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diff --git a/35751-8.txt b/35751-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..028f2ce --- /dev/null +++ b/35751-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17473 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Roman Literature from its +Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume II by John Dunlop + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan + Age. Volume II + +Author: John Dunlop + +Release Date: April 1, 2011 [Ebook #35751] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE FROM ITS EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE AUGUSTAN AGE. VOLUME II*** + + + + + + *HISTORY* + + OF + + *ROMAN LITERATURE,* + + FROM + + *ITS EARLIEST PERIOD* + TO + + THE AUGUSTAN AGE. + + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + + BY + JOHN DUNLOP, + AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF FICTION. + +FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION. + +VOL. II. + +PUBLISHED BY +E. LITTELL, CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA. +G. & C. CARVILL, BROADWAY, NEW YORK. +1827 + + + + + + _James Kay, Jun. Printer,_ + _S. E. Corner of Race & Sixth Streets,_ + _Philadelphia._ + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + [Agriculture] + Marcus Porcius Cato + Marcus Terentius Varro + Nigidius Figulus + History + Quintus Fabius Pictor + Sallust + Julius Cæsar + Cicero +Appendix + Livius Andronicus, Nævius + Ennius + Plautus + Terence + Lucilius + Lucretius + Catullus + Laberius--Publilius Syrus + Cato--Varro + Sallust + Cæsar + Cicero +Chronological Table +Index +Transcriber's note + + + + + + + *HISTORY* + + + OF + + + *ROMAN LITERATURE, &C.* + + + + + + *HISTORY* + + + OF + + + *ROMAN LITERATURE, &c.* + + +In almost all States, poetical composition has been employed and +considerably improved before prose. First, because the imagination expands +sooner than reason or judgment; and, secondly, because the early language +of nations is best adapted to the purposes of poetry, and to the +expression of those feelings and sentiments with which it is conversant. + +Thus, in the first ages of Greece, verse was the ordinary written +language, and prose was subsequently introduced as an art and invention. +In like manner, at Rome, during the early advances of poetry, the progress +of which has been detailed in the preceding volume, prose composition +continued in a state of neglect and barbarism. + +The most ancient prose writer, at least of those whose works have +descended to us, was a man of little feeling or imagination, but of sound +judgment and inflexible character, who exercised his pen on the subject of +_Agriculture_, which, of all the peaceful arts, was most highly esteemed +by his countrymen. + +The long winding coast of Greece, abounding in havens, and the innumerable +isles with which its seas were studded, rendered the Greeks, from the +earliest days, a trafficking, seafaring, piratic people: And many of the +productions of their oldest poets, are, in a great measure, addressed to +what may be called the maritime taste or feeling which prevailed among +their countrymen. This sentiment continued to be cherished as long as the +chief literary state in Greece preserved the sovereignty of the +seas--compelled its allies to furnish vessels of war, and trusted to its +naval armaments for the supremacy it maintained during the brightest ages +of Greece. In none either of the Doric or Ionian states, was agriculture +of such importance as to exercise much influence on manners or literature. +Their territories were so limited, that the inhabitants were never removed +to such a distance from the capital as to imbibe the ideas of husbandmen. +In Thessaly and Lacedæmon, agriculture was accounted degrading, and its +cares were committed to slaves. The vales of Boeotia were fruitful, but +were desolated by floods. Farms of any considerable extent could scarcely +be laid down on the limited, though lovely isles of the Ægean and Ionian +seas. The barren soil and mountains of the centre of Peloponnesus confined +the Arcadians to pasturage--an employment bearing some analogy to +agriculture, but totally different in its mental effects, leading to a +life of indolence, contemplation, and wandering, instead of the +industrious, practical, and settled habits of husbandmen. Though the +Athenians breathed the purest air beneath the clearest skies, and their +long summer was gilded by the brightest beams of Apollo, the soil of +Attica was sterile and metallic; while, from the excessive inequalities in +its surface, all the operations of agriculture were of the most difficult +and hazardous description. The streams were overflowing torrents, which +stripped the soil, leaving nothing but a light sand, on which grain would +scarcely grow. But it was with the commencement of the Peloponnesian war +that the exercise of agriculture terminated in Attica. The country being +left unprotected, owing to the injudicious policy of Pericles, was +annually ravaged by the Spartans, and the husbandmen were forced to seek +refuge within the walls of Athens. In the early part of the age of +Pericles, the Athenians possessed ornamented villas in the country; but +they always returned to the city in the evening(1). We do not hear that +the great men in the early periods of the republic, as Themistocles and +Aristides, were farmers; and the heroes of its latter ages, as Iphicrates +and Timotheus, chose their retreats in Thrace, the islands of the +Archipelago, or coast of Ionia. + +A picture, in every point of view the reverse of this, is presented to us +by the _Agreste Latium_. The ancient Italian mode of life was almost +entirely agricultural and rural; and with exception, perhaps, of the +Etruscans, none of the Italian states were in any degree maritime or +commercial. Italy was well adapted for every species of agriculture, and +was most justly termed by her greatest poet, _magna parens frugum_. +Dionysius of Halicarnassus(2), Strabo(3), and Pliny(4), talk with +enthusiasm of its fertile soil and benignant climate. Where the ground was +most depressed and marshy, the meadows were stretched out for the +pasturage of cattle. In the level country, the rich arable lands, such as +the Campanian and Capuan plains, extended in vast tracts, and produced a +profusion of fruits of every species, while on the acclivities, where the +skirts of the mountains began to break into little hills and sloping +fields, the olive and vine basked on soils famed for Messapian oil, and +for wines of which the very names cheer and revive us. The mountains +themselves produced marble and timber, and poured from their sides many a +delightful stream, which watered the fields, gladdened the pastures, and +moistened the meads to the very brink of the shore. Well then might Virgil +exclaim, in a burst of patriotism and poetry which has never been +surpassed,-- + + "Sed neque Medorum sylvæ, ditissima terra, + Nec pulcher Ganges, atque auro turbidus Hermus, + Laudibus Italiæ certent; non Bactra, neque Indi, + Totaque thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis. + Hic ver assiduum, atque alienis mensibus æstas; + Bis gravidæ pecudes, bis pomis utilis arbor. + * * * * + Salve, magna parens frugum, Saturnia tellus(5)!" + +One would not suppose that agricultural care was very consistent, at least +in a small state, with frequent warfare. But in no period of their +republic did the Romans neglect the advantages which the land they +inhabited presented for husbandry. Romulus, who had received a rustic +education, and had spent his youth in hunting, had no attachment to any +peaceful arts, except to rural labours; and this feeling pervaded his +legislation. His Sabine successor, Numa Pompilius, who well understood and +discharged the duties of sovereignty, divided the whole territory of Rome +into different cantons. An exact account was rendered to him of the manner +in which these were cultivated; and he occasionally went in person to +survey them, in order to encourage those farmers whose lands were well +tilled, and to reproach others with their want of industry(6). By the +institution, too, of various religious festivals, connected with +agriculture, it came to be regarded with a sort of sacred reverence. Ancus +Martius, who trod in the steps of Numa, recommended to his people the +assiduous cultivation of their lands. After the expulsion of the kings, an +Agrarian law, by which only seven acres were allotted to each citizen, was +promulgated, and for some time rigidly enforced. Exactness and economy in +the various occupations of agriculture were the natural consequences of +such regulations. Each Roman having only a small portion of land assigned +to him, and the support of his family depending entirely on the produce +which it yielded, its culture necessarily engaged his whole attention. + +In these early ages of the Roman commonwealth, when the greatest men +possessed but a few acres, the lands were laboured by the proprietors +themselves. The introduction of commerce, and the consequent acquisition +of wealth, had not yet enabled individuals to purchase the estates of +their fellow-citizens, and to obtain a revenue from the rent of land +rather than from its cultivation. + +The patricians, who, in the city, were so distinct from the plebeian +orders, were thus confounded with them in the country, in the common +avocations of husbandry. After having presided over the civil affairs of +the republic, or commanded its armies, the most distinguished citizens +returned, without repining, to till the lands of their forefathers. +Cincinnatus, who was found at labour in his fields by those who came to +announce his election to the dictatorship, was not a singular example of +the same hand which held the plough guiding also the helm of the state, +and erecting the standard of its legions. So late as the time of the first +Carthaginian war, Regulus, in the midst of his victorious career in +Africa, asked leave from the senate to return to Italy, in order to +cultivate his farm of seven acres, which had been neglected during his +absence(7). Many illustrious names among the Romans originated in +agricultural employments, or some circumstances of rustic skill and +labour, by which the founders of families were distinguished. The Fabii +and Lentuli were supposed to have been celebrated for the culture of +pulses, and the Asinii and Vitellii for the art of rearing animals. In the +time of the elder Cato, though the manual operations were performed for +the most part by servants, the great men resided chiefly on their +farms(8); and they continued to apply to the study and practice of +agriculture long after they had carried the victorious arms of their +country beyond the confines of Italy. They did not, indeed, follow +agriculture as their sole avocation; but they prosecuted it during the +intervals of peace, and in the vacations of the Forum. The art being thus +exercised by men of high capacity, received the benefit of all the +discoveries, inventions, or experiments suggested by talents and force of +intellect. The Roman warriors tilled their fields with the same +intelligence as they pitched their camps, and sowed corn with the same +care with which they drew up their armies for battle. Hence, as a modern +Latin poet observes, dilating on the expression of Pliny, the earth +yielded such an exuberant return, that she seemed as it were to delight in +being ploughed with a share adorned with laurels, and by a ploughman who +had earned a triumph:-- + + "Hanc etiam, ut perhibent, sese formabat ad artem, + Cùm domito Fabius Dictator ab hoste redibat: + Non veritus, medio dederat qui jura Senatu, + Ferre idem arboribusque suis, terræque colendæ, + Victricesque manus ruri præstare serendo. + Ipsa triumphales tellus experta colonos, + Atque ducum manibus quondam versata suorum, + Majores fructus, majora arbusta ferebat(9)." + +Nor were the Romans contented with merely labouring the ground: They also +delivered precepts for its proper cultivation, which, being committed to +writing, formed, as it were, a new science, and, being derived from actual +experience, had an air of originality rarely exhibited in their literary +productions. Such maxims were held by the Romans in high respect, since +they were considered as founded on the observation of men who had +displayed the most eminent capacity and knowledge in governing the state, +in framing its laws, and leading its armies. + +These precepts which formed the works of the agricultural writers--the +_Rusticæ rei scriptores_--are extremely interesting and comprehensive. The +Romans had a much greater variety than we, of grain, pulse, and roots; +and, besides, had vines, olives, and other plantations, which were +regarded as profitable crops. The situation, too, and construction of a +villa, with the necessary accommodation for slaves and workmen, the wine +and oil cellars, the granaries, the repositories for preserving fruit, the +poultry yard, and aviaries, form topics of much attention and detail. +These were the appertenancies of the _villa rustica_, or complete +farm-house, which was built for the residence only of an industrious +husbandman, and with a view towards profit from the employments of +agriculture. As luxury, indeed, increased, the villa was adapted to the +accommodation of an opulent Roman citizen, and the country was resorted to +rather for recreation than for the purpose of lucrative toil. What would +Cato the Censor, distinguished for his industry and unceasing attention to +the labours of the field, have thought of the following lines of Horace? + + "O rus, quando ego te aspiciam? quandoque licebit + Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis, + Ducere sollicitæ jucunda oblivia vitæ?" + +It was this more refined relish for the country, so keenly enjoyed by the +Romans in the luxurious ages of the state, that furnished the subject for +the finest passages and allusions in the works of the Latin poets, who +seem to vie with each other in their praises of a country life, and the +sweetness of the numbers in which they celebrate its simple and tranquil +enjoyments. The Epode of Horace, commencing, + + "Beatus ille, qui procul negotiis," + +which paints the charms of rural existence, in the various seasons of the +year--the well-known passages in Virgil's _Georgics_, and those in the +second book of Lucretius, are the most exquisite and lovely productions of +these triumvirs of Roman poetry. But the ancient prose writers, with whom +we are now to be engaged, regarded agriculture rather as an art than an +amusement, and a country life as subservient to profitable employment, and +not to elegant recreation. In themselves, however, these compositions are +highly curious; they are curious, too, as forming a commentary and +illustration of the subjects, + + "Quas et facundi tractavit Musa Maronis." + +It is likewise interesting to compare them with the works of the modern +Italians on husbandry, as the _Liber Ruralium Commodorum_ of Crescenzio, +written about the end of the thirteenth century,--the _Coltivazione +Toscana_ of Davanzati,--Vittorio's treatise, _Degli Ulivi_,--and even +Alamanni's poem _Coltivazione_, which closely follows, particularly as to +the situation and construction of a villa, the precepts of Cato, Varro, +and Columella. The plough used at this day by the peasantry in the +Campagna di Roma, is of the same form as that of the ancient Latian +husbandmen(10); and many other points of resemblance may be discovered, on +a perusal of the most recent writers on the subject of Italian +cultivation(11). Dickson, too, who, in his _Husbandry of the Ancients_, +gives an account of Roman agriculture so far as connected with the labours +of the British farmer, has shown, that, in spite of the great difference +of soil and climate, many maxims of the old Roman husbandmen, as delivered +by Cato and Varro, corresponded with the agricultural system followed in +his day in England. + +Of the distinguished Roman citizens who practised agriculture, none were +more eminent than Cato and Varro; and by them the precepts of the art were +also committed to writing. Their works are original compositions, founded +on experience, and not on Grecian models, like so many other Latin +productions. Varro, indeed, enumerates about fifty Greek authors, who, +previous to his time, had written on the subject of agriculture; and Mago, +the Carthaginian, composed, in the Punic language, a much-approved +treatise on the same topic, in thirty-two books, which was afterwards +translated into Latin by desire of the senate. But the early Greek works, +with the exception of Xenophon's _OEconomics_ and the poem of Hesiod called +_Works and Days_, have been entirely lost; the tracts published in the +collection entitled _Geoponica_, being subsequent to the age of Varro. + + + + + + MARCUS PORCIUS CATO, + + +better known by the name of Cato the Censor, wrote the earliest book on +husbandry which we possess in the Latin language. This distinguished +citizen was born in the 519th year of Rome. Like other Romans of his day, +he was brought up to the profession of arms. In the short intervals of +peace he resided, during his youth, at a small country-house in the Sabine +territory, which he had inherited from his father. Near it there stood a +cottage belonging to Manius Curius Dentatus, who had repeatedly triumphed +over the Sabines and Samnites, and had at length driven Pyrrhus from +Italy. Cato was accustomed frequently to walk over to the humble abode of +this renowned commander, where he was struck with admiration at the +frugality of its owner, and the skilful management of the farm which was +attached to it. Hence it became his great object to emulate his +illustrious neighbour, and adopt him as his model(12). Having made an +estimate of his house, lands, slaves, and expenses, he applied himself to +husbandry with new ardour, and retrenched all superfluity. In the morning +he went to the small towns in the vicinity, to plead and defend the causes +of those who applied to him for assistance. Thence he returned to his +fields; where, with a plain cloak over his shoulders in winter, and almost +naked in summer, he laboured with his servants till they had concluded +their tasks, after which he sat down along with them at table, eating the +same bread, and drinking the same wine(13). At a more advanced period of +life, the wars, in which he commanded, kept him frequently at a distance +from Italy, and his forensic avocations detained him much in the city; but +what time he could spare was still spent at the Sabine farm, where he +continued to employ himself in the profitable cultivation of the land. He +thus became by the universal consent of his contemporaries, the best +farmer of his age, and was held unrivalled for the skill and success of +his agricultural operations(14). Though everywhere a rigid economist, he +lived, it is said, more hospitably at his farm than in the city. His +entertainments at his villa were at first but sparing, and seldom given; +but as his wealth increased, he became more nice and delicate. "At first," +says Plutarch, "when he was but a poor soldier, he was not difficult in +anything which related to his diet; but afterwards, when he grew richer, +and made feasts for his friends, presently, when supper was done, he +seized a leathern thong, and scourged those who had not given due +attendance, or dressed anything carelessly(15)." Towards the close of his +life, he almost daily invited some of his friends in the neighbourhood to +sup with him; and the conversation at these meals turned not chiefly, as +might have been expected, on rural affairs, but on the praises of great +and excellent men among the Romans(16). + +It may be supposed, that in the evenings after the agricultural labours of +the morning, and after his friends had left him, he noted down the +precepts suggested by the observations and experience of the day. That he +wrote such maxims for his own use, or the instruction of others, is +unquestionable; but the treatise _De Re Rustica_, which now bears his +name, appears to have been much mutilated, since Pliny and other writers +allude to subjects as treated of by Cato, and to opinions as delivered by +him in this book, which are nowhere to be found in any part of the work +now extant. + +In its present state, it is merely the loose unconnected journal of a +plain farmer, expressed with rude, sometimes with almost oracular brevity; +and it wants all those elegant topics of embellishment and illustration +which the subject might have so naturally suggested. It solely consists of +the dryest rules of agriculture, and some receipts for making various +kinds of cakes and wines. Servius says, it is addressed to the author's +son; but there is no such address now extant. It begins rather abruptly, +and in a manner extremely characteristic of the simple manners of the +author: "It would be advantageous to seek profit from commerce, if that +were not hazardous; or by usury, if that were honest: but our ancestors +ordained, that the thief should forfeit double the sum he had stolen, and +the usurer quadruple what he had taken, whence it may be concluded, that +they thought the usurer the worst of the two. When they wished highly to +praise a good man, they called him a good farmer. A merchant is zealous in +pushing his fortune, but his trade is perilous and liable to reverses. But +farmers make the bravest men, and the stoutest soldiers. Their gain is the +most honest, the most stable, and least exposed to envy. Those who +exercise the art of agriculture, are of all others least addicted to evil +thoughts." + +Our author then proceeds to his rules, many of which are sufficiently +obvious. Thus, he advises, that when one is about to purchase a farm, he +should examine if the climate, soil, and exposure be good: he should see +that it can be easily supplied with plenty of water,--that it lies in the +neighbourhood of a town,--and near a navigable river, or the sea. The +directions for ascertaining the quality of the land are not quite so clear +or self-evident. He recommends the choice of a farm where there are few +implements of labour, as this shews the soil to be easily cultivated; and +where there are, on the other hand, a number of casks and vessels, which +testify an abundant produce. With regard to the best way of laying out a +farm when it is purchased, supposing it to be one of a hundred acres, the +most profitable thing is a vineyard; next, a garden, that can be watered; +then a willow grove; 4th, an olive plantation; 5th, meadow-ground; 6th, +corn fields; and, lastly, forest trees and brushwood. Varro cites this +passage, but he gives the preference to meadows: These required little +expense; and, by his time, the culture of vines had so much increased in +Italy, and such a quantity of foreign wine was imported, that vineyards +had become less valuable than in the days of the Censor. Columella, +however, agrees with Cato: He successively compares the profits accruing +from meadows, pasture, trees, and corn, with those of vineyards; and, on +an estimate, prefers the last. + +When a farm has been purchased, the new proprietor should perambulate the +fields the day he arrives, or, if he cannot do so, on the day after, for +the purpose of seeing what has been done, and what remains to be +accomplished. Rules are given for the most assiduous employment without +doors, and the most rigid economy within. When a servant is sick he will +require less food. All the old oxen and the cattle of delicate frame, the +old wagons, and old implements of husbandry, are to be sold off. The +sordid parsimony of the Censor leads him to direct, that a provident +_paterfamilias_ should sell such of his slaves as are aged and infirm; a +recommendation which has drawn down on him the well-merited indignation of +Plutarch(17). These are some of the duties of the master; and there +follows a curious detail of the qualifications and duties of the +_villicus_, or overseer, who, in particular, is prohibited from the +exercise of religious rites, and consultation of augurs. + +It is probable that, in the time of Cato, the Romans had begun to extend +their villas considerably, which makes him warn proprietors of land not to +be rash in building. When a landlord is thirty-six years of age he may +build, provided his fields have been brought into a proper state of +cultivation. His direction with regard to the extent of the villa is +concise, but seems a very proper one;--he advises, to build in such a +manner that the villa may not need a farm, nor the farm a villa. Lucullus +and Scævola both violated this golden rule, as we learn from Pliny; who +adds, that it will be readily conjectured, from their respective +characters, that it was the farm of Scævola which stood in need of the +villa, and the villa of Lucullus which required the farm. + +A vast variety of crops was cultivated by the Romans, and the different +kinds were adapted by them, with great care, to the different soils. Cato +is very particular in his injunctions on this subject. A field that is of +a rich and genial soil should be sown with corn; but, if wet or moist, +with turnips and raddish. Figs are to be planted in chalky land; and +willows in watery situations, in order to serve as twigs for tying the +vines. This being the proper mode of laying out a farm, our author gives a +detail of the establishment necessary to keep it up;--the number of +workmen, the implements of husbandry, and the farm-offices, with the +materials necessary for their construction. + +He next treats of the management of vineyards and olives; the proper mode +of planting, grafting, propping, and fencing: And he is here naturally led +to furnish directions for making and preserving the different sorts of +wine and oil; as also to specify how much of each is to be allowed to the +servants of the family. + +In discoursing of the cultivation of fields for corn, Cato enjoins the +farmer to collect all sorts of weeds for manure. Pigeons' dung he prefers +to that of every animal. He gives orders for burning lime, and for making +charcoal and ashes from the branches or twigs of trees. The Romans seem to +have been at great pains in draining their fields; and Cato directs the +formation both of open and covered drains. Oxen being employed in +ploughing the fields, instructions are added for feeding and taking due +care of them. The Roman plough has been a subject of much discussion: Two +sorts are mentioned by Cato, which he calls _Romanicum_, and +_Campanicum_--the first being proper for a stiff, and the other for a light +soil. Dickson conjectures, that the _Romanicum_ had an iron Share, and the +_Campanicum_ a piece of timber, like the Scotch plough, and a sock driven +upon it. The plough, with other agricultural implements, as the _crates_, +_rastrum_, _ligo_, and _sarculum_, most of which are mentioned by Cato, +form a curious point of Roman antiquities. + +The preservation of corn, after it has been reaped, is a subject of much +importance, to which Cato has paid particular attention. This was a matter +of considerable difficulty in Italy, in the time of the Romans; and all +their agricultural writers are extremely minute in their directions for +preserving it from rot, and from the depredations of insects, by which it +was frequently consumed. + +A great part of the work of Cato is more appropriate to the housewife than +the farmer. We have receipts for making all sorts of cakes and puddings, +fattening hens and geese, preserving figs during winter; as also medical +prescriptions for the cure of various diseases, both of man and beast. +_Mala punica_, or pomegranates, are the chief ingredient, in his remedies, +for Diarrhoea, Dyspepsia, and Stranguary. Sometimes, however, his cures for +diseases are not medical recipes, but sacrifices, atonements, or charms. +The prime of all is his remedy for a luxation or fracture.--"Take," says +he, "a green reed, and slit it along the middle--throw the knife upwards, +and join the two parts of the reed again, and tie it so to the place +broken or disjointed, and say this charm--'Daries, Dardaries, Astataries, +Dissunapiter.' Or this--'Huat, Hanat, Huat, Ista, Pista, Fista, Domiabo, +Damnaustra.' This will make the part sound again(18)." + +The most remarkable feature in the work of Cato, is its total want of +arrangement. It is divided, indeed, into chapters, but the author, +apparently, had never taken the trouble of reducing his precepts to any +sort of method, or of following any general plan. The hundred and +sixty-two chapters, of which his work consists, seem so many rules +committed to writing, as the daily labours of the field suggested. He +gives directions about the vineyard, then goes to his corn-fields, and +returns again to the vineyard. His treatise was, therefore, evidently not +intended as a regular or well-composed book, but merely as a journal of +incidental observations. That this was its utmost pretensions, is farther +evinced by the brevity of the precepts, and deficiency of all illustration +or embellishment. Of the style, he of course would be little careful, as +his _Memoranda_ were intended for the use only of his family and slaves. +It is therefore always simple,--sometimes even rude; but it is not ill +adapted to the subject, and suits our notion of the severe manners of its +author, and character of the ancient Romans. + +Besides this book on agriculture, Cato left behind him various works, +which have almost entirely perished. He left a hundred and fifty +orations(19), which were existing in the time of Cicero, though almost +entirely neglected, and a book on military discipline(20), both of which, +if now extant, would be highly interesting, as proceeding from one who was +equally distinguished in the camp and forum. A good many of his orations +were in dissuasion or favour of particular laws and measures of state, as +those entitled--"Ne quis iterum Consul fiat--De bello Carthaginiensi," of +which war he was a vehement promoter--"Suasio in Legem Voconiam,--Pro Lege +Oppia," &c. Nearly a third part of these orations were pronounced in his +own defence. He had been about fifty times accused(21), and as often +acquitted. When charged with a capital crime, in the 85th year of his age, +he pleaded his own cause, and betrayed no failure in memory, no decline of +vigour, and no faltering of voice(22). By his readiness, and pertinacity, +and bitterness, he completely wore out his adversaries(23), and earned the +reputation of being, if not the most eloquent, at least the most stubborn +speaker among the Romans. + +Cato's oration in favour of the Oppian law, which was a sumptuary +restriction on the expensive dresses of the Roman matrons, is given by +Livy(24). It was delivered in opposition to the tribune Valerius, who +proposed its abrogation, and affords us some notion of his style and +manner, since, if not copied by the historian from his book of orations, +it was doubtless adapted by him to the character of Cato, and his mode of +speaking. Aulus Gellius cites, as equally distinguished for its eloquence +and energy, a passage in his speech on the division of spoil among the +soldiery, in which he complains of their unpunished peculation and +licentiousness. One of his most celebrated harangues was that in favour of +the Rhodians, the ancient allies of the Roman people, who had fallen under +the suspicion of affording aid to Perseus, during the second Macedonian +war. The oration was delivered after the overthrow of that monarch, when +the Rhodian envoys were introduced into the Senate, in order to explain +the conduct of their countrymen, and to deprecate the vengeance of the +Romans, by throwing the odium of their apparent hostility on the +turbulence of a few factious individuals. It was pronounced in answer to +those Senators, who, after hearing the supplications of the Rhodians, were +for declaring war against them; and it turned chiefly on the ancient, +long-tried fidelity of that people,--taking particular advantage of the +circumstance, that the assistance rendered to Perseus had not been a +national act, proceeding from a public decree of the people. Tiro, the +freedman of Cicero, wrote a long and elaborate criticism on this oration. +To the numerous censures it contains, Aulus Gellius has replied at +considerable length, and has blamed Tiro for singling out from a speech so +rich, and so happily connected, small and insulated portions, as objects +of his reprehensive satire. All the various topics, he adds, which are +enlarged on in this oration, if they could have been introduced with more +perspicuity, method, and harmony, could not have been delivered with more +energy and strength(25). + +Both Cicero and Livy have expressed themselves very fully on the subject +of Cato's orations. The former admits, that his "language is antiquated, +and some of his phrases harsh and inelegant: but only change that," he +continues, "which it was not in his power to change--add number and +cadence--give an easier turn to his sentences--and regulate the structure +and connection of his words, (an art which was as little practised by the +older Greeks as by him,) and you will find no one who can claim the +preference to Cato. The Greeks themselves acknowledge, that the chief +beauty of composition results from the frequent use of those forms of +expression, which they call tropes, and of those varieties of language and +sentiment, which they call figures; but it is almost incredible with what +copiousness, and with what variety, they are all employed by Cato(26)." +Livy principally speaks of the facility, asperity, and freedom of his +tongue(27). Aulus Gellius has instituted a comparison of Caius Gracchus, +Cato, and Cicero, in passages where these three orators declaimed against +the same species of atrocity--the illegal scourging of Roman citizens; and +Gellius, though he admits that Cato had not reached the splendour, +harmony, and pathos of Cicero, considers him as far superior in force and +copiousness to Gracchus(28). + +Of the book on Military Discipline, a good deal has been incorporated into +the work of Vegetius; and Cicero's orations may console us for the want of +those of Cato. But the loss of the seven books, _De Originibus_, which he +commenced in his vigorous old age, and finished just before his death, +must ever be deeply deplored by the historian and antiquary. Cato is said +to have begun to inquire into the history, antiquities, and language of +the Roman people, with a view to counteract the influence of the Greek +taste, introduced by the Scipios; and in order to take from the Greeks the +honour of having colonized Italy, he attempted to discover on the Latin +soil the traces of ancient national manners, and an indigenous +civilization. The first book of the valuable work _De Originibus_, as we +are informed by Cornelius Nepos, in his short life of Cato, contained the +exploits of the kings of Rome. Cato was the first author who attempted to +fix the era of the foundation of Rome, which he calculated in his +_Origines_, and determined it to have been in the first year of the 7th +Olympiad. In order to discover this epoch, he had recourse to the memoirs +of the Censors, in which it was noted, that the taking of Rome by the +Gauls, was 119 years after the expulsion of the kings. By adding this +period to the aggregate duration of the reigns of the kings, he found that +the amount answered to the first of the 7th Olympiad. This is the +computation followed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in his great work on +Roman antiquities. It is probably as near the truth as we can hope to +arrive; but even in the time of Cato, the calculated duration of the +reigns of the kings was not founded on any ancient monuments then extant, +or on the testimony of any credible historian. The second and third books +treated of the origin of the different states of Italy, whence the whole +work has received the name of _Origines_. The fourth and fifth books +comprehended the history of the first and second Punic wars; and in the +two remaining books, the author discussed the other campaigns of the +Romans till the time of Ser. Galba, who overthrew the Lusitanians. + +In his account of these later contests, Cato merely related the facts, +without mentioning the names of the generals or leaders; but though he has +omitted this, Pliny informs us that he did not forget to take notice, that +the elephant which fought most stoutly in the Carthaginian army was called +Surus, and wanted one of his teeth(29). In this same work he incidentally +treated of all the wonderful and admirable things which existed in Spain +and Italy. Some of his orations, too, as we learn from Livy, were +incorporated into it, as that for giving freedom to the Lusitanian +hostages; and Plutarch farther mentions, that he omitted no opportunity of +praising himself, and extolling his services to the state. The work, +however, exhibited great industry and learning, and, had it descended to +us, would unquestionably have thrown much light on the early periods of +Roman history and the antiquities of the different states of Italy. +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, himself a sedulous inquirer into antiquities, +bears ample testimony to the research and accuracy of that part which +treats of the origin of the ancient Italian cities. The author lived at a +time which was favourable to this investigation. Though the Samnites, +Etruscans, and Sabines, had been deprived of their independence, they had +not lost their monuments or records of their history, their individuality +and national manners. Cicero praises the simple and concise style of the +_Origines_, and laments that the work was neglected in his day, in +consequence of the inflated manner of writing which had been recently +adopted; in the same manner as the tumid and ornamented periods of +Theopompus had lessened the esteem for the concise and unadorned narrative +of Thucydides, or as the lofty eloquence of Demosthenes impaired the +relish for the extreme attic simplicity of Lysias(30). + +In the same part of the dialogue, entitled _Brutus_, Cicero asks what +flower or light of eloquence is wanting to the _Origines_--"Quem florem, +aut quod lumen eloquentiæ non habent?" But on Atticus considering the +praise thus bestowed as excessive, he limits it, by adding, that nothing +was required to complete the strokes of the author's pencil but a certain +lively glow of colours, which had not been discovered in his +age.--"Intelliges, nihil illius lineamentis, nisi eorum pigmentorum, quæ +inventa nondum erant, florem et calorem defuisse(31)." + +The pretended fragments of the _Origines_, published by the Dominican, +Nanni, better known by the name of Annius Viterbiensis, and inserted in +his _Antiquitates Variæ_, printed at Rome in 1498, are spurious, and the +imposition was detected soon after their appearance. The few remains first +collected by Riccobonus, and published at the end of his Treatise on +History, (Basil, 1579,) are believed to be genuine. They have been +enlarged by Ausonius Popma, and added by him, with notes, to the other +writings of Cato, published at Leyden in 1590. + +Any rudeness of style and language which appears either in the orations of +Cato, or in his agricultural and historical works, cannot be attributed to +total carelessness or neglect of the graces of composition, as he was the +first person in Rome who treated of oratory as an art(32), in a tract +entitled _De Oratore ad Filium_. + +Cato was also the first of his countrymen who wrote on the subject of +medicine(33). Rome had existed for 500 years without professional +physicians(34). A people who as yet were strangers to luxury, and +consisted of farmers and soldiers, (though surgical operations might be +frequently necessary,) would be exempt from the inroads of the "grisly +troop," so much encouraged by indolence and debauchery. Like all +semi-barbarous people, they believed that maladies were to be cured by the +special interposition of superior beings, and that religious ceremonies +were more efficacious for the recovery of health than remedies of medical +skill. Deriving, as they did, much of their worship from the Etruscans, +they probably derived from them also the practice of attempting to +overcome disease by magic and incantation. The Augurs and Aruspices were +thus the most ancient physicians of Rome. In epidemic distempers the +Sibylline books were consulted, and the cures they prescribed were +superstitious ceremonies. We have seen that it was to free the city from +an attack of this sort that scenic representations were first introduced +at Rome. During the progress of another epidemic infliction a temple was +built to Apollo(35); and as each periodic pestilence naturally abated in +course of time, faith was confirmed in the efficacy of the rites which +were resorted to. Every one has heard of the pomp wherewith Esculapius was +transported under the form of a serpent, from Epidaurus to an islet in the +Tiber, which was thereafter consecrated to that divine physician. The +apprehension of diseases raised temples to Febris and Tussis, and other +imaginary beings belonging to the painful family of death in order to +avert the disorders which they were supposed to inflict. It was perceived, +however, that religious professions and lustrations and _lectisterniums_ +were ineffectual for the cure of those complaints, which, in the 6th +century, luxury began to exasperate and render more frequent at Rome. At +length, in 534, Archagatus, a free-born Greek, arrived in Italy, where he +practised medicine professionally as an art, and received in return for +his cures the endearing appellation of _Carnifex_(36). But though +Archagatus was the first who practised medicine, Cato was the first who +wrote of diseases and their treatment as a science, in his work entitled +_Commentarius quo Medetur Filio, Servis, Familiaribus_. In this book of +domestic medicine--duck, pigeons, and hare, were the foods he chiefly +recommended to the sick(37). His remedies were principally extracted from +herbs; and colewort, or cabbage, was his favourite cure(38). The recipes, +indeed, contained in his work on agriculture, show that his medical +knowledge did not exceed that which usually exists among a semi-barbarous +race, and only extended to the most ordinary simples which nature affords. +Cato hated the compound drugs introduced by the Greek +physicians--considering these foreign professors of medicine as the +opponents of his own system. Such, indeed, was his antipathy, that he +believed, or pretended to believe, that they had entered into a league to +poison all the barbarians, among whom they classed the Romans.--"Jurarunt +inter se," says he, in a passage preserved by Pliny, "barbaros necare +omnes medicina: Et hoc ipsum mercede faciunt, ut fides iis sit, et facile +disperdant(39)." Cato, finding that the patients lived notwithstanding +this detestable conspiracy, began to regard the Greek practitioners as +impious sorcerers, who counteracted the course of nature, and restored +dying men to life, by means of unholy charms; and he therefore advised his +countrymen to remain stedfast, not only by their ancient Roman principles +and manners, but also by the venerable unguents and salubrious balsams +which had come down to them from the wisdom of their grandmothers. Such as +they were, Cato's old medical saws continued long in repute at Rome. It is +evident that they were still esteemed in the time of Pliny, who expresses +the same fears as the Censor, lest hot baths and potions should render his +countrymen effeminate, and corrupt their manners(40). + +Every one knows what was the consequence of Cato's dislike to the Greek +philosophers, who were expelled from the city by a decree of the senate. +But it does not seem certain what became of Archagatus and his followers. +The author of the _Diogene Moderne_, as cited by Tiraboschi, says that +Archagatus was stoned to death(41), but the literary historian who quotes +him doubts of his having any sufficient authority for the assertion. +Whether the physicians were comprehended in the general sentence of +banishment pronounced on the learned Greeks, or were excepted from it, has +been the subject of a great literary controversy in modern Italy and in +France(42). + +Aulus Gellius(43) mentions Cato's _Libri quæstionum Epistolicarum_, and +Cicero his _Apophthegmata_(44), which was probably the first example of +that class of works which, under the appellation of _Ana_, became so +fashionable and prevalent in France. + +The only other work of Cato which I shall mention, is the _Carmen de +Moribus_. This, however, was not written in verse, as might be supposed +from the title. Precepts, imprecations, and prayers, or any set _formulæ_ +whatever, were called _Carmina_. I do not know what maxims were inculcated +in this _carmen_, but they probably were not of very rigid morality, at +least if we may judge from the "Sententia Dia Catonis," mentioned by +Horace: + + "Quidam notus homo cùm exiret fornice, Macte + Virtute esto, inquit sententia dia Catonis(45)." + +Misled by the title, some critics have erroneously assigned to the Censor +the _Disticha de Moribus_, now generally attributed to Dionysius Cato, who +lived, according to Scaliger in the age of Commodus and Septimius +Severus(46). + +The work of + + + + + + MARCUS TERENTIUS VARRO, + + +On agriculture, has descended to us more entire than that of Cato on the +same subject; yet it does not appear to be complete. In the early times of +the republic, the Romans, like the ancient Greeks, being constantly +menaced with the incursions of enemies, indulged little in the luxury of +expensive and ornamental villas. Even that of Scipio Africanus, the rival +and contemporary of Cato the Censor, and who in many other respects +anticipated the refinements of a later age, was of the simplest structure. +It was situated at Liternum, (now Patria,) a few miles north from Cumæ, +and was standing in the time of Seneca. This philosopher paid a visit to a +friend who resided in it during the age of Nero, and he afterwards +described it in one of his epistles with many expressions of wonder and +admiration at the frugality of the great Africanus(47). When, however, the +scourge of war was removed from their immediate vicinity, agriculture and +gardening were no longer exercised by the Romans as in the days of the +Censor, when great crops of grain were raised for profit, and fields of +onions sown for the subsistence of the labouring servants. The patricians +now became fond of ornamental gardens, fountains, terraces, artificial +wildernesses, and grottos, groves of laurel for shelter in winter, and +oriental planes for shade in summer. Matters, in short, were fast +approaching to the state described in one of the odes of Horace-- + + "Jam pauca aratro jugera regiæ, + Moles relinquent: undique latius + Extenta visentur Lucrino + Stagna lacu: platanusque coelebs + Evincet ulmos: tum violaria, et + Myrtus, et omnis copia narium, + Spargent olivetis odorem + Fertilibus domino priori. + Tum spissa ramis laurea fervidos + Excludet ictus. Non ita Romuli + Præscriptum, et intonsi Catonis + Auspiciis, veterumque norma(48)." + +Agriculture, however, still continued to be so respectable an employment, +that its practice was not considered unworthy the friend of Cicero and +Pompey, nor its precepts undeserving to be delivered by one who was +indisputably the first scholar of his age--who was renowned for his +profound erudition and thorough insight into the laws, the literature, and +antiquities of his country,--and who has been hailed by Petrarch as the +third great luminary of Rome, being only inferior in lustre to Cicero and +Virgil:-- + + "Qui' vid' io nostra gente aver per duce + Varrone, il terzo gran lume Romano, + Che quanto 'l miro più, tanto più luce(49)." + +Varro was born in the 637th year of Rome, and was descended of an ancient +senatorial family. It is probable that his youth, and even the greater +part of his manhood, were spent in literary pursuits, and in the +acquisition of that stupendous knowledge, which has procured to him the +appellation of the most learned of the Romans, since his name does not +appear in the civil or military history of his country, till the year 680, +when he was Consul along with Cassius Varus. In 686, he served under +Pompey, in his war against the pirates, in which he commanded the Greek +ships(50). To the fortunes of that Chief he continued firmly attached, and +was appointed one of his lieutenants in Spain, along with Afranius and +Petreius, at the commencement of the war with Cæsar. Hispania Ulterior was +specially confided to his protection, and two legions were placed under +his command. After the surrender of his colleagues in Hither Spain, Cæsar +proceeded in person against him. Varro appears to have been little +qualified to cope with such an adversary. One of the legions deserted in +his own sight, and his retreat to Cadiz, where he had meant to retire, +having been cut off, he surrendered at discretion, with the other, in the +vicinity of Cordova(51). From that period he despaired of the salvation of +the republic, or found, at least, that he was not capable of saving it; +for although, after receiving his freedom from Cæsar, he proceeded to +Dyracchium, to give Pompey a detail of the disasters which had occurred, +he left it almost immediately for Rome. On his return to Italy he withdrew +from all political concerns, and indulged himself during the remainder of +his life in the enjoyment of literary leisure. The only service he +performed for Cæsar, was that of arranging the books which the Dictator +had himself procured, or which had been acquired by those who preceded him +in the management of public affairs(52). He lived during the reign of +Cæsar in habits of the closest intimacy with Cicero; and his feelings, as +well as conduct, at this period, resembled those of his illustrious +friend, who, in all his letters to Varro, bewails, with great freedom, the +utter ruin of the state, and proposes that they should live together, +engaged only in those studies which were formerly their amusement, but +were then their chief support. "And, should none require our services for +repairing the ruins of the republic, let us employ our time and thoughts +on moral and political inquiries. If we cannot benefit the commonwealth in +the forum or the senate, let us endeavour, at least, to do so by our +studies and writings; and, after the example of the most learned among the +ancients, contribute to the welfare of our country, by useful +disquisitions concerning laws and government." Some farther notion of the +manner in which Varro spent his time during this period may be derived +from another letter of Cicero, written in June, 707. "Nothing," says he, +"raises your character higher in my esteem, than that you have wisely +retreated into harbour--that you are enjoying the happy fruits of a learned +leisure, and employed in pursuits, which are attended with more public +advantage, as well as private satisfaction, than all the ambitious +exploits, or voluptuous indulgences, of these licentious victors. The +contemplative hours you spend at your Tusculan villa, are, in my +estimation, indeed, what alone deserves to be called life(53)." + +Varro passed the greatest portion of his time in the various villas which +he possessed in Italy. One of these was at Tusculum, and another in the +neighbourhood of Cumæ. The latter place had been among the earliest Greek +establishments in Italy, and was long regarded as pre-eminent in power and +population. It spread prosperity over the adjacent coasts; and its oracle, +Sibyl, and temple, long attracted votaries and visitants. As the Roman +power increased, that of Cumæ decayed; and its opulence had greatly +declined before the time of Varro. Its immediate vicinity was not even +frequently selected as a situation for villas. The Romans had a +well-founded partiality for the coasts of Puteoli, and Naples, so superior +in beauty and salubrity to the flat, marshy neighbourhood of Cumæ. The +situation of Varro's other villa, at Tusculum, must have been infinitely +more agreeable, from its pure air, and the commanding prospect it enjoyed. + +Besides immense flocks of sheep in Apulia, and many horses in the Sabine +district of Reate(54), Varro had considerable farms both at his Cuman and +Tusculan villas, the cultivation of which, no doubt, formed an agreeable +relaxation from his severe and sedentary studies. He had also a farm at a +third villa, where he occasionally resided, near the town of Casinum, in +the territory of the ancient Volsci(55), and situated on the banks of the +Cassinus, a tributary stream to the Liris. This stream, which was +fifty-seven feet broad, and both deep and clear, with a pebbly channel, +flowed through the middle of his delightful domains. A bridge, which +crossed the river from the house, led directly to an island, which was a +little farther down, at the confluence of the Cassinus with a rivulet +called the Vinius(56). Along the banks of the larger water there were +spacious pleasure-walks which conducted to the farm; and near the place +where they joined the fields, there was an extensive aviary(57). The site +of Varro's villa was visited by Sir R. C. Hoare, who says, that it stood +close to Casinum, now St Germano: Some trifling remains still indicate its +site; but its memory, he adds, will shortly survive only in the page of +the historian(58). + +After the assassination of Cæsar, this residence, along with almost all +the wealth of Varro, which was immense, was forcibly seized by Marc +Antony(59). Its lawless occupation by that profligate and blood-thirsty +triumvir, on his return from his dissolute expedition to Capua, is +introduced by Cicero into one of his Philippics, and forms a topic of the +most eloquent and bitter invective. The contrast which the orator draws +between the character of Varro and that of Antony--between the noble and +peaceful studies prosecuted in that delightful residence by the rightful +proprietor, and the shameful debaucheries of the wretch by whom it had +been usurped, forms a picture, to which it would be difficult to find a +parallel in ancient or modern oratory.--"How many days did you shamefully +revel, Antony, in that villa? From the third hour, it was one continued +scene of drinking, gambling, and uproar. The very roofs were to be pitied. +O, what a change of masters! But how can he be called its master? And, if +master--gods! how unlike to him he had dispossessed! Marcus Varro made his +house the abode of the muses, and a retreat for study--not a haunt for +midnight debauchery. Whilst he was there, what were the subjects +discussed--what the topics debated in that delightful residence? I will +answer the question--The rights and liberties of the Roman people--the +memorials of our ancestors--the wisdom resulting from reason combined with +knowledge. But whilst you, Antony, was its occupant, (for you cannot be +called its master,) every room rung with the cry of drunkenness--the +pavements were swimming with wine, and the walls wet with riot." + +Antony was not a person to be satisfied with robbing Varro of his +property. At the formation of the memorable triumvirate, the name of Varro +appeared in the list of the proscribed, among those other friends of +Pompey whom the clemency of Cæsar had spared. This illustrious and +blameless individual had now passed the age of seventy; and nothing can +afford a more frightful proof of the sanguinary spirit which guided the +councils of the triumvirs, than their devoting to the dagger of the hired +assassin a man equally venerable by his years and character, and who ought +to have been protected, if not by his learned labours, at least by his +retirement, from such inhuman persecution. But, though doomed to death as +a friend of law and liberty, his friends contended with each other for the +dangerous honour of saving him. Calenus having obtained the preference, +carried him to his country-house, where Antony frequently came, without +suspecting that it contained a proscribed inmate. Here Varro remained +concealed till a special edict was issued by the consul, M. Plancus, under +the triumviral seal, excepting him and Messala Corvinus from the general +slaughter(60). + +But though Varro thus passed in security the hour of danger, he was unable +to save his library, which was placed in the garden of one of his villas, +and fell into the hands of an illiterate soldiery. + +After the battle of Actium, Varro resided in tranquillity at Rome till his +decease, which happened in 727, when he was ninety years of age. The +tragical deaths, however, of Pompey and Cicero, with the loss of others of +his friends,--the ruin of his country,--the expulsion from his villas,--and +the loss of those literary treasures, which he had stored up as the solace +of his old age, and the want of which would be doubly felt by one who +wished to devote all his time to study,--must have cast a deep shade over +the concluding days of this illustrious scholar. His wealth was restored +by Augustus, but his books could not be supplied. + +It is not improbable, that the dispersion of this library, which impeded +the prosecution of his studies, and prevented the composition of such +works as required reference and consultation, may have induced Varro to +employ the remaining hours of his life in delivering those precepts of +agriculture, which had been the result of long experience, and which +needed only reminiscence to inculcate. It was some time after the loss of +his books, and when he had nearly reached the age of eighty, that Varro +composed the work on husbandry, as he himself testifies in the +introduction. "If I had leisure, I might write these things more +conveniently, which I will now explain as well as I am able, thinking that +I must make haste; because, if a man be a bubble of air, much more so is +an old man, for now my eightieth year admonishes me to get my baggage +together before I leave the world. Wherefore, as you have bought a farm, +which you are desirous to render profitable by tillage, and as you ask me +to take this task upon me, I will try to advise you what must be done, not +only during my stay here, but after my departure." The remainder of the +introduction forms, in its ostentatious display of erudition, a remarkable +contrast to Cato's simplicity. Varro talks of the Syrens and +Sibyls,--invokes all the Roman deities, supposed to preside over rural +affairs,--and enumerates all the Greek authors who had written on the +subject of agriculture previous to his own time. + +The first of the three books which this agricultural treatise comprehends, +is addressed, by Varro, to Fundanius, who had recently purchased a farm, +in the management of which he wished to be instructed. The information +which Varro undertakes to give, is communicated in the form of dialogue. +He feigns that, at the time appointed for rites to be performed in the +sowing season, (_sementivis feriis_,) he went, by invitation of the +priest, to the temple of Tellus. There he met his father-in-law, C. +Fundanius, the knight Agrius, and Agrasius, a farmer of imposts, who were +gazing on a map of Italy, painted on the inner walls of the temple. The +priest, whose duty it was to officiate, having been summoned by the ædile +to attend him on affairs of importance, they were awaiting his return; +and, in order to pass the time till his arrival, Agrasius commences a +conversation, (suggested by the map of Italy,) by inquiring at the others +present in the temple, whether they, who had travelled so much, had ever +visited any country better cultivated than Italy. This introduces an +eulogy on the soil and climate of that favoured region, and of its various +abundant productions,--the Apulian wheat, the Venafrian olive, and the +Falernian grape. All this, again, leads to the inquiry, by what arts of +agricultural skill and industry, aiding the luxuriant soil, it had reached +such unexampled fecundity. These questions are referred to Licinius Stolo, +and Tremellius Scrofa, who now joined the party, and who were well +qualified to throw light on the interesting discussion--the first being of +a family distinguished by the pains it had taken with regard to the +Agrarian laws, and the second being well known for possessing one of the +best cultivated farms in Italy. Scrofa, too, had himself written on +husbandry, as we learn from Columella; who says, that he had first +rendered agriculture eloquent. This first book of Varro is accordingly +devoted to rules for the cultivation of land, whether for the production +of grain, pulse, olives, or vines, and the establishment necessary for a +well-managed and lucrative farm; excluding from consideration what is +strictly the business of the grazier and shepherd, rather than of the +farmer. + +After some general observations on the object and end of agriculture, and +the exposition of some general principles with regard to soil and climate, +Scrofa and Stolo, who are the chief prolocutors, proceed to settle the +size, as also the situation of the villa. They recommend that it should be +placed at the foot of a well-wooded hill, and open to the most healthful +breeze. An eastern exposure seems to be preferred, as it will thus have +shade in summer, and sun in winter. They farther advise, that it should +not be placed in a hollow valley, as being there subject to storms and +inundations; nor in front of a river, as that situation is cold in winter, +and unwholesome in summer; nor in the vicinity of a marsh, where it would +be liable to be infested with small insects, which, though invisible, +enter the body by the mouth or nostrils, and occasion obstinate diseases. +Fundanius asks, what one ought to do who happens to inherit such a villa; +and is answered, that he should sell it for whatever sum it may bring; and +if it will bring nothing, he should abandon it. After this follow the +subjects of enclosure--the necessary implements of husbandry--the number of +servants and oxen required--and the soil in which different crops should be +sown. We have then a sort of calendar, directing what operations ought to +be performed in each season of the year. Thus, the author recommends +draining betwixt the winter solstice and approach of the zephyrs, which +was reckoned to be about the beginning of February. The sowing of grain +should not be commenced before the autumnal equinox, nor delayed after the +winter solstice; because the seeds which are sown previous to the equinox +spring up too quickly, and those sown subsequent to the solstice scarcely +appear above ground in forty days. A taste for flowers had begun to +prevail at Rome in the time of Varro; he accordingly recommends their +cultivation, and points out the seasons for planting the lily, violet and +crocus. + +The remainder of the first book of Varro is well and naturally arranged. +He considers his subject from the choice of the seed, till the grain has +sprung up, ripened, been reaped, secured, and brought to market. The same +course is followed in treating of the vine and the olive. While on the +subject of selling farm-produce to the best advantage, the conversation is +suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the priest's freedman, who came in +haste to apologize to the guests for having been so long detained, and to +ask them to attend on the following day at the obsequies of his master, +who had been just assassinated on the public street by an unknown hand. +The party in the temple immediately separate.--"De casu humano magis +querentes, quam admirantes id Romæ factum." + +The subject of agriculture, strictly so called, having been discussed in +the first book, Varro proceeds in the second, addressed to Niger Turranus, +to treat of the care of flocks and cattle, (_De Re Pecuaria_). The +knowledge which he here communicates is the result of his own +observations, blended with the information he had received from the great +pasturers of Epirus, at the time when he commanded the Grecian ships on +its coast, in Pompey's naval war with the pirates. As in the former book, +the instruction is delivered in the shape of dialogue. Varro being at the +house of a person called Cossinius, his host refuses to let him depart +till he explain to him the origin, the dignity, and the art of pasturage. +Our author undertakes to satisfy him as to the first and second points, +but as to the third, he refers him to Scrofa, another of the guests, who +had the management of extensive sheep-walks in the territory of the +Brutii. Varro makes but a pedantic figure in the part which he has +modestly taken to himself. His account of the origin of pasturage is +nothing but some very common-place observations on the early stages of +society; and its dignity is proved from several signs of the zodiac being +called after animals, as also some of the most celebrated spots on the +globe,--Mount Taurus, the Bosphorus, the Ægean sea, and Italy, which Varro +derives from Vitulus. Scrofa, in commencing his part of the dialogue, +divides the animals concerning which he is to treat into three classes: 1. +the lesser; of which there are three sorts--sheep, goats, and swine; 2. the +larger; of which there are also three--oxen, asses, and horses; and, +lastly, those which do not themselves bring profit, but are essential to +the care of the others--the dog, the mule, and the shepherd. With regard to +all animals, four things are to be considered in purchasing or procuring +them--their age, shape, pedigree, and price. After they have been +purchased, there are other four things to be attended to--feeding, +breeding, rearing, and curing distempers. According to this methodical +division of the subject, Scrofa proceeds to give rules for choosing the +best of the different species of animals which he has enumerated, as also +directions for tending them after they have been bought, and turning them +to the best profit. It is curious to hear what were considered the good +points of a goat, a hog, or a horse, in the days of Pompey and Cæsar; in +what regions they were produced in greatest size and perfection; what was +esteemed the most nutritive provender for each; and what number +constituted an ordinary flock or herd. The qualities specified as best in +an ox may perhaps astonish a modern grazier; but it must be remembered, +that they are applicable to the capacity for labour, not of carrying beef. +Hogs were fed by the Romans on acorns, beans, and barley; and, like our +own, indulged freely in the luxury of mire, which, Varro says, is as +refreshing to them as the bath to human creatures. The Romans, however, +did not rear, as we do, a solitary ill-looking pig in a sty, but possessed +great herds, sometimes amounting to the number of two or three hundred. + +From what the author records while treating of the pasturage of sheep, we +learn that a similar practice prevailed in Italy, with that which at this +day exists in Spain, in the management of the Merinos belonging to the +Mêstà. Flocks of sheep, which pastured during the winter in Apulia, were +driven to a great distance from that region, to pass the summer in +Samnium; and mules were led from the champaign grounds of Rosea, at +certain seasons, to the high Gurgurian mountains. With much valuable and +curious information on all these various topics, there are interspersed a +great many strange superstitions and fables, or what may be called vulgar +errors, as that swine breathe by the ears instead of the mouth or +nostrils--that when a wolf gets hold of a sow, the first thing he does is +to plunge it into cold water, as his teeth cannot otherwise bear the heat +of the flesh--that on the shore of Lusitania, mares conceive from the +winds, but their foals do not live above three years--and what is more +inexplicable, one of the speakers in the dialogue asserts, that he himself +had seen a sow in Arcadia so fat, that a field-mouse had made a +comfortable nest in her flesh, and brought forth its young. + +This book concludes with what forms the most profitable part of +pasturage--the dairy and sheep-shearing. + +The third book, which is by far the most interesting and best written in +the work, treats _de villicis pastionibus_, which means the provisions, or +moderate luxuries, which a plain farmer may procure, independent of +tillage or pasturage,--as the poultry of his barn-yard--the trouts in the +stream, by which his farm is bounded--and the game, which he may enclose in +parks, or chance to take on days of recreation. If others of the +agricultural writers have been more minute with regard to the construction +of the villa itself, it is to Varro we are chiefly indebted for what +lights we have received concerning its appertenancies, as warrens, +aviaries, and fish-ponds. The dialogue on these subjects is introduced in +the following manner:--At the comitia, held for electing an Ædile, Varro +and the Senator Axius, having given their votes for the candidate whom +they mutually favoured, and wishing to be at his house to receive him on +his return home, after all the suffrages had been taken, resolved to wait +the issue in the shade of a _villa publica_. There they found Appius +Claudius, the augur, whom Axius began to rally on the magnificence of his +villa, at the extremity of the Campus Martius, which he contrasts with the +profitable plainness of his own farm in the Reatine district. "Your +sumptuous mansion," says he, "is adorned with painting, sculpture, and +carving; but to make amends for the want of these, I have all that is +necessary to the cultivation of lands, and the feeding of cattle. In your +splendid abode, there is no sign of the vicinity of arable lands, or +vineyards. We find there neither ox nor horse--there is neither vintage in +the cellars, nor corn in the granary. In what respect does this resemble +the villa of your ancestors? A house cannot be called a farm or a villa, +merely because it is built beyond the precincts of the city." This polite +remonstrance gives rise to a discussion with regard to the proper +definition of a villa, and whether that appellation can be applied to a +residence, where there is neither tillage nor pasturage. It seems to be at +length agreed, that a mansion which is without these, and is merely +ornamental, cannot be called a villa; but that it is properly so termed, +though there be neither tillage nor pasturage, if fish-ponds, +pigeon-houses, and bee-hives, be kept for the sake of profit; and it is +discussed whether such villas, or agricultural farms, are most lucrative. + +Our author divides the _Villaticæ pastiones_ into poultry, game, and fish. +Under the first class, he comprehends birds, such as thrushes, which are +kept in aviaries, to be eaten, but not any birds of game. Rules and +directions are given for their management, of the same sort with those +concerning the animals mentioned in the preceding book. The aviaries in +the Roman villas were wonderfully productive and profitable. A very +particular account is given of the construction of an aviary. Varro +himself had one at his farm, near Casinum, but it was intended more for +pleasure and recreation than profit. The description he gives of it is +very minute, but not very distinct. The pigeon-house is treated of +separately from the aviary. As to the game, the instructions do not relate +to field-sports, but to the mode of keeping wild animals in enclosures or +warrens. In the more simple and moderate ages of the republic, these were +merely hare or rabbit warrens of no great extent; but as wealth and luxury +increased, they were enlarged to the size of 40 or 50 acres, and +frequently contained within their limits goats, wild boars, and deer. The +author even descends to instructions with regard to keeping and fattening +snails and dormice. On the subject of fish he is extremely brief, because +that was rather an article of expensive luxury than homely fare; and the +candidate, besides, was now momentarily expected. Fish-ponds had increased +in the same proportion as warrens, and in the age of Varro were often +formed at vast expense. Instances are given of the great depth and extent +of ponds belonging to the principal citizens, some of which had +subterraneous communications with the sea, and others were supplied by +rivers, which had been turned from their course. At this part of the +dialogue, a shout and unusual bustle announced the success of the +candidate whom Varro favoured: on hearing this tumult, the party gave up +their agricultural disquisitions, and accompanied him in triumph to the +Capitol. + +This work of Varro is totally different from that of Cato on the same +subject, formerly mentioned. It is not a journal, but a book; and instead +of the loose and unconnected manner in which the brief precepts of the +Censor are delivered, it is composed on a plan not merely regular, but +perhaps somewhat too stiff and formal. Its exact and methodical +arrangement has particularly attracted the notice of Scaliger.--"Unicum +Varronem inter Latinos habemus, libris tribus de Re Rustica, qui vere ac +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} philosophatus sit. Immo nullus est Græcorum qui tam bene, inter +eos saltem qui ad nos pervenerunt(61)." Instead, too, of that directness +and simplicity which never deviate from the plainest precepts of +agriculture, the work of Varro is embellished and illustrated by much of +the erudition which might be expected from the learning of its author, and +of one acquainted with fifty Greek writers who had treated of the subject +before him. "Cato, the famous Censor," says Martyne, "writes like an +ancient country gentleman of much experience: He abounds in short pithy +sentences, intersperses his book with moral precepts, and was esteemed a +sort of oracle. Varro writes more like a scholar than a man of much +practice: He is fond of research into antiquity, and inquires into the +etymology of the names of persons and things. Cato, too, speaks of a +country life, and of farming, merely as it may be conducive to gain. Varro +also speaks of it as of a wise and happy state, inclining to justice, +temperance, sincerity, and all the virtues, which shelters from evil +passions, by affording that constant employment, which leaves little +leisure for those vices which prevail in cities, where the means and +occasions for them are created and supplied." + +There were other Latin works on agriculture, besides those of Cato and +Varro, but they were subsequent to the time which the present volumes are +intended to embrace. Strictly speaking, indeed, even the work of Varro was +written after the battle of Actium: the knowledge, however, on which its +precepts were founded, was acquired long before. The style, too, is that +of the Roman republic, not of the Augustan age. I have therefore +considered Varro as belonging to the period on which we are at present +engaged. + +Indeed, the history of his life and writings is almost identified with the +literary history of Rome, during the long period through which his +existence was protracted. But the treatise on agriculture is the only one +of his multifarious works which has descended to us entire. The other +writings of this celebrated polygraph, as Cicero calls him(62), may be +divided into philological, critical, historical, mythological, +philosophic, and satiric; and, after all, it would probably be necessary, +in order to form a complete catalogue, to add the convenient and +comprehensive class of miscellaneous. + +The work _De Lingua Latina_, though it has descended to us incomplete, is +by much the most entire of Varro's writings, except the Treatise on +Agriculture. It is on account of this philological production, that Aulus +Gellius ranks him among the grammarians, who form a numerous and important +class in the History of Latin Literature. They were called _grammatici_ by +the Romans--a word which would be better rendered philologers than +grammarians. The grammatic science, among the Romans, was not confined to +the inflections of words or rules of syntax. It formed one of the great +divisions of the art of criticism, and was understood to comprehend all +those different inquiries which philology includes--embracing not only +grammar, properly so called, but verbal and literal criticism, etymology, +the explication and just interpretation of authors, and emendation of +corrupted passages. Indeed the name of grammarian (grammaticus) is +frequently applied by ancient authors(63) to those whom we should now term +critics and commentators, rather than grammarians. + +It will be readily conceived that a people, who, like the first Romans, +were chiefly occupied with war, and whose relaxation was agriculture, did +not attach much importance to a science, of which the professed object +was, teaching how to speak and write with propriety. Accordingly, almost +six hundred years elapsed before they formed any idea of such a study(64). +Crates Mallotes, who was a contemporary of Aristarchus, and was sent as +ambassador to Rome, by Attalus, King of Pergamus, towards the end of the +sixth century(65), was the first who excited a taste for grammatical +inquiries. Having accidentally broken his leg in the course of his +embassy, he employed the period of his convalescence in receiving +visitors, to whom he delivered lectures, containing grammatic +disquisitions: and he also read and commented on poets hitherto unknown in +Rome(66). These discussions, however, probably turned solely on Greek +words, and the interpretation of Greek authors. It is not likely that +Crates had such a knowledge of the Latin tongue, as to give lectures on a +subject which requires minute and extensive acquaintance with the +language. His instructions, however, had the effect of fixing the +attention of the Romans on their own language, and on their infant +literature. Men sprung up who commented on, and explained, the few Latin +poems which at that time existed. C. Octavius Lampadius illustrated the +Punic War of Nævius; and also divided that poem into seven books. About +the same time, Q. Vargunteius lectured on the Annals of Ennius, on certain +fixed days, to crowded audiences. Q. Philocomus soon afterwards performed +a similar service for the Satires of his friend Lucilius. Among these +early grammarians, Suetonius particularly mentions Ælius Preconinus and +Servius Clodius. The former was the master of Varro and Cicero; he was +also a rhetorician of eminence, and composed a number of orations for the +Patricians, to whose cause he was so ardently attached, that, when +Metellus Numidicus was banished in 654, he accompanied him into exile. +Serv. Clodius was the son-in-law of Lælius, and fraudulently appropriated, +it is said, a grammatical work, written by his distinguished relative, +which shows the honour and credit by this time attached to such pursuits +at Rome. Clodius was a Roman knight; and, from his example, men of rank +did not disdain to write concerning grammar, and even to teach its +principles. Still, however, the greater number of grammarians, at least of +the verbal grammarians, were slaves. If well versed in the science, they +brought, as we learn from Suetonius, exorbitant prices. Luctatius Daphnis +was purchased by Quintus Catulus for 200,000 pieces of money, and shortly +afterwards set at liberty. This was a strong encouragement for masters to +instruct their slaves in grammar, and for them to acquire its rules. +Sævius Nicanor, and Aurelius Opilius, who wrote a commentary, in nine +books, on different writers, were freedmen, as was also Antonius Gnipho, a +Gaul, who had been taught Greek at Alexandria, whither he was carried in +his youth, and was subsequently instructed in Latin literature at Rome. +Though a man of great learning in the science he professed, he left only +two small volumes on the Latin language--his time having been principally +occupied in teaching. He taught first in the house of the father of Julius +Cæsar, and afterwards lectured at home to those who chose to attend him. +The greatest men of Rome, when far advanced in age and dignity, did not +disdain to frequent his school. Many of his precepts, indeed, extended to +rhetoric and declamation, the arts, of all others, in which the Romans +were most anxious to be initiated. These were now taught in the schools of +almost all grammarians, of whom there were, at one time, upwards of twenty +in Rome. For a long while, only the Greek poets were publicly explained, +but at length the Latin poets were likewise commented on and illustrated. +About the same period, the etymology of Latin words began to be +investigated: Ælius Gallus, a jurisconsult quoted by Varro, wrote a work +on the origin and proper signification of terms of jurisprudence, which in +most languages remain unvaried, till they have become nearly +unintelligible; and Ælius Stilo attempted, though not with perfect +success, to explain the proper meaning of the words of the Salian verses, +by ascertaining their derivations(67). + +The science of grammar and etymology was in this stage of progress and in +this degree of repute at the time when Varro wrote his celebrated treatise +_De Lingua Latina_. That work originally consisted of twenty-four +books--the first three being dedicated to Publius Septimius, who had been +his quæstor in the war with the pirates, and the remainder to Cicero. This +last dedication, with that of Cicero's _Academica_ to Varro, has rendered +their friendship immortal. The importance attached to such dedications by +the great men of Rome, and the value, in particular, placed by Cicero on a +compliment of this nature from Varro, is established by a letter of the +orator to Atticus--"You know," says he, "that, till lately, I composed +nothing but orations, or some such works, into which I could not introduce +Varro's name with propriety. Afterwards, when I engaged in a work of more +general erudition, Varro informed me, that his intention was, to address +to me a work of considerable extent and importance. Two years, however, +have passed away without his making any progress. Meanwhile, I have been +making preparations for returning him the compliment(68)." Again, "I am +anxious to know how you came to be informed that a man like Varro, who has +written so much, without addressing anything to me, should wish me to pay +him a compliment(69)." The _Academica_ were dedicated to Varro before he +fulfilled his promise of addressing a work to Cicero; and it appears, from +Cicero's letter to Varro, sent along with the _Academica_, how impatiently +he expected its performance, and how much he importuned him for its +execution.--"To exact the fulfilment of a promise," says he, "is a sort of +ill manners, of which the populace themselves are seldom guilty. I cannot, +however, forbear--I will not say, to demand, but remind you, of a favour, +which you long since gave me reason to expect. To this end, I have sent +you four admonitors, (the four books of the Academica,) whom, perhaps, you +will not consider as extremely modest(70)." It is curious, that, when +Varro did at length come forth with his dedication, although he had been +highly extolled in the _Academica_, he introduced not a single word of +compliment to Cicero--whether it was that Varro dealt not in compliment, +that he was disgusted with his friend's insatiable appetite for praise, or +that Cicero was considered as so exalted that he could not be elevated +higher by panegyric. + +We find in the work _De Lingua Latina_, which was written during the +winter preceding Cæsar's death, the same methodical arrangement that marks +the treatise _De Re Rustica_. The twenty-four books of which it consisted, +were divided into three great parts. The first six books were devoted to +etymological researches, or, as Varro himself expresses it, _quemadmodum +vocabula essent imposita rebus in lingua Latina_. In the first, second, +and third books, of this division of his work, all of which have perished, +the author had brought forward what an admirer of etymological science +could advance in its favour--what a depreciator might say against it; and +what might be pronounced concerning it without enthusiasm or +prejudice.--"Quæ contra eam dicentur, quæ pro ea, quæ de ea." The fragments +remaining of this great work of Varro, commence at the fourth book, which, +with the two succeeding books, is occupied with the origin of Latin terms +and the poetical licenses that have been taken in their use: He first +considers the origin of the names of places, and of those things which are +in them. His great division of places is, into heaven and earth--_Coelum_ he +derives from _cavum_, and that, from _chaos_; _terra_ is so called _quia +teritur_. The derivation of the names of many terrestrial regions is +equally whimsical. The most rational are those of the different spots in +Rome, which are chiefly named after individuals, as the Tarpeian rock, +from Tarpeia, a vestal virgin slain by the Sabines--the Coelian Mount, from +Coelius, an Etrurian chief, who assisted Romulus in one of his contests +with his neighbours. Following the same arrangement with regard to those +things which _are in_ places, he first treats of the immortals, or gods of +heaven and earth. Descending to mortal things, he treats of animals, whom +he considers as in three places--air, water, and earth. The creatures +inhabiting earth he divides into men, cattle, and wild beasts. Of the +appellations proper to mankind, he speaks first of public honours, as the +office of Prætor, who was so called, "quod præiret exercitui." We have +then the derivations both of the generic and special names of animals. +Thus, _Armenta_ (quasi _aramenta_) is from _aro_, because oxen are used +for ploughing; _Lepus_ is _quasi Levipes_. The remainder of the book is +occupied with those words which relate to food, clothing, and various +sorts of utensils. Of these, the derivation is given, and it is generally +far-fetched. But of all his etymologies, the most whimsical is that +contained in his book of Divine Things, where he deduces _fur_ from +_furvus_, (dusky,) because thieves usually steal during the darkness of +night(71). + +The fifth book relates to words expressive of time and its divisions, and +to those things which are done in the course of time. He begins with the +months and days consecrated to the service of the gods, or performance of +accustomed rites. Things which happen during the lapse of time, are +divided into three classes, according to the three great human functions +of thought, speech, and act. The third class, or actions, are performed by +means of the external senses; the mention of which introduces the +explication of those terms which express the various operations of the +senses; and the book terminates with a list of vocables derived from the +Greek. These two books relate the common employment of words. In the +sixth, the author treats of poetic words, and the poetic or metaphoric use +of ordinary terms, of which he gives examples. Here he follows the same +arrangement already adopted--speaking first of places, and then of time, +and showing, as he proceeds, the manner in which poets have changed or +corrupted the original signification of words. + +Such is the first division of the work of Varro, forming what he himself +calls the etymological part. He admits that it was a subject of much +difficulty and obscurity, since many original words had become obsolete in +course of time, and of those which survived, the meaning had been changed +or had never been imposed with exactness. The second division, which +extended from the commencement of the seventh to the end of the twelfth +book, comprehended the accidents of words, and the different changes which +they undergo from declension, conjugation, and comparison. The author +admits but of two kinds of words--nouns and verbs, to which he refers all +the other parts of speech. He distinguishes two sorts of declensions, of +which he calls one arbitrary, and the other natural or necessary; and he +is thenceforth alternately occupied with analogy and anomaly. In the +seventh book he discusses the subject of analogy in general, and gives the +arguments which may be adduced against its existence in nouns proper: In +the eighth, he reasons like those who find analogies everywhere. Book +ninth treats of the analogy and anomaly of verbs, and with it the fragment +we possess of Varro's treatise terminates. The three other books, which +completed the second part, were of course occupied with comparison and the +various inflections of words. + +The third part of the work, which contained twelve books, treated of +syntax, or the junction of words, so as to form a phrase or sentence. It +also contained a sort of glossary, which explained the true meaning of +Latin vocables. + +This, which may be considered as one of the chief works of Varro, was +certainly a laborious and ingenious production; but the author is +evidently too fond of deriving words from the ancient dialects of Italy, +instead of recurring to the Greek, which, after the capture of Tarentum, +became a great source of Latin terms. In general, the Romans, like the +Greeks before them, have been very unfortunate in their etymologies, being +but indifferent critics, and inadequately informed of everything that did +not relate to their own country. Blackwell, in his _Court of Augustus_, +while he admits that the sagacity of Varro is surprising in the use which +he has made of the knowledge he possessed of the Sabine and Tuscan +dialects, remarks, that his work, _De Lingua Latina_, is faulty in two +particulars; the first, arising from the author having recourse to +far-fetched allusions and metaphors in his own language, to illustrate his +etymology of words, instead of going at once to the Greek. The second, +proceeding from his ignorance of the eastern and northern languages, +particularly the Aramean and Celtic(72); the former of which, in +Blackwell's opinion, had given names to the greater number of the gods, +and the latter, to matters occurring in war and rustic life. + +It is not certain whether the _Libri De Similitudine Verborum_, and those +_De Utilitate Sermonis_, cited by Priscian and Charisius as philological +works of Varro, were parts of his great production, _De Lingua Latina_, or +separate compositions. There was a distinct treatise, however, _De Sermone +Latino_, addressed to Marcellus, of which a very few fragments are +preserved by Aulus Gellius. + +The _critical_ works of this universal scholar, were entitled, _De +Proprietate Scriptorum_--_De Poetis_--_De Poematis_--_Theatrales__, sive de +Actionibus Scenicis_--_De Scenicis Originibus_--_De Plautinis Comoediis_--_De +Plautinis Quæstionibus_--_De Compositione Satirarum_--_Rhetoricorum Libri_. +These works are praised or mentioned by Gellius, Nonius Marcellus, and +Diomedes; but almost nothing is known of their contents. + +Somewhat more may be gathered concerning Varro's _mythological_ or +_theological_ works, as they were much studied, and very frequently cited +by the early fathers, particularly St Augustine and Lactantius. Of these +the chief is the treatise _De Cultu Deorum_, noticed by St Augustine in +his seventh book, _De Civitate Dei_, where he says that Varro considers +God to be not only the soul of the world, but the world itself. In this +work he also treated of the origin of hydromancy, and other superstitious +divinations. Sixteen books of the treatise _De Rerum Humanarum et +Divinarum Antiquitatibus_, addressed to Julius Cæsar, as Pontifex Maximus, +related to theological, or at least what we might call ecclesiastical +subjects. He divides theology into three sorts--mythic, physical, and +civil. The first is chiefly employed by poets, who have feigned many +things contrary to the nature and dignity of the immortals, as that they +sprung from the head, or thigh, or from drops of blood--that they committed +thefts and impure actions, and were the servants of men. The second +species of theology is that which we meet with in the books of +philosophers, in which it is discussed, whether the gods have been from +all eternity, and what is their essence, whether of fire, or numbers, or +atoms. Civil, or the third kind of theology, relates to the institutions +devised by men, for the worship of the Gods. The first sort is most +appropriate to the stage; the second to the world; the third to the city. +Varro was a zealous advocate for the physical explication of the +mythological fables, to which he always had recourse, when pressed by the +difficulties of their literal meaning(73). He also seems to have been of +opinion that the images of the gods were originally intended to direct +such as were acquainted with the secret doctrines, to the contemplation of +the real gods, and of the immortal soul with its constituent parts(74). +The first book of this work, as we learn from St Augustine, was +introductory. The three following treated of the ministers of religion, +the Pontiffs, Augurs, and Sibyls; in mentioning whom, he relates the +well-known story of her who offered her volumes for sale to Tarquinius +Priscus. In the next ternary of chapters, he discoursed concerning places +appointed for religious worship, and the celebration of sacred rites. The +third ternary related to holidays; the fourth to consecrations, and to +private as well as public sacrifices; and the fifth contained an +enumeration of all the deities who watch over man, from the moment when +Janus opens to him the gates of life, till the dirges of Nænia conduct him +to the tomb. The whole universe, he says, in conclusion, is divided into +heaven and earth; the heavens, again, into æther and air; earth, into the +ground and water. All these are full of souls, mortal in earth and water, +but immortal in air and æther. Between the highest circle of heaven and +the orbit of the moon, are the ethereal souls of the stars and planets, +which are understood, and in fact seem, to be celestial deities; between +the sphere of the moon and the highest region of tempests, dwell those +aerial spirits, which are conceived by the mind though not seen by the +eye--departed heroes, Lares, and Genii. + +This work, which is said to have chiefly contributed to the splendid +reputation of Varro, was extant as late as the beginning of the fourteenth +century. Petrarch, to whom the world has been under such infinite +obligations for his ardent zeal in discovering the learned works of the +Romans, had seen it in his youth. It continued ever after to be the object +of his diligent search, and his bad success was a source to him of +constant mortification. Of this we are informed in one of the letters, +which that enthusiastic admirer of the ancients addressed to them as if +they been alive, and his contemporaries. "Nullæ tamen exstant," says he to +Varro, "vel admodum laceræ, tuorum operum reliquiæ; licet divinarum et +humanarum rerum libros, ex quibus sonantius nomen habes, puerum me vidisse +meminerim, et recordatione torqueor, summis, ut aiunt, labiis gustatæ +dulcedinis. Hos alicubi forsitan latitare suspicor, eaque, multos jam per +annos, me fatigat cura, quoniam longâ quidem ac sollicitâ spe nihil est +laboriosius in vitâ." + +Plutarch, in his life of Romulus, speaks of Varro as a man of all the +Romans most versed in history. The _historical_ and political works are +the _Annales Libri_--_Belli Punici Secundi Liber_--_De Initiis Urbis +Romanæ_--_De Gente Populi Romani_--_Libri de Familiis Trojanis_, which last +treated of the families that followed Æneas into Italy. With this class we +may rank the _Hebdomadum, sive de Imaginibus Libri_, containing the +panegyrics of 700 illustrious men. There was a picture of each, with a +legend or verse under it, like those in the children's histories of the +Kings of England. That annexed to the portrait of Demetrius Phalereus, who +had upwards of 300 brazen statues erected to him by the Athenians, is +still preserved:-- + + "Hic Demetrius æneis tot aptus est + Quot luces habet annus absolutus." + +There were seven pictures and panegyrics in each book, whence the whole +work has been called Hebdomades. Varro had adopted the superstitious +notions of the ancients concerning particular numbers, and the number +seven seems specially to have commanded his veneration. There were in the +world seven wonders--there were seven wise men among the Greeks--there were +seven chariots in the Circensian games--and seven chiefs were chosen to +make war on Thebes: All which he sums up with remarking, that he himself +had then entered his twelfth period of seven years, on which day he had +written seventy times seven books, many of which, in consequence of his +proscription, had been lost in the plunder of his library. It appears from +Ausonius, that the tenth book of this work was occupied with pictures and +panegyrics of distinguished architects, since, in his Eidyllium, entitled +_Mosella_, he observes, that the buildings on the banks of that river +would not have been despised by the most celebrated architects; and that +those who planned them might well deserve a place in the tenth book of the +Hebdomas of Varro:-- + + "Forsan et insignes hominumque operumque labores + Hic habuit decimo celebrata volumine Marci + Hebdomas." ---- + +It is evident, however, from one of the letters of Symmachus, addressed to +his father, that though this was a professed work of panegyric, Varro was +very sparing and niggardly of his praise even to the greatest characters: +"Ille Pythagoram qui animas in æternitatem primus asseruit; ille Platonem +qui deos esse persuasit; ille Aristotelem qui naturam bene loquendi in +artem redegit; ille pauperem Curium sed divitibus imperantem; ille severos +Catones, gentem Fabiam, decora Scipionum, totumque illum triumphalem +Senatum parca laude perstrinxit." Varro also wrote an eulogy on Porcia, +the wife of Brutus, which is alluded to by Cicero in one of his letters to +Atticus. Among his notices of celebrated characters, it is much to be +regretted that the _Liber de Vita Sua_, cited by Charisius, has shared the +same fate as most of the other valuable works of Varro. The treatise +entitled, _Sisenna, sive de Historia_, was a tract on the composition of +history, inscribed to Sisenna, the Roman historian, who wrote an account +of the civil wars of Marius and Sylla. It contained, it is said, many +excellent precepts with regard to the appropriate style of history, and +the accurate investigation of facts. But the greatest service rendered by +Varro to history was his attempt to fix the chronology of the world. +Censorinus informs us that he was the first who regulated chronology by +eclipses. That learned grammarian has also mentioned the division of three +great periods established by Varro. He did not determine whether the +earliest of them had any beginning, but he fixed the end of it at the +Ogygian deluge. To this period of absolute historical darkness, he +supposed that a kind of twilight succeeded, which continued from that +flood till the institution of the Olympic games, and this he called the +fabulous age. From that date the Greeks pretend to digest their history +with some degree of order and clearness. Varro, therefore, looked on it as +the break of day, or commencement of the historical age. The chronology, +however, of those events which occurred at the beginning of this second +period, is as uncertain and confused as of those which immediately +preceded it. Thus, the historical æra is evidently placed too high by +Varro. The earliest writers of history did not live till long after the +Olympian epoch, and they again long preceded the earliest chronologers. +Timæus, about the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, was the first who digested +the events recorded by these ancient historians, according to a +computation of the Olympiads(75). Preceding writers, indeed, mention these +celebrated epochs, but the mode of reckoning by them was not brought into +established use for many centuries after the Olympic æra. Arnobius farther +informs us, that Varro calculated that not quite 2000 years had elapsed +from the Ogygian flood to the consulship of Hirtius and Pansa. The +building of Rome he placed two years higher than Cato had done in his +_Origines_, founding his computation on the eclipse which had a short +while preceded the birth of Romulus; but unfortunately this eclipse is not +attested by contemporary authors, nor by any historian who could vouch for +it with certainty. It was calculated a long time after the phænomenon was +supposed to have appeared, by Tarrutius Firmanus, the judicial astrologer, +who amused himself with drawing horoscopes. Varro requested him to +discover the date of Romulus's birth, by divining it from the known events +of his life, as geometrical problems are solved by analysis; for Tarrutius +considered it as belonging to the same art, (and doubtless the conclusions +are equally certain,) when a child's nativity is given to predict its +future life, and when the incidents of life are given to cast up the +nativity. Tarrutius, accordingly, having considered the actions of +Romulus, and the manner of his death, and having combined all the +incidents, pronounced that he was conceived in the first year of the +second Olympiad, on the 23d of the Egyptian month Choiok, on which day +there had been a total eclipse of the sun. + +Pompey, when about to enter for the first time on the office of Consul, +being ignorant of city manners and senatorial forms, requested Varro to +frame for him a written commentary or manual, from which he might learn +the duties to be discharged by him when he convened the Senate. This book, +which was entitled _Isagogicum de Officio Senatus habendi_, Varro says, in +the letters which he wrote to Oppianus, had been lost. But in these +letters he repeated many things on the subject, as what he had written +before had perished(76). + +The _philosophical_ writings of Varro are not numerous; but his chief work +of that description, entitled _De Philosophia Liber_, appears to have been +very comprehensive. St Augustine informs us that Varro examined in it all +the various sects of philosophers, of which he enumerated upwards of 280. +The sect of the old Academy was that which he himself followed, and its +tenets he maintained in opposition to all others. He classed these +numerous sects in the following curious manner: All men chiefly desire, or +place their happiness in, four things--pleasure--rest--these two united, +(which Epicurus, however, termed pleasure,) or soundness of body and mind. +Now, philosophers have contended that virtue is to be sought after for the +sake of obtaining one or other of these four; or, that some one of these +four is to be sought after for the sake of virtue; or, that they and +virtue also are to be sought after for their own sake, and from these +different opinions each of the four great objects of human desire being +sought after with three different views, there are formed twelve sects of +philosophers. These twelve sects are doubled, in consequence of the +different opinions created by the considerations of social +intercourse--some maintaining that the four great desires should be +gratified for our own sake, and others, that they should be indulged only +for the sake of our neighbours. The above twenty-four sects become +forty-eight, from each system being defended as certain truth, or as +merely the nearest approximation to probability--twenty-four sects +maintaining each hypothesis as certain, and twenty-four as only probable. +These again were doubled, from the difference of opinion with regard to +the suitable garb and external habit and demeanour of philosophers. + +We have now got ninety-six sects by a very strange sort of computation, +and all these are to be tripled, according to the different opinions +entertained concerning the best mode of spending life--in literary leisure, +in business, or in both(77). + +Varro having followed the sect of the old Academy, in preference to all +others, proceeded to refute the principles of the sects he had enumerated. +He cleared the way, by dismissing, as unworthy the name of philosophical, +all those sects whose differences did not turn on what is the supreme +final good; for there is no use in philosophizing, unless it be to make us +happy, and that which makes us happy is the final good. But those who +dispute, for example, whether a wise man should follow virtue, +tranquillity, &c. partly for the sake of others, or solely for his own, do +not dispute concerning what is the final good, but whether that good +should be shared. In like manner, the Cynic does not dispute with regard +to the supreme good, but in what dress or habit he who follows the supreme +good should be clad. So also as to the controversy concerning the +uncertainty of knowledge. The number of sects were thus reduced to the +twelve with which our author set out, and in which the whole question +relates to what is the final good. From these, however, he abstracted the +sects which place the final good in pleasure, rest, or the union of +both--not that he altogether disdained these, but he thought they might be +included in soundness of body and mind, or what he called the _prima +Naturæ_. There are thus only three questions which merit full discussion. +Whether these _prima Naturæ_ should be desired for the sake of virtue, or +virtue for their sake, or if they and virtue also should be desired for +their own sake. + +Now, since in philosophy we seek the supreme felicity of man, we must +inquire what man is. His nature is compounded of soul and body. Hence the +_summum bonum_ necessarily consists in the _prima Naturæ_ or perfect +soundness of mind and body. These, therefore, must be sought on their own +account; and under them may be included virtue, which is part of soundness +of mind, being the great director and prime former of the felicity of +life. + +Such were the doctrines of the old Academy, which Varro was also +introduced as supporting in Cicero's _Academica_.--"I have comprehended," +says that illustrious orator and philosopher, in a letter to Atticus, "the +whole Academic system in four books, instead of two, in the course of +which Varro is made to defend the doctrines of Antiochus(78). I have put +into his mouth all the arguments which were so accurately collected by +Antiochus against the opinion of those who contend that there is no +certainty to be attained in human knowledge. These I have answered myself. +But the part assigned to Varro in the debate is so good, that I do not +think the cause which I support appears the better." + +I am not certain under what class Varro's _Novem libri Disciplinarum_ +should be ranked, as it probably comprehended instructive lessons in the +whole range of arts and sciences. One of the chapters, according to +Vitruvius, was on the subject of architecture. Varro was particularly full +and judicious in his remarks on the construction and situation of Roman +villas, and seems to have laid the foundation for what Palladius and +Columella subsequently compiled on that interesting topic. Another chapter +was on arithmetic; and Fabricius mentions, that Vetranius Maurus has +declared, in his _Life of Varro_, that he saw this part of the work, _De +Disciplinis_, at Rome, in the library of the Cardinal Lorenzo Strozzi. + +Varro derived much notoriety from his _satirical_ compositions. His +_Tricarenus_, or _Tricipitina_, was a satiric history of the triumvirate +of Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus. Much pleasantry and sarcasm were also +interspersed in his books entitled _Logistorici_; but his most celebrated +production in that line was the satire which he himself entitled +_Menippean_. It was so called from the cynic Menippus of Gadara, a city in +Syria, who, like his countryman Meleager, was in the habit of expressing +himself jocularly on the most grave and important subjects. He was the +author of a _Symposium_, in the manner of Xenophon. His writings were +interspersed with verses, parodied from Homer and the tragic poets, or +ludicrously applied, for the purpose of burlesque. It is not known, +however, that he wrote any professed satire. The appellation, then, of +_Menippean_, was given to his satire by Varro, not from any production of +the same kind by Menippus, but because he imitated his general style of +humour. In its external form it appears to have been a sort of literary +anomaly. Greek words and phrases were interspersed with Latin; prose was +mingled with verses of various measures; and pleasantry with serious +remark. As to its object and design, Cicero introduces Varro himself +explaining this in the _Academica_. After giving his reasons for not +writing professedly on philosophical subjects, he continues,--"In those +ancient writings of ours, we, imitating Menippus, without translating him, +have infused a degree of mirth and gaiety along with a portion of our most +secret philosophy and logic, so that even our unlearned readers might more +easily understand them, being, as it were, invited to read them with some +pleasure. Besides, in the discourses we have composed in praise of the +dead, and in the introductions to our antiquities, it was our wish to +write in a manner worthy of philosophers, provided we have attained the +desired object." From what Cicero afterwards says in this dialogue, while +addressing himself to Varro, it would appear, that he had indeed touched +on philosophical subjects in his _Menippean_ satire, but that, learned as +he was, his object was more to amuse his readers than instruct them: "You +have entered on topics of philosophy in a manner sufficient to allure +readers to its study, but inadequate to convey full instruction, or to +advance its progress." + +Many fragments of this _Menippean_ satire still remain, but they are much +broken and corrupted. The heads of the different subjects, or chapters, +contained in it, amounting to near one hundred and fifty, have been given +by Fabricius in alphabetical order. Some of them are in Latin, others in +Greek. A few chapters have double titles; and, though little remains of +them but the titles, these show what an infinite variety of subjects was +treated by the author. As a specimen, I subjoin those ranged under the +letter A. Aborigines,--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},--De Admirandis, vel Gallus +Fundanius,--Agatho,--Age modo,--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, vel {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~},--Ajax +Stramentitius,--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},--Andabatæ,--Anthropopolis,--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, +seu Marcopolis,--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, seu Serranus,--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, seu vinalia,--Armorum judicium,--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, seu +Triphallus,--Autumedus,--Mæonius,--Baiæ, &c.(79) + +There is a chapter concerning the duty of a husband, (De officio Mariti,) +in which the author observes, that the errors of a wife are either to be +cured or endured: He who extirpates them makes his wife better, but he who +bears with them improves himself. Another is inscribed, "You know not what +a late evening, or supper, may bring with it," (Nescis quid vesper serus +vehat.) In this chapter he remarks, that the number of guests should not +be less than that of the Graces, or more than that of the Muses. To render +an entertainment perfect, four things must concur--agreeable company, +suitable place, convenient time, and careful preparation. The guests +should not be loquacious or taciturn. Silence is for the bed-chamber, and +eloquence for the Forum, but neither for a feast. The conversation ought +not to turn on anxious or difficult subjects, but should be cheerful and +inviting, so that utility may be combined with a certain degree of +pleasure and allurement. This will be best managed, by discoursing of +those things which relate to the ordinary occurrences or affairs of life, +concerning which one has not leisure to talk in the Forum, or while +transacting business. The master of the feast should rather be neat and +clean than splendidly attired; and if he introduce reading into the +entertainment, it should be so selected as to amuse, and to be neither +troublesome nor tedious(80). A third chapter is entitled, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}; +and treats of the rarer delicacies of an entertainment, especially foreign +luxuries. Au. Gellius has given us the import of some verses, in which +Varro mentioned the different countries which supplied the most exquisite +articles of food. Peacocks came from Samos; cranes from Melos; kids from +Ambracia; and the best oysters from Tarentum(81). Part of the chapter +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} was directed against the Latin tragic poets. + +What remains of the verses interspersed in the _Menippean_ satire, is too +trifling to enable us to form any accurate judgment of the poetical +talents of Varro. + +The style of satire introduced by Varro was imitated by Lucius Annæus +Seneca, in his satire on the deification of Claudius Cæsar, who was called +on earth Divus Claudius. The _Satyricon_ of Petronius Arbiter, in which +that writer lashed the luxury, and avarice, and other vices of his age, is +a satire of the Varronian species, prose being mingled with verse, and +jest with serious remark. Such, too, are the Emperor Julian's _Symposium +of the Cæsars_, in which he characterizes his predecessors; and his +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, directed against the luxurious manners of the citizens of +Antioch. + +Besides the works of Varro above mentioned, there is a miscellaneous +collection of sentences or maxims which have been attributed to him, +though it is not known in what part of his numerous writings they were +originally introduced. Barthius found seventeen of these sentences in a +MS. of the middle age, and printed them in his _Adversaria_. Schneider +afterwards discovered, in the _Speculum Historiale_ of Vincent de +Beauvais, a monk of the thirteenth century, a much more ample collection +of them, which he has inserted in his edition of the _Scriptores rei +Rusticæ_(82). They consist of moral maxims, in the style of those +preserved from the Mimes of Publius Syrus, and had doubtless been culled +as flowers from the works of Varro, at a time when the immense garden of +taste and learning which he planted, had not yet been laid waste by the +hand of time, or the spoiler(83). + +Though the above list of the works of Varro is far from complete, a +sufficient number has been mentioned to justify the exclamation of +Quintilian,--"Quam multa, immo pene omnia tradidit Varro!" and the more +full panegyric of Cicero,--"His works brought us home, as it were, while we +were foreigners in our own city, and wandering like strangers, so that we +might know who and where we were; for in them are laid open the chronology +of his country,--a description of the seasons,--the laws of religion,--the +ordinances of the priests,--domestic and military occurrences,--the +situations of countries and places,--the names of all things divine and +human,--the breed of animals,--moral duties,--and the origin of things(84)." + +Nor did Varro merely delight and instruct his fellow-citizens by his +writings. By his careful attention, in procuring the most valuable books, +and establishing libraries, he provided, perhaps, still more effectually +than by his own learned compositions, for the progressive improvement and +civilization of his countrymen. The formation of either private or public +libraries was late of taking place at Rome, for the Romans were late in +attending to literary studies. Tiraboschi quotes a number of writers who +have discovered a library in the public records preserved at Rome(85), and +in the books of the Sibyls(86). But these, he observes, may be classed +with the library which Madero found to have existed before the flood, and +that belonging to Adam, of which Hilscherus has made out an exact +catalogue(87). From Syracuse and Corinth the Romans brought away the +statues and pictures, and other monuments of the fine arts; but we do not +learn that they carried to the capital any works of literature or science. +Some agricultural books found their way to Rome from Africa, on the +destruction of Carthage; but the other treasures of its libraries, though +they fell under the power of a conqueror not without pretensions to taste +and erudition, were bestowed on the African princes in alliance with the +Romans(88). + +Paulus Emilius is said by Plutarch to have allowed his sons to choose some +volumes from the library of Perseus, King of Macedon(89), whom he led +captive to Rome in 585. But the honour of first possessing a library in +Rome is justly due to Sylla; who, on the occupation of Athens, in 667, +acquired the library of Apellicon, which he discovered in the temple of +Apollo. This collection, which contained, among various other books, the +works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, was reserved to himself by Sylla from +the plunder; and, having been brought to Rome, was arranged by the +grammarian Tyrannio, who also supplied and corrected the mutilated text of +Aristotle(90). Engaged, as he constantly was, in domestic strife or +foreign warfare, Sylla could have made little use of this library, and he +did not communicate the benefit of it to scholars, by opening it to the +public; but the example of the Dictator prompted other commanders not to +overlook the libraries, in the plunder of captured cities, and books thus +became a fashionable acquisition. Sometimes, indeed, these collections +were rather proofs of the power and opulence of the Roman generals, than +of their literary taste or talents. A certain value was now affixed to +manuscripts; and these were, in consequence, amassed by them, from a +spirit of rapacity, and the principle of leaving nothing behind which +could be carried off by force or stratagem. In one remarkable instance, +however, the learning of the proprietor fully corresponded to the literary +treasures which he had collected. Lucullus, a man of severe study, and +wonderfully skilled in all the fine arts, after having employed many years +in the cultivation of literature, and the civil administration of the +republic, was unexpectedly called, in consequence of a political intrigue, +to lead on the Roman army in the perilous contest with Mithridates; and, +though previously unacquainted with military affairs, he became the first +captain of the age, with little farther experience, than his study of the +art of war, during the voyage from Rome to Asia. His attempts to introduce +a reform in the corrupt administration of the Asiatic provinces, procured +him enemies, through whose means he was superseded in the command of the +army, by one who was not superior to him in talents, and was far inferior +in virtue. After his recall from Pontus, and retreat to a private station, +he offered a new spectacle to his countrymen. He did not retire, like +Fabricius and Cincinnatus, to plough his farm, and eat turnips in a +cottage--he did not, like Africanus, quit his country in disgust, because +it had unworthily treated him; nor did he spend his wealth and leisure, +like Sylla, in midnight debauchery with buffoons and parasites. He +employed the riches he had acquired during his campaigns in the +construction of delightful villas, situated on the shore of the sea, or +hanging on the declivities of hills. Gardens and spacious porticos, which +he adorned with all the elegance of painting and sculpture, made the +Romans ashamed of their ancient rustic simplicity. These would doubtless +be the objects of admiration to his contemporaries; but it was his +library, in which so many copies of valuable works were multiplied or +preserved, and his distinguished patronage of learning, that claim the +gratitude of posterity. "His library," says Plutarch, "had walks, +galleries, and cabinets belonging to it, which were open to all visitors; +and the ingenious Greeks resorted to this abode of the muses to hold +literary converse, in which Lucullus delighted to join them(91)." Other +Roman patricians had patronized literature, by extending their protection +to a favoured few, as the elder Scipio Africanus to Ennius, and the +younger to Terence; but Lucullus was the first who encouraged all the arts +and sciences, and promoted learning with princely munificence. + +But the slave Tyrannio vied with the most splendid of the Romans in the +literary treasures he had amassed. A native of Pontus, he was taken +prisoner by Lucullus, in the course of the war with Mithridates; and, +having been brought to Rome, he was given to Muræna, from whom he received +freedom(92). He spent the remainder of his life in teaching rhetoric and +grammar. He also arranged the library of Cicero at Antium(93), and taught +his nephew, Quintus, in the house of the orator(94). These various +employments proved so profitable, that they enabled him to acquire a +library of 30,000 volumes(95). Libraries of considerable extent were also +formed by Atticus and Cicero; and _Varro_ was not inferior to any of his +learned contemporaries, in the industry of collecting and transcribing +manuscripts, both in the Greek and Latin language. + +The library of Varro, however, and all the others which we have mentioned, +were private--open, indeed, to literary men, from the general courtesy of +the possessors, but the access to them still dependent on their good will +and indulgence. Julius Cæsar was the first who formed the design of +establishing a great public library; and to Varro he assigned the task of +arranging the books which he had procured. This plan, which was rendered +abortive by the untimely fate of Cæsar, was carried into effect by Asinius +Pollio, who devoted part of the wealth he had acquired from the spoils of +war, to the construction of a magnificent gallery, adjacent to the Temple +of Liberty, which he filled with books, and the busts of the learned. +Varro was the only living author who, in this public library, had the +honour of an image(96), which was erected to him as a testimony of respect +for his universal erudition. He also aided Augustus with his advice, in +the formation of the two libraries which that emperor established, and +which was part of his general system for the encouragement of science and +learning. When tyrants understand their trade, and when their judgment is +equal to their courage or craft, they become the most zealous and liberal +promoters of the interests of learning; for they know that it is for their +advantage to withdraw the minds of their subjects from political +discussion and to give them, in exchange, the consoling pleasures of +imagination, and the inexhaustible occupations of scientific curiosity. + +Were I writing the history of Roman arts, it would be necessary to mention +that Varro excelled in his knowledge of all those that are useful, and in +his taste for all those that are elegant. He was the contriver of what may +be considered as the first hour clock that was made in Rome, and which +measured time by a hand entirely moved by mechanism. That he also +possessed a Museum, adorned with exquisite works of sculpture, we learn +from Pliny, who mentions, that it contained an admirable group, by the +statuary Archelaus, formed out of one block of marble, and representing a +lioness, with Cupids sporting around her--some giving her drink from a +horn; some in the attitude of putting socks on her paws, and others in the +act of binding her. The same writer acquaints us, that, in the year 692, +Varro, who was then Curule Ædile, caused a piece of painting, in fresco, +to be brought from Sparta to Rome, in order to adorn the Comitium--the +whole having been cut out entire, and enclosed in cases of wood. The +painting was excellent, and much admired; but what chiefly excited +astonishment, was that it should have been taken from the wall without +injury, and transported safe to Italy(97). + +I fear I have too long detained the reader with this account of the life +and writings of Varro; yet it is not unpleasing to dwell on such a +character. He was the contemporary of Marius and Sylla, of Cæsar and +Pompey, of Antony and Octavius, these men of contention and massacre; and +amid the convulsions into which they threw their country, it is not +ungrateful to trace the _Secretum Iter_, which he silently pursued through +a period unparalleled in anarchy and crimes. Uninterrupted, save for a +moment, by strife and ambition, he prosecuted his literary labours till +the extreme term of his prolonged existence. "In eodem enim lectulo," says +Valerius Maximus, with a spirit and eloquence beyond his usual strain of +composition--"In eodem enim lectulo, et spiritus ejus, et egregiorum operum +cursus extinctus est." + + + + + + NIGIDIUS FIGULUS + + +was a man much resembling Varro, and next to him was accounted the most +learned of the Romans(98). He was the contemporary of Cicero, and one of +his chief advisers and associates in suppressing the conspiracy of +Catiline(99). Shortly afterwards he arrived at the dignity of Prætor, but +having espoused the part of Pompey in the civil wars, he was driven into +banishment on the accession of Cæsar to the supreme power, and died in +709, before Cicero could obtain his recall from exile(100). He was much +addicted to judicial astrology; and ancient writers relate a vast number +of his predictions, particularly that of the empire of the world to +Augustus, which he presaged immediately after the birth of that +prince(101). + +Nigidius vied with Varro in multifarious erudition, and the number of his +works--grammar, criticism, natural history, and the origin of man, having +successively employed his pen. His writings are praised by Cicero, Pliny, +Aulus Gellius, and Macrobius; but they were rendered almost entirely unfit +for popular use by their subtlety, mysteriousness, and +obscurity(102)--defects to which his cultivation of judicial astrology, and +adoption of the Pythagorean philosophy, may have materially contributed. +Aulus Gellius gives many examples of the obscurity, or rather +unintelligibility, of his grammatical writings(103). His chief work was +his Grammatical Commentaries, in thirty books, in which he attempted to +show, that names and words were fixed not by accidental application, but +by a certain power and order of nature. One of his examples, of terms +being rather natural than arbitrary, was taken from the word _Vos_, in +pronouncing which, he observed, that we use a certain motion of the mouth, +agreeing with what the word itself expresses: We protrude, by degrees, the +tips of our lips, and thrust forward our breath and mind towards those +with whom we are engaged in conversation. On the other hand, when we say +_nos_, we do not pronounce it with a broad and expanded blast of the +voice, nor with projecting lips, but we restrain our breath and lips, as +it were, within ourselves. The like natural signs accompany the utterance +of the words _tu_ and _ego_--_tibi_ and _mihi_(104). Nigidius also wrote +works, entitled _De Animalibus_, _De Ventis_, _De Extis_, and a great many +treatises on the nature of the gods. All these have long since perished, +except a very few fragments, which have been collected and explained by +Janus Rutgersius, in the third book of his _Variæ Lectiones_, published at +Leyden in 1618; 4to. In this collection he has also inserted a Greek +translation of another lost work of Nigidius, on the presages to be drawn +from thunder. The original Latin is said to have been taken from books +which bore the name of the Etruscan Tages, the supposed founder of the +science of divination. The Greek version was executed by Laurentius, a +philosopher of the age of Justinian, and his translation was discovered by +Meursius, about the beginning of the seventeenth century, in the Palatine +library. It is a sort of Almanack, containing presages of thunder for each +particular day of the year, and beginning with June. If it thunder on the +13th of June, the life or fortunes of some great person are menaced--if on +the 19th of July, war is announced--if on the 5th of August, it is +indicated that those women, with whom we have any concern, will become +somewhat more reasonable than they have hitherto proved(105). + +With Varro and Nigidius Figulus, may be classed Tiro, the celebrated +freedman of Cicero, and constant assistant in all his literary pursuits. +He wrote many books on the use and formation of the Latin language, and +others on miscellaneous subjects, which he denominated _Pandectas_(106), +as comprehending every sort of literary topic. + +Quintus Cornificius, the elder, was also a very general scholar. He +composed a curious treatise on the etymology of the names of things in +heaven and earth, in which he discovered great knowledge, both of Roman +antiquities, and the most recondite Grecian literature. It was here he +introduced an explication of Homer's dark fable, where Jupiter and all the +gods proceed to feast for twelve days in Ethiopia. The work was written in +709, during the time of Cæsar's last expedition to Spain, and was probably +intended as a supplement to Varro's treatise on a similar topic. + + + + + + HISTORY. + + +From our supposing that those things which affected our ancestors may +affect us, and that those which affect us must affect posterity, we become +fond of collecting memorials of prior events, and also of preserving the +remembrance of incidents which have occurred in our own age. The historic +passion, if it may be so termed, thus naturally divides itself into two +desires--that of indulging our own curiosity, and of relating what has +occurred to ourselves or our contemporaries. + +Monuments accordingly have been raised, and rude hymns composed, for this +purpose, by people who had scarcely acquired the use of letters. Among +civilized nations, the passion grows in proportion to the means of +gratifying it, and the force of example comes to be so strongly felt, that +its power and influence are soon historically employed. + +The Romans were, in all ages, particularly fond of giving instruction, by +every sort of example. They placed the images of their ancestors in the +Forum and the vestibules of their houses, so that these venerable forms +everywhere met their eyes; and by recalling the glorious actions of the +dead, excited the living to emulate their forefathers. The virtue of one +generation was thus transfused, by the magic of example, into those by +which it was succeeded, and the spirit of heroism was maintained through +many ages of the republic-- + + "Has olim virtus crevit Romana per artes: + Namque foro in medio stabant spirantia signa + Magnanimûm heroum; hîc Decios, magnosque Camillos + Cernere erat: vivax heroum in imagine virtus, + Invidiamque ipsis factura nepotibus, acri + Urgebat stimulo Romanum in prælia robur(107)." + +History, therefore, among the Romans, was not composed merely to gratify +curiosity, or satiate the historic passion, but also to inflame, by the +force of example, and urge on to emulation, in warlike prowess. An +insatiable thirst of military fame--an unlimited ambition of extending +their empire--an unbounded confidence in their own force and courage--an +impetuous overbearing spirit, with which all their enterprises were +pursued, composed, in the early days of the Republic, the characteristics +of Romans. To foment, and give fresh vigour to these, was a chief object +of history.--"I have recorded these things," says an old Latin annalist, +after giving an account of Regulus, "that they who read my commentaries +may be rendered, by his example, greater and better." + +Accordingly, the Romans had journalists or annalists, from the earliest +periods of the state. The Annals of the Pontiffs were of the same date, if +we may believe Cicero, as the foundation of the city(108); but others have +placed their commencement in the reign of Numa(109), and Niebuhr not till +after the battle of Regillus, which terminated the hopes of Tarquin(110). +In order to preserve the memory of public transactions, the Pontifex +Maximus, who was the official historian of the Republic, annually +committed to writing, on wooden tablets, the leading events of each year, +and then set them up at his own house for the instruction of the +people(111). These Annals were continued down to the Pontificate of +Mucius, in the year 629, and were called _Annales Maximi_, as being +periodically compiled and kept by the Pontifex Maximus, or _Publici_, as +recording public transactions. Having been inscribed on wooden tablets, +they would necessarily be short, and destitute of all circumstantial +detail; and being annually formed by successive Pontiffs, could have no +appearance of a continued history. They would contain, as Lord Bolingbroke +remarks, little more than short minutes or memoranda, hung up in the +Pontiff's house, like the rules of the game in a billiard room: their +contents would resemble the epitome prefixed to the books of Livy, or the +Register of Remarkable Occurrences in modern Almanacks. + +But though short, jejune, and unadorned, still, as records of facts, these +annals, if spared, would have formed an inestimable treasure of early +history. The Roman territory, in the first ages of the state, was so +confined, that every event may be considered as having passed under the +immediate observation of the sacred annalist. Besides, the method which, +as Cicero informs us, was observed in preparing these Annals, and the care +that was taken to insert no fact, of which the truth had not been attested +by as many witnesses as there were citizens at Rome, who were all entitled +to judge and make their remarks on what ought either to be added or +retrenched, must have formed the most authentic body of history that could +be desired. The memory of transactions which were yet recent, and whose +concomitant circumstances every one could remember, was therein +transmitted to posterity. By these means, the Annals were proof against +falsification, and their veracity was incontestibly fixed. + +These valuable records, however, were, for the most part, consumed in the +conflagration of the city, consequent on its capture by the Gauls--an event +which was to the early history of Rome what the English invasion by Edward +I. proved to the history of Scotland. The practice of the Pontifex Maximus +preserving such records was discontinued after that eventful period. A +feeble attempt was made to revive it towards the end of the second Punic +war; and, from that time, the custom was not entirely dropped till the +Pontificate of Mucius, in the year 629. It is to this second series of +Annals, or to some other late and ineffectual attempt to revive the +ancient Roman history, that Cicero must allude, when he talks of the Great +Annals, in his work _De Legibus_(112), since it is undoubted that the +pontifical records of events previous to the capture of Rome by the Gauls, +almost entirely perished in the conflagration of the city(113). +Accordingly, Livy never cites these records, and there is no appearance +that he had any opportunity of consulting them; nor are they mentioned by +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, in the long catalogue of records and memorials +which he had employed in the composition of his _Historical Antiquities_. +The _books_ of the Pontiffs, some of which were recovered in the search +made to find what the flames had spared, are, indeed, occasionally +mentioned. But these were works explaining the mysteries of religion, with +instructions as to the ceremonies to be observed in its practical +exercise, and could have been of no more service to Roman, than a +collection of breviaries or missals to modern history. + +Statues, inscriptions, and other public monuments, which aid in +perpetuating the memory of illustrious persons, and transmitting to +posterity the services they have rendered their country, were accounted, +among the Romans, as the most honourable rewards that could be bestowed on +great actions; and virtue, in those ancient times, thought no recompense +more worthy of her than the immortality which such monuments seemed to +promise. Rome having produced so many examples of a disinterested +patriotism and valour must have been filled with monuments of this +description when taken by the Gauls. But these honorary memorials were +thrown down along with the buildings, and buried in the ruins. If any +escaped, it was but a small number; and the greatest part of those that +were to be seen at Rome in the eighth century of the city, were founded on +fabulous traditions which proved that the loss of the true monuments had +occasioned the substitution of false ones. Had the genuine monuments been +preserved at Rome, even till the period when the first regular annals +began to be composed, though they would not have sufficed to restore the +history entirely, they would have served at least to have perpetuated +incontestably the memory of various important facts, to have fixed their +dates, and transmitted the glory of great men to posterity. + +On what then, it will be asked, was the Roman history founded, and what +authentic records were preserved as materials for its composition? There +were first the _Leges Regiæ_. These were diligently searched for, and were +discovered along with the Twelve Tables, after the sack of the city: And +all those royal laws which did not concern sacred matters, were publicly +exposed to be seen and identified by the people(114), that no suspicion of +forgery or falsification might descend to posterity. These precautions +leave us little room to doubt that the _Leges Regiæ_, and Laws of the +Tables, were preserved, and that they remained as they had been originally +promulgated by the kings and decemvirs. Such laws, however, would be of no +greater service to Roman history, than what the _Regiam Majestatem_ has +been to that of Scotland. They might be useful in tracing the early +constitution of the state, the origin of several customs, ceremonies, +public offices, and other points of antiquarian research, but they could +be of little avail in fixing dates, ascertaining facts, and setting events +in their true light, which form the peculiar objects of civil history. + +Treaties of peace, which were the pledges of the public tranquillity from +without, being next to the laws of the greatest importance to the state, +much care was bestowed, after the expulsion of the Gauls, in recovering as +many of them as the flames had spared. Some of them were the more easily +restored, from having been kept in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, +which the fury of the enemy could not reach(115). Those which had been +saved, continued to be very carefully preserved, and there is no reason to +suspect them of having been falsified. Among the treaties which were +rescued from destruction, Horace mentions those of the Kings, with the +Gabii and the Sabines (_Foedera Regum_(116).) The former was that concluded +by Tarquinius Superbus, and which, Dionysius of Halicarnassus informs us, +was still preserved at Rome in his time, in the temple of Jupiter Fidius, +on a buckler made of wood, and covered with an ox's hide, on which the +articles of the treaty were written in ancient characters(117). Dionysius +mentions two treaties with the Sabines--the first was between Romulus and +their king Tatius(118); and the other, the terms of which were inscribed +on a column erected in a temple, was concluded with them by Tullus +Hostilius, at the close of a Sabine war(119). Livy likewise cites a treaty +made with the Ardeates(120); and Polybius has preserved entire another +entered into with the Carthaginians, in the year of the expulsion of the +kings(121). Pliny has also alluded to one of the conditions of a treaty +which Porsenna, the ally of Tarquin, granted to the Roman people(122). Now +these leagues with the Gabii, Sabines, Ardeates, and one or two with the +Latins, are almost the only treaties we find anywhere referred to by the +ancient Latin historians; who thus seem to have employed but little +diligence in consulting those original documents, or drawing from them, in +compiling their histories, such assistance as they could have afforded. +The treaties quoted by Polybius and Pliny, completely contradict the +relations of the Latin annalists; those cited by Polybius proving, in +opposition to their assertions, that the Carthaginians had been in +possession of a great part of Sicily about a century previous to the date +which Livy has fixed to their first expedition to that island; and those +quoted by Pliny, that Porsenna, instead of treating with the Romans on +equal terms, as represented by their historians, had actually prohibited +them from employing arms,--permitting them the use of iron only in tilling +the ground(123). + +The _Libri Lintei_ (so called because written on linen) are cited by Livy +after the old annalist Licinius Macer, by whom they appear to have been +carefully studied. These books were kept in the temple of Juno Moneta, but +were probably of less importance than the other public records, which were +inscribed on rolls of lead. They were obviously a work of no great extent, +since Livy, who appeals to them on four different occasions in the space +of ten years, just after the degradation of the decemvirs, had not quoted +them before, and never refers to them again. There also appear to have +been different copies of them which did not exactly agree, and Livy seems +far from considering their authority as decisive even on the points on +which reference is made to them(124). + +The _Memoirs of the Censors_ were journals preserved by those persons who +held the office of Censor. They were transmitted by them to their +descendants as so many sacred pledges, and were preserved in the families +which had been rendered illustrious by that dignity. They formed a series +of eulogies on those who had thus exalted the glory of their house, and +contained a relation of the memorable actions performed by them in +discharge of the high censorial office with which they had been +invested(125). Hence they must be considered as part of the _Family +Memoirs_, which were unfortunately the great and corrupt sources of early +Roman history. + +It was the custom of the ancient families of Rome to preserve with +religious care everything that could contribute to perpetuate the glory of +their ancestry, and confer honour on their lineage. Thus, besides the +titles which were placed under the smoky images of their forefathers, +there were likewise tables in their apartments on which lay books and +memoirs recording, in a style of general panegyric, the services they had +performed for the state during their exercise of the employments with +which they had been dignified(126). + +Had these Family Memoirs been faithfully composed, they would have been of +infinite service to history; and although all other monuments had +perished, they alone would have supplied the defect. They were a record, +by those who had the best access to knowledge, of the high offices which +their ancestors had filled, and of whatever memorable was transacted +during the time they had held the exalted situations of Prætor or Consul: +Even the dates of events, as may be seen by a fragment which Dionysius of +Halicarnassus cites from them, were recorded with all the appearance of +accuracy. Each set of family memoirs thus formed a series of biographies, +which, by preserving the memory of the great actions of individuals, and +omitting nothing that could tend to their illustration, comprehended also +the principal affairs of state, in which they had borne a share. From the +fragments of the genealogical book of the Porcian family, quoted by Aulus +Gellius, and the abstract of the Memoirs of the Claudian and Livian +families, preserved by Suetonius, in the first chapters of his Life of +Tiberius, we may perceive how important such memoirs would have been, and +what light they would have thrown on history, had they possessed the stamp +of fidelity. But unfortunately, in their composition more regard was paid +to family reputation than to historical truth. Whatever tended to exalt +its name was embellished and exaggerated. Whatever could dim its lustre +was studiously withdrawn. Circumstances, meanwhile, became peculiarly +favourable for these high family pretensions. The destruction of the +public monuments and annals of the Pontiffs, gave ample scope for the +vanity or fertile imagination of those who chose to fabricate titles and +invent claims to distinction, the falsity of which could no longer be +demonstrated. "All the monuments," says Plutarch, "being destroyed at the +taking of Rome, others were substituted, which were forged out of +complaisance to private persons, who pretended to be of illustrious +families, though in fact they had no relation to them(127)." So +unmercifully had the great families availed themselves of this favourable +opportunity, that Livy complains that these private memoirs were the chief +cause of the uncertainty in which he was forced to fluctuate during the +early periods of his history. "What has chiefly confounded the history," +says he, "is each family ascribing to itself the glory of great actions +and honourable employments. Hence, doubtless, the exploits of individuals +and public monuments have been falsified; nor have we so much as one +writer of these times whose authority can be depended on(128)." Those +funeral orations on the dead, which it was the custom to deliver at Rome, +and which were preserved in families as carefully as the memoirs, also +contributed to augment this evil. Cicero declares, that history had been +completely falsified by these funeral panegyrics, many things being +inserted in them which never were performed, or existed--False triumphs, +supernumerary consulships, and forged pedigrees(129). + +Connected with these prose legends, there were also the old heroic ballads +formerly mentioned, on which the annals of Ennius were in a great measure +built, and to which may be traced some of those wonderful incidents of +Roman history, chiefly contrived for the purpose of exalting the military +achievements of the country. Many things which of right belong to such +ancient poems, still exist under the disguise of an historical clothing in +the narratives of the Roman annalists. Niebuhr, the German historian of +Rome, has recently analysed these legends, and taken much from the Roman +history, by detecting what incidents rest on no other foundation than +their chimerical or embellished pictures, and by shewing how incidents, in +themselves unconnected, have by their aid been artificially combined. +Such, according to him, were the stories of the birth of Romulus, of the +treason of Tatia, the death of the Fabii, and the incidents of an almost +complete Epopée, from the succession of Tarquinius Priscus to the battle +of Regillus. These old ballads, being more attractive and of easier access +than authentic records and monuments, were preferred to them as +authorities; and even when converted into prose, retained much of their +original and poetic spirit. For example, it was feigned in them that +Tullus Hostilius was the son of Hostus Hostilius, who perished in the war +with the Sabines, which, according to chronology, would make Tullus at +least eighty years old when he mounted the throne; but it was thought a +fine thing to represent him as the son of a genuine Roman hero, who had +fallen in the service of his country. Niebuhr, probably, as I have already +shown, has attributed too much to these old heroic ballads, and has +assigned to them an extent and importance of which there are no adequate +proofs. But I strongly suspect that the heroic or historical poems of +Ennius had formed a principal document to the Roman annalists for the +transactions during the Monarchy and earlier times of the Republic, and +had been appealed to, like Ferdousi's Shad-Nameh, for occurrences which +were probably rather fictions of fancy than events of history. + +The Greek writers, from whom several fables and traditions were derived +concerning the infancy of Rome, lived not much higher than the age of +Fabius Pictor, and only mention its affairs cursorily, while treating of +Alexander or his successors. Polybius, indeed, considers their narratives +as mere vulgar traditions(130), and Dionysius says they have written some +few things concerning the Romans, which they have compiled from common +reports, without accuracy or diligence. To them have been plausibly +attributed those fables, concerning the exploits of Romans, which bear so +remarkable an analogy to incidents in Grecian history(131). Like to these +in all respects are the histories which some Romans published in Greek +concerning the ancient transactions of their own nation. + +We thus see that the authentic materials for the early history of Rome +were meagre and imperfect--that the annals of the Pontiffs and public +monuments had perished--that the _Leges Regiæ_, Twelve Tables, and remains +of the religious or ritual books of the Pontiffs, could throw no great +light on history, and that the want of better materials was supplied by +false, and sometimes incredible relations, drawn from the family +traditions--"_ad ostentationem scenæ gaudentis miraculis aptiora quàm ad +fidem_(132)." The mutilated inscriptions, too, the scanty treaties, and +the family memoirs, became, from the variations in the language, in a +great measure unintelligible to the generation which succeeded that in +which they were composed. Polybius informs us, that the most learned +Romans of his day could not read a treaty with the Carthaginians, +concluded after the expulsion of the kings. Hence, the documents for +history, such as they were, became useless to the historian, or, at least, +were of such difficulty, that he would sometimes mistake their import, and +be, at others, deterred from investigation. + +When all this is considered, and also that Rome, in its commencement, was +the dwelling of a rude and ignorant people, subsisting by rapine--that the +art of writing, the only sure guardian of the remembrance of events, was +little practised--that critical examination was utterly unknown; and that +the writers of no other nation would think of accurately transmitting to +posterity events, which have only become interesting from the subsequent +conquests and extension of the Roman empire, it must be evident, that the +materials provided for the work of the historian would necessarily be +obscure and uncertain. + +The great general results recorded in Roman history, during the first five +centuries, cannot, indeed, be denied. It cannot be doubted that Rome +ultimately triumphed over the neighbouring nations, and obtained +possession of their territories; for Rome would not have been what we know +it was in the sixth century, without these successes. But there exists, in +the particular events recorded in the Roman history, sufficient internal +evidence of its uncertainty, or rather falsehood; and here I do not refer +to the lying fables, and absurd prodigies, which the annalists may have +inserted in deference to the prejudices of the people, nor to the almost +incredible daring and endurance of Scævola, Cocles, or Curtius, which may +be accounted for from the wild spirit of a half-civilized nation, and are +not unlike the acts we hear of among Indian tribes; but I allude to the +total improbability of the historic details concerning transactions with +surrounding tribes, and the origin of domestic institutions. How, for +example, after so long a series of defeats, with few intervals of +prosperity interposed, could the Italian states have possessed resources +sufficient incessantly to renew hostilities, in which they were always the +aggressors? And how, on the other hand, should the Romans, with their +constant preponderance of force and fortune, (if the repetition and +magnitude of their victories can be depended on,) have been so long +employed in completely subjugating them? The numbers slain, according to +Livy's account, are so prodigious, that it is difficult to conceive how +the population of such moderate territories, as belonged to the +independent Italian communities, could have supplied such losses. We, +therefore, cannot avoid concluding, that the frequency and importance of +these campaigns were magnified by the consular families indulging in the +vanity of exaggerating the achievements of their ancestors(133). Sometimes +these campaigns are represented as carried on against the whole nation of +Volsci, Samnites, or Etruscans, when, in fact, only a part was engaged; +and, at other times, battles, which never were fought, have been extracted +from the family memoirs, where they were drawn up to illustrate each +consulate; for what would a consul have been without a triumph or a +victory? It would exceed my limits were I to point out the various +improbabilities and evident inconsistencies of this sort recorded in the +early periods of Roman history. With regard, again, to the domestic +institutions of Rome, everything (doubtless for the sake of effect and +dignity) is represented as having at once originated in the refined policy +and foresight of the early kings. The division of the people into tribes +and curiæ--the relations of patron and client--the election of senators--in +short, the whole fabric of the constitution, is exhibited as a +preconcerted plan of political wisdom, and not (as a constitution has been +in every other state, and must have been in Rome) the gradual result of +contingencies and progressive improvements, of assertions of rights, and +struggles for power. + +The opinion entertained by Polybius of the uncertainty of the Roman +history, is sufficiently manifest from a passage in the fourth book of his +admirable work, which is written with all the philosophy and profound +inquiry of Tacitus, without any of his apparent affectation.--"The things +which I have undertaken to describe," says he, "are those which I myself +have seen, or such as I have received from men who were eye-witnesses of +them. For, had I gone back to a more early period, and borrowed my +accounts from the report of persons who themselves had only heard them +before from others, as it would scarcely have been possible that I should +myself be able to discern the true state of the matters that were then +transacted, so neither could I have written anything concerning them with +confidence." What, indeed, can we expect to know with regard to the Kings +of Rome, when we find so much uncertainty with regard to the most +memorable events of the republic, as the period of the first creation of a +dictator and tribunes of the people? The same doubt exists in the +biography of illustrious characters. Cicero says, that Coriolanus, having +gone over to the Volsci, repressed the struggles of his resentment by a +voluntary death; "for, though you, my Atticus," he continues, "have +represented his death in a different manner, you must pardon me if I do +not subscribe to the justness of your representations(134)." Atticus, I +presume, gave the account as we now have it, that he was killed in a +tumult of the Volsci, and Fabius Pictor had written that he lived till old +age(135). Of the reliance to be placed on the events between the death of +Coriolanus and the termination of the second Punic war, we may judge from +the uncertainty which prevailed with regard to Scipio Africanus, a hero, +of all others, the most distinguished, and who flourished, comparatively, +at a recent period. Yet some of the most important events of his life are +involved in contradiction and almost hopeless obscurity.--"Cicero," says +Berwick, in his Memoirs of Scipio, "speaks with great confidence of the +year in which he died, yet Livy found so great a difference of opinion +among historians on the subject, that he declares himself unable to +ascertain it. From a fragment in Polybius, we learn, that, in his time, +the authors who had written of Scipio were ignorant of some circumstances +of his life, and mistaken in others; and, from Livy, it appears, that the +accounts respecting his life, trial, death, funeral, and sepulchre, were +so contradictory, that he was not able to determine what tradition, or +whose writings, he ought to credit." + +But, although the early events of Roman history were of such a +description, that Cicero and Atticus were not agreed concerning them--that +Polybius could write nothing about them with confidence; and that Livy +would neither undertake to affirm nor refute them, every vestige of Roman +antiquity had not perished. Though the annals of the Pontiffs were +destroyed,--those who wrote, who kept, and had read them, could not have +lost all recollection of the facts they recorded. Even from the family +memoirs, full of falsehoods as they were, much truth might have been +extracted by a judicious and acute historian. The journals of different +rival families must often have served as historical checks on each other, +and much real information might have been gathered, by comparing and +contrasting the vain-glorious lies of those family-legends(136). + +Such was the state of the materials for Roman history, in the middle of +the sixth century, from the building of the city, at which time regular +annals first began to be composed; and notwithstanding all unfavourable +circumstances, much might have been done, even at that period, towards +fixing and ascertaining the dates and circumstances of previous events, +had the earliest annalist of Rome been in any degree fitted for this +difficult and important task; but, unfortunately, + + + + + + QUINTUS FABIUS PICTOR, + + +who first undertook to relate the affairs of Rome from its foundation, in +a formal and regular order, and is thence called by Livy _Scriptorum +antiquissimus_, appears to have been wretchedly qualified for the labour +he had undertaken, either in point of fidelity or research: and to his +carelessness and inaccuracy, more even than to the loss of monuments, may +be attributed the painful uncertainty, which to this day hangs over the +early ages of Roman history. + +Fabius Pictor lived in the time of the second Punic war. The family +received its _cognomen_ from Caius Fabius, who, having resided in Etruria, +and there acquired some knowledge of the fine arts, painted with figures +the temple of _Salus_, in the year 450(137). Pliny mentions having seen +this piece of workmanship, which remained entire till the building itself +was consumed, in the reign of the Emperor Claudius. The son of the painter +rose to the highest honours of the state, having been Consul along with +Ogulnius Gallus, in the year 485. From him sprung the historian, who was +consequently grandson of the first Fabius Pictor. He was a provincial +quæstor in early youth, and in 528 served under the Consul Lucius Æmilius, +when sent to repel a formidable incursion of the Gauls, who, in that year, +had passed the Alps in vast hordes. He also served in the second Punic +war, which commenced in 534, and was present at the battle of Thrasymene. +After the defeat at Cannæ, he was despatched by the senate to inquire from +the oracle of Delphos, what would be the issue of the war, and to learn by +what supplications the wrath of the gods might be appeased(138). + +The Annals of Fabius Pictor commenced with the foundation of the city, and +brought down the series of Roman affairs to the author's own time--that is, +to the end of the second Punic war. We are informed by Dionysius of +Halicarnassus, that for the great proportion of events which preceded his +own age, Fabius Pictor had no better authority than vulgar tradition(139). +He probably found, that if he had confined himself to what was certain in +these early times, his history would have been dry, insipid, and +incomplete. This may have induced him to adopt the fables, which the Greek +historians had invented concerning the origin of Rome, and to insert +whatever he found in the family traditions, however contradictory or +uncertain. Dionysius has also given us many examples of his improbable +narrations--his inconsistencies--his negligence in investigating the truth +of what he relates as facts--and his inaccuracy in chronology. "I cannot +refrain," says he, when speaking of the age of Tarquinius Priscus, "from +blaming Fabius Pictor for his little exactness in chronology(140);" and it +appears from various other passages, that all the ancient history of +Fabius which was not founded on hearsay, was taken from Greek authors, who +had little opportunity of being informed of Roman affairs, and had +supplied their deficiency in real knowledge, by the invention of fables. +In particular, as we are told by Plutarch(141), he followed an obscure +Greek author, Diocles the Peparethian, in his account of the foundation of +Rome, and from this tainted source have flowed all the stories concerning +Mars, the Vestal, the Wolf, Romulus, and Remus. + +It is thus evident, that no great reliance can be placed on the history +given by Fabius Pictor, of the events which preceded his own age, and +which happened during a period of 500 years from the building of the city; +but what must be considered as more extraordinary and lamentable, is, that +although a senator, and of a distinguished family, he gave a prejudiced +and inaccurate account of affairs occurring during the time he lived, and +in the management of which he had some concern. Polybius, who flourished +shortly after that time, and was at pains to inform himself accurately +concerning all the events of the second Punic war, apologizes for quoting +Fabius on one occasion as an authority. "It will perhaps be asked," says +he, "how I came to make mention of Fabius: It is not that I think his +relation probable enough to deserve credit: What he writes is so absurd, +and has so little appearance of truth, that the reader will easily remark, +without my taking notice of it, the little reliance that is to be placed +on that author, whose inconsistency is palpable of itself. It is, +therefore, only to warn such as shall read his history, not to judge by +the title of the book, but by the things it contains--for there are many +people, who, considering the author more than what he writes, think +themselves obliged to believe everything he says, because a senator and +contemporary(142)." Polybius also accuses him of gross partiality to his +own nation, in the account of the Punic war--allowing to the enemy no +praise, even where they deserved it, and uncandidly aggravating their +faults.(143) In particular, he charges him with falsehood in what he has +delivered, with regard to the causes of the second contest with the +Carthaginians. Fabius had alleged, that the covetousness of Hannibal, +which he inherited from Asdrubal, and his desire of ultimately ruling over +his own country, to which he conceived a Roman war to be a necessary step, +were the chief causes of renewing hostilities, to which the Carthaginian +government was totally averse. Now, Polybius asks him, if this were true, +why the Carthaginian Senate did not deliver up their general, as was +required, after the capture of Saguntum; and why they supported him, +during fourteen years continuance in Italy, with frequent supplies of +money, and immense reinforcements(144). + +The sentiments expressed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, concerning Fabius +Pictor's relation of events, in the early ages of Rome, and those of +Polybius(145), on the occurrences of which he was himself an eye-witness, +enable us to form a pretty accurate estimate of the credit due to his +whole history. Dionysius having himself written on the antiquities of +Rome, was competent to deliver an opinion as to the works of those who had +preceded him in the same undertaking; and it would rather have been +favourable to the general view which he has adopted, to have established +the credibility of Fabius. We may also safely rely on the judgment which +Polybius has passed, concerning this old annalist's relation of the events +of the age in which he lived, since Polybius had spared no pains to be +thoroughly informed of whatever could render his own account of them +complete and unexceptionable. + +The opinion which must now be naturally formed from the sentiments +entertained by these two eminent historians, is rather confirmed by the +few and unconnected fragments that remain of the Annals of Fabius Pictor, +as they exhibit a spirit of trifling and credulity quite unworthy the +historian of a great republic. One passage is about a person who saw a +magpie; another about a man who had a message brought to him by a swallow; +and a third concerning a party of _loup garous_, who, after being +transformed into wolves, recovered their own figures, and, what is more, +got back their cast-off clothes, provided they had abstained for nine +years from preying on human flesh! + +Such were the merits of the earliest annalist of Rome, whom all succeeding +historians of the state copied as far as he had proceeded, or at least +implicitly followed as their authority and guide in facts and chronology. +Unfortunately, his character as a senator, and an eye-witness of many of +the events he recorded, gave the stamp of authenticity to his work, which +it did not intrinsically deserve to have impressed on it. His successors +accordingly, instead of giving themselves the pains to clear up the +difficulties with which the history of former ages was embarrassed, and +which would have led into long and laborious discussions, preferred +reposing on the authority of Fabius. They copied him on the ancient times, +without even consulting the few monuments that remained, and then +contented themselves with adding the transactions subsequent to the period +which his history comprehends. Thus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus(146) +informs us that Cincius, Cato the Censor, Calpurnius Piso, and most of the +other historians who succeeded him, implicitly adopted Fabius' story of +the birth and education of Romulus; and he adds many glaring instances of +the little discernment they showed in following him on points where, by a +little investigation, they might have discovered how egregiously he had +erred. Even Livy himself admits, that his own account of the second Punic +war was chiefly founded on the relations of Fabius Pictor(147). + +This ancient and dubious annalist was succeeded by Scribonius Libo, and by +Calpurnius Piso. Libo served under Ser. Galba in Spain, and on his return +to Rome impeached his commander for some act of treachery towards the +natives of that province. Piso was Consul along with Mucius Scævola in +620, the year in which Tib. Gracchus was slain. Like Fabius, he wrote +Annals of Rome, from the beginning of the state, which Cicero pronounces +to be _exiliter scripti_(148): But although his style was jejune, he is +called a profound writer, _gravis auctor_, by Pliny(149); and Au. Gellius +says, that there is an agreeable simplicity in some parts of his work--the +brevity which displeased Cicero appearing to him _simplicissima suavitas +et rei et orationis_(150). He relates an anecdote of Romulus, who, being +abroad at supper, drank little wine, because he was to be occupied with +important affairs on the following day. One of the other guests remarked, +"that if all men did as he, wine would be cheap."--"No," replied Romulus, +"I have drunk as much as I liked, and wine would be dearer than it is now +if every one did the same." This annalist first suggested Varro's famous +derivation of the word Italy, which he deduced from _Vitulus_. He is also +frequently quoted by Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus(151). Niebuhr +thinks, that of all the Roman annalists he is chiefly responsible for +having introduced into history the fables of the ancient heroic +ballads(152). + +About the same time with Piso, lived two historians, who were both called +Caius Fannius, and were nearly related to each other. One of them was +son-in-law of Lælius, and served under the younger Scipio at the final +reduction of Carthage. Of him Cicero speaks favourably, though his style +was somewhat harsh(153); but his chief praise is, that Sallust, in +mentioning the Latin historians, while he gives to Cato the palm for +conciseness, awards it to Fannius for accuracy in facts(154). Heeren also +mentions, that he was the authority chiefly followed by Plutarch in his +lives of the Gracchi(155). + +Coelius Antipater was contemporary with the Gracchi, and was the master of +Lucius Crassus, the celebrated orator, and other eminent men of the day. +We learn from Valerius Maximus, that he was the authority for the story of +the shade of Tiberius Gracchus having appeared to his brother Caius in a +dream, to warn him that he would suffer the same fate which he had himself +experienced(156); and the historian testifies that he had heard of this +vision from many persons during the lifetime of Caius Gracchus. The chief +subject of Antipater's history, which was dedicated to Lælius, consisted +in the events that occurred during the second Punic war. Cicero says, that +he was for his age _Scriptor luculentus_(157); that he raised himself +considerably above his predecessors, and gave a more lofty tone to +history; but he seems to think that the utmost praise to which he was +entitled, is, that he excelled those who preceded him, for still he +possessed but little eloquence or learning, and his style was yet +unpolished. Valerius Maximus, however, calls him an authentic writer, +(_certus auctor_(158);) and the Emperor Hadrian thought him superior to +Sallust, consistently with that sort of black-letter taste which led him +to prefer Cato the Censor to Cicero, and Ennius to Virgil(159). + +Sempronius Asellio served as military tribune under the younger Scipio +Africanus, in the war of Numantia(160), which began in 614, and ended in +621, with the destruction of that city. He wrote the history of the +campaigns in which he fought under Scipio, in Spain, in at least 40 books, +since the 40th is cited by Charisius. His work, however, was not written +for a considerable time after the events he recorded had happened: That he +wrote subsequently to Antipater, we have the authority of Cicero, who says +"that Coelius Antipater was succeeded by Asellio, who did not imitate his +improvements, but relapsed into the dulness and unskilfulness of the +earliest historians(161)." This does not at all appear to have been +Asellio's own opinion, as, from a passage extracted by Aulus Gellius from +the first book of his Annals, he seems to have considered himself as the +undisputed father of philosophic history(162). + +Quintus Lutatius Catulus, better known as an accomplished orator than a +historian, was Consul along with Marius in the year 651, and shared with +him in his distinguished triumph over the Cimbrians. Though once united in +the strictest friendship, these old colleagues quarrelled at last, during +the civil war with Sylla; and Catulus, it is said, in order to avoid the +emissaries despatched by the unrelenting Marius, to put him to death, shut +himself up in a room newly plastered, and having kindled a fire, was +suffocated by the noxious vapours. He wrote the history of his own +consulship, and the various public transactions in which he had been +engaged, particularly the war with the Cimbrians. Cicero(163), who has +spoken so disadvantageously of the style of the older annalists, admits +that Catulus wrote very pure Latin, and that his language had some +resemblance to the sweetness of Xenophon. + +Q. Claudius Quadrigarius composed Annals of Rome in twenty-four books, +which, though now almost entirely lost, were in existence as late as the +end of the 12th century, being referred to by John of Salisbury in his +book _De Nugis Curialibus_. Some passages, however, are still preserved, +particularly the account of the defiance by the gigantic Gaul, adorned +with a chain, to the whole Roman army, and his combat with Titus Manlius, +afterwards sirnamed Torquatus, from this chain which he took from his +antagonist. "Who the enemy was," says Au. Gellius, "of how great and +formidable stature, how audacious the challenge, and in what kind of +battle they fought, Q. Claudius has told with much purity and elegance, +and in the simple unadorned sweetness of ancient language(164)." + +There is likewise extant from these Annals the story of the Consul Q. +Fabius Maximus making his father, who was then Proconsul, alight from his +horse when he came out to meet him. We have also the letter of the Roman +Consuls, Fabricius and Q. Emilius, to Pyrrhus, informing him of the +treachery of his confident, Nicias, who had offered to the Romans to make +away with his master for a reward. It merits quotation, as a fine example +of ancient dignity and simplicity.--"Nos, pro tuis injuriis, continuo +animo, strenue commoti, inimiciter tecum bellare studemus. Sed communis +exempli et fidei ergo visum est, uti te salvum velimus; ut esset quem +armis vincere possimus. Ad nos venit Nicias familiaris tuus, qui sibi +pretium a nobis peteret, si te clam interfecisset: Id nos negavimus velle; +neve ob eam rem quidquam commodi expectaret: Et simul visum est, ut te +certiorem faceremus, nequid ejusmodi, si accidisset, nostro consilio +putares factum: et, quid nobis non placet, pretio, aut premio, aut dolis +pugnare."--The Annals of Quadrigarius must at least have brought down the +history to the civil wars of Marius and Sylla, since, in the nineteenth +book, the author details the circumstances of the defence of the Piræus +against Sylla, by Archelaus, the prefect of Mithridates. As to the style +of these annals, Aulus Gellius reports, that they were written in a +conversational manner(165). + +Quintus Valerius Antias also left Annals, which must have formed an +immense work, since Priscian cites the seventy-fourth book. They commenced +with the foundation of the city; but their accuracy cannot be relied on, +as the author was much addicted to exaggeration. Livy, mentioning, on the +authority of Antias, a victory gained by the Proconsul Q. Minucius, adds, +while speaking of the number of slain on the part of the enemy, "Little +faith can be given to this author, as no one was ever more intemperate in +such exaggerations;" and Aulus Gellius mentions a circumstance which he +had affirmed, contrary to the records of the Tribunes, and the authors of +the ancient Annals(166). This history also seems to have been stuffed with +the most absurd and superstitious fables. A nonsensical tale is told with +regard to the manner in which Numa procured thunder from Jupiter; and +stories are likewise related about the conflagration of the lake +Thrasimene, before the defeat of the Roman Consul, and the flame which +played round the head of Servius Tullius in his childhood. It also appears +from him, that the Romans had judicial trials, as horrible as those of the +witches which disgraced our criminal record. Q. Nævius, before setting out +for Sardinia, held _Questions_ of incantation through the towns of Italy, +and condemned to death, apparently without much investigation, not less +than two thousand persons. This annalist denies, in another passage, the +well-known story of the continence of Scipio, and alleges that the lady +whom he is generally said to have restored to her lover, was "_in deliciis +amoribusque usurpata_(167)." His opinion of the moral character of Scipio +seems founded on some satirical verses of Nævius, with regard to a low +intrigue in which he was detected in his youth. But whatever his private +amours may have been, it does not follow that he was incapable of a signal +exertion of generosity and continence in the presence of his army, and +with the eyes of two great rival nations fixed upon his conduct. + +Licinius Macer, father of Licin. Calvus, the distinguished poet and orator +formerly mentioned(168), was author of Annals, entitled _Libri Rerum +Romanarum_. In the course of these he frequently quotes the _Libri +Lintei_. He was not considered as a very impartial historian, and, in +particular, he is accused by Livy of inventing stories to throw lustre +over his own family. + +L. Cornelius Sisenna was the friend of Macer, and coeval with Antias and +Quadrigarius; but he far excelled his contemporaries, as well as +predecessors, in the art of historical narrative. He was of the same +family as Sylla, the dictator, and was descended from that Sisenna who was +Prætor in 570. In his youth he practised as an orator, and is +characterized by Cicero as a man of learning and wit, but of no great +industry or knowledge in business(169). In more advanced life he was +Prætor of Achaia, and a friend of Atticus. Vossius says his history +commenced after the taking of Rome by the Gauls, and ended with the wars +of Marius and Sylla. Now, it is possible that he may have given some +sketch of Roman affairs from the burning of the city by the Gauls, but it +is evident he had touched slightly on these early portions of the history, +for though his work consisted of twenty, or, according to others, of +twenty-two books, it appears from a fragment of the second, which is still +preserved, that he had there advanced in his narrative as far as the +Social War, which broke out in the year 663. The greater part, therefore, +I suspect, was devoted to the history of the civil wars of Marius; and +indeed Velleius Paterculus calls his work _Opus Belli Civilis +Sullani_(170). The great defect of his history consisted, it is said, in +not being written with sufficient political freedom, at least concerning +the character and conduct of Sylla, which is regretted by Sallust in a +passage bearing ample testimony to the merits of Sisenna in other +particulars.--"L. Sisenna," says he, "optume et diligentissime omnium, qui +eas res dixere persecutus, parum mihi libero ore locutus videtur(171)." +Cicero, while he admits his superiority over his predecessors, adds, that +he was far from perfection(172), and complains that there was something +puerile in his Annals, as if he had studied none of the Greek historians +but Clitarchus(173). I have quoted these opinions, since we must now +entirely trust to the sentiments of others, in the judgment which we form +of the merits of Sisenna; for although the fragments which remain of his +history are more numerous than those of any other old Latin annalist, +being about 150, they are also shorter and more unconnected. Indeed, there +are scarcely two sentences anywhere joined together. + +The great defect, then, imputed to the class of annalists above +enumerated, is the meagerness of their relations, which are stript of all +ornament of style--of all philosophic observation on the springs or +consequences of action--and all characteristic painting of the actors +themselves. That they often perverted the truth of history, to dignify the +name of their country at the expense of its foes, is a fault common to +them with many national historians--that they sometimes exalted one +political faction or chief to depreciate another, was almost unavoidable +amid the anarchy and civil discord of Rome--that they were credulous in the +extreme, in their relations of portents and prodigies, is a blemish from +which their greater successors were not exempted: The easy faith of Livy +is well known. Even the philosophic Tacitus seems to give credit to those +presages, which darkly announced the fate of men and empires; and Julius +Obsequens, a grave writer in the most enlightened age of Rome, collected +in one work all the portents observed from its foundation to the age of +Augustus. + +The period in which the ancient annalists flourished, also produced +several biographical works; and these being lives of men distinguished in +the state, may be ranked in the number of histories. + +Lucius Emilius Scaurus, who was born in 591, and died in 666, wrote +memoirs of his own life, which Tacitus says were accounted faithful and +impartial. They are unfortunately lost, but their matter may be +conjectured from the well-known incidents of the life of Scaurus. They +embraced a very eventful period, and were written without any flagrant +breach of truth. We learn from Cicero, that these memoirs, however useful +and instructive, were little read, even in his days, though his +contemporaries carefully studied the Cyropædia; a work, as he continues, +no doubt sufficiently elegant, but not so connected with our affairs, nor +in any respect to be preferred to the merits of Scaurus(174). + +Rutilius Rufus, who was Consul in the year 649, also wrote memoirs of his +own life. He was a man of very different character from Scaurus, being of +distinguished probity in every part of his conduct, and possessing, as we +are informed by Cicero, something almost of sanctity in his demeanour. All +this did not save him from an unjust exile, to which he was condemned, and +which he passed in tranquillity at Smyrna. These biographical memoirs +being lost, we know their merits only from the commendations of Livy(175), +Plutarch(176), Velleius Paterculus(177), and Valerius Maximus(178). As the +author served under Scipio in Spain--under Scævola in Asia, and under +Metellus in his campaign against Jugurtha, the loss of this work is +severely to be regretted. + +But the want of Sylla's Memoirs of his own Life, and of the affairs in +which he had himself been engaged, is still more deeply to be lamented +than the loss of those of Scaurus or Rutilius Rufus. These memoirs were +meant to have been dedicated to Lucullus, on condition that he should +arrange and correct them(179). Sylla was employed on them the evening +before his death, and concluded them by relating, that on the preceding +night he had seen in a dream one of his children, who had died a short +while before, and who, stretching out his hand, showed to him his mother +Metella, and exhorted him forthwith to leave the cares of life, and hasten +to enjoy repose along with them in the bosom of eternal rest. "Thus," adds +the author, who accounted nothing so certain as what was signified to him +in dreams, "I finish my days, as was predicted to me by the Chaldeans, who +announced that I should surmount envy itself by my glory, and should have +the good fortune to fall in the full blossom of my prosperity(180)." These +memoirs were sent by Epicadus, the freedman of Sylla, to Lucullus, in +order that he might put to them the finishing hand. If preserved, they +would have thrown much light on the most important affairs of Roman +history, as they proceeded from the person who must, of all others, have +been the best informed concerning them. They are quoted by Plutarch as +authority for many curious facts, as--that in the great battle by which the +Cimbrian invasion was repelled, the chief execution was done in that +quarter where Sylla was stationed; the main body, under Marius, having +been misled by a cloud of dust, and having in consequence wandered about +for a long time without finding the enemy(181). Plutarch also mentions +that, in these Commentaries, the author contradicted the current story of +his seeking refuge during a tumult at the commencement of the civil wars +with Marius, in the house of his rival, who, it had been reported, +sheltered and dismissed him in safety. Besides their importance for the +history of events, the Memoirs of Sylla must have been highly interesting, +as developing, in some degree, the most curious character in Roman +history. "In the loss of his Memoirs," says Blackwell, in his usual +inflated style, "the strongest draught of human passions, in the highest +wheels of fortune and sallies of power, is for ever vanished(182)." The +character of Cæsar, though greater, was less incomprehensible than that of +Sylla; and the mind of Augustus, though unfathomable to his +contemporaries, has been sounded by the long line of posterity; but it is +difficult to analyse the disposition which inspired the inconsistent +conduct of Sylla. Gorged with power, and blood, and vengeance, he seems to +have retired from what he chiefly coveted, as if surfeited; but neither +this retreat, nor old age, could mollify his heart; nor could disease, or +the approach of death, or the remembrance of his past life, disturb his +tranquillity. No part of his existence was more strange than its +termination; and nothing can be more singular than that he, who, on the +day of his decease, caused in mere wantonness a provincial magistrate to +be strangled in his presence, should, the night before, have enjoyed a +dream so elevated and tender. It is probable that the Memoirs were well +written, in point of style, as Sylla loved the arts and sciences, and was +even a man of some learning, though Cæsar is reported to have said, on +hearing his literary acquirements extolled, that he must have been but an +indifferent scholar who had resigned a dictatorship. + +The characteristic of most of the annals and memoirs which I have hitherto +mentioned, was extreme conciseness. Satisfied with collecting a mass of +facts, their authors adopted a style which, in the later ages of Rome, +became proverbially meagre and jejune. Cicero includes Claudius +Quadrigarius and Asellio in the same censure which he passes on their +predecessors, Fabius Pictor, Piso, and Fannius. But though, perhaps, +equally barren in style, much greater trust and reliance may be placed on +the annalists of the time of Marius and Sylla than of the second Punic +war. + +Some of these more modern annalists wrote the History of Rome from the +commencement of the state; others took up the relation from the burning of +Rome by the Gauls, or confined themselves to events which had occurred in +their own time. Their narratives of all that passed before the incursion +of the Gauls, were indeed as little authentic as the relations of Fabius +Pictor, since they implicitly followed that writer, and made no new +researches into the mouldering monuments of their country. But their +accounts of what happened subsequently to the rebuilding of Rome, are not +liable to the same suspicion and uncertainty; the public monuments and +records having, from that period, been duly preserved, and having been in +greater abundance than those of almost any other nation in the history of +the world. The Roman authors possessed all the auxiliaries which aid +historical compilation--decrees of the senate, chiefly pronounced in +affairs of state--leagues with friendly nations--terms of the surrender of +cities--tables of triumphs, and treaties, which were carefully preserved in +the treasury or in temples. There were even rolls kept of the senators and +knights, as also of the number of the legions and ships employed in each +war; but the public despatches addressed to the Senate by commanders of +armies, of which we have specimens in Cicero's Epistles, were the +documents which must have chiefly aided historical composition. These were +probably accurate, as the Senate, and people in general, were too well +versed in military affairs to have been easily deluded, and legates were +often commissioned by them to ascertain the truth of the relations. The +immense multitude of such documents is evinced by the fact, that +Vespasian, when restoring the Capitol, found in its ruins not fewer than +3000 brazen tablets, containing decrees of the Senate and people, +concerning leagues, associations, and immunities to whomsoever granted, +from an early period of the state, and which Suetonius justly styles, +_instrumentum imperii pulcherrimum ac vetustissimum_(183). Accordingly, +when the later annalists came to write of the affairs of their own time, +they found historical documents more full and satisfactory than those of +almost any other country. But, in addition to these copious sources of +information, it will be remarked, that the annalists themselves had often +personal knowledge of the facts they related. It is true, indeed, that +historians contemporary with the events which they record, are not always +best qualified to place them in an instructive light, since, though they +may understand how they spring out of prior incidents, they cannot foresee +their influence on future occurrences. Of some things, the importance is +overrated, and of others undervalued, till time, which has the same effect +on events as distance on external objects, obscures all that is minute, +while it renders the outlines of what is vast more distinct and +perceptible. But though the reach of a contemporary historian's mind may +not extend to the issue of the drama which passes before him, he is no +doubt best aware of the detached incidents of each separate scene and act, +and most fitted to detail those particulars which posterity may combine +into a mass, exhibiting at one view the grandeur and interest of the +whole. Now, it will have been remarked from the preceding pages, that all +the Roman annalists, from the time of Fabius Pictor to Sylla, were Consuls +and Prætors, commanders of armies, or heads of political parties, and +consequently the principal sharers in the events which they recorded. In +Greece, there was an earlier separation than at Rome, between an active +and a speculative life. Many of the Greek historians had little part in +those transactions, the remembrance of which they have transmitted. They +wrote at a distance, as it were, from the scene of affairs, so that they +contemplated the wars and dissensions of their countrymen with the +unprejudiced eye of a foreigner, or of posterity. This naturally diffuses +a calm philosophic spirit over the page of the historian, and gives +abundant scope for conjecture concerning the motives and springs of +action. The Roman annalists, on the other hand, wrote from perfect +knowledge and remembrance; they were the persons who had planned and +executed every project; they had fought the battles they described, or +excited the war, the vicissitudes of which they recorded. Hence the facts +which their pages disclosed, might have borne the genuine stamp of truth, +and the analysis of the motives and causes of actions might have been +absolute revelations. Yet, under these, the most favourable circumstances +for historic composition, prejudices from which the Greek historians were +exempt, would unconsciously creep in: Writers like Sylla or Æmilius +Scaurus, had much to extenuate, and strong temptations to set down much in +malice(184). + +Nor is it always sufficient to have witnessed a great event in order to +record it well, and with that fulness which converts it into a lesson in +legislation, ethics, or politics. Now, the Roman annals had hitherto been +chiefly a dry register of facts, what Lord Bolingbroke calls the _Nuntia +Vetustatis_, or Gazette of Antiquity. A history properly so termed, and +when considered as opposed to such productions, forms a complete series of +transactions, accompanied by a deduction of their immediate and remote +causes, and of the consequences by which they were attended,--all related, +in their full extent, with such detail of circumstances as transports us +back to the very time, makes us parties to the counsels, and actors, as it +were, in the whole scene of affairs. It is then alone that history becomes +the _magistra vitæ_; and in this sense + + + + + + SALLUST + + +has been generally considered as the first among the Romans who merited +the title of historian. This celebrated writer was born at Amiternum, in +the territory of the Sabines, in the year 668. He received his education +at Rome, and, in his early youth, appears to have been desirous to devote +himself to literary pursuits. But it was not easy for one residing in the +capital to escape the contagious desire of military or political +distinction. At the age of twenty-seven, he obtained the situation of +Quæstor, which entitled him to a seat in the Senate, and about six years +afterwards he was elected Tribune of the people. While in this office, he +attached himself to the fortunes of Cæsar, and along with one of his +colleagues in the tribunate, conducted the prosecution against Milo for +the murder of Clodius. In the year 704, he was excluded from the Senate, +on pretext of immoral conduct, but more probably from the violence of the +patrician party, to which he was opposed. Aulus Gellius, on the authority +of Varro's treatise, _Pius aut de Pace_, informs us that he incurred this +disgrace in consequence of being surprised in an intrigue with Fausta, the +wife of Milo, by the husband, who made him be scourged by his slaves(185). +It has been doubted, however, by modern critics, whether it was the +historian Sallust who was thus detected and punished, or his nephew, +Crispus Sallustius, to whom Horace has addressed the second ode of the +second book. It seems, indeed, unlikely, that in such a corrupt age, an +amour with a woman of Fausta's abandoned character, should have been the +real cause of his expulsion from the Senate. After undergoing this +ignominy, which, for the present, baffled all his hopes of preferment, he +quitted Rome, and joined his patron, Cæsar, in Gaul. He continued to +follow the fortunes of that commander, and, in particular bore a share in +the expedition to Africa, where the scattered remains of Pompey's party +had united. That region being finally subdued, Sallust was left by Cæsar +as Prætor of Numidia; and about the same time he married Terentia, the +divorced wife of Cicero. He remained only a year in his government, but +during that period he enriched himself by despoiling the province. On his +return to Rome, he was accused by the Numidians, whom he had plundered, +but escaped with impunity, by means of the protection of Cæsar, and was +quietly permitted to betake himself to a luxurious retirement with his +ill-gotten wealth. He chose for his favourite retreat a villa at Tibur, +which had belonged to Cæsar; and he also built a magnificent palace in the +suburbs of Rome, surrounded by delightful pleasure-grounds, which were +afterwards well known and celebrated by the name of the Gardens of +Sallust. One front of this splendid mansion faced the street, where he +constructed a spacious market-place, in which every article of luxury was +sold in abundance. The other front looked to the gardens, which were +contiguous to those of Lucullus, and occupied the valley between the +extremities of the Quirinal and Pincian Hills(186). They lay, in the time +of Sallust, immediately beyond the walls of Rome, but were included within +the new wall of Aurelian. In them every beauty of nature, and every +embellishment of art, that could delight or gratify the senses, seem to +have been assembled. Umbrageous walks, open parterres, and cool porticos, +displayed their various attractions. Amidst shrubs and flowers of every +hue and odour, interspersed with statues of the most exquisite +workmanship, pure streams of water preserved the verdure of the earth and +the temperature of the air; and while, on the one hand, the distant +prospect caught the eye, on the other, the close retreat invited to repose +or meditation(187). These gardens included within their precincts the most +magnificent baths, a temple to Venus, and a circus, which Sallust repaired +and ornamented. Possessed of such attractions, the Sallustian palace and +gardens became, after the death of their original proprietor, the +residence of successive emperors. Augustus chose them as the scene of his +most sumptuous entertainments. The taste of Vespasian preferred them to +the palace of the Cæsars. Even the virtuous Nerva, and stern Aurelian, +were so attracted by their beauty, that, while at Rome, they were their +constant abode. "The palace," says Eustace, "was consumed by fire on the +fatal night when Alaric entered the city. The temple, of singular beauty, +sacred to Venus, was discovered about the middle of the sixteenth century, +in opening the grounds of a garden, and was destroyed for the sale of the +materials: Of the circus little remains, but masses of walls that merely +indicate its site; while statues and marbles, found occasionally, continue +to furnish proofs of its former magnificence(188)." Many statues of +exquisite workmanship have been found on the same spot; but these may have +been placed there by the magnificence of the imperial occupiers, and not +of the original proprietor. + +In his urban gardens, or villa at Tibur, Sallust passed the close of his +life, dividing his time between literary avocations and the society of his +friends--among whom he numbered Lucullus, Messala, and Cornelius Nepos. + +Such having been his friends and studies, it seems highly improbable that +he indulged in that excessive libertinism which has been attributed to +him, on the erroneous supposition that he was the Sallust mentioned by +Horace, in the first book of his Satires(189). The subject of Sallust's +character is one which has excited some investigation and interest, and on +which very different opinions have been formed. That he was a man of loose +morals is evident; and it cannot be denied that he rapaciously plundered +his province, like other Roman governors of the day. But it seems doubtful +if he was that monster of iniquity he has been sometimes represented. He +was extremely unfortunate in the first permanent notice taken of his +character by his contemporaries. The decided enemy of Pompey and his +faction, he had said of that celebrated chief, in his general history, +that he was a man "oris probi, animo inverecundo." Lenæus, the freedman of +Pompey, avenged his master, by the most virulent abuse of his enemy(190), +in a work, which should rather be regarded as a frantic satire than an +historical document. Of the injustice which he had done to the life of the +historian we may, in some degree, judge, from what he said of him as an +author. He called him, as we learn from Suetonius, "Nebulonem, vitâ +scriptisque monstrosum: præterea, priscorum Catonisque ineruditissimum +furem." The life of Sallust, by Asconius Pedianus, which was written in +the age of Augustus, and might have acted, in the present day, as a +corrective, or palliative, of the unfavourable impression produced by this +injurious libel, has unfortunately perished; and the next work on the +subject now extant, is a professed rhetorical declamation against the +character of Sallust, which was given to the world in the name of Cicero, +but was not written till long after the death of that orator, and is now +generally assigned by critics, to a rhetorician, in the reign of Claudius, +called Porcius Latro. The calumnies invented or exaggerated by Lenæus, and +propagated in the scholiastic theme of Porcius Latro, have been adopted by +Le Clerc, professor of Hebrew at Amsterdam, and by Professor Meisner, of +Prague(191), in their respective accounts of the Life of Sallust. His +character has received more justice from the prefatory Memoir and Notes of +De Brosses, his French translator, and from the researches of Wieland in +Germany. + +From what has been above said of Fabius Pictor, and his immediate +successors, it must be apparent, that the art of historic composition at +Rome was in the lowest state, and that Sallust had no model to imitate +among the writers of his own country. He therefore naturally recurred to +the productions of the Greek historians. The native exuberance, and +loquacious familiarity of Herodotus, were not adapted to his taste; and +simplicity, such as that of Xenophon, is, of all things, the most +difficult to attain: He therefore chiefly emulated Thucydides, and +attempted to transplant into his own language the vigour and conciseness +of the Greek historian; but the strict imitation, with which he has +followed him, has gone far to lessen the effect of his own original +genius. + +The first book of Sallust was the _Conspiracy of Catiline_. There exists, +however, some doubt as to the precise period of its composition. The +general opinion is, that it was written immediately after the author went +out of office as Tribune of the People, that is, in the year 703: And the +composition of the _Jugurthine War_, as well as of his general history, +are fixed by Le Clerc between that period and his appointment to the +Prætorship of Numidia. But others have supposed that they were all written +during the space which intervened between his return from Numidia, in 708, +and his death, which happened in 718, four years previous to the battle of +Actium. It is maintained by the supporters of this last idea, that he was +too much engaged in political tumults previous to his administration of +Numidia, to have leisure for such important compositions--that, in the +introduction to Catiline's Conspiracy, he talks of himself as withdrawn +from public affairs, and refutes accusations of his voluptuous life, which +were only applicable to this period; and that, while instituting the +comparison between Cæsar and Cato, he speaks of the existence and +competition of these celebrated opponents as things that had passed +over--"Sed mea memoria, ingenti virtute, diversis moribus, fuere viri duo, +Marcus Cato et Caius Cæsar." On this passage, too, Gibbon in particular +argues, that such a flatterer and party tool as Sallust would not, during +the life of Cæsar, have put Cato so much on a level with him in the +comparison instituted between them. De Brosses agrees with Le Clerc in +thinking that the Conspiracy of Catiline at least must have been written +immediately after 703, as Sallust would not, subsequently to his marriage +with Terentia, have commemorated the disgrace of her sister, for she, it +seems, was the vestal virgin whose intrigue with Catiline is recorded by +our historian. But whatever may be the fact as to Catiline's Conspiracy, +it is quite clear that the Jugurthine War was written subsequent to the +author's residence in Numidia, which evidently suggested to him this +theme, and afforded him the means of collecting the information necessary +for completing his work. + +The subjects chosen by Sallust form two of the most important and +prominent topics in the history of Rome. The periods, indeed, which he +describes, were painful, but they were interesting. Full of conspiracies, +usurpations, and civil wars, they chiefly exhibit the mutual rage and +iniquity of embittered factions, furious struggles between the patricians +and plebeians, open corruption in the senate, venality in the courts of +justice, and rapine in the provinces. This state of things, so forcibly +painted by Sallust, produced the Conspiracy, and even in some degree +formed the character of Catiline: But it was the oppressive debts of +individuals, the temper of Sylla's soldiers, and the absence of Pompey +with his army, which gave a possibility, and even prospect of success to a +plot which affected the vital existence of the commonwealth, and which, +although arrested in its commencement, was one of those violent shocks +which hasten the fall of a state. The History of the Jugurthine War, if +not so important or menacing to the vital interests and immediate safety +of Rome, exhibits a more extensive field of action, and a greater theatre +of war. No prince, except Mithridates, gave so much employment to the arms +of the Romans. In the course of no war in which they had ever been +engaged, not even the second Carthaginian, were the people more +desponding, and in none were they more elated with ultimate success. +Nothing can be more interesting than the account of the vicissitudes of +this contest. The endless resources, and hair-breadth escapes of +Jugurtha--his levity, his fickle faithless disposition, contrasted with the +perseverance and prudence of the Roman commander, Metellus, are all +described in a manner the most vivid and picturesque. + +Sallust had attained the age of twenty-two when the conspiracy of Catiline +broke out, and was an eyewitness of the whole proceedings. He had +therefore, sufficient opportunity of recording with accuracy and truth the +progress and termination of the conspiracy. Sallust has certainly acquired +the praise of a veracious historian, and I do not know that he has been +detected in falsifying any fact within the sphere of his knowledge. Indeed +there are few historical compositions of which the truth can be proved on +such evidence as the Conspiracy of Catiline. The facts detailed in the +orations of Cicero, though differing in some minute particulars, coincide +in everything of importance, and highly contribute to illustrate and +verify the work of the historian. But Sallust lived too near the period of +which he treated, and was too much engaged in the political tumults of the +day, to give a faithful account, unvarnished by animosity or predilection; +he could not have raised himself above all hopes, fears, and prejudices, +and therefore could not in all their extent have fulfilled the duties of +an impartial writer. A contemporary historian of such turbulent times +would be apt to exaggerate through adulation, or conceal through fear, to +instil the precepts not of the philosopher but partizan, and colour facts +into harmony with his own system of patriotism or friendship. An +obsequious follower of Cæsar, he has been accused of a want of candour in +varnishing over the views of his patron; yet I have never been able to +persuade myself that Cæsar was deeply engaged in the conspiracy of +Catiline, or that a person of his prudence should have leagued with such +rash associates, or followed so desperate an adventurer. But the chief +objection urged against Sallust's impartiality, is the feeble and +apparently reluctant commendation which he bestows on Cicero, who is now +acknowledged to have been the principal actor in detecting and frustrating +the conspiracy. Though fond of displaying his talent for drawing +characters, he exercises none of it on Cicero, whom he merely terms "homo +egregius et optumus Consul," which was but cold applause for one who had +saved the commonwealth. It is true, that, in the early part of the +history, praise, though sparingly bestowed, is not absolutely withheld. +The election of Cicero to the Consulship is fairly attributed to the high +opinion entertained of his capacity, which overcame the disadvantage of +his obscure birth. The mode adopted for gaining over one of Catiline's +accomplices, and fixing his own wavering and disaffected colleague,--the +dexterity manifested in seizing the Allobrogian deputies with the letters, +and the irresistible effect produced, by confronting them with the +conspirators, are attributed exclusively to Cicero. It is in the +conclusion of these great transactions that the historian withholds from +him his due share of applause, and contrives to eclipse him by always +interposing the character of Cato, though it could not be unknown to any +witness of the proceedings that Cato himself, and other senators, publicly +hailed the Consul as the Father of his country, and that a public +thanksgiving to the gods was decreed in his name, for having preserved the +city from conflagration, and the citizens from massacre(192). This +omission, which may have originated partly in enmity, and partly in +disgust at the ill-disguised vanity of the Consul, has in all times been +regarded as the chief defect, and even stain, in the history of the +Catilinarian conspiracy. + +Although not an eye-witness of the war with Jugurtha Sallust's situation +as Prætor of Numidia, which suggested the composition, was favourable to +the authority of the work, by affording opportunity of collecting +materials and procuring information. He examined into the different +accounts, written as well as traditionary, concerning the history of +Africa(193), particularly the documents preserved in the archives of King +Hiempsal, which he caused to be translated for his own use, and which +proved peculiarly serviceable for his detailed description of the +continent and inhabitants of Africa. He has been accused of showing, in +this history, an undue partiality towards the character of Marius, and +giving, for the sake of his favourite leader, an unfair account of the +massacre at Vacca. But he appears to me to do even more than ample justice +to Metellus, as he represents the war as almost finished by him previous +to the arrival of Marius, though it was, in fact, far from being +concluded. + +Veracity and fidelity are the chief, and, indeed, the indispensable duties +of an historian. Of all the _ornaments_ of historic composition, it +derives its chief embellishment from a graceful and perspicuous style. +That of the early annalists, as we have already seen, was inelegant and +jejune; but style came to be considered, in the progress of history, as a +matter of primary importance. It is unfortunate, perhaps, that so much +value was at length attached to it, since the ancient historians seldom +gave their authorities, and considered the excellence of history as +consisting in fine writing, more than in an accurate detail of facts. +Sallust evidently regarded an elegant style as one of the chief merits of +an historical work. His own style, on which he took so much pains, was +carefully formed on that of Thucydides, whose manner of writing was in a +great measure original, and, till the time of Sallust, peculiar to +himself. The Roman has wonderfully succeeded in imitating the vigour and +conciseness of the Greek historian, and infusing into his composition +something of that dignified austerity, which distinguishes the works of +his great model; but when I say that Sallust has imitated the conciseness +of Thucydides, I mean the rapid and compressed manner in which his +narrative is conducted,--in short, brevity of idea, rather than language. +For Thucydides, although he brings forward only the principal idea, and +discards what is collateral, yet frequently employs long and involved +periods. Sallust, on the other hand, is abrupt and sententious, and is +generally considered as having carried this sort of brevity to a vicious +excess. The use of copulatives, either for the purpose of connecting his +sentences with each other, or uniting the clauses of the same sentence, is +in a great measure rejected. This omission produces a monotonous effect, +and a total want of that flow and that variety, which are the principal +charms of the historic period. Seneca accordingly talks of the "Amputatæ +sententiæ, et verba ante expectatum cadentia(194)," which the practice of +Sallust had rendered fashionable. Lord Monboddo calls his style +incoherent, and declares that there is not one of his short and uniform +sentences which deserves the name of a period; so that supposing each +sentence were in itself beautiful, there is not variety enough to +constitute fine writing. + +It was, perhaps, partly in imitation of Thucydides, that Sallust +introduced into his history a number of words almost considered as +obsolete, and which were selected from the works of the older authors of +Rome, particularly Cato the Censor. It is on this point he has been +chiefly attacked by Pollio, in his letters to Plancus. He has also been +taxed with the opposite vice, of coining new words, and introducing Greek +idioms; but the severity of judgment which led him to imitate the ancient +and austere dignity of style, made him reject those sparkling ornaments of +composition, which were beginning to infect the Roman taste, in +consequence of the increasing popularity of the rhetoric schools of +declamation, and the more frequent intercourse with Asia. On the whole, in +the style of Sallust, there is too much appearance of study, and a want of +that graceful ease, which is generally the effect of art, but in which art +is nowhere discovered. The opinion of Sir J. Checke, as reported by Ascham +in his _Schoolmaster_, contains a pretty accurate estimate of the merits +of the style of Sallust. "Sir J. Checke said, that he could not recommend +Sallust as a good pattern of style for young men, because in his writings +there was more art than nature, and more labour than art; and in his +labour, also, too much toil, as it were, with an uncontented care to write +better than he could--a fault common to very many men. And, therefore, he +doth not express the matter lively and naturally with common speech, as ye +see Xenophon doth in Greek, but it is carried and driven forth +artificially, after too learned a sort, as Thucydides doth in his +orations. 'And how cometh it to pass,' said I, 'that Cæsar's and Cicero's +talk is so natural and plain, and Sallust's writing so artificial and +dark, when all the three lived in one time?'--'I will freely tell you my +fancy herein,' said he; 'Cæsar and Cicero, beside a singular prerogative +of natural eloquence given unto them by God, were both, by use of life, +daily orators among the common people, and greatest councillors in the +Senate-house; and therefore gave themselves to use such speech as the +meanest should well understand, and the wisest best allow, following +carefully that good council of Aristotle, _Loquendum ut multi; sapiendum +ut pauci_. But Sallust was no such man.' " + +Of all departments of history, the delineation of character is that which +is most trying to the temper and impartiality of the writer, more +especially when he has been contemporary with the individuals he portrays, +and in some degree engaged in the transactions he records. Five or six of +the characters drawn by Sallust have in all ages been regarded as +masterpieces: He has seized the delicate shades, as well as the prominent +features, and thrown over them the most lively and appropriate colouring. +Those of the two principal actors in his tragic histories are forcibly +given, and prepare us for the incidents which follow. The portrait drawn +of Catiline conveys a vivid idea of his mind and person,--his profligate +untameable spirit, infinite resources, unwearied application, and +prevailing address. We behold, as it were, before us the deadly paleness +of his countenance, his ghastly eye, his unequal troubled step, and the +distraction of his whole appearance, strongly indicating the restless +horror of a guilty conscience. I think, however, it might have been +instructive and interesting had we seen something more of the atrocities +perpetrated in early life by this chief conspirator. The historian might +have shown him commencing his career as the chosen favourite of Sylla, and +the instrument of his monstrous cruelties. The notice of the other +conspirators is too brief, and there is too little discrimination of their +characters. Perhaps the outline was the same in all, but each might have +been individuated by distinctive features. The parallel drawn between Cato +and Cæsar is one of the most celebrated passages in the history of the +conspiracy. Of both these famed opponents we are presented with favourable +likenesses. Their defects are thrown into shade; and the bright qualities +of each different species which distinguished them, are contrasted for the +purpose of showing the various merits by which men arrive at eminence. + +The introductory sketch of the genius and manners of Jugurtha is no less +able and spirited than the character of Catiline. We behold him, while +serving under Scipio, as brave, accomplished, and enterprizing; but imbued +with an ambition, which, being under no control of principle, hurried him +into its worst excesses, and rendered him ultimately perfidious and cruel. +The most singular part of his character was the mixture of boldness and +irresolution which it combined; but the lesson we receive from it, lies in +the miseries of that suspicion and that remorse which he had created in +his own mind by his atrocities, and which rendered him as wretched on the +throne, or at the head of his army, as in the dungeon where he terminated +his existence. The portraits of the other principal characters, who +figured in the Jugurthine War, are also well brought out. That of Marius, +in particular, is happily touched. His insatiable ambition is artfully +disguised under the mask of patriotism,--his cupidity and avarice are +concealed under that of martial simplicity and hardihood; but, though we +know from his subsequent career the hypocrisy of his pretensions, the +character of Marius is presented to us in a more favourable light than +that in which it can be viewed on a survey of his whole life. We see the +blunt and gallant soldier, and not that savage whose innate cruelty of +soul was just about to burst forth for the destruction of his countrymen. +In drawing the portrait of Sylla, the memorable rival of Marius, the +historian represents him also such as he appeared at that period, not such +as he afterwards proved himself to be. We behold him with pleasure as an +accomplished and subtle commander, eloquent in speech, and versatile in +resources; but there is no trace of the cold-blooded assassin, the tyrant, +buffoon, and usurper. + +In general, Sallust's painting of character is so strong, that we almost +foresee how each individual will conduct himself in the situation in which +he is placed. Tacitus attributes all the actions of men to policy,--to +refined, and sometimes imaginary views; but Sallust, more correctly, +discovers their chief springs in the passions and dispositions of +individuals. "Salluste," says St Evremond, "donne autant au naturel, que +Tacite à la politique. Le plus grand soin du premier est de bien connoitre +le génie des hommes; les affaires viennent après naturellement, par des +actions peu recherchées de ces mêmes personnes qu'il a depeintes." + +History, in its original state, was confined to narrative; the reader +being left to form his own reflections on the deeds or events recorded. +The historic art, however, conveys not complete satisfaction, unless these +actions be connected with their causes,--the political springs, or private +passions, in which they originated. It is the business, therefore, of the +historian, to apply the conclusions of the politician in explaining the +causes and effects of the transactions he relates. These transactions the +author must receive from authentic monuments or records, but the remarks +deduced from them must be the offspring of his own ingenuity. The +reflections with which Sallust introduces his narrative, and those he +draws from it, are so just and numerous that he has by some been +considered as the father of philosophic history. It must always, however, +be remembered, that the proper object of history is the detail of national +transactions,--that whatever forms not a part of the narrative is +episodical, and therefore improper, if it be too long, and do not grow +naturally out of the subject. Now, some of the political and moral +digressions of Sallust are neither very immediately connected with his +subject, nor very obviously suggested by the narration. The discursive +nature and inordinate length of the introductions to his histories have +been strongly censured. The first four sections of Catiline's conspiracy +have indeed little relation to that topic. They might as well have been +prefixed to any other history, and much better to a moral or philosophic +treatise. In fact, a considerable part of them, descanting on the fleeting +nature of wealth and beauty, and all such adventitious or transitory +possessions, is borrowed from the second oration of Isocrates. Perhaps the +eight following sections are also disproportioned to the length of the +whole work; but the preliminary essay they contain, on the degradation of +Roman manners and decline of virtue, is not an unsuitable introduction to +the conspiracy, as it was this corruption of morals which gave birth to +it, and bestowed on it a chance of success. The preface to the Jugurthine +War has much less relation to the subject which it is intended to +introduce. The author discourses at large on his favourite topics the +superiority of mental endowments over corporeal advantages, and the beauty +of virtue and genius. He contrasts a life of listless indolence with one +of honourable activity; and, finally, descants on the task of the +historian as a suitable exercise for the highest faculties of the mind. + +Besides the conspiracy of Catiline and the Jugurthine War, which have been +preserved entire, and from which our estimate of the merits of Sallust +must be chiefly formed, he was author of a civil and military history of +the republic, in five books, entitled, _Historia rerum in Republica Romana +Gestarum_. This work, inscribed to Lucullus, the son of the celebrated +commander of that name, was the mature fruit of the genius of Sallust, +having been the last history he composed. It included, properly speaking, +only a period of thirteen years,--extending from the resignation of the +dictatorship by Sylla, till the promulgation of the Manilian law, by which +Pompey was invested with authority equal to that which Sylla had +relinquished, and obtained, with unlimited power in the east, the command +of the army destined to act against Mithridates. This period, though +short, comprehends some of the most interesting and luminous points which +appear in the Roman Annals. During this interval, and almost at the same +moment, the republic was attacked in the east by the most powerful and +enterprizing of the monarchs with whom it had yet waged war; in the west, +by one of the most skilful of its own generals; and in the bosom of Italy, +by its gladiators and slaves. This work also was introduced by two +discourses--the one presenting a picture of the government and manners of +the Romans, from the origin of their city to the commencement of the civil +wars, the other containing a general view of the dissensions of Marius and +Sylla; so that the whole book may be considered as connecting the +termination of the Jugurthine war, and the breaking out of Catiline's +conspiracy. The loss of this valuable production is the more to be +regretted, as all the accounts of Roman history which have been written, +are defective during the interesting period it comprehended. Nearly 700 +fragments belonging to it have been amassed, from scholiasts and +grammarians, by De Brosses, the French translator of Sallust; but they are +so short and unconnected, that they merely serve as land-marks, from which +we may conjecture what subjects were treated of, and what events were +recorded. The only parts of the history which have been preserved in any +degree entire, are four orations and two letters. Pomponius Lætus +discovered the orations in a MS. of the Vatican, containing a collection +of speeches from Roman history. The first is an oration pronounced against +Sylla by the turbulent Marcus Æmilius Lepidus; who, (as is well known,) +being desirous, at the expiration of his year, to be appointed a second +time Consul, excited, for that purpose, a civil war, and rendered himself +master of a great part of Italy. His speech which was preparatory to these +designs, was delivered after Sylla had abdicated the dictatorship, but was +still supposed to retain great influence at Rome. He is accordingly +treated as being still the tyrant of the state; and the people are +exhorted to throw off the yoke completely, and to follow the speaker to +the bold assertion of their liberties. The second oration, which is that +of Lucius Philippus, is an invective against the treasonable attempt of +Lepidus, and was calculated to rouse the people from the apathy with which +they beheld proceedings that were likely to terminate in the total +subversion of the government. The third harangue was delivered by the +Tribune Licinius: It was an effort of that demagogue to depress the +patrician, and raise the tribunitial power, for which purpose he +alternately flatters the people, and reviles the Senate. The oration of +Marcus Cotta is unquestionably a fine one. He addressed it to the people, +during the period of his Consulship, in order to calm their minds, and +allay their resentment at the bad success of public affairs, which, +without any blame on his part, had lately, in many respects, been +conducted to an unprosperous issue. Of the two letters which are extant, +the one is from Pompey to the Senate, complaining, in very strong terms, +of the deficiency in the supplies for the army which he commanded in Spain +against Sertorius; the other is feigned to be addressed from Mithridates +to Arsaces, King of Parthia, and to be written when the affairs of the +former monarch were proceeding unsuccessfully. It exhorts him, +nevertheless, with great eloquence and power of argument, to join him in +an alliance against the Romans: for this purpose, it places in a strong +point of view their unprincipled policy, and ambitious desire of universal +empire--all which could not, without this device of an imaginary letter by +a foe, have been so well urged by a national historian. It concludes with +showing the extreme danger which the Parthians would incur from the +hostility of the Romans, should they succeed in finally subjugating Pontus +and Armenia. The only other fragment, of any length, is the description of +a splendid entertainment given to Metellus, on his return, after a year's +absence, to his government of Farther Spain. It appears, from several +other fragments, that Sallust had introduced, on occasion of the +Mithridatic war, a geographical account of the shores and countries +bordering on the Euxine, in the same manner as he enters into a +topographical description of Africa, in his history of the Jugurthine war. +This part of his work has been much applauded by ancient writers for +exactness and liveliness; and is frequently referred to, as the highest +authority, by Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and other geographers. + +Besides his historical works, there exist two political discourses, +concerning the administration of the government, in the form of letters to +Julius Cæsar, which have generally, though not on sufficient grounds, been +attributed to the pen of Sallust(195). + +As Sallust has obviously imitated, and, in fact, resembles Thucydides, so +has + + + + + + JULIUS CÆSAR, + + +in his historical works, been compared to Xenophon, the first memoir +writer among the Greeks. Simplicity is the characteristic of both, but +Xenophon has more rhetorical flow and sweetness of style, and he is +sometimes, I think, a little mawkish; while the simplicity of Cæsar, on +the other hand, borders, perhaps, on severity. Cæsar, too, though often +circumstantial, is never diffuse, while Xenophon is frequently prolix, +without being minute or accurate. "In the Latin work," says Young, in his +_History of Athens_, "we have the commentaries of a general vested with +supreme command, and who felt no anxiety about the conduct or obedience of +his army--in the Greek, we possess the journal of an officer in subordinate +rank, though of high estimation. Hence the speeches of the one are replete +with imperatorial dignity, those of the other are delivered with the +conciliatory arts of argument and condescension. Hence, too, the mind of +Xenophon was absorbed in the care and discipline of those under his +command; but thence we are better acquainted with the Greek army than with +that of Cæsar. Cæsar's attention was ever directed to those he was to +attack, to counteract, or to oppose--Xenophon's to those he was to conduct. +For the same reason, Xenophon is superficial with respect to any +peculiarities of the nations he passed through; while in Cæsar we have a +curious, and well authenticated detail, relative to the Gauls, the +Britons, and every other enemy. The comparison, however, holds in this, +that Cæsar, like Xenophon, was properly a writer of Memoirs. Like him, he +aimed at nothing farther than communicating facts in a plain familiar +manner; and the account of his campaign was only drawn up as materials for +future history, not having leisure to bestow that ornament and dress which +history requires." In the opinion of his contemporaries, however, and all +subsequent critics, he has rendered desperate any attempt to write the +history of the wars of which he treats. "Dum voluit," says Cicero, "alios +habere parata, unde sumerent, qui vellent scribere historiam, sanos quidem +homines a scribendo deterruit." A similar opinion is given by his +continuator Hirtius,--"Adeo probantur omnium judicio ut prærepta, non +præbita, facultas scriptoribus videatur." + +Cæsar's Commentaries consist of seven books of the Gallic, and three of +the civil wars. Some critics, however, particularly Floridus Sabinus(196), +deny that he was the author of the books on the latter war, while Carrio +and Ludovicus Caduceus doubt of his being the author even of the Gallic +war,--the last of these critics attributing the work to Suetonius. +Hardouin, who believed that most of the works now termed classical, were +forgeries of the monks in the thirteenth century, also tried to persuade +the world, that the whole account of the Gallic campaigns was a fiction, +and that Cæsar had never drawn a sword in Gaul in his life. The testimony, +however, of Cicero and Hirtius, who were contemporary with Cæsar,--of many +authentic writers, who lived after him, as Suetonius, Strabo, and +Plutarch,--and of all the old grammarians, must be considered as settling +the question; for if such evidence is not implicitly trusted, there seems +to be an end of all reliance on ancient authority. + +Though these Commentaries comprehend but a small extent of time, and are +not the general history of a nation, they embrace events of the highest +importance, and they detail, perhaps, the greatest military operations to +be found in ancient story. We see in them all that is great and consummate +in the art of war. The ablest commander of the most martial people on the +globe records the history of his own campaigns. Placed at the head of the +finest army ever formed in the world, and one devoted to his fortunes, but +opposed by military skill and prowess only second to its own, he, and the +soldiers he commanded, may be almost extolled in the words in which Nestor +praised the heroes who had gone before him:-- + + "{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, + {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}," ---- + +for the Gauls and Germans were among the bravest and most warlike nations +then on earth, and Pompey was accounted the most consummate general of his +age. No commander, it is universally admitted, ever had such knowledge of +the mechanical part of war: He possessed the complete empire of the sea, +and was aided by all the influence derived from the constituted authority +of the state. + +Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole Commentaries, is the +account of the campaign in Spain against Afranius and Petreius, in which +Cæsar, being reduced to extremities for want of provisions and forage, (in +consequence of the bridges over the rivers, between which he had encamped, +being broken down,) extricated himself from this situation, after a +variety of skilful manoeuvres, and having pursued Pompey's generals into +Celtiberia, and back again to Lerida, forced their legions to surrender, +by placing them in those very difficulties from which he had so ably +relieved his own army. + +It is obvious that the greater part of such Commentaries must be +necessarily occupied with the detail of warlike operations. The military +genius of Rome breathes through the whole work, and it comprehends all the +varieties which warfare offers to our interest, and perhaps, undue +admiration--pitched battles, affairs of posts, encampments, retreats, +marches in face of the foe through woods and over plains or mountains, +passages of rivers, sieges, defence of forts, and those still more +interesting accounts of the spirit and discipline of the enemies' troops, +and the talents of their generals. In his clear and scientific details of +military operations, Cæsar is reckoned superior to every writer, except, +perhaps, Polybius. Some persons have thought he was too minute, and that, +by describing every evolution performed in a battle, he has rendered his +relations somewhat crowded. But this was his principle, and it served the +design of the author. + +As he records almost nothing at which he was not personally present, or +heard of from those acting under his immediate directions, he possessed +the best information with regard to everything of which he wrote(197). In +general, when he speaks of himself, it is without affectation or +arrogance. He talks of Cæsar as of an indifferent person, and always +maintains the character which he has thus assumed; indeed, it can hardly +be conceived that he had so small a share in the great actions he +describes, as appears from his own representations. With exception of the +false colours with which he disguises his ambitious projects against the +liberties of his country, everything seems to be told with fidelity and +candour. Nor is there any very unfair concealment of the losses he may +have sustained: he ingenuously acknowledges his own disaster in the affair +at Dyracchium; he admits the loss of 960 men, and the complete frustration +of his whole plan for the campaign. When he relates his successes, on the +other hand, it is with moderation. There is the utmost caution, reserve, +and modesty, in his account of the battle of Pharsalia; and one would +hardly conceive that the historian had any share in the action or victory. +He in general acknowledges, that the events of war are beyond human +control, and ascribes the largest share of success to the power of +fortune. The rest he seems willing to attribute to the valour of his +soldiers, and the good conduct of his military associates. Thus he gives +the chief credit and glory of the great victory over Ariovistus to the +presence of mind displayed by Crassus, who promptly made the signal to a +body of men to advance and support one of the wings which was overpowered +by the multitude of the enemy, and was beginning to give way. He does not +even omit to do justice to the distinguished and generous valour of the +two centurions, Pulfio and Varenus, or of the centurion Sextius Baculus, +during the alarming attack by the Sicambri. On the other hand, when he has +occasion to mention the failure of his friends, as in relating Curio's +defeat and death in Africa, he does it with tenderness and indulgence. Of +his enemies, he speaks without insult or contempt; and even in giving his +judgment upon a great military question, though he disapproves Pompey's +mode of waiting for the attack at Pharsalia, his own reasons for a +contrary opinion are urged with deference and candour. The confident hopes +which were entertained in Pompey's camp--the pretensions and disputes of +the leading senators, about the division of patronage and officers, and +the confiscations which were supposed to be just falling within their +grasp, furnished him with some amusing anecdotes, which it must have been +difficult to resist inserting; nor can we wonder, that while all the +preparations for celebrating the anticipated victory with luxury and +festivity, were matters of ocular observation, he should have devoted some +few passages in his Commentaries, to recording the vanity and presumption +of such fond expectations. Labienus, who had deserted him, and Scipio, who +gave him so much trouble, by rekindling the war, are those of whom he +speaks with the greatest rancour, in relating the cruelty of the former, +and the tyrannical ingenious rapacity of the latter(198). + +Whatever concerns the events of the civil war could not easily have been +falsified or misrepresented. So many enemies, who had been eye-witnesses +of everything, survived that period, that the author could scarcely have +swerved from the truth without detection. But in his contests with the +Gauls, and Germans, and Britons, there was no one to contradict him. Those +who accompanied him were devoted to his fame and fortunes, and interested +like himself in exalting the glory of these foreign exploits. That he has +varnished over the real motives, and also the issue, of his expedition to +Britain has been frequently suspected. The reason he himself assigns for +the undertaking is, that he understood supplies had been thence furnished +to the enemy, in almost all the Gallic wars; but Suetonius asserts, that +the information he had received of the quantity and size of the pearls on +the British coast, was his real inducement. Fourteen short chapters in the +fourth book of the Gallic war, relate his first visit, and his hasty +return; and sixteen in the fifth, detail his progress in the following +summer. These chapters have derived importance from containing the +earliest authentic memorials of the inhabitants and state of this island; +and there has, of course, been much discussion on the genuine though +imperfect notices they afford. Various tracts, chiefly published in the +_Archæologia_, have topographically followed the various steps of Cæsar's +progress, particularly his passage across the Thames, and have debated the +situation of the Portus Iccius, from which he embarked for Britain. + +Cæsar's occasional digressions concerning the manners of the Gauls and +Germans, are also highly interesting and instructive, and are the only +accounts to be at all depended on with regard to the institutions and +customs of these two great nations, at that remote period. In Gaul he had +remained so long, and had so thoroughly studied the habits and customs of +its people for his own political purposes, that whatever is delivered +concerning that country, may be confidently relied on. His intercourse +with the German tribes was occasional, and chiefly of a military +description. Some of his observations on their manners--as their +hospitality, the continence of their youth, and the successive occupation +of different lands by the same families--are confirmed by Tacitus; but in +other particulars, especially in what relates to their religion, he is +contradicted by that great historian. Cæsar declares that they have no +sacrifices, and know no gods, but those, like the Sun or Moon, which are +visible, and whose benefits they enjoy(199). Tacitus informs us, that +their chief god is Mercury, whom they appease by human victims; that they +also sacrifice animals to Hercules and Mars; and adore that Secret +Intelligence, which is only seen in the eye of mental veneration(200). The +researches of modern writers have also thrown some doubts on the accuracy +of Cæsar's German topography; and Cluverius, in particular, has attempted +to show, that he has committed many errors in speaking both of the Germans +and Batavians(201). + +As the Commentaries of Cæsar do not pretend to the elaborate dignity of +history, the author can scarcely be blamed if he has detailed his facts +without mingling many reflections or observations. He seldom inserts a +political or characteristic remark, though he had frequent opportunities +for both, in describing such singular people as the Gauls, Germans, and +Britons. But his object was not, like Sallust or Tacitus, to deduce +practical reflections for the benefit of his reader, or to explain the +political springs of the transactions he relates. His simple narrative was +merely intended for the gratification of those Roman citizens, whom he had +already persuaded to favour his ambitious projects; yet even they, I +think, might have wished to have heard something more of what may be +called the military motives of his actions. He tells us of his marches, +retreats, and encampments, but seldom sufficiently explains the grounds on +which these warlike measures were undertaken--how they advanced his own +plans, or frustrated the designs of the enemy. More insight into the +military views by which he was prompted, would have given additional +interest and animation to his narrative, and afforded ampler lessons of +instruction. + +No person, I presume, wishes to be told, for the twentieth time, that the +style of Cæsar is remarkable for clearness and ease, and a simplicity more +truly noble than the pomp of words. Perhaps the most distinguishing +characteristic of his style, is its perfect equality of expression. There +was, in the mind of Cæsar, a serene and even dignity. In temper, nothing +appeared to agitate or move him--in conduct, nothing diverted him from the +attainment of his end. In like manner, in his style, there is nothing +swelling or depressed, and not one word occurs which is chosen for the +mere purpose of embellishment. The opinion of Cicero, who compared the +style of Cæsar to the unadorned simplicity of an ancient Greek statue, may +be considered as the highest praise, since he certainly entertained no +favourable feelings towards the author; and the style was very different +from that which he himself employed in his harangues, or philosophical +works, or even in his correspondence. "Nudi sunt," says he, "recti, et +venusti, omni ornatu orationis tanquam veste detracto." This exquisite +purity was not insensibly obtained, as the Lælian and Mucian Families are +said to have acquired it, by domestic habit and familiar conversation, but +by assiduous study and thorough knowledge of the Latin language(202), and +the practice of literary composition, to which Cæsar had been accustomed +from his earliest youth(203). + +But, however admirable for its purity and elegance, the style of Cæsar +seems to be somewhat deficient, both in vivacity and vigour. Walchius, +too, has pointed out a few words, which he considers not of pure Latinity, +as _ambactus_, a term employed by the Gauls and Germans to signify a +servant--also _Ancorarii_ funes, a word nowhere else used as an +adjective--_Antemittere_ for _premittere_, and _summo magistratu præiverat_ +for _magistratui_(204). The use of such words as _collabefieret_, +_contabulatio_, _detrimentosum_, _explicitius_, _materiari_, would lead us +to suspect that Cæsar had not _always_ attended to the rule which he so +strongly laid down in his book, _De Analogia_, to avoid, as a rock, every +unusual word or expression. Bergerus, in an immense quarto, entitled _De +Naturali pulchritudine Orationis_ has at great length attempted to show +that Cæsar had anticipated all the precepts subsequently delivered by +Longinus, for reaching the utmost excellence and dignity of composition. +He points out his conformity to these rules, in what he conceives to be +the abridgments, amplifications, transitions, gradations,--in short, all +the various figures and ornaments of speech, which could be employed by +the most pedantic rhetorician; and he also critically examines those few +words and phrases of questionable purity, which are so thinly scattered +through the Commentaries. + +Mankind usually judge of a literary composition by its intrinsic merit, +without taking into consideration the age of the author, the celerity with +which it was composed, or the various circumstances under which it was +written; and in this, perhaps, they act not unjustly, since their business +is with the work, and not with the qualities of the author. But were such +things to be taken into view, it should be remembered, that these Memoirs +were hastily drawn up during the tumult and anxiety of campaigns, and were +jotted down from day to day, without care or premeditation. "Ceteri," says +Hirtius, the companion of Cæsar's expeditions, and the continuator of his +Commentaries,--"Ceteri quam bene atque emendate; nos etiam quam facile +atque celeriter eos perscripserit scimus." + +The Commentaries, _De Bello Gallico_, and _De Bello Civili_, are the only +productions of Cæsar which remain to us. Several ancient writers speak of +his _Ephemeris_, or Diary; but it has been doubted whether the work, so +termed by Plutarch, Servius, Symmachus, and several others, be the same +book as the Commentaries, or a totally different production. The former +opinion is adopted by Fabricius, who thinks that _Ephemeris_, or +_Ephemerides_, is only another name for the Commentaries, which in fact +may be considered as having been written in the manner and form of a +diary. He acknowledges, that several passages, cited by Servius, as taken +from these _Ephemerides_, are not now to be found in the Commentaries; but +then he maintains that there are evidently defects (_lacunæ_) in the +latter work; and he conjectures that the words quoted by Servius are part +of the lost passages of the Commentaries. This opinion is followed by +Vossius, who cites a sort of Colophon at the end of one of the oldest MSS. +of the Commentaries which he thinks decisive of the question, as it shows +that the term _Ephemeris_ was currently applied to them.--"C. J. Cæsaris, +P. M. Ephemeris rerum Gestarum Belli Gallici, Lib. VIII. explicit +feliciter." + +Bayle, in his Dictionary, has supported the opposite theory. He believes +the _Ephemeris_ to have been a journal of the author's life. He admits, +that a passage which Plutarch quotes as from the _Ephemeris_, occurs also +in the fourth book of the Commentaries; but then he maintains, that it was +impossible for Cæsar not to have frequently mentioned the same thing in +his Commentaries and Journal, and he thinks, that had Plutarch meant to +allude to the former, he would have called them, not _Ephemeris_, but +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} as Strabo has termed them. Besides, Polyænus mentions divers +warlike stratagems, as recorded by Cæsar, which are not contained in the +Commentaries, and which, therefore, could have been explained only in the +separate work _Ephemeris_. + +There are still some fragments remaining of the letters which Cæsar +addressed to the Senate and his friends, and also of his orations, which +were considered as inferior only to those of Cicero. Of his rhetorical +talents, something may be hereafter said. It appears that his qualities as +an orator and historian, were very different, since vehemence and the +power of exciting emotion, (concitatio,) are mentioned as the +characteristics of his harangues. Some of them were delivered in behalf of +clients, and on real business, in the Forum; but the two orations entitled +_Anticatones_ were merely written in the form and manner of accusations +before a judicial tribunal. These rhetorical declamations, which were +composed about the time of the battle of Munda, were intended as an answer +to the laudatory work of Cicero, called _Laus Catonis_. The author +particularly considered in them the last act of Cato at Utica, and has +raked up all the vices and defects of his character, whether real or +imputed, public or private,--his ambition, affectation of singularity, +churlishness, and avarice; but as the _Anticatones_ were seasoned with +lavish commendations of Cicero, whose panegyric on Cato they were intended +to confute, the orator felt much flattered with the dictatorial incense, +and greatly admired the performances in which it was offered,--"Collegit +vitia Catonis, sed cum maximis laudibus meis(205)." + +These two rival works were much celebrated at Rome; and both of them had +their several admirers, as different parties and interests disposed men to +favour the subject, or the author of each. It seems also certain, that +they were the principal cause of establishing and promoting that +veneration which posterity has since paid to the memory of Cato; for his +name being thrown into controversy in that critical period of the fate of +Rome, by the patron of liberty on one side, and its oppressor on the +other, it became a kind of political test to all succeeding ages, and a +perpetual argument of dispute between the friends of freedom, and the +flatterers of power(206). The controversy was taken up by Brutus, the +nephew, and Fabius Gallus, an admirer of Cato: it was renewed by Augustus, +who naturally espoused the royal side of the question, and by Thraseas +Pætus, who ventured on this dangerous topic during the darkest days of +imperial despotism. + +Cæsar's situation as Pontifex Maximus probably led him to write the +_Auguralia_ and _Libri Auspiciorum_, which, as their names import, were +books explaining the different auguries and presages derived from the +flight of birds. To the same circumstance we may attribute his work on the +motions of the stars, _De Motu Siderum_, which explains what he had +learned in Egypt on that subject from Sosigenes, a peripatetic philosopher +of Alexandria, and in which, if we may credit the elder Pliny, he +prognosticated his own death on the ides of March(207). + +The composition of the works hitherto mentioned naturally enough suggested +itself to a high-priest, warrior, and politician, who was also fond of +literature, and had the same command of his pen as of his sword. But it +appears singular, that one so much occupied with war, and with political +schemes for the ruin of his country, should have seriously employed +himself in writing formal and elaborate treatises on grammar. There is no +doubt, however, that he composed a work, in two books, on the analogies of +the Latin tongue, which was addressed to Cicero, and was entitled, like +the preceding work of Varro on the same subject, _De Analogia_. It was +written, as we are informed by Suetonius, while crossing the Alps, on his +return to the army from Hither Gaul, where he had gone to attend the +assemblies of that province(208). In this book, the great principle +established by him was, that the proper choice of words formed the +foundation of eloquence(209); and he cautioned authors and public speakers +to avoid as a rock every unusual word or unwonted expression(210). His +declensions, however, of some nouns, appear, at least to us, not a little +strange--as _turbo_, _turbonis_, instead of _turbinis_(211); and likewise +his inflections of verbs,--as, _mordeo_, _memordi_; _pungo,_, _pepugi_; +_spondeo_, _spepondi_(212). He also treated of derivatives; as we are +informed, that he derived ens from the verb _sum_, _es_, _est_; and of +rules of grammar,--as that the dative and ablative singular of neuters in +_e_ are the same, as also of neuters in _ar_, except _far_ and _jubar_. It +appears that he even descended to the most minute consideration of +orthography and the formation of letters; Thus, he was of opinion, that +the letter V should be formed like an inverted F,--thus {~TURNED CAPITAL F~},--because it has +the force of the Æolic digamma. Cassiodorus farther mentions, that, in the +question with regard to the use of the _u_ or _i_ in such words as +_maxumus_ or _maximus_, Cæsar gave the preference to _i_; and, from such +high authority, this spelling was adopted in general practice. + +It has been said, that Cæsar also made a collection of apophthegms and +anecdotes, in the style of our modern _Ana_; but Augustus prevented these +from being made public. That emperor likewise, in a letter to Pompeius +Macrus, to whom he had given the charge of arranging his library, +prohibited the publication of several poetical effusions of Cæsar's youth. +These are said to have consisted of a tragedy on the subject of OEdipus, +and a poem in praise of Hercules(213). Another poem, entitled _Iter_ was +written by him in maturer age. It is said, by Suetonius, to have been +composed when he reached Farther Spain, on the twenty-fourth day after his +departure from Rome(214); and it may therefore be conjectured to have been +a poetical relation of the incidents which occurred during that journey, +embellished, perhaps, with descriptions of the most striking scenery +through which he passed. Two epigrams, which are still extant, have also +been frequently attributed to him; one on the dramatic character of +Terence, already quoted(215), and another on a Thracian boy, who, while +playing on the ice, fell into the river Hebrus,-- + + "Thrax puer, astricto glacie dum luderet Hebro," &c. + +But this last is, with more probability, supposed by many to have been the +production of Cæsar Germanicus. + +There were also several useful and important works accomplished under the +eye and direction of Cæsar, such as the graphic survey of the whole Roman +empire. Extensive as their conquests had been, the Romans hitherto had +done almost nothing for geography, considered as a science. Their +knowledge was confined to the countries they had subdued, and them they +regarded only with a view to the levies they could furnish, and the +taxations they could endure. Cæsar was the first who formed more exalted +plans. Æthicus, a writer of the fourth century, informs us, in the preface +to his _Cosmographia_, that this great man obtained a _senatusconsultum_, +by which a geometrical survey and measurement of the whole Roman empire +was enjoined to three geometers. Xenodoxus was charged with the eastern, +Polycletus with the southern, and Theodotus with the northern provinces. +Their scientific labour was immediately commenced, but was not completed +till more than thirty years after the death of him with whom the +undertaking had originated. The information which Cæsar had received from +the astronomer Sosigenes in Egypt, enabled him to alter and amend the +Roman calendar. It would be foreign from my purpose to enter into an +examination of this system of the Julian year, but the computation he +adopted has been explained, as is well known, by Scaliger and +Gassendi(216); and it has been since maintained, with little farther +alteration than that introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. When we consider the +imperfection of all mathematical instruments in the time of Cæsar, and the +total want of telescopes, we cannot but view with admiration, not unmixed +with astonishment, that comprehensive genius, which, in the infancy of +science, could surmount such difficulties, and compute a system, that +experienced but a trifling derangement in the course of sixteen centuries. + +Although Cæsar wrote with his own hand only seven books of the Gallic +campaigns, and the history of the civil wars till the death of his great +rival, it seems highly probable, that he revised the last or eighth book +of the Gallic war, and communicated information for the history of the +Alexandrian and African expeditions, which are now usually published along +with his own Commentaries, and may be considered as their supplement, or +continuation. The author of these works, which nearly complete the +interesting story of the campaigns of Cæsar, was Aulus Hirtius, one of his +most zealous followers, and most confidential friends. He had been +nominated Consul for the year following the death of his master; and, +after that event, having espoused the cause of freedom, he was slain in +the attack made by the forces of the republic on Antony's camp, near +Modena. + +The eighth book of the Gallic war contains the account of the renewal of +the contest by the states of Gaul, after the surrender of Alesia, and of +the different battles which ensued, at most of which Hirtius was +personally present, till the final pacification, when Cæsar, learning the +designs which were forming against him at Rome, set out for Italy. + +Cæsar, in the conclusion of the third book of the Civil War, mentions the +commencement of the Alexandrian war. Hirtius was not personally present at +the succeeding events of this Egyptian contest, in which Cæsar was +involved with the generals of Ptolemy, nor during his rapid campaigns in +Pontus against Pharnaces, and against the remains of the Pompeian party in +Africa, where they had assembled under Scipio, and being supported by +Juba, still presented a formidable appearance. He collected, however, the +leading events from the conversation of Cæsar(217), and the officers who +were engaged in these campaigns. He has obviously imitated the style of +his master; and the resemblance which he has happily attained, has given +an appearance of unity and consistence to the whole series of these +well-written and authentic memoirs. It appears that Hirtius carried down +the history even to the death of Cæsar, for in his preface addressed to +Balbus, he says, that he had brought down what was left imperfect from the +transactions at Alexandria, to the end, not of the civil dissensions, to a +termination of which there was no prospect, but of the life of Cæsar(218). + +This latter part, however, of the Commentaries of Hirtius, has been lost, +as it seems now to be generally acknowledged that he was not the author of +the book _De Bello Hispanico_, which relates Cæsar's second campaign in +Spain, undertaken against young Cneius Pompey, who, having assembled, in +the ulterior province of that country, those of his father's party who had +survived the disasters in Thessaly and Africa, and being joined by some of +the native states, presented a formidable resistance to the power of +Cæsar, till his hopes were terminated by the decisive battle of Munda. +Dodwell, indeed, in a Dissertation on this subject, maintains, that it was +originally written by Hirtius, but was interpolated by Julius Celsus, a +Constantinopolitan writer of the 6th or 7th century. Vossius, however, +whose opinion is that more commonly received, attributes it to Caius +Oppius(219), who wrote the Lives of Illustrious Captains, and also a book +to prove that the Ægyptian Cæsario was not the son of Cæsar. Oppius was +Cæsar's confidential friend, and companion in many of his enterprizes; and +it was to him, as we are informed by Suetonius, that Cæsar gave up the +only apartment at an inn, while they were travelling in Gaul, and lay +himself on the ground, and in the open air(220). + +A fragment has been added at the end of this book, on the Spanish war, by +Jungerman, from a MS. of Petavius. Vossius thinks that this fragment was +taken from the Commentaries, called those of Julius Celsus, on the Life of +Cæsar, published in 1473. These Commentaries, however, were the work of a +Christian writer; but Julius Celsus, a Constantinopolitan of the 6th +century, already mentioned, having revised the Commentaries of Cæsar, the +work on his life came, (from the confusion of names, or perhaps from a +fiction devised, to give the stamp of authority,) to be attributed to +Julius Celsus, who was contemporary with Cæsar, and was reported to have +written a history of his campaigns; just in the same way as a fabulous +life of Alexander, produced in the middle ages, passes to this day under +the name of Callisthenes, the historiographer of the Macedonian monarch. + +There is no other historian of the period on which we are now engaged, of +whose works even any fragments have descended to us. Atticus, however, +wrote Memoirs of Rome from the earliest periods, and also memoirs of its +principal families, as the Junian, Cornelian, and Fabian,--tracing their +origin, enumerating their honours, and recording their exploits. At the +same time Lucceius composed Histories of the Social War, and of the Civil +Wars of Sylla, which were so highly esteemed by Cicero, that he urges him +in one of his letters to undertake a history of his consulship, in which +he discovered and suppressed the conspiracy of Catiline(221). From a +subsequent letter to Atticus we learn that Lucceius had promised to +accomplish the task suggested to him(222). It is probable, however, that +it never was completed,--his labour having been interrupted by the civil +wars, in which he followed the fortunes of Pompey, and was indeed one of +his chief advisers in adopting the fatal resolution of quitting Italy. + +The Annals of Procilius, which appeared at this period, may be conjectured +to have comprehended the whole series of Roman history, from the building +of the city to his own time; since Varro quotes him for the account of +Curtius throwing himself into the gulf(223) and Pliny refers to him for +some remarks with regard to the elephants which appeared at Pompey's +African triumph(224). + +Brutus is also said to have written epitomes of the meagre and barren +histories of Fannius and Antipater. That he should have thought of +abridging narratives so proverbially dry and jejune, seems altogether +inexplicable. + +The works of an historian called Cæcina have also perished, and if we may +trust to his own account of them, their loss is not greatly to be +deplored. In one of his letters to Cicero he says, "From much have I been +compelled to refrain, many things I have been forced to pass over lightly, +many to curtail, and very many absolutely to omit. Thus circumscribed, +restricted, and broken as it is, what pleasure or what useful information +can be expected from the recital(225)?" + +We have thus traced the progress of historical composition among the +Romans, from its commencement to the time of Augustus. There is no history +so distinguished and adorned as the Roman, by illustrious characters; and +the circumstances which it records produced the greatest as well as most +permanent empire that ever existed on earth. The interest of the early +events, and the value of the conclusions to be drawn from them, are much +diminished by their uncertainty. Subsequently, however, to the second +Punic war, the Roman historians were, for the most part, themselves +engaged in the affairs of which they treat, and had therefore, at least, +the most perfect _means_ of communicating accurate information. But this +advantage, which, in one point of view, is so prodigious, was attended +with concomitant evils. Lucian, in his treatise, How History ought to be +Written, says, that the author of this species of composition should be +abstracted from all connection with the persons and things which are its +subjects; that he should be of no country and no party; that he should be +free from all passion, and unconcerned who is pleased or offended with +what he writes. Now, the Roman historians of the era on which we are +engaged were the slaves of party or the heads of factions; and even when +superior to all petty interests or prejudices, they still show plainly +that they are Romans. None of them stood impartially aloof from their +subject, or supplied the want of historians of Carthage and of Gaul, by +whom their narratives might be corrected, and their colouring softened. + + + +Of all the arts next to war, Eloquence was of most importance in Rome; +since, if the former led to the conquest of foreign states, the latter +opened to each individual a path to empire and dominion over the minds of +his fellow citizens(226). Without this art, wisdom itself, in the +estimation of Cicero, could be of little avail for the advantage or glory +of the commonwealth(227). + +During the existence of the monarchy, and in the early age of the +republic, law proceedings were not numerous. Many civil suits were +prevented by the absolute dominion which a Roman father exercised over his +family; and the rigour of the decemviral laws, in which all the +proceedings were extreme, frequently concussed parties into an +accommodation; while, at the same time, the purity of ancient manners had +not yet given rise to those criminal questions of bribery and peculation +at home, or of oppression and extortion in the provinces, which disgraced +the closing periods of the commonwealth, and furnished themes for the +glowing invective of Cicero and Hortensius. Hence there was little room +for the exercise of legal oratory; and whatever eloquence may have shone +forth in the early ages of Rome, was probably of a political description, +and exerted on affairs of state. + +From the earliest times of the republic, history records the wonderful +effects which Junius Brutus, Publicola, and Appius Claudius, produced by +their harangues, in allaying seditions, and thwarting pernicious counsels. +Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives us a formal speech, which Romulus, by +direction of his grandfather, made to the people after the building of the +city, on the subject of the government to be established(228). There are +also long orations of Servius Tullius; and great part of the Antiquities +of Dionysius is occupied with senatorial debates during the early ages of +the republic. But though the orations of these fathers of Roman eloquence +were doubtless delivered with order, gravity, and judgment, and may have +possessed a masculine vigour, well calculated to animate the courage of +the soldier, and protect the interests of the state, we must not form our +opinion of them from the long speeches in Dionysius and Livy, or suppose +that they were adorned with any of that rhetoric art with which they have +been invested by these historians. A nation of outlaws, destined from +their cradle to the profession of arms,--taught only to hurl the spear or +javelin, and inure their bodies to other martial exercises,--with souls +breathing only conquest,--and regarded as the enemies of every state till +they had become its masters, could have possessed but few topics of +illustration or embellishment, and were not likely to cultivate any +species of rhetorical refinement. To convince by solid arguments when +their cause was good, and to fill their fellow-citizens with passions +corresponding to those with which they were themselves animated, would be +the great objects of an eloquence supplied by nature and unimproved by +study. Quintilian accordingly informs us, that though there appeared in +the ancient orations some traces of original genius, and much force of +argument, they bore, in their rugged and unpolished periods, the signs of +the times in which they were delivered. + +With exception of the speech of Appius Claudius to oppose a peace with +Pyrrhus, there are no harangues mentioned by the Latin critics or +historians as possessing any charms of oratory, previously to the time of +Cornelius Cethegus, who flourished during the second Punic war, and was +Consul about the year 550. Cethegus was particularly distinguished for his +admirable sweetness of elocution and powers of persuasion, whence he is +thus characterized by Ennius, a contemporary poet, in the 9th book of his +_Annals_: + + "Additur orator Cornelius suaviloquenti + Ore Cethegus Marcus, Tuditano collega; + Flos delibatus populi, suadæque medulla." + +The orations of Cato the Censor have been already mentioned as remarkable +for their rude but masculine eloquence. When Cato was in the decline of +life, a more rich and copious mode of speaking at length began to prevail. +Ser. Galba, by the warmth and animation of his delivery, eclipsed Cato and +all his contemporaries. He was the first among the Romans who displayed +the distinguishing talents of an orator, by embellishing his subject,--by +digressing, amplifying, entreating, and employing what are called topics, +or common-places of discourse. On one occasion, while defending himself +against a grave accusation, he melted his judges to compassion, by +producing an orphan relative, whose father had been a favourite of the +people. When his orations, however, were afterwards reduced to writing, +their fire appeared extinguished, and they preserved none of that lustre +with which his discourses are said to have shone when given forth by the +living orator. Cicero accounts for this from his want of sufficient study +and art in composition. While his mind was occupied and warmed by the +subject, his language was bold and rapid; but when he took up the pen, his +emotion ceased, and the periods fell languid from its point; "which," +continues he, "never happened to those who, having cultivated a more +studied and polished style of oratory, wrote as they spoke. Hence the mind +of Lælius yet breathes in his writings, though the force of Galba has +failed." It appears, however, from an anecdote recorded by Cicero, that +Galba was esteemed the first orator of his age by the judges, the people, +and Lælius himself.--Lælius, being intrusted with the defence of certain +persons suspected of having committed a murder in the Silian forest, spoke +for two days, correctly, elegantly, and with the approbation of all, after +which the Consuls deferred judgment. He then recommended the accused to +carry their cause to Galba, as it would be defended by him with more heat +and vehemence. Galba, in consequence, delivered a most forcible and +pathetic harangue, and after it was finished, his clients were absolved as +if by acclamation(229). Hence Cicero surmises, that though Lælius might be +the more learned and acute disputant, Galba possessed more power over the +passions; he also conjectures, that the former had more elegance, but the +latter more force; and he concludes, that the orator who can move or +agitate his judges, farther advances his cause than he who can instruct +them. + +Lælius is also compared by Cicero with his friend, the younger Scipio +Africanus, in whose presence, this question concerning the Silian murder +was debated. They were almost equally distinguished for their eloquence; +and they resembled each other in this respect, that they both invariably +delivered themselves in a smooth manner, and never, like Galba, exerted +themselves with loudness of speech or violence of gesture(230); but their +style of oratory was different,--Lælius affecting a much more ancient +phraseology than that adopted by his friend. Cicero himself seems inclined +most to admire the rhetoric of Scipio; but he says, that, being so +renowned a captain, and mankind being unwilling to allow supremacy to one +individual, in what are considered as the two greatest of arts, his +contemporaries for the most part awarded to Lælius the palm of eloquence. + +The intercourse which was by this time opening up with Greece, and the +encouragement now afforded to Greek teachers, who always possessed the +undisputed privilege of dictating the precepts of the arts, produced the +same improvement m oratory that it had effected in every branch of +literature. Marcus Emilius Lepidus was a little younger than Galba or +Scipio, and was Consul in 617. From his orations, which were extant in the +time of Cicero, it appeared that he was the first who, in imitation of the +Greeks, gave harmony and sweetness to his periods, or the graces of a +style regularly polished and improved by art. + +Cicero mentions a number of other orators of the same age with Lepidus, +and minutely paints their peculiar styles of rhetoric. We find among them +the names of almost all the eminent men of the period, as Emilius Paulus, +Scipio Nasica, and Mucius Scævola. The importance of eloquence for the +purposes of political aggrandizement, is sufficiently evinced, from this +work of Cicero, _De Claris Oratoribus_, since there is scarcely an orator +mentioned, even of inferior note, who did not at this time rise to the +highest offices in the state. + +The political situation of Rome, and the internal inquietude which now +succeeded its foreign wars, were the great promoters of eloquence. We hear +of no orators in Sparta or Crete, where the severest discipline was +exercised, and where the people were governed by the strictest laws. But +Rhodes and Athens, places of popular rule, where all things were open to +all men, swarmed with orators. In like manner, Rome, when most torn with +civil dissensions, produced the brightest examples of eloquence. Cicero +declares, that wisdom without eloquence was of little service to the +state(231); and from the political circumstances of the times, that sort +of oratory was most esteemed which had most sway over a restless and +ungovernable multitude. The situation of public affairs occasioned those +continual debates concerning the Agrarian Laws, and the consequent +popularity acquired by the most factious demagogues. Hence, too, those +frequent impeachments of the great--those ambitious designs of the +patricians--those hereditary enmities in particular families--in fine, those +incessant struggles between the Senate and plebeians, which, though all +prejudicial to the commonwealth, contributed to swell and ramify that rich +vein of eloquence, which now flowed so profusely through the agitated +frame of the state. During the whole period previous to the actual +breaking out of the civil wars, when the Romans turned the sword against +each other, and the mastery of the world depended on its edge, oratory +continued to open the most direct path to dignities. The farther a Roman +citizen advanced in this career, so much nearer was he to preferment, so +much the greater his reputation with the people; and when elevated to the +dignified offices of the state, so much the higher his ascendancy over his +colleagues. + +The Gracchi were the genuine offspring, and their eloquence the natural +fruits of these turbulent times. Till their age, oratory had been a sort +of _Arcanum imperii_,--an instrument of government in the power of the +Senate, who used every precaution to retain its exclusive exercise. It was +the great bulwark that withstood the tide of popular passion, and weakened +it so as not to beat too high or strongly on their own order and +authority. The Gracchi not only broke down the embankment, but turned the +flood against the walls of the Senate itself. The interests of the people +had never yet been espoused by men endued with eloquence equal to theirs. +Cicero, while blaming their political conduct, admits that both were +consummate orators; and this he testifies from the recollection of persons +still surviving in his day, and who remembered their mode of speaking. +Indeed, the wonderful power which both brothers exercised over the people +is a sufficient proof of their eloquence. Tiberius Gracchus was the first +who made rhetoric a serious study and art. In his boyhood, he was +carefully instructed in elocution by his mother Cornelia: he also +constantly attended the ablest and most eloquent masters from Greece, and, +as he grew up, he bestowed much time on the exercise of private +declamation. It is not likely, that, gifted as he was by nature, and thus +instructed, the powers of eloquence should long have remained dormant in +his bosom. At the time when he first appeared on the turbulent stage of +Roman life, the accumulation of landed property among a few individuals, +and the consequent abuse of exorbitant wealth, had filled Italy with +slaves instead of citizens--had destroyed the habits of rural industry +among the people at large, and leaving only rich masters at the head of +numerous and profligate servants, gradually rooted out those middle +classes of society which constitute the strength, the worth, and the best +hopes of every well-regulated commonwealth. It is said, that while passing +through Etruria on his way to Numantia, Tiberius Gracchus found the +country almost depopulated of freemen, and thence first formed the project +of his Agrarian law, which was originally intended to correct the evils +arising from the immense landed possessions of the rich, by limiting them +to the number of acres specified in the ancient enactments(232), and +dividing the conquered territories among the poorer citizens. Preparatory +to its promulgation, he was wont to assemble the people round the rostrum, +where he pleaded for the poor, in language of which we have a specimen in +Plutarch: "The wild beasts of Italy have their dens to retire to--their +places of refuge and repose; while the brave men who shed their blood in +the cause of their country, have nothing left but fresh air and sunshine. +Without houses, without settled habitations, they wander from place to +place with their wives and children; and their commanders do but mock +them, when, at the head of their armies, they exhort their soldiers to +fight for their sepulchres and altars. For, among such numbers, there is +not one Roman who has an altar which belonged to his ancestors, or a tomb +in which their ashes repose. The private soldiers fight and die to +increase the wealth and luxury of the great; and they are styled +sovereigns of the world, while they have not a foot of ground they can +call their own(233)." By such speeches as these, the people were +exasperated to fury, and the Senate was obliged to have recourse to +Octavius, who, as one of the tribunes, was the colleague of Gracchus, to +counteract the effects of his animated eloquence. Irritated by this +opposition, Gracchus abandoned the first plan of his law, which was to +give indemnification from the public treasury to those who should be +deprived of their estates, and proposed a new bill, by which they were +enjoined forthwith to quit those lands which they held contrary to +previous enactments. On this subject there were daily disputes between him +and Octavius on the rostrum. Finding that his plans could not otherwise be +accomplished he resolved on the expedient of deposing his colleague; and +thenceforth, to the period of his death, his speeches (one of which is +preserved by Plutarch) were chiefly delivered in persuasion or +justification of that violent measure. + +Caius Gracchus was endued with higher talents than Tiberius, but the +resentment he felt on account of his brother's death, and eager desire for +vengeance, led him into measures which have darkened his character with +the shades of the demagogue. At the time of his brother's death he had +only reached the age of twenty. In early youth, he distinguished himself +by the defence of one of his friends named Vettius, and charmed the people +by the eloquence which he exerted. He appears soon afterwards to have been +impelled, as it were, by a sort of destiny, to the same political course +which had proved fatal to his brother, and which terminated in his own +destruction. His speeches were all addressed to the people, and were +delivered in proposing laws, calculated to increase their authority, and +lessen that of the Senate,--as those for colonizing the public lands, and +dividing them among the poor; for regulating the markets, so as to +diminish the price of bread, and for vesting the judicial power in the +knights. A fragment of his speech, _De Legibus Promulgatis_, is said to +have been recently discovered, with other classical remains, in the +Ambrosian Library. Aulus Gellius also quotes from this harangue, a +passage, in which the orator complained that some respectable citizens of +a municipal town in Italy had been scourged with rods by a Roman +magistrate. Gellius praises the conciseness, neatness, and graceful ease +of the narrative, resembling dramatic dialogue, in which this incident was +related. Similar, but only similar qualities, appear in his accusation of +the Roman legate, who, while travelling to Asia in a litter, caused a +peasant to be scourged to death, for having asked his slaves if it was a +corpse they were carrying. "The relation of these events," says Gellius, +"does not rise above the level of ordinary conversation. It is not a +person complaining or imploring, but merely relating what had occurred;" +and he contrasts this tameness with the energy and ardour with which +Cicero has painted the commission of a like enormity by Verres(234). + +Though similar in many points of character and also in their political +conduct, there was a marked difference in the style of eloquence, and +forensic demeanour, of the two brothers. Tiberius, in his looks and +gestures, was mild and composed--Caius, earnest and vehement; so that when +they spoke in public, Tiberius had the utmost moderation in his action, +and moved not from his place: whereas Caius was the first of the Romans, +who, in addressing the people, walked to and fro in the rostrum, threw his +gown off his shoulder, smote his thigh, and exposed his arm bare(235). The +language of Tiberius was laboured and accurate, that of Caius bold and +figurative. The oratory of the former was of a gentle kind, and pity was +the emotion it chiefly raised--that of the latter was strongly impassioned, +and calculated to excite terror. In speaking, indeed, Caius was often so +hurried away by the violence of his passion, that he exalted his voice +above the regular pitch, indulged in abusive expressions, and disordered +the whole tenor of his oration. In order to guard against such excesses, +he stationed a slave behind him with an ivory flute, which was modulated +so as to lead him to lower or heighten the tone of his voice, according as +the subject required a higher or a softer key. "The flute," says Cicero, +"you may as well leave at home, but the meaning of the practice you must +remember at the bar(236)." + +In the time of the Gracchi, oratory became an object of assiduous and +systematic study, and of careful education. A youth, intended for the +profession of eloquence, was usually introduced to one of the most +distinguished orators of the city, whom he attended when he had occasion +to speak in any public or private cause, or in the assemblies of the +people, by which means he heard not only him, but every other famous +speaker. He thus became practically acquainted with business and the +courts of justice, and learned the arts of oratoric conflict, as it were, +in the field of battle. "It animated," says the author of the dialogue _De +Causis Corruptæ Eloquentiæ_,--"it animated the courage, and quickened the +judgment of youth, thus to receive their instructions in the eye of the +world, and in the midst of affairs, where no one could advance an absurd +or weak argument, without being exposed by his adversary, and despised by +the audience. Hence, they had also an opportunity of acquainting +themselves with the various sentiments of the people, and observing what +pleased or disgusted them in the several orators of the Forum. By these +means they were furnished with an instructor of the best and most +improving kind, exhibiting not the feigned resemblance of eloquence, but +her real and lively manifestation--not a pretended but genuine adversary, +armed in earnest for the combat--an audience ever full and ever new, +composed of foes as well as of friends, and amongst whom not a single +expression could fall but was either censured or applauded." + +The minute attention paid by the younger orators to all the proceedings of +the courts of justice, is evinced by the fragment of a Diary, which was +kept by one of them in the time of Cicero, and in which we have a record, +during two days, of the various harangues that were delivered, and the +judgments that were pronounced(237). + +Nor were the advantages to be derived from fictitious oratorical contests +long denied to the Roman youth. The practice of declaiming on feigned +subjects, was introduced at Rome about the middle of its seventh century. +The Greek rhetoricians, indeed, had been expelled, as well as the +philosophers, towards the close of the preceding century; but, in the year +661, Plotius Gallus, a Latin rhetorician, opened a declaiming school at +Rome. At this period, however, the declamations generally turned on +questions of real business, and it was not till the time of Augustus, that +the rhetoricians so far prevailed, as to introduce common-place arguments +on fictitious subjects. + +The eloquence which had originally been cultivated for seditious purposes, +and for political advancement, began now to be considered by the Roman +youth as an elegant accomplishment. It was probably viewed in the same +light that we regard horsemanship or dancing, and continued to be so in +the age of Horace-- + + "Namque, et nobilis, et decens, + Et pro sollicitis non tacitus reis, + Et centum puer artium, + Latè signa feret militiæ suæ(238)." + +Under all these circumstances it is evident, that in the middle of the +seventh century oratory would be neglected by none; and in an art so +sedulously studied, and universally practised, many must have been +proficients. It would be endless to enumerate all the public speakers +mentioned by Cicero, whose catalogue is rather extensive and dry. We may +therefore proceed to those two orators, whom he commemorates as having +first raised the glory of Roman eloquence to an equality with that of +Greece--Marcus Antonius, and Lucius Crassus. + +The former, sirnamed _Orator_, and grandfather of the celebrated triumvir, +was the most employed patron of his time; and, of all his contemporaries, +was chiefly courted by clients, as he was ever willing to undertake any +cause which was proposed to him. He possessed a ready memory, and +remarkable talent of introducing everything where it could be placed with +most effect. He had a frankness of manner which precluded any suspicion of +artifice, and gave to all his orations an appearance of being the +unpremeditated effusions of an honest heart. But though there was no +apparent preparation in his speeches, he always spoke so well, that the +judges were never sufficiently prepared against the effects of his +eloquence. His language was not perfectly pure, or of a constantly +sustained elegance, but it was of a solid and judicious character, well +adapted to his purpose--his gesture, too, was appropriate, and suited to +the sentiments and language--his voice was strong and durable, though +naturally hoarse--but even this defect he turned to advantage, by +frequently and easily adopting a mournful and querulous tone, which, in +criminal questions, excited compassion, and more readily gained the belief +of the judges. He left, however, as we are informed by Cicero, hardly any +orations behind him(239), having resolved never to publish any of his +pleadings, lest he should be convicted of maintaining in one cause +something which was inconsistent with what he had alleged in another(240). + +The first oration by which Antony distinguished himself, was in his own +defence. He had obtained the quæstorship of a province of Asia, and had +arrived at Brundusium to embank there, when his friends informed him that +he had been summoned before the Prætor Cassius, the most rigid judge in +Rome, whose tribunal was termed the rock of the accused. Though he might +have pleaded a privilege, which forbade the admission of charges against +those who were absent on the service of the republic, he chose to justify +himself in due form. Accordingly, he returned to Rome, stood his trial, +and was acquitted with honour(241). + +One of the most celebrated orations which Antony pronounced, was that in +defence of Norbanus, who was accused of sedition, and a violent assault on +the magistrate, Æmilius Cæpio. He began by attempting to show from +history, that seditions may sometimes be justifiable from necessity; that +without them the kings would not have been expelled, or the tribunes of +the people created. The orator then proceeded to insinuate, that his +client had not been seditious, but that all had happened through the just +indignation of the people; and he concluded with artfully attempting to +renew the popular odium against Cæpio, who had been an unsuccessful +commander(242). + +What Cicero relates concerning Antony's defence of Aquilius, is an example +of his power in moving the passions, and is, at the same time, extremely +characteristic of the manner of Roman pleading. Antony, who is one of the +speakers in the dialogue _De Oratore_, is introduced relating it himself. +Seeing his client, who had once been Consul and a leader of armies, +reduced to a state of the utmost dejection and peril, he had no sooner +begun to speak, with a view towards melting the compassion of others, than +he was melted himself. Perceiving the emotion of the judges when he raised +his client from the earth, on which he had thrown himself, he instantly +took advantage of this favourable feeling. He tore open the garments of +Aquilius, and showed the scars of those wounds which he had received in +the service of his country. Even the stern Marius wept. Him the orator +then apostrophized; imploring his protection, and invoking with many tears +the gods, the citizens, and the allies of Rome. "But whatever I could have +said," remarks he in the dialogue, "had I delivered it without being +myself moved, it would have excited the derision, instead of the sympathy, +of those who heard me(243)." + +Antony, in the course of his life, had passed through all the highest +offices of the state. The circumstances of his death, which happened in +666, during the civil wars of Marius and Sylla, were characteristic of his +predominant talent. During the last proscription by Marius, he sought +refuge in the house of a poor person, whom he had laid under obligations +to him in the days of his better fortune. But his retreat being +discovered, from the circumstance of his host procuring for him some wine +nicer than ordinary, the intelligence was carried to Marius, who received +it with a savage shout of exultation, and, clapping his hands for joy, he +would have risen from table, and instantly repaired to the place where his +enemy was concealed; but, being detained by his friends, he immediately +despatched a party of soldiers, under a tribune, to slay him. The soldiers +having entered his chamber for this purpose, and Antony suspecting their +errand, addressed them in terms of such moving and insinuating eloquence, +that his assassins burst into tears, and had not sufficient resolution to +execute their mission. The officer who commanded them then went in, and +cut off his head(244), which he carried to Marius, who affixed it to that +rostrum, whence, as Cicero remarks, he had ably defended the lives of so +many of his fellow-citizens(245); little aware that he would soon himself +experience, from another Antony, a fate similar to that which he deplores +as having befallen the grandsire of the triumvir. + +Crassus, the forensic rival of Antony, had prepared himself in his youth, +for public speaking, by digesting in his memory a chosen number of +polished and dignified verses, or a certain portion of some oration which +he had read over, and then delivering the same matter in the best words he +could select(246). Afterwards, when he grew a little older, he translated +into Latin some of the finest Greek orations, and, at the same time, used +every mental and bodily exertion to improve his voice, his action, and +memory. He commenced his oratorical career at the early age of nineteen, +when he acquired much reputation by his accusation of C. Carbo; and he, +not long afterwards, greatly heightened his fame, by his defence of the +virgin Licinia. Another of the best speeches of Crassus, was that +addressed to the people in favour of the law of Servilius Cæpio, restoring +in part the judicial power to the Senate, of which they had been recently +deprived, in order to vest it solely in the body of knights. But the most, +splendid of all the appearances of Crassus, was one that proved the +immediate cause of his death, which happened in 662, a short while before +the commencement of the civil wars of Marius and Sylla; and a few days +after the time in which he is supposed to have borne his part in the +dialogue _De Oratore_. The Consul Philippus had declared, in one of the +assemblies of the people, that some other advice must be resorted to, +since, with such a Senate as then existed, he could no longer direct the +affairs of the government. A full Senate being immediately summoned, +Crassus arraigned, in terms of the most glowing eloquence, the conduct of +this Consul, who, instead of acting as the political parent and guardian +of the Senate, sought to deprive its members of their ancient inheritance +of respect and dignity. Being farther irritated by an attempt on the part +of Philippus, to force him into compliance with his designs, he exerted, +on this occasion, the utmost efforts of his genius and strength; but he +returned home with a pleuritic fever, of which he died in the course of +seven days. This oration of Crassus, followed as it was by his almost +immediate death, made a deep impression on his countrymen; who, long +afterwards, were wont to repair to the senate-house, for the purpose of +viewing the spot where he had last stood, and fallen, as it may be said, +in defence of the privileges of his order. + +Crassus left hardly any orations behind him, and he died while Cicero was +still in his boyhood; yet that author, having collected the opinions of +those who had heard him, speaks with a minute and apparently perfect +intelligence of his mode of oratory. He was what may be called the most +ornamental speaker that had hitherto appeared in the Forum. Though not +without force, gravity, and dignity, these were happily blended with the +most insinuating politeness, urbanity, ease, and gaiety. He was master of +the most pure and accurate language, and of perfect elegance of +expression, without any affectation, or unpleasant appearance of previous +study. Great clearness of exposition distinguished all his harangues, and, +while descanting on topics of law or equity, he possessed an inexhaustible +fund of argument and illustration. In speaking, he showed an uncommon +modesty, which went even the length of bashfulness. When a young man, he +was so intimidated at the opening of a speech, that Q. Maximus, perceiving +him overwhelmed and disabled by confusion, adjourned the court, which the +orator always remembered with the highest sense of gratitude. This +diffidence never entirely forsook him; and, after the practice of a long +life at the bar, he was frequently so much agitated in the exordium of his +discourse, that he was observed to grow pale, and to tremble in every part +of his frame(247). Some persons considered Crassus as only equal to +Antony; others preferred him as the more perfect and accomplished orator: +Antony chiefly trusted to his intimate acquaintance with affairs and +ordinary life: He was not, however, so destitute of knowledge as he +seemed; but he thought the best way to recommend his eloquence to the +people, was to appear as if he had never learned anything(248). Crassus, +on the other hand, was well instructed in literature, and showed off his +information to the best advantage. Antony possessed the greater power of +promoting conjecture, and of allaying or exciting suspicion, by opposite +and well-timed insinuations; but no one could have more copiousness or +facility than Crassus, in defining, interpreting, and discussing, the +principles of equity. The language of Crassus was indisputably preferable +to that of Antony; but the action and gesture of Antony were as +incontestably superior to those of Crassus. + +Sulpicius and Cotta, who were both born about 630, were younger orators +than Antony or Crassus, but were for some time their contemporaries, and +had risen to considerable reputation before the death of the latter and +assassination of the former. Sulpicius lived for some years respected and +admired; but, about the year 665, at the first breaking out of the +dissensions between Sylla and Marius, being then a tribune of the people, +he espoused the part of Marius. Plutarch gives a memorable account of his +character and behaviour at this conjuncture, declaring that he was second +to none in the most atrocious villainies. Alike unrestrained in avarice +and cruelty, he committed the most criminal and enormous actions without +hesitation or reluctance. He sold by public auction the freedom of Rome to +foreigners--telling out the purchase-money on counters erected for that +purpose in the Forum! He kept 3000 swordsmen in constant pay, and had +always about him a company of young men of the equestrian order, ready on +every occasion to execute his commands; and these he styled his +anti-senatorian band(249). Cicero touches on his crimes with more +tenderness; but says, that when he came to be tribune, he stript of all +their dignities those with whom, as a private individual, he had lived in +the strictest friendship(250). Whilst Marius kept his ground against his +rival, Sulpicius transacted all public affairs, in his capacity of +tribune, by violence and force of arms. He decreed to Marius the command +in the Mithridatic war: He attacked the Consuls with his band while they +were holding an assembly of the people in the Temple of Castor and Pollux, +and deposed one of them(251). Marius, however, having been at length +expelled by the ascendancy of Sylla, Sulpicius was betrayed by one of his +slaves, and immediately seized and executed. "Thus," says Cicero, "the +chastisement of his rashness went hand in hand with the misfortunes of his +country; and the sword cut off the thread of that life, which was then +blooming to all the honours that eloquence can bestow(252)." + +Cicero had reached the age of nineteen, at the period of the death of +Sulpicius. He had heard him daily speak in the Forum, and highly estimates +his oratoric powers(253). He was the most lofty, and what Cicero calls the +most tragic, orator of Rome. His attitudes, deportment, and figure, were +of supreme dignity--his voice was powerful and sonorous--his elocution +rapid; his action variable and animated. + +The constitutional weakness of Cotta prevented all such oratorical +vehemence. In his manner he was soft and relaxed; but every thing he said +was sober and in good taste, and he often led the judges to the same +conclusion to which Sulpicius impelled them. "No two things," says Cicero, +"were ever more unlike than they are to each other. The one, in a polite, +delicate manner, sets forth his subject in well-chosen expressions. He +still keeps to his point; and, as he sees with the greatest penetration +what he has to prove to the court, he directs to that the whole strength +of his reasoning and eloquence, without regarding other arguments. But +Sulpicius, endued with irresistible energy, with a full strong voice, with +the greatest vehemence, and dignity of action, accompanied with so much +weight and variety of expression, seemed, of all mankind, the best fitted +by nature for eloquence." + +It was supposed that Cotta wished to resemble Antony, as Sulpicius +obviously imitated Crassus; but the latter wanted the agreeable pleasantry +of Crassus, and the former the force of Antony. None of the orations of +Sulpicius remained in the time of Cicero--those circulated under his name +having been written by Canutius after his death. The oration of Cotta for +himself, when accused on the Varian law, was composed, it is said, at his +request by Lucius Ælius; and, if this be true, nothing can appear to us +more extraordinary, than that so accomplished a speaker as Cotta should +have wished any of the trivial harangues of Ælius to pass for his own. + +The renown, however, of all preceding orators, was now about to be +eclipsed at Rome; and Hortensius burst forth in eloquence at once +calculated to delight and astonish his fellow-citizens. This celebrated +orator was born in the year 640, being thus ten years younger than Cotta +and Sulpicius. His first appearance in the Forum was at the early age of +nineteen--that is, in 659; and his excellence, says Cicero, was immediately +acknowledged, like that of a statue by Phidias, which only requires to be +seen in order to be admired(254). The case in which he first appeared was +of considerable responsibility for one so young and inexperienced, being +an accusation, at the instance of the Roman province of Africa, against +its governors for rapacity. It was heard before Scævola and Crassus, as +judges--the one the ablest lawyer, the other the most accomplished speaker, +of his age; and the young orator had the good fortune to obtain their +approbation, as well as that of all who were present at the trial(255). +His next pleading of importance was in behalf of Nicomedes, King of +Bithynia, in which he even surpassed his former speech for the +Africans(256). After this we hear little of him for several years. The +imminent perils of the Social War, which broke out in 663, interrupted, in +a great measure, the business of the Forum. Hortensius served in this +alarming contest for one year as a volunteer, and in the following season +as a military tribune(257). When, on the re-establishment of peace in +Italy in 666, he returned to Rome, and resumed the more peaceful +avocations to which he had been destined from his youth, he found himself +without a rival(258). Crassus, as we have seen, died in 662, before the +troubles of Marius and Sylla. Antony, with other orators of inferior note, +perished in 666, during the temporary and last ascendancy of Marius, in +the absence of Sylla. Sulpicius was put to death in the same year, and +Cotta driven into banishment, from which he was not recalled until the +return of Sylla to Rome, and his election to the dictatorship in 670. +Hortensius was thus left for some years without a competitor; and, after +670, with none of eminence but Cotta, whom also he soon outshone. His +splendid, warm, and animated manner, was preferred to the calm and easy +elegance of his rival. Accordingly, when engaged in a cause on the same +side, Cotta, though ten years senior, was employed to open the case, while +the more important parts were left to the management of Hortensius(259). +He continued the undisputed sovereign of the Forum, till Cicero returned +from his quæstorship in Sicily, in 679, when the talents of that orator +first displayed themselves in full perfection and maturity. Hortensius was +thus, from 666 till 679, a space of thirteen years, at the head of the +Roman bar; and being, in consequence, engaged during that long period, on +one side or other, in every cause of importance, he soon amassed a +prodigious fortune. He lived, too, with a magnificence corresponding to +his wealth. An example of splendour and luxury had been set to him by the +orator Crassus, who inhabited a sumptuous palace in Rome, the hall of +which was adorned with four pillars of Hymettian marble, twelve feet high, +which he brought to Rome in his ædileship, at a time when there were no +pillars of foreign marble even in public buildings(260). The court of this +mansion was ornamented by six lotus trees, which Pliny saw in full +luxuriance in his youth, but which were afterwards burned in the +conflagration in the time of Nero. He had also a number of vases, and two +drinking-cups, engraved by the artist Mentor, but which were of such +immense value that he was ashamed to use them(261). Hortensius had the +same tastes as Crassus, but surpassed him and all his contemporaries in +magnificence. His mansion stood on the Palatine Hill, which appears to +have been the most fashionable situation in Rome, being at that time +covered with the houses of Lutatius Catulus, Æmilius Scaurus, Clodius, +Catiline, Cicero, and Cæsar(262). The residence of Hortensius was adjacent +to that of Catiline; and though of no great extent, it was splendidly +furnished. After the death of the orator, it was inhabited by Octavius +Cæsar(263), and formed the centre of the chief imperial palace, which +increased from the time of Augustus to that of Nero, till it covered a +great part of the Palatine Mount, and branched over other hills. Besides +his mansion in the capital, he possessed sumptuous villas at Tusculum, +Bauli, and Laurentum, where he was accustomed to give the most elegant and +expensive entertainments. He had frequently peacocks at his banquets, +which he first served up at a grand augural feast, and which, says Varro, +were more commended by the luxurious, than by men of probity and +austerity(264). His olive plantations he is said to have regularly +moistened and bedewed with wine; and, on one occasion, during the hearing +of an important case, in which he was engaged along with Cicero, begged +that he would change with him the previously arranged order of pleading, +as he was obliged to go to the country to pour wine on a favourite +_platanus_, which grew near his Tusculan villa(265). Notwithstanding this +profusion, his heir found not less than 10,000 casks of wine in his cellar +after his death(266). Besides his taste for wine, and fondness for +plantations, he indulged a passion for pictures and fish-ponds. At his +Tusculan villa, he built a hall for the reception of a painting of the +expedition of the Argonauts, by the painter Cydias, which cost the +enormous sum of a hundred and forty-four thousand sesterces(267). At his +country-seat, near Bauli, on the sea shore, he vied with Lucullus and +Philippus in the extent of his fish-ponds, which were constructed at +immense cost, and so formed that the tide flowed into them(268). Under the +promontory of Bauli, travellers are yet shown the _Piscina Mirabilis_, a +subterraneous edifice, vaulted and divided by four rows of arcades, and +which is supposed by some antiquarians to have been a fish-pond of +Hortensius. Yet such was his luxury, and his reluctance to diminish his +supply, that when he gave entertainments at Bauli, he generally sent to +the neighbouring town of Puteoli to buy fish for supper(269). He had a +vast number of fishermen in his service, and paid so much attention to the +feeding of his fish, that he had always ready a large stock of small fish +to be devoured by the great ones. It was with the utmost difficulty he +could be prevailed on to part with any of them; and Varro declares, that a +friend could more easily get his chariot mules out of his stable, than a +mullet from his ponds. He was more anxious about the welfare of his fish +than the health of his slaves, and less solicitous that a sick servant +might not take what was unfit for him, than that his fish might not drink +water which was unwholesome(270). It is even said, that he was so +passionately fond of a particular lamprey, that he shed tears for her +untimely death(271). + +The gallery at the villa, which was situated on the little promontory of +Bauli, and looking towards Puteoli, commanded one of the most delightful +views in Italy. The inland prospect towards Cumæ was extensive and +magnificent. Puteoli was seen along the shore at the distance of 30 +_stadia_, in the direction of Pompeii; and Pompeii itself was invisible +only from its distance. The sea view was unbounded; but it was enlivened +by the numerous vessels sailing across the bay, and the ever changeful hue +of its waters, now saffron, azure, or purple, according as the breeze +blew, or as the sun ascended or declined(272). + +Hortensius possessed another villa in Italy, which rivalled in its sylvan +pomp the marine luxuries of Bauli. This mansion lay between Ostia and +Lavinium, (now Pratica,) near to the town of Laurentum, so well remembered +from ancient fable and poetry, as having been the residence of King +Latinus, at the time of the arrival of Æneas in Italy, and at present +known by the name of Torre di Paterno. The town of Laurentum was on the +shore, but the villa of Hortensius stood to the north-east at some +distance from the coast,--the grounds subsequently occupied by the villa of +the younger Pliny intervening between it and Laurentum, and also between +it and the Tuscan sea. Around were the walks and gardens of patrician +villas; on one side was seen the town of Laurentum, with its public baths; +on the other, but at a greater distance, the harbour of Ostia. Near the +house were groves, and fields covered with herds--beyond were hills clothed +with woods. The horizon to the north-east was bounded by magnificent +mountains, and beyond the low maritime grounds, which lay between the port +of Ostia and Laurentum, there was a distant prospect of the Tuscan +sea(273). + +Hortensius had here a wooded park of fifty acres, encompassed with a wall. +This enclosure he called a nursery of wild beasts, all which came for +their provender at a certain hour, on the blowing of a horn--an exhibition +with which he was accustomed to amuse the guests who visited him at his +Laurentian villa. Varro mentions an entertainment, where those invited +supped on an eminence, called a _Triclinium_, in this sylvan park. During +the repast, Hortensius summoned his Orpheus, who, having come with his +musical instruments, and being ordered to display his talents, blew a +trumpet, when such a multitude of deer, boars, and other quadrupeds, +rushed to the spot from all quarters, that the sight appeared to the +delighted spectators as beautiful as the courses with wild animals in the +great Circus of the Ædiles(274)! + +The eloquence of Hortensius procured him not only all this wealth and +luxury, but the highest official honours of the state. He was Ædile in +679, Prætor in 682, and Consul two years afterwards. The wealth and +dignities he had obtained, and the want of competition, made him gradually +relax from that assiduity by which they had been acquired, till the +increasing fame of Cicero, and particularly the glory of his consulship, +stimulated him to renew his exertions. But his habit of labour had been in +some degree lost, and he never again recovered his former reputation. +Cicero partly accounts for this decline, from the peculiar nature and +genius of his eloquence(275). It was of that showy species called Asiatic, +which flourished in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor, and was infinitely +more florid and ornamental than the oratory of Athens, or even Rhodes, +being full of brilliant thoughts and of sparkling expressions. This +glowing style of rhetoric, though deficient in solidity and weight, was +not unsuitable in a young man; and being farther recommended by a +beautiful cadence of periods, met with the utmost applause. But +Hortensius, as he advanced in life, did not prune his exuberance, or adopt +a chaster eloquence; and this luxury, and glitter of phraseology, which, +even in his earliest years, had occasionally excited ridicule or disgust +among the graver fathers of the senatorial order, being totally +inconsistent with his advanced age and consular dignity, which required +something more serious and composed, his reputation diminished with +increase of years; and though the bloom of his eloquence might be in fact +the same, it appeared to be somewhat withered(276). Besides, from his +declining health and strength, which greatly failed in his latter years, +he may not have been able to give full effect to that showy species of +rhetoric in which he indulged. A constant toothache, and swelling in the +jaws, greatly impaired his power of elocution and utterance, and became at +length so severe as to accelerate his end-- + + "Ægrescunt teneræ fauces, quum frigoris atri + Vis subiit, vel quum ventis agitabilis aër + Vertitur, atque ipsas flatus gravis inficit auras, + Vel rabidus clamor fracto quum forte sonore + Planum radit iter. Sic est Hortensius olim + Absumptus: caussis etenim confectus agendis + Obticuit, quum vox, domino vivente, periret, + Et nondum exstincti moreretur lingua diserti(277)." + +A few months, however, before his death, which happened in 703, he pleaded +for his nephew, Messala, who was accused of illegal canvassing, and who +was acquitted, more in consequence of the astonishing exertions of his +advocate, than the justice of his cause. So unfavourable, indeed, was his +case esteemed, that however much the speech of Hortensius had been +admired, he was received on entering the theatre of Curio on the following +day, with loud clamour and hisses, which were the more remarked, as he had +never met with similar treatment in the whole course of his forensic +career(278). The speech, however, revived all the ancient admiration of +the public for his oratorical talents, and convinced them, that had he +always possessed the same perseverance as Cicero, he would not have ranked +second to that orator. Another of his most celebrated harangues was that +against the Manilian law, which vested Pompey with such extraordinary +powers, and was so warmly supported by Cicero. That against the sumptuary +law proposed by Crassus and Pompey, in the year 683, which tended to +restrain the indulgence of his own taste, was well adapted to Hortensius' +style of eloquence; and his speech was highly characteristic of his +disposition and habits of life. He declaimed, at great length, on the +glory of Rome, which required splendour in the mode of living followed by +its citizens(279). He frequently glanced at the luxury of the Consuls +themselves, and forced them at length, by his eloquence and sarcastic +declamation, to relinquish their scheme of domestic retrenchment. + +The speeches of Hortensius, it has been already mentioned, lost part of +their effect by the orator's advance in years, but they suffered still +more by being transferred to paper. As his chief excellence consisted in +action and delivery, his writings were much inferior to what was expected +from the high fame he had enjoyed; and, accordingly, after death, he +retained little of that esteem, which he had so abundantly possessed +during his life(280). Although, therefore, his orations had been +preserved, they would have given us but an imperfect idea of the eloquence +of Hortensius; but even this aid has been denied us, and we must, +therefore, now chiefly trust for his oratorical character to the opinion +of his great but unprejudiced rival. The friendship and honourable +competition of Hortensius and Cicero, present an agreeable contrast to the +animosities of Æschines and Demosthenes, the two great orators of Greece. +It was by means of Hortensius that Cicero was chosen one of the college of +Augurs--a service of which his gratified vanity ever appears to have +retained an agreeable recollection. In a few of his letters, indeed, +written during the despondency of his exile, he hints a suspicion that +Hortensius had been instrumental in his banishment, with a view of +engrossing to himself the whole glory of the bar(281); but this mistrust +ended with his recall, which Hortensius, though originally he had advised +him to yield to the storm, urged on with all the influence of which he was +possessed. Hortensius also appears to have been free from every feeling of +jealousy or envy, which in him was still more creditable, as his rival was +younger than himself, and yet ultimately forced him from the supremacy. +Such having been their sentiments of mutual esteem, Cicero has done his +oratoric talents ample justice--representing him as endued with almost all +the qualities necessary to form a distinguished speaker. His imagination +was fertile--his voice was sweet and harmonious--his demeanour dignified--his +language rich and elegant--his acquaintance with literature extensive. So +prodigious was his memory, that, without the aid of writing, he +recollected every word he had meditated, and every sentence of his +adversary's oration, even to the titles and documents brought forward to +support the case against him--a faculty which greatly aided his peculiarly +happy art of recapitulating the substance of what had been said by his +antagonists or by himself(282). He also originally possessed an +indefatigable application; and scarcely a day passed in which he did not +speak in the Forum, or exercise himself in forensic studies or +preparation. But, of all the various arts of oratory, he most remarkably +excelled in a happy and perspicuous arrangement of his subject. Cicero +only reproaches him, and that but slightly, with showing more study and +art in his gestures than was suitable for an orator. It appears, however, +from Macrobius, that he was much ridiculed by his contemporaries, on +account of his affected gestures. In pleading, his hands were constantly +in motion, whence he was often attacked by his adversaries in the Forum +for resembling an actor; and, on one occasion, he received from his +opponent the appellation of _Dionysia_, which was the name of a celebrated +dancing girl(283). Æsop and Roscius frequently attended his pleadings, to +catch his gestures, and imitate them on the stage(284). Such, indeed, was +his exertion in action, that it was commonly said that it could not be +determined whether people went to hear or to see him(285). Like +Demosthenes, he chose and put on his dress with the most studied care and +neatness. He is said, not only to have prepared his attitudes, but also to +have adjusted the plaits of his gown before a mirror, when about to issue +forth to the Forum; and to have taken no less care in arranging them, than +in moulding the periods of his discourse. He so tucked up his gown, that +the folds did not fall by chance, but were formed with great care, by +means of a knot artfully tied, and concealed in the plies of his robe, +which apparently flowed carelessly around him(286). Macrobius also records +a story of his instituting an action of damages against a person who had +jostled him, while walking in this elaborate dress, and had ruffled his +toga, when he was about to appear in public with his drapery adjusted +according to the happiest arrangement(287)--an anecdote, which, whether +true or false, shows, by its currency, the opinion entertained of his +finical attention to everything that concerned the elegance of his attire, +or the gracefulness of his figure and attitudes. He also bathed himself in +odoriferous waters, and daily perfumed himself with the most precious +essences(288). This too minute attention to his person, and to +gesticulation, appears to have been the sole blemish in his oratorical +character; and the only stain on his moral conduct, was his practice of +corrupting the judges of the causes in which he was employed--a practice +which must be, in a great measure, imputed to the defects of the judicial +system at Rome; for, whatever might be the excellence of the Roman laws, +nothing could be worse than the procedure under which they were +administered(289). + +Hortensius has received more justice from Cicero than another orator, +Licinius Calvus, who, for a few years, was also considered as his rival in +eloquence. Calvus has already been mentioned as an elegant poet; but +Seneca calls his competition with Cicero in oratory, _iniquissimam litem_. +His style of speaking was directly the reverse of that of Hortensius: he +affected the Attic taste in eloquence, such as it appeared in what he +conceived to be its purest form--the orations of Lysias. Hence that correct +and slender delicacy at which he so studiously aimed, and which he +conducted with great skill and elegance; but, from being too much afraid +of the faults of redundance and unsuitable ornament, he refined and +attenuated his discourse till it lost its raciness and spirit. He +compensated, however, for his sterility of language, and diminutive +figure, by his force of elocution, and vivacity of action. "I have met +with persons," says Quintilian, "who preferred Calvus to all our orators; +and others who were of opinion, that the too great rigour which he +exercised on himself, in point of precision, had debilitated his +oratorical talents. Nevertheless, his speeches, though chaste, grave, and +correct, are frequently also vehement. His taste of writing was Attic; and +his untimely death was an injury to his reputation, if he designed to add +to his compositions, and not to retrench them." His most celebrated +oration, which was against the unpopular Vatinius, was delivered at the +age of twenty. The person whom he accused, overpowered and alarmed, +interrupted him, by exclaiming to the judges, "Must I be condemned because +he is eloquent?" The applause he obtained in this case may be judged of +from what is mentioned by Catullus, of some one in the crowd clapping his +hands in the middle of his speech, and exclaiming, "O what an eloquent +little darling(290)!" Calvus survived only ten years after this period, +having died at the early age of thirty. He left behind him twenty-one +books of orations, which are said to have been much studied by the younger +Pliny, and were the models he first imitated(291). + +Calvus, though a much younger man than Cicero, died many years before him, +and previous to the composition of the dialogue _Brutus_. Most of the +other contemporaries, whom Cicero records in that treatise on celebrated +orators, were dead also. Among an infinite variety of others, he +particularly mentions Marcus Crassus, the wealthy triumvir, who perished +in the ill-fated expedition against the Parthians; and who, though +possessed but of moderate learning and capacity, was accounted, in +consequence of his industry and popular arts, among the chief forensic +patrons. His language was pure, and his subject well arranged; but in his +harangues there were none of the lights and flowers of eloquence,--all +things were expressed in the same manner, and the same tone. + +Towards the conclusion of the dialogue, Cicero mentions so many of his +predeceased contemporaries, that Atticus remarks, that he is drawing up +the dregs of oratory. Calidius, indeed, seems the only other speaker who +merits distinguished notice. He is characterized as different from all +other orators,--such was the soft and polished language in which he arrayed +his exquisitely delicate sentiments. Nothing could be more easy, pliable, +and ductile, than the turn of his periods; his words flowed like a pure +and limpid stream, without anything hard or muddy to impede or pollute +their course; his action was genteel, his mode of address sober and calm, +his arrangement the perfection of art. "The three great objects of an +orator," says Cicero, while discussing the merits of Calidius, "are to +instruct, delight, and move. Two of these he admirably accomplished. He +rendered the most abstruse subject clear by illustration, and enchained +the minds of his hearers with delight. But the third praise of moving and +exciting the soul must be denied him; he had no force, pathos, or +animation(292)." Such, indeed, was his want of emotion, where it was most +appropriate, and most to be expected, that, while pleading his own cause +against Q. Gallius for an attempt to poison him, though he stated his case +with elegance and perspicuity, yet it was so smoothly and listlessly +detailed, that Cicero, who spoke for the person accused, argued, that the +charge must be false and an invention of his own, as no one could talk so +calmly, and with such indifference, of a recent attempt which threatened +his own existence(293). + +These were the most renowned orators who preceded the age of Cicero, or +were contemporaries with him; and before proceeding to consider the +oratorical merits of him by whom they have been all eclipsed, at least in +the eye of posterity, it may be proper, for a single moment, to remind the +reader of the state of the Roman law,--of the judicial procedure, and of +the ordinary practice of the Forum, at the time when he commenced and +pursued his brilliant career of eloquence. + +The laws of the first six kings of Rome, called the _Leges Regiæ_, chiefly +related to sacred subjects,--regulations of police,--divisions of the +different orders in the state,--and privileges of the people. Tarquinius +Superbus having laid a plan for the establishment of despotism at Rome, +attempted to abolish every law of his predecessors which imposed control +on the royal prerogative. About the time of his expulsion(294), the Senate +and people, believing that the disregard of the laws was occasioned by +their never having been reduced in writing, determined to have them +assembled and recorded in one volume; and this task was intrusted by them +to Sextus Papyrius, a patrician. Papyrius accordingly collected, with +great assiduity, all the laws of the monarchs who had governed Rome +previously to the time of Tarquin. This collection, which is sometimes +called the _Leges Regiæ_, and sometimes the Papyrian Code, did not obtain +that confirmation and permanence which might have been expected. Many of +the _Leges Regiæ_ were the result of momentary emergencies, and +inapplicable to future circumstances. Being the ordinances, too, of a +detested race, and being in some respects but ill adapted to the genius +and temper of a republican government, a great number of them soon fell +into desuetude(295). The new laws promulgated immediately after the +expulsion of the kings, related more to those constitutional modifications +which were rendered necessary by so important a revolution, than to the +civil rights of the citizen. In consequence of the dissensions of the +patricians and plebeians, every _Senatusconsultum_ proceeding from the +deliberations of the Senate was negatived by the _veto_ of the Tribunes, +while the Senate, in return, disowned the authority of the _Plebiscita_, +and denied the right of the Tribunes to propose laws. There was thus a +sort of legal interregnum at Rome; at least, there were no fixed rules to +which all classes were equally subjected: and the great body of the people +were too often the victims of the pride of the patricians and tyranny of +the consular government. In this situation, C. Terentius Arsa brought +forward the law known by the name of _Terentilla_, of which the object was +the election by the people of ten persons, who should compose and arrange +a body of laws for the administration of public affairs, as well as +decision of the civil rights of individuals according to established +rules. The Senate, who maintained that the dispensation of justice was +solely vested in the supreme magistrates, contrived, for five years, to +postpone execution of this salutary measure; but it was at length agreed, +that, as a preparatory step, and before the creation of the Decemvirs, who +were to form this code, three deputies should be sent to Greece, and the +Greek towns of Italy, to select such enactments as they might consider +best adapted to the manners and customs of the Roman people. + +The delegates, who departed on this embassy towards the close of the year +300, were occupied two years in their important mission. From what cities +of Greece, or Magna Græcia, they chiefly borrowed their laws, has been a +topic of much discussion, and seems to be still involved in much +uncertainty(296); though Athens is most usually considered as having been +the great fountain of their legislation. + +On the return of the deputies to Rome, the office of Consul was +suppressed, and ten magistrates, called Decemvirs, among whom these +deputies were included, were immediately created. To them was confided the +care of digesting the prodigious mass of laws which had been brought from +Greece. This task they accomplished with the aid of Hermodorus, an exile +of Ephesus, who then happened to be at Rome, and acted as their +interpreter. But although the importation from Greece formed the chief +part of the twelve tables, it cannot be supposed that the ancient laws of +Rome were entirely superseded. Some of the _Leges Regiæ_, which had no +reference to monarchical government, as the laws of Romulus, concerning +the _Patria potestas_, those concerning parricides, the removal of +landmarks, and insolvent debtors, had, by tacit consent, passed into +consuetudinary law; and all those which were still in observance were +incorporated in the Decemviral Code; in the same manner as the +institutions of the heroic ages of Greece formed a part of the laws of +Solon and Lycurgus. + +Before a year had elapsed from the date of their creation, the Decemvirs +had prepared ten books of laws; which, being engraved on wooden or ivory +tables, were presented to the people, and received the sanction of the +Senate, and ratification of the Comitia Centuriata. Two supplementary +tables were soon afterwards added, in consequence of some omissions which +were observed and pointed out to the Decemvirs. In all these tables the +laws were briefly expressed. The first eight related to matters of private +right, the ninth to those of public, and the tenth to those of religious +concern. These ten tables established very equitable rules for all +different ranks, without distinction; but in the two supplemental tables +some invidious distinctions were introduced, and many exclusive privileges +conferred on the patricians. + +On the whole, the Decemvirs appear to have been very well versed in the +science of legislation. Those who, like Cicero(297) and Tacitus, possessed +the Twelve Tables complete, and who were the most competent judges of how +far they were adapted to the circumstances and manners of the people, have +highly commended the wisdom of these laws. Modern detractors have chiefly +objected to the sanguinary punishments they inflicted, the principles of +the law of retaliation which they recognized, and the barbarous privileges +permitted to creditors on the persons of their debtors. The severer +enactments, however, of the Twelve Tables, were evidently never put in +force, or so soon became obsolete, that the Roman laws were at length +esteemed remarkable for the mildness of their punishments--the penalties of +scourging, or death, being scarcely in any case inflicted on a Roman +citizen. + +The tables on which the Decemviral Code had been inscribed, were destroyed +by the Gauls at the sack of the city; but such pains were taken in +recovering copies, or making them out from recollection, that the laws +themselves were almost completely re-established. + +It might reasonably have been expected that a system of jurisprudence, +carefully extracted from the whole legislative wisdom of Italy and Greece, +should have restored in the commonwealth that good order and security +which had been overthrown by the uncertainty of the laws, and the disputes +of the patricians and plebeians. But the event did not justify the +well-founded expectation. The ambition and lawless passions of the chief +Decemvir had rendered it necessary for him and his colleagues to abdicate +their authority before they had settled with sufficient precision how +their enactments were to be put in practice or enforced. It thus became +essential to introduce certain _formulæ_, called _Legis Actiones_, in +order that the mode of procedure might not remain arbitrary and uncertain. +These, consisting chiefly of certain symbolical gestures, adapted to a +legal claim or defence, were prepared by Claudius Coecus about the middle +of the fifth century of Rome, but were intended to be kept private among +the pontiffs and patrician Jurisconsults, that the people might not have +the benefit of the law without their assistance. Cl. Flavius, however, a +secretary of Claudius, having access to these formularies, transcribed and +communicated them to the people about the middle of the fifth century of +Rome. From this circumstance they were called the _Jus civile Flavianum_. +This discovery was so disagreeable to the patricians, that they devised +new legal forms, which they kept secret with still more care than the +others. But in 553, Sextus Ælius Catus divulged them again, and in +consequence, these last prescripts obtained the name of _Jus Ælium_, which +may be regarded as the last part and completion of the Decemviral laws; +and it continued to be employed as the form of process during the whole +remaining period of the existence of the commonwealth. + +As long as the republic survived, the Twelve Tables formed the foundation +of the Roman law, though they were interpreted and enlarged by such new +enactments as the circumstances of the state demanded(298). Thus the _Lex +Aquilia_ and _Alinia_ were mere modifications of different heads of the +twelve tables. Most of the new laws were introduced in consequence of the +increase of empire and luxury, and the conflicting interests of the +various orders in the state. Laws, properly so called, were proposed by a +superior magistrate, as the Consul, Dictator, or Prætor, with consent of +the Senate; they were passed by the whole body of the people, patricians +and plebeians, assembled in the Comitia Centuriata, and bore ever after +the name of the proposer. + +The _Plebiscita_ were enacted by the plebeians in the Comitia Tributa, +apart from the patricians, and independently of the sanction of the +Senate, at the _rogation_ of their own Tribunes, instead of one of the +superior magistrates. The patricians generally resisted these decrees, as +they were chiefly directed against the authority of the Senate, and the +privileges of the higher orders of the state. But, by the _Lex Horatia_, +the same weight and authority were given to them as to laws properly so +termed, and thenceforth they differed only in name, and the manner in +which they were enacted. + +A _Senatusconsultum_ was an ordinance of the Senate on those points +concerning which it possessed exclusive authority; but rather referred to +matters of state, as the distribution of provinces, the application of +public money, and the like, than to the ordinary administration of +justice. + +The patricians, being deprived by the Twelve Tables of the privilege of +arbitrarily pronouncing decisions, as best suited their interests; and +being frustrated in their miserable attempts to maintain an undue +advantage in matters of form, by secreting the rules of procedure held in +courts of justice, they had now reserved to them only the power of +interpreting to others the scope and spirit of the laws. Till the age, at +least, of Augustus, the civil law was completely unconnected and +dissipated; and no systematic, accessible, or authoritative treatise on +the subject, appeared during the existence of the republic(299). The laws +of the Twelve Tables were extremely concise and elliptical; and it seems +highly probable that they were written in this style, not for the sake of +perspicuity, but to leave all that required to be supplied or interpreted +in the power of the Patricians(300). The changes, too, in the customs and +language of the Romans, rendered the style of the Twelve Tables less +familiar to each succeeding generation; and the ambiguous passages were +but imperfectly explained by the study of legal antiquarians. It was the +custom, likewise, for each successive Prætor to publish an edict, +announcing the manner in which justice was to be distributed by him--the +rules which he proposed to follow in the decision of doubtful cases; and +the degree of relief which his equity would afford from the precise rigour +of ancient statutes. This annual alteration in forms, and sometimes even +in the principles of law, introduced a confusion, which persons engrossed +with other occupations could not unravel. The obscurity of old laws, and +fluctuating jurisdiction of the Prætors, gave rise to that class of men +called Jurisconsults, whose business it was to explain legal difficulties, +and reconcile statutory contradictions. It was the relation of patron and +client, which was coeval almost with the city itself, and was invested +with a sacred, inviolable character, that gave weight to the _dicta_ of +those who, in some measure, came in place of the ancient patrons, and +usually belonged to the patrician order.--"On the public days of market or +assembly," says Gibbon, "the masters of the art were seen walking in the +Forum, ready to impart the needful advice to the meanest of their +fellow-citizens, from whose votes, on a future occasion, they might +solicit a grateful return. As their years and honours increased, they +seated themselves at home on a chair or throne, to expect with patient +gravity the visits of their clients, who, at the dawn of day, from the +town and country, began to thunder at their door. The duties of social +life, and incidents of judicial proceedings, were the ordinary subject of +these consultations; and the verbal or written opinions of the +jurisconsults were framed according to the rules of prudence and law. The +youths of their own order and family were permitted to listen; their +children enjoyed the benefit of more private lessons; and the Mucian race +was long renowned for the hereditary knowledge of the civil law(301)." +Though the judges and prætors were not absolutely obliged, till the time +of the emperors, to follow the recorded opinions of the Jurisconsults, +they possessed during the existence of the republic a preponderating +weight and authority. The province of legislation was thus gradually +invaded by these expounders of ancient statutes, till at length their +recorded opinions, the _Responsa Prudentum_, became so numerous, and of +such authority, that they formed the greatest part of the system of Roman +jurisprudence, whence they were styled by Cicero, in his oration for +Cæcina, _Jus Civile_. + +It is perfectly evident, however, that the civil law was neither much +studied nor known by the _orators_ of the Senate, and Forum. Cicero, in +his treatise _De Oratore_, informs us, that Ser. Galba, the first speaker +of his day, was ignorant of law, inexperienced in civil rights, and +uncertain as to the institutions of his ancestors. In his _Brutus_ he says +nearly the same thing of Antony and Sulpicius, who were the two greatest +orators of their age, and who, he declares, knew nothing of public, +private, or civil law. Antony in particular, always expressed a contempt +for the study of the civil law(302). Accordingly, in the dialogue _De +Oratore_, he is made to say, "I never studied the civil law, nor have I +been sensible of any loss from my ignorance of it in those causes which I +was capable of managing in our courts(303)." In the same dialogue, Scævola +says, "The present age is totally ignorant of the laws of the Twelve +Tables, except you, Crassus, who, led by curiosity, rather than from its +being any province annexed to eloquence, studied civil law under me." In +his oration for Muræna, Cicero talks lightly of the study of the civil +law, and treats his opponent with scorn on account of his knowledge of its +words of style and forms of procedure(304). With exception, then, of +Crassus, and of Scævola, who was rather a jurisconsult than a speaker, the +orators of the age of Cicero, as well as those who preceded it, were +uninstructed in law, and considered it as no part of their duty to render +themselves masters, either of the general principles of jurisprudence, or +the municipal institutions of the state. Crassus, indeed, expresses his +opinion, that it is impossible for an orator to do justice to his client +without some knowledge of law, particularly in questions tried before the +Centumviri, who had cognizance of points with regard to egress and regress +in property, the interests of minors, and alterations in the course of +rivers; and he mentions several cases, some of a criminal nature, which +had lately occurred at Rome, where the question hinged entirely on the +civil law, and required constant reference to precedents and authorities. +Antony, however, explains how all this may be managed. A speaker, for +example, ignorant of the mode of drawing up an agreement, and unacquainted +with the forms of a contract, might defend the rights of a woman who has +been contracted in marriage, because there were persons who brought +everything to the orator or patron, ready prepared,--presenting him with a +brief, or memorial, not only on matters of fact, but on the decrees of the +Senate, the precedents and the opinions of the jurisconsults. It also +appears that there were solicitors, or professors of civil law, whom the +orators consulted on any point concerning which they wished to be +instructed, and the knowledge of which might be necessary previous to +their appearance in the Forum. In this situation, the harangue of the +orator was more frequently an appeal to the equity, common sense, or +feelings of the judge, than to the laws of his country. Now, where a +pleader addresses himself to the equity of his judges, he has much more +occasion, and also much more scope, to display his eloquence, than where +he must draw his arguments from strict law, statutes, and precedents. In +the former case, many circumstances must be taken into account; many +personal considerations regarded; and even favour and inclination, which +it belongs to the orator to conciliate, by his art and eloquence, may be +disguised under the appearance of equity. Accordingly, Cicero, while +speaking in his own person, only says, that the science of law and civil +rights should not be neglected; but he does not seem to consider it as +essential to the orator of the Forum, while he enlarges on the necessity +of elegance of language, the erudition of the scholar, a ready and popular +wit, and a power of moving the passions(305). + +That these were the arts to which the Roman orators chiefly trusted for +success in the causes of their clients, is apparent from the remains of +their discourses, and from what is said of the mode of pleading in the +rhetorical treatises of Cicero. "Pontius," says Antony, in the dialogue so +often quoted, "had a son, who served in the war with the Cimbri, and whom +he had destined to be his heir; but his father, believing a false report +which was spread of his death, made a will in favour of another child. The +soldier returned after the decease of his parent; and, had you been +employed to defend his cause, you would not have discussed the legal +doctrine as to the priority or validity of testaments; you would have +raised his father from the grave, made him embrace his child, and +recommend him, with many tears, to the protection of the Centumviri." + +Antony, speaking of one of his own most celebrated orations, says, that +his whole address consisted, 1st, in moving the passions; 2d, in +recommending _himself_; and that it was thus, and not by convincing the +understanding of the judges, that he baffled the impeachment against his +clients(306). Valerius Maximus has supplied, in his eighth book, many +examples of unexpected and unmerited acquittals, as well as condemnations, +from bursts of compassion and theatrical incidents. The wonderful +influence, too, of a ready and popular wit in the management of causes, is +apparent from the instances given in the second book _De Oratore_ of the +effects it had produced in the Forum. The jests which are there recorded, +though not very excellent, may be regarded as the finest flowers of wit of +the Roman bar. Sometimes they were directed against the opposite party, +his patron, or witnesses; and, if sufficiently impudent, seldom failed of +effect. + +That the principles and precepts of the civil law were so little studied +by the Roman orators, and hardly ever alluded to in their harangues, +while, on the other hand, the arts of persuasion, and wit, and excitement +of the passions, were all-powerful, and were the great engines of legal +discussion, must be attributed to the constitution of the courts of law, +and the nature of the judicial procedure, which, though very imperfect for +the administration of justice, were well adapted to promote and exercise +the highest powers of eloquence. It was the forms of procedure--the +description of the courts before which questions were tried--and the nature +of these questions themselves(307)--that gave to Roman oratory such +dazzling splendour, and surrounded it with a glory, which can never shine +on the efforts of rhetoric in a better-regulated community, and under a +more sober dispensation of justice. + +The great exhibitions of eloquence were, 1st, In the civil and criminal +causes tried before the Prætor, or judges appointed under his eye. 2d, The +discussions on laws proposed in the assemblies of the people. 3d, The +deliberations of the Senate. + +The Prætor sat in the Forum, the name given to the great square situated +between Mount Palatine and the Capitol, and there administered justice. +Sometimes he heard causes in the Basilicæ, or halls which were built +around the Forum; but at other times the court of the Prætor was held in +the area of the Forum, on which a tribunal was hastily erected, and a +certain space for the patron, client, and witnesses, was railed off, and +protected from the encroachment of surrounding spectators. This space was +slightly covered above for the occasion with canvass, but being exposed to +the air on all sides, the court was an open one, in the strictest sense of +the term(308). + +From the time of the first Punic war there were two Prætors, to whom the +cognizance of _civil_ suits was committed,--the _Prætor urbanus_ and +_Prætor peregrinus_. The former tried the causes of citizens according to +the Roman laws; the latter judged the cases of allies and strangers by the +principles of natural equity; but as judicial business multiplied, the +number of Prætors was increased to six. The Prætor was the chief judge in +all questions that did not fall under the immediate cognizance of the +assemblies of the people or the Senate. Every action, therefore, came, in +the first instance, before the Prætor; but he decided only in civil suits +of importance: and if the cause was not of sufficient magnitude for the +immediate investigation of his tribunal, or hinged entirely on matters of +fact, he appointed one or more persons to judge of it. These were chosen +from a list of _judices selecti_, which was made up from the three orders +of senators, knights, and people. If but one person was appointed, he was +properly called a _judex_, or _arbiter_. The _judex_ determined only such +cases as were easy, or of small importance; and he was bound to proceed +according to an express law, or a certain form prescribed to him by the +Prætor. The _arbiter_ decided in questions of equity which were not +sufficiently defined by law, and his powers were not so restricted by the +Prætor as those of the ordinary _judex_. When more persons than one were +nominated by the Prætor, they were termed _Recuperatores_, and they +settled points of law or equity requiring much deliberation. Certain +cases, particularly those relating to testaments or successions, were +usually remitted by the Prætor to the _Centumviri_, who were 105 persons, +chosen equally from the thirty-five tribes. The Prætor, before sending a +case to any of those, whom I may call by the general name of judges, +though, in fact, they more nearly resembled our jury, made up a _formula_, +as it was called, or issue on which they were to decide; as, for example, +"If it be proved that the field is in possession of Servilius, give +sentence against Catulus, unless he produce a testament, from which it +shall appear to belong to him." + +It was in presence of these judges that the patrons and orators, +surrounded by a crowd of friends and retainers, pleaded the causes of +their clients. They commenced with a brief exposition of the nature of the +points in dispute. Witnesses were afterwards examined, and the arguments +on the case were enforced in a formal harangue. A decision was then given, +according to the opinion of a majority of the judges. The Centumviri +continued to act as judges for a whole year; but the other _judices_ only +sat till the particular cause was determined for which they had been +appointed. They remained, however, on the numerous list of the _judices +selecti_, and were liable to be again summoned till the end of the year, +when a new set was chosen for the judicial business of the ensuing season. +The Prætor had the power of reversing the decisions of the judges, if it +appeared that any fraud or gross error had been committed. If neither was +alleged, he charged himself with the duty of seeing the sentence which the +judges had pronounced carried into execution. Along with his judicial and +ministerial functions, the Prætor possessed a sort of legislative power, +by which he supplied the deficiency of laws that were found inadequate for +many civil emergencies. Accordingly, each new Prætor, as we have already +seen, when he entered on his office, issued an edict, announcing the +supplementary code which he intended to follow. Every Prætor had a totally +different edict; and, what was worse, none thought of adhering to the +rules which he had himself traced; till at length, in the year 686, the +Cornelian law, which met with much opposition, prohibited the Prætor from +departing in practice from those principles, or regulations, he had laid +down in his edict. + +Capital trials, that is, all those which regarded the life or liberty of a +Roman citizen, had been held in the _Comitia Centuriata_, after the +institution of these assemblies by Servius Tullius; but the authority of +the people had been occasionally delegated to Inquisitors, (_Quæsitores_,) +in points previously fixed by law. For some time, all criminal matters of +consequence were determined in this manner: But from the multiplicity of +trials, which increased with the extent and vices of the republic, other +means of despatching them were necessarily resorted to. The Prætors, +originally, judged only in civil suits; but in the time of Cicero, and +indeed from the beginning of the seventh century, four of the six Prætors +were nominated to preside at criminal trials--one taking cognizance of +questions of extortion--a second of peculation--a third of illegal +canvass--and the last, of offences against the state, as the _Crimen +majestatis_, or treason. To these, Sylla, in the middle of the seventh +century, added four more, who inquired into acts of public or private +violence. In trials of importance, the Prætor was assisted by the counsel +of select judges or jurymen, who originally were all chosen from the +Senate, and afterwards from the order of Knights; but in Cicero's time, in +consequence of a law of Cotta, they were taken from the Senators, Knights, +and Tribunes of the treasury. The number of these assessors, who were +appointed for the year, and nominated by the Prætor, varied from 300 to +600; and from them a smaller number was chosen by lot for each individual +case. Any Roman citizen might accuse another before the Prætor; and not +unfrequently the young patricians undertook the prosecution of an +obnoxious magistrate, merely to recommend themselves to the notice or +favour of their countrymen. In such cases there was often a competition +between two persons for obtaining the management of the impeachment, and +the preference was determined by a previous trial, called _Divinatio_. +This preliminary point being settled, and the day of the principal trial +fixed, the accuser, in his first speech, explained the nature of the +case,--fortifying his statements as he proceeded by proofs, which consisted +in the voluntary testimony of free citizens, the declarations of slaves +elicited by torture, and written documents. Cicero made little account of +the evidence of slaves; but the art of extracting truth from a free +witness--of exalting or depreciating his character--and of placing his +deposition in a favourable light, was considered among the most important +qualifications of an orator. When the evidence was concluded, the +prosecutor enforced the proofs by a set speech, after which the accused +entered on his defence. + +But though the cognizance of crimes was in ordinary cases delegated to the +Prætors, still the Comitia reserved the power of judging; and they +actually did judge in causes, in which the people, or tribunes, who +dictated to them, took an interest, and these were chiefly impeachments of +public magistrates, for bribery or peculation. It was not understood, in +any case, whether tried before the whole people or the Prætor, that either +party was to be very scrupulous in the observance of truth. The judges, +too, were sometimes overawed by an array of troops, and by menaces. +Canvassing for acquittal and condemnation, were alike avowed, and bribery, +at least for the former purpose, was currently resorted to. Thus the very +crimes of the wretch who had plundered the province intrusted to his care, +afforded him the most obvious means of absolution; and, to the wealthy +peculator, nothing could be more easy than an escape from justice, except +the opportunity of accusing the innocent and unprotected. "Foreign +nations," says Cicero, "will soon solicit the repeal of the law, which +prohibits the extortions of provincial magistrates; for they will argue, +that were all prosecutions on this law abolished, their governors would +take no more than what satisfied their own rapacity, whereas now they +exact over and above this, as much as will be sufficient to gratify their +patrons, the _Prætor and the judges_; and that though they can furnish +enough to glut the avarice of one man, they are utterly unable to pay for +his impunity in guilt(309)." + +The organization of the judicial tribunals was wretched, and their +practice scandalous. The Senate, Prætors, and Comitia, all partook of the +legislative and judicial power, and had a sort of reciprocal right of +opposition and reversal, which they exercised to gratify their avarice or +prejudices, and not with any view to the ends of justice. But however +injurious this system might be to those who had claims to urge, or rights +to defend, it afforded the most ample field for the excursions of +eloquence. The Prætors, though the supreme judges, were not men bred to +the law--advanced in years--familiarized with precedents--secure of +independence--and fixed in their stations for life. They were young men of +little experience, who held the office for a season, and proceeded through +it, to what were considered as the most important situations of the +republic. Though their procedure was strict in some trivial points of +preliminary form, devised by the ancient Jurisconsults, they enjoyed, in +more essential matters, a perilous latitude. On the dangerous pretext of +equity, they eluded the law by various subtilties or fictions; and thus, +without being endued with legislative authority, they abrogated ancient +enactments according to caprice. It was worse when, in civil cases, the +powers of the Prætor were intrusted to the judges; or when, in criminal +trials, the jurisdiction was assumed by the whole people. The +inexperience, ignorance, and popular prejudices of those who were to +decide them, rendered litigations extremely uncertain, and dependent, not +on any fixed law or principle, but on the opinions or passions of +tumultuary judges, which were to be influenced and moved by the arts of +oratory. This furnished ample scope for displaying all that interesting +and various eloquence, with which the pleadings of the ancient orators +abounded. The means to be employed for success, were conciliating favour, +rousing attention, removing or fomenting prejudice, but, above all, +exciting compassion. Hence we find, that in the defence of a criminal, +while a law or precedent was seldom mentioned, every thing was introduced +which could serve to gain the favour of the judges, or move their pity. +The accused, as soon as the day of trial was fixed, assumed an apparently +neglected garb; and although allowed, whatever was the crime, to go at +large till sentence was pronounced, he usually attended in court +surrounded by his friends, and sometimes accompanied by his children, in +order to give a more piteous effect to the lamentations and exclamations +of his counsel, when he came to that part of the oration, in which the +fallen and helpless state of his client was to be suitably bewailed. Piso, +justly accused of oppression towards the allies, having prostrated himself +on the earth in order to kiss the feet of his judges, and having risen +with his face defiled with mud, obtained an immediate acquittal. Even +where the cause was good, it was necessary to address the passions, and to +rely on the judge's feelings of compassion, rather than on his perceptions +of right. Rutilius prohibited all exclamations and entreaties to be used +in his defence: He even forbade the accustomed and expected excitement of +invocations, and stamping with the feet; and "he was condemned," says +Cicero, "though the most virtuous of the Romans, because his counsel was +compelled to plead for him as he would have done in the republic of +Plato." It thus appears, that it was dangerous to trust to innocence +alone, and the judges were the capricious arbiters of the fate of their +fellow-citizens, and not (as their situation so urgently required) the +inflexible interpreters of the laws of their exalted country. + +But if the manner of treating causes was favourable to the exertions of +eloquence, much also must be allowed for the nature of the questions +themselves, especially those of a criminal description, tried before the +Prætor or people. One can scarcely figure more glorious opportunities for +the display of oratory, than were afforded by those complaints of the +oppressed and plundered provinces against their rapacious governors. From +the extensive ramifications of the Roman power, there continually arose +numerous cases of a description that can rarely occur in other countries, +and which are unexampled in the history of Britain, except in a memorable +impeachment, which not merely displayed, but created such eloquence as can +be called forth only by splendid topics, without which rhetorical +indignation would seem extravagant, and attempted pathos ridiculous. + +The spot, too, on which the courts of justice assembled, was calculated to +inspire and heighten eloquence. The Roman Forum presented one of the most +splendid spectacles that eye could behold, or fancy conceive. This space +formed an oblong square between the Palatine and Capitoline hills, +composed of a vast assemblage of sumptuous though irregular edifices. On +the side next the Palatine hill stood the ancient Senate-house, and +Comitium, and Temple of Romulus the Founder. On the opposite quarter, it +was bounded by the Capitol, with its ascending range of porticos, and the +temple of the tutelar deity on the summit. The other sides of the square +were adorned with basilicæ, and piazzas terminated by triumphal arches; +and were bordered with statues, erected to the memory of the ancient +heroes or preservers of their country(310). Having been long the theatre +of the factions, the politics, the intrigues, the crimes, and the +revolutions of the capital, every spot of its surface was consecrated to +the recollection of some great incident in the domestic history of the +Romans; while their triumphs over foreign enemies were vividly called to +remembrance by the Rostrum itself, which stood in the centre of the vacant +area, and by other trophies gained from vanquished nations:-- + + "Et cristæ capitum, et portarum ingentia claustra, + Spiculaque, clipeique, ereptaque rostra carinis(311)." + +A vast variety of shops, stored with a profusion of the most costly +merchandize, likewise surrounded this heart and centre of the world, so +that it was the mart for all important commercial transactions. Being thus +the emporium of law, politics, and trade, it became the resort of men of +business, as well as of those loiterers whom Horace calls _Forenses_. Each +Roman citizen, regarding himself as a member of the same vast and +illustrious family, scrutinized with jealous watchfulness the conduct of +his rulers, and looked with anxious solicitude to the issue of every +important cause. In all trials of oppression or extortion, the Roman +multitude took a particular interest,--repairing in such numbers to the +Forum, that even its spacious square was hardly sufficient to contain +those who were attracted to it by curiosity; and who, in the course of the +trial, were in the habit of expressing their feelings by shouts and +acclamations, so that the orator was ever surrounded by a crowded and +tumultuary audience. This numerous assembly, too, while it inspired the +orator with confidence and animation, after he had commenced his harangue, +created in prospect that anxiety which led to the most careful preparation +previous to his appearance in public. The apprehension and even +trepidation felt by the greatest speakers at Rome on the approach of the +day fixed for the hearing of momentous causes, is evident from many +passages of the rhetorical works of Cicero. The Roman orator thus +addressed his judges with all the advantages derived both from the earnest +study of the closet, and the exhilaration imparted to him by unrestrained +and promiscuous applause. + +2. Next to the courts of justice, the great theatre for the display of +eloquence, was the Comitia, or assemblies of the people, met to deliberate +on the proposal of passing a new law, or abrogating an old one. A law was +seldom offered for consideration but some orator was found to dissuade its +adoption; and as in the courts of justice the passions of the judges were +addressed, so the favourers or opposers of a law did not confine +themselves to the expediency of the measure, but availed themselves of the +prejudices of the people, alternately confirming their errors, indulging +their caprices, gratifying their predilections, exciting their jealousies, +and fomenting their dislikes. Here, more than anywhere, the many were to +be courted by the few--here, more than anywhere, was created that +excitement which is most favourable to the influence of eloquence, and +forms indeed the element in which alone it breathes with freedom. + +3. Finally, the deliberations of the Senate, which was the great council +of the state, afforded, at least to its members, the noblest opportunities +for the exertions of eloquence. This august and numerous body consisted of +individuals who had reached a certain age, and who were possessed of a +certain extent of property, who were supposed to be of unblemished +reputation, and most of whom had passed through the annual magistracies of +the state. They were consulted upon almost everything that regarded the +administration or safety of the commonwealth. The power of making war and +peace, though it ultimately lay with the people assembled in the Comitia +Centuriata, was generally left by them entirely to the Senate, who passed +a decree of peace or war previous to the suffrages of the Comitia. The +Senate, too, had always reserved to itself the supreme direction and +superintendance of the religion of the country, and the distribution of +the public revenue--the levying or disbanding troops, and fixing the +service on which they should be employed--the nomination of governors for +the provinces--the rewards assigned to successful generals for their +victories, and the guardianship of the state in times of civil dissension. +These were the great subjects of debate in the Senate, and they were +discussed on certain fixed days of the year, when its members assembled of +course, or when they were summoned together for any emergency. They +invariably met in a temple, or other consecrated place, in order to give +solemnity to their proceedings, as being conducted under the immediate eye +of Heaven. The Consul, who presided, opened the business of the day, by a +brief exposition of the question which was to be considered by the +assembly. He then asked the opinions of the members in the order of rank +and seniority. Freedom of debate was exercised in its greatest latitude; +for, though no senator was permitted to deliver his sentiments till it +came to his turn, he had then a right to speak as long as he thought +proper, without being in the smallest degree confined to the point in +question. Sometimes, indeed, the Conscript Fathers consulted on the state +of the commonwealth in general; but even when summoned to deliberate on a +particular subject, they seem to have enjoyed the privilege of talking +about anything else which happened to be uppermost in their minds. Thus we +find that Cicero took the opportunity of delivering his seventh Philippic +when the Senate was consulted concerning the Appian Way, the coinage, and +Luperci--subjects which had no relation to Antony, against whom he +inveighed from one end of his oration to the other, without taking the +least notice of the only points which were referred to the consideration +of the senators(312). The resolution of the majority was expressed in the +shape of a decree, which, though not properly a law, was entitled to the +same reverence on the point to which it related; and, except in matters +where the interests of the state required concealment, all pains were +taken to give the utmost publicity to the whole proceedings of the Senate. + +The number of the Senate varied, but in the time of Cicero, it was nearly +the same as the British House of Commons; but it required a larger number +to make a quorum. Sometimes there were between 400 and 500 members +present; but 200, at least during certain seasons of the year, formed what +was accounted a full house. This gave to senatorial eloquence something of +the spirit and animation created by the presence of a popular assembly, +while at the same time the deliberative majesty of the proceedings +required a weight of argument and dignity of demeanour, unlooked for in +the Comitia, or Forum. Accordingly, the levity, ingenuity, and wit, which +were there so often crowned with success and applause, were considered as +misplaced in the Senate, where the consular, or prætorian orator, had to +prevail by depth of reasoning, purity of expression, and an apparent zeal +for the public good. + +It was the authority of the Senate, with the calm and imposing aspect of +its deliberations, that gave to Latin oratory a somewhat different +character from the eloquence of Greece, to which, in consequence of the +Roman spirit of imitation, it bore, in many respects, so close a +resemblance. The power of the Areopagus, which was originally the most +dignified assembly at Athens, had been retrenched amid the democratic +innovations of Pericles. From that period, everything, even the most +important affairs of state, depended entirely, in the pure democracy of +Athens, on the opinion, or rather the momentary caprice of an inconstant +people, who were fond of pleasure and repose, who were easily swayed by +novelty, and were confident in their power. As their precipitate decisions +thus often hung on an instant of enthusiasm, the orator required to dart +into their bosoms those electric sparks of eloquence which inflamed their +passions, and left no corner of the mind fitted for cool consideration. It +was the business of the speaker to allow them no time to recover from the +shock, for its force would have been spent had they been permitted to +occupy themselves with the beauties of style and diction. "Applaud not the +orator," says Demosthenes, at the end of one of his Philippics, "but do +what I have recommended. I cannot save you by my words, you must save +yourselves by your actions." When the people were persuaded, every thing +was accomplished, and their decision was embodied in a sort of decree by +the orator. The people of Rome, on the other hand, were more reflective +and moderate, and less vain than the Athenians; nor was the whole +authority of the state vested in them. There was, on the contrary, an +accumulation of powers, and a complication of different interests to be +managed. Theoretically, indeed, the sovereignty was in the people, but the +practical government was intrusted to the Senate. As we see from Cicero's +third oration, _De Lege Agraria_, the same affairs were often treated at +the same time in the Senate and on the Rostrum. Hence, in the judicial and +legislative proceedings, in which, as we have seen, the feelings of the +judges and prejudices of the vulgar were so frequently appealed to, some +portion of the senatorial spirit pervaded and controlled the popular +assemblies, restrained the impetuosity of decision, and gave to those +orators of the Forum, or Comitia, who had just spoken, or were to speak +next day in the Senate, a more grave and temperate tone, than if their +tongues had never been employed but for the purpose of impelling a +headlong multitude. + +But if the Greeks were a more impetuous and inconstant, they were also a +more intellectual people than the Romans. Literature and refinement were +more advanced in the age of Pericles than of Pompey. Now, in oratory, a +popular audience must be moved by what corresponds to the feelings and +taste of the age. With such an intelligent race as the Greeks, the orator +was obliged to employ the most accurate reasoning, and most methodical +arrangement of his arguments. The flowers of rhetoric, unless they grew +directly from the stem of his discourse, were little admired. The Romans, +on the other hand, required the excitation of fancy, of comparisons, and +metaphors, and rhetorical decoration. Hence, the Roman orator was more +anxious to seduce the imagination than convince the understanding; his +discourse was adorned with frequent digressions into the field of morals +and philosophy, and he was less studious of precision than of ornament. + +On the whole, the circumstances in the Roman constitution and judicial +procedure, appear to have wonderfully conspired to render + + + + + + CICERO + + +an accomplished orator. He was born and educated at a period when he must +have formed the most exalted idea of his country. She had reached the +height of power, and had not yet sunk into submission or servility. The +subjects to be discussed, and characters to be canvassed, were thus of the +most imposing magnitude, and could still be treated with freedom and +independence. The education, too, which Cicero had received, was highly +favourable to his improvement. He had the first philosophers of the age +for his teachers, and he studied the civil law under Scævola, the most +learned jurisconsult who had hitherto appeared in Rome. When he came to +attend the Forum, he enjoyed the advantage of daily hearing Hortensius, +unquestionably the most eloquent speaker who had yet shone in the Forum or +Senate. The harangues of this great pleader formed his taste, and raised +his emulation, and, till near the conclusion of his oratorical career, +acted as an incentive to exertions, which might have abated, had he been +left without a competitor in the Forum. The blaze of Hortensius's rhetoric +would communicate to his rival a brighter flame of eloquence than if he +had been called on to refute a cold and inanimate adversary. Still, +however, the great secret of his distinguished oratorical eminence was, +that notwithstanding his vanity, he never fell into the apathy with regard +to farther improvement, by which self-complacency is so often attended. On +the contrary, Cicero, after he had delivered two celebrated orations, +which filled the Forum with his renown, so far from resting satisfied with +the acclamations of the capital, abandoned, for a time, the brilliant +career on which he had entered, and travelled, during two years, through +the cities of Greece, in quest of philosophical improvement and rhetorical +instruction. + +With powers of speaking beyond what had yet been known in his own country, +and perhaps not inferior to those which had ever adorned any other, he +possessed, in a degree superior to all orators, of whatever age or nation, +a general and discursive acquaintance with philosophy and literature, +together with an admirable facility of communicating the fruits of his +labours, in a manner the most copious, perspicuous, and attractive. To +this extensive knowledge, by which his mind was enriched and supplied with +endless topics of illustration--to the lofty ideas of eloquence, which +perpetually revolved in his thoughts--to that image which ever haunted his +breast, of such infinite and superhuman perfection in oratory, that even +the periods of Demosthenes did not fill up the measure of his +conceptions(313), we are chiefly indebted for those emanations of genius, +which have given, as it were, an immortal tongue to the now desolate Forum +and ruined Senate of Rome. + +The first oration which Cicero pronounced, at least of those which are +extant, was delivered in presence of four judges appointed by the Prætor, +and with Hortensius for his opponent. It was in the case of Quintius, +which was pleaded in the year 672, when Cicero was 26 years of age, at +which time he came to the bar much later than was usual, after having +studied civil law under Mucius Scævola, and having further qualified +himself for the exercise of his profession by the study of polite +literature under the poet Archias, as also of philosophy under the +principal teachers of each sect who had resorted to Rome. This case was +undertaken by Cicero, at the request of the celebrated comedian Roscius, +the brother-in-law of Quintius; but it was not of a nature well adapted to +call forth or display any of the higher powers of eloquence. It was a pure +question of civil right, and, in a great measure, a matter of form; the +dispute being whether his client had forfeited his recognisances, and +whether his opponent Nævius had got legal possession of his effects by an +edict which the Prætor had pronounced, in consequence of the supposed +forfeiture. But even here, where the point was more one of dry legal +discussion than in any other oration of Cicero, we meet with much +invective, calculated to excite the indignation of the judges against the +adverse party, and many pathetic supplications, interspersed with +high-wrought pictures of the distresses of his client, in order to raise +their sympathy in his favour. + +_Pro Sext. Roscio_. In the year following that in which he pleaded the +case of Quintius, Cicero undertook the defence of Roscius of Ameria, which +was the first public or criminal trial in which he spoke. The father of +Roscius had two mortal enemies, of his own name and district. During the +proscriptions of Sylla, he was assassinated one evening at Rome, while +returning home from supper; and, on pretext that he was in the list +proscribed, his estate was purchased for a mere nominal price by +Chrysogonus, a favourite slave, to whom Sylla had given freedom, and whom +he had permitted to buy the property of Roscius as a forfeiture. Part of +the valuable lands thus acquired, were made over by Chrysogonus to the +Roscii. These new proprietors, in order to secure themselves in the +possession, hired Erucius, an informer and prosecutor by profession, to +charge the son with the murder of his father, and they, at the same time, +suborned witnesses, in order to convict him of the parricide. From dread +of the power of Sylla, the accused had difficulty in prevailing on any +patron to undertake his cause; but Cicero eagerly embraced this +opportunity to give a public testimony of his detestation of oppression +and tyranny. He exculpates his client, by enlarging on the improbability +of the accusation, whether with respect to the enormity of the crime +charged, or the blameless character and innocent life of young Roscius. He +shows, too, that his enemies had completely failed in proving that he +laboured under the displeasure of his father, or had been disinherited by +him; and, in particular, that his constant residence in the country was no +evidence of this displeasure--a topic which leads him to indulge in a +beautiful commendation of a rural life, and the ancient rustic simplicity +of the Romans. But while he thus vindicates the innocence of Roscius, the +orator has so managed his pleading, that it appears rather an artful +accusation of the two Roscii, than a defence of his own client. He tries +to fix on them the guilt of the murder, by showing that they, and not the +son, had reaped all the advantages of the death of old Roscius, and that, +availing themselves of the strict law, which forbade slaves to be examined +in evidence against their masters, they would not allow those who were +with Roscius at the time of his assassination, but had subsequently fallen +into their own possession, to be put to the torture. The whole case seems +to have been pleaded with much animation and spirit, but the oration was +rather too much in that florid Asiatic taste, which Cicero at this time +had probably adopted from imitation of Hortensius, who was considered as +the most perfect model of eloquence in the Forum; and hence the celebrated +passage on the punishment of parricide, (which consisted in throwing the +criminal, tied up in a sack, into a river,) was condemned by the severer +taste of his more advanced years. "Its intention," he declares, "was to +strike the parricide at once out of the system of nature, by depriving him +of air, light, water, and earth, so that he who had destroyed the author +of his existence might be excluded from those elements whence all things +derived their being. He was not thrown to wild beasts, lest their ferocity +should be augmented by the contagion of such guilt--he was not committed +naked to the stream, lest he should contaminate that sea which washed away +all other pollutions. Everything in nature, however common, was accounted +too good for him to share in; for what is so common as air to the living, +earth to the dead, the sea to those who float, the shore to those who are +cast up. But the parricide lives so as not to breathe the air of heaven, +dies so that the earth cannot receive his bones, is tossed by the waves so +as not to be washed by them, so cast on the shore as to find no rest on +its rocks." This declamation was received with shouts of applause by the +audience; yet Cicero, referring to it in subsequent works, calls it the +exuberance of a youthful fancy, which wanted the control of his sounder +judgment, and, like all the compositions of young men, was not applauded +so much on its own account, as for the promise it gave of more improved +and ripened talents(314). This pleading is also replete with severe and +sarcastic declamation on the audacity of the Roscii, as well as the +overgrown power and luxury of Chrysogonus; the orator has even hazarded an +insinuation against Sylla himself, which, however, he was careful to +palliate, by remarking, that through the multiplicity of affairs, he was +obliged to connive at many things which his favourites did against his +inclination. + +Cicero's courage in defending and obtaining the acquittal of Roscius, +under the circumstances in which the case was undertaken, was applauded by +the whole city. By this public opposition to the avarice of an agent of +Sylla, who was then in the plenitude of his power, and by the energy with +which he resisted an oppressive proceeding, he fixed his character for a +fearless and zealous patron of the injured, as much as for an accomplished +orator. The defence of Roscius, which acquired him so much reputation in +his youth, was remembered by him with such delight in his old age, that he +recommends to his son, as the surest path to true honour, to defend those +who are unjustly oppressed, as he himself had done in many causes, but +particularly in that of Roscius of Ameria, whom he had protected against +Sylla himself, in the height of his authority(315). + +Immediately after the decision of this cause, Cicero, partly on account of +his health, and partly for improvement, travelled into Greece and Asia, +where he spent two years in the assiduous study of philosophy and +eloquence, under the ablest teachers of Athens and Asia Minor. Nor was his +style alone formed and improved by imitation of the Greek rhetoricians: +his pronunciation also was corrected, by practising under Greek masters, +from whom he learned the art of commanding his voice, and of giving it +greater compass and variety than it had hitherto attained(316). The first +cause which he pleaded after his return to Rome, was that of Roscius, the +celebrated comedian, in a dispute, which involved a mere matter of civil +right, and was of no peculiar interest or importance. All the orations +which he delivered during the five following years, are lost, of which +number were those for Marcus Tullius, and L. Varenus, mentioned by +Priscian as extant in his time. At the end of that period, however, and +when Cicero was now in the thirty-seventh year of his age, a glorious +opportunity was afforded for the display of his eloquence, in the +prosecution instituted against Verres, the Prætor of Sicily, a criminal +infinitely more hateful than Catiline or Clodius, and to whom the Roman +_republic_, at least, never produced an equal in turpitude and crime. He +was now accused by the Sicilians of many flagrant acts of injustice, +rapine, and cruelty, committed by him during his triennial government of +their island, which he had done more to ruin than all the arbitrary acts +of their native tyrants, or the devastating wars between the Carthaginians +and Romans. + +In the advanced ages of the republic, extortion and violence almost +universally prevailed among those magistrates who were exalted abroad to +the temptations of regal power, and whose predecessors, by their +moderation, had called forth in earlier times the applause of the world. +Exhausted in fortune by excess of luxury, they now entered on their +governments only to enrich themselves with the spoils of the provinces +intrusted to their administration, and to plunder the inhabitants by every +species of exaction. The first laws against extortion were promulgated in +the beginning of the seventh century. But they afforded little relief to +the oppressed nations, who in vain sought redress at Rome; for the +decisions there depending on judges generally implicated in similar +crimes, were more calculated to afford impunity to the guilty, than +redress to the aggrieved. This undue influence received additional weight +in the case of Verres, from the high quality and connections of the +culprit. + +Such were the difficulties with which Cicero had to struggle, in entering +on the accusation of this great public delinquent. This arduous task he +was earnestly solicited to undertake, by a petition from all the towns of +Sicily, except Syracuse and Messina, both which cities had been +occasionally allowed by the plunderer to share the spoils of the province. +Having accepted this trust, so important in his eyes to the honour of the +republic, neither the far distant evidence, nor irritating delays of all +those guards of guilt with which Verres was environed, could deter or +slacken his exertions. The first device on the part of the criminal, or +rather of his counsel, Hortensius, to defeat the ends of justice, was an +attempt to wrest the conduct of the trial from the hands of Cicero, by +placing it in those of Cæcilius(317), who was a creature of Verres, and +who now claimed a preference to Cicero, on the ground of personal injuries +received from the accused, and a particular knowledge of the crimes of his +pretended enemy. The judicial claims of these competitors had therefore to +be first decided in that kind of process called _Divinatio_, in which +Cicero delivered his oration, entitled _Contra Cæcilium_, and shewed, with +much power of argument and sarcasm, that he himself was in every way best +fitted to act as the impeacher of Verres. + +Having succeeded in convincing the judges that Cæcilius only wished to get +the cause into his own hands, in order to betray it, Cicero was appointed +to conduct the prosecution, and was allowed 110 days to make a voyage to +Sicily, in order to collect information for supporting his charge. He +finished his progress through the island in less than half the time which +had been granted him. On his return he found that a plan had been laid by +the friends of Verres, to procrastinate the trial, at least till the +following season, when they expected to have magistrates and judges who +would prove favourable to his interests. In this design they so far +succeeded, that time was not left to go through the cause according to the +ordinary forms and practice of oratorical discussion in the course of the +year: Cicero, therefore, resolved to lose no time by enforcing or +aggravating the several articles of charge, but to produce at once all his +documents and witnesses, leaving the rhetorical part of the performance +till the whole evidence was concluded. The first oration, therefore, +against Verres, which is extremely short, was merely intended to explain +the motives which had induced him to adopt this unusual mode of procedure. +He accordingly exposes the devices by which the culprit and his cabal were +attempting to pervert the course of justice, and unfolds the eternal +disgrace that would attach to the Roman law, should their stratagems prove +successful. This oration was followed by the deposition of the witnesses, +and recital of the documents, which so clearly established the guilt of +Verres, that, driven to despair, he submitted, without awaiting his +sentence, to a voluntary exile(318). It therefore appears, that of the six +orations against Verres, only one was pronounced. The other five, forming +the series of harangues which he intended to deliver after the proof had +been completed, were subsequently published in the same shape as if the +delinquent had actually stood his trial, and was to have made a regular +defence. + +The first of these orations, which to us appears rather foreign to the +charge, but was meant to render the proper part of the accusation more +probable, exposes the excesses and malversations committed by Verres in +early life, before his appointment to the Prætorship of Sicily--his +embezzlement of public money while Quæstor of Gaul--his extortions under +Dolabella in Asia, and, finally, his unjust, corrupt, and partial +decisions while in the office of _Prætor Urbanus_ at Rome, which, forming +a principal part of the oration, the whole has been entitled _De Prætura +Urbana_. In the following harangue, entitled _De Jurisdictione +Siciliensi_, the orator commences with an elegant eulogy on the dignity, +antiquity, and usefulness of the province, which was not here a mere idle +or rhetorical embellishment, but was most appropriately introduced, as +nothing could be better calculated to excite indignation against the +spoiler of Sicily, than the picture he draws of its beauty; after which, +he proceeds to give innumerable instances of the flagrant sale of justice, +offices, and honours, and, among the last, even of the priesthood of +Jupiter. The next oration is occupied with the malversations of Verres +concerning grain, and the new ordinances, by which he had contrived to put +the whole corps of the island at the disposal of his officers. In this +harangue the dry statements of the prices of corn are rather fatiguing; +but the following oration, _De Signis_, is one of the most interesting of +his productions, particularly as illustrating the history of ancient art. +For nearly six centuries Rome had been filled only with the spoils of +barbarous nations, and presented merely the martial spectacle of a warlike +and conquering people. Subsequently, however, to the campaigns in _Magna +Græcia_, Sicily, and Greece, the Roman commanders displayed at their +triumphs costly ornaments of gold, pictures, statues, and vases, instead +of flocks driven from the Sabines or Volsci, the broken arms of the +Samnites, and empty chariots of the Gauls. The statues and paintings which +Marcellus transported from Syracuse to Rome, first excited that cupidity +which led the Roman provincial magistrates to pillage, without scruple or +distinction, the houses of private individuals, and temples of the +gods(319). Marcellus and Mummius, however, despoiled only hostile and +conquered countries. They had made over their plunder to the public, and, +after it was conveyed to Rome, devoted it to the embellishment of the +capital; but subsequent governors of provinces having acquired a taste for +works of art, began to appropriate to themselves those masterpieces of +Greece, which they had formerly neither known nor esteemed. Some contrived +plausible pretexts for borrowing valuable works of art from cities and +private persons, without any intention of restoring them; while others, +less cautious, or more shameless, seized whatever pleased them, whether +public or private property, without excuse or remuneration. But though +this passion was common to most provincial governors, none of them ever +came up to the full measure of the rapacity of Verres, who, allowing much +for the high colouring of the counsel and orator, appears to have been +infected with a sort of disease, or mania, which gave him an irresistible +propensity to seize whatever he saw or heard of, which was precious either +in materials or workmanship. For this purpose he retained in his service +two brothers from Asia Minor, on whose judgment he relied for the choice +of statues and pictures, and who were employed to search out everything of +this sort which was valuable in the island. Aided by their suggestions, he +seized tapestry, pictures, gold and silver plate, vases, gems, and +Corinthian bronzes, till he literally did not leave a single article of +value of these descriptions in the whole island. The chief objects of this +pillage were the statues and pictures of the gods, which the Romans +regarded with religious veneration; and they, accordingly, viewed such +rapine as sacrilege. Hence the frequent adjurations and apostrophes to the +deities who had been insulted, which are introduced in the oration. The +circumstances of violence and circumvention, under which the depredations +were committed, are detailed with much vehemence, and at considerable +length. Some description is given of the works of sculpture; and the names +of the statuaries by whom they were executed, are also frequently +recorded. Thus, we are told that Verres took away from a private gentleman +of Messina the marble Cupid, by Praxiteles: He sacrilegiously tore a +figure of Victory from the temple of Ceres--he deprived the city Tyndaris +of an image of Mercury, which had been restored to it from Carthage, by +Scipio, and was worshipped by the people with singular devotion and an +annual festival. Some of the works of art were openly carried off--some +borrowed under plausible pretences, but never restored, and others +forcibly purchased at an inadequate value. If the speech _De Signis_ be +the most curious, that _De Suppliciis_ is incomparably the finest of the +series of _Verrine_ orations. The subject afforded a wider field than the +former for the display of eloquence, and it presents us with topics of +more general and permanent interest. Such, indeed, is the vehement pathos, +and such the resources employed to excite pity in favour of the oppressed, +and indignation against the guilty, that the genius of the orator is +nowhere more conspicuously displayed--not even in the Philippics or +Catilinarian harangues. It was now proved that Verres had practiced every +species of fraud and depredation, and on these heads no room was left for +defence. But as the duties of provincial Prætors were twofold--the +administration of the laws, and the direction of warlike operations--it was +suspected that the counsel of Verres meant to divert the attention of the +judges from his avarice to his military conduct and valour. This plea the +orator completely anticipates. His misconduct, indeed, in the course of +the naval operations against the pirates, forms one of the chief topics of +Cicero's bitter invective. He demonstrates that the fleet had been +equipped rather for show than for service; that it was unprovided with +sailors or stores, and altogether unfit to act against an enemy. The +command was given to Cleomenes, a Syracusan, who was ignorant of naval +affairs, merely that Verres might enjoy the company of his wife during his +absence. The description of the sailing of the fleet from Syracuse is +inimitable, and it is so managed that the whole seems to pass before the +eyes. Verres, who had not been seen in public for many months, having +retired to a splendid pavilion, pitched near the fountain of Arethusa, +where he passed his time in company of his favourites, amidst all the +delights that arts and luxury could administer, at length appeared, in +order to view the departure of the squadron; and a Roman Prætor exhibited +himself, standing on the shore in sandals, with a purple cloak flowing to +his heels, and leaning on the shoulder of a harlot! The fleet, as was to +be expected, was driven on shore, and there burned by the pirates, who +entered Syracuse in triumph, and retired from it unmolested. Verres, in +order to divert public censure from himself, put the captains of the ships +to death; and this naturally leads on to the subject which has given name +to the oration,--the cruel and illegal executions, not merely of Sicilians, +but Roman citizens. The punishments of death and torture usually reserved +for slaves, but inflicted by Verres on freemen of Rome, formed the climax +of his atrocities, which are detailed in oratorical progression. After the +vivid description of his former crimes, one scarcely expects that new +terms of indignation will be found; but the expressions of the orator +become more glowing, in proportion as Verres grows more daring in his +guilt. The sacred character borne over all the world by a Roman citizen, +must be fully remembered, in order to read with due feeling the +description of the punishment of Gavius, who was scourged, and then nailed +to a cross, which, by a refinement in cruelty, was erected on the shore, +and facing Italy, that he might suffer death with his view directed +towards home and a land of liberty. The whole is poured forth in a torrent +of the most rapid and fervid composition; and had it actually flowed from +the lips of the speaker, we cannot doubt the prodigious effect it would +have had on a Roman audience, and on Roman judges. In the oration _De +Signis_, something, as we have seen, is lost to a modern reader, by the +diminished reverence for the mythological deities; and, in like manner, +_we_ cannot enter fully into the spirit of the harangue _De Suppliciis_, +which is planned with a direct reference to national feeling, to that +stern decorum which could not be overstepped without shame, and that +adoration of the majesty of Rome, which invested its citizens with +inexpressible dignity, and bestowed on them an almost inviolable nature. +Hence the appearance of Verres in public, in a long purple robe, is +represented as the climax of his enormities, and the punishment of +scourging inflicted on a Roman citizen is treated (without any discussion +concerning the justice of the sentence) as an unheard-of and unutterable +crime. Yet even those parts least attractive to modern readers, are +perfect in their execution; and the whole series of orations will ever be +regarded as among the most splendid monuments of Tully's transcendent +genius. + +In the renowned cause against Verres, there can be no doubt that the +orator displayed the whole resources of his vast talents. Every +circumstance concurred to stimulate his exertions and excite his +eloquence. It was the first time he had appeared as an accuser in a public +trial--his clients were the injured people of a mighty province, rivalling +in importance the imperial state--the inhabitants of Sicily surrounded the +Forum, and an audience was expected from every quarter of Italy, of all +that was exalted, intelligent, and refined. But, chiefly, he had a +subject, which, from the glaring guilt of the accused, and the nature of +his crimes, was so copious, interesting, and various, so abundant in those +topics which an orator would select to afford full scope for the exercise +of his powers, that it was hardly possible to labour tamely or listlessly +in so rich a mine of eloquence. Such a wonderful assemblage of +circumstances never yet prepared the course for the triumphs of oratory; +so great an opportunity for the exhibition of forensic art will, in all +probability, never again occur. Suffice it to say, that the orator +surpassed by his workmanship the singular beauty of his materials; and +instead of being overpowered by their magnitude, derived from the vast +resources which they supplied the merit of an additional excellence, in +the skill and discernment of his choice. + +The infinite variety of entertaining anecdotes with which the series of +pleadings against Verres abounds--the works of art which are +commemorated--the interesting topographical descriptions--the insight +afforded into the laws and manners of the ancient Sicilians--the +astonishing profusion of ironical sallies, all conspire to dazzle the +imagination and rivet the attention of the reader; yet there is something +in the idea that they were not actually delivered, which detracts from the +effect of circumstances which would otherwise heighten our feelings. It +appears to us even preposterous to read, in the commencement of the second +oration, of a report having been spread that Verres was to abandon his +defence, but that there he sat braving his accusers and judges with his +characteristic impudence. The exclamations on his effrontery, and the +adjurations of the judges, lose their force, when we cannot help +recollecting that before one word of all this could be pronounced, the +person against whom they were directed as present had sneaked off into +voluntary exile. Whatever effect this recollection may have had on the +ancients, who regarded oratory as an art, and an oration as an elaborate +composition, nothing can be more grating or offensive to the taste and +feelings of a modern reader, whose idea of eloquence is that of something +natural, heart-felt, inartificial, and extemporaneous. + +The Sicilians, though they could scarcely have been satisfied with the +issue of the trial, appear to have been sufficiently sensible of Cicero's +great exertions in their behalf. Blainville, in his Travels, mentions, +that while at Grotta Ferrata, a convent built on the ruins of Cicero's +Tusculan Villa, he had been shown a silver medal, unquestionably antique, +struck by the Sicilians in gratitude for his impeachment of Verres. One +side exhibits a head of Cicero, crowned with laurel, with the legend _M. +T. Ciceroni_--on the reverse, there is the representation of three legs +extended in a triangular position, in the form of the three great capes or +promontories of Sicily, with the motto,--"_Prostrato Verre Trinacria_." + +_Pro Fonteio_. It is much to be regretted, that the oration for Fonteius, +the next which Cicero delivered, has descended to us incomplete. It was +the defence of an unpopular governor, accused of oppression by the +province intrusted to his administration; and, as such, would have formed +an interesting contrast to the accusation of Verres. + +_Pro Cæcina_. This was a mere question of civil right, turning on the +effect of a Prætorian edict. + +_Pro Lege Manilia_. Hitherto Cicero had only addressed the judges in the +Forum in civil suits or criminal prosecutions. The oration for the +Manilian law, which is accounted one of the most splendid of his +productions, was the first in which he spoke to the whole people from the +rostrum. It was pronounced in favour of a law proposed by Manilius, a +tribune of the people, for constituting Pompey sole general, with +extraordinary powers, in the war against Mithridates and Tigranes, in +which Lucullus at that time commanded. The chiefs of the Senate regarded +this law as a dangerous precedent in the republic; and all the authority +of Catulus, and eloquence of Hortensius, were directed against it. It has +been conjectured, that in supporting pretensions which endangered the +public liberty, Cicero was guided merely by interest, since an opposition +to Pompey might have prevented his own election to the consulship, which +was now the great object of his ambition. His life, however, and writings, +will warrant us in ascribing to him a different, though perhaps less +obvious motive. With the love of virtue and the republic, which glowed so +intensely in the breast of this illustrious Roman, that less noble +passion, the immoderate desire of popular fame, was unfortunately mingled. +"Fame," says a modern historian, "was the prize at which he aimed; his +weakness of bodily constitution sought it through the most strenuous +labours--his natural timidity of mind pursued it through the greatest +dangers. Pompey, who had fortunately attained it, he contemplated as the +happiest of men, and was led, from this illusion of fancy, not only to +speak of him, but really to think of him," (till he became unfortunate,) +"with a fondness of respect bordering on enthusiasm. The glare of glory +that surrounded Pompey, concealed from Cicero his many and great +imperfections, and seduced an honest citizen, and finest genius in Rome, a +man of unparalleled industry, and that generally applied to the noblest +purposes, into the prostitution of his abilities and virtues, for exalting +an ambitious chief, and investing him with such exorbitant and +unconstitutional powers, as virtually subverted the commonwealth(320)." + +In defending this pernicious measure, Cicero divided his discourse into +two parts--showing, first, that the importance and imminent dangers of the +contest in which the state was engaged, required the unusual remedy +proposed--and, secondly, that Pompey was the fittest person to be intrusted +with the conduct of the war. This leads to a splendid panegyric on that +renowned commander, in which, while he does justice to the merits of his +predecessor, Lucullus, he enlarges on the military skill, valour, +authority, and good fortune of this present idol of his luxuriant +imagination, with all the force and beauty which language can afford. He +fills the imagination with the immensity of the object, kindles in the +breast an ardour of affection and gratitude, and, by an accumulation of +circumstances and proofs, so aggrandizes his hero, that he exalts him to +something more than mortal in the minds of his auditory; while, at the +same time, every word inspires the most perfect veneration for his +character, and the most unbounded confidence in his integrity and +judgment. The whole world is exhibited as an inadequate theatre for the +actions of such a superior genius; while all the nations, and potentates +of the earth, are in a manner called as witnesses of his valour and his +truth. By enlarging on these topics, by the most solemn protestations of +his own sincerity, and by adducing examples from antiquity, of the state +having been benefited or saved, by intrusting unlimited power to a single +person, he allayed all fears of the dangers which it was apprehended might +result to the constitution, from such extensive authority being vested in +one individual--and thus struck the first blow towards the subversion of +the republic! + +_Pro Cluentio_. This is a pleading for Cluentius, who, at his mother's +instigation, was accused of having poisoned his stepfather, Oppianicus. +Great part of the harangue appears to be but collaterally connected with +the direct subject of the prosecution. Oppianicus, it seems, had been +formerly accused by Cluentius, and found guilty of a similar attempt +against his life; but after his condemnation, a report became current that +Cluentius had prevailed in the cause by corrupting the judges, and, to +remove the unfavourable impression thus created against his client, Cicero +recurs to the circumstances of that case. In the second part of the +oration, which refers to the accusation of poisoning Oppianicus, he finds +it necessary to clear his client from two previous charges of attempts to +poison. In treating of the proper subject of the criminal proceedings, +which does not occupy above a sixth part of the whole oration, he shows +that Cluentius could have had no access or opportunity to administer +poison to his father, who was in exile; that there was nothing unusual or +suspicious in the circumstances of his death; and that the charge +originated in the machinations of Cluentius' unnatural mother, against +whom he inveighs with much force, as one hurried along blindfold by +guilt--who acts with such folly that no one can account her a rational +creature--with such violence that none can imagine her to be a woman--with +such cruelty, that none can call her a mother. The whole oration discloses +such a scene of enormous villainy--of murders, by poison and +assassination--of incest, and subornation of witnesses, that the family +history of Cluentius may be regarded as the counterpart in domestic +society, of what the government of Verres was in public life. Though very +long, and complicated too, in the subject, it is one of the most correct +and forcible of all Cicero's judicial orations; and, under the impression +that it comes nearer to the strain of a modern pleading than any of the +others, it has been selected by Dr Blair as the subject of a minute +analysis and criticism(321). + +_De Lege Agraria contra Rullum_. In his discourse _Pro Lege Manilia_, the +first of the deliberative kind addressed to the assembly of the people, +Cicero had the advantage of speaking for a favourite of the multitude, and +against the chiefs of the Senate; but he was placed in a very different +situation when he came to oppose the Agrarian law. This had been for 300 +years the darling object of the Roman tribes--the daily attraction and +rallying word of the populace--the signal of discord, and most powerful +engine of the seditious tribunate. The first of the series of orations +against the Agrarian law, now proposed by Rullus, was delivered by Cicero +in the Senate-house, shortly after his election to the consulship: The +second and third were addressed to the people from the rostrum. The scope +of the present Agrarian law was, to appoint Decemvirs for the purpose of +selling the public domains in the provinces, and to recover from the +generals the spoils acquired in foreign wars, by which a fund might be +formed for the purchase of lands in Italy, particularly Campania--to be +equally divided among the people. Cicero, in his first oration, of which +the commencement is now wanting, quieted the alarms of the Senate, by +assuring them of his resolution to oppose the law with his utmost power. +When the question came before the people, he did not fear to encounter the +Tribunes on their own territory, and most popular subject; he did not +hesitate to make the rabble judges in their own cause, though one in which +their passions, interests, and prejudices, and those of their fathers, had +been engaged for so many centuries. Conscious of his superiority, he +invited the Tribunes to ascend the rostrum, and argue the point with him +before the assembled multitude; but the field was left clear to his +argument and eloquence, and by alternately flattering the people, and +ridiculing the proposer of the law, he gave such a turn to their +inclinations, that they rejected the proposition as eagerly as they had +before received it. + +But although the Tribunes were unable to cope with Cicero in the Forum, +they subsequently contrived to instil suspicions into the minds of the +populace, with regard to his motives in opposing the Agrarian law. These +imputations made such an impression on the city, that he found it +necessary to defend himself against them, in a short speech to the people. +It has been disputed, whether this third oration was the last which Cicero +pronounced on occasion of this Agrarian law. In the letters to Atticus, +while speaking of his consular orations, he says, "that among those sent, +was that pronounced in the Senate, and that addressed to the people, on +the Agrarian law(322)." These are the first and second of the speeches, +which we now have against Rullus; but he also mentions, that there were +two _apospasmatia_, as he calls them, concerning the Agrarian law. Now, +what is at present called the third, was probably the first of these two, +and the last must have perished. + +_Pro Rabirio_. About the year 654, Saturninus, a seditious Tribune, had +been slain by a party attached to the interests of the Senate. Thirty-six +years afterwards, Rabirius was accused of accession to this murder, by +Labienus, subsequently well known as Cæsar's lieutenant in Gaul. +Hortensius had pleaded the cause before the Duumvirs, Caius and Lucius +Cæsar, by whom Rabirius being condemned, appealed to the people, and was +defended by Cicero in the Comitia. The Tribune, it seems, had been slain +in a tumult during a season of such danger, that a decree had been passed +by the Senate, requiring the Consuls to be careful that the republic +received no detriment. This was supposed to sanction every proceeding +which followed in consequence; and the design of the popular party, in the +impeachment of Rabirius, was to attack this prerogative of the Senate. +Cicero's oration on this contention between the Senatorial and Tribunitial +power, gives us more the impression of prompt and unstudied eloquence than +most of his other harangues. It is, however, a little obscure, partly from +the circumstance that the accuser would not permit him to exceed half an +hour in the defence. The argument seems to have been, that Rabirius did +not kill Saturninus; but that even if he had slain him, the action was not +merely legal, but praiseworthy, since all citizens had been required to +arm in aid of the Consuls. + +It was believed, that in spite of the exertions of Cicero, Rabirius would +have been condemned, had not the Prætor Metellus devised an expedient for +dissolving the Comitia, before sentence could be passed. The cause was +neither farther prosecuted at this time, nor subsequently revived; the +public attention being now completely engrossed by the imminent dangers of +the Catilinarian Conspiracy, which was discovered during the Consulship of +Cicero. + +_Contra Catilinam_. The detection and suppression of that nefarious plot, +form the most glorious part of the political life of Cicero; and the +orations he pronounced against the chief conspirator, are still regarded +as the most splendid monuments of his eloquence. It was no longer to +defend the rights and prerogatives of a municipal town or province, nor to +move and persuade a judge in favour of an unfortunate client, but to save +his country and the republic, that Cicero ascended the Rostrum. The +conspiracy of Catiline tended to the utter extinction of the city and +government. Cicero, having discovered his design, (which was to leave Rome +and join his army, assembled in different parts of Italy, while the other +conspirators remained within the walls, to butcher the Senators and fire +the capital,) summoned the Senate to meet in the Temple of Jupiter Stator, +with the intention of laying before it the whole circumstances of the +plot. But Catiline having unexpectedly appeared in the midst of the +assembly, his audacity impelled the consular orator into an abrupt +invective, which is directly addressed to the traitor, and commences +without the preamble by which most of his other harangues are introduced. +In point of effect, this oration must have been perfectly electric. The +disclosure to the criminal himself of his most secret purposes--their +flagitious nature, threatening the life of every one present--the whole +course of his villainies and treasons, blazoned forth with the fire of +incensed eloquence--and the adjuration to him, by flying from Rome, to free +his country from such a pestilence, were all wonderfully calculated to +excite astonishment, admiration, and horror. The great object of the whole +oration, was to drive Catiline into banishment; and it appears somewhat +singular, that so dangerous a personage, and who might have been so easily +convicted, should thus have been forced, or even allowed, to withdraw to +his army, instead of being seized and punished. Catiline having escaped +unmolested to his camp, the conduct of the Consul in not apprehending, but +sending away this formidable enemy, had probably excited some censure and +discontent; and the second Catilinarian oration was in consequence +delivered by Cicero, in an assembly of the people, in order to justify his +driving the chief conspirator from Rome. A capital punishment, he admits, +ought long since to have overtaken Catiline, but such was the spirit of +the times, that the existence of the conspiracy would not have been +believed, and he had therefore resolved to place his guilt in a point of +view so conspicuous, that vigorous measures might without hesitation be +adopted, both against Catiline and his accomplices. He also takes this +opportunity to warn his audience against those bands of conspirators who +still lurked within the city, and whom he divides into various classes, +describing, in the strongest language, the different degrees of guilt and +profligacy by which they were severally characterized. + +Manifest proofs of the whole plot having been at length obtained, by the +arrest of the ambassadors from the Allobroges, with whom the conspirators +had tampered, and who were bearing written credentials from them to their +own country, Cicero, in his third oration, laid before the people all the +particulars of the discovery, and invited them to join in celebrating a +thanksgiving, which had been decreed by the Senate to his honour, for the +preservation of his country. + +The last Catilinarian oration was pronounced in the Senate, on the debate +concerning the punishment to be inflicted on the conspirators. Silanus had +proposed the infliction of instant death, while Cæsar had spoken in favour +of the more lenient sentence of perpetual imprisonment. Cicero does not +precisely declare for any particular punishment; but he shows that his +mind evidently inclined to the severest, by dwelling on the enormity of +the conspirators' guilt, and aggravating all their crimes with much +acrimony and art. His sentiments finally prevailed; and those +conspirators, who had remained in Rome, were strangled under his immediate +superintendence. + +In these four orations, the tone and style of each of them, particularly +of the first and last, is very different, and accommodated with a great +deal of judgment to the occasion, and to the circumstances under which +they were delivered. Through the whole series of the Catilinarian +orations, the language of Cicero is well calculated to overawe the wicked, +to confirm the good, and encourage the timid. It is of that description +which renders the mind of one man the mind of a whole assembly, or a whole +people(323). + +_Pro Muræna_.--The Comitia being now held in order to choose Consuls for +the ensuing year, Junius Silanus and Muræna were elected. The latter +candidate had for his competitor the celebrated jurisconsult Sulpicius +Rufus; who, being assisted by Cato, charged Muræna with having prevailed +by bribery and corruption. This impeachment was founded on the Calpurnian +law, which had lately been rendered more strict, on the suggestion of +Sulpicius, by a _Senatusconsultum_. Along with this accusation, the +profligacy of Muræna's character was objected to, and also the meanness of +his rank, as he was but a knight and soldier, whereas Sulpicius was a +patrician and lawyer. Cicero therefore shows, in the first place, that he +amply merited the consulship, from his services in the war with +Mithridates, which introduces a comparison between a military and forensic +life. While he pays his usual tribute of applause to cultivated eloquence, +he derides the forms and phraseology of the jurisconsults, by whom the +civil law was studied and practised. As to the proper subject of the +accusation, bribery in his election, it seems probable that Muræna had +been guilty of some practices which, strictly speaking, were illegal, yet +were warranted by custom. They seem to have consisted in encouraging a +crowd to attend him on the streets, and in providing shows for the +entertainment of the multitude; which, though expected by the people, and +usually overlooked by the magistrates, appeared heinous offences in the +eye of the rigid and stoical Cato. Aware of the weight added to the +accusation by his authority, Cicero, in order to obviate this influence, +treats his stoical principles in the same tone which he had already used +concerning the profession of Sulpicius. In concluding, he avails himself +of the difficulties of the times, and the yet unsuppressed conspiracy of +Catiline, which rendered it unwise to deprive the city of a Consul well +qualified to defend it in so dangerous a crisis. + +This case was one of great expectation, from the dignity of the +prosecutors, and eloquence of the advocates for the accused. Before Cicero +spoke, it had been pleaded by Hortensius, and Crassus the triumvir; and +Cicero, in engaging in the cause, felt the utmost desire to surpass these +rivals of his eloquence. Such was his anxiety, that he slept none during +the whole night which preceded the hearing of the cause; and being thus +exhausted with care, his eloquence on this occasion fell short of that of +Hortensius(324). He shows, however, much delicacy and art in the manner in +which he manages the attack on the philosophy of Cato, and profession of +Sulpicius, both of whom were his particular friends, and high in the +estimation of the judges he addressed(325). + +_Pro Valerio Flacco_.--Flaccus had aided Cicero in his discovery of the +conspiracy of Catiline, and, in return, was defended by him against a +charge of extortion and peculation, brought by various states of Asia +Minor, which he had governed as Pro-prætor. + +_Pro Cornelio Sylla_.--Sylla, who was afterwards a great partizan of +Cæsar's, was prosecuted for having been engaged in Catiline's conspiracy; +but his accuser, Torquatus, digressing from the charge against Sylla, +turned his raillery on Cicero; alleging, that he had usurped the authority +of a king; and asserting, that he was the third foreign sovereign who had +reigned at Rome after Numa and Tarquin. Cicero, therefore, in his reply, +had not only to defend his client, but to answer the petulant raillery by +which his antagonist attempted to excite envy and odium against himself. +He admits that he was a foreigner in one sense of the word, having been +born in a municipal town of Italy, in common with many others who had +rendered the highest services to the city; but he repels the insinuation +that he usurped any kingly authority; and being instigated by this +unmerited attack, he is led on to the eulogy of his own conduct and +consulship,--a favourite subject, from which he cannot altogether depart, +even when he enters more closely into the grounds of the prosecution. + +For this defence of Cornelius Sylla, Cicero privately received from his +client the sum of 20,000 sesterces, which chiefly enabled him to purchase +his magnificent house on the Palatine Hill. + +_Pro Archia_.--This is one of the orations of Cicero on which he has +succeeded in bestowing the finest polish, and it is perhaps the most +_pleasing_ of all his harangues. Archias had been his preceptor, and, +after having obtained much reputation by his Greek poems, on the triumphs +of Lucullus over Mithridates, and of Marius over the Cimbri, was now +attempting to celebrate the consulship of Cicero; so that the orator, in +pleading his cause, expected to be requited by the praises of his muse. + +This poet was a native of Antioch, and, having come to Italy in early +youth, was rewarded for his learning and genius with the friendship of the +first men in the state, and with the citizenship of Heraclea, a +confederate and enfranchised town of Magna Græcia. A few years afterwards, +a law was enacted, conferring the rights of Roman citizens on all who had +been admitted to the freedom of federate states, provided they had a +settlement in Italy at the time when the law was passed, and had asserted +the privilege before the Prætor within sixty days from the period at which +it was promulgated. After Archias had enjoyed the benefit of this law for +more than twenty years, his claims were called in question by one +Gracchus, who now attempted to drive him from the city, under the +enactment expelling all foreigners who usurped, without due title, the +name and attributes of Roman citizens. The loss of records, and some other +circumstances, having thrown doubts on the legal right of his client, +Cicero chiefly enlarged on the dignity of literature and poetry, and the +various accomplishments of Archias, which gave him so just a claim to the +privileges he enjoyed. He beautifully describes the influence which study +and a love of letters had exercised on his own character and conduct. He +had thence imbibed the principle, that glory and virtue should be the +darling objects of life, and that to attain these, all difficulties, or +even dangers, were to be despised. But, of all names dear to literature +and genius, that of poet was the most sacred: hence it would be an extreme +of disgrace and profanation, to reject a bard who had employed the utmost +efforts of his art to make Rome immortal by his muse, and had possessed +such prevailing power as to touch with pleasure even the stubborn and +intractable soul of Marius. + +The whole oration is interspersed with beautiful maxims and sentences, +which have been quoted with delight in all ages. There appears in it, +however, perhaps too much, and certainly more than in the other orations, +of what Lord Monboddo calls _concinnity_. "We have in it," observes he, +speaking of this oration, "strings of antitheses, the figure of like +endings, and a perfect similarity of the structure, both as to the +grammatical form of the words, and even the number of them(326)." The +whole, too, is written in a style of exaggeration and immoderate praise. +The orator talks of the poet Archias, as if the whole glory of Rome, and +salvation of the commonwealth, depended on his poetical productions, and +as if the smallest injury offered to him would render the name of Rome +execrable and infamous in all succeeding generations. + +_Pro Cn. Plancio_.--The defence of Plancius was one of the first orations +pronounced by Cicero after his return from banishment. Plancius had been +Quæstor of Macedon when Cicero came to that country during his exile, and +had received him with honours proportioned to his high character, rather +than his fallen fortunes. In return for this kindness, Cicero undertook +his defence against a charge, preferred by a disappointed competitor, of +bribery and corruption in suing for the ædileship. + +_Pro Sextio_.--This is another oration produced by the gratitude of Cicero, +and the circumstances of his banishment. Sextius, while Tribune of the +people, had been instrumental in procuring his recall, and Cicero requited +this good office by one of the longest and most elaborate of his +harangues. The accusation, indeed, was a consequence of his interposition +in favour of the illustrious exile; for when about to propose his recall +to the people, he was violently attacked by the Clodian faction, and left +for dead on the street. His enemies, however, though obviously the +aggressors, accused him of violence, and exciting a tumult. This was the +charge against which Cicero defended him. The speech is valuable for the +history of the times; as it enters into all the recent political events in +which Cicero had borne so distinguished a part. The orator inveighs +against his enemies, the Tribune Clodius, and the Consuls Gabinius and +Piso, and details all the circumstances connected with his own banishment +and return, occasionally throwing in a word or two about his client +Sextius. + +_Contra Vatinium_.--Vatinius, who belonged to the Clodian faction, +appeared, at the trial of Sextius, as a witness against him. This gave +Cicero an opportunity of interrogating him; and the whole oration being a +continued invective on the conduct of Vatinius, poured forth in a series +of questions, without waiting for an answer to any of them, has been +entitled, _Interrogatio_. + +_Pro Cælio_.--Middleton has pronounced this to be the most entertaining of +the orations which Cicero has left us, from the vivacity of wit and humour +with which he treats the gallantries of Clodia, her commerce with Cælius, +and in general the gaieties and licentiousness of youth. + +Cælius was a young man of considerable talents and accomplishments, who +had been intrusted to the care of Cicero on his first introduction to the +Forum; but having imprudently engaged in an intrigue with Clodia, the +well-known sister of Clodius, and having afterwards deserted her, she +accused him of an attempt to poison her, and of having borrowed money from +her in order to procure the assassination of Dio, the Alexandrian +ambassador. In this, as in most other prosecutions of the period, a number +of charges, unconnected with the main one, seem to have been accumulated, +in order to give the chief accusation additional force and credibility. +Cicero had thus to defend his client against the suspicions arising from +the general libertinism of his conduct. He justifies that part of it which +related to his intercourse with Clodia, by enlarging on the loose +character of this woman, whom he treats with very little ceremony; and, in +order to place her dissolute life in a more striking point of view, he +conjures up in fancy one of her grim and austere ancestors of the Clodian +family reproaching her with her shameful degeneracy. All this the orator +was aware would not be sufficient for the complete vindication of his +client; and it is curious to remark the ingenuity with which the strenuous +advocate of virtue and regularity of conduct palliates, on this occasion, +the levities of youth,--not, indeed, by lessening the merits of strict +morality, but by representing those who withstand the seductions of +pleasure as supernaturally endued. + +This oration was a particular favourite of one who was long a +distinguished speaker in the British Senate. "By the way," says Mr Fox, in +a letter to Wakefield, "I know no speech of Cicero more full of beautiful +passages than this is, nor where he is more in his element. Argumentative +contention is what he by no means excels in; and he is never, I think, so +happy as when he has an opportunity of exhibiting a mixture of philosophy +and pleasantry; and especially when he can interpose anecdotes and +references to the authority of the eminent characters in the history of +his country. No man appears, indeed, to have had such real respect for +authority as he; and therefore, when he speaks upon that subject, he is +always natural and in earnest; and not like those among _us_, who are so +often declaiming about the wisdom of our ancestors, without knowing what +they mean, or hardly ever citing any particulars of their conduct, or of +their _dicta_(327)." + +_De Provinciis Consularibus_. The government of Gaul was continued to +Cæsar, in consequence of this oration, so that it may be considered as one +of the immediate causes of the ruin of the Roman Republic, which it was +incontestibly the great wish of Cicero to protect and maintain inviolate. +But Cicero had evidently been duped by Cæsar, as he formerly had nearly +been by Catiline, and as he subsequently was by Octavius, Pollio, and +every one who found it his interest to cajole him, by proclaiming his +praises, and professing ardent zeal for the safety of the state. So little +had he penetrated the real views of Cæsar, that we find him asking the +Senate, in his oration, what possible motive or inducement Cæsar could +have to remain in the province of Gaul, except the public good. "For would +the amenity of the regions, the beauty of the cities, or civilization of +the inhabitants, detain him there--or can a return to one's native country +be so distasteful?" + +_Pro Cornelio Balbo_.--Balbus was a native of Cadiz, who having been of +considerable service to Pompey, during his war in Spain, against +Sertorius, had, in return, received the freedom of Rome from that +commander, in virtue of a special law, by which he had obtained the power +of granting this benefit to whom he chose. The validity of Pompey's act, +however, was now questioned, on the ground that Cadiz was not within the +terms of that relation and alliance to Rome, which could, under any +circumstances, entitle its citizens to such a privilege. The question, +therefore, was, whether the inhabitants of a federate state, which had not +adopted the institutions and civil jurisprudence of Rome, could receive +the rights of citizenship. This point was of great importance to the +municipal towns of the Republic, and the oration throws considerable light +on the relations which existed between the provinces and the capital. + +_In Pisonem_.--Piso having been recalled from his government of Macedon, in +consequence of Cicero's oration, _De Provinciis Consularibus_, he +complained, in one of his first appearances in the Senate, of the +treatment he had received, and attacked the orator, particularly on the +score of his poetry, ridiculing the well known line, + + "Cedant arma togæ--concedat laurea linguæ." + +Cicero replied in a bitter invective, in which he exposed the whole life +and conduct of his enemy to public contempt and detestation. The most +singular feature of this harangue is the personal abuse and coarseness of +expression it contains, which appear the more extraordinary when we +consider that it was delivered in the Senate-house, and directed against +an individual of such distinction and consequence as Piso. Cicero applies +to him the opprobrious epithets of _bellua_, _furia_, _carnifex_, +_furcifer_, &c.; he banters him on his personal deformities, and upbraids +him with his ignominious descent on one side of the family, while, on the +other, he had no resemblance to his ancestors, except to the sooty +complexion of their images. + +_Pro Milone_.--When Milo was candidate for the Consulship, the notorious +demagogue Clodius supported his competitors, and during the canvass, party +spirit grew so violent, that the two factions often came to blows within +the walls of the city. While these dissensions were at their height, +Clodius and Milo met on the Appian Way--the former returning from the +country towards Rome, and the latter setting out for Lanuvium, both +attended by a great retinue. A quarrel arose among their followers, in +which Clodius was wounded and carried into a house in the vicinity. By +order of Milo, the doors were broken open, his enemy dragged out, and +assassinated on the highway. The death of Clodius excited much confusion +and tumult at Rome, in the course of which the courts of justice were +burned by a mob. Milo having returned from the banishment into which he +had at first withdrawn, was impeached for the crime by the Tribunes of the +people; and Pompey, in virtue of the authority conferred on him by a +decree of the Senate, nominated a special commission to inquire into the +murder committed on the Appian Way. In order to preserve the tranquillity +of the city, he placed guards in the Forum, and occupied all its avenues +with troops. This unusual appearance, and the shouts of the Clodian +faction, which the military could not restrain, so discomposed the orator, +that he fell short of his usual excellence. The speech which he actually +delivered, was taken down in writing, and is mentioned by Asconius +Pedianus as still extant in his time. But that beautiful harangue which we +now possess, is one which was retouched and polished, as a gift for Milo, +after he had retired in exile to Marseilles. + +In the oration, as we now have it, Cicero takes his exordium from the +circumstances by which he was so much, though, as he admits, so +causelessly disconcerted; since he knew that the troops were not placed in +the Forum to overawe, but to protect. In entering on the defence, he +grants that Clodius was killed, and by Milo; but he maintains that +homicide is, on many occasions, justifiable, and on none more so than when +force can only be repelled by force, and when the slaughter of the +aggressor is necessary for self-preservation. These principles are +beautifully illustrated, and having been, as the orator conceives, +sufficiently established, are applied to the case under consideration. He +shows, from the circumstantial evidence of time and place--the character of +the deceased--the retinue by which he was accompanied--his hatred to +Milo--the advantages which would have resulted to him from the death of his +enemy, and the expressions proved to have been used by him, that Clodius +had laid an ambush for Milo. Cicero, it is evident, had here the worst of +the cause. The encounter appears, in fact, to have been accidental; and +though the servants of Clodius may, perhaps, have been the assailants, +Milo had obviously exceeded the legitimate bounds of self defence. The +orator accordingly enforces the argument, that the assassination of +Clodius was an act of public benefit, which, in a consultation of Milo's +friends, was the only one intended to have been advanced, and was the sole +defence adopted in the oration which Brutus is said to have prepared for +the occasion. Cicero, while he does not forego the advantage of this plea, +maintains it hypothetically, contending that _even if_ Milo had openly +pursued and slain Clodius as a common enemy, he might well boast of having +freed the state from so pernicious and desperate a citizen. To add force +to this argument, he takes a rapid view of the various acts of atrocity +committed by Clodius, and the probable situation of the Republic, were he +to revive. When the minds of the judges were thus sufficiently prepared, +he ascribes his tragical end to the immediate interposition of the +providential powers, specially manifested by his fall near the temple of +Bona Dea, whose mysteries he had formerly profaned. Having excited +sufficient indignation against Clodius, he concludes with moving +commiseration for Milo, representing his love for his country and +fellow-citizens,--the sad calamity of exile from Rome,--and his manly +resignation to whatever punishment might be inflicted on him. + +The argument in this oration was perhaps as good as the circumstances +admitted; but we miss through the whole that reference to documents and +laws, which gives the stamp of truth to the orations of Demosthenes. Each +ground of defence, taken by itself, is deficient in argumentative force. +Thus, in maintaining that the death of Clodius was of no benefit to Milo, +he has taken too little into consideration the hatred and rancour mutually +felt by the heads of political factions: but he supplies his weakness of +argument by illustrative digressions, flashes of wit, bursts of eloquence, +and appeals to the compassion of the judges, on which he appears to have +placed much reliance(328). On the whole, this oration was accounted, both +by Cicero himself and by his contemporaries, as the finest effort of his +genius; which confirms what indeed is evinced by the whole history of +Roman eloquence, that the judges were easily satisfied on the score of +reasoning, and attached more importance to pathos, and wit, and sonorous +periods, than to fact or law. + +_Pro Rabirio Postumo_.--This is the defence of Rabirius, who was prosecuted +for repayment of a sum which he was supposed to have received, in +conjunction with the Proconsul Gabinius, from King Ptolemy, for having +placed him on the throne of Egypt, contrary to the injunctions of the +Senate. + +_Pro Ligario_.--This oration was pronounced after Cæsar, having vanquished +Pompey in Thessaly, and destroyed the remains of the Republican party in +Africa, assumed the supreme administration of affairs at Rome. Merciful as +the conqueror appeared, he was understood to be much exasperated against +those who, after the rout at Pharsalia, had renewed the war in Africa. +Ligarius, when on the point of obtaining a pardon, was formally accused by +his old enemy Tubero, of having borne arms in that contest. The Dictator +himself presided at the trial of the case, much prejudiced against +Ligarius, as was known from his having previously declared, that his +resolution was fixed, and was not to be altered by the charms of +eloquence. Cicero, however, overcame his prepossessions, and extorted from +him a pardon. The countenance of Cæsar, it is said, changed, as the orator +proceeded in his speech; but when he touched on the battle of Pharsalia, +and described Tubero as seeking his life, amid the ranks of the army, the +Dictator became so agitated, that his body trembled, and the papers which +he held dropped from his hand(329). + +This oration is remarkable for the free spirit which it breathes, even in +the face of that power to which it was addressed for mercy. But Cicero, at +the same time, shows much art in not overstepping those limits, within +which he knew he might speak without offence, and in seasoning his freedom +with appropriate compliments to Cæsar, of which, perhaps, the most elegant +is, that he forgot nothing but the injuries done to himself. This was the +person whom, in the time of Pompey, he characterized as _monstrum et +portentum tyrannum_, and whose death he soon afterwards celebrated as +_divinum in rempublicam beneficium_! + +The oration of Tubero against Ligarius, was extant in Quintilian's time, +and probably explained the circumstances which induced a man, who had +fought so keenly against Cæsar at Pharsalia, to undertake the prosecution +of Ligarius. + +_Pro Rege Dejotaro_.--Dejotarus was a Tetrarch of Galatia, who obtained +from Pompey the realm of Armenia, and from the Senate the title of King. +In the civil war he had espoused the cause of his benefactors. Cæsar, in +consequence, deprived him of Armenia, but was subsequently reconciled to +him, and, while prosecuting the war against Pharnaces, visited him in his +original states of Galatia. Some time afterwards, Phidippus, the physician +of the king, and his grandson Castor, accused him of an attempt to poison +Cæsar, during the stay which the Dictator had made at his court. Cicero +defended him in the private apartments of Cæsar, and adopted the same +happy union of freedom and flattery, which he had so successfully employed +in the case of Ligarius. Cæsar, however, pronounced no decision on the one +side or other. + +_Philippica_.--The remaining orations of Cicero are those directed against +Antony, of whose private life and political conduct they present us with a +full and glaring picture. The character of Antony, next to that of Sylla, +was the most singular in the Annals of Rome, and in some of its features +bore a striking resemblance to that of the fortunate Dictator. Both were +possessed of uncommon military talents--both were imbued with cruelty which +makes human nature shudder--both were inordinately addicted to luxury and +pleasure--and both, for men of their powers of mind and habits, had +apparently, at least, a strange superstitious reliance on destiny, +portents, and omens. Yet there were strong shades of distinction even in +those parts of their characters in which we trace the closest resemblance: +The cruelty of Sylla was more deliberate and remorseless--that of Antony, +more regardless and unthinking--and amid all the atrocities of the latter, +there burst forth occasional gleams of generosity and feeling. But then +Sylla was a man of much greater discernment and penetration--a much more +profound and successful dissembler--and he was possessed of many refined +and elegant accomplishments, of which the coarser Antony was destitute. +Sylla gratified his voluptuousness, but Antony was ruled by it. The former +indulged in pleasure when within his grasp, but ease, power, and revenge, +were his great and ultimate objects: The chief aim of the latter, was the +sensual pleasure to which he was subservient. Sylla would never have been +the slave of Cleopatra, or the dupe of Octavius. Hence the wide difference +between the destiny of the triumphant Dictator, whose chariot rolled on +the wheels of Fortune to the close of his career, and the sad fate of +Antony. Yet that very fate has mitigated the abhorrence of posterity, and +weakness having been added to wickedness, has unaccountably palliated, in +our eyes, the faults of the soft Triumvir, now more remembered as the +devoted lover of Cleopatra, than as the chief promoter of the +Proscriptions. + +The Philippics against Antony, like those of Demosthenes, derive their +chief beauty from the noble expression of just indignation, which indeed +composes many of the most splendid and admired passages of ancient +eloquence. They were all pronounced during the period which elapsed +between the assassination of Cæsar, and the defeat of Antony at Modena. +Soon after Cæsar's death, Cicero, fearing danger from Antony, who held a +sort of military possession of the city, resolved on a voyage to Greece. +Being detained, however, by contrary winds, after he had set out, and +having received favourable intelligence from his friends at Rome, he +determined to return to the capital. The Senate assembled the day after +his arrival, in order, at the suggestion of Antony, to consider of some +new and extraordinary honours to the memory of Cæsar. To this meeting +Cicero was specially summoned by Antony, but he excused himself on +pretence of indisposition, and the fatigue of his journey. He appeared, +however, in his place, when the Senate met on the following day, in +absence of Antony, and delivered the first of the orations, afterwards +termed Philippics, from the resemblance they bore to those invectives +which Demosthenes poured forth against the great foe of the independence +of Greece. Cicero opens his speech by explaining the motives of his recent +departure from Rome--his sudden return, and his absence on the preceding +day--declaring, that if present, he would have opposed the posthumous +honours decreed to the usurper. His next object, after vindicating +himself, being to warn the Senate of the designs of Antony, he complains +that he had violated the most solemn and authentic even of Cæsar's laws; +and at the same time enforced, as ordinances, what were mere jottings, +found, or pretended to have been found, among the Dictator's _Memoranda_, +after his death. + +Antony was highly incensed at this speech, and summoned another meeting of +the Senate, at which he again required the presence of Cicero. These two +rivals seem to have been destined never to meet in the Senate-house. +Cicero, being apprehensive of some design against his life, did not +attend; so that the Oration of Antony, in his own justification, which he +had carefully prepared in intervals of leisure at his villa, near Tibur, +was unanswered in the Senate. The second Philippic was penned by Cicero in +his closet, as a reply to this speech of Antony, in which he had been +particularly charged with having been not merely accessary to the murder +of Cæsar, but the chief contriver of the plot against him. Some part of +Cicero's oration was thus necessarily defensive, but the larger portion, +which is accusatory, is one of the severest and most bitter invectives +ever composed, the whole being expressed in terms of the most thorough +contempt and strongest detestation of Antony. By laying open his whole +criminal excesses from his earliest youth, he exhibits one continued scene +of debauchery, faction, rapine, and violence; but he dwells with peculiar +horror on his offer of the diadem to Cæsar, at the festival of the +Lupercalia--his drunken debauch at the once classic villa of Terentius +Varro--and his purchase of the effects that belonged to the great Pompey--on +which last subject he pathetically contrasts the modesty and decorum of +that renowned warrior, once the Favourite of Fortune, and darling of the +Roman people, with the licentiousness of the military adventurer who now +rioted in the spoils of his country. In concluding, he declares, on his +own part, that in his youth he had defended the republic, and, in his old +age, he would not abandon its cause.--"The sword of Catiline I despised; +and never shall I dread that of Antony." This oration is adorned with all +the charms of eloquence, and proves, that in the decline of life Cicero +had not lost one spark of the fire and spirit which animated his earlier +productions. Although not delivered in the Senate, nor intended to be +published till things were actually come to an extremity, and the affairs +of the republic made it necessary to render Antony's conduct and designs +manifest to the people, copies of the oration were sent to Brutus, +Cassius, and other friends of the commonwealth: hence it soon got into +extensive circulation, and, by exciting the vengeance of Antony, was a +chief cause of the tragical death of its author. + +The situation of Antony having now become precarious, from the union of +Octavius with the party of the Senate, and the defection of two legions, +he abruptly quitted the city, and placing himself at the head of his army, +marched into Cisalpine Gaul, which, since the death of Cæsar, had been +occupied by Decimus Brutus, one of the conspirators. The field being thus +left clear for Cicero, and the Senate being assembled, he pronounced the +third Philippic, of which the great object was to induce it to support +Brutus, by placing an army at the disposal of Octavius, along with the two +Consuls elect, Hirtius and Pansa. He exhorts the Senate to this measure, +by enlarging on the merits of Octavius and Brutus, and concludes with +proposing public thanks to these leaders, and to the legions which had +deserted the standard of Antony. + +From the Senate, Cicero proceeded directly to the Forum, where, in his +fourth Philippic, he gave an account to the people of what had occurred, +and explained to them, that Antony, though not nominally, had now been +actually declared the enemy of his country. This harangue was so well +received by an audience the most numerous that had ever listened to his +orations, that, speaking of it afterwards, he declares he would have +reaped sufficient fruit from the exertions of his whole life, had he died +on the day it was pronounced, when the whole people, with one voice and +mind, called out that he had twice saved the republic(330). + +Brutus being as yet unable to defend himself in the field, withdrew into +Modena, where he was besieged by Antony. Intelligence of this having been +brought to Rome, Cicero, in his fifth Philippic, endeavoured to persuade +the Senate to proclaim Antony an enemy of his country, in opposition to +Calenus, who proposed, that before proceeding to acts of hostility, an +embassy should be sent for the purpose of admonishing Antony to desist +from his attempt on Gaul, and submit himself to the authority of the +Senate. After three days' successive debate, Cicero's proposal would have +prevailed, had not one of the Tribunes interposed his negative, in +consequence of which the measure of the embassy was resorted to. Cicero, +nevertheless, before any answer could be received, persisted, in his sixth +and seventh Philippics, in asserting that any accommodation with a rebel +such as Antony, would be equally disgraceful and dangerous to the +republic. The deputies having returned, and reported that Antony would +consent to nothing which was required of him, the Senate declared war +against him--employing, however, in their decree, the term tumult, instead +of war or rebellion. Cicero, in his eighth Philippic, expostulated with +them on their timorous and impolitic lenity of expression. In the ninth +Philippic, pronounced on the following day, he called on the Senate to +erect a statue to one of the deputies, Servius Sulpicius, who, while +labouring under a severe distemper, had, at the risk of his life, +undertaken the embassy, but had died before he could acquit himself of the +commission with which he was charged. The proposal met with considerable +opposition, but it was at length agreed that a brazen statue should be +erected to him in the Forum, and that an inscription should be placed on +the base, importing that he had died in the service of the republic. + +The Philippics, hitherto mentioned, related chiefly to the affairs of +Cisalpine Gaul, the scene of the contest between D. Brutus and Antony. A +long period was now elapsed since the Senate had received any intelligence +concerning the chiefs of the conspiracy, Marcus Brutus and Cassius, the +former of whom had seized on the province of Macedonia, while the latter +occupied Syria. Public despatches, however, at length arrived from M. +Brutus, giving an account of his successful proceedings in Greece. The +Consul Pansa having communicated the contents at a meeting of the Senate, +and having proposed for him public thanks and honours, Calenus, a creature +of Antony, objected, and moved, that as what he had done was without +lawful authority, he should be required to deliver up his army to the +Senate, or the proper governor of the province. Cicero, in his tenth +Philippic, replied, in a transport of eloquent and patriotic indignation, +to this most unjust and ruinous proposal, particularly to the assertion by +which it was supported, that veterans would not submit to be commanded by +Brutus. He thus succeeded in obtaining from the Senate an approbation of +the conduct of Brutus, a continuance of his command, and pecuniary +assistance. + +About the same time accounts arrived from Asia, that Dolabella, on the +part of Antony, had taken possession of Smyrna, and there put Trebonius, +one of the conspirators, to death. On receiving this intelligence, a +debate arose concerning the choice of a general to be employed against +Dolabella, and Cicero, in his eleventh Philippic, strenuously maintained +the right of Cassius, who was then in Greece, to be promoted to that +command. In the twelfth and thirteenth, he again warmly and successfully +opposed the sending a deputation to Antony. All further mention of +pacification was terminated by the joyful tidings of the total defeat of +Antony before Modena, by the army under Octavius, and the Consuls Hirtius +and Pansa--the latter of whom was mortally wounded in the conflict. The +intelligence excited incredible joy at Rome, which was heightened by the +unfavourable reports that had previously prevailed. The Senate met to +deliberate on the despatches of the Consuls communicating the event. Never +was there a finer opportunity for the display of eloquence, than what was +afforded to Cicero on this occasion; of which he most gloriously availed +himself in the fourteenth Philippic. The excitation and tumult consequent +on a great recent victory, give wing to high flights of eloquence, and +also prepare the minds of the audience to follow the ascent. The success +at Modena terminated a long period of anxiety. It was for the time +supposed to have decided the fate of Antony and the Republic; and the +orator, who thus saw all his measures justified, must have felt the +exultation, confidence, and spirit, so favourable to the highest exertions +of eloquence. This, with the detestable character of the conquered +foe,--the wounds of Pansa, who was once suspected by the Republic, but by +his faithful zeal had gradually obtained its confidence, and at length +sealed his fidelity with his blood,--the rewards due to the surviving +victors,--the honours to be paid to those who had fallen in defence of +their country,--the thanksgivings to be rendered to the immortal gods,--all +afforded topics of triumph, panegyric, and pathos, which have been seldom +supplied to the orator in any age or country. In extolling those who had +fallen, Cicero dwells on two subjects; one appertaining to the glory of +the heroes themselves, the other to the consolation of their friends and +relatives. He proposes that a splendid monument should be erected, in +common to all who had perished, with an inscription recording their names +and services; and in recommending this tribute of public gratitude, he +breaks out into a funeral panegyric, which has formed a more lasting +memorial than the monument he suggested. + +This was the last Philippic and last oration which Cicero delivered. The +union of Antony and Octavius soon after annihilated the power of the +Senate; and Cicero, like Demosthenes, fell the victim of that indignant +eloquence with which he had lashed the enemies of his country:-- + + "Eloquio sed uterque periit orator; utrumque + Largus et exundans letho dedit ingenii fons. + Ingenio manus est et cervix cæsa, nec unquam + Sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli(331)." + +Besides the complete orations above mentioned, Cicero delivered many, of +which only fragments remain, or which are now entirely lost. All those +which he pronounced during the five years intervening between his election +to the Quæstorship and the Ædileship have perished, except that for M. +Tullius, of which the exordium and narrative were brought to light at the +late celebrated discovery by Mai, in the Ambrosian library at Milan. +Tullius had been forcibly dispossessed (_vi armata_) by one of the Fabii +of a farm he held in Lucania; and the whole Fabian race were prosecuted +for damages, under a law of Lucullus, whereby, in consequence of +depredations committed in the municipal states of Italy, every family was +held responsible for the violent aggressions of any of its tribe. A large +fragment of the oration for Scaurus forms by far the most valuable part of +the discovery in the Ambrosian library. The oration, indeed, is not +entire, but the part we have of it is tolerably well connected. The charge +was one of provincial embezzlement, and in the exordium the orator +announces that he was to treat, 1st, of the general nature of the +accusation itself; 2d, of the character of the Sardinians; 3d, of that of +Scaurus; and, lastly, of the special charge concerning the corn. Of these, +the first two heads are tolerably entire; and that in which he exposes the +faithless character of the Sardinians, and thus shakes the credibility of +the witnesses for the prosecution is artfully managed. The other fragments +discovered in the Ambrosian library consist merely of detached sentences, +of which it is almost impossible to make a connected meaning. Of this +description is the oration _In P. Clodium_; yet still, by the aid of the +Commentary found along with it, we are enabled to form some notion of the +tenor of the speech. The well-known story of Clodius finding access to the +house of Cæsar, in female disguise, during the celebration of the +mysteries of Bona Dea, gave occasion to this invective. A sort of +altercation had one day passed in the Senate between Cicero and Clodius, +soon after the acquittal of the latter for this offence, which probably +suggested to Cicero the notion of writing a connected oration, inveighing +against the vices and crimes of Clodius, particularly his profanation of +the secret rites of the goddess, and the corrupt means by which he had +obtained his acquittal. In one of his epistles to Atticus, Cicero gives a +detailed account of this altercation, which certainly does not afford us a +very dignified notion of senatorial gravity and decorum. + +Of those orations of Cicero which have entirely perished, the greatest +loss has been sustained by the disappearance of the defence of Cornelius, +who was accused of practices against the state during his tribuneship. +This speech, which was divided into two great parts, was continued for +four successive days, in presence of an immense concourse of people, who +testified their admiration of its bright eloquence by repeated +applause(332). The orator himself frequently refers to it as among the +most finished of his compositions(333); and the old critics cite it as an +example of genuine eloquence. "Not merely," says Quintilian, "with strong, +but with shining armour did Cicero contend in the cause of Cornelius." We +have also to lament the loss of the oration for C. Piso, accused of +oppression in his government--of the farewell discourse delivered to the +Sicilians, (_Quum Quæstor Lilybæo discederet_,) in which he gave them an +account of his administration, and promised them his protection at Rome--of +the invective pronounced in the Senate against Metellus, in answer to a +harangue which that Tribune had delivered to the people concerning +Cicero's conduct, in putting the confederates of Catiline to death without +trial; and, finally, of the celebrated speech _De Proscriptorum Liberis_, +in which, on political grounds, he opposed, while admitting their justice, +the claims of the children of those whom Sylla had proscribed and +disqualified from holding any honours in the state, and who now applied to +be relieved from their disabilities. The success which he obtained in +resisting this demand, is described in strong terms by Pliny: "Te orante, +proscriptorum liberos honores petere puduit(334)." A speech which is now +lost, and which, though afterwards reduced to writing, must have been +delivered extempore, afforded another strong example of the persuasiveness +of his eloquence. The appearance of the Tribune, Roscius Otho, who had set +apart seats for the knights at the public spectacles, having one day +occasioned a disturbance at the theatre, Cicero, on being informed of the +tumult, hastened to the spot, and, calling out the people to the Temple of +Bellona, he so calmed them by the magic of his eloquence, that, returning +immediately to the theatre, they clapped their hands in honour of Otho, +and vied with the knights in giving him demonstrations of respect(335). +One topic which he touched on in this oration, and the only one of which +we have any hint from antiquity, was the rioters' want of taste, in +creating a tumult, while Roscius was performing on the stage(336). This +speech, the orations against the Agrarian law, and that _De Proscriptorum +Liberis_, have long been cited as the strongest examples of the power of +eloquence over the passions of mankind: And it is difficult to say, +whether the highest praise be due to the orator, who could persuade, or to +the people, who could be thus induced to relinquish the most tempting +expectations of property and honours, and the full enjoyment of their +favourite amusements. + +In the age of that declamation which prevailed at Rome from the time of +Tiberius to the fall of the empire, it was the practice of rhetoricians to +declaim on similar topics with those on which Cicero had delivered, or was +supposed to have delivered, harangues. It appears from Aulus Gellius(337), +that in the age of Marcus Aurelius doubts were entertained with regard to +the authenticity of certain orations circulated as productions of Cicero. +He was known to have delivered four speeches almost immediately after his +recall from banishment, on subjects closely connected with his exile. The +first was addressed to the Senate(338), and the second to the people, a +few days subsequently to his return(339); the third to the college of +Pontiffs, in order to obtain restitution of a piece of ground on the +Palatine hill, on which his house had formerly stood, but had been +demolished, and a temple erected on the spot, with a view, as he feared, +to alienate it irretrievably from the proprietor, by thus consecrating it +to religious purposes(340). The fourth was pronounced in consequence of +Clodius declaring that certain menacing prodigies, which had lately +appeared, were indubitably occasioned by the desecration of this ground, +which the Pontiffs had now discharged from religious uses. Four orations, +supposed to have been delivered on those occasions, and entitled, _Post +Reditum in Senatu_, _Ad Quirites post Reditum_, _Pro domo sua ad +Pontifices_, _De Haruspicum Responsis_, were published in all the early +editions of Cicero, without any doubts of their authenticity being hinted +by the commentators, and were also referred to as genuine authorities by +Middleton in his Life of Cicero. At length, about the middle of last +century, the well-known dispute having arisen between Middleton and +Tunstall, concerning the letters to Brutus, Markland engaged in the +controversy; and his remarks on the correspondence of Cicero and Brutus +were accompanied with a "Dissertation on the Four Orations ascribed to M. +T. Cicero," published in 1745, which threw great doubts on their +authenticity. Middleton made no formal reply to this part of Markland's +observations; but he neither retracted his opinion nor changed a word in +his subsequent edition of the Life of Cicero. + +Soon afterwards, Ross, the editor of Cicero's _Epistolæ Familiares_, and +subsequently Bishop of Exeter, ironically showed, in his "Dissertation, in +which the defence of P. Sulla, ascribed to Cicero, is clearly proved to be +spurious, after the manner of Mr Markland," that, on the principles and +line of argument adopted by his opponent, the authenticity of any one of +the orations might be contested. This _jeu d'esprit_ of Bishop Ross was +seriously confuted in a "Dissertation, in which the Objections of a late +Pamphlet to the Writings of the Ancients, after the manner of Mr Markland, +are clearly Answered; and those Passages in Tully corrected, on which some +of the Objections are founded.--1746." This dissertation was printed by +Bowyer, and he is generally believed to have been the author of it(341). +In Germany, J. M. Gesner, with all the weight attached to his opinion, and +_Thesaurus_, strenuously defended these orations in two prelections, held +in 1753 and 1754, and inserted in the 3d volume of the new series of the +Transactions of the Royal Academy at Gottingen, under the title _Cicero +Restitutus_, in which he refuted, one by one, all the objections of +Markland. + +After this, although the Letters of Brutus were no longer considered as +authentic, literary men in all countries--as De Brosses, the French +Translator of Sallust, Ferguson, Saxius, in his _Onomasticon_, and +Rhunkenius--adopted the orations as genuine. Ernesti, in his edition of +Cicero, makes no mention of the existence of any doubts respecting them; +and, in his edition of Fabricius(342), alludes to the controversy +concerning them as a foolish and insignificant dispute. A change of +opinion, however, was produced by an edition of the four orations which +Wolfius published at Berlin in 1801, to which he prefixed an account of +the controversy, and a general view of the arguments of Markland and +Gesner. The observations of each, relating to particular words and +phrases, are placed below the passages as they occur, and are followed by +Wolf's own remarks, refuting, to the utmost of his power, the opinions of +Gesner, and confirming those of Markland. Schütz, the late German editor +of Cicero, has completely adopted the notions of Wolf; and by printing +these four harangues, not in their order in the series, but separately, +and at the end of the whole, along with the discarded correspondence +between Cicero and Brutus, has thrown them without the classical pale as +effectually as Lambinus excluded the once recognized orations, _In pace_, +and _Antequam iret in Exilium_. In the fourth volume of his new edition of +the works of Cicero now proceeding in Germany, Beck has followed the +opinion of Wolf, after an impartial examination of the different arguments +in his notes, and in an _excursus criticus_ devoted to this subject. + +Markland and Wolf believe, that these harangues were written as a +rhetorical exercise, by some declaimer, who lived not long after Cicero, +probably in the time of Tiberius, and who had before his eyes some +orations of Cicero now lost, (perhaps those which he delivered on his +return from exile,) from which the rhetorician occasionally borrowed ideas +or phrases, not altogether unworthy of the orator's genius and eloquence. +But, though they may contain some insulated Ciceronian expressions, it is +utterly denied that these orations can be the continued composition of +Cicero. The arguments against their authenticity are deduced, _first_ from +their matter; and, _secondly_, from their style. These critics dwell much +on the numerous thoughts and ideas inconsistent with the known sentiments, +or unsuitable to the disposition of the author,--on the relation of events, +told in a different manner from that in which they have been recorded by +him in his undoubted works,--and, finally, on the gross ignorance shown of +the laws, institutions, and customs of Rome, and even of the events +passing at the time. Thus it is said, in one of these four orations, that, +on some political occasion, all the senators changed their garb, as also +the Prætors and Ædiles, which proves, that the author was ignorant that +all Ædiles and Prætors were necessarily senators, since, otherwise, the +special mention of them would be superfluous and absurd. What is still +stronger, the author, in the oration _Ad Quirites post reditum_, refers to +the speech in behalf of Gabinius, which was not pronounced till 699, three +years subsequently to Cæsar's recall; whereas the real oration, _Ad +Quirites_, was delivered on the second or third day after his return. With +regard to the style of these harangues, it is argued, that the expressions +are affected, the sentences perplexed, and the transitions abrupt; and +that their languor and want of animation render them wholly unworthy of +Cicero. Markland particularly points out the absurd repetition of what the +declaimer had considered Ciceronian phrases,--as, "Aras, focos, +penates--Deos immortales--Res incredibiles--Esse videatur." Of the orations +individually he remarks, and justly, that the one delivered by Cicero in +the Senate immediately after his return, was known to have been prepared +with the greatest possible care, and to have been committed to writing +before it was pronounced; while the fictitious harangue which we now have +in its place, is at all events, quite unlike anything that Cicero would +have produced with elaborate study. The second is a sort of compendium of +the first, and the same ideas and expressions are slavishly repeated; +which implies a barrenness of invention, and sterility of language, that +cannot be supposed in Cicero. Of the third oration he speaks, in his +letters to Atticus, as one of his happiest efforts(343); but nothing can +be more wretched than that which we now have in its stead,--the first +twelve chapters, indeed, being totally irrelevant to the question at +issue. + +The oration for Marcellus, the genuineness of which has also been called +in question, is somewhat in a different style from the other harangues of +Cicero; for, though entitled _Pro Marcello_, it is not so much a speech in +his defence, as a panegyric on Cæsar, for having granted the pardon of +Marcellus at the intercession of the Senate. Marcellus had been one of the +most violent opponents of the views of Cæsar. He had recommended in the +Senate, that he should be deprived of the province of Gaul: he had +insulted the magistrates of one of Cæsar's new-founded colonies; and had +been present at Pharsalia on the side of Pompey. After that battle he +retired to Mitylene, where he was obliged to remain, being one of the few +adversaries to whom the conqueror refused to be reconciled. The Senate, +however, one day when Cæsar was present, with an united voice, and in an +attitude of supplication, having implored his clemency in favour of +Marcellus, and their request having been granted, Cicero, though he had +resolved to preserve eternal silence, being moved by the occasion, +delivered one of the most strained encomiums that has ever been +pronounced. + +In the first part he extols the military exploits of Cæsar; but shows, +that his clemency to Marcellus was more glorious than any of his other +actions, as it depended entirely on himself, while fortune and his army +had their share in the events of the war. In the second part he endeavours +to dispel the suspicions which it appears Cæsar still entertained of the +hostile intentions of Marcellus, and takes occasion to assure the Dictator +that his life was most dear and valuable to all, since on it depended the +tranquillity of the state, and the hopes of the restoration of the +commonwealth. + +This oration, which Middleton declares to be superior to anything extant +of the kind in all antiquity, and which a celebrated French critic terms, +"Le discours le plus noble, le plus pathetique, et en meme tems le plus +patriotique, que la reconnaissance, l'amitié, et la vertu, puissent +inspirer à une ame elevée et sensible," continued to be not only of +undisputed authenticity, but one of Cicero's most admired productions, +till Wolf, in the preface and notes to a new edition of it, printed in +1802, attempted to show, that it was a spurious production, totally +unworthy of the orator whose name it bore, and that it was written by some +declaimer, soon after the Augustan age, not as an imposition upon the +public, but as an exercise,--according to the practice of the rhetoricians, +who were wont to choose, as a theme, some subject on which Cicero had +spoken. In his letters to Atticus, Cicero says, that he had returned +thanks to Cæsar _pluribus verbis_. This Middleton translates a _long +speech_; but Wolf alleges it can only mean a few words, and never can be +interpreted to denote a full oration, such as that which we now possess +for Marcellus. That Cicero did not deliver a long or formal speech, is +evident, he contends, from the testimony of Plutarch, who mentions, in his +life of Cicero, that, a short time afterwards, when the orator was about +to plead for Ligarius, Cæsar asked, how it happened that he had not heard +Cicero speak for so long a period,--which would have been absurd if he had +heard him, a few months before, pleading for Marcellus. Being an +extemporary effusion, called forth by an unforeseen occasion, it could not +(he continues to urge) have been prepared and written beforehand; nor is +it at all probable, that, like many other orations of Cicero, it was +revised and made public after being delivered. The causes which induced +the Roman orators to write out their speeches at leisure, were the +magnitude and public importance of the subject, or the wishes of those in +whose defence they were made, and who were anxious to possess a sort of +record of their vindication. But none of these motives existed in the +present case. The matter was of no importance or difficulty; and we know +that Marcellus, who was a stern republican, was not at all gratified by +the intervention of the senators, or conciliated by the clemency of Cæsar. +As to internal evidence, deduced from the oration, Wolf admits, that there +are interspersed in it some Ciceronian sentences; and how otherwise could +the learned have been so egregiously deceived? but the resemblance is more +in the varnish of the style than in the substance. We have the words +rather than the thoughts of Cicero; and the rounding of his periods, +without their energy and argumentative connection. He adduces, also, many +instances of phrases unusual among the classics, and of conceits which +betray the rhetorician or sophist. His extolling the act of that day on +which Cæsar pardoned Marcellus as higher than all his warlike exploits, +would but have raised a smile on the lips of the Dictator; and the +slighting way in which the cause of the republic and Pompey are mentioned, +is totally different from the manner in which Cicero expressed himself on +these delicate topics, even in presence of Cæsar, in his authentic +orations for Deiotarus and Ligarius. + +It is evident, at first view, that many of Wolf's observations are +hypercritical; and that in his argument concerning the encomiums on Cæsar, +and the overrated importance of his clemency to Marcellus, he does not +make sufficient allowance for Cicero's habit of exaggeration, and the +momentary enthusiasm produced by one of those transactions, + + ---- "Quæ, dum geruntur, + Percellunt animos." ---- + +Accordingly, in the year following that of Wolf's edition, Olaus Wormius +published, at Copenhagen, a vindication of the authenticity of this +speech. To the argument adduced from Plutarch, he answers, that some +months had elapsed between the orations for Marcellus and Ligarius, which +might readily be called a long period, by one accustomed to hear Cicero +harangue almost daily in the Senate or Forum. Besides, the phrase of +Plutarch, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} may mean pleading for some one, which was not the +nature of the speech for Marcellus. As to the motive which led to write +and publish the oration, Cicero, above all men, was delighted with his own +productions, and nothing can be more probable than that he should have +wished to preserve the remembrance of that memorable day, which he calls +in his letters, _diem illam pulcherrimam_. It was natural to send the +oration to Marcellus, in order to hasten his return to Rome, and it must +have been an acceptable thing to Cæsar, thus to record his fearlessness +and benignity. With regard to the manner in which Pompey and the +republican party are talked of, it is evident, from his letters, that +Cicero was disgusted with the political measures of that faction, that he +wholly disapproved of their plan of the campaign, and foreseeing a renewal +of Sylla's proscriptions in the triumph of the aristocratic power, he did +not exaggerate in so highly extolling the humanity of Cæsar. + +The arguments of Wormius were expanded and illustrated by Weiske, _In +Commentario perpetuo et pleno in Orat. Ciceronis pro Marcello_, published +at Leipsic, in 1805(344), while, on the other hand, Spalding, in his _De +Oratione pro Marcello Disputatio_, published in 1808, supported the +opinions of Wolfius. + +The controversy was in this state, and was considered as involved in much +doubt and obscurity, when Aug. Jacob, in an academical exercise, printed +at Halle and Berlin, in 1813, and entitled _De Oratione quæ inscribitur +pro Marcello, Ciceroni vel abjudicata vel adjudicata, Quæstio novaque +conjectura_, adopted a middle course. Finding such dissimilarity in the +different passages of the oration, some being most powerful, elegant, and +beautiful, while others were totally futile and frigid, he was led to +believe that part had actually flowed from the lips of Cicero, but that +much had been subsequently interpolated by some rhetorician or declaimer. +He divides his whole treatise into four heads, which comprehend all the +various points agitated on the subject of this oration: 1. The testimony +of different authors tending to prove the authenticity or spuriousness of +the production: 2. The history of the period, with which every genuine +oration must necessarily concur: 3. The genius and manner of Cicero, from +which no one of his orations could be entirely remote: 4. The style and +phraseology, which must be correct and classical. In the prosecution of +his inquiry in these different aspects of the subject, the author +successively reviews the opinions and judgments of his predecessors, +sometimes agreeing with Wolf and his followers, at other times, and more +frequently, with their opposers. He thinks that the much-contested phrase +_pluribus verbis_, may mean a long oration, as Cicero elsewhere talks of +having pleaded for Cluentius, _pluribus verbis_, though the speech in his +defence consists of 58 chapters. Besides, Cicero only says that he had +_returned thanks_ to Cæsar, _pluribus verbis_. Now, the whole speech does +not consist of thanks to Cæsar, being partly occupied in removing the +suspicions which he entertained of Marcellus. With regard to encomiums on +Cæsar, which Spalding has characterized as abject and fulsome, and totally +different from the delicate compliments addressed to him in the oration +for Deiotarus or Ligarius, Jacob reminds his readers that the harangues +could have no resemblance to each other, the latter being pleadings in +behalf of the accused, and the former a professed panegyric. Nor can any +one esteem the eulogies on Cæsar too extravagant for Cicero, when he +remembers the terms in which the orator had formerly spoken of Roscius, +Archias, and Pompey. + +Schütz, the late German editor of Cicero, has subscribed to the opinion of +Wolf, and has published the speech for Marcellus, along with the other +four doubtful harangues at the end of the genuine orations. + +But supposing that these five contested speeches are spurious, a +sufficient number of genuine orations remain to enable us to distinguish +the character of Cicero's eloquence. Ambitious from his youth of the +honours attending a fine speaker, he early travelled to Greece, where he +accumulated all the stores of knowledge and rules of art, which could be +gathered from the rhetoricians, historians, and philosophers, of that +intellectual land. While he thus extracted and imbibed the copiousness of +Plato, the sweetness of Isocrates, and force of Demosthenes, he, at the +same time, imbued his mind with a thorough knowledge of the laws, +constitution, antiquities, and literature, of his native country. Nor did +he less study the peculiar temper, the jealousies, and enmities of the +Roman people, both as a nation and as individuals, without a knowledge of +which, his eloquence would have been unavailing in the Forum or Comitia, +where so much was decided by favouritism and cabal. By these means he +ruled the passions and deliberations of his countrymen with almost +resistless sway--upheld the power of the Senate--stayed the progress of +tyranny--drove the audacious Catiline from Rome--directed the feelings of +the state in favour of Pompey--shook the strong mind of Cæsar--and kindled a +flame by which Antony had been nearly consumed. But the main secret of his +success lay in the warmth and intensity of his feelings. His heart swelled +with patriotism, and was dilated with the most magnificent conceptions of +the glory of Rome. Though it throbbed with the fondest anticipations of +posthumous fame, the momentary acclaim of a multitude was a chord to which +it daily and most readily vibrated; while, at the same time, his high +conceptions of oratory counteracted the bad effect which this exuberant +vanity might otherwise have produced. Thus, when two speakers were +employed in the same cause, though Cicero was the junior, to him was +assigned the peroration, in which he surpassed all his contemporaries; and +he obtained this pre-eminence not so much on account of his superior +genius or knowledge of law, as because he was more moved and affected +himself, without which he would never have moved or affected his judges. + +With such natural endowments, and such acquirements, he early took his +place as the refuge and support of his fellow-citizens in the Forum, as +the arbiter of the deliberations of the Senate, and as the most powerful +defender from the Rostrum of the political interests of the commonwealth. + +Cicero and Demosthenes have been frequently compared. Suidas says, that +one Cicilus, a native of Sicily, whose works are now lost, was the first +to institute the parallel, and they have been subsequently compared, in +due form, by Plutarch and Quintilian, and, (as far as relates to +sublimity,) by Longinus, among the ancients; and among the moderns, by +Herder, in his _Philosophical History of Man_, and by Jenisch, in a German +work devoted to the subject(345). Rapin, and all other French critics, +with the exception of Fenelon, give the preference to Cicero. + +From what has already been said, it is sufficiently evident that Cicero +had not to contend with any of those obstructions from nature which +Demosthenes encountered; and his youth, in place of being spent like that +of the Greek orator, in remedying and supplying defects, was unceasingly +employed in pursuit of the improvements auxiliary to his art. But if +Cicero derived superior advantages from nature, Demosthenes possessed +other advantages, in the more advanced progress of his country in +refinement and letters, at the era in which he appeared. Greek literature +had reached its full perfection before the birth of Demosthenes, but +Cicero was, in a great measure, himself the creator of the literature of +Rome, and no prose writer of eminence had yet existed, after whom he could +model his phraseology. In other external circumstances, they were placed +in situations not very dissimilar. But Cicero had a wider, and perhaps +more beautiful field, in which to expatiate and to exercise his powers. +The wide extent of the Roman empire, the striking vices and virtues of its +citizens, the memorable events of its history, supplied an endless variety +of great and interesting topics; whereas many of the orations of +Demosthenes are on subjects unworthy of his talents. Their genius and +capacity were in many respects the same. Their eloquence was of that great +and comprehensive kind, which dignifies every subject, and gives it all +the force and beauty it is capable of receiving. "I judge Cicero and +Demosthenes," says Quintilian, "to be alike in most of the great qualities +they possessed. They were alike in design, in the manner of dividing their +subject, and preparing the minds of the audience; in short, in every thing +belonging to invention." But while there was much similarity in their +talents, there was a wide difference in their tempers and characters. +Demosthenes was of an austere, harsh, melancholy disposition, obstinate +and resolute in all his undertakings: Cicero was of a lively, flexible, +and wavering humour. This seems the chief cause of the difference in their +eloquence; but the contrasts are too obvious, and have been too often +exhibited to be here displayed. No person wishes to be told, for the +twentieth time, that Demosthenes assumes a higher tone, and is more +serious, vehement, and impressive, than Cicero; while Cicero is more +insinuating, graceful, and affecting: That the Greek orator struck on the +soul by the force of his argument, and ardour of his expressions; while +the Roman made his way to the heart, alternately moving and allaying the +passions of his hearers, by all the arts of rhetoric, and by conforming to +their opinions and prejudices. + + + +Cicero was not only a great orator, but has also left the fullest +instructions and the most complete historical details on the art which he +so gloriously practised. His precepts are contained in the dialogue _De +Oratore_ and the _Orator_; while the history of Roman eloquence is +comprehended in the dialogue entitled, _Brutus, sive De Claris +Oratoribus_. + +In his youth, Cicero had written and published some undigested +observations on the subject of eloquence; but considering these as +unworthy of the character and experience he afterwards acquired, he +applied himself to write a treatise on the art which might be more +commensurate to his matured talents. He himself mentions several Sicilians +and Greeks, who had written on oratory(346). But the models he chiefly +followed, were Aristotle, in his books of rhetoric(347); and Isocrates, +the whole of whose theories and precepts he has comprehended in his +rhetorical works. He has thrown his ideas on the subject into the form of +dialogue or conference, a species of composition, which, however much +employed by the Greeks, had not hitherto been attempted at Rome. This mode +of writing presented many advantages: By adopting it he avoided that +dogmatical air, which a treatise from him on such a subject would +necessarily have worn, and was enabled to instruct without dictating +rules. Dialogue, too, relieved monotony of style, by affording opportunity +of varying it according to the characters of the different speakers--it +tempered the austerity of precept by the cheerfulness of conversation, and +developed each opinion with the vivacity and fulness naturally employed in +the oral discussion of a favourite topic. Add to this, the facility which +it presented of paying an acceptable compliment to the friends who were +introduced as interlocutors, and its susceptibility of agreeable +description of the scenes in which the persons of the dialogue were +placed--a species of embellishment, for which ample scope was afforded by +the numerous villas of Cicero, situated in the most beautiful spots of +Italy, and in every variety of landscape, from the Alban heights to the +shady banks of the Liris, or glittering shore of Baiæ. As a method of +communicating knowledge, however, (except in discussions which are +extremely simple, and susceptible of much delineation of character,) the +mode of dialogue is, in many respects, extremely inconvenient. "By the +interruptions which are given," says the author of the life of Tasso, in +his remarks on the dialogues of that poet,--"By the interruptions which are +given, if a dialogue be at all dramatic--by the preparations and +transitions, order and precision must, in a great degree, be sacrificed. +In reasoning, as much brevity must be used as is consistent with +perspicuity; but in dialogue, so much verbiage must be employed, that the +scope of the argument is generally lost. The replies, too, to the +objections of the opponent, seem rather arguments _ad hominem_, than +possessed of the value of abstract truth; so that the reader is perplexed +and bewildered, and concludes the inquiry, beholding one of the characters +puzzled, indeed, and perhaps subdued, but not at all satisfied that the +battle might not have been better fought, and more victorious arguments +adduced." + +The dialogue _De Oratore_ was written in the year 698, when Cicero, +disgusted with the political dissensions of the capital, had retired, +during part of the summer, to the country: But, according to the +supposition of the piece, the dialogue occurred in 662. The author +addresses it to his brother in a dedication, strongly expressive of his +fondness for study; and, after some general observations on the difficulty +of the oratoric art, and the numerous accomplishments requisite to form a +complete orator, he introduces his dialogue, or rather the three +dialogues, of which the performance consists. Dialogue writing may be +executed either as direct conversation, in which none but the speakers +appear, and where, as in the scenes of a play, no information is afforded +except from what the persons of the drama say to each other; or as the +recital of the conversation, where the author himself appears, and after a +preliminary detail concerning the persons of the dialogue, and the +circumstances of time and place in which it was held, proceeds to give an +account of what passed in the discourse at which he had himself been +present, or the import of which was communicated to him by some one who +had attended and borne his part in the conference. It is this latter +method that has been followed by Cicero, in his dialogues _De Oratore_. He +mentions in his own person, that during the celebration of certain +festivals at Rome, the orator Crassus retired to his villa at Tusculum, +one of the most delightful retreats in Italy, whither he was accompanied +by Antony, his most intimate friend in private life, but most formidable +rival in the Forum; and by his father-in-law, Scævola, who was the +greatest jurisconsult of his age, and whose house in the city was resorted +to as an oracle, by men of the highest rank and dignity. Crassus was also +attended by Cotta and Sulpicius, at that time the two most promising +orators of Rome, the former of whom afterwards related to Cicero (for the +author is not supposed to be personally present) the conversation which +passed among these distinguished men, as they reclined on the benches +under a planetree, that grew on one of the walks surrounding the villa. It +is not improbable, that some such conversation may have been actually +held, and that Cicero, notwithstanding his age, and the authority derived +from his rhetorical reputation, may have chosen to avail himself of the +circumstance, in order to shelter his opinions under those of two ancient +masters, who, previously to his own time, were regarded as the chief +organs of Roman eloquence. + +Crassus, in order to dissipate the gloom which had been occasioned by a +serious and even melancholy conversation, on the situation of public +affairs, turned the discourse on oratory. The sentiments which he +expresses on this subject are supposed to be those which Cicero himself +entertained. In order to excite the two young men, Cotta and Sulpicius, to +prosecute with ardour the career they had so successfully commenced, he +first enlarges on the utility and excellence of oratory; and then, +proceeding to the object which he had principally in view, he contends +that an almost universal knowledge is essentially requisite to perfection +in this noble art. He afterwards enumerates those branches of knowledge +which the orator should acquire, and the purposes to which he should apply +them: he inculcates the necessity of an acquaintance with the antiquities, +manners, and constitution of the republic--the constant exercise of written +composition--the study of gesture at the theatre--the translation of the +Greek orators--reading and commenting on the philosophers, reading and +criticizing the poets. The question hence arises, whether a knowledge of +the civil law be serviceable to the orator? Crassus attempts to prove its +utility from various examples of cases, where its principles required to +be elucidated; as also from the intrinsic nobleness of the study itself, +and the superior excellence of the Roman law to all other systems of +jurisprudence. Antony, who was a mere practical pleader, considered +philosophy and civil law as useless to the orator, being foreign to the +real business of life. He conceived that eloquence might subsist without +them, and that with regard to the other accomplishments enumerated by +Crassus, they were totally distinct from the proper office and duty of a +public speaker. It is accordingly agreed, that on the following day Antony +should state his notions of the acquirements appropriate to an orator. +Previous to the commencement of the second conversation, the party is +joined by Catulus and Julius Cæsar, (grand-uncle to the Dictator,) two of +the most eminent orators of the time, the former being distinguished by +his elegance and purity of diction, the latter by his turn for pleasantry. +Having met Scævola, on his way from Tusculum to the villa of Lælius, and +having heard from him of the interesting conversation which had been held, +the remainder of which had been deferred till the morrow, they came over +from a neighbouring villa to partake of the instruction and entertainment. +In their presence, and in that of Crassus, Antony maintains his favourite +system, that eloquence is not an art, because it depends not on knowledge. +Imitation of good models, practice, and minute attention to each +particular case, which should be scrupulously examined in all its +bearings, are laid down by him as the foundations of forensic eloquence. +The great objects of an orator being, in the first place, to recommend +himself to his clients, and then to prepossess the audience and judges in +their favour, Antony enlarges on the practice of the bar, in conciliating, +informing, moving, and undeceiving those on whom the decision of causes +depends; all which is copiously illustrated by examples drawn from +particular questions, which had occurred at Rome in cases of proof, strict +law, or equity. The chief weight and importance is attributed to moving +the springs of the passions. Among the methods of conciliation and +prepossession, humour and drollery are particularly mentioned. Cæsar being +the oratorical wit of the party, is requested to give some examples of +forensic jests. Those he affords are for the most part wretched quibbles, +or personal reflections on the opposite parties, and their witnesses. The +length of the dissertation, however, on this topic, shows the important +share it was considered as occupying among the qualifications of the +ancient orator. + +Antony having thus explained the mechanical part of the orator's duty, it +is agreed, that in the afternoon Crassus should enter on the +embellishments of rhetoric. In the execution of the task assigned him, he +treats of all that relates to what may be called the ornamental part of +oratory--pronunciation, elocution, harmony of periods, metaphors, +sentiments, action, (which he terms the predominant power in eloquence,) +expression of countenance, modulation of voice, and all those properties +which impart a finished grace and dignity to a public discourse. + +Cicero himself highly approved of this treatise on Oratory, and his +friends regarded it as one of his best productions. The style of the +dialogue is copious, without being redundant, as is sometimes the case in +the orations. It is admirable for the diversity of character in the +speakers, the general conduct of the piece, and the variety of matter it +contains. It comprehends, I believe, everything valuable in the Greek +works on rhetoric, and also many excellent observations, suggested by the +author's long experience, acquired in the numerous causes, both public and +private, which he conducted in the Forum, and the important discussions in +which he swayed the counsels of the Senate. As a composition, however, I +cannot consider the dialogue _De Oratore_ altogether faultless. It is too +little dramatic for a dialogue, and occasionally it expands into continued +dissertation; while, at the same time, by adopting the form of dialogue, a +rambling and desultory effect is produced in the discussion of a subject, +where, of all others, method and close connection were most desirable. +There is also frequently an assumed liveliness of manner, which seems +forced and affected in these grave and consular orators. + +The dialogue entitled _Brutus, sive De Claris Oratoribus_, was written, +and is also feigned to have taken place, after Cæsar had attained to +sovereign power, though he was still engaged in the war against Scipio in +Africa. The conference is supposed to be held among Cicero, Atticus, and +Brutus, (from whom it has received its name,) near a statue of Plato, +which stood in the pleasure-grounds of Cicero's mansion, at Rome. + +Brutus having experienced the clemency of the conqueror, whom he +afterwards sacrificed, left Italy, in order to amuse himself with an +agreeable tour through the cities of Greece and Asia. In a few months he +returned to Rome, resigned himself to the calm studies of history and +rhetoric, and passed many of his leisure hours in the society of Cicero +and Atticus. The first part of the dialogue, among these three friends, +contains a few slight, but masterly sketches, of the most celebrated +speakers who had flourished in Greece; but these are not so much mentioned +with an historical design, as to support by examples the author's +favourite proposition, that perfection in oratory requires proficiency in +all the arts. The dialogue is chiefly occupied with details concerning +Roman orators, from the earliest ages to Cicero's own time. He first +mentions such speakers as Appius Claudius and Fabricius, of whom he knew +nothing certain, whose harangues had never been committed to writing, or +were no longer extant, and concerning whose powers of eloquence he could +only derive conjectures, from the effects which they produced on the +people and Senate, as recorded in the ancient annals. The second class of +orators are those, like Cato the Censor, and the Gracchi, whose speeches +still survived, or of whom he could speak traditionally, from the report +of persons still living who had heard them. A great deal of what is said +concerning this set of orators, rests on the authority of Hortensius, from +whom Cicero derived his information(348). The third class are the deceased +contemporaries of the author, whom he had himself seen and heard; and he +only departs from his rule of mentioning no living orator at the special +request of Brutus, who expresses an anxiety to learn his opinion of the +merits of Marcellus and Julius Cæsar. Towards the conclusion, he gives +some account of his own rise and progress, of the education he had +received, and the various methods which he had practised in order to reach +those heights of eloquence he had attained. + +This work is certainly of the greatest service to the history of Roman +eloquence; and it likewise throws considerable light on the civil +transactions of the republic, as the author generally touches on the +principal incidents in the lives of those eminent orators whom he +mentions. It also gives additional weight and authority to the oratorical +precepts contained in his other works, since it shows, that they were +founded, not on any speculative theories, but on a minute observation of +the actual faults and excellencies of the most renowned speakers of his +age. Yet, with all these advantages, it is not so entertaining as might be +expected. The author mentions too many orators, and says too little of +each, which gives his treatise the appearance rather of a dry catalogue, +than of a literary essay, or agreeable dialogue. He acknowledges, indeed, +in the course of it, that he had inserted in his list of orators many who +possessed little claim to that appellation, since he designed to give an +account of all the Romans, without exception, who had made it their study +to excel in the arts of eloquence. + +The _Orator_, addressed to Brutus, and written at his solicitation, was +intended to complete the subjects examined in the dialogues, _De Oratore_, +and _De Claris Oratoribus_. It contains the description of what Cicero +conceived necessary to form a perfect orator,--a character which, indeed, +nowhere existed, but of which he had formed the idea in his own +imagination. He admits, that Attic eloquence approached the nearest to +perfection; he pauses, however, to correct a prevailing error, that the +only genuine Atticism is a correct, plain, and slender discourse, +distinguished by purity of style, and delicacy of taste, but void of all +ornaments and redundance. In the time of Cicero, there was a class of +orators, including several men of parts and learning, and of the first +quality, who, while they acknowledged the superiority of his genius, yet +censured his diction as not truely Attic, some calling it loose and +languid, others tumid and exuberant. These speakers affected a minute and +fastidious correctness, pointed sentences, short and concise periods, +without a syllable to spare in them--as if the perfection of oratory +consisted in frugality of words, and the crowding of sentiments into the +narrowest possible compass. The chief patrons of this taste were Brutus +and Licinius Calvus. Cicero, while he admitted that correctness was +essential to eloquence, contended, that a nervous, copious, animated, and +even ornate style, may be truely Attic; since, otherwise, Lysias would be +the only Attic orator, to the exclusion of Isocrates, and even Demosthenes +himself. He accordingly opposed the system of these ultra-Attic orators, +whom he represents as often deserted in the midst of their harangues; for +although their style of rhetoric might please the ear of a critic, it was +not of that sublime, pathetic, or sonorous species, of which the end was +not only to instruct, but to move an audience,--whose excitement and +admiration form the true criterions of eloquence. + +The remainder of the treatise is occupied with the three things to be +attended to by an orator,--what he is to say, in what order his topics are +to be arranged, and how they are to be expressed. In discussing the last +point, the author enters very fully into the collocation of words, and +that measured cadence, which, to a certain extent, prevails even in +prose;--a subject on which Brutus wished particularly to be instructed, and +which he accordingly treats in detail. + +This tract is rather confusedly arranged; and the dissertation on prosaic +harmony, though curious, appears to us somewhat too minute in its object +for the attention of an orator. Cicero, however, set a high value on this +production; and, in a letter to Lepta, he declares, that whatever judgment +he possessed on the subject of oratory, he had thrown it all into that +work, and was ready to stake his reputation on its merits(349). + +The _Topica_ may also be considered as another work on the subject of +rhetoric. Aristotle, as is well known, wrote a book with this title. The +lawyer, Caius Trebatius, a friend of Cicero, being curious to know the +contents and import of the Greek work, which he had accidentally seen in +Cicero's Tusculan library, but being deterred from its study by the +obscurity of the writer, (though it certainly is not one of the most +difficult of Aristotle's productions,) requested Cicero to draw up this +extract, or commentary, in order to explain the various _topics_, or +common-places, which are the foundation of rhetorical argument. Of this +request Cicero was some time afterwards reminded by the view of Velia, +(the marine villa of Trebatius,) during a coasting voyage which he +undertook, with the intention of retiring to Greece, in consequence of the +troubles which followed the death of Cæsar. Though he had neither +Aristotle nor any other book at hand to assist him, he drew it up from +memory as he sailed along, and finished it before he arrived at Rhegium, +whence he sent it to Trebatius(350). + +This treatise shows, that Cicero had most diligently studied Aristotle's +_Topics_. It is not, however, a translation, but an extract or explanation +of that work; and, as it was addressed to a lawyer, he has taken his +examples chiefly from the civil law of the Romans, which he conceived +Trebatius would understand better than illustrations drawn, like those of +Aristotle, from the philosophy of the Greeks. + +It is impossible sufficiently to admire Cicero's industry and love of +letters, which neither the inconveniences of a sea voyage, which he always +disliked, nor the harassing thoughts of leaving Italy at such a +conjuncture, could divert from the calm and regular pursuit of his +favourite studies. + +The work _De Partitione Rhetorica_, is written in the form of a dialogue +between Cicero and his son; the former replying to the questions of the +latter concerning the principles and doctrine of eloquence. The tract now +entitled _De Optimo genere Oratorum_, was originally intended as a preface +to a translation which Cicero had made from the orations of Æschines and +Demosthenes in the case of Ctesipho, in which an absurd and trifling +matter of ceremony has become the basis of an immortal controversy. In +this preface he reverts to the topic on which he had touched in the +_Orator_--the mistake which prevailed in Rome, that Attic eloquence was +limited to that accurate, dry, and subtle manner of expression, adopted in +the orations of Lysias. It was to correct this error, that Cicero +undertook a free translation of the two master-pieces of Athenian +eloquence; the one being an example of vehement and energetic, the other +of pathetic and ornamental oratory. It is probable that Cicero was +prompted to these repeated inquiries concerning the genuine character of +Attic eloquence, from the reproach frequently cast on his own discourses +by Brutus, Calvus, and other sterile, but, as they supposed themselves, +truely Attic orators, that his harangues were not in the Greek, but rather +in the Asiatic taste,--that is, nerveless, florid, and redundant. + +It appears, that in Rome, as well as in Greece, oratory was generally +considered as divided into three different styles--the Attic, Asiatic, and +Rhodian. Quintilian, at least, so classes the various sorts of oratory in +a passage, in which he also shortly characterizes them by those attributes +from which they were chiefly distinguishable. "Mihi autem," says he, +"orationis differentiam fecisse et dicentium et audientium naturæ +videntur, quod _Attici_ limati quidem et emuncti nihil inane aut redundans +ferebant. _Asiana_ gens, tumidior alioquin et jactantior, vaniore etiam +dicendi gloria inflata est. Tertium mox qui hæc dividebant adjecerunt +genus _Rhodium_, quod velut medium esse, atque ex utroque mixtum +volunt(351)." Brutus and Licinius Calvus, as we have seen, affected the +slender, polished, and somewhat barren conciseness of Attic eloquence. The +speeches of Hortensius, and a few of Cicero's earlier harangues, as that +for Sextus Roscius, afforded examples of the copious, florid, and +sometimes tumid style of Asiatic oratory. The latter orations of Cicero, +refined by his study and experience, were, I presume, nearly in the +Rhodian taste. That celebrated school of eloquence had been founded by +Æschines, the rival of Demosthenes, when, being banished from his native +city by the influence of his competitor, he had retired to the island of +Rhodes. Inferior to Demosthenes in power of argument and force of +expression, he surpassed him in copiousness and ornament. The school which +he founded, and which subsisted for centuries after his death, admitted +not the luxuries of Asiatic diction; and although the most ornamental of +Greece, continued ever true to the principles of its great Athenian +master. A chief part of the two years during which Cicero travelled in +Greece and Asia was spent at Rhodes, and his principal teacher of +eloquence at Rome was Molo the Rhodian, from whom he likewise afterwards +received lessons at Rhodes. The great difficulty which that rhetorician +encountered in the instruction of his promising disciple, was, as Cicero +himself informs us, the effort of containing within its due and proper +channel the overflowings of a youthful imagination(352). Cicero's natural +fecundity, and the bent of his own inclination, preserved him from the +risk of dwindling into ultra-Attic slenderness; but it is not improbable, +that from the example of Hortensius and his own copiousness, he might have +swelled out to Asiatic pomp, had not his exuberance been early reduced by +the seasonable and salutary discipline of the Rhodian. + +Cicero, in his youth, also wrote the _Rhetorica, seu de Inventione +Rhetorica_, of which there are still extant two books, treating of the +part of rhetoric that relates to invention. This is the work mentioned by +Cicero, in the commencement of the treatise _De Oratore_, as having been +published by him in his youth. It is generally believed to have been +written in 666, when Cicero was only twenty years of age, and to have +originally contained four books. Schütz, however, the German editor of +Cicero, is of opinion, that he never wrote, or at least, never published, +more than the two books we still possess. + +A number of sentences in these two books of the _Rhetorica, seu de +Inventione_, coincide with passages in the _Rhetoricum ad Herennium_, +which is usually published along with the works of Cicero, but is not of +his composition. Purgold thinks that the _Rhetor. ad Herennium_ was +published first, and that Cicero copied from it those corresponding +passages(353). It appears, however, a little singular, that Cicero should +have borrowed so largely, and without acknowledgment, from a recent +publication of one of his contemporaries. To account for this difficulty +some critics have supposed, that the anonymous author of the _Rhetor. ad +Herennium_ was a rhetorician, whose lectures Cicero had attended, and had +inserted in his own work notes taken by him from these prelections, before +they were edited by their author(354). Some, again, have imagined, that +Cicero and the anonymous author were fellow-students under the same +rhetorician, and that both had thus adopted his ideas and expressions; +while others believe, that both copied from a common Greek original. But +then, in opposition to this last theory, it has been remarked, that the +Latin words employed by both are frequently the same; and there are the +same references to the history of Rome, and of its ancient native poets, +with which no Greek writer can be supposed to have had much acquaintance. + +Who the anonymous author of the _Rhetor. ad Herennium_ actually was, has +been the subject of much learned controversy, and the point remains still +undetermined. Priscian repeatedly cites it as the work of Cicero; whence +it was believed to be the production of Cicero by Laurentius Valla, George +of Trebizond, Politian, and other great restorers of learning in the +fifteenth century; and this opinion was from time to time, though feebly, +revived by less considerable writers in succeeding periods. It seems now, +however, entirely abandoned; but, while all critics and commentators agree +in _abjudicating_ the work from Cicero, they differ widely as to the +person to whom the production should be assigned. Aldus Manutius, +Sigonius, Muretus, and Riccobonus, were of opinion, that it was written by +Q. Cornificius the elder, who was Cæsar's Quæstor during the civil war, +and subsequently his lieutenant in Africa, of which province, after the +Dictator's death, he kept possession for the republican party, till he was +slain in an engagement with one of the generals of Octavius. The judgment +of these scholars is chiefly founded on some passages in Quintilian, who +attributes to Cornificius several critical and philological definitions +which coincide with those introduced in the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_. +Gerard Vossius, however, has adopted an opinion, that if at all written by +a person of that name, it must have been by the younger Cornificius(355), +who was born in 662, and, having followed the party of Octavius, was +appointed Consul by favour of the Triumvirate in 718. Raphael Regius also +seems inclined to attribute the work to Cornificius the son(356). But if +the style be considered too remote from that of the age of Cicero, to be +ascribed to any of his contemporaries, he conceives it may be plausibly +conjectured to have been the production of Timolaus, one of the thirty +tyrants in the reign of Gallienus. Timolaus had a brother called +Herenianus, to whom his work may have been dedicated, and he thinks that +_Timolaus ad Herenianum_ may have been corrupted into _Tullius ad +Herennium_. J. C. Scaliger attributes the work to Gallio, a rhetorician in +the time of Nero(357)--an opinion which obtained currency in consequence of +the discovery of a MS. copy of the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_, with the name +of Gallio prefixed to it(358). + +Sufficient scope being thus left for new conjectures, Schütz, the German +editor of Cicero, has formed a new hypothesis on the subject. Cicero's +tract _De Inventione_ having been written in his early youth, the period +of its composition may be placed about 672. From various circumstances, +which he discusses at great length, Schütz concludes that the _Rhetorica +ad Herennium_ was the work which was first written, and consequently +previous to 672. Farther, the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_ must have been +written subsequently to 665, as it mentions the death of Sulpicius, which +happened in that year. The time thus limited corresponds very exactly with +the age of M. Ant. Gnipho, who was born in the year 640; and him Schütz +considers as the real author of the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_. This he +attempts to prove, by showing, that many things which Suetonius relates of +Gnipho, in his work _De Claris Rhetoribus_, agree with what the author of +the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_ delivers concerning himself in the course of +that production. It is pretty well established, that both Gnipho and the +anonymous author of the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_ were free-born, had good +memories, understood Greek, and were voluminous authors. It is +unfortunate, however, that these characteristics, except the first, were +probably common to almost all rhetoricians; and Schütz does not allude to +any of the more particular circumstances mentioned by Suetonius, as that +Gnipho was a Gaul by birth, that he studied at Alexandria, and that he +taught rhetoric in the house of the father of Julius Cæsar. + + + +Cicero, who was unquestionably the first orator, was as decidedly the most +learned philosopher of Rome; and while he eclipsed all his contemporaries +in eloquence, he acquired, towards the close of his life, no small share +of reputation as a writer on ethics and metaphysics. His wisdom, however, +was founded entirely on that of the Greeks, and his philosophic writings +were chiefly occupied with the discussion of questions which had been +agitated in the Athenian schools, and from them had been transmitted to +Italy. The disquisition respecting the certainty or uncertainty of human +knowledge, with that concerning the supreme good and evil, were the +inquiries which he chiefly pursued; and the notions which he entertained +of these subjects, were all derived from the Portico, Academy, or Lyceum. + +The leading principles of the chief philosophic sects of Greece flowed +originally from Socrates-- + + ---- "From whose mouth issued forth + Mellifluous streams, that watered all the schools + Of Academics, Old and New(359);" + +and who has been termed by Cicero(360) the perennial source of philosophy, +much more justly than Homer has been styled the fountain of all poetry. +Though somewhat addicted to them from education and early habit, Socrates +withdrew philosophy from those obscure and intricate physical inquiries, +in which she had been involved by the founders and followers of the Ionic +school, and from the subtle paradoxical hypotheses of the sophists who +established themselves at Athens in the time of Pericles. It being his +chief aim to improve the condition of mankind, and to incline them to +discharge the several duties of the stations in which they had been +placed, this moral teacher directed his examinations to the nature of vice +and virtue, of good and evil. To accomplish the great object he had in +view, his practice was to hazard no opinion of his own, but to refute +prevalent errors and prejudices, by involving the pretenders to knowledge +in manifest absurdity, while he himself, as if in contrast to the +presumption of the sophists, always professed that he knew nothing. This +confession of ignorance, which amounted to no more than a general +acknowledgment of the imbecility of the human understanding, and was +merely designed to convince his followers of the futility of those +speculations which do not rest on the firm basis of experience, or to +teach them modesty in their inquiries, and diffidence in their assertions, +having been interpreted in a different sense from that in which it was +originally intended, gave rise to the celebrated dispute concerning the +certainty of knowledge. + +The various founders of the philosophic sects of Greece, imbibed that +portion of the doctrines of Socrates which suited their own tastes and +views, and sometimes perverted his high authority even to dogmatical or +sophistical purposes. It is from Plato we have derived the fullest account +of his system; but this illustrious disciple had also greatly extended his +knowledge by his voyages to Egypt, Sicily, and Magna Græcia. Hence in the +Academy which he founded, (while, as to morals, he continued to follow +Socrates,) he superadded the metaphysical doctrines of Pythagoras; in +physics, which Socrates had excluded from philosophy, he adopted the +system of Heraclitus; and he borrowed his dialectics from Euclid of +Megara. The recondite and _eisoteric_ tenets of Pythagoras--the obscure +principles of Heraclitus--the superhuman knowledge of Empedocles, and the +sacred _Arcana_ of Egyptian priests, have diffused over the page of Plato +a majesty and mysticism very different from what we suppose to have been +the familiar tone of instruction employed by his great master, of whose +style at least, and manner, Xenophon probably presents us with a more +faithful image. + +In Greece, the heads of sects were succeeded in their schools or academies +as in a domain or inheritance. Speusippus, the nephew of Plato, continued +to deliver lectures in the Academy, as did also four other successive +masters, Xenocrates, Polemo, Crates, and Crantor, all of whom retained the +name of Academics, and taught the doctrines of their master without +mixture or corruption. But on the appointment of Xenocrates to the chair +of the Academy, Aristotle, the most eminent of Plato's scholars, had +betaken himself to another Gymnasium, called the Lyceum, which became the +resort of the Peripatetics. The commanding genius of their founder +enlarged the sphere of knowledge and intellect, devised the rules of +logic, and traced out the principles of rhetorical and poetical criticism: +But the sect which he exalted to unrivalled celebrity, though differing in +name from the contemporary Academics, coincided with them generally in all +the principal points of physical and moral philosophy, and particularly in +those concerning which the Romans chiefly inquired. "Though they differed +in terms," says Cicero, "they agreed in things(361), and those persons are +grossly mistaken who imagine that the old Academics, as they are called, +are any other than the Peripatetics." Accordingly, we find that both +believed in the superintending care of Providence, the immortality of the +soul, and a future state of reward and punishment. The supreme good they +placed in virtue, with a sufficiency of the chief external advantages of +nature, as health, riches, and reputation. Such enjoyments they taught, +when united with virtue, make the felicity of man perfect; but if +virtuous, he is capable of being happy, (though not entirely so,) without +them. + +Plato, in his mode of communicating instruction, and promulgating his +opinions, had not strictly adhered to the method of his master Socrates. +He held the concurrence of memory, with a recent impression, to be a +criterion of truth, and he taught that opinions might be formed from the +comparison of a present with a recollected perception. But his successors, +both in the Academy and Lyceum, departed from the Socratic method still +more widely. They renounced the maxim, of affirming nothing; and instead +of explaining everything with a doubting reserve, they converted +philosophy, as it were, into an art, and formed a system of opinions, +which they delivered to their disciples as the peculiar tenets of their +sect. They inculcated the belief, that our knowledge has its origin in the +senses--that the senses themselves do not judge of truth, but the mind +through them beholds things as they really are--that is, it perceives the +ideas which always subsist in the same state, without change; so that the +senses, through the medium of the mind, may be relied on for the +ascertainment of truth. Such was the state of opinions and instruction in +the Academy when Arcesilaus, who was the sixth master of that school from +Plato, and in his youth had heard the lessons of Pyrrho the sceptic, +resolved to reform the dogmatic system into which his predecessors had +fallen, and to restore, as he conceived, in all its purity, the Socratic +system of affirming nothing with certainty. This founder of the New, or +Middle Academy as it is sometimes called, denied even the certain truth of +the proposition that we know nothing, which Socrates had reserved as an +exception to his general principle. While admitting that there is an +actual certainty in the nature of things, he rejected the evidence both of +the senses and reason as positive testimony; and as he denied that there +existed any infallible criterion of truth or falsehood, he maintained that +no wise man ought to give any proposition whatever the sanction of his +assent. He differed from the Sceptics or Pyrrhonists only in this, that he +admitted degrees of probability, whereas the Sceptics fluctuated in total +uncertainty. + +As Arcesilaus renounced all pretensions to the certain determination of +any question, he was chiefly employed in examining and refuting the +sentiments of others. His principal opponent was his contemporary, Zeno, +the founder of the stoical philosophy, which ultimately became the chief +of those systems which flourished at Rome. The main point in dispute +between Zeno and Arcesilaus, was the evidence of the senses. Arcesilaus +denied that truth could be ascertained by their assistance, because there +is no criterion by which to distinguish false and delusive objects from +such as are real. Zeno, on the other hand, maintained that the evidence of +the senses is certain and clear, provided they be perfect in themselves, +and without obstacle to prevent their effect. Thus, though on different +principles, the founder of the Stoics agreed with the Peripatetics and old +Academicians, that there existed certain means of ascertaining truth, and +consequently that there was evident and certain knowledge. Arcesilaus, +though he did not deny that truth existed, would neither give assent nor +entertain opinions, because appearances could never warrant his +pronouncing on any object or proposition whatever. Nor did the Stoics +entertain opinions; but they refrained from this, because they thought +that everything might be perceived with certainty. + +Arcesilaus, while differing widely from the teachers of the old Platonic +Academy in his ideas as to the certainty of knowledge, retained their +system concerning the supreme good, which, like them, he placed in virtue, +accompanied by external advantages. This was another subject of contest +with Zeno, who, as is well known, placed the supreme good in virtue +alone,--health, riches, and reputation, not being by him accounted +essential, nor disease, poverty, and ignominy, injurious to happiness. + +The systems promulgated in the old and new Academy, and the stoical +Portico, were those which became most prevalent in Rome. But the Epicurean +opinions were also fashionable there. The philosophy of Epicurus has been +already mentioned while speaking of Lucretius. Moschus of Phoenicia, who +lived before the Trojan war, is said to have been the inventor of the +Atomic system, which was afterwards adopted and improved by Leucippus and +Democritus, whose works, as Cicero expresses it, were the source from +which flowed the streams that watered the gardens of Epicurus(362). To the +evidence of the senses this teacher attributed such weight, that he +considered them as an infallible rule of truth. The supreme good he placed +in pleasure, and the chief evil in pain. His scholars maintained, that by +pleasure, or rather happiness, he meant a life of wisdom and temperance; +but a want of clearness and explicitness in the definition of what +constituted pleasure, has given room to his opponents for alleging that he +placed consummate felicity in sensual gratification. + +It was long before a knowledge of any portion of Greek philosophy was +introduced at Rome. For 600 years after the building of the city, those +circumstances did not arise in that capital which called forth and +promoted philosophy in Greece. The ancient Romans were warriors and +agriculturists. Their education was regulated with a view to an active +life, and rearing citizens and heroes, not philosophers. The _Campus +Martius_ was their school; the tent their Lyceum, and the traditions of +their ancestors, and religious rites, their science,--they were taught to +act, to believe, and to obey, not to reason or discuss. Among them a class +of men may indeed have existed not unlike the seven sages of Greece--men +distinguished by wisdom, grave saws, and the services they had rendered to +their country; but these were not philosophers in our sense of the term. +The wisdom they inculcated was not sectarian, but resembled that species +of philosophy cultivated by Solon and Lycurgus, which has been termed +political by Brucker, and which was chiefly adapted to the improvement of +states, and civilization of infant society. At length, however, in the +year 586, when Perseus, King of Macedon, was finally vanquished, his +conqueror brought with him to Rome the philosopher Metrodorus, to aid in +the instruction of his children(363). Several philosophers, who had been +retained in the court of that unfortunate monarch, auguring well from this +incident, followed Metrodorus to Italy; and about the same time a number +of Achæans, of distinguished merit, who were suspected to have favoured +the Macedonians, were summoned to Rome, in order to account for their +conduct. The younger Scipio Africanus, in the course of the embassy to +which he was appointed by the Senate, to the kings of the east, who were +in alliance with the republic, having landed at Rhodes, took under his +protection the Stoic philosopher Panætius(364), who was a native of that +island, and carried him back to Rome, where he resided in the house of his +patron. Panætius afterwards went to Athens, where he became one of the +most distinguished teachers of the Portico(365), and composed a number of +philosophical treatises, of which the chief was that on the Duties of Man. + +But though the philosophers were encouraged and cherished by Scipio, +Lælius, Scævola, and others of the more mild and enlightened Romans, they +were viewed with an eye of suspicion by the grave Senators and stern +Censors of the republic. Accordingly, in the year 592, only six years +after their first arrival in Rome, the philosophers were banished from the +city by a formal decree of the Senate(366). The motives for issuing this +rigorous edict are not very clearly ascertained. A notion may have been +entertained by the severer members of the commonwealth, that the +established religion and constitution of Rome might suffer by the +discussion of speculative theories, and that the taste for science might +withdraw the minds of youth from agriculture and arms. This dread, so +natural to a rigid, laborious, and warlike people, would be increased by +the degraded and slavish character of the Greeks, which, having been an +accompaniment, might be readily mistaken for a consequence, of their +progress in philosophy. As most of the philosophers, too, had come from +the states of a hostile monarch, the Senate may have feared, lest they +should inspire sentiments in the minds of youth, not altogether patriotic +or purely republican. + + "Sed vetuere patres quod non potuere vetare." + +Though driven from Rome, many of the Greek philosophers took up their +residence in the municipal towns of Italy. By the intercession likewise of +Scipio Africanus, an exception was made in favour of Panætius and the +historian Polybius, who were permitted to remain in the capital. The +spirit of inquiry, too, had been raised, and the mind had received an +impulse which could not be arrested by any senatorial decree, and on which +the slightest incident necessarily bestowed an accelerated progress. + +The Greek philosophers returned to Rome in the year 598, under the sacred +character of ambassadors, on occasion of a political complaint which had +been made against the Athenians, and from which they found it necessary to +defend themselves. Notwithstanding the disrespect with which philosophers +had recently been treated in Italy, the Athenians resolved to dazzle the +Romans by a grand scientific embassy. The three envoys chosen were at that +time the heads of the three leading sects of Greek philosophers,--Diogenes, +the Stoic, Critolaus, the Peripatetic, and Carneades of Cyrene, who now +held the place of Arcesilaus in the new Academy. Besides their +philosophical learning, they were well qualified by their eloquence, (a +talent which had always great influence with the Romans,) to persuade and +bring over the minds of men to their principles. Such, indeed, were their +extraordinary powers of speaking and reasoning, that it was commonly said +at Rome that the Athenians had sent orators, not to persuade, but to +compel(367). During the period of their embassy at Rome they lectured to +crowded audiences in the most public parts of the city. The immediate +effect of the display which these philosophic ambassadors made of their +eloquence and wisdom, was to excite in the Roman youth an ardent thirst +after knowledge, which now became a rival in their breasts to the love of +military glory(368). Scipio, Lælius, and Furius, showed the strongest +inclination for these new studies, and profited most by them; but there +was scarcely a young patrician who was not in some degree attracted by the +modest simplicity of Diogenes, the elegant, ornamental, and polished +discourse of Critolaus, or the vehement, rapid, and argumentative +eloquence of Carneades(369). The principles inculcated by Diogenes, who +professed to teach the art of reasoning, and of separating truth from +falsehood, received their strongest support from the jurisconsults, most +of whom became Stoics; and in consequence of their responses, we find at +this day that the stoical philosophy exercised much influence on Roman +jurisprudence, and that many principles and divisions of the civil law +have been founded on its favourite maxims. Of these philosophic +ambassadors, however, Carneades was the most able man, and the most +popular teacher. "He was blessed," says Cicero, "with a divine quickness +of understanding and command of expression(370)." "In his disputations, he +never defended what he did not prove, and never attacked what he did not +overthrow(371)." By some he has been considered and termed the founder of +a third Academy, but there appears to be no solid ground for such a +distinction. In his lectures, which chiefly turned on ethics, he agreed +with both Academies as to the supreme good, placing it in virtue and the +primary gifts of nature. Like Arcesilaus, he was a zealous advocate for +the uncertainty of human knowledge, but he did not deny, with him, that +there were truths, but only maintained that we could not clearly discern +them(372). The sole other difference in their tenets, is one not very +palpable, mentioned by Lucullus in the _Academica_. Arcesilaus, it seems, +would neither assent to anything nor opine. Carneades, though he would not +assent, declared that he would opine; under the constant reservation, +however, that he was merely opinionating, and that there was no such thing +as positive comprehension or perception(373). In this, Lucullus, who was a +follower of the _old_ Academy, thinks Carneades the most absurd and +inconsistent of the two. Carneades succeeded to the old dispute between +the Academics and Stoics, and in his prelections he combated the arguments +employed by Chrysippus(374), in his age the chief pillar of the Portico, +as Arcesilaus had formerly maintained the controversy with Zeno, its +founder. He differed from the Pyrrhonists, by admitting the real existence +of good and evil, and by allowing different degrees of probability(375), +while his sceptical opponents contended that there was no ground for +embracing or rejecting one opinion more than another. Carneades was no +less distinguished by his artful and versatile talents for disputation, +than his vehement and commanding oratory. But his extraordinary powers of +persuasion, and of maintaining any side of an argument, for which the +academical philosophy peculiarly qualified him, were at length abused by +him, to the scandal of the serious and inflexible Romans. Thus, we are +told, that he one day delivered a discourse before Cato, with great +variety of thought and copiousness of diction, on the advantages of a +rigid observance of the rules of justice. Next day, in order to fortify +his doctrine of the uncertainty of human knowledge, he undertook to refute +all his former arguments(376). It is likely that his attack on justice was +a piece of pleasantry, like Erasmus' Encomium of Folly; and many of his +audience were captivated by his ingenuity; but the Censor immediately +insisted, that the affairs which had brought these subtle ambassadors to +Rome, should be forthwith despatched by the Senate, in order that they +might be dismissed with all possible expedition(377). Whether Cato +entertained serious apprehensions, as is alleged by Plutarch, that the +military virtues of his country might be enfeebled, and its constitution +undermined, by the study of philosophy, may, I think, be questioned. It is +more probable that he dreaded the influence of the philosophers themselves +on the opinions of his fellow-citizens, and feared lest their eloquence +should altogether unsettle the principles of his countrymen, or mould them +to whatever form they chose. Lactantius, too, in a quotation from Cicero's +treatise _De Republica_, affords what may be considered as an explanation +of the reason why Carneades' lecture against justice was so little +palatable to the Censor, and probably to many others of the Romans. One of +the objections which he urged against justice, or rather against the +existence of a due sense of that quality, was, that if such a thing as +justice were to be found on earth, the Romans would resign their +conquests, and return to their huts and original poverty(378). Cato +likewise appears to have had a considerable spirit of personal jealousy +and rivalry; while, at the same time, his national pride led him to scorn +all the arts of a country which the Roman arms had subdued. + +Carneades promulgated his opinions only in his eloquent lectures; and it +is not known that he left any writings of importance behind him(379). But +his oral instructions had made a permanent impression on the Roman youth, +and the want of a written record of his principles was amply supplied by +his successor Clitomachus, who was by birth a Carthaginian, and was +originally called Asdrubal. He had fled from his own country to Athens +during the siege of Carthage, by the Romans, in the third Punic war(380); +and in the year 623 he went from Greece to Italy, to succeed Carneades in +the school which he had there established. Clitomachus was a most +voluminous author, having written not less than four ample treatises on +the necessity of withholding the assent from every proposition whatever. +One of these tracts was dedicated to Lucilius, the satiric poet(381), and +another to the Consul Censorinus. The essence of the principles which he +maintained in these works, has been extracted by Cicero, and handed down +to us in a passage inserted in the _Academica_. It is there said, that the +resemblances of things are of such a nature that some of them appear +probable, and others not; but this is no sufficient ground for supposing +that some objects may be correctly perceived, since many falsities are +probable, whereas no falsity can be accurately perceived or known: The +Academy never attempted to deprive mankind of the use of their senses, by +denying that there are such things as colour, taste, and sound; but it +denied that there exists in these qualities any criterion or +characteristic of truth and certainty. A wise man, therefore, is said, in +a double sense, to withhold his assent; in one sense, when it is +understood that he absolutely assents to no proposition; in another, when +he suspends answering a question, without either denying or affirming. He +ought never to assent implicitly to any proposition, and his answer should +be withheld until, according to _probability_, he is in a condition to +reply in the affirmative or negative. But as Cicero admits, that a wise +man, who, on every occasion, suspends his assent, may yet be impelled and +moved to action, he leaves him in full possession of those motives which +excite to action, together with a power of answering in the affirmative or +negative to certain questions, and of following the probability of +objects; yet still without giving them his assent(382). + +Clitomachus was succeeded by Philo of Larissa, who fled from Greece to +Italy, during the Mithridatic war, and revived at Rome a system of +philosophy, which by this time began to be rather on the decline. Cicero +attended his lectures, and imbibed from them the principles of the new +Academy, to which he ultimately adhered. Philo published two treatises, +explanatory of the doctrines of the new Academy, which were answered in a +work entitled _Sosus_, by Antiochus of Ascalon, who had been a scholar of +Philo, but afterwards abjured the innovations of the new Academy, and +returned to the old, as taught by Plato and his immediate +successors,--uniting with it, however, some portion of the systems of +Aristotle and Zeno(383). In his own age, Antiochus was the chief support +of the original principles of the Academy, and was patronized by all those +at Rome, who were still attached to them, particularly by Lucullus, who +took the philosopher along with him to Alexandria, when he went there as +Quæstor of Egypt. + +In the circumstances of Rome, the first steps towards philosophical +improvement, were a general abatement of that contempt which had been +previously entertained for philosophical studies--a toleration of +instruction--the power of communicating wisdom without shame or restraint, +and its cordial reception by the Roman youth. This proficiency, which +necessarily preceded speculation or invention, had already taken place. +Partly through the instructions of Greek philosophers who resided at Rome, +and partly by means of the practice which now began to prevail, of sending +young men for education to the ancient schools of wisdom, philosophy made +rapid progress, and almost every sect found followers or patrons among the +higher order of the Roman citizens. + +From the earliest times, however, till that of Cicero, Greek philosophy +was chiefly inculcated by Greeks. There was no Roman who devoted himself +entirely to metaphysical contemplation, and who, like Epicurus, Aristotle, +and Zeno, lounged perpetually in a garden, paced about in a Lyceum, or +stood upright in a portico. The Greek philosophers passed their days, if +not in absolute seclusion, at least in learned leisure and retirement. +Speculation was the employment of their lives, and their works were the +result of a whole age of study and reflection(384). The Romans, on the +other hand, regarded philosophy, not as the business of life, but as an +elegant relaxation, or the means of aiding their advancement in the state. +They heard with attention the ingenious disputes agitated among the +Greeks, and perused their works with pleasure; but with all this taste for +philosophy, they had not sufficient leisure to devise new theories. The +philosophers of Rome were Scipio, Cato, Brutus, Lucullus--men who governed +their country at home, or combated her enemies abroad. They had, indeed, +little motive to invent new systems, since so many were presented to them, +ready formed, that every one found in the doctrines of some Greek sect, +tenets which could be sufficiently accommodated to his own disposition and +situation. In the same manner as the plunder of Syracuse or Corinth +supplied Rome with her statues and pictures, and rendered unnecessary the +exertions of native artists; and as the dramas of Euripides and Menander +provided sufficient materials for the Roman stage; so the Garden, Porch, +and Academy, furnished such variety of systems, that new inventions or +speculations could easily be dispensed with. The prevalence, too, of the +principles of that Academy, which led to doubt of all things, must have +discouraged the formation of new and original theories. Nor were even the +Greek systems, after their introduction into Italy, classed and separated +as they had been in Greece. Most of the distinguished men of Rome, +however, in the time of Cicero, were more inclined to one school than +another, and they applied the lessons of the sect which they followed with +more success, perhaps, than their masters, to the practical purposes of +active life. The jurisconsults, chief magistrates, and censors, adopted +the Stoical philosophy, which had some affinity to the principles of the +Roman constitution, and which they considered best calculated for ruling +their fellow-citizens, as well as meliorating the laws and morals of the +state. The orators who aspired to rise by eloquence to the highest honours +of the republic, had recourse to the lessons of the new Academy, which +furnished them with weapons for disputation; while those who sighed for +the enjoyment of tranquillity, amid the factions and dangers of the +commonwealth, retired to the Gardens of Epicurus. But while subscribing to +the leading tenets of a sect, they did not strive to gain followers with +any of the spirit of sectarism; and it frequently happened, that neither +in principle nor practice did they adopt all the doctrines of the school +to which they chiefly resorted. Thus Cæsar, who was accounted an +Epicurean, and followed the Epicurean system in some things, as in his +belief of the materiality and mortality of the soul, doubtless held in +little reverence those ethical precepts, according to which, + + ---- "Nihil in nostro corpore prosunt, + Nec fama, neque nobilitas, nec gloria regni." + +Lucretius was a sounder Epicurean, and gave to the precepts of his master +all the dignity and grace which poetical embellishment could bestow. But +Atticus, the well-known friend and correspondent of Cicero, was perhaps +the most perfect example ever exhibited of genuine and practical +Epicurism. + +The rigid and inflexible Cato, was, both in his life and principles, the +great supporter of the Stoical philosophy--conducting himself, according to +an expression of Cicero, as if he had lived in the polity of Plato, and +not amid the dregs of Romulus. The old Academy boasted among its adherents +Lucullus, the conqueror of Mithridates--the Lorenzo of Roman arts and +literature--whose palaces rivalled the porticos of Greece, and whose +library, with its adjacent schools and galleries, was the resort of all +who were distinguished for their learning and accomplishments. Whilst +Quæstor of Macedonia, and subsequently, while he conducted the war against +Mithridates, Lucullus had enjoyed frequent opportunities of conversing +with the Greek philosophers, and had acquired such a relish for +philosophical studies, that he devoted to them all the leisure he could +command(385). At Rome, his constant companion was Antiochus of Ascalon, +who, though a pupil of Philo, became himself a zealous supporter of the +old Academy; and accordingly, Lucullus, who favoured that system, often +repaired to his house, to partake in the private disputations which were +there carried on against the advocates for the new or middle Academy. The +old Academy also numbered among its votaries Varro, the most learned of +the Romans, and Brutus, who was destined to perform so tragic a part on +the ensanguined stage of his country. + +Little was done by these eminent men to illustrate or enforce their +favourite systems by their writings. Even the productions of Varro were +calculated rather to excite to the study of philosophy, than to aid its +progress. The new Academy was more fortunate in the support of Cicero, who +has asserted and vindicated its principles with equal industry and +eloquence. From their first introduction, the doctrines of the new Academy +had been favourably received at Rome. The tenets of the dogmatic +philosophers were so various and contradictory, were so obstinately +maintained, and rested on such precarious foundations, that they afforded +much scope and encouragement to scepticism. The plausible arguments by +which the most discordant opinions were supported, led to a distrust of +the existence of absolute truth, and to an acquiescence in such probable +conclusions, as were adequate to the practical purposes of life. The +speculations, too, of the new Academy, were peculiarly fitted to the +duties of a public speaker, as they left free the field of disputation, +and habituated him to the practice of collecting arguments from all +quarters, on every doubtful question. Hence it was that Cicero addicted +himself to this sect, and persuaded others to follow his example. It has +been disputed, if Cicero was really attached to the new Academic system, +or had merely resorted to it as being best adapted for furnishing him with +oratorical arguments suited to all occasions. At first, its adoption was +subsidiary to his other plans. But, towards the conclusion of his life, +when he no longer maintained the place he was wont to hold in the Senate +or the Forum, and when philosophy formed the occupation "with which +existence was just tolerable, and without which it would have been +intolerable(386)," he doubtless became convinced that the principles of +the new Academy, illustrated as they had been by Carneades and Philo, +formed the soundest system which had descended to mankind from the schools +of Athens. + +The attachment, however, of Cicero to the Academic philosophy, was free +from the exclusive spirit of sectarism, and hence it did not prevent his +extracting from other systems what he found in them conformable to virtue +and reason. His ethical principles, in particular, appear Eclectic, having +been, in a great measure, formed from the opinions of the Stoics. Of most +Greek sects he speaks with respect and esteem. For the Epicureans alone, +he seems (notwithstanding his friendship for Atticus) to have entertained +a decided aversion and contempt. + +The general purpose of Cicero's philosophical works, was rather to give a +history of the ancient philosophy, than dogmatically to inculcate opinions +of his own. It was his great aim to explain to his fellow-citizens, in +their own language, whatever the sages of Greece had taught on the most +important subjects, in order to enlarge their minds and reform their +morals; while, at the same time, he exercised himself in the most useful +employment which now remained to him--a superior force having deprived him +of the privilege of serving his country as an orator or Consul. + +Cicero was in many respects well qualified for the arduous but noble task +which he had undertaken, of naturalizing philosophy in Rome, and +exhibiting her, according to the expression of Erasmus, on the Stage of +life. He was a man of fertile genius, luminous understanding, sound +judgment, and indefatigable industry--qualities adequate for the +cultivation of reason, and sufficient for the supply of subjects of +meditation. Never was a philosopher placed in a situation more favourable +for gathering the fruits of an experience employed on human nature and +civil society, or for observing the effects of various qualities of the +mind on public opinion and on the actions of men. He lived at the most +eventful crisis in the fate of his country, and in the closest connection +with men of various and consummate talents, whose designs, when fully +developed by the result, must have afforded on reflection, a splendid +lesson in the philosophy of mind. But this situation, in some respects so +favourable, was but ill calculated for revolving abstract ideas, or for +meditating on those abstruse and internal powers, of which the +consequences are manifested in society and the transactions of life. +Accordingly, Cicero appears to have been destitute of that speculative +disposition which leads us to penetrate into the more recondite and +original principles of knowledge, and to mark the internal operations of +thought. He had cultivated eloquence as clearing the path to political +honours, and had studied philosophy, as the best auxiliary to eloquence. +But the contemplative sciences only attracted his attention, in so far as +they tended to elucidate ethical, practical, and political subjects, to +which he applied a philosophy which was rather that of life than of +speculation. + +In the writings of Cicero, accordingly, everything deduced from experience +and knowledge of the world--every observation on the duties of society, is +clearly expressed, and remarkable for justness and acuteness. But neither +Cicero, nor any other Roman author, possessed sufficient subtlety and +refinement of spirit, for the more abstruse discussions, among the +labyrinths of which the Greek philosophers delighted to find a fit +exercise for their ingenuity. Hence, all that required research into the +ultimate foundation of truths, or a more exact analysis of common ideas +and perceptions--all, in short, that related to the subtleties of the Greek +schools, is neither so accurately expressed, nor so logically connected. + +In theoretic investigation, then,--in the explication of abstract ideas--in +the analysis of qualities and perceptions, Cicero cannot be regarded as an +inventor or profound original thinker, and cannot be ranked with Plato and +Aristotle, those mighty fathers of ancient philosophy, who carried back +their inquiries into the remotest truths on which philosophy rests. Where +he does attempt fixing new principles, he is neither very clear nor +consistent; and it is evident, that his general study of all systems had, +in some degree, unsettled his belief, and had better qualified him to +dispute on either side with the Academics, than to examine the exact +weight of evidence in the scale of reason, or to exhibit a series of +arguments, in close and systematic arrangement, or to deduce accurate +conclusions from established and certain principles. His philosophic +dialogues are rather to be considered as popular treatises, adapted to the +ordinary comprehension of well-informed men, than profound disquisitions, +suited only to a Portico or Lyceum. They bespeak the orator, even in the +most serious inquiries. Elegance and fine writing, their author appears to +have considered as essential to philosophy; and historic, or even poetical +illustration, as its brightest ornament. The peculiar merit, therefore, of +Cicero, lay in the happy execution of what had never been before +attempted--the luminous and popular exposition of the leading principles +and disputes of the ancient schools of philosophy, with judgments +concerning them, and the application of results, deduced from their +various doctrines to the peculiar manners or employments of his +countrymen. Hence, though it may be honouring Cicero too highly, to term +his works, with Gibbon, a Repository of Reason, they are at least a +Miscellany of Philosophic Information, which has become doubly valuable, +from the loss of the writings of many of those philosophers, whose +opinions he records; and though the merit of originality rests with the +Greek schools, no compositions transmitted from antiquity present so +concise and comprehensive a view of the opinions of the Greek +philosophers(387). + +That the mind of Cicero was most amply stored with the learning of the +Greek philosophers, and that he had the whole circle of their wisdom at +his command, is evident, from the rapidity with which his works were +composed--having been all written, except the treatise _De Legibus_, during +the period which elapsed from the battle of Pharsalia till his death; and +the greater part of them in the course of the year 708. + +It is justly remarked by Goerenz, in the introduction to his edition of +the book _De Finibus_(388), and assented to by Schütz(389), that it seems +scarcely possible, that those numerous philosophical works, which are +asserted to have been composed by Cicero in the year 708, could have been +begun and finished in one year; and that such speed of execution leads us +to suppose, that either the materials had been long collected, or that the +productions themselves were little more than versions. In his _Academica_, +Cicero remarks,--"Ego autem, dum me ambitio, dum honores, dum causæ, dum +reipublicæ non solum cura, sed quædam etiam procuratio multis officiis +implicatum et constrictum tenebat, hæc inclusa habebam; et, ne +obsolescerent, renovabam, quum licebat, legendo. Nunc vero et fortunæ +gravissimo percussus vulnere, et administratione reipublicæ liberatus, +doloris medicinam a philosophiâ peto, et otii oblectationem hanc, +honestissimam judico." It is not easy to determine, as Schütz remarks, +whether, by the expression "hæc inclusa habebam," Cicero means merely the +writings of philosophical authors, or treatises and materials for +treatises by himself. "We ought, however," proceeds Schütz, "the less to +wonder that Cicero composed so many works in so short a time, when we read +the following passage in a letter to Atticus, written in July 708--'De +linguâ Latinâ securi es animi, dices, qui talia conscribis! {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} sunt; +minore labore fiunt: verba tantum affero, quibus abundo(390)'; which +words, according to Gronovius, imply, that the philosophic writings of +Cicero are little more than versions from the Greek." + +In the laudable attempt of naturalizing philosophy at Rome, the difficulty +which Lucretius had encountered, in embodying in Latin verse the precepts +of Epicurus,-- + + "Propter egestatem linguæ rerumque novitatem," + +must have been almost as powerfully felt by Cicero. Philosophy was still +little cultivated among the Romans; and no people will invent terms for +thoughts or ideas with which it is little occupied. One of his letters to +Atticus is strongly expressive of the trouble which he had in interpreting +the philosophic terms of Greece in his native tongue(391). Thus, for +example, he could find no Latin word equivalent to the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, or that +withholding of assent from all propositions, which the new Academy +professed. The language of the Greeks had been formed along with their +philosophy. Their terms of physics had their origin in the ancient +Theogonies, or the speculations of the Milesian sage; and Plato informs +us, that one might make a course of moral philosophy in travelling through +Attica and reading the inscriptions engraved on the tombs, pillars, and +monuments, erected in the earliest ages near the public ways and centre of +villages(392). Hence, in Greece, words naturally became the apposite signs +of speculative and moral ideas; but in Rome, a foreign philosophy had to +be inculcated in a tongue which was already completely formed, which was +greatly inferior in flexibility and precision to the Greek; and which, +though Cicero certainly used some liberties in this respect, had too +nearly reached maturity, to admit of much innovation. Its words, +accordingly, did not always precisely express the subtle notions signified +in the original language, whence there was often an appearance of +obscurity in the idea, and of a defect in conclusions, drawn from premises +which were indefinite, or which differed by a shade of meaning from those +established in Greece. + +Aware of this difficulty, and conscious, perhaps, that he possessed not +precision and originality of thinking sufficient to recommend a formal +treatise, Cicero adopted the mode of writing in dialogues, in which +rhetorical diffuseness, and looseness of definition, might be overlooked, +and in which ample scope would be afforded for the ornaments of language. + +It was by oral discourse that knowledge was chiefly communicated at the +dawn of science, when books either did not exist, or were extremely rare. +In the Porch, in the Garden, or among the groves of the Academy, the +philosopher conferred with his disciples, listened to their remarks, and +replied to their objections. Socrates, in particular, was accustomed thus +to inculcate his moral lessons; and it was natural for the scholars, who +recorded them, to follow the manner in which they had been disclosed. Of +these disciples, Plato, who was the most distinguished, readily adopted a +form of composition, which gave scope to his own fertile and poetical +imagination; while, at the same time, it enabled him more accurately to +paint his great master. One of his chief objects, too, was to represent +the triumph of Socrates over the Sophists; and if a writer wish to cover +an opponent with ridicule, perhaps no better mode could be devised, than +to set him up as a man of straw in a dialogue. As argumentative victory, +or the embarrassment of the antagonist of Socrates, was often all that was +aimed at, it was unnecessary to be very scrupulous about the means, and, +considered in this view, the agreeable irony of that philosopher--the +address with which, by seeming to yield, he ensnares the adversary--his +quibbles--his subtle distinctions, and perplexing interrogatories, display +consummate skill, and produce considerable dramatic effect; while, at the +same time, the scenery and circumstances of the dialogue are often +described with a richness and beauty of imagination, which no philosophic +writer has as yet surpassed(393). + +When Cicero, towards the close of his long and meritorious life, employed +himself in transferring to Rome the philosophy of Greece, he appears to +have been chiefly attracted by the diffusive majesty of Plato, whose +intellectual character was in many respects congenial to his own. His +dialogues in so far resemble those of Plato, that the personages are real, +and of various characters and opinions; while the circumstances of time +and place are, for the most part, as completely fictitious as in his Greek +models. Yet there is a considerable difference in the manner of Cicero's +Dialogues, from those of the great founder of the Academy. Plato ever +preserved something of the Socratic method of giving birth to the thoughts +of others--of awakening, by interrogatories, the sense of truth, and +supplanting errors. But Cicero himself, or the person who speaks his +sentiments, always takes the lead in the conference, and gives us long, +and often uninterrupted dissertations. His object, too, appears to have +been not so much to cover his adversaries with ridicule, or even to +prevail in the argument, as to pay a complimentary tribute to his numerous +and illustrious friends, or to recall, as it were, from the tomb, the +departed heroes and sages of his country. + +In the form of dialogue, Cicero has successively treated of Law, +Metaphysics, Theology, and Morals. + +_De Legibus_.--Of this dialogue there are only three books now extant, and +even in these considerable chasms occur. A conjecture has been recently +hazarded by a learned German, in an introduction to a translation of the +dialogue, that these three books, as we now have them, were not written by +Cicero, but that they are mere excerpts taken from his lost writings, by +some monk or father of the church(394). There are few works, however, in +which more genuine marks of the master-hand of Cicero may be traced, than +in the tract _De Legibus_; and the connection between the different parts +is too closely preserved, to admit of the notion that it has been made up +in the manner which this critic supposes. Another conjecture is, that it +formed part of the third, fourth, and fifth books of Cicero's lost +treatise _De Republica_. This surmise, however, was highly improbable, +since Cicero, in the course of the work _De Legibus_, refers to that _De +Republica_ as a separate production, and it is now proved to be chimerical +by the discovery of Mai. The dialogue _De Legibus_, however, seems to have +been drawn up as a kind of supplement to that _De Republica_, being +intended to point out what laws would be most suitable to the perfect +republic, which the author had previously described(395). + +As to the period of composition, it thus manifestly appears to have been +written subsequently to the dialogue _De Republica_; and it is evident, +from his letters to his brother Quintus, that the work _De Republica_ was +begun in 699, and finished in 700(396), so that the dialogue _De Legibus_ +could not have been composed before that year. It is further clear, that +it was written after the year 701, since he obviously alludes in it to the +murder of Clodius,--boasting that his chief enemy was now not only deprived +of life, but wanted sepulture, and the accustomed funeral obsequies(397). +Now, it is well known that Clodius was slain in 701, and that his dead +body was dragged naked by a lawless mob into the Forum, where it was +consumed amid the conflagration raised in the Senate-house. It is equally +evident that the treatise _De Legibus_ was written before that _De +Finibus_, composed in 708, since, in the former work, the author alludes +to the questions which we find discussed in the latter, as controversies +which he is one day to take up(398). But it is demonstrable that the +dialogue _De Legibus_ was written even previous to the battle of +Pharsalia, which was fought in 705, since the author talks in it of Pompey +as of a person still alive, and in the plenitude of glory(399). Chapman, +in his dissertation _De Ætate Librorum de Legibus_, subjoined to +Tunstall's Latin letter to Middleton, concerning the epistles to Brutus, +thinks that it was not written till the year 709. He is of opinion, that +what is said of Pompey, and the allusions to the murder of Clodius, as to +a recent event, were only intended to suit the time in which the dialogue +takes place: But then it so happens, that no historical period whatever is +assigned by the author of the dialogue, as the date of its actual +occurrence. Chapman also maintains, that this is the only mode of +accounting for the work _De Legibus_ not being mentioned in the treatise +_De Divinatione_, where Cicero's other philosophical productions are +enumerated. The reason of this omission, however, might be, that the work +_De Legibus_ never was made public by the author; and, indeed, with +exception of the first book, the whole is but a sketch or outline of what +he intended to write, and is far from having received the polish and +perfection of those performances which he circulated himself. + +The discussion _De Legibus_ is carried on, in the shape of dialogue, by +Cicero, his brother Quintus, and Atticus. Of these Cicero is the chief +interlocutor. The scene is laid amid the walks and pleasure-grounds of +Cicero's villa of Arpinum, which lay about three miles from the town of +that name, and was situated in a mountainous but picturesque region of the +ancient territory of the Samnites, now forming part of the kingdom of +Naples. This house was the original seat of the family of Cicero, who was +born in it during the life of his grandfather, while it was yet small and +humble as the Sabine cottage of Curius or Cincinnatus; but his father had +gradually enlarged and embellished it, till it became a spacious and +elegant mansion, where, as his health was infirm, he passed the greater +part of his life in literary retirement(400). Cicero was thus equally +attracted to this villa by the many pleasing and tender recollections with +which it was associated, and by the amenity of the situation, which was +the most retired and delightful, even in that region of enchanting +landscape. It was closely surrounded by a grove, and stood not far from +the confluence of the Fibrenus with the Liris. The former stream, which +murmured over a rocky channel, was remarkable for its clearness, rapidity, +and coolness; and its sloping verdant banks were shaded with lofty +poplars(401). "Many streams," says Mr. Kelsall, one of our latest Italian +tourists, "which are celebrated in story and song, disappoint the +traveller,-- + + 'Dumb are their fountains, and their channels dry,'-- + +but, in the course of long travels, I never met with so abundant and lucid +a current as the Fibrenus; the length of the stream considered, which does +not exceed four miles and a half. It flows with great rapidity, and is +about thirty or thirty-five feet in width near the Ciceronian isles. It is +generally fifteen and even twenty in depth; 'largus et exundans,' like the +genius of him who had so often trodden its banks. The water even in the +intensest heats, still retains its icy coldness; and, although the +thermometer was above 80° in the shade, the hand, plunged for a few +seconds into the Fibrenus, caused a complete numbness(402)." Near to the +house, the Fibrenus was divided into equal streams by a little island, +which was fringed with a few plane-trees, and on which stood a +portico(403), where Cicero often retired to read or meditate, and composed +some of his sublimest harangues. Just below this islet, each branch of the +stream rushed by a sort of cascade, into the cerulean Liris(404), on which +the Fibrenus bestowed additional freshness and coolness, and after this +union received the name of the more noble river(405). The epithet +_taciturnus_, applied to the Liris by Horace, and _quietus_, by Silius +Italicus, must be understood only of the lower windings of its course. No +river in Italy is so noisy as the Liris about Arpino and Cicero's villa; +for the space of a mile and a half after receiving the Fibrenus, it formed +no less than six cascades, varying in height from three to twenty +feet(406). This spot, embellished with all the ornaments of hills and +valleys, and wood and water-falls, was one of Cicero's most favourite +retreats. When Atticus first visited it, he was so charmed, that, instead +of wondering as before that it was such a favourite residence of his +friend, he expressed his surprise that he ever retired elsewhere(407); +declaring, at the same time, his contempt of the marble pavements, arched +ceilings, and artificial canals of magnificent villas, compared with the +tranquillity and natural beauties of Arpinum. Cicero, indeed, appears at +one time to have thought of the island, formed by the Fibrenus, as the +place most suitable for the monument which he intended to raise to his +beloved daughter Tullia(408). + +The situation of this villa was close to the spot where now stands the +city of Sora(409). "The Liris," says Eustace, "still bears its ancient +name till it passes Sora, when it is called the Garigliano. The Fibrenus, +still so called, falls into it a little below Sora, and continues to +encircle the island in which Cicero lays the scene of the dialogue _De +Legibus_. Arpinum, also, still retains its name(410)." Modern travellers +bear ample testimony to the scenery round Sora being such as fully +justifies the fond partiality of Cicero, and the admiration of Atticus. +"Nothing," says Mr Kelsall, "can be imagined finer than the surrounding +landscape. The deep azure of the sky, unvaried by a single cloud--Sora on a +rock at the foot of the precipitous Apennines--both banks of the Garigliano +covered with vineyards--the _fragor aquarum_, alluded to by Atticus in the +work _De Legibus_--the coolness, rapidity, and ultramarine hue of the +Fibrenus,--the noise of its cataracts--the rich turquoise colour of the +Liris--the minor Apennines round Arpino, crowned with umbrageous oaks to +their very summits, present scenery hardly elsewhere to be equalled, +certainly not to be surpassed, even in Italy(411)." The spot where +Cicero's villa stood, was, in the time of Middleton, possessed by a +convent of monks, and was called the villa of St Dominic. It was built in +the year 1030, from the fragments of the Arpine villa! + + "Art, Glory, Freedom, fail--but Nature still is fair." + +The first conference, _De Legibus_, is held in a walk on the banks of the +Fibrenus; the other two in the island which it formed, and which Cicero +called Amalthea, from a villa belonging to Atticus in Epirus. These three +books are all that are now extant. It appears, however, that, at the +commencement of the fifth dialogue, the sun having then passed the +meridian, and its beams striking in such a direction that the speakers +were no longer sheltered from its rays by the young plane-trees, which had +been recently planted, they left the island, and descending to the banks +of the Liris, finished their discourse under the shade of the alder-trees, +which stretched their branches over its margin(412). + +An ancient oak, which stood in Cicero's pleasure-grounds, led Atticus to +inquire concerning the augury which had been presented to Marius, a native +of Arpinum, from that very oak, and which Cicero had celebrated in a poem +devoted to the exploits of his ferocious countryman, Cicero hints, that +the portent was all a fiction; which leads to a discussion on the +difference between poetry and history, and the poverty of Rome in the +latter department. As Cicero, owing to the multiplicity of affairs, had +not then leisure to supply this deficiency, he is requested by his guests, +to give them, in the meanwhile, a dissertation on Laws--a subject with +which he was so conversant, that he could require no previous preparation. +It is agreed, that he should not treat of particular or arbitrary laws,--as +those concerning _Stillicide_, and the forms of judicial procedure--but +should trace the philosophic principles of jurisprudence to their remotest +sources. From this recondite investigation he excludes the Epicureans, who +decline all care of the republic, and bids them retire to their gardens. +He entreats that the new Academy should be silent, since her bold +objections would soon destroy the fair and well-ordered structure of his +lofty system. Zeno, Aristotle, and the immediate followers of Plato, he +represents as the teachers who best prepare a citizen for performing the +duties of social life. Them he professes chiefly to follow; and, in +conformity with their system, he announces in the first book, which treats +of laws in general, that man being linked to a supreme God by reason and +virtue, and the whole species being associated by a communion of feelings +and interests, laws are alike founded on divine authority and natural +benevolence. + +According to this sublime hypothesis, the whole universe forms one immense +commonwealth of gods and men, who participate of the same essence, and are +members of the same community. Reason prescribes the law of nature and +nations; and all positive institutions, however modified by accident or +custom, are drawn from the rule of right which the Deity has inscribed on +every virtuous mind. Some actions, therefore, are just in their own +nature, and ought to be performed, not because we live in a society where +positive laws punish those who pay no regard to them, but for the sake of +that equity which accompanies them, independently of human ordinances. +These principles may be applicable to laws in a certain sense; but, in +fact, it is rather moral right and justice than laws that the author +discusses--for bad or pernicious laws he does not admit to be laws at all. +To do justice, to love mercy, and to worship God with a pure heart, were, +doubtless, laws in his meaning, (that is, they were right,) previous to +their enactment, and no human enactment to the contrary could abrogate +them. His principles, however, apply to laws in this sense, and not to +arbitrary civil institutions. + +Having, in the first discourse, laid open the origin of laws, and source +of obligations, he proceeds, in the remaining books, to set forth a body +of laws conformable to his own plan and ideas of a well-ordered +state;--announcing, in the first place, those which relate to religion and +the worship of the gods; secondly, such as prescribe the duties and powers +of magistrates. These laws are, for the most part, taken from the ancient +government and customs of Rome, with some little modification calculated +to obviate or heal the disorders to which the republic was liable, and to +give its constitution a stronger bias in favour of the aristocratic +faction. The species of instruction communicated in these two books, has +very little reference to the sublime and general principles with which the +author set out. Many of his laws are arbitrary municipal regulations. The +number of the magistrates, the period of the duration of their offices, +with the suffrages and elections in the Comitia, were certainly not +founded in the immutable laws of God or nature; and the discussion +concerning them has led to the belief, that the second and third books +merely comprehended a collection of facts, from which general principles +were to be subsequently deduced. + +At the end of the third book it is mentioned, that the executive power of +the magistracy, and rights of the Roman citizens, still remain to be +discussed. In what number of books this plan was accomplished, is +uncertain. Macrobius, as we have seen, quotes the fifth book(413); and +Goerenz thinks it probable there were six,--the fourth being on the +executive power, the fifth on public, and the sixth on private rights. + +What authors Cicero chiefly followed and imitated in his work _De +Legibus_, has been a celebrated controversy since the time of Turnebus. It +seems now to be pretty well settled, that, in substance and principles, he +followed the Stoics; but that he imitated Plato in the style and dress in +which he arrayed his sentiments and opinions. That philosopher, as is well +known, after writing on government in general, drew up a body of laws +adapted to that particular form of it which he had delineated. In like +manner, Cicero chose to deliver his sentiments, not by translating Plato, +but by imitating his manner in the explication of them, and adapting +everything to the constitution of his own country. The Stoic whom he +principally followed, was probably Chrysippus, who wrote a book {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}(414), some passages of which are still extant, and exhibit the +outlines of the system adopted in the first book _De Legibus_. What of +general discussion appears in the third book is taken from Theophrastus, +Dio, and Panætius the Stoic. + +_De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum_.--This work is a philosophical account of +the various opinions entertained by the Greeks concerning the Supreme Good +and Extreme Evil, and is by much the most subtle and difficult of the +philosophic writings of Cicero. It consists of five books, of that sort of +dialogue, in which, as in the treatise _De Oratore_, the discourse is not +dramatically represented, but historically related by the author. The +constant repetition of "said I," and "says he," is tiresome and clumsy, +and not nearly so agreeable as the dramatic form of dialogue, where the +names of the different speakers are alternately prefixed, as in a play. +The whole is addressed to Marcus Brutus in an Introduction, where the +author excuses his study of philosophy, which some persons had blamed as +unbecoming his character and dignity. The conference in the first two +books is supposed to be held at Cicero's Cuman villa, which was situated +on the hills of old Cumæ, and commanded a prospect of the Campi Phlegræi, +the bay of Puteoli, with its islands, the Portus Misenus the harbour of +the Roman fleet, and Baiæ, the retreat of the most wealthy patricians. +Here Cicero received a visit from Lucius Torquatus, a confirmed Epicurean, +and from a young patrician, Caius Triarius, who is a mute in the ensuing +colloquy. Torquatus engages their host in philosophical discussion, by +requesting to know his objections to the Epicurean system. These Cicero +states generally; but Torquatus, in his answer, confines himself to the +question of the Supreme Good, which he placed in pleasure. This tenet he +supports on the principle, that, of all things, Virtue is the most +pleasurable; that we ought to follow its laws, in consequence of the +serenity and satisfaction arising from its practice; and that honourable +toil, or even pain, are not always to be avoided, as they often prove +necessary means towards obtaining the most exquisite gratifications. +Cicero, in his refutation, which is contained in the second book, gives +rather a different representation of the philosophy of Epicurus, from his +great poetic contemporary Lucretius. The term {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, (voluptas,) used by +Epicurus to express his Supreme Good, can only, as Cicero maintains, mean +sensual enjoyment, and can never be so interpreted as to denote +tranquillity of mind. But supposing virtue to be cultivated merely as +productive of pleasure, or as only valuable because agreeable--a cheat, who +had no remorse or conscience, might enjoy the _summum bonum_ in defrauding +a rightful owner of his property; and no act would thus be accounted +criminal, if it escaped the brand of public infamy. On the other hand, if +pain be accounted the Supreme Evil, how can any man enjoy felicity, when +this greatest of all misfortunes may at any moment seize him! + +In the third and fourth books, the scene of the dialogue is changed. In +order to inspect some books of Aristotelian philosophy, Cicero walks over +to the villa of young Lucullus, to whom he had been appointed guardian, by +the testament of his illustrious father. Here he finds Cato employed in +perusing certain works of Stoical authors; and a discussion arises on that +part of the Stoical system, relating to the Supreme Good, which Cato +placed in virtue alone. Cicero, in his answer to Cato, attempts to +reconcile this tenet with the doctrines of the Academic philosophy, which +he himself professed, by showing that the difference between them +consisted only in the import affixed to the term _good_--the Academic sect +assigning a pre-eminence to virtue, but admitting that external advantages +are good also in their decree. Now, the Stoics would not allow them to be +good, but merely valuable, eligible, or preferable; so that the sects +could be reconciled in sentiments, if the terms were a little changed. The +Academical system is fully developed in the fifth book, in a dialogue held +within the Academy; and, at the commencement, the associations which that +celebrated, though then solitary spot, was calculated to awaken are finely +described. "I see before me," says Piso, "the perfect form of Plato, who +was wont to dispute in this very place: These gardens not only recall him +to my memory, but present his very person to my senses--I fancy to myself +that here stood Speusippus--there Xenocrates--and here, on this bench, sat +his disciple Polemo. To me, our ancient Senate-house seems peopled with +the like visionary forms; for often when I enter it, the shades of Scipio, +of Cato, and of Lælius, and, in particular, of my venerable grandfather, +rise up to my imagination." Here Piso, who was a great Platonist, gives an +account, in the presence of Cicero and Cicero's brother Quintus, of the +hypothesis of the old Academy concerning moral good, which was also that +adopted by the Peripatetics. According to this system, the _summum bonum_ +consists in the highest improvement of all the mental and bodily +faculties. The perfection, in short, of everything consistent with nature, +enters into the composition of supreme felicity. Virtue, indeed, is the +highest of all things, but other advantages must also be valued according +to their worth. Even pleasures become ingredients of happiness, if they be +such as are included in the _prima naturæ_, or primary advantages of +nature. Cicero seems to approve this system, and objects only to one of +the positions of Piso, That a wise man must be always happy. Our author +thus contrasts with each other the different systems of Greek philosophy, +particularly the Epicurean with the Stoical tenets; and hence, besides, +refuting them in his own person, he makes the one baffle the other, till +he arrives at what is most probable, the utmost length to which the middle +or new Academy pretended to reach. The chief part of the work _De +Finibus_, is taken from the best writings of the different philosophers +whose doctrines he explains. The first book closely follows the tract of +Epicurus, {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. Cicero's second book, in which he refutes +Epicurism, is borrowed from the stoic Chrysippus, who wrote ten books Of +the beautiful, and of pleasure, ({~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},) wherein +he canvassed the Epicurean tenets concerning the Supreme Good and Evil. +His third book is derived from a treatise of the same Chrysippus, entitled +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}(415). The fourth, where he refutes the Stoics, is from the +writings of Polemo, who, following the example of his master Xenocrates, +amended the Academic doctrines, and nearly accommodated them on this +subject of Good and Evil to the opinions of the ancient Peripatetics. Some +works of Antiochus of Ascalon, who, in the time of Cicero, was the head of +the old Academy, supplied the materials for the concluding dialogue. + +The work _De Finibus_ was written in 708, and though begun subsequently to +the _Academica_, was finished before it. The period, however, of the three +different conferences of which it consists, is laid a considerable time +before the date of its publication. It is evident that the first dialogue +is supposed to be held in 703, since Torquatus, the principal speaker, who +perished in the civil war, is mentioned as _Prætor Designatus_, and this +prætorship he bore in the year 704. The following conference is placed +subsequently, at least, to the death of the great Lucullus, who died in +701. The last dialogue is carried more than thirty years back, being laid +in 674, when Cicero was in his twenty-seventh year, and was attending the +lessons of the Athenian philosophers. For this change, the reason seems to +have been, that as Piso was the fittest person whom the author could find +to support the doctrines of the old Academy, and as he had renounced his +friendship during the time of the disturbances occasioned by the Clodian +faction, it became necessary to place the conference at a period when they +were fellow-students at Athens. The critics have observed some +anachronisms in this last book, in making Piso refer to the other two +dialogues, of which he had no share, and could have had no knowledge, as +being held at a later period than that of the conference he attended. + +_Academica_.--This work is termed Academica, either because it chiefly +relates to the Academic philosophy, or because it was composed at the +villa of Puteoli, where a grove and portico were called by Cicero, from an +affected imitation of the Athenians, his Academy(416). There evidently +existed what may be termed two editions of the _Academica_, neither of +which we now possess perfect--what we have being the second book of the +first edition, and the first of the second. In the first edition, the +speakers were Cicero himself, Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius. The first +book was inscribed Catulus, and the second Lucullus, these persons being +the chief interlocutors in their respective divisions. The first dialogue, +or Catulus, was held in the villa of that senator. Every word of it is +unfortunately lost, but the import may be gathered, from the references to +it in the Lucullus, or second book, which is still extant. It appears to +have contained a sketch of the history of the old and the new Academy, and +then to have entered minutely into the doctrines and principles of the +latter, to which Catulus was attached. Catulus explained them as they had +been delivered by Carneades, whose lectures his father had attended, and +in his old age imparted their substance to his son. He refuted the +philosophy of Philo, where that writer differed from Carneades, (which, +though of the new Academy, he did in some particulars,) and also the +opinions of Antiochus, who followed the old Academy. Hortensius seems to +have made a short reply, but the more ample discussion of the system of +the old Academy was reserved for Lucullus. Previous, however, to entering +on this topic, our philosophers pass over from the Cuman villa of Catulus +to that of Hortensius, at Bauli, one of the many magnificent seats +belonging to that orator, and situated a little above the luxurious Baiæ, +in the direction towards Cumæ, on an inlet of the Bay of Naples. Here they +had resolved to remain till a favourable breeze should spring up, which +might carry Lucullus to his Neapolitan, and Cicero to his Pompeian villa. +While awaiting this opportunity, they repaired to an open gallery, which +looked towards the sea, whence they descried the vessels sailing across +the bay, and the ever changeful hue of its waters, which appeared of a +saffron colour under the morning beam, but became azure at noon, till, as +the day declined, they were rippled by the western breeze, and empurpled +by the setting sun(417). Here Lucullus commenced his defence of the old +Academy, and his disputation against Philo, according to what he had +learned from the philosopher Antiochus, who had accompanied him to +Alexandria, when he went there as Quæstor of Egypt. While residing in that +city, two books of Philo arrived, which excited the philosophic wrath of +Antiochus, and gave rise to much oral discussion, as well as to a book +from his pen, entitled _Sosus_, in which he attempted to refute the +doctrines so boldly promulgated by Philo. Lucullus was thus enabled fully +and faithfully to detail the arguments of the chief supporter and reviver +in those later ages of the old Platonic Academy. His discourse is chiefly +directed against that leading principle of the new Academy, which taught +that nothing can be known or ascertained. Recurring to nature, and the +constitution of man, he confirms the faith we have in our external senses, +and the mental conclusions deduced from them. To this Cicero replies, from +the writings of Clitomachus, and of course enlarges on the delusion of the +senses--the false appearances we behold in sleep, or while under the +influence of phrensy, and the uncertainty of everything so fully +demonstrated by the different opinions of the great philosophers, on the +most important of all subjects, the Providence of the Gods--the Supreme +Good and Evil, and the formation of the world. + +These two books, the Catulus and Lucullus, of which, as already mentioned, +the last alone is extant, were written after the termination of the civil +wars, and a copy of them sent by Cicero to Atticus. It occurred, however, +to the author soon afterwards, that the characters introduced were not +very suitable to the subjects discussed, since Catulus and Lucullus, +though both ripe scholars, and well-educated men, could not, as statesmen +and generals, be supposed to be acquainted with all the _minutiæ_ of +philosophic controversy contained in the books bearing their names. While +deliberating if he should not rather put the dialogue into the lips of +Cato and Brutus, he received a letter from Atticus, acknowledging the +present of his work, but mentioning that their common friend, Varro, was +displeased to find that none of his treatises were addressed to him, or +inscribed with his name. This intimation, and the incongruity of the +former characters with the subject, determined the author to dedicate the +work to Varro, and to make him the principal speaker in the dialogue(418). +This change, and the reflection, perhaps, on certain defects in the +arrangement of the old work, as also the discovery of considerable +omissions, particularly with regard to the tenets of Arcesilaus, the +founder of the new academy, induced him to remodel the whole, to add in +some places, to abridge in others, and to bestow on it more lustre and +polish of style. In this new form, the _Academica_ consisted of four +books, a division which was better adapted for treating his subject: But +of these four, only the first remains. The dialogue it contains is +supposed to be held during a visit which Atticus and Cicero paid to Varro, +in his villa near Cumæ. His guests entreat him to give an account of the +principles of the old Academy, from which Cicero and Atticus had long +since withdrawn, but to which Varro had continued steadily attached. This +first book probably comprehends the substance of what was contained in the +Catulus of the former edition. Varro, in complying with the request +preferred to him, deduces the origin of the old Academy from Socrates; he +treats of its doctrines as relating to physics, logic, and morals, and +traces its progress under Plato and his legitimate successors. Cicero +takes up the discourse when this historical account is brought down to +Arcesilaus, the founder of the new Academy. But the work is broken off in +the most interesting part, and just as the author is entering on the life +and lectures of Carneades, who introduced the new Academy at Rome. Cicero, +however, while he styles it the new Academy, will scarcely allow it to be +new, as it was in fact the most genuine exposition of those sublime +doctrines which Plato had imbibed from Socrates. The historical sketch of +the Academic philosophy having been nearly concluded in the first book, +the remaining books, which are lost, contained the disputatious part. In +the second book the doctrines of Arcesilaus were explained; and from one +of the few short fragments preserved, there appears to have been a +discussion concerning the remarkable changes that occur in the colour of +objects, and the complexion of individuals, in consequence of the +alterations they undergo in position or age, which was one of Arcesilaus' +chief arguments against the certainty of evidence derived from the senses. +The third and fourth books probably contained the doctrines of Carneades +and Philo, with Varro's refutation of them, according to the principles of +Antiochus. From a fragment of the third book, preserved by Nonius, it +appears that the scene of the dialogue was there transferred to the banks +of the Lucrine lake, which lay in the immediate vicinity of Varro's Cuman +villa(419). + +These four books formed the work which Cicero wished to be considered as +the genuine and improved Academics. The former edition, however, which he +had sent to Atticus, had gone abroad, and as he could not recall it, he +resolved to complete it, by prefixing an introductory eulogy of Catulus to +the first, and of Lucullus to the second book,--extolling, in particular, +the incredible genius of the latter, which enabled him, though previously +inexperienced in the art of war, merely by conversation and study, during +his voyage from Rome, to land on the coast of Asia, with the acquirements +of a consummate commander, and to extort the admission from his +antagonist, Mithridates, who had coped with Sylla, that he was the first +of warriors. + +This account of the two editions of the Academics, which was first +suggested by Talæus(420), has been adopted by Goerenz(421); and it appears +to me completely confirmed by the series of Cicero's letters to Atticus, +contained in the 13th book of his Epistles. It is by no means, however, +unanimously assented to by the French and German commentators. Lambinus, +seeing that Nonius quoted, as belonging to the fourth book of the +_Academica_, passages which we find in the Lucullus, or second book of the +first edition, considered and inscribed it as the fourth of the new +edition, instead of the second of the old, in which he was followed by +many subsequent editors; but this is easily accounted for, since the new +edition, being remodelled on the old, many things in the last or second +book of the old edition would naturally be transferred to the fourth or +last of the new, and be so cited by those grammarians who wrote when the +whole work was extant. Ranitz denies that there ever were two editions of +the _Academica_ made public, or preserved, and that, so far from the last +three books being lost, the Lucullus contains the whole of these three, +but from the error of transcribers they have been run into each +other(422). This critic is right, indeed, in the notion he entertains, +that Cicero wished the first edition of the _Academica_ to be destroyed, +or to fall into oblivion, but it does not follow that either of these +wishes was accomplished; and indeed it is proved, from Cicero's own +letters, that the older edition had passed into extensive circulation. + +_Tusculanæ Disputationes_, are so called by Cicero, from having been held +at his seat near Tusculum--a town which stood on the summit of the Alban +hill, about a mile higher up than the modern Frescati, and communicated +its name to all the rural retreats in its neighbourhood. This was Cicero's +chief and most favourite villa. "It is," says he, "the only spot in which +I completely rest from all my uneasiness, and all my toils."--"It stood," +says Eustace, "on one of the _Tumuli_, or beautiful hills grouped together +on the Alban Mount. It is bounded on the south by a deep dell, with a +streamlet that falls from the rock, then meanders through the recess, and +disappears in its windings. Eastward rises the lofty eminence, once +crowned with Tusculum--Westward, the view descends, and passing over the +Campagna, fixes on Rome, and the distant mountains beyond it.--On the +south, a gentle swell presents a succession of vineyards and orchards; and +behind it towers the summit of the Alban Mount, once crowned with the +temple of Jupiter Latiaris. Thus Cicero, from his portico, enjoyed the +noblest and most interesting view that could be imagined to a Roman and a +Consul; the temple of the tutelary divinity of the empire, the seat of +victory and triumph, and the theatre of his glorious labours,--the Capital +of the World(423)." A yet more recent traveller informs us, that "the +situation of the ancient Tusculum is delightful. The road which leads to +it is shaded with umbrageous woods of oak and ilex. The ancient trees and +soft verdant meadows around it, almost remind us of some of the loveliest +scenes of England; and the little brook that babbles by, was not the less +interesting from the thought, that its murmurs might perchance have once +soothed the ear of Cicero(424)." + +The distance of Tusculum from Rome, which was only four leagues, afforded +Cicero an easy retreat from the fatigues of the Senate and Forum. Being +the villa to which he most frequently resorted, he had improved and +adorned it beyond all his other mansions, and rendered its internal +elegance suitable to its majestic situation. It had originally belonged to +Sylla, by whom it was highly ornamented. In one of its apartments there +was a painting of his victory near Nola, during the Marsic war, in which +Cicero had served under him as a volunteer. But its new master had +bestowed on this seat a more classical and Grecian air. He had built +several halls and galleries in imitation of the schools and porticos of +Athens, which he termed Gymnasia. One of these, which he named the +Academia, was erected at a little distance from the villa, on the +declivity of the hill facing the Alban Mount(425). Another Gymnasium, +which he called the Lyceum, stood higher up the hill than the Academy: It +was adjacent to the villa, and was chiefly designed for philosophical +conferences. Cicero had given a general commission to Atticus, who spent +much of his time in Greece, to purchase any elegant or curious piece of +Grecian art, in painting or sculpture, which his refined taste might +select as a suitable ornament for his Tusculan villa. He, in consequence, +received from his friend a set of marble Mercuries, with brazen heads, +with which he was much pleased; but he was particularly delighted with a +sort of compound emblematical figures called _Hermathenæ_ and _Hermeraclæ_ +representing Mercury and Minerva, or Mercury and Hercules, jointly on one +base; for, Hercules being the proper deity of the Gymnasium, Minerva of +the Academy, and Mercury common to both, they precisely suited the purpose +for which he desired them to be procured. One of these Minerval Mercuries +pleased him so wonderfully, and stood in such an advantageous position, +that he declared the whole Academy at Tusculum appeared to have been +contrived in order to receive it(426). So intent was he on embellishing +this Tusculan villa with all sorts of Grecian art, that he sent over to +Atticus the plans and devices for his ceilings, which were of stucco-work, +in order to bespeak various pieces of sculpture and painting to be +inserted in the compartments; as also the covers for two of his wells or +fountains, which, by the custom of those times, were often formed after +some elegant pattern, and adorned with figures in relief(427). + +La Grotta Ferrata, a convent of Basilian friars, is now, according to +Eustace, built on the site of Cicero's Tusculan villa. Nardini, who wrote +about the year 1650, says, that there had been recently found, among the +ruins of Grotta Ferrata, a piece of sculpture, which Cicero himself +mentions in one of his Familiar Epistles. In the middle of last century, +there yet remained vast subterranean apartments, as well as a great +circumference and extent of ruins(428). But these, it would appear, have +been still farther dilapidated since that period. "Scarce a trace," says +Eustace, "of the ruins of Tusculum is now discoverable: Great part +remained at the end of the 10th century, when a Greek monk from Calabria +demolished it, and erected on the site, the monastery of Grotta Ferrata. +At each end of the portico is fixed in the wall a fragment of basso +relievo. One represents a philosopher sitting with a scroll in his hand, +in a thinking posture--in the other, are four figures supporting the feet +of a fifth of colossal size, supposed to represent Ajax. These, with the +beautiful pillars which support the church, are the only remnants of the +decorations and furniture of the ancient villa. '_Conjiciant_,' says an +inscription near the spot, '_quæ et quanta fuerunt_.'(429)" + +When Cæsar had attained the supremacy at Rome, and Cicero no longer gave +law to the Senate, he became the head of a sort of literary or +philosophical society. Filelfo, who delivered public lectures at Rome, on +the Tusculan Disputations, attempted to prove that he had stated meetings +of learned men at his house, and opened a regular Academy at +Tusculum(430). This notion was chiefly founded on a letter of Cicero to +Pætus, where he says that he had followed the example of the younger +Dionysius, who, being expelled from Syracuse, taught a school at Athens. +At all events, it was his custom, in the opportunities of his leisure, to +carry some friends with him from Rome to the country, where the +entertainments they enjoyed were chiefly speculative. In this manner, +Cicero, on one occasion, spent five days at his Tusculan villa; and after +employing the morning in declamation and rhetorical exercises, retired in +the afternoon with his friends to the gallery, called the Academy, which +he had constructed for the purpose of philosophical conference. Here +Cicero daily offered to maintain a thesis on any topic proposed to him by +his guests; and the five dialogues thus introduced, were, as we are +informed by the author, afterwards committed to writing, nearly in the +words which had actually passed(431). They were completed early in 709, +and, like so many of his other works, are dedicated to Brutus--each +conference being at the same time furnished with an introduction +expatiating on the excellence of philosophy, and the advantage of +naturalizing the wisdom of the Greeks, by transfusing it into the Latin +language. In the first dialogue, entitled _De Contemnenda Morte_, one of +the guests, who is called the _Auditor_ through the remainder of the +performance, asserts, that death is an evil. This proposition Cicero +immediately proceeds to refute, which naturally introduces a disquisition +on the immortality of the soul--a subject which, in the pages of Cicero, +continued to be involved in the same doubt and darkness that had veiled it +in the schools of Greece. + +It is true, that in the ancient world some notion had been entertained, +and by a few some hope had been cherished, that we are here only in the +infancy of our existence, and that the grave might be the porch of +immortality, and not the goal of our career. The natural love that we have +for life, amidst all its miseries--the grief that we sometimes feel at +being torn from all that is dear to us--the desire for posterity and for +posthumous fame--the humiliating idea, that the thoughts which wander +through eternity, should be the operations of a being destined to flutter +for a moment on the surface of the earth, and then for ever to be buried +in its bosom--all, in short, that is selfish, and all that is social in our +nature, combined in giving importance to the inquiry, If the thinking +principle was to be destroyed by death, or if that great change was to be +an introduction to a future state of existence. Having thus a natural +desire for the truth of this doctrine, the philosophers of antiquity +anxiously devised arguments, which might justify their hopes. Sometimes +they deduced them from metaphysical speculations--the spirituality, unity, +and activity of the soul--sometimes from its high ideas of things moral and +intellectual. Is it possible, they asked, that a being of such excellence +should be here imprisoned for a term of years, only to be the sport of the +few pleasures and the many pains which chequer this mortal life? Is not +its future destination seen in that satiety and disrelish, which attend +all earthly enjoyments--in those desires of the mind for things more pure +and intellectual than are here supplied--in that longing and endeavour, +which we feel after something above us, and perfective of our nature? At +other times, they have found arguments in the unequal distribution of +rewards and punishments; and in our sighs over the misfortunes of virtue, +they have recognized a principle, which points to a future state of +things, where that shall be discovered to be good which we now lament as +evil, and where the consequences of vice and virtue shall be more fully +and regularly unfolded, than in this inharmonious scene. They have then +looked abroad into nature, and have seen, that if death follows life, life +seemingly emanates from death, and that the cheerful animations of spring +succeed to the dead horrors of winter. They have observed the wonderful +changes that take place in some sentient beings--they have considered those +which man himself has undergone--and, charmed by all these speculations, +they have indulged in the pleasing hope, that our death may, like our +birth, be the introduction to a new state of existence. But all these fond +desires--all these longings after immortality, were insufficient to dispel +the doubts of the sage, or to fill the moralist with confidence and +consolation. The wisest and most virtuous of the philosophers of +antiquity, and who most strongly indulged the hope of immortality, is +represented by an illustrious disciple as expressing himself in a manner +which discloses his sad uncertainty, whether he was to be released from +the tomb, or for ever confined within its barriers. + +In the age of Cicero, the existence of a world beyond the grave was still +covered with shadows, clouds, and darkness. "Whichsoever of the opinions +concerning the substance of the soul be true," says he, in his first +Tusculan Disputation, "it will follow, that death is either a good, or at +least not an evil--for if it be brain, blood, or heart, it will perish with +the whole body--if fire, it will be extinguished--if breath, it will be +dissipated--if harmony, it will be broken--not to speak of those who affirm +that it is nothing; but other opinions give hope, that the vital spark, +after it has left the body, may mount up to Heaven, as its proper +habitation." + +Cicero then proceeds to exhaust the whole Platonic reasoning for the +soul's immortality, and its ascent to the celestial regions, where it will +explore and traverse all space--receiving, in its boundless flight, +infinite enjoyment. From his system of future existence, Cicero excludes +all the gloomy fables feigned of the descent to Avernus, the pale murky +regions, the sluggish stream, the gaunt hound, and the grim boatman. But +even if death is to be considered as the total extinction of sense and +feeling, our author still denies that it should be accounted an evil. This +view he strongly supports, from a consideration of the insignificance of +those pleasures of which we are deprived, and beautifully illustrates, +from the fate of many characters distinguished in history, who, by an +earlier death, would have avoided the greatest ills of life. Had Metellus +died sooner, he would not have laid his sons on the funeral pile--had +Pompey expired, when the inhabitants of all Italy were decked with wreaths +and garlands, as testimonies of joy for his restoration to health from the +fever with which he was seized in Campania, he would not have taken arms +unprepared for the contest, nor fled his home and country; nor, having +lost a Roman army, would he have fallen on a foreign shore by the sword of +a slave(432). He completes these illustrations by reference to his own +misfortunes; and the arguments which he deduced from them, received, in a +few months, a strong and melancholy confirmation.--"Etiam ne mors nobis +expedit? qui et domesticis et forensibus solatiis ornamentisque privati, +certe, si ante occidissemus, mors nos a malis, non a bonis abstraxisset." + +The same unphilosophical guest, who had asserted that death was a +disadvantage, and whom Cicero, in charity to his memory, does not name, is +doomed, in the second dialogue, _De Tolerando Dolore_, to announce the +still more untenable proposition, that pain is an evil. But Cicero +demonstrated, that its sufferings may be overcome, not by remembrance of +the silly Epicurean maxims,--"Short if severe, and light if long," but by +fortitude and patience; and he accordingly censures those philosophers, +who have represented pain in too formidable colours, and reproaches those +poets, who have described their heroes as yielding to its influence. + +In the third book, _De Ægritudine Lenienda_, the author treats of the best +alleviations of sorrow. To foresee calamities, and be prepared for them, +is either to repel their assaults, or to mitigate their severity. After +they have occurred, we ought to remember, that grieving is a folly which +cannot avail us, and that misfortunes are not peculiar to ourselves, but +are the common lot of humanity. The sorrow of which Cicero here treats, +seems chiefly that occasioned by deprivation of friends and relatives, to +which the recent loss of his daughter Tullia, and the composition of his +treatise _De Consolatione_, had probably directed his attention. + +The fourth book treats _De Reliquis animi Perturbationibus_, including all +those passions and vexations, which the author considers as diseases of +the soul. These he classes and defines--pointing out, at the same time, the +remedy or relief appropriate to each disquietude. In the fifth book, in +which he attempts to prove that virtue alone is sufficient for perfect +felicity--_Virtutem ad beate vivendum se ipsâ esse contentam_--he coincides +more completely with the opinions of the Stoics, than in his work _De +Finibus_, where he seems to assent, to the Peripatetic doctrine, "that +though virtue be the chief good, the perfection of the other qualities of +nature enters into the composition of supreme happiness." + +In these Tusculan Disputations, which treat of the subjects most important +and subservient to the happiness of life, the whole discourse is in the +mouth of Tully himself;--the Auditor, whose initial letter some editors +have whimsically mistaken for that of Atticus, being a mere man of straw. +He is set up to announce what is to be represented as an untenable +proposition: but after this duty is performed, no English hearer or Welsh +uncle could have listened with less dissent and interruption. The great +object of Cicero's continued lectures, is by fortifying the mind with +practical and philosophical lessons, adapted to the circumstances of life, +to elevate us above the influence of all its passions and pains. + +The first conference, which is intended to diminish the dread of death, is +the best; but they are all agreeable, chiefly from the frequent allusion +to ancient fable, the events of Greek and Roman history, and the memorable +sayings of heroes and sages. There is something in the very names of such +men as Plato and Epaminondas, which bestows a sanctity and fervour on the +page. The references also to the ancient Latin poets, and the quotations +from their works, particularly the tragic dramas, give a beautiful +richness to the whole composition; and even on the driest topics, the mind +is relieved by the recurrence of extracts characteristic of the vigour of +the Roman Melpomene, who, though unfit, as in Greece, + + "To wake the soul by tender strokes of art," + +long trod the stage with dignity and elevation. + +_Paradoxa_.--This tract contains a defence of six peculiar opinions or +paradoxes of the Stoics, somewhat of the description of those which Cato +was wont to promulgate in the Senate. These are, that what is morally +fitting (_honestum_) is alone good,--that the virtuous can want nothing for +complete happiness--that there are no degrees in crimes or good +actions--that every fool is mad--that the wise alone are wealthy--that the +wise man alone is free, and that every fool is a slave. These absurd and +quibbling positions the author supports, in a manner certainly more +ingenious than philosophical. The _Paradoxa_, indeed, seem to have been +written as a sort of exercise of rhetorical wit, rather than as a serious +disquisition in philosophy; and each paradox is personally applied or +directed against an individual. There is no precision whatever in the +definitions; the author plays on the ambiguity of the words, _bonum_ and +_dives_, and his arguments frequently degenerate into particular examples, +which are by no means adequate to support his general proposition. + +_De Naturâ Deorum_.--Of the various philosophical works of Cicero, the most +curious perhaps, and important, is that on the Nature of the Gods. It is +addressed to Brutus, and is written in dialogue. This form of composition, +besides the advantages already pointed out, is peculiarly fitted for +subjects of delicacy and danger, where the author dreads to expose himself +to reproach or persecution. On this account chiefly it seems to have been +adopted by the disciples of Socrates. That philosopher had fallen a victim +to popular fury,--to those imputations of impiety which have so often and +so successfully been repeated against philosophers. In the schools of his +disciples, a double doctrine seems to have been adopted for the purpose of +escaping persecution, and Plato probably considered the form of dialogue +as best calculated to secure him from the imputations of his enemies. It +was thus, in later times, that Galileo endeavoured to shield himself from +the attacks of error and injustice, and imagined, that by presenting his +conclusions in the Platonic manner, he would shun the malignant vigilance +of the Court of Inquisition(433). + +In the dialogue _De Naturâ Deorum_, the author presents the doctrines of +three of the most distinguished sects among the ancients--the Epicureans, +the Stoics, and the Academics--on the important subject of the Nature of +the Divine Essence, and of Providence. He introduces three illustrious +persons of his country, each elucidating the tenets of the sect that he +preferred, and contending for them, doubtless, with the chief arguments +which the learning or talents of the author himself could supply. Cicero +represents himself as having gone to the house of C. Cotta the Pontifex +Maximus, whom he found sitting in his study with C. Velleius, a Senator, +who professed the principles of Epicurus, and Q. Lucilius Balbus, a +supporter of the doctrines of the Stoics.--"As soon as Cotta saw me, 'You +are come,' says he, 'very seasonably, for I have a dispute with Velleius +upon an important subject, in which, considering the nature of your +studies, it is not improper for you to join.'--'Indeed,' said I, 'I am come +very seasonably, as you say, for here are three chiefs of the three +principal sects met together.' " Cotta himself is a new Academic, and he +proceeds to inform Cicero that they were discoursing on the nature of the +gods, a topic which had always appeared to him very obscure, and that +therefore he had prevailed on Velleius to state the sentiments of Epicurus +upon the subject. Velleius is requested to go on with his arguments; and +after recapitulating what he had already said, "with the confidence +peculiar to his sect, dreading nothing so much as to seem to doubt about +anything, he began, as if he had just then descended from the council of +the gods(434)." + +The discourse of Velleius consists, in a considerable degree, of raillery +and declamations directed against the doctrines of different sects, of +which he enumerates a great variety, and which supposes in Cicero +extensive philosophical erudition, or rather, perhaps, from the slight +manner in which they are passed over, that he had taken his account of +them from some ancient Diogenes Laertius, or Stanley(435).--"I have +hitherto," says Velleius, "rather exposed the dreams of dotards than the +opinions of philosophers; and whoever considers how rashly and +inconsiderately their tenets are advanced, must entertain a veneration for +Epicurus, and rank him in the number of those beings who are the subject +of this dispute, for he alone first founded the existence of the gods, on +the impression which nature herself hath made on the minds of men." + +Velleius having concluded his discourse, (the remainder of which can now +have little interest as relating to the form of the gods and their +apathy,) Cotta, after some compliments to him, enters on a confutation of +what he had advanced; and, while admitting that there are gods, he +pronounces the reasons given by Velleius for their existence to be +altogether insufficient. He then proceeds to attack the other positions of +Velleius, with regard to the form of the gods, and their exemption from +the labours of creation and providence. His arguments against +Anthropomorphism are excellent; and in reply to the hypothesis of Epicurus +concerning the indolence of the gods, he inquires, "What reason is there +that men should worship the gods, when the gods, as you say, not only do +not regard men, but are entirely careless of everything, and absolutely do +nothing? But they are, you say, of so glorious a nature, that a wise man +is induced by their excellence to adore them. Can there be any glory in +that nature, which only contemplates its own happiness, and neither will +do, nor does, nor ever did anything? Besides, what piety is due to a being +from whom you receive nothing, or how are you indebted to him who bestows +no benefits?" + +When Cotta has concluded his refutation of Velleius, with which the first +book closes, Balbus is next requested to give the sentiments of the +Stoics, on the subject of the gods, to which, making a slight excuse, he +consents. His first argument for their existence, after shortly alluding +to the magnificence of the world, and the prevalence of the doctrine, is +"the frequent appearance of the gods themselves. In the war with the +Latins," he continues, "when A. Posthumius, the Dictator, attacked +Octavius Mamilius, the Tusculan, at Regillus, Castor and Pollux were seen +fighting in our army on horseback, and since that time the same offspring +of Tyndarus gave notice of the defeat of Perseus; for P. Vatienus, +grandfather of the present youth of that name, coming in the night to +Rome, from his government of Reate, two young men on white horses appeared +to him, and told him King Perseus was that day taken prisoner. This news +he carried to the Senate, who immediately threw him into prison, for +speaking inconsiderately on a state affair; but when it was confirmed by +letters from Paullus, he was recompensed by the Senate with land and +exemption. The voices of the Fauns have been often heard, and deities have +appeared in forms so visible, that he who doubts must be hardened in +stupidity or impiety." + +Balbus, after farther arguing for the existence of the gods, from events +consequent on auguries and auspices, proceeds to what is more peculiarly +the doctrine of the Stoics. He remarks,--"that Cleanthes, one of the most +distinguished philosophers of that sect, imputes the idea of the gods +implanted in the minds of men, to four causes--The first is, what I just +now mentioned, a pre-knowledge of future things: The second is, the great +advantages we enjoy from the temperature of the air, the fertility of the +earth, and the abundance of various kinds of benefits: The third is, the +terror with which the mind is affected by thunder, tempests, snow, hail, +devastation, pestilence, earthquakes, often attended with hideous noises, +showers of stones, and rain like drops of blood. His fourth cause," +continues Balbus, "and that the strongest, is drawn from the regularity of +the motion, and revolution of the heavens, the variety, and beauty, and +order of the sun, moon, and stars; the appearance only of which is +sufficient to convince us they are not the effects of chance; as when we +enter into a house, a school, or court, and observe the exact order, +discipline, and method therein, we cannot suppose they are so regulated +without a cause, but must conclude there is some one who commands, and to +whom obedience is paid; so we have much greater reason to think that such +wonderful motions, revolutions, and order of those many and great bodies, +no part of which is impaired by the vast infinity of age, are governed by +some intelligent being." + +This argument is very well stated, but Balbus, in a considerable degree, +weakens its effect, by proceeding to contend, that the world, or universe +itself, (the stoical deity,) and its most distinguished parts, the sun, +moon, and stars, are possessed of reason and wisdom. This he founds partly +on a metaphysical argument, and partly on the regularity, beauty, and +order of their motions. + +Balbus, after various other remarks, enters on the topic of the creation +of the world, and its government by the providence of the gods. He justly +observes, that nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that a world, so +beautifully adorned, could be formed by chance, or by a fortuitous +concourse of atoms(436). "He who believes this possible," says he, "may as +well believe, that if a great number of the one-and-twenty letters, +composed either of gold, or any other metal, were thrown on the ground, +they would fall into such order as legibly to form the Annals of Ennius. I +doubt whether fortune could make a single verse of them." He quotes a very +beautiful passage from a now lost work of Aristotle, in which that +philosopher urges the argument that may be deduced from providential +design, with more soundness and imagination than are usual with him. +Balbus then proceeds to display the marks of deliberate plan in the +universe, beginning with astronomy. In treating of the constellations, he +makes great use of Cicero's poetical version of Aratus, much of which he +is supposed, perhaps with little probability, or modesty in the author, to +have by heart; and, accordingly, we are favoured with a considerable +number of these verses. He also adduces manifold proofs of design and +sovereign wisdom, from a consideration of plants, land animals, fishes, +and the structure of the human body; a subject on which Cicero discovers +more anatomical knowledge than one should have expected. Balbus also +contends that the gods not only provide for mankind universally, but for +individuals. "The frequent appearances of the gods," he observes, +"demonstrate their regard for cities and particular men. This, indeed, is +also apparent from the foreknowledge of events, which we receive either +sleeping or waking." + +Cicero makes Balbus, in the conclusion of his discourse, express but +little confidence in his own arguments.--"This is almost the whole," says +he, "that has occurred to my mind, on the nature of the gods, and that I +thought proper to advance. Do you, Cotta, if I may advise, defend the same +cause. Remember that in Rome you keep the first rank--remember you are +Pontifex. It is a pernicious and impious custom, either seriously or +seemingly to argue against the gods." + +In the third book of this very remarkable work, Cicero exhibits Cotta as +refuting the doctrines of Balbus. "But before I enter on the subject," +says Cotta, "I have a word to say concerning myself; for I am greatly +influenced by your authority, and your exhortation at the conclusion of +your discourse, to remember I was Cotta, and Pontifex; by which, I +presume, you intimated that I should defend the religion and ceremonies +which we received from our ancestors: Truly, I always have, and always +will defend them, nor shall the arguments, either of the learned or +unlearned, ever remove the opinions I have imbibed concerning the worship +of the immortal gods. In matters of religion, I submit to the rules of the +High Priests, T. Coruncanius, P. Scipio, and P. Scævola. These, Balbus," +continues he, "are my sentiments, both as a priest and Cotta. But you must +bring me to your opinion by the force of your reason; for a philosopher +should prove to me the religion he would have me embrace; but I must +believe without proof the religion of our ancestors." + +The Pontifex thus professing to believe the existence of the gods merely +on the authority of his ancestors, proceeds to ridicule this very +authority. He represents the appearances of Castor and Pollux, and those +others adduced by Balbus, as idle tales. "Do you take these for fabulous +stories?" says Balbus. "Is not the temple built by Posthumius, in honour +of Castor and Pollux, to be seen in the Forum? Is not the decree of the +Senate concerning Vatienus still subsisting? Ought not such authorities to +move you?"--"You oppose me," replies Cotta, "with stories; but I ask +reasons of you." + +A chasm here follows in the original, in which Cotta probably stated the +reasons of his scepticism, in spite of the acts of the Senate, and so many +public memorials of supernatural facts. "You believe," continues Cotta, +"that the Decii, in devoting themselves to death, appeased the gods. How +great, then, was the iniquity of the gods, that they could not be +appeased, but at the price of such noble blood!--As to the voice of the +Fauns, I never heard it; if you assure me you have, I shall believe you; +though I am absolutely ignorant what a Faun is. Truly, Balbus, you have +not yet proved the existence of the gods. I believe it, indeed, but not +from any arguments of the Stoics. Cleanthes, you said, attributes the idea +that men have of the gods to four causes. The first is a foreknowledge of +future events; the second,--tempests and other shocks of nature; the +third,--the utility and plenty of things we enjoy; the fourth,--the +invariable order of the stars and heavens. Foreknowledge I have already +answered. With regard to tempests in the air, the sea, and the earth, I +own, that many people are affrighted by them, and imagine that the +immortal gods are the authors of them. But the question is not, whether +there be people who believe there are gods, but whether there are gods or +not. As to the two other causes of Cleanthes, one of which is derived from +the plenty we enjoy, the other from the invariable order of the seasons +and heavens, I shall treat on them when I answer your discourse concerning +the providence of the gods." + +In the meantime, Cotta goes on to refute the Stoical notions with regard +to the reason and understanding attributed to the sun, moon, and stars. He +then proceeds to controvert, and occasionally to ridicule, the opinions +entertained of numerous heathen gods; the three Jupiters, and other +deities, and sons of deities.--"You call Jupiter and Neptune gods," says +he; "their brother Pluto, then, is one; Charon, also, and Cerberus, are +gods, but that cannot be allowed. Nor can Pluto be placed among the +deities; how then can his brothers?" Cotta next ridicules the Stoics for +the delight they take in the explication of fables, and in the etymology +of names; after which he says, "Let us proceed to the two other parts of +our dispute. 1st, Whether there is a Divine Providence that governs the +world? and, lastly, Whether that Providence particularly regards mankind? +For these are the remaining propositions of your discourse." + +There follows a considerable _hiatus_ in the original, so that we are +deprived of all the arguments of Cotta on the proposition maintained by +Balbus, that there is a Divine Providence which governs the world. At the +end of this chasm, we find him quoting long passages from tragedies, and +arguing against the advantages of reason, from the ill use which has been +made of it. He then adduces a number of instances, drawn from history and +observation, of fortunate vice, and of wrecked and ruined virtue, in order +to overturn the doctrine of _particular providence_; contending, that as +no family or state can be supposed to be formed with any judgment or +discipline, if there are no rewards for good actions, or punishment for +bad, so we cannot believe that a Divine Providence regulates the world, +when there is no distinction between the honest and the wicked. + +"This," concludes Cotta, "is the purport of what I had to say concerning +the nature of the gods, not with a design to destroy their existence, but +merely to show what an obscure point it is, and with what difficulties an +explanation of it is attended." Balbus observing that Cotta had finished +his discourse, "You have been very severe," says he, "against the being of +a Divine Providence, a doctrine established by the Stoics, with piety and +wisdom; but, as it grows too late, I shall defer my answer to another +day."--"There is nothing," replied Cotta, "I desire more than to be +confuted."--"The conversation ended here, and we parted. Velleius judged +that the arguments of Cotta were the truest, but those of Balbus seemed to +me to have the greater probability." + +It seems likely that this profession or pretext, that the discourse is +left unfinished, may (like the occasional apologies of Cotta) be +introduced to save appearances(437). It is evident, however, that Cicero +intended to add, at least, new prefaces to the two latter books of this +work, probably from suspecting, as he went on, that the discourses are too +long to have taken place in one day, as they are now represented. Balbus +says, in the second book, "Velut a te ipso, hesterno die dictum est(438)." +Fulvius Ursinus had remarked that this was an inadvertence, either in +Cicero or a transcriber, as the discourse is continued throughout the same +day. That it was not owing to a transcriber, or to any inadvertence in +Cicero, but to a design of altering the introductions to the second and +third books, appears from a passage in book third, where Cotta says to +Balbus, "Omniaque, quæ a te _nudiustertius_ dicta sunt(439)." Now, it is +extremely unlikely that there should have been two such instances of +inadvertency in the author, or carelessness in the copyist. + +The work on the Nature of the Gods, though in many respects a most +valuable production, and a convincing proof of the extensive learning of +its author, gives a melancholy picture of the state of his mind. Unfitted +to bear adversity, and borne down by the calamities of his country, and +the death of his beloved daughter, (misfortunes of which he often +complains,) Cicero seems to have become a sceptic, and occasionally to +have doubted even of a superintending Providence. Warburton appears to be +right in supposing, that Cicero was advanced in years before he seriously +adopted the sceptical opinions of the new Academy. "This farther appears," +says he, after some remarks on this head, "from a place in his Nature of +the Gods, where he says, that his espousing the new Academy of a sudden, +was a thing altogether unlooked for(440). The change, then, was late, and +after the ruin of the republic, when Cicero retired from business, and had +leisure in his recess to plan and execute this noble undertaking. So that +a learned critic appears to have been mistaken, when he supposed the +choice of the new Academy was made in his youth. 'This sect,' says he, +'did best agree with the vast genius, and ambitious spirit, of _young +Cicero_(441).' " + +It appears not, however, to have been, as Warburton supposes, altogether +from a systematic plan, of explaining to his countrymen the philosophy of +the Greeks, that Cicero became a sceptic; but partly from gloomy views of +nature and providence. It seems difficult otherwise to account for the +circumstance, that Cotta, an ancient and venerable Consul, the _Pontifex_ +of the metropolis of the world, should be introduced as contending, even +against an Epicurean, for the non-existence of the gods. Lord Bolingbroke +has justly remarked, "that Cotta disputes so vehemently, and his arguments +extend so far, that Tully makes his own brother accuse him directly, and +himself by consequence indirectly, of atheism.--'Studio contra Stoicos +disserendi deos mihi videtur funditus tollere.' Now, what says Tully in +his own name? He tells his brother that Cotta disputes in that manner, +rather to confute the Stoics than to destroy the religion of +mankind.--'Magis quam ut hominum deleat religionem.' But Quintus answers, +that is, Tully makes him answer, he was not the bubble of an artifice, +employed to save the appearance of departing from the public religious +institutions. 'Ne communi jure migrare videatur(442).' " Cotta, indeed, +goes so far in his attack on Providence, that Lord Bolingbroke, who is not +himself a model of orthodoxy, takes up the other side of the question +against the Roman Pontiff, and pleads the cause of Providence with no +little reason and eloquence.(443) + +In the foregoing analysis, or abridgment of the work on the Nature of the +Gods, it will have been remarked, that two chasms occur in the argument of +Cotta. Olivet enters into some discussion with regard to the latter and +larger chasm. "I cannot," says he, "see any justice in the accusation +against the primitive Christians, of having torn this passage out of all +the MSS. What appearance is there, that through a pious motive they should +have erased this any more than many others in the same book, which they +must undoubtedly have looked upon as no less pernicious?" Olivet seems +inclined to suspect the Pagans; but, in my opinion, the chasms in the +discourse of Cotta, if not accidental, are to be attributed rather to +Christian than pagan zeal. Arnobius, indeed, speaking of this work, says, +That many were of opinion that it ought to have been destroyed by the +Roman Senate, as the Christian faith might be approved by it, and the +authority of antiquity subverted(444). There is no evidence, however, that +any such destruction or mutilation was attempted by the Pagans; and we +find that the satire directed against the heathen deities has been +permitted to remain, while the chasms intervene in portions of the work, +which might have been supposed by a pious zealot, to bear, in some +measure, against the Christian, as well as the Pagan faith. In the first +of them, the Pontifex begins, and is proceeding to contend, that in spite +of Acts of the Senate, temples, statues, and other commemorations of +miraculous circumstances, all such prodigies were nothing but mere fables, +however solemnly attested, or generally believed. Now, the transcriber +might fear, lest a similar inference should be drawn by the sceptic, to +that which has in fact been deduced by the English translator of this +work, in the following passage of a note:--"Hence we see what little credit +ought to be paid to facts, said to be done out of the ordinary course of +nature. These miracles are well attested: They were recorded in the annals +of a great people--believed by many learned and otherwise sagacious +persons, and received as religious truths by the populace; but the +testimonies of ancient records, the credulity of some learned men, and the +implicit faith of the vulgar, can never prove that to have been, which is +impossible in the nature of things ever to be." At the beginning of the +other and larger chasm, Cotta was proceeding to argue against the +proposition of the Stoics, that there is a Divine Providence which governs +the world. Now, there is a considerable analogy between the system of the +ancient Stoics, and the Christian scheme of Providence, both in the +theoretical doctrine, and in the practical inference, of the propriety of +a cheerful and unqualified submission to the chain of events--to the +dispensations of nature in the Stoical, and of God in the purer doctrine. +To Christian zeal, therefore, rather than to pagan prudence, we must +attribute the two chasms which now intervene in the discourse of Cotta. + +In the remarks which have been now offered on this work, _De Naturâ +Deorum_, I trust I have brought no unfounded or uncharitable accusation +against Cicero. He was a person, at least in his own age and country, of +unrivalled talents and learning--he was a great, and, on the whole, a good +man--but his mind was sensitive, and feeble against misfortune. There are +æras, and monuments perhaps in every æra, when we are ready to exclaim +with Brutus, "That virtue is an empty name:" And the doubts and darkness +of such a mind as that of Cicero, enriched with all the powers of genius, +and all the treasures of philosophy, afford a new proof of the necessity +for the appearance of that Divine Messenger, who was then on the eve of +descending upon earth. + +_De Divinatione_.--The long account which has been given of the dialogue on +the Nature of the Gods, renders it unnecessary to say much on the work _De +Divinatione_. This treatise may be considered, in some measure, as a +supplement to that _De Naturâ Deorum_. The religion of the Romans +consisted of two different branches--the worship of the gods, and the +observation of the signs by which their will was supposed to be revealed. +Cicero having already discussed what related to the nature and worship of +the gods, a treatise on Divination formed a natural continuation of the +subject(445). In his work on this topic, which was one almost peculiar to +the Romans, Cicero professes to relate the substance of a conversation +held at Tusculum with his brother, in which Quintus, on the principles of +the Stoics, supported the credibility of divination, while Cicero himself +controverted it. The dialogue consists of two books, the first of which +comprehends an enumeration by Quintus of the different kinds or classes of +divination, with the reasons or presumptions in their favour. The second +book contains a refutation by Cicero of his brother's arguments. + +Quintus, while walking with his brother in the Lyceum at Tusculum, begins +his observations by stating, that he had read the third book which Cicero +had lately written, on the Nature of the Gods, in which Cotta seemed to +contend for atheism, but had by no means been able to refute Balbus. He +remarks, at the same time, that the subject of divination had not been +treated of in these books, perhaps in order that it might be separately +discussed more fully, and that he would gladly, if his brother had leisure +and inclination, state his own opinions on the subject. The answer of +Cicero is very noble.--"Ego vero, inquam, Philosophiæ, Quinte, semper vaco. +Hoc autem tempore, quum sit nihil aliud quod libenter agere possim multo +magis aveo audire de divinatione quid sentias." + +Quintus, after observing that divinations of various kinds have been +common among all people, remarks, and afterwards frequently repeats, that +it is no argument against different modes of divination, that we cannot +explain how or why certain things happen. It is sufficient, that we know +from experience and history, that they do happen(446). He contends that +Cicero himself supports the doctrine of divination, in the poem on his +Consulship, from which he quotes a long passage, sufficient to console us +for the loss of that work. He argues, that although events may not always +succeed as predicted, it does not follow that divination is not an art, +more than that medicine is not an art, because cures may not always be +effected. In the course of this book we have a complete account of the +state contrivances which were practised by the Roman government, to instil +among the people those hopes and fears whereby it regulated public +opinion, in which view it has been justly termed a chapter in the history +of man. The great charm, however, of the first book, consists in the +number of histories adduced by Quintus, in proof of the truth of different +kinds of omens, dreams, portents, and divinations.--"Negemus omnia," says +he, "comburamus annales." He states various circumstances consistent with +his and his brother's own knowledge; and, among others, two remarkable +dreams, one of which had occurred to Cicero, and one to himself. He asks +if the Greek history be also a fable.--"Num etiam Græcorum historia mentita +est?" and, in short, throughout takes the following high ground:--"Quid +est, igitur, cur dubitandum sit, quin sint ea, quæ disputavi, verissima? +Si ratio mecum facit, si eventa, si populi, si nationes, si Græci, si +barbari, si majores etiam nostri, si summi philosophi, si poetæ, et +sapientissimi viri qui res publicas constituerunt, qui urbes condiderunt; +si denique hoc semper ita putatum est: an dum bestiæ loquantur, +expectamus, hominum consentiente auctoritate, contenti non sumus(447)?" + +The second book of this work is introduced by a preface, in which Cicero +enumerates the philosophical treatises which he had lately written. He +then proceeds to state, that at the conclusion of the discourse of +Quintus, which was held while they were walking in the Lyceum, they sat +down in the library, and he began to reply to his brother's arguments. His +commencement is uncommonly beautiful.--"Atque ego; Accurate tu quidem, +inquam, Quinte, et Stoice Stoicorum sententiam defendisti: quodque me +maxime delectat, plurimis nostris exemplis usus es, et iis quidem claris +et illustribus. Dicendum est mihi igitur ad ea, quæ sunt a te dicta, sed +ita, nihil ut affirmem, quæram omnia, dubitans plerumque, et mihi ipse +diffidens(448)." It is unnecessary to give any summary of the arguments of +Cicero against auguries, auspices, astrology, lots, dreams, and every +species of omens and prodigies. His discourse is a masterpiece of +reasoning; and if sufficiently studied during the dark ages of Europe, +would have sufficed, in a great degree, to have prevented or dispelled the +superstitious gloom. Nothing can be finer than the concluding chapter on +the evils of superstition, and Cicero's efforts to extirpate it, without +injuring religion. The whole thread, too, of his argumentative eloquence, +is interwoven and strengthened by curious and interesting stories. As a +specimen of the agreeable manner in which these are introduced, the +twenty-fourth chapter may be cited:--"Vetus autem illud Catonis admodum +scitum est, qui mirari se aiebat, quod non rideret haruspex, haruspicem +quum vidisset. Quota enim quæque res evenit prædicta ab ipsis? Aut si +evenit quippiam, quid afferri potest, cur non casu id evenerit? Rex +Prusias, quum Annibali apud eum exsulanti depugnari placeret, negabat se +audere, quod exta prohiberent. An tu, inquit, carunculæ vitulinæ mavis, +quam imperatori veteri, credere? Quid? Ipse Cæsar, quum a summo haruspice +moneretur, ne in Africam ante brumam transmitteret, nonne transmisit? Quod +ni fecisset, uno in loco omnes adversariorum copiæ convenissent. Quid ego +haruspicum responsa commemorem, (possum equidem innumerabilia,) quæ aut +nullos habuerunt exitus, aut contrarios? Hoc civili bello, Dii Immortales! +Quam multa luserunt--quæ nobis in Græciam Româ responsa haruspicum missa +sunt? Quæ dicta Pompeio? Etenim ille admodum extis et ostentis movebatur. +Non lubet commemorare, nec vero necesse est, tibi præsertim, qui +interfuisti. Vides tamen, omnia fere contra, ac dicta sunt, evenisse." One +great charm of all the philosophical works of Cicero, and particularly of +this treatise, consists in the anecdotes with which they abound. This +practice of intermingling histories, might have been partly owing to +Tully's habits as a pleader--partly to the works having been composed in +"narrative old age." His moral conclusions seem thus occasionally to have +the certainty of physical experiments, by the support which they receive +from occurrences, suggested to him by his wide experience; while, at the +same time,-- + + "His candid style, like a clean stream doth slide, + And his bright fancy, all the way, + Doth like the sun-shine on it play(449)." + +_De Fato_.--This tract, which is the last of Cicero's philosophical works, +treats of a subject which occupied as important a place in the metaphysics +and theology of the ancients, as free will and necessity have filled in +modern speculation. The dialogue _De Fato_ is held in the villa of Cicero, +called the Puteolan or the Academia, which was situated on the shore of +Baiæ, between the lake Avernus and the harbour of Puteoli. It stood in the +curve of the bay, and almost on the beach, so as to enjoy the breezes and +murmurs of the sea. The house was built according to the plan of the +Academy at Athens, being adorned with a portico and grove, for the +purposes of philosophical conference(450); and with a gallery, which +surrounded a square court in the centre. "Twelve or thirteen arches of the +Puteolan villa," says Mr Kelsall, "are still seen on the side next the +vineyard, and, intermixed as they are with trees, are very picturesque +seen from the sea. These ruins are about one mile from Pozzuolo, and have +always been styled _l'Academia di Cicerone_. Pliny is very circumstantial +in the description of the site, '_Ab Averno lacu Puteolos tendentibus +imposita littori_.' The classical traveller will not forget that the +Puteolan villa is the scene of some of the orator's philosophical works. I +searched in vain for the mineral spring commemorated by Laurea Tullius, in +the well-known complimentary verses preserved by Pliny; for it was defaced +by the convulsions which the whole of this tract experienced in the 16th +century, so poetically described in Gray's hexameters." After the death of +Cicero, the villa was acquired by Antistius Vetus, who repaired and +improved it. It was subsequently possessed by the Emperor Hadrian, who, +while expiring here(451), breathed out the celebrated address to his +fleeting, fluttering soul, on its approaching departure for those cold and +pallid regions, that must have formed in his fancy such a gloomy contrast +to the glowing sunshine and animated shore which he left with so much +reluctance. + +The dialogue is held between Cicero and Hirtius, on one of the many +occasions on which they met to consult concerning the situation of public +affairs. Hirtius was the author of the Commentaries on the Civil Wars, and +perished a few months afterwards, at the battle of Modena, in the moment +of victory. The wonderful events which had recently occurred, and the +miserable fate of so many of the greatest and most powerful of the Romans, +naturally introduced a conversation on destiny. We have now neither the +commencement nor conclusion of the dialogue; but some critics have +supposed that it originally consisted of two books, and that the fragment +we at present possess formed part of the second book--an opinion which +seems justified by a passage in the seventeenth chapter of the second +book, where the first conversation is cited. Others, however, refer these +words to a separate and previous work on Fate. The part of the dialogue +now extant, contains a refutation of the doctrine of Chrysippus the Stoic, +which was that of fatality. "The spot," says Eustace, "the subject, the +speakers, both fated to perish in so short a time, during the contest +which they both foresaw, and endeavoured in vain to avert, were +circumstances which give a peculiar interest to this dialogue, and +increase our regret that it has not reached us in a less mutilated +state(452)." + +I have now enumerated what may be strictly regarded as the philosophical +and theological writings of Cicero. Some of the advantages to be derived +from these productions, have already been pointed out during our progress. +But on a consideration of the whole, it is manifest that the chief profit +accruing from them, is the satisfactory evidence which they afford of the +little reason we have to regret the loss of the writings of Zeno, +Cleanthes, Chrysippus, and other Greek philosophers. The intrinsic value +of these works of Cicero, consists chiefly in what may be called the Roman +portion of them--in the anecdotes of distinguished Romans, and of the +customs and opinions of that sovereign people. + +We now proceed to the _moral_ writings of Cicero, of which the most +important is the work _De Officiis_. The ancient Romans had but an +imperfect notion of moral obligations; their virtues were more stern than +amiable, and their ardent exclusive patriotism restricted the wide claims +of philanthropy, on the one hand, and of domestic duties, on the other. +Panætius, a Greek philosopher, who resided at Rome, in the time of Scipio, +wrote a book entitled {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. He divided his subject according to +the threefold considerations which he conceived should operate in +determining our resolutions with regard to the performance of moral +duties; 1. Whether the thing itself be virtuous or shameful; 2. Whether it +conduce to utility and the enjoyment of life; 3. What choice is to be made +when an apparent utility seems to clash with virtue. Cicero followed +nearly the same arrangement. In the first book he treats of what is +virtuous in itself, and shows in what manner our duties are founded in +morality and virtue--in the right perception of truth, justice, fortitude, +and decorum; which four qualities are referred to as the constituent parts +of virtue, and the sources from which all our duties are drawn. In the +second book, the author enlarges on those duties which relate to utility, +the improvement of life, and the means employed for the attainment of +wealth and power. This division of the work principally regards political +advancement, and the honourable means of gaining popularity, as +generosity, courtesy, and eloquence. Thus far Cicero had, in all +probability, closely followed the steps of Panætius. Garve, in his +commentary on this work(453), remarks, that it is quite clear, when he +comes to the more subtle and philosophic parts of his subject, that Cicero +translates from the Greek, and that he has not always found words in his +own language to express the nicer distinctions of the Greek schools. The +work of Panætius, however, was left imperfect, and did not treat of the +third part of the subject, the choice and distinction to be made when +there was a jarring or inconsistency between virtue and utility. On this +topic, accordingly, Cicero was left to his own resources. The discussion, +of course, relates only to the subordinate duties, as the true and +undoubted _honestum_ never can be put in competition with private +advantage, or be violated for its sake. As to the minor duties, the great +maxim inculcated is that nothing should be accounted useful or profitable +but what is strictly virtuous, and that, in fact, there ought to be no +separation of the principles of virtue and utility. Cicero enters into +some discussion, however, and affords some rules to enable us to form a +just estimate of both in cases of doubt, where seeming utility comes into +competition with virtue. Accordingly, he proposes and decides a good many +questions in casuistry, in order to fix in what situations one may seek +private gain with honour. He takes his examples from Roman history, and +particularly considers the case of Regulus in the obligation of his oath, +and the advice which he gave to the Roman Senate. The author disclaims +having been indebted to any preceding writers on this subject; but it +appears, from what he afterwards states, that the sixth book of the work +of Hecato, a scholar of Panætius, was full of questions of this kind: As, +for example--If something must be thrown into the sea to lighten a vessel +in a storm, whether one should sacrifice a valuable horse, or a worthless +slave? Whether, if, during a shipwreck, a fool has got hold of a plank, a +wise man ought to take it from him, if he be able? If one, unknowingly, +receives bad money for his goods, may he pay it away to a third hand, +after he is aware that it is bad? Diogenes, it seems, one of the three +philosophic ambassadors who came to Rome from Athens, in the end of the +sixth century, maintained the affirmative of this last proposition. + +The subject being too extensive for dialogue, (the form of his other +philosophical treatises,) the author has addressed the work _De Officiis_ +to his son, and has represented it as written for his instruction. "It +is," says Kelsall, "the noblest present ever made by a parent to a child." +Cicero declares, that he intended to treat in it of all the duties(454); +but it is generally considered to have been chiefly drawn up as a manual +of political morality, and as a guide to young Romans of his son's age and +distinction, which might enable them to attain political eminence, and to +tread with innocence and safety "the slippery steeps of power." + +_De Senectute_.---- + + "O Thou all eloquent, whose mighty mind + Streams from the depths of ages on mankind, + Streams like the day--who angel-like hast shed + Thy full effulgence on the hoary head; + Speaking in Cato's venerable voice-- + "Look up and faint not--faint not, but rejoice"-- + From thy Elysium guide us(455)." + +The treatise _De Senectute_ is not properly a dialogue, but a continued +discourse, delivered by Cato the Censor, at the request of Scipio and +Lælius. It is, however, one of the most interesting pieces of the kind +which have descended to us from antiquity; and no reader can wonder that +Cicero experienced such pleasure in its composition, that the delightful +employment, not only, as he says, made him forget the infirmities of old +age, but rendered that portion of existence agreeable. In consequence of +the period of life to which Cicero had attained, at the time of its +composition, and the circumstances in which he was then placed, it must, +indeed, have been penned with peculiar interest and feeling. It was +written by him in his 63d year, and is addressed to his friend Atticus, +(who reached the same term of existence,) with a view of rendering to both +the accumulating burdens of age as light as possible. In order to give his +precepts the greater force, he represents them as delivered by the elder +Cato, (while flourishing in the eighty-fourth year of a vigorous and +useful old age,) on occasion of young Scipio and Lælius expressing their +admiration at the wonderful ease with which he still bore the load of +life. This affords the author an opportunity of entering into a full +explanation of his ideas on the subject. His great object is to show that +the closing period of life may be rendered, not only tolerable, but +comfortable, by internal resources of happiness. He reduces those causes +which are commonly supposed to constitute the infelicity of advanced age, +under four general heads:--That it incapacitates from mingling in the +affairs of the world--that it produces infirmities of body--that it +disqualifies for the enjoyment of sensual gratifications--and that it +brings us to the verge of death. Some of these supposed disadvantages, he +maintains, are imaginary, and for any real pleasures of which old men are +deprived, others more refined and higher may be substituted. The whole +work is agreeably diversified and illustrated by examples of eminent Roman +citizens, who had passed a respected and agreeable evening of life. +Indeed, so much is said of those individuals who reached a happy old age, +that it may rather be styled a Treatise on Old Men, than on Old Age. On +the last point, the near approach of death, it is argued, conformably to +the first book of the Tusculan Questions, that if death extinguish the +soul's existence, it is utterly to be disregarded, but much to be desired, +if it convey her to a happier region. The apprehension of future +punishment, as in the Tusculan Disputations, is laid entirely aside, and +it is assumed as a principle, that, after death, we either shall not be +miserable, or be superlatively happy. In other respects, the tract _De +Senectute_ almost seems a confutation of the first book of the Tusculan +Questions, which is chiefly occupied in showing the wretchedness of +long-protracted existence. The sentiments put into the mouth of Cato, are +acknowledged by Cicero as his own; but, notwithstanding this, and also a +more elegant and polished style of composition than could be expected from +the Censor, many characteristics of his life, conversation, and manners, +are brought before us--his talk is a little boastful, and his sternness, +though softened down by old age into an agreeable gossipping garrulity, is +still visible; and, on the whole, the discourse is so managed, that we +experience, in reading it, something of that complaisant respect, which we +feel in intercourse with a venerable old man, who has around him so much +of the life to come, as to be purified at least from the grosser desires +of this lower world. + +It has been remarked as extraordinary, that, amidst the anxious +enumeration of the comforts of age, those arising from domestic society +are not mentioned by Cicero; but his favourite daughter Tullia was now no +more, and the husband of Terentia, the father of Marcus Cicero, and the +father-in-law of Dolabella, may have felt something on that subject, of +which he was willing to spare himself the recollection. But though he has +omitted what we number among its chief consolations, still he has +represented advanced age under too favourable a view. He denies, for +instance, that the memory is impaired by it--asserting, that everything +continues to be remembered, in which we take an interest, for that no old +man ever forgot where he had concealed his treasure. He has, besides, only +treated of an old age distinguished by deeds or learning, terminating a +life great and glorious in the eyes of men. The table of the old man whom +he describes, is cheered by numerous friends, and his presence, wherever +he appears, is hailed by clients and dependants. All his examples are +drawn from the higher and better walks of life. In the venerable picture +of the Censor, we have no traces of second childhood, or of the slippered +pantaloon, or of that melancholy and almost frightful representation, in +the tenth satire of Juvenal. But even persons of the station, and dignity, +and talents of Cato, are, in old age, liable to weaknesses and +misfortunes, with which the pleasing portrait, that Tully has drawn, is in +no way disfigured:-- + + "In life's last scene, what prodigies surprise, + Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise! + From Marlborough's eyes the tears of dotage flow, + And Swift expires a driveller and a show." + +The treatise _De Senectute_ has been versified by Denham, under the title +of _Cato Major_. The subject of the evils of old age is divided, as by +Cicero, into four parts. "I can neither," says he, in his preface, "call +this piece Tully's nor my own, being much altered from the original, not +only by the change of the style, but by addition and subtraction." In +fact, the fine sentiments are Cicero's--the doggerel English verse, into +which he has converted Cicero's classical prose, his own. The fourth part, +on the approach of death, is that which is best versified. + +This tract is also the model of the dialogue _Spurinna, or the Comforts of +Old Age_, by Sir Thomas Bernard. Hough, Bishop of Worcester, who is in his +ninetieth year at the date of the conference, supposed to be held in 1739, +is the Cato of the dialogue. The other interlocutors are Gibson, Bishop of +London, and Mr Lyttleton, subsequently Lord Lyttleton. After considering, +in the same manner as Cicero, the disadvantages of old age, the English +author proceeds to treat of its advantages, and the best mode of +increasing its comforts. Many ideas and arguments are derived from Cicero; +but among the consolations of advanced age, the promises of revelation +concerning a future state of happiness, to which the Roman was a stranger, +are prominently brought forward, and the illustrations are chiefly drawn +from British, instead of Grecian or Roman history. + +_De Amicitiâ_.--In this, as in all his other dialogues, Cicero has most +judiciously selected the persons whom he introduces as speakers. They were +men of eminence in the state; and though deceased, the Romans had such a +just veneration for their ancestors, that they would listen with the +utmost interest even to the supposed conversation of the ancient heroes or +sages of their country. Such illustrious names bestowed additional dignity +on what was delivered, and even now affect us with sentiments of +veneration far superior to that which is felt for the itinerant sophists, +who, with the exception of Socrates, are the chief speakers in the +dialogues of Plato. + +The memorable and hereditary friendship which subsisted between Lælius and +the younger Scipio Africanus, rendered them the most suitable characters +from whom the sentiments expressed on this delightful topic could be +supposed to flow. Their mutual and unshaken attachment threw an additional +lustre over the military glory of the one, and the contemplative wisdom of +the other. "Such," says Cicero in the introduction to the treatise _De +Republicâ_, "was the common law of friendship between them, that Lælius +adored Africanus as a god, on account of his transcendent military fame; +and that Scipio, when they were at home, revered his friend, who was older +than himself, as a father(456)." The kindred soul of Cicero appears to +have been deeply struck with this delightful assemblage of all the noblest +and loveliest qualities of our nature. The friendship which subsisted +between himself and Atticus was another beautiful example of a similar +kind: And the dialogue _De Amicitiâ_ is accordingly addressed with +peculiar propriety to Atticus, who, as Cicero tells him in his dedication, +could not fail to discover his own portrait in the delineation of a +perfect friend. This treatise approaches nearer to dialogue than that _De +Senectute_, for there is a story, with the circumstances of time and +place. Fannius, the historian, and Mucius Scævola, the Augur, both +sons-in-law of Lælius, paid him a visit immediately after the sudden and +suspicious death of Scipio Africanus. The recent loss which Lælius had +thus sustained, leads to an eulogy on the inimitable virtues of the +departed hero, and to a discussion on the true nature of that tie by which +they had been so long connected. Cicero, while in his earliest youth, had +been introduced by his father to Mucius Scævola; and hence, among other +interesting matters which he enjoyed an opportunity of hearing, he was one +day present while Scævola related the substance of the conference on +Friendship, which he and Fannius had held with Lælius a few days after the +death of Scipio. Many of the ideas and sentiments which the mild Lælius +then uttered, are declared by Scævola to have originally flowed from +Scipio, with whom the nature and laws of friendship formed a favourite +topic of discourse. This, perhaps, is not entirely a fiction, or merely +told to give the stamp of authenticity to the dialogue. Some such +conversation was probably held and related; and I doubt not, that a few of +the passages in this celebrated dialogue reflect the sentiments of Lælius, +or even of Africanus himself. + +The philosophical works of Cicero, which have been hitherto enumerated, +are complete, or nearly so. But it is well known that he was the author of +many other productions which have now been entirely lost, or of which only +fragments remain. + +Of these, the most important was the Treatise _De Republicâ_, which, in +the general wreck of learning, shared the fate of the institutions it was +intended to celebrate. The greater part of this dialogue having +disappeared along with the _Origines_ of Cato, the works of Varro, and the +History of Sallust, we have been deprived of all the writings which would +have thrown the most light on the Roman institutions, manners, and +government--of everything, in short, which philosophically traced the +progress of Rome, from its original barbarism to the perfection which it +had attained in the age of the second Scipio Africanus. + +There are few monuments of ancient literature, of which the disappearance +had excited more regret, than that of the work _De Republicâ_, which was +long believed to have been the grand repository of all the political +wisdom of the ancients. The great importance of the subject--treated, too, +by a writer at once distinguished by his genius and former official +dignity; the pride and predilection with which the author himself speaks +of it, and the sublimity and beauty of the fragment entitled _Somnium +Scipionis_, preserved from it by Macrobius, all concurred to exalt this +treatise in the imagination of the learned, and to exasperate their +vexation at its loss. The fathers of the church, particularly Lactantius, +had afforded some insight into the arguments employed in it on different +topics; several fragments existed in the works of the grammarians, and a +complete copy was extant as late as the 11th century. Since that time the +literary world have been flattered at different periods with hopes of its +discovery; but it is only within the last few years that such a portion of +it has been recovered, as may suffice, in a considerable degree, to +satisfy curiosity, though not perhaps to fulfil expectation. + +It is well known to many, and will be mentioned more fully in the +_Appendix_, that owing to a scarcity of papyrus and parchment, it was +customary, at different times, to erase old, in order to admit new, +writing. To a MS. of this kind, the name of Palimpsest has been given--a +term made use of by Cicero himself. In a letter to the lawyer Trebatius, +who had written to him on such a sheet, Cicero says, "that while he must +praise him for his parsimony in employing a palimpsest, he cannot but +wonder what he had erased to scribble such a letter, except it were his +law notes: For I cannot think," adds he, "that you would efface my letter +to substitute your own(457)." This practice became very common in the +middle ages, when both the papyrus and parchment were scarce, and when the +classics were, with few exceptions, no longer the objects of interest. +Montfaucon had remarked, that these obliterated MSS. were perhaps more +numerous than those which had been written on for the first time(458). But +though in some cases the original writing was still visible on close +observation, no practical use was made of such inspection till Angelo Mai +published some fragments recovered from palimpsest MSS. in the Ambrosian +library, of which he was keeper. Encouraged by his success, he persevered +in this new pursuit, and published at intervals fragments of considerable +value. At length, being called to Rome as a recompense for his learned +labours, Mai prosecuted in the Vatican those noble researches which he had +commenced at Milan; and it is to him we now owe the discovery and +publication of a considerable portion of Cicero _De Republicâ_, which had +been expunged, (it is supposed in the 6th century,) and crossed by a new +writing, which contained a commentary by St Augustine on the Psalms(459). + +The work _De Republicâ_ was begun by Cicero in the month of May, in the +year 699, when the author was in the fifty-second year of his age, so +that, of all his philosophical writings, it was at least the earliest +commenced. In a letter to his brother Quintus, he tells him that he had +employed himself in his Cuman and Pompeian villas, in writing a large and +laborious political work; that, should it succeed to his mind, it would be +well, but, if not, he would cast it into that sea which was in view when +he wrote it; and, as it was impossible for him to be idle, commence some +other undertaking(460). He had proceeded, however, but a little way, when +he repeatedly changed the whole plan of the work; and it is curious to +perceive, that an author of so perfect a genius as Cicero, had similar +advices from friends, and the same discouragement, and doubts, and +irresolution, which agitate inferior writers. + +When he had finished the first and second books, they were read to some of +his friends at his Tusculan villa. Sallust, who was one of the company +present, advised him to change his plan, and to treat the subject in his +own person--alleging that the introduction of those ancient philosophers +and statesmen, to whom Cicero had assigned parts in the dialogue, instead +of adding gravity, gave a fictitious air to the argument, which would have +greater weight if delivered from Cicero himself, as being the work, not of +a sophist or contemplative theorist, but of a consular senator and +statesman, conversant in the greatest affairs, and writing only what his +own experience had taught him to be true. These reasons seemed to Cicero +very plausible, and for some time made him think of altering his plan, +especially since, by placing the scene of the dialogue so far back, he had +precluded himself from touching on those important revolutions in the +Republic, which were later than the period to which he had confined +himself. But after some deliberation, feeling reluctant to throw away the +two books which were already finished, and with which he was much pleased, +he resolved to adhere to his original plan(461). And as he had preferred +it from the first, for the sake of avoiding offence, so he pursued it +without any other alteration than that he now limited to six what he had +before proposed to extend to nine books. These six were made public +previously to his departure for the government of Cilicia. While there, he +received the epistolary congratulations of his friends on their +success(462), and in his answers he discloses all the delight of a +gratified and successful author(463). + +Mai discusses at considerable length the question, To whom the treatise +_De Republicâ_ was dedicated. The beginning of the prooemium to the first +book, which might have determined this point, is lost; but the author +says, "Disputatio repetenda memoriâ est, quæ mihi, _tibique quondam +adolescentulo_, est a P. Rutilio Rufo, Zmyrnæ cùm simul essemus, complures +dies exposita." Cicero was at Smyrna in the twenty-ninth year of his age, +and it is evident that his companion, to whom this treatise is dedicated, +was younger than himself, as he says, "Mihi, _tibique_ quondam +_adolescentulo_." Atticus was two years older than Cicero, and therefore +could not be the person. In fact, there is every reason to suppose that +the treatise _De Republicâ_ was dedicated to its author's younger brother +Quintus, who, as we know from the prooemium of the last book, _De Finibus_, +was with Cicero at Athens during the voyage, in the course of which he +touched at Smyrna--who probably attended him to Asia,--and whose age suited +the expression "mihi, tibique adolescentulo." Add to this, that Cicero, +when he mentions to his brother, (in the passage of the letter above +referred to,) that he meant to alter the plan of his work, says, "Nunc +loquar ipse _tecum_, et tamen illa quæ institueram ad te, si Romam venero, +mittam(464)." The work in its first concoction, therefore, was addressed +to Quintus, and, as the author, after some hesitation, published it nearly +in its original form, it can scarcely be doubted that it was still +dedicated to his brother. + +The first book _De Republicâ_, which was one of those read by Cicero to +Sallust and some other friends, in his Tusculan villa, is, as already +mentioned, imperfect at the commencement. Not much, however, seems to be +wanting, and a prologue of considerable length still remains, in which the +author (pleading, perhaps, his own cause) combats the opinions of +philosophers, who, preferring a contemplative to an active life, blame +those who engage in public affairs. To the former he opposes the example +of many wise and great men, and answers those objections to a busy +political life, which have been repeatedly urged against it. This prologue +contains some good reasoning, and, like all the writings of its +illustrious author, displays a noble patriotic feeling. He remarks, that +he had entered into this discussion as introductory to a book concerning +the republic, since it seemed proper, as prefatory to such a work, to +combat the sentiments of those who deny that a philosopher should be a +statesman. "As to the work itself," says he, addressing (as I have +supposed) his brother, "I shall lay down nothing new or peculiar to +myself, but shall repeat a discussion which once took place among the most +illustrious men of their age, and the wisest of our state, such as it was +related to myself, and to you when a youth, by P. Rutilius Rufus, when we +were with him some days at Smyrna--in which discussion nothing of +importance to the right constitution of a commonwealth, appears to have +been omitted." + +The author then proceeds to mention, that during the consulship of +Tuditanus and Aquilius, (as he had heard from Rufus,) the younger Scipio +Africanus determined to pass the Latin festivals (Latinæ Feriæ) in his +gardens, where some of his most intimate friends had promised to visit +him. The first of these who makes his appearance is his nephew, Quintus +Tubero, a person devoted to the Stoical philosophy, and noted for the +austerity of his manners. A remark which Tubero makes about two suns, a +prodigy which, it seems, had lately appeared in the heavens, leads Scipio +to praise Socrates for his abandonment of physical pursuits, as neither +very useful to man, nor capable of being thoroughly investigated--a +sentiment (by the way) which, with all due submission to the Greek +philosopher, does little credit to his sagacity, as physical inquiries +have been not only highly useful to mankind, but are almost the only +subjects in which accurate science has been attained. Furius, Philus, and +Rutilius, who is stated to have related the discussion to Cicero, now +enter, and, at last, comes Lælius, attended by his friend, Spurius +Mummius, (brother to the well-known connoisseur in the fine arts who took +Corinth,) and by his two sons-in-law, C. Fannius and Q. Scævola. After +saluting them, Scipio, as it was now winter, takes them to a sunny spot, +in a meadow, and in proceeding thither the party is joined by M. Manilius. + +"In this choice of his principal speakers, Cicero," as has been well +remarked, "was extremely judicious and happy. It was necessary that the +persons selected should have been distinguished both as statesmen and as +scholars, in order that a philosophical discussion might appear consistent +with their known characters, and that a high political reputation might +give authority to their remarks on government. Scipio and Lælius united +both these requisites in a remarkable degree. They were among the earliest +of the Romans who added the graces of Grecian taste and learning to the +manly virtues of their own ruder country. These accomplishments had +refined and polished their characters, without at all detracting from +their force and purity. The very name of the Scipios, the _duo fulmina +belli_, was the symbol of military talent, patriotism, and magnanimity: +Lælius was somewhat less distinguished in active life; but enjoyed, on the +other hand, a still higher reputation for contemplative wisdom(465)." + +After the party had been all seated, the subject of the two suns is +resumed; and Lælius, while he remarks that they had enough to occupy +attention in matters more at hand, adds, that since they were at present +idle, he for his part, had no objection to hear Philus, who was fond of +astronomical pursuits, on the subject. Philus, thus encouraged, proceeds +to give an account of a kind of Orrery, which had been formed by +Archimedes, and having been brought to Rome by Marcellus, its structure, +as well as uses, had on one occasion, when Philus was present, been +explained by C. Sulpicius Gallus. The application of this explanation to +the phenomenon of the two suns is lost, as a _hiatus_ of eight pages here +occurs in the palimpsest. Probably, the solution of the problem would not, +if extant, make a great figure in the _Philosophical Transactions_. But +one cannot fail to admire the discursive and active genius of Cicero, who +considered all knowledge as an object deserving ardent pursuit(466). + +At the end of the _hiatus_, we find Scipio, in reference to Gallus's +astronomical knowledge, which had been celebrated by Philus, relating, +that when his father, Paulus Æmilius, commanded in Macedonia, the army +being terrified by an eclipse, Gallus had calmed their fears by explaining +the phænomenon--an anecdote, which, with another similar to it here told of +Pericles, proves the value of physical pursuits, and their intimate +connection with the affairs of life. This inference seems to have been +drawn in a passage which is lost; and several beautiful sentiments follow, +similar to some of those in the _Somnium Scipionis_, on the calm exquisite +delights of meditation and science, and on the littleness of all earthly +things, when compared with immortality or the universe. "Quid porro," says +Scipio, in the most elevated tone of moral and intellectual grandeur--"quid +porro aut præclarum putet in rebus humanis, qui hæc deorum regna +perspexerit? aut diuturnum, qui cognoverit quid sit æternum? aut +gloriosum, qui viderit quàm parva sit terra, primum universa, deinde ea +pars ejus quam homines incolant, quamque nos in exiguâ ejus parte adfixi, +plurimis ignotissimi gentibus, speremus tamen nostrum nomen volitare et +vagari latissime? Agros, vero, et ædificia, et pecudes, et immensum +argenti pondus atque auri, qui bona nec putare nec appellare soleat, quod +earum rerum videatur ei, levis fructus, exiguus usus, incertus dominatus, +sæpe etiam teterrimorum hominum immensa possessio. Quàm est hic fortunatus +putandus, cui soli vere liceat omnia non Quiritium sed sapientium jure pro +suis vindicare! nec civili nexo, sed communi lege naturæ, quæ vetat ullam +rem esse cujusquam nisi ejus qui tractare et uti sciat: qui imperia +consulatusque nostros in necessariis non in expetendis rebus muneris +fungendi gratiâ subeundos, non præmiorum aut gloriæ causâ adpetendos +putet: qui denique ut Africanum avum meum scribit Cato solitum esse +dicere, possit idem de se prædicare, nunquam se plus agere, quàm nihil cùm +ageret; nunquam minus solum esse, quàm cùm solus esset. + +"Quis enim putare vere potest plus egisse Dionysium tum cùm omnia moliendo +eripuerit civibus suis libertatem, quàm ejus civem Archimedem, cùm istam +ipsam Sphæram, nihil cùm agere videretur, effecerit? Quis autem non magis +solos esse qui in foro turbâque quicum conloqui libeat non habeant, quam +qui nullo arbitro vel secum ipsi loquantur, vel quasi doctissimorum +hominum in concilio adsint cùm eorum inventis scriptisque se oblectent? +Quis vero divitiorem quemquam putet, quàm eum cui nihil desit, quod quidem +natura desideret? aut potentiorem quàm illum, qui omnia quæ expetat, +consequatur? aut beatiorem quàm qui sit omni perturbatione animi +liberatus?" + +Lælius, however, is no way moved by these sonorous arguments; and still +persists in affirming, that the most important of all studies are those +which relate to the _Republic_, and that it concerned them to inquire, not +why two suns had appeared in heaven, but why, in the present +circumstances, (alluding to the projects of the Gracchi,) there were two +senates, and almost two peoples. In this state of things, therefore, and +since they had now leisure, their fittest object would be to learn from +Scipio what he deemed the best condition of a commonwealth. Scipio +complies with this request, and begins with defining a republic; "Est +igitur respublica res populi--populus autem non omnis hominum coetus quoquo +modo congregatus, sed coetus multitudinis juris consensu." In entering on +the nature of what he had thus defined, he remounts to the origin of +society, which he refers entirely to that social spirit which is one of +the principles of our nature, and not to hostility, or fear, or compact. A +people, when united, may be governed by _one_, by _several_, or by a +_multitude_, any one of which simple forms may be tolerable if well +administered, but they are liable to corruptions peculiar to themselves. +Of these three simple forms, Scipio prefers the monarchical; and for this +choice he gives his reasons, which are somewhat metaphysical and +analogical. But though he more approves of a pure regal government than of +the two other simple forms, he thinks that none of them are good, and that +a perfect constitution must be compounded of the three. "Quod cùm ita sit, +tribus primis generibus longe præstat, meâ sententiâ, regium; regio autem +ipsi præstabit id quod erit æquatum et temperatum ex tribus optimis rerum +publicarum modis. Placet enim esse quiddam in re publicâ præstans et +regale; esse aliud auctoritate principum partum ac tributum; esse quasdam +res servatas judicio voluntatique multitudinis. Hæc constitutio primum +habet æqualitatem quamdam magnam, quâ carere diutius vix possunt liberi; +deinde firmitudinem." + +In this panegyric on a mixed constitution, Cicero has taken his idea of a +perfect state from the Roman commonwealth--from its consuls, senate, and +popular assemblies. Accordingly, Scipio proceeds to affirm, that of all +constitutions which had ever existed, no one, either as to the +distribution of its parts or discipline, was so perfect as that which had +been established by their ancestors; and that, therefore, he will +constantly have his eye on it as a model in all that he means to say +concerning the best form of a state. + +This explains what was the chief scope of Cicero in his work _De +Republica_--an eulogy on the Roman government, such as it was, or he +supposed it to have been, in the early ages of the commonwealth. In the +time of Cicero, when Rome was agitated by the plots of Catiline, and +factions of Clodius, with the proscriptions of Sylla but just terminated, +and the usurpation of Cæsar impending, the Roman constitution had become +as ideal as the polity of Plato; and in its best times had never reached +the perfection which Cicero attributes to it. But when a writer is +disgusted with the present, and fearful for the future, he is ever ready +to form an _Utopia_ of the past(467). + +In the _second_ book, which, like the first, is imperfect at the +beginning, (though Mai seems to think that only a few words are wanting;) +Scipio records a saying of Cato the Censor, that the constitution of Rome +was superior to that of all other states, because _they_ had been modelled +by single legislators, as Crete by Minos, and Sparta by Lycurgus, whereas +the Roman commonwealth was the result of the gradually improved experience +and wisdom of ages. "To borrow, therefore," says he, "a word from Cato, I +shall go back to the _origin_ of the Roman state; and show it in its +birth, childhood, youth, and maturity--a plan which seems preferable to the +delineation of an imaginary republic like that of Plato." + +Scipio now begins with Romulus, whose birth, indeed, he seems to treat as +a fable; but in the whole succeeding development of the Roman history, he, +or, in other words, Cicero, exercises little criticism, and indulges in no +scepticism. He admires the wisdom with which Romulus chose the site of his +capital--not placing it in a maritime situation, where it would have been +exposed to many dangers and disadvantages, but on a navigable river, with +all the conveniences of the sea.--"Quî potuit igitur divinitus et +utilitates complecti maritimas Romulus et vitia vitare? quàm quòd urbem +perennis amnis et æquabilis et in mare late influentis posuit in ripâ, quo +posset urbs et accipere ex mari quo egeret, et reddere quo redundaret: +eodemque ut flumine res ad victum cultumque maxime necessarias non solum +mari absorberet sed etiam advectas acciperet ex terrâ: ut mihi jam tum +divinâsse ille videatur, hanc urbem sedem aliquando ut domum summo esse +imperio præbituram: nam hanc rerum tantam potentiam non ferme facilius +aliâ in parte Italiæ posita urbs tenere potuisset."--In like manner he +praises the sagacity of the succeeding rulers of the Roman state. +"Faithful to his plan," says M. Villemain, "of referring all to the Roman +constitution, and of forming rather a history than a political theory, +Cicero proceeds to examine, as it were chronologically, the state of Rome +at the different epochs of its duration, beginning with its kings. This +plan, if it produced any new light on a very dark subject, would have much +more interest for us than ideas merely speculative. But Cicero scarcely +deviates from the common traditions, which have often exercised the +scepticism of the learned. He takes the Roman history nearly as we now +have it, and his reflections seem to suppose no other facts than those +which have been so eloquently recorded by Livy." But although, for the +sake of illustration, and in deference to common opinion, he argues on the +events of early Roman history, as delivered by vulgar tradition, it is +evident that, in his own belief, they were altogether uncertain; and if +any new authority on that subject were wanting, Cicero's might be added in +favour of their total uncertainty; for Lælius thus interrupts his account +of Ancus Martius--"Laudandus etiam iste rex--sed obscura est historia +Romana;" and Scipio replies, "Ita est: sed temporum illorum tantum fere +regum illustrata sunt nomina." + +At the close of Scipio's discourse, which is a perpetual panegyric on the +successive governments of Rome, and, with exception of the above passage, +an uncritical acquiescence in its common history, Tubero remarks, that +Cicero had rather praised the Roman government, than examined the +constitution of commonwealths in general, and that hitherto he had not +explained by what discipline, manners, and laws, a state is to be +constituted or preserved. Scipio replies, that this is to be a farther +subject of discussion; and he seems now to have adopted a more +metaphysical tone: But of the remainder of the book only a few fragments +exist; from which, however, it appears, that a question was started, how +far the exact observance of justice in a state is politic or necessary. +This discussion, at the suggestion of Scipio, is suspended till the +succeeding day(468). + +As the _third_ book of Cicero's treatise began a second day's colloquy, it +was doubtless furnished with a prooemium, the greater part of which is now +lost, as also a considerable portion of the commencement of the dialogue. +Towards the conclusion of the preceding book, Scipio had touched on the +subject, how far the observance of justice is useful to a state, and +Philus had proposed that this topic should be treated more fully, as an +opinion was prevalent, that policy occasionally required injustice. +Previously to the discovery of Mai, we knew from St Augustine, _De +Civitate Dei_, that in the third book of the treatise _De Republicâ_, +Philus, as a disputant, undertook the cause of injustice, and was answered +by Lælius. In the fragment of the third book, Philus excuses himself from +becoming (so to speak) the devil's advocate; but at length agrees to +offer, not his own arguments on the subject, but those of Carneades, who, +some years before, had one day pleaded the cause of justice at Rome, and +next day overturning his own arguments, became the patron of injustice. +Philus accordingly proceeds to contend, that if justice were something +real, it would be everywhere the same, whereas, in one nation, that is +reckoned equitable and holy, which in another is unjust and impious; and, +in like manner, in the same city, what is just at one period, becomes +unjust at another. In the palimpsest, these sophisms, which have been +revived in modern times by Mandeville and others, are interrupted by +frequent chasms in the MS. Lælius, as we learn from St Augustine, and from +a passage in Aulus Gellius, was requested by all present to undertake the +defence of justice; but his discourse, with the exception of a few +sentences, is wholly wanting in the palimpsest. At the close he is highly +complimented by Scipio, but a large _hiatus_ again intervenes. After this, +Scipio is found contending, that wealth and power, Phidian statues, or the +most magnificent public works, do not constitute a republic, but the _res +populi_, the good of the whole, and not of any single governing portion of +the state. He then concludes with affirming, that of all forms of +government, the purely democratic is the worst, and next to that, an +unmixed aristocracy. + +Of the _fourth_ book only one leaf remains in the palimpsest, the contents +of which seem to confirm what we learn from other sources, that it treated +of Education and Morals. It is particularly to be regretted that this book +has disappeared. It is easy to supply abstract discussions about justice, +democracy, and power, and, if they be not supplied, little injury is +sustained; but the loss of details relating to manners and customs, from +such a hand as that of Cicero, is irreparable. The fifth book is nearly as +much mutilated as the fourth, and of the sixth not a fragment remains in +the palimpsest, so that Mai's discovery has added nothing to the beautiful +extract from this book, entitled the _Somnium Scipionis_, preserved by +Macrobius. The conclusion of the work _De Republicâ_, had turned on +immortality of fame here, and eternity of existence elsewhere. The +_Somnium Scipionis_ is intended to establish, under the form of a +political fiction, the sublime dogma of the soul's immortality, and was +probably introduced at the conclusion of the work, for the purpose of +adding the hopes and fears of future retribution to the other motives to +virtuous exertion. In illustration of this sublime topic, Scipio relates +that, in his youth, when he first served in Africa, he visited the court +of Massinissa, the steady friend of the Romans, and particularly of the +Cornelian family. During the feasts and entertainments of the day, the +conversation turned on the words and actions of the first great Scipio. +His adopted grandchild having retired to rest, the shade of the departed +hero appeared to him in sleep, darkly foretold the future events of his +life, and encouraged him to tread in the paths of patriotism and true +glory, by announcing the reward provided in Heaven for those who have +deserved well of their country. + +I have thought it proper to give this minute account of the treatise _De +Republicâ_, for the sake of those who may not have had an opportunity of +consulting Mai's publication, and who may be curious to know somewhat of +the value and extent of his discovery. On the whole, I suspect that the +treatise will disappoint those whose expectations were high, especially if +they thought to find in it much political or statistical information. It +corresponds little to the idea that one would naturally form of a +political work from the pen of Cicero--a distinguished statesman, always +courted by the chiefs of political parties, and at one time himself at the +head of the government of his country. But, on reflection, it will not +appear surprising that we receive from this work so little insight into +the doubtful and disputed points of Roman polity. Those questions, with +regard to the manner in which the Senate was filled up--the force of +degrees of the people, and the rank of the different jurisdictions, which +in modern times have formed subjects of discussion, had not become +problems in the time of Cicero. The great men whom he introduces in +conversation together, understood each other on such topics, by a word or +suggestion; and I am satisfied that those parts of the treatise _De +Republicâ_, which are lost, contained as little that could contribute to +the solution of such difficulties, as the portions that have been +recovered. + +But though the work of Cicero will disappoint those who expect to find in +it much political information, still, as in his other productions, every +page exhibits a rich and glowing magnificence of style, ever subjected to +the controul of a taste the most correct and pure. It contains, like all +his writings, some passages of exquisite beauty, and everywhere breathes +an exalted spirit of virtue and patriotism. The Latin language, so noble +in itself, and dignified, assumes additional majesty in the periods of the +Roman Consul, and adds an inexpressible beauty and loftiness to the +natural sublimity of his sentiments. No writings, in fact, are so full of +moral and intellectual grandeur as those of Cicero, none are more +calculated to elevate and purify our nature--to inculcate the TU VERO +ENITERE, in the path of knowledge and virtue, and to excite not merely a +fond desire, or idle longing, but strenuous efforts after immortality. +Indeed, the whole life of the Father of his Country was a noble +fulfilment, and his sublime philosophic works are but an expansion of that +golden precept, _tu vero enitere_, enjoined from on high, to his great +descendant, by the Spirit of the first Africanus(469). + +About a century after the revival of letters, when mankind had at length +despaired of any farther discovery of the philosophic writings of Cicero, +the learned men of the age employed themselves in collecting the scattered +fragments of his lost works, and arranging them according to the order of +the books from which they had been extracted. Sigonius had thus united the +detached fragments of the work _De Republicâ_, and he made a similar +attempt to repair another lost treatise of Cicero, entitled _De +Consolatione_. But in this instance he not merely collected the fragments, +but connected them by sentences of his own composition. The work _De +Consolatione_ was written by Cicero in the year 708, on occasion of the +death of his much-loved Tullia, with the design of relieving his own mind, +and consecrating to all posterity the virtues and memory of his +daughter(470). In this treatise, he set out with the paradoxical +propositions, that human life is a punishment, and that men are brought +into the world only to pay the forfeit of their sins(471). Cicero chiefly +followed Crantor the Academic(472), who had left a celebrated piece on the +same topic; but he inserted whatever pleased him in any other author who +had written on the subject. He illustrated his precepts, as he proceeded, +by examples from Roman history, of eminent characters who had borne a +similar loss with that which he had himself sustained, or other severe +misfortunes, with remarkable constancy(473),--dwelling particularly on the +domestic calamities of Q. Maximus, who buried a consular son; of Æmilius +Paullus, who lost two sons in two days; and of M. Cato, who had been +deprived of a son, who was Prætor-Elect(474). Sigonius pretended, that the +patched-up treatise _De Consolatione_, which he gave to the public, was +the lost work of Cicero, of which he had discovered a MS. The imposture +succeeded for a considerable time, but was at length detected and pointed +out by Riccoboni(475). + +Cicero also wrote a treatise in two books, addressed to Atticus, on the +subject of Glory, which was the predominant and most conspicuous passion +of his soul. It was composed in the year 710, while sailing along the +delightful coast of the Campagna, on his voyage to Greece:-- + + "On as he moved along the level shore, + These temples, in their splendour eminent + Mid arcs, and obelisks, and domes, and towers, + Reflecting back the radiance of the west, + Well might he dream of GLORY(476)!" + +This treatise was extant in the 14th century. A copy had been presented to +Petrarch, from his vast collection of books, by Raymond Soranzo, a +Sicilian lawyer(477). Petrarch long preserved this precious volume with +great care, and valued it highly. Unfortunately a man called Convenoli, +who resided at Avignon, and who had formerly been his preceptor, begged +and obtained the loan of it; and having afterwards fallen into indigent +circumstances, pawned it for the relief of his necessities, to some +unknown person, from whom Petrarch never could regain its possession. Two +copies, however, were still extant in the subsequent century, one in a +private library at Nuremburg, and another in that of a Venetian nobleman, +Bernard Giustiniani, who, dying in 1489, bequeathed his books to a +monastery of nuns, to whom Petrus Alcyonius was physician. Filelfo was +accused, though on no good foundation, of having burned the Nuremburg +copy, after inserting passages from it in his treatise _De Contemptu +Mundi_(478). But the charge of destroying the original MS. left by +Giustiniani to the nuns, has been urged against Alcyonius on better +grounds, and with more success. Paulus Manutius, of whose printing-press +Alcyonius had been at one time corrector, charged him with having availed +himself of his free access to the library of the nuns, whose physician he +was, to purloin the treatise _De Gloria_, and with having destroyed it, to +conceal his plagiarisms, after inserting from it various passages in his +dialogue _De Exilio_(479). The assertion of Manutius is founded only on +the disappearance of the MS.,--the opportunities possessed by Alcyonius of +appropriating it, and his own critical opinion of the dialogue _De +Exilio_, in which he conceives that there are many passages composed in a +style evincing a writer of talents, far superior to those of its nominal +author. This accusation was repeated by Paulus Jovius and others(480). +Mencken, in the preface to his edition of the dialogue _De Exilio_, has +maintained the innocence of Alcyonius, and has related a conversation +which he had with Bentley on the subject, in the course of which that +great scholar declared, that he found nothing in the work of Alcyonius +which could convict him of the imputed plagiarism(481). He has been +defended at greater length by Tiraboschi, on the strong grounds that +Giustiniani lived after the invention of printing, and that had he +actually been in possession of Cicero's treatise _De Gloriâ_, he would +doubtless have published it--that it is not said to what monastery of nuns +Giustiniani bequeathed this precious MS.--that the charge against Alcyonius +was not advanced till after his death, although his dialogue _De Exilio_ +was first printed in 1522, and he survived till 1527; and, finally, that +so great a proportion of it relates to modern events, that there are not +more than a few pages which could possibly have been pilfered from Cicero, +or any writer of his age(482). M. Bernardi, in a dissertation subjoined to +a work above mentioned, _De la Republique_, has revived the accusation, at +least to a certain extent, by quoting various passages from the work of +Alcyonius, which are not well connected with the others, and which, being +of a superior order of composition, may be conjectured to be those he had +detached from the treatises of Cicero. On the whole, the question of the +theft and plagiarism of Alcyonius still remains undecided, and will +probably continue so till the discovery of some perfect copy of the tract +_De Gloriâ_--an event rather to be earnestly desired than reasonably +anticipated. + +A fourth lost work of Cicero, is his _Hortensius sive de Philosophia_. +Besides the orator after whom it is named, Catulus, Lucullus, and Cicero +himself, were speakers in the dialogue. In the first part, where +Hortensius discourses, it was intended to exalt eloquence above +philosophy. To his arguments Cicero replied, showing the service that +philosophy rendered to eloquence, even in an imperfect state of the social +progress, and its superior use in an improved condition of society, in +which there should be no wrong, and consequently no tribunals of justice. +All this appears from the account given of the _Hortensius_ by St +Augustine, who has also quoted from it many beautiful passages--declaring, +at the same time, that it was the perusal of this work which first +inspired him with a love of wisdom.--"Viluit mihi repente omnis vana spes, +et immortalitatem sapientiæ concupiscebam æstu cordis incredibili(483)." +This dialogue continued to be preserved for a long period after the time +of St Augustine, since it is cited as extant in his own age by the famous +Roger Bacon(484). + +It was not till after the æra of Augustus, that works originally destined +for the public assumed the name and form of letters. But several +collections of epistles, written, during the period on which we are now +engaged, to relatives or friends in private confidence, were afterwards +extensively circulated. Those of Cornelia, the daughter of the elder +Scipio Africanus, and mother of the Gracchi, addressed chiefly to her +sons, were much celebrated; but the most ample collection now extant, is +that of the Letters of Cicero. + +These may be divided into four parts,--1. The Epistolæ Familiares, or +Miscellaneous Correspondence; 2. Those to Atticus; 3. To his brother +Quintus; 4. To Brutus. + +The correspondence, usually entitled _Ad Familiares_, includes a period of +about twenty years, commencing immediately after Cicero's consulate, and +ending a few months before his death. The letters which this collection +comprehends, are so extremely miscellaneous, that it is impossible even to +run over their contents. Previous to the battle of Pharsalia, it chiefly +consists of epistles concerning the distribution of consular provinces, +and the political intrigues relating to that constantly recurring subject +of contention,--recommendatory letters sent with acquaintances going into +the provinces--details to absent friends, with regard to the state of +parties at Rome, particularly the designs of Pompey and Cæsar, and the +factions of Milo and Clodius; and, finally, entertaining anecdotes +concerning the most popular and fashionable amusements of the Capital. + +Subsequently to the battle of Pharsalia, and during the supremacy of +Cæsar, the letters are principally addressed to the chiefs of the Pompeian +party, who were at that time in banishment for their adherence to the same +cause in which Cicero had been himself engaged. These epistles are chiefly +occupied with consolatory reflections on the adverse circumstances in +which they were placed, and accounts of his own exertions to obtain their +recall. In the perusal of these letters, it is painful and humiliating to +observe the gratification which Cicero evidently appears to have received +at this period, from the attentions, not merely of Cæsar, but of his +creatures and favourites, as Balbus, Hirtius, and Pansa. + +After the assassination of Cæsar, the correspondence for the most part +relates to the affairs of the Republic, and is directed to the heads of +the conspiracy, or to leading men in the state, as Lepidus and Asinius +Pollio, who were then in the command of armies, and whom he anxiously +exhorts to declare for the commonwealth, and stand forward in opposition +to Antony. + +There are a good many letters inserted in this collection, addressed to +Cicero by his friends. The greatest number are from his old client Cælius, +who appears to have been an admirable gossip. They are written to Cicero, +during his absence from Rome, in his government of Cilicia, and give him +news of party politics--intelligence of remarkable cases tried in the +Forum--and of the fashionable scandal of the day. The great object of +Cælius seems to have been to obtain in return, the dedication of one of +Cicero's works, and a cargo of panthers from Asia, for his exhibition of +games to the Roman people. Towards the conclusion, there are a good many +letters from generals, who were at the head of armies in the provinces at +the death of Cæsar, and continued their command during the war which the +Senate waged against Antony. All of them, but particularly Asinius Pollio, +and Lepidus, appear to have acted with consummate treachery and +dissimulation towards Cicero and the Senate. On the whole, though the +_Epistolæ Familiares_ were private letters, and though some private +affairs are treated of in them, they chiefly relate to public concerns, +comprehending, in particular, a very full history of Cicero's government +in Cilicia, the civil dissensions of Rome, and the war between Pompey and +Cæsar. Seldom, however, do they display any flashes of that eloquence with +which the orator was so richly endued; and no transaction, however +important, elevated his style above the level of ordinary conversation. + +The _Epistolæ ad Atticum_, are also of great service for the History of +Rome. "Whoever," says Cornelius Nepos, "reads these letters of Cicero, +will not want for a connected history of the times. So well does he +describe the views of the leading men, the faults of generals, and the +changes of parties in the state, that nothing is wanting for our +information; and such was his sagacity, we are almost led to believe that +it was a kind of divination; for Cicero not only foretold what afterwards +happened in his own lifetime, but, like a prophet, predicted events which +are now come to pass(485)." Along with this knowledge, we obtain more +insight into Cicero's private character, than from the former series of +letters, where he is often disguised in the political mask of the great +theatre on which he acted, and where many of his defects are concealed +under the graceful folds of the _toga_. It was to Atticus that he most +freely unbosomed his thoughts--more completely than even to Tullia, +Terentia, or Tiro. Hence, while he evinces in these letters much affection +for his family--ardent zeal for the interests of his friends--strong +feelings of humanity and justice--warm gratitude to his benefactors, and +devoted love to his country, he has not repressed his vanity, or concealed +the faults of a mental organization too susceptible of every impression. +His sensibility, indeed, was such, that it led him to think his +misfortunes were peculiarly distinguished from those of all other men, and +that neither himself nor the world could ever sufficiently deplore them: +hence the querulous and plaintive tone which pervades the whole +correspondence, and which, in the letters written during his exile, +resembles more the wailings of the _Tristia_ of Ovid, than what might be +expected from the first statesman, orator, and philosopher of the Roman +Republic. In every page of them, too, we see traces of his inconsistencies +and irresolution--his political, if not his personal timidity--his rash +confidence in prosperity, his alarm in danger, his despondence in +adversity--his too nice jealousies and delicate suspicions--his proneness to +offence, and his unresisting compliance with those who had gained him by +flattery, and hypocritical professions of attachment to the commonwealth. +Atticus, it is clear, was a bad adviser for his fame, and perhaps for his +ultimate safety; and to him may be in a great measure attributed that +compromising conduct which has detracted so much from the dignity of his +character. "You succeeded," says Cicero, speaking of Cæsar and Pompey, "in +persuading me to keep well with the one, because he had rendered me +services, and with the other, because he possessed great power(486)." +Again, "I followed your advice so punctually, that neither of them had a +favourite beyond myself;" and after the war had actually broken out, "I +take it very kind that you, in so friendly a manner, advise me to declare +as little as possible for either party(487)." Such fatal counsels, it is +evident, accorded too well with his own inclinations, and palliated, +perhaps, to himself the weaknesses to which he gave way. These weaknesses +of Cicero it would, indeed, be in vain to deny; but _his_ feelings are +little to be envied who can think of them without regret, or speak of them +without indulgence. + +It is these letters, however, which have handed down the remembrance of +Atticus to posterity, and have rendered his name almost as universally +known as that of his illustrious correspondent. "Nomen Attici perire," +says Seneca, "Ciceronis Epistolæ non sinunt. Nihil illi profuissent gener +Agrippa, et Tiberius progener, et Drusus Cæsar pronepos. Inter tam magna +nomina taceretur nisi Cicero illum applicuisset." + +Perhaps the most interesting correspondence of Cicero is that with his +brother Quintus, who was some years younger than the orator. He attained +the dignity of Prætor in 693, and afterwards held a government in Asia as +Pro-prætor for four years. He returned to Rome at the moment in which his +brother was driven into exile; and for some time afterwards, was chiefly +employed in exerting himself to obtain his recall. As Cæsar's lieutenant, +he served with credit in Gaul; but espoused the republican party at the +breaking out of the civil war. He was pardoned, however, by Cæsar, and was +slain by the blood-thirsty triumvirate established after his death. +Quintus was a man of warm affections, and of some military talents, but of +impatient and irritable temper. The orator had evidently a high opinion of +his qualifications, and has introduced him as an interlocutor in the +dialogues _De Legibus_ and _De Divinatione_. + +The correspondence with Quintus is divided into three books. The first +letter in the collection, is one of the noblest productions of the kind +which has ever been penned. It is addressed to Quintus on occasion of his +government in Asia being prolonged for a third year. Availing himself of +the rights of an elder brother, as well as of the authority derived from +his superior dignity and talents, Cicero counsels and exhorts his brother +concerning the due administration of his province, particularly with +regard to the choice of his subordinate officers, and the degree of trust +to be reposed in them. He earnestly reproves him, but with much fraternal +tenderness and affection, for his proneness to resentment; and he +concludes with a beautiful exhortation, to strive in all respects to merit +the praise of his contemporaries, and bequeath to posterity an untainted +name. The second letter transmits to Quintus an account of some complaints +which Cicero had heard in Rome, with regard to his brother's conduct in +the administration of his government. The two following epistles, which +conclude the first book, are written from Thessalonica, in the +commencement of his exile. The first of these, beginning, "Mi frater, mi +frater, mi frater," written in a sad state of agitation and depression, is +a fine specimen of eloquent and pathetic expostulation. It is full of +strong and almost unbounded expressions of attachment, and exhibits much +of that exaggeration, both in sentiment and language, in which Cicero +indulged so frequently in his orations. + +The second and third books of letters, addressed to his brother in +Sardinia and Gaul, give an interesting account of the state of public +affairs during the years 697, 698, and part of 699, as also of his +subsisting domestic relations during the same period. + +Along with his letters to Quintus, there is usually printed an epistle or +memoir, which Quintus addressed to his brother when he stood candidate for +the consulship, and which is entitled _De Petitione Consulatûs_. It gives +advice with regard to the measures he should pursue to attain his object, +particularly inculcating the best means to gain private friends, and +acquire general popularity. But though professedly drawn up merely for the +use of his brother, it appears to have been intended by the author as a +guide, or manual, for all who might be placed in similar circumstances. It +is written with considerable elegance, and perfect purity of style, and +forms an important document for the history of the Roman republic, as it +affords us a clearer insight than we can derive from any other work now +extant, into the intrigues resorted to by the heads of parties to gain the +suffrages of the people. + +The authenticity of the _Correspondence between Cicero and Brutus_, has +formed the subject of a literary controversy, perhaps the most celebrated +which has ever occurred, except that concerning the Epistles of Phalaris. + +It is quite ascertained, that a correspondence had been carried on between +Cicero and Brutus; and a collection of the letters which had passed +between them, extending to not less than eight books, existed for several +ages after Cicero's death. They were all written during the period which +elapsed from the assassination of Cæsar to the tragical end of the orator, +which comprehended about a year and a half; and it appears from the +fragments of them, cited by Plutarch and the grammarians, that they +chiefly related to the memorable political events of that important +interval, and to a literary controversy which subsisted between Cicero and +Brutus, with regard to the attributes of perfect eloquence(488). + +This collection is mentioned, and passages cited from it, by Quintilian, +Plutarch, and even Nonius Marcellus(489), who lived about the year 400. +After this, all trace of it is lost, till, in the fourteenth century, we +find some of the disputed letters in the possession of Petrarch; and it +has been conjectured that Petrarch himself was the discoverer of +them(490). Eighteen of these letters, which were all that were then known, +were published at Rome in 1470. Many years afterwards, five more, but in a +mutilated state, were found in Germany, and these, in all subsequent +editions, were printed along with the original eighteen. All the letters +relate to the situation of public affairs after the death of Cæsar. They +contain a good deal of recrimination: Brutus blaming Cicero for his +dangerous elevation of Octavius, and conferring honours on him too +profusely; Cicero censuring Brutus for having spared the life of Antony at +the time of the conspiracy. + +Now the point in dispute is, If these twenty-three letters be parts of the +original eight books of the genuine correspondence of Cicero and Brutus, +so often cited by Plutarch, Quintilian, and Nonius; or if they be the +forgery of some monk or sophist, during the dark ages which elapsed +between the time of Nonius and Petrarch. + +From their very first appearance, the eighteen letters, which had come +into the possession of Petrarch, passed among the learned for original +epistles of Cicero and Brutus; and the five discovered in Germany, though +doubted for a while, were soon received into the same rank with the +others. Erasmus seems to have been the first who suspected the whole to be +the declamatory composition of some rhetorician or sophist. They +continued, however, to be cited by every other commentator, critic, and +historian, as the unquestionable remains of the great author to whom they +were ascribed. Middleton, in particular, in his Life of Cicero, freely +referred to them as biographical authorities, along with the Familiar +Epistles, and those to Atticus. + +Matters were in this situation, when Tunstall, in 1741, addressed a Latin +Epistle to Middleton, written professedly to introduce a proposal for a +new edition of Cicero's letters to Atticus, and his brother Quintus. In +the first part of this epistle, he attempted to retrieve the original +readings of these authentic treasures of Ciceronian history, and asserted +their genuine sense against the corruptions or false interpretations of +them, which had led to many erroneous conclusions in Middleton's Life of +Cicero. In the second part, he denies the authenticity of the whole +correspondence between Cicero and Brutus, which he alleges is the +production of some sophist or scholiast of the middle ages, who probably +wrote them, according to the practice of those days, as an exercise for +his rhetorical talents, and with the view either of drawing up a +supplement to the Epistles to Atticus, so as to carry on the history from +the period at which they terminate, or to vindicate Cicero's character +from the imputation of rashness, in throwing too much power into the hands +of Octavius. Tunstall farther thinks, that the leading subject of these +letters was suggested to the sophist by a passage in Plutarch's Life of +Brutus, where it is mentioned that Brutus had remonstrated with Cicero, +and complained of him to their mutual friend Atticus, for the court he +paid to Octavius, which showed that his aim was not to procure liberty for +his country, but a kind master to himself. + +Middleton soon afterwards published an English translation of the whole +correspondence between Brutus and Cicero, with notes; and, in a prefatory +dissertation, written with considerable and unprovoked asperity, he +attempted to vindicate the authority of the epistles, and to answer the +objections of Tunstall. His adversary replied in an immense English work, +of more than 400 pages, entitled, "Observations on the present Collection +of Epistles between Cicero and Brutus, representing several evident marks +of Forgery in those Epistles, in answer to the late pretences of Dr +Middleton: 1744." + +It is difficult to give any sketch of the argumentative part of this famed +controversy, as the merit of all such discussion consists in the extreme +accuracy and minuteness of investigation. The main scope, however, of the +objections, is thus generally exhibited by Tunstall in his Latin epistle. +He declares, "that as he came fresh from the perusal of Cicero's genuine +letters, he perceived that those to Brutus wanted the beauty and +copiousness of the Ciceronian diction--that the epistles, both of Brutus +and Cicero, were drawn in the same style and manner of colouring, and +trimmed up with so much art and diligence, that they seemed to proceed +rather from scholastic subtlety and meditation, than from the genuine acts +and affairs of life--that when, both before and after the date of the +letters to Atticus, several epistles had been addressed from Brutus to +Cicero, and from Cicero to Brutus, it was strange that those which +preceded the letters to Atticus should have been lost, and those alone +remain which appear to have been industriously designed for an epilogue to +the Epistles to Atticus--that such reasons induced him to suspect, but on +looking farther into the letters themselves, he discovered many +absurdities in the sense, many improprieties in the language, many +remarkable predictions of future events, both on Brutus's side and +Cicero's; but what was most material, a great number of historical facts, +not only quite new, but wholly altered, and some even apparently false, +and contradictory to the genuine works of Cicero." + +Such was the state of the controversy, as it stood between Tunstall and +Middleton. In 1745, the year after Middleton had published his translation +of the epistles, Markland engaged in this literary contest, and came +forward in opposition to the authenticity of the letters, by publishing +his "Remarks on the Epistles of Cicero to Brutus, and of Brutus to Cicero, +in a Letter to a Friend." The arguments of Tunstall had chiefly turned on +historical inconsistencies--those of Markland principally hinge on phrases +to be found in the letters, which are not Ciceronian, or even of pure +Latinity. + +I must here close this long account of the writings of Cicero--of Cicero, +distinguished as the Consul of the republic--as the father and saviour of +his country--but not less distinguished as the orator, philosopher, and +moralist of Rome.--"Salve primus omnium Parens Patriæ appellate,--primus in +togâ triumphum linguæque lauream merite, et facundiæ, Latiarumque +Literarum parens: atque (ut Dictator Cæsar, hostis quondam tuus, de te +scripsit,) omnium triumphorum lauream adopte majorem; quanto plus est, +ingenii Romani terminos in tantum promovisse, quàm imperii(491)." + + -------------------------------------------- + +In the former volume of this work, I had traced the progress of the +language of the Romans, and treated of the different poets by whom it was +adorned till the era of Augustus. I had chiefly occasion, in the course of +that part of my inquiry, to compare the poetical productions of Rome with +those of Greece, and to show that the Latin poetry of this early age, +being modelled on that of Athens or Alexandria, had acquired an air of +preparation and authorship, and appeared to have been written to obtain +the cold approbation of the public, or smiles of a Patrician patron, while +the native lines of the Grecian bards seem to be poured fourth like the +Delphic oracles, because the god which inspired them was too great to be +contained within the bosom. In the prose compositions of the Romans, which +have been considered in the present volume, though the _exemplaria Græca_ +were still the models of style, we have not observed the same servility of +imitation. The agricultural writers of Latium treated of a subject in a +great measure foreign to the maritime feelings and commercial occupations +of the Greeks; while, in the Latin historians, orators, and philosophers, +we listen to a tone of practical utility, derived from the familiar +acquaintance which their authors exercised with the affairs of life. The +old Latin historians were for the most part themselves engaged in the +affairs they related, and almost every oration of Cicero was actually +delivered in the Senate or Forum. Among the Romans, philosophy was not, as +it had been with many of the Greeks, an academic dream or speculation, +which was substituted for the realities of life. In Rome, philosophic +inquiries were chiefly prosecuted as supplying arguments and illustrations +to the patron for his conflicts in the Forum, and as guiding the citizen +in the discharge of his duties to the commonwealth. Those studies, in +short, alone were valued, which, as it is beautifully expressed by Cicero, +in the person of Lælius--"Efficiant ut usui civitati simus: id enim esse +præclarissimum sapientiæ munus, maximumque virtutis documentum puto." + + + + + + + APPENDIX. + + + "Some felt the silent stroke of mouldering age, + Some hostile fury, some religious rage: + Barbarian blindness, Christian zeal conspire, + And Papal piety, and Gothic fire." + POPE'S _Epistle to Addison_. + + + + + + APPENDIX. + + +In order to be satisfied as to the authenticity of the works commonly +called Classical, it is important to ascertain in what manner they were +given to the public by their respective authors--to trace how they were +preserved during the long night of the dark ages--and to point out by whom +their perishing remains were first discovered at the return of light. Nor +will it be uninteresting to follow up this sketch by an enumeration of the +principal Editions of the Classics mentioned in the preceding pages, and +of the best Translations of them which, from time to time, have appeared +in the Italian, French, and English languages. + +The manuscripts of the Latin Classics, during the existence of the Roman +republic and empire, may be divided into what have been called _notata_ +and _perscripta_. The former were those written by the author himself, or +his learned slaves, in contractions or signs which stood for syllables and +words; the latter, those which were fully transcribed in the ordinary +characters by the _librarius_, who was employed by the _bibliopolæ_, or +booksellers, to prepare the productions of an author for public sale. + +The books written in the hand of the authors were probably not very +legible, at least if we may judge of others by Cicero. His brother Quintus +had complained that he could not read his letters, and Cicero says in +reply: "Scribis te meas literas superiores vix legere potuisse; hoc facio +semper ut quicumque calamus in manus meas venerit, eo sic utar tamquam +bono(492)." + +But the works,--at least the prose works,--of the Romans were seldom written +out in the hand of the author, and were generally dictated by him to some +slave or freedman instructed in penmanship. It is well known that many of +the orations of Cicero, Cato, and their great rhetorical contemporaries, +were taken down by short-hand writers stationed in the Senate or Forum. +But even the works most carefully prepared in the closet were _notata_, in +a similar manner, by slaves and freedmen. There was no part of his learned +compositions on which Cicero took more pains, or about which his thoughts +were more occupied(493), than the dedication of the _Academica_ to Varro, +and even this he _dictated_ to his slave Spintharus, though he did so +slowly, word by word, and not in whole sentences to Tiro, as was his +practice in his other productions. "Male mihi sit," says he in a letter to +Atticus, "si umquam quidquam tam enitar. Ergo ne Tironi quidem dictavi, +qui totas _periochas_ persequi solet, sed Spintharo syllabatim(494)." + +This practice of authors dictating their works created a necessity, or at +least a conveniency, of writing with rapidity, and of employing +contractions, or conventional marks, in almost every word. + +Accordingly, from the earliest periods of Roman literature, words were +contracted, or were signified by notes, which sometimes stood for more +than one letter, sometimes for syllables, and at other times for whole +words. Funccius, who maintains that Adam was the first short-hand +writer(495), has asserted, with more truth, that the Romans contracted +their words from the remotest ages of the republic, and to a greater +degree than any other ancient nation. Sometimes the abbreviations +consisted merely in writing the initial letter instead of the whole word. +Thus P. C. stood for Patres Conscripti; C. R., for Civis Romanus; S. N. +L., for Socii Nominis Latini. This sort of contraction being employed in +words frequently recurring, and which in one sense might be termed public, +and being also universally recognized, would rarely produce any +misapprehension or mistake. But frequently the abbreviations were much +more complex, and the leading letters of words in less common use being +_notata_, the contractions became of much more difficult and dubious +interpretation. For example, _Meit._ expressed meminit; _Acus._, Acerbus; +_Quit._, quærit; _Ror._, Rhetor. + +For the sake, however, of yet greater expedition in writing, and perhaps, +in some few instances for the purpose of secrecy, signs or marks, which +could be currently made with one dash or scratch with the _stylus_, and +without lifting or turning it, came to be employed, instead of those +letters which were themselves the abbreviations of words. Some writers +have supposed that these signs were entirely arbitrary(496), whilst others +have, with more probability, maintained that their forms can be resolved +or analysed into the figures, or parts of the figures, of the letters +themselves which they were intended to represent, though they have often +departed far from the shape of the original characters(497). Ennius is +said to have invented 1100 of these signs(498), which he no doubt employed +in his multifarious compositions. Others came into gradual use in the +manual operation of writing with rapidity to dictation. Tiro, the +favourite freedman of Cicero, greatly increased the number, and brought +this sort of tachygraphy to its greatest perfection among the Romans. In +consequence of this fashion of authors dictating their works, expedition +came to be considered of the utmost importance; it was regarded as the +chief accomplishment of an amanuensis; and he alone was considered as +perfect in his art, whose pen could equal the rapidity of utterance: + + Hic et scriptor erit felix, cui litera verbum est, + Quique notis linguam superet, cursumque loquentis, + Excipiens longas per nova compendia voces(499). + +These lines were written by a poet of the age of Augustus, and it appears +from Martial(500), Ausonius(501), and Prudentius, that this system of +dictation by the author, and rapid notation by his amanuensis, continued +in practice during the later ages of the empire. + +Such was the mode in which most of the writings of the ancients came +originally from their authors, and were delivered to those friends who +were desirous to possess copies, or to the booksellers to be _perscripta_, +or transcribed, for publication. + +There exists sufficient proof of the high estimation in which accurate +transcriptions of the works of their own writers were held by the Romans. +The correctness of printing, however, could not be expected. In the +original notation, some mistakes might probably be made from carelessness +of pronunciation in the author who dictated, and haste in his amanuensis; +but the great source of errors in MSS. was the blunders made by the +_librarius_ in copying out from the noted exemplar. There was the greatest +ambiguity and doubt in the interpretation, both of words contracted in the +ordinary character and in the artificial signs. Sometimes the same word +was expressed by different letters; thus MR. MT. MTR. all expressed +_Mater_. Sometimes, on the other hand, the same set of letters expressed +different words; for instance, ACT. signified _Actor_, _Auctoritas_, and +_Hactenus_. The collocation of the letters was often inverted from the +order in which they stood in the word when fully expressed; and frequently +one letter had not merely its own power, but that of several others. Thus +AMO. signified _animo_, because M had there not only its own force, but, +as its shape in some measure announces, the power of _ni_ also. Matters +were still worse, when not only abbreviations, but signs had been resorted +to. These were variously employed by different writers, and were also +differently interpreted by transcribers. Some of these signs were +extremely similar in form: it was scarcely possible to discriminate the +sign which denoted the syllable _ab_ from that which expressed the +syllable _um_; and the signs of the syllables _is_ and _it_ were nearly +undistinguishable; while _ad_ and _at_ were precisely the same. The mark +which expressed the word _talis_, being a little more sloped or inclined, +expressed _qualis_; and the difference in the Tironian signs which stood +for the complete words _Ager_ and _Amicus_, was scarcely perceptible(502). + +The ancient Latin writers also employed a number of marks to denote the +accents of words, and the quantities of syllables. The oldest writers, as +Livius Andronicus and Nævius, always placed two vowels when a syllable was +to be pronounced long(503). Attius, the great tragic author, was the first +to relinquish this usage; and after his time, in conformity to the new +practice which he had adopted, a certain mark was placed over the long +vowels. When this custom also (which is stigmatised by Quintilian as +_ineptissimus_(504)) fell into disuse, the mark was frequently +misunderstood, and Funccius has given several examples of corruptions and +false readings from the mistake of transcribers, who supposed that it was +intended to express an _m_, an _n_, or other letters(505). + +In addition to all this, little attention was paid to the separation of +words and sentences, and the art of punctuation was but imperfectly +understood. + +Finally, and above all, the orthography of Latin was extremely fluctuating +and uncertain. We have seen, in an early part of this work, how it varied +in the time of the republic, and it, in fact, never became fixed. Mai +talks repeatedly, in his preface, of the strange inconsistencies of +spelling in the Codex, which contained Cicero's work _De Republica_; and +Cassiodorus, who of all his contemporaries chiefly cultivated literature +during the reign of the barbarians in Italy, often regrets that the +ancient Romans had left their orthography encumbered with the utmost +difficulties. "Orthographia," says he, "apud Græcos plerumque sine +ambiguitate probatur expressa; inter Latinos vero sub ardua difficultate +relicta monstratur; unde etiam modo studium magnum lectoris inquiret." + +In consequence of this dictation to short-hand, and this uncertain +orthography, we find that the corruption of the classics had begun at a +very early period. The ninth Satire of Lucilius was directed against the +ridiculous blunders of transcribers, and contained rules for greater +correctness. Cicero, in his letters to his brother Quintus, bitterly +complains of the errors of copyists,--"De Latinis vero, quo me vertam, +nescio; ita mendose et scribuntur, et veneunt(506)." Strabo says, that in +his time booksellers employed ignorant transcribers, who neglected to +compare what they wrote with the exemplar; which, he adds, has occurred in +many works, copied for the purpose of being sold, both at Rome and +Alexandria(507). Martial, too, thus cautions his reader against the +mistakes occasioned by the inaccuracy and haste of the venders of books, +and the transcribers whom they employed: + + "Si qua videbuntur chartis tibi, lector, in istis, + Sive obscura nimis, sive Latina parum; + Non meus est error: nocuit Librarius illis, + Dum properat versus annumerare tibi(508)." + +Aulus Gellius repeatedly complains of the inaccuracy of copies in his +time: We learn from him, that the writings of the greatest Classics were +already corrupted and falsified, not only by the casual errors of +copyists, but by the deliberate perversions of critics, who boldly altered +everything that was too elegant or poetical for their own taste and +understanding(509). To the numerous corruptions in the text of Sallust he +particularly refers(510). + +The practice, too, of abridging larger works, particularly histories, and +extracting from them, was injurious to the preservation of MSS. This +practice, occasioned by the scarcity of paper, began as early as the time +of Brutus, who extracted even from the meagre annals of his country. These +excerpts seldom compensated for the originals, but made them be neglected, +and in consequence they were lost. + +It seems also probable, that the destruction of the treasures of classical +literature commenced at a very early period. Varro's library, which was +the most extensive private collection of books in Italy, was ruined and +dispersed when his villa was occupied by Antony(511); and some of his own +treatises, as that addressed to Pompey on the duties of the Consulship, +were irretrievably lost. Previous to the art of printing, books, in +consequence of their great scarcity and value, were chiefly heaped up in +public libraries. Several of these were consumed in the fire, by which so +many temples were burned to the ground in the reign of Nero(512), +particularly the library in the temple of Apollo, on the Palatine Hill, +which was founded by Augustus, and contained all the Roman poets and +historians previous to his age. This literary establishment having been +restored as far as was possible by Domitian, suffered a second time by the +flames; and the extensive library of the Capitol perished in a fire during +the reign of Commodus(513). When it is considered, that at these periods +the copies of Latin works were few, and chiefly confined within the walls +of Rome, some notion may be formed of the extent of the loss sustained by +these successive conflagrations. + +From the portentous æra of the death of Pertinax, the brief reign of each +succeeding emperor ended in assassination, civil war, and revolution. The +imperial throne was filled by soldiers of fortune, who came like shadows, +and like shadows departed. Rome at length ceased to be the fixed and +habitual residence of her sovereigns, who were now generally employed at a +distance in the field, in repelling foreign enemies, or repressing +usurpers. While it is certain, that during this period many of the finest +monuments of the arts were destroyed, and some of the most splendid works +of architecture defaced, it can hardly be supposed that the frail texture +of the parchment, or papyrus, should have resisted the stroke of sudden +ruin, or the gradual mouldering of neglect. + +But the chief destruction took place after the removal of the seat of +empire by Constantine. The loss of so many classical works subsequently to +that æra, has been attributed chiefly to the irruption of the northern +barbarians; but it was fully as much owing to the blind zeal of the early +Christians. Many of the public libraries were placed in temples, and hence +were the more exposed to the fury of the proselytes to the new faith. This +devastation began in Italy in the fourth century, before the barbarians +had penetrated to the heart of the empire; and, in the same century, if +Sulpicius Severus may be credited, Bishop Martin undertook a crusade +against the temples of the Gauls(514). St Augustine, St Jerome, and +Lactantius, indeed, knew the classics well; but they considered them as a +sort of forbidden fruit: and St Jerome, as he himself informs us, was +whipped by an angel for perusing Plautus and Cicero(515). The following or +fifth century, was distinguished by the first capture of Rome, and its +successive devastations by Alaric, Genseric, and Attila. In the latter +part of the century, Milan, too, was plundered; which, next to Rome, was +the chief repository of books in Italy. + +Monachism, which, in its first institution, particularly in the east, had +been so destructive of literary works, became, when more advanced in its +progress, a chief cause of their preservation. When the monks were at +length united, in a species of civil union, under the fixed rules of St +Benedict, in the beginning of the sixth century, the institution +contributed, if not to the diffusion of literature, at least to the +preservation of literary works. There was no prohibition in the ordinances +of St Benedict against the reading of classical writings, as in those of +St Isidore: and the consequence was, that wherever any abbot, or even +monk, had a taste for letters, books were introduced into the convent. We +have a remarkable example of this in the instance of Cassiodorus, whose +genius, learning, and virtue, shed a lustre on one of the darkest periods +of Italian history. After his pre-eminent services as minister of state +during the reign of Theodoric, and regency of Amalasuntha, he retired, in +the year 540, when he had reached the age of seventy, to the monastery of +Monte Casino, situated in a most delightful spot, near the place of his +birth, in Calabria. There he became as serviceable to literature as he had +formerly been to the state; and the convent to which he betook himself +deserves to be first mentioned in any future history of the preservation +of the Classics. Before his entrance into it, he possessed an extensive +library, with which he enriched the cloister(516); and subsequently +enlarged it by a collection of MSS., which he caused to be brought to him +from various quarters of Italy. There is still extant his order to a monk +to procure for him Albinus' treatise on Music; which shows, that his +collection was not entirely confined to theological treatises: while his +work _De Artibus ac Disciplinis liberalium Literarum_, is an ample +testimony of his classical learning, and of the value which he attached to +it. His library contained, at least, Ennius, Terence, Lucretius, Varro, +Cicero, and Sallust(517). The monks of his convent were excited by him to +the transcription of MSS.; and, in his work _De Orthographia_, he did not +disdain to give minute directions for copying with facility and +correctness. + +Thus, in collecting an ample library--in diffusing copies of ancient +MSS.--in verbal instructions, written lectures, and the composition of +voluminous works--he closed, in the service of religion and learning, a +long and meritorious life. + +The example of Cassiodorus was followed in other convents. About half a +century after his death, Columbanus founded a monastery of Benedictines at +Bobbio, a town situated among the northern Apennines. This religious +society, as Tiraboschi informs us, was remarkable, not only for the +sanctity of its manners, but the cultivation of literature. It was +fortunate that receptacles for books had now been thus provided, as +otherwise the treasures of classical literature in Italy would, in all +likelihood, have perished during the wars of Belisarius, and Narses, and +the invasion of Totila. It is in the age of Cassiodorus,--that is, the +beginning and middle of the sixth century,--that Tiraboschi places the +serious and systematic commencement of the transcription of the +classics(518). He mentions the names of some of the most eminent copyists; +but a fuller list had been previously furnished by Fabricius(519). + +In Gregory the Great, who was Pope at the end of the sixth and beginning +of the seventh century, literature, according to popular belief, found an +enemy in the west, as fatal to its interests as the Caliph Omar had been +in the east. This pontiff was accused of burning a classical library, and +also some valuable works, which had replaced those formerly consumed in +the Palatine library. John of Salisbury is the sole authority for this +charge; and even he, who lived six centuries after the age of Gregory, +only mentions it as a tradition and report: "Fertur Beatus Gregorius +bibliothecam combussisse gentilem, quo divinæ paginæ gratior esset locus, +et major auctoritas, et diligentia studiosior(520);" and again, "Ut +traditur a majoribus, incendio dedit probatæ lectionis scripta, Palatinus +quæcunque tenebat Apollo(521)." Cardan informs us, that Gregory also +caused the plays of Nævius, Ennius, and Afranius, to be burned. That he +suppressed the works of Cicero, rests on the authority of a passage in an +edict published by Louis XI., dated 1473, and quoted by Lyron in his +_Singularitéz Historiques_(522). St Antonius, who was Archbishop of +Florence in the middle of the fifteenth century, is cited by Vossius as +the most ancient author who has asserted that he burned the decades of +Livy(523). These charges have been strenuously supported by Brucker(524), +while Tiraboschi, on the other hand, has endeavoured to vindicate the +memory of the pontiff from all such aspersions(525). Bayle has adopted a +prudent neutrality(526). Dendina(527) and Ginguené(528), the most recent +authors who have touched on the subject, seem to consider the question, +after all that has been written on it, as still doubtful, and not likely +to receive any farther elucidation. It appears certain, that Gregory +disliked classical, or profane literature, on account of the oracles, +idolatry, and rites, with which it is associated, and that he prohibited +its study by the clergy(529);--whence may, perhaps, have originated the +reports of his wilfully destroying the then surviving libraries and books +of Rome. + +During the course of the two centuries which followed the death of +Gregory, Italy was divided between the Greeks and Lombards, and was torn +by spiritual dissensions. The most numerous and barbarous swarm which had +yet crossed the Alps was the Lombards, who descended on Italy, under their +king, Alboinus, in 568, immediately after the death of Narses. It was no +longer a tribe or army by which Italy was invaded; but a whole nation of +old men, women, and children, covered its plains. This ignorant and +ferocious race spread themselves from the Alps to Rome during the seventh +and eighth centuries. And although Rome itself escaped the Lombard +dominion, the horrors of a perpetual siege can alone convey an adequate +idea of its distressed situation. The feuds of the Lombard chiefs, their +wars with the Greeks, who still remained masters of Rome, and at length +with the Franks, (all which contests were marked with fire and massacre,) +made a desert of the Peninsular garden(530). Hitherto the superstitious +feelings of the northern hordes had inspired them with some degree of +respect for the sacerdotal order which they found established in Italy. +Reverence for the person of the priest had extended itself to the security +of his property, and while the palace and castle were wrapt in flames, the +convent escaped sacrilege. But the Lombards extended their fury to objects +which their rude predecessors had generally respected; and learning was +now attacked in her most vulnerable part. Amid the general destruction, +the monasteries and their libraries were no longer spared; and with +others, that of Monte Casino, one of the most valuable and extensive in +Italy, was plundered by the Lombards(531). Some books preserved in the +sack of the libraries were carried back by these invaders to their native +country, and a few were saved by monks, who sought refuge in other +kingdoms, which accounts for the number of classical MSS. subsequently +discovered in France and Germany(532). + +Amid the ruin of taste and letters in these ages, it is probable that but +few new copies were made from the MSS. then extant. Some of the classics, +however, were still spared, and remained in the monastic libraries. +Anspert, who was Abbot of Beneventum, in the eighth century, declares that +he had never studied Homer, Cicero, or Virgil, which implies, that they +were still preserved, and accessible to his perusal(533). + +The division of Italy between the Lombards and Greeks continued till the +end of the eighth century, when Charlemagne put an end to the kingdom of +the former, and founded his empire. Whether this monarch himself had any +pretensions to the character of a scholar, is more than doubtful; but +whether he possessed learning or not, he was a generous patron of those +who did. He assembled round his court such persons as were most +distinguished for talents and erudition; he established schools and +pensioned scholars; and he founded also a species of Academy, of which +Alcuin was the head, and in which every one adopted a scriptural or +classic appellation. This tended to multiply the MSS. of the classics, and +many of them found a place in the imperial library mentioned by Eginhard. +Charlemagne also established the monastery of Fulda, and, in consequence, +copies of these MSS. found their way to Germany in the beginning of the +ninth century(534). The more recent Latin writers, as Boethius, Macrobius, +and Capella, were chiefly popular in his age; but Virgil, Cicero, and +Livy, were not unknown. Alcuin's poetical account of the library at York, +founded by Archbishop Egbert, and of which he had been the first +librarian, affords us some notion of the usual contents of the libraries +at that time.-- + + "Illic invenies veterum vestigia patrum; + Quicquid habet pro se Latio Romanus in orbe, + Græcia vel quicquid transmisit clara Latinis." + +Then, after enumerating the works of all the Fathers which had a place in +the library, he proceeds with his catalogue.-- + + "Historici veteres, Pompeius, Plinius, ipse + Acer Aristoteles rhetor, atque Tullius ingens; + Quid quoque Sedulius, vel quid canit ipse Juvencus, + Alcuinus, et Clemens Prosper, Paulinus orator; + Quid Fortunatus vel quid Lactantius edunt. + Quæ Maro Virgilius, Statius, Lucanus et auctor, + Artis grammaticæ vel quid scripsere magistri." + +But though there were libraries in other countries, Italy always contained +the greatest number of classical MSS. In the ninth century, Lupus, who was +educated at Fulda, and afterwards became Abbot of Ferrieres, a monastery +in the Orleanois, requested Pope Benedict III. to send him Cicero _de +Oratore_ and Quintilian, of both of which he possessed parts, but had +neither of them complete(535); and in another letter he begs from Italy a +copy of Suetonius(536). The series of his letters gives us a favourable +impression of the state of profane literature in his time. In his very +first letter to Einhart, who had been his preceptor, he quotes Horace and +the Tusculan Questions. Virgil is repeatedly cited in the course of his +epistles, and the lines of Catullus are familiarly referred to as +authorities for the proper quantities of syllables. Lupus did not confine +his care to the mere transcription of MSS. He bestowed much pains on the +rectification of the texts, as is evinced by his letter to Ansbald, Abbot +of Prum, where he acknowledges having received from him a copy of the +epistles of Cicero, which would enable him to correct the MSS. of them +which he himself possessed(537). + +It was a rule in convents, that those who embraced the monasteric life +should employ some hours each day in manual labour; but as all were not +fit for those occupations which require much corporeal exertion, many of +the monks fulfilled their tasks by copying MSS. Transcription thus became +a favourite exercise in the ninth century, and was much encouraged by the +Abbots(538). In every great convent there was an apartment called the +_Scriptorium_, in which writers were employed in transcribing such books +as were deemed proper for the library. The heads of monasteries borrowed +their classics from each other, and, having copied, returned them(539).--By +this means, books were wonderfully multiplied. Libraries became the +constant appendages of cloisters, and in Italy existed nowhere else. We do +not hear, during this period, of either royal or private libraries. There +was little information among the priests or parochial clergy, and almost +every man of learning was a member of a convent. + +But while MSS. thus increased in the monasteries, there were, at the same +time, during this century, many counteracting causes, which rendered them +more scarce than they would otherwise have been. During the Norman +invasion, the convents were the chief objects of plunder. From the time, +too, of the conquest of Alexandria by the Saracens, in the seventh +century, when the Egyptian papyrus almost ceased to be imported into +Europe, till the close of the tenth, when the art of making paper from +cotton rags seems to have been introduced, there were no materials for +writing except parchment, a substance too expensive to be readily spared +for mere purposes of literature(540). The scarcity of paper, too, not only +prevented the increase of classical MSS., but occasioned the loss of some +which were then in existence, from the characters having been deleted, in +order to make way for a more favourite production. The monkish scribes +were accustomed to peel off the surface of parchment MSS., or to +obliterate the ink by a chemical process, for the purpose of fitting them +to receive the works of some Christian author; so that, by a singular and +fatal metamorphosis, a classic was frequently translated into a vapid +homily or monastic legend. That many valuable works of antiquity perished +in this way, is evinced by the number of MSS. which have been discovered, +evidently written on erased parchments. Thus the fragments of Cicero's +Orations, lately found in the Ambrosian library, had been partly +obliterated, to make room for the works of Sedulius, and the Acts of the +Council of Chalcedon; and Cicero's treatise _de Republica_ had been +effaced, in order to receive a commentary of St Augustine on the Psalms. + +The tenth century has generally been accounted the age of deepest darkness +in the west of Europe. During its course, Italy was united by Otho I. with +the German empire, and was torn by civil dissensions. Muratori gives a +detailed account of the plundering of Italian convents, which was the +consequence of these commotions, and of the irruption of the Huns in +899(541). Still, however, Italy continued to be the great depository of +classical MSS.; and in that country they were occasionally sought with the +utmost avidity. Gerbert, who became Pope in the last year of the tenth +century, by name of Silvester II., spared neither pains nor expense in +procuring transcriptions of MSS. This extraordinary man, impelled by a +thirst of science, had left his home and country at an early period of +life: He had visited various nations of Europe, but it was in Spain, then +partly subject to the Arabs, that he had chiefly obtained an opportunity +of gratifying his mathematical talent, and desire of general information. +Being no less ready to communicate than eager to acquire learning, he +founded a school on his return to Italy, and greatly increased the library +at Bobbio, in Lombardy, to the abbacy of which he had been promoted. While +Archbishop of Rheims, in France, that kingdom experienced the effects of +his enlightened zeal. During his papacy, obtained for him by his pupil +Otho III., he persevered in his love of learning. In his generosity to +scholars, and his expenditure of wealth for the employment of copyists, as +well as for exploring the repositories in which the mouldering relics of +ancient learning were yet to be found, we trace a liberality, bordering on +profusion.--"Nosti," says he, in one of his epistles to the monk Rainaldo, +"quanto studio librorum exemplaria undique conquiram; nosti quot +scriptores in urbibus, aut in agris Italiæ passim habeantur. Age ergo, et +te solo conscio, ex tuis sumptibus fac ut mihi scribantur Manilius de +Astronomia, et Victorinus. Spondeo tibi, et certum teneo quod, quicquid +erogaveris, cumulatim remittam(542)." Having by this means exhausted +Italy, Silvester directed his researches to countries beyond the Alps, as +we perceive from his letter to Egbert, Abbot of Tours.--"Cui rei preparandæ +bibliothecam assidue comparo; et sicut Romæ dudum, et in aliis partibus +Italiæ, in Germanià quoque, et Belgicà, scriptores auctorumque exemplaria +multitudine nummorum redemi; adjutus benevolentia et studio amicorum +comprovincialium: sic identidem apud vos per vos fieri sinite ut exorem. +Quos scribi velimus, in fine epistolæ designabimus(543)." This list, +however, is not printed in any of the editions of Gerbert's Letters, which +I have had an opportunity of consulting. + +It thus appears that there were zealous researches for the classics, and +successful discoveries of them, long before the age of Poggio, or even of +Petrarch; but so little intercourse existed among different countries, and +the monks had so little acquaintance with the treasures of their own +libraries, that a classical author might be considered as lost in Italy, +though familiar to a few learned men, and still lurking in many of the +convents. + +Gerbert, previous to his elevation to the Pontificate, had, as already +mentioned, been Abbot of Bobbio; and the catalogue which Muratori has +given of the library in that convent, may be taken as an example of the +description and extent of the classical treasures contained in the best +monastic libraries of the tenth century. While the collection, no doubt, +chiefly consists of the works of the saints and fathers, we find Persius, +Valerius Flaccus, and Juvenal, contained in one volume. There are also +enumerated in the list Cicero's Topica, and his Catilinarian orations, +Martial, parts of Ausonius and Pliny, the first book of Lucretius, four +books of Claudian, the same number of Lucan, and two of Ovid(544). The +monastery of Monte Casino, which was the retreat, as we have seen, of +Cassiodorus, was distinguished about the same period for its classical +library.--"The monks of Casino, in Italy," observes Warton, "were +distinguished before the year 1000, not only for their knowledge of the +sciences, but their attention to polite learning, and an acquaintance with +the classics. Their learned Abbot, Desiderius, collected the best of the +Roman writers. This fraternity not only composed learned treatises on +music, logic, astronomy, and the Vitruvian architecture, but likewise +employed a portion of their time in transcribing Tacitus, Jornandes, +Ovid's Fasti, Cicero, Seneca, Donatus the grammarian, Virgil, Theocritus, +and Homer." + +During the eleventh century, the Benedictines having excited scandal by +their opulence and luxury, the Carthusian and Cistertian orders attracted +notice and admiration, by a self-denying austerity; but they valued +themselves not less than the Benedictines, on the elegance of their +classical transcriptions; and about the same period, translations from the +Classics into the _Lingua volgare_, first commenced in Italy. + +At the end of the eleventh century, the Crusades began; and during the +whole course of the twelfth century, they occupied the public mind, to the +exclusion of almost every other object or pursuit. Schools and convents +were affected with this religious and military mania: All sedentary +occupations were suspended, and a mark of reproach was affixed to every +undertaking which did not promote the contagion of the times. + +About the middle of the thirteenth century, and after the death of the +Emperor Frederic II., Italy was for the first time divided into a number +of petty sovereignties, unconnected by any system of general union, except +the nominal allegiance still due to the Emperor. This separation, while it +excited rivalry in arms, also created some degree of emulation in +learning. Many Universities were established for the study of theology and +the exercise of scholastic disputation; and though the classics were not +publicly diffused, they existed within the walls of the convent, and were +well known to the learned men of the period. Brunetto Latini, the teacher +of Dante, and author of the _Tesoro_, translated into Italian several of +Cicero's orations, some parts of his rhetorical works, and considerable +portions of Sallust(545). Dante, in his _Amoroso Convito_, familiarly +quotes Livy, Virgil, and Cicero _de Officiis_; and Mehus mentions various +translations of Seneca, Ovid, and Virgil, which had been executed in the +age of Dante, and which he had seen in MSS. in the different libraries of +Italy(546). + +It was Petrarch, however, who, in the fourteenth century, led the way in +drawing forth the classics from the dungeons where they had been hitherto +immured, and holding up their light and glory to the eyes of men. While +enjoying the reputation of having perfected the most melodious and +poetical language of Europe, Petrarch has acquired a still higher title to +fame, by his successful exertions in rousing his country from a slumber of +ignorance which threatened to be eternal. In his earliest youth, instead +of the dry and dismal works which at that time formed the general reading, +he applied himself to the reading of Virgil and Cicero; and when he first +commenced his epistolary correspondence, he strongly expressed his wish +that their fame should prevail over the authority of Aristotle and his +commentators; and declared his belief of the high advantages the world +would enjoy if the monkish philosophy should give place to classical +literature. Petrarch, as is evinced by his letters, was the most assiduous +recoverer and restorer of ancient MSS. that had yet existed. He was an +enthusiast in this as he was in every thing else that merited +enthusiasm--love, friendship, glory, patriotism, and religion. He never +passed an old convent without searching its library, or knew of a friend +travelling into those quarters where he supposed books to be concealed, +without entreaties to procure for him some classical MS. It is evident +that he came just in time to preserve from total ruin many of the +mouldering remains of classical antiquity, and to excite among his +countrymen a desire for the preservation of those treasures when its +gratification was on the very eve of being rendered for ever +impracticable. He had seen, in his youth, several of Cicero's now lost +treatises, and Varro's great work _Rerum Divinarum et Humanarum_(547), +which has forever disappeared from the world; and it is probable that had +not some one, endued with his ardent love of letters, and indefatigable +research, arisen, many similar works which we now enjoy, would soon have +sunk into a like oblivion. + +About the same period, Boccaccio also collected several Latin MSS., and +copied such as he could not purchase. He transcribed so many of the Latin +poets, orators, and historians, that it would appear surprising had a +copyist by profession performed so much. In a journey to Monte Casino, a +place generally considered as remarkably rich in MSS., he was both +astonished and afflicted to find the library exiled from the monastery +into a barn, which was accessible only by a ladder. He opened many of the +books, and found much of the writing effaced by damp. His grief was +redoubled when the monks told him, that when they wanted money, they +erased an ancient writing, wrote psalters and legends on the parchment, +and sold the new MSS. to women and children(548). + +But though, in the fourteenth century, copies of the classics were +multiplied and rendered more accessible to the world, and though a few +were made by such hands as those of Petrarch and Boccaccio, the +transcriptions in general were much less accurate than those of a former +period. The Latin tongue, which had received more stability than could +otherwise have been expected, from having been consecrated in the service +of the church, had now at length become a dead language, and many of the +transcribers did not understand what they wrote. Still more mistakes than +those produced by ignorance, were occasioned by the presumption of +pretenders to learning, who were often tempted to alter the text, in order +to accommodate the sense to their own slender capacity and defective +taste. Whilst a remedy has been readily found for the gross oversight or +neglect of the ignorant and idle, in substituting one letter for another, +or inserting a word without meaning, errors affecting the sense of the +author, which were thus introduced, have been of the worst species, and +have chiefly contributed to compose that mass of various readings, on +which the sagacity of modern scholars has been so copiously exercised. In +a passage of Coluccio Salutati's treatise _De Fato_, published by the Abbé +Mehus, the various modes in which MSS. were depraved by copyists are fully +pointed out(549). To such extent had these corruptions proceeded, that +Petrarch, talking of the MSS. of his own time, and those immediately +preceding it, asks, "Quis scriptorum inscitiæ medebitur, inertiæque +corrumpenti omnia ac miscenti? Non quæro jam aut queror Orthographiam, quæ +jam dudum interiit; qualitercunque utinam scriberent quod jubentur. An si +redeat Cicero aut Livius, ante omnes Plinius Secundus, sua scripta +religentes intelligent?" So sensible was Coluccio Salutati of the injury +which had been done to letters by the ignorance or negligence of +transcribers, that he proposed, as a check to the evil, that public +libraries should be every where formed, the superintendence of which +should be given to men of learning, who might carefully collate the MSS. +intrusted to them, and ascertain the most correct readings(550). To this +labour, and to the detection of counterfeit works, of which many, from +various motives, now began to be circulated, Coluccio devoted a +considerable portion of his own time and studies. His plan for the +institution of public libraries did not succeed; but he amassed a private +one, which, in that age, was second only to the library of Petrarch. A +considerable classical library, though consisting chiefly of the later +classics, particularly Seneca, Macrobius, Apuleius, and Suetonius, was +amassed by Tedaldo de Casa, whose books, with many remarks and emendations +in his own hand, were inspected by the Abbé Mehus in the library of +Santa-Croce at Florence(551). + +The path which had been opened up by Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Coluccio +Salutati, in the fourteenth century, was followed out in the ensuing +century with wonderful assiduity and success by Poggio Bracciolini, +Filelfo, and Ambrosio Traversari, Abbott of Camaldoli, under the guidance +and protection of the Medicean Family and Niccolo Niccoli. + +Of all the learned men of his time, Poggio seems to have devoted himself +with the greatest industry to the search for classical MSS. No +difficulties in travelling, or indifference in the heads of convents to +his literary inquiries, could damp his zeal. His ardour and exertions were +fortunately crowned with most complete success. The number of MSS. +discovered by him in different parts of Europe, during the space of nearly +fifty years, will remain a lasting proof of his unceasing perseverance, +and of his sagacity in these pursuits. Having spent his youth in +travelling through different countries, he at length settled at Rome, +where he continued as secretary, in the service of eight successive +Pontiffs. In this capacity he, in the year 1414, accompanied Pope John +XXIII. to the Council of Constance, which was opened in that year. While +residing at Constance, he made several expeditions, most interesting to +letters, in intervals of relaxation during the prosecutions of Jean Hus +and Jerome of Prague, of which he had the official charge. His chief +excursion was to the monastery of St Gal, about twenty miles distance from +Constance, where his information led him to expect that he might find some +MSS. of the ancient Roman writers(552). The earliest Abbots, and many of +the first monks of St Gal, had been originally transferred to that +monastery from the literary establishment founded by Charlemagne at Fulda. +Werembert and Helperic, who were sent to St Gal from Fulda in the ninth +century, introduced in their new residence a strong taste for letters, and +the practice of transcribing the classics. In examining the _Histoire +Litteraire de la France_, by the Benedictines, we find that no monastery +in the middle ages produced so many distinguished scholars as St Gal. In +this celebrated convent, which, (as Tenhove expresses it) had been so long +the Dormitory of the Muses, Poggio discovered some of the most valuable +classics,--not, however, in the library of the cloister, but covered with +dust and filth, and rotting at the bottom of a dungeon, where, according +to his own account, no criminal condemned to death would have been +thrown(553). This evinces that whatever care may at one time have been +taken of classical MSS. by the monks, they had subsequently been +shamefully neglected. + +The services rendered to literature by Ambrosio of Camaldoli were inferior +only to those of Poggio. Ambrosio was born at Forli in 1386, and was a +disciple of Emanuel Chrysoloras. At the age of fourteen, he entered into +the convent of Camaldoli at Florence, and thirty years afterwards became +the Superior of his order. In the kind conciliatory disposition of +Ambrosio, manifested by his maintaining an uninterrupted friendship with +Niccolo Niccoli, Poggio, and Filelfo, and by moderating the quarrels of +these irascible _Literati_--in his zeal for the sacred interests, +discipline, and purity of his convent, to which his own moral conduct +afforded a spotless example--and, finally, in his enthusiastic love of +letters, in which he was second only to Petrarch, we behold the brightest +specimen of the monastic character, of which the memory has descended to +us from the middle ages. Though chiefly confined within the limits of a +cloister, Ambrosio had perhaps the best pretensions of any man of his age, +to the character of a polite scholar. The whole of the early part of his +life, and the leisure of its close, were employed in collecting ancient +MSS. from every quarter where they could be procured, and in maintaining a +constant correspondence with the most distinguished men of his age. His +letters which have been published in 1759, at Florence, with a long +preface and life by the Abbé Mehus, contain the fullest information that +can be any where found with regard to the recovery of ancient classical +MSS. and the state of literature at Florence in the fifteenth century. + +It would appear from these Epistles, that though the monks had been +certainly instrumental in preserving the precious relics of classical +antiquity, their avarice and bigotry now rather obstructed the prosecution +of the researches undertaken for the purpose of bringing them to light. It +was their interest to keep these treasures to themselves, because it was a +maxim of their policy to impede the diffusion of knowledge, and because +the transcription of MSS. was to them a source of considerable emolument. +Hence they often threw obstacles in the way of the inquiries of the +learned, who were obliged to have recourse to various artifices, in order +to draw classical MSS. from the recesses of the cloister(554). + +The exertions of Poggio and Ambrosio, however, were stimulated and aided +by the munificent patronage of many opulent individuals of that period, +who spared no expense in reimbursing and rewarding those who had made +successful researches after these favourite objects of pursuit. "To such +an enthusiasm," says Tiraboschi, "was this desire carried, that long +journeys were undertaken, treasures were levied, and enmities were +excited, for the sake of an ancient MS.; and the discovery of a book was +regarded as almost equivalent to the conquest of a kingdom." + +The most zealous promoters of these researches, and most eager collectors +of MSS. during the fifteenth century, were the Cardinal Ursini, Niccolo +Niccoli and the Family of Medici. + +Niccolo Niccoli, who was an humble citizen of Florence, devoted his whole +time and fortune to the acquisition of ancient MSS. In this pursuit he had +been eminently successful, having collected together 800 volumes, of which +a great proportion contained Roman authors. Poggio, in his funeral oration +of Niccolo, bears ample testimony to his liberality and zeal, and +attributes the successful discovery of so many classical MSS. to the +encouragement which he had afforded. "Quod autem," says he, "egregiam +laudem meretur, summam operam, curamque adhibuit ad pervestigandos +auctores, qui culpâ temporum perierant. Quâ in re verè possum dicere, +omnes libros fere, qui noviter tum ab aliis reperti sunt, tum a me ipso, +qui integrum Quintilianum, Ciceronis nostri orationes, Silium Italicum, +Marcellinum, Lucretii partem, multosque præterea e Germanorum Gallorumque +ergastulis, meâ diligentiâ eripui, atque in lucem extuli, Nicholai suasu, +impulsu, cohortatione, et pæne verborum molestiâ esse Latinis literis +restitutos(555)." Several of these classical works Niccolo copied with his +own hand, and with great accuracy, after he had received them(556). The +MSS. in his hand-writing were long known and distinguished by the beauty +and distinctness of the characters. Nor did he content himself with mere +transcription: He diligently employed himself in correcting the errors of +the MSS. which were transmitted to him, and arranging the text in its +proper order. "Quum eos auctores," says Mehus, "ex vetustissimis codicibus +exscriberet, qui suo potissimum consilio, aliorum vero operâ inventi sunt, +non solum mendis, quibus obsiti erant, expurgavit, sed etiam distinxit, +capitibusque locupletavit(557)." Such was the judgment of Niccolo, in this +species of emendation, that Politian always placed the utmost reliance on +his MS. copies(558); and, indeed, from a complimentary poem addressed to +him in his own time, it would seem that he had carefully collated +different MSS. of the same work, before he transcribed his own copy-- + + "Ille hos errores, unâ exemplaribus actis + Pluribus ante oculos, ne postera oberret et ætas, + Corrigit." + +Previous to the time of Niccolo, the only libraries of any extent or value +in Italy, were those of Petrarch, Coluccio Salutati, and Boccaccio. The +books which had belonged to Petrarch and Coluccio, were sold or dispersed +after the decease of their illustrious possessors. Boccaccio's library had +been bequeathed by him to a religious order, the Hermits of St Augustine; +and this library was repaired and arranged by Niccolo, for the use of the +convent, and a proper hall built for its reception(559). Niccolo was +likewise the first person in modern times who conceived the idea of +forming a public library. Previous to his death, which happened in 1437, +he directed that his books should be devoted to the use of the public; and +for this purpose he appointed sixteen curators, among whom was Cosmo de +Medici. After his demise, it appeared that he was greatly in debt, and +that his liberal intentions were likely to be frustrated by the insolvency +of his circumstances. Cosmo therefore offered to his associates, that if +they would resign to him the exclusive right of the disposal of the books, +he would himself discharge all the debts of Niccolo, to which proposal +they readily acceded. Having thus obtained the sole direction of the MSS., +he deposited them for public use in the Dominican Monastery of St Marco, +at Florence, which he had himself erected at an enormous expense(560). +This library, for some time celebrated under the name of the _Bibliotheca +Marciana_, or library of St Marc, was arranged and catalogued by Tommaso +da Sarzana Calandrino, at that time a poor but zealous scholar in the +lower orders of the clergy, and afterwards Pope, by the name of Nicholas +V. The building which contained the books of Niccolo having been destroyed +by an earthquake in 1454, Cosmo rebuilt it on such a plan, as to admit a +more extensive collection. After this it was enriched by private donations +from citizens of Florence, who, catching the spirit of the reigning +family, vied with each other in the extent and value of their gifts(561). + +When Cosmo, having finally triumphed over his enemies, was recalled from +banishment, and became the first citizen of Florence, "which he governed +without arms or a title," he employed his immense wealth in the +encouragement of learned men, and in collecting, under his own roof, the +remains of the ancient Greek and Roman writers. His riches, and extensive +mercantile intercourse with different parts of Europe and Asia, enabled +him to gratify a passion of this kind beyond any other individual. He gave +injunctions to all his friends and correspondents, to search for and +procure ancient MSS., in every language, and on every subject. From these +beginnings arose the celebrated library of the Medici, which, in the time +of Cosmo, was particularly distinguished for MSS. of Latin +classics--possessing, in particular, full and accurate copies of Virgil, +Cicero, Seneca, Ovid, and Tibullus(562). This collection, after the death +of its founder, was farther enriched by the attention of his descendants, +particularly his grandson, Lorenzo, under whom it acquired the name of the +Medicean-Laurentian Library. "If there was any pursuit," says the +biographer of Lorenzo, "in which he engaged more ardently, and persevered +more diligently, than the rest, it was in that of enlarging his +collections of books and antiquities. His emissaries were dispersed +through every part of the globe, for the purpose of collecting books, and +he spared no expense in procuring, for the learned, the materials +necessary for the prosecution of their studies(563)." In the execution of +his noble design, he was assisted by Ermolao Barbaro, and Paulo Cortesi; +but his principal coadjutor was Politian, to whom he committed the care +and arrangement of his collection, and who made excursions, at intervals, +through Italy, to discover and purchase such remains of antiquity as +suited the purposes of his patron. An ample treasure of books was +expected, during his last illness, under the care of Lascaris. When the +vital spark was nearly extinguished, he called Politian to his side, and +grasping his hand, told him he could have wished to have lived to see the +library completed(564). + +After the death of Lorenzo, some of the volumes were dispersed, when +Charles VIII. of France invaded Italy; and, on the expulsion of the Medici +family from Florence, in 1496, the remaining volumes of the Laurentian +collection were united with the books in the library of St Mark. + +It being the great object of Lorenzo to diffuse the spirit of literature +as extensively as possible, he permitted the Duke of Urbino, who +particularly distinguished himself as a patron of learning, to copy such +of his MSS. as he wished to possess. The families, too, of Visconti at +Milan, of Este at Ferrara, and Gonzaga at Mantua, excited by the glorious +example set before them, emulated the Medici in their patronage of +classical literature, and formation of learned establishments. "The +division of Italy," says Mr Mills, "into many independent principalities, +was a circumstance highly favourable to the nourishing and expanding +learning. Every city had a Mæcenas sovereign. The princes of Italy +rivalled each other in literary patronage as much as in political power, +and changes of dominion did not affect letters(565)." Eight Popes, in +succession, employed Poggio as their secretary, which greatly aided the +promotion of literature, and the collecting of MSS. at Rome. The last +Pontiff he served was Nicholas V., who, before his elevation, as we have +seen, had arranged the library of St Mark at Florence. From his youth he +had shown the most wonderful avidity for copies of ancient MSS., and an +extraordinary turn for elegant and accurate transcription, with his own +hand. By the diligence and learning which he exhibited in the schools of +Bologna, he secured the patronage of many literary characters. Attached to +the family of Cardinal Albergati, he accompanied him in several embassies, +and seldom returned without bringing back with him copies of such ancient +works as had been previously unknown in Italy. The titles of some of these +are mentioned by his biographer, who adds, that there was no Latin author, +with whose writings he was unacquainted. This enabled him to be useful in +the arrangement of many libraries formed at this period(566). His +promotion to the Pontifical chair, in 1447, was, in the circumstances of +the times, peculiarly auspicious to the cause of letters. With the +assistance of Poggio, he founded the library of the Vatican. The scanty +collection of his predecessors had been nearly dissipated or destroyed, by +frequent removals from Rome to Avignon: But Nicholas more than repaired +these losses; and before his death, had collected upwards of 5000 volumes +of Greek and Roman authors--and the Vatican being afterwards increased by +Sixtus IV. and Leo X. became, both in extent and value, the first library +in the world. + +It is with Poggio, that the studies peculiar to the commentator may be +considered as having commenced, at least so far as regards the Latin +classics. Poggio lived from 1380 to 1459. He was succeeded towards the +close of the fifteenth century, and during the whole course of the +sixteenth, by a long series of Italian commentators, among whom the +highest rank may be justly assigned to Politian.--(Born, 1454-died, 1494.) +To him the world has been chiefly indebted for corrections and +elucidations of the texts of Roman authors, which, from a variety of +causes, were, when first discovered, either corrupt, or nearly illegible. +In the exercise of his critical talents, Politian did not confine himself +to any one precise method, but adopted such as he conceived best suited +his purpose--on some occasions only comparing different copies, diligently +marking the variations, rejecting spurious readings, and substituting the +true. In other cases he proceeded farther, adding _scholia_ and notes, +illustrative of the text, either from his own conjecture, or the authority +of preceding writers. To the name of Politian, I may add those of his +bitter rival and contemporary, Georgius Merula, (born, 1420-died, 1494); +Aldus Manutius, (1447-1516); his son Paullus; Landini, author of the +_Disputationes Camaldulenses_, (1424-1504); Philippus Beroaldus, +(1453-1505); Petrus Victorius, (1498-1585); Robortellus, (1516-1567). Most +of these commentators were entirely verbal critics; but this was by far +the most useful species of criticism which could be employed at the period +in which they lived. We have already seen, that in the time of Petrarch, +classical manuscripts had been very inaccurately transcribed; and, +therefore, the first great duty of a commentator, was to amend and purify +the text. Criticisms on the general merits of the author, or the beauties +of particular passages, and even expositions of the full import of his +meaning, deduced from antiquities, mythology, history, or geography, were +very secondary considerations. Nor, indeed, was knowledge far enough +advanced at the time, to supply such illustrations. Grammar, and verbal +criticism, formed the porch by which it was necessary to enter that temple +of sublimity and beauty which had been reared by the ancients; and without +this access, philosophy would never have enlightened letters, or letters +ornamented philosophy. "I cannot, indeed, but think," says Mr Payne +Knight, in his Analytical Essay on the Greek Alphabet, "that the judgment +of the public, on the respective merits of the different classes of +critics, is peculiarly partial and unjust. Those among them who assume the +office of pointing out the beauties, and detecting the faults, of literary +composition, are placed with the orator and historian, in the highest +ranks, whilst those who undertake the more laborious task of washing away +the rust and canker of time, and bringing back those forms and colours, +which are the objects of criticism, to their original purity and +brightness, are degraded with the index-maker and antiquary among the +pioneers of literature, whose business it is to clear the way for those +who are capable of more splendid and honourable enterprizes. Nevertheless, +if we examine the effects produced by those two classes of critics, we +shall find that the first have been of no use whatever, and that the last +have rendered the most important services to mankind. All persons of taste +and understanding know, from their own feelings, when to approve and +disapprove, and therefore stand in no need of instructions from the +critic. But whatever may be the taste or discernment of a reader, or the +genius and ability of a writer, neither the one nor the other can appear +while the text remains deformed by the corruptions of blundering +transcribers, and obscured by the glosses of ignorant grammarians. It is +then that the aid of the verbal critic is required; and though his minute +labour in dissecting syllables and analysing letters may appear +contemptible in its operation, it will be found important in its effect." +It is to those early critics, then, who washed away the rust and canker of +time, and brought back those forms and colours which are the subject of +criticism, that classical literature has been chiefly indebted. The newly +discovered art of printing, which was itself the offspring of the general +ardour for literary improvement, and of the daily experience of +difficulties encountered in prosecuting classical studies, contributed, in +an eminent degree, to encourage this species of useful criticism. At the +instigation of Lorenzo, and other patrons of learning in Italy, many +scholars in that country were induced to bestow their attention on the +collation and correction of the MSS. of ancient authors, in order that +they might be submitted to the press with the greatest possible accuracy, +and in their original purity. Nor was it a slight inducement to the +industrious scholar, that his commentaries were no longer to be hid in the +recesses of a few vast libraries, but were to be now placed in the view of +mankind, and enshrined, as it were, for ever in the immortal page of the +poet or historian whose works he had preserved or elucidated. + +With Fulvius Ursinus, who died in the year 1600, the first school of +Italian commentators may be considered as terminating. In the following +century, classical industry was chiefly directed to translation; and in +the eighteenth century, the list of eminent commentators was increased +only by the name of Vulpius, who introduced a new style in classical +criticism, by an amusing collection of verses, both in ancient and modern +poets, which were parallel to passages in his author, not merely in some +words, but in the poetical idea. + +The career which had so gloriously commenced in Italy in the end of the +fifteenth century, was soon followed in France and Germany. Julius +Scaliger, a native of Verona, had been naturalized in France, and he +settled there in the commencement of the sixteenth century. In that +country classical studies were introduced, under the patronage of Francis +I., and were prosecuted in his own and the six following reigns, by a long +succession of illustrious scholars, among whom Turnebus (1512-1565), +Lambrinus (1526-1572), the family of the Stephenses, who rivalled the +Manutii of Italy, Muretus (1526-1585), Casaubon (1559-1614), Joseph +Scaliger (1540-1609), and Salmasius (1588-1653), distinguished themselves +by the illustration of the Latin classics, and the more difficult +elucidation of those studies which assist and promote a full intelligence +of their meaning and beauties. Our geographical and historical knowledge +of the ancient world, was advanced by Charles Stephens--its chronology was +ascertained by Scaliger, and the whole circle of antiquities was extended +by Salmasius. After the middle of the seventeenth century, a new taste in +the illustration of classical literature sprung up in France--a lighter +manner and more philosophic spirit being then introduced. The celebrated +controversy on the comparative merit of the ancients and moderns, aided a +more popular elucidation of the classics; and as the preceptors of the +royal family were on the side of the ancients, they promoted the famed +Delphin edition, which commenced under the auspices of the Duke De +Montausier, and was carried on by a body of learned Jesuits, under the +superintendence of Bossuet and Huetius. Elegance and taste were required +for the instruction of a young French Prince; and accordingly, instead of +profound philological learning, or the assiduous collation of MSS., light +notes were appended, explanatory of the mythological and historical +allusions contained in the works of the author, as also remarks on his +most prominent defects and excellencies. + +Joseph Scaliger and Salmasius, who were French Protestants, found shelter +for their heretical principles, and liberal reward for their learning, in +the University of Leyden; and with Douza (1545-1604), and Justus Lipsius +(1547-1606), became the fathers and founders of classical knowledge in the +Netherlands. As the inhabitants of that territory spoke and wrote a +language which was but ill adapted for the expression of original thought, +their whole force of mind was directed to throwing their humorous and +grand conceptions on canvass, or to the elucidation of the writings of +those who had been gifted with a more propitious tongue. These studies and +researches were continued by Heinsius (1582-1655), Gerard and Isaac +Vossius (1577-1689), and Gronovius (1611-1671). At this period Schrevelius +(1615-1664) commenced the publication of the Classics, _cum Notis +__Variorum_; and in the end of the seventeenth century, his example was +followed by some of the most distinguished editors. The merit of these +editions was very different, and has been variously estimated. Morhoff, +while he does justice to the editorial works of Gronovius and other +learned men, in which parts of the commentaries of predecessors, +judiciously extracted, were given at full length, has indulged himself in +an invective against other _variorum_ editions, in which everything was +mutilated and incorrect. "Sane ne comparandæ quidem illi" (the editions of +Aldus) "sunt ineptæ Variorum editiones; quam nuper pestem bonis auctoribus +Bibliopolæ Batavi inducere coeperunt, reclamantibus frustra viris +doctis(567)." In the course of the eighteenth century, the Burmans +(1668-1778), Oudendorp (1696-1761), and Havercamp (1684-1742), continued +to support the honour of a school, which as yet had no parallel in +certainty, copiousness, and depth of illustration. + +In Germany, the school which had been established by Charlemagne at Fulda, +and that at Paderborn, long flourished under the superintendence of +Meinwerk. The author of the Life of that scholar, speaking of these +establishments, says, "Ibi viguit Horatius, magnus atque Virgilius, +Crispus et Sallustius, et Urbanus Statius." During the ninth century, +Rabin Maur, a scholar of Alcuin, and head of the cathedral school at +Fulda, became a celebrated teacher; and profane literature was not +neglected by him amid the importance of his sacred lessons. Classical +learning, however, was first thoroughly awakened in Germany, by the +scholars of Thomas A'Kempis, in the end of the fifteenth century. A number +of German youths, who were associated in a species of literary fraternity, +travelled into Italy, at the time when the search for classical MSS. in +that country was most eagerly prosecuted. Rudolph Agricola, afterwards +Professor of Philosophy at Worms, was one of the most distinguished of +these scholars. Living immediately after the invention of printing, and at +a time when that art had not yet entirely superseded the transcription of +MSS., he possessed an extensive collection of these, as well as of the +works which had just issued resplendent from the press. Both were +illustrated by him with various readings on the margin; and we perceive +from the letters of Erasmus the value which even he attached to these +notes, and the use which he made of the variations. Rudolph was succeeded +by Herman von Busche, who lectured on the classics at Leipsic. He had in +his possession a number of the Latin classics; but it is evident from his +letters that some, as for instance Silius Italicus, were still +inaccessible to him, or could only be procured with great difficulty. The +German scholars did not bring so many MSS. to light, or multiply copies of +them, so much as the Italians, because, in fact, their country was less +richly stored than Italy with the treasures bequeathed to us by antiquity; +but they exercised equal critical acuteness in amending the errors of the +MSS. which they possessed. The sixteenth century was the age which +produced in Germany the most valuable and numerous commentaries on the +Latin classics. That country, in common with the Netherlands, was +enlightened, during this period, by the erudition of Erasmus (1467-1536). +In the same and succeeding age, Camerarius (1500-1574), Taubmann +(1565-1613), Acidalius (1567-1595), and Gruterus (1560-1627), enriched the +world with some of the best editions of the classics which had hitherto +appeared. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, classical +literature had for some time rather declined in Germany--polemical theology +and religious wars having at this period exhausted and engrossed the +attention of her universities. But it was revived again about the middle +of the eighteenth by J. Math. Gesner (1691-1761), and Ernesti (1707-1781), +who created an epoch in Germany for the study of the ancient authors. +These two scholars surpassed all their predecessors in taste, in a +philosophical spirit, and in a wide acquaintance with the subsidiary +branches of erudition: They made an advantageous use of their critical +knowledge of the languages; they looked at once to the words and to the +subject of the ancient writers, established and applied the rules of a +legitimate interpretation, and carefully analysed the meaning as well as +the form of the expression. Their task was extended from words to things; +and what has been called Æsthetic annotations, were combined with +philological discussion. "Non volui," says Gesner, in the Preface to his +edition of Claudian, "commentarios scribere, collectos undique, aut locos +communes: Non volui dictionem poetæ, congestis aliorum poetarum formulis +illustrare; sed cum illud volui efficere poeta ut intelligatur, tum +judicio meo juvare volui juniorum judicium, quid pulchrum, atque decens, +et summorum poetarum simile putarem ostendendo, et contra, ea, ubi errâsse +illum a naturâ, a magnis exemplis, a decoro arbitrarer, cum fide +indicando." J. Ernesti considers Gesner as unquestionably the first who +introduced what he terms the Æsthetic mode of criticism(568). But the +honour of being the founder of this new school, has perhaps, with more +justice, been assigned by others to Heyne(569) (1729-1811). "From the +middle of last century," it is remarked, in a late biographical sketch of +Heyne, "several intelligent philologers of Germany displayed a more +refined and philosophic method in their treatment of the different +branches of classical learning, who, without neglecting either the +grammatical investigation of the language, or the critical constitution of +the text, no longer regarded a Greek or Roman writer as a subject for the +mere grammarian and critic; but, considering the study of the ancients as +a school for thought, for feeling, and for taste, initiated us into the +great mystery of reading every thing in the same spirit in which it had +originally been written. They demonstrated, both by doctrine and example, +in what manner it was necessary for us to enter into the thoughts of the +writer, to pitch ourselves in unison with his peculiar tone of conception +and expression, and to investigate the circumstances by which his mind was +affected--the motives by which he was animated--and the influences which +co-operated in giving the intensity and character of his feelings. At the +head of this school stands Heyne; and it must be admitted, that nothing +has contributed so decisively to maintain or promote the study of +classical literature, as the combination which he has effected of +philosophy with erudition, both in his commentaries on ancient authors, +and those works in which he has illustrated various points of antiquity, +or discussed the habit of thinking and spirit of the ancient world." From +the time of Heyne, almost the whole grand inheritance of Roman literature +has been cultivated by commentators, who have raised the Germans to +undisputed pre-eminence among the nations of Europe, for profound +classical learning, and all the delightful researches connected with +literary history. I have only space to mention the names of Zeunius +(1736-1788), Jani (1743-1790), Wernsdorff (1723-1793); and among those who +still survive, Harles (born 1738), Schütz (1747), Schneider (1751), Wolf +(1757), Beck, (1757), Doering (1759), Mitscherlich (1760), Wetzel (1762), +Goerenz (1765), Eichstädt (1771), Hermann (1772). + +While classical literature and topography were so highly cultivated +abroad, England, at the revival of literature, remained greatly behind her +continental neighbours in the elucidation and publication of the precious +remains of ancient learning. It appears from Ames' Typographical +Antiquities, that the press of our celebrated ancient printers, as Caxton, +Wynkin de Worde, and Pynson, was rarely employed in giving accuracy or +embellishment to the works of the classics; and, indeed, so late as the +middle of the sixteenth century, only Terence and Cicero's _Offices_ had +been published in this country, in their original tongue. Matters had by +no means improved in the seventeenth century. Evelyn, who had paid great +attention to the subject, gives the following account of the state of +classical typography and editorship in England, in a letter to the Lord +Chancellor Clarendon, dated November 1666: "Our booksellers," says he, +"follow their own judgment in printing the ancient authors, according to +such text as they found extant when first they entered their copy; +whereas, out of the MSS. collated by the industry of later critics, those +authors are exceedingly improved. For instance, about thirty years since, +Justin was corrected by Isaac Vossius, in many hundreds of places, most +material to sense and elegancy, and has since been frequently reprinted in +Holland, after the purer copy; but with us still according to the old +reading. The like has Florus, Seneca's Tragedies, and near all the rest, +which have, in the meantime, been castigated abroad by several learned +hands, which, besides that it makes ours to be rejected, and dishonours +our nation, so does it no little detriment to learning, and to the +treasure of the nation in proportion. The cause of this is principally the +stationer driving as hard and cruel a bargain with the printer as he can, +and the printer taking up any smatterer in the tongues, to be the less +loser; an exactness in this no ways importing the stipulation, by which +means errors repeat and multiply in every edition(570)." Since the period +in which this letter is dated, Bentley, who bears the greatest name in +England as a critic, however acute and ingenious, did more by his slashing +alterations to injure than amend the text, at least of the Latin authors +on whom he commented. He substituted what he thought best for what he +actually found; and such was his deficiency in taste, that what he thought +best (as is evinced by his changes on the text of Lucretius), was +frequently destructive of the poetical idea, and almost of the sense of +his author. + +I have thought it right, before entering into detail concerning the +_Codices_ and editions of the works of the early classics mentioned in the +text, briefly to remind the reader of the general circumstances connected +with the loss and recovery of the classical MSS. of Rome, and to recall to +his recollection the names of a few of the most celebrated commentators in +Italy, France, Holland, and Germany. This will render the following +Appendix, in which there must be constant reference to the discovery of +MSS. and the labours of commentators, somewhat more distinct and +perspicuous than I could otherwise make it. + + + + + LIVIUS ANDRONICUS, NÆVIUS. + + +The fragments of these old writers are so inconsiderable, that no one has +thought of editing them separately. They are therefore to be found only in +the general collections of the whole Latin poets; as Maittaires _Opera et +Fragmenta Veterum Poetarum Latinorum_, London, 1713. 2 Tom. fo., (to some +copies of which a new title-page has been printed, bearing the date, Hag. +Comit. 1721;) or in the collections of the Latin tragic poets, as Delrio's +_Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ_, Paris, 1620, and Scriverius' _Collectanea +Veterum Tragicorum_, Lugd. Bat. 1620. It is otherwise with + + + + + ENNIUS, + + +of whose writings, as we have seen, more copious fragments remain than +from those of his predecessors. The whole works of this poet were extant +in the time of Cassiodorus; but no copy of them has since appeared. The +fragments, however, found in Cicero, Macrobius, and the old grammarians, +are so considerable, that they have been frequently collected together, +and largely commented on. They were first printed in Stephen's _Fragmenta +Veterum Poetarum Latinorum_, but without any proper connection or +criticism. Ludovicus Vives had intended to collect and arrange them, as we +are informed in one of his notes to St Augustine, _De Civitate Dei_: But +this task he did not live to accomplish(571). The first person who +arranged these scattered fragments, united them together, and classed them +under the books to which they belonged, was Hier. Columna. He adopted the +orthography which, from a study of the ancient Roman monuments and +inscriptions, he found to be that of the Latin language in the age of +Ennius. He likewise added a commentary, and prefixed a life of the poet. +The edition which he had thus fully prepared, was first published at +Naples in 1590, four years after his death, by his son Joannes +Columna(572). This _Editio Princeps_ of Ennius is very rare, but it was +reprinted under the care of Fr. Hesselius at Amsterdam in 1707. To the +original commentary of Columna there are added the annotations on Ennius +which had been inserted in Delrio and Scriverius' collection of the Latin +tragic poets; and Hesselius himself supplied a very complete _Index +Verborum_. The ancient authors, who quote lines from Ennius, sometimes +mention the book of the _Annals_, or the name of the tragedy to which they +belonged, but sometimes this information is omitted. The arrangement, +therefore, of the verses of the latter description (which are marked with +an asterisk in Columna's edition), and indeed the precise collocation of +the whole, is in a great measure conjectural. Accordingly, we find that +the order of the lines in the edition of Paulus Merula is very different +from that adopted by Columna. The materials for Merula's edition, which +comprehends only the _Annals_ of Ennius, had already been collected and +prepared at the time when Columna's was first given to the world. Merula, +however, conceived that while the great object of Columna had been to +compare and contrast the lines of Ennius with those of other heroic poets, +he himself had been more happy in the arrangement of the verses, and the +restoration of the ancient orthography, which is much more antiquated in +the edition of Merula than in that of Columna. He had also discovered some +fragments of the _Annals_, unknown to Columna, in the MS. of a work of L. +Calp. Piso, a writer of the age of Trajan, entitled _De Continentiâ +Veterum Poetarum_, and preserved in the library of St Victor at Paris. In +these circumstances, Merula was not deterred by the appearance of the +edition of Columna, from proceeding with his own, which at length came +forth at Leyden in the year 1595. The same sort of discrepance which +exists between Columna and Merula's arrangement of the Annals, appears in +the collocation of the _Tragic Fragments_ adopted by Columna, and that +which has been preferred by Delrio, in his _Syntagma Tragoediæ Latinæ_. + +H. Planck published at Gottingen, in 1807, the fragments of Ennius's +tragedy of _Medea_. These comprehend all the verses belonging to this +drama, collected by Columna, and some newly extracted by the editor from +old grammarians. The whole are compared with the parallel passages in the +_Medea_ of Euripides. Two dissertations are prefixed; one on the Origin +and Nature of Tragedy among the Romans; and the other, on the question, +whether Ennius wrote two tragedies, or only a single tragedy, entitled +_Medea_. A commentary is also supplied, in which, as Fuhrmann remarks, one +finds many things, but not much:--"Man findet in demselben _multa_, aber +nicht _multum_(573)." + +Some fine passages of the fragments of Ennius have been filled up, and the +old readings corrected, by the recent discovery of the work _De Republicâ_ +of Cicero, who is always quoting from the ancient poets. Thus the passage +in the Annals, where the Roman people are described as lamenting the death +of Romulus, stands thus in Columna's edition:-- + + ---- "O Romole, Romole, _dic ô_ + Qualem te patriæ custodem dii genuerunt, + Tu produxisti nos intra luminis oras, + O pater, ô genitor, ô sanguen diis oriundum." + +This fragment may be now supplied, and the verses arranged and corrected, +from the quotation in the first book _De Republicâ_-- + + "Pectora pia tenet desiderium; simul inter + Sese sic memorant--O Romule, Romule _die_, + Qualem te patriæ custodem di genuerunt, + O pater, ô genitor, ô sanguen dîs oriundum! + Tu produxisti nos intra luminis oras." + +The fragments of the Annals of Ennius, as the text is arranged by Merula, +have been translated into Italian by Bernardo Philippini, and published at +Rome in 1659, along with his _Poesie_. I know of no other translations of +these fragments. + + + + + PLAUTUS. + + +There can be no doubt that even the oldest MSS. of Plautus were early +corrupted by transcribers, and varied essentially from each other. Varro, +in his book _De Analogiâ_, ascribes some phrase of which he did not +approve, in the _Truculentus_, to the negligence of copyists. The Latin +comedies, written in the age of Plautus, were designed to be represented +on the stage, and not to be read at home. It is therefore, probable, that, +during the reign of the Republic at least, there were few copies of +Plautus's plays, except those delivered to the actors. The dramas were +generally purchased by the Ædiles, for the purpose of amusing the people +during the celebration of certain festivals. As soon as the poet's +agreement was concluded with the Ædile, he lost his right of property in +the play, and frequently all concern in its success. It seems probable, +therefore, that even during the life of the author, these magistrates, or +censors employed by them, altered the verses at their own discretion, or +sent the comedy for alteration to the author: But there is no doubt that, +after his death, the actors changed and modelled the piece according to +their own fancy, or the prevailing taste of the public, just as Cibber and +Garrick wrought on the plays of Shakspeare. Hence new prologues, adapted +to circumstances, were prefixed--whole verses were suppressed, and lines +properly belonging to one play, were often transferred to another. This +corruption of MSS. is sufficiently evinced by the circumstance, that the +most ancient grammarians frequently cite verses as from a play of Plautus, +which can now no longer be found in the drama quoted. Thus, a line cited +by Festus and Servius, from the _Miles_, does not appear in any MSS. or +ancient edition of that comedy, though, in the more recent impressions, it +has been inserted in what was judged to be its proper place(574), +Farther--Plautus, and indeed the old Latin writers in general, were much +corrupted by transcribers in the middle ages, who were not fully +acquainted with the variations which had taken place in the language, and +to whom the Latin of the age of Constantine was more familiar than that of +the Scipios. They were often puzzled and confused by finding a letter, as +c, for example, introduced into a word which they had been accustomed to +spell with a g, and they not unfrequently were totally ignorant of the +import or signification of ancient words. In a fragment of Turpilius, a +character in one of the comedies says, "Qui mea verba venatur pestis +arcedat;" now, the transcriber being ignorant of the verb _arcedat_, wrote +_ars cedat_, which converts the passage into nonsense(575). + +The comedies of Plautus are frequently cited by writers of the fourteenth +century, particularly by Petrarch, who mentions the amusement which he had +derived from the _Casina_(576). Previous, however, to the time of Poggio, +only eight of them were known, and we consequently find that the old MSS. +of the fourteenth century just contain eight comedies(577). By means, +however, of Nicolas of Treves, whom Poggio had employed to search the +monasteries of Germany, twelve more were discovered. The plays thus +brought to light were the _Bacchides_, _Menæchmi_, _Mostellaria_, _Miles +Gloriosus_, _Mercator_, _Pseudolus_, _Poenulus_, _Persa_, _Rudens_, +_Stichus_, _Trinummus_, _Truculentus_. As soon as Poggio heard of this +valuable and important discovery, he urged the Cardinal Ursini to despatch +a special messenger, in order to convey the treasure in safety to Rome. +His instances, however, were not attended to, and the MSS. of the comedies +did not arrive till two years afterwards, in the year 1428, under the +charge of Nicolas of Treves himself(578). They were seized by the Cardinal +immediately after they had been brought to Italy. This proceeding Poggio +highly resented; and having in vain solicited their restoration, he +accused Ursini of attempting to make it be believed that Plautus had been +recovered by his exertions, and at his own expense(579). At length, by the +intervention of Lorenzo, the brother of Cosmo de Medici, the Cardinal was +persuaded to intrust the precious volume to Niccolo Niccoli, who got it +carefully transcribed. Niccolo, however, detained it at Florence long +after the copy from it had been made; and we find his friend Ambrosio of +Camaldoli using the most earnest entreaties on the part of the Cardinal +for its restitution.--"Cardinalis Ursinus Plautum suum recipere cupit. Non +video quam ob causam, Plautum illi restituere non debeas, quem olim +transcripsisti. Oro, ut amicissimo homini geratur mos(580)." The original +MS. was at length restored to the Cardinal, after whose death it fell into +the possession of Lorenzo de Medici, and thus came to form a part of the +Medicean library. The copy taken by Niccolo Niccoli was transferred, on +his decease, along with his other books, to the convent of St Mark. + +From a transcript of this copy, which contained the twelve newly-recovered +plays, and from MSS. of the other eight comedies, which were more common +and current, Georgius Merula, the disciple of Filelfo, and one of the +greatest Latin scholars of the age, formed the first edition of the plays +of Plautus, which was printed by J. de Colonia and Vindelin de Spira, at +Venice, 1472, folio, and reprinted in 1482 at Trevisa. It would appear +that Merula had not enjoyed direct access to the original MS. brought from +Germany, or to the copy deposited in the Marcian library; for he says, in +his dedication to the Bishop of Pavia, "that there was but one MS. of +Plautus, from which, as an archetype, all the copies which could be +procured were derived; and if, by any means," he continues, "I could have +laid my hands on it, the _Bacchides_, _Mostellaria_, _Menæchmi_, _Miles_, +and _Mercator_, might have been rendered more correct; for the copies of +these comedies, taken from the original MS., had been much corrupted in +successive transcriptions; but the copies I have procured of the last +seven comedies have not been so much tampered with by the critics, and +therefore will be found more accurate." Merula then compares his toil, in +amending the corrupt text, to the labours of Hercules. His edition has +usually been accounted the _editio princeps_ of Plautus; but I think it is +clear, that at least eight of the comedies had been printed previously: +Harles informs us, that Morelli, in one of his letters, had thus written +to him:--"There is an edition of Plautus which I think equally ancient with +the Venetian one of 1472; it is _sine ullâ notâ_, and has neither +numerals, signatures, nor catch-words. It contains the following plays: +_Amphitryo_, _Asinaria_, _Aulularia_, _Captivi_, _Curculio_, _Casina_, +_Cistellaria_, _Epidicus_(581)." Now, it will be remarked, that these were +the eight comedies current in Italy before the important discovery of the +remaining twelve, made by Nicholas of Treves, in Germany; and the +presumption is, that they were printed previous to the date of the edition +of Merula, because by that time the newly-recovered comedies having got +into circulation, it is not likely that any editor would have given to the +world an imperfect edition of only eight comedies, when the whole dramas +were accessible, and had excited so much interest in the mind of the +public. + +Eusebius Scutarius, a scholar of Merula, took charge of an edition, which +was amended from that of his master, and was printed in 1490, Milan, +folio, and reprinted at Venice 1495. + +In 1499, an edition was brought out at Venice, by the united labour of +Petrus Valla, and Bernard Saracenus. To these, succeeded the edition of +Jo. Bapt. Pius, at Milan, 1500, with a preface by Phillip Beroald. Taubman +says, that "omnes editiones mangonum manus esse passas ex quo Saracenus et +Pius regnum et tyrannidem in literis habuere." In the Strasburg +impression, 1508, the text of Scutari has been followed, and about the +same time there were several reprints of the editions of Valla and Pius. + +The edition of Charpentier, in 1513, was prepared from a collation of +different editions, as the editor had no MSS.; but the editions of Pius +and Saracenus were chiefly employed. Charpentier has prefixed arguments, +and has divided the lines better than any of his predecessors; and he has +also arranged the scenes, particularly those of the _Mostellaria_, to +greater advantage. + +Few Latin classics have been more corrupted than Plautus, by those who +wished to amend his text. In all the editions which had hitherto appeared, +the perversions were chiefly occasioned by the anxiety of the editors to +bend his lines to the supposed laws of metre. Nic. Angelius, who +superintended an edition printed by the Giunta at Florence, 1514, was the +first who observed that the corruptions had arisen from a desire "ad +implendos pedum numeros." He accordingly threw out, in his edition, all +the words which had been unauthorizedly inserted to fill up the verses. +From some MSS. which had not hitherto been consulted, he added several +prologues to the plays; and also the commencement of the first act of the +_Bacchides_, which Lascaris, in one of his letters to Cardinal Bembo, says +he had himself found at Messina, in Sicily. These, however, though they +have been inserted into all subsequent editions of Plautus, are evidently +written by a more modern hand than that of Plautus. Two editions were +superintended and printed by the Manutii, 1516 and 1522; that in 1522, +though prepared by F. Asulanus, from a MS. corrected in the hand of the +elder Aldus and Erasmus, is not highly valued(582). Two editions, by R. +Stephens, 1529 and 1530, were formed on the edition of the Giunta, with +the correction of a few errors. These were followed by many editions in +Italy, France, and Germany, some of which were merely reimpressions, but +others were accompanied with new and learned commentaries. + +To no one, however, has Plautus been so much indebted as to Camerarius, +whose zeal and diligence were such, that there was scarcely a verse of +Plautus which did not receive from him some emendation. In 1535, there had +appeared at Magdeburg six comedies (_Aulularia_, _Captivi_, _Miles +Gloriosus_, _Menæchmi_, _Mostellaria_, _Trinummus_,) which he had revised +and commented on, but which were published from his MS. without his +knowledge or authority. The privilege of the first complete edition +printed under his own direction, is dated in 1538. + +The text and annotations of Camerarius now served as the basis for most of +the subsequent editions. The Plantin editions, of which Sambucus was the +editor, and which were printed at Antwerp 1566, and Basil 1568, contain +the notes and corrections of Camerarius, with about 300 verses more than +any preceding impression. + +Lambinus, in preparing the Paris edition, 1577, collated a number of MSS. +and amassed many passages from the ancient grammarians. He only lived, +however, to complete thirteen of the comedies; but his colleague, Helias, +put the finishing hand to the work, and added an index, after which it +came forth with a prefatory dedication by Lambinus's son. On this edition, +(in which great critical learning and sagacity, especially in the +discovery of _double entendres_, were exhibited,) the subsequent +impressions, Leyden, 1581(583), Geneva, 1581, and Paris 1587, were chiefly +formed. + +Lambinus, in preparing his edition, had chiefly trusted to his own +ingenuity and learning. Taubman, the next editor of Plautus of any note, +compiled the commentaries of others. The text of Camerarius was +principally employed by him, but he collated it with two MSS. in the +Palatine library, which had once belonged to Camerarius; and he received +the valuable assistance of Gruterus, who was at that time keeper of the +library at Heidelberg. Newly-discovered fragments--the various opinions of +ancient and modern writers concerning Plautus--a copious _index verborum_--a +preface--a dedication to the triumvirs of literature of the day, Joseph +Scaliger, Justus Lipsius, and Casaubon--in short, every species of literary +apparatus accompanied the edition of Taubman, which first appeared at +Frankfort in 1605. It was very inaccurately printed, however; so +incorrectly indeed, that the editor, in a letter addressed to Jungerman, +in September 1606, acknowledges that he was ashamed of it. Philip Pareus, +who had long been pursuing similar studies with those of Taubman, embraced +the opportunity, afforded by the inaccuracy of this edition, of publishing +in Frankfort, in 1610, a Plautus, which was professedly the rival of that +which had been produced by the united efforts of Taubman and Gruterus, and +which had not only disappointed the expectations of the public, but of the +learned editors themselves. Their feelings on this subject, and the +_opposition Plautus_ edited by Pareus, stimulated Taubman to give an +amended edition of his former one. This second impression, which is much +more accurate than the first, was printed at Wittenberg in 1612, and was +accompanied with the dissertation of Camerarius _De Fabulis Plautonicis_, +and that of Jul. Scaliger, _De Versibus Comicis_. Taubman died the year +after the appearance of this edition: Its fame, however, survived him, and +not only retrieved his character, which had been somewhat sullied by the +bad ink and dirty paper of the former edition, but completely eclipsed the +classical reputation of Pareus. Envious of the renown of his rivals, that +scholar obtained an opportunity of inspecting the MSS. which had been +collated by Taubman and Gruterus. These he now compared more minutely than +his predecessors had done, and published the fruits of his labour at +Neustadt, in 1617. This was considered as derogating from the accuracy and +critical ingenuity of Gruterus, and insulting to the manes of +Taubman.--"Hinc jurgium, tumultus Grutero et Pareo." Gruterus attacked +Pareus in a little tract, entitled _Asini Cumani fraterculus e Plauto +electis electus per Eustathium Schwarzium puerum_, 1619, and was answered +by Pareus not less bitterly, in his _Provocatio ad Senatum Criticum +adversus personatos Pareomastigos_. From this time Pareus and Gruterus +continued to print successive editions of Plautus, in emulation and odium +of each other. Gruterus printed one at Wittenberg in 1621, with a +prefatory invective against Pareus, and with the _Euphemiæ amicorum in +Plautum Gruteri_. Pareus then attempted to surpass his rival, by +comprehending in his edition a collection of literary miscellanies--as +Bullengerus' description of Greek and Roman theatres. At length Pareus got +the better of his obstinate opponent, in the only way in which that was +possible--by surviving him; he then enjoyed an opportunity of publishing, +unmolested, his last edition of Plautus, printed at Frankfort, 1641, +containing a Dissertation on the Life and Writings of Plautus; the +Eulogies pronounced on him; Remarks on his Versification; a diatribe _de +jocis et salibus Plautinis_; an exhibition of his Imitations from the +Greek Poets; and, finally, the _Euphemiæ_ of Learned Friends. Being now +relieved of all apprehensions from the animadversions of Gruterus, he +boldly termed his edition "Absolutissimam, perfectissimam, omnibusque +virtutibus suis ornatissimam." + +I have now brought the history of this notable controversy to a +conclusion. During its subsistence, various other editions of Plautus had +been published--that of Isaac Pontanus, Amsterdam, 1620, from a MS. in his +own possession--that of Nic. Heinsius, Leyden, 1635, and that of +Buxhornius, 1645, who had the advantage of consulting a copy of Plautus, +enriched with MS. notes, in the handwriting of Joseph Scaliger. + +Gronovius at length published the edition usually called the _Variorum_. +Bentley, in his critical emendations on Menander, speaks with great +contempt of the notes which Gronovius had compiled. The first Variorum +edition was printed at Leyden in 1664, the second in 1669, and the third, +which is accounted the best, at Amsterdam, 1684. + +The Delphin edition was nearly coeval with these Variorum editions, having +been printed at Paris, 1679. It was edited under care of Jacques l'OEuvre +or Operarius, but is not accounted one of the best of the class to which +it belongs. The text was principally formed on the last edition of +Gruterus, and the notes of Taubman were chiefly employed. The +_Prolegomena_ on the Life and Writings of Plautus, is derived from various +sources, and is very copious. None of the old commentators could publish +an edition of Plautus, without indulging in a dissertation _De Obscoenis_. +In every Delphin edition of the classics we are informed, that _consultum +est pudori Serenissimi Delphini_; but this has been managed in various +ways. Sometimes the offensive lines are allowed to remain, but the +_interpretatio_ is omitted, and in its place star lights are hung out +alongside of the passage: but in the Delphin Plautus they are concentrated +in one focus, "_in gratiam_," as it is expressed, "_provectioris ætatis_," +at the end of the volume, under the imposing title "PLAUTI OBSCOENA:" + + "And there we have them all at one full swoop; + Instead of being scattered through the pages, + They stand forth marshalled in a handsome troop, + To meet the ingenuous youth of future ages. + Till some less rigid editor shall stoop + To call them back into their separate cages; + Instead of standing staring all together, + Like garden gods, and not so decent either(584)." + +What is termed the Ernesti edition of Plautus, and which is commonly +accounted the best of that poet, was printed at Leipsic, 1760. It was +chiefly prepared by Aug. Otho, but Ernesti wrote the preface, containing a +full account of the previous editions of Plautus. + +The two editions by the Vulpii were printed at Padua, 1725 and 1764. + +The text of the second Bipontine edition, 1788, was corrected by Brunck. +The plan of the Bipontine editions of the Latin classics is well known. +There are scarcely any annotations or commentary subjoined; but the text +is carefully corrected, and an account of previous editions is prefixed. + +In the late edition by Schmieder (Gottingen, 1804), the text of Gronovius +has been principally followed; but the editor has also added some +conjectural emendations of his own. The commentary appears to have been +got up in considerable haste. The preliminary notices concerning the Life +and Writings of Plautus, and the previous editions of his works, are very +brief and unsatisfactory. There is yet a more recent German edition by +Bothe, which has been published in volumes from time to time at Berlin. +Two MSS. never before consulted, and which the editor believes to be of +the eleventh or twelfth century, were collated by him. His principal aim +in this new edition is to restore the lines of Plautus to their proper +metrical arrangement. + +With a similar view of restoring the proper measure to the verses, various +editions of single plays of Plautus have, within these few years, been +printed in Germany. Of this sort is the edition of the _Trinummus_, by +Hermann (Leipsic, 1800), and of the _Miles_ (Weimar, 1804), by Danz, who +has made some very bold alterations on the text of his author. + +_Italy_ having been the country in which learning first revived,--in which +the MSS. of the Classics were first discovered, and the first editions of +them printed,--it was naturally to be expected, that, of all the modern +tongues of Europe, the classics should have been earliest translated into +the Italian language. Accordingly we find, that the most celebrated and +popular of them appeared in the _Lingua Volgare_, previous to the year +1500(585). + +With regard to Plautus, Maffei mentions, as the first translation of the +_Amphitryon_, a work in _ottava rima_, printed without a date. This work +was long believed to be a production of Boccaccio(586), but it was in fact +written by Ghigo Brunelleschi, an author of equal or superior antiquity, +and whose initials were mistaken for those of Giovanni Boccaccio. Though +spoken of by Maffei as a dramatic version, it is in fact a tale or novel +founded on the comedy of Plautus, and was called _Geta e Birria_(587). +Pandolfo Collenuccio was the first who translated the _Amphitryon_ in its +proper dramatic form, and _terza rima_. He was in the service of Hercules, +first Duke of Ferrara, who made this version be represented, in January, +1487, in the splendid theatre which he had recently built, and on occasion +of the nuptials of his daughter Lucretia. The _Menechmi_, partly +translated in _ottava_ and partly in _terza rima_, was the first piece +ever acted on that theatre. The Este family were great promoters of these +versions; which, though not printed till the sixteenth century, were for +the most part made and represented before the close of the fifteenth. The +dramatic taste of Duke Hercules descended to his son Alphonso, by whose +command Celio Calcagnino translated the _Miles Gloriosus_. Paitoni +enumerates four different translations of the _Asinaria_, in the course of +the sixteenth century, one of which was acted in the monastery of St +Stephen's, at Venice. + +There were also a few versions of particular plays in the course of the +_eighteenth_ century; but Paitoni, whose work was printed in 1767, +mentions no complete Italian translation of Plautus, nor any version +whatever of the _Truculentus_, or _Trinummus_. The first version of all +the comedies was that of Nic. Eug. Argelio, which was accompanied by the +Latin text, and was printed at Naples, 1783, in 10 volumes 8vo. + +The subject of translation was early attended to in _France_. In the year +1540, a work containing rules for it was published by Steph. Dolet, which +was soon followed by similar productions; and, in the ensuing century, its +principles became a great topic of controversy among critics and scholars. +Plautus, however, was not one of the classics earliest rendered. Though +Terence had been repeatedly translated while the language was almost in a +state of barbarism, Plautus did not appear in a French garb, till clothed +in it by the Abbé Marolles, at the solicitation of Furetiere, in 1658. The +Abbé, being more anxious to write many than good books, completed his task +in a few months, and wrote as the sheets were throwing off. His +translation is dedicated to the King, Louis XIV., and is accompanied by +the Latin text. We shall find, as we proceed, that almost all the Latin +authors of this period were translated into French by the indefatigable +Abbé de Marolles. He was unfortunately possessed of the opulence and +leisure which Providence had denied to Plautus, Terence, and Catullus; and +the leisure he enjoyed was chiefly devoted to translation. "Translation," +says D'Israeli, "was the mania of the Abbé de Marolles; sometimes two or +three classical victims in a season were dragged into his slaughter-house. +The notion he entertained of his translations was their closeness; he was +not aware of his own spiritless style and he imagined that poetry only +consisted in the thoughts, and not in the grace and harmony of +verse(588)." + +De Coste's translation of the _Captivi_, in prose, 1716, has been already +mentioned. This author was not in the same hurry as Marolles, for he kept +his version ten years before he printed it. He has prefixed a +Dissertation, in which he maintains, that Plautus, in this comedy, has +rigidly observed the dramatic unities of time and place. + +Mad. Dacier has translated the _Amphitryon_, _Rudens_, and _Epidicus_. Her +version, which is accompanied by the Latin text, and is dedicated to +Colbert, was first printed 1683. An examination of the defects and +beauties of these comedies, particularly in respect of the dramatic +unities, is prefixed, and remarks by no means deficient in learning are +subjoined. Some changes from the printed Latin editions are made in the +arrangement of the scenes. In her dissertation on the _Epidicus_, which +was a favourite play of Plautus himself, Mad. Dacier attempts to justify +this preference of the poet, and wishes indeed to persuade us, that it is +a faultless production. Goujet remarks that one is not very forcibly +struck with all the various beauties which she enumerates in perusing the +original, and still less sensible of them in reading her translation. + +M. de Limiers, who published a version of the whole plays of Plautus in +1719, has not rendered anew those which had been translated by Mad. Dacier +and by De Coste, but has inserted their versions in his work. These are +greatly better than the others, which are translated by Limiers himself. +All of them are in prose, except the _Stichus_ and _Trinummus_, which the +author has turned into verse, in order to give a specimen of his poetic +talents. In the versifications, he has placed himself under the needless +restraint of rendering each Latin line by only one in French, so that +there should not be a verse more in the translation than the original; the +consequence of which is, that the whole is constrained and obscure. +Examinations and analyses of each piece, expositions of the plots, with +notices of Plautus' imitations of the ancient writers, and those of the +moderns after him, are inserted in this work. + +In the same year in which Limiers published his version, Gueudeville +brought out a translation of Plautus. It is a very free one; and Goujet +says, it is "Plaute travesti, plutot que traduit." He attempts to make his +original more burlesque by exaggerations; and by singular hyperbolical +expressions; the _obscoena_ are a good deal enhanced; and he has at the end +formed a sort of table, or index, of the obscene passages, referring to +their proper page, which may thus be found without perusing any other part +of the drama. The professed object of the table is, that the reader may +pass them over if he choose. + +A contemporary journal, comparing the two translations, observes,--"Il +semble que M. Limiers s'attache davantage à son original, et qu'il en fait +mieux sentir le véritable caractère; et que le Sieur Gueudeville est plus +badin, plus vif, plus bouffon(589)." Fabricius passes on them nearly the +same judgment(590). + +The _English_ were early acquainted with the plays of Plautus. It appears +from Holinshed, that in the eleventh year of King Henry VIII.--that is, in +1520--a comedy of Plautus was played before the King(591). We are informed +by Miss Aikin, in her _Memoirs of the Court of Elizabeth_, that when that +Queen visited Cambridge in 1564, she went on a Sunday morning to King's +Chapel, to hear a Latin sermon, _ad clerum_; "and in the evening, the body +of this solemn edifice being converted into a temporary theatre, she was +there gratified with a representation of the _Aulularia_ of Plautus(592)." +It has been mentioned in the text, that, in 1595, there appeared a +translation of the _Menæchmi_ of Plautus, by W. W.--initials which have +generally been supposed to stand for William Warner, author of _Albion's +England_. In 1694, Echard published a prose translation of the three +comedies which had been selected by Mad. Dacier--the _Amphitryon_, +_Epidicus_, and _Rudens_. It is obvious, however, that he has more +frequently translated from the French, than from his original author. His +style, besides, is coarse and inelegant; and, while he aims at being +familiar, he is commonly low and vulgar. Some passages of the _Amphitryon_ +he has translated in the coarsest dialogue of the streets:--"By the +mackins, I believe Phoebus has been playing the good fellow, and's asleep +too! I'll be hanged if he ben't in for't, and has took a little too much +of the creature." In every page, also, we find the most incongruous jumble +of ancient and of modern manners. He talks of the Lord Chief Justice of +Athens, of bridewell, and aldermen; and makes his heathen characters swear +British and Christian oaths, such as, "By the Lord Harry!--'Fore +George!--'Tis as true as the Gospel!" + +In the year 1746, Thomas Cooke, the well-known translator of Hesiod, +published proposals for a complete translation of Plautus, but he printed +only the _Amphitryon_. Dr Johnson has told, that Cooke lived twenty years +on this translation of Plautus, for which he was always taking in +subscriptions(593). + +In imitation of Colman, who, in his Terence, had introduced a new and +elegant mode of translation in familiar blank verse, Mr Thornton, in 1667, +published a version of seven of the plays after the same +manner,--_Amphitryon_, _Miles Gloriosus_, _Captivi_, _Trinummus_, +_Mercator_, _Aulularia_, _Rudens_. Of these, the translation of the +_Mercator_ was furnished by Colman, and that of the _Captivi_ by Mr +Warner. Thornton intended to have translated the remaining thirteen, but +was prevented by death. The work, however, was continued by Mr. Warner, +who had translated the _Captivi_. To both versions, there were subjoined +remarks, chiefly collected from the best commentators, and from the notes +of the French translators of Plautus. + + + + + TERENCE. + + +The MSS. of Terence which were coeval with the age of the author, or +shortly posterior to it, were corrupted from the same cause as the MSS. of +Plautus. Varro says, that, in his time, the copies of Terence then +existing were extremely corrupt. He is, however, one of the classics whose +works cannot properly be said to have been discovered at the revival of +literature, as, in fact, his comedies never were lost. They were commented +on, during the later ages of the empire, by Æmilius Asper, Valerius +Probus, Martius Salutaris, Flavius Caper, and Helenius Acro; and towards +the end of the fifth century, Rufinus wrote a diatribe on the metres of +Terence. Sulpicius Apollinaris, a grammarian of the second century, +composed arguments to the plays, and Ælius Donatus commented on them in +the fourth century. The person styling himself Calliopius, revised and +amended, in the eighth century, a MS. which was long preserved in the +Vatican. Eugraphius commented on Terence, again, in the tenth, and +Calpurnius in the middle of the fifteenth century. Guiniforte delivered +lectures on Terence at Novarra in 1430, and Filelfo at Florence about the +same period(594). Petrarch, too, when Leontius Pilatus, disgusted with +Italy, returned to his native country, gave him a copy of Terence as his +travelling companion,--a foolish present, as Petrarch adds, for there is no +resemblance between the most gloomy of all the Greeks, and the most lively +of the Africans. As Petrarch at this time seems to have cordially disliked +Leontius, it is not probable that the copy of Terence he gave him was very +scarce. All this shows, that the six plays of Terence were not merely +extant, but very common in Italy, during the dark ages. One of the oldest +MSS. of Terence, and that which was probably used in the earliest printed +editions, was preserved in the Vatican library: Fabricius has described it +as written by Hrodogarius in the time of Charlemagne, and as revised by +Calliopius(595). Another MS. of Terence in the Vatican library, is one +which, in the sixteenth century, had fallen into the possession of +Cardinal Bembo. It had been revised by Politian(596), who wrote on it, in +his own hand, that he had never seen one more ancient:--"Ego, Angelus +Politianus, homo vetustatis minime incuriosus, nullum me vidisse, ad hanc +diem, codicem vetustiorem fateor." Its age, when Fabricius wrote, in 1698, +was, as that author testifies, more than a thousand years, which places +its transcription at the latest in 698. In this MS. there is a division of +verses which is not employed in that above mentioned, written by +Hrodogarius. Politian corrected from it, with his own hand, a copy which +was in the Laurentian library, and collated with it another, which +subsequently belonged to Petrus Victorius. After the death of Cardinal +Bembo, this ancient MS. came into the possession of Fulvius Ursinus, and +was by him bequeathed to the Vatican library(597). + +There is much uncertainty with regard to the _Editio Princeps_ of Terence, +and, indeed, with regard to most of the editions of his works which +appeared during the fifteenth century. That printed by Mentelin at +Strasburg, without date, but supposed to be 1468, seems now to be +considered as having the best claims to priority(598). The Terence printed +by Pynson in 1497, was, I believe, the first Latin classic published in +this country. The earliest editions of Terence are without any separation +of verses, the division of them having been first introduced in the +edition of 1487, according to the arrangement made by Politian from +Cardinal Bembo's copy. Westerhovius, in the _prolegomena_ to his edition, +1726, enumerates not fewer than 248 editions of Terence previous to his +time. Though the presses of the Aldi (1517-21), the Stephenses (1529-52, +&c.), and the Elzevirs (1635), were successively employed in these +editions, the text of Terence does not seem to have engaged the attention +of any of the most eminent scholars or critics of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, with the exception of Muretus. The edition of +Faernus, (Florence, 1565,) for which various valuable MSS. were collated, +became the foundation of almost all subsequent impressions, particularly +that of Westerhovius, which is usually accounted the best edition of +Terence. It is nevertheless declared, by Mr Dibdin, "to be more admirable +for elaborate care and research, than the exhibition of any critical +niceties in the construction of the text, or the illustration of difficult +passages." It contains the Commentaries of Donatus, Calpurnius, and +Eugraphius, and there are prefixed the Life of Terence, attributed to +Suetonius,--a dissertation of D. Heinsius, _Ad Horatii de Plauto et +Terentio judicium_,--Evanthius, _De Tragoediâ et Comoediâ_,--and a treatise, +compiled by the editor from the best authorities, concerning the scenic +representations of the Romans. + +Bentley's first edition of Terence was printed at Cambridge in the same +year with that of Westerhovius. One of Bentley's great objects was the +reformation of the metres of Terence, concerning which he prefixed a +learned dissertation. The boldness of his alterations on the text, which +were in a great measure calculated to serve this purpose, drew down on +him, in his own age, the appellation of "slashing Bentley," and repeated +castigation from subsequent editors. + +Of the more recent editions, that of Zeunius (Leipsic, 1774) is deservedly +accounted the best in point of critical excellence. There are, however, +three German editions still more recent; that by Schmieder, (Halle, 1794,) +by Bothe, (Magdeburg, 1806,) and by Perlet, (Leipsic, 1821;) which last is +chiefly remarkable for its great number of typographical errors--about as +numerous as those in one of the old English _Pearl Bibles_. + + + +The plays of Terence being much less numerous than those of Plautus, +translations of the whole of them appeared at an earlier period, both in +Italian and French. The first complete _Italian_ translation of Terence +was in prose. It is dedicated to Benedetto Curtio, by a person calling +himself Borgofranco; but from the ambiguity of some expressions in this +dedication, there has been a dispute, whether he be the author, or only +the editor of the version--Fontanini supporting the former, and Apostolo +Zeno the latter proposition(599). It was first printed at Venice, 1533; +and Paitoni enumerates six subsequent editions of it in the course of the +sixteenth century. The next version was that of Giovanni Fabrini, which, +as we learn by the title, is rendered word for word from the original; it +was printed at Venice, 1548. A third prose translation, published at Rome, +1612, is dedicated to the Cardinal Borghese by the printer Zanetti, who +mentions, that it was the work of an unknown author, which had fallen +accidentally into his hands: Fontanini, however, and Apost. Zeno, have +long since discovered, that the author was called Cristoforo Rosario. +Crescimbeni speaks favourably of a version by the Marchioness of +Malespini. Another lady, Luisa Bergalli, had translated in _verso +sciolto_, and printed separately, some of the plays of Terence: These she +collected, and, having completed the remainder, published them together at +Venice, in 1733. In 1736, a splendid edition of a poetical translation of +Terence, and accompanied by the Latin, was printed at Urbino, with figures +of the actors, taken from a MS. preserved in the Vatican. It is written in +_verso sciolto_, except the prologues, which are in _versi sdruccioli_. +The author, who was Nicholas Fortiguerra, and who died before his version +was printed, says, that the comedies are _nunc primum Italicis versibus +redditæ_(600); but in this he had not been sufficiently informed, as his +version was preceded by that of Luisa Bergalli, and by many separate +translations of each individual play. A translation of two of Terence's +plays, the _Andria_ and _Eunuchus_, into _versi sdruccioli_, by Giustiano +de Candia, was printed by Paullus Manutius in 1544(601). Three of +Terence's plays, the _Andria_, _Eunuchus_, and _Heautontimorumenos_, were +subsequently translated in _versi sdruccioli_, by the Abbé Bellaviti, and +published at Bassan in 1758. + +It is not certain who was the author of the first _French_ translation of +Terence, or even at what period he existed. Du Verdier and Fabricius say, +he was Octavien de Saint Gelais, Bishop of Angouleme, who lived in the +reign of Charles VIII. This, however, is doubtful, since Pierre Grosnet, a +French poet, contemporary with the Bishop, while mentioning the other +classics which he had translated, says nothing of any version of Terence +by him, but expressly mentions one by Gilles Cybile-- + + "Maistre Gilles nommé Cybile, + Il s'est montré très-fort habile: + Car il a tout traduit Therence + Ou il y a mainte sentence(602)." + +The author, whoever he may be, mentions, that the translation was made by +order of the King; but he does not specify by which of the French monarchs +the command was given. His work was first printed, but without date, by +Anthony Verard, so well known as the printer of some of the earliest +romances of chivalry; and as Verard died in 1520, it must have been +printed before that date(603). It is in one volume folio, ornamented with +figures in wood-cuts, and is entitled, _Le Grant Therence en François, +tant en rime qu'en prose, avecques le Latin_. As this title imports, there +is both a prose and verse translation; and the Latin text is likewise +given. It is difficult to say which of the translations is worst; that in +verse, which is in lines of eight syllables, is sometimes almost +unintelligible, and the variation of masculine and feminine rhymes, is +scarcely ever attended to. + +The translation, printed 1583, with the Latin text, and of which the +author is likewise unknown, is little superior to that by which it was +preceded. Beauchamp, in his _Recherches sur les Théatres de France_, +mentions two other translations of the sixteenth century--one in 1566, the +other in 1584. The first by Jean Bourlier, is in prose--the second is in +rhyme, and is translated verse for verse. Mad. Dacier includes all the +versions of the sixteenth century in one general censure, only excepting +that of the _Eunuch_ by Baif, printed 1573, in his _jeux poëtiques_. It is +in lines of eight and ten syllables, and was undertaken by order of Queen +Catharine, mother of Charles IX. Mad. Dacier pronounces it to be a good +translation, except that, in about twenty passages, the sense of the +original author has been mistaken. It is remarked by Goujet, in his +_Bibliothéque Françoise_, that if Mad. Dacier had been acquainted with the +_Andrian_, by Bonaventure des Perriers, printed in 1537, she would have +made an exception in favour of it also. Bonaventure was the valet of +Margaret, Queen of Navarre, and after her death the editor of her tales, +and himself the author of a collection in a similar taste. He wrote at a +time when the French language was at its highest perfection, being +purified from the coarseness which appeared in the romances of chivalry, +and yet retaining that energy and simplicity, which it in a great measure +lost, soon after the accession of the Bourbons. This version was one of +Bonaventure's first productions, as, in the _Avis aux Lecteurs_, he says, +"Que c'etait son apprentissage:" he intended to have translated the whole +plays of Terence, but was prevented by his tragical death. The same comedy +chosen by Bonaventure des Perriers, was translated into prose by Charles +Stephens, brother of the celebrated printers. + +The Abbé Marolles has succeeded no better in his translation of Terence, +than in that of Plautus. We recognize in it the same heaviness--the same +want of elegance and fidelity to the original. Chapelain remarks, "Que ce +traducteur etoit l'Antipode du bon sens, et qu'il s'eloignoit partout de +l'intelligence des auteurs qui avoient le malheur de passer par ses +mains." His translation appeared in 1659, in two volumes 8vo, accompanied +by remarks, in the same taste as those with which he had loaded his +Plautus. + +About this period, the Gentlemen of the Port-Royal, in France, paid +considerable attention to the education of youth, and to the cultivation +of classical learning. M. de Sacy, a distinguished member of that +religious association, and well known in his day as the author of the +_Heures de Port-Royal_, translated into prose the _Andria_, _Adelphi_, and +_Phormio_(604). This version, which he printed in 1647, under the assumed +name of M. de Saint-Aubin, is much praised in the _Parnasse Reformé_, and +the _Jugemens des Sçavans_. There were many subsequent editions of it, and +some even after the appearance of the translation by Mad. Dacier. The +version of the other three comedies, by the Sieur de Martignac, was +intended, and announced as a supplement, or continuation of the work of M. +de Sacy. + +It still remains for me to mention the translation of Terence by Mad. +Dacier. This lady was advised against the undertaking by her friends, but +she was determined to persevere(605). She rose at five o'clock every +morning, during a whole winter, in the course of which she completed four +comedies; but having perused them at the end of some months, she thought +them too much laboured and deficient in ease. She therefore threw them +into the fire, and, with more moderation, recommenced her labour, which +she at length completed, with satisfaction to herself and the public. Her +translation was printed in 1688, 3 vols. 12mo, accompanied with the Latin +text, a preface, a life of the poet, and remarks on each of his pieces. +She has not entered, as in her translations of Plautus, into a particular +examination of every scene, but has contented herself with some general +observations. This lady has also made considerable changes as to the +commencement and termination of the scenes and acts; and her conjectures +on these points are said to have been afterwards confirmed by an +authoritative and excellent MS., discovered in the _Bibliothéque de +Roi_(606). The first edition was improved on, in one subsequently printed +at Rotterdam in 1717, which was also ornamented with figures from two MSS. +There is yet a more recent translation by Le Monnier, 1771, which is now +accounted the best. + +The first translation which appeared in this country, and which is +entitled "Terence in Englysh," is without date, but is supposed to have +been printed in 1520. It was followed by Bernard's translation, +1598--Hoole's, 1670--Echard's, 1694--and Dr Patrick's, 1745. All those prose +versions are flat and obsolete, and in many places unfaithful to their +original. At length Colman published a translation in familiar blank +verse, in which he has succeeded extremely well. He has seldom mistaken +the sense of his author, and has frequently attained to his polished ease +of style and manner. The notes, which have been judiciously selected from +former commentators, with some observations of his own, form a valuable +part of the work. + + + + + LUCILIUS. + + +F. Douza was the first who collected the fragments of this satiric poet, +and formed them into a _cento_. Having shewn his MS. and notes to Joseph +Scaliger, he was encouraged to print them, and an edition accordingly came +forth at Leyden, in 1597. It soon, however, became very scarce. A single +copy of it was accidentally discovered by Vulpius, in one of the principal +public libraries of Italy; but, owing to the place which it had occupied, +it had been so destroyed by constant eaves-dropping from the roof of the +house, that when he laid his hands on it, it was scarcely legible. Having +restored, however, and amended the text as far as possible, he reprinted +it at Padua in 1735. + + + + + LUCRETIUS. + + +The work of Lucretius, like the Æneid of Virgil, had not received the +finishing hand of its author, at the period of his death. The tradition +that Cicero revised it, and gave it to the public, does not rest on any +authority more ancient than that of Eusebius; and, had the story been +true, it would probably have been mentioned in some part of Cicero's +voluminous writings, or those of the early critics. Eichstädt(607), while +he denies the revisal by Cicero, is of opinion that it had been corrected +by some critic or grammarian; and that thus two MSS., differing in many +respects from each other, had descended to posterity--the one as it came +from the hand of the poet, and the other as amended by the reviser. This +he attempts to prove from the great inequality of the language--now +obsolete and rugged--now polished and refined--which difference can only, he +thinks, be accounted for, from the original and corrected copies having +been mixed together in some of those middle-age transcriptions, on which +the first printed editions were formed. The old grammarians, too, he +alleges, frequently quote verses of Lucretius, which no longer compose +parts of his poem, and which therefore must have been altogether omitted +by the corrector; and, finally, the readings in the different MSS. are so +widely different, that it is incredible that the variations could have +proceeded from the transcribers or interpolators, and could have been +occasioned only by the author or reviser of the poem. + +But though not completely polished by the author, there is no ground for +the conjecture, that the poem ever consisted of more than the present six +books--an opinion which seems to have originated in an orthographical +error, and which is contradictory to the very words of the poet +himself.(608) + +The work of Lucretius does not appear to have been popular at Rome, and +the MSS. of it were probably not very numerous in the latter ages of the +empire. It is quoted by Raban Maur, Abbot of Fulda, in his book _De +Universo_(609), which was written in the ninth century. The copies of it, +however, seem to have totally disappeared, previous to the revival of +literature; but at length Poggio Bracciolini, while attending the Council +of Constance, whither he repaired in 1414, discovered a MS. in the +monastery of St Gal, about twenty miles from that city(610). It is from +the following lines, in a Latin elegy, by Cristoforo Landini, on the death +of this celebrated ornament of his age, that we learn to whom we are +indebted for the first of philosophic poems. Landini, recording the +discoveries of his friend, exclaims-- + + "Illius manu, nobis, doctissime rhetor, + Integer in Latium, Quintiliane, redis; + Et te, Lucreti, longo post tempore, tandem + Civibus et Patriæ reddit habere tuæ." + +Poggio sent the newly-discovered treasure to Niccolo Niccoli, who kept the +original MS. fourteen years. Poggio earnestly demanded it back, and at +length obtained it; but before it was restored, Niccoli made from it, with +his own hand, a transcript, which is still extant in the Laurentian +library(611). + +The edition published at Verona, 1486, which is not a very correct one, +was long accounted the _Editio Princeps_ of Lucretius. A more ancient +impression, however, printed at Brescia, 1473, has recently become known +to bibliographers. It was edited by Ferrandus from a single MS. copy, +which was the only one he could procure. But though he had not the +advantage of collating different MSS., the edition is still considered +valuable, for its accuracy and excellent readings. There are, I believe, +only three copies of it now extant, two of which are at present in +England. The text of Lucretius was much corrupted in the subsequent +editions of the fifteenth century, and even in that of Aldus, published at +Venice in 1500, of which Avancius was the editor, and which was the first +_Latin_ classic printed by Aldus(612). This was partly occasioned by the +second edition of 1486 being unfortunately chosen as the basis of all of +them, instead of the prior and preferable edition, printed at Brescia. In +a few, but very few readings, the second edition has improved on the +first, as, for example, in the beautiful description of the helplessness +of a new-born infant-- + + "Navita, nudus humi jacet infans, _indigus_ omni + Vitali auxilio," ---- + +where the Brescian edition reads _indignus_, instead of _indigus_. And +again, in the fifth book-- + + "Nec poterat quenquam placidi pellacia ponti, + Subdola _pellicere_ in fraudem, ridentibus undis," + +where the Brescian edition reads _pollicere_, instead of _pellicere_, +which seems to be wrong. At length Baptista Pius, by aid of some +emendations of his preceptor, Philippus Beroaldus, to which he had access, +and by a laborious collation of MSS., succeeded in a great measure in +restoring the depraved text of his author to its original purity. His +edition, printed at Bologna in 1511, and the two Aldine editions, +published in 1515, under the superintendence of Nevagero, who was a much +better editor than Avancius, continued to be regarded as those of highest +authority till 1563, when Lambinus printed at Paris an edition, prepared +from the collation of five original MSS., and all the previous editions of +any note, except the first and second, which seem to have been unknown to +him. The text, as he boasts in the preface, was corrected in 800 different +places, and was accompanied by a very ample commentary. Lambinus was +succeeded by Gifanius, who was more a grammarian than an acute or tasteful +critic. He amassed together, without discrimination, the notes and +conjectures on Lucretius, of all the scholars of his own and the preceding +age. Douza, in a sot of satirical verses, accused him of having +appropriated and published in his edition, without acknowledgment, some +writings of L. Fruterius, which had been committed to him on death-bed, in +order to be printed. His chief merit lies in what relates to grammatical +interpretation, and the explanation of ancient customs, and in a more +ample collection of parallel passages than had hitherto been made. The +editions of D. Pareus, (Frankfort, 1631,) and of Nardius, (Florence, +1647,) were not better than that of Gifanius; and the Delphin edition of +Lucretius, by M. Le Fay, has long been known as the very worst of the +class to which it belongs. "Notæ ejus," says Fabricius, "plenæ sunt +pudendis hallucinationibus." Indeed, so much ashamed of it were his +colleagues, and those who directed this great undertaking of the Delphin +classics, that they attempted, though unsuccessfully, to suppress it. + +Nearly a century and a half had elapsed, from the first publication of the +edition of Lambinus, without a tolerable new impression of Lucretius being +offered to the public, when Creech, better known as the translator of +Lucretius, printed, in 1695, a Latin edition of the poet, to whose +elucidation he had devoted his life. His study of the Epicurean system, +and intimate acquaintance with the works of Gassendi, fully qualified him +for the philosophic illustration of his favourite author. On the whole, +however, Havercamp's edition, Leyden, 1725, is the best which has yet +appeared of Lucretius. It was prepared from the collation of twenty-five +MSS., as well as of the most ancient editions, and contained not only the +whole annotations of Creech and Lambinus, but also some notes of Isaac +Vossius, which had not previously been printed. The prefaces of the most +important editions are prefixed; and the only fault which has been found +with it is, that in his new readings the editor has sometimes injured the +harmony of the versification. Lucretius certainly can not be considered as +one of the classics who have been most fortunate in their editors and +commentators. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, he failed to +obtain the care of the most pre-eminent critics of the age, and was thus +left to the conjectures of second-rate scholars. It was his lot to be +assigned to the most ignorant and barbarous of the Delphin editors; and +his catastrophe has been completed by falling into the hands of Wakefield, +whose edition is one of the most injudicious and tasteless that ever +issued from the press. In preparing this work, which is dedicated to Mr +Fox, the editor had the use of several MSS. in the University of Cambridge +and the British Museum; and also some MS. notes of Bentley, found in a +copy of a printed edition, which originally belonged to Dr Mead. In his +preface, he expresses himself with much asperity against Mr Cumberland, +for withholding from him some other MS. notes of Bentley, which were in +his possession. It would have been fortunate for him if he had never seen +any of Bentley's annotations, since many of his worst readings are derived +from that source. By an assiduous perusal of MSS. and the old editions, he +has restored as much of the ancient Latin orthography, as renders the +perusal of the poet irksome, though, by his own confession, he has not in +this been uniform and consistent; and he has most laboriously amassed, +particularly from Virgil, a multitude of supposed parallel passages, many +of which have little resemblance to the lines with which they are +compared. The long Latin poem, addressed to Fox, lamenting the horrors of +war, does not compensate for the very brief and unsatisfactory notices, as +to every thing that regards the life and writings of the poet, and the +previous editions of his works. The commentary is dull, beyond the +proverbial dulness of commentaries; and wherever there was a disputed or +doubtful reading, that one is generally selected, which is most tame and +unmeaning--most grating to the ear, and most foreign, both to the spirit of +the poet, and of poetry in general. I shall just select one instance from +each book, as an example of the manner in which the finest lines have been +utterly destroyed by the alteration of a single word, or even letter, and +I shall choose such passages as are familiar to every one. In his +magnificent eulogy of Epicurus, in the first book, Lucretius, in +admiration of the enlightened boldness of that philosopher, described him +as one-- + + "Quem neque fama Deûm, nec fulmina, nec minitanti + Murmure compressit coelum." + +The expression _Fama Deûm_ implies, that Epicurus could not be restrained +by that imposing character, with which deep-rooted prejudice, and the +authority of fable, had invested the gods of Olympus--a thought highly +poetical, and at the same time panegyrical of the mighty mind which had +disregarded all this superstitious renown. But Wakefield, by the +alteration of a single letter, strips the passage both of its sense and +poetry--he reads, + + "Quem neque _fana_ Deûm, nec fulmina, nec minitanti," + +which imports that the determined mind of Epicurus could not be controlled +by the temples of the gods, which, if it has any meaning at all, is one +most frigid and puerile. This innovation, which the editor calls, in the +note, _egregiam emendationem_, is not supported, as far as he informs us, +by the authority of any ancient MS. or edition whatever, but it was so +written on the margin of the copy of Lucretius, which had belonged to +Bentley, where it was placed, as Wakefield admits, _nude ascripta et +indefensa_. In the second book, Lucretius maintaining that absence of +splendour is no diminution of happiness, says, + + "Si non aurea sunt juvenum simulacra per ædes, &c. + * * * * * + Nec citharæ reboant laqueata aurataque _tecta_." + +But Wakefield, instead of _tecta_, reads _templa_, and justifies his +reading, not on the authority of any ancient MSS., but by showing that +_templa_ is used for _tecta_ by some authors, and applied to private +dwellings! The third book commences very spiritedly with an eulogy of +Epicurus: + + "E tenebris tantis tam clarum extollere lumen + Qui primus potuisti, illustrans commoda vitæ, + Te sequor, O Graiæ gentis decus!" + +This sudden and beautiful apostrophe is weakened and destroyed by a change +to + + "O tenebris tantis tam clarum extollere lumen." + +The lines are rendered worse by the interjection being thus twice repeated +in the course of three verses. In the fourth book, Lucretius, alluding to +the merits of his own work, says, + + "Deinde, quod obscurâ de re tam lucida _pango_ + Carmina, Musæo contingens cuncta lepore." + +Here the word _pango_ presents us with the image of the poet at his lyre, +pouring forth his mellifluous verses, and it has besides, in its sound, +something of the twang of a musical instrument. Wakefield, however, has +changed the word into _pando_, which reminds us only of transcription and +publication. Lucretius, in book fifth, assigns as the reason why mankind +supposed that the abode of the gods was in heaven, + + "Per coelum volvi quia nox et luna videtur, + Luna, dies, et nox, et noctis signa _serena_!" + +This last word Wakefield has changed into _severa_, which greatly impairs +the beauty of the line. _Noctis signa serena_, are the stars and planets; +but if instead of these be substituted the _signa severa_, the passage +becomes tautological, for the _signa severa_ are introduced immediately +afterwards in the line + + "Noctivagæque faces coeli flammæque volantes." + +I have only selected passages where Wakefield has departed from the usual +readings, without support from any ancient edition or authoritative MS. +whatever. The instances where, in a variation of the MSS. and editions, he +has chosen the worse reading, are innumerable. + +The first edition of Wakefield's Lucretius was printed at London in 1796; +the second at Glasgow, 1813, which is rendered more valuable than the +first, by a running collation in the last volume of the readings of the +_Editio Princeps_, printed at Brescia; that of Verona, 1486--Venice +1495--the Aldine edition, 1500--and the Bipontine, 1782, which places in a +very striking point of view the superiority of the _Editio Princeps_ over +those by which it was immediately succeeded. At the end of this edition, +there are published some MS. notes and emendations, taken from Bentley's +own copy of Faber's edition of Lucretius, in the library of the British +Museum. They are not of much consequence, and though a few of them are +doubtless improvements on Faber's text, yet, taken as a whole, they would +injure the lines of the poet, should they be unfortunately adopted in +subsequent editions. + +Eichstädt, in his recent impression, published at Leipsic, has chiefly +followed the text of Wakefield, but has occasionally deviated from it when +he thought the innovations too bold. He had the advantage of consulting +the _Editio Princeps_, which no modern editor enjoyed. He has prefixed +Wakefield's prefaces, and a long dissertation of his own, on the Life and +Poetical Writings of Lucretius, in which he scarcely does justice to the +poetical genius of his author. The first volume, containing the text and a +very copious verbal index, was printed at Leipsic in 1801. It is intended +that the second volume should comprise the commentary, but it has not yet +been published. + +There is hardly any poet more difficult to translate happily than +Lucretius. In the abstruse and jejune philosophical discussions which +occupy so large a proportion of the poem, it is hardly possible, without a +sacrifice of perspicuity, to retain the harmony of versification; and, in +the ornamental passages, the diction is so simple, pure, and melodious, +that it is an enterprize of no small difficulty to translate with fidelity +and elegance. + +In consequence, perhaps, of the freedom of his philosophical, and a +misrepresentation of his moral tenets, Lucretius was longer of being +rendered into the _Italian_ language than almost any other classic. It was +near the end of the seventeenth century, before any version was executed, +when a translation into _verso sciolto_, was undertaken by Marchetti, +Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy in the University of Pisa. +Marchetti has evidently translated from the edition of Lambinus--the best +which had at that time appeared. His version, however, though completed in +the seventeenth century, was not published till 1717, three years after +his death, when it was printed, with the date of London, under the care of +a person styling himself Antinoo Rullo, with a prefatory dedication to the +great Prince Eugene, in which the editor terms it, "la più grande, e la +più bella poetic' opera che nel passato secolo nascesse ad accrescere un +nuovo lume di gloria ad Italia." Public opinion, both in Italy and other +countries, has confirmed that of the editor, and it is universally +admitted, that the translator has succeeded in faithfully preserving the +spirit and meaning of the Latin original, without forfeiting any of the +beauties of the Italian language. It has been said, that such was the +freedom and freshness of this performance, that unless previously informed +as to the fact, no one could distinguish whether the Latin or Italian +Lucretius was the original. Graziana, himself a celebrated poet, who had +perused it in MS., thus justly characterizes its merits, in a letter +addressed to the author:--"you have translated this poem with great +felicity and ease; unfolding its sublime and scientific materials in a +delicate style and elegant manner; and, what is still more to be admired, +your diction seldom runs into a lengthened paraphrase, and never without +the greatest judgment." The perusal of this admirable translation was +forbidden by the inquisition, but the prohibition did not prevent a +subsequent impression of it from being printed at Lausanne, in 1761. This +edition, which is in two volumes, contains an Italian translation of +Polignac's Anti-Lucretius, by F. Maria Ricci. The editor, Deregni, indeed +declares that he would not have ventured to publish any translation of +Lucretius, however excellent, unless accompanied by this powerful +antidote. There are prefixed to this edition historical and critical +notices; as also the preface, and the _Protesta del Traduttore_, which had +been inserted in the first edition. + +Most of the _French_ translations of Lucretius are in prose. Of all sorts +of poetry, that called didactic, which consists in the detail of a regular +system, or in rational precepts, which flow from each other in a connected +train of thought, suffers least by being transfused into prose. Almost +every didactic poet, however, enriches his work with such ornaments as +spring out of his subject, though not strictly attached to it; but in no +didactic poem are these passages so numerous and so charming as in that of +Lucretius; and, accordingly, in a prose translation, while all that is +systematic or preceptive may be rendered with propriety, all that belongs +to embellishment, and which forms the principal grace of the original, +appears impertinent and misplaced. The earliest translation of Lucretius +into the French language, was by Guillaume des Autels, about the middle of +the sixteenth century. The Abbé Morolles, already mentioned as the +translator of Plautus and Terence, turned Lucretius into French prose: Of +this version there were two editions, the first of which was printed in +1650. It was addressed to Christina, Queen of Sweden; and, as the author +had been very liberal to this princess in compliment, he hoped she would +be equally liberal in reward; but he was much deceived, and of this +disappointment he bitterly complains in his Memoirs. Of this translation, +Goujet remarks, that one is constantly obliged to have recourse to the +Latin text, in order to comprehend its meaning(613). It was a good deal +amended, however, in the second edition, 1659, under circumstances of +which the author introduces an account in the list of his works subjoined +to his translation of Virgil. Gassendi, who had profoundly studied the +system of Epicurus and Lucretius, having procured a copy of Marolles' +first edition, he sent a few days before his death for the author, and +pointed out to him, with his own hand, those passages in which he thought +his translation defective, and also supplied him with a number of notes in +illustration of the poet. The Abbé was thus provided with ample materials +for the improvement of his work, and so pleased was he with his second +edition, that he got a prohibition against reprinting the first introduced +into the _Privilége_ of the second. He inserted in it a _Discours +Apologetique_, defending the translating and reading of Lucretius, and +prefixed a dedication to M. Lamoignon, President of the Parliament, whom +he now substituted for Queen Christina. Moliere having seen the first +edition of Marolles' prose translation, was thereby induced to render +Lucretius into French verse. His original intention was to have versified +the whole poem, but he afterwards confined his rhymes to the more +decorative parts, and delivered the rest in plain prose. As he proceeded +with his version, he uniformly rehearsed it both to Chapelle and Rohaut, +who jointly testified their approbation of the performance. But it was +destined to perish when brought very near its completion. A valet of the +translator, who had charge of his dress-wig, being in want of paper to put +it into curl, laid hold of a loose sheet of the version, which was +immediately rent to pieces, and thrown into the fire as soon as it had +performed its office. Moliere was one of the most irritable of the _genus +irritabile vatum_, and the accident was too provoking to be endured. He +resolved never to translate another line, and threw the whole remainder of +his version into the flames, which had thus consumed a part of it(614). +This abortive attempt of Moliere incited the Abbé Marolles to render the +whole of Lucretius into verse. He completed this task in less than four +months, and published the fruits of his labour in 1677. Rapidity of +execution, however, is the only merit of which he has to boast. His +translation is harsh, flat, and inverted; and it is also very diffuse: The +poem of Lucretius consists of 7389 lines, and the version of not less than +12338(615). + +Lucretius was subsequently translated into prose by the Baron des +Coutures. His version, printed at Paris 1685, is somewhat better in point +of style than those of Marolles, but is not more faithful to the original, +being extremely paraphrastic. A Life of Lucretius, drawn up from the +materials furnished by Hubert, Gifanius, Lambinus, and other commentators, +is prefixed, and to every book is appended a small body of notes, which +shew that the author was better acquainted with his subject than Marolles. +Still, however, the poem of Lucretius was not much known in France during +the seventeenth century, either in the original or translated form. +Chaulieu, one of the most elegant and polished poets of that age, was so +little acquainted with the moral lessons which it inculcated, as to write +the following lines:-- + + ---- "Epicure et Lucrece + M'ont appris que la Sagesse + Veut qu'au sortir d'un repas, + Ou des bras de sa maîtresse, + Content l'on aille là bas." + +At length La Grange translated Lucretius in 1768, and Le Blanc de Guillet +in 1788. Brunet speaks highly of the version of La Grange, which he seems +to think is the best in the French language, and he says that of Le Blanc +de Guillet is _peu recherché_. Mr Good, in mentioning the various +translations of Lucretius, does not allude to the production of La Grange, +but speaks highly of the version of Le Blanc de Guillet. He is sometimes, +he admits, incorrect, and still more frequently obscure: "On the whole, +however," he continues, "it is a work of great merit, and ranks second +amid the translations of Lucretius, which have yet appeared in any +nation:" Of course, it ranges immediately next to that of Marchetti. This +version is accompanied with the Latin text in alternate pages. It is +decorated with plates, illustrated by notes, and introduced by a +comprehensive preliminary discourse, which contains a biography of the +original author, drawn up from Gifanius and Creech, and also some general +observations on the Epicurean philosophy. + +The first attempt to transfer the poem of Lucretius into the _English_ +language, was made by Evelyn, the celebrated author of the _Sylva_. It was +one of his earliest productions, having been printed in 1656. It was +accompanied by an appendix of notes, which show considerable acquaintance +with his subject, and there are prefixed to it complimentary letters or +verses by Waller, Fanshaw, Sir Richard Brown, and Christopher Wasse. +Evelyn commenced his arduous task with great enthusiasm, a due admiration +of his original, and anxious desire to do it full justice. On actual +trial, however, he became conscious of his own inability to produce, as he +expresses it, "any traduction to equal the elegancy of the original;" and +he accordingly closed his labours with the first book. To this resolution, +the negligent manner in which his specimen of the translation was printed, +contributed, as he alleges, in no small degree. Prefixed to the copy in +the library at Wotton, is this note in his own handwriting: "Never was +book so abominably misused by the printer; never copy so negligently +surveyed, by one who undertook to look over the proof-sheets with all +exactness and care, namely, Dr Triplet, well known for his ability, and +who pretended to oblige me in my absence, and so readily offered himself. +This good I received by it, that publishing it vainly, its ill success at +the printer's discouraged me with troubling the world with the rest(616)." +This pretended disgust, however, at the typography of his Lucretius, was +probably a pretext. It is more likely that he was deterred from the +farther execution of his version, either by its want of success, or by the +hints which he received from some of his friends concerning the moral and +religious danger of his undertaking. "For your Lucretius," says Jeremy +Taylor, in a letter to him, dated 16th April, 1656, "I perceive you have +suffered the importunity of your too kind friends to prevail with you. I +will not say to you that your Lucretius is as far distant from the +severity of a Christian as the fair Ethiopian was from the duty of Bishop +Heliodorus; for indeed it is nothing but what may become the labours of a +Christian gentleman, those things only abated which our evil age needs +not: for which also I hope you either have by notes, or will by preface, +prepare a sufficient antidote; but since you are engaged in it, do not +neglect to adorn it, and take what care of it it can require or need; for +that neglect will be a reproof of your own act, and look as if you did it +with an unsatisfied mind; and then you may make that to be wholly a sin, +from which, only by prudence and charity, you could before be advised to +abstain. But, sir, if you will give me leave, I will impose such a penance +upon you, for your publication of Lucretius, as shall neither displease +God nor you; and since you are busy in these things which may minister +directly to learning, and indirectly to error, or the confidences of men, +who, of themselves, are apt enough to hide their vices in irreligion, I +know you will be willing, and will suffer to be entreated, to employ the +same pen in the glorification of God, and the ministries of eucharist and +prayer(617)." + +In 1682, Creech, who was deterred by no such religious scruples, published +his translation of the whole poem of Lucretius. As a scholar, he was +eminently qualified for the arduous undertaking in which he had engaged: +but he wrote with such haste, that his production everywhere betrays the +inaccuracies of an author who acquiesces in the first suggestions of his +mind, and who is more desirous of finishing, than ambitious of finishing +well. Besides, he is at all times rather anxious to communicate the simple +meaning of his original, than to exhibit any portion of the ornamental +garb in which it is arrayed. Hence, though generally faithful to his +author, he is almost everywhere deficient in one of the most striking +characteristics of the Roman poet--grandeur and felicity of expression. He +is often tame, prosaic, and even doggerel; and he sometimes discovers the +conceits of a vitiated taste, in the most direct opposition to the simple +character and majestic genius of his Roman original. Pope said, "that +Creech had greatly hurt his translation of Lucretius, by imitating Cowley, +and bringing in turns even into some of the most grand parts(618)." It is +also remarked by Dr Drake, "that in this version the couplet has led in +almost every page to the most ridiculous redundancies. A want of taste, +however, in the selection of language, is as conspicuous in Creech as a +deficiency of skill and address in the management of his +versification(619)." The ample notes with which the translation is +accompanied, are chiefly extracted from the works of Gassendi. A number of +commendatory poems are prefixed, and among others one from Evelyn, in +which he acknowledges, that Creech had succeeded in the glorious +enterprize in which he himself had failed. Dryden was also much pleased +with Creech's translation, but this did not hinder him from versifying +some of the higher and more ornamental passages, to which Creech had +hardly done justice, as those at the beginning of the first and second +books, the concluding part of the third book, against the fear of death, +and of the fourth concerning the nature of love. On these fine passages +Dryden bestowed the ease, the vigour, and harmony of his muse; but though +executed with his accustomed spirit, his translations want the majestic +solemn colouring of Lucretius, and are somewhat licentious and +paraphrastic. For this, however, he accounts in his Poetical Miscellanies, +in mentioning his translations in comparison with the version of Creech. +"The ways of our translation," he observes, "are very different--he follows +Lucretius more closely than I have done, which became an interpreter to +the whole poem, I take more liberty, because it best suited with my +design, which was to make him as pleasing as I could. He had been too +voluminous had he used my method in so long a work, and I had certainly +taken his, had I made it my business to translate the whole." + +The translations by Creech and Dryden are both in rhyme. That of Mr Good, +printed in 1805, is in blank verse, and it may well be doubted if this +preference was conducive to the successful execution of his purpose. The +translation is accompanied with the original text of Lucretius, printed +from Wakefield's edition, and very full notes are subjoined, containing +passages exhibiting imitations of Lucretius by succeeding poets. The +preface includes notices of preceding editions of his author, and the +explanation of his own plan. Then follow a Life of Lucretius, and an +Appendix to the Life, comprehending an analysis and defence of the system +of Epicurus, with a comparative sketch of most other philosophical +theories, both ancient and modern. + +The translation of Mr Good was succeeded, in 1813, by that of Dr Busby, +which is in rhyme, and is introduced by enormous _prolegomena_ on the Life +and Genius of Lucretius, and the Philosophy and Morals of his Poem. + + + + + CATULLUS. + + +The MSS. of Catullus were defaced and imperfect, as far back as the time +of Aulus Gellius(620), who lived in the reigns of Adrian and the +Antonines; and there were _variæ lectiones_ in his age, as well as in the +fifteenth century. There was a MS. of Catullus extant at Verona in the +tenth century which was perused by the Bishop Raterius, who came from +beyond the Alps, and who refers to it in his Discourses as a work he had +never seen till his arrival at Verona. Another was possessed in the +fourteenth century by Pastrengo, a Veronese gentleman, and a friend of +Petrarch(621), who quotes it twice in his work _De Originibus_; but these +and all other MSS. had entirely disappeared amid the confusions with which +Italy was at that time agitated, and Catullus may, therefore, be +considered as one of the classics brought to light at the revival of +literature. The MS. containing the poems of Catullus was not found in +Italy, but in one of the monasteries of France or Germany, (Scaliger says +of France,) in the course of the fifteenth century, and according to +Maffei, in 1425(622). All that we know concerning its discovery is +contained in a barbarous Latin epigram, written by Guarinus of Verona, who +chose to give his information on the subject in an almost unintelligible +riddle. It was prefixed to an edition of Catullus, printed in Italy 1472, +where it is entitled _Hextichum Guarini Veronensis Oratoris Clariss. in +libellum V. Catulli ejus concivis_: + + "Ad Patriam venio longis de finibus exul: + Causa mei reditûs compatriota fuit. + Scilicet a calamis tribuit cui Francia nomen, + Quique notat turbæ prætereuntis iter. + Quo licet ingenio vestrum celebrate Catullum + Quovis sub modio clausa papyrus erat." + +The first line explains that the MS. was brought to Italy from beyond the +Alps, and the second that it was discovered by a countryman of Catullus, +that is, by a citizen of Verona. The third line contains the grand +_conundrum_. Some critics have supposed that it points out the name of a +monastery where the MS. was discovered; others, that it designates the +name of the person who found it. Lessing is of this last opinion; and, +according to his interpretation, the line implies, that it was discovered +by some one whose name is the French word for quills or pens, that is, +_plumes_. The name nearest this is Plumatius, on which foundation Lessing +attributes the discovery of Catullus to Bernardinus Plumatius, a great +scholar and physician of Verona, who flourished during the last half of +the fifteenth century(623). This conjecture of Lessing was better founded +than he himself seems to have been aware, as the second syllable in the +name Plumatius is not remote from the French verb _hater_, which, in one +sense, as the epigram expresses it-- + + "Notat turbæ prætereuntis iter." + +Lucius Pignorius, who thinks that these lines were not written by Guarinus +of Verona, but that the MS. was discovered by him, also conjectures that +it was found in a barn, since it is said in the last line, that it was +concealed _sub modio_, and bushels are nowhere but in barns(624). This is +taking the line in its most literal signification, but the expression +probably was meant only as proverbial. + +The wretched situation in which this MS. was found, and the circumstance +of its being the only one of any antiquity extant, sufficiently accounts +for the numerous and evident corruptions of the text of Catullus, and for +the editions of that poet presenting a greater number of various and +contradictory readings than those of almost any other classic. + +After this MS. was brought to Italy, it fell into the hands of Guarinus of +Verona, who took much pains in correcting it, and it was further amended +by his son Baptista Guarinus, as a third person of the family, Alexander +Guarinus, informs us, in the _prooemium_ to his edition of Catullus, 1521, +addressed to Alphonso, third Duke of Ferrara. Baptista Guarinus, as +Alexander farther mentions in his _prooemium_, published an edition of +Catullus from the MS. which he had taken so much pains to correct, but +without any commentary. This edition, however, has now entirely +disappeared; and that of 1472, printed by Spira, at Venice, in which +Catullus is united with Tibullus and Propertius, is accounted the _Editio +Princeps_. The different editions in which these poets have appeared +conjoined, will be more conveniently enumerated hereafter: both in them, +and in the impressions of Catullus printed separately, the editors had +departed widely from the corrected text of Baptista Guarinus. Accordingly, +Alexander Guarinus, in 1521, printed an edition of Catullus, with the view +of restoring the genuine readings of his father and grandfather, who had +wrought on the ancient MS. which was the prototype of all the others. It +would appear, however, that the erroneous readings had become inveterate. +Maffei, in his _Verona Illustrata_(625), points out the absurd and +unauthorized alterations of Vossius and Scaliger on the pure readings of +the Guarini. + +Muretus took charge of an edition of Catullus, which was printed by the +younger Aldus Manutius in 1558. This production is not accounted such as +might be expected from the consummate critic and scholar by whom it was +prepared. Isaac Vossius had commented on Catullus; but his annotations lay +concealed for many years after his death, till they were at length brought +to light by his amanuensis Beverland, who, by means of this valuable +acquisition, was enabled to prepare the best edition which had yet +appeared of Catullus, and which was first printed in London in 1684. His +commentary was on every point profoundly learned.--"Poetam," says Harles, +"commentario eruditissimo, ita tamen ut inverecundiâ illi interdum haud +cederet, illustravit." Vulpius published a yet better edition at Padua, in +1737, in the preparation of which he made great use of the _Editio +Princeps_. In the notes, he has introduced a new and most agreeable +species of commentary,--illustrating his author by parallel passages from +the ancient and modern poets, particularly the Italian; not such parallel +passages as Wakefield has amassed, where the words _qui_ or _atque_ occur +in both, but where there is an obvious imitation or resemblance in the +thought or image. He has also prefixed a diatribe _De Metris Catullianis_. +In the year 1738, a curious fraud was practised with regard to Catullus. +Carradini de Allio, a scholar of some note, published at Venice an +edition, which he pretended to have printed from an ancient MS. +accidentally discovered by him in a pottery, without a cover or +title-page, and all besmeared with filth. It was dedicated to the Elector +of Bavaria; and though one of the most impudent cheats of the sort that +had been practised since the time of Sigonius and Annius Viterbiensis, it +imposed on many learned men. The credit it obtained, introduced new +disorders into the text of Catullus; and when the fraud was at length +detected, the contriver of it only laughed at the temporary success of his +imposture. + +Doering, in early life, had printed an edition of the principal poem of +Catullus, the _Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis_. Encouraged by the +success of this publication, he subsequently prepared a complete edition +of Catullus, which came forth at Leipsic in 1788. + + + +The _Epithalamium of Peleus and Thetis_, the chief production of Catullus, +was translated into _Italian_ by Ludovico Dolce, and printed in 1538, at +the end of a small volume of miscellaneous works dedicated to Titian. In +the colophon it is said, "Il fine dell' epitalamio tradotto per M. Lod. +Dolce, in verso sciolto." This Epithalamium was also translated in the +eighteenth century, into _Ottava Rima_, by Parisotti, with a long preface, +in which he maintains that the _ottava_, or _terza rima_, is better +adapted for the translation of the Latin classics than _versi sciolti_. +Ginguené, in the preface to his French translation of this Epithalamium, +mentions three other Italian versions of the last century, those of +Neruci, Torelli, and the Count d'Ayano, all of which, he says, possess +considerable merit. He also informs us, that Antonio Conti had commenced a +translation of this poem, which was found incomplete at his death; but it +was accompanied by many valuable criticisms and annotations, which have +been much employed in a Memoir inserted in the transactions of the French +Academy, by M. D'Arnaud, whose plagiarisms from the Italian author have +been pointed out at full length by M. Ginguené, in his preface. Conti +completed a translation of the _Coma Berenices_ in _versi sciolti_, +accompanied by an explanation of the subject, and learned notes, which was +printed along with his works at Venice, in 1739. The _Coma Berenices_ was +also translated in _terza rima_ by the Neapolitan Saverio Mattei, and by +Pagnini in _versi sdruccioli_. At length, in 1803, M. Ugo Foscolo, now +well known in this country as the author of the Letters of Jacopo Ortis, +printed at Milan a translation of this elegy, in blank verse, under the +title of _La Chioma di Berenice, poema di Callimaco, tradotto da Valerio +Catullo, volgarizzato ed illustrato da Ugo Foscolo_. The version is +preceded by four dissertations; the text is accompanied with notes, and +followed by fourteen _considerazioni_, as they are called, in which the +author severely censures and satirizes the pedantic commentators and +philologers of his country. Mr Hobhouse, in his _Illustrations of Childe +Harold_(626), says, that the whole lucubration, extending to nearly 300 +pages of large octavo, is a grave and continued irony on the verbal +criticisms of commentators. "Some of the learned," he continues, "fell +into the snare, and Foscolo, who had issued only a few copies, now added a +Farewell to his readers, in which he repays their praises, by exposing the +mysteries and abuses of the philological art. Those whom he had deceived +must have been not a little irritated to find that his frequent citations +were invented for the occasion, and that his commentary had been purposely +sprinkled with many of the grossest faults." + +The whole works of Catullus were first translated into Italian by the +Abbot Francis Maria Biacca of Parma, who concealed his real designation, +according to the affected fashion of the times, under the appellation of +Parmindo Ibichense, _Pastor Arcade_. The Abbot died in 1735, and his +version was printed at Milan after his death, in 1740, in the twenty-first +volume of the General Collection of Italian Translations from the Ancient +Latin Poets. The most recent Italian version is that of Puccini, printed +at Pisa in 1805. It is very deficient in point of spirit; and the last +English translator of Catullus observes, "that it is chiefly remarkable +for the squeamishness with which it omits all warmth in the love verses, +while it unblushingly retains some of the most disgusting passages." + +The _French_ have at all times dealt much in prose translations of the +Classics. These did not suit very well for the epic poems, or even +comedies or the Romans; and were totally abhorrent from the lyrical or +epigrammatic productions of Catullus. A great deal of the beauty of every +poem consists in the melody of its numbers. But there are certain species +of poetry, of which the _chief_ merit lies in the sweetness and harmony of +versification. A boldness of figures, too--a luxuriance of imagery--a +frequent use of metaphors--a quickness of transition--a freedom of +digression, which are allowable in every sort of poetry, are to many +species of it essential. But these are quite unsuitable to the character +of prose, and when seen in a prose translation, they appear preposterous +and out of place, because they are never found in any original prose +composition. Now, the beauties of Catullus are precisely of that nature, +of which it is impossible to convey the smallest idea in a prose +translation. Many of his poems are of a lyric description, in which a +greater degree of irregularity of thought, and a more unrestrained +exuberance of fancy, are permitted than in any other kind of composition. +To attempt, therefore, a translation of a lyric poem into prose, is the +most absurd of all undertakings; for those very characters of the +original, which are essential to it, and which constitute its highest +beauty, if transferred to a prose translation, become unpardonable +blemishes. What could be more ridiculous than a French prose translation +of the wild dithyrambics of Atis, or the fervent and almost phrenzied love +verses to Lesbia? It is from poetry that the elegies of Catullus derive +almost all their tenderness--his amorous verses all their delicacy, +playfulness, or voluptuousness--and his epigrams all their sting. + +That indefatigable translator of the Latin poets, the Abbé Marolles, was +the first person who _traduced_ Catullus in French. He was an author, of +all others, the worst qualified to succeed in the task which he had +undertaken, as his heavy and leaden pen was ill adapted to express the +elegant light graces of his original. His prose translation was printed in +1653. It was succeeded, in 1676, by one in verse, also by Marolles, but of +which only thirty copies were thrown off and distributed among the +translator's friends. La Chapelle (not the author of the _Voyage_) +translated most of the poems of Catullus, and inserted them in his +_Histoire Galante_, entitled the _Amours de Catulle_, printed in 1680, +which relates, in the style of an amatory prose romance, the adventures +and intrigues of Catullus, his friends, and mistresses. The next +translation, though not of the whole of his pieces, is by M. Pezay, +printed 1771, who misses no opportunity of ridiculing Marolles and his +work. It is in prose, as is also a more recent French translation by M. +Noel, Paris, 1806. The first volume of Noel's work contains the _Discours +Preliminaire_ on the Life, Poetry, Editions, and Translations of Catullus; +and the version itself, which is accompanied with the Latin text. The +second volume comprises a very large body of notes, chiefly exhibiting the +imitations of Catullus by French poets. Brunet mentions a translation +still more recent, by M. Mollevaut, which is in verse, and proves that +more justice may be done to Catullus in rhyme than prose. + +An _English_ translation of Catullus, usually ascribed to Dr Nott, was +published anonymously in 1795, accompanied with some valuable annotations. +He was the first to give, as he himself says, the whole of Catullus, +without reserve, and in some way or other, to translate all his +indecencies. This version adheres very closely to the original, and has +the merit of being simple and literal, but it is meagre and inelegant: it +is defective in ease and freedom, and but seldom presents us with any of +those graces of poetry, and indeed almost unattainable felicities of +diction, which characterize the original. While writing this, the poetical +translation by Mr Lamb has come to my hands. It is also furnished with a +long preface and notes, which appear to be tasteful and amusing. The chief +objections to the translation are quite the reverse of those which have +been stated to the version by which it was preceded--it seems defective in +point of fidelity, and is too diffuse and redundant. No author suffers so +much by being diluted as Catullus, and he can only be given with effect by +a brevity as condensed and _piquant_ as his own. Indeed, the thoughts and +language of Catullus throw more difficulties in the way of a translator, +than those of almost any other classic author. His peculiarities of +feeling--his idiomatic delicacies of style--that light ineffable grace--that +elegant ease and spirit, with which he was more richly endued than almost +any other poet, can hardly pass through the hands of a translator without +being in some degree sullied or alloyed. + + + + + LABERIUS--PUBLIUS SYRUS. + + +The only fragment of any length or importance which we possess of +Laberius, has been saved by Macrobius, in his _Saturnalia_. The fragments +of Publius Syrus were chiefly preserved by Seneca and Au. Gellius, and the +scattered maxims which they had recorded, were collected in various MSS. +of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They were first printed +together, under the superintendence of Erasmus, in 1502, as revised and +corrected from a MS. in the University of Cambridge. Fabricius published +some additional maxims, which had not previously been printed, in 1550. +Stephens edited them at the end of his Fragments from the Greek and Latin +Comic Poets, 1564; and Bentley published them along with Terence and the +Fables of Phædrus, at Cambridge, in 1726. An improved edition, which had +been prepared by Gruter, was printed under the superintendence of +Havercamp, from a MS. after his death. The most complete edition, however, +which has yet appeared, is that published by Orellius, at Leipsic, 1822. +It contains 879 maxims, arranged in alphabetical order, from which, at +least as the editor asserts, all those which are spurious have been +rejected, and several that are genuine added. A Greek version of the +maxims, by Jos. Scaliger, is given by him on the opposite side of the +page, and he has appended a long commentary, in which he has quoted all +the maxims of preceding or subsequent authors, who have expressed +sentiments similar to those of Publius Syrus. + +The sentences were translated into _English_ from the edition of Erasmus, +under the following title: "Proverbs or Adagies, with newe Additions, +gathered out of the Chiliades of Erasmus, by Richard Taverner. Hereunto be +also added, Mimi Publiani. Imprinted at Lo'don, in Fletstrete, at the +signe of the Whyte Harte. _Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum._" On the +back of the title is "the Prologe of the author, apologizing for his +slender capacitie;" and concluding, "yet my harte is not to be blamed." It +contains sixty-four leaves, the last blank. On the last printed page are +the "Faultes escaped in printynge," which are seven in number. Beneath is +the colophon, "Imprinted at London by Richarde Bankes, at the Whyte Harte, +1539." This book was frequently reprinted. James Elphinston, long known to +the public by his unsuccessful attempt to introduce a new and uniform mode +of spelling into the English language, translated, in 1794, "The +Sentencious Poets--Publius dhe Syrrian--Laberius dhe Roman Knight, &c. +arrainged and translated into correspondent Inglish Mezzure(627)." + + + + + CATO--VARRO. + + +It appears from Aulus Gellius, that, even in his time, the works of Cato +had begun to be corrupted by the ignorance of transcribers. As mentioned +in the text, his book on Agriculture, the only one of his numerous +writings which survives, has come down to us in a very imperfect and +mutilated state. A MS. of Cato, but very faulty and incomplete, was in +possession of Niccolo Niccoli; and a letter from him is extant, requesting +one of his correspondents, called Michelotius, to borrow for him a very +ancient copy from the Bishop Aretino, in order that his own might be +rendered more perfect(628). Most of the editions we now have, follow a MS. +which is said to have been discovered at Paris by the architect Fra +Giocondo of Verona, and was brought by him to Italy. Varro's treatise on +Agriculture was first discovered by Candidi, as he himself announces in a +letter to Niccolo Niccoli(629). + +The agricultural works of Cato and Varro have generally been printed +together, and also along with those of Columella and Palladius, under the +title of _Rei Rusticæ Scriptores_. There is no ancient MS. known, in which +all the _Rei Rusticæ Scriptores_ are collected together. They were first +combined in the _Editio Princeps_, edited by Georgius Merula, and printed +at Venice, in 1470. The next edition, superintended by Bruschius, and +printed in 1482, has almost entirely disappeared. In many passages, its +readings were different from those of all other editions, as appears from +the annotations communicated from Rome, by Pontedera to Gesner, while he +was preparing his celebrated edition(630). Philippus Beroaldus corrected a +good many faults and errors which had crept into the _Editio Princeps_. +His emendations were made use of in the edition of Bologna, 1494, by +Benedict Hector. Gesner has assiduously collated that edition with the +_Editio princeps_, and he informs us, that it contained many important +corrections. Though differing in some respects, he considers all the +editions previous to that of Aldus, as belonging to the same class or +family. The Aldine edition, printed 1514, was superintended by Fra +Giocondo of Verona, who, having procured at Paris some MSS. not previously +consulted, introduced from them many new readings, and filled up several +chasms in the text, particularly the fifty-seventh chapter(631). This +edition, however, is not highly esteemed; "Sequitur," says Fabricius, +"novi nec optimi generis editio Aldina:" And Schneider, the most recent +editor of the _Rei Rusticæ Scriptores_, affirms that Giocondo corrupted +and perverted almost every passage which he changed. Nicholas Angelius +took charge of the edition published by the Giunta at Florence, in 1515. +His new readings are ingenious; but many of them are quite unauthorized +and conjectural. The Aldine continued to form the basis of all subsequent +editions, till the time of Petrus Victorius, who was so great a restorer +and amender of the _Rei Rusticæ Scriptores_, that he is called their +_Æsculapius_ by Gesner, and _Sospitator_ by Fabricius. Victorius had got +access to a set of MSS. which Politian had collated with the _Editio +Princeps_. The most ancient and important of these MSS., containing Cato, +and almost the whole of Varro, was found by Victorius in the library of St +Mark; another in French characters was in the Medicean library; and a +third had belonged to Franciscus Barbarus, and was transcribed by him from +an excellent exemplar at Padua(632). But though Victorius had the +advantage of consulting these MSS., it does not appear that he possessed +the collation by the able hand of Politian; because that was inserted, not +in the MSS., but in his own printed copy of the _Editio Princeps_; and +Gesner shows at great length that Petrus Victorius had never consulted any +copy whatever of the _Editio Princeps_(633). Victorius first employed his +learning and critical talents on Varro. Some time afterwards, Giovanni +della Casa being sent by the Pope on some public affairs to Florence, +where Victorius at that time resided, brought him a message from the +Cardinal Marcellus Cervinus, requesting that he should exert on Cato some +part of that diligence which he had formerly employed on Varro. Victorius +soon completed the task assigned him. He also resumed Varro, and +attentively revised his former labours on that author(634). At last he +determined to collate whatever MSS. of the Rustic writers he could +procure. Those above-mentioned, as having been inspected by Politian, were +the great sources whence he derived new and various readings. + +It is not known that Victorius printed any edition containing the text of +the _Rei Rusticæ Scriptores_ in Italy. His letter to Cervinus speaks as if +he was just about to edit them; but whether he did so is uncertain. +"Quartam classem," says Harles, "constituit Victorius, sospitator horum +scriptorum: qui quidem num primum in Italiâ recensitos dederit eos cum +Gesnero et Ernesti ignoro(635)." As far as now appears, his corrections +and emendations were first printed in the edition of Leyden, 1541, where +the authors it contains, are said in the title to be _Restituti per Petrum +Victorium, ad veterum exemplarium fidem, suæ integritati_. His +castigations were printed in the year following, but without the text of +the authors, at Florence. The Leyden edition was reprinted at Paris, in +1543, by Robert Stephens, and was followed by the edition of Hier. +Commellinus, 1595. + +At length Gesner undertook a complete edition of the _Rei Rusticæ +Scriptores_, under circumstances of which he has given us some account in +his preface. The eminent bookseller, Fritschius, had formed a plan of +printing these authors; and to aid in this object, he had employed +Schoettgenius, a young, but even then a distinguished scholar. A digest of +the best commentators, and a collection of various readings, were +accordingly prepared by him. The undertaking, however, was then deferred, +in expectation of the arrival of MSS. from Italy; and Schoettgenius was +meanwhile called to a distance to some other employment, leaving the +fruits of his labour in the hands of Fritschius. In 1726, that bookseller +came to Gesner, and informed him, that Politian's collations, written on +his copy of the _Editio Princeps_, had at length reached him, as also some +valuable observations on the rustic writers, communicated from Italy by +Pontedera and Facciolati. Fritschius requested that Gesner should now +arrange the whole materials which had been compiled. Selections from the +commentaries, and the various readings previous to the time of Victorius, +were prepared to his hand; but he commenced an assiduous study of every +thing that was valuable in more recent editions. At length his ponderous +edition came out with a preface, giving a full detail of the labours of +others and his own, and with the prefaces to the most celebrated preceding +editions. Some of the notes had been previously printed, as those of +Meursius, Scaliger, and Fulvius Ursinus--others, as those of Schoettgenius, +Pontedera, and Gesner himself, had never yet seen the light. Though Gesner +never names Pontedera without duly styling him Clarissimus Pontedera, that +scholar was by no means pleased with the result of Gesner's edition, and +attacked it with much asperity, in his great work, _Antiquitatum +Rusticarum_. Gesner's first edition was printed at Leipsic, 1735. Ernesti +took charge of the publication of the second edition; and, in addition to +the dissertation of Ausonius Popma, _De Instrumento Fundi_, which formed +an appendix to the first, he has inserted Segner's description and +explanation of the aviary of Varro. + +The most recent edition of the _Scriptores Rei Rusticæ_, is that of +Schneider, who conceives that he has perfected the edition of Gesner, by +having collated the ancient edition of Bruschius, and the first Aldine +edition, neither of which had been consulted by his predecessor. + +Besides forming parts of every collection of the _Rei Rusticæ Scriptores_, +the agricultural treatises of Cato and Varro have been repeatedly printed +by themselves, and apart from those of Columella and Palladius. Ausonius +Popma, in his separate edition of Cato, 1590, has chiefly, and without +much acknowledgment, employed some valuable annotations and remarks +contained in the _Adversaria_ of Turnebus. This edition was accompanied by +some other fragments of Cato. These, however, were of small importance; +and the principal part of the publication being the work on Agriculture, +its sale was much impeded by Commellinus' full edition of the agricultural +writers, published five years afterwards. Raphellengius, however, +reprinted it in 1598, with a new title; and with the addition of the notes +of Meursius. Popma again revised his labours, and published an improved +edition in 1620. Varro's treatise, _De Re Rusticâ_, was published alone in +1545, and with his other writings, by Stephens, in 1569. Ausonius Popma +also edited it in 1601, appropriating, according to his custom, the notes +and observations of others. + + + +Cato's work _De Re Rusticâ_, has been translated into _Italian_ by Pagani, +whose version was printed at Venice, 1792; and into _French_ by Saboureux, +Paris, 1775. I am not aware of any full _English_ translation of Cato, but +numerous extracts are made from it in Dickson's _Husbandry of the +Ancients_. + +Italy has produced more translations of the Latin writers than any other +country; and one would naturally suppose, that the agricultural writings +of those who had cultivated the same soil as themselves, would be +peculiarly interesting to the Italians. I do not know, however, of any +version of Varro in their language. There is an _English_ translation, by +the Rev. Mr Owen, printed at Oxford in 1800. In his preface, the author +says,--"Having collated many copies of this work of the Roman writer in my +possession, and the variations being very numerous, I found it no easy +task to make a translation of his treatise on agriculture. To render any +common Arabic author into English, would have been a labour less difficult +to me some years ago, than it has been to translate this part of the works +of this celebrated writer." + + + + + SALLUST. + + +This historian was criticized in a work of Asinius Pollio, particularly on +account of his affected use of obsolete words and expressions. Sulpicius +Apollinaris, the grammarian, who lived in the reigns of the Antonines, +boasted that he was the only person of his time who could understand +Sallust. His writings were illustrated by many of the ancient grammarians, +as Asper and Statilius Maximus. In the course of the ninth century, we +find Lupus, Abbot of Ferriers, in one of his letters, praying his friend +Regimbertus to procure for him a copy of Sallust(636); and there was a +copy of his works in the Library of Glastonbury Abbey, in the year +1240(637). The style of Sallust is very peculiar: He often omits words +which other writers would insert, and inserts those which they would omit. +Hence his text became early, and very generally, corrupted, from +transcribers and copyists leaving out what they naturally enough supposed +to be redundancies, and supplying what they considered as deficiencies. + +There appeared not less than three editions of Sallust in the course of +the year 1470. It has been much disputed, and does not seem to be yet +ascertained, which of them is the _Editio Princeps_. One was printed under +the care of Merula, by Spira, at Venice; but the other two are without +name of place or printer: It has been conjectured, that of these two, the +one which is in folio was printed at Rome(638); and the other, in quarto, +at Paris, by Gering, Crantz, and Friburg(639). The Venice Edition is +usually accounted the _Editio Princeps_(640), but Fuhrmann considers both +the Paris and Roman editions as prior to it. The Roman, he thinks, in +concurrence with the opinion of Harles, is the earliest of all. The +Bipontine editors style the Parisian impression the _Primaria Princeps_. +Besides these three, upwards of thirty other editions were published in +the course of the fifteenth century. One of them was printed at Venice, +1493, from the _Recension_ of Pomponius Lætus, who has been accused by +subsequent editors of introducing many of the corruptions which have crept +into the text of Sallust(641). There were also a number of commentaries in +this century, by scholars, who did not themselves publish editions of the +historian, but greatly contributed to the assistance of those who prepared +them in the next. The commentary of Laurentius Valla, in particular, which +was first printed at Rome in 1490, and in which scarcely a single word is +passed over without remark or explanation, enriched most of the editions +which appeared in the end of the fifteenth, and the beginning of the +subsequent century(642). The first of any note in the sixteenth century, +were those of Aldus, Venice, 1509, and 1521. Carrio, who published an +edition at Antwerp in 1579, collected many of the fragments of Sallust's +great History of Rome; and he amended the text of the Catilinarian and +Jugurthine Wars, as he himself boasts, in several thousand places. The +edition of Gruter, in 1607, in which the text received considerable +alterations, on the authority of the Palatine MS., obtained in its time +considerable reputation. The earliest _Variorum_ edition is in 1649; but +the best is that printed at Leyden, with the notes of Gronovius, in 1690. +An immense number of MSS., and copies of the most ancient editions, were +collated by Wasse for the Cambridge edition, 1710. He chiefly followed the +text of Gruter, but he has added the notes of various commentators, and +also some original observations of his own, particularly comparisons, +which he has instituted between his author and the ancient Greek writers. +The editions of Cortius (Leipsic, 1724), and of Havercamp (Amsterdam, +1742), are both excellent. The former, in preparing his work, consulted +not less than thirty MSS., fifteen of which were preserved in the +Wolfenbuttel library. He also assiduously collated most of the old +editions, and found some good readings in those of Venice, 1470-1493, and +that of Leipsic, 1508. Most of the editions, however, of the fifteenth +century, he affirms, are very bad; and, according to him, a greater number +of the errors, which had crept into the text of Sallust, are to be +attributed to them, than to the corruptions of Pomponius Lætus. Cortius +chiefly erred in conceiving that Sallust's conciseness consisted solely in +paucity of words, so that he always preferred the readings where the +greatest number of them were thrown out, though the meaning was thereby +obscured, and sometimes altogether lost. The readings in Havercamp's +edition are all founded on those of Wasse and Gruter. The text is +overloaded with notes: "Textus," says Ernesti, "velut cymba in oceano, ita +in notis natat." The various readings are separated from the notes, being +inserted between the text and the commentary. In the first volume, we have +the text of Sallust, and the annotations--in the second, the prefaces of +different editors of Sallust--his life--the fragments of his works--and the +judgments pronounced by ancient authors on his writings. The text of +Teller's edition, Berlin, 1790, is formed on that of Cortius, but departs +from it, where the editor conceived himself justified by the various +readings of a rare and ancient edition, published at Brescia, 1495, which +he had consulted. It is totally unprovided with _prolegomena_, or notices, +with regard to the life and writings of the author, or his works; but +there is appended to it a recension of the celebrated Spanish Translation, +executed under the auspices of the Infant Don Gabriel, and a very full +_Index Latinitatis_. The best of the recent German editions, is that of +Lange, Halle, 1815. In this work, the editor chiefly follows Havercampus. +His great object was to restore the purity of the text, which he believed +to have been greatly corrupted by the rash and unauthorized alterations of +preceding editors, more particularly of Cortius. Notes are subjoined, +partly illustrative of Sallust's genius and talents, and partly of that +portion of Roman history, of which he treated. + + + +Sallust has been translated into _Italian_, by a Genoese of the name of +Agost. Ortica, (Venice, 1518). The work of Ortica also comprehends a +version of Cicero's fourth Catilinarian orations, and the supposed reply +of Catiline. The style is barbarous, involved, and obscure, and in some +passages nearly unintelligible. In point of style, the translation of +Lelio Carani (Florence, 1530) is purer, but it is too paraphrastic, and +has not always accurately expressed the meaning of the original. The +version of Paulo Spinola (1564) was scarcely more happy. These three +translations having become scarce by the middle of last century, and being +defective in many of the most essential qualities of a translation, the +Doctor Battista Bianchi, Professor of Latin at Sienna, undertook an +improved translation, in which he attempted to imitate the brevity of +Sallust, though he did not, like some of his predecessors, insert obsolete +Italian words, corresponding to the antique Latin expressions adopted by +his original. To this translation, first printed at Venice, 1761, there is +prefixed a long and elaborate preface, in which the author discusses the +historical and literary merits of Sallust, and enumerates the translations +of his works which had at that time appeared in the different languages of +Europe. After this follows the life of the Latin author. There are +likewise annotations at the foot of the page, and an index at the end of +the whole. The next Italian translation of any note which appeared, was +that by Alfieri, which is considered in Italy as a masterpiece: His prose +style, which was founded on that of the classic writers, qualified him +admirably for the task. + +There have been more translations of Sallust in _French_, than in any +other language. It was translated, it is said, as far back as the reign of +King John of France, who died in 1364. "Le Roi Jean," says Villaret, +"ainsi qu'on l'a rapporté, avoit fait entreprendre des versions de +quelques auteurs Latins, tels que Salluste et Tite-Live(643)." I do not +suppose, however, that this translation was given to the press on the +invention of printing. The first version printed was that of Baudoin, in +1617; which was succeeded, in the course of the same century, by the +futile attempts of Cassagne and Du Teil. The version of the Abbé Le +Masson, which appeared in the commencement of the ensuing century, was +accompanied with a defence of the moral character of the historian. It was +followed, in a few years afterwards, by that of the Abbé Thyvon, which, +though it does not convey an adequate idea of the strength and sententious +brevity of the original, is for the most part extremely faithful to the +meaning of the author. Its deficiency in the former qualities, seems to +have induced M Dotteville to attempt a new translation, as he appears to +be always striving at terseness and conciseness of style. "His Sallust," +says the most recent English translator, "like his Tacitus, is harsh and +dry; and his fruitless endeavours to vie in brevity with either historian, +are sufficient to prove, if such proof were needful, how absurd an attempt +it is in any translator, for the sake of seizing some peculiar feature of +resemblance, or some fancied grace of diction, to violate the genius of +his native language." A similar criticism is extended, in the following +paragraph, to the version of M. Beauzie, though it is admitted to be the +most faithful and accurate that ever appeared in the French language. The +translation of Dotteville was first printed in 1760, and that of Beauzie +fifteen years afterwards. About the same time M. de Brosses, President of +the Parliament of Dijon, published a History of Rome during the Seventh +Century, which professes to be chiefly made up from the fragments of +Sallust. The War of Jugurtha comes first in the historical +arrangement--then follow the events which intervened between that contest +and the Conspiracy of Catiline, taken from the fragments of Sallust, which +are interwoven with the body of the narrative--and, lastly, the Conspiracy. +The work, which extends to three volumes 4to, comprehends very full notes, +and includes a life of Sallust, which, though written in an indifferent +style, displays considerable learning and research. Although the version +of De Brosses was generally accounted one of the best translations of the +Classics, which had appeared in the French, or any other language, it does +not seem to have been considered as precluding subsequent attempts. A +translation by Dureau Delamalle appeared in 1808, and one by Mollevaut, +yet more recent, which has gone through at least three editions. Still, +however, many persons in France prefer the version of Dotteville to the +more modern translations. + +It would appear, that the writings of Sallust became known and popular in +_England_ soon after the revival of literature. A translation of the +Jugurthine War, executed by "Sir Alexander Barclay, Priest, at the command +of the Duke of Norfolke, and printed by Richard Pynson," in folio, was +published as early as the reign of Henry VIII. It bears on the +title-page--"Here begynneth the famous Cronycle of the Warre which the +Romaynes had against Jugurth, usurper of the Kyngdome of Numidy: Which +Cronycle was compyled in Latin by the renowned Sallust. And translated +into English by Sir Alexander Barclay, Preest, at commandment of the right +hye and mighty Prince, Thomas Duke of Northfolke." The volume is without +date, but is supposed to have been printed about 1540. It was twice +reprinted in 1557, and in one of these editions was accompanied with +Catiline's Conspiracy, translated by Thomas Paynel. The version of +Barclay, though a good one for the time, having become obsolete, not less +than three translations appeared in the middle and end of the seventeenth +century--one by William Crosse, and the other two by anonymous authors. +These early translations are all "Faithfully done in Englysh," according +to the taste of the time, which, if the sense were tolerably rendered, was +little solicitous for accuracy, and still less for elegance of +diction(644). In Rowe's translation, 1709, the sense of the author is +given with correctness, but the style is feeble and colloquial. Gordon, +better known as the translator of Tacitus, also translated Sallust in +1744. His version is accompanied with a series of discourses on topics +connected with Roman history, as on faction and parties, public +corruption, and civil wars. The Epistles of Sallust to Cæsar on +Government, are also translated by him, and their authenticity vindicated. +In 1751, Dr Rose published a new translation of the Catilinarian and +Jugurthine Wars. "This translation," says Steuart, "is justly entitled to +the esteem in which it has been held, and the author himself to +considerable praise, for his endeavours to combine the advantages of a +free and literal version. His chief defect proceeds from what constitutes +the great difficulty in all classical translation--the uniting a clear +transfusion of the sense with the ease and freedom of original +composition. To the critical reader, this will be abundantly obvious, if +he compare the version of Sallust with the original pieces of Dr Rose +himself. In the speeches, too, where the ancient writers laid out all +their energy, and in which they should be followed by a like effort of the +translator, the author is cold and languid, and he rises on no occasion +above the level of ordinary narrative." The most recent English +translation is that by the author above quoted--1806, two volumes quarto. +Two long Essays, with notes, are prefixed to it--the one on the Life, and +the other on the Literary Character and Writings of Sallust. The Spanish +translation of Sallust, executed under the auspices of the Infant Don +Gabriel, has been much celebrated on account of its plates and +incomparable typography. It was printed in 1772. + + + + + CÆSAR. + + +Lupus, Abbot of Ferriers, says, in one of his letters, that no historic +work of Cæsar was extant, except his Commentaries on the Gallic War, of +which he promises to send his correspondent, the Bishop Heribold, a copy, +as soon as he can procure one(645). The other Commentaries, _De Bello +Civili_, and _De Bello Alexandrino_, of which he speaks as being also +extant, were written, he affirms, by Hirtius. It thus appears, that though +Lupus was mistaken as to the author of the work _De Bello Civili_, the +whole series of memoirs now known by the name of Cæsar's Commentaries, was +extant in the ninth century. About a century afterwards, Pope Gerbert, or +Sylvester II., writes to the Archbishop of Rheims to procure the loan of a +copy of Cæsar from the Abbot of Terdon, who was possessed of one, and to +have it transcribed for him(646). Cæsar's Commentaries are repeatedly +quoted in the _Speculum Historiale_ of Vincent de Beauvais, a work of the +thirteenth century, and in various other productions of the same period. +It is probable, therefore, that copies of them were not very scarce in +that age; but they had become so rare by the middle of the fifteenth +century, that Candidi, in a letter to Niccolo Niccoli, announces the +discovery of a MS. of Cæsar as a great event. + +Andrea, Bishop of Aleria, took charge of the first edition of Cæsar, and +an erudite epistle by him is prefixed to it. It came forth at Rome, from +the printing-press of Sweynheim and Pannartz, as early as the year 1469. +Of this _Editio Princeps_ of Cæsar, only 275 copies were thrown off; but +it was reprinted at the same place in 1472. There were a good many +editions published towards the end of the fifteenth century, most of which +have now become rare. The first of the ensuing century was that of +Philippus Beroaldus, (Bologna 1504). It was followed by the Aldine +editions, (Venice 1513-19,) which are not so remarkable either for +accuracy or beauty as the other early editions of the Classics which +issued from the celebrated press of the Manutii. The first had seven pages +of errata--"Mendis scatet," say the Bipontine editors. In the edition, +1566, there were inserted plates of warlike instruments, encampments, and +the most celebrated places mentioned in Cæsar's campaigns, which became a +common ornament and appendage in subsequent impressions. + +Fulvius Ursinus published an edition of considerable note in 1570. Ursinus +had discovered a MS. written in the middle of the tenth century, which he +chiefly employed in the correction of the text. He is accused of having +committed a literary theft in the publication of this work, it being +alleged that he had received many annotations from Petrus Ciacconius, +which he mixed up with his own, and inserted as such, suppressing +altogether the name of the real author. + +The next edition of any eminence, was that of Strada (Frankfort, 1574). +This impression is remarkable for containing forty plates of battles, and +other things relating to the campaigns of Cæsar; as also inscriptions, +found in various cities of Spain. It is also distinguished as having been +the prototype of Clarke's splendid edition of Cæsar, which Mr Dibdin +pronounces to be "the most sumptuous classical volume which this country +ever produced. It contains," says he, "eighty-seven copperplates, which +were engraved at the expense of the different noblemen to whom they are +dedicated. Of these plates, I am not disposed to think so highly as some +fond admirers: The head of Marlborough, to whom this courtly work is +dedicated, by Kneller and Vertue, does not convey any exalted idea of that +renowned hero; and the bust of Julius Cæsar, which follows it, will appear +meagre and inelegant to those who have contemplated a similar print in the +quarto publication of Lavater's Physiognomy. The plates are in general +rather curious than ably executed; and compared with what Flaxman has done +for Homer and Æschylus, are tasteless and unspirited. The type of this +magnificent volume is truly beautiful and splendid, and for its fine +lustre and perfect execution, reflects immortality on the publisher. The +text is accompanied with various readings in the margin; and at the end of +the volume, after the fragments of Cæsar, are the critical notes of the +editor, compiled with great labour from the collation of ancient MSS. and +former editions. A MS. in the Queen's library, and one belonging to the +Bishop of Ely, were particularly consulted by Dr Clarke. The work closes +with a large and correct index of names and places. It is upon the whole a +most splendid edition, and will be a lasting monument of the taste, as +well as erudition of the editor." + +The best edition since the time of Dr Clarke's, is that by Oudendorp, +printed at Leyden in 1737. This editor had the use of many ancient MSS., +particularly two of the beginning of the ninth century, one of which had +belonged to Julius Bongarsius, and the other to Petrus Bellovacensis. "The +preceding commentators on Cæsar," says Harles, "have all been eclipsed by +the skill and researches of Oudendorp, who, by a careful examination of +numerous MSS. and editions, has often successfully restored the true +ancient reading of his author." He has inserted in his publication +Dodwell's disquisition concerning the author of the books _De Bello +Alexandrino_, and Scaliger's _Topographical Description of Gaul_. Morus +reprinted this edition, but with many critical improvements, at Leipsic, +1780. He has illustrated the military tactics of Cæsar, from Ritter's +History of the Gauls, and from the books of Guischardus, _De Re Militari +Veterum_. The best modern German edition is that of Oberlin, (Leipsic, +1805). It is founded on the basis of those of Oudendorp and Morus, with +additional observations, and a careful revision of the text. In the +preface, those writings in which the faith due to Cæsar's Commentaries is +attempted to be shaken, are reviewed and refuted; and there are added +several fragments of Cæsar, as also those notices of ancient authors +concerning him, which had been neglected or omitted by Morus. + + + +Cæsar was first rendered into _Italian_ by Agost. Ortica, the translator +of Sallust. He says, in the preface, that his version was executed in a +very hurried manner, as it was transcribed and printed all in the course +of six months. Argelati could not ascertain the date of the most ancient +edition, which was printed at Milan, but he thinks that it was as old as +the fifteenth century(647). This impression was followed by not fewer than +twelve others, before the middle of the sixteenth century. A subsequent +translation, by F. Baldelli, appeared at Venice, 1554. This edition was, +succeeded by many others, particularly one at Venice in 1595, quarto, of +which Palladio, the great architect, took charge. He inserted in it +various engravings of battles, encampments, sieges, and other military +operations, from plates which had been executed by his two sons, Leonida +and Orazio, and had come into his hands soon after their premature +decease. He prepared the edition chiefly for the sake of introducing these +designs, and thereby honouring the memory of his children. To this edition +there is a preface by Palladio on the military affairs of the Romans, +their legions, arms, and encampments. A splendid impression of Baldelli's +version, accompanied with Palladio's designs, was thrown off at Venice in +1619. In 1737, a translation appeared at Venice, bearing to be printed +from an ancient MS. of Cæsar, in Italian, which the editor says he had +discovered, (_where_ he does not specify,) and had in some few places +corrected and modernized. Paitoni has exposed this literary fraud, and has +shown, that it is just the translation of Baldelli, with a few words +altered at the beginning of paragraphs. In some respects, however, it is a +good edition, containing various tables and notices conducive to the +proper understanding of the author. + + + +We have seen that several translations of the Latin classics were executed +by order of the French king, John. Charles V., who succeeded him in 1364, +was a still warmer patron of learning, and was himself tolerably versed in +Latin literature. "Tant que compettement," says Christine de Pise, in her +Memoirs of him, "entendoit son Latin." By his order and directions the +first _French_ translation of Cæsar was undertaken(648). But the earliest +French translation of Cæsar's Commentaries which was printed, was that of +Robert Gaguin, dedicated to Charles VIII. and published in 1488. Of the +recent French versions the most esteemed is that by Turpin de Crissi, +accompanied by historical and critical notes, and printed at Montargis, +1785. + +The part of Cæsar's Commentaries which relates to the Gallic wars was +translated into _English_ as early as 1565, by Arthur Golding, who +dedicated his work to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh. In +1695, a translation of the whole Commentaries was printed with the +following title: "The Commentaries of Cæsar, of his Wars in Gallia, and of +the Civil Wars betwixt him and Pompey, _with many excellent and judicious +Observations_ thereupon; as also, the Art of our Modern Training; by +Clement Edmonds, Esq." The best translation is that by "William Duncan, +Professor of Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen, printed at London, +1755," with a long preliminary Discourse concerning the Roman Art of War. + + + + + CICERO. + + +Some of Cicero's orations were studied harangues, which he had prepared +and written over previous to their delivery. This, however, was not the +case with the greater proportion of his speeches, most of which were +pronounced without much premeditation, but were afterwards copied out, +with such corrections and embellishments as bestowed on them a greater +polish and lustre than when they had originally fallen from his lips. +Before the invention of printing had increased the means of satisfying +public curiosity, as no oration was given to the world but by the author +himself, he had always the power of altering and improving by his +experience of the effect it produced at delivery. Pliny informs us, that +many things on which Cicero had enlarged at the time when he actually +spoke in the Senate and the Forum, were retrenched when he ultimately gave +his orations to the public in writing(649). Cicero himself had somewhere +declared, that the defence of Cornelius had occupied four days, whence +Pliny concludes, that those orations which, when delivered at full length, +took up so much time at the bar, were greatly altered and abridged, when +he afterwards comprised them in a single volume. The orations, in +particular, for Muræna and Varenus, he says, seem now to contain merely +the general heads of a discourse. Sometimes, however, they were extended +and not curtailed, by the orator in the closet, as was confessedly the +case in the defence of Milo. A few of the orations which Cicero had +delivered, he did not consider as at all worthy of preservation. Thus, of +the oration for Dejotarus, he says, in one of his letters to Dolabella, "I +did not imagine that I had preserved among my papers the trifling speech +which I made in behalf of Dejotarus; however, I have found it, and sent it +to you, agreeably to your request(650)." This accounts for many speeches +of Cicero, the delivery of which is recorded in history, being now lost. +It appears, however, that those which he considered deserving of his care, +though they may be widely different from the state in which they were +originally pronounced, came pure from the hand of the author, either in +the shape in which he would have wished to have delivered them, or in that +which he considered best adapted for publication and perusal. They were +probably transcribed by himself, and copies of them multiplied by his +freedmen, such as Tyro and Tyrannio, whom he had accustomed to accurate +transcription. His orations had also the good fortune to meet, at a very +early period, with a judicious and learned commentator in the person of +Asconius Pedianus, a grammarian in the reign of Nero, part of whose +Commentary was discovered by Poggio, along with other classical works, in +the monastery of St Gall, near Constance. + +All the orations of Cicero were not lost during the middle ages. Pope +Gerbert, in one of his letters, asks from the Abbot Gesilbert a copy of +the concluding part of the speech for Dejotarus; and he writes to another +of his correspondents, to bring him Cicero's treatise _De Republicâ_, and +the Orations against Verres, "Comitentur iter tuum Tulliana opuscula, et +de Republicâ et in Verrem(651):" Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294, +translated into Italian the orations for Dejotarus, Marcellus, and +Ligarius, which were afterwards printed at Lyons in 1568(652). These three +harangues being in a great measure complimentary addresses to Cæsar, and +containing no sentiment but what might be safely expressed in presence of +an unlimited sovereign, more transcripts had been made of them in Rome's +tyrannical ages, than of those orations which breathed forth the expiring +spirit of liberty. + +Cicero was the idol of Petrarch, the great restorer of classical +literature. He never could speak of him but in terms of deep and +enthusiastic admiration. The sweetness and sonorousness of Tully's periods +charmed his ear; and though unable to penetrate the depths of his +philosophy, yet his vigorous fancy often soared with the Roman orator into +the highest regions of imagination. Hence, while eager for the discovery +of all the classics, his chief diligence was exercised in endeavouring to +preserve such works of Cicero as were then known, and to recover such as +were lost(653). Petrarch received in loan from Lapo of Castiglionchio a +copy of several of Cicero's orations, among which were the Philippics, and +the oration for Milo. These he kept by him for four years, that he might +transcribe them with his own hand, on account of the blunders of the +copyists in that age. This we learn from the letters of Lapo, published by +the Abbé Mehus. Coming to Liege when about twenty-five years of age, that +is, in 1329, Petrarch remained there till two orations of Cicero, which he +had discovered in that city, were transcribed, one by his own hand, and +another by a friend, both of which were immediately transmitted by him to +Italy. He was detained at Liege for some time by the difficulty of +procuring even the worst sort of ink. Several other orations of Cicero +were discovered by Petrarch in different parts of Italy. + +Dominico Arretino, who was nearly contemporary with Petrarch, declares, in +one of his works, entitled _Fons_, that he had seen eleven of Cicero's +orations, and that a person had told him that he actually possessed and +had read twenty of them(654). It appears, however, that in the time of +Cosmo de Medici those works of Cicero which were extant were very much +corrupted. "Illorum librorum," says Niccolo Niccoli, speaking of some of +the works of Cicero, "magna pars interierit, hi vero qui supersunt adeo +mendosi sunt, ut paulo ab interitu distent;" hence, in the middle of the +fifteenth century, the discovery of a new MS. of Cicero was hailed as a +new acquisition. At Langres, in a library of the monks of Clugni, in +Burgundy, Poggio found the oration for Cæcina, which he immediately +transcribed, and sent various copies of it to his friends in Italy. In the +monasteries around Constance he discovered the two orations against +Rullus, _De Lege Agrariâ_, and that to the people on the same subject; +also the orations _Pro Rabirio_, and _Pro Roscio_. A note on the MS. copy +of the oration _in Pisonem_, preserved in the abbey of Santa Maria, in +Florence, records the fact of this harangue having been likewise +discovered by Poggio(655). + +A compendium of Cicero's treatise _De Inventione_ was well known in the +dark ages, having been translated into Italian, in an abridged form, in +the thirteenth century, by a professor of Bologna. This was almost the +first prose work which had appeared in the language, and was printed at +Lyons with the _Ethica d'Aristotile_, by Brunetto Latini, who also +translated the first book _De Inventione_(656). Lupus of Ferrieres +possessed a copy of Cicero's _Rhetorica_, as he himself informs us(657), +but it was incomplete; and he accordingly asks Einhart, who had been his +preceptor, for the loan of his MS. of this work, in order that his own +might be perfected. Ingulphus, who flourished in England towards the close +of the eleventh century, declares, that he was sent from Westminster to +the school at Oxford, where he learned Aristotle, and the first two books +of Tully's _Rhetorica_(658). Now, if the first two books of the +_Rhetorica_, which are all that have hitherto been discovered, were used +as an elementary work in the public school at Oxford, they can hardly be +supposed to have been very scarce in Italy. From the jurisconsult, Raymond +Superantius, or Sorranza, to whom he had been indebted for the books _De +Gloriâ_, Petrarch received an imperfect copy of the tract _De Oratore_, of +which the MSS., though generally incomplete, were by no means uncommon at +that period. "Ab hoc habui," says he, "et Varronis et Ciceronis aliqua: +Cujus unum volumen de communibus fuit; sed inter ipsa communia libri de +Oratore ac de Legibus imperfecti, ut fere semper inveniuntur." Nearly half +a century from the death of Petrarch had elapsed, before the discovery of +a complete copy of Cicero's rhetorical works. It was about the year 1418, +during the Popedom of Martin V., and while Poggio was in England, that +Gerard Landriani, Bishop of Lodi, found in that city, among the ruins of +an ancient monastery, a MS., containing Cicero's treatise _De Oratore_, +his _Brutus_ and _Orator_. He carried the MS. with him to Milan, and there +gave it to Gaspar Bazizza. The character, however, in which it was +written, was such, that few scholars or antiquaries in that city could +read it. At length Cosmus, a young Veronese scholar, deciphered and +transcribed the dialogue _De Oratore_. Blondus Flavius, the author of the +_Italia Illustrata_, who had come in early youth from his native place, +Forli, to Milan, transcribed the _Brutus_, and sent copies of it to +Guarinus of Verona, and Leonard Justiniani, at Venice. By these means the +rhetorical works of Cicero were soon diffused all over Italy. The +discovery was hailed as a triumph, and subject of public congratulation. +Poggio was informed of it while in England, and there awaited the arrival +of a copy with the most lively impatience(659). + +The philosophic writings of Cicero have descended to us in a more +imperfect state than his oratorical dialogues or orations. In consequence +of the noble spirit of freedom and patriotism which they breathe, their +proscription would no doubt speedily follow that of their author. There is +a common story of a grandson of Augustus concealing one of Cicero's +philosophic works, on being detected while perusing it by his grandfather, +and though he received his gracious permission to finish it, the anecdote +shews that it was among the _libri prohibiti_. The chief reading, indeed, +of Alexander Severus, was the _Republic_ and _Offices_(660): But Alexander +was an imperial phoenix, which never revived in the Roman empire; and we +hear little of Cicero during the reigns of the barbarian sovereigns of +Italy in the middle ages. + +Petrarch procured an imperfect copy of Cicero's treatise _De Legibus_, +from the Lawyer Raymond Sorranza(661), who had a most extensive library, +and to whom, as we have just seen, he had been indebted for a MS. of the +dialogue _De Oratore_. + +No further discovery was subsequently made of the remaining parts of the +work _De Legibus_. The other philosophical writings of Cicero were found +by Petrarch among the books in his father's library, or were recovered for +him by the persons whom he employed for this purpose in almost every +quarter of Italy: "Abeuntibus amicis," says he, "et, ut fit, petentibus +numquid e patriâ suâ vellem, respondebam,--nihil præter libros Ciceronis." +Petrarch frequently quotes the treatise _De Finibus_, as a work with which +he was familiar. Leonard Aretine, however, has been generally considered +as the discoverer of that dialogue, as also of the treatise _De Naturâ +Deorum_(662). + +"There is no collection of my letters," says Cicero, in one of his +epistles to Atticus; "but Tiro has about seventy of them, and you can +furnish some more. I must look over and correct them, and then they may be +published." This, however, never was accomplished by himself. After the +revolution of the Roman state, the publication of his letters must have +been dangerous, on account of the freedom with which he expresses himself +concerning Octavius, and the ministers of his power. Cornelius Nepos +mentions, that some of Cicero's letters were published, but that sixteen +books of Epistles to Atticus, from his consulship to his death, though +extant, were by no means in common circulation(663). The reigns of the +princes who succeeded Augustus, were not more favourable to freedom than +his own; and hence the Familiar Letters, as well as those to Atticus, +probably remained long in the cabinets of the curious, before they +received any critical inspection. The Letters of Cicero, however, were +well known in the middle ages, and even in those times pains were taken to +have accurate copies of them. Lupus Ferrariensis procured duplicates of +Cicero's Epistles, in order to collate them with his own MSS., and thus to +make up a correct and complete collection(664). John of Salisbury cites +two of Cicero's letters to Caius Cassius; one of which is now contained in +the twelfth, and the other in the fifteenth book of the _Familiar +Epistles_. In the Life of Julius Cæsar, which passes under the name of +Julius Celsus, and which was written during the middle ages, extracts are +occasionally made from the _Familiar Epistles_. They had become scarce, +however, at the time when Petrarch found a copy of them at Verona, a place +where he little expected to make such a discovery(665). This old MS., +which Victorius thinks of the age of the Florentine Pandects, ultimately +came into the Medicean library; and a copy which Petrarch had transcribed +from it, was brought from Padua to Florence by Niccolo Niccoli, at whose +death it was placed in the library of St Marc in that city(666). Several +scholars who inspected both have observed, that the transcript by Petrarch +differed in some respects from the original(667). It was also marked with +various corrections and glosses, in the hand-writing of Niccolo Niccoli +himself(668). All the other MSS. of the Familiar Epistles flowed from this +discovered by Petrarch, as we learn from a passage of Lagomarsinus, who +speaks thus of the different _codices_ of the _Epistolæ Familiares_: +"Quibus tamen ego codicibus non tantum tribuo, quantum uni illi omnium +quotquot ubique terrarum, idem epistolarum corpus continentes, extant, +vetustissimo, (et ex quo cæteros omnes qui usquam sunt tanquam e fonte ac +capite manâsse, et Angelus Politianus, et Petrus Victorius memoriæ +prodiderunt,) qui Florentiæ in Mediceo-Laurentianæ Bibliothecæ XLIX. +adservatur numero IX. extra notatus(669)." There has been a good deal of +doubt and discussion how these Letters first came to obtain the title of +_Familiares_. They are not so called in any original MS. of Cicero, nor +are they cited by this name in any ancient author, as Aulus Gellius, or +Priscian. These writers generally quote each book of the Epistles by the +name of the person to whom the first letter in that book is addressed. +Thus Gellius cites the first book by the name of the Letters to Lentulus, +because it commences with a letter to him. Nor are the MSS. in which the +appellation of the _Epistolæ Familiares_ is employed uniform in the title. +In some MSS. they are called _Epistolæ Familiares_, in others, _Epistolæ +ad Familiares_, and in a Palatine MS. _Libri Epistolarum Familiarum_. + +Previous to the year 1340, Petrarch also discovered the _Epistles to +Atticus_(670) which had been missing for many centuries; and on perusing +them, declared that he now recognized Cicero as an inconsiderate and +unfortunate old man. He copied them over with his own hand, and arranged +them in their proper order. The MS. in his hand-writing passed, after his +death, into the possession of Coluccio Salutati, and subsequently became +the property of Coluccio's disciple Leonard Aretine. Donatus, the son of +Leonard, succeeded to it, and by him it was transferred to Donatus +Acciaiolus. After his decease, it fell into the hands of an obscure +grammarian, who gave it to Bartollomeo Cavalcanti, in whose library it was +consulted by P. Victorius, and was afterwards bestowed on him by the +owner. Victorius, highly valuing this MS., which he first recognised to be +in the hand-writing of Petrarch, conceived that it would be preserved with +greatest security in some public collection; and he accordingly presented +it to Cosmo, the first Duke of Tuscany, to be deposited in the Medicean +library(671). With regard to the most ancient MS. from which Petrarch made +the copy, it unfortunately was lost, as Petrus Victorius laments in one of +his Epistles(672). "Utinam inveniretur exemplum, unde has ad Atticum +descripsit Petrarca, ut exstat illud, quo usus est in describendis alteris +illis, quæ Familiares appellantur, de cujus libri antiquitate, omni +veneratione digna, magnifice multa vereque alio loco prædicavi." It thus +appears, that the Epistles to Atticus were well known to Petrarch. Still, +however, as they were scarce in the fifteenth century, Poggio, who found a +copy, while attending the Council of Constance, was considered in his own +age as the discoverer of the entire collection of the _Epistles to +Atticus_, and has been regarded in the same light by modern writers. + +The three books of the Letters of Cicero to his brother Quintus, were +found by an Italian grammarian, Casparinus of Bergamo, who died in the +year 1431; and who some time before his death had taken great pains to +amend their corrupted text(673). That they were much corrupted, may be +conjectured from what we know of the manner in which they were originally +written, for it appears, from one of the Letters of Cicero(674), that +Quintus had complained that he could scarcely read some of his former +letters. Now, when Quintus could scarcely read his brother's hand-writing, +what must have been the difficulties and mistakes of the _Librarius_ by +whom they were first collected and copied? + +Cicero's translation of Aratus appears to have been extant in the ninth +century. Lupus of Ferrieres had an imperfect copy of it, and begs a +complete copy from his correspondent Ansbald. "Tu autem," says he, "huic +nostro cursori Tullium in Arato trade; ut ex eo, quem me impetraturum +credo, quæ deesse illi Egil noster aperuit, suppleantur.(675)" + + + +Various editions of separate portions of the writings of Cicero were +printed before the publication of a complete collection of his works. _The +Orations_--the treatise _De Oratore_--the _Opera Philosophica_--the _Epistolæ +Familiares_--and _Ad Atticum_, were all edited in Italy between the years +1466 and 1471--most of them being printed at Rome by Sweynheim and +Pannartz. The most ancient printing-press in Italy was that established at +the Monastery of Subiaco, in the Campagna di Roma, by these printers. +Sweynheim and Pannartz were two German scholars, who had been induced to +settle at that convent by the circumstance that it was chiefly inhabited +by German monks. In 1467, they went from Subiaco, to Rome(676); after this +removal, they received in correcting their editions, the assistance of a +poor but eminent scholar, Giandrea de Bussi; and were aided by the +patronage of Andrea, Bishop of Aleria, who furnished prefaces to many of +their classical editions. Notwithstanding the rage for classical MSS. +which had so recently existed, and the novelty, usefulness, and importance +of the art which they first introduced into Italy, as also the support +which they received from men of rank and learning, they laboured under the +greatest difficulties, and prosecuted their undertaking with very +inadequate compensation, as we learn from a petition presented, 1472, in +their names, to Pope Sextus, by the chief patron, the Bishop of Aleria. +Their necessities were probably produced by the number of copies of each +impression which they threw off, and which exceeding the demand, they were +so encumbered by those left on their hands, as to be reduced to the +greatest poverty and distress(677). The first book which they printed at +Rome, was the _Epistolæ Familiares_ of Cicero. + +Alexander Minutianus, who published an edition of the whole works at +Milan, 1498, in four volumes folio, was the first person who comprised the +scattered publications of Cicero in one uniform book. Harles informs us, +in one passage, that Minutianus did not consult any MSS. in the +preparation of this edition, but merely collated the editions of the +separate parts of Cicero's writings previously published, so that his work +is only a continued reimpression of preceding editions(678); but he +elsewhere mentions, that he had inspected the MSS. of the Orations which +Poggio had brought from Germany to Italy(679). In the Orations, Minutianus +chiefly followed the Brescian edition, 1483, which was itself founded on +that of Rome. The work was printed off, not according to the best +arrangement, but as the copies of the preceding editions successively +reached him, which he himself acknowledges in the preface. "Sed quam +necessitas præscripsit dum vetustiora exemplaria ex diversis et longinquis +locis exspectamus." "If we peruse Saxius," says Mr Dibdin, "we shall see +with what toil, and at what a heavy expense, this celebrated work of +Minutianus was compiled." De Bure and Ernesti are lavish in their praises +of its typographical beauty. The latter says it is printed "grandi modulo, +chartis et literis pulchris et splendidis." The Aldine edition, which was +published in parts from 1512 to 1523, is not accounted a very critical or +correct one, though the latter portion of it was printed under the care of +Naugerius. It would be endless to enumerate the subsequent editions of +Cicero. That of Petrus Victorius, however, whom Harles calls _Ciceronis +Æsculapius_, printed at Venice in 1534-37, in four volumes folio, should +not be forgotten, as there is no commentator to whom Cicero has been more +indebted than to Victorius, particularly in the correction and emendation +of the Epistles. The edition of Lambinus, Paris, 1566, also deserves +notice. Lambinus was an acute and daring commentator, who made many +corrections on the text, but adopted some alterations too rashly. From his +time downwards, Harles thinks that the editors of Cicero may be divided +into two classes; some following the bold changes introduced by Lambinus, +and others preferring the more scrupulous text of Victorius. Of the latter +class was Gruterus, who, in his edition published at Hamburgh, 1618, +appears to have obstinately rejected even the most obvious emendations +which had been recently made on the text of his author. The three editions +of Ernesti's Cicero, (Lips. 1737, Hal. Sax. 1758-74,) and the three of +Olivet's, (Paris, 1740, Geneva, 1758, Oxon. 1783,) are too well known to +be particularized or described. Olivet did not collate MSS.; but he +compared with each other what he considered as the four most important +editions of Cicero; those of P. Victorius, Paullus Manutius, Lambinus, and +Gruterus. In 1795, the first volume of a new edition of Cicero, by Beck, +was printed at Leipsic, and since that period, three more volumes, at long +intervals, have fallen from the press. The last volume which appeared, was +in 1807; and along with the three by which it was preceded, comprehends +the Orations of Cicero. The preface contains a very full account of +preceding editions, and the most authoritative MSS. of Cicero. Ernesti's +editions were adopted as the basis of the text; but the editor departs +from them where he sees occasion. He does not propose many new emendations +of his own; but he seems a very acute judge of the merit of various +readings, and a judicious selector from the corrections of others. While +this edition of Beck was proceeding in Germany, Schütz brought forth +another, which is now completed, except part of the _Index Latinitatis_. +There are few notes subjoined to the text; but long summaries are prefixed +to each oration and work of Cicero; and the _Rhetorica ad Herennium_ is +introduced by an ample dissertation concerning the real author of that +treatise. A new arrangement of the _Epistolæ Familiares_ has also been +adopted. They are no longer printed, as in most other editions, in a +chronological series, but are classed according to the individuals to whom +they are addressed. The whole publication is dedicated to Great Britain +and the Allied Sovereigns, in a long columnar panegyric. + +There have also been lately published in Germany, several learned and +critical editions of separate portions of the works of Cicero, +particularly his Philosophical Writings. The edition of all his +Philosophic Treatises, by Goerenz, which is now proceeding and already +comprehends the _Academica_, the dialogues _De Legibus_ and _De Finibus_, +is distinguished by intelligent Prefaces and Excursuses on the periods of +the composition of the respective Dialogues; as also on the design of the +author in their composition. + + + +The translations of Cicero are so numerous, that for the Italian +translations I must refer the reader to Paitoni, _Biblioteca degli autori +antichi Greci e Latini Volgarizzati_, Tom. I. p. 219; and Argelati, +_Biblioteca degli Volgarizzatori_, Tom. I. p. 214. For French versions, to +Goujet, _Bibliotheque Françoise_, Tom. II. p. 221; and, for English, to +Brüggemann, _View of the Editions and Translations of the Ancient Greek +and Latin authors_, p. 481. + + -------------------------------------------- + +For the benefit of those who wish to prosecute their inquiries into the +subject of Roman Literature, I have subjoined a note of some of the most +important Books which treat of the subject. An asterisk is prefixed to the +titles of those works which have been consulted by me in the compilation +of the preceding pages. + + +AIMERICHIUS.--_Specimen veteris Romanæ Literaturæ deperditæ vel adhuc +latentis, seu Syllabus Historicus et Criticus veterum olim notæ +eruditionis Romanorum, ab urbe conditâ ad Honorii Augusti excessum, eorum +imprimis quorum Latina opera vel omnino vel ex parte desiderantur_. +Ferrara, 1784. 8vo. + +"This work is intended to give an idea of Roman literature, from the +foundation of the city to the death of the Emperor Honorius. The preface, +written by a friend of the author, gives an account of the manner in which +the Romans lived, both in the capital and in the provinces, during this +long period. The historical and literary Syllabus contains, under nine +articles, a variety of literary matters. In the first, the Abbé +Aimerichius gives us brief notices, and a critical review of the ancient +Roman writers, both Pagan and Christian, whose works were extant in public +or private libraries, before the death of the Emperor Honorius. In the +second, we have the titles and subjects of several works which have been +lost, but which have been cited or indicated by contemporary writers, or +writers nearly such, whose testimonies are related by our author. The +third contains an account of the most celebrated public or private +libraries, that were known at Rome before the death of Honorius: and, in +the fourth, we have the author's inquiries concerning the pronunciation of +the Romans, their manner of writing, and the changes which took place in +their orthography. In the fifth, the Abbé treats of the magistracies that +could not be obtained, either at Rome or in the provinces, but by men of +letters, as also of rites and sacrifices, of luxury, riches, public shows, +&c. In the sixth, he gives his particular opinion concerning the ancient +literature of the Romans, and the mixture of the Latin and Greek languages +which they employed, both in their conversation and in their writings. The +seventh contains an indication of the principal heresies that disturbed +the church, from the time of the Apostles to that of Honorius; and the +eighth several memorable facts and maxims, not generally known, which +belong to the literary, civil, military, and ecclesiastical history of +this period. In the concluding article, the Abbé takes notice of the Latin +works which had been lost for a considerable time, and shows how, and by +whom, they were first discovered."--From this account, which I have +extracted from Horne's _Introduction to the Study of Bibliography_, I +regret extremely that I have had no opportunity of consulting the work of +Aimerichius. + + +BLESSIG.--_De Origine Philosophiæ apud Romanos_. Strasburgh, 1770. 4to. + + +BECMANNUS.--_Manductio ad linguam Latinam cum Tractatu de Originibus Linguæ +Latinæ_. 1608. 8vo. + + +*CASAUBON.--_De Satyrica Græcorum Poësi et Romanorum Satira libri duo, in +quibus etiam Poëtæ recensentur, qui in utrâque poësi floruerunt_. Halæ, +1774. 8vo. + +This treatise, which is one of the most learned and agreeable productions +of Casaubon, is the source of almost everything that has been written by +modern authors, on the subject of the satiric poetry of the Romans. +Casaubon traces its early history in the Fescennine verses, the Atellane +fables, and the satires of Ennius and Lucilius, and vindicates to the +Romans the invention of this species of composition, for which, he +contends, they had no model in the poetry of the Greeks. + + +CELLARIUS.--_Dissertatio de Studiis Romanorum Literariis_. Halle, 1698. +4to. + + +CORRADUS.--_Quæstura--Partes duæ, quarum altera de Ciceronis Vitâ et +Libris--Altera Ciceronis Libros permultis locis emendat._ Lips. 1754. 8vo. + + +*CRUSIUS.--_Lives of the Roman Poets_. London, 1733. 2 Vols. + + +*EBERHARDT.--_Uber den Zustand der Schönen Wissenschaften bei den Römern_. +Altona, 1801. 8vo. + +This work was written by a Swede, and in the Swedish language. It +contains, in its original form, a very superficial and inaccurate sketch +of the subject; but some valuable notes and corrections accompany the +German translation. + + +*FABRICIUS.--_Bibliotheca Latina, digesta et aucta diligentiâ Jo. Aug. +Ernesti_. Lips. 1773. 3 Tom. 8vo. + +The well-known and justly-esteemed _Bibliotheca_ of Fabricius gives an +account of all the Latin writers from Plautus to Marcian Capella. In most +of the articles we have a biographical sketch of the author--a list of his +writings--an account of the most authoritative MSS. of his works--of the +best editions, and of the most celebrated translations in the modern +languages of Europe. + + +FUHRMANN.--_Handbuch der Classischen Literatur, oder Anleitung zur Kentniss +der Griechischen und Römischen Classischen Schriftsteller, ihren +Schriften, und der besten Ausgaben, und Uebersetzungen derselben_. +Rudolstadt, 1809-10. + +Two of the volumes of this work relate to Roman literature. It is chiefly +bibliographical, containing very full accounts of the editions and +translations of the Classics which have appeared, particularly in Germany; +but there are also some critical accounts of the works of the Roman +authors: these are chiefly extracted from Journals and Reviews, and, in +consequence, the author frequently repeats the same thing in different +words, and still more frequently contradicts himself. + + +*FUHRMANN.--_Anleitung zur Geschichte der Classischen Literatur der +Griechen und Römer_. Rudolstadt, 1816. + +An abridgment of the preceding work. + + +*FUNCCIUS.--_De Origine et Pueritiâ, De Adolescentiâ, Virili Ætate, et +Senectute Linguæ Latinæ_. Frankfort, 1720. + +This is one of the most learned and valuable works extant on the subject +of Latin literature. In the first tract, _De Pueritiâ_, the author chiefly +treats of the origin and progress of the Roman language. + + +*GAUDENTIUS PAGANINUS.--_De Philosophiæ ap. Romanos Ortu et Progressu_. +Pisa, 1643, 4. + +A very dull and imperfect account of the state of philosophy among the +Romans, from the earliest periods to the time of Boethius. + + +*HANKIUS. (MART.)--_De Romanarum Rerum Scriptoribus_. Lips. 1687. 4to. + +The first part of this work contains a succinct account of the ancient +Roman Annalists and Historians. The latter part relates to modern writers +who treated of Roman affairs. + + +*HARLES. (TH. CHRIST.)--_Introductio in Notitiam Literaturæ Romanæ, +imprimis Scriptorum Latinorum_. Noriberg. 1781. 2 Tom. 8vo. + +This work of Harles, as far as it extends, is written on the same plan, +and is much of the same description, as the _Bibliotheca_ of Fabricius. It +is not continued farther, however, than the Augustan age inclusive. + + +*HARLES. (TH. CHRIST.)--_Brevior Notitia Literaturæ Romanæ, imprimis +Scriptorum Latinorum_. Lips. 1788. 1 Tom. 8vo. + + +*HARLES. (TH. CHRIST.)--_Supplementa ad Breviorem Notitiam Literaturæ +Romanæ_. Lips. 1788. 2 Tom. 8vo. + +This work, and the preceding, are on the same plan as the _Introductio_; +but bring down the history of Roman writers, and the editions of their +works, to the latest periods. It is much to be regretted, that these works +of Harles had not been incorporated into one; since, taken separately, +each is incomplete, and collectively, they abound in repetitions. + + +*KLÜGLING. (C. F.)--_Supplementa ad Breviorem Notitiam Literaturæ Romanæ_. +Lips. 1817. + +This Supplement to Harles, contains an account of the editions of the +Classics which had appeared chiefly in Germany, subsequent to the +publication of the _Brevior Notitia_. + + +KÖNIG.--_De Satirâ Romanorum_. Oldenburgh, 1796. + + +KRIEGK.--_Diatribe de Veterum Romanorum Peregrinationibus Academicis_. +Jenæ, 1704. 4to. + + +LEO (ANNIBAL DI).--_Memorie di Pacuvio_. Neapol. 1763. + + +MEIEROTTO.--_De Præcipuis rerum Romanarum Scriptoribus_. Berlin, 1792. +folio. + + +*MÜLLER.--_Einleitung zu nöthiger Kentniss und Gebrauche der alten +Lateinischen Schriftsteller_. Dresden, 1747. 5 Tom. 8vo. + + +*MOINE D'ORGEVAL.--_Considerations sur le Progrés des Belles Lettres chez +les Romains_. Paris, 1749. + + +*OSANNUS.--_Analecta Critica, Poësis Romanorum scænicæ reliquias +illustrantia_. Berlin, 1717. + +This is a work of considerable ingenuity and research. It contains some +discussion concerning the date at which regular comedies and tragedies +were first exhibited at Rome; but it is chiefly occupied with comparisons +between the Fragments of the ancient Latin Dramatists, and the +corresponding passages in the Greek originals. + + +*SAGITTARIUS (CASP.)--_Commentatio de Vitâ et Scriptis Liv. Andronici, +Nævii, Ennii, Cæcilii, Pacuvii, Attii, Attilii, Lucilii, Afranii, +Catonis_. Altenburg, 1672. + +This is a small volume of 110 pages, which has now become extremely +scarce. + + +SAGITTARIUS (CASP.)--_De Vitâ, scriptis, editionibus, interpretibus, +lectione, atque imitatione Plauti, Terentii, Ciceronis_. Altenburg, 1671. + + +*SCHOELL.--_Histoire Abregée de la Litterature Romaine_. Paris, 1815. 4 +Tom. 8vo. + +See above. Preface, p. xiii. + + +*TIRABOSCHI.--_Storia della Litteratura Italiana_. Modena, 1787. Tom. I. +and II. + +See above. Preface, p. xiii. + + +*VOSSIUS (GERARD).--_De Historicis Latinis Libri tres_. Lugd. Bat. 1651. + + +*WALCHIUS.--_Historia Critica Latinæ Linguæ_. Lips. 1761. + + +*ZIEGLER.--_De Mimis Romanorum_. Gotting. 1789. + + + + + + CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. + + + + +--------------+--------+--------+ + | | Born. | Dies. | + | | A.U.C. | A.U.C. | + |L. Andronicus | | 534 | + |Nævius | | 550 | + |Ennius | 515 | 585 | + |Plautus | 525 | 570 | + |Cæcilius | | 586 | + |Terence | 560 | 594 | + |Pacuvius | 534 | 624 | + |Attius | 584 | 664 | + |Lucilius | 605 | 659? | + |Lucretius | 658 | 702 | + |Catullus | 667 | 708? | + |Laberius | | 710 | + |Cato | 519 | 605 | + |Varro | 637 | 727 | + |Sallust | 668 | 718 | + |Cæsar | 656 | 709 | + |Hortensius | 640 | 703 | + |Cicero | 647 | 710 | + +--------------+--------+--------+ + + + + + + + INDEX + + + Afranius, his Comedies, vol. i. p. 170. + Agriculture, advantages of Italy for, ii. 6-11. + Antias, Q. Valerius, Latin Annalist, ii. 74. + Antipater, Cælius, Latin Annalist, ii. 72. + Antonius, Marcus, character of his eloquence, ii. 117. + His death, 119. + Arcesilaus founds the New Academy, ii. 208. + Asellio, Sempronius, Latin Annalist, ii. 73. + Atellane Fables, i. 229. + Attius, his Tragedies, i. 214. + + Brutus, his Historical Epitomes, ii. 107. + + Cæcilius, his Comedies, i. 168. + Cæcina, his history, ii. 108. + Cæsar compared with Xenophon, ii. 94. + His Commentaries, 95-101. + His Ephemeris, whether the same work with his Commentaries, + 101. + His Anticatones, 102. + His Analogia, 103. + Calvus, Licinius, his Epigrams, i. 322. + His orations, ii. 131. + Carmen Saliare, i. 43. + Carneades teaches the Greek philosophy at Rome, ii. 211. + Cato, the Censor, his work on Agriculture, ii. 12-16. + His Orations, 16. + His work De Originibus, 18. + On Medicine, 20-21. + Catullus, i. 271-320. + Cethegus, Marcus, an orator, ii. 110. + Cicero, his Orations, ii. 152. + Compared with Demosthenes, 192. + His works on Rhetoric, 193. + De Oratore, 195. + Brutus, 198. + The Orator, 199. + Topica, 200. + Rhetorica ad Herennium, inquiry concerning the author of, 202. + His philosophical works--De Legibus, 223. + De Finibus, 229. + Academica, 232. + Tusculanæ Disputationes, 236. + De Naturâ Deorum, 243. + De Officiis, 257. + De Senectute, 259. + De Republica, 263. + His Epistles, 278. + Columna Rostrata, inscription on the, i. 46. + Cotta, his style of oratory, ii. 122. + Crassus, Lucius, character of his eloquence, ii. 120. + His death, ibid. + Compared with Antony, 121. + + Decemviral Laws, ii. 134. + Dialogue, remarks on this species of composition, ii. 194. + + Eloquence, Roman, commencement of, ii. 109. + Ennius, his tragedies, i. 67. + Annals, 78. + Translation of Euhemerus, 94. + Etruscans, their origin, i. 20. + Their conquests, 26. + Religion, 29. + Arts, 35. + Eugubian Tables, i. 47. + + Fabius Pictor, Latin Annalist, ii. 67-71. + Fratres Arvales, hymn of the, i. 43. + + Galba, Sergius, an orator, ii. 110. + Gracchi, oratory of the, ii. 113. + + Hirtius, his continuation of Cæsar's Commentaries, ii. 105. + History, Roman, uncertainty of, ii. 57-67. + Hortensius, his luxury and magnificence, ii. 124. + His villas at Tusculum, Bauli, and Laurentum, 124, 125. + Character of his eloquence, 127. + His descendants, 130, Note. + + Jurisconsults, Roman, account of, ii. 138. + + Laberius, i. 328. + Lælius, his oratory compared with that of Scipio, ii. 111. + Latin Language, its origin, i. 32. + Its changes, 48. + Laws, Roman, ii. 133-138. + Leges Regiæ, ii. 133. + Livius Andronicus, i. 54-58. + Lucceius, his History of the Social War, ii. 107. + Lucilius, i. 238-248. + Lucretius, i. 250-271. + Lucullus, his patronage of learning, ii. 51. + Luscius Lavinius, i. 171. + + Magna Græcia, its settlements, i. 50. + Mimes, their origin and subjects, i. 324. + + Nævius, i. 58-62. + + Pacuvius, i. 209. + Plautus, i. 96-168. + Philosophy, Greek, introduction of, at Rome, ii. 209. + Plebiscita, account of the, ii. 136. + Prætor, account of the office of, ii. 141. + Publius Syrus, i. 332. + + Quadrigarius, Claudius, Latin Annalist, ii. 73. + + Sallust, his character, ii. 82. + His Gardens, ibid. + His conspiracy of Catiline, and Jugurthine war, 84-88. + His Roman History, 92. + Satire, Roman, origin of, i. 232. + Senatusconsultum, what, ii. 137. + Sisenna, Roman Annalist, ii. 75. + Sulpicius, his worthless character, ii. 121. + His style of oratory, 122. + Sylla, his library, ii. 50. + His Memoirs of his Life, 77. + His character, 78. + + Terence, i. 175-206. + Compared with Plautus, 206. + Theatre, Roman, its construction, i. 337-353. + Tyrannio, his library, ii. 52. + Trabea, i. 173. + + Varro, his farms and villas, ii. 25. + His work on Agriculture, 28-34. + De Lingua Latina, 34. + Other works of Varro, 40. + + + FINIS. + + +JAMES KAY, JUN. PRINTER. + + + + + + FOOTNOTES + + +_ 1 Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis_, T. II. c. 20. + +_ 2 Antiquitat. Rom._ Lib. I. + +_ 3 Geograph._ Lib. VI. + +_ 4 Hist. Nat._ Lib. XVIII. c. 11.; XXXVII. c. 12. + + 5 Virgil, _Georg._ Lib. II. + + 6 Plutarch, _in Numa_. + + 7 Livy, _Epitome_, Lib. XVIII. Valer. Maxim. Lib. IV. c. 4. § 6. + + 8 Cicero, _De Senectute_, c. 16. + + 9 Rapin, _Hortorum_, Lib. IV. + + 10 Bonstetten, _Voyage dans le Latium_, p. 274. + + 11 J. C. L. Sismondi, _Tableau de l'Agriculture Toscane_, and + Chasteauvieux, _Lettres Ecrites d'Italie_. Paris, 1816. 2 Tom. + + 12 Plutarch, _in Cato._ + + 13 Plutarch, _in Cato._ + + 14 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XIV. c. 4; Lib. XVI. c. 39. + + 15 Plutarch, _in Cato._ + + 16 Ibid. + +_ 17 In Cato._ + + 18 C. 160. + + 19 Cicero, _Brutus_, c. 17. + + 20 Vegetius, Lib. I. c. 8. + + 21 Plutarch, _in Cato._ + + 22 Valerius Maximus, Lib. VIII. c. 7. Valerius says, he was in his 86th + year; but Cato did not survive beyond his 85th. Cicero, _in Bruto_, + c. 20. Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XIX. c. 1. + + 23 Livy, Lib. XXXIX. c. 40. + + 24 Lib. XXXIV. c. 2. + +_ 25 Noct. Attic._ Lib. VII. c. 3. + +_ 26 Brutus_, c. 17. + + 27 Lib. XXXIX. c. 40. + +_ 28 Noct. Attic._ Lib. X. c. 3. + +_ 29 Hist. Nat._ Lib. VIII. c. 5. + +_ 30 Brutus_, c. 17. + +_ 31 Brutus_, c. 87. + + 32 Quintil. _Inst. Orat._ Lib. III. c. 1. + + 33 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXV. c. 2. + + 34 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXV. c. 2. + + 35 Livy, Lib. IV. c. 25. + + 36 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXIX. c. 1. + + 37 Plutarch, _in Cato._ + + 38 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XX. c. 9. + + 39 Ibid. Lib. XXIX. c. 1. + + 40 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXIX. c. 1. + +_ 41 Stor. del. Let. Ital._ Part. III. Lib. III. c. 5. § 5. + + 42 See Spon, _Recherches Curieuses d'Antiquité_. Diss. 27. Bayle, + _Dict. Hist._ art. Porcius, Rem. H. + + In what degree of estimation medicine was held at Rome, and by what + class of people it was practised, were among the _quæstiones vexatæ_ + of classical literature in our own country in the beginning and + middle of last century. Dr Mead, in his _Oratio Herveiana_, and + Spon, in his _Recherches d'Antiquité_, followed out an idea first + suggested by Casaubon, in his animadversions on Suetonius, that + physicians in Rome were held in high estimation, and were frequently + free citizens; that it was the surgeons who were the _servile + pecus_; and that the erroneous idea of physicians being slaves, + arose from confounding the two orders. These authors chiefly rested + their argument on classical passages, from which it appears that + physicians were called the friends of Cicero, Cæsar, and Pompey. + Middleton, in a well known Latin dissertation, maintains that there + was no distinction at Rome between the physician, surgeon, and + apothecary, and that, till the time of Julius Cæsar at least, the + art of medicine was exercised only by foreigners and slaves, or by + freedmen, who, having obtained liberty for their proficiency in its + various branches, opened a shop for its practice.--_De Medicorum apud + veteres Romanos degentium Conditione Dissertatio_. _Miscellaneous + Works_, Vol. IV. See on this topic, _Schlæger, Histor. litis, De + Medicorum apud veteres Romanos degentium Conditione. Helmst._ 1740. + +_ 43 Noct. Attic._ Lib. VII. c. 10. + +_ 44 De Officiis_, Lib. I. c. 29. Multa sunt multorum facete dicta: ut + ea, quæ a sene Catone collecta sunt, quæ vocant apophthegmata. + +_ 45 Sat._ Lib. I. 2. + + 46 For Cato's family, see Aulus Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. XIII. c. + 19. + + 47 We have many minute descriptions of the villas of luxurious Romans, + from the time of Hortensius to Pliny, but there are so few accounts + of those in the simpler age of Scipio, that I have subjoined the + description of Seneca, who saw this mansion precisely in the same + state it was when possessed and inhabited by the illustrious + conqueror of Hannibal. "Vidi villam structam lapide quadrato, murum + circumdatum sylvæ, turres quoque in propugnaculum villæ utrimque + subrectas. Cisternam ædificiis et viridibus subditam, quæ sufficere + in usum exercitûs posset. Balneolum angustum, tenebricosum ex + consuetudine antiquâ. Magna ergo me voluptas subit contemplantem + mores Scipionis et nostros. In hoc angulo, ille Carthaginis horror, + cui Roma debet quod tantum semel capta est, abluebat corpus + laboribus rusticis fessum; exercebat enim operâ se, terramque, ut + mos fuit priscis, ipse subigebat. Sub hoc ille tecto tam sordido + stetit--hoc illum pavimentum tam vile sustinuit." Senec. _Epist._ 86. + + 48 Lib. II. + +_ 49 Trionfo della Fama_, c. 3. + + 50 Varro, _De Re Rusticâ_, Lib. II. prooem. + + 51 Cæsar, _Comment. de Bello Civili_, Lib. II. c. 17, &c. + + 52 Suetonius, _in Jul. Cæs._ c. 44. + +_ 53 Epist. Fam._ Lib. IX. Ep. 6. Ed. Schütz. + +_ 54 De Re Rusticâ_, Lib. II. + + 55 Cicero, _Philip._ II. c. 40. + + 56 See Castell's _Villas of the Ancients_. + +_ 57 De Re Rusticâ_, Lib. III. c. 5. + +_ 58 Classical Tour in Italy_. + + 59 Appian, _De Bello Civili_, Lib. IV. 47. + + 60 Berwick's _Lives of Asin. Pollio, M. Varro, &c._ + +_ 61 Scaligerana prima_, p. 144. + + 62 {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. _Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. III. Ep. 18. + + 63 Cicero, _De Divinat._ Lib. I. c. 18. Seneca, _Epist._ 98. + + 64 Suetonius, _De Illust. Grammat._ c. 1. + + 65 Suetonius (_De Illust. Gram._) says, that he was sent by Attalus, at + the moment of the death of Ennius. Now, Ennius died in 585, at which + time Eumenes reigned at Pergamus, and was not succeeded by Attalus + till the year 595; so that Suetonius was mistaken, either as to the + year in which Crates came to Rome, or the king by whom he was sent--I + rather think he was wrong in the latter point; for, if Crates was + the first Greek rhetorician who taught at Rome, which seems + universally admitted, he must have been there before 593, in which + year the rhetoricians were expressly banished from Rome, along with + the philosophers. + + 66 Suetonius, c. 2. + + 67 Court de Gebelin, _Monde Primitif_, T. VI. Disc. Prelim. p. 12. + +_ 68 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. XIII. Ep. 12. + + 69 Ibid. Lib. XIII. Ep. 18. + +_ 70 Epist. Famil._ Lib. IX. Ep. 8. + + 71 Aulus Gellius, Lib. I. c. 18 + + 72 See also as to the Celtic derivations, Court de Gebelin, _Monde + Primitif_. Disc. Prelim. T. VI. p. 23. + + 73 Jupiter, Juno, Saturnus, Vulcanus, Vesta, et alii plurimi quos Varro + conatur ad mundi partes sive elementa transferre. (_St August. + Civit. Dei_, Lib. VIII. c. 5.) + + 74 Lactantius, _Div. Inst._ Lib. I. c. 6. + + 75 Bolingbroke, _Use and Study of History_, Lett. 3. + + 76 Au. Gellius, Lib. XIV. c. 7. + + 77 St Augustine, _De Civitat. Dei_, Lib. XIX. c. 1. + + 78 Antiochus of Ascalon, a teacher of the old Academy. + + 79 Fabricius, _Biblioth. Latin._ Lib. I. c. 7. + + 80 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. XIII. c. 11. + +_ 81 Ibid._ Lib. VII. c. 16. + + 82 Tom. I. p. 241. + + 83 It was long believed, that Pope Gregory the First had destroyed the + works of Varro, in order to conceal the plagiarisms of St Augustine, + who had borrowed largely from the theological and philosophic + writings of the Roman scholar. This, however, is not likely. That + illustrious Father of the Christian Church is constantly referring + to the learned heathen, without any apparent purpose of concealment; + and he extols him in terms calculated to attract notice to the + subject of his eulogy. Nor did St Augustine possess such meagre + powers of genius, as to require him to build up the city of the true + God from the crumbling fragments of Pagan temples. + +_ 84 Academ. Poster._ Lib. I. c. 3. + + 85 Morhof, _Polyhistor_. Tom. I. Lib. I. Falsterus, _Hist. Rei Liter. + ap. Roman._ + + 86 Middendorp, _De Academ._ Lib. III. + + 87 Tiraboschi, _Stor. dell Lett. Ital._ Part III. Lib. III. c. 8. + + 88 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XVIII. c. 3. + + 89 Plutarch, _in Paul. Æmil._ + + 90 Id. _in Sylla_. + + 91 Plutarch, _in Lucullo_. + +_ 92 Ibid._ + +_ 93 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. IV. Ep. 4 and 8. + +_ 94 Epist. ad Quint. Frat._ Lib. II. Ep. 4. According to some writers, + it was a younger Tyrannio, the disciple of the elder, who arranged + Cicero's library, and taught his nephew.--Mater, _Ecole + d'Alexandrie_, Tom. I. p. 179. + + 95 Suidas, _Lexic._ + + 96 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. VII. c. 30. + + 97 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXV. c. 14. + + 98 Au. Gellius, Lib. IV. c. 9. + + 99 Plutarch, _in Cicero._ + +_ 100 Chron. Euseb._ + + 101 Suetonius, _in August._ c. 94. + + 102 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. XIX. c. 14. + +_ 103 Ibid._ + + 104 Au. Gellius, Lib. X. c. 4. + + 105 See farther, with regard to Nigidius Figulus, Bayle, _Dict. Histor._ + Art. Nigidius, and _Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions_, Tom. XXIX. p. + 190. + + 106 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. XIII. c. 9. + + 107 Griffet, _De Arte Regnandi_. + +_ 108 De Oratore_, Lib. II. c. 13. + + 109 Vopiscus, _Vit. Taciti Imp._ + +_ 110 Römische Geschichte_, Tom. I. p. 367. + + 111 Cicero, _De Oratore_, Lib. II. c. 13. + + 112 Lib. I. c. 2. + + 113 Quæ in Commentariis Pontificum aliisque publicis privatisque erant + monumentis, incensâ urbe, pleræque interîere. Livy, Lib. VI. c. 1. + + 114 Livy, Lib. VI. c. 1. + + 115 Polybius, Lib. III. c. 22, 25, 26. + +_ 116 Epist._ Lib. II. Ep. 1. + + 117 Lib. IV. p. 257. ed. Sylburg, 1586. + + 118 Lib. II. p. 111. + + 119 Lib. III. p. 174. + + 120 Lib. IV. c. 7. + + 121 Lib. III. c. 22. + +_ 122 Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXIV. c. 14. + +_ 123 Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXIV. c. 14. + + 124 Livy, Lib. IV. c. 23. + + 125 Dionys. Halic. Lib. I. p. 60. + + 126 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXV. c. 2. + +_ 127 In Numa_. + + 128 Lib. VIII. c. 40. + + 129 His laudationibus historia rerum nostrarum est facta mendosior. + Multa enim scripta sunt in iis, quæ facta non sunt--falsi triumphi, + plures consulatus, genera etiam falsa. _Brutus_, c. 16. + + 130 Lib. III. c. 20. + +_ 131 L'Evesque, Hist. Critique de la Republique Romaine_, T. I. + + 132 Livy, Lib. V. c. 21. + + 133 Bankes, _Civil History of Rome_, Vol. I. + +_ 134 Brutus_, c. 11. + + 135 Livy, Lib. II. c. 40. + + 136 The question concerning the authenticity or uncertainty of the Roman + history, was long, and still continues to be, a subject of much + discussion in France.--"At Paris," said Lord Bolingbroke, "they have + a set of stated paradoxical orations. The business of one of these + was to show that the history of Rome, for the four first centuries + was a mere fiction. The person engaged in it proved that point so + strongly, and so well, that several of the audience, as they were + coming out, said, the person who had set that question had played + booty, and that it was so far from being a paradox, that it was a + plain and evident truth."--SPENCE'S _Anecdotes_, p. 197. It was + chiefly in the _Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions_, &c. that + this literary controversy was plied. M. de Pouilly, in the Memoirs + for the year 1722, produced his proofs and arguments against the + authenticity. He was weakly opposed, in the following year, by M. + Sallier, and defended by M. Beaufort, in the Memoirs of the Academy, + and at greater length in his _Dissert. sur l'Incertitude des cinq + premiers siècles de l'Hist. Romaine_, (1738,) which contains a clear + and conclusive exposition of the state of the question. The dispute + has been lately renewed in the Memoirs of the Institute, in the + proceedings of which, for 1815, there is a long paper, by M. + Levesque, maintaining the total uncertainty of the Roman history + previous to the invasion of the Gauls; while the opposite side of + the question has been strenuously espoused by M. Larcher. This + controversy, though it commenced in France, has not been confined to + that country. Hooke and Gibbon have argued for the certainty, + (_Miscell. Works_, Vol. IV. p. 40,) and Cluverius for the + uncertainty, of the Roman history, (_Ital. Antiq._ Lib. III. c. 2.) + Niebuhr, the late German historian of Rome, considers all before + Tullus Hostilius as utterly fabulous. The time that elapsed from his + accession to the war with Pyrrhus, he regards as a period to be + found in almost every history, between mere fable and authentic + record. Beck, in the introduction to his German translation of + Ferguson's Roman Republic, _Ueber die Quellen der altesten Römischen + Geschichte und ihren Werth_, has attempted to vindicate the + authenticity of the Roman history to a certain extent; but his + reasonings and citations go little farther than to prove, what never + can be disputed, that there is much truth in the general outline of + events--that the kings were expelled--that the Etruscans were finally + subdued; and that consuls were created. He admits, that much rested + on tradition; but tradition, he maintains, is so much interwoven + with every history, that it cannot be safely thrown away. The + remainder of the treatise is occupied with a feeble attempt to show, + that more monuments existed at Rome after its capture by the Gauls, + than is generally supposed, and that Fabius Pictor made a good use + of them. + + 137 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXV. c. 4. + + 138 Hankius, _De Romanar. Rerum Scriptor._ Pars I. c. 1. + + 139 Lib. VII. + + 140 Lib. IV. p. 234. + +_ 141 In Romulo_. + + 142 Lib. III. c. 9. + + 143 Lib. I. + + 144 Lib. III. c. 8. + + 145 Ernesti has attempted, but I think unsuccessfully, to support the + authenticity of the Annals of Fabius against the censures of + Polybius, in his dissertation, entitled, _Pro Fabii Fide adversus + Polybium_, inserted in his _Opuscula Philologica_, Leipsic, + 1746--Lugd. Bat. 1764. He attempts to show, from other passages, that + Polybius was a great detractor of preceding historians, and that he + judged of events more from what was probable and likely to have + occurred, than from what actually happened, and that no historian + could have better information than Fabius. To the interrogatories + which Polybius puts to Fabius, with regard to the causes assigned by + him as the origin of the second Punic war, Ernesti replies for him, + that the Senate of Carthage could no more have taken the command + from Hannibal in Spain, or delivered him up, than the Roman Senate + could have deprived Cæsar of his army, when on the banks of the + Rubicon; and as to the support which Hannibal received while in + Italy, it is answered, that it was quite consistent with political + wisdom, and the practice of other nations, for a government + involuntarily forced into a struggle, by the disobedience or evil + counsels of its subjects, to use every exertion to obtain ultimate + success, or extricate itself with honour, from the difficulties in + which it had been reluctantly involved. + + 146 Lib. I. p. 64. + + 147 Fabium æqualem temporibus hujusce belli potissimum auctorem habui. + Lib. XXII. c. 7. + +_ 148 Brutus_, c. 27. + +_ 149 Hist. Nat._ Lib. XI. c. 53. + +_ 150 Noct. Attic._ Lib. XI. c. 14. + + 151 He also probably suggested to Sallust a phrase which has given much + scandal in so grave a historian. Cicero says, in one of his letters, + (_Epist. Famil._ Lib. IX. Ep. 22,) "At vero Piso, in annalibus suis, + queritur, adolescentes peni deditos esse." + +_ 152 Römische Geschichte_, Tom. I. p. 245. + As his account of Roman affairs was written in Greek, I omit in the + list of Latin annalists Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who was + contemporary with Fabius, having been taken prisoner by Hannibal + during the second Punic war. But though his history was in Greek, he + wrote in Latin a biographical sketch of the Sicilian Rhetorician + Gorgias Leontinus, and also a book, _De Re Militari_, which has been + cited by Au. Gellius, and acknowledged by Vegetius as the foundation + of his more elaborate Commentaries on the same subject. + +_ 153 Brutus_, c. 26. + + 154 The passage is a fragment from the first book of Sallust's lost + history. Mar. Victorinus _in prim. Ciceronis de Inventione_. + +_ 155 De Fontibus et Auctoritate Vitarum Parallel. Plutarchi_, p. 134. + Gotteng. 1820. + + 156 Lib. I. c. 7. + +_ 157 Brutus_, c. 26. + + 158 Lib. I. c. 7. + + 159 Æl. Spartianus, _in Hadriano_. + + 160 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. II. c. 13. + +_ 161 De Legibus_, Lib. I. c. 2. + + 162 Lib. V. c. 18. + +_ 163 Brutus_, c. 35. + +_ 164 Noct. Attic._ Lib. IX. c. 13. + +_ 165 Noct. Attic._ Lib. XIII. c. 28. + + 166 Ibid. Lib. VII. c. 19. + +_ 167 Noct. Attic._ Lib. VI. c. 8. + + 168 See above, Vol. I. p. 322. + +_ 169 Brutus_, c. 63. + + 170 Lib. II. c. 9. + +_ 171 Jugurtha_, c. 95. + +_ 172 Brutus_, c. 63. + +_ 173 De Legibus_, Lib. I. c. 2. + +_ 174 Brutus_, c. 29. Some persons have supposed that Cicero did not here + mean Xenophon's _Cyropædia_, but a life of Cyrus, written by + Scaurus. This, indeed, seems at first a more probable meaning than + that he should have bestowed a compliment apparently so extravagant + on the Memoirs of Scaurus; but his words do not admit of this + interpretation.--"Præclaram illam quidem, sed neque tam rebus nostris + aptam, nec tamen Scauri laudibus anteponendam." + + 175 Lib. VII. + +_ 176 In Mario_. + + 177 Lib. II. c. 13. + + 178 Lib. II. c. 5. Lib. VI. c. 4. + + 179 Plutarch, _in Lucullo_. + + 180 Plutarch, _In Sylla_.--Appian. + +_ 181 In Mario_. + +_ 182 Memoirs of the Court of Augustus_, Vol. I. + +_ 183 In Vespasiano_, c. 8. + + 184 Malheureux sort de l'histoire! Les spectateurs sont trop peu + instruits, et les acteurs trop interessés pour que nous puissions + compter sur les recits des uns ou des autres.--GIBBON'S _Miscell. + Works_, Vol. IV. + +_ 185 Noct. Att._ Lib. XVII. c. 18. + + 186 Nardini, _Roma Antica_. Lib. IV. c. 7. + + 187 Steuart's _Sallust_, Essay I. + +_ 188 Classical Tour_, Vol. II. c. 6. + +_ 189 Sat._ Lib. I. Sat. 2. + + 190 Suetonius, _De Grammaticis_. + +_ 191 Leben des Sallust_. + + 192 Bankes, _Civil Hist. of Rome_, Vol. II. + + 193 The authors of the Universal History suppose that these books were + Phoenician and Punic volumes, carried off from Carthage by Scipio, + after its destruction, and presented by him to Micipsa; and they + give a curious account of these books, of which some memory still + subsists, and which they conjecture to have formed part of the royal + collection of Numidia. + + 194 Senec. _Epist._ 114. + + 195 It is curious into what gross blunders the most learned and accurate + writers occasionally fall. Fabricius, speaking of these letters, + says, "Duæ orationes (sive epistolæ potius) de Rep. ordinandâ ad + Cæsarem missæ, cum in Hispanias proficisceretur contra Petreium et + Afranium, _victo Cn. Pompeio_."--_Bibliothec. Latin._ Lib. I. c. 9. + +_ 196 Lectiones Subsecivæ_, Lib. I. c. 3. Lib. II. c. 2. + + 197 Asinius Pollio, however, as we learn from Suetonius, thought that + the Commentaries were drawn up with little care or accuracy, that + the author was very credulous as to the actions of others, and that + he had very hastily written down what regarded himself, with the + intention, which he never accomplished, of afterwards revising and + correcting.--Sueton. _in Cæsar._ c. 56. + + 198 Bankes, _Civil Hist. of Rome_, Vol. II. + + 199 Neque Druides habent, qui rebus divinis præsint; neque sacrificiis + student. Deorum numero eos solos ducunt, quos cernunt, et quorum + opibus aperte juvantur--Solem, et Vulcanum, et Lunam: reliquos ne + famâ quidem acceperunt. Lib. VI. c. 21. + + 200 Deorum maximè Mercurium colunt, cui, certis diebus, humanis quoque + hostiis, litare fas habent. Herculem ac Martem concessis animalibus + placant ... Lucos ac nemora consecrant, deorumque nominibus + appellant Secretum illud, quod solâ reverentia vident. _De Mor. + Germ._ c. 9. + +_ 201 Germ. Antiqua_, Lib. I. c. 3. + +_ 202 Brutus_, c. 72. + + 203 See Plutarch _In Cæsare_, where it is related that Cæsar wrote + verses and speeches, and read them to the pirates by whom he was + taken prisoner, on his return to Rome from Bithynia, where he had + sought refuge from the power of Sylla. + +_ 204 Hist. Critic. Ling. Lat._ p. 537. + +_ 205 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. XII. ep. 40. + + 206 Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, Vol. II, p. 347, 2d ed. + +_ 207 Hist. Nat._ Lib. XVIII. c. 26. + + 208 Sueton. _In Cæsar._ c. 56. + + 209 Cicero, _Brutus_ c. 72. + + 210 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. I. c. 10. + + 211 Charisius, Lib. I. + + 212 Au. Gellius, Lib VII, c. 9. + + 213 Sueton. _In Cæsar._ c. 56. + + 214 Ibid. + + 215 See above, Vol. I. p. 204. + + 216 See also Blondellus, _Hist. du Calendrier Romain_. Paris, 1682, 4to; + Bianchinus, _Dissert. de Calendario et Cyclo Cæsaris_, Rom. 1703, + folio; and Court de Gebelin, _Monde Primit._ T. IV. + + 217 Mihi non illud quidem accidit, ut Alexandrino atque Africano bello + interessem; quæ bella tamen ex parte nobis Cæsaris sermone sunt + nota. _De Bell. Gall._ Lib. VIII. + + 218 Imperfecta ab rebus gestis Alexandriæ confeci, usque ad exitum, non + quidem civilis dissensionis, cujus finem nullum videmus, sed vitæ + Cæsaris. _De Bell. Gall._ + +_ 219 De Hist. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 13. + + 220 Sueton. _In Cæsar._ c. 72. + +_ 221 Epist. Famil._ Lib. V. Ep. 12. + + 222 Lib. IV. Ep. 6. + +_ 223 De Ling. Lat._ Lib. IV. + +_ 224 Hist. Nat._ Lib. VIII. c. 2. + +_ 225 Epist. Famil._ Lib. VI. Ep. 7. + + 226 "Duæ sunt artes," says Cicero, "quæ possunt locare homines in + amplissimo gradu dignitatis: una imperatoris, altera oratoris boni: + Ab hoc enim pacis ornamenta retinentur; ab illo belli pericula + repelluntur." _Orat. pro Muræna_, c. 14. + + 227 Ratio ipsa in hanc sententiam ducit, ut existimem sapientiam sine + eloquentia parum prodesse civitatibus. _Rhetoricorum_, Lib. I. c. 1. + + 228 Lib. II. + +_ 229 Brutus_, c. 22. + +_ 230 De Orat._ Lib. I. c. 60. + +_ 231 Rhetoric. seu De Inventione_, Lib. I. c. 1. + + 232 Plutarch, _In Tiber. Graccho_. + + 233 Plutarch, _In Tiber. Graccho_. + +_ 234 Noct. Attic._ Lib. X. c. 3. + + 235 Plutarch, _In Tib. Graccho_. + +_ 236 De Orator._ Lib. III. c. 60. Plutarch and Cicero's accounts of the + eloquence of C. Gracchus, seem not quite consistent with what is + delivered on the subject by Gellius. + + 237 Funccius, _De Virili Ætate Lat. Ling._ c. 1. § 24. + + 238 Lib. IV. Od. 1. + + 239 Cicero, _De Oratore_, Lib. II. c. 2. + + 240 Valer. Maxim. Lib. VII. c. 3. + + 241 Valer. Maxim. Lib. III. c. 7; and Lib. VI. c. 8. + +_ 242 De Oratore_, Lib. II. c. 28, 29, 48, 49. + +_ 243 Id._ Lib. II. c. 47. + + 244 Plutarch _In Mario_. Valerius Maximus, Lib. VIII. c. 9. + + 245 Cicero, _De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 3. + +_ 246 Id._ Lib. I. c. 33. + + 247 Cicero, _De Orat._. Lib. I. c. 26, 27. + + 248 Cicero, _De Orat._ Lib. II. c. 1. + + 249 Plutarch, _In Sylla_. + +_ 250 De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 3. + + 251 Plutarch, _In Sylla_. + +_ 252 De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 3. + +_ 253 Brutus_, c. 89. + +_ 254 Brutus_, c. 63. + + 255 Ibid. + +_ 256 De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 61. + + 257 Cicero, _Brutus_, c. 89. + + 258 Ibid. + + 259 Ibid. + + 260 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XVII. c. 1. + + 261 Ibid. Lib. XXXIII. c. 11. + + 262 Nardini, _Roma Antica_, Lib. VI. c. 15. + + 263 Sueton. _in Augusto_, c. 72. + + 264 Varro, _De Re Rustica_, Lib. III. c. 6. + + 265 Macrobius, _Saturnalia_, Lib. III. c. 13. + + 266 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XIV. c. 14. + + 267 Ibid. Lib. XXV. c. 11. + + 268 Varro, _De Re Rustica_, Lib. III. c. 3. + + 269 Ibid. Lib. III. c. 17. + + 270 Ibid. + + 271 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. IX. c. 55. + + 272 Cicer. _Academica_, Lib. II. c. 25, 31, 33. + + 273 Bonstetten, _Voyage dans le Latium_, p. 152-160. Nibby, _Viaggio + Antiquario ne contorni di Roma_, T. II. + + 274 Varro, _De Re Rustica_, Lib. III. c. 13. + + 275 Cicero, _Brutus_, c. 95. + + 276 Varro, _De Re Rustica_. Cicero, _Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. V. Ep. 2. + + 277 Seren. Samonicus, _De Medicina_, c. 15. + + 278 Cicero, _Epist. Familiares_, Lib. VIII. Ep. 2. + +_ 279 Dio__ Cassius_, Lib. XXXIX. + + 280 Quint. _Inst. Orat._ Lib. XI. c. 3. + +_ 281 Epist. ad Atticum_, Lib. III. Ep. 9, &c. + + 282 As a proof of his astonishing memory, it is recorded by Seneca, + that, for a trial of his powers of recollection, he remained a whole + day at a public auction, and when it was concluded, he repeated in + order what had been sold, to whom, and at what price. His recital + was compared with the clerk's account, and his memory was found to + have served him faithfully in every particular. Senec. _Præf._ Lib. + I. _Controv._ + + 283 Aulus Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. I. c. 5. + + 284 Valerius Maximus, Lib. VIII. c. 10. + + 285 Ibid. + + 286 Macrobius, _Saturnalia_, Lib. III. c. 13. + + 287 Ibid. + + 288 Meiners, _Decadence des Moeurs chez les Romains_. + + 289 Hortensius was first married to a daughter of Q. Catulus, the + orator, who is one of the speakers in the Dialogue _De Oratore_. + (Cicero, _De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 61.) He afterwards asked, and + obtained from Cato, his wife Marcia; who, having succeeded to a + great part of the wealth of Hortensius on his death, was then taken + back by her former husband. (Plutarch, _In Catone_.) By his first + wife, Hortensius had a son and daughter. In his son Quintus, he was + not more fortunate than his rival, Cicero, in his son Marcus. + Cicero, while Proconsul of Cilicia, mentions, in one of his letters, + the ruffian and scandalous appearance made by the younger Hortensius + at Laodicea, during the shows of gladiators.--"I invited him once to + supper," says he, "on his father's account; and, on the same + account, only once." (_Epist. Ad Attic._ Lib. VI. Ep. 3.) Such, + indeed, was his unworthy conduct, that his father at this time + entertained thoughts of disinheriting him, and making his nephew, + Messala, his heir; but in this intention he did not persevere. + (Valer. Maxim. Lib. V. c. 9.) After his father's death, he joined + the party of Cæsar, (Cicero, _Epist. Ad Att._ Lib. X. Ep. 16, 17, + 18,) by whom he was appointed Proconsul of Macedonia; in which + situation he espoused the side of the conspirators, subsequently to + the assassination of Cæsar. (Cicero, _Philip._ X. c. 5 and 6.) By + order of Brutus, he slew Caius Antonius, brother to the Triumvir, + who had fallen into his hands; and, being afterwards taken prisoner + at the battle of Philippi, he was slain by Marc Antony, by way of + reprisal, on the tomb of his brother. (Plutarch, _In M. Bruto_.) + Hortensia, the daughter, inherited something of the spirit and + eloquence of her father. A severe tribute having been imposed on the + Roman matrons by the Triumvirs, Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, she + boldly pleaded their cause before these noted extortioners, and + obtained some alleviation of the impost. (Valer. Maxim. Lib. VIII. + c. 3.) + Quintus, the son of the orator, left two children, Q. Hortensius + Corbio, and M. Hortensius Hortalus. The former of these was a + monster of debauchery; and is mentioned by his contemporary, + Valerius Maximus, among the most striking examples of those + descendants who have degenerated from the honour of their ancestors. + (Lib. III. c. 5.) This wretch, not being likely to become a father, + and the wealth of the family having been partly settled on the wife + of Cato, partly dissipated by extravagance, and partly confiscated + in the civil wars, Augustus Cæsar, who was a great promoter of + matrimony, gave Hortensius Hortalus a pecuniary allowance to enable + him to marry, in order that so illustrious a family might not become + extinct. He and his children, however, fell into want during the + reign of his benefactor's successor. Tacitus has painted, with his + usual power of striking delineation, that humiliating scene, in + which he appeared, with his four children, to beg relief from the + Senate; and the historian has also recorded the hard answer which he + received from the unrelenting Tiberius. Perceiving, however, that + his severity was disliked by the Senate, the Emperor said, that, if + they desired it, he would give a certain sum to each of Hortalus's + male children. They returned thanks; but Hortalus, either from + terror or dignity of mind, said not a word; and, from this time, + Tiberius showing him no favour, his family sunk into the most abject + poverty: (Tacit. _Annal._ Lib. II. c. 37 and 38.) And such were the + descendants of the orator with the park, the plantations, the ponds, + and the pictures! + + 290 Catull. _Carm._ 53. + + 291 Pliny, _Epist._ Lib. I. ep. 2. + +_ 292 Brutus_, c. 80. + + 293 Ibid. + + 294 According to some authorities it was a short while before, and + according to others a short while after, the expulsion of Tarquin. + + 295 "Exactis deinde regibus leges hæ exoleverunt; iterumque coepit + populus Romanus incerto magis jure et consuetudine ali, quam per + latam legem."--POMPON. LÆTUS, _De Leg._ II. § 3. + + 296 Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, c. 44. + +_ 297 De Legibus_, Lib. II. c. 23. _De Oratore_, Lib. I, c. 42. + + 298 "Decem tabularum leges," says Livy, "nunc quoque, in hoc immenso + aliarum super aliis acervatarum legum cumulo, fons omnis publici + privatique est juris." + + 299 Cicero, _De Oratore_, Lib. II. c. 33. + + 300 Saint Prix, _Hist. du Droit Romain_, p. 23. Ed. Paris, 1821. + +_ 301 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, c. 44. + + 302 Cicero, _De Orat._ Lib. I. c. 57. + + 303 Ibid. Lib. I. c. 58. + + 304 It must be admitted, however, that Cicero, in other passages of his + works, has given the study of civil law high encomiums, particularly + in the following beautiful passage delivered in the person of + Crassus: "Senectuti vero celebrandæ et ornandæ quid honestius potest + esse perfugium, quàm juris interpretatio? Equidem mihi hoc subsidium + jam inde ab adolescentiâ comparavi, non solum ad causarum usum + forensem, sed etiam ad decus atque ornamentum senectutis; ut cùm me + vires (quod fere jam tempus adventat) deficere coepissent, ab + solitudine domum meam vindicarem." (_De Oratore_, Lib. I. c. 45.) + Schultingius, the celebrated civilian, in his dissertation _De + Jurisprudentia Ciceronis_, tries to prove, from various passages in + his orations and rhetorical writings, that Cicero was well versed in + the most profound and nice questions of Roman jurisprudence, and + that he was well skilled in international law, as Grotius has + borrowed from him many of his principles and illustrations, in his + treatise _De Jure Belli et Pacis_. + +_ 305 De Oratore_, Lib. I. + +_ 306 Ibid._ Lib. II. c. 49. + + 307 "An non pudeat, certam creditam pecuniam periodis postulare, aut + circa stillicidia affici?"--Quint. _Inst. Orat._ Lib. VIII. c. 3. + + 308 Polletus, _Historia Fori Romani, ap. Supplement. ad Graevii et + Gronov. antiquitat._ T. I. p. 351. + +_ 309 In Verrem_, Act. I. c. 14. + + 310 Nardini, _Roma Antica_, Lib. V. c. 2, &c. + + 311 Virg. _Æneid._ Lib. VII. + + 312 "Parvis de rebus," says he, "sed fortasse necessariis consulimur, + Patres conscripti. De Appiâ viâ et de monetâ Consul--De Lupercis + tribunus plebis refert. Quarum rerum etsi facilis explicatio + videtur, tamen animus aberrat a sententiâ, suspensus curis + majoribus."--C. I. + +_ 313 Orator_, c. 30. + +_ 314 Orator_, c. 30. spe et expectatione laudati. + +_ 315 De Officiis_, Lib. II. c. 14. + +_ 316 Brutus_, c. 91. + + 317 Cæcilius was _a Jew_, who had been domiciled in Sicily; whence + Cicero, playing on the name of Verres, asks, "Quid Judæo cum + _Verre_?" (a boar.) + + 318 He ultimately, however, met with a well-merited and appropriate + fate. Having refused to give up his Corinthian vases to Marc Antony, + he was proscribed for their sake, and put to death by the rapacious + Triumvir. + + 319 Livy, Lib. XXV. c. 40. + + 320 Gillies, _History of Greece_, Part II. T. IV. c. 27. + +_ 321 Lectures on Rhetoric_, &c. Vol. II. Lect. XXVIII. + + 322 Lib. II. Ep. 1. + + 323 Wolf, in the preface to his edition of the Oration for Marcellus, + mentions having seen a scholastic declamation, entitled, _Oratio + Catilinæ, in M. Ciceronem_. It concludes thus,--"Me consularem + patricium, civem et amicum reipublicæ a faucibus inimici consulis + eripite; supplicem atque insontem pristinæ claritudini, omnium + civium gratiæ, et benevolentiæ vestræ restitute. _Amen._" + + 324 Funccius, _De Viril. Ætat. Ling. Lat._ Pars II. c. 2. + + 325 Aonius Palearius wrote a declamation in answer to this speech, + entitled, _Contra Murænam_. + +_ 326 Origin and Progress of Language_, Book IV. + +_ 327 Correspondence_, p. 85. + + 328 Jenisch, _Parallel der beiden grösten Redner des Althertum_, p. 124, + ed. Berlin, 1821. + + 329 Plutarch, _In Cicero._ + +_ 330 Philip._ VI. c. 1. + + 331 Juvenal, _Satir._ X. v. 118. + + 332 Quintil. _Inst. Orat._ Lib. V. + +_ 333 Orator_, c. 67, 70. + +_ 334 Hist. Nat._ Lib. VII. c. 30. + + 335 Plutarch, _In Cicer._ + + 336 Macrobius, _Saturnal._ Lib. III. c. 14. + +_ 337 Noct. Attic._ Lib. I. c. 7. + +_ 338 Dio Cassius_, XXXIX. c. 9. + +_ 339 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. IV. Ep. 1. + +_ 340 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. IV. Ep. 2. + + 341 See Nichol's _Literary Anecdotes_. Harles, also, seems to suppose + that Bishop Ross was in earnest:--"Orationem pro Sulla spuriam esse + audacter pronunciavit vir quidam doctus in--A Dissertation, in which + the defence of P. Sulla, &c. is proved to be spurious."--HARLES, + _Introduct. in Notitiam Literat. Rom._ Tom. II. p. 153. + +_ 342 Bib. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 8. + + 343 Lib. IV. Ep. 2. + + 344 "Cum Appendice De Oratione, quæ vulgo fertur, M. T. Ciceronis pro Q. + Ligario," in which the author attempts to abjudicate from Cicero the + beautiful oration for Ligarius, which shook even the soul of Cæsar, + while he has translated into his own language the two wretched + orations, _Post Reditum_, and _Ad Quirites_, insisting on the + legitimacy of both, and enlarging on their truly classical beauties! + In his Preface, he has pleasantly enough parodied the arguments of + Wolf against the oration for Marcellus, ironically showing that they + came not from that great scholar, but from a _pseudo_ Wolf, who had + assumed his name. + +_ 345 Paral. der Beyden Grösten Redner des Altherthums_. + +_ 346 Brutus_, c. 12, &c. + +_ 347 Epist. Famil._ Lib. I. Ep. 9. + +_ 348 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. XII. Ep. 5, &c. + +_ 349 Epist. Famil._ Lib. VI. Ep. 18. + +_ 350 Ibid._ Lib. VII. Ep. 19. + +_ 351 Inst. Orat._ Lib. XII. c. 10. + +_ 352 Brutus_, c. 91. Is dedit operam (si modo id consequi potuit) ut + nimis redundantes nos juvenili quâdam dicendi impunitate et licentiâ + reprimeret; et quasi extra ripas diffluentes coerceret. + +_ 353 Observat. Critic. in Sophoc. et Ciceron._ Lips. 1802. + + 354 Fuhrmann, _Handbuch der Classisch. Literat._ + +_ 355 De Nat. et Const. Rhetor._ c. 13. + +_ 356 Dissert. Utrum ars Rhetorica ad Herennium Ciceroni falsò + inscribitur_. + +_ 357 De Re Poet._ Lib. III. c. 31. and 34. + + 358 See P. Burmanni Secund. _In __Præf.__ ad Rhetoric. ad Herennium._ + Also Fabricius, _Bib. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 8. + +_ 359 Paradise Regained_. + +_ 360 De Orat._ Lib. I. c. 10. Ab illo fonte et capite Socrate. + +_ 361 Academ._ Lib. II. c. 5. + +_ 362 De Natur. Deor._ Lib. I. c. 43. + + 363 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXV. c. 11. + +_ 364 Mem. de l'Instit. Royale_, Tom. XXX. + + 365 Cicero styles him Princeps Stoicorum, (_De Divin._ Lib. II. c. 47,) + and eruditissimum hominem, et pæne divinum (_Pro Muræna_, c. 31.) + + 366 Censuerunt ut M. Pomponius Prætor animadverteret uti e republicâ + fideque suâ videretur Romæ ne essent. (Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ + Lib. XV. c. 11.) + + 367 Ælian, _Histor. Var._ Lib. III. c. 17. + + 368 Plutarch, _In Catone_. + + 369 Au. Gellius, _Noct. Attic._ Lib. VII. c. 14. + +_ 370 De Oratore_, Lib. III. c. 18. + +_ 371 Ibid._ Lib. II. c. 38. + + 372 Hæc in philosophiâ ratio contra omnia disserendi, nullamque rem + aperte judicandi, profecta a Socrate, repetita ab Arcesilao, + confirmata a Carneade, usque ad nostram viguit ætatem. _De Nat. + Deor._ Lib. I. c. 5. + +_ 373 Academ. Prior._ Lib. II. c. 48. + + 374 Valer. Max. Lib. VIII. c. 7. + +_ 375 Academ. Prior._ Lib. II. c. 31. + + 376 Quintil. _Inst. Orat._ Lib. XII. c. 1. Lactant. _Instit._ Lib. V. c. + 14. + + 377 Plutarch, _In Catone_. Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. VII. c. 30. + +_ 378 Divin. Institut._ Lib. V. c. 16. + + 379 Plutarch, _De Fortitud. Alexandri_. + + 380 Diog. Laert. _In Clitomacho_. + + 381 Cicero, _Academic. Prior._ Lib. II. c. 32. + +_ 382 Academic. Prior._ Lib. II. c. 32. + + 383 Mater, _Ecole d'Alexandrie_, Tom. II. p. 131. + + 384 Dans la Grèce, aprés ces épreuves, commençoit enfin la vie champêtre + dans les jardins du Lycée ou de l'Academie, où l'on entreprenoit un + cours de philosophie, que les véritables amateurs avoient l'art + singulier de ne jamais finir. Ils restoient toute leur vie attachés + à quelque chef de secte comme Metrodore à Epicure, moudroient dans + les écoles, et étoient ensuite enterrés à l'ombre de ces mêmes + arbustes, sous lesquels ils avoient tant médité. (De Pauw, + _Recherches Philosophiques sur les Grecs_, T. II.) + + 385 Cicero, _Academ. Prior._ Lib. II. c. 4. + +_ 386 Epist. Familiares_. + + 387 Garve, _Anmerk. zu Büchern von den Pflichten_. Breslau, 1819. + Schoell, _Hist. Abregée de la Litterat. Romaine_. + + 388 P. XII. + +_ 389 Ciceron. Opera_, Tom. XIII. p. 15. + +_ 390 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. XII. Ep. 52. + +_ 391 Epist._ Lib. XIII. Ep. 21. + +_ 392 Dialog. Hipparchus_. + + 393 Black's _Life of Tasso_, Vol. II. + + 394 Hulsemann, _Uber die Principien und den Geist der Gesetze_. Leipsic, + 1802. + + 395 Quæque de optimâ republicâ sentiremus, in sex libris ante diximus; + accommodabimus hoc tempore leges ad illum, quem probamus civitatûs + statum. _De Legib._ Lib. III. c. 2. + +_ 396 Epist. ad Quint. Frat._ Lib. II. Ep. 14. Lib. III. Ep. 5 and 6. + +_ 397 De Legib._ Lib. II. c. 17. + +_ 398 Ibid._ Lib. I. c. 20. + + 399 Hominis Amicissimi, Cn. Pompeii, laudes illustrabit. Lib. I. c. 3. + +_ 400 De Legibus_, Lib. II. c. 1. + +_ 401 Ibid._ Lib. I. c. 5. + +_ 402 Excursion from Rome to Arpino_, p. 89. Ed. Geneva, 1820. + + 403 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXI. c. 2. + + 404 "Cæruleus nos Liris amat."--_Martial_, Lib. XIII. Ep. 83. See also + Lucan, Lib. II. + +_ 405 De Legibus_, Lib. II. c. 2. + + 406 Kelsall, _Excursion_, p. 116. + +_ 407 De Legibus_, Lib. II. c. 1. + +_ 408 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. XII. Ep. 12. + +_ 409 Classic Tour through Italy_, by Sir R. C. Hoare, Vol. I. p. 293. + +_ 410 Classical Tour_, Vol. II. c. 9. + +_ 411 Classical Excursion from Rome to Arpino_, p. 99. Cicero always + considered the citizens of Arpinum as under his particular + protection and patronage; and it is pleasant to find, that its + modern inhabitants still testify, in various ways, due veneration + for their illustrious townsman. Their theatre is called the _Teatro + Tulliano_, of which the drop-scene is painted with a bust of the + orator; and even now, workmen are employed in building a new + town-hall, with niches, destined to receive statues of Marius and + Cicero. + + 412 Macrob. _Saturnal._ Lib. VI. c. 4. + +_ 413 Saturnal._ Lib. VI. c. 4. + +_ 414 Diogenes Laertius_, Lib. VII. + +_ 415 Diog. Laert._ Lib. VII. + + 416 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXI. c. 3. + +_ 417 Academ. Prior._ Lib. II. c. 33. + +_ 418 Epist. Famil._ Lib. IX. Ep. 8. + + 419 Et ut nos nunc sedemus ad Lucrinum, pisciculosque exsultantes + videmus. _De propriet. Serm._ c. 1. 335. voc. _exsultare_. + +_ 420 Epist. Dedicat. ad Prælect. in Cic. Acad._ + +_ 421 Introduct. in Academic._ Ed. Lips. 1810. + + 422 Nec esse, nec dici posse novum opus, ac penitus mutatum; sed + tantummodo correctum, magis politum, et quoad formam et dictionem, + hîc et illic, splendidius mutatum. _De Lib. Cic. Academ. Comment._ + +_ 423 Classical Tour_, Vol. II. c. 8. + +_ 424 Rome in the Nineteenth Century_, Vol. III. Let. 93. + +_ 425 De Finibus_, Lib. III. and IV. Kelsall, _Excursion from Rome to + Arpino_, p. 193. + +_ 426 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. I. Ep. 1. + + 427 Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, Vol. I. p. 142. + + 428 Blainville's _Travels_, Vol. II. + + 429 Eustace, _Classical Tour_, Vol. II. c. 8. Grotta Ferrata was long + considered both by travellers (Addison, _Letters on Italy_, + Blainville, _Travels_, &c.) and antiquarians (Calmet, _Hist. + Univers._ Cluverius, _Italic. Antiq._) as the site of Cicero's + Tusculan villa. The opinion thus generally received, was first + deliberately called in question by Zuzzeri, in a dissertation + published in 1746, entitled _Sopra un' antica Villa scoperta sopra + Frescati nell appartenenze della nuova villa dell collegio Romano_. + This writer places the site close to the villa and convent of + Ruffinella, which is higher up the hill than Grotta Ferrata, lying + between Frescati and the town of Tusculum. He was answered by + Cardoni, a monk of the Basilian order of Grotta Ferrata, in his + _Disceptatio Apologetica de Tusculano Ciceronis_, Romæ, 1757. + Cardoni chiefly rests his argument on a passage of Strabo, where + that geographer says, that the _Tusculan hill_ is fertile, well + watered, and surrounded with beautiful villas. Now Cardoni, + referring this passage (which applies to the Tusculan hill in + general) solely to the Tusculan villa, argues somewhat unfairly, + that Strabo's description answers to Grotta Ferrata, but not to + Ruffinella. (p. 8, &c.) Nibby in his _Viaggio Antiquario_, supports + the claims of Ruffinella, on the authority of a passage in + Frontinus, which he interprets with no greater candour or success. + (T. II. p. 41.) With exception of Eustace, however, all modern + travellers, whose works I have consulted, declare in favour of + Ruffinella. "At the convent of Ruffinella, says Forsyth, farther up + the hill than Grotta Ferrata, his (Cicero's) name was found stamped + on some ancient tiles, which should ascertain the situation of a + villa in preference to any moveable."--_Remarks on Italy_, p. 281. + See also _Rome in the Nineteenth Century_, Vol. III. Letter 92, and + Kelsall's _Classical Excursion_, p. 192. + + 430 Alex. ab Alexandro, _Dies Geniales_, Lib. I. c. 23. Rossmini, _Vita + di Filelfo_, T. III. p. 59. Ed. Milan, 1808, 3 Tom. 8vo. + +_ 431 Tusc. Disp._ Lib. II. c. 3. Lib. III. c. 3. + + 432 Juvenal, I think, had probably this passage of the Tusculan + Disputations in view, in the noble and pathetic lines of his tenth + Satire-- + + "Provida Pompeio dederat Campania febres," &c. + + 433 Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the method of writing in + dialogue, are stated by Mr. Hume, in the introduction to his + _Dialogues concerning Natural Religion_, (London, 1779, 8vo,) a work + apparently modelled on Cicero's Nature of the Gods. + + 434 In the English extracts from Cicero _De Nat. Deor._ I have availed + myself of a very good but anonymous translation, printed Lond. 1741, + 8vo. + + 435 In the Herculanensia, (p. 22,) Sir William Drummond contends, at + considerable length, that a work _On Piety according to Epicurus_, + ({~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}' {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~},) of which a fragment has been + discovered at Herculaneum, was the prototype of a considerable part + of the discourse of Velleius. The reader will find a version of the + passages in which a resemblance appears, in the Quarterly Review, + (No. V.) where it is also remarked, "that Sir William seems to us to + have failed altogether in rendering it probable that Cicero had ever + seen this important fragment, the passages in which there is any + resemblance, relating, without exception, to what each author is + reporting of the doctrines of certain older philosophers, as + expressed in their works; and the reports are not by any means so + precisely similar as to induce us to suppose that Cicero had even + taken the very justifiable liberty of saving himself some little + trouble, by making use of another author's abstract, from + Chrysippus, and from Diogenes the Babylonian." Schütz, the German + editor of Cicero, enumerates some works, which he thinks Cicero had + read, and others, which he seems to have known merely from summaries + and abridgments. The following is his conjecture with regard to the + writings of Epicurus:--"Epicuri denique {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, ejus {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} seu + libros, de Judicio, item {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} et {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, non ex + aliorum tantum testimoniis, sed ex suâ ipsius lectione ei notos + fuisse, facile, tot locis ubi de eo agitur inter se collatis, + intelligitur." (Cicer. _Opera_, Tom. XV. p. 27.) Perhaps the + treatise, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, was a similar work to that, {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} + {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 436 In his Dialogues on Natural Religion, Mr. Hume puts two very good + remarks into the mouth of one of his characters. Speaking of + Cicero's argument for a Deity, deduced from the grandeur and + magnificence of nature, he observes, "If this argument, I say, had + any force in former ages, how much greater must it have at present, + when the bounds of nature are so infinitely enlarged, and such a + magnificent scene is opened to us!" P. 103.--Again, in mentioning + that the infidelity of Galen was cured by the study of anatomy, + (which was much more extended by him than it had been in the days of + Cicero,) he says, "And if the infidelity of Galen, even when these + natural sciences were still imperfect, could not withstand such + striking appearances, to what pitch of pertinacious obstinacy must a + philosopher in this age have attained, who can now doubt of a + Supreme Intelligence!" P. 23.--See also Lactantius, _De Opificio + Dei_. + + 437 There was published, _Bononiæ_, 1811, _M. T. Ciceronis de Naturâ + Deorum Liber Quartus: e pervetusto Codice MS. Membranaceo nunc + primum edidit P. Seraphinus Ord. Fr. Min._--This tract was + republished, (Oxonii, 1813,) by Mr. Lunn, who says in a prefatory + note, that "he entertains no doubt, from the opinion of several of + his friends, of this production being a literary forgery." Of this, + indeed, there can be no doubt, as appears among various other + proofs, from the minute account of the Jews.--"Sed etiam plures + adhibere deos vel divos, a quibus ipsi regantur, quos nomine Elohim + designare soleant, secundi ordinis," &c. (p. 12.)--There is some + humour in the manner in which the Italian editor, in a preface + written in the rude style of a simple friar, obtests that the work + is not a forgery.--"Sed ne quis existimet, me ipsum fecisse hunc + librum, testor, detestor, obtestor, et contestor, per S. Franciscum + Assissium, me talem facere non posse, qui sacris incumbere cogor, + nec profanis possum," &c. + + 438 C. 29. + + 439 C. 7. + + 440 Multis etiam sensi mirabile videri, eam nobis potissimum probatam + esse philosophiam, quæ lucem eriperet, et quasi noctem quandam rebus + offunderet, desertæque disciplinæ et jampridem relictæ patrocinium + nec opinatum a nobis esse susceptum.--(_De Nat. Deor._ Lib. I. c. 3.) + + 441 Warburton, _Divine Legation_, Vol. II. p. 168. Ed. 1755. Warburton + here alludes to Bentley--_Remarks on a late Discourse of + Free-thinking_, Part II. Rem. 53. + +_ 442 Bolingbroke's Works_, Vol. VIII. p. 81. ed. 8vo. + + 443 Ibid. p. 266, 278. + + 444 Fuerint qui judicarent oportere statui per Senatum ut aboleantur hæc + scripta, quibus religio Christiana comprobetur, et vetustatis + opprimatur auctoritas.--Arnobius, _Adversus Gentes_, Lib. III. + + 445 In the preface to the second book of this treatise, _De + Divinatione_, Cicero, enumerating his late philosophical + compositions, says, "Quibus libris editis, tres libri perfecti sunt + _De Naturâ Deorum_ * * quæ ut plene essent cumulateque perfecta, _De + Divinatione_ ingressi sumus his libris scribere."--(_De Div._ Lib. + II. c. 1.) + + 446 Hoc sum contentus; quod, etiamsi, quomodo quidque fiat, ignorem, + quid fiat, intelligo. + + 447 C. 38. + + 448 C. 3. + + 449 Cowley. + + 450 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. XXXI. c. 2. + + 451 At least so says Middleton, (Vol. III. p. 297,) and he quotes as his + authority Spartian's Life of Hadrian, (c. 25.) Spartian, however, + only tells, that he was _buried_ at Cicero's villa of Puteoli--"Apud + ipsas Bajas periit, invisusque omnibus sepultus est in villâ + Ciceronianâ Puteolis." + +_ 452 Classical Tour_, Vol. II. c. 11. + +_ 453 Philosophische Anmerkungen zu Cicero's Büchern von den Pflichten_, + Breslau, 1819. + + 454 Lib. I. c. 39. + + 455 Rogers, _Human Life_. + + 456 "Fuit enim hoc in amicitiâ quasi quoddam jus inter illos, ut + militiæ, propter eximiam belli gloriam, Africanum ut deum coleret + Lælius; domi vicissim Lælium, quòd ætate antecedebat, observaret in + parentis loco Scipio." + +_ 457 Epist. Famil._ Lib. VII. ep. 18. In palimpsesto, laudo equidem + parsimoniam, sed miror, quid in illâ chartulâ fuerit, quod delere + malueris quam hæc non scribere; nisi forte tuas formulas: non enim + puto te meas epistolas delere, ut reponas tuas. + +_ 458 Mem. de l'Academ. des Inscriptions, &c._ Tom. VI. + + 459 Mai published the _De Republicâ_ at Rome, with a preface, giving a + history of his discovery, notes, and an index of emendations. It was + reprinted from this edition at London, without change, 1823; also at + Paris, 1823, with the notes of Mai, and excerpts from his preface; + and _cura_ Steinacker at Leipsic, 1823. To this German edition there + is a prefatory epistle by Hermann, which I was disappointed to find + contained only some observations on a single passage of the _De + Republicâ_, with regard to the division of the citizens into classes + by Servius Tullius. In the same year an excellent French translation + was published by M. Villemain, accompanied with an introductory + review of the work he translates; as also notes and dissertations on + those topics of Education, Manners, and Religion, which he supposes + to have formed the subjects of the last three books which have not + yet been recovered. + +_ 460 Epist. ad Quint. Frat._ Lib. II. ep. 14. + +_ 461 Epist. ad Quint. Frat._ Lib. III. ep. 5 and 6. + + 462 Cælius ad Ciceronem, _Epist. Famil._ Lib. VIII. Ep. 1. Tui libri + politici omnibus vigent. + +_ 463 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. VI. + +_ 464 Epist. ad Quint. Frat._ Lib. III. ep. 6. + + 465 The above quotation is from the XL. Number of the _North American + Review_, July 1823. It is highly creditable to the scholarship of + our Transatlantic brethren, that the work _De Republicâ_, should on + its first publication, have been the subject of an article in one of + their principal literary journals, while, as far as I know, the + reviews of this ancient land of colleges and universities, have + passed over, in absolute silence, the most important classical + discovery since the age of the Medici. + + 466 I do not know that this distinguishing feature of the character of + Cicero has been anywhere so well described as in the following + passage of M. Villemain, in which he has introduced in this respect + a beautiful comparison between Cicero and the most illustrious + writer of his own nation. Talking of the digression concerning the + Parhelion and Orrery, he admits it was little to the purpose, but he + adds, "Peut on se défendre d'un mouvement de respect, quand on songe + à ce beau caractère de curiosité philosophique, à ce goût universel + de la science dont fut animé Cicéron, et qui au milieu d'une vie + agitée par tant de travaux, et dans un état de civilisation encore + dénué de secours, lui fit rechercher avec un insatiable ardeur tous + les moyens de connoissances nouvelles et de lumières? + "Cet homme qui avait si laborieusement médité l'art de l'éloquence, + et le pratiquait chaque jour dans le Forum, dans le sénat, dans les + tribunaux; ce grand orateur, qui même pendant son consulat plaidait + encore des causes privées, au milieu d'une vie toute de gloire, + d'agitations, et de périls, dans ce mouvement d'inquiétudes et + d'affaires attesté par cette foule de lettres si admirables et si + rapidement écrites, étudiait encore tout ce que dans son siécle il + était possible de savoir. Il avait cultivé la poésie: il avait + approfondi et transporté chez les Romains toutes les philosophies de + la Grèce; il cherchait à récueillir les notions encore imparfaites + des sciences physiques. Nous voyons même par une de ses lettres + qu'il s'occupa de faire un traité technique de géographie, à peu + près comme VOLTAIRE compilait laborieusement un abrégé chronologique + de l'histoire d'Allemagne. Ces deux génies ont eu en effet ce + caractère distinctif de méler aux plus brillans trésors de + l'imagination et de goût, l'ardeur de toutes les connoissances, et + cette activité intellectuelle qui ne s'arrête, ni ne se lasse + jamais. + "Sans doute il y avait entre eux de grands dissemblances, surtout + dans cette vocation prédominante qui entrainait l'un vers + l'éloquence et l'autre vers la poésie; sans doute aussi la diversité + des temps et des situations mettait plus de difference encore entre + l'auteur Français de dix huitième siécle, et le Consul de la + republique Romaine: mais cette ardeur de tout savoir, ce mouvement + de la pensée qui s'appliquait également à tout, forme un trait + éminent qui les rapproche; et peutêtre le sentiment confus de cette + vérité agissait il sur Voltaire dans l'admiration si vivement + sentie, si sérieuse, que cet esprit contempteur de tant de renommées + antiques exprima toujours pour le génie de Cicéron."--P. LXII. + + 467 This first book occupied in the palimpsest 211 pages. Of these, 72 + are wanting; but two short fragments belonging to this book are to + be found in Lactantius and Nonius, so that about a third of the book + is still lost. + + 468 Mai cannot exactly state how much of the second book is wanting in + the palimpsest, but he thinks probably a third part; enough remains + of it to console the reader for the loss. + +_ 469 Somnium Scipionis_. + +_ 470 Epist. ad Attic._ Lib. XII. Ep. 14. + + 471 Lactantius, _Divin. Inst._ Lib. III. c. 18. Luendorum scelerum causâ + nasci homines. + + 472 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ Lib. I. _Pref._ + +_ 473 De Divin._ Lib. II. c. 9. + +_ 474 Tusc. Disput._ Lib. III. c. 28. + + 475 Scharfii, _Dissert. de vero auctore Consolationis. Miscell. Lips. + Observ._ 130. + + 476 Rogers' _Lines, written at Pæstum_. + + 477 Petrarch, _Epist. Rer. Senil._ Lib. XV. Ep. 1. + + 478 Varillas, _Vie de Louis XI. Menagiana_, Tom. II. + +_ 479 In Comment. Epist. Ad Attic._ XV. 27. + +_ 480 Eulogia_. + + 481 Mencken, _Præf. P. Alcyonî de Exilio_, Lips. 1707. + + 482 Tiraboschi, _Stor. dell. Letter. Ital._ Part. III. Lib. III. c. 4. § + 14.--Ginguené thinks that Tiraboschi has completely succeeded in + justifying Alcyonius. _Hist. Litter. d'Ital._ T. VII. p. 254. + +_ 483 Confess._ III. 4, and _De Vit. Beata_. prooem. + + 484 Tunstall, _Observations on the Epistles between Cicero and Brutus_, + p. 20. Ed. London, 1744. + +_ 485 Vit. Attici_, c. 16. + +_ 486 Epist._ Lib. VII. Ep. 1. + + 487 Ibid. Ep. 26. + + 488 A few unimportant letters which had passed between these two great + men, during Cicero's proconsulship in Cilicia, were included among + the _Epistolæ Familiares_, and are of undisputed authenticity. It + does not seem clear, whether they ever formed part of the great + collection of eight books, which contained the subsequent + correspondence between Cicero and Brutus. + + 489 Middleton's _Pref. to the Epistles of Cicero and Brutus_, p. 4. + London, 1743. + + 490 Tunstall, _Observations_, &c. p. 27. + + 491 Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ + +_ 492 Epist. ad Quint. Frat._ Lib. II. Ep. 15. + +_ 493 Epist. __Ad__ Attic._ Lib. XIII. _passim_, ed. Schütz. + + 494 Ibid. _Epist._ 25. + +_ 495 De Pueritia Ling. Lat._ c. 1. § 10. Adamum scribendi atque + _signandi_ modum præmonstrasse primitus ratio ipsa persuadet. + + 496 Lennep, _De Tirone_, p. 77. Ed. Amsteld. 1804. + + 497 Kopp, _Palæographia Critica_. Ed. Manheim, 1817. 2 Tom. 4to. + + 498 Isidorus, _Originum_, Lib. I. c. 21. + + 499 Manilius, _Astronom._ Lib. IV. v. 197. + + 500 Lib. XIV. Epig. 202. + + 501 Epigr. 138. + + 502 Kopp, _Palæographia Critica_. + + 503 Quintil. _Inst. Orator._ Lib. I. c. 3. + + 504 Ibid. + + 505 Funccius, _De Virili Ætat. Ling. Lat._ Pars II. c. 8. § 9. + +_ 506 Epist.__ ad Quint. __Frat._ Lib. III. Ep. 5. + +_ 507 Geograph._ Lib. XIII. + + 508 Lib. II. Ep. 8. + +_ 509 Noct. Attic._ Lib. II. c. 14. _et passim_. + +_ 510 Ibid._ Lib. XX. c. 6. + +_ 511 Noct. Attic._ Lib. III. c. 10. + + 512 Tacit. _Annal._ Lib. XV. c. 38-41. + + 513 Joann. Sarisberiensis, _De Nug. Curial._ Lib. VIII. c. 19. + Lursenius, _Dissert. De Bibliothecis Veterum_, p. 297. + + 514 Sulp. Severus, _De Martini Vita_, c. 16. + +_ 515 Epist._ XVIII. _Opera_. + + 516 Cassiodor. _Opera_. + + 517 Petit-Radel, _Recherches sur les Biblioth. Anciennes_. + +_ 518 Stor. dell Letter. Ital._ Part I. Lib. I. + +_ 519 Bibliotheca Latin._ + +_ 520 De Nug. Cur._ Lib. VIII. c. 19. + +_ 521 Ibid._ Lib. II. c. 26. + + 522 Tom. I. + +_ 523 De Historicis Latinis_, Lib. I, c. 19. + +_ 524 Hist. Critic. Philosoph._ Tom. III. + +_ 525 Stor. dell Letterat. Ital._ Tom. III. Lib. II. c. 2. + +_ 526 Dict. Histor._ Art. GREGOIRE. + +_ 527 Vicende della Letteratura_, Lib. I. c. 3. + +_ 528 Hist. Litter. d'Italie_, Tom. I. c. 2. + + 529 Bayle, _Diction. Histor._ Art. GREGOIRE. Rem. M. Gibbon's _Decline + and Fall of the Rom. Emp._ c. 45. + + 530 Muratori, _Antiquitates Italiæ Med. Ævi_. Tom. III. p. 853. ed. + Milan, 1741. + + 531 Tiraboschi, _Stor. dell. Letterat. Ital._ Tom. III. Lib. II. + +_ 532 Ibid._ + + 533 Petit-Radel, _Recherches sur les Biblioth. Anciennes_, p. 53. + + 534 Eichhorn, _Litterargeschichte_, ed. Gotting. 1812. + + 535 Lupi, _Epist._ 103. dated 855. + + 536 Ibid. Ep. 91. + + 537 Epist. 69. + + 538 Ginguené, _Hist. Litt. d'Italie_, Tom. I. p. 63. + + 539 Ziegel, _Hist. Rei Liter._ Tom. I. _Hist. Liter. de la France_, Tom. + IV. + + 540 Hallam's _State of Europe during the Middle Ages_, Vol. III. p. 332, + 2d ed. + +_ 541 Annali d'Italia_, Ad. Ann. 899, &c. + +_ 542 Epist._ 130. + +_ 543 Epist._ 44. + +_ 544 Antiquitates Italiæ Med. Ævi_, Tom. III. p. 818. The most valuable + books of the Bobbian collection were transferred, in the seventeenth + century, by the Cardinal Borromeo, to the Ambrosian library at + Milan; and it is from the Bobbian Palimpsesti there discovered, that + Mai has recently edited his fragments of orations of Cicero, and + plays of Plautus. + + 545 Mehus, _Vita Ambrosii Camaldulensis_, p. 157. ed. Florent. 1759. + +_ 546 Ibid._ p. 183. + + 547 Petrarc. _Epist. ad M. Varronem_. + + 548 Mill's _Travels of Theodore Ducas_, Vol. I. p. 28. + +_ 549 Vita Ambrosii Camaldulensis_, p. 290. + +_ 550 Ibid._ p. 291. + +_ 551 Ibid._ p. 335. + + 552 Roscoe's _Life of Lorenzo de Medici_, c. 1. + +_ 553 Epist._ Lib. V. + + 554 Morhoff, _Polyhistor_. Lib. I. c. 7. Lomeierus, _De Bibliothecis_, + c. 9. § 2. + + 555 Ap. Mehus, _Pref. ad Epist. Ambros. Camaldulensis_, p. 33. ed. + Florent. 1759. + + 556 Ibid. p. 31. + + 557 Ibid. p. 50. + + 558 Ibid. p. 44. + + 559 Ibid. p. 31. + + 560 Roscoe's _Life of Lorenzo de Medici_, c. 1. + + 561 Mehus, _Pref._ p. 67. + + 562 Avogradi, _De Magnificentiâ Cosmi Medices_, Lib. II. + + "O mira in tectis bibliotheca tuis! + Nunc legis altisoni sparsim pia scripta Maronis, + Nunc ea quæ Cicero ----" &c. + + 563 Roscoe, _Life of Lorenzo_, c. 7. + +_ 564 Polit. Epist._ Lib. IV. Ep. 2. + +_ 565 Travels of Theod. Ducas_, c. 1. + + 566 Berrington, _Literary Hist. of the Middle Ages_, Book VI. + +_ 567 Polyhistor_. Lib. IV. c. 10. + +_ 568 De Luxurie Veterum Poet. Lat._ + + 569 Eichhorn, _Litterargeschichte_, Tom. III. p. 569. + + 570 Evelyn's _Memoirs and Corresp._ Vol. II. p. 173. Second ed. + + 571 Morhoff, _Polyhistor_. Lib. IV. c. 11. + + 572 Thuanus, _Hist._ Lib. LXXXIV. + +_ 573 Handbuch__ der Classisch. Litteratur._ T. III. p. 31. + + 574 Osannus, _Analecta Critica_, c. 8. + +_ 575 Præf. ad Plautum_, ed. Lambini. + +_ 576 Epist. Famil._ Lib. V. + + 577 Bandini, _Catalog. Cod. Lat. Bibliothecæ Mediceæ-Laurentianæ_, Tom. + II. p. 243, &c. + + 578 Mehus, _Pref. ad Epist. Ambros. Camaldul._ p. 41. + + 579 Ibid. + +_ 580 Ambros. Camaldul. Epist._ Lib. VIII. Ep. 31. + + 581 Harles, _Supplement. ad Not. Literat. Rom._ Tom. II. p. 483. + + 582 Renouard, _Hist. de l'Imprim. des Aldes_. Tom. I. p. 162. + + 583 Muretus, in a letter dated about this time, (1581,) and addressed to + his friend Paullus Sacratus, mentions, in the strongest terms of + regret and resentment, that a Plautus, on the correction and + emendation of which he had bestowed the labour and study of + twenty-five years of his life, had been stolen from him by some + person whom he admitted to his library. (_Epist._ Lib. III. Ep. 28.) + +_ 584 Don Juan_. + + 585 Maffei, _Traduttori Italiani_, p. 8. Ed. Venez. 1720. + + 586 Ibid. 70. + + 587 Paitoni, _Biblioteca degli autor. Lat. Volgarizzati_, Tom. III. p. + 118. + +_ 588 Curiosities of Literature_, Vol, I. New series. + +_ 589 Journal Historique_. Amsterdam, 1719. + +_ 590 Bib. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 1. § 8. + +_ 591 Pref._ to Johnson and Steevens' _Shakspeare_, p. 96. 3d Ed. + + 592 Vol. I. p. 370. + + 593 Boswell's _Tour to the Hebrides_. + + 594 Ginguené, _Hist. Lit. d'Italie_, Tom. II. p. 290. + +_ 595 Bib. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 3. § 4. + + 596 Polit. _Epist._ + + 597 Bandini, _Catalog. Bib. Med. Laurent._ p. 264. Hawkin's _Inquiry + into Lat. Poet._ p. 200. + + 598 Dibdin, _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_, Tom. II. + +_ 599 Minerva, o Giornal. de Letter. d'Ital._ + + 600 Argelati, _Biblioteca de Volgarizzatori_, Tom. IV. p. 44. + + 601 Renouard, _Hist. de l'Imprim. des Aldes_, Tom. I. + +_ 602 De la louange des bons facteurs en Rime_. + + 603 Sulzer, _Theorie der Schönen Wissensch. Terenz_. + + 604 Baillet, _Jugemens des Sçavans_. + +_ 605 Mem. de Trevoux_, 1721. + + 606 Goujet, _Bib. Fran._ Tom. IV. p. 436. + +_ 607 De Vit. et Carm. Lucret. Præf._ + + 608 See Good's _Lucretius, Pref._ p. 99. Eichstädt, _De Vit. &c. + Lucret._ p. 65. + + 609 Lib. XV. c. 2. + + 610 Barbari, _Epist. I. ad Poggium_. + + 611 Mehus, _Præf. ad Epist. Ambros. Camaldul._ p. 38. + + 612 Renouard, _Annales de l'Imprimerie des Aldes_, Tom. I. + +_ 613 Biblioth. Franc._ Tom. V. + + 614 Good's _Lucretius_, _Preface_. + + 615 See Goujet, _Bibliotheque Françoise_, Tom. V. p. 18. Fabricius, + however, says, that he does not know who was the author of this + verse translation, and Mr Good, in the preface to his Lucretius, + attributes it to one James Langlois, who, he says, translated not + from the original Latin, but from Marolles' prose version. + + 616 Evelyn's _Memoirs_, Tom. I. + + 617 Evelyn's _Memoirs and Correspondence_, Vol. II. p. 102, 2d edit. + + 618 Spence's _Anecdotes_, p. 106. + +_ 619 Literary Hours_, No. II. + +_ 620 Noct. Attic._ Lib. VII. c. 20. + + 621 Maffei, _Verona Illustrata_, Part II. p. 4. + + 622 Ibid. Part II. p. 6. + +_ 623 Sammtliche Schriften_, Tom. I. + +_ 624 Symbol. Epist._ XVI. + + 625 Part. II. p. 5. + + 626 P. 477. + + 627 Brüggemann, _View of the English Editions, Translations, &c. of the + Ancient Latin Authors_. + + 628 Mehus, _Præf._ p. 50. + +_ 629 Epist. Ad Ambrosium Camald._ Ep. 39. + + 630 Gesner, _Præf._ + + 631 See Maffei, _Verona Illustrata_, Part II. Lib. III. + +_ 632 Præf. Pet. Victor. in explicationes, suar. Castig. in Cat. &c._ + +_ 633 Præf._ p. 20. + +_ 634 Epist. Ad Marcel. Cervinum_. + +_ 635 Introduct. in Notit. Litt. Rom._ + +_ 636 Epist._ 104. + + 637 Warton, _Hist. of English Poetry_, Vol. I. Dissert. II. + + 638 Fuhrmann, _Handbuch der Classisch. Lit._ + + 639 Dibdin, _Introduction to the Classics_, Vol. II. p. 197. + + 640 Fabricius, _Bib. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 9. + +_ 641 Ibid._ + +_ 642 Ibid._ + + 643 Villaret, _Hist. de France_, T. XI. p. 121. + + 644 Stuart's _Sallust_, Essay II. + +_ 645 Epist._ 37. + +_ 646 Epist._ 8. + +_ 647 Biblioteca degli Volgarizzatori_, Tom. I. p. 206. + + 648 Villaret, _Hist. de France_, T. XI. p. 121. + + 649 Plin. _Epist._ Lib. I. Ep. 20. + +_ 650 Epist. Famil._ Lib. IX. Ep. 12. + +_ 651 Epist._ 87. + + 652 Tiraboschi, _Stor. dell Lett. Ital._ Tom. IV. Lib. III. c. 5. § 21. + Maffei, _Traduttori Ital._ p. 41. + +_ 653 Epist. Ad Vir. Illust._ ep. 2. + + 654 Mehus, _Vit. Ambros. Camald._ p. 213. + + 655 Ginguené, _Hist. Lit. d'Italie_, Tom. II. Shepherd's _Life of + Poggio_. Bandini, _Catal. Codic. Biblioth. Medic. Laurent._ Tom. II. + p. 432. + + 656 Paitoni, _Bibliotec. degli Autor. Volgarizzati_. + + 657 Epist. 1. + + 658 Hallam's _Europe during the Middle Ages_, Vol. III. p. 524. 3d ed. + + 659 B. Flavii, _Ital. Illust._ p. 346. ap. Meiners, _Lebenschreibung + Beruhmter manner_, Tom. I. p. 39. Ginguené, _Hist. Lit._ Tom. II. + Pet. Victor, _in Castigat. ad Cicer. post castig. in Paradox._ + + 660 Lemprid. _in Alex. Sev._ c. 29. "Latina cùm legeret, non alia magis + legebat quàm de Officiis Ciceronis et De Republicâ." + +_ 661 Epist. Senil._ Lib. XV. Ep. 1. + + 662 Clayton's _History of the House of Medici_, c. 3 + +_ 663 Vit. Attic._ c. 16. + +_ 664 Epist._ 69. + + 665 Petrarc. _Epist. ad Viros Illust._ Ep. 1. + + 666 Mehus, _Vit. Ambros. Camald._ p. 214. + + 667 Fabricius, _Bib. Lat._ Lib. I. c. 8. + + 668 Pet. Vict. _Epist._ + + 669 Lagomarsini, _ad Poggii Epist._ I. 189. + +_ 670 Epist. ad Vir. Illust._ Ep. I. + + 671 Bandini, _Catalog. Bib. Laurent._ p. 474. + + 672 Lib. VII. + + 673 Fuhrmann, _Handbuch der Classisch. Lit._ T. IV. p. 208. + +_ 674 Epist._ Lib. II. Ep. 15. + +_ 675 Epist._ 69. + + 676 Tiraboschi, _Stor. dell' Letterat. Ital._ T. VI. Part I. Lib. I. + + 677 Beloe, _Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books_, Vol. VI. p. 140. + +_ 678 Introduct. in Notit. Literat. Roman._ p. 47. + + 679 Ibid. p. 84. + + + + + + TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The table of contents has been added in the electronic version. + +The appendix is paginated separately. The page numbers of the appendix +have been prefixed with "A-". + +"Ibid." is sometimes printed in italics, sometimes not. + +In the original, the Appendix was printed in a smaller font. + +The book has many inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization or +punctuation, especially in the quotations from foreign languages, where +sometimes diacritical signs are missing or wrong. They were not corrected +or modernized, except in the following places which can be regarded as +printing errors. + + page 8, "Liv." changed to "Lib." + page 16, "Appian" changed to "Oppian" + page 22, "from" added before "the city" + page 22, "questiones" changed to "quæstiones" + page 23, "Cumae" changed to "Cumæ", "sylvae" to "sylvæ", "villae" to + "villæ" + page 28, "edile" changed to "ædile" + page 32, "Edile" changed to "Ædile" + page 40, "Theatreales" changed to "Theatrales" + page 42, quote added following "vitâ." + page 57, period removed following "Taciti" + page 68, "vented" changed to "invented" + page 68, comma changed to period following "fables" + page 71, "givi g" changed to "giving" + page 71, "c." added before "53" + page 83, italics removed from second "Sat." + page 87, "Sullust's" changed to "Sallust's" + page 91, "a" changed to "à" + page 93, period added following "unsuccessfully" + page 117, "appropiate" changed to "appropriate" + page 128, "restain" changed to "restrain" + page 128, period removed following "Dio" + page 129, "alnost" changed to "almost" + page 133, period added following "patrician" + page 139, "coepissent" changed to "coepissent" + page 177, period added following "court" + page 178, "Phillippic" changed to "Philippic" + page 188, "á" changed to "à" + page 191, "Bnt" changed to "But" + page 195, "occured" changed to "occurred" + page 204, "Praef." changed to "Præf." + page 210, "whe" changed to "who" + page 211, comma added following "Scipio" + page 218, "a" added before "philosopher" + page 220, quote added following "abundo" + page 233, "fron" changed to "from" + page 237, "rerepresenting" changed to "representing" + page 241, "Metullus" changed to "Metellus" + page 246, "phiosopher" changed to "philosopher" + page 253 and A-61, "Natura" changed to "Naturâ" + page 253, quote added following "scribere." + page 262, quote added following "father." + page 268, double "their" removed before "known characters" + page 268, quote added following "wisdom." + page 272, "praebituram" changed to "præbituram" + page 279, "Coelius" changed to "Cælius" (twice) + page 284, "betwen" changed to "between" + page 285, "latinity" changed to "Latinity" + page 285, "appellatæ" changed to "appellate" + page A-3, italics removed from "Ep." + page A-3, period removed following "Ad", "Schutz" changed to + "Schütz" + page A-5, period added following "Epist" and "Frat" + page A-12, "Abbe" changed to "Abbé" + page A-17, "Causaubon" changed to "Casaubon" + page A-17, "seventh" changed to "seventeenth" + page A-19, "Georenz" changed to "Goerenz" + page A-19, period added following "MSS" + page A-20, apostroph added following "Scriverius" + page A-21, "Hundbuch" changed to "Handbuch" + page A-28, comma added following "Ginguené" + page A-29, "Schmeider" changed to "Schmieder" + page A-30, "Varard" changed to "Verard" + page A-31, comma added following "Goujet" + page A-34, period added following "MSS" + page A-44, "edite" changed to "edit" + page A-49, "Sweyn" changed to "Sweynheim" + page A-57, "whch" changed to "which" + page A-59, "Jenae" changed to "Jenæ" + page A-62, "Tirannio" changed to "Tyrannio" + +Some variant spellings were not changed (e. g. "Ferierres" and "Ferriers", +"truly" and "truely"). + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE FROM ITS EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE AUGUSTAN AGE. VOLUME II*** + + + + CREDITS + + +April 1, 2011 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Ted Garvin, Stefan Cramme and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 35751-8.txt or 35751-8.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/5/7/5/35751/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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