
by the pen of Martial. The same characteristics of the
Roman mind which mark satire are visible also in epigram.
Epigram is the concentration of satire. The desultory
vagueness which is allowable in the latter, the variety
of subjects, which are touched upon with irregular and
unrestrained freedom, are, in the former, limited and de-
fined. One idea is selected, and to this all the powers of
the writer's acute mind are directed, and made to converge
as to a point. It is not often that the harmless elements
of Greek wit, such as the pun, or the pleasantry by sur-
prise or unexpected turn (although these sometimes oc-
cur), 1 are found in the Boman epigram. Smartness is
generally connected with severity. The same bitter
spirit which dictated the Archilochian epodes of Horace,
which breathes throughout the indignant lines of Juvenal,
points the shafts of Martial. The blows, however, which
he aimed at vice could not be deadly, because he had no
faith in virtue, because he delighted to grovel in the im-
purity which he described.
M. Valerius Martialis (born a.d. 43).
All that is known of the life of Martial is derived from
his own works ; and this is but little, for he says nothing
of his early years, and did not begin to write until the
reign of Domitian. Of his parents he undutifully tells
as that they were fools for teaching him to read. 2 He was
born at Bilbilis, a Spanish town in the province of
Tarragon, 3 of the position of which nothing is known for
certain, except that its site was an elevated one, 4 over-
1 Lib. ix. 13 ; v. 33 ; iv. 65 ; v. 25, is something like an acrostic.
s Lib. ix. Ep. 74. 3 Vide Nisard, Etudes, i. 335. 4 Lib. i. 50.
LIFE OF MARTIAL. 475
looking the river Salo, which flowed round its walls. It
appears to have prided itself on its manufactures in gold
and iron ; l to have been particularly famous for its arms ; 2
and to have been one of the Eoman colonies dignified with
the title of Augusta, 3 As Vespasian had conferred on the
poet's native town, in common with the rest of Spain,
the jus Latii* Martial was by birth a Eoman citizen ;
and in the days of his popularity obtained this privilege
for many of Iris friends. 5 His birthday was March l, 6
a.d. 43, the third year of the reign of Claudius.
In the twenty-second year of his age, the twelfth year
of the reign of Nero, 7 he migrated to Eome. He was a
great favourite of Titus and Domitian, by whom the
"jus trium liber arum " was conferred upon him, 8 together
with the rank of a Eoman knight, 9 and the honorary
title of tribune. 10 In the reign of the latter he was
appointed to the office of court poet, and received a pen-
sion from the imperial treasury. 11 Hence during the
latter part of his residence in Eome it is almost certain
that, although not rich, he enjoyed a competency. He
had a house in the city, and a little villa at Nomentum
given him by Domitian. 12 Nevertheless, he is constantly
complaining of his poverty, and thinks that every one
grows rich but himself. He laments that poets receive
nothing but compliments for their verses, whilst lawyers,
and even common criers, gain an ample maintenance : —
that " Minerva was a better patron than Apollo ; a fuller
stream of wealth flowed through the Forum than from
the fountain of Helicon, or the channel of Permessus." is
He complains that he spends all he has, and either
borrows money from his friends, or takes to another the
presents he has given him, and querulously asks him to
1 Lib. xii. 18.
2 Lib. x. 103.
3 Ibid.
4 Plin. iii. 3.
5 Lib. Hi. 94.
6 Lib. x. 24.
7 A. D. 65.
8 Lib. iii. 94.
9 Lib. v. 13.
10 Lib. iii. 94.
11 Nisard, 337.
12 Lib. vii. 36
13 Lib. i. 77.
476 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
purchase them back again. 1 The roof of his villa lets in
the rain ; and when his friend Stella sends him some tiles
to mend it he reproaches him for not sending also a toga
to protect the poor inmate. 2
All this may have proceeded from the discontented
feelings which poets and literary men so often indulge at
seeing genius unrewarded, and affluence attending talents
which, although if not so high an order, are of more
general utility. Perhaps, too, though not absolutely poor,
he was straitened in his circumstances, considering his
social position and the demands which this entailed upon
him. During thirty-five years he lived at Borne the life
of a flatterer and a dependent, 3 and then returned to his
native town. 4 As Horace, when in his quiet country re-
tirement, sometimes regrets the enjoyments of the capital,
although when at Eome he sighs for the pleasures of
rural life, so Martial, when at Eome, longed for Bilbilis,
and when he returned to Bilbilis regretted Eome. At
this late period of his life he married a Spanish lady,
named Marcella, whose property was amply sufficient to
maintain him in affluence. Her estate he considers a
little kingdom ; her gardens he would not exchange for
those of Alcinous ; he praises her bowers, groves, foun-
tains, streamlets, fish-ponds, and meadows ; and tells us
the climate is so genial that the olive-grounds are green
in January, and the roses blow twice in the year, like
those of Psestum. 5 His wife he praises for her rare
genius and sweet manners ; he tells her that no one could
discover her provincial origin ; that her equal could not be
found amongst the most elegant ladies in the capital ; and
when inclined to forget Eome she alone is all that Eome
ever was to him : —
Tu desiderium dominse mihi mitius urbis
Esse jubes ; Romam tu mihi sola facis. 6
1 Lib. vii. 16. 2 Lib. vii. 35. 3 Lib. xii. 31.
4 a. d. 100. 5 Lib. xii. 31. 6 Lib. xii. 21.
UTS DISTASTE FOR THE COUNTRY. 477
But, notwithstanding the delicate compliment which
he pays to his rich wife — a compliment dictated probably
more by his habit of courtly flattery than by sincerity of
a H'ection — he evidently pined for Borne. He was fitted
for crowds and not for solitude : his spirit was not pure
enough to commune with itself. His delight had been
so long to study the human heart in its worst develop-
ments, to drag forth to public view its blackest plague-
spots, that he would miss the foul models which he had
so long studied. Provincial life was therefore utter dul-
ness to him ; his only enjoyment was to reproduce the
results of his observations on the life of the capital.
Combining in himself the apparently inconsistent cha-
racters of the flatterer and the satirist, he needed great men
to whom he might look up for patronage and approba-
tion, as well as moral wounds to probe and subjects to anato-
mize. Borne alone supplied these ; and when he lost them
he lost the intellectual food necessary for his existence.
The absence of his accustomed pursuits, and the irremedi-
able void thus created, is evident in many of his epigrams.
The time of his death is uncertain, as the date of Pliny's
elegant epistle to Priscus, in which it is mentioned, can-
not be determined. 1 But as it is probable that the eleventh
book of his Epigrams was published in the year in which
he left Borne for Bilbilis, and as he apologises in the dedi-
cation of his twelfth book to Priscus for his obstinate
indolence during a period of three years, his death cannot
have taken place before a.d. 104. It is, however, gene-
rally supposed that his life was not prolonged much be-
yond this date. Plis death may have been hastened by
his distaste for a provincial life, and by the malice and envy
of his new neighbours. 2
According to his own account, in an epigram/ in which
he contrasts himself with an effeminate fop, his appear-
Lib. iii. 20, 21. 2 Proof, ad lib. xii. 8 Lib. x. 65.
478 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
ance was rough and unpolished, his shaggy hair refused
to curl, his cheeks were well- whiskered, and his voice was
louder than the roar of a lioness. 1 It is impossible to
believe the assertion which he makes respecting his own
moral character, namely, that although his verses are licen-
tious his life was virtuous,
Lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba est. 8
— although measured by the corrupt standard of morals
which disgraced the age in which he lived, he was pro-
bably not worse than most of his contemporaries. The
fearful profligacy which his powerful pen describes in
such hideous terms spread through Eome its loathsome
infection. As no language is strong enough to denounce
the impurities of his page — impurities, in the description
of which, the poet evidently revels with a cynical delight —
so they were not merely creatures of a prurient imagina-
tion but had a real existence.
It may be said in extenuation of his crime, that the
prevalence of vice produced the obscenity of the poet ; but
no more can be said in defence of works in which the
characters of vice are emblazoned in such shameless and
unnatural deformity. Had he lived in better times, his
talents, of which no doubt can be entertained, might have
been devoted to a purer object ; as it was, his moral taste
must have been thoroughly depraved not to have turned
with loathing and disgust from the contemplation of such
subjects, instead of voluntarily seeking them; for "out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." In
Martial we observe that paradoxical but still not unusual
combination of varied wit, poetical imagination, and a
1 There are two readings of the line to which allusion is here made,
viz. : —
Nobis filia fortius loquetur,
and Non nobis lea fortius loquetur.
The latter is the one adopted. £ Lib. i. 5.
BEAUTY OP SOME OF HIS EPIGRAMS. 479
happy power of graceful expression, not only with strong
sensual passions, but with a delight in vice in its most
hateful forms and attributes.
Although the new feature which Martial added to the
Greek epigram is such as has been described, and although
his pages are polluted and denied, not all his poems are
spiteful or obscene. Amidst some obscurity of style and
want of finish, many are redolent of Greek sweetness and
elegance. Here and there are pleasing descriptions of the
beauties of nature j 1 and, setting aside those which are
evidently dictated by the spirit of flattery, many are kind-
hearted, as well as complimentary. The few lines which
were intended to accompany such trifling offerings of
friendship as the poet could afford to give, and which,
doubtless, rendered a flower or a toy doubly acceptable,
are equal in neatness to many of the Greek Anthology.
TVlien he sends a rose to ApoUinaris, it is accompanied
by the following elegant lines : —
I felix rosa, mollibusque sertis
Nostri cinge comas Apollinaris ;
Quas tu nectere Candidas sed olini,
Sic te semper amet Venus, memento. 2
Go, happy rose, and with thy delicate garlands wreathe the locks of
my ApoUinaris ; and remember, so may Venus ever love thee ! to en-
twine them when grey : but may it be long ere that time comes.
The fourteenth book contains numerous ingenious
couplets, sent, together with pencases, dice, tablets, tooth-
picks, and other little presents, at the Saturnalian festival.
In so vast a collection of pieces it is natural to expect
that there would be great inequality, and that some of
his wit would be commonplace and puerile. That such
was the case, he himself confesses more than once ; 3 and
in one place he states that this inequality constitutes one
of the merits of his work. 4
1 For example, lib. iii. 48. 2 Lib. vii. 88. 3 Lib. i. 12 ; vii. 30.
4 Lib, vii. 89.
480 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
He knew that his works were appreciated, not only at
Rome, but also throughout the empire : —
Toto notus in orbe Martialis
Argutis epigrammaton libellis. 1
and this consciousness is some excuse for the vanity
which occasionally shows itself, 2 and which does not hesi-
tate to account blemishes as beauties.
The following are favourable specimens of his poetry : —
Indignas premeret pestis cum tabida fauces,
Inque ipsos vultus serperet atra lues ;
Siccis ipse genis flentes hortatus amicos
Decrevit Stygios Festus adire lacus.
Nee tamen obscuro pia polluit ora veneno,
Aut torsit lenta tristia fata fame ;
Sanctam Romana vitam sed morte peregit,
Dimisitque animam nobiliore via.
Hanc mortem fatis magni preeferre Catonis
Fama potest ; hujus Caesar amicus erat.
When the dire quinsey choked his noble breath,
And o'er his face the blackening venom stole,
Festus disdained to wait a lingering death,
Cheered his sad friends, and freed his dauntless soul.
Nor meagre famine's slowly- wasting force,
Nor hemlock's gradual dullness he endured ;
But closed his life a truly Roman course,
And with one blow his liberty secured.
The Fates gave Cato a less glorious end,
For Csesar was his foe, Festus was Csesar's friend. 3
Hodgson.
Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Peeto
Quern de visceribus traxerat ipsa suis,
Si qua fides, vulnus, quod feci, non dolet, inquit ;
Sed quod tu facies, hoc mihi, Psete, dolet.
When Arria to her Psetus gave the steel,
Which from her bleeding side did newly part ;
" From my own stroke," she said, " no pain I feel,
But, ah ! thy wound will stab me to the heart."
1 Lib. i. 1. a Lib. x. 100 ; i. 54; iv. 46.
3 Martial generally condemns suicide ; for instance, " Fortiter ille facit
qui miser esse potest," and " Hunc volo laudari, qui sine morte potest."
But, see epigram on death of Otho (Lib. vi. 32).
SPECIMENS OF HIS TOETRY. 481
Dura nos blanda teneut jueimdi stagna Lucrini
Et qua) pumiceis foutibus antra caleut,
Tu colis Argivi regnum Faustine coloni
Quo te bis decimus ducit ab urbe lapis.
Horrida sed fervent Nemerei pectora monstri
Nee satis est Baias igne calcre suo.
Ergo sacri fontes et littora sacra valete
Nympharuin pariter Nereidumque domus !
Hereuleos colles gelida vos vincite bruma,
Nunc Tiburtinis cedite frigoribus.
While near the Lucrine lake, consumed to death,
I draw the sultry air and gasp for breath,
Where streams of sulphur raise a stifling heat,
And thro' the pores of the warm pumice sweat ;
You taste the cooling breeze where, nearer home,
The twentieth pillar marks the mile from Eome.
And now the Sun to the bright Lion turns,
And Baia with redoubled fury burns ;
Then" briny seas and tasteful springs farewell,
Where fountain Nymphs confused with Naiads dwell.
In winter you may all the world despise,
But now 'tis Tivoli that bears the prize. Addison.
2 i
482 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER VI.
AUFIDIUS BASSUS AND CREMUTIUS CORDUS — VELLEIUS PATERCULUS
— CHARACTER OF HIS WORKS — VALERIUS MAXIMUS — CORNELIUS
TACITUS — AGE OF TRAJAN — BIOGRAPHY OF TACITUS — HIS EXTANT
WORKS ENUMERATED — AGRICOLA — GERMANY — HISTORIES —
TRADITIONS RESPECTING THE JEWS — ANNALS — OBJECT OF TACITUS
— HIS CHARACTER — HIS STYLE.
The earliest prose writers belonging to this epoch were
Aufidius Bassus and Cremutius Cordus. The former
wrote a history of the German and civil wars, which was
continued by the elder Pliny ; of the latter only a few
fragments have been preserved by Seneca. 1 They were
published in the reign of Tiberius ; and it is evident that
they contained a history of the civil wars, for his praise
of Brutus and Cassius was made the pretext for his im-
peachment. It is also clear that he treated of contem-
porary events ; for the real cause of the emperor's hostility
was an attack which he made upon the favourite Sejanus.
In vain he tendered an apology ; and seeing there was no
hope of escape he starved himself to death. 2 His histories
were publicly burned ; but his daughter, to whom Seneca
addressed his " Consolatio" concealed some copies, and
afterwards published them, with the approbation of
Caligula. 3
M. Yelleius Paterculus.
Together with these flourished M. Yelleius Paterculus.
He was a soldier of equestrian family, served his first
Suasor. vii. 2 a. d. 25 ; Tac. Ann. iv. 34. 3 Suet. Calig. 16.
HISTORY OF PATERCULUS. 483
campaign in Asia, and subsequently, after passing through
the various steps of promotion, acted as legatus to
Tiberius, in Germany. His services recommended him
to the favour of the prince, on whose accession he was
made praetor, and proved himself a staunch supporter of
him and his favourite minister Sejanus. In the fall of
that unworthy man, 1 Paterculus was involved, and was
most probably put to death.
The short historical work by which he is known as an
author is a history of Rome, and of the nations connected
with the foundation of the imperial city, in two books.
It is dedicated to M. Yinucius, consul ; and as it carries
on the history to the death of Livia, the mother of
Tiberius, in the year of his consulate, 2 it must have been
finished, perhaps almost entirely written within that year.
Assuming that it was wise to undertake the task of com-
prising within such narrow Hmits events extending over
so large a field, it is not unskilfully performed. The most
striking events are selected and told in a lively and
interesting manner; but he had one fault fatal to his
character as an historian, who professed to treat of his
own times. He is partial, prejudiced, and adulatory. He
had not courage to be a Thucy elides or a Sallust. The
perilous nature of the times, the personal obligations
under which he was to the emperor, made him a courtier,
and from this one-sided point of view he viewed con-
temporary history.
He was, however, a man of lively talents though of
superficial education : his taste was formed after the
model of the Augustan writers, especially Sallust, of
whose style, so far as the outward form, he was an
imitator. But although he was one of the earliest writers
of the so-called silver age, his language shows signs of
degeneracy. It is, at times, overstrained and unnatural j
'a. D. 31. 8 A.D. 30.
2 i 2
484 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
there is the usual affectation of rhetorical effect, and an
unnecessary use of uncommon words and constructions ;
still, whenever he keeps his model in view, he is scarcely
inferior to him in conciseness and perspicuity. The first
book of his history is in a very imperfect state ; in fact,
the commencement is entirely lost. Only one manuscript
of it has been discovered, and even this is now nowhere
to be found.
Valerius Maximus.
Valerius Maximus can scarcely be termed an historian,
although the subject of which he treated is historical.
His work is neither one of original research, nor is it a
connected abridgment of the investigation of his pre-
decessors. It is a collection of anecdotes, entitled
Dictorum Faetorumque Memorabilium Libri ix. His
object is a moral one ; namely, to illustrate by examples,
the beauty of virtue and the deformity of vice ; but he is
influenced in the selection less by historical truth than
by the striking and interesting character of the narrative.
The arrangement of the anecdotes resembles that of a
commonplace-book, rather than of a history, the only
principle observed being, that anecdotes of Romans and
foreigners are kept distinct from one another.
Nothing is known, for certain, respecting his personal
history. He himself states 1 that he accompanied Sextus
Pompeius into Asia ; and, from a comparison of different
passages, it is probable that, like Velleius Paterculus, he
nourished and wrote during the reign of Tiberius. His
style is prolix and declamatory, and characterized by
awkward affectation and involved obscurity.
C. Cornelius Tacitus.
For the reasons already stated, Eome, for a long period,
could boast of no historian ; but, under the genial and
1 Lib. ii. 6, 8.
AGE OF TRAJAN. 485
fostering influence of the emperor Trajan, 1 not only the
fine arts, especially architecture, flourished, but also
literature revived. The choice of Tserva could not have
fallen on a better successor to his short reign. He was
a Spaniard, but his native town was a flourisliing Soman
colony : the whole country round about it had expe-
rienced the effects of Koman civilization, and the language
of all the towns in the south of Spain was Latin. The
glories of war and the duties of peace divided his
attention. By the former, he gave employment to his
vast armies ; by the latter, he refined the tastes and im-
proved the character of his people. No better testimony
can be desired than the correspondence between liim and
Pliny to the mildness and wisdom of his domestic and
foreign administration. The influence, also, of his
empress, Plotina, and his sister, Marciana, exercised a
beneficial influence upon Roman society; for they were
the first ladies of the imperial court who by their ex-
ample checked the shameless licentiousness which had
long prevailed amongst women of the higher classes.
The same taste and execution which are visible in the
bas-reliefs on the column of Trajan adorn the literature
of his age, as illustrated by its two great lights, Tacitus
and the younger Pliny. There is not the rich, graceful
ornament which invests with such a charm the writers
of the golden age ; but the absence of these qualities is
amply compensated by dignity, gravity, honesty, and
truthfulness. There is a solidity in the style of Tacitus
which makes amends for its difficulty, and justifies the
intense admiration with which he was regarded by Pliny.
Trutlifulness beams throughout the writings of these
two great contemporaries ; and incorruptible virtue is as
visible in the pages of Tacitus as benevolence and tender-
ness are in the letters of Pliny. They mutually influenced
1 A. D. 98.
486 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
each other's characters and principles : their tastes and
pursuits were similar; they loved each other dearly;
corresponded regularly, corrected each other's works, and
accepted patiently and gratefully each other's criticisms.
If, however, on all occasions, their observations were
such as appear in the letters of Pliny, it is probable that
their mutual regard, and the unbounded admiration which
Pliny entertained for the superior genius of his friend,
caused them to be rather laudatory than severe.
The exact date of the birth of Tacitus is not known ;
but from one of the many letters extant, addressed to
him by Pliny, 1 it may be inferred that the former was
not more than one or two years senior to Ms friend. In
it he reminds him that in years they are almost equals,
and adds that he himself was a young man when
Tacitus had already obtained a brilliant reputation.
There is a tradition which assigns the birth of Tacitus to
the year of Nero's accession ; but as Pliny the Younger
was born a.d. 61, and Nero assumed the imperial purple
a.d. 54, this date would make the difference in age
between him and Pliny too great to be consistent with
the expressions of the latter. Tacitus was of equestrian
rank, and was procurator of Belgic Graul in the reigns
of Vespasian and Titus, from whom, as well as from
Domitian, he received many marks of esteem. In a.d.
78, he married the daughter of C. Julius Agricola. Pie
was one of the fifteen commissioners appointed for the
celebration of the Ludi Seculares, a.d. 88, and was also
praetor the same year. In a.d. 97, he served the office of
consul. To this magistracy he was elected in order to
supply the place of Yirginius Burns, who had died
during his year of office, and over him Tacitus pronounced
the funeral oration. In a.d. 99, he was associated by
the Senate with Pliny 2 in the impeachment of Marius
Pliii. Ep. vii. 20. 2 Plin. Ep. ii. 1.
EXTANT WORKS OF TACITUS. 487
Prisons, proconsul of Africa, for maladministration of his
province; and his friend Pliny praises his reply to the
acute subtleties of Salvius Liberalis, the advocate of
Marius, as distinguished, not only for oratorical power,
but for that which he considers the most remarkable
quality of his style, gravity. His words are, " Eespondit
Corn. Tacitus eloquent issime et quod eximie orationi ejus
inest, ae/muto?" 1 It is not known when Tacitus died, nor
whether he left any descendants ; but there can be no
doubt that he survived the accession of Hadrian. 2
The works of Tacitus which are extant, are : — (1). A
Life of his father-in-law, Agricola. (2). A tract on the
Manners and Nations of the Germans. (3). A small
portion of a voluminous w T ork, entitled Histories. (4).
About two-thirds of another historical work, entitled,
Annals. (5). A dialogue on the Decline of Eloquence is
also ascribed to him; and although doubts have been
entertained of its genuineness, they do not rest upon any
strong foundation. It is impossible to do more than
approximate to the dates at which each work of Tacitus
was composed. The imminent peril of writing or
speaking plainly on events or individuals renders it almost
certain that none of them could have been published
before the accession of Trajan. Niebuhr 3 entertains no
doubt that the first edition of the Life of Agricola was
published towards the end of Domitian's reign, and that,
subsequently, it was revised and an introduction pre-
fixed. But is it not more probable, that although the
work was then written, it was not published until after
revision ?
Great as were the moral worth and the amiable gen-
tleness of Agricola, his courage as a soldier, his skill and
decision as a general, his prudence and caution as a
politician, and, therefore, however deserving he may be
1 Ep. II. xi. 2 a. d. 117. 3 Lect. R. H. cxix.
488 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
of the pleasing light in which his character is portrayed,
still the life of Tacitus is a panegyric rather than a
biography. The near relation in which Tacitus stood to
him, the affectionate admiration which Agricola must
necessarily have commanded from one who knew him so
well, unfitted him for the work of an impartial biographer.
The fine points of Agricola' s character outshine all its
other features ; but we cannot suppose that he had no
defects, no weaknesses. These, however, do not appear
in the little work of Tacitus. His son-in-law either
could not or would not see them. Still the brief sketch
is a beautiful specimen of the vigour and force of
expression with which this greatest painter of antiquity
could throw off any portrait which he attempted. Even
if the likeness be somewhat flattered, the qualities which
the writer possessed, his insight into character, his
pathetic power, and his affectionate heart, render this
short piece one of the most attractive biographies
extant. 1
"With what simple pathos does he tell us of the obliga-
tion which Agricola, like so many other great men, owed
to the educating care of his pure-minded, prudent, and
indulgent mother, and the gratitude with which he was
wont constantly to speak of that obligation ! With what
affection does he speak of one bound to him, not only by
the ties of affinity, but by the stronger ties of a congenial
temper and disposition ! In his reflections on his death,
there is no affected attempt at dramatic display. The
few words devoted to so mournful a subject simply
breathe the overwhelming sense of bereavement, un-
assuaged by the consolation of being present at his last
moments. " Happy wert thou, Agricola, not only
because thy life was glorious, but because thy death was
well-timed ! All who heard thy last words bear witness
1 Agric. 4.
HIS AGRICOLA AND GERMANY. Is89
to the constancy with which thou didst welcome death
as though thou wert determined manfully to acquit the
emperor of being the cause. But the bitterness of thy
daughter's sorrow and mine for the loss of a parent is
enhanced by the reflection, that it did not fall to our lot
to watch over thy declining health, to solace thy failing
strength, to enjoy thy last looks, thy last embraces.
Faithfully would we have listened to thy parting words
and washes, and imprinted them deeply on our memories.
Tins was our chief sorrow, our most painful wound.
Owing to our long absence from Eome, thou hadst been
lost to us four years before. Doubtless, best of parents !
enough, and more than enough, of honour was paid to
thee by the assiduous attention of thy affectionate wife ;
still the last offices were paid thee amidst too few tears,
and thine eyes were conscious that some loved object
was absent just as their light was dimmed for ever."
To this tribute of dutiful affection, succeed sentiments
of noble resignation, joined with a humble conviction
of the transitory nature of human talents, and an earnest
looking-for of immortality. To us, the biography of
Agricola is especially interesting, because Britain was the
scene of liis glory as a military commander, and of his
success in civil administration. His army first pene-
trated beyond the Friths of Forth and Clyde into the
Highlands of Scotland, and his fleet first circumnavigated
the northern extremities of our island.
The treatise on the geography, manners, and nations
of Germany (De Situ Moribus et Populis Germanice) is
but little longer than the Life of Agricola. The inform-
ation contained in it is exactly of that character which
might be expected, considering the sources from which
it was derived. Tacitus was never hi Germany, and
therefore his knowledge was collected from those who
had visited it for the purposes either of war or commerce.
Hence Iris geographical descriptions are often vague and
490 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
inaccurate ; a mixture of the marvellous shows that some
of his narrative consists in mere travellers' tales, whilst
the salient points and characteristic features of the
national manners bear the impress of truth, and are sup-
ported by the well-known habits and institutions of
Teutonic nations.
He tells of their bards and explains the etymology of
the term by the word, Barditum, which signified the
recitation of their songs. 1 He hints at wild legends and
dark superstitions with which the German imagination
still loves to people the dark recesses of their forests. 2
He describes their pure and unmixed race, and, conse-
quently, the universal prevalence of the national features —
blue eyes, red or sandy hair, and stalwart and gigantic
frames. 3 According to his account, their political con-
stitutions were elective monarchies, but the monarch was
always of noble birth and his power limited; 4 and all
matters of importance were debated by the estate of the
people. 5 In the solemn permission accorded to a German
youth to bear arms, and his investiture with lance and
shield, is seen the origin of knighthood; 6 and in the
sanctity of the marriage-tie, the chastity of the female sex,
their social influence, and the respect paid to them — the
rarity of adultery and its severe punishment, and the
total absence of polygamy — we recognize the germ of
the distinguishing characteristics of chivalry. 7 They were
hospitable and constant to then hereditary friendships,
but stern in perpetuating family feuds ; 8 passionately fond
of gambling, and strict in their regard for debts of
honour ; 9 inveterate drinkers, and their favourite potation
was beer ; 10 they could not consult on important matters
without a convivial meeting; 11 if they quarrelled over
their cups, they had recourse rarely to words, usually to
1 Cap. iii. 2 Cap. ix., xxxix., xl., xliii. 3 Cap. iv.
4 Cap. vii. 5 Cap. xi. 6 Cap. xiii. 7 Cap. xviii., xix.
8 Cap. xxi. 9 Cap. xxiv. 10 Cap. xxiii. n Cap. xxii.
Ills HISTORIES. 491
blows. 1 Their slaves were in the condition of serfs or
villains, and paid to the lord a fixed rent in corn, or
cattle, or manufactures. 2 They reckoned their time by
nights instead of da} r s, 3 just as we are accustomed to use
the expressions se'nnight and fortnight.
After having sketched the manners and customs of the
nation as a whole, he proceeds to treat of each tribe
separately. 4 In speaking of our forefathers, the Angli,
who inhabited part of the modern territory of Sleswick-
Holstein, and whose name is still retained in the district
of Angeln, one word which he uses is an English one.
The Angli, he says, together with the conterminous
tribes, worship Herthus, i. e. Terra. 5 Even in these
early times he mentions the naval superiority of the
Suiones, who were the ancestors of the Normans and
Sea-kings. With these he affirms that the continent of
Europe terminates, and all beyond is a motionless and
frozen ocean. 6 Truth in these distant climes mingles
with fable. Dajdight continues after the sun has set,
but a hissing noise is heard as his blazing orb plunges
into the sea, and the forms of the gods, and the radiant
glories which surround their heads, are visible.' The list
of marvels ends with fabulous beings, whose bodies and
limbs are those of wild beasts, whilst their heads and
faces are human.
The earliest historical work of Tacitus is his " His-
torice" of which only four books and a portion of the
fifth are extant. Their contents extend from the second
consulship of Gralba 8 to the commencement of the siege
of Jerusalem. The original work concluded with the
death of Domitian. 9 He purposed also, if his life had been
spared, to add the reigns of Nerva and Trajan, as the
employment of his old age. " The materials for which,"
1 Cap. xxii. 2 Cap. xxv. 3 Cap. xi. 4 From cap. xxviii.
h Cap. xl. ■ Cap. xlv. 7 Cap. xlvi. 8 a. d. 69. 9 a.d. 96.
492 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
he says, " are more plentiful and trustworthy, because of
the unusual felicity of an age in which men were allowed
to think as they pleased, and to give utterance to what
they thought." 1 It is plain from the word Divus (the
deified) being prefixed to the name of Nerva, and not to
that of Trajan, in the passage above quoted, that this
work was written after Trajan had put on the imperial
purple. 2
According to St. Jerome it originally consisted of thirty
books ; and the minuteness with which each event is re-
corded in the portion extant renders it highly probable
that the original work was as extensive as this assertion
would imply. The object which he proposed to himself
was worthy of his penetrating mind, from the searching
gaze of which even the hypocrisy and dissimulation of a
Tiberius were powerless to veil the foul darkness of his
crafty nature. He intended " to investigate the political
state of the commonwealth, the feelings of its armies, the
sentiments of the provinces, the elements of its strength
and weakness, the causes and reasons for each historical
phenomenon . " 3 The principal fault which diminishes the
value of his history as a record of events, is his too great
readiness to accept evidence unhesitatingly, and to record
popular rumours without taking sufficient pains to ex-
amine into their truth. Still these blots are but few,
scattered over a vast field of faithful history. Perhaps
the most lamentable instance is presented in his incorrect
account of the history, constitution, and manners of the
Jewish people. Wanting either the opportunity or the
inclination to consult the sacred books of the nation, he
mixes up vague traditions of their early history with the
fables of Pagan mythology; and, like the Greeks and
Bomans, gives names to imaginary patriarchs, taken from
localities connected with their history.
Hist. i. 1. 2 a.d. 117. 3 Hist. i. 4.
11 rS ACCOUNT OF THE JEWS. 493
According to his account the Jews originally inhabited
Crete, 1 and from Mount Ida, in that island, received the
tiame of Idiei, which afterwards became corrupted into
Judaei. From Crete, when Saturn was expelled by Jove,
they took refuge in Egypt ; and thence under two leaders,
Juda and Hierosolymus, again migrated to the neigh-
bouring country of Palestine. A second tradition attri-
butes to them an Assyrian origin ; a third an ^Ethiopian ;
a fourth asserts that they were descended from the Solymi
which Homer celebrated in his poems. 2
The next tradition which he mentions approaches
nearer to the true one. Egypt being afflicted with a
plague, the king Bocchoris, by the advice of the oracle of
Amnion, purged his kingdom of them, and under the
guidance of Moses they began their wanderings. When
they were dying on their way for want of water, their
leader followed a herd of wild asses, by which he was led
to a copious well of water. Thus was their drought
relieved; and, after journeying six days, they obtained
possession of the land in which they built their capital
and temple. Moses introduced new religious rites con-
trary to those of other nations. He set up the image of
an ass in the Holy of Holies — a statement which after-
wards Tacitus virtually contradicts by saying that they
allow no images in their temples, 3 that they preferred
taking up arms to admitting the statue of Caligula into
the temple ; 4 and that when Pompey took Jerusalem, 5 he
found no image of any deity and the sanctuary empty.
He adds, that they sacrifice rams in order to show con-
tempt to Jupiter Amnion, and oxen, because, under that
form, Apis was worshipped by the Egyptians ; that they
abstain from pork in remembrance of their having been
afflicted with leprosy, to which that animal is subject, and
Hist. v. 2. 2 Ibid. iii. 3 Ibid. v. 4 Ibid. ix.
5 b. c. 62.
494 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
eat unleavened bread as a memorial of their once having
stolen food. On the seventh day, which terminated their
wanderings, they do no work, and, in like manner, the
seventh year they devote to idleness. This sabbath,
some assert that they keep holy in honour of Saturn.
They believe in the immortality of the soul, and in
future rewards and punishments, and embalm their dead
like the Egyptians. Such are the various traditions
respecting the Jews which Tacitus incorporates in his
Histories.
The Annals, which were written subsequently to the
Histories, were so called, because each historical event is
recorded in historical order under the year to which it
belongs. 1 They consist of sixteen books; commence with
the death of Augustus, 2 and conclude with that of Nero. 3
The only portions extant are — the first four books, part
of the fifth, the sixth, part of the eleventh, the twelfth,
thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and the commencement
of the sixteenth book. The Annals are rather histories
of each successive emperor than of the Roman people;
but this is the necessary condition of narrating the
fortunes of a nation which now possessed only the bare
name, and not the reality of constitutional government.
The state was now the emperor ; the end and object of
the social system his security ; and every political event
must therefore be treated in relation to him.
But a history of this kind in the hands of one who
had such skill in diving into the recesses of man's heart,
who could read so shrewdly and delineate so vigorously
human character, who possessed as a writer such pic-
turesque and dramatic power, becomes the more interest-
ing from its biographical nature, and its philosophical
importance as a moral rather than a political study.
It is not, owing to circumstances over which the author
Ann. iv. 71. 2 a.d. 14 3 a. d. 68.
OBJECT OF TACITUS. 495
had no control, the history of a great nation, for the
Romans, as a whole, were no longer great. Neither does
it paint the rise, progress, and development of consti-
tutional freedom, for it had reached its zenith, had de-
clined, become paralysed, and finally extinct. But still
there existed bright examples of heroism, and courage,
and self-devotion, truly Eoman, and instances not less
prominent of corruption and degradation. Individuals
stand out in bold relief, eminent for the noblest virtues
or blackened by the basest crimes. These appear either
singly or in groups upon the stage : the emperor forms
the principal figure ; and the moral sense of the reader
is awakened to admire instances of patient suffering and
determined bravery, or abject slavery and remorseless
despotism.
The object of Tacitus, therefore, was not, like that of
the great philosophical historian of Greece, to describe
the growth of political institutions, or the implacable
animosities which raged between opposite political prin-
ciples — the struggles for supremacy between a class and a
whole people — but the influence which the establishment
of tyranny on the ruins of liberty exercised for good or
for evil in bringing out the character of the individual.
Rome, the imperial city, was the all-engrossing subject of
his predecessors ; Romans were but subordinate and ac-
cessary. Tacitus delineated the lives and deaths of in-
dividuals, and showed the relation which they bore to
the fortunes of their country.
It would have been impossible to have satisfied a
people whose taste had become more than ever rhetorical,
without the introduction of orations. Those of Tacitus
are perfect specimens of art ; and probably, with the ex-
ception of Gralgacus, 1 far more true than those of other
Roman historians. Still lie made use of them, not only
1 Life of Agricola.
496 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
to embody traditional accounts of what had really been
said on each occasion, but to illustrate his own views of
the character of the speaker, and to convey his own poli-
tical opinions.
Full of sagacious observation and descriptive power,
Tacitus engages the most serious attention of the reader
by the gravity of his condensed and comprehensive style,
as he does by the wisdom and dignity of his reflections.
The purity and gravity of his sentiments remind the
reader even of Christian authors.
Living amidst the influences of a corrupt age he was
uncontaminated ; and by his virtue and integrity, his
chastened political liberality, commands our admiration as
a man, whilst his love of truth is reflected in his character
as an historian. Although he imitated, as well as approved,
the cautious policy of his father-in-law, he was not desti-
tute of moral firmness.
It derogates nothing from his courage that he was
silent during the perilous times in which great part of his
life was past, and spoke with boldness only when the
happy reign of Nerva had commenced, and the broken
spirit of the nation had revived. Like the rest of his
fellow-countrymen he exhibited a remarkable example of
patient endurance, when the imperial jealousy made even
the praise of those who were obnoxious to the tyrant trea-
son ; when it was considered a capital crime for Arulenus
Eusticus to praise Psetus Thrasea, and Herennius Senecio
to eulogise Priscus Helvidius.
In those fearful times he himself says, that " as old
Rome had witnessed the greatest glories of liberty, so her
descendants had been cast down to the lowest depths of
slavery; and would have been deprived of the use of
memory, as well as of language, if it were equally in man's
power to forget as to be silent." 1 In such times prudence
1 Vit. Agric. ii.
STYLE OF TACITUS. 497
was a duty, and daring courage would have been un-
availing rashness. In his praise of Agricola, and his
blame of Partus, he enunciates the principles which regu-
lated his own conduct — that to endanger yourself without
the slightest prospect of benefiting your country is mere
ostentatious ambition. "Sciant," he writes, "quibus
moris illicita mirari, posse etiam sub malis principibus
magnos viros esse ; obsequiumque ac modestiam, si in-
dustria ac vigor adsint, eo laudis excedere, quo plerique
per abrupta, sed in nullum reipublicae usum ambitiosa
morte inclaruerunt . " x Again, ' ' Thrasea Pa3tus sibi causam
periculi fecit, cseteris libertatis initium non prsebuit." 2
In the style of Tacitus the form is always subordinate
to the matter : the ideas maintain their due supremacy
over the language in which they are conveyed. There is
none of that striving after epigrammatic terseness which
savours of affectation. His brevity, like that which
characterises the style of Thucydides, is the necessary con-
densation of a writer whose thoughts flow more quickly
than his pen can express them. Hence his sentences are
suggestive of far more than they express : they are enig-
matical hints of deep and hidden meaning, which keep
the mind active and the attention alive, and delight the
reader with the pleasures of discovery and the conscious-
ness of difficulties overcome. Nor is this natural and
unintentional brevity unsuitable to the cautious reserve
with w^hich all were tutored to speak and think of political
subjects in perilous times. It is extraordinary how often
a similarity between his mind and that of Thucydides in-
advertently discovers itself — not only in his mode of
thinking, but also in his language, even in his gram-
matical constructions, especially in his frequent substitu-
tion of attraction for government, in instances of con-
densed construction, and in the connexion of clauses
1 Agric. 42. z Ann. xiv. 12.
2 K
498 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
grammatically different, although, they are metaphysically
the same.
Nor is his brevity dry or harsh — it is enlivened by co-
piousness, variety, and poetry. He scarcely ever repeats
the same idea in the same form. No author is richer in
synonymous words, or arranges with more varied skill
the position of words in a sentence. As for poetic
genius, his language is highly figurative ; no prose writer
deals more largely in prosopopoeia : his descriptions of
scenery and incidents are eminently picturesque; his
characters dramatic; the expression of his own senti-
ments and feelings as subjective as lyric poetry.
( 499 )
CHAPTER VII.
C. SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS — HIS BIOGRAPHY — SOURCES OF HIS
HISTORY HIS GREAT FAULT — Q. CURTIUS RUFUS — TIME WHEN
HE FLOURISHED DOUBTFUL — HIS BIOGRAPHY OF ALEXANDER —
EPITOMES OF L. ANN^US FLORUS— SOURCES WHENCE HE DERIVED
THEM.
C. Suetonius Tranquillus.
C. Suetonius Tranquillus 1 was trie son of Suetonius
Lenis, who served as tribunus angusticlavus of the
thirteenth legion at the battle of Bedriacum, in which
the Emperor Otho was defeated by Vitellius. The time of
his birth is uncertain ; but from a passage at the end of
his Life of Nero 2 it may be inferred that he was born very
soon after the death of that emperor, which took place a.d.
68 ; for in it he mentions that, when twenty years sub-
sequent to Nero's death, a false Nero appeared, he was
just arriving at manhood (adolescens) . The knowledge of
language and rhetorical taste displayed in the remains of
his works on these subjects prove that he was well in-
structed in these branches of a Roman liberal education ;
and a letter of the younger Pliny, 3 whose intimate friend
he was, speaks of him as an advocate by profession.
This letter represents him as unwilling to plead a cause,
which he had undertaken, because he was frightened
, ' See A. Krause de Font, et Auctor. Suet. 2 Cap. 57.
3 Ep. I. 18.
2 K 2
500 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
by a dream. It is probable that this anecdote is an
authentic one, because so many examples occur in his
memoirs of his superstitious belief in dreams, omens,
ghosts, and prodigies. 1
The affectionate regard which Pliny entertained for his
friend was very great, and led him to form too high an
estimate of his talents as a writer and an historian. On
one occasion he used his influence at court to procure for
him a tribuneship ; which, however, he did not accept. 2
On another he obtained for him, from Trajan, 3 the "jus
trium liberorurn" although he had no children. But this
privilege, as in the case of Martial, was sometimes granted
under similar circumstances. In this letter, which he
wrote to the Emperor, he speaks of Suetonius as a man of
the greatest probity, integrity, and learning ; and adds,
that, after the experience of a long acquaintance, the
more he knows of him the more he loves him.
Subsequently Suetonius became private secretary
(M agister Epistolarum) to Hadrian, 4 but was deprived of
the situation. Owing to the only sources of information
respecting Suetonius being his own works, and the few
scattered notices in the letters of Plinius Secundus,
nothing more is known respecting his life.
A catalogue of his numerous writings is given by
Suidas ; 5 but, with the exception of the Lives of the
twelve Caesars, it does not contain his chief extant works.
These are notices of illustrious grammarians and rheto-
ricians, and the lives of the poets Terence, Horace,
Persius, Lucan, and Juvenal.
Niebuhr 6 believed that the history, or rather the
biography, of the Caesars was written when Suetonius was
still young, before he was secretary to Hadrian, and
previous to the publication of the Histories of Tacitus.
1 See e. g. Cses. 81 ; Aug. 6. 94 ; Tib. 14, 74 ; Calig. 5, 57, &c.
8 See Ep. III. 8. 3 Ep. X. 95. 4 Spart. L. of Had. c. ii.
5 S. v. TpdyicvWos. 6 Lect. E. H. cxvi. note.
SOURCES OF SUETONIUS. 501
If so, lie neither enjoyed the opportunities of consulting
the imperial records which his situation at court would
have given him, nor of profiting by the accurate guidance
and profound reflection of Tacitus. Krause, 1 on the
other hand, adduces many parallelisms between the lan-
guage of Tacitus and Suetonius ; and as Tacitus did not
publish his earliest historical work before a.d. 117, 2
assumes that Suetonius did not write his biographies
until after the accession of Hadrian.
It is very difficult to determine which of these theories
is the correct one ; but there can be no doubt that the
sources from which he derived his information are quite
independent of the authority of Tacitus ; and that the
Lives of the Twelve Csesars would have contained all that
we find in them, even if the Annals and Histories had
never been written. He does not only trust to the works
of the Eoman historians, but his exact quotations from
acts of the senate and people, edicts, fasti, and orations,
and the use which he makes of annals and inscriptions
prove that he was a man of diligent research, and that he
examined original documents for himself.
Again, as a writer of biographical memoirs rather than
of regular history, and fond of anecdote and scandal, he
availed himself largely of such private letters of the
Emperors and their dependants as fell in his way, of
testamentary documents, and of the information he could
collect in conversation. Many of the lives which he
wrote were those of his contemporaries. Some of the
events recorded were passing under the eyes of the
public, and were matters of notoriety. He himself asserts
in three several places 3 that he received some of the
accounts which he gives from the testimony of eye-
witnesses. The more secret habits of the Emperors,
De Suet. Fontibus. Berl. 1831. 2 Ann ii. 61.
3 Cal. 19 ; Nero, 29 ; Tit. 3.
502 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
either truly told or exaggerated by an appetite for
scandal, would ooze out. Anecdotes of the reigning
Emperor's private life would be eagerly sought for, and
be the favourite topic of gossip in all circles of Roman
society. Nor would he have any difficulty in procuring
copious stores of information respecting those Emperors
who reigned before he was born from those of his con-
temporaries who were a generation older than himself,
and who were spectators of, or actors in, many of the
scenes which he describes. As a biographer, there is no
reason to doubt his honesty and veracity ; he is indus-
trious and careful; he indulges neither in ornament of
style nor in romantic exaggeration ; the picture which he
draws is a terrible one, but it is fully supported by the
contemporary authority of Juvenal and Tacitus. Never-
theless, his mind was not of that comprehensive and
philosophical character which would qualify him for
taking an enlarged view of political affairs, or for the
work of an historian. He has no definite plan formed in
his mind, without which an historian can never hope to
make his work a complete whole; he wanders at will
from one subject to another, just as the idea seizes him,
and is by no means careful of committing offences against
chronological order.
Niebuhr accuses him of inconsistency in the character
which he draws and the praise which he bestows on
Vespasian ; l but adds what may, in some sort, be con-
sidered a defence, namely, that Vespasian was, negatively
speaking, a good, upright, and just man, and that the
dark side of his character must be considered in reference
to the fearful times in which he reigned. He also
mentions, as an example of his deficiencies as an historian,
the bad accounts which he has left of his own times,
especially of the anarchy which followed Nero's death,
1 Lib. cxvi.
QUINTUS CURTiUS RU1US. 503
and the commencement of the reign of Vespasian. But
in his praise it may be said that Suetonius has formed a
just estimate of his own powers in undertaking to be a
biographer and not an historian ; and it is scarcely fair
to criticise severely his unfitness for a task to which he
made no pretensions.
One great fault pollutes his pages. The dark pictures
which he draws of the most profligate Emperors, the
disgusting annals of their unheard-of crimes, are dwelt
upon as though he took pleasure in the description, and
loved to wallow in the mire of the foulest debauchery.
Truth, perhaps, required that they should not have been
passed over in silence, but they might have been lightly
touched, and not painted in detail with revolting faith-
fulness. He is often brief, sometimes obscure : in such
passages of his narrative we would have gladly welcomed
both brevity and obscurity.
Q. Curtius Eueus.
The doubts which have always been entertained re-
specting the time when the biographer of Alexander the
Great nourished, and which no investigations have been
sufficient to dissipate, render it impossible to pass him
by unnoticed, although he may, perhaps, belong to an
age beyond the chronological limits of this work. The
purity of his style has, in the opinion of some critics,
entitled him to a place among the writers of the silver
age ; whilst Niebuhr, judging by the internal evidence,
thinks that he must have lived as late as the reign of
Caracalla or Septimius Severus.
No valid argument, however, can be based upon his
style, because it is evidently artificial : it is, indeed,
infected with, a love of declamatory ornament; it is
sometimes more like poetry than prose ; it abounds in
metaphors, and therefore proves that he lived in a
504 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
rhetorical age; but it is upon the whole an imitation
of the Latinity of Livy. This rhetorical character of his
style gives some value to the opinion of F. A. Wolf, that
he was the Q. Curtius Eufus mentioned by Suetonius in
his treatise on Illustrious Orators. If so, he was probably
a contemporary.
With respect to internal evidence, reference has been
made to two passages as containing allusions to his
times. (1). Multis ergo casibus defuncta (sc. Tyrus),
nunc tamen longa pace cuncta refovente, sub tutela
Eomanse mansuetudinis acquiescit. 1 (2). Proinde jure
meritoque P. E. salutem se principi suo debere pro-
fitetur, qui noctis, quam psene supremam habuimus,
novum sidus illuxit, hujus hercule, non solis ortus, lucem
caliganti reddidit mundo, cum sine suo capite discordia
membra trepidarent. 2 The former has been considered
descriptive of many periods in Eoman history : although
Niebuhr 3 makes the unqualified assertion, that it has no
meaning, unless it alludes to the times of Septimius
Severus and Caracalla. The latter is equally vague :
Niebuhr thinks it might refer to Aurelian ; Gibbon con-
siders that it alluded to Gordian. But to how many
Emperors might a spirit of eulogistic flattery make it
applicable ! Upon the whole, it is most probable that
he lived towards the close of the first century.
The biography of Alexander is deeply interesting ; for,
although Curtius evidently disdains historic reality, his hero
always seems to have a living existence : it is a romance
rather than a history. He never loses an opportunity
by the colouring which he gives to historical facts of
elevating the Macedonian conqueror to a superhuman
standard. He has no inclination to weigh the merits of
conflicting historical testimonies : he selects that which
supports his partial predilections; nor are his talents
Book iv. 20. * Book x. 9. 3 Lect. R. H. cxxviii.
LUCIUS ANNyEUS FLORUS. 505
for story-telling checked by a profound knowledge of
either tactics or geography, or other objective historical
materials, for correct details in which he is too frequently
negligent. 1 His florid and ornamented style is suitable
to the imaginary orations which are introduced in the
narrative, and which constitute the most striking por-
tions of the work. The sources from which he derived
his information are various, the principal one being the
account of Alexander's exploits by the Greek historian
Clitarchus, who accompanied the Macedonian conqueror
in his Asiatic expedition. He is, however, by no means
a servile follower; for in one instance he does not
hesitate to accuse him of inaccuracy. They were, how-
ever, kindred spirits : both would sacrifice truth to
romantic interest ; both indulged in the same tale-telling
tendency. His work originally consisted of ten books.
Two of these are lost, and their places have been supplied,
in a very inferior manner, by Cellarius and Freinsheim.
Even in the eight books which are extant, an hiatus of
more or less extent occasionally occurs.
L. Ann^us Florus.
Brief as the epitomes are which bear the name of L.
Annseus Florus, the style is characterised by the rhetorical
spirit of the age to which they belong. They are diffuse
and declamatory, and their author is rather the panegyrist
of his countrymen than the grave and sober narrator of
the most important events contained in their history.
This short summary, entitled "Rerum Romanarum Libri
iv., " or " Epitome de Gestis Romanorum" is a well-
arranged compilation from the authorities extant ; but it
is probable that, like all other Eoman historians except
Velleius Paterculus, he derived his materials principally
from Livy. Such a dry skeleton of history, however,
1 See Bernharcly, Grundriss, 550.
506 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
must be uninteresting. Who the author was is by no
means certain. Some have supposed him to be the same
with Annseus Florus, who wrote three trochaic verses to
Hadrian. Titze * imagines that it is the work of two
authors, one a contemporary of Horace, 2 the other be-
longing to a later literary period.
It is generally assumed that the author 3 of the
Epitomes was either a Spaniard or a Gaul ; and, if we
may consider the introduction to the work as genuine, he
lived in the reign of Trajan.
1 AnthoL Lat. ii. 97, Buriii. or 212 Meyer. Titze ed. Flor. Prag. 1819.
2 Ep. i. 3 ; ii. 2. 3 Matth. 284.
( 507 )
CHAPTER VIII.
M. AmffiUS SENECA — HIS CONTROVERSY AND SUASORI^E —
L. AXNJEUS SENECA — TUTOR TO NERO — HIS ENORMOUS FORTUNE
HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER — INCONSISTENCIES IN HIS PHILO-
SOPHY — A FAVOURITE WITH EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITERS — HIS
EPISTLES — WORK ON NATURAL PHENOMENA — APOCOLOCYNTOSIS
— HIS STYLE.
M. Ann^us Seneca.
The family of the Senecas exercised a remarkable in-
fluence over literature ; they may, in fact, be said to
have given the tone to the taste of their age.
M. Annseus Seneca was born at Corduba (Cordova).
The precise date of his birth is unknown ; but Clinton
places it about B.C. 61. This is not improbable, for he
asserts 1 that he had heard all the eminent orators except
Cicero, and that he might have enjoyed that privilege
also if the civil wars had not compelled him to remain in
Ins native country. After this hindrance was removed
by the accession of Augustus he came to Rome, and, as
a professional rhetorician, amassed a considerable fortune.
Subsequently he returned to Cordova, and married Helvia,
by whom he had three sons, of whom L. Annseus Seneca,
the philosopher, was the eldest.
He left behind him two works, the composition of
which was the employment of his old age. They are
the results of his long and successful experience as a
Proef. ad Controv. i. 67.
508 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
teacher of rhetoric, the gleanings of his commonplace-
book, the stores accunmlated by his astonishing memory,
which enabled him to repeat two thousand unconnected
words after once hearing them, and to report literally
any orations which he had heard delivered. They are
valuable as showing how a hollow and artificial system,
based upon the recollection of stock-passages and common-
places, had supplanted the natural promptings of true
eloquence. They explain the principles and practice of
instruction in the popular schools of rhetoric, the means
by which the absence of natural endowments could be
compensated. They exhibit wit, learning, ingenuity, and
taste to select and admire the best literary specimens of
earlier periods ; but it is plain that matter was now
subordinate to form — that the orator was content to
borrow the phraseology of his predecessors in which to
clothe sentiments which he could neither feel nor under-
stand. The ear still yearned for the language of sincerity,
although the heart no longer throbbed with the ardour
of patriotism. It is this want of conformity of ideas to
words which causes the coldness of a declamatory and
florid style. It is a mere representation of warmth ; it
disappoints like a mere painted fire.
The first work of M. Seneca was entitled Controversice :
it was divided into ten books, of which, with the excep-
tion of fragments, only the first, second, seventh, eighth,
and tenth are extant. It contains a series of exercises or
declamations in judicial oratory on fictitious cases. The
imaginary causes were probably sketched out by the
professor. The students composed their speeches accord-
ing to the rules of rhetoric : they were then corrected,
committed to memory, and recited, partly with a view to
practice, partly in order to amuse an admiring audience.
The cases are frequently as puerile as a schoolboy's theme,
sometimes extravagant and absurd.
His other work, the Suasorice, contains exercises in
PUBLIC RECITATIONS. 509
deliberative oratory. The subjects of them are taken
from the historians and poets : they are as harmless as
tyranny could desire : there is no danger that languid
patriotism should revive, or the empire be menaced, by
such uninteresting discussions. Nor were they confined
to mere students. Public recitations had, since the days
of Juvenal, been one of the crying nuisances of the times.
The poets began it, the rhetoricians followed, and the
most absurd trash was listened to with patience, being
ushered into popular notice by partial flatterers or hired
claqueurs.
L. Annjeus Seneca.
L. Seneca was born at his father's native town about
the commencement of the Christian era. He was brought
to Rome when very young, and there studied rhetoric
and philosophy. He soon displayed great talents as a
pleader ; and by his success is said to have provoked the
jealousy of Caligula. In the reign of Claudius he was
accused by the infamous Messalina of improper intimacy
with Julia, the emperor's niece, and was accordingly
banished to Corsica. 1 He solaced his exile with the study
of the Stoic philosophy ; and although its severe precepts
exercised no moral influence over his conduct, he not
only professed himself a Stoic, but sincerely imagined
that he was one. Eight years afterwards Agrippina
•caused his recall, 2 in order to make him tutor to her son
Nero.
His pupil was naturally vicious ; and Seneca, though
wise and prudent, was too unscrupulous a man of the
world to attempt the correction of his propensities, or to
instil into him high principles. After the accession of
Nero, 3 Seneca endeavoured to arrest his depraved career ;
but it was too late : all he could do was to put into his
1 a.d. 41. 2 Tac. Ann. xii. 8. 8 Ibid. xiii. 2.
510 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
mouth specious words of clemency and mercy. He saw
how dangerous was the unprincipled ambition of Agrip-
pina; and dreadful though it was to sanction parricide,
there was scarcely any other course to be pursued, except
the consenting to her death. When the deed was done,
he had the pitiful meanness to screen the murderer by a
falsehood. He wrote a letter, which Nero sent to the
senate, accusing his mother of treason, and asserting that
she had committed suicide. 1
Seneca had, by usury and legacy -hunting, amassed one
of those enormous fortunes, of which so many instances
are met with in Eoman history. This had already ex-
posed him to envy, 2 and caused his temporary banish-
ment to the Balearic isles. 3 But after that Burrus was
dead, who shared his influence over the Emperor, he felt
the dangers of wealth, and offered his property to Nero. 4
The Emperor refused ; but Seneca retired from public life.
Being now under the influence of new favourites, Nero
wished to rid himself of Seneca ; and although there was
no evidence of his being privy to the conspiracy of Piso,
it furnished a pretext for his destruction. 5 In adversity
his character shone with brighter lustre. Though he
had lived ill, he could die well. His firmness was the
result, not of Stoical indifference, but of Eoman courage.
He met the messengers of death without trembling. His
noble wife Paullina determined to die with hrm. The
veins of both were opened at the same time. The little '
blood which remained in his emaciated and enfeebled
frame refused to flow : he suffered excruciating agony : a
warm bath was applied, but in vain ; and a draught of
poison was equally ineffectual. At last he was suffocated
by the vapour of a stove, and expired. 6
Seneca lived in a perilous atmosphere. The philosophy
1 Quint, viii. 5, 18. 2 Ibid. xiii. 42. 3 a. r>. 58.
4 Quint, xiv. 53. 5 Ibid. xv. 60. 6 Ad. 65.
CII A R ACTEB Of B I'.N EC \ . 511
in which he believed was hollow, and, being unsnited to
his court life, 1 he thought it expedient to allow himself
some relaxation from its severity. His rhetorical taste
led him to overstate even his own real convictions ; and
hence the incongruity of his life appeared more glaring.
He was not insincere j but he had not firmness to act up
to the high moral standard which he proposed to himself.
In his letters, and Iris treatise " De Consolatione" addressed
to Polybius, he even convicts himself of this defect. He
had difficult questions to decide, and had not sufficient
moral principle to lead him in the right course. He was
avaricious ; but it was the great sin of his times. Tacitus
is not blind to his weaknesses ; 2 but he estimates his
character with more candour and fairness than Dio. 3 He
is neither a panegyrist nor an accuser. The education
of one who was a brute rather than a man was a task to
the discharge of which no one would have been equal.
He, therefore, retained the influence which he had not
uprightness to command by miserable and sinful expe-
dients. He had great abilities, and some of the noble
qualities of the old Eomans. Had he lived in the days
of the Eepublic he would have been a great man.
Seneca was the author of twelve ethical treatises, the
best of which are entitled " De Providential " De Con-
stantid Sapientis" and " De Consolatione." The latter
was addressed to his mother Helvia, and written during
his exile in Corsica. In the treatise on Providence he
discusses the question why, since there is a Divine Pro-
vidence, good men are liable to misfortunes. Although
the difficulty is explained by the doctrine that the remedy,
u suicide" is always in man's power, it asserts the omni-
presence of the Deity, and the existence of a moral
Governor of the universe.
Great as are the inconsistencies in his ethical philo-
1 Ep. 108. 2 Ann. xiii. ; xiv. 2. 3 Lib. Ixi, J<>.
512 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
sophy (nor could it be otherwise, as his life was always
doing despite to his moral sense of right and wrong), his
views are generally clear and practical. In this he was
a true Eoman ; he cared little for abstract speculation ;
he did not value, except as subordinate aids, either mental
or natural philosophy. He delighted to inculcate pre*
cepts rather than investigate principles. It is for this
reason that his works are not satisfactory as a whole,
whilst they furnish a rich mine for quotations. The
fault which pervades all Eoman philosophy exists in an
exaggerated form in his works : they are ethical digests
of didactic precepts ; but there is no system, no develop-
ment of new truths. His studies taught him that general
principles are the foundations of morals, and that casu-
istry is the application of those principles i 1 but the
Eomans were naturally inclined to be casuists rather
than moralists ; and in this preference Seneca went be-
yond all his countrymen. He writes like a teacher of
youth rather than as a philosopher ; he inculcates, with-
out proof, maxims and instructions, and impresses them
by repetition, as though they recommended themselves
by their intrinsic truthfulness to the consciences of his
hearers.
Seneca was always a favourite with Christian writers :
he is in fact a better guide to others than he was to him-
self. Some of his sentiments are truly Christian \ there
is even a tradition that he was acquainted with St. Paul,
and fourteen letters to that apostle have been, though
without grounds, attributed to him. He may, however,
unconsciously have imbibed some of the principles of
Christianity. The gospel had already made great and
rapid strides over the civilized world, and thoughtful minds
may have been enlightened by some of the rays of divine
truth dispersed through the moral atmosphere, just as we
1 Ep. 94, 95.
WORKS 01 SENECA. 518
are benefited by the light of the sun, even when its disc
is obscured by clouds.
His Epistles, of which there are one hundred and twenty-
four, are moral essays in an epistolary form, and are the
most delightful of his works. Although addressed to a
disciple named Lucilius, they are evidently written for
the public eye : they are rich in varied thought, and the
reflections flow naturally and without effort. Letters were
perhaps the most appropriate vehicle for his preceptive
philosophy, because such a desultory style is best adapted
to convey isolated and unconnected maxims. They con-
tain a free and unconstrained picture of his mind. We
see in them how he despised verbal subtleties, 1 the ex-
ternal badges of a sect or creed, and insisted that the
great end of science is to learn how to live and how to
die.
In his old age he wrote seven books on questions con-
nected with natural phenomena ( Qucestionum Naturalium
Libri vn.). Why he did so it is impossible to say, since
he had so often argued against the utility of physical
studies. 2 The declamatory praise which he bestows upon
them in this work would lead us to suppose that it was a
mere exercise for amusement and relaxation. But in this
case he is not so inconsistent as might be supposed — he
treats the subject like a moralist, and makes it the occasion
of ethical reflections. 3
Once he indulged in the playfulness of satire. He had
written a fulsome funeral oration on Claudius, which
Nero delivered in the midst of laughter and derision ; but
for this abject flattery he afterwards made compensation by
composing, as a parody on the apotheosis of the stupid
Emperor, the Apocolocyntosis, or his metamorphosis into a
pumpkin. The pun was good enough but the execution
miserable.
1 Ep. 45. a See ex. f/r. Ep. 88, 106.
:i See L. vii. c. 30.
•) T
514 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
In the style of Seneca we see the result of that false
declamatory taste of which the works of his father furnish
specimens. Thought was subordinate to expression.
The masters of rhetoric were all in all. His style is too
elaborate to please ; it is generally affected, often florid
and bombastic : he seems always striving to produce
striking effects, either by antithesis or ornament ; of course
he defeats his object, for there is no light and shade.
There is too much sparkle and glitter, too little repose
and simplicity.
( 515 )
CHAPTER IX.
PLINY THE ELDER — HIS HABITS DESCRIBED BY HIS NEPHEW — HIS
INDUSTRY AND APPLICATION — HLS DEATH IN THE ERUPTION OF
VESUVIUS — THE ERUPTION DESCRIBED IN TWO LETTERS OF PLINY
THE YOUNGER — THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY — ITS SUBJECTS
DESCRIBED — PLINY THE YOUNGER — HIS AFFECTION FOR HIS
GUARDIAN — HIS PANEGYRIC, LETTERS, AND DESPATCHES— THAT
CONCERNING THE CHRISTIANS — THE ANSWER.
C. Plinius Secundus.
Pliny the Elder was horn a.d. 23, either at Verona 1 or
Novo-Comum 2 (Como). As he possessed estates at the
latter town, and his nephew, the younger Pliny, whom
he adopted, was undoubtedly horn there, it was most pro-
bably the family residence and the place of the elder
Pliny's nativity. He was educated at Rome ; and serving
Claudius in Germany, employed the opportunities which
this campaign afforded lrim in travelling. Afterwards he
returned to Eome and practised at the bar ; filled different
civil .offices, amongst them that of augur, and was sub-
sequently appointed procurator in Spain. 3
Some interesting particulars respecting his life and
habits are contained in a letter of the younger Pliny to
his friend Macer, 4 illustrative of his studies, his temper,
his thirst for knowledge, and his strict economy of time.
The letter is also valuable for another reason — namely, as
giving a catalogue of all the writings of his uncle. " It
Anon. Life. 2 Suet. Vit. ; Hieron. Eus. Chron.
3 Matth. H. of L. s. v. 4 Ep. iii. 5.
2 l 2
516 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
is a great satisfaction to me," he writes, " that you so
constantly and diligently read my uncle's works, that you
wish to possess them all, and ask me for a list of them.
I will therefore perform the duty of an index ; and will
also tell you the order in which they were written." He
then subjoins the following titles: — (1.) The Art of
Using the Javelin on Horseback ; composed when he
was commander of cavalry in Germany. (2.) The Life of
his friend Pomponius Secundus. (3.) A History of all
the Wars, twenty in number, which the Romans had
carried on with the Germans. This was commenced
during his German campaign, in obedience to the sugges-
tions of a dream : — " There appeared to him whilst sleep-
ing the shade of Drusus ; commended his memory to his
care, and besought him to rescue it from undeserved
oblivion." In accordance with his superstitious and cre-
dulous temper, he obeyed the call of his supernatural visi-
tant. (4.) A treatise on Eloquence, entitled " Studiosus,"
in three books, but subdivided, on account of its length,
into six volumes. In it he traces the education of an
orator from the very cradle. (5.) Eight books on Gram-
matical Ambiguity, which he wrote during the reign of
Nero, a period when imperial tyranny rendered studies of
a freer kind too perilous. (6.) Thirty books in continua-
tion of the History of Aufidius Bassus, dedicated to the
Emperor Titus. 1 (7.) Thirty-seven books on Natural His-
tory — a work, not only, as Pliny the Younger describes
it, as full of variety as Nature herself, but, as will be
shown hereafter, a treasure-house of the arts, as well as
of natural objects.
" You will wonder," he continues, " how a man occu-
pied with official business could have completed so many
volumes filled with such minute information. You will
be still more surprised to learn that he practised some-
See Prsef. to N. H.
HABITS OF PLINY THE ELDER. 517
times as a pleader; that he died in his fifty-sixth year;
and that the intermediate time was distracted and inter-
rupted by the friendship oi princes and most important
public affairs. But he was a man of vigorous intellect,
incredible application, and unwearied activity. Imme-
diately after the festival of the Vulcanalia (August 23rd),
he used to begin to study in the dead of the night ; in
the winter at one o'clock in the morning, at the latest at
two, often at midnight. ~No one ever slept so little —
sometimes he would snatch a brief interval of sleep in the
midst of his studies. Before dawn he would wait upon
the Emperor, for he also used the night for transacting
business. Thence he proceeded to the discharge of his
official duties ; and whatever time remained he devoted
to study.
" After a light and frugal meal, which, according to the
old fashion, he partook of by day, he would in summer,
if he had any leisure time, recline in the sun whilst a
book was read to him, from which he took notes and
made extracts. In fact, he never read any book without
making extracts ; for he used to say that no book was so
bad but that some profit could be derived from it. After
sunset he generally took a cold bath, then a slight repast,
and afterwards slept for a very short time. When he
awoke, as if it were a new day, he studied till supper :
during which a book was read, on which he made anno-
tations as the reading proceeded. I remember that one
of his friends interrupted the reader, because he had mis-
pronounced a word, and compelled him to repeat it ; upon
which my uncle asked, • Did you understand him ?' and
when he answered in the affirmative, he continued —
' Why did you interrupt him ? we have lost more than
ten lines ;' — so frugal was he of his time. In summer
he rose from the supper-table by daylight, in winter at
nightfall ; and this custom was a law to him.
" These were his habits amidst the toils and bustle of a
518 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
town-life. In tlie retirement of the country the bath was
the only interruption to his studies. But only the bath
itself, — for whilst he was rubbed and wiped dry, he either
dictated to an amanuensis or had a book read to him.
On journeys, as he was then relieved from all other cares,
study was the only employment of his leisure. He had
a precis-writer at his side, with books and tablets, who
in the winter wore gloves, so that his master's studies
might not be interrupted by the severity of the cold.
For the same reason, when at Eome, he always used a
sedan. I remember once having been chid by him for
walking : ' You might/ said he, ' avoid wasting all this
time.' For he thought all time was lost which was not
devoted to study. By this intense application he com-
pleted so many volumes, and bequeathed to me besides one
hundred and sixty rolls of commentaries, written in the
smallest possible hand and on both sides. He used to
say that when he was procurator in Spain, he was offered
for a portion of them 400,000 sesterces (about 3,200/.),
by Lartius Licinius. * * * * * J cannot help
laughing when people call me studious, for, compared
with him, I am the idlest fellow in the world."
Pliny perished a martyr to the cause of science, in the
terrible eruption of Vesuvius, which took place in the
first year of the reign of Titus. 1 Had he been as ardent
an original observer in all other respects, instead of a
mere plodding student, and collector, and transcriber of
other men's observations, his works would have been less
voluminous but more valuable. The eruption in which
he perished was the first of which there is any record in
history. It is probable that none of any consequence
had occurred before ; and that the lava had never before
devastated the smiling slopes and green vineyards which
Martial has described. 2 The circumstances of his death
A. D. 79, 2 Ep. iv. 43.
ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 519
are thus described by his nephew 1 in two letters to
Tacitus : — " He was at Misenum, in command of the
fleet. On the 24th of August, about one o' clock p.m., my
mother pointed out to him a cloud of unusual size and
appearance. He had lain in the sunshine, bathed, and
taken refreshment, and was now studying. He forth-
with asked for his shoes ; and ascended an eminence from
which he could best see the phenomenon. The distance
was too great to know for certain from what mountain
the cloud arose, but it was afterwards ascertained to be
Vesuvius. Its form resembled that of a pine-tree more
than anything else. It rose into the air in the form of
a tall trunk, and then diffused itself like spreading
branches. The reason of this I take to be that it was at
first carried upwards by a fresh current of air, which as it
grew older and weaker was unable to support it, or per-
haps its own gravity caused it to vanish in a horizontal
direction. Sometimes it was white, sometimes solid
and spotted, according to the quantity of earth and ashes
which it threw up.
" The phenomenon appeared to him, as a learned man,
deserving of closer investigation. He ordered a light
galley to be fitted out, and gave me permission to ac-
company him. I replied that I preferred studying, and
as it chanced he himself had given me something to write.
Just as he was leaving the house with his note-book in
his hand, the troops stationed at Retina, a village at
the foot of the mountain, from which there was no
escape, except by sea, alarmed by the imminent peril they
were in, sent to entreat him to rescue them. Notwith-
standing this circumstance his determination was un-
altered ; but the task which he had commenced with
earnestness he went through with the greatest resolu-
tion.
1 Ep. vi. 16, 20.
520 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
" He launched some quadriremes, and embarked for the
purpose of assisting, not Eetina only, but others ; for the
beauty of the coast had attracted a large population. He
hastened to the spot whence others were flying, and
steered a direct course to the point of danger, so fearlessly
that he observed all the phases and forms of that sad
calamity, and dictated his remarks on them to his secre-
tary. Soon ashes fell on the decks, and the nearer he
approached the hotter and thicker they became. With
them were mingled scorched and blackened pumice-stones,
and stones split by fire. Now the sudden reflux of the
sea, and the fragments of the volcano which covered the
coast, presented an obstacle to his progress, and he hesi-
tated for awhile whether he should not return. At
length, when his sailing-master recommended him to do
so, he exclaimed, ' Fortune favours the brave — steer for
the villa of Pomponianus.'
" This was situated at Stabise, and was divided from the
coast near Vesuvius by an inlet or gulf formed by the
sea. His friend, although danger was not yet imminent,
yet, as it was within sight, and would be very near if it
increased, had put his baggage on board of ship, and had
determined on flight if the wind, which was then con-
trary, should lull. A fair wind carried my uncle thither.
He embraced his trembling friend, consoled and encouraged
him. In order to assuage his fears by showing his own
unconcern, he caused himself to be carried to a bath :
after bathing he sat down to supper with cheerfulness, or,
what is almost the same thing, with the appearance of it.
Meanwhile from many parts of the volcano broad flames
burst forth : the blaze was reflected from the sky, and the
glare and brightness were enhanced by the darkness of
the night. He, to soothe the alarm of Pomponianus,
endeavoured to persuade him that what he saw was only
the burning villages which the country -people had de-
serted in their consternation. He then retired to rest
ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 521
and slept soundly ; for liis snoring, which on account of
his broad chest was deep and resonant, was heard by
those who were watching at the door.
" Soon the court through which there was access to his
apartment was so choaked with cinders and pumice that
longer delay would have rendered escape impossible. He
was awakened ; and went to Pomponianus and the rest,
who had sat up all night. They then held a consultation
whether they should remain in the house or go into the
open fields. For repeated shocks of an earthquake made
the houses rock to and fro, and seemed to move them
from their foundations ; whilst in the air the fall of half-
burnt pumice, though light, menaced danger. After
balancing the two dangers, he chose the latter course :
with him, however, it was a comparison of reasons, with
others of fears. They tied cushions over their heads with,
towels, to protect them from the falling stones. Although
it was now dav elsewhere, the darkness here was denser
than the darkest night, broken only by torches and
lights of different kinds. They next walked out to the
coast to see whether the sea was calm enough to venture
upon it, but it was still a waste of stormy waters. Then
he spread a linen cloth and lay down upon it, asked for
two or three draughts of cold water; and, afterwards,
flames, and that sulphureous smell which is the fore-
runner of them, put his companions to flight and aroused
him.
" He arose by the assistance of two slaves, and imme-
diately fell down dead, suffocated as I imagine by the
dense vapour, and the functions of his stomach being
disordered, which were naturally weak, and liable to
obstructions and difficulty of digestion. On the morning
of the third day after his body was found entire, un-
injured, and in the clothes in which he died ; its appear-
ance was rather that of death than sleep."
Pliny the Younger was left with his mother at Mi-
522 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
senum; and in another letter gives an account of the
appearance of the eruption at that place i 1 —
" After my uncle's departure, I spent some time in
study (for that was my object in remaining behind) : I
then bathed and supped, and had some broken and rest-
less sleep. For many days previously shocks of an earth-
quake had been felt ; but they caused less alarm because
they are usual in Campania ; but on that night they were
so violent that it was thought they would not only shake
but overturn everything. My mother burst into my
bed-chamber — I was just rising in order to arouse her, in
case she should be asleep. We sat down in the court
which divided the house from the sea. I know not
whether to call this courage or imprudence, for I was
only in my eighteenth year. I asked for a volume of
Livy, and began to read it leisurely and to make extracts.
" Well ! a friend of my uncle came in who had lately
arrived from Spain, and when he saw us sitting together,
and me reading, he rebuked his patience and my ' insou-
ciance.' Still I was not the less for that absorbed in my
book. It was now seven o'clock, and the dawn broke
faintly and languidly. The surrounding buildings were
tottering ; and the space in which we were, being limited
in extent, there was great reason to fear their fall. We then
resolved to leave town. The populace followed in alarm.
" When at a sufficient distance from the buildings we
halted, and witnessed many a wonderful and alarming
phenomenon. The carriages which we had ordered to be
brought out, although the ground was very level, rolled
in different directions, and even stones placed under the
wheels could not stop them. The sea ebbed and seemed
to be repelled by the earthquake. The coast certainly
had advanced, and detained many marine animals on dry
land. On the other side of the heavens hung a dark and
1 Ep. vi. 20.
ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 523
aw ful cloud, riven by wreathed and quivering lines of
fiery vapour, in long flashes resembling lightning, but
larger. Then our friend from Spain exclaimed, with
eagerness and vehemence, ' If your relative lives, he
doubtless wishes your safety ; if he has perished, he wished
you to survive him ! Why then do you delay to escape ?'
Our answer was, ' We will not think of our own safety
so long as we are uncertain of his.' Without any more
delay he hurried off, and was soon beyond the reach of
danger. Soon the cloud descended to the earth, and
brooded over the sea ; it shrouded Caprese, and hid from
our eyes the promontory of Misenum. My mother
besought, entreated, nay commanded me to fly by all
means ; she felt that, weighed down by years and infirmity,
she should die contented if she had not been the cause
of my death. I, on the other hand, persisted that I
would not seek safety except with her. I took her by
the hand and forced her to go forward. She obeyed re-
luctantly, and blamed herself for delaying me. Ashes
now began to fall, though as yet in small quantities. I
looked back ; behind us was thick darkness, which poured
over the earth like a torrent. ' Let us turn aside from
the road/ said I, ' whilst we can see, for fear we should
be thrown down and trampled under foot by the crowd
in the darkness.' We had scarce time to [think about
it] [sit down] when we were enveloped in darkness, not
like that of a moonless night, or clouds, but like that of
a room shut up when the lights are extinguished. Then
were heard the shrieks of women, the wailings of infants,
the shouts of men ; some were calling for their parents,
others for then' children, others for their wives, whom
they could only recognise by their voices. Some be-
wailed their own misfortune, others that of their family ;
some even from the fear of death prayed for death.
Many lifted up their hands to the gods ; still more be-
lieved that there were no gods, and that the last eternal
524 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
night had overwhelmed the world. There were not
wanting some to increase the real danger by fictitious and
imaginary terrors ; and some brought word that the con-
flagration was at Misenum : the false intelligence met
with credence. By degrees the light returned ; but it
seemed to us not the return of day, but the indication
that the fire was approaching. Its progress, however,
was arrested at some distance : again darkness succeeded
with showers of ashes. Every now and then we got up and
shook them off from us, otherwise we should have been
overwhelmed and bruised by their weight. I might boast
that not a groan or unmanly expression escaped me in the
midst of my dangers, were it not that my firmness was
founded on the consolatory belief that all mankind was
involved, together with myself, in one common ruin. At
length the darkness cleared up, and dispersed like smoke or
mist. Eeal daylight succeeded ; even the sun shone forth,
but with a lurid light as when eclipsed. The aspect of
everything which met our astonished eyes was changed :
ashes covered the ground like a deep snow. We returned
to Misenum, and refreshed ourselves, and passed an
anxious night in alternate hopes and fears : the latter,
however, predominated. The earthquake still continued ;
and many, in a state of frenzy, made a mockery of their
own and their neighbours' misfortunes by terrific prophe-
cies." The above letters, though long, have been quoted
because they detail, in the most interesting manner, the
circumstances of the elder Pliny's death, and at the same
time illustrate the simple and graphic power of the
nephew's pen.
The Natural Philosophy of Pliny is, to say the least, an
unequalled monument of studious diligence and perse-
vering industry. It consists of thirty-seven books, and
contains, according to his own account, 1 20,000 facts (as
See Proem. 17.
NATURAL HISTORY OF PI.INV. 525
he believed them to he) connected with nature and art :
the result, not of original research, but, as lie honestly con-
fessed, culled from the labours of other men. It must,
however, be allowed that the confused arrangement is
owing partly to the indefinite state of science, and the
consequent mingling together of branches which are
separate and distinct. 1
Owing to the extent and variety of liis reading, his
credulous love of the marvellous, and his want of judg-
ment in comparing and selecting, he does not present us
with a correct view of the degree of truth to which
science had attained in his own age. He does not show
how one age had corrected the errors of a preceding one ;
but reproduces errors, evidently obsolete and inconsist-
ent with facts and theories which had grown up after-
wards and replaced them.
With him. mythological traditions appear to have
almost the same authority as modern discoveries. The
earth teems with monsters, not miracles, or exceptions to
the regular order of nature, but specimens of her in-
genuity. In his theory of the universe he assumes such
causes and principles as lead him to admit, without
question, the existence of prodigies, however impossible
they may be. They are wonderful because unusual; but
they are effects which might result from the natural
causes which he believed to be in operation. His theory,
that Nature acted not only by regular laws but often by
actual interferences (for this was the character of his
pantheism, ii., 5, 7) — his belief that the various germs
of created things were scattered in profusion throughout
the universe, and accidentally mingling in confusion pro-
duced monstrous forms (3) — prepared him to consider
nothing incredible (xi. 3) ; and his temper inclined him
to go further, and to admit almost everything which was
credible as true. 2
1 Proem. 16, 17. 2 See book ii.
526 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Deficient as the work is in scientific value and philo-
sophical arrangement, the author evidently wished to
stamp it with a character of practical utility. It is an
encyclopaedia of the knowledge which could be brought
together from different sources ; and for such a work
there are two important requisites — facility of reference,
and the citation of authorities. With this view the
whole is preceded by a summary, and to each book is
added a table of contents, together with the names of
authors to whom he is indebted.
The work commences with the theory of the universe ; l
the history and science of astronomy ; meteorological
phenomena; and the geological changes which have
taken place on the earth by volcanic and aqueous action.
Geography, both physical and political, occupy the four
next books. 2 Here truth and error are mingled in dire
confusion. Accounts which are based solely on the tra-
ditions of remote antiquity are given side by side with
the results of modern investigation, and yet no distinc-
tion is drawn as to authenticity ; and, owing to his con-
fusing together such different accounts, measurements
and distances are generally wrong.
But in the zoological division of the work, which next
follows, 3 he gives unrestrained scope to his credulity and
love of the marvellous. He tells of men whose feet
were turned backwards ; of others whose feet were so
large as to shade them when they lay in the sun. He
describes beings in whom both sexes were united ; others
in whom a change of sex had taken place ; others with-
out mouths, who fed on the fragrance of fruits and
flowers. 4 Such are some of the marvels of the human
race recorded by him. Amongst the lower animals he
enumerates horned horses furnished with winsrs ; 5 the
Book ii. 2 Books iii.— vi. 3 Books vii. — xi.
4 Book vii. 4. 5 Book viii. 30.
NATURAL HISTORY OV PLINY. 527
Mantichora, with the (lice of a man, three rows of teeth, a
lion's body, and a scorpion's tail j 1 the unicorn with a
stag's head, a horse's body, the feet of the elephant, and
the tail of a boar ; 2 the basilisk, whose very glance is fatal.
The seas are peopled not only with sea-goats and sea-
elephants, but with real Nereids and Tritons. 3 Mice,
according to his account, produce their young by licking
each other ; and fire produces an insect (Pyralis) which
cannot live except in the midst of the flames.
Sixteen books 4 are devoted to botany, both general and
medical; and the medicinal properties of the human
frame, and of other animal substances, as well as of
different waters, are next discussed. 5 An account of
minerals and metals concludes the w^ork : and this portion
embraces an account of their various uses in the fine arts,
intermingled with interesting anecdotes and histories of
art and artists. This is the most valuable as well as the
most pleasing section of the w^ork.
He w r as pre-eminently a collector of stories and anec-
dotes and supposed facts, and he was only accidentally
a naturalist, because natural history furnished the most
extensive variety of marvellous and curious materials. The
naturalist, Cuvier, 6 observed his want of judgment, his
credulity, his defective arrangement, and the inappropriate
nature of his observations. Notwithstanding all these
faults this elaborate work contains many valuable truths,
much entertaining information, and the style in which it is
written is, when not too florid, full of vigour and expres-
sion. The philosophical belief can scarcely be considered
that of any particular school, although tinctured by the
prevalent Stoicism of the day; but its pervading character
is querulous and melancholy. Believing that nature is
an all-powerful principle, and the world or universe itself,
Book viii. 30. 2 Book viii. 31. 3 Book viii. 33.
Books xii. — xxvii. 5 Books xxviii. — xxxii. 6 Biogr. Uh. art. Plin.
528 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
instinct with Deity, lie saw more of evil than of good in
the Divine dispensations : and the result was a gloomy
and discontented pantheism.
Pliny the Younger — (born a.d. 61).
C. Plinins CaBcilius Secundus was sister's son to the
elder Pliny. Most of the information which we possess
respecting his life and character is derived from his
letters. He was born at Novo-Comum, on the Lake
Larins (Como) ; and as he was in his eighteenth year 1 at
the time of the eruption of Vesuvius, which took place
a.d. 79, the date of his birth must have been a.d. 61.
On the death of his father, C. Csecilius, he was adopted
by his uncle, and therefore took the name of Plinius. He
was educated under the guardianship of Yirginius Eufus,
who felt for him the affection of a parent. The regard
was evidently mutual. " I loved him/' writes Pliny to
Voconius, 2 with that tenderness which so frequently adorns
his letters, especially those to his wife Calphurnia, " as
much as I admired him ;" and he thus concludes his letter :
" I had wished to write to you on many other subjects,
but my thoughts are fully occupied on this one subject of
contemplation. I see, I think of no one but Yirginius.
In fancy I seem to hear his voice, to address him, to hold
him in my arms. We may perhaps have, and shall con-
tinue to have, men equal to him in virtue, but no one
equal to him in glory." In belles-lettres and eloquence 3
he attended constantly the lectures of Quintilian and
Nicetes Sacerdos, of whom favourable mention is made by
Seneca. 4
Under the care of such tutors and such an uncle, his
literary tastes were cultivated early, and before he had
completed his fifteenth year he gave proof of his love of
poetry, by writing what he modestly says was called a
1 Ep. vi. 20. 2 Ep. ii. 1. 3 Ep. vi. 6. 4 Sen. Suasor. I.
PANEGYRIC ON TRAJAN. 529
Greek tragedy. This taste for poetry remained to him
in after life : once when weather-bonnd at the island
Icaria, he celebrated the event in an elegiac poem. He
wrote hexameters, of which he gives a short specimen, and
also a birth-day ode in hendecasyllables, and he tells us
he wrote with quickness and facility. 1
He was called to the bar in his nineteenth year, and
attained great celebrity as a pleader. 2 He stood high
in favour with Trajan ; and filled with distinction high
offices, both military and civil. He was military tribune
in Syria ; and, besides being prsetor and consul at home,
he served as procurator of the province of Bithynia abroad.
He was gentle, liberal, refined, and benevolent ; and his
zeal for the interests of literature, and his wish that the
youths of Como might not be forced to resort to Milan
for education, but might owe that blessing to their native
place, 3 led him to offer help in founding a school, in form-
ing a public library, and in establishing exhibitions for
ingenuous students. 4 He thought, with justice, such acts
of munificence nobler than gaudy spectacles and barbarous
shows of gladiators.
His works consist of a Panegyric on Trajan, and a
collection of Letters in ten books. The Panegyric is a
piece of courtly flattery, for the fulsomeness of which the
only defence which can be made, is the cringing and
fawning manners of his times. It was written and de-
livered in the year in which he was consul. 5 The Letters
are very valuable, not only for the insight which they
give into his own character, but also into the manners
and modes of thought of his illustrious contemporaries, as
well as the politics of the day. Many of them bear
evident marks of having been expressly intended for
publication. This of course detracts from their value as
i
1 Ep. vii. 4. 2 Ep. v. 8. 8 Ep. iv. 13. 4 Ep. i. 8.
5 a. d. 100.
2 M
530 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
fresh and truthful exponents of the writer's thoughts,
which all letters ought to be ; but they are most delightful
to read, and for liveliness, descriptive power, elegance, and
simplicity of style, are scarcely inferior to those of Cicero,
whom he evidently took for his model.
The tenth book, which consists of his despatches to
Trajan, together with the Emperor's rescripts, will be
read with the greatest interest ; and the notices of public
affairs contained in them are most valuable to the historian.
The despatch respecting the Christians, written from
Bithynia, a.d. 104, and the Emperor's answer, 1 are
well worthy of transcription ; both because reference is
so often made to them, and because they throw light
upon the marvellous and rapid propagation of the Gospel ;
the manners of the early Christians ; the treatment to
which their constancy exposed them, even under favour-
able circumstances ; and the severe jealousy with which
even a governor of mild and gentle temper thought it
his duty to regard them. "It is my constant practice,
Sire, to refer to you all subjects on which I entertain
doubt. For who is better able to direct my hesitation
or to instruct my ignorance ? I have never been present
at the trials of Christians, and therefore I do not know
in what way, or to what extent, it is usual to question or
to punish them. I have also felt no small difficulty in
deciding whether age should make any difference, or
whether those of the tenderest and those of mature years
should be treated alike ; whether pardon should be ac-
corded to repentance, or whether, where a man has once
been a Christian, recantation should profit him ; whether,
if the name of Christian does not imply criminality, still
the crimes peculiarly belonging to the name should
be punished. Meanwhile, in the case of those against
whom informations have been laid before me, I have pur-
Ep. x. 97 and
I
DESPATCH RESPECTING THE CHRISTIANS. 531
sued the following line of conduct. I have put to them,
personally, the question whether they were Christians.
If they confessed, I interrogated them a second and third
time, and threatened them with punishment. If they
still persevered, I ordered their commitment ; for I had
no doubt whatever that, whatever they confessed, at any
rate dogged and inflexible obstinacy deserved to be
punished. There were others who displayed similar mad-
ness ; but, as they were Roman citizens, I ordered them
to be sent back to the city. Soon persecution itself, as
is generally the case, caused the crime to spread, and
it appeared in new forms. An anonymous information
was laid against a large number of persons, but they
deny that they are, or ever have been, Christians. As
they invoked the gods, repeating the form after me, and
offered prayers, together with incense and wine, to your
image, which I had ordered to be brought, together
with those of the deities, and besides cursed Christ, whilst
those who are true Christians, it is said, cannot be com-
pelled to do any one of these firings, I thought it right
to set them at liberty. Others, when accused by an
informer, confessed that they were Christians, and soon
after denied the fact ; they said they had been, but had
ceased to be, some three, some more, not a few even twenty
years previously. All these worshipped your image and
those of the gods, and cursed Christ. But they affirmed
that the sum-total of their fault or their error was, that
they .were accustomed to assemble on a fixed day before
dawn, and sing an antiphonal hymn to Christ as Grod :
that they bound themselves by an oath, not to the com-
mission of any wickedness, but to abstain from theft,
robbery, and adultery ; never to break a promise, or to
deny a deposit when it was demanded back. When these
ceremonies were concluded, it was their custom to depart,
and again assemble together to take food harmlessly
and in common. That after my proclamation, in which,
2 m 2
532 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
in obedience to your command, I had forbidden associa-
tions, they had desisted from this practice. For these
reasons I the more thought it necessary to investigate
the real truth, by putting to the torture two maidens,
who were called deaconesses ; but I discovered nothing
but a perverse and excessive superstition. I have there-
fore deferred taking cognizance of the matter until I had
consulted you. For it seemed to me a case requiring
advice, especially on account of the number of those in
peril. For many of every age, sex, and rank, are and
will continue to be called in question. The infection in
fact has spread not only through the cities, but also
through the villages and open country ; but it seems that
its progress can be arrested. At any rate, it is clear that
the temples which were almost deserted begin to be fre-
quented ; and solemn sacrifices, which had been long in-
termitted, are again performed, and victims are being sold
everywhere, for which up to this time a purchaser could
rarely be found. It is therefore easy to conceive that
crowds might be reclaimed if an opportunity for repent-
ance were given."
Trajan to Pliny.
" In sifting the cases of those who have been indicted
on the charge of Christianity, you have adopted, my dear
Secundus, the right course of proceeding ; for no certain
rule can be laid down which will meet all cases. They must
not be sought after, but if they are informed against and
convicted, they must be punished; with this proviso,
however, that if any one denies that he is a Christian,
and proves the point by offering prayers to our deities,
notwithstanding the suspicions under which he has
laboured, he shall be pardoned on his repentance. On no
account should any anonymous charge be attended to,
for it would be the worst possible precedent, and is in-
consistent with the habits of our times."
THE BEAUTY OF HIS WRITINGS. 533
Pliny's accurate and judicial mind, his political and
administrative prudence, his taste for the beautiful,
his power of description, his unrivalled neatness, his
skill in investing with a peculiar interest every subject
he takes in hand, may be amply proved by a perusal of
his Letters. His touches are neither too many nor too
few. A mere note of thanks for a present of thrushes 1
shows as much skill, in its way, as his numerous elabo-
rate despatches to the Emperor. 2 His brief biographical
notice of Silius Italicus contains, in a few short sentences,
all that can be said favourably of the life and character
of Ins correspondent. The sympathy which he felt for
his friends, as well as the delicacy of his panegyric, are
exhibited in the few lines which he penned to Geminius
on the death of the wife of Macrinus ; 3 his honesty in the
case of the inheritance of Pomponia ; 4 his legal skill in
passages too numerous to specify ; his descriptive power
in the narrative of the eruption of Vesuvius, 5 in which his
uncle perished ; and in the full and minute description of
his villa, its rooms, furniture, works of art, garden, and
surrounding scenery.
1 Ep. v. ii. 2 Lib. x. 3 Ep. viii. 5,
4 Ep. v. 1. 5 Ep. vi. 20.
534 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER X.
M. FABIUS QUINTILIANUS — HIS BIOGRAPHY — HIS INSTITUTIONES
ORATORIO — HIS VIEWS ON EDUCATION— DIVISION OF HIS SUBJECT
INTO FIVE PARTS— REVIEW OF GREEK AND ROMAN LITERATURE —
COMPLETENESS OF HIS GREAT WORK — HIS OTHER WORKS — HIS
DISPOSITION — GRIEF FOR THE LOSS OF HIS SON.
M. Fabius Quintilianus.
In this peculiarly rhetorical age the most distinguished
teacher of rhetoric was M. Fabius Quintilianus. He
attempted to restore a purer and more classical taste;
and although to a certain extent he was successful, the
effect which he produced was only temporary. He was,
like Martial, a Spaniard, born 1 at Calagurris, the modern
Calahorra. 2 At an early age he came to Rome, and had
the advantage of hearing the celebrated orators Domitius
Afer and Julius Africanus, whose eloquence he considered
superior to that of their contemporaries. 3 How long he
remained at Eome is uncertain ; but he appears to have
gone back to his native country, and then returned to the
capital together with the Emperor Gralba.
Although he practised as a pleader, he was far more
eminent as an instructor. Domitian entrusted to him
the education of his two great-nephews ; 4 and the younger
Pliny was also one of his pupils. 5 The Emperor's favour
a. D. 40. 2 Anson. Profess, i. 7. 3 Inst. Or. i. 138.
4 I. 0. iv. Proem. 5 PI. Ep. ii. 14. *
BIOGRAPHY OF QUINTILIAN. 535
conferred on him that reward to which Juvenal alludes
in the following line : —
Si For tuna volet fies de rhetore consul ; l
and besides this lie held one of the professorships which
were endowed by Vespasian with 100,000 sestertia per
annum (800/.) a He thus formed an exception to the
larger number of instructors and grammarians who
swarmed in Rome, who, depending on the fees of their
pupils, earned a precarious subsistence, 3 and was even
able to purchase estates and accumulate property.
But though more fortunate than many deserving
members of his profession, he was not esteemed a wealthy
man by the rich and luxurious Romans of his day ; for
his grateful pupil, Pliny, when he presented him with
400^. towards his daughter's portion, spoke of him as a
man of moderate means. 4 His expressions are ; — " Te
porro, animo beatissimum, modicum facultatibus scio."
The probability is that he was twice married. His first
wife died at the early age of nineteen, leaving two sons,
of whom death bereaved him in a few years. 5 For the
instruction of the elder of these, who survived his
younger brother for but a short time, he wrote his great
work. His second wife was the daughter of one Tutilius,
and the fruit of this marriage was an only daughter,
who married Nonius Celer, and to whom the liberal
present of Pliny was made. For twenty years he dis-
charged the duties of his professorship, and then retired
from active life ; and died, as is generally supposed, about
a.d. 118. His countryman, Martial, 6 speaks of him as
the glory of the Roman bar, and the head of his profession
as an instructor : —
Quintiliane, vagae moderator summe juventse,
Gloria Komanse, Quintiliane, togae. r
1 Sat. vii. 197. Another professor of rhetoric, Ausonius, was also ele-
vated to the consulship by the Emperor Gratian, a. d. 379.
1 Suet. Vcsp. 18. 3 Juv. vii. 186. 4 Ep. vi. 32.
5 I. O. vi. Proem. 6 Epig. i. 62. < Epig. ii. 90.
536 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Quintilian's great work is entitled lnstitutiones Oratorice,
or a complete instruction in the art of oratory : and in
it lie shows himself far superior to Cicero as a teacher,
although he was inferior to him as an orator. The
rhetorical works of the great orator will not, in point of
fulness and completeness, bear a comparison with the
elaborate treatise of Quintilian. When engaged in its
composition he had retired from the duties of a public
professor, and was only occupied, as he himself states, 1
with his duties as tutor to the great-nephews of Domitian.
He professes to have undertaken the task reluctantly, and
at the earnest solicitations of his friends. He thought
that the ground was already preoccupied, both by Greek
and Latin writers of eminence. But seeing how wide
the field was, and that such a work must treat of all those
qualifications without which no one can be an orator, he
complied with their entreaties, and dedicated his book to
his friend Marcellus Yictorius, as a token of his regard,
and a useful contribution towards the education of his
son. Two rhetorical treatises had already appeared under
his name, but not published by himself. One consisted
of a lecture which occupied two days in delivery ; the
other a longer course : and both had been taken down in
notes, and given to the public, as he says, by his excel-
lent but too partial pupils : (boni juvenes, sed nimium
amantes mei.) 2
On the lnstitutiones he professes to have expended the
greatest pains and labour. He traces the progress of the
orator from the very cradle until he arrives at perfection. 3
He speaks of the importance of earliest impressions, of
the parental, especially the maternal care, and illustrates
this by the example of Cornelia, to whom the Gracchi owed
then eminence ; and brings forward, as instances of female
eloquence, the daughters of Lselius and Hortensius. He
I. 0. Proem, iv. * I. O. Proem. I. 3 Lib. i. i.
HIS VIEWS ON EDUCATION. 537
believes that education must commence, and the tastes
be formed, and the moral character be impressed, even in
infancy. The choice, therefore, of a nurse is, in his
opinion, as important as of early companions, pedagogues,
and instructors.
Both on account of the positive good to be acquired,
and the evil resulting from the corrupt state of Koman
society which the boy would thus avoid, he prefers a
school to a home education. 1 As we consider the classical
languages the best preparation for the study of the
vernacular tongue 2 so he lays down as an axiom that
education in Greek literature should precede Latin.
Grammar 3 is to be the foundation of education, together
with its subdivisions, declension, construction, 4 ortho-
graphy, 5 the use of words, 6 rhythm, metre, the beauties
and. faults of style, 7 reading, 8 delivery, action ; 9 and to
these are to be added music and geometry. 10
Primary education being completed, the young student
is to be transferred to the care of the rhetorician. 11 The
choice of a proper instructor, 12 as well as his duties and
character 13 are described; the necessary exercises, the
reading and study of orations and histories are recom-
mended, 14 and the nature, principles, objects, and utility
of oratory . are accurately investigated. In the third
book, after a short notice of the principal writers on
rhetoric/ 5 he divides his subject into five parts, 16 namely,
invention, arrangement, style, memory, both natural and
artificial, and delivery or action. Closely following
Aristotle, he then discusses the three kinds of oratory,
the demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial. 17 In the
fourth, he treats of the physical divisions of all orations,
1 Cap. ii. 2 Cap. i. 3 Lib. i. passim. 4 Cap. iii.
5 Cap. vi. c Cap. vii. 7 Cap. v. 8 Cap. viii.
9 Cap. xi. 10 Cap. x. " Lib. ii. i. l * Cap. iii.
18 Cap. ii. M Cap. iv. and v. !5 Cap. xiii. ad fin.
' 6 Lib. i. ii. 1? Cap. iii. ad fin.
538 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
namely, the exordium, 1 the narration, 2 excursions or
digressions, 3 the question proposed, 4 the division of
topics. 5 In that part of his treatise which discusses the
next division, namely, proofs, Aristotle is his chief guide,
as meriting, in his opinion, the universal assent of all
mankind. The sixth book analyses the peroration, and
also discusses the passions, 6 moral habits, 7 ridicule, 8 and
other topics, which complete the subject of invention.
The seventh treats of arrangement and its kindred
topics ; the eighth and ninth of style and its essential
qualities, such as perspicuity, 9 ornament, 10 tropes, 11 am-
plification, 12 figures of speech. 13
Facility, or, as we in common with the Romans, fre-
quently term it, " copia verborum, 141 is the next division of
the subject ; and as original invention has already occupied
so large a portion of his work, he now endeavours to
guide the student in imitating the excellences of the
best Greek and Latin writers ; and tells him that the
next duty, in point of importance, is to profit by the
inventions of others. 15 A wide field is thus opened before
him, affording an opportunity for the display of his
extensive learning, his critical taste, his penetrating dis-
crimination, and his great power of illustration. 1 ' 5
He passes over in rapid review the whole history of
Greek and Roman literature. His remarks, though
brief, are clear and decided, and are marked with an
attractive beauty and sound judgment which have stood
the test of ages, and recommend themselves to all who
have been distinguished for pure classical taste. So
adroit is he in catching the leading features, that the
portraits of great authors of antiquity, though only
1 Lib. iv. i. 2 Cap. ii.
5 Cap. iii. iv.
4 Cap. v.
5 Lib. v. i. — xiv. 6 Cap. i.
7 Cap. ii.
8 Cap. iii.
9 Cap. ii. 10 Cap. iii.
11 Cap. vi.
12 Cap. iv.
13 Lib. ix. i. ii. iii.
14 Lib. x. i.
15 Lib. x. ii.
16 Lib. x. i. and lib. xii. x. xi.
HIS 1NSTITUTI0NES. 539
sketches and outlines, stand forth in bold and tangible
shape, each exhibiting* marked and distinct characteristics.
There are few specimens of criticism so attractive, so
suggestive, and which lay such hold on the memory, as
this portion of the Institutions of Quintilian. Other
subjects are also briefly handled in the tenth book, such
as the necessity of pains and elaborate corrections, in
order to form a polished style, 1 the choice of materials, 2
original thought, 3 the means of acquiring and perfecting
a habit of extemporaneous speaking. 4
The eleventh book is devoted to the subjects of appro-
priateness, memory, 5 and delivery. 6
The twelfth opens with what the author designates 7 as
the most grave and important portion of the whole work,
well worthy of the dignified character of true Eoman
virtue. Its subject is the high moral qualifications neces-
sary for a perfect orator. 8 Talent, wisdom, learning,
eloquence are nothing, if the mind is distracted and torn
asunder by vicious thoughts and depraved passions. 9 The
orator, therefore, must learn by what studies his moral
character can alone be formed ; 10 he must possess that
firmness of principle which will cause him fearlessly to
practise what he knows. " Neque erit perfectus orator
nisi qui honeste dicere et sciet et audebit."
A knowledge of history 11 and the principles of juris-
prudence, 12 he also considers indispensably necessary, not-
withstanding the slighting way in which Cicero speaks
of the antiquarian learning of the jurisconsults. Some
practical rules 13 are also added as to the time of com-
mencing practice in the courts, the rules to be observed
in undertaking causes, 14 and the cautions to be attended
to in preparing and pleading them. 15 He deprecates the
1 Lib. iii. iv.
2 Cap. v.
3 Cap. vi.
4 Cap. vii
5 Lib. xi. i.
6 Cap. ii. iii.
7 Vide Proem.
8 Cap. i.
Cap. i.
10 Cap. ii.
11 Lib. iv.
,e Lib. iii.
13 Cap. vi.
" Cap. vii.
15 Cap. viii. ix.
540 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
undertaking sucli important duties early, although the
call to the bar at Borne took place as soon as the manly
gown was assumed : tradition spoke of boys clothed with
the prsetexta pleading. Caesar Augustus, at twelve years
old, publicly pronounced a eulogy on his grandmother,
as did Tiberius at the early age of nine over the body of
his deceased father. 1
Enough has been said to show the fulness and com-
pleteness with which Quintilian has exhausted his subject,
and left, as a monument of his taste and genius, a text-
book of the science and art of oratory, as well as a
masterly sketch of the eloquence of antiquity.
There have been attributed to Quintilian, besides his
great work, nineteen declamations or judicial speeches
relating to imaginary suits ; also one hundred and forty-
five sketches of orations, the remains of a larger collec-
tion consisting of three hundred and eighty-eight. But
there is no evidence in favour of their being his, and
their style seems to show that they were the work of
different authors and different ages. Neither is there
any good reason for considering that the treatise on the
Causes of Corrupt Eloquence is the same as that to which
he alludes in the proemium to the sixth and the con-
clusion of the eighth book 2 of the Institutions. Indeed,
the almost unanimous opinion of scholars assigns it to
Tacitus. His works were discovered by Poggius, toge-
ther with those of Silius Italicus and L. Valerius Flaccus,
in the monastery of St. Gall, twenty miles from Con-
stance, during the sitting of the celebrated ecclesiastical
council.
The disposition of Quintilian was as affectionate and
tender as his genius was brilhant, and his taste pure.
Few passages throughout the whole range of Latin
literature can be compared to that in which he mourns
Suet. v. Ti. a Lib. viii. 6.
HIS GRIEF AT THE LOSS OF HIS SON. 5 11
the loss of Iris wife and children. It is the touching
eloquence of one who could not write otherwise than
gracefully; and if lie murmurs at the divine decrees, it
musfc be remembered that his dearest hopes were blighted,
and that he had not the hopes, the consolation, or the
teaching of a Christian. " I had a son," he says, " whose
eminent genius deserved a father's anxious diligence. I
thought that if — which I might fairly have expected
and wished for — Death had removed me from him, I
could have left him as the best inheritance — a father's
instructions. But by a second blow, a second bereave-
ment, I have lost the object of my highest hopes, the
only comfort of my declining years. What shall I do
now ? Of what use can I suppose myself to be as the gods
have cast me off? It happened that when I commenced
my book on the Causes of Corrupt Eloquence, I was
stricken by a similar blow. It would surely have been
best then to have flung upon the funeral pile — which was
destined prematurely to consume all that bound me to
life — my unlucky work, and the ill-starred fruits of all
my toils, and not to have wearied with new cares a life
to which I so unnaturally clung. For what tender
parent would pardon me if I were able to study any
longer, and not hate my firmness of mind, if I, who sur-
vived all my dear ones, could find any employment for
my tongue except to accuse the gods, and to protest
that no Providence looks down upon the affairs of men ?
If I cannot say this in reference to my own case, to
which no objection can be made except that I survive,
at least I can with reference to theirs — condemned to
an unmerited and untimely grave."
" Their mother had before been torn from me, who had
given birth to two sons before she had completed her
nineteenth year ; and though her death was a cruel blow
to me, to her it was a happy one. To me the affliction
was so crushing, that fortune could no longer restore
542 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
me to happiness. For not only did the exercise of
every feminine virtue render her husband's grief incurable,
but, compared with my own age, she was but a girl, and
therefore her loss may be accounted as that of a child.
Still, my children survived, and were my joy and comfort,
and she, since I survived (a thing unnatural, although
she wished it), escaped by a precipitate flight the agonies
of grief. In my younger son, who died at five years
old, I lost one light of my eyes. I have no ambition
to make much of my misfortunes, or to exaggerate the
reasons which I have for sorrow; would that I had
means of assuaging it ! But how can I conceal his
lovely countenance, his endearing talk, his sparkling wit,
and (what I feel can scarcely be believed) his calm and
deep solidity of mind? Had he been another's child
he would have won my love. But insidious fortune,
in order to inflict on me severer anguish, made him
more affectionate to me than to his nurses, his grand-
mother who brought him up, and all who usually gain
the attachment of children of that age.
" Thankful therefore do I feel for that sorrow in which
but a few months before I was plunged by the loss of his
matchless, his inestimable mother ; for my lot was less
a subject for tears than hers was for rejoicing. One
only hope, support, and consolation, had remained in my
Quintilian. He had not, like my younger son, just
put forth his early blossoms, but entering on his tenth
year had shown mature and well-set fruit. I swear by
my misfortunes, by the consciousness of my unhappiness,
by those departed spirits, the deities who preside over
my grief, that in him I discerned such vigour of intellect,
not only in the acquisition of learning (and yet in
all my extensive experience I never saw it surpassed),
such a zeal for study, which, as his tutors can testify,
never required pressing, but also such uprightness, filial
affection, refinement, and generosity, as furnished
HIS GRIEF AT THE LOSS OF HIS SON. 543
grounds for apprehending the thunder- stroke which has
fallen. For it is generally observed that a precocious
maturity too quickly perishes ; and there is I know not
what envious power which deflowers our brightest hopes,
lost we soar higher than human beings are permitted
to soar. He possessed also those gifts which are acci-
dental — a clear and melodious voice, a sweet pronuncia-
tion, a correct enunciation of every letter both in Greek
and Latin. Such promise did he give of future ex-
cellence ; but he possessed also the far higher qualities
of constancy, earnestness, and firmness to bear sorrow
and to resist fear. With what admiration did his
physicians contemplate the patience with which he
endured a malady of eight months' duration ! What
consolation did he administer to me in his last mo-
ments ! When life and intellect began to fail, his
wandering mind dwelt on literature alone. dearest
object of my disappointed hopes, could I behold thy
glazing eyes, thy fleeting breath ! Could I embrace thy
cold and lifeless form, and live to drink again the common
air ! Well do I deserve these agonizing thoughts, these
tortures which I endure ! "
544 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
CHAPTER XL
A. CORNELIUS CELSUS — HIS MERITS — CICERO MEDICORUM — SCRI-
BONIUS LARGUS DESIGN ATI ANUS— POMPONIUS MELA — L. JUNIUS
MODERATUS COLUMELLA — S. JULIUS FRONTINUS — DECLINE OF
TASTE IN THE SILVER AGE — FOREIGN INFLUENCE ON ROMAN
LITERATURE — CONCL USION.
Such were trie principal writers who adorned and illus-
trated the literature of the silver age : it remains only to
speak briefly of those whose works, although of minor
interest, must not be passed over without notice.
Aurelius Cornelius Celsus*
Celsus was the author of many works on various
subjects, of which one, in eight books, on Medicine is
now extant. The place of his birth and the age at
which he flourished are unknown, but he probably lived
in the reign of Tiberius. He was a man of compre-
hensive, almost of encyclopaedic knowledge, and wrote
on philosophy, rhetoric, agriculture, and even strategy.
It has been doubted whether he ever practised medicine,
or was only theoretically acquainted with the subject;
but the independence of his views, the practical as well
as the scientific nature of his instructions, are incon-
sistent with any hypothesis except that he had himself
patiently watched the phenomena of morbid action, and
experimented upon its treatment. Above all, his know-
ledge of surgery, and liis clear exposition of surgical
MERITS OF CELSUS. 545
operations, necessarily imply that practical experience
and reality of knowledge which never conld have been
acquired from books.
If we compare the masterly handling of the subject
by Celsus with the history of medicine by Pliny/ it is
easy to distinguish the man of practical and experi-
mental science from the collector and transcriber of
others' views. His manual of medicine embraces the
following subjects : — Diet, 2 Pathology, 3 Therapeutics, 4
Surgery ; 5 and without entering into its peculiar merits,
a task which could only be performed satisfactorily by
a professional writer, the highest testimony is borne to
its merits by the fact of its being used as a text-book
even in the present advanced state of medical science.
The study of medicine has a tendency to predispose
the mind for general scientific investigations in other
departments not immediately connected with it. Hence
the medical profession has numbered amongst its
members many men of general scientific attainments ;
and Celsus was an example of this versatility. The
taste of the age in which he lived turned his attention
also to polite literature ; and to this may be ascribed the
Augustan purity of his style, which gained for him the
appellation of " Cicero Medicorum."
Scribonius Largus Design atianus.
The " Cicero of physicians " was followed by Scri-
bonius, an obsequious court physician, in the reign of
Claudius. He was the author of several works, one of
which, a large collection of prescriptions, is extant. In
the language of impious flattery he calls the imbecile
Emperor a god. He is said to have accompanied him in
his expedition to Britain.
1 H. N. xxix. 2 Cap. i. ii. 3 Cap. iii. iv. « Cap. v. vi.
5 Cap. vii. viii.
2 N
546 roman classical literature.
Pomponius Mela.
Pomponius Mela may be considered as the repre-
sentative of the Soman geographers. He was a native
of Tingentera, a town in Spain, and lived in the reign of
Claudius. His treatise is entitled, " De Situ Orbis,
Libri in." It is systematic and learned. The stores
of information derived from the Greek geographers are
interspersed with entertaining myths and lively descrip-
tions. The knowledge, however, contained in it is all
taken from books : it is an epitome of former treatises,
and is not enriched by the discoveries of more recent
travellers. The simplicity of the style, and the almost
Augustan purity of the Latinity, prevent even so bare a
skeleton and list of facts from being dry and uninteresting.
L. Junius Moderatus Columella.
The didactic work of Columella gives, in smooth and
fluent, though somewhat too diffuse, a style, the fullest
and completest information on practical agriculture
amongst the Eomans in the first century of the Christian
sera. Pliny is the only classical author who mentions
him ; but he refers to him as a competent authority.
Columella himself informs us that he was born at Grades
(Cadiz), 1 and resided at Eome, 2 but had travelled in Syria
and Cilicia. 3 It is generally supposed that he died and
was buried at Tarentum.
His work, " De Re Rustled" is divided into twelve
books. It treats of all subjects connected with the
choice and management of a farm, 4 the arrangement of
farm buildings, 5 the propagation and rearing of stock, 6
the cultivation of fruit-trees, 7 and household economy. 8
1 Lib. x. 185. a Praef. 20. 3 Lib. ii. 10.
4 Lib. ii. 5 Lib. i. e Lib. vi. vii. viii. ix.
7 Lib. iii, iv. v, B Lib. xii,
SEXTUS JULIUS FRONTINUS. 547
A calendar is attached to the eleventh book, pointing
out the cosmical risings and settings of the constellations,
which marked the successive seasons for various labours,
and other practical points of rustic astronomy. The
tenth book, the subject of which is horticulture, is in
hexameters. It never rises quite to the height of poetry :
it is rather metrical prose, characterized, like the rest of
his work, by fluency, and also expressed in correct versi-
fication. The reason which he gives for this variation
from his plan is, that it is intended as supplementary to
the Georgics of Virgil, and that in so doing he is follow-
ing the great poet's own recommendations. In his pre-
face to his friend Silvinus he thus expresses his intention :
— " Postulatio tua pervicit ut poeticis numeris explerem
Greorgici carminis omissas partes, quas tamen et ipse
Virgilius significaverat posteris se memorandas relin-
quere."
Sextus Julius Frontinus.
Sex. Jul. Frontinus deserves a place amongst Eoman
classical writers as the author of two works, both of
which are still extant. The first, entitled " Stratagema-
ticon, Libri iv.," was a treatise on military tactics. The
form in which he has enunciated his doctrines is that of
precepts and anecdotes of celebrated military commanders.
In this way the necessary preparations for a battle, the
stratagems resorted to in fighting, the rules for con-
ducting sieges, and the means of maintaining discipline
in an army, are explained and illustrated in a straight-
forward and soldierlike style.
As the object which he had in view in adducing his
anecdotes is scientific illustration rather than historic truth,
he is not very particular as to the sources from which
his examples are derived. His work is interesting, how-
ever, to the antiquarian, if not of practical utility to the
tactician, as displaying the theory and practice of ancient
548 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
warfare. This subject had in early times been treated
of by Cato and Cincius, and afterwards by Hyginus in a
treatise on Field Fortification {de Castrametatione), and
also in the epitome of Vegetius.
His other work, which has descended to modern times
in a perfect state, is a descriptive architectural treatise,
in two books, on those wonderful monuments of Roman
art, the aqueducts. But besides these, fragments remain
of other works, which assign Frontinus an important
place in the estimation of the student of Roman history.
These are treatises on surveying, and the laws and cus-
toms relating to landed property. They were partly of
a scientific, partly of a jurisprudential character, and are
to be found amongst the works of the Agri-mensores, or
Rei Agrarice Scriptores. The difficulty and obscurity of
everything connected with Roman agrarian institutions
is well known ; and every fragment relating to them is
valuable, because of the probability of its throwing light
upon so important a subject. Niebuhr 1 saw their value,
and pronounced that "the fragments of Frontinus were
the only work amongst the Agri-mensores which can be
counted a part of classical literature, or which was com-
posed with any legal knowledge." These fragments,
therefore, may be taken as a favourable specimen of this
class of writers ; amongst whom were Siculus Flaccus,
Argenius Urbicus, and Hyginus (Grrammaticus).
Of the life of Frontinus himself very few facts are
known. He was city praetor in the reign of Vespasian, 2
and succeeded Cerealis as governor of Britain. He made
a successful campaign against the Silures 3 (S. Wales), and
was succeeded by Agricola, a.d. 78. He was subse-
quently curator aquarum* an office which probably sug-
gested the composition of his practical manual on
5 See Smith's Diet, of Antiq. s. v. 2 a. d. 70.
3 Tac. Agric. 4 De Ag. I.
CONCLUSION OF THE HISTORY. 549
aqueducts. He also had a seat in the college of augurs,
in which, after his death, 1 he was succeeded hy the
younger Pliny.
With this third epoch a history of Eoman classical
literature comes to a close. In the silver age taste had
gradually but surely declined ; and although the Eoman
language and literature shone forth for a time with
classic radiance in the writings of Persius, Juvenal,
Quintilian, Tacitus, and the Plinies, nothing could arrest
its fall. In vain emperors endeavoured to encourage
learning by pecuniary rewards and salaried professor-
ships : it languished together with the death of consti-
tutional freedom, the extinction of patriotism, and the
decay of the national spirit. Poetry had become de-
clamation. History had degenerated either into fulsome
panegyric, or the fleshless skeletons of epitomes ; and at
length Eomans seemed to disdain the use of their native
tongue — that tongue which laborious pains had brought
to such a height of polish and perfection, and wrote in
Greek, as they had in the infancy of the national litera-
ture, when Latin was too rude and imperfect to embody
the ideas which they had derived from their Greek
instructors.
The emperor Hadrian resided long at Athens, and
became imbued with a taste and admiration for Greek ;
and thus the literature of Eome became Hellenized.
From this epoch the term Classical can no longer be
applied to it, for it did not retain its purity. To Greek
influence succeeded the still more corrupting one of
foreign nations. Even with the death of Nerva the
uninterrupted succession of emperors of Eoman or Italian
birth ceased. Trajan himself was a Spaniard ; and after
him not only barbarians of every European race, but even
About a. d. 106.
550 ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE.
Orientals and Africans, were invested with the imperial
purple. The empire also over which they ruled was an
unwieldy mass of heterogeneous materials. The literary
influence of the capital was not felt in the distant portions
of the Roman dominions. Schools were established in
the very heart of nations just emerging from barbarism
— at Burdegala (Bourdeaux), Lugdunum (Lyons), and
Augusta Trevirorum (Treves) ; and, although the bless-
ings of civilization and intellectual culture were thus
distributed far and wide, still literary taste, as it filtered
through the minds of foreigners, became corrupted, and
the language of the imperial city, exposed to the infec-
tious contact of barbarous idioms, lost its purity. 1
The Latin authors of this period were numerous, and
many of them were Christians ; but few had taste to
appreciate and imitate the literature of the Augustan age.
The brightest stars which illuminated the darkness were
A. Grellius, L. Apuleius, T. Petronius Arbiter, the learned
author of the Saturnalia ; the Christian ethical philo-
sopher L. Ccelius Lactantius; and that poet, in whom
the graceful imagination of classical antiquity seems to
have revived, the flattering and courtly Claudian.
Macrobius.
( 551 )
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
B.C.
A.U.C.
753-510
1-244
449
305
390
364
364
390
326-304
280
428-450
474
264
490
260
494
241
513
240
239
235
514
515
519
227
527
219
535
204
550
201
553
195
559
186
568
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY.
CIVIL CHRONOLOGY.
First Era.
Chant of the Arvalian Brother-
hood ; Saturnian measure ;
Salian hymn ; Pontifical an-
nals ; Libri Lintei.
Laws of the Twelve Tables ; the
so-called Leges Regise.
Stage-players sent for from
Etruria.
The Tiburtine inscription
Appius Claudius Ccecus ; Ti.
Coruncanius.
The Columna Rostrata ; epi-
taphs on the Scipios.
Livius Andronicus.
Birth of Ennius.
Cnseus Naevius flourished
Birth of Plautus ; funeral ora-
tion of Q. Metellus.
Q. Fabius Pictor ; L. Cincius
Alimentus ; birth of Pacuvius.
Ennius brought to Pome ; Corn.
Cethegus ; P. Licinius Crassus.
Speech of Fabius Cunctator ;
Sextus iElius Catus.
M. Porcius Cato consul ; Licinius
Tegula.
Senatus-consultum respecting
the Bacchanals.
Regal period.
The Decemvirs deposed.
Rome taken by Gauls.
The year following the
death of Camillus.
Second Samnite War.
The year following the
arrival of Pyrrhus .
Commencement of first
Punic war.
Fifth year of the first
Punic war.
Conclusion of the first
Punic war.
The Temple of Janus
closed for the second
time.
Conclusion
Punic war.
of second
The year following the
condemnation of L.
Scipio.
552
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
B.C.
A.U.C.
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY.
CIVIL CHRONOLOGY.
184
570
Csecilius Statius flourished ; he
Censorship of M. Porcius
died A.u.c. 586 ; death of
Cato.
Plautus.
183
571
- - -
Deaths of Hannibal and
Scipio Africanus.
181
573
The (so-called) books of Numa
found.
179
575
-
Accession of Perseus.
170
584
Attius born.
168
586
-
Defeat of Perseus at
Pydna,
166
588
Terence exhibits the Andrian ;
Sp. Carvilius; C. Sulpicius
Gallus ; Lavinius Luscius ; T.
Manlius Torquatus.
155
599
The three Attic philosophers
visit Rome ; C. Acilius Gla-
brio ; Crates Mallotes.
154
600
M. Pacuvius ; Scipio iEmilianus ;
Laelius.
150
604
L. Afranius ; S. Sulpicius Gal-
ba.
Birth of C. Lucilius ; Cassius
148
606
Second year of the third
Hemina; A. Postumius Al-
Punic war.
binus.
146
608
. . .
End of third Punic war;
Carthage and Corinth
taken.
138
616
L. Attius flourished ; Q. F. M.
Servilianus ; C. Fannius ;
Vennonius ; C. Sempronius
Tuditanus.
Dec. Jun. Brutus consul.
133
621
M. Junius Brutus; P. Mucius
Murder of Tib. Gracchus ;
Scsevola; L. Cselius Anti-
Numantia taken.
pater ; Cn. S. and A. Gellii ;
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi ;
Papirius Carbo ; Lepidus
Porcina ; iElius Tubero.
129
625
_
Death of Scipio iEmili-
anus, aet. 56.
123
631
C. Sempronius Gracchus ; Sex-
tos Turpilius ; C. Lucilius
flourished ; Lsevius (1) ; C.
Junius Gracchanus ; M. Julius
Pennus.
119
635
L. Licinius Crassus acouses
Carbo ; M. Antonius (born
B.C. 144).
113
641
_
War begun with the Cim-
bri.
First year of Jugurthine
111
643
.
war.
CIIRONOLOCICAL TABLE.
553
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY.
CIVIL CHRONOLOGY.
109
645
648
654
659
663
664
667
668
670
672
676
678
680
682
683
684
687
689
691
693
694
695
Publius Sempronius Asellio ;
M. JEmiliufl Scaurus ; P.
Rutilius Rufus ; Q. Lutatius
Catulus.
Birth of Cicero -
L. iElius Stilo -
Cotta ; the Sulpicii ; Horten-
sius ; Q. Mucius Scaovola ;
Lucretius born.
Death of the orator Crassus.
C. Licinius Macer ; Q. Claudius
Quadrigarius ; Q. Valerius
Antias ; L. Lucullus ; Sulla ;
Plotius Gallus.
M. Antonius killed; Catullus
born.
Birth of SaUust - - - -
Attius probably died about this
time, and Latin acting tragedy
disappeared ; L. Cornelius
Sisenna.
Births of Varro Atacinus and
Licinius Calvus Valerius Cato.
Commencement of Sallust's
history.
Birth of Asinius Pollio.
Second Era.
Roman prose literature arrived
at its greatest perfection ;
Cicero thirty-two years of
Cicero accuses
born.
C. Aquilius Gallus ; C
tins ; Sext. Papirius
cilius Balbus.
Birth of Horace
Vcrres ; Virgil
Juven-
L. Lu-
Pomponius Atticus ; M. Teren-
tius Varro Reatinus ; L. Luc-
ceius ; Nigidius Figulus ; Or-
bilius came to Rome in the
fiftieth year of his age (Suet.
de 111. Gram. 9) ; Q. Corni-
ficius.
Oration for Archias -
Birth of T. Livius.
Birth of Cn. Pompeius.
Birth of Julius Caesar.
Commencement of the
Social war.
Massacres by Cinna and
Marius.
Death of Marius.
Sulla's proscription,
Death of Sulla.
Third Mithridatic war be-
gan.
Murder of Sertorius.
Defeat of Spartacus.
Pompey entrusted with
the war against the
Pirates.
First Catilinarian con-
spiracy.
Consulship of Cicero ;
birth of Augustus ; Je-
rusalem taken by Pom-
pey-
Acquittal of Clodius.
First triumvirate.
2 o
554
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
B.C.
A.U.C
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY.
CIVIL CHRONOLOGY.
55
699
-
Caesar's first invasion of
Britain.
54
700
Julius Caesar ; Lucretius Cams ;
Caesar's second invasion
C. Val. Catullus ; iEsopus ;
of Britain.
Q. Eoscius ; Licinius Calvus ;
Helvius Ciuna ; Ticida ; Biba-
_
culus ; Varro Atacinus ; Cor-
nelius Nepos ; A. Hirtius ; C.
Oppius ; S. Sulpicius Rufus.
52
702
Death of Lucretius.
49
705
D. Laberius ; C. Matius ; P.
Syrus.
J. Caesar appointed Dicta-
tor.
Battle of Pharsalia ; mur-
48
706
der of Pompey.
46
708
— — —
Caesar reforms the calen-
dar.
44
710
C. Sallustius Crispus ; Atteius
Philologus ; Asinius Pollio.
Murder of J. Caesar.
43
711
Death of Cicero ; Valgius Rufus ;
birth of Ovid ; death of La-
berius.
Second triumvirate formed.
42
712
Horace at Philippi.
40
714
_
Treaty of Brundusium.
34
720
Death of Sallust.
32
722
Death of Atticus -
War declared against An-
tony.
Battle of Actium.
31
723
Virgilius Maro (born B.C. 70) ;
Maecenas ; Horatius Flaccus ;
L. Varius ; Albius Tibullus ;
•
Cornelius Gallus ; Plotius
Tucca ; Bathyllus ; Pylades ;
Trogus Pompeius.
29
725
The three triumphs of
Octavius ; temple of
Janus closed.
28
72G
Palatine library founded ; death
of Varro.
27
727
- - -
Octavius receives the title
of Augustus.
25
729
J. Hyginus ; S. Aurelius Proper-
tius ; iEinilius Macer ; Ovidius
Naso ; Gratius Faliscus ; Pedo
Albinovanus ; A. Sabinus ; T.
Livius ; Ateius Capito ; Vi-
truvius ; Q. Csecilius Epirota.
19
735
Death of Virgil.
18
734
Death of Tibullus.
17
737
Carmen seculare of Horatius ;
Porcius Latro.
Ludi saeculares.
15
739
_
Tiberius and Drusus con-
quer the Vindelici.
9
745
History of Livy terminates.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
5&0
B.C.
A.U.C.
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY.
CIVIL CHRONOLOGY.
8
746
Death of Horace -
The month Sextilis named
Augustus.
4
750
— — —
Birth of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
AJ).
4
758
Death of Asinius Pollio.
9
763
Exile of Ovid - - - -
Defeat of Quintilius
Varus.
14
767
Third Era.
Death of Augustus.
16
769
T. Phsedras -----
Sejanus the imperial fa-
vourite.
18
771
C. Asinius G alius ; deaths of
Ovid and Livy ; Valerius
Maximus.
23
776
Birth of C. Plinius Secundus -
Murder of Drusus.
25
778
Birth of Silius Italicus ; death
of Cremutius Cordus ; M.
Annseus Seneca ; A. Cornelius
Celsus,; Arellius Fuscus ;
Valerius Maximus.
30
783
Velleius Paterculus writes his
history.
31
784
_
Fall of Sejanus.
34
787
A. Persius Flaccus born.
37
790
_
Death of Tiberius.
40
793
Lucan brought to Rome.
41
794
Exile of Seneca -
Caligula assassinated ;
Claudius emperor.
43
796
Birth of Martial ; Pomponius
Expedition of Claudius to
Mela ; L. Junius Columella ;
Britain.
Remmius Fannius Palseinon.
49
802
Recall of Seneca.
54
807
L. Annceus Seneca ; M. Annseus
Lucanus ; Cornutus ; Persius ;
Caesius Bassus ; C. Sihus
Italicus ; Q. Curtius Rufus.
Accession of Nero.
59
812
>
Murder of Agrippiua.
61
814
Pliny the Younger born -
Boadicea conquered by
Suetonius Paullinus.
62
815
Death of Persius.
65
818
Deaths of Seneca and Lucan.
66
819
Martial came to Rome.
69
822
-
Accession of Vespasian .-
70
823
Saleius Bassus ; C. Valerius
Flaccus.
Jerusalem taken by Titus ,
74
8L'7
The dialogue J)e Oratoribus sup-
posed to have been written.
77
830
C. Plinius Secundus Major flou-
rished.
556
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A.D.
A.U.C.
LITEEAEY CHEONOLOGY.
CIVIL CHEONOLOGY.
78
831
-
Agricola Governor of
Britain.
79
832
Death of Pliny the Elder - -
Destruction of Hercu-
laneum and Pompeii.
80
833
_
The Coliseum built.
81
834
_
Accession of Domitian.
90
843
M. F. Quintilianus ; the Philo-
sophers expelled by Domi-
tian ; Papinius Statius ; Mar-
tialis.
93
846
Death of Agricola.
96
849
_
Assassination of Domitian.
98
851
C. Cornelius Tacitus ; C. Plinius
Minor ; Julius Frontinus,
Suetonius Tranquillus ; An-
naeus Floras ; Julius Obse-
quens ; D. Junius Juvenalis.
Accession of Trajan.
104
857
Pliny's letter respecting the
Christians.
-
117
870
_
Accession of Hadrian.
138
891
S. Pomponius ; Gaius
Accession of Antoninus
Pius.
161
!
914
L. Appuleius ; Minucius Felix ;
Tertullian.
Accession of M. Aurelius.
INDEX.
Abruzzi (Peligni), Sulmo, town of the, j
313.
'Academics' (the), philosophical work of
Cicero, 357.
Academy, the New, principles of adopted j
in Rome, 354. Why congenial to
Cicero, 355.
' Achilleid,' unfinished epic of Pp. Sta-
tius, 472.
Acilius, L., his commentaries on twelve
tables, 203.
1 Actor,' the, Roman play of Massinger
—plot of, 216.
Actors, the Atellan, a class — privileges
of, 47. Different from historians, 48.
, social position of — payment of,
208.
1 Ad Familiares,' letters of Cicero — their
character and style, 361.
'Addictus,' comedy of Plautus — not
extant, 89.
Addison, criticisms of, on ' Georgics ' of
Virgil, 253. His translation from
Silius Italicus, 465.
'Adelphi,' the, play of Terence, when
performed — plot of, 118. Lax mo-
rality of — redeeming examples, 119.
Furnishes plots for Moliere, Shad-
well, and Garrick, 120.
iElius, Q., taught grammar to Tullii and
Aculei, 331.
'iEneid,' poem of Virgil, when com-
menced — unfinished — by whom
edited— idea and plan of, 257. Bor-
rowed from Homer, 258. Story of
taken from old traditional writers,
259. Plagiarisms in — character of,
260. Political object of, 261. Imi-
tative passages in, 262. Popularity
of, 263. Opinions of Niebuhr ac-
counted for, 264.
'iEneadae,' historical play of Atticus,
128-139.
iEolii, language of, derivative dialect of
the Pelasgi, 21.
JErarii, class of, 87.
iEsop, fables of, translated, and manner
of, adopted by Phcedrus, 411. Supe-
riority of, 422.
iEsopus, the actor — his wealth — friend
of Cicero — enthusiasm of audience
for, 208.
Afer, Domitius, heard plead by Quin-
tilian, 534.
Afer, Terentius, language of, 7. Ap-
peals to Ennius in defence of pla-
giarism, 75. Examples of elision from
works of, 84, 85. His comic metres,
how reducible — example from An-
dria, 86. A slave — early history
obscure— of African origin — Conjec-
tures respecting, 101. Obtained
freedom early — "The Andrian' his
first essay — its reception by C. Statius
— story doubtful — date of first repre-
sentation — his improvement of Latin
language — patronized by no bility, 102.
Purity of his style a consequence of
intercourse with them — his morality
— truthfulness, 103. Compared with
English dramists, 104. Assisted in
his compositions — anecdote of C.
Nepos on this point, 105. Contra-
dicted by Terence — his poverty —
Licinius' account of — not correct —
death uncertain — daughter married,
106. Number of comedies — Palli-
ata3 — his works : ' The Andrian,' 107 ;
'Eunuchus,' 109; ' Heautontimoru-
menos,' 111; 'Phorcnio,' 114; ' He-
cyra,' 115; 'Adelphi,' 118. Com-
pared with Plautus, secondary in
558
INDEX.
humour, superior in sentiment, 120.
Abounds in soliloquies — good story-
teller — morality proverbial, 121. Con-
temporary with Cato, 158.
Afranius, L„ comic poet — contempo-
rary of Terence— comedies of lowest
class — skilful adapter from the Greek
— his style — remains of works, 121.
African war, book on, to whom attri-
buted, 378.
' Agricola,' the, of Tacitus, when pub-
lished, 487. A panegyric, 488.
, C. J., Tacitus marries daughter
of, 486. His death — government of
Britain, 489. Praise of, 497.
Agriculture, treatise on, by Varro, 366.
Agri-mensores, Kei Agr-arige Scriptores,
their works, 548.
Agrippina procures recal of Seneca —
appoints him tutor to Nero, 509.
Albinovanus, C. Pedo, his anecdote of
Ovid — his rank — an epic poet, 315.
Ovid's epistles fromPontus addressed
to — epithet for, 325. His epigrams,
elegies, and epic fragments, 326.
Albinus, A. Posthumus — wrote history
of Kome in Greek — Cicero's opinion
of — his puerilities, 171.
' Alcibiades,' the, of Plato — copied by
Persius, 439-441.
Alexander the Great, biography of, by
Q. Curtius, a romance, 504. Copied
from Clitarchus — its length — last
books of, by whom supplied, 505.
Alexandrine war, book on — to whom
attributed, 378.
Alimentus, L. Cincius, contemporary
with Fabius — annalist of second Pu-
nic war — praetor ; legatus — taken pri-
soner by Hannibal — wrote in Greek
— Livy's appeal to him — original
investigations, 155. Details of pas-
sage across Alps communicated by
Hannibal to — appealed to by Livy
on this point — chronology reconciled
by Niebuhr, 156.
Alphabet, the Etruscan, found on cup
at Bomarzo, 19.
, the Latin, its arrangement, 28.
Value of consonants in — compared
with the Greek, 29. Interchanges
in, 30. Vowels and diphthongs in,
31. Letters syncopated in Augustan
age, 86.
Alpis Cottia, Mount Genevre — pass by
which Hannibal crossed Alps accord-
ing to Livy — chosen by Caesar, 402.
Graia, Little St, Bernard -
by which Hannibal crossed Alps —
why so named, 402.
Ambiguity, grammatical work on, by
elder Pliny, 516.
Ambrose, St., believed the sibyls in-
spired, 249.
Amiternum, Sallust born at, 385.
' Amores,' the poems of Ovid — collec-
tion of elegies to Corinna — when
written — character of, 320.
' Amphitruo,' comedy of Plautus —
adopted from Greek — plot of — imi-
tated by Moliere and Dryden, 92.
Anacrusis, not essential to Saturnine
verse, 36.
'Andrian,' the comedy of Terence — -
when Exhibited — accompaniment to
— success of — character of — narra-
tive praised by Cicero — imitated by
Steele, 108.
Andronicus, Livius, alters Satura, 49.
His birth and education — a slave —
statement of Attius respecting, con-
travened by Cicero, 49. Niebuhr's
opinion of — a tutor — emancipated —
his translation of Odyssey — Niebuhr's
idea respecting, 51. Tragedies, prin-
cipal works of — introduces new era
in literature — his method — small re-
mains of works collected by Her-
mann, 52. Character of translation
of Odyssey — criticism of classical
authors prejudiced against — Cicero's
opinion of — his alteration of Fescen-
nine verses, 53. Elevates the drama,
55. His dramas, when first exhibited
— titles of tragedies extant, adapt-
ations from Greek — spectacle of,
gorgeous, 55, 56. Probably author of
comedies — one quoted by Festus, 56.
Andronicus, Livius, placed by Sueto-
nius among the Grammarians, 205.
, M. P., the grammarian — his ori-
gin, 206.
' Annales Maximi,' account of, by Ser-
vius, 43. Books of, 44.
Annalists, Greek and Roman, compared,
152.
' Annals,' the, epic poem of Ennius, 72.
Account of, 73. Quoted by Cicero
and Virgil, 74.
of Livy — how much extant, 395.
Object and character of, 396. Charm
of narrative in — state of Rome, when
written — fitness of Livy for task, 397.
Moral accuracy, 398, Sympathy
shown in, 399. * Sources of, 400.
of Tacitus, why so called — extent
INDEX.
559
and date of — object and character of,
45)4. Orations in, 496.
Annals of Vario, not used by Li vy, 401.
Aiitias, Q. Valerius, historian — his pre-
tensions and accuracy — falsehood of
— Livy's opinion of, 176.
Anticata, mark of Caesar on Latin lan-
guage, 377.
1 Anticatones,' answers to Cicero's pane-
gyric on Cato — by whom written, 38 1 .
Antiochus, the academic — tutor of
Varro Reatinus, 365.
'Antiopa,' tragedy of Pacuvius — frag-
ment of — Criticised by Persius, 136.
Antipater, L. Caslius, freedman — orator
and jurist — his history — fragments
of preserved — Quoted by Cicero and
Livy, 172. Extracts from transcribed
"by Lucullus, 370.
* Antiquitates Eerum Humanarum' —
chronological work of Varro Reatinus
— as also ' Antiquitates Rerum Divi-
narum '— quoted by St. Augustine,
366.
Antonius, C, competitor for consul-
ship with Cicero — accused by Caesar,
373.
, M., orator, 188. Cicero's praise
of — his Greek education — speeches,
why unpublished — passages of, pre-
served by Cicero, 189. Death of,
190. Represented as Turnus in
iEneid, 262. His self-indulgence,
277. Ships burnt by Gallus, 306.
Hatred of Cicero, 339. Character
exposed in philippics of Cicero, 348,
349.
Apocolocyntosis, satire of Seneca on
death of Claudius, 513.
Apollinaris, epigram of Martial on send-
ing a rose to, 479.
, Sidonius, bishop of Clermont, his
distinction of the Senecas, 427.
' Apophthegmata,' collection of sayings
by J. Caesar, 382.
Apollodoms, Epidicazomene of — Phor-
mio of Terence translated from, 114.
Appian takes Fabius Pictor as his
authority, 154.
Apuleius, L., preserves fragment of
Laevius, writer in third period of
Roman literature, 550.
Aquinas, Thomas, born at same place
as Juvenal, 445.
Aratus, phaenomena of, supplied Virgil
with astronomy of Georgics, 255.
Translated by Domitian — popularity
of his works, see note, 472.
Arbiter, T. Petronius, author of * Satur-
nalia,' 550.
'ArchfiBologia,' of Dionysius, not used
by Livy, 401.
Archias, poet, taught Tullii rules of
versification, 331. Cicero's oration
for— character of — its genuineness,
345. Lucullus, friend of, 370.
Archimedes, tomb of, discovered by
Cicero, 333.
Archistratus, Phagetica of, translated
by Ennius, 76.
Arethusato Lycotas, first elegiac epistle,
311.
'Argonautica,' of Apollonius, translated
by Varro Attacinus — praised by
Quintilian, 236.
, poem of C. V. Flaccus addressed
to Vespasian — continued by J. B.
Pius — criticisms on — compared with
works of Virgil, 467.
Aristaeus, story of, why inserted in
fourth Georgic of Virgil, 306.
Aristotle, his rhetoric — division of —
followed by Quintilian, 537, 538.
Arpinum, birth-place of Marius —
Cicero born near— education of, see
note 330.
' Ars Poetica,' poem of Horace — ad-
dressed to Piso, 290.
' Art of Love,' poem of Ovid — its cha-
racter, 316.
' Art of using the javelins on horseback
— treatise of elder Pliny, 516.
1 Arvales Fratres,' chant of — when
found — date of — given by Orellius —
how sung, 23.
Asellio, P. Sempronius, his memoir of
Numantian war — tribunal under S.
Africanus, 173.
1 Asinaria,' comedy of Plautus — revolt-
ing state of morals depicted in, 92.
Asinius, cognomen of Plautus, whence
derived, 88.
'Asotus,' work of Ennius, mentioned
by Varro and Festus, 76.
Aspirate, in Latin, represents Greek X,
29.
Astura, marine villa of Cicero at, 338.
Atellanae Fabulae, see Fabulae.
Athens, Horace studies at, 271. Cicero
studies at, 332.
Atilius, M., dramatist, attributes Greek
origin to Saturnine verse, 32. Cicero's
opinion of — examples, 121, 122.
Title of one comedy of — history un-
known, 122. His tragedies — trans-
lations from Sophocles, 125.
560
INDEX,
Attius, L., Roman tragic poet — almost
contemporary with Pacuvius — inti-
macy between them — story of, related
by A. Gellius — pride of, related by
Valerius Maximus, 138. Friend of
D. Brutus — private history little
known — tragedies numerous — three
Pretextatae : 'iEneadae,' 'Deems,' and
'Marcellus — 'Trachiniae' and 'Phce-
nissae,' translations from Greek —
character of his writings — of his lan-
guage — quoted by Cicero and Yarro,
139. Not founder of Tragediae Prae-
textatae, 140. His metres — his other
works quoted by Nonius and A.
Gellius — his age and death — best
writer of acting tragedy, 141. State
of Rome not suitable to development
of tragic writing, 142. Change in
form of theatres, 143.
Atticus,J., writes ' De Re Rustica,' 168.
, T. Pomponius, Cicero's friendship
for, 332. Speaker in 'Brutus' of
Cicero, his two books on Glory ad-
dressed to Cicero, 357. Life of, by
C. Nepos, 371.
, friend of C. Nepos — work ad-
dressed to, 371.
'Atreus,' tragedy of Attius — read to
Pacuvius, 138.
' Atys,' dithyrambic poem of Catullus,
229.
Aventine Hill, dwelling of Ennius on,
70.
Aufidius, the river, Horace born on
banks of, 268.
Augurs, college of, Cicero obtains seat
in, 336.
Augusta Trevirorum (Treves), school
established at, 550.
Augustine, St., believes the Sibyls in-
spired, 250. Alludes to third satire
of Persius, 440.
Augustus, C. J. C. Octavianus, Imp.,
second period of Roman literature
ends with death of, 39. His age
called the Golden, 40. Friendship of,
for C. Matius, 213. Pantomine first
introduced in time of — invention of,
erroneously attributed to him by
Suidas, 214. Object of ^Eneid to in-
crease his popularity — typified in it
under character of iEneas, 261. His
intimacy with Maecenas — Dion Cas-
sius' account of, 299. Ridicules
language of — how influenced by, 301,
303. Cause of offence against Ovid
uncertain — cause of cruelty in his
old age, 318. Founds Octavian and
Palatine libraries, 365. Patron of
Vitruvius Pollio, 407. His epigram,
473. Pronounces eulogium on grand-
mother when twelve years old, 540.
'Aulularia,' comedy of Plautus— amus-
ing plot of, 92. Suggests L'Avare of
Molidre — attempts made to supply
lost scenes in, 93.
Ausonius, his account of C. Nepos, 370.
Auspiciorum, Libri. work of, J. Caesar
on augury, 375.
Bacchanals, senatus-consultum re-
specting, found at Tivoli — preserved
at Vienna — language of, 28.
'Bacchides/ comedy of Plautus — plot
of, 93.
Bagrada, serpent at — story of, related by
Tubero, 178.
Baiae, baths of, favourite resort of Ho-
race, 274.
Balbus, L. Lucilius, jurist — pupil of
C. M. Sctevola, 205.
Bansae, word giving name to Bantine
table, 17.
Bantine table principal monument of
Sabello-Oscan language — discovered
1793 — supposed to refer to Bantiae —
how interpreted — language of —
copied by Orellius and Donaldson, 17.
Bards, songs of, at early Roman ban-
quets, 140.
Barthius, C, his example of style of S.
Italicus, 465.
Basilica at Colonia, Julia Fanestris,
built by Vitruvius Pollio, 408.
Bassus, Aufidius, wrote history of Ger-
man and civil wars — continued by
Pliny — fragments preserved by Se-
neca — his death — works preserved
by daughter, 482. See Pliny, 516.
, Caesius, friend of Propertius, 310.
Guest of Horace, 316. Satires of
Persius addressed to, 436-441.
Bathyllus, actor in pantomime, 215.
Bedriacum, battle of — Otho defeated at,
by Vitellius — Suetonius Lenis, tri-
bunus at, 499.
' Bellum Catilinarium,' work of Sallust
— speeches of Caesar and Cato in —
speech of Memmius, as delivered, 387.
When written, 388 — depraved state
of society depicted in, 390.
' Bellum Sequanicurn,' heroic poem of
Varro Attacinus, 236.
Bentley, his opinion on origin of Sa-
turnian verse, 33. His chronological
INDEX.
561
arrangement of works of Horace, 298.
Opinion respecting M. Manilius, 327.
Bibaculus Furius, satirist— his epic
provokes criticism of Horace, 235.
Bilbilis, Spanish town in province of
Tarragon, Martial born at, 474. Fa-
mous for manufactures of iron and
steel, 475.
Blair, Cicero's oration for Cluentius,
analyzed by, 345.
Bomarzo, Etruscan alphabet found at,
19.
Brueys, his play, 'Le Muet,' imitated
from 'Eunuchus' of Terence, 111.
Brundisium, journey of Maecenas to —
Virgil dies at, 241. Cicero's night
to, 335.
' Brutus,' historical play of Attius —
written at suggestion of Decirnus —
plot of — passages quoted by Cicero
only remain, 139.
, Decirnus, consul, friend of Attius.
, M. Junius, jurist — father ambas-
sador to Persius — his books on civil
law, 203. Model of ideal perfection
in oratory to Cicero, 350. Speaker in
rhetorical work of same name, 350.
, rhetorical work of Cicero — second
of series, 349. Dramatis personee
and scene of, 350.
* Bucolics/ poem of Virgil, 244. Arti-
ficial, 245. Criticism of Horace on —
Idylls of Theocritus, models of, 246.
Subject o$ 247. Fifth, imitated by
English poets, 247. Sixth, account
of Epicurean philosophy in — paro-
died by Gay, 251.
Burdegala, Bordeaux, school established
at, 550.
Burnet, Bishop, recommends tenth Sa-
tire of Juvenal to his clergy, 449.
Cacus, legend of, related by Hemina,
172.
Cadiz, inhabitant of, comes to Borne,
see Livy — fact, how expanded by St.
Jerome, 395.
Cseoilius, C, father of C. Pluvius, 528.
Csecina, partisan of Pompey — corre-
spondent of Cicero, 362.
Caedicius, tribune — his devotion, 166.
Csepio, L. Servilius, his Lex Servilia
defended by Crassus, 191.
Cresar, C. Julius, dictator — complaint
of want of ' vis comica ' in Romans,
78. His treatment of Liberius, 210.
Ii itimacy with C. Matius, 212. Guest
of Catullus' father, 227. Attacked
by Catullus — his clemency, 230. Op-
poses Cicero for consulship, 333.
Refuses aid to Cicero, 335. Pardons
him, 337. Employs Varro Reatinus
to collect books for national library,
364. Clemency to Varro — appre-
ciates his learning — makes him libra-
rian, 366. His descent, 372. Birth
— politics — character — civic crown —
an orator — pleads against Dolabella
and C. Antonius — goes to Rhodes to
study rhetoric, 373. Taken by pi-
rates — ransomed — studies under Mo-
lon — returns to Rome — speaks for
party of Lepidus — his funeral ora-
tions — speech for Catilinarians — why
unsuccessful, 374. Practical appli-
cation of literary talents— appointed,
Pontifex Maximus — his 'Libri Au-
spiciorum — ' De Astris ' — conse-
quence of these studies, 375. Ap-
pointment to Spain — leads to compi-
lation of Commentaries — tract on
administration of law— perished ;
why 1 — contemplates map of Roman
dominions, 376. Founds library —
appoints Varro librarian — his letters
— some extant with those of Cicero
— orations lost— panegyric on — trea-
tises — his Commentaries — books sup-
plemental to : ' De Bello Gallico,' ' De
Bello Civili ' — by whom written, 377.
On the African war — on the Spanish
war — Ephemerides — Bayle's opinion
respecting, 378 — character of Com-
mentaries — beauty of language —
Hirtius' remark upon — Pollio's criti-
cisms on — how far incorrect — ego-
tism — cruelty — vanity — compared
with Xenophon — ' Anticatones ' — re-
ply to Cicero, 381 — Philologicial work,
' De Analogia ' — ' Apophthegmata ' —
poetical works, 'CEdipus' — 'Iter' — as-
tronomical poem — 'Letters to Op-
pius,' described by A. Gellius (note),
382. Character of — philosophy — self-
reliance — reality — memory, 383. Re-
stores Sallust to senate, 385. His
brevity compared with that of Sal-
lust — his secretary T. Pompeius, 392.
Crossed Cottian Alps, 402. Livy
compared with, 403. M. V. Pollio
serves under, 407. His epigrams,
473.
Caesars, the Twelve, biography of, by
Suetonius — Niebuhr's opinion re-
specting date of, 500. Krause's
2p
562
INDEX.
opinion of sources of, 501. Incon-
sistency in, 502. Character of, 503.
Caesura, laws of, not understood by
Ennius, 64.
Calagurris (Calahorra), birth-place of
Q.uintilian, 534.
Caligula, Caius (Imp.), his character, 421.
His jealousy of Seneca, 509.
Callimachus, Saturnine verse in writings
of, 33. Contemporary with Ennius,
75. Imitated by Tibullus, 311.
Calvena, C. Matius, why so called — his
' Mimiambi ' — translates ' Iliad ' —
work on cookery — enriches Latin
with new words — friend of Caesar
and Augustus — his influence — how
used — loved by Cicero, 213. Mimi-
ambic poet — correspondent of Cicero,
362.
Calvus, C. Licinius, orator and poet —
fragments of poems only left — Xie-
buhr's opinion of — poetry similar to
that of Catullus, 234.
Canticum, words of both mime and
pantomime so called — how repeated,
214.
Capitol, the, burnt in reign of Vespa-
sian, 400.
Capona, Porta, epitaph of L. Scipio
found' at, 27.
' Captive,' the, comedy of Plautus — the
best— plot of, 93.
Capua, journey of Lucilius to, supplied
Horace with idea of that to Brun-
disium, 147.
Carbo, C, impeached by Crassus, 190.
, Papirius, orator — colleague of T.
Gracchus — his character — eloquence,
186.
' Carmen Seculare,' poem of Horace —
its occasion — written at request of
Emperor, 279.
Carneades, the academic — comes to
Eome, 158. Cato banishes Greek
philosophers on account of uncer-
tainty of his arguments, 660.
Carthage, treaty with, preserved —
translated into Greek by Polybius —
language of then esteemed archaic, 7.
Enmity of Cato to, reason for, 162.
Cams, Lucretius, poem of, marks epoch
in philosophy and poetry — his origi-
nality — little known of his life — his
birth, 218. Philosophy Epicurean —
raised to equestrian rank — commits
suicide — his work, ' On the Nature of
Things,' in six books — imitation of
Empedocles — epic structure of — epi-
tome of Epicurean philosophy, 218.
His language — sublimity — tender-
ness — compared with Ovid and Vir-
gil — imitated by Virgil — criticism of
Cicero, 219. Examples from, 221.
Plan and structure of poem — Epicu-
rean doctrines embodied in, 222. In
what differing from his master, 223.
Love of nature — physical theory, 224.
Philosophy, how a remedy for ills —
morality of — Cicero not just to — fol-
lower of Epicurus — Virgil's panegyric
on — Ovid's praise of, 227.
' Casina,' comedy of Plautus — revolting
state of manners depicted in, 92.
Cassius, correspondent of Cicero, 362.
Cataline, competitor of Cicero for
consulship, 333. Conspiracy of,
334.
' Catilinarians,' orations of Cicero, 347.
Their subject, success, and conse-
quences, 348.
Cato, C. prosecuted by C. A. Pollio,
363,
, Licinianus, jurisconsult, 203.
, M.P., jurisconsult, son of Censor,
203.
, M. Porcius, Censor, a friend of
Cn. ISTaevius, 56. His habit of
changing letters, 30. Life of, attri-
buted to C. Nepos — brings Ennius
from Sardinia — reproaches M. Ful-
vius Nobilior for patronizing En-
nius, 67-144. Friend of Ennius, 69.
Versatility of talent—his ' Origines '
— lived in transition period — influ-
ence of Greek philosophy on Eome —
contemporary with Xoevius, Plautus,
and Terence, 157. Important poli-
tical events during life of Polybius —
comes to Eome with Achiean host-
ages — Greek philosophers and critics
teach in Eome — born at Tusculum
— bred in country, 158. Served under
Fabius Maximus — patronized by Va-
lerius Flaccus — eminence as a pleader
— qua?stor — sedile — praetor — consul
— resident in Spain — legatus — civil
mission to ^Etolia — censor, 159. His
talents for administration — activity
— energy — causes dismissal of Greek
philosophers — sent to Africa — pro-
secutes Galba — his death — anecdote
of, preserved by Valerius Maximus,
note, 160. His character — thoroughly
Eoman — prejudice against Greeks —
hard-hearted, 161. Looked back-
ward — enmity to Scipio — apparent
INDEX.
503
inconsistency o\' — virtue not amiable,
162. Personal appearance, epigram
on — moral greatness of— originality
— determination — his style — charac-
ter, as given by Livy, 1(!3. His works:
* The Origines,' 165 ; ' De Re Rnstica,'
167 ; 'Letters,' 169; 'Orations." 170.
His character, as drawn by Niebuhr,
171. 'Orations' of, extant in time
of Cicero, 182. Prosecutes Sulpicius
Galba, l>4. Great jurisconsult, 803.
Correspondent of Cicero, 362. Life
of, attributed to C. Xepos, 371. His
influence in decisiou on Catiline
conspiracy. 374. "Wrote on military
tactics, 548.
, Valerius, grammarian and poet,
206. His poems ' Lydia ' and ' Di-
ana' — the 'Dirge,' argument of — attri-
buted to him by J. Scaliger, 235.
, historical play of, 128. ~*~"~~
Catullus, C. Valerius, his family and
father — education — his licentious-
ness, 227. Extravagance — goes with
Memmius to Bithynia, 228. Visits
grave of brother — specimen of elegiac
style — returns to Rome — his death —
his works : ' Elegies,' ' Hymn to Di-
ana,' ' Atys ' — his popularity, cause
of, 229. Nationality — disparaged by
Horace and Quintilian ; w T hy ] — his
satire, its character — Kiebuhr's
opinion of, 230. Characteristics of
his poetry — ' Peleus and Thetis '
heroic poem, 231. Example of, 232.
Estimation of his learning, 233. His
account of C. Nepos, 370.
Catulus, P. Lutatius, autobiographer —
praised by Cicero for his Latinity —
style of, compared with that of Xeno-
phon, 174. His epigram, 473.
, Q., orator, 188.
Catus, C. iElius, his notes, 202.
Celer, Nonius, marries daughter of
Quintilian, 535.
, Metellus, tribune during Consul-
ship of Cicero, 334.
Cellarius, his epithet for style of S.
Italicus, 465. Supplies lost books
of Q. Curtius, 504.
CeLsus, A. Cornelius, writer — ' De Re
Rustica,' 168. Voluminous writer —
his work on medicine only extant —
little known of history — comprehen-
sive talent, 544. His work compared
with that of Pliny — scope of work —
epithet bestowed on, 545.
Censorirc, Tabula?, account of, 44.
Censorius, Greek analysis of Saturnian
verse, 33.
Cerealis, succeeded by Frontinus in
government of Britain, 548.
Cerdo, L. Vitruvius, M. V. Pollio con-
founded with— evidence respecting,
406.
Cervetri, Etruscan city — discoveries
made there — founded'by Pelasgians —
maintains connexion with Greeks, 20.
Pelasgian inscription at, 21.
Cethegus, Corn., orator — Cicero's ac-
count of, 181. Ennuis' testimony to
eloquence of, 182.
Chares, Oppius, grammarian — teaches
in Gaul, 206.
' Chorographia,' poem of V. Atacinus—
fragment of, preserved by Meyer,
236.
Christians, the early, attack pantomimic
exhibitions, 215.
Chronicle, the Eusebian, gives date of
death of Turpihus, 123.
'Chronicles' of Nepos — abridgment of
' Universal History,' 371.
Chronology, Grecian and Italian, He-
mina attempts to reconcile, 171.
Chrysogonus, creature of Sulla, his
enmity against Cicero, 332.
Cicero, M. Tullius, flourished at end of
first period of Roman literature, 39.
Speaks of songs of bards at banquets,
40. Statements of respecting L.
Andronicus, 50, 53, 55. Cn. Xaevius,
57, 60, 61, 62. His appellation for
Ennius, 68. Quotes from annals of,
74. Praises elision in Cotta, 84.
Places Statius at head of comic poets,
— prefers Ennius in epic, Pacuvius in
tragedy, 100. Praises funeral scene
in Andrian, 108. His mention of
Atilius, 121, 122. Preserves frag-
ments and title of works of Trabea,
123. Preserves passages from ' Pro-
metheus ' of Attius, 134. Praises
Pacuvius, 136. Preserves passages
from ' Brutus ' of Attius, 139. Too
partial to Lucilius, 146. Greek cul-
tivated in time of, 152. Fabius
Pictor alluded to by, 154. Age of at
death, note, 160. Says that Cato
was forgotten in Augustan age, 172.
Quotes dreams from Hemirfa, 172.
Praises Catulus for Latinity, 174.
Criticises C. L. Macer unfavourably,
175. His account of Sissenna —
contemporary with Tubero, 177.
Praises Cethegus, 182. Account of
2 p 2
564
INDEX.
Galba, 184 ; of mother of Gracchi
— epithet ,for T. Gracchus, 187.
Account of oratory of C. Gracchus,
188. Hortensius, rival of — yields to
prejudices against Greek taste — at-
tributes eloquence of Antony and
Crassus to Greek cultivation — re-
futes statement with respect to
Antony, 189.' Preserves speeches of
Antony, 191. Defends Crassus — his
false estimate of, 192. Kemarks on
Liberius, how answered, 211. Love
for C. Matius— praises P. Syrus, 213.
What occupations considered honour-
able by, 267. His influence on Roman
literature and language, 328. Con-
versational philosophy, 329. Influ-
ence of, permanent — his versatility —
birth — 'admiration of Marius, note,
830. His father — birth — brother—
father removes to Rome — his educa-
tion — teachers — his poems —studies
jurisprudence under M. Scaevola, 331.
Serves one campaign — studies in
various schools — writes 'De Inven-
tione Rhetorica' during Marian war —
his first cause — defence of Roscius —
weak health — travels to Athens,
Asia, and Rhodes — studies philoso-
phy and rhetoric — returns to Rome
— Hortensius his rival — quaestor, 332.
Discovers tomb of Archimedes — re-
turns to Rome — defends Sicilians
against Verres — aedile — his means of
celebrating the games — praetor — de-
fends Cluentius — supports Manilian
law — espouses popular cause to obtain
consulship, 333. Consul — the Cati-
line conspiracy — execution of ring-
leaders — approved by people, 334.
Proves guilt of Clodius — his revenge
— neglected by Caesar — deserted by
Pompey — 'exile — houses plundered,
335. Conduct in exile — recalled —
political tergiversation — appointed
to College of Augurs — province of
Cilicia— his -good government — re-
turns to Rome, 336. His vacillation
— joins Pompey — pardoned by Caesar,
337. His public character — domestic
afflictions — his wives — death of Tul-
lia — retires to Astura — political
crisis 1 — his ' Philippics' — popularity —
second triumvirate — sacrificed by
Octavius, 338. Flight —betrayal —
death — cruelty of Antony and
Ful via— character of, 339. Causes
of inconsistency — benevolence and
virtue, 340. Cicero no historian — his
oratory — its object — compared with
Attic — to whom addressed — Quin-
tilian's opinion of — sources of its
power — his orations, 343. The first
extant — in defence of P. Quinctius —
the six Verrian — 'Divinatio,' 344.
For Fonteius — Cluentius — Archias,
345. For Caelius — against Piso — for
Milo, 346. Character of, judicial —
his political orations — their success,
347. Instances of— for the Manilian
law — 'De Provinciis Consularibus '
— the ' Catilinarians' — the 'Philippics'
— his rhetorical works : ' De Inven-
tions ;' ' Handbook ' spurious ; ' De
Oratore,' 'Brutus,' 'Orator,' one series,
349. Short treatises : ' De Partitione
Oratoria,' 'De Optimo Genere Ora-
torum,' 'De Corona,' translation of,
'Topica' — his philosophy, its cha-
racter, 350. Periods of study, 351.
Reasons for popularity of Epicu-
reanism, 354. Personality of his
philosophy, 355. Opinion of stoic
philosophy — his religious belief, 356.
His works on speculative philosophy :
'The Academics,' 'DeFmibus,' 'Tus-
culan Disputations,' ' Paradoxes,'
' Hortensius ;' translations from
' Timseus,' ' Protagoras,' and Plato ;
moral philosophy : ' De Officiis,' ' On
Friendship,' and 'Old Age,' 'On
Glory,' 358. ' Alleviation of Grief '—
theological work — political works :
' De Republica,' ' De Legibus ' — their
character, 358. Opinions contained
in, 359. His letters— their style,
character, and extent, 360. Compli-
ment of L. Tullus^preserved by
Pliny — correspondents of Cicero, 362.
L. Lucceius, friend and correspondent
of — encomiums upon — why of doubt-
ful value, 369. Friend of C. Nepos—
life of, and letters to, by C. Nepos,
371. Admiration of Livy for, 395.
, M. Tullius, father of orator —
Roman knight — his estate, &c, 331.
, Quintus, younger brother to M. T.,
his poetic talent — poems on Zodiac
still extant, 331. Travels with Mar-
cus, 332.
' Cid,' the, Saturnian verses in poem
of, 35.
Cilicia, Cicero governor of — his con-
duct in, 336.
Cincius, writer on military tactics, 548.
Cineas, ambassador of Pyrrhus— his
INDEX.
505
talents— defeated by Appius Clau-
dius. 181.
China, G. Helvius — his poem ' Smyrna'
— praise of, by Virgil and Catullus,
235.
'(.'iris,' poem of Virgil — attributed to
Gallus — subject of, 243. How used
by Spenser, see note, 244.
Cistellaria,' comedy of Plautus — plot
of — uame, whence derived, 93.
Civil law, corpus of, extant in time of
Cicero —full of archaic lore, 400.
Claudian, poet in third period of Roman
literature — his character, 550.
Claudius, Appius, calendar set up in
forum by, 202. First attacks — tech-
nicalities of Roman law, 376.
, Appius, Caucus — before Ngevius —
his speech known to Cicero, 180.
Account of, 181. Author of moral
poem, note, 180.
, Caius (Imp.), answers Asinius
Gallus, 363. Writes history at recom-
mendation of Livy, 395. Character
of, 421. Scribonius physician to,
546. Funeral oration, satire on, 513.
, T. Donatus, life of Virgil attri-
buted to — lived in fifth century —
Heyne's opinion of, 237. Overlaid
with fables, 238.
Cleopatra, represented in 'iEneid' by
Dido, 262.
Clitarchus, Greek historian, followed
by Q. Curtius, 504.
Clodius, Servius, grammarian — knight,
206. Introduced by P. Pulcher into
mysteries of Bona Dea — consequences
of — guilt proved by Cicero — acquit-
ted — his revenge, 335.
Cluentius, defended by Cicero, 333.
Skill displayed in defence— analysed
by Blair, 345.
Coactor, business of, followed by father
of Horace, 268.
CoDlio, Cicero's oration for — its humo-
rous character — contrast to that
against Piso, 346.
Coleman, his theory of scenic modu-
lation, see note, 82.
Columella, L. Junius — his enumeration
of writers 'De Re Rustica,' 168.
, L. Junius Moderatus, writer on
practical agriculture — referred to
by Pliny — his birth and travels — his
work, ' De Re Rustica,' 546. Reason
for writing ten books in verse, 547
Colu mna Rostrata, of Duillius — in-
scription on —rent by lightning, 27.
Collyra, mistress of Lucilius, 147.
Comedy, division of, by Romans, note,
56. Its character — why natural to
Romans — remodelled by Nsevius, 61.
Of Ennius, modelled after that of
Greek, 75. Roman, at first rude —
extemporaneous — satirical — personal
— performed by amateurs — more
developed— Greek comedy engrafted
on it — character of old Attic — critical
— not suited to Roman manners or
taste, 77. New comedy adopted by
Romans, 78. Of Menander and Phi-
lemon, character of — fragments pre-
served by Christian writers, mora-
lity of, 78. Plots Greek — action and
speech Roman— Plautus an excep-
tion — want of variety in, 79. Causes
of, 80. Range of subjects small —
costume of actors in, 80. Names in,
have appropriate meaning — examples
of — relation of music to, 81. Origi-
nated in Italy — brought to perfec-
tion by influence of Greek literature,
124.
Commentaries of Csesar, when com-
posed, 376. His most important
work — account of, 377. Purity of
style — termed ' Ephemerides,' 378.
Character of, 379. Subject of, com-
pared with work of Xenophon, 381.
Como, school established at, by younger
Pliny, 529.
Congreve, contrasted with Terence, 104.
Conjurations in Cato, 169.
1 Consolatio,' of Seneca, to whom ad-
dressed, 482.
Consonants, when elided in Augustan
age, 86.
Constantine, Emperor, quotes Virgil's
' Pollio ' as evidence for Christianity,
249.
Controversial work of Seneca on foren-
sic eloquence — character of, 508.
'Copa,' elegiac poem of Virgil — fes-
tive, 244.
Corcyra, illness of Tibullus at, 307.
Corduba, Cordova, birthplace of Lucan,
453 ; of Seneca, 507.
Cordus, Crementius, prose writer in
time of Tiberius, 482.
Corfinium, in Pelignia, called Italica,
supposed birthplace of C. Silius, 462.
Corinna, mistress of Horace, 317.
Cornelia, wife of J. Csesar, his funeral
oration on — daughter of Cinna, 374.
, mother of Gracchi, her care in
educating her children, 536,
566
INDEX.
Corneille, considers Seneca ideal of
tragic poet, 432.
Cornificius, Q., grammarian, 405.
Cornutus, Annaeus, tutor of Persius in
Stoic philosophy, 435. Literary heir
of Persius, 436. Edits his works, 438.
Fifth satire of Persius addressed to,
441.
Corsica, Seneca banished to, 509.
Cortonian, inscriptions — language of —
rendered into Latin, 19.
Coruncanius, Tib., Pont. Max., consul —
opens school of jurisprudence, 202.
Costume, Etruscan, characteristic of
Eoman, 22. Of Eoman actors con-
ventional, 80.
Cotta, orator, 188. His taste — want
of energy, 194. Rival of Hortensius,
195.
Crassus, P. Licinius, orator, 188. Birth
and profession — success — quaestor in
Asia — studies under Metrodorus — ■
attends lectures at Athens, 190.
His chef-d'oeuvre — closes Greek
schools, 191. Cicero's partiality for
— his wealth — his style, 192. Repre-
sents Cicero in ' De Oratore ' — his
death, 193. Surnamed the rich —
learned in the law, 203. Opposes
Cicero for consul, 333.
Cremona, Virgil educated at, 238.
Crates comes to Rome as ambassador
from Attalus — reads commentaries
on Greek poets, 158.
Crispinus, consul — C. Alimentus his
legate, 155.
Critolaus, the Peripatetic, comes to
Rome, 158.
' Culex,' bucolic poem of Yirgil — sub-
ject of epigram in — Spenser's repro-
duction of, 243.
' Curculio,' comedy of Plautus — plot of,
93.
Curio, orator, 188.
Cuvier, observes defects in 'Natural
History,' of Pliny, 527.
Cyclic poems, supply material for Vir-
gil, 258. For Naevius, 265.
' Cyclops,' of Theocritus, supposed ori-
ginal of second Eclogue of Virgil, 247.
' Cynegetica,' poem of Gratius, its
character — derived from Xenophon,
325.
Cynthia, mistress of Propertius — origi-
nal name Hostia — native of Tivoli,
308.
j mistress of Tibullus, 310
1 Cyprian,' poem of Lucilius, 148.
Dante thought Statius a Christian, 469.
His admiration of Statius — reasons
for, 471.
' De Amicitia,' Essay of Cicero, 357.
■ Analogia,' philosophical work of
Caesar commended by Cicero — when
written — effect produced by, 382.
Astris,' work of Caesar — its cha-
racter, 375.
Bello Civili,' erroneously attributed
to Caesar, 377.
Castramentatione,' work by Hy-
ginus, 548.
Consolatione,' ethical work of
Seneca addressed to Polybius, 511.
Constantia,' ethical work of Sen-
eca, 511.
Divinatione,' theological treatise
of Cicero, 358.
— — ■ Finibus,' dialogue of Cicero on
moral action, 357.
Gestis Romanorum Epitome of
Annaeus Florus, 505.
Historicis, work of Nepos, 371.
■ Inventione Rhetorica,' treatise of
Cicero, when composed, 332. A ju-
venile production, 349.
Legibus,' political work of Cicero
— tendency of — practical nature of,
359. Characters in, 360.
Lingua Latina,' work of Varro
Reatinus, 367.
Morte,' work of Varius, 305.
Natura Deorum,' theological work
of Cicero, 358.
Officiis,' moral treatise of Cicero
— principles of — addressed to his
son, 357.
Optimo Genere Oratorum ' — pre-
face to translation of oration 'De
Corona' of Demosthenes, 350.
Oratore,' first of a series, work of
Cicero on rhetoric, 349. Dramatis
personae and scene of, 350.
— — Partitione Oratoria,' elementary
work of Cicero, 350.
Providentia,' ethical treatise of
Seneca — suicide, how esteemed in,
511.
Republica,' political work of Cicero
— imperfect — imitated from Plato,
358. Characters in, 359.
Republica Ordinanda,' letter to
Caesar attributed to Sallust — author
uncertain, 388
Rerum Natura,' poem of Lucre-
tius ' On the Nature of Things,' 218.
■ Re Rustica,' treatise of Cato — in-
INDIA.
5G7
forest attached to agriculture In
Rome) HIT. State of — common -place
book, 1(58. Conjurstioues in, 169.
De Be Hustioa,' Columella's list of
writers, 168. His treatise on, 546.
Calendar contained in — reason for
writing tenth book in verse, 547.
■ Re Rustica,' treatise by Varro
Reatinus, 366.
Seneetute,' essay by Cicero, 357.
Situ et Moribus Germanise,' work
of Tacitus, 489.
Situ Orbis,' geographical work of
Pomponiua Mela, 546.
Summo Bono,' treatise on physi-
cal nature of things by Catius — ex-
ceptional in Roman philosophy, 354.
1 Decius,' historical play of Attius, 139.
Deities, the Etruscan — natural gods of
Rome, 11.
Delator, public informer — bane of
Rome under Emperors, 413.
Delia, mistress of Tibullus — real name
of, 307.
Demosthenes, admiration of Livy for,
395.
Denarii struck by confederate Italians
in Latin and Oscan languages, 17.
Dennis, Mr., finds Etruscan alphabet at
Bomarzo, 19. His discoveries at
Cervetri, 120.
Designatianus, S. L., court physician to
Claudius, 545.
Despatches of younger Pliny — on treat-
ment of Christians, 530.
'Diana,' poem of Yal. Cato, 235.
,' secular hymn by Catullus, 229.
Dictator, Etruscan, origin of — ceremony
performed by, 155.
' Dieram Opus,' poem of A. Sabinus —
continuation of Ovid's ' Fasti,' 326.
Didactic poetry, its character, 252.
Beauty • — Georgics of Virgil ex-
amples of, 253.
' Didascalion, Libri,' Roman annals in
verse by Attius, 141.
Dido, lament for, by Spenser, copied
from Virgil, 247.
Digentia, Licenza, Horace's farm at,
near Tivoli, 274.
Diodes of Peparethus — works of— sup-
plies materials for Fabius Pictor,
155.
Diodotus, Stoic philosopher, teacher of
Cicero, 355.
Diogenes, Stoic, comes to Rome, 158.
Diomedes, grammarian— attributes ori-
gin of Saturnian verse to Nsevius, 32.
Dion Cassius, authority for Fabius
Pictor, 154. His account of Maecenas'
influence, 300.
Dionysius, his opinion of origin of
Etruscans, 9. Quotes Calpurnius
Piso, 173 ; Tubero, 178.
Diphilus, Greek comedian, copied by
Plautus, 92.
' Dine,' poem attributed to Val. Cato
by Scaliger, 235.
Dolabella,Cn., accused by J. Csesar, 373.
Domitian, T. F., Augustus, forms Capi-
toline library, 365. Juvenal flourishes
in reign of, 445. Praised as a poet
by C. V. Flaccus — P. Statius, his
tutor, 467. Patronizes son of, 468.
Paraphrases phenomena of Aratus
— his patronage of literature, 472.
Martial, favourite of, 475. Quintilian
tutor to great-nephews of, 534.
Donaldson, his opinion of origin of
Romans, 7. Adopts that of Lepsius
respecting Rasena, 10. Translation
of Eugubine tables, 15. Copy of
Bantine Table in ' Varronianus ' of,
17. Translation of Salian hymn, 24.
Gives Tiburtine inscription at length
— and fragments of laws of Twelve
Tables, 25.
Donatus, his account of scenic modula-
tions, note, 82. Of reception of Ter-
ence by Statius, 102.
Drama, the, origin of — from whence in-
troduced into Rome — Livy's account
of — union of Etruscan and Oscan
entertainments, 48. Its position in
Athens, 128.
Dramatic literature, fall of, 208.
Drayton imitates Virgil, 247.
Dryden, his opinion of Ovid's banish-
ment, 318.
Duilius, inscription on Columna Ro-
strata of, 27.
'Dulorestes,' tragedy ofPersius — found-
ed on one of Euripides' — inspired by
iEschylus — subject of — how ap-
plauded, 137.
Dunlop, his observations on descriptive
powers of Virgil, 263.
'Eclogues,' Bucolic poems of Virgil,
244.
' Ecole des Maris,' comedy of Molidre,
copied from Terence, 120.
'Education Primary,' Quintilian's opi-
nion of its importance, 537.
Elision, common in all spoken languages
— effect of, on Roman comic metres
568
INDEX.
— less common in Greek — mark of
elegance among Romans, 83. Ap-
proved by Cicero — used by Virgil
and Terence, 84.
Elisions, the most usual among writers
of the Augustan age, 85.
Eloquence characteristic of Eomans —
origin of — fostered by free institu-
tions, 179. Application of — early
examples of, 180, 181.
causes of corrupt, treatise on,
attributed to Quintihan, 540.
Ennius, Q., language of — style formed
after Greek models, 7. Introduces
heroic hexameter, 32. His praise of
Naevius, 60. Unsuccessful in heroic
metre — never understood caesura, 64,
Founder of new school — events of his
life — returns home with Cato from
Sardinia — no data for contradiction
of — resides at Rome — gains liveli-
hood by teaching — position in
literary society — dies aged — buried
in tomb of Scipio, 67. His own
epitaph — his epitaph in honour of
S. Africanus — works preserved to
thirteenth century — a gentleman —
obtains due influence in society for
literature — how spoken of by
Cicero, 68 By Horace — his taste,
learning, and critical judgment —
remodels Roman literature — cha-
racteristic features of his poetry —
personal character— his life — early
training — faith — intimates, 70.
Latin language, how indebted to
him — Quintilian's opinion of, 71.
Power over words, 71. Imitates
most Greek metres — not with fa-
cility — imperfection of verses —
is epic, ' The Annals,' written
in hexameters — Roman history
omitting first Punic war — reason for
omission — difficulty of subject, 72.
Its order chronological — necessity for
use of fiction as embellishment — no
unity, no hero — difficulty of uniting
historian and poet — his descrip-
tive powers — his language — his
battles, graphic description of, 73.
His similes imitations of Homer —
great as a dramatist — translated from
Greek — ' Annals ' quoted by Cicero
■ — Yirgil once from dramatical epic —
verses recited at Puteoli, 74. Tra-
gedies, numerous titles and frag-
ments of 23 remain : fragments of
'Medea;' 'Eumenides,' translations
from Greek ' Hecuba,' according to A.
Gellius — favourite model, Euripides'
blunders palliated — example ap-
pealed to by Terence — fragments of
— his ' Satires '—his character of —
epitaph, 75. ' Epicharmus, ' didactic
poem, encomium on, S. Africanus —
' Evemerus ' translation of Phagatica
— Asotus — mythological, mentioned
by Cicero —theory of, adopted by
Livy, 76. Palm of epic poetry given
to, by Cicero, contemporary with
Statins, 100. Invents name of
satire, 144. Placed by Suetonius
among the grammarians, 205.
Epicadus, Cornelius, freedman of Sulla,
completed his ' Commentaries,' 206.
Epicharis, her heroism contrasted with
weakness of Lucan, 454.
'Epicharmus,' poem of Ennius, 76.
Epicurean philosophy, doctrines of, con-
tained in work of Lucretius, 222.
How different from original, 223.
How received by Romans, 226. Vir-
gil devoted to, 237. Sixth eclogue
of Virgil, vehicle for, 251. Why
adopted in Rome — its first profes-
sors, 354. Disciples of — records of
wanting, except works of Lucretius,
355.
Epicurus, his character — his philosphy,
355. Not effeminate, 225. Calum-
nies against — his idea of the Deity —
of human responsibility — his death,
226.
' Epidicus,' comedy of Plautus — favour-
ite of the author — plot of— a slave,
94.
Epigram, the Greek, its origin, 472.
Metre of, 473.
, the Roman writers of, 473. * Its
character, 474.
Epirota, Q. Caecilius, grammarian, 405.
Epistles, poems of Horace — his most
polished efforts— subjects of, 320.
By whom translated — Pope, how in-
debted to, 321.
from Pontus,' poems of Ovid —
their character — one to Persilla —
carelessness of, 323.
of Seneca, their number, charac-
ter, and philosophy, 513.
Epitaph of Scipio Africanus — Ennius
— of Ennius by himself, 68.
' Epitome de Gestis Romanorum,' work
of Annaeus Floras, 505. Uncertainty
respecting, 506.
Epodes of Horace, their bitterness —
INDEX.
569
cause of, 274. Time of Publication,
Ei-os Stabinus, grammarian, 405.
Esquiliue Hill, Virgil's house on, 240.
Villa of Horace on, 274. Description
of, 284. Tibullus, house on, 310.
luBoenas' villa on, 302.
Etruscan language not Lydian — how
compounded, 9-11. Obscurity of —
Remains of — principally sepulchral,
18. In Perugian inscription — its re-
lation to Umbrian and Pelasgian. 19.
Alphabet extant —where found —how
deficient — its relation to Latin, Pelas-
gian, and Greek — catalogue of words
in, 20.
literature, influence of, upon
Roinan, 42. Histriones exhibit at
Rome during plague — their ballets,
48.
Etruscans, Lepsius, theory of origin of
— date of immigration— extent of do-
minion in Italy — origin of — opinion
of Herodotus and Dionysius respect-
ing — emigration of, from Lydia —
similar to Phoenicians — civilizers of
Italy, 9. Spectacle of Fescennine
games derived from, 46. Ceremony
derived from, 155.
Etruria occupied by Pelasgians, 8, 10.
Language of — religion and mythology
of, adopted by Romans, 11.
Eugubine Tables, Etruscan or Umbrian,
14. Translation from, 15. Satur-
nine measure traceable in, 83.
'Eunienides' of iEschylus, translated
by Ennius, 75.
'Eunuchus,' comedy of Terence — tran-
script from Menander — accompani-
ment to — most popular — price of —
character — contrasts in — plot and
under-plot — skill shown in — morality
of, 110. Suggests plot to Sedley —
translated by La Fontaine — imitated
by Brueys, 111.
' Euphorion,' Greek poem of, translated
by Gallus, 306.
Euripides, Saturnine verse in writings
of, 33. Favourite model of Ennius
— 'Medea' of. translated by Ennius,
75. ' Phoenissse ' of, by Attius, 139.
'Eusebian Chronicle,' account of birth
of Persius from, 434.
' Evemerus,' mythological work of En-
nius mentioned by Cicero — theory of,
adopted by Livy, 76.
'Exemplorum Libri,' book of anecdotes
by C. Nepos, 371.
'Exodia,' farcical interludes in Ludi
Osci, 47. Why maintained by Ro-
man youth, 55.
Fables popular among Romans —
brought from Greece — how natural-
ized, 410.
Fabius Maximus, Cato serves under,
159. Eulogium on his son — Cicero's
estimate of, 181.
' Fab uke Atellanse,' Oscan dramas —
when introduced to Rome, 16. In
favour for centuries— patronized by
Sylla, 48. Origin of Roman mimes,
209.
Palliatse,' 99. Comedies of Ter-
ence, 107. Of Turpilius, 123.
Prastextata;,' historical plays —
small number of, 127. Titles of,
128.
Togatae (tabernariEe), comedies of
lowest class, so called, 121.
Faliscus, Gratius, little known of —con-
temporary with Ovid — his poem — its
character — whence derived, 325.
Fannius, C, praetor, his history of
Rome, 172.
Fano, Colonia Julia Fanestris, Basi-
lica at, 407.
' Fasti,' antiquarian poem of Ovid — un-
finished — its beauty, 323.
'Fate,' theological treatise by Cicero,
358.
Fenestella corrects opinion on Terence,
101.
Feriolo, Terra di, Senatus-consultum
found at, 28.
Fescennine songs, their character —
satirical, 44. Forbidden — origin of,
46. Germ of Roman Comic Drama,
47.
Festus, etymological illustration from
Ennius, 76.
Figulus, P. Nigidius, orator, philoso-
pher, and grammarian, 405.
Fimbria, orator, 188.
Flaccus, Aulus Persius, criticizes frag-
ment of ' Antiopa ' of Pacuvius, 136.
L T ses satire for didactic purposes
only, 144. Takes mimes of Sophron
for his models, 209. His birth,
family, and education, 434. Account
of his verse — boyhood — studies Stoic
philosophy, 435 . His friends— fortime
— death — his purity — how different
from Lucretius, 436. From Juvenal
— his reserve — defect as a satirist —
contrasted with Horace and Juvenal
570
INDEX.
— popularity of his works — opinions
of Christian fathers — of Gifford, 438 .
Proceniium to his works — exposes
consequence of false taste in rhetoric
in first Satire — embodies second
Alcibiades of Plato in second— ex-
ample from, 439. Picture of sen-
sualist in third Satire — Quotations
from, alluded to by St. Augustine,
440. First Alcibiades of Plato
foundation for fourth Satire — Fifth
Satire of, most elaborate — Sixth,
most delightful — character mirrored
in, 441 . Style of, obscure — consequent
on education — description of, 442.
Examples of his adaptation of ex-
pressions of Horace — public recita-
tion commenced in his time, 444.
Flaccus,C. Valerius, his birth and death
— his poem, 466. Criticism on —
compared with Virgil, 467.
L. Valerius, patronizes Cato — his
colleague as Consul, 159. As Censor,
160. MSS. of, discovered by Pog-
gius, 540.
> , Q. Horatius, his appellation for
Ennius, 68, 70. Passages in satires
on parasites, 88. His opinion of
Statins, 100. Of Afranius, 121.
Lament of, on decay of virtue, 130.
Humorous application of satire, 144.
Criticisms of, unfavourable to Laelius
— prejudice against old Koman lite-
rature, 145. Journey to Brundisium,
idea of, whence borrowed, 147. Gives
new garb to satire, 148. Jealousy of
Catullus, 230. His opinion of Cato,
235. His poetry subjective — sup-
plies materials for life — his position
in society, 266. His birth, 268.
Love for beauties of nature, how en-
gendered — example of, 269. Studies
at Eome — paternal care of, 270.
Goes to Athens — joins Brutus — un-
fit — flight at Philippi — Ode to Varus
— loses patrimony — clerk to quaestor
— patronized by Maecenas, 272. Ac-
companies him to Brundisium — ship-
wreck off Cape Palinurus — dates of
his poems, 273. His Sabine farm —
house on the Esquiline, 274. His
life and occupations, 276. His Odes,
279. Epistles— his death, 280. Per-
sonal appearance, 281. Character of
Horace — opinions of Petrarch and
Maecenas — esteem for, 282. Princi-
ples — prejudices — jealousy — locali-
ties sacred to — his villa — Sabine farm
— Bandusian fountain, 284. Dunlop's
suggestion respecting — Dennis' opi-
nion respecting, 285. Descriptive
powers and truthfulness of — charac-
ter of his Satires — examples, 287.
Satires social, not political— how
modified by his own character, 288 ;
sometimes didactic — subjects of —
Epistles, desultory, 289. Subject of
— versification of, 290. Shows mas-
tery over Greek metres, 291. Ex-
amples of transmutation, 292-7.
Spurious odes, 297. Chronological
order of works according to Bentley,
298. Mentions mistress of Tibullus
— names of his characters not real,
307. Extols Pollio, 363. Character
of his satire, 438. His influence on
Persius, how exemplified, 443. Play-
fulness of, imitated by Juvenal, 449.
Flaccus Siculus, one of the Agri-men-
sores, 548.
Verrius, grammarian, 405.
Flavius, Cn., sets up calendar in forum,
202.
Flavus, Virginius, tutor of Persius —
author of treatise on rhetoric, 435.
Florus, L. Annaeus, example of Satur-
nine verse from, 37. Supposed
writer of verses to Hadrian — epitome
of — uncertainty respecting, 506.
Flute, the, accompaniment to Ode in
Drama of L. Andronicus, 53. Eoman
— different kinds of, 81.
Fontaine, La, translates 'Eunuch,' of
Terence, 111.
Fonteius, Cicero's oration for, 345.
Fonte Bello, on Mount Lucretilis, 284.
The Bandusian fountain of Horace,
285.
Formiae, M. Vitruvius Pollio, born at,
406.
Frejus, C. C. Gallus, born at, 305.
Freinsheim supplies lost books of Q.
Curtius, 504.
1 Friendship,' essay of Cicero on, 357.
Frontinus, S. Julius, his works — l Stra-
tagematicon, 547. ■ Treatise on aque-
ducts — one of the Agri-mensores —
Mebuhr's opinion of — little known of
— his offices, 548.
Fulvia, wife of Antony, her barbarity,
339.
Fuscus Arellius, Ovid studies rhetoric
under, 313.
Gades, (Cadiz), Columella born at, 546.
Gaius, institutes of — fragments pre-
INDEX.
571
•d by Justinian- -palimpsest MS.
o\\ discovered by Niebuhr — success-
ful interpretation of, B01.
Qalassi, General, his discoveries at
Genet ri, 21.
Qalba, Sulpicius — Cato's 'Origines,'
Hi."). His Consulship — limit of —
prosecution of last act of Cato, 1G0.
Oicero"s praise of— his oratory — use
of artifice in, 184. His style, 185.
, the Emperor, brings Quintilian to
Rome, 534.
Gallia Togata, province of, Teucer,
Iacchus, and Chares, grammarians,
teach in, 206.
Gallic, L. Junius, rhetorician, uncle to
Lucan, adopted by J. Gallio — sup-
posed to be mentioned in Acts of
the Apostles, 452.
Gallus, iElius, senior to Cicero — his
treatise on law terms — not prefect in
Egypt — quoted by Varro, 204.
, Asinius, son of Polho, wrote com-
parison between his father and Cicero
— answered by Claudius, 363.
, C. Aquilius, pupil of Q. Mucius
Scajvola — his antiquarian knowledge
— a law reformer — his wealth —
prsetor with Cicero, 204.
, C. Cornelius, general and poet —
one line of wri tings only remains —
his birth and education — patronized
by Polho, 305. Attached to Octavius
— his actions — exile — death — criti-
cisms on, his elegies — translates
poems of Euphorion, 306.
Games, public, contrast between Greek
and Roman, 132.
Garda, Lago di, birth-place of Catullus,
227.
Garrick,his play, the 'Guardian,' copied
from ' Adelphi,' of Terence, 120.
Gellius, Aulus. his date for dramas of
L. Andronicus, 55. Opinion of, on
'Hecuba,' of Ennius, 75. Epigram
by Varro in ' Noctes ' of, 91. Gives
parallel passages from Menander and
Statius, 99. Preserves epigram on
Pacuvius, 135. Story of Attius re-
lated by, 138. Preserves fragments
of Lucilius, 148. Notices the intro-
duction of Athenian ambassadors to
Senate by A. Glabrio, 157. Quotes
Anecdote of Romulus from C. Pi so,
173. Preserves peroration of Scipio
in speech on battle of Zama, 182.
Flourished in third period of Roman
literature, 550.
Gellius, On., contemporary withCcoliuR
— wrote Roman history — of little
authority, 172.
Sextus, contemporary with Aulus,
173.
' Georgics ' of Virgil, didactic poem,
252. Labour bestowed on — criticism
of Addison upon, 253. Love of
Romans for country life — cause for
writing — poem of Hesiod — model for
— compared with, 254. Subject of,
proposed by Maecenas — when written
— agricultural system contained in,
255. Whence derived — contents of
— episodes in, 256. By whom imi-
tated, 257.
' Germany ' of Tacitus — sources of, 489.
Account of Germans in, 490. Their
tribes and localities— marvels con-
tained in, 491.
Getse, or Tornitee, inhabitants of Tomi,
Ovid resides among, 319.
Gibbon, opinion of, on passage in Q.
Curtius, 504.
Gifford, his observations on obscurity
of Persius, 438. Translation of Sa-
tires by, 435, 439, 440, 441, 442.
Glabrio, C. Acilius, third Grseco-Roman
historian, 156. Very little known of
his offices — history translated by
Claudius— referred to by Livy — cha-
racter of, 157.
Glycera, mistress of Tibullus, spoken
of by Horace, 307.
Gnipho, M. Antonius, grammarian, a
Gaul, 206.
Gods of Etruscans, not same as Greek,
11. Adopted by Romans, 12, and
note.
Grsecia Magna, its intercourse with and
influence on Rome, 13.
Gracchus, Caius, language of, 7. Cha-
racter and oratory compared with
his brother's, 188. Cicero's account
of his eloquence — fragments of ora-
tions of — speech against P. Lsenas,
188. His ' Lex Sempronia,' 190.
Tiberius, his character and oratory
—Cicero's epithet for— Plutarch's
account of, 187.
Gracchi, the, father of, eloquent, 183.
Era of, favourable to eloquence, 185.
Their eloquence, 186. Influence of
mother upon political principles of,
187. Orators who succeeded them,
188.
Grammarians, the, originally called Lit-
terati — their character and influence
572
INDEX.
— the first of, 205. Mostly slaves
emancipated, 206. Names of — most
conspicuous among, 405.
Gratidia, sorceress, lampooned by Hor-
ace as Canidia, 308.
Gray, example of Latin rhyming verse
from, 38.
Greece, Cato legatus.in, 159.
Greek language, Latin compared with,
1. Its permanence, 2. Foundation
for a liberal education in Rome —
prevailed at commencement of Chris-
tian era, 3. Dependant on Greek race
— not yet dead, 4. How changed —
its individuality, 5. Affinity with
Pelasgic, 12. When introduced into
Eome, 13.
literature, influence of, on Roman,
42.
' Grief, the Alleviation of,' treatise by
Cicero, 357.
' Guardian,' comedy of Garrick, copied
from Terence, 150.
Hadrian, Emperor, example of Satur-
nine verse from works of, 33. His
epitaph on Voconius not applicable
to Catullus, 228. His library, 365.
Epigram of — imitated by Pope, 473.
Suetonius private secretary to, 500.
Resides at Athens — his love for
Greek — consequences of, to Roman
literature, 549.
'Halieutica,' poem on fishing, attributed
to Ovid, 324.
Hamilcar, life of, attributed to C.
Nepos, 371.
Handbook of Rhetoric,' attributed to
Cicero, 349.
Hannibal, his friendship for C. Alimen-
tus — information given by, 156. Life
of, attributed to C. Nepos — his route
across the Alps, 371.
' Heautontimorumenos,' comedy of Te-
rence, adapted from Menander —
accompaniment to — when presented
— author's masterpiece — its cha-
racter — Steele's opinion of — its re-
ception, 111. Examples from, 113.
' Hecuba,' of Ennius, translated from
Greek, 75.
'Hecyra,' comedy of Terence, adapted
from Menander — twice rejected, 115.
How successful — inferiority of — not
imitated — plot of, 116. Title whence
derived, 117.
Helvia, wife of M. Annaous Seneca, 507.
Ethical treatise addressed to, by her
son, 511.
Helvidius, Q., Cato's jest on, 192.
Hemina, L. Cassius, historian after
Cato — his annals — extent of, 171.
Fragments remaining, 172.
Hercules, picture of, by Pacuvius, 135.
Short poem by J. Ceesar in praise of
— suppressed by Augustus, 382.
Hermann, his opinion of origin of Sa-
turnine verse, 32. Restoration of
passage of Livy, 34. Of oracles re-
specting Alban lake — fragments of
Saturnine verse collected by, 35.
Collects fragments of L. Andronicus,
52.
Her odotus, hi s opinion of origin of Etrus-
cans, 10. Livy compared with, 403.
Hesiod, Works and Days of — model of
Virgil in Georgics, 254.
Hetserse, prominent position of in Ro-
man comedy, 79.
Hexameters, not mentioned by Ennius
or Cicero, 64. First by Virgil, 65.
Hirtius, friend of J. Csesar — correspon-
dent of Cicero, 362 Works attri-
buted to J. Caesar — probably written
by, 378. Observations of, on style
of J. Caesar, 380. Wrote first Anti-
cato, 381.
'Historise,' of Tacitus — remains of —
extent of work — materials for, 491.
Date of— St. Jerome's account of,
492. Jews, how represented in —
traditions respecting, 493.
' Historiee Philippicae,' of Trogus Pom-
peius — its subject and extent, 392.
Historians, Roman — excel Greek — cata-
logue of — their originality, 369.
Histories, of Sallust, continued from
Sisenna — Mebuhr deplores loss of,
388.
History, Roman, first literary effort of
Romans, 43. Genius, how directed
to — principle of Roman mind, 150.
Want of philosophic spirit in —
writing of esteemed honourable —
early writers of, 151. First efforts in
— early records of — written in Greek,
152. Written by great and noble,
177. Why material to Roman mind,
368. Comparison of Grecian with —
catalogue of writers of, 369.
of Patrician houses, often fabu-
lous, 44.
Histrio, how different from Atellan, 48.
Homer, similes of, imitated by Statius,
471.
INDEX.
573
Hortalus, son of Ilortensius — poem of
Catullus on death of his brother,
addressed to, 229.
Ilortensius, L., father of Quintus, prae-
tor m Sicily, 195.
, Quintus, rival of Cicero, 189.
Last of pre-Ciceronian orators —
knowledge of him derived from
Cicero, li>4. His birth — success —
leader of Roman bar — connexion
with Sulla — defeated by Cicero — their
friendship — jealousy of Cicero, 195.
Political union — defends his nephew
— his death — his daughter — accused
of corruption — wealth — luxury, 196.
Cicero's opinion of his oratory, 197.
His delivery, 198. Rival of Cicero,
332. Defence of Quinctius, 344.
Dialogue of Cicero so named, 357.
Huet, his opinion respecting M. Mani-
lius, 327.
Hyginus, C. Julius, writer — l De Re
Rustica,' 168. Grammarian — his
treatise ' On Field Fortification,' 548.
, Gromaticus, one of the Agri-
mensores, 548.
Hyllas, actor in pantomime, 215.
Iacchus, Siscennius, grammarian,
teaches in Gaul, 206.
Iambus, adapted to epic and ballad
poetry, 64.
'Ibis,' satire of Ovid, 324.
Ictus, essential of Saturnine verse, 36.
Return to, in later periods of Latin
literature, 37.
'Iliad' of Homer, supplies plan of
* iEneid,' — comparison with, 257.
Indo-European race, Hellenic family
belong to, 1. Tribes of, out of Italy
— Italian families of, 7. All families
of, have dramatic taste, 124.
Inscriptions, Umbrian, 14. Sabello-
Oscan, Etruscan, 19. Pelasgic, 20,
21. Latin, 23-27.
Institutiones of Quintilian — work on
oratory — scope of — to whom dedi-
cated — care taken in composition of,
536. Analysis of, 537.
Itali, Vituli, or Sikeli, Italian tribe, 7.
Italian taste for drama, humorous, 124.
Italica, in Spain, supposed birth-place
of C. Silius — reasons against supposi-
tion, 462.
Italieus, C. Silius — opinions respecting
his birth-place — his profession — of-
fices — wealth, 462. Death — character
— poem — opinion of Niebuhr re-
specting, 464. Examples from, 465.
Biographical notice of, by Younger
Pliny, 533. MSS. of, discovered by
Poggius, 540.
Italy, races of, various, 1. Three tribes
of Indo- Germanic — of same race as
Lithuanians, 7.
' Iter,' poem of Caesar, its subject, 382.
ad Lentulum,' historical play, sub-
ject of, 128.
Jerome, St., his account of Pacuvius,
135. Believed < Sibyls ' inspired, 249.
His account of ' Historian ' of Tacitus,
492.
Jews, Tacitus' account of, 492. Tradi-
tions concerning, 493.
Johnson imitates satires of Juvenal,
450.
Judices, their office in Rome, 342.
c Jugurthine War,' first work of Sallust,
388. Un worthiness of foreign policy
of Rome exposed in, 390.
Julia, wife of Marius, aunt to J. Caesar,
funeral oration upon, 374.
Junius, C, only constitutional history
of Rome — surnamed Gracchanus —
quoted as authority by jurists, 173.
Jurisprudence, Roman mind why di-
rected to, 149. Indispensable to
statesman, 151. How connected
with oratory, 152.
of Romans, original — Twelve
Tables, framework of — study of,
necessary to political distinction, 199,
Complicated, 200. Earliest works on
— writers ou, 201.
Justin adopts legend of Babyloniau
origin of Cumaean Sibyl, 250.
Justinian, pandects of— fragments of
Pomponius and Gaius preserved in,
201.
Juvenalis, D. Junius, passage on Para-
sites — on ' Satires ' of, 88. Used
satire for didactic purposes, 144.
Corroborates Sallust as to Roman
venality, 389. Character of his
satire, 438. Biography attributed to
Suetonius — origin of his satirical
writings — cause of exile — his death
— birth unknown — probable time of,
445. Influence of social state of
Roman Empire on his writings — how
described in them, 446. Personal
character of, unamiable, 448. Cha-
racter of his satires — Tenth recom-
mended by Bishop Burnet — two imi-
tated by Johnson, 449. Historical
574
INDEX.
value of satires — contemporary with
Tacitus — his style and language, 450.
Last of Eonian satirists, 451. Those
of Virgil, 459. Examples of, 460.
Juventius, C, jurist, pupil of C. M.
Scaevola, 205.
Labeo, Q. Fabius, jurisconsult, 203.
Laberius, Decius, Roman knight —
writer of mimes — his birth — Horace's
criticism of — Caesar's treatment of —
specimens of his sarcasms, 210, 211.
Lachmann proves Livy's want of per-
sonal investigation, 400.
Lactantius, L. Caelius, passages of Lu-
cilius preserved by, 147. Christian
ethical philosopher, 550.
Lgelius, C. S., not author of scene in
' Self-Tormentor,' 105. Pacuvius
literary friend of, 135. His account
of reception of ' Dulorestes,' 137.
His character — friend of Scipio
iEniil. compared with — his oratory,
184.
Laevius, lyric poet — contemporaneous
with Lucilius — confounded with
Livius and Naevius — passages attri-
buted to him — his translation — ama-
tory pieces — style— fragments pre-
served by Apuleius and A. Gellius,
148.
Lambinus, Professor, attributes work
to C. Nepos — his arguments — their
value, 372.
Lampadio, C. Octavius, grammarian —
edits work of Naevius, 205.
Language, Latin — composite character
of — its origin — not plastic, 1. How
indebted to Greek— its power — not
permanent — its influence on modern
languages, 2. Its narrow boundaries,
3. Propagated by conquest, 4. No
vitality or power of resistance to
change — its changes — different from
old Roman, 6. Earliest records of —
origin of, 7. Elements of, 8. By
whom pointed out, 12. Pelasgic
element in (note), 13. Inscription
on Denarii in — affinity to Oscan —
examples of, 17. Oscan words incor-
porated with, 18. Catalogue of Etrus-
can words translated in, 20. Adapted
into Pelasgian element — most influ-
ential in forming structure of, 22.
Oldest example of extant — translated
by Orellius, 23. Saturnian metre,
characteristic of — translated by Don-
aldson, 24. Of Leges Regiae and laws
of Twelve Tables — examples of, 25.
Tiburthie, inscription in — examples
of— on tomb of Scipio Barbatus, 26.
Of Lucius Scipio — on columna ros-
trata of Diulius, 27. Change ob-
servable in time of Ennius, 28. Pro-
nunciation of, 29. Grammatical in-
flexions in, 31.
Language of Bantine tables — affinity of
with Latin — variations follow definite
rules — examples of — relation to Os-
can, 18.
, the Etruscan — not Lydian, 9.
Pelasgic allied with Umbrian — cor-
rupted by Rhaeti, 10. Remains of —
their character — relation to Pelasgic
and Umbrian, 19. Inscription in, 21.
Catalogue of words in, 20.
Lanuvinus, L. iElius, grammarian, 206.
Laocoon, statue of, expression of Roman
tragic feeling, 132.
Latinus, actor in pantomime in time
of Nero, 215.
, another of same name in time of
Domitian — most popular — Martial's
opinion of, 215.
Latium, occupied by Pelasgians, 10.
Latro, M. Porcius, Ovid studies rhetoric
under, 313. Copied by Ovid, 314.
' Laudatio,' the, funeral oration, 181.
Lavinius, rival of Terence — interrupts
performance of plays, 109.
Laws of Twelve Tables — better known
to us than to Livy, 400.
Lays, Roman, origin of literature — not
comparable to the Greek, 40. Not
familiar to masses of people — not fit
subjects for tragedy, 126.
Leges Regiae, language of — date of, 25.
Earliest Roman laws — codified by
Papirius — their character, 201. Frag-
ments of, better known to us than to
Livy, 400.
Lenaeus, grammarian, freedman of Pom-
pey, 206.
Lenis, Suetonius, father of C? -.S. Tran-
quillus, tribune at Bedriacum, 499.
Lentulus, execution of — its conse-
quences to Cicero, 334.
Lepidus Porcina, orator — model of T
Gracchus, 186.
Lepsius, his theory of origin of Tyrseni,
10. Date of Eugubian tables, 14.
Arrangement of Pelasgian inscrip-
tions found at Cervetri, 21.
'Letters' of Cicero, character of — con-
trast with Greek — number of — not
[NDEX.
575
intended for publication, 360. Stylo
of— simplicity of, 361.
' Letters 1 of paBsar, preserved with those
of Cicero, 377.
of Younger Pliny — their value,
529.
Libertini, class of, their position in
Rome, 266. Importance of, 168.
Libraries in Rome, whom founded by,
364. Their number, ?>6o.
License of Roman poets, 85.
Licinius, Porcius, his account of life of
Terence, 106. Epigram of V. Ata-
einus, 236.
, Lartius, offers to purchase MSS.
of Elder Pliny, 518.
Lintei, Libri, first Roman records, 43.
Extant in time of Livy, 400.
Liris River, the, Garigliano, Cicero born
near, 330.
Literature, Roman, three eras of — None
before Punic wars, 39. Golden age
of— origin of lays and legends, 40.
Not spontaneous, 41. Influenced by
Etruscans -by Greeks, 42. By cha-
racter of people — history, first effort
iu, 43. Genealogic — poetic Fescen-
nine verses, example of earliest, 44.
Rude — satirical, 45. Satire peculiar
characteristic of — how affected by
political events, 58. Made engine of
political warfare by Naevius — how
derived from Greek, 60. Comedy
more natural to, than tragedy, 61.
Naevius occupies intermediate po-
sition in — old Roman driven out by
Grecian, 66. Remodelled by Ennius,
69. Its birth coincident with decay
of that of Greece, 75. Taste of no-
bility for, in time of Terence, 102.
Greatest perfection of, 207. Cicero's
place in, 341. Decline of, how
characterized — when commenced —
illustrious names in, 409. Fostered
by great — decline of, after Augustus
— influence of, succeeding Emperors,
421. Degeneracy in time of Juvenal,
448.
, Greek, influence of, on Roman
comedy, 124. Introduction of op-
posed by Cato, 144.
Lithuanians — Prussians of same race
as original inhabitants of Italy, 7.
' Lives of Eminent Generals,' work at-
tributed to C. Nepos — account of,
371. Evidence for authenticity of,
372.
Livia Augusta, address to, attributed
to Ovid, 324. Mother of Tiberius,
— history of Paterculus continued to,
483.
Livius Andronicus, flourished at com-
mencement of first period of Roman
literature, 3!).
, T. Patavinus, mentions Oscan
dramatic literature, 16. Saturnians
found in writings of, 34. Passage in
works of, relating to L. Andronicus,
53, 54. Adopts theory of ' Evemerus'
of Ennius, 76. Constantly refers to
F. Pictor, 154. Opinion of C. Ali-
mentus, 155. Statement respecting,
156. Quotes Calphurnius Piso —
estimation of, 173. Of Cn. Gellius,
172. Quotes Quadrigarius, 175. Ex-
poses exaggerations of V. Antia.s,
176. Preserves extracts from, 177.
Quotes Tubero, 178. Preserves ad-
dresses of Q. Metellus to Censors.
181. Adorns speech of Scipio, 182.
Estimation of Crassus, 203. How
indebted to Sallust, 390. Tradition
respecting his birth — doubt of from
epigram of Martial — follows Pompey,
394. Patronized by Augustus — love
for oratory —his fame, how reported
by Pliny, and expanded by St. Je-
rome — his ' Annals' — their extent —
remains of works attributed to —
death of — children — object in writing
history, 395. Personality of narra-
tive, 396. Only fit historian for
those times, 397. Not always trust-
worthy — how misled by partiality,
398. Sympathy for Patricians, 399.
Sources of history taken at second-
hand, 400. Want of labour m pre-
paration for work — want of geo-
graphical knowledge — paraphrases
Polybius — Niebuhr's analysis of
mode of writing, 402. Not a student
of men, but books — how deficient in
qualifications for work, 403. Speeches
in work, how inferior to those in
Thucydides — beauties of, 404. Pata-
vinity — fault attributed to — why un-
reasonable, 405.
Lueanus, M. Annaeus — flourished in
Silver age — his family — his parentage
— father supposed identical with
Pomponius Mela, 452. His birth-
place alluded to by Statins — story of
Pliny concerning jealousy of Nero —
its cause — joins conspiracy against
emperor, 453. His weakness and
death — contrasted with Epicharis—
576
INDEX.
inscription to memory of— his 'Phar-
salia,' 454. His other poems — ine-
quality of his writings, 455. Dif-
ferent opinions respecting causes of,
456. Compared with Homer and
Virgil — beauties of, 458. Spanish
tone of writings — his description
compared with Thomson, 459.
Lucceius, L., orator — friend of Cicero,
362. Espouses party of Caesar — ' His-
tory of Social and Civil Wars ' not pub-
lished — Cicero's encomiums of — why
not trustworthy, 369. Joins Pompey
— pardoned by Caesar, 370.
Lucilius, founder of Roman satire —
uses Greek comedy as model, 46-75.
, C, satiric poet — of equestrian
rank — his birth-place — serves under
Scipio — uncle of Pompey — friend of
Scipio and Lgelius — his ' Satires ' —
thirty books — metres of — how ar-
ranged — versification careless— stric-
tures of Horace on — want of facility,
145. Cicero partial to — reasons for
— judgment of Quintilian — satires
personal —his education — his cha-
racter, 146. Encomiums on virtue —
example from Lactantius — ' Journey
to Capua' imitated by Horace, 147.
His love poems — his lyrics — at his
death satire languished — revived and
remodelled by Horace, 148.
, disciple of Seneca, to whom he
addressed his epistles, 513.
Lucretilis, Mount, Sabine farm of Horace
on slope of, 284.
Lucretius, model of Persius, 436.
Lucullus, L. Licinius — his library open
to learned men, 364. Conqueror of
Mithridates — records events of Social
War — forms library — friendship for
Archias — patronizes men of letters —
an orator — love of Greek — writes in
that language — transcribes from
Greek historians, 370.
Ludi Osci, account of, 47.
LudiuSj his landscape paintings sug-
gestive to Virgil, 263.
Lugdunum (Lyons), school established
at, 550.
Luscius, Lavinius, criticised by Terence
for his translations from the Greek,
123.
'Lycidas,' of Milton, imitated from
Fifth Eclogue of Virgil, 247. Pas-
sage in from Tenth, 251.
Lycoris, name of mistress of Gallus,
306.
' Lydia,' poem of V. Cato, 235.
Lydia, migration of Etruscans from,
asserted by Herodotus— not men-
tioned by Xanthus — adopted by
Romans, 9. •
Lyric poetry subjective, 266.
M, 86.
Macaulay, examples of Saturnine verse
quoted by, 35. His expansion of
Roman lays, 41.
Macedonia reduced to Roman province
on defeat of Perseus — consequences
of, to Roman literature, 158.
Macer, iEmilius, poem of, fragment
preserved by Ovid — its character —
birth, death — paraphrased Meander
—Quintilian 's praise of, 312.
recites compositions to Ovid, 316
Travels with Ovid, 317.
C. Licinius, historian, contempo-
rary with Cicero, 174. Character of
— Niebuhr's opinion of — criticism on
— extent of works of, 175, Quoted
by Livy, 400. Letter of Younger
Pliny to, 515.
Macrinus, second satire of Juvenal ad-
dressed to, 430. Panegyric of Pliny
the Younger on wife of, 533.
Mago, Carthaginian writer, ' De Re
Rustica,' 168.
Maecenas, C. Cilnius, Virgil introduced
to, by Pollio — his literary society —
journey to Brundisium, 239. Liber-
ality of, 240. Suggests subject for
' Georgics,' 255. Patronizes Horace,
272. Reflects imperial favour, 273.
Subject of first and last works of
Horace, 278. His death, 280. His
praise of Horace, 280. His descent
and rank, 299. Character — power,
300. Employment — influence on
Augustus — its duration — his villa —
friends — failings, 301. Patronizes V.
Rufus, 305. Satirized Tibullus as
Malthinus, 308. Four epigrams of,
473.
Magius, Jerome, contemporary of Lam-
binus, his discovery respecting works
of C. Nepos, 372.
Mai, Angelo, adopts fables of Phaedrus,
published by Perotto, as genuine, 413.
Mallotes, Crates, first professional gram-
marian, ambassador from Attalus — ■
Reads lectures on philosophy, 205.
Manilian law supported by Cicero —
its effect, 333.
Manilius, M., jurist, 203. Introduced
INDEX.
577
in dialogue 'De Republica' of Cicero
— Consul — works attributed to biro
— bow limited by Cicero, 203. His
poems, 326. Date of existence un-
certain — opinions of Bentley and
Huet on — discovered in fifteenth
century — philosophical principles of
— incomplete, 327.
Manlius, poem of Catullus to, 229.
Manners, Roman, in time of Juvenal,
446.
Mantua, Virgil citizen of, 238.
'Mareellus,' historical play of Attius,
128, 139.
Marciana, sister of Trajan, her influence
on society in Rome, 485.
Marius, poem of Cicero in praise ofj
331.
Maro, Virgilius P., his praise of Naevius,
60. Quotes ' Annals ' of Ennius fre-
quently, 74. Examples of elision in
writings of, 84. Writes ' De Re Rus-
tica ' in poetry, 168. His panegy-
ric on Lucretius, 227. Praise of
China — not author of ' Dirse,' 235.
Plagiarisms from Varro Reatinus,
236. His age favourable for poetic
development — pre-eminent in — life
written by T. Claudius Donatus, 237.
Heyne's opinion of— fables in — his
birth — orthography of name — not
Roman citizen — his education— his
studies, 238. Syron teaches both
him and Varus the Epicurean philo-
sophy — comes to Rome — deprived of
his estate — patronized by Pollio —
introduced to Maecenas — estate re-
stored to him — enters coterie of
Maecenas — goes with him to Brun-
disium, 239. Resides at Naples — his
wealth — his weak health, 240. Goes
to Athens — dies on his voyage home
— buried at Naples — his epitaph —
his character — general esteem for,
241. Parthenian, why so called —
his modesty — generosity, 242. His
poems : the < Culex,' ' Ciris,' 243 ;
'Moretum,' 'Copa,' 'Bucolics,* 244.
The 'Georgics,' 253. 'iEneid,' 257.
Characteristics of — disparaged by
Caligula, Markland, and Niebuhr, 263.
Propertius, his panegyric on, 265.
Gallus fellow - student with, 305.
Befriended by him — praise of in
fourth ' Eclogue ' — story of Aristous
substituted for, 306. Tibullus, con-
temporary with, 308. Reason for
addressing ' Eclogue ' to Pollio, 363.
Birth-day of, kept by S. It,dicus,464.
Imitated by C. V. Flaccus, 467.
Work of Columella supplemental to
1 Georgics ' of, 547.
Marsus, Domitius, his epigram on Ti-
bullus, 308.
Martialis, M. Valerius, praises Latinus
and Paris, 215. Epitaph on, 216.
Mentions Albinovanus, 325. His
epigram on Livy — throws doubt on
birth-place of, 394. Mentions Phaed-
rus, 412. Epigram relating to
Seneca, 426. Not genuine satirist,
451. Epigram on C. V. Flaccus, 466.
Epigrammatist — hisviciousness— his
birth, 474. Patronized by Emperor
— his discontent, 475. His marriage
— distate for provincial life, 476. His
death, 477. Personal appearance —
his impurity, 478. Beauties of his
poems — inequality of his works, 479.
His vanity — specimens of poems,
480. Praise of Quintilian, 535.
Masks worn by Roman comic actors,
80.
Massinger, his play of ' Roman Actor '
— plot of, whence taken, 216.
Massinissa, Cato arbitrates for, 160.
Matronaha, Roman festival of, 105.
Maurus, Terentianus, quotes from L.
Andronicus ' tragedy of ' Ino,' 55.
Maximus, Q. Fabius, bears cost of
presentation of 'Adelphi ' of Terence,
118.
, Valerius, story of Attius related
by, 138. His collection of anecdotes
— object of — arrangement of — ac-
count of himself— his style, 484.
Medal of Caesar, legend on, 365.
' Medea ' of Euripides, translated by
Ennius, 75.
, tragedy of Ovid — its character —
Quintilian's praise of, 324.
' Medicamina faciei,' (cosmetics) minor
poem attributed to Ovid, 324.
Mela, M. Annaeus, father of Lucan,
supposed identical with P. Mela, 452.
,Pomponius, geographer,his birth —
treatise ' De Situ Orbis,' information
derived from Greek sources— sim-
plicity and purity of his style, 546.
Memmii, the orators, 188.
Memmius, friend of Lucretius, praetor,
takes Catullus to Bithynia, 228.
' Memorabilium, Dictorum Factorum-
que,' Lib. ix., work of V. Maximus,
collection of anecdotes, 484.
Menander, fragments of, extant — their
2q
578
INDEX.
character — quoted by Christian
fathers, 78. 'Epicurean' copied by
Plautus, 92. Translated by Terence
— lost at sea, 106. Terence's tran-
scripts of, 109, 111, 115. Passages
from ' Plocius,' and translation by A.
Gellius, 99. His ' Phasma ' and
' Thesaurus ' translated by Luscius,
122. Blunders in, 123.
' Menaechmi,' comedy of Plautus, said
to be imitated from ' Epicharmus,'
92. A ' Comedy of Errors ' — fur-
nished plot for Shakspeare and Reg-
nard, 94.
' Mercator,' comedy of Plautus, revolt-
ing state of morals depicted in, 92.
Messala, patron of Tibullus — his actions
sung by poets, 307.
Messalina, her accusation against Seneca
509.
' Metamorphoses,' poem of Ovid — burnt
by him, 316. Not corrected by him
— extent of — character of — selections
from — antiquarianism of, 322.
Metaurus, battle of, Cato distinguished
at, 159.
Metelli, the, satirized by ISTaevius, 59.
Metellus, Q., pronounces funeral oration
over father — admired by Caesar and
Pliny — address to Censors — pre-
served by Livy, 181, His accusation
against Cicero, 374.
Metres of Attius, varied, 141.
of Ennius, varied from Greek, 76.
, the Greek, not natural to Latin,
65. How adapted by Horace, 291.
, Roman comic, their relation to
music, 81. Effect of elision upon,
83.
of Terence and Plautus, how re-
ducible — examples of, 86.
Milan Library, palimpsest MS. in, 89.
' Miles Gloriosus,' comedy of Plautus,
the Boaster of Greek comedy, 94.
Device in, borrowed from ' Phantom '
of Menander — plot of secrets, 95.
' Mimiambi,' written by C. Matius, 212.
V7hy so called, 213.
JXilo, T. A., Cicero's defence of— cir-
cumstances under which delivered —
failure of, 347.
Mimes, the Greek, written in prose —
dialogues, 208. Exhibited at festi-
vals, not on stage — Sophron most
noted composer of — idylls of Theo-
critus, and satires of Persius — imita-
ted from, 209.
, Roman, dramatic entertainments
supersede tragedy and comedy —
appellation, whence derived, 208.
How differ from Greek — combine
comedy and farce — pantomime —
grew out of Tabulae Atellanae — their
character — affinity to modern Italian
pasquinades, 209. Schlegel's account
of, written in verse — writers of, 210,
et seq.
Misenum, Pliny, Elder, commands fleet
at, 519.
, Pliny, Younger, remains at, during
eruption of Vesuvius, 522.
Mitylene, J. Caesar, receives civic crown
at capture of, 373.
Modes in music, Lydian, 81. Tyrian
or Sarrane — Phrygian, 82. How used
by Romans, 83. Musical, of Ter-
ence's plays — 'The Andrian,' 107.
* Eunuch,' 109. ' Adelphi/ 118.
Moliere, materials for ' Les Fourberies
de Scapin ' obtained from ' Phormio '
of Terence, 115. ' Ecole des Maris '
copied from 'Adelphi 'of Terence, 120.
Molo, Rhodian rhetorician, Cicero
studies under, 332.
Molon, Apollonius, rhetorician, tutor
to Caesar, 373. Cicero's testimony
to — ambassador to Rome, 374.
Montanus, elegiac poet — contemporary
with Ovid, 326.
' Mostellaria,' comedy of Plautus, plot
of — name, diminutive of monstrum,
94.
Mucius, bon-mot of C. Syrus on, 214.
Miiller, inscriptions said by him to be
Pelasgian, 21.
' Moretum,' poem of Virgil — origin of
name — Bucolic, 244.
Muretus, his imposition on Scaliger,
123. Account of studies of Virgil,
238. Characteristics of Tibullus,
309.
Mutina (Modena), battle of— date of
Ovid's birth, 313.
NiEVius, Attius, invention of Saturnine
verse attributed to, 32. Statement
of, respecting Cn. Naevius, 50.
, Cneius, first Roman poet — so con-
sidered by his countrymen — a citi-
zen by birth — in spirit — a soldier in
first Punic War — his honesty and mo-
rality, 56. Friendship with Cato —
epitaph of, criticized by A. Gellius —
why thought a Campanian — birth un-
known — death uncertain — Cicero's
date of — wrote poems at advanced
INDEX.
579
age- his epio, 'The Punic War' —
earliest efforts dramatic — plots Gre-
cian — supporter of the people, 57.
Literary representative of anti-aris-
tocratic party — uses literature as
political engine — causes of vehe-
mence, 58. Attacks S. Africanus
and the Metelli — imprisoned — con-
trition — again indulges in satire —
exiled to Utica— his epitaph, 59.
Homage paid him by best writers —
his universal popularity— causes of —
literary position intermediate, 60.
II is comedy — personal character of —
his epic — Roman character of — Virgil
indebted to, 61. Drew inspiration
from Homer — Ennius copies from —
few fragments of his works extant —
examples of, 62. Character of his
poetry — undervalued by Horace —
praised by Cicero — his works used
in schools — poetry metrical, 63. In-
troduces iambic and trochaic metres,
64. Poems principally written in
Satumian verse, 65. Contemporary
with Cato, 157.
Names in Roman comedy have meaning
— examples of, 81.
Naples, Virgil's favourite residence, 240.
Buried at, 241.
Naso, Ovidius — of Roman poets alone
attains facility of versification, 65.
His panegyric on Lucretius, 227.
Hints as to crime of Gallus, 306.
Alludes to mistresses of Tibullus, 307.
Preserves fragment of Macer, 312.
His birth and family — his brother —
educated well — death of — rhetorical
studies — their effect, 313. Seneca's
account of — copies from Latro — ex-
amples of — character of his rhetoric,
314. Anecdote respecting poetry of
— natural genius for poetry, 315.
His indolence — rank and fortune —
literary acquaintance — his wives —
Epicurean, 316. His mistress Cor-
rinna — his residences — journey to
Asia and Sicily — life of enjoyment —
banishment— cause of, unknown, 317.
Conjectures respecting, 318. Place
of banishment — respect of Tomitas
for — his complaints, 319. Cultivates
poetry in exile — his poems extant—
'Amores' — 'Epistolas Heroidum,' 320.
'Art of Love,' 321. 'Remedies of
Love,' ' Metamorphoses,' 322. ' Fasti,'
' Tristia,' 323. « Nux'— ' Ibis '—poems
attributed to — poems in Getan lan-
guage popular among barbarians —
' Medea/ tragedy of — its character —
criticism of Quintilian on — his cha-
racter as a poet, 324.
Natural history, work on, by Pliny the
Elder, 506.
philosophy, work on, by Pliny the
Elder, 37. Storehouse of facts —
marvellous traditions contained in,
525. Analysis of, 526.
' Navales Libri,' poem of V. Atacinus,
236.
Nemesis, mistress of Tibullus, real name
unknown, 307.
Nepos, Cornelius, his anecdote of Laelius,
105. Description of Cato's ' Origines,'
165. Contemporary of Catullus —
opinion respecting birth, 370. Friend
of Cicero and Atticus — nothing
known of his history — his works lost
— their titles — ' Chronicles ' — ' Libri
Exemplorum ' — ' Life of Cicero' — 'De
Historicis' — work attributed to him
— ' Lives of Eminent Generals ' —
account of — why considered spu-
rious, 371. Evidence of authen-
ticity, 372.
Nero patronized dramatic literature,
425. Jealous of Lucan — conspiracy
against, by, 453. Lucan's flattery
of — inscription attributed to, 454.
Time of his death, 464. Seneca tutor
to, 509. His parricide — causes death
of Seneca, 510. Delivers funeral
oration on Claudius, 513.
Domitius, historical play of Ma-
ternus in time of Vespasian, 128.
Nerva, Juvenal probably lived till reign
of, 446. Fitness of Trajan to suc-
ceed, 485.
Newton, W., opinions respecting date
of Vitruvius Pollio, 407.
Nicander, physician — his poem para-
phrased by Macer, 312.
Nicanor, Sasvius, grammarian, 206.
Nicomedes, King of Bithynia — de-
throned by brother — defended by
Hortensius, 195.
Niebelungen-Lied, Saturnians in, 35.
Niebuhr, his remarks on composition
of Latin language, 11. Asserts that
in Social War Marsi spoke Oscan, 16.
His opinion respecting slavery of
L. Anclronicus, 51. Of his choice of
'Odyssey' to translate, 52. Observ-
ations on character of parasite in
plays of Plautus, 88. Does not credit
poverty of Plautus, 89. Supposition
2 q2
580
INDEX.
respecting Naevius, 148. Opinions
respecting Fabius Pictor, 154. Recon-
ciles chronology of C. Alimentus, 156.
His opinion of Cato, 171. Of Piso,
174. Defends v Macer — opinion of
extent of work of Quadrigarius, 175.
Discovers palimpsest MS. of 'Insti-
tutes ' of Gaius — explanation of, suc-
cessful, 201. Date of perfection of
Roman literature, 207. Prejudices
of — opinion of Catullus — of Virgil,
231. Low opinion of Virgil — difficult
to account for, 264. Undeserved
censure on Tibullus, 308. Praise of
poems attributed to him, 309. At-
tributes book on African war to
Hirtius, 378. Deplores loss of
' Histories ' of Sallust, 388. Opinion
of manner in which Livy wrote his
history, 402. On his style, 405.
Opinion of 'Punica' of S. Italicus,
464. Of date of Suetonius' ' Lives of
Caesars,' 500. Examples of his defi-
ciency as historian, 502. His date
for Q'. Curtius, 503.
Niobe, statue of, expressive of Grecian
tragic feeling, ] 32.
Nisarcl, Etudes de (note) — comparison
between essays and tragedies of
Seneca, 428.
Nobilior, M. Fulvius, reproached by
Cato on account of Ennius, 67.
Blamed by Cato, 144.
1 Noctes Atticae,' of A. Gellius, epigram
on Plautus by Varro in, 91. Frag-
ments of Lucilius preserved in, 148.
Nornentum, Domitian gives villa at, to
Martial, 475.
Novo Como — Como, two Plinys born
at, 515, 528.
Numerals, the Greek, compared with
Latin, 22.
, Latin, derived from Etruscan, 22.
' Nux,' minor poem of Ovid, 324.
' Octavian,' historical play of Seneca,
128. .
Octavius sacrifices Cicero, 338.
Ode, . now sung in dramas of L. An-
dronicus — similarity of to Greek hy-
porcheme, 54.
Odes of Horace, publication of, 278.
Those attributed to him, 298.
' Odyssey ' translated by L. Androni-
cus, 51.
' GEdipus,' poem of Caesar, suppressed
by Augustus, 382.
1 Old Age,' essay on, by Cicero, 357.
Operarius, stage-carpenter, occupation
of Plautus, 88.
Opilius, Aurelius, grammarian, 206.
Oppius, friend of Caesar, correspondent
of Cicero, 362. Anecdote of Caesar's
friendship for, 378.
Orations, the six Verrian, by Cicero —
their character and success, 344.
Orators, Roman, 180 et seq.
Oratory, Roman mind why directed to,
149. Its origin and progress in
Rome, 179 et seq. End and object
of, 341. Charms of Cicero's, 343. Its
character, 347.
Orellius, his copy of Bantine Tables,
17.
1 Origines,' historical work of Cato,
written in old age — history of Italy
described by C. Nepos, 165. Its re-
search and originality — honesty —
fragments remaining, 166. Pathos —
quoted by A. Gellius, 167. Not used
by Livy, 401.
Oscans, an Italian tribe, claim to be
aboriginal, 7. Conquer Pelasgi in
Latium, 10. Warlike, 1.1. Quasi-
dramatic entertainments of, popular
in Italy — characteristic language of
— originate pantomime, 47.
, language of — influence of — not
related to Greek, 13. Remains of —
composite with Sabellian — dra-
matic literature of — when introduced
■ — understood by Samnites — spoken
by Marsi, 16. Coins struck in —
spoken after establishment of Em-
pire, 17. Principal monuments in
— Bantine Tables— relation to Latin,
17. Words of, in Bantine Tables,
18.
Osci, or Opici, derivation of, equivalent
to clvtqxOovcs — country possessed by,
invade that of Sikeli, 8.
Pacuvianus, author of pasquinades on
Tiberius, 417.
Pacuvius, M., Roman tragic writer of
second era — palm in tragedy given
to, by Cicero — bad Latinity of, 100.
Contemporary with Terence — native
of Brundisium — nephew of Ennius —
resides at Rome — a painter — died at
Tarentum— epigram on, preserved
by Aulus Gellius — with whom a
favourite, 136. Commended by
Cicero — character of his language —
tragedies of, not merely translations
[NDEX.
581
— plan of original — his works— titles
preserved, 'Antiopa,' 'Dulorestes' —
most celebrated, 130. ' Paulus ' —
— wrote one Satura, and one comedy,
• M creator,' 137. Friend of Attius,
138.
Palaemon, Remmius, tutor to Persius,
434.
Pancetius, his friendship with Scipio
JEmilianus, 183.
Panegyric on Augustus by Varius, 305.
On Trajan, by Younger Pliny, 529.
Pantomime, how different from mime
— character of, 214. Objected to by
Christians — actors in — licentious —
Nero performs in, 215.
Papirius, Sextus, codifies ' Leges Regioe,'
201. Jurist — pupil of M. Scsevola,
205.
Parabasis of Greek comedy in prologue
of Plautus, 97.
'Paradoxa,' philosophical treatise of
Cicero, 317.
Parasite — character frequent in plays of
Plautus — Niebuhr's observations on
— readily naturalized in Rome — ac-
count of, by Horace and Juvenal,
88.
' Parerga,' a work of Attius, 141.
Parthenias, epithet of Virgil, origin of,
242
Parthenius, native of Bithyna — Virgil
studies philosophy under, 238.
Paris, actor of pantomime, teaches Nero
to dance — his rival — put to death by
him, 215. Martial's opinion of — his
influence and 'profligacy — furnishes
plot to Massinger — his epitaph, 216.
Juvenal's satire on — its conse-
quences, 445.
Patavinity ascribed to Livy by Pollio
— uncertain meaning of word, 364.
What to be understood by —
Niebuhr's opinion respecting, 405.
Patavium (Padua), birthplace of Livy
—why doubtful, 394. C. V. Flaccus
born at, 466.
Paterculus, M. Vellius, 482. His life-
work — its character and extent, 483.
MS. of, lost, 484.
Paullina, wife of Seneca, her heroism,
510.
'Paulus,' historical play of Pacuvius,
128. Subject of, 137.
, L. iEmilius, the ' Hecyra ' of Ter-
ence presented at funeral of, 116 ;
also the ' Adelphi,' 118. Conqueror
of Persius, 137. Father of Scipio
iEmilianus — his campaign in Greece,
183. His library, 364.
Pelasgians in Italy, 9. Conquered by
Oscans, 10.
, language of, how united with Um-
brian and Oscan, 11, 12. Connected
with Greek, 13. Affinity to Greek
and Sanscrit, 13 (note). Inscriptions
in — digamma characteristic of — de-
rived from iEolic, 21. Element of
Etruscan most influencing Latin, 22.
'Peleus and Thetis,' epithalamium of
Catullus, character of, 229. Ex-
ample of, 232.
Pennus, M. Junius, orator, his opposi-
tion to Gracchus, 186.
Perilla, daughter of Ovid, 317. Epistle
to, 323.
Perotto, N., bishop of Manfredonia,
published new fables of Phsedrus,
413.
Perugia, Etruscan inscription at — its
language and contents, 19.
' Persa,' comedy of Plautus, slender
plot of, 96.
Persius, see Flaccus.
Petrarch, his praise of Horace, 282.
Petronius, extract from speech of
Scipio JEmilianus, 127.
Phcedrus,Epicureanphilosopher,teaches
Cicero, 332-355. Wrote in transi-
tion period — translated iEsop — his
own biographer — little known of — a
freedman, 411. How far original —
mentioned by Martial and Seneca —
— works little known — MSS. of, few
— reasons for genuineness disputed,
412. Evidence of date of works —
MS., how discovered — fables supposed
to be written by N. Perotto — pub-
lished as genuine by Angelo Mai —
moral of fables suggested by circum-
stances of times, 413. Examples of,
414, 415. Historical events— ex-
amples of, 41 7, 41 8 . Character of his
writings, 420. Inferior to iEsop, 422.
Style of — compared with other fabu-
lists, 423.
'Phagetica' of Archestratus, translated
by Ennius — its character, 76.
Phallus, emblem of fertility, how con-
nected with Roman satire, 46.
Pharsalia, Varro pardoned after battle
of, 365.
, poem of Lucan, its sentiments,
454. Subject of — description of, 455.
Materials for, whence derived, 456.
Compared with poems of Homer and
582
INDEX.
Virgil, 458. Description principal
feature in, 459. Examples from, 460.
' Phasma,' comedy of Menander, trans-
lated by Luscius, 122.
Philemon, Greek comedian, fragments
of comedies of — their character —
quoted by Christian fathers, 78.
Copied by Plautus, 92.
Philips' ' Cyder,' poem of, imitated from
Virgil, 257.
Philippic orations of Cicero, when de-
livered — their success and conse-
quences, 338. Why so named —
opinions of Juvenal respecting, 34.9.
Phihppi, battle of, conduct of Horace
at, 271.
Philo, philosopher, presides at Athens
over New Academy — teaches Cicero,
332. Eclecticism of, congenial to
Cicero, 355.
Philologus, Atteius, grammarian, 405.
Philosophy, Eoman, its origin and cha-
racter — unfitness of language for —
study of literary — Cicero's view of —
characteristics of, 352. Its defects
— early instructors in, 353. First
form of Epicurean, 354. Its profes-
sors — Stoicism, how adopted into — ■
its professors — influence on Cicero,
355. His practical application of,
356.
Phoenicians, how allied to Etruscans, 9.
1 Phcenissse ' of Euripides, translated by
Attius, 139.
' Phormio,' comedy of Terence, adapted
from Apollodorus — why so called —
when acted — plot of, 114. Copied
by Moliere, 115.
Pictor, C. Fabius, painter, surpasses
Pacuvius, 135.
, Fabius Q., most ancient writer of
Eoman history — contemporary with
Naevius — his family — ancestor
painted temple of Salus — literary
taste of family, 153. Referred to by
Livy — principal authority of Dion
Cassius and Appian — Niebuhr's
opinion of — wrote in defence of his
country against Philinus — in Greek
— subject, first and second Punic
Wars, 154. Object of his work — ma-
terials for, 155.
, S. F., writer of annals and trea-
tise on pontifical law, 173. Juris-
consult, 203.
Pilitus, L. Otacilius, Roman historian,
works. little known, 177.
Piso, L. Calpurnius Frugi, consul at
death of C. Gracchus, censor the
year after, historical writer, quoted
by Dionysius and Livy— less trust-
worthy than F. Pictor — anecdote of
Romulus quoted by Cn. Gellius, 173.
Origin of name — Niebuhr's charge
against, 174.
Piso, L. C. Csesoninus, Cicero's oration
against — its coarseness, 346.
, C. Calpurnius, tragic poet, his
conspiracy against Nero, 454.
Pius, J, Baptista, continues ' Argonau-
tica ' of C. V. Flaccus.
, epithet of iEneas, how applicable
to Augustus, 262.
Plagiarisms in Virgil, examples of, 260.
Plautus, T. Maccius, language of, 7.
Customs of Etruscans alluded to by,
9. Comedies of, exception to gene-
ral rule, 79. Contemporary with
Ennius — native of Sarsina — resides
in Rome — station humble — influence
on writings — class represented by h im
— his plots, personages, and scenes,
Greek — parasite characteristic of
his comedies, observed by Niebuhr —
his occupation — cognomen, origin of
proved by Ritzschl — how used, 88.
Ethnic — error, how perpetuated —
discovered by Ritzschl — origin of
name Plautus — his earliest comedies
— only rival very inferior — works
suited to genius of Romans — had.no
aristocratic patrons, 89. Taste not
sufficiently defined — Horace objects
to him on that account — popular
with the masses — character of his
writings given by Horace — nation-
ality of style, Latin, 90. Familiar —
coarseness not open — this praised by
Cicero— laudatory epigram by Varro
— popular during five centuries —
never full Roman citizen, 130. Come-
dies attributed to him — twenty extant
considered genuine by Varro — with
'Vidularia' — rest doubtful — origi-
nals, Menander, Diphilus, and Phile-
. mon — imitated by modern writers —
subjects of those extant — 'Aniphi-
truo,' ' Asinaria,' ' Casina,' Mercator,'
' Aulularia,' 92. ' Bacchides,' ' Cap-
tivi,' ' Curculio,' ' Cistellaria,' 93.
' Epidicus,' ' Mostellaria,' ' Mensech-
mi,' ' Miles Gloriosus, 94. ' Pseu-
dolus, ' ' Pcenulus, ' 95. ' Persa,'
1 Rudens, ' Stichus, ' ' Trinummus,'
96. 'Truculentus,' his prologues com-
pared with modern or Greek, 97.
INDEX.
5S3
Plebiscite decrees of the people, 202.
Plinius, .see Secundus.
Plotina, wife of Trajan, her influence
on society in Rome, 185.
riutareh compares Cato to Socrates,
170.
Tumulus,' comedy of Plautus — name
whence derived — plot of — Hanno,
character in, talks Pimic — resem-
blance to Hebrew — how translated,
95.
Poetry, Roman, earliest attempt at —
Feseennine verses, 44. Contrast be-
tween Roman and Grecian, 138.
Not standard of literature in Au-
gustan age, 207. Golden age of, 208.
Poggius discovers MS. of works of
Quintilian, S. Italicus, and L. V.
Flaccus, at St. GaU, 540.
Pollio, title of fourth eclogue of Virgil,
originality of subject, 249. Para-
phrase of Sibylline verses in, com-
pared with writings of Isaiah, 250.
, C. Asinius, his tragedies intended
only for recitation, 208. His cha-
racter — commands in Cisalpine Gaul
— patronizes Virgil, 239. Patronizes
Gallus, 305. Correspondent of Cicero,
362. Family and birth — employed
by Caesar — appointed to Gallia Trans-
padana — protects Virgil — reconciles
Octavian and Anthony —his triumph-
retires from public life — devotes him-
self to study — old age — his children
— literary reputation — works lost —
reasons for, 363. Style — opinion of
Quintilian and Niebuhr — his works
— history of civil wars — his criticisms
— founds public library, 364. By
whom imitated — founds library in
Temple of Liberty, 365. His criti-
cism on J. Caesar, 380. Compared
to Sophocles by Virgil, 425.
, M. Vitruvius, writer of Augustan
age — his character — confounded with
L. Vitruvius Cerdo — birth and edu-
cation — learning — object of studies
professional, 406. Military engineer
under Csesar — patronized by Augus-
tus — evidence respecting date of his
works — his style, 407. Contents of
his ten books — conspectus of princi-
ples of architecture — his taste — his
work, 408.
Polybius, his estimation of F. Pictor,
1-34. Comes to Rome in time of
Cato, 158. His friendship for Scipio
iEmilianus, 183. Extracts from, tran-
scribed by Lucullus, 370. Followed
by Livy — an accurate geographer —
his preparation for writing history
of Italy, 401. Disapproves imagi-
nary speeches in history, 404.
Pomfrefs elegy on Queen Mary imitated
from fifth eclogue of Virgil, 247.
Pompeius, Sextus, V. Maximus accom-
panies, into Asia, 484.
, Trogus, historian of Augustan
age — father secretary to Julius
Caesar — work voluminous — ' His-
torian Philippicae,' 392. How di-
gresses into universal history — in-
debted to Greek historians — analysis
of, 393.
Pompey the Great, Lucilius grand-
uncle to — supports Cicero for Con-
sulship, 334. Deserts Cicero, 335.
Joined by Cicero before battle of
Pharsalia, 337. Party of, espoused
by V. Reatinus and L. Lucullus, 370.
Admired by Livy, 395.
Pomponianus, his villa at Stabise — hears
of death of elder Pliny, 520.
Pomponius, manual of earliest work
on Roman jurisprudence — fragments
of, preserved by Justinian, 201.
Ponticus, guest of Ovid, 316.
Pontifex Maximus, office held by J.
Caesar — literary consequence of, 375.
Annals of, digested by Livy, 400.
' Pontius Glaucus,' poem of Cicero ex-
tant in time of Plutarch, 331.
Pope, his opinion on political object of
JEneid, 261. Imitates epigram of
Hadrian, 473.
Praeneste Palestrina, summer retreat of
Horace, 276.
Praetorum Libri, account of, 44.
' Pragmaticon, Libri,' by Attius, quoted
by Nonius and A. Gellius, 141.
Priests, Roman — civil magistrates, con-
sequences of connexion, 130.
Priscus, C, Pliny's epistle to — death of
Martial mentioned in, 477.
, Marius, impeached by Tacitus,
486.
Probus, author of work attributed to
C. Nepos, 371. Authority for, 372.
Proculus, elegiac poet — contemporary
with Ovid, 326.
Prologues of Plautus compared with
the Greek and modern, 97. Of the
Amphitruo and Trinummus their
character, 78.
' Prometheus ' of Attius, fragment of —
its grandeur — quoted by Cicero, 134.
584
INDEX.
Propertius, S. Aurelius, his praise of
Virgil exaggerated, 265. Little
known of— life — native of Umbria —
his birth and estate, 309. His edu-
cation — literary connexion — amour
with Cynthia — epigram of Martial on
— imitates Alexandrian poets, 310.
Genius not natural — his versification
and style — Quintilian's account of —
compared with Ovid — inventor of
elegiac epistle, 311. Recites his com-
positions to Macer, 316.
Prose more accordant with Roman
genius than poetry — literature di-
rected to by political causes, 149.
Treatment required — style of Eastern
writers of, 150. Later writers of,
482,
' Protagoras ' of Plato, translated by
Cicero, 357.
Ptolemy, accurate geographer, 401.
Punic language spoken by Hanno in
play of Plautus, 95.
War, epic of Cn. Nsevius on, 56.
' Punica,' poem of S. Italicus, its cha-
racter — model and materials for, 464.
Example from, 465.
Pupillus Orbilius, schoolmaster, uses
works of Naevius, 63. Why called
Plagosus — teaches Horace, 270.
Puteoli, Lselius, villa at, 105.
Pylades, actor in pantomime, 215.
Quadeigarius, Q. Claudius, historian
— contemporary with Cicero, 174.
Quoted by Livy and grammarians —
extent of work — fragment of relating
to M. Torquatus— style of, 175. Why
so called, 176.
' QuEestionura Naturalium,' Lib. vn. —
work on natural history, by Seneca,
513.
Quinctius, P., Cicero's defence of —
legal knowledge shown in, 344.
Quinquatria, festival of Minerva, birth-
day of Ovid and his brother, 313.
Quirinal, Sallust's gardens on, 386.
Quintilianus, M. Pabius, his account
of scenic modulations, 82. Opinion
of Ennius, 71. Of Lucilius, 146.
Could not appreciate Catullus, 230.
Praises V. Atacinus, 236. Epithet
for poetry of Gallus, 306. Estimate
of Propertius, 311. Criticism on
Cicero, 343. On Pollio, 364. Adu-
lation of Domitian — reasons for title
'Silvse' to poems of Statius, 472.
Caution against brevity of Sallust,
391. Epithet for style of Livy, 404.
Panegyric on Persius, 438. Account
of death of C. V. Flaccus, 466.
Criticism on, 467. Tutor to Younger
Pliny, 528. His birth — return to
Rome with Galba — success as a
pleader and teacher of rhetoric, 534.
Not wealthy — Pliny's generosity to —
daughter's marriage — Martial's praise
of — his works — the ' Institutiones,'
536. Opinions on education, 537.
His declamations — works discovered
by Poggius — his disposition, 540.
Example of his eloquence, 541.
Racine imitates Seneca, 432.
Rasena, or Tyrseni, name of Pelasgians
in Etruria — its origin, according to
Lepsius — adopted by Donaldson, 10.
Reate (Rieti), Varro born at, 365.
Refrain in eighth Eclogue of Virgil, 248.
Regulus, story of, related by Tubero,
178.
Religion, its influence on Greeks and
Romans contrasted, 129.
, influence of, on Greek and Roman
literature, 40. The Roman not popu-
lar — its poetry rude, 41.
'Remedies of Love,' poem of Ovid,
322.
'Republic,' of Cicero, not archaically
correct, 341.
' Rerum Romanorum,' Lib. iv., work of
L. A. Florus, see ' Epitome,' 505.
Retina, Elder Pliny endeavours to save
troops at, 519.
Rhseti, language of, 9. Livy acquainted
with, 16.
Rhodians, Cato pleads cause of, 160.
Rhodius, Apollonms, his ' Argonautica '
translated by V. Atacinus, 236.
Rhyme added to rhythm — time when,
not ascertained, 38.
Rhythm, natural to Italian poetry, both
in ancient and modern times, 65.
Ritzschl discovers origin of name
Asinius, as applied to Plautus, 89.
Romans, character of, how cultivated,
42.
■ , character of action — mind of, not
imaginative — literature of, not spon-
taneous, 41. Influence of Greek
literature upon, 42.
Roscius, Roman actor, his wealth and
rank — friend of Cicero, 208.
, S., of Ameria, Cicero's defence of,
332. Its character, 344.
' Rudens,' comedy of Plautus — name,
INDEX.
585
whence derived — estimation of plot
— character, !H>.
Budiee, in Calabria, Ennius born at, 67.
Rums, Cuelius, orator, correspondent of
Cicero, 362.
, Q. Cnrtius, biographer of Alex-
ander the Great — uncertainty of date
of — opinion of Niebuhr respecting,
503. Of Wolf — internal evidence of
— his partiality, 504.
, P. Rutilius, wrote autobiography
in Latin, and history of Rome in
Greek, 174.
, Salvidianus, ridiculed by Horace
as Nasidianus, 308.
, Sulpicius, friend of Cicero, joins
the Marians, 340.
, C.Valgius, his tragedies not writ-
ten to be acted, 208. Obscurity re-
specting notices of by Pliny and
Horace, 235.
, Valerius, his tragedies only in-
tended for reading, 208.
■ , L. Yarius, tragic writer — his
' Thyestes ' — opinions of critics on —
when presented — profit from, 125.
Guest of Maecenas — little known of
— praised by Quintilian, 304. Goes
with Maecenas to Brundisium — title
of works of — Niebuhr's conjecture re-
specting — fellow-student with Gallus,
305.
, Virginius, Tacitus succeeds as
Consul, 486. Guardian of Younger
Pliny, 528.
Sabellians, or Sabines, of same family
as Umbrians and tribes of Italy —
of same stock as Oscans, 7.
Sabello-Oscan, principal monument of,
Bantine Table, 17.
Sabine virgins, number of, estimated
by V. Antias, 176.
Sabines, or Sabellians, 7-9. Dominant
in Samnium, 16.
Sabinus, A., known only through Ovid
— his epistles — his other works, 326.
Sacerdos, Nicetes, tutor to Younger
Pliny — favourable mention made of
by Seneca, 528.
Salinator, M. Livius, L. Andronicus
tutor to children of — emancipates
him, 51.
Sallustius, C. Crispus, his opinion of
Sisenna, 177. Style of Paterculus
formed on that of, 483. His birth —
family — offices — expelled from senate
— cause of degradation— restored by
Caesar — governor of Numidia— ra-
pacity — wealth, 385. His gardens —
death — his immorality — why pro-
bable — character as politician, 386.
As a historian — compared with Thu-
cydides — speech of Memmius re-
ported by him, 387. Reasons for
writing only detached portions of
history — his works : the ' Jugurthine
War ;' < Histories ;' ' Bellum Catili-
nariuni' — letters to Caesar, genuine-
ness of, disputed, 388. Opposes new
aristocracy — his description of, 389.
Character as an historian — Livy. how
indebted to— his brevity— contrasted
with that of Thucydides, 391. Caesar
and Tacitus — object always percep-
tible, 392.
Samnites, use Oscan language same as
Sabines, 16.
Samnium, Sabines dominant in, 16.
Sarsina, in Umbria, birthplace of Plau-
tus, 87.
Sasernae, father and son, writers — ' De
Re Rustica,' 168.
' Satirae,' or ' Saturas,' of Ennius, 75.
Satire, modern word, whence derived,
49. Peculiar characteristic of Roman
literature, 45. In origin coarse—
polished on Greek models — founded
by Lucilius, 46. Invention of, attri-
buted to Romans— spirit of, apparent
among Greeks — in Silli — form of
comedyin opinion of Horace — Ennius
first uses name — Lucilius father of,
144.
' Satires ' of Horace, when commenced
— materials for, 273. Literary po-
sition of — character, 287. Social, not
political — object — sources, 288. Sub-
jects of, 289.
of Juvenal, description of — two
first imitated by Johnson — tenth
recommended by Bishop Burnet to
his clergy,
Satura, union of Etruscan ballet with
Ludi Osci, 49. Origin of word satire
— altered by L. Andronicus, 50.
Written by Pacuvius, 137.
1 Satura?,' moral essays of Varro Rea-
tinus, 366.
' Saturio,' title of early comedy of Plau-
tus — not extant, 89.
Saturnian measure, characteristic of old
Latin verse— used in Arvalian and
Salian hymn, 23. Oldest measure
used by Latin poets — Etruscan —
attributed by Diomedes the grain-
586
INDEX.
marian to Naevius — how formed —
T. Mauras and Atilius think it of
Greek origin, 32. Greek analysis of,
by Servius and Censorinus — in writ-
ings of Callimachus and Euripides —
introduced, according to Bentley, by
Naevius from Greece — found in writ-
ings of Archilochus — coincidence ac-
cidental — recognized vehicle of early
Italian poetry — discernible in Eugu-
bine tables — more perfect in Arva-
lian chants and Salian hymns — and
epitaphs of Scipo's found in fragments
of Roman laws, considered rude by
Ennius, 33. Not Greek — Horace,
opinion of — passages of Livy origi-
nally in — restored by Hermann, 34.
1 Odyssey,' translated into, by L. An-
dronicus — structure simple — use
universal — examples quoted by Ma-
caulay, 35. Structure of, trochaic —
ictus its essential — anacrusis not
so, 36. Example from Milton — re-
turn to in later periods of Roman
literature — examples from Hadrian
to Floras, and hymns of Christian
Church, 37. Origin of romance
poetry — rhyme added to — example
quoted from Gray, 38 — Triple time,
used by Naevius, 64.
Scaevola, Q. Mucius, tutor to C. A.
Gallus, 204. C. Juventius, S. Papi-
rius, L. L. Balbus, and S. Rums, who
quotes his works, 205. Teaches
Cicero jurisprudence, 331. Origi-
nates treatise 'De Oratore ' of Cicero,
193. Rebukes S. Sulpicius, 194.
, Publius, cousin of Quintus the
augur — reputation as a jurist, 203.
, Quintus, son of Publius, orator,
188. Tutor to Cicero on death of
uncle — estimation of Cicero for,
203,
, Q., augur, instructor of Cicero,
203.
Scaevolae, the family of, eminent as juris-
consults, 203.
Scaliger, anecdote of imposition on
Muretus, 123. Attributes >Dirae'
to Cato, 235. Applies five Eclogues
of Virgil to Caesar, 247. . Criticism
on Y. Flaccus, 467.
Scaurus, M. iEruilius, orator, Bt>ened by
Statius, 186. Autobiographer — his
paternity — fragments of works of —
unimportant, 174.
Schlegel, conjectures on Roman mimes,
210.
Schoel, his surmise respecting banish-
ment of Ovid, 318.
Scipio, Barbatus, inscription on tomb
of, 26.
' Lucius, his epitaph, 27.
, P. C. Africanus Major, satirized
by Naevius, 59. Epitaph on, by
Ennius, 68. Patron of Ennius, 69.
Bears part cost of representation of
' Adelphi ' of Terence, 118. His ora-
tory — triumph of, on anniversary of
battle of Zama, 182.
, P. C. iEmilianus, his epithet for
Roman people, 127. Lucilius with
at siege of Numantia, 145. Link
between old and new schools of ora-
tory — his character — first campaign
in Greece — friendship with Polybius
and Panaetius — remonstrates against
degeneracy of Romans, 183. Friend-
ship for Laelius — comparison between
them, 184.
— — , P. Nasica, his services as jurist,
how remunerated, 203.
Scrofa, TremeUius, writer — ' De Re Rus-
tica ' — eloquence celebrated by Colu-
mella, 168.
Secundus, C. Plinius, praises P. Syrus,
213. Considers Umbrians most
ancient people of Italy, 215. His
birth — education — offices — particu-
lars of life, and catalogue of works in
letter of Pliny's nephew to Macer, 515.
Character and habit of life, 517. His
death, 518. Described by his nephew
in letter to Tacitus, 519. His natural
philosophy, 524. His credulity, 525.
His philosophical belief, 527. His
work on medicine, 545.
, C. P. Caecilius, speaks of Seneca
as a poet, 426. His story of Lucan,
453. Account of death of S. Italicus,
463. Criticisms on, 464. Letter to
Priscus — date uncertain — death of
Martial mentioned in, 477. Admira-
tion for Tacitus — kindness to, 485.
Letters to, 486. Friend of Suetonius,
499. Influence exercised by, 500.
Sextus son to C. Plinius Secundus —
his birth — educated by Virginius
Rufus — his letter to Voconius — his
tutors, 528. Taste for poetry —
celebrity as a pleader — offices —
founds school at Como — his works,
529. Despatch respecting Christians,
530. Reply of Trajan to, 532. Ex-
amples of taste, 533. Pupil of Quin-
tilian, 535.
INDEX.
587
Secundus, Pompouius, life of, by Elder
Pliny, 516.
Sedigitus, Volcatius, critic and gram-
marian, his order of merit to writers
of comedy, 86. Incorrect, 87.
Sedley, Sir C., plot of his ' Bellamira '
suggested by ' Eunuchus ' of Terence,
111.
Sejanus, JElius, attacked by Phaedrus,
413. Example of, in < Fables ' of, 415,
416, 417. His ambition, 419. Pas-
sage in Juvenal describing fall of, 449.
Paterculus involved in, 483.
, L., kinsman of iElius, his mockery
of Tiberius, 417.
Senatus-Consulta, acts of the Senate,
202.
Seneca, L. Annaeus, tragedies of, only
written to be read, 125. Rhetorical
dramas of, 134. Praises P. Syrus, 213.
Opinion of Maecenas, 303. Preserves
fragment of epic of Albinovanus, 326.
Of Aufidius Bassus — addresses his
' Oonsolatio ' to daughter of, 482.
Philosopher — tragedies attributed to
— possibly genuine, yet doubtful —
reasons for — epigram of Martial re-
specting, 426. Opinion of Sidonius
concerning — a Stoic — his inconsis-
tency, 427. Indifference to death —
comparison of passages in works of,
by Nisard, 428, 429. His fatalism,
430. How suitable to circumstances
of period — evidence of genuineness
of tragedies — tragedies, model of
those of French school of Racine and
Corneille, 432. Acquainted with Per-
sius, 436. His birth — education
— jealousy of Caligula — his banish-
ment — recalled by Agrippina — tutor
to Nero, 509. His want of principle
— his riches, how acquired — his
death, 510. Want of moral courage
— his works, 511. His philosophy —
a favourite with Christian writers,
512. Works on natural phenomena
— his satire, 513. His style, 514.
Uncle of Lucan, 452.
, M. Annaeus, father of Lucius, 426.
grandfather of Lucan, 452. His birth-
place — a rhetorician, 507. His works
— historical value of ' Controversiae,'
508.
'Sententiae, P. Syri,' collection of pro-
verbial sayings, 214.
Servilianus, Q. Fabius Max., historian —
style. deficient in euphony, 172.
Servius' account of Pontine annals, 43.
Setia, Sezzo, in Campania, supposed
birthplace of C. V. Flaccus, 466.
Shadwell, his ' Squire of Alsatia ' copied
from 'Adelphi' of Terence, 120.
' Shepherd's Week,' poem of Gay, pa-
rody of Sixth Eclogue of Virgil, 251.
Sibillant, how used in old Latin — inter-
changed with r, 31.
Sibyl, the Tiburtine, dwelling of, 284.
Sibyls, songs of, prophetical — Bishop
Lowth's belief in inspiration of —
opinions of Christian Fathers on — of
Heyne — Virgil's quotation from, 250.
Sicily, Cicero quaestor in, 332. Town
in, called Italica, mentioned by Ste-
phens, 462.
Sikeli, third tribe of ancient Italy —
called Vituli and Itali, 7.
Silures, successful campaign of Fron-
tinus against, 548.
' Silvae/ poems of P. P. Statius — cha-
racter of, 469. Why so called, 470.
Subj ects of, 47 1 . Quintilian's account
of, 472.
Silvinus, friend of Columella, preface
of his ' De Re Rustica ' addressed to,
547.
Sisenna, L. Cornelius, historian — birth
— quaestor — Cicero's account of — ■
Sallust's less favourable — his work —
fragments of — quoted by gramma-
rians, 177. Friend of Cicero, 388.
, Fulvia, mother of Persius, 434.
Slavery, its effect on Roman society, 79.
Its consequences at Rome, 267.
'Smyrna,' poem of Cinna — praised by
Virgil and Catullus, 235.
Socrates, Cato compared with, 170.
Soliloquies in Roman drama — how dif-
ferent from dialogue — abundant in
Terence — Donatus, account of (note),
82.
Sophocles, ' Trachiniee ' of, translated by
Attius, 139.
Spain, Cato consul in, 159. Prosecutes
governor of, 160.
Spanish war, book on, attributed to J.
Caesar — its character, 378.
Spectacle, introduced on Roman stage
by L. Andronicus, 56. Roman love
of, 131-133.
' Squire of Alsatia,' ShadwelTs comedy
of, whence copied, 120.
Statirae, viha of Pomponianus at, 523.
Statius, Caecilius, rival of Plautus — in-
ferior to, 89. Placed by Cicero at
head of comic poets — a slave — his
birth — death — contemporary wit! I
588
INDEX.
Eniiins — comedies ' Palliatae ' — only
fragments of, remain — translation of
Menander, 99. Opinion of A. Gellius,
Cicero, Varro, and Horace — example
of style — his early want of success,
100. How at length attained, 101.
His reception of Terence, 102. His
poem to widow of Lucan, extract
from, 453.
Statius, P. Papinius, grammarian, tutor
to Domitian — his success as a poet —
character of his poetry, 463.
, P. P., junior, son of above, 468.
His poems — birth — only mentioned
by Juvenal — opinion of Dante re-
specting — character of his genius —
his minor poems, 469. His epics
— contrast between them, 470. Com-
pared with Homer— subjects of his
poems, 471.
Steele, Sir R., copies 'Andrian' of
Terence, 108. Opinion of ' Heauton-
timorumenos,' 111.
Stella, poet, friend of Statius and Mar-
tial — former addresses his ' Silvae ' to
him, 471, 476.
Stephens supposes C. S. Italicus born
in Sicily, 462.
' Stichus,' comedy of Plautus — named
after slave — plot of, 96.
Stilo, L. iElius, grammarian, accom-
panies L. Nutellus into exile, 206.
Antiquary, tutor of V. Reatinus, 365.
Stoic philosophy, in harmony with
Roman mind — disciples of — not
suited to Cicero, 355. Morality of,
admired by, 356. Influence of, in
time of Seneca, 427.
Strabo, accurate geographer, 401.
' Stratagematicon,' treatise on military
tactics by Frontinus — anecdotes of
military commanders, 547.
' Studiosus,' title of treatise on elo-
quence, by Elder Pliny, 516.
' Suasoriee,' work of M. Seneca on deli-
berative oratory, 509.
Suessa Aurunca, birthplace of Lucilius,
144.
Suetonius — see Tranquillus.
Suicide, why attractive to Romans in
time of Seneca, 428.
Suidas attributes invention of panto-
mime to Augustus, 214. His cata-
logue of works of Suetonius defective,
500.
Sulla, L. C, Fabulse Atellanee, amuse-
ment of, 48. State of Rome under,
142. Cause of, espoused by Horten-
sius, 195. His commentaries com-
pleted by Epicadius, 206. Elevates
Roscius to equestrian dignity, 208.
Plunders Athenian libraries, 364.
Sulmo Sulmone, town of, Abruzzi, Ovid
born at, 313.
Sulpicius Publius, orator, 188. Tragic
poem of — his letters of condolence
to Cicero — rebuked by Sceevola —
studies Roman law, 194.
Syron, Virgil studies Epicurean philo-
sophy under, 239. Poem on villa of,
244. Represented as Silenus in
Sixth Eclogue of Virgil, 251.
Syrus, Publius, freedman and pupil of
Laberius — their contest, 210. Origi-
nally a Syrian — commended by Cicero,
Seneca, and Pliny, 213. His wit —
sentential, 214.
Tables, the twelve, laws of, quoted by
Livy — by Pliny — fragments preserved
— collected by Haubold and Donaldson
— how engraved — when made public
— examples of, 25. Framework of
Roman jurisprudence, 199. Next in
antiquity to Leges Regiae— their cha-
racter — learned by children — ex-
planation of, confined to priests —
oral expositions of, 202.
Tacitus, C. Cornelius, his testimony to
general esteem for Virgil, 242. Praise
of Csesar as an orator, 375. His
brevity compared with Sallust's, 392.
Reasons for dearth of writers after
Augustan era, 420. Speaks of
Seneca as a poet, 426. His history
— parallel with satires of Juvenal,
450. Style of, characteristic of reign
of Trajan, 485. Works of, in har-
mony with those of Pliny — date of
birth unknown — Pliny's account of
— tradition of — birth — rank — mar-
riage — offices, 486. Distinguished
for gravity of style — time of death
uncertain — his works — date of —
Niebuhr's opinion on, 487. Life of
Agricola — a panegyric, 488. The
' Germany ' of, 489. His ' Histories '
— ' Annals,' 494. His prudence, 496.
His style, 497. His brevity, 498.
Letter of Younger Pliny to, 519.
Treatise ' on Causes of Corrupt Elo-
quence ' — generally referred to, 540.
Tarentum, Pacuvius dies at, 135.
Tarquin, name discovered in tomb at
Cervetri, 21.
INDEX.
589
Terentia, wife of Maecenas, scandal con-
cerning, 302.
, wife of Cicero, her divorce, 338.
Teucer, Octavius, grammarian, teaches
in Gaul, 206.
Theatre, Roman, similar to Greek
(note), 5o. Size of, SO. Contrasted
with Grecian, 129. How changed,
143.
, Pompey's, 143.
' Thebaid,' epic poem of P. P. Statius,
inferior to his ' Silvoo,' 470. Why-
admired by Dante, 471. Subject of,
472.
Theocritus, contemporary with Ennius,
75. ' Idylls ' of, imitated from mimes
of Sophron, 209. Character of, 246.
Imitated by Virgil — Cyclops original
of Second Eclogue, 247.
Theopompus of Chios, Trogus Pom-
peius derives materials of work from,
393.
'Theriaca,' poem of Nicander, para-
phrased by Macer, 312.
'Thesaurus,' comedy of Menander,
translated by Luscius, 122.
Thomson, how indebted to Virgil — ex-
amples of, 257.
Thrasea, Paetus, how related to Persius,
434. Blamed by Tacitus, 497.
Thucydides, his brevity compared with
Sallust's, 391. Livy compared with,
403.
' Thyestes' of Varius, stolen from Cas-
sius or Virgil, 134. Niebuhr's opinion
of, 305.
Tiberius, Emperor, augments Palatine
library, 365. How treated by
Eomans — changes character after
death of Sejanus, 418. Character of,
421. Paterculus legate to — V. Maxi-
mus wrote in reign of, 483. Pro-
nounces funeral oration of his father,
540.
Tibiae dextrae and sinistra?, character
and use of, 81.
impares, 82.
Tibullus, Albius, his birth and rank —
contemporary with Virgil — estate
confiscated — his character — patron-
ized by Messala — makes campaign
with — subject of his verse — reasons
for return to Piome — subjects of his
elegies — real persons, 307. Names
used by him — how applied by
Apuleius — character of writings —
censure of Niebuhr — his death — epi-
gram upon, 308. Poems attributed
to him — some spurious — Muretus'
opinion of, 309. His character, epi-
gram upon, 310.
Tiburtine inscription, the, 25. When
discovered — when lost — Niebuhr's
conjectures respecting — by whom
given — example of, 26.
Ticida, poet, bears testimony to merits
of V. Cato, 235.
' Timacus ' of Plato translated by Cicero,
357.
Tiraboschi, his idea respecting banish-
ment of Ovid, 318.
Titus, Emperor, Martial favourite of,
475.
Titze, his opinion on work attributed
to Annasus Florus, 506.
Tivoii, the ancient Tibur inscriptions
found at, 26.
Tomi, Tomoswar or Baba, Ovid banished
to, 317.
' Topica,' treatise of Cicero on judicial
oratory, 350.
Torquatus, T. Manlius, consul — juris-
consult, 203.
Trabea, Q., his works — fragments of,
preserved by Cicero — date unknown
— anecdote of Scaliger respecting
verses of, 123.
1 Trachiniae ' of Sophocles, translated
by Attius — specimen of, preserved by
Varro, 139.
Trajan, Emperor, forms Ulpian library,
365. Fit successor to Nerva — influ-
ence on Roman state and on litera-
ture — of wife and sister, 485. Re-
ply to Pliny the Younger, 532.
Tragedy, its character, 60.
, Roman, transplanted from
Athens, 124. Flourished during
one century — five writers of— little
more than an imitation, 124. Want
of originality — reasons for, 133.
Three eras of, 134. Disappears from
stage with Attius — afterwards writ-
ten only to be read, 141. State of
Rome unfavourable to, 142. Its re-
vival, 424,
Tranquillus, C. Suetonius, his account
of popularity of Ludi Osci, 48. Of
Otacihus Pilitus, 177. Places L.
Andronicus and Ennius at head of
grammarians, 205. Praises Caesars'
oratory — quotes testimony of Cicero
in favour of, 375. Account of brazen
tablets, 400. Biography of Juvenal
attributed to, 445. Parentage — birth
— education — profession — anecdote
590
INDEX.
of Pliny respecting, 499. Pliny's love
for -secret aryt ^Hadrian-eat alogue
of writings bySuidas-his chief ex-
tant work S - r biography of Oesars,
500. Opinions of Niebuhr and
Krause respecting, 501
™£:^
' Trmummus, ' comedy of Plautus
Trio, Fulcmius, his will, 417
Iristia ' poems of Ovid, their charac-
T™ i : H ? Ce s e P lthet f °r, 323.
Trochee adapted to Anacreontic verse,
'^riet^f^' S ^ ° f Plaut ^
variety of incidents in— graphic de-
lation of character in-mS pic-
ture detestable, 97 P
TU (fe L ' J A S ° n ° f ' Q - le S ate of Q.
Ucero m Asia, 178.
"~Cicer Q o m liU r' ? ntem P°*«y with
oldcfl' i 7 ' Last re P re sentative of
old school-supporter of aristocracy
^nf 01 i C r C te racter of his writings-
quoted by Dionysius and Liv Y 178
5S" 1 * °A Sem P ro »^ dorian,
scholar, and gentleman, 172
338* daUghter of Cicero > ter death,
TuUus, Laurea, freedman of Cicero
poetical compliment of, 362
lurpio, Ambivius, Eoman manao-er
Full" n S ^^^
TU T^ S \ Sext 1 US ' fra S m ents and titles
of works alone remaining - latter
Greek-date of his death, 123.
Tusculanae Disputationes, ' moral'
£*«af Cicero- p^ cip ^
Tusculum, Cato, born at, 158. Cicero's
T,,T5r at T"- SCe ? e of ' De Oratore,' 193
*£Ej<& daUght6r «W
S^S lib rary, its extent, 364
y t^lir^ their a » ta ~
Tyrseni, name of Etruscans, origin of,
v zrs2^,^~> ^
Varro M. Terentius Reatinus, his date
for death of N^vius, 47. iCtratel
etymology from Ennius, 76 Epi-
gram on Plautus-on Noctes AttS,
»1. Opinion of genuineness of his
he library-devotes himself to litera-
ture — death — erudition — stvle —
power of systematizing - want of
original thought, 366. His works-
ite antiquities— used by St. Au^us-
Mn~a' I) ^ eEUStiCa,JDe T 4£
^uatma — Saturse poems, 367.
14« n' f- tacinus > fails in satire,
nut h? v e S P ? raiy ^ V - ^ ati -
f S r? blrt Mace-name whence
derived -poetry copied by Virgil -
fragments of, remaining, 236
Varronianus' of Donaldson, copy of
Bantme Tables in, 17 P/
Varus, Pompeius, Horace's ode to, 271
v .' .; 4;? ftudies philosophy with
S? Xth E ° l0gUe add ^ssed to,
~^lo^^
Vennonius contemporary with Fani-
mus, author of annals referred to by
Dionysius, 172 J
Venu^ estate at, belonging to father
of Horace, 268. Forfeited, 272
Vmucius, M consul-work of Velleius
Paterculus dedicated to, 483
ft' ^T Macer bom at, 312
M v'p^v* b ^ ™™vius Cerdo
a! 4nk' vv° S S?, t0 , have been bo ™
at, 406 Phny Elder born at, 515.
Verres defended by Hortensius 198.
Versification always difficult to Ro-
mans, 65.
IVescio,' historical play of Persius, 128.
Vespasian, Emperor, places library in
Temple of Peace, 365. Confers jus
Latn on Bi bihs, 475 Suetonius'
?09 1S %7° bjecte , d t0 b yNiebuhr,
ou^ Endows professorships, 535. '
Vesuvius, Vitruvius Pollio ignorant of
eruption of, 407. Eruption of de-
senbea by Younger Pliny, 519
at 14 aDCient Iguvium tables "found
Vico', Gian Baptista, reduces Roman
law to system, 201.
INDEX.
591
Yidularia,' comedy of Plautus, remains
of, found in palimpsest MS. at Milan,
92.
Viininal Hill, palace of Gallus on, 204.
Yirgilius see Maro.
Virtue, Roman, its character, 132.
Yitellius, S. Italicus friend of, 463.
Viteliu, Oscan orthography for Italia,
17.
Vitruvius, see Pollio.
Vituli, Sikeli, 7.
Umbria, Propertius, born in, 309.
Umbrians, a tribe of Italy, of same
family as SabeUians or Sabines, 7.
Of same stock as Oscans — antiquity
claimed by — original settlements of
— their extent — origin of name — con-
sidered by Pliny most ancient race
in Italy, 8. Driven by Etruscans
into mountains — lived among con-
querors a subject people, 9. Not
related to Greeks in language, 13.
Umbrian language and character,
remnants of — alphabet same as
Etruscans — medial letters wanting —
its relation to Latin, 14. Kesem-
blance to Latin — translation of, 15.
Voconius, Pliny Younger's letter to,
528.
Voss rejects poems attributed to Catul-
lus, 309.
Vowels, when elided in Augustan age,
86.
Urbicus, Argenius, one of the Agri-
mensorcs, 548.
Ustica, valley of, Horace's farm at —
Valle Eustica, 285.
Utica, Naevius exiled to, 59.
Wars, their social consequences to
Eome, 126.
, the German, history of, by Elder
Pliny — its origin, 516.
Wolf, T. A., opinion concerning Q.
Curtius, 504.
' Woman-hater,' comedy of Atilius, 122.
Wycherly, compared with Terence, 104.
Xanthus, Lydian historian, does not
notice migration of Etruscans, 9.
j Xenophon compared with Caesar, 381.
Zama, anniversary of battle of, Scipio's
triumph on, 182.
I Zosimus misquoted by Suidas, 213.
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