THE WORKS OF CORNELIUS TACITUS;

WITH

AN ESSAY ON HIS LIFE AND GENIUS, NOTES, SUPPLEMENTS, &c. 

BYARTHUR MURPHY, ESQ. 

 Præcipuum munus annalium reor, ne virtutes sileantur, utque pravis dictis factisque ex posteritate et infamiâ metus sit. TACITUS, Annales, iii. S. 65. 

A NEW EDITION, WITH THE AUTHOR'S LAST CORRECTIONS. 

IN EIGHT VOLUMES. 

VOL. VIII. 

LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN STOCKDALE; F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON; J. WALKER;R. LEA; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN; CADELL AND DAVIES; J. MAWMAN; J. MURRAY; J. RICHARDSON; R. BALDWIN; AND J. FAULDER. 

1811. 

A DIALOGUE CONCERNING ORATORY, OR THE CAUSES OF CORRUPT ELOQUENCE. 

VOL. VIII. 

CONTENTS. 

I. General introduction, with the reasons for writing an account ofthe following discourse. 

II. The persons engaged in the dialogue; at first, Curiatius Maternus, Julius Secundus, and Marcus Aper. 

III. Secundus endeavours to dissuade Maternus from thinking any moreof dramatic composition. 

IV. Maternus gives his reasons for persisting. 

V. Aper condemns his resolution, and, in point of utility, realhappiness, fame and dignity, contends that the oratorical professionis preferable to the poetical. 

VIII. He cites the example of Eprius Marcellus and Crispus Vibius, whoraised themselves by their eloquence to the highest honours. 

IX. Poetical fame brings with it no advantage. 

X. He exhorts Maternus to relinquish the muses, and devote his wholeto eloquence and the business of the bar. 

XI. Maternus defends his favourite studies; the pleasures arising frompoetry are in their nature innocent and sublime; the fame is extensiveand immortal. The poet enjoys the most delightful intercourse with hisfriends, whereas the life of the public orator is a state of warfareand anxiety. 

XIV. Vipstanius Messala enters the room. He finds his friends engagedin a controversy, and being an admirer of ancient eloquence, headvises Aper to adopt the model of the ancients in preference to theplan of the modern rhetoricians. 

XV. Hence a difference of opinion concerning the merit of the ancientsand the moderns. Messala, Secundus, and Maternus, profess themselvesadmirers of the oratory that flourished in the time of the republic. Aper launches out against the ancients, and gives the preference tothe advocates of his own time. He desires to know who are to beaccounted ancients. 

XVIII. Eloquence has various modes, all changing with the conjunctureof the times. But it is the nature of men to praise the past, andcensure the present. The period when Cassius Severus flourished, isstated to be the point of time at which men cease to be ancients;Cassius with good reason deviated from the ancient manner. 

XX. Defects of ancient eloquence: the modern style more refined andelegant. 

XXI. The character of Calvus, Cælius, Cæsar and Brutus, and also ofAsinius Pollio, and Messala Corvinus. 

XXII. The praise and censure of Cicero. 

XXIII. The true rhetorical art consists in blending the virtues ofancient oratory with the beauties of the modern style. 

XXIV. Maternus observes that there can be no dispute about thesuperior reputation of the ancient orators: he therefore calls uponMessala to take that point for granted, and proceed to an enquiry intothe causes that produced so great an alteration. 

XXV. After some observations on the eloquence of Calvus, AsiniusPollio, Cæsar, Cicero, and others, Messala praises Gracchus and LuciusCrassus, but censures Mæcenas, Gallio, and Cassius Severus. 

XXVII. Maternus reminds Messala of the true point in question; Messalaproceeds to assign the causes which occasioned the decay of eloquence, such as the dissipation of the young men, the inattention of theirparents, the ignorance of rhetorical professors, and the total neglectof ancient discipline. 

XXXIV. He proceeds to explain the plan of study, and the institutions, customs, and various arts, by which orators were formed in the time ofthe republic. 

XXXV. The defects and vices in the new system of education. In thispart of the dialogue, the sequel of Messala's discourse is lost, withthe whole of what was said by Secundus, and the beginning of Maternus:the supplement goes on from this place, distinguished by invertedcommas [transcriber's note: not used], and the sections marked withnumerical figures. 

1. Messala describes the presumption of the young advocates on theirfirst appearance at the bar; their want of legal knowledge, and theabsurd habits which they contracted in the schools of therhetoricians. 

2. Eloquence totally ruined by the preceptors. Messala concludes withdesiring Secundus and Maternus to assign the reasons which haveoccurred to them. 

4. Secundus gives his opinion. The change of government produced a newmode of eloquence. The orators under the emperors endeavoured to beingenious rather than natural. Seneca the first who introduced a falsetaste, which still prevailed in the reign of Vespasian. 

8. Licinius Largus taught the advocates of his time the disgracefulart of hiring applauders by profession. This was the bane of all trueoratory, and, for that reason, Maternus was right in renouncing theforum altogether. 

10. Maternus acknowledges that he was disgusted by the shamefulpractices that prevailed at the bar, and therefore resolved to devotethe rest of his time to poetry and the muses. 

11. An apology for the rhetoricians. The praise of Quintilian. Trueeloquence died with Cicero. 

13. The loss of liberty was the ruin of genuine oratory. Demosthenesflourished under a free government. The original goes on from thisplace to the end of the dialogue. 

XXXVI. Eloquence flourishes most in times of public tumult. The crimesof turbulent citizens supply the orator with his best materials. 

XXXVII. In the time of the republic, oratorical talents were necessaryqualifications, and without them no man was deemed worthy of beingadvanced to the magistracy. 

XXXVIII. The Roman orators were not confined in point of time; theymight extend their speeches to what length they thought proper, andcould even adjourn. Pompey abridged the liberty of speech, and limitedthe time. 

XXXIX. The very dress of the advocates under the emperors wasprejudicial to eloquence. 

XL. True eloquence springs from the vices of men, and never was knownto exist under a calm and settled government. 

XLI. Eloquence changes with the times. Every age has its own peculiaradvantages, and invidious comparisons are unnecessary. 

XLII. Conclusion of the dialogue. 

The time of this dialogue was the sixth of Vespasian's reign. 

 Year of Rome--Of Christ Consuls. 

 828 75 Vespasian, 6th time; Titus his son, 4th time. 

A DIALOGUE CONCERNING ORATORY, OR THE CAUSES OF CORRUPT ELOQUENCE. 

I. You have often enquired of me, my good friend, Justus Fabius [a], how and from what causes it has proceeded, that while ancient timesdisplay a race of great and splendid orators, the present age, dispirited, and without any claim to the praise of eloquence, hasscarcely retained the name of an orator. By that appellation we nowdistinguish none but those who flourished in a former period. To theeminent of the present day, we give the title of speakers, pleaders, advocates, patrons, in short, every thing but orators. 

The enquiry is in its nature delicate; tending, if we are not able tocontend with antiquity, to impeach our genius, and if we are notwilling, to arraign our judgement. An answer to so nice a question ismore than I should venture to undertake, were I to rely altogetherupon myself: but it happens, that I am able to state the sentiments ofmen distinguished by their eloquence, such as it is in modern times;having, in the early part of my life, been present at theirconversation on the very subject now before us. What I have to offer, will not be the result of my own thinking: it is the work of memoryonly; a mere recital of what fell from the most celebrated orators oftheir time: a set of men, who thought with subtilty, and expressedthemselves with energy and precision; each, in his turn, assigningdifferent but probable causes, at times insisting on the same, and, inthe course of the debate, maintaining his own proper character, andthe peculiar cast of his mind. What they said upon the occasion, Ishall relate, as nearly as may be, in the style and manner of theseveral speakers, observing always the regular course and order of thecontroversy. For a controversy it certainly was, where the speakers ofthe present age did not want an advocate, who supported their causewith zeal, and, after treating antiquity with sufficient freedom, andeven derision, assigned the palm of eloquence to the practisers ofmodern times. 

II. Curiatius Maternus [a] gave a public reading of his tragedy ofCato. On the following day a report prevailed, that the piece hadgiven umbrage to the men in power. The author, it was said, hadlaboured to display his favourite character in the brightest colours;anxious for the fame of his hero, but regardless of himself. This soonbecame the topic of public conversation. Maternus received a visitfrom Marcus Aper [b] and Julius Secundus [c], both men of genius, andthe first ornaments of the forum. I was, at that time, a constantattendant on those eminent men. I heard them, not only in their scenesof public business, but, feeling an inclination to the same studies, Ifollowed them with all the ardour of youthful emulation. I wasadmitted to their private parties; I heard their debates, and theamusement of their social hours: I treasured up their wit, and theirsentiments on the various topics which they had discussed inconversation. Respected as they were, it must, however, beacknowledged that they did not escape the malignity of criticism. Itwas objected to Secundus, that he had no command of words, no flow oflanguage; and to Aper, that he was indebted for his fame, not to artor literature, but to the natural powers of a vigorous understanding. The truth is, the style of the former was remarkable for its purity;concise, yet free and copious; and the latter was sufficiently versedin all branches of general erudition. It might be said of him, that hedespised literature, not that he wanted it. He thought, perhaps, that, by scorning the aid of letters, and by drawing altogether from his ownfund, his fame would stand on a more solid foundation. 

III. We went together to pay our visit to Maternus. Upon entering hisstudy, we found him with the tragedy, which he had read on thepreceding day, lying before him. Secundus began: And are you then solittle affected by the censure of malignant critics, as to persist incherishing a tragedy which has given so much offence? Perhaps you arerevising the piece, and, after retrenching certain passages, intend tosend your Cato into the world, I will not say improved, but certainlyless obnoxious. There lies the poem, said Maternus; you may, if youthink proper, peruse it with all its imperfections on its head. IfCato has omitted any thing, Thyestes [a], at my next reading, shallatone for all deficiencies. I have formed the fable of a tragedy onthat subject: the plan is warm in my imagination, and, that I may givemy whole time to it, I now am eager to dispatch an edition of Cato. Marcus Aper interposed: And are you, indeed, so enamoured of yourdramatic muse, as to renounce your oratorical character, and thehonours of your profession, in order to sacrifice your time, I thinkit was lately to Medea, and now to Thyestes? Your friends, in the meantime, expect your patronage; the colonies [b] invoke your aid, and themunicipal cities invite you to the bar. And surely the weight of somany causes may be deemed sufficient, without this new solicitudeimposed upon you by Domitius [c] or Cato. And must you thus waste allyour time, amusing yourself for ever with scenes of fictitiousdistress, and still labouring to add to the fables of Greece theincidents and characters of the Roman story?

IV. The sharpness of that reproof, replied Maternus, would, perhaps, have disconcerted me, if, by frequent repetition, it had not lost itssting. To differ on this subject is grown familiar to us both. Poetry, it seems, is to expect no quarter: you wage an incessant war againstthe followers of that pleasing art; and I, who am charged withdeserting my clients, have yet every day the cause of poetry todefend. But we have now a fair opportunity, and I embrace it withpleasure, since we have a person present, of ability to decide betweenus; a judge, who will either lay me under an injunction to write nomore verses, or, as I rather hope, encourage me, by his authority, torenounce for ever the dry employment of forensic causes (in which Ihave had my share of drudgery), that I may, for the future, be atleisure to cultivate the sublime and sacred eloquence of the tragicmuse. 

V. Secundus desired to be heard: I am aware, he said, that Aper mayrefuse me as an umpire. Before he states his objections, let me followthe example of all fair and upright judges, who, in particular cases, when they feel a partiality for one of the contending parties, desireto be excused from hearing the cause. The friendship and habitualintercourse, which I have ever cultivated with Saleius Bassus [a], that excellent man, and no less excellent poet, are well known: andlet me add, if poetry is to be arraigned, I know no client that canoffer such handsome bribes. 

My business, replied Aper, is not with Saleius Bassus: let him, andall of his description, who, without talents for the bar, devote theirtime to the muses, pursue their favourite amusement withoutinterruption. But Maternus must not think to escape in the crowd. Isingle him out from the rest, and since we are now before a competentjudge, I call upon him to answer, how it happens, that a man of histalents, formed by nature to reach the heights of manly eloquence, canthink of renouncing a profession, which not only serves to multiplyfriendships, but to support them with reputation: a profession, whichenables us to conciliate the esteem of foreign nations, and (if weregard our own interest) lays open the road to the first honours ofthe state; a profession, which, besides the celebrity that it giveswithin the walls of Rome, spreads an illustrious name throughout thiswide extent of the empire. 

If it be wisdom to make the ornament and happiness of life the end andaim of our actions, what can be more advisable than to embrace an art, by which we are enabled to protect our friends; to defend the cause ofstrangers; and succour the distressed? Nor is this all: the eminentorator is a terror to his enemies: envy and malice tremble, while theyhate him. Secure in his own strength, he knows how to ward off everydanger. His own genius is his protection; a perpetual guard, thatwatches him; an invincible power, that shields him from his enemies. 

In the calm seasons of life, the true use of oratory consists in theassistance which it affords to our fellow-citizens. We then behold thetriumph of eloquence. Have we reason to be alarmed for ourselves, thesword and breast-plate are not a better defence in the heat of battle. It is at once a buckler to cover yourself [b] and a weapon to brandishagainst your enemy. Armed with this, you may appear with couragebefore the tribunals of justice, in the senate, and even in thepresence of the prince. We lately saw [c] Eprius Marcellus arraignedbefore the fathers: in that moment, when the minds of the wholeassembly were inflamed against him, what had he to oppose to thevehemence of his enemies, but that nervous eloquence which hepossessed in so eminent a degree? Collected in himself, and lookingterror to his enemies, he was more than a match for Helvidius Priscus;a man, no doubt, of consummate wisdom, but without that flow ofeloquence, which springs from practice, and that skill in argument, which is necessary to manage a public debate. Such is the advantage oforatory: to enlarge upon it were superfluous. My friend Maternus willnot dispute the point. 

VI. I proceed to the pleasure arising from the exercise of eloquence;a pleasure which does not consist in the mere sensation of the moment, but is felt through life, repeated every day, and almost every hour. For let me ask, to a man of an ingenuous and liberal mind, who knowsthe relish of elegant enjoyments, what can yield such true delight, asa concourse of the most respectable characters crowding to his levee?How must it enhance his pleasure, when he reflects, that the visit isnot paid to him because he is rich, and wants an heir [a], or is inpossession of a public office, but purely as a compliment to superiortalents, a mark of respect to a great and accomplished orator! Therich who have no issue, and the men in high rank and power, are hisfollowers. Though he is still young, and probably destitute offortune, all concur in paying their court to solicit his patronage forthemselves, or to recommend their friends to his protection. In themost splendid fortune, in all the dignity and pride of power, is thereany thing that can equal the heartfelt satisfaction of the ableadvocate, when he sees the most illustrious citizens, men respectedfor their years, and flourishing in the opinion of the public, yetpaying their court to a rising genius, and, in the midst of wealth andgrandeur, fairly owning, that they still want something superior toall their possessions? What shall be said of the attendants, thatfollow the young orator from the bar, and watch his motions to his ownhouse? With what importance does he appear to the multitude! in thecourts of judicature, with what veneration! When he rises to speak, the audience is hushed in mute attention; every eye is fixed on himalone; the crowd presses round him; he is master of their passions;they are swayed, impelled, directed, as he thinks proper. These arethe fruits of eloquence, well known to all, and palpable to everycommon observer. 

There are other pleasures more refined and secret, felt only by theinitiated. When the orator, upon some great occasion, comes with awell-digested speech, conscious of his matter, and animated by hissubject, his breast expands, and heaves with emotions unfelt before. In his joy there is a dignity suited to the weight and energy of thecomposition which he has prepared. Does he rise to hazard himself [b]in a sudden debate; he is alarmed for himself, but in that very alarmthere is a mingle of pleasure, which predominates, till distressitself becomes delightful. The mind exults in the prompt exertion ofits powers, and even glories in its rashness. The productions ofgenius, and those of the field, have this resemblance: many things aresown, and brought to maturity with toil and care; yet that, whichgrows from the wild vigour of nature, has the most grateful flavour. 

VII. As to myself, if I may allude to my own feelings, the day onwhich I put on the manly gown [a], and even the days that followed, when, as a new man at Rome, born in a city that did not favour mypretensions [b], I rose in succession to the offices of quæstor, tribune, and prætor; those days, I say, did not awaken in my breastsuch exalted rapture, as when, in the course of my profession, I wascalled forth, with such talents as have fallen to my share, to defendthe accused; to argue a question of law before the centumviri [c], or, in the presence of the prince, to plead for his freedmen, and theprocurators appointed by himself. Upon those occasions I towered aboveall places of profit, and all preferment; I looked down on thedignities of tribune, prætor, and consul; I felt within myself, whatneither the favour of the great, nor the wills and codicils [d] of therich, can give, a vigour of mind, an inward energy, that springs fromno external cause, but is altogether your own. 

Look through the circle of the fine arts, survey the whole compass ofthe sciences, and tell me in what branch can the professors acquire aname to vie with the celebrity of a great and powerful orator. Hisfame does not depend on the opinion of thinking men, who attend tobusiness and watch the administration of affairs; he is applauded bythe youth of Rome, at least by such of them as are of a well-turneddisposition, and hope to rise by honourable means. The eminent oratoris the model which every parent recommends to his children. Even thecommon people [e] stand at gaze, as he passes by; they pronounce hisname with pleasure, and point at him as the object of theiradmiration. The provinces resound with his praise. The strangers, whoarrive from all parts, have heard of his genius; they wish to beholdthe man, and their curiosity is never at rest, till they have seen hisperson, and perused his countenance. 

VIII. I have already mentioned Eprius Marcellus and Crispus Vibius[a]. I cite living examples, in preference to the names of a formerday. Those two illustrious persons, I will be bold to say, are notless known in the remotest parts of the empire, than they are atCapua, or Vercellæ [b], where, we are told, they both were born. Andto what is their extensive fame to be attributed? Not surely to theirimmoderate riches. Three hundred thousand sesterces cannot give thefame of genius. Their eloquence may be said to have built up theirfortunes; and, indeed, such is the power, I might say the inspiration, of eloquence, that in every age we have examples of men, who by theirtalents raised themselves to the summit of their ambition. 

But I waive all former instances. The two, whom I have mentioned, arenot recorded in history, nor are we to glean an imperfect knowledge ofthem from tradition; they are every day before our eyes. They haverisen from low beginnings; but the more abject their origin, and themore sordid the poverty, in which they set out, their success rises inproportion, and affords a striking proof of what I have advanced;since it is apparent, that, without birth or fortune, neither of themrecommended by his moral character, and one of them deformed in hisperson, they have, notwithstanding all disadvantages, made themselves, for a series of years, the first men in the state. They began theircareer in the forum, and, as long as they chose to pursue that road ofambition, they flourished in the highest reputation; they are now atthe head of the commonwealth, the ministers who direct and govern, andso high in favour with the prince, that the respect, with which hereceives them, is little short of veneration. 

The truth is, Vespasian [c], now in the vale of years, but always opento the voice of truth, clearly sees that the rest of his favouritesderive all their lustre from the favours, which his munificence hasbestowed; but with Marcellus and Crispus the case is different: theycarry into the cabinet, what no prince can give, and no subject canreceive. Compared with the advantages which those men possess, whatare family-pictures, statues, busts, and titles of honour? They arethings of a perishable nature, yet not without their value. Marcellusand Vibius know how to estimate them, as they do wealth and honours;and wealth and honours are advantages against which you will easilyfind men that declaim, but none that in their hearts despise them. Hence it is, that in the houses of all who have distinguishedthemselves in the career of eloquence, we see titles, statues, andsplendid ornaments, the reward of talents, and, at all times, thedecorations of the great and powerful orator. 

IX. But to come to the point, from which we started: poetry, to whichmy friend Maternus wishes to dedicate all his time, has none of theseadvantages. It confers no dignity, nor does it serve any usefulpurpose. It is attended with some pleasure, but it is the pleasure ofa moment, springing from vain applause, and bringing with it no solidadvantage. What I have said, and am going to add, may probably, mygood friend Maternus, be unwelcome to your ear; and yet I must takethe liberty to ask you, if Agamemnon [a] or Jason speaks in your piecewith dignity of language, what useful consequence follows from it?What client has been defended? Who confesses an obligation? In thatwhole audience, who returns to his own house with a grateful heart?Our friend Saleius Bassus [b] is, beyond all question, a poet ofeminence, or, to use a warmer expression, he has the god within him:but who attends his levee? who seeks his patronage, or follows in histrain? Should he himself, or his intimate friend, or his nearrelation, happen to be involved in a troublesome litigation, whatcourse do you imagine he would take? He would, most probably, apply tohis friend, Secundus; or to you, Maternus; not because you are a poet, nor yet to obtain a copy of verses from you; of those he has asufficient stock at home, elegant, it must be owned, and exquisite inthe kind. But after all his labour and waste of genius, what is hisreward?

When in the course of a year, after toiling day and night, he hasbrought a single poem to perfection, he is obliged to solicit hisfriends and exert his interest, in order to bring together an audience[c], so obliging as to hear a recital of the piece. Nor can this bedone without expence. A room must be hired, a stage or pulpit must beerected; benches must be arranged, and hand-bills distributedthroughout the city. What if the reading succeeds to the height of hiswishes? Pass but a day or two, and the whole harvest of praise andadmiration fades away, like a flower that withers in its bloom, andnever ripens into fruit. By the event, however flattering, he gains nofriend, he obtains no patronage, nor does a single person go awayimpressed with the idea of an obligation conferred upon him. The poethas been heard with applause; he has been received with acclamations;and he has enjoyed a short-lived transport. 

Bassus, it is true, has lately received from Vespasian a present offifty thousand sesterces. Upon that occasion, we all admired thegenerosity of the prince. To deserve so distinguished a proof of thesovereign's esteem is, no doubt, highly honourable; but is it notstill more honourable, if your circumstances require it, to serveyourself by your talents? to cultivate your genius, for your ownadvantage? and to owe every thing to your own industry, indebted tothe bounty of no man whatever? It must not be forgotten, that thepoet, who would produce any thing truly excellent in the kind, mustbid farewell to the conversation of his friends; he must renounce, notonly the pleasures of Rome, but also the duties of social life; hemust retire from the world; as the poets say, "to groves and grottosevery muse's son. " In other words, he must condemn himself to asequestered life in the gloom of solitude. 

X. The love of fame, it seems, is the passion that inspires the poet'sgenius: but even in this respect, is he so amply paid as to rival inany degree the professors of the persuasive arts? As to theindifferent poet, men leave him to his own [a] mediocrity: the realgenius moves in a narrow circle. Let there be a reading of a poem bythe ablest master of his art: will the fame of his performance reachall quarters, I will not say of the empire, but of Rome only? Amongthe strangers who arrive from Spain, from Asia, or from Gaul, whoenquires [b] after Saleius Bassus? Should it happen that there is one, who thinks, of him; his curiosity is soon satisfied; he passes on, content with a transient view, as if he had seen a picture or astatue. 

In what I have advanced, let me not be misunderstood: I do not mean todeter such as are not blessed with the gift of oratory, from thepractice of their favourite art, if it serves to fill up their time, and gain a degree of reputation. I am an admirer of eloquence [c]; Ihold it venerable, and even sacred, in all its shapes, and every modeof composition. The pathetic of tragedy, of which you, Maternus, areso great a master; the majesty of the epic, the gaiety of the lyricmuse; the wanton elegy, the keen iambic, and the pointed epigram; allhave their charms; and Eloquence, whatever may be the subject whichshe chooses to adorn, is with me the sublimest faculty, the queen ofall the arts and sciences. But this, Maternus, is no apology for you, whose conduct is so extraordinary, that, though formed by nature toreach the summit of perfection [d], you choose to wander into deviouspaths, and rest contented with an humble station in the vale beneath. 

Were you a native of Greece, where to exhibit in the public games [e]is an honourable employment; and if the gods had bestowed upon you theforce and sinew of the athletic Nicostratus [f]; do you imagine that Icould look tamely on, and see that amazing vigour waste itself away innothing better than the frivolous art of darting the javelin, orthrowing the coit? To drop the allusion, I summon you from the theatreand public recitals to the business of the forum, to the tribunals ofjustice, to scenes of real contention, to a conflict worthy of yourabilities. You cannot decline the challenge, for you are left withoutan excuse. You cannot say, with a number of others, that theprofession of poetry is safer than that of the public orator; sinceyou have ventured, in a tragedy written with spirit, to display theardour of a bold and towering genius. 

And for whom have you provoked so many enemies? Not for a friend; thatwould have had alleviating circumstances. You undertook the cause ofCato, and for him committed yourself. You cannot plead, by way ofapology, the duty of an advocate, or the sudden effusion of sentimentin the heat and hurry of an unpremeditated speech. Your plan wassettled; a great historical personage was your hero, and you chosehim, because what falls from so distinguished a character, falls froma height that gives it additional weight. I am aware of your answer:you will say, it was that very circumstance that ensured the successof your piece; the sentiments were received with sympathetic rapture:the room echoed with applause, and hence your fame throughout the cityof Rome. Then let us hear no more of your love of quiet and a state ofsecurity: you have voluntarily courted danger. For myself, I amcontent with controversies of a private nature, and the incidents ofthe present day. If, hurried beyond the bounds of prudence, I shouldhappen, on any occasion, to grate the ears of men in power, the zealof an advocate, in the service of his client, will excuse the honestfreedom of speech, and, perhaps, be deemed a proof of integrity. 

XI. Aper went through his argument, according to his custom, withwarmth and vehemence. He delivered the whole with a peremptory toneand an eager eye. As soon as he finished, I am prepared, said Maternussmiling, to exhibit a charge against the professors of oratory, whichmay, perhaps, counterbalance the praise so lavishly bestowed upon themby my friend. In the course of what he said, I was not surprised tosee him going out of his way, to lay poor poetry prostrate at hisfeet. He has, indeed, shewn some kindness to such as are not blessedwith oratorical talents. He has passed an act of indulgence in theirfavour, and they, it seems, are allowed to pursue their favouritestudies. For my part, I will not say that I think myself whollyunqualified for the eloquence of the bar. It may be true, that I havesome kind of talent for that profession; but the tragic muse affordssuperior pleasure. My first attempt was in the reign of Nero, inopposition to the extravagant claims of the prince [a], and indefiance of the domineering spirit of Vatinius [b], that perniciousfavourite, by whose coarse buffoonery the muses were every daydisgraced, I might say, most impiously prophaned. The portion of fame, whatever it be, that I have acquired since that time, is to beattributed, not to the speeches which I made in the forum, but to thepower of dramatic composition. I have, therefore, resolved to take myleave of the bar for ever. The homage of visitors, the train ofattendants, and the multitude of clients, which glitter so much in theeyes of my friend, have no attraction for me. I regard them as I dopictures, and busts, and statues of brass; things, which indeed are inmy family, but they came unlooked for, without my stir, or so much asa wish on my part. In my humble station, I find that innocence is abetter shield than oratory. For the last I shall have no occasion, unless I find it necessary, on some future occasion, to exert myselfin the just defence of an injured friend. 

XII. But woods, and groves [a], and solitary places, have not escapedthe satyrical vein of my friend. To me they afford sensations of apure delight. It is there I enjoy the pleasures of a poeticimagination; and among those pleasures it is not the least, that theyare pursued far from the noise and bustle of the world, without aclient to besiege my doors, and not a criminal to distress me with thetears of affliction. Free from those distractions, the poet retires toscenes of solitude, where peace and innocence reside. In those hauntsof contemplation, he has his pleasing visions. He treads onconsecrated ground. It was there that Eloquence first grew up, andthere she reared her temple. In those retreats she first adornedherself with those graces, which have made mankind enamoured of hercharms; and there she filled the hearts of the wise and good with joyand inspiration. Oracles first spoke in woods and sacred groves. As tothe species of oratory, which practises for lucre, or with views ofambition; that sanguinary eloquence [b] now so much in vogue: it is ofmodern growth, the offspring of corrupt manners, and degenerate times;or rather, as my friend _Aper_ expressed it, it is a _weapon_ in thehands of ill-designing men. 

The early and more happy period of the world, or, as we poets call it, the golden age, was the æra of true eloquence. Crimes and orators werethen unknown. Poetry spoke in harmonious numbers, not to varnish evildeeds, but to praise the virtuous, and celebrate the friends of humankind. This was the poet's office. The inspired train enjoyed thehighest honours; they held commerce with the gods; they partook of theambrosial feast: they were at once the messengers and interpreters ofthe supreme command. They ranked on earth with legislators, heroes, and demigods. In that bright assembly we find no orator, no pleader ofcauses. We read of Orpheus [c], of Linus, and, if we choose to mountstill higher, we can add the name of Apollo himself. This may seem aflight of fancy. Aper will treat it as mere romance, and fabuloushistory: but he will not deny, that the veneration paid to Homer, withthe consent of posterity, is at least equal to the honours obtained byDemosthenes. He must likewise admit, that the fame of Sophocles andEuripides is not confined within narrower limits than that of Lysias[d] or Hyperides. To come home to our own country, there are at thisday more who dispute the excellence of Cicero than of Virgil. Amongthe orations of Asinius or Messala [e], is there one that can vie withthe Medea of Ovid, or the Thyestes of Varius?

XIII. If we now consider the happy condition of the true poet, andthat easy commerce in which he passes his time, need we fear tocompare his situation with that of the boasted orator, who leads alife of anxiety, oppressed by business, and overwhelmed with care? Butit is said, his contention, his toil and danger, are steps to theconsulship. How much more eligible was the soft retreat in whichVirgil [a] passed his days, loved by the prince, and honoured by thepeople! To prove this the letters of Augustus are still extant; andthe people, we know, hearing in the theatre some verses of that divinepoet [b], when he himself was present, rose in a body, and paid himevery mark of homage, with a degree of veneration nothing short ofwhat they usually offered to the emperor. 

Even in our own times, will any man say, that Secundus Pomponius [c], in point of dignity or extent of fame, is inferior to Domitius Afer[d]? But Vibius and Marcellus have been cited as bright examples: andyet, in their elevation what is there to be coveted? Is it to bedeemed an advantage to those ministers, that they are feared bynumbers, and live in fear themselves? They are courted for theirfavours, and the men, who obtain their suit, retire with ingratitude, pleased with their success, yet hating to be obliged. Can we supposethat the man is happy, who by his artifices has wriggled himself intofavour, and yet is never thought by his master sufficiently pliant, nor by the people sufficiently free? And after all, what is the amountof all his boasted power? The emperor's freedmen have enjoyed thesame. But as Virgil sweetly sings, Me let the sacred muses lead totheir soft retreats, their living fountains, and melodious groves, where I may dwell remote from care, master of myself, and under nonecessity of doing every day what my heart condemns. Let me no more beseen at the wrangling bar, a pale and anxious candidate for precariousfame; and let neither the tumult of visitors crowding to my levee, northe eager haste of officious freedmen, disturb my morning rest. Let melive free from solicitude, a stranger to the art of promising legacies[e], in order to buy the friendship of the great; and when natureshall give the signal to retire, may I possess no more than may besafely bequeathed to such friends as I shall think proper. At myfuneral let no token of sorrow be seen, no pompous mockery of woe. Crown [f] me with chaplets; strew flowers on my grave, and let myfriends erect no vain memorial, to tell where my remains are lodged. 

XIV. Maternus finished with an air of enthusiasm, that seemed to lifthim above himself. In that moment [a], Vipstanius Messala entered theroom. From the attention that appeared in every countenance, heconcluded that some important business was the subject of debate. I amafraid, said he, that I break in upon you at an unseasonable time. Youhave some secret to discuss, or, perhaps, a consultation upon yourhands. Far from it, replied Secundus; I wish you had come sooner. Youwould have had the pleasure of hearing an eloquent discourse from ourfriend Aper, who has been endeavouring to persuade Maternus todedicate all his time to the business of the bar, and to give thewhole man to his profession. The answer of Maternus would haveentertained you: he has been defending his art, and but this momentclosed an animated speech, that held more of the poetical than theoratorical character. 

I should have been happy, replied Messala, to have heard both myfriends. It is, however, some compensation for the loss, that I findmen of their talents, instead of giving all their time to the littlesubtleties and knotty points of the forum, extending their views toliberal science, and those questions of taste, which enlarge the mind, and furnish it with ideas drawn from the treasures of politeerudition. Enquiries of this kind afford improvement not only to thosewho enter into the discussion, but to all who have the happiness ofbeing present at the debate. It is in consequence of this refined andelegant way of thinking, that you, Secundus, have gained so muchapplause, by the life of Julius Asiaticus [b], with which you havelately obliged the world. From that specimen, we are taught to expectother productions of equal beauty from the same hand. In like manner, I see with pleasure, that our friend Aper loves to enliven hisimagination with topics of controversy, and still lays out his leisurein questions of the schools [c], not, indeed, in imitation of theancient orators, but in the true taste of our modern rhetoricians. 

XV. I am not surprised, returned Aper, at that stroke of raillery. Itis not enough for Messala, that the oratory of ancient times engrossesall his admiration; he must have his fling at the moderns. Our talentsand our studies are sure to feel the sallies of his pleasantry [a]. Ihave often heard you, my friend Messala, in the same humour. Accordingto you, the present age has not a single orator to boast of, thoughyour own eloquence, and that of your brother, are sufficient to refutethe charge. But you assert roundly, and maintain your proposition withan air of confidence. You know how high you stand, and while in yourgeneral censure of the age you include yourself, the smallest tinctureof malignity cannot be supposed to mingle in a decision, which deniesto your own genius, what by common consent is allowed to be yourundoubted right. 

I have as yet, replied Messala, seen no reason to make me retract myopinion; nor do I believe, that my two friends here, or even youyourself (though you sometimes affect a different tone), can seriouslymaintain the opposite doctrine. The decline of eloquence is tooapparent. The causes which have contributed to it, merit a seriousenquiry. I shall be obliged to you, my friends, for a fair solution ofthe question. I have often reflected upon the subject; but what seemsto others a full answer, with me serves only to increase thedifficulty. What has happened at Rome, I perceive to have been thecase in Greece. The modern orators of that country, such as the priest[b] Nicetes, and others who, like him, stun the schools of Myteleneand Ephesus [c], are fallen to a greater distance from Æschines andDemosthenes, than Afer and Africanus [d], or you, my friends, fromTully or Asinius Pollio. 

XVI. You have started an important question, said Secundus, and who soable to discuss it as yourself? Your talents are equal to thedifficulty; your acquisitions in literature are known to be extensive, and you have considered the subject. I have no objection, repliedMessala: my ideas are at your service, upon condition that, as I goon, you will assist me with the lights of your understanding. For twoof us I can venture to answer, said Maternus: whatever you omit, orrather, what you leave for us to glean after you, we shall be ready toadd to your observations. As to our friend Aper, you have told us, that he is apt to differ from you upon this point, and even now I seehim preparing to give battle. He will not tamely bear to see us joinedin a league in favour of antiquity. 

Certainly not, replied Aper, nor shall the present age, unheard andundefended, be degraded by a conspiracy. But before you sound to arms, I wish to know, who are to be reckoned among the ancients? At whatpoint of time [a] do you fix your favourite æra? When you talk to meof antiquity, I carry my view to the first ages of the world, and seebefore me Ulysses and Nestor, who flourished little less than [b]thirteen hundred years ago. Your retrospect, it seems, goes no fartherback than to Demosthenes and Hyperides; men who lived in the times ofPhilip and Alexander, and indeed survived them both. The interval, between Demosthenes and the present age, is little more than [c] fourhundred years; a space of time, which, with a view to the duration ofhuman life, may be called long; but, as a portion of that immensetract of time which includes the different ages of the world, itshrinks into nothing, and seems to be but yesterday. For if it betrue, as Cicero says in his treatise called Hortensius, that the greatand genuine year is that period in which the heavenly bodies revolveto the station from which their source began; and if this grandrotation of the whole planetary system requires no less than twelvethousand nine hundred and fifty-four years [d] of our computation, itfollows that Demosthenes, your boasted ancient, becomes a modern, andeven our contemporary; nay, that he lived in the same year withourselves; I had almost said, in the same month [e]. 

XVII. But I am in haste to pass to our Roman orators. Menenius Agrippa[a] may fairly be deemed an ancient. I take it, however, that he isnot the person, whom you mean to oppose to the professors of moderneloquence. The æra, which you have in view, is that of [b] Cicero andCæsar; of Cælius [c] and Calvus; of Brutus [d], Asinius, and Messala. Those are the men, whom you place in the front of hour line; but forwhat reason they are to be classed with the ancients, and not, as Ithink they ought to be, with the moderns, I am still to learn. Tobegin with Cicero; he, according to the account of Tiro, his freedman, was put to death on the seventh of the ides of December, during theconsulship of Hirtius and Pansa [e], who, we know, were both cut offin the course of the year, and left their office vacant for Augustusand Quintus Pedius. Count from that time six and fifty years tocomplete the reign of Augustus; three and twenty for that of Tiberius, four for Caligula, eight and twenty for Claudius and Nero, one forGalba, Otho, and Vitellius, and finally six from the accession ofVespasian to the present year of our felicity, we shall have from thedeath of Cicero a period of about [f] one hundred and twenty years, which may be considered as the term allotted to the life of man. Imyself remember to have seen in Britain a soldier far advanced inyears, who averred that he carried arms in that very battle [g] inwhich his countrymen sought to drive Julius Cæsar back from theircoast. If this veteran, who served in the defence of his countryagainst Cæsar's invasion, had been brought a prisoner to Rome; or, ifhis own inclination, or any other accident in the course of things, had conducted him thither, he might have heard, not only Cæsar andCicero, but even ourselves in some of our public speeches. 

In the late public largess [h] you will acknowledge that you sawseveral old men, who assured us that they had received more than once, the like distribution from Augustus himself. If that be so, might notthose persons have heard Corvinus [i] and Asinius? Corvinus, we allknow, lived through half the reign of Augustus, and Asinius almost tothe end. How then are we to ascertain the just boundaries of acentury? They are not to be varied at pleasure, so as to place someorators in a remote, and others in a recent period, while people arestill living, who heard them all, and may, therefore, with good reasonrank them as contemporaries. 

XVIII. From what I have said, I assume it as a clear position, thatthe glory, whatever it be, that accrued to the age in which thoseorators lived, is not confined to that particular period, but reachesdown to the present time, and may more properly be said to belong tous, than to Servius Galba [a], or to Carbo [b], and others of the sameor more ancient date. Of that whole race of orators, I may freely say, that their manner cannot now be relished. Their language is coarse, and their composition rough, uncouth, and harsh; and yet your Calvus[c], your Cælius, and even your favourite Cicero, condescend to followthat inelegant style. It were to be wished that they had not thoughtsuch models worthy of imitation. I mean to speak my mind with freedom;but before I proceed, it will be necessary to make a preliminaryobservation, and it is this: Eloquence has no settled form: atdifferent times it puts on a new garb, and changes with the mannersand the taste of the age. Thus we find, that Gracchus [d], comparedwith the elder Cato [e], is full and copious; but, in his turn, yieldsto Crassus [f], an orator more polished, more correct, and florid. Cicero rises superior to both; more animated, more harmonious andsublime. He is followed by Corvinus [g], who has all the softergraces; a sweet flexibility in his style, and a curious felicity inthe choice of his words. Which was the greatest orator, is not thequestion. 

The use I make of these examples, is to prove that eloquence does notalways wear the same dress, but, even among your celebrated ancients, has its different modes of persuasion. And be it remembered, that whatdiffers is not always the worst. Yet such is the malignity of thehuman mind, that what has the sanction of antiquity is always admired;what is present, is sure to be condemned. Can we doubt that there havebeen critics, who were better pleased with Appius Cæcus [h] than withCato? Cicero had his adversaries [i]: it was objected to him, that hisstyle was redundant, turgid, never compressed, void of precision, anddestitute of Attic elegance. We all have read the letters of Calvusand Brutus to your famous orator. In the course of thatcorrespondence, we plainly see what was Cicero's opinion of thoseeminent men. The former [k] appeared to him cold and languid; thelatter [l], disjointed, loose, and negligent. On the other hand, weknow what they thought in return: Calvus did not hesitate to say, thatCicero was diffuse luxuriant to a fault, and florid without vigour. Brutus, in express terms, says, he was weakened into length, andwanted sinew. If you ask my opinion, each of them had reason on hisside. I shall hereafter examine them separately. My business atpresent, is not in the detail: I speak of them in general terms. 

XIX. The æra of ancient oratory is, I think, extended by its admirersno farther back than the time of Cassius Severus [a]. He, they tellus, was the first who dared to deviate from the plain and simple styleof his predecessors. I admit the fact. He departed from theestablished forms, not through want of genius, or of learning, butguided by his own good sense and superior judgement. He saw that thepublic ear was formed to a new manner; and eloquence, he knew, was tofind new approaches to the heart. In the early periods of thecommonwealth, a rough unpolished people might well be satisfied withthe tedious length of unskilful speeches, at a time when to make anharangue that took up the whole day, was the orator's highest praise. The prolix exordium, wasting itself in feeble preparation; thecircumstantial narration, the ostentatious division of the argumentunder different heads, and the thousand proofs and logicaldistinctions, with whatever else is contained in the dry precepts ofHermagoras [b] and Apollodorus, were in that rude period received withuniversal applause. To finish the picture, if your ancient oratorcould glean a little from the common places of philosophy, andinterweave a few shreds and patches with the thread of his discourse, he was extolled to the very skies. Nor can this be matter of wonder:the maxims of the schools had not been divulged; they came with an airof novelty. Even among the orators themselves, there were but few whohad any tincture of philosophy. Nor had they learned the rules of artfrom the teachers of eloquence. 

In the present age, the tenets of philosophy and the precepts ofrhetoric are no longer a secret. The lowest of our popular assembliesare now, I will not say fully instructed, but certainly acquaintedwith the elements of literature. The orator, by consequence, findshimself obliged to seek new avenues to the heart, and new graces toembellish his discourse, that he may not offend fastidious ears, especially before a tribunal where the judge is no longer bound byprecedent, but determines according to his will and pleasure; not, asformerly, observing the measure of time allowed to the advocate, buttaking upon himself to prescribe the limits. Nor is this all: thejudge, at present, will not condescend to wait till the orator, in hisown way, opens his case; but, of his own authority, reminds him of thepoint in question, and, if he wanders, calls him back from hisdigression, not without a hint that the court wishes to dispatch. 

XX. Who, at this time, would bear to hear an advocate introducinghimself with a tedious preface about the infirmities of hisconstitution? Yet that is the threadbare exordium of Corvinus. We havefive books against Verres [a]. Who can endure that vast redundance?Who can listen to those endless arguments upon points of form, andcavilling exceptions [b], which we find in the orations of the samecelebrated advocate for Marcus Tullius [c] and Aulus Cæcina? Ourmodern judges are able to anticipate the argument. Their quicknessgoes before the speaker. If not struck with the vivacity of hismanner, the elegance of his sentiments, and the glowing colours of hisdescriptions, they soon grow weary of the flat insipid discourse. Evenin the lowest class of life, there is now a relish for rich andsplendid ornament. Their taste requires the gay, the florid, and thebrilliant. The unpolished style of antiquity would now succeed as illat the bar, as the modern actor who should attempt to copy thedeportment of Roscius [d], or Ambivius Turpio. Even the young men whoare preparing for the career of eloquence, and, for that purpose, attend the forum and the tribunals of justice, have now a nicediscriminating taste. They expect to have their imaginations pleased. They wish to carry home some bright illustration, some splendidpassage, that deserves to be remembered. What has struck their fancy, they communicate to each other: and in their letters, the glitteringthought, given with sententious brevity, the poetical allusion thatenlivened the discourse, and the dazzling imagery, are sure to betransmitted to their respective colonies and provinces. The ornamentsof poetic diction are now required, not, indeed, copied from the rudeobsolete style of Accius [e] and Pacuvius, but embellished with thegraces of Horace, Virgil, and [f] Lucan. The public judgement hasraised a demand for harmonious periods, and, in compliance with thetaste of the age, our orators grow every day more polished andadorned. Let it not be said that what we gain in refinement, we losein strength. Are the temples, raised by our modern architects, of aweaker structure, because they are not formed with shapeless stones, but with the magnificence of polished marble, and decorations of therichest gilding?

XXI. Shall I fairly own to you the impression which I generallyreceive from the ancient orators? They make me laugh, or lull me tosleep. Nor is this the case only, when I read the orations of Canutus[a], Arrius, Furnius, Toranius and others of the same school, orrather, the same infirmary [b]; an emaciated sickly race of orators;without sinew, colour, or proportion. But what shall be said of youradmired Calvus [c]? He, I think, has left no less than one and twentyvolumes: in the whole collection, there is not more than one or twoshort orations, that can pretend to perfection in the kind. Upon thispoint there is no difference of opinion. Who now reads hisdeclamations against Asitius or Drusus? His speeches against Vatiniusare in the hands of the curious, particularly the second, which mustbe allowed to be a masterpiece. The language is elegant; thesentiments are striking, and the ear is satisfied with the roundnessof the periods. In this specimen we see that he had an idea of justcomposition, but his genius was not equal to his judgement. Theorations of Cælius, though upon the whole defective, are not withouttheir beauties. Some passages are highly finished. In those weacknowledge, the nice touches of modern elegance. In general, however, the coarse expression, the halting period, and the vulgarity of thesentiments, have too much of the leaven of antiquity. 

If Cælius [d] is still admired, it is not, I believe, in any of thoseparts that bear the mark of a rude illiterate age. With regard toJulius Cæsar [e], engaged as he was in projects of vast ambition, wemay forgive him the want of that perfection which might, otherwise, beexpected from so sublime a genius. Brutus, in like manner, may beexcused on account of his philosophical speculations. Both he andCæsar, in their oratorical attempts, fell short of themselves. Theirwarmest admirers acknowledge the fact, nor is there an instance to thecontrary, unless we except Cæsar's speech for Decius the Samnite [f], and that of Brutus for king [g] Dejotarus. But are those performances, and some others of the same lukewarm temper, to be received as worksof genius? He who admires those productions, may be left to admiretheir verses also. For verses they both made, and sent them into theworld, I will not say, with more success than Cicero, but certainlymore to their advantage; for their poetry had the good fortune to belittle known. 

Asinius lived near our own times [h]. He, seems to have studied in theold school of Menenius and Appius. He composed tragedies as well asorations, but in a style so harsh and ragged, that one would think himthe disciple of Accius and Pacuvius. He mistook the nature ofeloquence, which may then be said to have attained its true beauty, when the parts unite with smoothness, strength, and proportion. As inthe human body the veins should not swell too high, nor the bones andsinews appear too prominent; but its form is then most graceful, whena pure and temperate blood gives animation [i] to the whole frame;when the muscles have their proper play, and the colour of health isdiffused over the several parts. I am not willing to disturb thememory of Corvinus Messala [k]. If he did not reach the graces ofmodern composition, the defect does not seem to have sprung fromchoice. The vigour of his genius was not equal to his judgement. 

XXII. I now proceed to Cicero, who, we find, had often upon his handsthe very controversy, that engages us at present. It was the fashionwith his contemporaries to admire the ancients, while he, on thecontrary, contended for the eloquence of his own time. Were I tomention the quality that placed him at the head of his rivals I shouldsay it was the solidity of his judgement. It was he that first sheweda taste for polished and graceful oratory. He was happy in his choiceof words, and he had the art of giving weight and harmony to hiscomposition. We find in many passages a warm imagination, and luminoussentences. In his later speeches, he has lively sallies of wit andfancy. Experience had then matured his judgement, and after longpractice, he found the true oratorical style. In his earlierproductions we see the rough cast of antiquity. The exordium istedious; the narration is drawn into length; luxuriant passages arenot retouched with care; he is not easily affected, and he rarelytakes fire; his sentiments are not always happily expressed [a], norare the periods closed with energy. There is nothing so highlyfinished, as to tempt you to avail yourself of a borrowed beauty. Inshort, his speeches are like a rude building, which is strong anddurable, but wants that grace and consonance of parts which givesymmetry and perfection to the whole. 

In oratory, as in architecture, I require ornament as well as use. From the man of ample fortune, who undertakes to build, we expectelegance and proportion. It is not enough that his house will keep outthe wind and the rain; it must strike the eye, and present a pleasingobject. Nor will it suffice that the furniture may answer all domesticpurposes; it should be rich, fashionable, elegant; it should have goldand gems so curiously wrought, that they will bear examination, oftenviewed, and always admired. The common utensils, which are either meanor sordid, should be carefully removed out of sight. In like manner, the true orator should avoid the trite and vulgar. Let him reject theantiquated phrase, and whatever is covered with the rust of time; lethis sentiments be expressed with spirit, not in careless, ill-constructed, languid periods, like a dull writer of annals; lethim banish low scurrility, and, in short, let him know how todiversify his style, that he may not fatigue the ear with a monotony, ending for ever with the same unvaried cadence [b]. 

XXIII. I shall say nothing of the false wit, and insipid play uponwords, which we find in Cicero's orations. His pleasant conceits aboutthe _wheel of fortune_ [a], and the arch raillery on the equivocalmeaning of the word _verres_ [b], do not merit a moment's attention. Iomit the perpetual recurrence of the phrase, _esse videatur_ [c], which chimes in our ears at the close of so many sentences, soundingbig, but signifying nothing. These are petty blemishes; I mention themwith reluctance. I say nothing of other defects equally improper: andyet those very defects are the delight of such as affect to callthemselves ancient orators. I need not single them out by name: themen are sufficiently known; it is enough to allude, in general terms, to the whole class. 

We all are sensible that there is a set of critics now existing, whoprefer Lucilius [d] to Horace, and Lucretius [e] to Virgil; whodespise the eloquence of Aufidius Bassus [f] and Servilius Nonianus, and yet admire Varro and [g] Sisenna. By these pretenders to taste, the works of our modern rhetoricians are thrown by with neglect, andeven fastidious disdain; while those of Calvus are held in the highestesteem. We see these men prosing in their ancient style before thejudges; but we see them left without an audience, deserted by thepeople, and hardly endured by their clients. The truth is, their coldand spiritless manner has no attraction. They call it sound oratory, but it is want of vigour; like that precarious state of health whichweak constitutions preserve by abstinence. What physician willpronounce that a strong habit of body, which requires constant careand anxiety of mind? To say barely, that we are not ill, is surely notenough. True health consists in vigour, a generous warmth, and acertain alacrity in the whole frame. He who is only not indisposed, islittle distant from actual illness. 

With you, my friends, the case is different: proceed, as you well can, and in fact, as you do, to adorn our age with all the grace andsplendour of true oratory. It is with pleasure, Messala, that I seeyou selecting for imitation the liveliest models of the ancientschool. You too, Maternus, and you, my friend, Secundus [h], you bothpossess the happy art of adding to weight of sentiment all the dignityof language. To a copious invention you unite the judgement that knowshow to distinguish the specific qualities of different authors. Thebeauty of order is yours. When the occasion demands it, you can expandand amplify with strength and majesty; and you know when to be concisewith energy. Your periods flow with ease, and your composition hasevery grace of style and sentiment. You command the passions withresistless sway, while in yourselves you beget a temperance so trulydignified, that, though, perhaps, envy and the malignity of the timesmay be unwilling to proclaim your merit, posterity will do you amplejustice [i]. 

XXIV. As soon as Aper concluded, You see, said Maternus, the zeal andardour of our friend: in the cause of the moderns, what a torrent ofeloquence! against the ancients, what a fund of invective! With greatspirit, and a vast compass of learning, he has employed against hismasters the arts for which he is indebted to them. And yet all thisvehemence must not deter you, Messala, from the performance of yourpromise. A formal defence of the ancients is by no means necessary. Wedo not presume to vie with that illustrious race. We have been praisedby Aper, but we know our inferiority. He himself is aware of it, though, in imitation of the ancient manner [a], he has thought proper, for the sake of a philosophical debate, to take the wrong side of thequestion. In answer to his argument, we do not desire you to expatiatein praise of the ancients: their fame wants no addition. What werequest is, an investigation of the causes which have produced sorapid a decline from the flourishing state of genuine eloquence. Icall it rapid, since, according to Aper's own chronology, the periodfrom the death of Cicero does not exceed one hundred and twenty years[b]. 

XXV. I am willing, said Messala, to pursue the plan which you haverecommended. The question, whether the men who flourished above onehundred years ago, are to be accounted ancients, has been started bymy friend Aper, and, I believe, it is of the first impression. But itis a mere dispute about words. The discussion of it is of no moment, provided it be granted, whether we call them ancients, or ourpredecessors, or give them any other appellation, that the eloquenceof those times was superior to that of the present age. When Apertells us, that different periods of time have produced new modes oforatory, I see nothing to object; nor shall I deny, that in one andthe same period the style and manners have greatly varied. But this Iassume, that among the orators of Greece, Demosthenes holds the firstrank, and after him [a] Æschynes, Hyperides, Lysias, and Lycurgus, inregular succession. That age, by common consent, is allowed to be theflourishing period of Attic eloquence. 

In like manner, Cicero stands at the head of our Roman orators, whileCalvus, Asinius, and Cæsar, Cælius and Brutus, follow him at adistance; all of them superior, not only to every former age, but tothe whole race that came after them. Nor is it material that theydiffer in the mode, since they all agree in the kind. Calvus is closeand nervous; Asinius more open and harmonious; Cæsar is distinguished[b] by the splendour of his diction; Cælius by a caustic severity; andgravity is the characteristic of Brutus. Cicero is more luxuriant inamplification, and he has strength and vehemence. They all, however, agree in this: their eloquence is manly, sound, and vigorous. Examinetheir works, and you will see the energy of congenial minds, afamily-likeness in their genius, however it may take a distinct colourfrom the specific qualities of the men. True, they detracted from eachother's merit. In their letters, which are still extant, we find somestrokes of mutual hostility. But this littleness does not impeachtheir eloquence: their jealousy was the infirmity of human nature. Calvus, Asinius, and Cicero, might have their fits of animosity, and, no doubt, were liable to envy, malice, and other degrading passions:they were great orators, but they were men. 

Brutus is the only one of the set, who may be thought superior topetty contentions. He spoke his mind with freedom, and, I believe, without a tincture of malice. He did not envy Cæsar himself, and canit be imagined that he envied Cicero? As to Galba [c], Lælius, andothers of a remote period, against whom we have heard Aper'sdeclamation, I need not undertake their defence, since I am willing toacknowledge, that in their style and manner we perceive those defectsand blemishes which it is natural to expect, while art, as yet in itsinfancy, has made no advances towards perfection. 

XXVI. After all, if the best form of eloquence must be abandoned, andsome, new-fangled style must grow into fashion, give me the rapidityof Gracchus [a], or the more solemn manner of Crassus [b], with alltheir imperfections, rather than the effeminate delicacy of [c]Mæcenas, or the tinkling cymbal [d] of Gallio. The most homely dressis preferable to gawdy colours and meretricious ornaments. The stylein vogue at present, is an innovation, against every thing just andnatural; it is not even manly. The luxuriant phrase, the inanity oftuneful periods, and the wanton levity of the whole composition, arefit for nothing but the histrionic art, as if they were written forthe stage. To the disgrace of the age (however astonishing it mayappear), it is the boast, the pride, the glory of our present orators, that their periods are musical enough either for the dancer's heel[e], or the warbler's throat. Hence it is, that by a frequent, butpreposterous, metaphor, the orator is said to speak in melodiouscadence, and the dancer to move with expression. In this view ofthings, even [f] Cassius Severus (the only modern whom Aper hasventured to name), if we compare him with the race that followed, maybe fairly pronounced a legitimate orator, though it must beacknowledged, that in what remains of his compositing, he is clumsywithout strength, and violent without spirit. He was the first thatdeviated from the great masters of his art. He despised all method andregular arrangement; indelicate in his choice of words, he paid noregard to decency; eager to attack, he left himself unguarded; hebrandished his weapons without skill or address; and, to speakplainly, he wrangled, but did not argue. And yet, notwithstandingthese defects, he was, as I have already said, superior to all thatcame after him, whether we regard the variety of his learning, theurbanity of his wit, or the vigour of his mind. I expected that Aper, after naming this orator, would have drawn up the rest of his forcesin regular order. He has fallen, indeed, upon Asinius, Cælius, andCalvus; but where are his champions to enter the lists with them? Iimagined that he had a phalanx in reserve, and that we should haveseen them man by man giving battle to Cicero, Cæsar, and the rest insuccession. He has singled out some of the ancients, but has broughtnone of his moderns into the field. He thought it enough to give thema good character in their absence. In this, perhaps, he acted withprudence: he was afraid, if he selected a few, that the rest of thetribe would take offence. For among the rhetoricians of the presentday, is there one to be found, who does not, in his own opinion, towerabove Cicero, though he has the modesty to yield to Gabinianus [g]?

XXVII. What Aper has omitted, I intend to perform. I shall produce hismoderns by name, to the end that, by placing the example before oureyes, we may be able, more distinctly, to trace the steps by which thevigour of ancient eloquence has fallen to decay. Maternus interruptedhim. I wish, he said, that you would come at once to the point: weclaim your promise. The superiority of the ancients is not inquestion. We want no proof of it. Upon that point my opinion isdecided. But the causes of our rapid decline from ancient excellenceremain to be unfolded. We know that you have turned your thoughts tothis subject, and we expected from you a calm disquisition, had notthe violent attack which Aper made upon your favourite orators, rousedyour spirit, and, perhaps, given you some offence. Far from it, replied Messala; he has given me no offence; nor must you, my friends, take umbrage, if at any time a word should fall from me, not quiteagreeable to your way of thinking. We are engaged in a free enquiry, and you know, that, in this kind of debate, the established law allowsevery man to speak his mind without reserve. That is the law, repliedMaternus; you may proceed in perfect security. When you speak of theancients, speak of them with ancient freedom, which, I fear, is at alower ebb than even the genius of those eminent men. 

XXVIII. Messala resumed his discourse: The causes of the decay ofeloquence are by no means difficult to be traced. They are, I believe, well known to you, Maternus, and also to Secundus, not excepting myfriend Aper. It seems, however, that I am now, at your request, tounravel the business. But there is no mystery in it. We know thateloquence, with the rest of the polite arts, has lost its formerlustre: and yet, it is not a dearth of men, or a decay of talents, that has produced this fatal effect. The true causes are, thedissipation of our young men, the inattention of parents, theignorance of those who pretend to give instruction, and the totalneglect of ancient discipline. The mischief began at Rome, it hasover-run all Italy, and is now, with rapid strides, spreading throughthe provinces. The effects, however, are more visible at home, andtherefore I shall confine myself to the reigning vices of the capital;vices that wither every virtue in the bud, and continue their balefulinfluence through every season of life. 

But before I enter on the subject, it will not be useless to look backto the system of education that prevailed in former times, and to thestrict discipline of our ancestors, in a point of so much moment asthe formation of youth. In the times to which I now refer, the son ofevery family was the legitimate offspring of a virtuous mother. Theinfant, as soon as born, was not consigned to the mean dwelling of ahireling nurse [a], but was reared and cherished in the bosom of atender parent. To regulate all household affairs, and attend to herinfant race, was, at that time, the glory of the female character. Amatron, related to the family, and distinguished by the purity of herlife, was chosen to watch the progress of the tender mind. In herpresence not one indecent word was uttered; nothing was done againstpropriety and good manners. The hours of study and serious employmentwere settled by her direction; and not only so, but even thediversions of the children were conducted with modest reserve andsanctity of manners. Thus it was that Cornelia [b], the mother of theGracchi, superintended the education of her illustrious issue. It wasthus that Aurelia [c] trained up Julius Cæsar; and thus Atia [d]formed the mind of Augustus. The consequence of this regulardiscipline was, that the young mind grew up in innocence, unstained byvice, unwarped by irregular passions, and, under that culture, received the seeds of science. Whatever was the peculiar bias, whetherto the military art, the study of the laws, or the profession ofeloquence, that engrossed the whole attention, and the youth, thusdirected, embraced the entire compass of one favourite science. 

XXIX. In the present age, what is our practice? The infant iscommitted to a Greek chambermaid, and a slave or two, chosen for thepurpose, generally the worst of the whole household train; all utterstrangers to every liberal notion. In that worshipful society [a] theyouth grows up, imbibing folly and vulgar error. Throughout the house, not one servant cares what he says or does [b] in the presence of hisyoung master: and indeed how should it be otherwise? The parentsthemselves are the first to give their children the worst examples ofvice and luxury. The stripling consequently loses all sense of shame, and soon forgets the respect he owes to others as well as to himself. A passion for horses, players, and gladiators [c], seems to be theepidemic folly of the times. The child receives it in his mother'swomb; he brings it with him into the world; and in a mind sopossessed, what room for science, or any generous purpose?

In our houses, at our tables, sports and interludes are the topics ofconversation. Enter the places of academical lectures, and who talksof any other subject? The preceptors themselves have caught thecontagion. Nor can this be wondered at. To establish a strict andregular discipline, and to succeed by giving proofs of their genius, is not the plan of our modern rhetoricians. They pay their court tothe great, and, by servile adulation, increase the number of theirpupils. Need I mention the manner of conveying the first elements ofschool learning? No care is taken to give the student a taste for thebest authors [d]; the page of history lies neglected; the study of menand manners is no part of their system; and every branch of usefulknowledge is left uncultivated. A preceptor is called in, andeducation is then thought to be in a fair way. But I shall haveoccasion hereafter to speak more fully of that class of men, calledrhetoricians. It will then be seen, at what period that professionfirst made its appearance at Rome, and what reception it met with fromour ancestors. 

XXX. Before I proceed, let us advert for a moment to the plan ofancient discipline. The unwearied diligence of the ancient orators, their habits of meditation, and their daily exercise in the wholecircle of arts and sciences, are amply displayed in the books whichthey have transmitted to us. The treatise of Cicero, entitled Brutus[a], is in all our hands. In that work, after commemorating theorators of a former day, he closes the account with the particulars ofhis own progress in science, and the method he took in educatinghimself to the profession of oratory. He studied the civil law under[b] Mucius Scævola; he was instructed in the various systems ofphilosophy, by Philo [c] of the academic school, and by Diodorus thestoic; and though Rome, at that time, abounded with the bestprofessors, he made a voyage to Greece [d], and thence to Asia, inorder to enrich his mind with every branch of learning. Hence thatstore of knowledge which appears in all his writings. Geometry, music, grammar, and every useful art, were familiar to him. He embraced thewhole science of logic [e] and ethics. He studied the operations ofnature. His diligence of enquiry opened to him the long chain ofcauses and effects, and, in short, the whole system of physiology washis own. From a mind thus replenished, it is no wonder, my goodfriends, that we see in the compositions of that extraordinary manthat affluence of ideas, and that prodigious flow of eloquence. Infact, it is not with oratory as with the other arts, which areconfined to certain objects, and circumscribed within their ownpeculiar limits. He alone deserves the name of an orator, who canspeak in a copious style, with ease or dignity, as the subjectrequires; who can find language to decorate his argument; who throughthe passions can command the understanding; and, while he servesmankind, knows how to delight the judgement and the imagination of hisaudience. 

XXXI. Such was, in ancient times, the idea of an orator. To form thatillustrious character, it was not thought necessary to declaim in theschools of rhetoricians [a], or to make a vain parade in fictitiouscontroversies, which were not only void of all reality, but even of ashadow of probability. Our ancestors pursued a different plan: theystored their minds with just ideas of moral good and evil; with therules of right and wrong, and the fair and foul in human transactions. These, on every controverted point, are the orator's province. Incourts of law, just and unjust undergo his discussion; in politicaldebate, between what is expedient and honourable, it is his to drawthe line; and those questions are so blended in their nature, thatthey enter into every cause. On such important topics, who can hope tobring variety of matter, and to dignify that matter with style andsentiment, if he has not, beforehand, enlarged his mind with theknowledge of human nature? with the laws of moral obligation? thedeformity of vice, the beauty of virtue, and other points which do notimmediately belong to the theory of ethics?

The orator, who has enriched his mind with these materials, may betruly said to have acquired the powers of persuasion. He who knows thenature of indignation, will be able to kindle or allay that passion inthe breast of the judge; and the advocate who has considered theeffect of compassion, and from what secret springs it flows, will bestknow how to soften the mind, and melt it into tenderness. It is bythese secrets of his art that the orator gains his influence. Whetherhe has to do with the prejudiced, the angry, the envious, themelancholy, or the timid, he can bridle their various passions, andhold the reins in his own hand. According to the disposition of hisaudience, he will know when to check the workings of the heart, andwhen to raise them to their full tumult of emotion. 

Some critics are chiefly pleased with that close mode of oratory, which in a laconic manner states the facts, and forms an immediateconclusion: in that case, it is obvious how necessary it is to be acomplete master of the rules of logic. Others delight in a more open, free, and copious style, where the arguments are drawn from topics ofgeneral knowledge; for this purpose, the peripatetic school [b] willsupply the orator with ample materials. The academic philosopher [c]will inspire him with warmth and energy; Plato will give the sublime, and Xenophon that equal flow which charms us in that amiable writer. The rhetorical figure, which is called exclamation, so frequent withEpicurus [d] and Metrodorus, will add to a discourse those suddenbreaks of passion, which give motion, strength, and vehemence. 

It is not for the stoic school, nor for their imaginary wise man, thatI am laying down rules. I am forming an orator, whose business it is, not to adhere to one sect, but to go the round of all the arts andsciences. Accordingly we find, that the great master of ancienteloquence laid their foundation in a thorough study of the civil law, and to that fund they added grammar, music, and geometry. The fact is, in most of the causes that occur, perhaps in every cause, a dueknowledge of the whole system of jurisprudence is an indispensablerequisite. There are likewise many subjects of litigation, in which anacquaintance with other sciences is of the highest use. 

XXXII. Am I to be told, that to gain some slight information onparticular subjects, as occasion may require, will sufficiently answerthe purposes of an orator? In answer to this, let it be observed, thatthe application of what we draw from our own fund, is very differentfrom the use we make of what we borrow. Whether we speak from digestedknowledge, or the mere suggestion of others, the effect is soonperceived. Add to this, that conflux of ideas with which the differentsciences enrich the mind, gives an air of dignity to whatever we say, even in cases where that depth of knowledge is not required. Scienceadorns the speaker at all times, and, where it is least expected, confers a grace that charms every hearer; the man of erudition feelsit, and the unlettered part of the audience acknowledge the effectwithout knowing the cause. A murmur of applause ensues; the speaker isallowed to have laid in a store of knowledge; he possesses all thepowers of persuasion, and then is called an orator indeed. 

I take the liberty to add, if we aspire to that honourableappellation, that there is no way but that which I have chalked out. No man was ever yet a complete orator, and, I affirm, never can be, unless, like the soldier marching to the field of battle, he entersthe forum armed at all points with the sciences and the liberal arts. Is that the case in these our modern times? The style which we hearevery day, abounds with colloquial barbarisms, and vulgar phraseology:no knowledge of the laws is heard; our municipal policy is whollyneglected, and even the decrees of the senate are treated withcontempt and derision. Moral philosophy is discarded, and the maximsof ancient wisdom are unworthy of their notice. In this manner, eloquence is dethroned; she is banished from her rightful dominions, and obliged to dwell in the cold regions of antithesis, forcedconceit, and pointed sentences. The consequence is, that she, who wasonce the sovereign mistress of the sciences, and led them as handmaidsin her train, is now deprived of her attendants, reduced, impoverished, and, stripped of her usual honours (I might say of hergenius), compelled to exercise a mere plebeian art. 

And now, my friends, I think I have laid open the efficient cause ofthe decline of eloquence. Need I call witnesses to support my opinion?I name Demosthenes among the Greeks. He, we are assured, constantlyattended [a] the lectures of Plato. I name Cicero among the Romans: hetells us (I believe I can repeat his words), that if he attained anydegree of excellence, he owed it, not so much to the precepts ofrhetoricians, as to his meditations in the walks of the academicschool. I am aware that other causes of our present degeneracy may beadded; but that task I leave to my friends, since I now may flattermyself that I have performed my promise. In doing it, I fear, that, asoften happens to me, I have incurred the danger of giving offence. Were a certain class of men to hear the principles which I haveadvanced in favour of legal knowledge and sound philosophy, I shouldexpect to be told that I have been all the time commending my ownvisionary schemes. 

XXXIII. You will excuse me, replied Maternus, if I take the liberty tosay that you have by no means finished your part of our enquiry. Youseem to have spread your canvas, and to have touched the outlines ofyour plan; but there are other parts that still require the colouringof so masterly a hand. The stores of knowledge, with which theancients enlarged their minds, you have fairly explained, and, incontrast to that pleasing picture, you have given us a true draught ofmodern ignorance. But we now wish to know, what were the exercises, and what the discipline, by which the youth of former times preparedthemselves for the honours of their profession. It will not, Ibelieve, be contended, that theory, and systems of art, are ofthemselves sufficient to form a genuine orator. It is by practice, andby constant exertion, that the faculty of speech improves, till thegenius of the man expands, and flourishes in its full vigour. This, Ithink, you will not deny, and my two friends, if I may judge by theirlooks, seem to give their assent. Aper and Secundus agreed withouthesitation. 

Messala proceeded as follows: Having, as I conceive, shewn theseed-plots of ancient eloquence, and the fountains of science, fromwhich they drew such copious streams; it remains now to give some ideaof the labour, the assiduity, and the exercises, by which they trainedthemselves to their profession. I need not observe, that in thepursuit of science, method and constant exercise are indispensable:for who can hope, without regular attention, to master abstractschemes of philosophy, and embrace the whole compass of the sciences?Knowledge must be grafted in the mind by frequent meditation [a]; tothat must be added the faculty of conveying our ideas; and, to makesure of our impression, we must be able to adorn our thoughts with thecolours of true eloquence. Hence it is evident that the same arts, bywhich the mind lays in its stock of knowledge, must be still pursued, in order to attain a clear and graceful manner of conveying thatknowledge to others. This may be thought refined and too abstruse. If, however, we are still to be told that science and elocution are thingsin themselves distinct and unrelated; this, at least, may be assumed, that he, who, with a fund of previous knowledge, undertakes theprovince of oratory, will bring with him a mind well seasoned, andduly prepared for the study and exercise of real eloquence. 

XXXIV. The practice of our ancestors was agreeable to this theory. Theyouth, who was intended for public declamation, went forth, under thecare of his father, or some near relation, with all the advantages ofhome-discipline; his mind was expanded by the fine arts, andimpregnated with science. He was conducted to the most eminent oratorof the time. Under that illustrious patronage he visited the forum; heattended his patron upon all occasions; he listened with attention tohis pleadings in the tribunals of justice, and his public haranguesbefore the people; he heard him in the warmth of argument; he notedhis sudden replies, and thus, in the field of battle, if I may soexpress myself, he learned the first rudiments of rhetorical warfare. The advantages of this method are obvious: the young candidate gainedcourage, and improved his judgement; he studied in open day, amidstthe heat of the conflict, where nothing weak or idle could be saidwith impunity; where every thing absurd was instantly rebuked by thejudge, exposed to ridicule by the adversary, and condemned by thewhole bar. 

In this manner the student was initiated in the rules of sound andmanly eloquence; and, though it be true, that he placed himself underthe auspices of one orator only, he heard the rest in their turn, andin that diversity of tastes which always prevails in mixed assemblies, he was enabled to distinguish what was excellent or defective in thekind. The orator in actual business was the best preceptor: theinstructions which he gave, were living eloquence, the substance, andnot the shadow. He was himself a real combatant, engaged with azealous antagonist, both in earnest, and not like gladiators, in amock contest, fighting for prizes. It was a struggle for victory, before an audience always changing, yet always full; where the speakerhad his enemies as well as his admirers; and between both, what wasbrilliant met with applause; what was defective, was sure to becondemned. In this clash of opinions, the genuine orator flourished, and acquired that lasting fame, which, we all know, does not depend onthe voice of friends only, but must rebound from the benches filledwith your enemies. Extorted applause is the best suffrage. 

In that school, the youth of expectation, such as I have delineated, was reared and educated by the most eminent genius of the times. Inthe forum, he was enlightened by the experience of others; he wasinstructed in the knowledge of the laws, accustomed to the eye of thejudges, habituated to the looks of a numerous audience, and acquaintedwith the popular taste. After this preparation, he was called forth toconduct a prosecution, or to take upon himself the whole weight of thedefence. The fruit of his application was then seen at once. He wasequal, in his first outset, to the most arduous business. Thus it wasthat Crassus, at the age of nineteen [a], stood forth the accuser ofPapirius Carbo: thus Julius Cæsar, at one and twenty, arraignedDolabella; Asinius Pollio, about the same age, attacked Caius Cato;and Calvus, but a little older, flamed out against Vatinius. Theirseveral speeches are still extant, and we all read them withadmiration. 

XXXV. In opposition to this system of education, what is our modernpractice? Our young men are led [a] to academical prolusions in theschool of vain professors, who call themselves rhetoricians; a race ofimpostors, who made their first appearance at Rome, not long beforethe days of Cicero. That they were unwelcome visitors, is evident fromthe circumstance of their being silenced by the two censors [b], Crassus and Domitius. They were ordered, says Cicero, to shut up theirschool of impudence. Those scenes, however, are open at present, andthere our young students listen to mountebank oratory. I am at a losshow to determine which is most fatal to all true genius, the placeitself, the company that frequent it, or the plan of study universallyadopted. Can the place impress the mind with awe and respect, wherenone are ever seen but the raw, the unskilful, and the ignorant? Insuch an assembly what advantage can arise? Boys harangue before boys, and young men exhibit before their fellows. The speaker is pleasedwith his declamation, and the hearer with his judgement. The verysubjects on which they display their talents, tend to no usefulpurpose. They are of two sorts, persuasive or controversial. Thefirst, supposed to be of the lighter kind, are usually assigned to theyoungest scholars: the last are reserved for students of longerpractice and riper judgement. But, gracious powers! what are thecompositions produced on these occasions?

The subject is remote from truth, and even probability, unlike anything that ever happened in human life: and no wonder if thesuperstructure perfectly agrees with the foundation. It is to thesescenic exercises that we owe a number of frivolous topics, such as thereward due to the slayer of a tyrant; the election to be made by [c]violated virgins; the rites and ceremonies proper to be used during araging pestilence; the loose behaviour of married women; with otherfictitious subjects, hackneyed in the schools, and seldom or neverheard of in our courts of justice. These imaginary questions aretreated with gaudy flourishes, and all the tumor of unnaturallanguage. But after all this mighty parade, call these striplings fromtheir schools of rhetoric, into the presence of the judges, and to thereal business of the bar [d]:

1. What figure will they make before that solemn judicature? Trainedup in chimerical exercises, strangers to the municipal laws, unacquainted with the principles of natural justice and the rights ofnations, they will bring with them that false taste which they havebeen for years acquiring, but nothing worthy of the public ear, nothing useful to their clients. They have succeeded in nothing butthe art of making themselves ridiculous. The peculiar quality of theteacher [a], whatever it be, is sure to transfuse itself into theperformance of the pupil. Is the master haughty, fierce, and arrogant;the scholar swells with confidence; his eye threatens prodigiousthings, and his harangue is an ostentatious display of thecommon-places of school oratory, dressed up with dazzling splendour, and thundered forth with emphasis. On the other hand, does the mastervalue himself for the delicacy of his taste, for the foppery ofglittering conceits and tinsel ornament; the youth who has beeneducated under him, sets out with the same artificial prettiness, thesame foppery of style and manner. A simper plays on his countenance;his elocution is soft and delicate; his action pathetic; his sentencesentangled in a maze of sweet perplexity; he plays off the whole of histheatrical skill, and hopes to elevate and surprise. 

2. This love of finery, this ambition to shine and glitter, hasdestroyed all true eloquence. Oratory is not the child of hirelingteachers; it springs from another source, from a love of liberty, froma mind replete with moral science, and a thorough knowledge of thelaws; from a due respect for the best examples, from profoundmeditation [a], and a style formed by constant practice. While thesewere thought essential requisites, eloquence flourished. But the truebeauties of language fell into disuse, and oratory went to ruin. Thespirit evaporated; I fear, to revive no more. I wish I may prove afalse prophet, but we know the progress of art in every age andcountry. Rude at first, it rises from low beginnings, and goes onimproving, till it reaches the highest perfection in the kind. But atthat point it is never stationary: it soon declines, and from thecorruption of what is good, it is not in the nature of man, nor in thepower of human faculties, to rise again to the same degree ofexcellence. 

3. Messala closed with a degree of vehemence, and then turning toMaternus and Secundus [a], It is yours, he said, to pursue this trainof argument; or if any cause of the decay of eloquence lies stilldeeper, you will oblige us by bringing it to light. Maternus, Ipresume, will find no difficulty: a poetic genius holds commerce withthe gods, and to him nothing will remain a secret. As for Secundus, hehas been long a shining ornament of the forum, and by his ownexperience knows how to distinguish genuine eloquence from the corruptand vicious. Maternus heard this sally of his friend's good humourwith a smile. The task, he said, which you have imposed upon us, wewill endeavour to execute. But though I am the interpreter of thegods, I must notwithstanding request that Secundus may take the lead. He is master of the subject, and, in questions of this kind, experience is better than inspiration. 

4. Secundus [a] complied with his friend's request. I yield, he said, the more willingly, as I shall hazard no new opinion, but ratherconfirm what has been urged by Messala. It is certain, that, aspainters are formed by painters, and poets by the example of poets, sothe young orator must learn his art from orators only. In the schoolsof rhetoricians [b], who think themselves the fountain-head ofeloquence, every thing is false and vitiated. The true principles ofthe persuasive art are never known to the professor, or if at any timethere may be found a preceptor of superior genius, can it be expectedthat he shall be able to transfuse into the mind of his pupil all hisown conceptions, pure, unmixed, and free from error? The sensibilityof the master, since we have allowed him genius, will be animpediment: the uniformity of the same dull tedious round will givehim disgust, and the student will turn from it with aversion. And yetI am inclined to think, that the decay of eloquence would not havebeen so rapid, if other causes, more fatal than the corruption of theschools, had not co-operated. When the worst models became the objectsof imitation, and not only the young men of the age, but even thewhole body of the people, admired the new way of speaking, eloquencefell at once into that state of degeneracy, from which nothing canrecover it. We, who came afterwards, found ourselves in a hopelesssituation: we were driven to wretched expedients, to forced conceits, and the glitter of frivolous sentences; we were obliged to hunt afterwit, when we could be no longer eloquent. By what pernicious examplesthis was accomplished, has been explained by our friend Messala. 

5. We are none of us strangers to those unhappy times, when Rome, grown weary of her vast renown in arms, began to think of strikinginto new paths of fame, no longer willing to depend on the glory ofour ancestors. The whole power of the state was centred in a singleruler, and by the policy of the prince, men were taught to think nomore of ancient honour. Invention was on the stretch for novelty, andall looked for something better than perfection; something rare, far-fetched, and exquisite. New modes of pleasure were devised. Inthat period of luxury and dissipation, when the rage for newinventions was grown epidemic, Seneca arose. His talents were of apeculiar sort, acute, refined and polished; but polished to a degreethat made him prefer affectation and wit to truth and nature. Thepredominance of his genius was great, and, by consequence, he gave themortal stab to all true eloquence [a]. When I say this, let me not besuspected of that low malignity which would tarnish the fame of agreat character. I admire the man, and the philosopher. The undauntedfirmness with which he braved the tyrant's frown, will do immortalhonour to his memory. But the fact is (and why should I disguise it?), the virtues of the writer have undone his country. 

6. To bring about this unhappy revolution, no man was so eminentlyqualified [a]. His understanding was large and comprehensive; hisgenius rich and powerful; his way of thinking ingenious, elegant, andeven charming. His researches in moral philosophy excited theadmiration of all; and moral philosophy is never so highly praised, aswhen the manners are in a state of degeneracy. Seneca knew the tasteof the times. He had the art to gratify the public ear. His style isneat, yet animated; concise, yet clear; familiar, yet seldominelegant. Free from redundancy, his periods are often abrupt, butthey surprise by their vivacity. He shines in pointed sentences; andthat unceasing persecution of vice, which is kept up with uncommonardour, spreads a lustre over all his writings. His brilliant stylecharmed by its novelty. Every page sparkles with wit, with gayallusions, and sentiments of virtue. No wonder that the graceful ease, and sometimes the dignity of his expression, made their way into theforum. What pleased universally, soon found a number of imitators. Addto this the advantages of rank and honours. He mixed in the splendour, and perhaps in the vices, of the court. The resentment of Caligula, and the acts of oppression which soon after followed, served only toadorn his name. To crown all, Nero was his pupil, and his murderer. Hence the character and genius of the man rose to the highesteminence. What was admired, was imitated, and true oratory was heardno more. The love of novelty prevailed, and for the dignifiedsimplicity of ancient eloquence no taste remained. The art itself, andall its necessary discipline, became ridiculous. In that black period, when vice triumphed at large, and virtue had every thing to fear, thetemper of the times was propitious to the corruptors of taste andliberal science. The dignity of composition was no longer of use. Ithad no power to stop the torrent of vice which deluged the city ofRome, and virtue found it a feeble protection. In such a conjunctureit was not safe to speak the sentiments of the heart. To be obscure, abrupt, and dark, was the best expedient. Then it was that theaffected sententious brevity came into vogue. To speak concisely, andwith an air of precipitation, was the general practice. To work theruin of a person accused, a single sentence, or a splendid phrase, wassufficient. Men defended themselves in a short brilliant expression;and if that did not protect them, they died with a lively apophthegm, and their last words were wit. This was the fashion introduced bySeneca. The peculiar, but agreeable vices of his style, wrought thedownfall of eloquence. The solid was exchanged for the brilliant, andthey, who ceased to be orators, studied to be ingenious. 

7. Of late, indeed, we have seen the dawn of better times. In thecourse of the last six years Vespasian has revived our hopes [a]. Thefriend of regular manners, and the encourager of ancient virtue, bywhich Rome was raised to the highest pinnacle of glory, he hasrestored the public peace, and with it the blessings of liberty. Underhis propitious influence, the arts and sciences begin once more toflourish, and genius has been honoured with his munificence. Theexample of his sons [b] has helped to kindle a spirit of emulation. Webeheld, with pleasure, the two princes adding to the dignity of theirrank, and their fame in arms, all the grace and elegance of politeliterature. But it is fatally true, that when the public taste is oncecorrupted, the mind which has been warped, seldom recovers its formertone. This difficulty was rendered still more insurmountable by thelicentious spirit of our young men, and the popular applause, thatencouraged the false taste of the times. I need not, in this company, call to mind the unbridled presumption, with which, as soon as genuineeloquence expired, the young men of the age took possession of theforum. Of modest worth and ancient manners nothing remained. We knowthat in former times the youthful candidate was introduced in theforum by a person of consular rank [c], and by him set forward in hisroad to fame. That laudable custom being at an end, all fences werethrown down: no sense of shame remained, no respect for the tribunalsof justice. The aspiring genius wanted no patronage; he scorned theusual forms of a regular introduction; and, with full confidence inhis own powers, he obtruded himself on the court. Neither thesolemnity of the place, nor the sanctity of laws, nor the importanceof the oratorical character, could restrain the impetuosity of youngambition. Unconscious of the importance of the undertaking, and lesssensible of his own incapacity, the bold adventurer rushed at onceinto the most arduous business. Arrogance supplied the place oftalents. 

8. To oppose the torrent, that bore down every thing, the danger oflosing all fair and honest fame was the only circumstance that couldafford a ray of hope. But even that slender fence was soon removed bythe arts of [a] Largius Licinius. He was the first that opened a newroad to ambition. He intrigued for fame, and filled the benches withan audience suborned to applaud his declamations. He had his circleround him, and shouts of approbation followed. It was upon thatoccasion that Domitius Afer [b] emphatically said, Eloquence is now atthe last gasp. It had, indeed, at that time shewn manifest symptoms ofdecay, but its total ruin may be dated from the introduction of amercenary band [c] to flatter and applaud. If we except a chosen few, whose superior genius has not as yet been seduced from truth andnature, the rest are followed by their partisans, like actors on thestage, subsisting altogether on the bought suffrages of mean andprostitute hirelings. Nor is this sordid traffic carried on withsecrecy: we see the bargain made in the face of the court; the bribeis distributed with as little ceremony as if they were in a privateparty at the orator's own house. Having sold their voices, this venalcrew rush forward from one tribunal to another, the distributors offame, and the sole judges of literary merit. The practice is, nodoubt, disgraceful. To brand it with infamy, two new terms have beeninvented [d], one in the Greek language, importing the venders ofpraise, and the other in the Latin idiom, signifying the parasites whosell their applause for a supper. But sarcastic expressions have notbeen able to cure the mischief: the applauders by profession havetaken courage, and the name, which was intended as a stroke ofridicule, is now become an honourable appellation. 

9. This infamous practice rages at present with increasing violence. The party no longer consists of freeborn citizens; our very slaves arehired. Even before they arrive at full age, we see them distributingthe rewards of eloquence. Without attending to what is said, andwithout sense enough to understand, they are sure to crowd the courtsof justice, whenever a raw young man, stung with the love of fame, butwithout talents to deserve it, obtrudes himself in the character of anadvocate. The hall resounds with acclamations, or rather with a kindof bellowing; for I know not by what term to express that savageuproar, which would disgrace a theatre. 

Upon the whole, when I consider these infamous practices, which havebrought so much dishonour upon a liberal profession, I am far fromwondering that you, Maternus, judged it time to sound your retreat. When you could no longer attend with honour, you did well, my friend, to devote yourself entirely to the muses. And now, since you are toclose the debate, permit me to request, that, besides unfolding thecauses of corrupt eloquence, you will fairly tell us, whether youentertain any hopes of better times, and, if you do, by what means areformation may be accomplished. 

10. It is true [a], said Maternus, that seeing the forum deluged by aninundation of vices, I was glad, as my friend expressed it, to soundmy retreat. I saw corruption rushing on with hasty strides, tooshameful to be defended, and too powerful to be resisted. And yet, though urged by all those motives, I should hardly have renounced thebusiness of the bar, if the bias of my nature had not inclined me toother studies. I balanced, however, for some time. It was, at first, my fixed resolution to stand to the last a poor remnant of thatintegrity and manly eloquence, which still lingered at the bar, andshewed some signs of life. It was my intention to emulate, not, indeed, with equal powers, but certainly with equal firmness, thebright models of ancient times, and, in that course of practice, todefend the fortunes, the dignity, and the innocence of myfellow-citizens. But the strong impulse of inclination was not to beresisted. I laid down my arms, and deserted to the safe and tranquilcamp of the muses. But though a deserter, I have not quite forgot theservice in which I was enlisted. I honour the professors of realeloquence, and that sentiment, I hope, will be always warm in myheart. 

11. In my solitary walks, and moments of meditation, it often happens, that I fall into a train of thinking on the flourishing state ofancient eloquence, and the abject condition to which it is reduced inmodern times. The result of my reflections I shall venture to unfold, not with a spirit of controversy, nor yet dogmatically to enforce myown opinion. I may differ in some points, but from a collision ofsentiments it is possible that some new light may be struck out. Myfriend Aper will, therefore, excuse me, if I do not, with him, preferthe false glitter of the moderns to the solid vigour of ancientgenius. At the same time, it is not my intention to disparage hisfriends. Messala too, whom you, Secundus, have closely followed, willforgive me, if I do not, in every thing, coincide with his opinion. The vices of the forum, which you have both, as becomes men ofintegrity, attacked with vehemence, will not have me for theirapologist. But still I may be allowed to ask, have not you been toomuch exasperated against the rhetoricians?

I will not say in their favour, that I think them equal to the task ofreviving the honours of eloquence; but I have known among them, men ofunblemished morals, of regular discipline, great erudition, andtalents every way fit to form the minds of youth to a just taste forscience and the persuasive arts. In this number one in particular [a]has lately shone forth with superior lustre. From his abilities, allthat is in the power of man may fairly be expected. A genius like hiswould have been the ornament of better times. Posterity will admireand honour him. And yet I would not have Secundus amuse himself withill-grounded hopes: neither the learning of that most excellent man, nor the industry of such as may follow him, will be able to promotethe interests of Eloquence, or to establish her former glory. It is alost cause. Before the vices, which have been so ably described, hadspread a general infection, all true oratory was at an end. Therevolutions in our government, and the violence of the times, beganthe mischief, and, in the end, gave the fatal blow. 

12. Nor are we to wonder at this event. In the course of human affairsthere is no stability, nothing secure or permanent. It is with ourminds as with our bodies: the latter, as soon as they have attainedtheir full growth, and seem to flourish in the vigour of health, begin, from that moment, to feel the gradual approaches of decay. Ourintellectual powers proceed in the same manner; they gain strength bydegrees, they arrive at maturity, and, when they can no longerimprove, they languish, droop, and fade away. This is the law ofnature, to which every age, and every nation, of which we have anyhistorical records, have been obliged to submit. There is besidesanother general law, hard perhaps, but wonderfully ordained, and it isthis: nature, whose operations are always simple and uniform, neversuffers in any age or country, more than one great example ofperfection in the kind [a]. This was the case in Greece, that prolificparent of genius and of science. She had but one Homer, one Plato, oneDemosthenes. The same has happened at Rome: Virgil stands at the headof his art, and Cicero is still unrivalled. During a space of sevenhundred years our ancestors were struggling to reach the summit ofperfection: Cicero at length arose; he thundered forth his immortalenergy, and nature was satisfied with the wonder she had made. Theforce of genius could go no further. A new road to fame was to befound. We aimed at wit, and gay conceit, and glittering sentences. Thechange, indeed, was great; but it naturally followed the new form ofgovernment. Genius died with public liberty. 

13. We find that the discourse of men always conforms to the temper ofthe times. Among savage nations [a] language is never copious. A fewwords serve the purpose of barbarians, and those are always uncouthand harsh, without the artifice of connection; short, abrupt, andnervous. In a state of polished society, where a single ruler swaysthe sceptre, the powers of the mind take a softer tone, and languagegrows more refined. But affectation follows, and precision gives wayto delicacy. The just and natural expression is no longer the fashion. Living in ease and luxury, men look for elegance, and hope by noveltyto give a grace to adulation. In other nations, where the firstprinciples of the civil union are maintained in vigour; where thepeople live under the government of laws, and not the will of man;where the spirit of liberty pervades all ranks and orders of thestate; where every individual holds himself bound, at the hazard ofhis life, to defend the constitution framed by his ancestors; where, without being guilty of an impious crime, no man dares to violate therights of the whole community; in such a state, the national eloquencewill be prompt, bold, and animated. Should internal dissensions shakethe public peace, or foreign enemies threaten to invade the land, Eloquence comes forth arrayed in terror; she wields her thunder, andcommands all hearts. It is true, that upon those occasions men ofambition endeavour, for their own purposes, to spread the flame ofsedition; while the good and virtuous combine their force to quell theturbulent, and repel the menaces of a foreign enemy. Liberty gains newstrength by the conflict, and the true patriot has the glory ofserving his country, distinguished by his valour in the field, and indebate no less terrible by his eloquence. 

14. Hence it is that in free governments we see a constellation oforators. Hence Demosthenes displayed the powers of his amazing genius, and acquired immortal honour. He saw a quick and lively people, dissolved in luxury, open to the seductions of wealth, and ready tosubmit to a master; he saw a great and warlike monarch threateningdestruction to the liberties of his country; he saw that prince at thehead of powerful armies, renowned for victory, possessed of an opulenttreasury, formidable in battle, and, by his secret arts, still more soin the cabinet; he saw that king, inflamed by ambition and the lust ofdominion, determined to destroy the liberties of Greece. It was thatalarming crisis that called forth the powers of Demosthenes. Armedwith eloquence, and with eloquence only, he stood as a bulwark againsta combination of enemies foreign and domestic. He roused hiscountrymen from their lethargy: he kindled the holy flame of liberty;he counteracted the machinations of Philip, detected his clandestinefrauds, and fired the men of Athens with indignation. To effect thesegenerous purposes, and defeat the policy of a subtle enemy, whatpowers of mind were necessary! how vast, how copious, how sublime! Hethundered and lightened in his discourse; he faced every danger withundaunted resolution. Difficulties served only to inspire him with newardour. The love of his country glowed in his heart; liberty rousedall his powers, and Fame held forth her immortal wreath to reward hislabours. These were the fine incentives that roused his genius, and nowonder that his mind expanded with vast conceptions. He thought forhis country, and, by consequence, every sentiment was sublime; everyexpression was grand and magnificent. 

XXXVI. The true spirit of genuine eloquence [a], like an intense fire, is kept alive by fresh materials: every new commotion gives it vigour, and in proportion as it burns, it expands and brightens to a purerflame. The same causes at Rome produced the same effect. Tempestuoustimes called forth the genius of our ancestors. The moderns, it istrue, have taken fire, and rose above themselves, as often as a quiet, settled, and uniform government gave a fair opportunity; buteloquence, it is certain, flourishes most under a bold and turbulentdemocracy, where the ambitious citizen, who best can mould to hispurposes a fierce and contentious multitude, is sure to be the idol ofthe people. In the conflict of parties, that kept our ancestors inagitation, laws were multiplied; the leading chiefs were the favouritedemagogues; the magistrates were often engaged in midnight debate;eminent citizens were brought to a public trial; families were set atvariance; the nobles were split into factions, and the senate wagedincessant war against the people. Hence that flame of eloquence whichblazed out under the republican government, and hence that constantfuel that kept the flame alive. 

The state, it is true, was often thrown into convulsions: but talentswere exercised, and genius opened the way to public honours. He whopossessed the powers of persuasion, rose to eminence, and by the artswhich gave him popularity, he was sure to eclipse his colleagues. Hestrengthened his interest with the leading men, and gained weight andinfluence not only in the senate, but in all assemblies of the people. Foreign nations [b] courted his friendship. The magistrates, settingout for their provinces, made it their business to ingratiatethemselves with the popular speaker, and, at their return, took careto renew their homage. The powerful orator had no occasion to solicitfor preferment: the offices of prætor and consul stood open to receivehim. He was invited to those exalted stations. Even in the rank of aprivate citizen he had a considerable share of power, since hisauthority swayed at once the senate and the people. It was in thosedays a settled maxim, that no man could either rise to dignities, orsupport himself in office, without possessing, in an eminent degree, apower of words, and dignity of language. 

Nor can this be a matter of wonder, when we recollect, that persons ofdistinguished genius were, on various occasions, called forth by thevoice of the people, and in their presence obliged to act an importantpart. Eloquence was the ruling passion of all. The reason is, it wasnot then sufficient merely to vote in the senate; it was necessary tosupport that vote with strength of reasoning, and a flow of language. Moreover, in all prosecutions, the party accused was expected to makehis defence in person, and to examine the witnesses [c], who at thattime were not allowed to speak in written depositions, but wereobliged to give their testimony in open court. In this manner, necessity, no less than the temptation of bright rewards, conspired tomake men cultivate the arts of oratory. He who was known to possessthe powers of speech, was held in the highest veneration. The mute andsilent character fell into contempt. The dread of shame was a motivenot less powerful than the ambition that aimed at honours. To sinkinto the humiliating rank of a client, instead of maintaining thedignity of a patron, was a degrading thought. Men were unwilling tosee the followers of their ancestors transferred to other families forprotection. Above all, they dreaded the disgrace of being thoughtunworthy of civil honours; and, if by intrigue they attained theirwishes, the fear of being despised for incapacity was a spur toquicken their ardour in the pursuit of literary fame and commandingeloquence. 

XXXVII. I do not know whether you have as yet seen the historicalmemoirs which Mucianus [a] has collected, and lately published, containing, in eleven volumes, the transactions of the times, and, inthree more, the letters of eminent men who figured on the stage ofpublic business. This portion of history is well authenticated by theoriginal papers, still extant in the libraries of the curious. Fromthis valuable collection it appears, that Pompey and Crassus [b] owedtheir elevation as much to their talents as to their fame in arms; andthat Lentulus [c], Metellus, Lucullus, Curio, and others of thatclass, took care to enlarge their minds, and distinguish themselves bytheir powers of speech. To say all in one word, no man, in thosetimes, rose to eminence in the state, who had not given proof of hisgenius in the forum and the tribunals of justice. 

To this it may be added, that the importance, the splendour, andmagnitude of the questions discussed in that period, served to animatethe public orator. The subject, beyond all doubt, lifts the mind aboveitself: it gives vigour to sentiment, and energy to expression. Letthe topic be a paltry theft, a dry form of pleading, or a pettymisdemeanor; will not the orator feel himself cramped and chilled bythe meanness of the question? Give him a cause of magnitude, such asbribery in the election of magistrates, a charge for plundering theallies of Rome, or the murder of Roman citizens, how different thenhis emotions! how sublime each sentiment! what dignity of language!The effect, it must be admitted, springs from the disasters ofsociety. It is true, that form of government, in which no such evilsoccur, must, beyond all question, be allowed to be the best; butsince, in the course of human affairs, sudden convulsions must happen, my position is, that they produced, at Rome, that flame of eloquencewhich at this hour is so much admired. The mind of the orator growsand expands with his subject. Without ample materials no splendidoration was ever yet produced. Demosthenes, I believe, did not owe hisvast reputation to the speeches which he made against his guardians[d]; nor was it either the oration in defence of Quinctius, or thatfor Archias the poet, that established the character of Cicero. It wasCatiline, it was Verres, it was Milo and Mark Antony, that spread somuch glory round him. 

Let me not be misunderstood: I do not say, that for the sake ofhearing a bright display of eloquence, it is fit that the public peaceshould be disturbed by the machinations of turbulent and lawless men. But, not to lose sight of the question before us, let it beremembered, that we are enquiring about an art which thrives andflourishes most in tempestuous times. It were, no doubt, better thatthe public should enjoy the sweets of peace, than be harassed by thecalamities of war: but still it is war that produces the soldier andgreat commander. It is the same with Eloquence. The oftener she isobliged, if I may so express it, to take the field, the more frequentthe engagement, in which she gives and receives alternate wounds, andthe more formidable her adversary; the more she rises in pomp andgrandeur, and returns from the warfare of the forum crowned withunfading laurels. He, who encounters danger, is ever sure to win thesuffrages of mankind. For such is the nature of the human mind, that, in general, we choose a state of security for ourselves, but neverfail to gaze with admiration on the man, whom we see, in the conflictof parties, facing his adversaries, and surmounting difficulties. 

XXXVIII. I proceed to another advantage of the ancient forum; I meanthe form of proceeding and the rules of practice observed in thosedays. Our modern custom is, I grant, more conducive to truth andjustice; but that of former times gave to eloquence a free career, and, by consequence, greater weight and splendour. The advocate wasnot, as now, confined to a few hours [a]; he might adjourn as often asit suited his convenience; he might expatiate, as his genius promptedhim: and the number of days, like that of the several patrons, wasunlimited. Pompey was the first who circumscribed the genius of menwithin narrower limits [b]. In his third consulship he gave a check toeloquence, and, as it were, bridled its spirit, but still left allcauses to be tried according to law in the forum, and before theprætors. The importance of the business, which was decided in thatcourt of justice, will be evident, if we compare it with thetransactions before the centumvirs [c], who at present have cognizanceof all matters whatever. We have not so much as one oration of Ciceroor Cæsar, of Brutus, Cælius, or Calvus, or any other person famous forhis eloquence, which was delivered before the last-mentionedjurisdiction, excepting only the speeches of Asinius Pollio [d] forthe heirs of Urbinia. But those speeches were delivered about themiddle of the reign of Augustus, when, after a long peace with foreignnations, and a profound tranquillity at home, that wise and politicprince had conquered all opposition, and not only triumphed over partyand faction, but subdued eloquence itself. 

XXXIX. What I am going to say will appear, perhaps, too minute; it mayborder on the ridiculous, and excite your mirth: with all my heart; Iwill hazard it for that very reason. The dress now in use at the barhas an air of meanness: the speaker is confined in a close robe [a], and loses all the grace of action. The very courts of judicature areanother objection; all causes are heard, at present, in little narrowrooms, where spirit and strenuous exertion are unnecessary. Theorator, like a generous steed, requires liberty and ample space:before a scanty tribunal his spirit droops, and the dullness of thescene damps the powers of genius. Add to this, we pay no attention tostyle; and indeed how should we? No time is allowed for the beautiesof composition: the judge calls upon you to begin, and you must obey, liable, at the same time, to frequent interruptions, while documentsare read, and witnesses examined. 

During all this formality, what kind of an audience has the orator toinvigorate his faculties? Two or three stragglers drop in by chance, and to them the whole business seems to be transacted in solitude. Butthe orator requires a different scene. He delights in clamour, tumult, and bursts of applause. Eloquence must have her theatre, as was thecase in ancient times, when the forum was crowded with the first menin Rome; when a numerous train of clients pressed forward with eagerexpectation; when the people, in their several tribes; whenambassadors from the colonies, and a great part of Italy; attended tohear the debate; in short, when all Rome was interested in the event. We know that in the cases of Cornelius, Scaurus, Milo, Bestia, andVatinius, the concourse was so great, that those several causes weretried before the whole body of the people. A scene so vast andmagnificent was enough to inflame the most languid orator. Thespeeches delivered upon those occasions are in every body's hands, and, by their intrinsic excellence, we of this day estimate the geniusof the respective authors. 

XL. If we now consider the frequent assemblies of the people, and theright of prosecuting the most eminent men in the state; if we reflecton the glory that sprung from the declared hostility of the mostillustrious characters; if we recollect, that even Scipio, Sylla, andPompey, were not sheltered from the storms of eloquence, what a numberof causes shall we see conspiring to rouse the spirit of the ancientforum! The malignity of the human heart, always adverse to superiorcharacters, encouraged the orator to persist. The very players, bysarcastic allusions to men in power, gratified the public ear, and, byconsequence, sharpened the wit and acrimony of the bold declaimer. 

Need I observe to you, that in all I have said, I have not beenspeaking of that temperate faculty [a] which delights in quiet times, supported by its own integrity, and the virtues of moderation? I speakof popular eloquence, the genuine offspring of that licentiousness, towhich fools and ill-designing men have given the name of liberty: Ispeak of bold and turbulent oratory, that inflamer of the people, andconstant companion of sedition; that fierce incendiary, that knows nocompliance, and scorns to temporize; busy, rash, and arrogant, but, inquiet and well regulated governments, utterly unknown. Who ever heardof an orator at Crete or Lacedæmon? In those states a system ofrigorous discipline was established by the first principles of theconstitution. Macedonian and Persian eloquence are equally unknown. The same may be said of every country, where the plan of governmentwas fixed and uniform. 

At Rhodes, indeed, and also at Athens, orators existed without number, and the reason is, in those communities the people directed everything; a giddy multitude governed, and, to say the truth, all thingswere in the power of all. In like manner, while Rome was engaged inone perpetual scene of contention; while parties, factions, andinternal divisions, convulsed the state; no peace in the forum, in thesenate no union of sentiment; while the tribunals of justice actedwithout moderation; while the magistrates knew no bounds, and no manpaid respect to eminent merit; in such times it must be acknowledgedthat Rome produced a race of noble orators; as in the wilduncultivated field the richest vegetables will often shoot up, andflourish with uncommon vigour. And yet it is fair to ask, Could allthe eloquence of the Gracchi atone for the laws which they imposed ontheir country? Could the fame which Cicero obtained by his eloquence, compensate for the tragic end to which it brought him [b]?

XLI. The forum, at present, is the last sad relic of ancient oratory. But does that epitome of former greatness give the idea of a city sowell regulated, that we may rest contented with our form ofgovernment, without wishing for a reformation of abuses? If we exceptthe man of guilt, or such as labour under the hard hand of oppression, who resorts to us for our assistance? If a municipal city applies forprotection, it is, when the inhabitants, harassed by the adjacentstates, or rent and torn by intestine divisions, sue for protection. The province, that addresses the senate for a redress of grievances, has been oppressed and plundered, before we hear of the complaint. Itis true, we vindicate the injured, but to suffer no oppression wouldsurely be better than to obtain relief. Find, if you can, in any partof the world a wise and happy community, where no man offends againstthe laws: in such a nation what can be the use of oratory? You may aswell profess the healing art where ill health is never known. Let menenjoy bodily vigour, and the practice of physic will have noencouragement. In like manner, where sober manners prevail, andsubmission to the authority of government is the national virtue, thepowers of persuasion are rendered useless. Eloquence has lost herfield of glory. In the senate, what need of elaborate speeches, whenall good men are already of one mind? What occasion for studiedharangues before a popular assembly, where the form of governmentleaves nothing to the decision of a wild democracy, but the wholeadministration is conducted by the wisdom of a single ruler? Andagain; when crimes are rare, and in fact of no great moment, whatavails the boasted right of individuals to commence a voluntaryprosecution? What necessity for a studied defence, often composed in astyle of vehemence, artfully addressed to the passions, and generallystretched beyond all bounds, when justice is executed in mercy, andthe judge is of himself disposed to succour the distressed?

Believe me, my very good, and (as far as the times will admit) myeloquent friends, had it been your lot to live under the old republic, and the men whom we so much admire had been reserved for the presentage; if some god had changed the period of theirs and your existence, the flame of genius had been yours, and the chiefs of antiquity wouldnow be acting with minds subdued to the temper of the times. Upon thewhole, since no man can enjoy a state of calm tranquillity, and, atthe same time, raise a great and splendid reputation; to be contentwith the benefits of the age in which we live, without detracting fromour ancestors, is the virtue that best becomes us. 

XLII. Maternus concluded [a] his discourse. There have been, saidMessala, some points advanced, to which I do not entirely accede; andothers, which I think require farther explanation. But the day is wellnigh spent. We will, therefore, adjourn the debate. Be it as you thinkproper, replied Maternus; and if, in what I have said, you find anything not sufficiently clear, we will adjust those matters in somefuture conference. Hereupon he rose from his seat, and embracing Aper, I am afraid, he said, that it will fare hardly with you, my goodfriend. I shall cite you to answer before the poets, and Messala willarraign you at the bar of the antiquarians. And I, replied Aper, shallmake reprisals on you both before the school professors and therhetoricians. This occasioned some mirth and raillery. We laughed, andparted in good humour. 

END OF THE DIALOGUE. 

NOTES ON THE DIALOGUE CONCERNING ORATORY. 

The scene of the following Dialogue is laid in the sixth year ofVespasian, A. U. C. 828. A. D. 75. The commentators are much divided intheir opinions about the real author; his work they all agree is amasterpiece in the kind; written with taste and judgement;entertaining, profound, and elegant. But whether it is to be ascribedto Tacitus, Quintilian, or any other person whom they cannot name, isa question upon which they have exhausted a store of learning. Theyhave given us, according to their custom, much controversy, and littledecision. In this field of conjecture Lipsius led the way. Hepublished, in 1574, the first good edition of Tacitus, withemendations of the text, and not removed; he still remains insuspense. _Cum multa dixerim, claudo tamen omnia hoc responso; MIHINON LIQUERE. _ Gronovius Pichena, Ryckius, Rhenanus, and others, haveentered warmly into the dispute. An elegant modern writer has hazardeda new conjecture. The last of Sir Thomas Fitzosborne's Letters is akind of preface to Mr. Melmoth's Translation of the Dialogue beforeus. He says; of all the conversation pieces, whether ancient ormodern, either of the moral or polite kind, he knows not one moreelegantly written than the little anonymous Dialogue concerning therise and decline of eloquence among the Romans. He calls it anonymous, though he is aware, that it has been ascribed not only to Tacitus andQuintilian, but even to Suetonius. The reasons, however, are soinconclusive, that he is inclined to give it to the younger Pliny. Hethinks it perfectly coincides with Pliny's age; it is addressed to oneof his particular friends, and is marked with similar expressions andsentiments. But, with all due submission to Mr. Melmoth, his newcandidate cannot long hold us in suspense. It appears in the accountof the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in which Pliny's uncle lost hislife. A. U. C. 832. A. D. 79, that Pliny was then eighteen years old, and, as the Dialogue was in 828, he could then be no more thanfourteen; a time of life, when he was neither fit to be admitted to alearned debate, nor capable of understanding it. Besides this, twoletters to his friend FABIUS are still extant; one in the first book, epist. 11; the other, book vii. Epist. 2. No mention of the Dialogueoccurs in either of those letters, nor in any other part of his works;a circumstance, which could scarce have happened to a writer sotenderly anxious about his literary character, if the work in questionhad been the production of his part. Brotier, the last, and, it may besaid, the best of all the editors of Tacitus, is of opinion that atract, so beautiful and judicious, ought not, without better reasonsthan have been as yet assigned, to be adjudged from Tacitus to anyother writer. He relies much on the first edition, which was publishedat Venice (1468), containing the last six books of the Annals (thefirst six not being then found), the five books of the History, andthe Dialogue, intitled, _Cornelii Taciti Equitis Romani Dialogus deOratoribus claris. _ There were also in the Vatican, manuscript copiesof the Dialogue _de Oratoribus_. In 1515, when the six first Annalswere found in Germany, a new edition, under the patronage of Leo X. Was published by Beroaldus, carefully collated with the manuscript, which was afterwards placed in the Florentine Library. Those earlyauthorities preponderate with Brotier against all modern conjecture;more especially, since the age of Tacitus agrees with the time of theDialogue. He was four years older than his friend Pliny, and, ateighteen, might properly be allowed by his friends to be of theirparty. In two years afterwards (A. U. 830), he married Agricola'sdaughter, and he expressly says, (Life of Agricola, sect. Ix. ) that hewas then a very young man. The arguments, drawn by the severalcommentators from the difference of style, Brotier thinks are of noweight. The style of a young author will naturally differ from what hehas settled by practice at an advanced period of life. This has beenobserved in many eminent writers, and in none more than Lipsiushimself. His language, in the outset, was easy, flowing, and elegant;but, as he advanced in years, it became stiff, abrupt, and harsh. Tacitus relates a conversation on a literary subject; and in such apiece, who can expect to find the style of an historian or anannalist? For these reasons Brotier thinks that this Dialogue may, with good reason, be ascribed to Tacitus. The translator enters nofarther into the controversy, than to say, that in a case wherecertainty cannot be obtained, we must rest satisfied with the bestevidence the nature of the thing will admit. The dispute is of noimportance; for, as Lipsius says, whether we give the Dialogue toQuintilian or to Tacitus, no inconvenience can arise. Whoever was theauthor, it is a performance of uncommon beauty. 

Before we close this introduction, it will not be improper to say aword or two about Brotier's Supplement. In the wreck of ancientliterature a considerable part of this Dialogue has perished, and, byconsequence, a chasm is left, much to be lamented by every reader oftaste. To avoid the inconvenience of a broken context, Brotier hasendeavoured to compensate for the loss. What he has added, will befound in the progress of the work; and as it is executed by thelearned editor with great elegance, and equal probability, it is hopedthat the insertion of it will be more agreeable to the reader, than adull pause of melancholy regret. 

Section I. 

[a] Justus Fabius was consul A. U. C. 864, A. D. 111. But as he did notbegin the year, his name does not appear in the FASTI CONSULARES. There are two letters to him from his friend Pliny; the first, lib. I. Epist. 11; the other, lib. Vii. Ep. 2. It is remarkable, that in thelast, the author talks of sending some of his writings for hisfriend's perusal; _quæram quid potissimum ex nugis meis tibiexhibeam_; but not a word is said about the decline of eloquence. 

Section II. 

[a] Concerning Maternus nothing is known with any kind of certainty. Dio relates that a sophist, of that name, was put to death byDomitian, for a school declamation against tyrants: but not one of thecommentators ventures to assert that he was the _Curiatius Maternus_, who makes so conspicuous a figure in the Dialogue before us. 

[b] No mention is made of Marcus Aper, either by Quintilian or Pliny. It is supposed that he was father of Marcus Flavius Aper, who wassubstituted consul A. U. C. 883, A. D. 130. His oratorical character, andthat of Secundus, as we find them drawn in this section, are notunlike what we are told by Cicero of Crassus and Antonius. Crassus, hesays, was not willing to be thought destitute of literature, but hewished to have it said of him, that he despised it, and preferred thegood sense of the Romans to the refinements of Greece. Antonius, onthe other hand, was of opinion that his fame would rise to greatermagnitude, if he was considered as a man wholly illiterate, and voidof education. In this manner they both expected to increase theirpopularity; the former by despising the Greeks, and the latter by notknowing them. _Fuit hoc in utroque eorum, ut Crassus non tamexistimari vellet non didicisse, quam illa despicere, et nostrorumhominum in omni genere prudentiam Græcis anteferre. Antonius autemprobabiliorem populo orationem fore censebat suam, si omninò didicissenunquam putaretur; atque ita se uterque graviorem fore, si altercontemnere, alter ne nosse quidem Græcos videretur. _ Cicero _De Orat. _lib. Ii. Cap. 1. 

[c] Quintilian makes honourable mention of Julius Secundus, who, if hehad not been prematurely cut off, would have transmitted his name toposterity among the most celebrated orators. He would have added, andhe was daily doing it, whatever was requisite to complete hisoratorical genius; and all that could be desired, was more vigour inargument, and more attention to matter and sentiment, than to thechoice of words. But he died too soon, and his fame was, in somedegree, intercepted. He has, notwithstanding, left a considerablename. His diction was rich and copious; he explained every thing withgrace and elegance; his periods flowed with a suavity that charmedhis audience; his language, when metaphorical, was bold, yet accurate;and, if he hazarded an unusual phrase, he was justified by the energywith which his meaning was conveyed. _Julio Secundo, si longiorcontigisset ætas, clarissimum profecto nomen oratoris apud posterosforet. Adjecisset enim, atque adjiciebat, cæteris virtutibus suis, quod desiderari potest; id est autem, ut esset multo magis pugnax, etsæpius ad curam rerum ab elocutione respiceret. Cæterum interceptusquoque magnum sibi vindicat locum. Ea est facundia, tanta inexplicando, quod velit, gratia; tam candidum, et lene, et speciosumdicendi genus; tanta verborum, etiam quæ assumpta sunt, proprietas;tanta in quibusdam, ex periculo petitis, significantia. _ Quintil. Lib. X. S. 1. It is remarkable, that Quintilian, in his list of Romanorators, has neither mentioned Maternus, nor Marcus Aper. TheDialogue, for that reason, seems to be improperly ascribed to him: menwho figure so much in the enquiry concerning oratory, would not havebeen omitted by the critic who thought their conversation worthrecording. 

Section III. 

[a] Thyestes was a common and popular subject of ancient tragedy. 

 Indignatur item privatis, et prope socco Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestæ. HORAT. ARS POET. Ver. 90. 

[b] It was the custom of the colonies and municipal towns, to paytheir court to some great orator at Rome, in order to obtain hispatronage, whenever they should have occasion to apply to the senatefor a redress of grievances. 

[c] Domitius was another subject of tragedy, taken from the Romanstory. Who he was, does not clearly appear. Brotier thinks it wasDomitius, the avowed enemy of Julius Cæsar, who moved in the senatefor a law to recall that general from the command of the army in Gaul, and, afterwards, on the breaking out of the civil war, fell bravelyat the battle of Pharsalia. See Suetonius, Life of Nero, section 2. Such a character might furnish the subject of a tragedy. The Romanpoets were in the habit of enriching their drama with domesticoccurrences, and the practice was applauded by Horace. 

 Nec minimum meruêre decus, vestigia Græca Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta. ARS POET. Ver. 286. 

 No path to fame our poets left untried; Nor small their merit, when with conscious pride They scorn'd to take from Greece the storied theme, But dar'd to sing their own domestic fame. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

Section V. 

[a] There were at Rome several eminent men of the name of Bassus. With regard to the person here called Saleius Bassus, the commentatorshave not been able to glean much information. Some have contended thatit was to him Persius addressed his sixth satire:

 Admovit jam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino. 

But if we may believe the old scholiast, his name was CÆSIUS BASSUS, amuch admired lyric poet, who was living on his own farm, at the timewhen Mount Vesuvius discharged its torrents of fire, and made thecountry round a scene of desolation. The poet and his house wereoverwhelmed by the eruption of the lava, which happened A. U. 832, inthe reign of Titus. Quintilian says of him (b. X. Chap. 1. ), that ifafter Horace any poet deserves to be mentioned, Cæsius Bassus was theman. _Si quem adjicere velis, is erit Cæsius Bassus. _ Saleius Bassusis mentioned by Juvenal as an eminent poet in distress:

 ----At Serrano tenuique Saleio Gloria quantalibet quid erit, si gloria tantum est? SAT. Vii. Ver. 80. 

 But to poor Bassus what avails a name, To starve on compliments and empty fame! DRYDEN'S JUVENAL. 

Quintilian says, he possessed a poetic genius, but so warm andvehement, that, even in an advanced age, his spirit was not under thecontrol of sober judgement. _Vehemens et poeticum ingenium SALEIIBASSI fuit; nec ipsum senectute maturum. _ This passage affords aninsuperable argument against Lipsius, and the rest of the critics whonamed Quintilian as a candidate for the honour of this elegantcomposition. Can it be imagined that a writer of fair integrity, wouldin his great work speak of Bassus as he deserved, and in the Dialogueoverrate him beyond all proportion? Duplicity was not a part ofQuintilian's character. 

[b] Tacitus, it may be presumed with good reason, was a diligentreader of Cicero, Livy, Sallust, and Seneca. He has, in various partsof his works, coincidences of sentiment and diction, that plainly shewthe source from which they sprung. In the present case, when he callseloquence a buckler to protect yourself, and a weapon to annoy youradversary, can anyone doubt but he had his eye on the followingsentence in _Cicero de Oratore_? _Quid autem tam necessarium, quamtenere semper arma, quibus vel tectus ipse esse possis, vel provocareintegros, et te ulcisci lacessitus?_

[c] Eprius Marcellus is often a conspicuous figure in the Annals andthe History of Tacitus. To a bad heart he united the gift ofeloquence. In the Annals, b. Xvi. S. 28, he makes a vehement speechagainst Pætus Thrasea, and afterwards wrought the destruction of thatexcellent man. For that exploit, he was attacked, in the beginning ofVespasian's reign, by Helvidius Priscus. In the History (book iv. S. 7and 8) we see them both engaged in a violent contention. In thefollowing year (823), Helvidius in the senate opened an accusation inform; but Marcellus, by using his eloquence as his buckler and hisoffensive weapon, was able to ward off the blow. He rose from hisseat, and, "I leave you, " he said, "I leave you to give the law to thesenate: reign, if you will, even in the presence of the prince. " SeeHist. Iv. S. 43. See also, Life of Agricola, s. 11. Notes a and b. 

Section VI. 

[a] To be rich and have no issue, gave to the person so circumstancedthe highest consequence at Rome. All ranks of men paid their court tohim. To discourage a life of celibacy, and promote population, Augustus passed a law, called _Papia Poppæa_, whereby bachelors weresubjected to penalties. Hence the compliment paid by Horace to hispatron:

 Diva producas sobolem, patrumque Prosperes decreta super jugandis Foeminis, prolisque novæ feraci Lege marita. CARMEN SÆCULARE. 

 Bring the springing birth to light, And with ev'ry genial grace Prolific of an endless race, Oh! crown our vows, and bless the nuptial rite. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

But marriage was not brought into fashion. In proportion to the rapiddegeneracy of the manners under the emperors, celibacy grew intorespect; insomuch, that we find (Annals xii. S. 52) a man too strongfor his prosecutors, because he was rich, old, and childless. _Valuitque pecuniosâ orbitate et senectâ. _

[b] The faculty of speaking on a sudden question, with unpremeditatedeloquence, Quintilian says, is the reward of study and diligentapplication. The speech, composed at leisure, will often want thewarmth and energy, which accompany the rapid emotions of the mind. Thepassions, when roused and animated, and the images which presentthemselves in a glow of enthusiasm, are the inspirers of trueeloquence. Composition has not always this happy effect; the processis slow; languor is apt to succeed; the passions subside, and thespirit of the discourse evaporates. _Maximus vero studiorum fructusest, et velut præmium quoddam amplissimum longi laboris, ex temporedicendi facultas. Pectus est enim quod disertos facit, et vis mentis. Nam benè concepti affectus, et recentes rerum imagines, continuoimpetu feruntur, quæ nonnunquam morâ stili refrigescunt, et dilatæ wonrevertuntur. _ Quintilian. Lib. X. Cap. 7. 

Section VII. 

[a] The translation is not quite accurate in this place. The originalsays, when I obtained the _laticlave_, and the English calls it the_manly gown_, which, it must be admitted, is not the exact sense. The_toga virilis_, or the _manly gown_, was assumed, when the youth cameto man's estate, or the age of seventeen years. On that occasion thefriends of the young man conducted him to the _forum_ (or sometimes tothe capitol), and there invested him with the new gown. This wascalled _dies tirocinii_; the day on which he commenced a _tiro_, or acandidate for preferment in the army. The _laticlave_, was anadditional honour often granted at the same time. The sons of senatorsand patricians were entitled to that distinction, as a matter ofright: but the young men, descended from such as were not patricians, did not wear the _laticlave_, till they entered into the service ofthe commonwealth, and undertook the functions of the civil magistracy. Augustus Cæsar changed that custom. He gave leave to the sons ofsenators, in general, to assume the _laticlave_ presently after thetime of putting on the _toga virilis_, though they were not capable ofcivil honours. The emperors who succeeded, allowed the same privilege, as a favour to illustrious families. _Ovid_ speaks of himself and hisbrother assuming the _manly gown_ and the _laticlave_ at the sametime:

 Interea, tacito passu labentibus annis, Liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga; Induiturque humeris cum lato purpura clavo. 

Pliny the younger shews, that the _laticlave_ was a favour granted bythe emperor on particular occasions. He says, he applied for hisfriend, and succeeded: _Ego Sexto latumclavum a Cæsare nostroimpetravi. _ Lib. Ii. Epist. 9. The _latusclavus_ was a robe worn byconsuls, prætors, generals in triumph, and senators, who were called_laticlavii_. Their sons were admitted to the same honour; but theemperors had a power to bestow this garment of distinction, and allprivileges belonging to it, upon such as they thought worthy of thathonour. This is what Marcus Aper says, in the Dialogue, that heobtained; and, when the translation mentions the _manly gown_, theexpression falls short of the speaker's idea. Dacier has given anaccount of the _laticlave_, which has been well received by thelearned. He tells us, that whatever was made to be put on anotherthing, was called _clavus_, not because it had any resemblance to anail, but because it was made an adjunct to another subject. In fact, the _clavi_ were purple galloons, with which the Romans bordered thefore part of the tunic, on both sides, and when drawn close together, they formed an ornament in the middle of the vestment. It was, forthat reason, called by the Greeks, [Greek: mesoporphuron]. The broadgalloons made the _laticlave_, and the narrow the _angusticlave_. The_laticlave_, Dacier adds, is not to be confounded with the _prætexta_. The latter was, at first, appropriated to the magistrates, and thesacerdotal order; but, in time, was extended to the sons of eminentfamilies, to be worn as a mark of distinction, till the age ofseventeen, when it was laid aside for the _manly gown_. See Dacier's_Horace_, lib. I. Sat. 5; and see Kennet's _Roman Antiquities_, p. 306. 

[b] Marcus Aper, Julius Secundus, and Curiatius Maternus, according toBrotier and others, were natives of Gaul. Aper (section x. ) mentionsthe Gauls as their common countrymen: _Ne quid de Gallis nostrisloquamur. _ If that was the fact, a _new man_ at Rome would havedifficulties to surmount. Ammianus Marcellinus (a Latin historian ofthe fourth century) says, that at Rome the people despised every thingthat did not grow before their eyes within the walls of the city, except the rich who had no children; and the veneration paid to suchas had no heirs was altogether incredible. _Vile esse quidquid extraurbis pomærium nascitur, æstimant; nec credi potest qua obsequiorumdiversitate coluntur homines sine liberis Romæ. _ Lib. Xiv. S. 5. Insuch a city a young man and a stranger could not expect to befavoured. 

[c] All causes of a private nature were heard before the _centumviri_. Three were chosen out of every tribe, and the tribes amounted to fiveand thirty, so that in fact 105 were chosen; but, for the sake of around number, they were called CENTUMVIRI. The causes that were heardbefore that jurisdiction are enumerated by Cicero, _De Orat. _ lib. I. S. 38. 

[d] The translation says, _the wills and codicils of the rich_; but itis by no means certain that those words convey the meaning of thetext, which simply says, _nec codicillis datur_. After due enquiry, itappears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what wenow call _the letters patent of a prince_. Codicils, in the modernsense of the word, implying a supplement to a will, were unknown tothe intent Roman law. The Twelve Tables mention testaments only. Codicils, in aid to wills, were first introduced in the time ofAugustus; but, whatever their operation was, legacies granted by thoseadditional writings were for some time of no validity. To confirmthis, we are told that the daughter of Lentulus discharged certainlegacies, which, being given by codicil, she was not bound to pay. Intime, however, codicils, as an addition made by the testator to hiswill, grew into use, and the legacies thereby granted were confirmed. This might be the case in the sixth year of Vespasian, when theDialogue passed between the parties; but it is, notwithstanding, highly probable, that the word _codicilli_ means, in the passagebefore us, the _letters patent of the prince_. It is used in thatsense by Suetonius, who relates, that Tiberius, after passing a nightand two days in revelling with Pomponius Flaccus and Lucius Piso, granted to the former the province of Syria, and made the latterprefect of the city; declaring them, _in the patents_, pleasantcompanions, and _the friends of all hours_. _Codicillis quoquejucundissimos et omnium horarum amicos professus. _ Suet. _in Tib. _ s. 42. 

[e] The common people are called, in the original, _tunicatuspopulus_; that class of men, who wore the _tunic_, and not the _toga_, or the _Roman gown_. The _tunica_, or close coat, was the commongarment worn within doors, and abroad, under the _toga_. Kennet says, the _proletarii_, the _capite censi_, and the rest of the dregs of thecity, could not afford to wear the _toga_, and therefore went intheir _tunics_; whence Horace says (lib. I. Epist. 7). 

 Vilia vendentem tunicato scruta popello. 

The TOGA, however, was the peculiar dress of the Roman people. VIRGILdistinguishes his countrymen by their mode of apparel:

 Romanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatam. 

But, though this was the Roman habit, the lower citizens were obligedto appear abroad is their _tunica_, or close garment. The love ofpraise is so eager a passion, that the public orator is hererepresented as delighting in the applause of the rabble. Persius, thesatirist, has said the same thing:

 Pulchrum est digito monstrari, et dicier. HIC EST. 

Section VIII. 

[a] The character of Eprius Marcellus has been already stated, sectionv. Note [c]. Crispus Vibius is mentioned as a man of weight andinfluence, _Annals_, book xiv. S. 28. Quintilian has mentioned him tohis advantage: he calls him, book v. Chap. 13, a man of agreeable andelegant talents, _vir ingenii jucundi et elegantis_; and again, VibiusCrispus was distinguished by the elegance of his composition, and thesweetness of his manner; a man born to please, but fitter for privatesuits, than for the importance of public causes. _Et VIBIUS CRISPUS, compositus, et jucundus, et delectationi natus; privatis tamen causis, quam publicis, melior. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

[b] Which of these two men was born at Capua, and which at Vercellæ, is not clearly expressed in the original. Eprius Marcellus, who hasbeen described of a prompt and daring spirit, ready to embark inevery mischief, and by his eloquence able to give colour to the worstcause, must at this time have become a new man, since we find himmentioned in this Dialogue with unbounded praise. He, it seems, andVibius Crispus were the favourites at Vespasian's court. Vercellæ, now_Verceil_, was situated in the eastern part of Piedmont. _Capua_, rendered famous by Hannibal, was a city in Campania, always deemed theseat of pleasure. 

[c] Vespasian is said to have been what is uncommon among sovereignprinces, a patient hearer of truth. His attention to men of lettersmay be considered as a proof of that assertion. The younger Plinytells us, that his uncle, the author of the Natural History, used tovisit Vespasian before day-light, and gained admittance to theemperor, who devoted his nights to study. _Ante lucem ibat adVespasianum imperatorem: nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur. _ Lib. Iii. Epist. 5. 

Section IX. 

[a] Agamemnon and Jason were two favourite dramatic subjects with theRoman poets. After their example, the moderns seem to have beenenamoured with those two Grecian heroes. Racine has displayed theformer, in his tragedy of Iphigenia, and the late Mr. Thomson in aperformance of great merit, entitled Agamemnon. Corneille, and, thelate Mr. Glover, thought Jason and Medea worthy of their talents. 

[b] Saleius Bassus has been already mentioned, s. V. Note [a]. It maybe added in this place, that the critics of his time concurred ingiving him the warmest praise, not only as a good and excellent man, but also as an eminent and admirable poet. He was descended from afamily of distinction, but was poor and often distressed. Whether heor Cæsius Bassus was the friend of Persius, is not perfectly clear. Bethe fact as it may, the satirist describes a fine poet, and his verseswere applicable to either of them:

 Jamne lyrâ, et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordæ? Mire opifex numeris veterum primordia rerum, Atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinæ; Mox juvenes agitare jocos, et pollice honesto Egregios lusisse senes. PERSIUS, sat. Vi. 

[c] Before the invention of printing, copies were not easilymultiplied. Authors were eager to enjoy their fame, and the pen of thetranscriber was slow and tedious. Public rehearsals were the road tofame. But an audience was to be drawn together by interest, bysolicitation, and public advertisements. Pliny, in one of his letters, has given a lively description of the difficulties which the authorhad to surmount. This year, he says, has produced poets in greatabundance. Scarce a day has passed in the month of April, without therecital of a poem. But the greater part of the audience comes withreluctance; they loiter in the lobbies, and there enter into idlechat, occasionally desiring to know, whether the poet is in hispulpit? has he begun? is his preface over? has he almost finished?They condescended, at last, to enter the room; they looked round withan air of indifference, and soon retired, some by stealth, and otherswith open contempt. Hence the greater praise is due to those authors, who do not suffer their genius to droop, but, on the contrary, amidstthe most discouraging circumstances, still persist to cultivate theliberal arts. Pliny adds, that he himself attended all the publicreadings, and, for that purpose, staid longer in the city than wasusual with him. Being, at length, released, he intended, in his ruralretreat, to finish a work of his own, but not to read it in public, lest he should be thought to claim a return of the civility which hehad shewn to others. He was a bearer, and not a creditor. The favourconferred, if redemanded, ceases to be a favour. _Magnum proventumpoetarum annus hic attulit. Toto mense Aprili nullus fere dies, quonon recitaret aliquis. Tametsi ad audiendum pigre coitur. Plerique instationibus sedent, tempusque audiendis fabulis conterunt, ac subindesibi nuntiari jubent, an jam recitator intraverit, an dixeritpræfationem, an ex magná parte evolverit librum? Tum demum, ac tunequoque lentè, cunctanterque veniunt, nec tamen remanent, sed antefinem recedunt; alii dissimulanter, ac furtim, alii, simpliciter, acliberè. Sed tanto magis laudandi probandique sunt, quos a scribendirecitandique studio hæc auditorum vel desidia, vel superbia nonretardat. Equidem prope nemini defui: his ex causis longius, quamdestinaveram, tempus in urbe consumpsi. Possum jam repetere secessum, et scribere aliquid, quod non recitem, ne videar, quorumrecitationibus affui, non auditor fuisse, sed creditor. Nam, ut incæteris rebus, ita in audiendi officio, perit gratia si reposcatur. _Pliny, lib. I. Ep. 13. Such was the state of literature under theworst of the emperors. The Augustan age was over. In the reigns ofTiberius and Caligula learning drooped, but in some degree revivedunder the dull and stupid Claudius. Pliny, in the letter above cited, says of that emperor, that, one day hearing a noise in his palace, heenquired what was the cause, and, being informed that Nonianus wasreciting in public, went immediately to the place, and became one ofthe audience. After that time letters met with no encouragement fromthe great. Lord Shaftesbury says, he cannot but wonder how the Romans, after the extinction of the _Cæsarean_ and _Claudian_ family, and ashort interval of princes raised and destroyed with much disorder andpublic ruin, were able to regain their perishing dominion, andretrieve their sinking state, by an after-race of wise and ableprinces, successively adopted, and taken from a private state to rulethe empire of the world. They were men, who not only possessed themilitary virtues, and supported that sort of discipline in thehighest degree; but as they sought the interest of the world, theydid what was in their power to restore liberty, and raise again theperishing arts, and the decayed virtue of mankind. But the season waspast: _barbarity_ and _gothicism_ were already entered into the arts, ere the savages made an impression on the empire. See _Advice to anAuthor_, part. Ii. S. 1. The _gothicism_, hinted at by Shaftesbury, appears manifestly in the wretched situation to which the best authorswere reduced. The poets who could not hope to procure an audience, haunted the baths and public walks, in order to fasten on theirfriends, and, at any rate, obtain a hearing for their works. Juvenalsays, the plantations and marble columns of Julius Fronto resoundedwith the vociferation of reciting poets:

 Frontonis platani convulsaque marmora clamant Semper, et assiduo ruptæ lectore columnæ. Expectes eadem a summo minimoque poetâ. SAT. I. Ver. 12. 

The same author observes, that the poet, who aspired to literaryfame, might borrow an house for the purpose of a public reading; andthe great man who accommodated the writer, might arrange his friendsand freedmen on the back seats, with direction not to be sparing oftheir applause; but still a stage or pulpit, with convenient benches, was to be procured, and that expence the patrons of letters would notsupply. 

 ----At si dulcedine famæ Contentus recites, Maculonus commodat ædes. Scit dare libertos extremâ in parte sedentes Ordinis, et magnas comitum disponere voces. Nemo dabit procerum, quanti subsellia constent. SAT. Vii. Ver. 39. 

Statius, in Juvenal's time, was a favourite poet. If he announced areading, his auditors went in crowds. He delighted all degrees andranks of men; but, when the hour of applause was over, the author wasobliged to sell a tragedy to Paris, the famous actor, in order toprocure a dinner, Curritur ad vocem jucundam, et carmen amicæ? Thebaidos, lætam fecit cum Statius urbem? Promisitque diem: tantâ dulcedine vulgi Auditur; sed cum fregit subsellia versu, Esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendit Agaven. SAT. Vii. Ver. 82. 

This was the hard lot of poetry, and this the state of public reading, which Aper describes to his friend Maternus. 

Section X. 

[a] Horace has the same observation:

 ----Mediocribus esse poetis Non Dii, non homines, non concessere columnæ. ART OF POETRY, ver. 372. 

 But God and man, and letter'd post denies, That poets ever are of middling size. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

[b] Notwithstanding all that is said, in this Dialogue, of SaleiusBassus, it does not appear, in the judgement of Quintilian, that hewas a poet whose fame could extend itself to the distant provinces. Perfection in the kind is necessary. Livy, the historian, was at thehead of his profession. In consequence of his vast reputation, we knowfrom Pliny, the consul, that a native of the city of Cadiz was sostruck with the character of that great writer, that he made a journeyto Rome, with no other intent than to see that celebrated genius; andhaving gratified his curiosity, without staying to view the wonders ofthat magnificent city, returned home perfectly satisfied. _Nunquamnelegisti Gaditanum quemdam Titi Livii nomine gloriâque commotum, advisendum eum ab ultimo terrarum orbe venisse; statimque, ut viderat, abiisse?_ Lib. Ii. Epist. 3. 

[c] In Homer and Virgil, as well as in the dramatic poets of the firstorder, we frequently have passages of real eloquence, with thedifference which Quintilian mentions: the poet, he says, is a slave tothe measure of his verse; and, not being able at all times to make useof the true and proper word, he is obliged to quit the natural andeasy way of expression, and avail himself of new modes and turns ofphraseology, such as tropes, and metaphors, with the liberty oftransposing words, and lengthening or shortening syllables as he seesoccasion. _Quod alligati ad certam pedum necessitatem non semperpropriis uti possint, sed depulsi a rectâ viâ, necessario ad quædamdiverticula confugiant; nec mutare quædam modo verba, sed extendere, corripere, convertere, dividere cogantur. _ Quint, lib. X. Cap. 1. Thespeaker in the Dialogue is aware of this distinction, and, subject toit, the various branches of poetry are with him so many differentmodes of eloquence. 

[d] The original has, the citadel of eloquence, which calls to mind anadmired passage in Lucretius:

 Sed nil dulcius est bene quam munita tenere Edita doctrinâ sapientum templa serena, Despicere unde queas alios, passimque videre Errare, atque viam pallantes quærere vitæ. Lib. Ii. Ver. 7. 

[e] It is a fact well known, that in Greece the most illustrious ofboth sexes thought it honourable to exercise themselves in theexhibitions of the theatre, and even to appear in the athletic games. Plutarch, it is true, will have it, that all scenic arts wereprohibited at Sparta by the laws of Lycurgus; and yet Cornelius Neposassures us, that no Lacedæmonian matron, however high her quality, wasashamed to act for hire on the public stage. He adds, that throughoutGreece, it was deemed the highest honour to obtain the prize in theOlympic games, and no man blushed to be a performer in plays andpantomimes, and give himself a spectacle to the people. _NullaLacedæmoni tam est nobilis vidua, quæ non in scenam eat mercedeconducta. Magnis in laudibus totâ fuit Græciâ, victorem Olympiæcitari. In scenam vero prodire, et populo esse spectaculo nemini iniisdem gentibus fuit turpitudini. _ Cor. Nep. _in Præfat. _ It appears, however, from a story told by Ælian and cited by Shaftesbury, _Adviceto an Author_, part ii. S. 3, that the Greek women were by lawexcluded from the Olympic games. Whoever was found to transgress, oreven to cross the river Alpheus, during the celebration of that greatspectacle, was liable to be thrown from a rock. The consequence was, that not one female was detected, except _Callipatria_, or, as otherscalled her, _Pherenicè_. This woman, disguised in the habit of ateacher of gymnastic exercises, introduced her son, _Pisidorus_, tocontend for the victor's prize. Her son succeeded. Transported withjoy at a sight so glorious, the mother overleaped the fence, whichenclosed the magistrates, and, in the violence of that exertion, letfall her garment. She was, by consequence, known to be a woman, butabsolved from all criminality. For that mild and equitable sentence, she was indebted to the merit of her father, her brothers, and herson, who all obtained the victor's crown. The incident, however, gavebirth to a new law, whereby it was enacted, that the masters of thegymnastic art should, for the future, come naked to the Olympic games. _Ælian_ lib. X. Cap. 1; and see _Pausanias_, lib. V. Cap. 6. 

[f] Nicostratus is praised by Pausanias (lib. V. Cap. 20), as a greatmaster of the athletic arts. Quintilian has also recorded his prowess. "Nicostratus, whom in our youth we saw advanced in years, wouldinstruct his pupil in every branch of his art, and make him, what hewas himself, an invincible champion. Invincible he was, since, on oneand the same day, he entered the lists as a wrestler and a boxer, andwas proclaimed conqueror in both. " _Ac si fuerit qui docebitur, ille, quem adolescentes vidimus, Nicostratus, omnibus in eo docendi partibussimiliter uteretur; efficietque illum, qualis hic fuit, luctandopugnandoque quorum utroque in certamine iisdem diebus coronabaturinvictum. _ Quint. Lib, ii. Cap. 8. 

Section XI. 

[a] Nero's ambition to excel in poetry was not only ridiculous, but, at the same time, destructive to Lucan, and almost all the goodauthors of the age. See _Annals_, b. Xv. According to the oldscholiast on the Satires of Persius, the following verses were eitherwritten by Nero, or made in imitation of that emperor's style:

 Torva Mimalloneis implerunt cornua bombis, Et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo Bassaris, et lyncem Mænas flexura corymbis, Evion ingeminat: reparabilis adsonat echo. 

The affectation of rhyme, which many ages afterwards was theessential part of monkish verse, the tumour of the words, and thewretched penury of thought, may be imputed to a frivolous prince, whostudied his art of poetry in the manner described by Tacitus, _Annals_, b. Xiv. S. 16. And yet it may be a question, whether thesatirist would have the hardiness to insert the very words of animperial poet, armed with despotic power. A burlesque imitation wouldanswer the purpose; and it may be inferred from another passage in thesame poem, that Persius was content to ridicule the mode ofversification then in vogue at court. 

 Claudere sic versum didicit; Berecynthius Attin, Et qui cæruleum dirimebat Nerea Delphin. Sic costam longo subduximus Apennino. 

[b] Vatinius was a favourite at the court of Nero. Tacitus calls himthe spawn of a cook's-shop and a tippling-house; _sutrinæ et tabernæalumnus_. He recommended himself to the favour of the prince by hisscurrility and vulgar humour. Being, by those arts, raised abovehimself, he became the declared enemy of all good men, and acted adistinguished part among the vilest instruments of that perniciouscourt. See his character, _Annals_ xv. S. 34. When an illiberal andlow buffoon basks in the sunshine of a court, and enjoys exorbitantpower, the cause of literature can have nothing to expect. The liberalarts must, by consequence, be degraded by a corrupt taste, andlearning will be left to run wild and grow to seed. 

Section XII. 

[a] That poetry requires a retreat from the bustle of the world, hasbeen so often repeated, that it is now considered as a truth, fromwhich there can be no appeal. Milton, it is true, wrote his ParadiseLost in a small house near _Bunhill Fields_; and Dryden courted themuse in the hurry and dissipation of a town life. But neither of themfixed his residence by choice. Pope grew immortal on the banks of theThames. But though the country seems to be the seat of contemplation, two great writers have been in opposite opinions. Cicero says, woodsand groves, and rivers winding through the meadows, and the refreshingbreeze, with the melody of birds, may have their attraction; but theyrather relax the mind into indolence, than rouse our attention, orgive vigour to our faculties. _Sylvarum amænitas, et præterlabentiaflumina, et inspirantes ramis arborum auræ, volucrumque cantus, etipsa late circumspiciendi libertas ad se trahunt; at mihi remitterepotius voluptas ista videtur cogitationem, quam intendere. _ _De Orat. _lib. Ii. This, perhaps, may be true as applied to the public orator, whose scene of action lay in the forum or the senate. Pliny, on theother hand, says to his friend Tacitus, there is something in thesolemnity of venerable woods, and the awful silence which prevails inthose places, that strongly disposes us to study and contemplation. For the future, therefore, whenever you hunt, take along with you yourpen and paper, as well as your basket and bottle; for you will findthe mountains not more inhabited by Diana, than by Minerva. _Jamundique sylvæ, et solitudo, ipsumque illud silentium, quod venationidatur, magna cogitationis incitamenta sunt. Proinde, cum, venabere, licebit, auctore me, ut panarium et lagunculam, sic etiam pugillaresferas. Experiaris non Dianam magis montibus quam Minervam inerrare. _Lib. I. Epist. 6. Between these two different opinions, a true poetmay be allowed to decide. Horace describes the noise and tumult of acity life, and then says, Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, et fugit urbes. Epist. Lib. Ii. Ep. Ii. Ver. 77. 

 Alas! to grottos and to groves we run, To ease and silence, ev'ry muse's son. POPE. 

[b] The expression in the original is full and expressive, _lucrosæhujus et sanguinantis eloquentiæ_; that gainful and blood-thirstyeloquence. The immoderate wealth acquired by Eprius Marcellus has beenmentioned in this Dialogue, section 8. Pliny gives us an idea of thevast acquisitions gained by Regulus, the notorious informer. From astate of indigence, he rose, by a train of villainous actions, to suchimmense riches, that he once consulted the omens, to know how soon heshould be worth sixty millions of sesterces, and found them sofavourable, that he had no doubt of being worth double that sum. _Aspice Regulum, qui ex paupere et tenui ad tantas opes per flagitiaprocessit, ut ipse mihi dixerit, cum consuleret, quam cito sestertiumsexcennies impleturus esset, invenisse se exta duplicata, quibusportendi millies et ducenties habiturum. _ Lib. Ii. Ep. 20. In anotherepistle the same author relates, that Regulus, having lost his son, was visited upon that occasion by multitudes of people, who all insecret detested him, yet paid their court with as much assiduity as ifthey esteemed and loved him. They retaliated upon this man his owninsidious arts: to gain the friendship of Regulus, they played thegame of Regulus himself. He, in the mean time, dwells in his villa onthe other side of the Tiber, where he has covered a large tract ofground with magnificent porticos, and lined the banks of the riverwith elegant statues; profuse, with all his avarice, and, in the depthof infamy, proud and vain-glorious. _Convenitur ad eum mirâcelebritate: cuncti detestantur, oderunt; et, quasi probent, quasidiligant, cursant, frequentant, utque breviter, quod sentio, enunciem, in Regulo demerendo, Regulum imitantur. Tenet se trans Tyberim inhortis, in quibus latissimum solum porticibus immensis, ripam statuissuis occupavit; ut est, in summâ avaritia sumptuosus, in summâinfamiâ gloriosus. _ Lib. Iv. Ep. 2. All this splendour, in whichRegulus lived, was the fruit of a gainful and blood-thirsty eloquence;if that may be called eloquence, which Pliny says was nothing morethan a crazed imagination; _nihil præter ingenium insanum_. Lib. Iv. Ep. 7. 

[c] Orpheus, in poetic story, was the son of Calliope, and Linusboasted of Apollo for his father. 

 ----Nec Thracius Orpheus, Nec Linus; huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit, Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo. VIRG. ECL. Iv. Ver. 55. 

 Not Orpheus' self, nor Linus, should exceed My lofty lays, or gain the poet's meed, Though Phœbus, though Calliope inspire, And one the mother aid, and one the sire. WHARTON'S VIRGIL. 

Orpheus embarked in the Argonautic expedition. His history of it, together with his hymns, is still extant; but whether genuine, is muchdoubted. 

[d] Lysias, the celebrated orator, was a native of Syracuse, thechief town in Sicily. He lived about four hundred years before theChristian æra. Cicero says, that he did not addict himself to thepractice of the bar; but his compositions were so judicious, so pureand elegant, that you might venture to pronounce him a perfect orator. _Tum fuit Lysias, ipse quidem in causis forensibus non versatus sedegregiè subtilis scriptor, atque elegans, quem jam prope audeasoratorem perfectum dicere. _ Cicero _De Claris Orat. _ s. 35. Quintiliangives the same opinion. Lysias, he says, preceded Demosthenes: he isacute and elegant, and if to teach the art of speaking were the onlybusiness of an orator, nothing more perfect can be found. He has noredundancy, nothing superfluous, nothing too refined, or foreign tohis purpose: his style is flowing, but more like a pure fountain, thana noble river. _His ætate Lysias major, subtilis atque elegans, et quonihil, si oratori satis sit docere, quæras perfectius. Nihil enim estinane, nihil arcessitum; puro tamen fonti, quam magno fluminipropior. _ Quint, lib. X. Cap. 1. A considerable number of his orationsis still extant, all written with exquisite taste and inexpressiblesweetness. See a very pleasing translation by Dr. Gillies. 

Hyperides flourished at Athens in the time of Demosthenes, Æschynes, Lycurgus, and other famous orators. That age, says Cicero, pouredforth a torrent of eloquence, of the best and purest kind, without thefalse glitter of affected ornament, in a style of noble simplicity, which lasted to the end of that period. _Huic Hyperides proximus, etÆschynes fuit, et Lycurgus, aliique plures. Hæc enim ætas effudit hanccopiam; et, ut opinio mea fert, succus ille et sanguis incorruptususque ad hanc ætatem oratorum fuit, in qua naturalis inesset, nonfucatus nitor. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 36. Quintilian allows to Hyperides akeen discernment, and great sweetness of style; but he pronounces himan orator designed by nature to shine in causes of no great moment. _Dulcis in primis et acutus Hyperides; sed minoribus causis, ut nondixerim utilior, magis par. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. Whatever might be thecase when this Dialogue happened, it is certain, at present, that thefame of Sophocles and Euripides has eclipsed the two Greek orators. 

[e] For an account of Asinius Pollio and Corvinus Messala, see_Annals_, b. Xi. S. 6. Quintilian (b. Xii. Chap. 10) commends thediligence of Pollio, and the dignity of Messala. In another part ofhis Institutes, he praises the invention, the judgement, and spirit ofPollio, but at the same time says, he fell so short of the suavity andsplendour of Cicero, that he might well pass for an orator of a formerage. He adds, that Messala was natural and elegant: the grandeur ofhis style seemed to announce the nobility of his birth; but still hewanted force and energy. _Malta in Asinio Pollione inventio, summadiligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur; et consilii etanimi satis; a nitore et jucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, utvideri possit sæculo prior. At Messala nitidus et candidus, etquodammodo præ se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor. _Quintilian, lib. X. Cap. 1. The two great poets of the Augustan agehave transmitted the name of Asinius Pollio to the latest posterity. Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in theIllyrican and Dalmatic wars. 

 Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi, Sive oram Illyrici legis æquoris; en erit unquam Ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta? En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno? ECLOG. Viii. Ver. 6. 

 O Pollio! leading thy victorious bands O'er deep Timavus, or Illyria's sands; O when thy glorious deeds shall I rehearse? When tell the world how matchless is thy verse, Worthy the lofty stage of laurell'd Greece, Great rival of majestic Sophocles! WHARTON'S VIRGIL. 

Horace has added the orator and the statesman:

 Paulum severæ musa tragediæ Desit theatris; mox, ubi publicas Res ordinaris, grande munus Cecropio repetes cothurno, Insigne mœstis præsidium reis, Et consulenti, Pollio, curiæ, Cui laurus æternos honores Dalmatico peperit triumpho. Lib. Ii. Ode 1. 

 Retard a while thy glowing vein, Nor swell the solemn tragic scene; And when thy sage, thy patriot cares Have form'd the train of Rome's affairs, With lofty rapture reinflam'd, diffuse Heroic thoughts, and wake the buskin'd muse. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

But after all, the question put by Maternus, is, can any of theirorations be compared to the _Medea_ of Ovid, or the _Thyestes_ ofVarius? Those two tragedies are so often praised by the critics ofantiquity, that the republic of letters has reason to lament the loss. Quintilian says that the _Medea_ of Ovid was a specimen of genius, that shewed to what heights the poet could have risen, had he thoughtfit rather to curb, than give the rein to his imagination. _OvidiiMedea videtur mihi ostendere quantum vir ille præstare potuisset, siingenio suo temperare, quam indulgere maluisset. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

The works of Varius, if we except a few fragments, are wholly lost. Horace, in his journey to Brundusium, met him and Virgil, and hementions the incident with the rapture of a friend who loved themboth:

 Plotius, et Varius Sinuessæ, Virgiliusque Occurrunt; animæ quales neque candidiores Terra tulit, neque queis me sit devinctior alter. Lib. I. Sat. 5. 

Horace also celebrates Varius as a poet of sublime genius. He beginshis Ode to Agrippa with the following lines:

 Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium Victor, Mæonii carminis alite, Quam rem cumque ferox navibus, aut equis Miles te duce gesserit. Lib. I. Ode 6. 

 Varius, who soars on epic wing, Agrippa, shall thy conquests sing, Whate'er, inspir'd by thy command, The soldier dar'd on sea or land. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

A few fragments only of his works have reached posterity. His tragedyof THYESTES is highly praised by Quintilian. That judicious criticdoes not hesitate to say, that it may be opposed to the bestproductions of the Greek stage. _Jam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Græcorumcomparari potest. _ Varius lived in high favour at the court ofAugustus. After the death of Virgil, he was joined with _Plotinus_and _Tucca_ to revise the works of that admirable poet. The _Varus_ ofVirgil, so often celebrated in the Pastorals, was, notwithstandingwhat some of the commentators have said, a different person fromVarius, the author of Thyestes. 

Section XIII. 

[a] The rural delight of Virgil is described by himself:

 Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes; Flumina amem, sylvasque inglorius. O ubi campi, Sperchiusque, et virginibus bacchata Lacænis Taygeta! O quis me gelidis sub montibus Hæmi Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbrâ? GEORGICA, lib. Ii. Ver. 485. 

 Me may the lowly vales and woodland please, And winding rivers, and inglorious ease; O that I wander'd by Sperchius' flood, Or on Taygetus' sacred top I stood! Who in cool Hæmus' vales my limbs will lay, And in the darkest thicket hide from day? WHARTON'S VIRG. 

Besides this poetical retreat, which his imagination could command atany time, Virgil had a real and delightful villa near Naples, wherehe composed his Georgics, and wrote great part of the Æneid. 

[b] When Augustus, or any eminent citizen, distinguished by his publicmerit, appeared in the theatre, the people testified their joy byacclamations, and unbounded applause. It is recorded by Horace, thatMæcenas received that public honour. 

 ----Datus in theatro Cum tibi plausus, Care Mæcenas eques, ut paterni Fluminis ripæ, simul et jocosa Redderet laudes tibi Vaticani Montis imago. Lib. I. Ode 20. 

When Virgil appeared, the audience paid the same compliment to a manwhose poetry adorned the Roman story. The letters from Augustus, whichare mentioned in this passage, have perished in the ruins of ancientliterature. 

[c] Pomponius Secundus was of consular rank, and an eminent writer oftragedy. See _Annals_, b. Ii. S. 13. His life was written by Plinythe elder, whose nephew mentions the fact (book iii. Epist. 5), andsays it was a tribute to friendship. Quintilian pronounces him thebest of all the dramatic poets whom he had seen; though the criticswhose judgement was matured by years, did not think him sufficientlytragical. They admitted, however, that his erudition was considerable, and the beauty of his composition surpassed all his contemporaries. _Eorum, quos viderim, longe princeps Pomponius Secundus, quem senesparum tragicum putabant, eruditione ac nitore præstare confitebantur. _Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

[d] Quintilian makes honourable mention of Domitius Afer. He says, when he was a boy, the speeches of that orator for Volusenus Catuluswere held in high estimation. _Et nobis pueris insignes pro VolusenoCatulo Domitii Afri orationes ferebantur. _ Lib. X. Cap 1. He adds, inanother part of the same chapter, that Domitius Afer and JuliusAfricanus were, of all the orators who flourished in his time, withoutcomparison the best. But Afer stands distinguished by the splendourof his diction, and the rhetorical art which he has displayed in allhis compositions. You would not scruple to rank him among the ancientorators. _Eorum quos viderim, Domitius Afer et Julius Secundus longepræstantissimi. Verborum arte ille, et toto genere dicendipræferendus, et quem in numero veterum locare non timeas. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. Quintilian relates, that in a conversation which he had when ayoung man, he asked Domitius Afer what poet was, in his opinion, thenext to Homer? The answer was, _Virgil is undoubtedly the second epicpoet, but he is nearer to the first than to the third. Utar enimverbis, quæ ex Afro Domitio juvenis accepi; qui mihi interroganti, quem Homero crederet maximè accedere: Secundus, inquit, est Virgilius, propior tamen primo quam tertio. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. We may believe thatQuintilian thought highly of the man whose judgement he cites as anauthority. Quintilian, however, had in view nothing but the talents ofthis celebrated orator. Tacitus, as a moral historian, looked at thecharacter of the man. He introduces him on the stage of publicbusiness in the reign of Tiberius, and there represents him in hasteto advance himself by any kind of crime. _Quoquo facinore properusclare cere. _ He tells us, in the same passage (_Annals_, b. Iv. S. 52), that Tiberius pronounced him an orator in his own right, _suojure disertum_. Afer died in the reign of Nero, A. U. C. 812, A. D. 59. In relating his death, Tacitus observes, that he raised himself by hiseloquence to the first civil honours; but he does not dismiss himwithout condemning his morals. _Annals_, b. Xiv. S. 19. 

[e] We find in the Annals and the History of Tacitus, a number ofinstances to justify the sentiments of Maternus. The rich found itnecessary to bequeath part of their substance to the prince, in orderto secure the remainder for their families. For the same reason, Agricola made Domitian joint heir with his wife and daughter. _Life ofAgricola_, section 43. 

[f] By a law of the Twelve Tables, a crown, when fairly earned byvirtue, was placed on the head of the deceased, and another wasordered to be given to his father. The spirit of the law, Cicero says, plainly intimated, that commendation was a tribute due to departedvirtue. A crown was given not only to him who earned it, but also tothe father, who gave birth to distinguished merit. _Illa jamsignificatio est, laudis ornamenta ad mortuos pertinere, quod coronamvirtute partam, et ei qui peperisset, et ejus parenti, sine fraude leximpositam esse jubet. _ _De Legibus_, lib. Ii. S. 24. This is thereward to which Maternus aspires; and, that being granted, he desires, as Horace did before him, to waive the pomp of funeral ceremonies. 

 Absint inani funere næniæ, Luctusque turpes et querimoniæ; Compesce clamorem, ac sepulchri Mitte supervacuos honores. Lib. Ii. Ode 20. 

 My friends, the funeral sorrow spare, The plaintive song, and tender tear; Nor let the voice of grief profane, With loud laments, the solemn scene; Nor o'er your poet's empty urn With useless idle sorrow mourn. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

Section XIV. 

[a] Vipstanius Messala commanded a legion, and, at the head of it, went over to Vespasian's party in the contention with Vitellius. Hewas a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, saysTacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue. _LegioniVipstanius Messala præerat, claris majoribus, egregius ipse, et quisolus ad id bellum artes bonas attulisset. _ _Hist. _ lib. Iii. S. 9. Hewas brother to Regulus, the vile informer, who has been mentioned. SeeLife of Agricola, section 2. Note a, and this tract, s. Xii. Note [b]. Messala, we are told by Tacitus, before he had attained the senatorianage, acquired great fame by pleading the cause of his profligatebrother with extraordinary eloquence, and family affection. _Magnam eodie pietatis eloquentiæque famam Vipstanius Messala adeptus est;nondum senatoriâ ætate, ausus pro fratre Aquilio Regulo deprecari. __Hist. _ lib. Iv. S. 42. Since Messala has now joined the company, theDialogue takes a new turn, and, by an easy and natural transition, slides into the question concerning the causes of the decline ofeloquence. 

[b] This is probably the same Asiaticus, who, in the revolt of theprovinces of Gaul, fought on the side of VINDEX. See _Hist. _ b. Ii. S. 94. Biography was, in that evil period, a tribute paid by the friendsof departed merit, and the only kind of writing, in which men coulddare faintly to utter a sentiment in favour of virtue and publicliberty. 

[c] In the declamations of Seneca and Quintilian, we have abundantexamples of these scholastic exercises, which Juvenal has placed in aridiculous light. 

 Et nos ergo manum ferulæ subduximus, et nos Consilium dedimus Syllæ, privatus ut altum Dormiret. Sat. I. Ver. 15. 

 Provok'd by these incorrigible fools, I left declaiming in pedantic schools; Where, with men-boys, I strove to get renown, Advising Sylla to a private gown. DRYDEN'S JUVENAL. 

Section XV. 

[a] The eloquence of Cicero, and the eminent orators of that age, waspreferred by all men of sound judgement to the unnatural and affectedstyle that prevailed under the emperors. Quintilian gives a decidedopinion. Cicero, he says, was allowed to be the reigning orator of histime, and his name, with posterity, is not so much that of a man, asof eloquence itself. _Quare non immerito ab hominibus ætatis suæ, regnare in judiciis dictus est: apud posteros vero id consecutus, utCicero jam non hominis, sed eloquentiæ nomen habeatur. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. Pliny the younger professed that Cicero was the orator with whom heaspired to enter into competition. Not content with the eloquence ofhis own times, he held it absurd not to follow the best examples of aformer age. _Est enim mihi cum Cicerone æmulatio, nec sum contentuseloquentiâ sæculi nostri. Nam stultissimum credo, ad imitandum nonoptima quæque præponere. _ Lib. I. Epist. 5. 

[b] Nicetes was a native of Smyrna, and a rhetorician in greatcelebrity. Seneca says (_Controversiarum_, lib. Iv. Cap. 25), that hisscholars, content with hearing their master, had no ambition to beheard themselves. Pliny the younger, among the commendations which hebestows on a friend, mentions, as a praise-worthy part of hischaracter, that he attended the lectures of Quintilian and NicetesSacerdos, of whom Pliny himself was at that time a constant follower. _Erat non studiorum tantum, verum etiam studiosorum amantissimus, acprope quotidie ad audiendos, quos tunc ego frequentabam, Quintilianumet Niceten Sacerdotem, ventitabat. _ Lib. Vi. Epist. 6. 

[c] Mitylene was the chief city of the isle of Lesbos, in the ÆgeanSea, near the coast of Asia. The place at this day is called_Metelin_, subject to the Turkish dominion. _Ephesus_ was a city of_Ionia_, in the Lesser Asia, now called _Ajaloue_ by the Turks, whoare masters of the place. 

[d] Domitius Afer and Julius Africanus have been already mentioned, section xiii. Note [d]. Both are highly praised by Quintilian. ForAsinius Pollio, see s. Xii. Note [e]. 

Section XVI. 

[a] Quintilian puts the same question; and, according to him, Demosthenes is the last of the ancients among the Greeks, as Cicerois among the Romans. See _Quintilian_, lib. Viii. Cap. 5. 

[b] The siege of Troy is supposed to have been brought to a conclusioneleven hundred and ninety-three years before Christian æra. From thattime to the sixth year of Vespasian (A. U. C. 828), when this Dialoguewas had, the number of years that intervened was about 1268; a periodwhich, with propriety, may be said to be little less than 1300 years. 

[c] Demosthenes died, before Christ 322 years, A. U. C. 432. From thattime to the sixth of Vespasian, A. U. C. 828, the intervening space wasabout 396 years. Aper calls it little more than 400 years; but in aconversation-piece strict accuracy is not to be expected. 

[d] In the rude state of astronomy, which prevailed during many agesof the world, it was natural that mankind should differ in theircomputation of time. The ancient Egyptians, according to DiodorusSiculus, lib. I. And Pliny the elder, lib. Vii. S. 48, measured timeby the new moons. Some called the summer one year, and the winteranother. At first thirty days were a lunar year; three, four, and sixmonths were afterwards added, and hence in the Egyptian chronology thevast number of years from the beginning of the world. Herodotusinforms us, that the Egyptians, in process of time, formed the idea ofthe solar or solstitial year, subdivided into twelve months. The Romanyear at first was lunar, consisting, in the time of Romulus, of tenmonths. Numa Pompilius added two. Men saw a diversity in the seasons, and wishing to know the cause, began at length to perceive that thedistance or proximity of the sun occasioned the various operations ofnature; but it was long before the space of time, wherein thatluminary performs his course through the zodiac, and returns to thepoint from which he set out, was called a year. The great year (_annusmagnus_), or the PLATONIC YEAR, is the space of time, wherein theseven planets complete their revolutions, and all set out again fromthe same point of the heavens where their course began before. Mathematicians have been much divided in their calculations. Brotierobserves, that Riccioli makes the great year 25, 920 solar years;Tycho Brahe, 25, 816; and Cassini, 24, 800. Cicero expressly calls it aperiod of 12, 954 years. _Horum annorum, quos in fastis habemus, MAGNUSannos duodecim millia nonagentos quinquaginta quatuor amplectitursolstitiales scilicet. _ For a full and accurate dissertation on theANNUS MAGNUS, see the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres, tom. Xxii. 4to edit. P. 82. 

Brotier, in his note on this passage, relates a fact not universallyknown. He mentions a letter from one of the Jesuits on the mission, dated _Peking_, 25th October 1725, in which it is stated, that in themonth of March preceding, when Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury werein conjunction, the Chinese mathematicians fancied that anapproximation of Saturn was near at hand, and, in that persuasion, congratulated the emperor YONG-TCHING on the renovation of the world, which was shortly to take place. The emperor received the addresses ofthe nobility, and gave credit to the opinion of the philosophers inall his public edicts. Meanwhile, _Father Kegler_ endeavoured toundeceive the emperor, and to convince him that the whole was amistake of the Chinese mathematicians: but he tried in vain; flatterysucceeded at court, and triumphed over truth. 

[e] The argument is this: If the great year is the measure of time;then, as it consists, according to Cicero, of 12, 954 solar years, thewhole being divided by twelve, every month of the great year would beclearly 1080 years. According to that calculation, Demosthenes notonly lived in the same year with the persons engaged in the Dialogue, but, it may be said, in the same month. These are the months to whichVirgil alludes in the fourth eclogue:

 Incipient magni procedere menses. 

Section XVII. 

[a] Menenius Agrippa was consul A. U. C. 251. In less than ten yearsafterwards, violent dissensions broke out between the patrician orderand the common people, who complained that they were harassed andoppressed by their affluent creditors. One Sicinius was theirfactious demagogue. He told them, that it was in vain they fought thebattles of their country, since they were no better than slaves andprisoners at Rome. He added, that men are born equal; that the fruitsof the earth were the common birth-right of all, and an agrarian lawwas necessary; that they groaned under a load of debts and taxes; andthat a lazy and corrupt aristocracy battened at ease on the spoils oftheir labour and industry. By the advice of this incendiary, thediscontented citizens made a secession to the MONS SACER, about threemiles out of the city. The fathers, in the meantime, were covered withconsternation. In order, however, to appease the fury of themultitude, they dispatched Menenius Agrippa to their camp. In the rudeunpolished style of the times (_prisco illo dicendi et horrido modo_, says Livy), that orator told them:

 "At the time when the powers of man did not, as at present, co-operate to one useful end, and the members of the human body had their separate interest, their factions, and cabals; it was agreed among them, that the belly maintained itself by their toil and labour, enjoying, in the middle of all, a state of calm repose, pampered with luxuries, and gratified with every kind of pleasure. A conspiracy followed, and the several members of the body took the covenant. The hand would no longer administer food; the mouth would not accept it, and the drudgery of mastication was too much for the teeth. They continued in this resolution, determined to starve the TREASURY of the body, till they began to feel the consequences of their ill-advised revolt. The several members lost their former vigour, and the whole body was falling into a rapid decline. It was then seen that the belly was formed for the good of the whole; that it was by no means lazy, idle, and inactive; but, while it was properly supported, took care to distribute nourishment to every part, and having digested the supplies, filled the veins with pure and wholesome blood. "

The analogy, which this fable bore to the sedition of the Romanpeople, was understood and felt. The discontented multitude saw thatthe state of man described by Menenius, was _like to aninsurrection_. They returned to Rome, and submitted to legalgovernment. _Tempore, quo in homine non, ut nunc, omnia in unumconsentiebant, sed singulis membris suum cuique consilium, sum sermofuerat, indignatas reliquas partes, suâ curâ, suo labore, acministerio, ventri omnia quæri; ventrem in medio quietum, nihil aliud, quam datis voluptatibus frui; conspirasse inde, ne manus ad os cibumferrent, nec os acciperit datum, nec dentes conficerent. Hac irâ dumventrem fame domare vellent, ipsa unâ membra, totumque corpus adextremam tabem venisse. Inde apparuisse, ventris quoque haud segneministerium esse; nec magis ali quam alere eum; reddentem in omnescorporis partes hunc, quo vivimus vigemusque, divisum, pariter invenas, maturum confecto cibo sanguinem. _ Livy, lib. Ii. S. 32. St. Paul has made use of a similar argument;

 "The body is not one member, but many: if the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it, therefore, not of the body? and if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it, therefore, not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members everyone of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body: and the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. " _First Epistle to the Corinthians_, chap. Xii. 

This reasoning of St. Paul merits the attention of those friends ofinnovation, who are not content with the station in which God hasplaced them, and, therefore, object to all subordination, all ranks insociety. 

[b] Cæsar the dictator was, as the poet expresses it, graced with bothMinervas. Quintilian is of opinion, that if he had devoted his wholetime to the profession of eloquence, he would have been the greatrival of Cicero. The energy of his language, his strength ofconception, and his power over the passions, were so striking, that hemay be said to have harangued with the same spirit that he fought. _Caius vero Cæsar si foro tantum vacasset, non alius ex nostris contraCiceronem nominaretur. Tanta in eo vis est, id acumen, ea concitatio, ut illum eodem animo dixisse, quo bellavit, appareat. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. To speak of Cicero in this place, were to hold a candle to the sun. Itwill be sufficient to refer to Quintilian, who in the chapter abovecited has drawn a beautiful parallel between him and Demosthenes. TheRoman orator, he admits, improved himself by a diligent study of thebest models of Greece. He attained the warmth and the sublime ofDemosthenes, the harmony of Plato, and the sweet flexibility ofIsocrates. His own native genius supplied the rest. He was notcontent, as Pindar expresses it, to collect the drops that rained downfrom heaven, but had in himself the living fountain of that copiousflow, and that sublime, that pathetic energy, which were bestowed uponhim by the bounty of Providence, that in one man eloquence might exertall her powers. _Nam mihi videtur Marcus Tullius, cum se totum adimitationem Græcorum contulisset, effinxisse vim Demosthenis, copiamPlatonis, jucunditatem Isocratis. Nec vero quod in quoque optimum fuitstudio consecutus est tantum, sed plurimas vel potius omnes ex se ipsovirtutes extulit immortalis ingenii beatissimâ ubertate. Non enimpluvias (ut ait Pindarus) aquas colligit sed vivo gurgite exundat, dono quodam providentiæ genitus, in quo vires suas eloquentiaexperiretur. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

[c] Marcus Cælius Rufus, in the judgement of Quintilian, was an oratorof considerable genius. In the conduct of a prosecution, he wasremarkable for a certain urbanity, that gave a secret charm to hiswhole speech. It is to be regretted that he was not a man of betterconduct and longer life. _Multum ingenii in Cælio, et præcipuè inaccusando multa urbanitas; dignusque vir, cui et mens melior, et vitalongior contigisset. _ Quint, lib. X. Cap. 1. His letters to Ciceromake the eighth book of the _Epistolæ ad Familiares_. VelleiusPaterculus says of him, that his style of eloquence and his cast ofmind bore a resemblance to Curio, but raised him above that factiousorator. His genius for mischief and evil deeds was not inferior toCurio, and his motives were strong and urgent, since his fortune wasworse than even his frame of mind. _Marcus Cælius, vir eloquio animoqueCurioni simillimus, sed in utroque perfectior; nec minus ingeniosènequam, cum ne in modicâ quidem servari posset, quippe pejor illi resfamiliaris, quam mens. _ Vell. Patere. Lib. Ii. S. 68. 

Licinius Macer Calvus, we are told by Seneca, maintained a long butunjust contention with Cicero himself for the palm of eloquence. Hewas a warm and vehement accuser, insomuch that Vatinius, thoughdefended by Cicero, interrupted Calvus in the middle of his speech, and said to the judges, "Though this man has a torrent of words, doesit follow that I must be condemned?" _Calvus diu cum Ciceroneiniquissimam litem de principatu eloquentiæ habuit; et usque eòviolentus accusator et concitatus fuit, ut in media actione ejussurgeret Vatinius reus, et exclamaret, Rogo vos, judices, si istedisertus est, ideo me damnari oportet?_ Seneca, _Controv. _ lib. Iii. Cap. 19. Cicero could not dread him as a rival, and it may thereforebe presumed, that he has drawn his character with an impartial hand. Calvus was an orator more improved by literature than Curio. He spokewith accuracy, and in his composition shewed great taste and delicacy;but, labouring to refine his language, he was too attentive to littleniceties. He wished to make no bad blood, and he lost the good. Hisstyle was polished with timid caution; but while it pleased the ear ofthe learned, the spirit evaporated, and of course made no impressionin the forum, which is the theatre of eloquence. _Ad Calvumrevertamur; qui orator fuisset cum literis eruditior quam Curio, tumetiam accuratius quoddam dicendi, et exquisitius afferebat genus; quodquamquam scienter eleganterque tractabat, nimium tamen inquirens inse, atque ipse sese observans, metuensque ne vitiosum colligeret, etiam verum sanguinem deperdebat. Itaque ejus oratio nimiâ religioneattenuata, doctis et attentè audientibus erat illustris, a multitudineautem, et a foro, cui nata eloquentia est, devorabatur. _ _De ClarisOrat. _ s. 288. Quintilian says, there were, who preferred him to allthe orators of his time. Others were of opinion that, by being toosevere a critic on himself, he polished too much, and grew weak byrefinement. But his manner was grave and solid; his style was chaste, and often animated. To be thought a man of attic eloquence was theheight of his ambition. If he had lived to see his error, and to giveto his eloquence a true and perfect form, not by retrenching (forthere was nothing to be taken away), but by adding certain qualitiesthat were wanted, he would have reached the summit of his art. By apremature death his fame was nipped in the bud. _Inveni qui Calvumpræferrent omnibus; inveni qui contrà crederent eum, nimiâ contra secalumniâ, verum sanguinem perdidisse. Sed est et sancta et gravisoratio, et castigata, et frequenter vehemens quoque. Imitator estautem Atticorum; fecitque illi properata mors injuriam, si quidadjecturus, non si quid detracturus fuit. _ Quintil. Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

[d] This was the famous Marcus Junius Brutus, who stood forth in thecause of liberty, and delivered his country from the usurpation ofJulius Cæsar. Cicero describes him in that great tragic scene, brandishing his bloody dagger, and calling on Cicero by name, to tellhim that his country was free. _Cæsare interfecto, statim cruentumaltè extollens Marcus Brutus pugionem, Ciceronem nominatim exclamavit, atque ei recuperatam libertatem est gratulatus. _ Philippic, ii. S. 28. The late Doctor Akenside has retouched this passage with all thecolours of a sublime imagination. 

 Look then abroad through nature, through the range Of planets, suns, and adamantine spheres, Wheeling unshaken through the void immense, And speak, O man! does this capacious scene With half that kindling majesty dilate Thy strong conception, as when Brutus rose Refulgent from the stroke of Cæsar's fate, Amid the crowd of patriots, and his arm Aloft extending, like eternal Jove When guilt brings down the thunder, call'd aloud On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel, And bade the Father of his Country hail! For, lo! the tyrant prostrate in the dust, And Rome again is free. PLEASURES OF IMAG. B. I. Ver. 487. 

According to Quintilian, Brutus was fitter for philosophicalspeculations, and books of moral theory, than for the career of publicoratory. In the former he was equal to the weight and dignity of hissubject: you clearly saw that he believed what he said. _Egregius veromultoque quam in orationibus præstantior Brutus, suffecit ponderirerum; scias eum sentire quæ dicit. _ Quintil. Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

For Asinius Pollio and Messala, see section xii. Note [e]. 

[e] Hirtius and Pansa were consuls A. U. C. 711; before the Christianæra 43. In this year, the famous _triple league_, called theTRIUMVIRATE, was formed between Augustus, Lepidus, and Antony. The_proscription_, or the list of those who were doomed to die for thecrime of adhering to the cause of liberty, was also settled, andCicero was one of the number. A band of assassins went in quest of himto his villa, called _Astura_, near the sea-shore. Their leader wasone Popilius Lænas, a military tribune, whom Cicero had formerlydefended with success in a capital cause. They overtook Cicero in hislitter. He commanded his servants to set him down, and make noresistance; then looking upon his executioners with a presence andfirmness which almost daunted them, and thrusting his neck as forwardas he could out of the litter, he bade them _do their work, and takewhat they wanted_. The murderers cut off his head, and both his hands. Popilius undertook to convey them to Rome, as the most agreeablepresent to Antony; without reflecting on the _infamy of carrying thathead, which had saved his own_. He found Antony in the forum, and uponshewing the spoils which he brought, was rewarded on the spot with the_honour of a crown, and about eight thousand pounds sterling_. Antonyordered the head to be _fixed upon the rostra, between the twohands_; a sad spectacle to the people, who beheld those mangledmembers, which used to exert themselves, from that place, in defenceof the lives, the fortunes, and the liberties of Rome. Cicero waskilled on the seventh of December, about ten days from the settlementof the triumvirate, after he had lived _sixty-three years, elevenmonths, and five days_. See Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, 4to edit. Vol. Ii. P. 495 to 498. Velleius Paterculus, after mentioning Cicero'sdeath, breaks out in a strain of indignation, that almost redeems thecharacter of that time-serving writer. He says to Antony, in aspirited apostrophe, you have no reason to exult: you have gained nopoint by paying the assassin, who stopped that eloquent mouth, and cutoff that illustrious head. You have paid the wages of murder, and youhave destroyed a consul who was the conservator of the commonwealth. By that act you delivered Cicero from a distracted world, from theinfirmities of old age, and from a life which, under your usurpation, would have been worse than death. His fame was not to be crushed: theglory of his actions and his eloquence still remains, and you haveraised it higher than ever. He lives, and will continue to live inevery age and nation. Posterity will admire and venerate the torrentof eloquence, which he poured out against yourself, and will for everexecrate the horrible murder which you committed. _Nihil tamen egisti, Marce Antoni (cogit enim excedere propositi formam operis erumpensanimo ac pectore indignatio): nihil, inquam, egisti; mercedemcælestissimi oris, et clarissimi capitis abscissi numerando;auctoramentoque funebri ad conservatoris quondam reipublicæ tantiqueconsulis irritando necem. Rapuisti tu Marco Ciceroni lucem sollicitamet ætatem senilem, et vitam miseriorem te principe, quam sub tetriumviro mortem. Famam vero, gloriamque factorum atque dictorum adeonon abstulisti, ut auxeris. Vivit, vivetque per omnium sæculorummemoriam; omnisque posteritas illius in te scripta mirabitur, tuum ineum factum execrabitur. _ Vell. Paterc. Lib. Ii. S. 66. 

[f] Between the consulship of Augustus, which began immediately afterthe destruction of Hirtius and Pansa, A. U. C. 711, and the death ofthat emperor, which was A. U. 767, fifty-six years intervened, and tothe sixth of Vespasian (A. U. C. 828), about 118 years. For the sake ofa round number, it is called in the Dialogue a space of 120 years. 

[g] Julius Cæsar landed in Britain in the years of Rome 699 and 700. See _Life of Agricola_, s. 13. Note a. It does not appear when Aperwas in Britain; it could not be till the year of Rome 796, when AulusPlautius, by order of the emperor Claudius, undertook the conquest ofthe island. See _Life of Agricola_, s. 14. Note a. At that time, theBriton who fought against Cæsar, must have been far advanced in years. 

[h] A largess was given to the people, in the fourth year ofVespasian, when Domitian entered on his second consulship. This, Brotier says, appears on a medal, with this inscription: CONG. II. COS. II. _Congiarium alterum, Domitiano consule secundùm. _ The customof giving large distributions to the people was for many agesestablished at Rome. Brotier traces it from Ancus Martius, the fourthking of Rome, when the poverty of the people called for relief. Thelike bounty was distributed by the generals, who returned in triumph. Lucullus and Julius Cæsar displayed, on those occasions, great pompand magnificence. Corn, wine, and oil, were plentifully distributed, and the popularity, acquired by those means, was, perhaps, the ruin ofthe commonwealth. Cæsar lavished money. Augustus followed the example, and Tiberius did the same; but prodigality was not his practice. Hispolitic genius taught him all the arts of governing. The bounties thusdistributed, were called, when given to the people, CONGIARIA, and, tothe soldiers, DONATIVA. Whoever desires to form an idea of the numberof Roman citizens who, at different times, received largesses, and theprodigious expence attending them, may see an account drawn up withdiligent attention by Brotier, in an elaborate note on this passage. He begins with Julius Cæsar; and pursues the enquiry through theseveral successive emperors, fixing the date and expence at everyperiod, as low down as the consulship of Constantius and GaleriusMaximianus; when, the empire being divided into the eastern andwestern, its former magnificence was, by consequence, much diminished. 

[i] The person here called Corvinus was the same as Corvinus Messala, who flourished in the reign of Augustus, at the same time with AsiniusPollio. See s. Xii. Note [e]. 

Section XVIII. 

[a] Servius Sulpicius Galba was consul A. U. C. 610, before theChristian æra 144. Cicero says of him, that he was, in his day, anorator of eminence. When he spoke in public, the natural energy of hismind supported him, and the warmth of his imagination made himvehement and pathetic; his language was animated, bold, and rapid; butwhen he, afterwards, took his pen in hand to correct and polish, thefit of enthusiasm was over; his passions ebbed away, and thecomposition was cold and languid. _Galbam fortasse vis non ingeniisolum, sed etiam animi, et naturalis quidam dolor, dicentemincendebat, efficiebatque, ut et incitata, et gravis, et vehemensesset oratio; dein cum otiosus stilum prehenderat, motusque omnisanimi, tanquam ventus, hominem defecerat, flaccescebat oratio. Ardoranimi non semper adest, isque cum consedit, omnis illa vis, et quasiflamma oratoris extinguitur. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 93. Suetonius says, that the person here intended was of consular dignity, and, by hiseloquence, gave weight and lustre to his family. _Life of Galba_, s. Iii. 

[b] Caius Papirius Carbo was consul A. U. C. 634. Cicero wishes that hehad proved himself as good a citizen, as he was an orator. Beingimpeached for his turbulent and seditious conduct, he did not chooseto stand the event of a trial, but escaped the judgement of thesenate by a voluntary death. His life was spent in forensic causes. Men of sense, who heard him have reported, that he was a fluent, animated, and harmonious speaker; at times pathetic, always pleasing, and abounding with wit. _Carbo, quoad vita suppeditavit, est in multisjudiciis causisque cognitus. Hunc qui audierant prudentes homines, canorum oratorem, et volubilem, et satis acrem, atque eundem etvehementem, et valde dulcem, et perfacetum fuisse dicebant. _ _De ClarisOrat. _ s. 105. 

[c] Calvus and Cælius have been mentioned already. See s. Xvii. Note[c]. 

[d] Caius Gracchus was tribune of the people A. U. C. 633. In thatcharacter he took the popular side against the patricians; and, pursuing the plan of the agrarian law laid down by his brother, Tiberius Gracchus, he was able by his eloquence to keep the city ofRome in violent agitation. Amidst the tumult, the senate, by a decree, ordered the consul, Lucius Opimius, _to take care that thecommonwealth received no injury_; and, says Cicero, not a single nightintervened, before that magistrate put Gracchus to death. _Decrevitsenatus, ut Lucius Opimius, consul, videret, ne quid detrimentirespublica caperet: nox nulla intercessit; interfectus est propterquasdam seditionum suspiciones Caius Gracchus, clarissimo patre natus, avis majoribus. Orat. I. In Catilinam. _ His reputation as an oratortowers above all his contemporaries. Cicero says, the commonwealth andthe interests of literature suffered greatly by his untimely end. Hewishes that the love of his country, and not zeal for the memory ofhis brother, had inspired his actions. His eloquence was such as lefthim without a rival: in his diction, what a noble splendour! in hissentiments, what elevation! and in the whole of his manner, whatweight and dignity! His compositions, it is true, are not retouchedwith care; they want the polish of the last hand; what is well begun, is seldom highly finished; and yet he, if any one, deserves to be thestudy of the Roman youth. In him they will find what can, at once, quicken their genius, and enrich the understanding. _Damnum enim, illius immaturo interitu, res Romanæ, Latinæque literæ fecerunt. Utinam non tam fratri pietatem, quam patriæ præstare voluisset. Eloquentia quidem nescio an habuisset parem: grandis est verbis, sapiens sententiis, genere toto gravis. Manus extrema non accessitoperibus ejus; præclare inchoata multa, perfecta non plane. Legendusest hic orator, si quisquam alius, juventuti; non enim solum acuere, sed etiam alere ingenium potest. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 125, 126. 

[e] This is the celebrated Marcus Portius Cato, commonly known by thename of Cato the censor. He was quæstor under Scipio, who commandedagainst the Carthaginians, A. U. C. 548. He rose through the regulargradations of the magistracy to the consulship. When prætor, hegoverned the province of Sardinia, and exerted himself in the reformof all abuses introduced by his predecessors. From his own person, andhis manner of living, he banished every appearance of luxury. When hehad occasion to visit the towns that lay within his government, hewent on foot, clothed with the plainest attire, without a vehiclefollowing him, or more than one servant, who carried the robe ofoffice, and a vase, to make libations at the altar. He sat injudgement with the dignity of a magistrate, and punished every offencewith inflexible rigour. He had the happy art of uniting in his ownperson two things almost incompatible; namely, strict severity andsweetness of manners. Under his administration, justice was at onceterrible and amiable. Plutarch relates that he never wore a dress thatcost more than thirty shillings; that his wine was no better than whatwas consumed by his slaves; and that by leading a laborious life, hemeant to harden his constitution for the service of his country. Henever ceased to condemn the luxury of the times. On this subject aremarkable apophthegm is recorded by Plutarch; _It is impossible_, said Cato, _to save a city, in which a single fish sells for moremoney than an ox. _ The account given of him by Cicero in the CatoMajor, excites our veneration of the man. He was master of everyliberal art, and every branch of science, known in that age. Some menrose to eminence by their skill in jurisprudence; others by theireloquence; and a great number by their military talents. Cato shone inall alike. The patricians were often leagued against him, but hisvirtue and his eloquence were a match for the proudest connections. Hewas chosen CENSOR, in opposition to a number of powerful candidates, A. U. C. 568. He was the adviser of the third Punic war. The questionoccasioned several warm debates in the senate. Cato always insisted onthe demolition of Carthage: DELENDA EST CARTHAGO. He preferred anaccusation against Servius Sulpicius Galba on a charge of peculationin Spain, A. U. C. 603; and, though he was then ninety years old, according to Livy (Cicero says he lived to eighty-five), he conductedthe business with so much vigour, that Galba, in order to excitecompassion, produced his children before the senate, and by thatartifice escaped a sentence of condemnation. Quintilian gives thefollowing character of Cato the censor: His genius, like his learning, was universal: historian, orator, lawyer, he cultivated the threebranches; and what he undertook, he touched with a master-hand. Thescience of husbandry was also his. Great as his attainments were, theywere acquired in camps, amidst the din of arms; and in the city ofRome, amidst scenes of contention, and the uproar of civil discord. Though he lived in rude unpolished times, he applied himself, when faradvanced in the vale of years, to the study of Greek literature, andthereby gave a signal proof that even in old age the willing mind maybe enriched with new stores of knowledge. _Marcus Censorius Cato, idemorator, idem historiæ conditor, idem juris, idem rerum rusticarumperitissimus fuit. Inter tot opera militiæ, tantas domi contentions, ridi sæculo literas Græcas, ætate jam declinatâ didicit, ut essethominibus documento, ea quoque percipi posse, quæ senes concupissent. _Lib. Xii. Cap. 11. 

[f] Lucius Licinius Crassus is often mentioned, and always to hisadvantage, by Cicero DE CLARIS ORATORIBUS. He was born, as appears inthat treatise (sect. 161), during the consulship of Lælius and Cæpio, A. U. C. 614: he was contemporary with Antonius, the celebrated orator, and father of Antony the triumvir. Crassus was about four and thirtyyears older than Cicero. When Philippus the consul shewed himselfdisposed to encroach on the privileges of the senate, and, in thepresence of that body, offered indignities to Licinius Crassus, theorator, as Cicero informs us, broke out in a blaze of eloquenceagainst that violent outrage, concluding with that remarkablesentence: He shall not be to me A CONSUL, to whom I am not A SENATOR. _Non es mihi consul, quia nec ego tibi senator sum. _ See _ValeriusMaximus_, lib. Xli. Cap. 2. Cicero has given his oratorical character. He possessed a wonderful dignity of language, could enliven hisdiscourse with wit and pleasantry, never descending to vulgar humour;refined, and polished, without a tincture of scurrility. He preservedthe true Latin idiom; in his selection of words accurate, withapparent facility; no stiffness, no affectation appeared; in his trainof reasoning always clear and methodical; and, when the cause hingedupon a question of law, or the moral distinctions of good and evil, noman possessed such a fund of argument, and happy illustration. _Crassonihil statuo fieri potuisse perfectius: erat summa gravitas; erat cumgravitate junctus facetiarum et urbanitatis oratorius, non scurrilis, lepos. Latinè loquendi accurata, et, sine molestiâ, diligenselegantia; in disserendo mira explicatio; cum de jure civili, cum deæquo et bono disputaretur, argumentorum et similitudinum copia. _ _DeClaris Orat. _ s. 143. In Cicero's books DE ORATORE, Licinius Crassussupports a capital part in the dialogue; but in the opening of thethird book, we have a pathetic account of his death, written, as theItalians say, _con amore_. Crassus returned from his villa, where thedialogue passed, to take part in the debate against Philippus theconsul, who had declared to an assembly of the people, that he wasobliged to seek new counsellors, for with such a senate he could notconduct the affairs of the commonwealth. The conduct of Crassus, uponthat occasion, has been mentioned already. The vehemence, with whichhe exerted himself, threw him into a violent fever, and, on theseventh day following, put a period to his life. Then, says Cicero, that tuneful swan expired: we hoped once more to hear the melody ofhis voice, and went, in that expectation, to the senate-house; but allthat remained was to gaze on the spot where that eloquent orator spokefor the last time in the service of his country. _Illud immortalitatedignum ingenium, illa humanitas, illa virtus Lucii Crassi morteextincta subitâ est, vix diebus decem post eum diem, qui hoc etsuperiore libra continetur. Illa tanquam cycnea fuit divini hominisvox, et oratio, quam quasi expectantes, post ejus interitum veniebamusin curiam, ut vestigium illud ipsum, in quo ille postremuminstitisset, contueremur. _ _De Orat. _ lib, iii. S. 1. And 6. Thispassage will naturally call to mind the death of the great earl ofChatham. He went, in a feeble state of health, to attend a debate ofthe first importance. Nothing could detain him from the service of hiscountry. The dying notes of the BRITISH SWAN were heard in the Houseof Peers. He was conveyed to his own house, and on the eleventh of May1778, he breathed his last. The news reached the House of Commons latein the evening, when Colonel BARRE had the honour of being the firstto shed a patriot tear on that melancholy occasion. In a strain ofmanly sorrow, and with that unprepared eloquence which the heartinspires, he moved for a funeral at the public expence, and a monumentto the memory of virtue and departed genius. By performing that piousoffice, Colonel BARRE may be said to have made his own name immortal. History will record the transaction. 

[g] Messala Corvinus is often, in this Dialogue, called Corvinus only. See s. Xii. Note [e]. 

[h] Appius Claudius was censor in the year of Rome 442; dictator, 465;and, having at a very advanced age lost his sight, he became betterknown by the name of Appius Cæcus. Afterwards, A. U. 472, when Pyrrhus, by his ambassador, offered terms of peace, and a treaty of alliance, Appius, whom blindness, and the infirmities of age, had for some timewithheld from public business, desired to be conveyed in a litter tothe senate-house. Being conducted to his place, he delivered hissentiments in so forcible a manner, that the fathers resolved toprosecute the war, and never to hear of an accommodation, till Italywas evacuated by Pyrrhus and his army. See Livy, b. Xiii. S. 31. Cicero relates the same fact in his CATO MAJOR, and further adds, thatthe speech made by APPIUS CÆCUS was then extant. Ovid mentions thetemple of Bellona, built and dedicated by Appius, who, when blind, sawevery thing by the light of his understanding, and rejected all termsof accommodation with Pyrrhus. 

 Hac sacrata die Tusco Bellona duello Dicitur, et Latio prospera semper adest. Appius est auctor, Pyrrho qui pace negatâ Multum animo vidit, lumine cæcus erat. FASTORUM lib vi. Ver. 201. 

[i] Quintilian acknowledges this fact, with his usual candour. Thequestion concerning Attic and Asiatic eloquence was of long standing. The style of the former was close, pure, and elegant; the latter wassaid to be diffuse and ostentatious. In the ATTIC, nothing was idle, nothing redundant: the ASIATIC swelled above all bounds, affecting todazzle by strokes of wit, by affectation and superfluous ornament. Cicero was said by his enemies to be an orator of the last school. They did not scruple to pronounce him turgid, copious to a fault, often redundant, and too fond of repetition. His wit, they said, wasthe false glitter of vain conceit, frigid, and out of season; hiscomposition was cold and languid; wire-drawn into amplification, andfuller of meretricious finery than became a man. _Et antiqua quidemilla divisio inter Asianos et Atticos fuit; cum hi pressi, et integri, contra, inflati illi et inanes haberentur; et in his nihilsuperflueret, illis judicium maximè ac modus deesset. Ciceronem tamenet suorum homines temporum incessere audebant ut tumidiorem, etAsianum, et redundantem, et in repetitionibus nimium, et in salibusaliquando frigidum, et in compositione fractum, exultantem, ac penè(quod procul absit) viro molliorem. _ Quintil. Lib. Xii. Cap. 10. Thesame author adds, that, when the great orator was cut off by MarcAntony's proscription, and could no longer answer for himself, the menwho either personally hated him, or envied his genius, or chose to paytheir court to the, triumvirate, poured forth their malignity withoutreserve. It is unnecessary to observe, that Quintilian, in sundryparts of his work, has vindicated Cicero from these aspersions. See s. Xvii. Note [b]. 

[k] For Calvus, see s. Xvii. Note [c]. For Brutus, see the samesection, note [d]. What Cicero thought of Calvus has been alreadyquoted from the tract _De Claris Oratoribus_, in note [c], s. Xvii. Bybeing too severe a critic on himself, he lost strength, while he aimedat elegance. It is, therefore, properly said in this Dialogue, thatCicero thought Calvus cold and enervated. But did he think Brutusdisjointed, loose and negligent--_otiosum atque disjunctum_? That heoften thought him disjointed is not improbable. Brutus was a closethinker, and he aimed at the precision and brevity of Attic eloquence. The sententious speaker is, of course, full and concise. He has nostudied transitions, above the minute care of artful connections. Todiscard the copulatives for the sake of energy was a rule laid down bythe best ancient critics. Cicero has observed that an oration may besaid to be disjointed, when the copulatives are omitted, and strokesof sentiment follow one another in quick succession. _Dissolutio sivedisjunctio est, quæ conjunctionibus e medio sublatis, partibusseparatis effertur, hoc modo: Gere morem parenti; pare cognatis;obsequere amicis; obtempera legibus. Ad Herennium_, lib. Iv. S. 41. In this manner, Brutus might appear disjointed, and that figure, oftenrepeated, might grow into a fault. But how is the word OTIOSUS to beunderstood? If it means a neglect of connectives, it may, perhaps, apply to Brutus. There is no room to think that Cicero used it in aworse sense, since we find him in a letter to Atticus declaring, thatthe oratorical style of Brutus was, in language as well as sentiment, elegant to a degree that nothing could surpass. _Est enim oratio ejusscripta elegantissimè, sententiis et verbis, ut nihil possit ultra. _ Agrave philosopher, like Brutus, might reject the graces of transitionand regular connection, and, for that reason, might be thoughtnegligent and abrupt. This disjointed style, which the French call_style coupé_, was the manner cultivated by Seneca, for which Caligulapronounced him, sand without lime; _arenam sine calce_. Sueton. _Lifeof Calig. _ s. 53. We know from Quintilian, that a spirit of emulation, and even jealousy, subsisted between the eminent orators of Cicero'stime; that he himself was so far from ascribing perfection toDemosthenes, that he used to say, he often found him napping; thatBrutus and Calvus sat in judgement on Cicero, and did not wish toconceal their objections; and that the two Pollios were so far frombeing satisfied with Cicero's style and manner, that their criticismswere little short of declared hostility. _Quamquam neque ipsi CiceroniDemosthenes videatur satis esse perfectus, quem dormitare interdumdicit; nec Cicero Bruto Calvoque, qui certè compositionem illius etiamapud ipsum reprehendunt; ne Asinio utrique, qui vitia orationis ejusetiam inimicè pluribus locis insequuntur. _ Quintil. Lib. Xii. Cap. 1. 

Section XIX. 

[a] Cassius Severus lived in the latter end of the reign of Augustus, and through a considerable part of that of Tiberius. He was an orator, according to Quintilian, who, if read with due caution, might serve asa model worthy of imitation. It is to be regretted, that to the manyexcellent qualities of his style he did not add more weight, morestrength and dignity, and thereby give colour and a body to hissentiments. With those requisites, he would have ranked with the mosteminent orators. To his excellent genius he united keen reflection, great energy, and a peculiar urbanity, which gave a secret charm tohis speeches. But the warmth of his temper hurried him on; he listenedmore to his passions than to his judgement; he possessed a vein ofwit, but he mingled with it too much acrimony; and wit, when it missesits aim, feels the mortification and the ridicule which usually attenddisappointed malice. _Multa, si cum judicio legatur, dabit imitationedigna CASSIUS SEVERUS, qui, si cæteris virtutibus colorem etgravitatem orationis adjecisset, ponendus inter præcipuos foret, Namet ingenii plurimum est in eo, et acerbitas mira, et urbanitas, et vissumma; sed plus stomacho quàm consilio dedit; præterea ut amari sales, ita frequenter amaritudo ipsa ridicula est. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. We readin Suetonius (_Life of Octavius_, s. 56), that Cassius had thehardiness to institute a prosecution for the crime of poisoningagainst Asprenas Nonius, who was, at the time, linked in the closestfriendship with Augustus. Not content with accusations against thefirst men in Rome, he chose to vent his malevolence in lampoons anddefamatory libels, against the most distinguished of both sexes. Itwas this that provoked Horace to declare war against Cassius, in anode (lib, v. Ode 6), which begins, _Quid immerentes hospites vexas, canis_. See an account of his malevolent spirit, _Annals_, b, i. S. 72. He was at length condemned for his indiscriminate abuse, andbanished by Augustus to the isle of Crete. But his satirical rage wasnot to be controlled. He continued in exile to discharge hismalignity, till, at last, at the end of ten years, the senate tookcognizance of his guilt, and Tiberius ordered him to be removed fromCrete to the Rock of Seriphos, where he languished in old age andmisery. See _Annals_, b. Iv. S. 21. The period of ancient oratoryended about the time when Cassius began his career. He was the firstof the new school. 

[b] These two rhetoricians flourished in the time of Augustus. Apollodorus, we are told by Quintilian (b. Iii. Chap. 1), was thepreceptor of Augustus. He taught in opposition to Theodorus Gadareus, who read lectures at Rhodes, and was attended by Tiberius during hisretreat in that island. The two contending masters were the foundersof opposite sects, called the _Apollodorean_ and _Theodorian_. Buttrue eloquence, which knows no laws but those of nature and goodsense, gained nothing by party divisions. Literature was distracted bynew doctrines; rhetoric became a trick in the hands of sophists, andall sound oratory disappeared. Hermagoras, Quintilian says, in thechapter already cited, was the disciple of Theodorus. 

Section XX. 

[a] Doctor Middleton says, "Of the seven excellent orations, which nowremain on the subject of VERRES, the first two only were spoken; theone called, _The Divination_; the other, _The first Action_, which isnothing more than a general preface to the whole cause. The other fivewere published afterwards, as they were prepared and intended to bespoken, if Verres had made a regular defence: for as this was the onlycause in which Cicero had yet been engaged, or ever designed to beengaged, as _an accuser_, so he was willing to leave those orations asa specimen of his abilities in that way, and the _pattern of a justand diligent impeachment of a great and corrupt magistrate. " Life ofCicero_, vol. I. P. 86, 4to edit. 

[b] The Digest enumerates a multitude of rules concerning _exceptions_to persons, things, the form of the action, the niceties of pleading, and, as the phrase is, motions in arrest of judgement. _Formula_, wasthe set of words necessary to be used in the pleadings. See the_Digest_, lib. Xliv. Tit. 1. _De Exceptionibus, Præscriptionibus, etPræjudiciis_. See also Cujacius, _observat. _ xxiii. 

[c] The oration for Marcus Tullius is highly praised by Macrobius, butis not to be found in Cicero's works. The oration for Aulus Cæcina isstill extant. The cause was about the right of succession to a privateestate, which depended on a subtle point of law, arising from theinterpretation of the prætor's interdict. It shews Cicero's exactknowledge and skill in the civil law, and that his public characterand employment gave no interruption to his usual diligence in pleadingcauses. Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, vol. I. P. 116, 4to edit. 

[d] Roscius, in the last period of the republic, was the comedian, whom all Rome admired for his talents. The great esteemed and lovedhim for his morals. Æsop, the tragedian, was his contemporary. Horace, in the epistle to Augustus, has mentioned them both with their properand distinctive qualities. 

 ----Ea cum reprehendere coner Quæ GRAVIS ÆSOPUS, quæ DOCTUS ROSCIUS egit. 

A certain measured gravity of elocution being requisite in tragedy, that quality is assigned to the former, and the latter is calledDOCTUS, because he was a complete master of his art; so truly learnedin the principles of his profession, that he possessed, in a wonderfuldegree, the secret charm that gave inimitable graces to his voice andaction. Quintilian, in a few words, has given a commentary on thepassage in Horace. Grief, he says, is expressed by slow and deliberateaccents; for that reason, Æsop spoke with gravity; Roscius withquickness; the former being a tragedian, the latter a comedian. _Plusautem affectus habent lentiora; ideoque Roscius citatior, Æsopusgravior fuit, quod ille comœdias, his tragœdias egit. _ Lib. Xi. Cap. 1. Cicero was the great friend and patron of Roscius. An elegantoration in his behalf is still extant. The cause was this: One FANNIUShad made over to Roscius a young slave, to be formed by him to thestage, on condition of a partnership in the profits which the slaveshould acquire by acting. The slave was afterwards killed. Rosciusprosecuted the murderer for damages, and obtained, by composition, alittle farm, worth about eight hundred pounds, for his particularshare. FANNIUS also sued separately, and was supposed to have gainedas much; but, pretending to have recovered nothing, he sued ROSCIUSfor the moiety of what he had received. One cannot but observe, saysDr. Middleton, from Cicero's pleading, the wonderful esteem andreputation in which Roscius then flourished. Has Roscius, says he, defrauded his partner? Can such a stain stick upon such a man; a manwho, I speak it with confidence, has more integrity than skill, moreveracity than experience? a man whom the people of Rome know to be abetter citizen than he is an actor; and, while he makes the firstfigure on the stage for his art, is worthy of a seat in the senate forhis virtue. _Quem populus Romanus meliorem virum quam histrionem essearbitratur; qui ita dignissimus est scená propter artificium, utdignissimus sit curiá propter abstinentiam. Pro Roscio Comœdo_, s. 17In another place, Cicero says, he was such an artist, as to seem theonly one fit to appear on the stage; yet such a man, as to seem theonly one who should not come upon it at all. _Cum artifex ejusmodisit, ut solus dignus videatur esse qui in scená spectetur; tum virejusmodi est, ut solus dignus videatur, qui eo non accedat. Pro Publ. Quinctio_, s. 78. What Cicero has said in his pleadings might bethought oratorical, introduced merely to serve the cause, if we didnot find the comedian praised with equal warmth in the dialogue DEORATORE. It is there said of Roscius, that every thing he did wasperfect in the kind, and executed with consummate grace, with a secretcharm, that touched, affected, and delighted the whole audience:insomuch, that when a man excelled in any other profession, it wasgrown into a proverb to call him, THE ROSCIUS OF HIS ART. _Videtisne, quam nihil ab eo nisi perfectè, nihil nisi cum summâ venustate fiat?nihil, nisi ita ut deceat, et uti omnes moveat, atque delectet? Itaquehoc jam diu est consecutus, ut in quo quisque artificio excelleret, isin suo genere Roscius diceretur. _ _De Orat. _ lib. I. S. 130. After somuch honourable testimony, one cannot but wonder why the DOCTUSROSCIUS of Horace is mentioned in this Dialogue with an air ofdisparagement. It may be, that APER, the speaker in this passage, wasdetermined to degrade the orators of antiquity; and the comedian was, therefore, to expect no quarter. Dacier, in his notes on the Epistleto Augustus, observes that Roscius wrote a book, in which he undertookto prove to Cicero, that in all the stores of eloquence there were notso many different expressions for one and the same thing, as in thedramatic art there were modes of action, and casts of countenance, tomark the sentiment, and convey it to the mind with its due degree ofemotion. It is to be lamented that such a book has not come down tous. It would, perhaps, be more valuable than the best treatise ofrhetoric. 

Ambivius Turpio acted in most of Terence's plays, and seems to havebeen a manager of the theatre. Cicero, in the treatise _De Senectute_, says: He, who sat near him in the first rows, received the greatestpleasure; but still, those, who were at the further end of thetheatre, were delighted with him. _Turpione Ambivio magis delectatur, qui in primâ caveâ spectat; delectatur tamen etiam qui in ultimâ. _

[e] ACCIUS and PACUVIUS flourished at Rome about the middle of thesixth century from the foundation of the city. Accius, according toHorace, was held to be a poet of a sublime genius, and Pacuvius (wholived to be ninety years old) was respected for his age and profoundlearning. 

 Ambigitur quoties uter utro sit prior, aufert PACUVIUS docti famam senis, ACCIUS alti. EPIST. AD AUG. Ver. 56. 

Velleius Paterculus says, that ACCIUS was thought equal to the bestwriters of the Greek tragedy. He had not, indeed, the diligent touchesof the polishing hand, which we see in the poets of Athens, but he hadmore spirit and vigour. _Accius usque in Græcorum comparationemerectus. In illis limæ in hoc penè plus videri fuisse sanguinis. _ Heis often quoted by Cicero in his book _De Naturâ Deorum_. But afterall, it is from the great critic, who gives the best account of theRoman poets, orators, and historians, that we are to take the genuinecharacter of ACCIUS and PACUVIUS, since their works are lost in thegeneral mass of ancient literature. They were both excellent tragicpoets: elevation of sentiment, grandeur of expression, and dignity ofcharacter, stamped a value on their productions; and yet, we must notexpect to find the grace and elegance of genuine composition. To givethe finishing hand to their works was not their practice: the defect, however, is not to be imputed to them; it was the vice of the age. Force and dignity are the characteristics of ACCIUS; while thecritics, who wish to be thought deep and profound, admire PACUVIUS forhis extensive learning. _Tragœdiæ scriptores Accius atque Pacuvius, clarissimi sententiarum verborumque pondere, et auctoritatepersonarum. Cæterum nitor, et summa in excolendis operibus manus, magis videri potest temporibus, quam ipsis defuisse. Virium tamenAccio plus tribuitur; Pacuvium videri doctiorem, qui esse doctiaffectant, volunt. _ Quintil. Lib. X. Cap. 1. It was the fashion inHorace's time to prefer the writers of the old school to the new racethat gave so much lustre to the Augustan age. In opposition to sucherroneous criticism, the poet pronounces a decided judgement, whichseems to be confirmed by the opinion of Quintilian. 

 Si quædam nimis antiquè, si pleraque durè Dicere credit eos, ignavè multa fatetur, Et sapit, et mecum facit, et Jove judicat æquo. EPIST. AD AUGUST. Ver. 66. 

 But that sometimes their style uncouth appears, And their harsh numbers rudely hurt our ears; Or that full flatly flows the languid line, He, who owns this, has Jove's assent and mine. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

[f] Lucan was nephew to Seneca, and a poet of great celebrity. He wasborn, in the reign of Caligula, at Corduba in Spain. His superiorgenius made Nero his mortal enemy. He was put to death by that inhumanemperor, A. U. C. 818, in the twenty-seventh year of his age. See the_Annals_, b. Xv. S. 70. As a writer, Quintilian says, that hepossessed an ardent genius, impetuous, rapid, and remarkable for thevigour of his sentiments: but he chooses to class him with theorators, rather than the poets. _Lucanus ardens, et concitatus, etsententiis clarissimus; et, ut dicam quod sentio, magis oratoribusquam poetis annumerandus. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. Scaliger, on the otherhand, contends that Lucan was a true poet, and that the critics do buttrifle, when they object that he wrote history, not an epic poem. STRADA in his Prolusions, has given, among other imitations, anarrative in Lucan's manner; and, though he thinks that poet has notthe skill of Virgil, he places him on the summit of Parnassus, managing his Pegasus with difficulty, often in danger of falling fromthe ridge of a precipice, yet delighting his reader with the pleasureof seeing him escape. This is the true character of Lucan. The love ofliberty was his ruling passion. It is but justice to add, that hissentiments, when free from _antithesis_ and the _Ovidian_ manner, arenot excelled by any poet of antiquity. From him, as well as fromVirgil and Horace, the orator is required to cull such passages aswill help to enrich his discourse; and the practice is recommended byQuintilian, who observes, that Cicero, Asinius Pollio, and others, frequently cited verses from Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius, and Terence, inorder to grace their speeches with polite literature, and enliven theimagination of their hearers. By those poetic insertions, the ear isrelieved from the harsh monotony of the forum; and the poets, citedoccasionally, serve by their authority to establish the propositionadvanced by the speaker. _Nam præcipue quidem apud Ciceronem, frequenter tamen apud Asinium etiam, et cæteros, qui sunt proximi, vidimus ENNII, ACCII, PACUVII, TERENTII et aliorum inseri versus, summâ non eruditionis modò gratiâ, sed etiam jucunditatis; cumpoeticis voluptatibus aures a forensi asperitate respirent, quibusaccedit non mediocris utilitas, cum sententiis eorum, velut quibusdamtestimoniis, quæ proposuere confirmant. _ Quintil. Lib. I. Cap. 8. 

Section XXI. 

[a] There is in this place a blunder of the copyists, which almostmakes the sentence unintelligible. The translator, without enteringinto minute controversies, has, upon all such occasions, adopted whatappeared, from the context, to be the most probable sense. It remains, therefore, to enquire, who were the several orators here enumerated. CANUTIUS may be the person mentioned by Suetonius _De ClarisRhetoribus_. Cicero says of ARRIUS, that he was a striking proof ofwhat consequence it was at Rome to be useful to others, and alwaysready to be subservient to their honour, or to ward off danger. For, by that assiduity, Arrius raised himself from a low beginning towealth and honours, and was even ranked in the number of orators, though void of learning, and without genius, or abilities. _Locoinfimo natus, et honores, et pecuniam, et gratiam consecutus, etiam inpatronorum, sine doctrinâ, sine ingenio, aliquem numerum pervenerat. De Claris Orat. _ s. 243. FURNIUS may be supposed, not withoutprobability, to be the person with whom Cicero corresponded. _Epist. Ad Familiares_, lib. X. Ep. 25, 26. With regard to Terrianus we areleft in the dark. The commentators offer various conjectures; butconjecture is often a specious amusement; the ingenious folly of men, who take pains to bewilder themselves, and reason only to shew theiruseless learning. 

[b] The puny orators are said to be in an infirmary, like sickly men, who were nothing but skin and bone. These, says Cicero, were admirersof the Attic manner; but it were to be wished that they had thewholesome blood, not merely the bones, of their favourite declaimers. _Attico genere dicendi se gaudere dicunt; atqui utinam imitarentur necossa solum, sed etiam et sanguinem. _ Cicero _De Claris Oratoribus_. 

[c] What is here said of Calvus is not confirmed by the judgement ofQuintilian. See s. Xvii. Note [c]. His orations, which were extant atthe time of this Dialogue, are now totally lost. 

[d] For Quintilian's opinion of Cælius, see s. Xvii. Note [c]. 

[e] Here again Quintilian, that candid and able judge, has given adifferent opinion. See s. Xvii. Note [b]. It may be proper to add thetestimony of Velleius Paterculus. Cæsar, he says, had an elevation ofsoul, that towered above humanity, and was almost incredible; therapid progress of his wars, his firmness in the hour of danger, andthe grandeur of his vast conceptions, bore a near affinity toAlexander, but to Alexander neither drunk, nor mad with passion. _Animo super humanam et naturam, et fidem evectus, celeritatebellandi, patientiâ periculorum, magnitudine cogitationum; magno illiAlexandro, sed sobrio neque iracundo, simillimus. Vel. Patercul. _ lib. Ii. S. 41. Even Cicero tells us, that, of all the eminent orators, hewas the person who spoke the Latin language in the greatest purity, and arrived at that consummate perfection by study, by diligentapplication, and his thorough knowledge of all polite literature. _Illum omnium ferè oratorum Latinè loqui elegantissimè: ut essetperfecta illa benè loquendi laus, multis litteris, et iis quidemreconditis et exquisitis, summoque studio et diligentiâ estconsecutus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 252. 

[f] Cæsar's speech for Decius the Samnite, and all his otherproductions (except the Commentaries), are totally lost. 

[g] This speech of Brutus is also lost with his other works. Cicerosays, he heard him plead the cause of Dejotarus with great elegance, and a flow of harmonious periods. _Causam Dejotari, fidelissimi atqueoptimi regis, ornatissimè et copiosissimè a Bruto me audisse defensam. De Claris Orat. _ s. 21. He tells us in another place, that Cæsarobserved of Brutus, that whatever he desired, he desired with ardour;and therefore, in the cause of Dejotarus, he exerted himself withwarmth, with vehemence, and great freedom of language. _Quidquid vult, valdè vult; ideoque, cum pro rege Dejotaro dixerit, valdè vehementereum visum, et liberè dicere. Ad Attic. _ lib. Xiv. Ep. 1. The sameDejotarus was afterwards defended by Cicero before Cæsar himself. Seethe Oration _pro Rege Dejotaro_. 

[h] See what is said of Asinius Pollio, s. Xii. Note [e]. 

[i] Pliny the younger has the same metaphorical allusions, which wehere find in the Dialogue. Speaking of the difference between theoratorial and historical style; the latter, he says, may be contentwith the bones, the muscles, and the nerves; the former must have theprominence of the flesh, the brawny vigour, and the flowing mane. _Habent quidem oratio et historia multa communia, sed plura diversa inhis ipsis, quæ communia videntur. Narrat sane illa, narrat hæc, sedaliter. Huic pleraque humilia, et sordida, et ex medio petita: illiomnia recondita, splendida, excelsa conveniunt. Hanc sæpius ossa, musculi, nervi; illam tori quidam, et quasi jubæ decent. _ Lib. V. Ep. 8. 

[k] Messala Corvinus has been often mentioned. See for him s. Xii. Note [e]. 

Section XXII. 

[a] The words _sententia_ and _sensus_ were technical terms with thecritics of antiquity. Quintilian gives the distinct meaning of each, with his usual precision. According to the established usage, theword _sensus_ signified our ideas or conceptions, as they rise in themind: by _sententia_ was intended, a proposition, in the close of aperiod, so expressed, as to dart a sudden brilliancy, for that reasoncalled _lumen orationis_. He says, these artificial ornaments, whichthe ancients used but sparingly, were the constant practice of themodern orators. _Consuetudo jam tenuit, ut mente concepta_, SENSUS_vocaremus; lumina autem, præcipuèque in clausulis posita_, SENTENTIAS. _Quæ minus crebra apud antiquos, nostris temporibus modocarent. _ Lib. Viii. Cap. 5. These luminous sentences, Quintilian says, may be called the eyes of an oration; but eyes are not to be placed inevery part, lest the other members should lose their function. _Egovero hæc lumina orationis velut oculos quosdam esse eloquentiæ credo:sed neque oculos esse toto corpore velim, ne cætera membra suumofficium perdant. _ Lib. Viii, cap. 5. As Cowley says, Jewels at nose and lips but ill appear; Rather than all things, wit let none be there. 

[b] In order to form a good style, the sentence should always beclosed with variety, strength, and harmony. The ancient rhetoriciansheld this to be so essentially requisite, that Quintilian has given ita full discussion. That, he says, which offends the ear, will noteasily gain admission to the mind. Words should be fitted to theirplaces, so that they may aptly coalesce with one another. In building, the most ill shapen stones may be conveniently fixed; and in likemanner, a good style must have proper words in proper places, allarranged in order, and closing the sentence with grace and harmony. _Nihil intrare potest in affectum, quod in aure, velut quodamvestibulo, statim offendit. Non enim ad pedes verba dimensa sunt;ideoque ex loco transferuntur in locum, ut jungantur quo congruuntmaximè; sicut in structurâ saxorum rudium etiam ipsa enormitas invenitcui applicari, et in quo possit insistere. Felicissimus tamen sermoest, cui et rectus ordo, et apta junctura, et cum his numerusopportunè cadens contingit. _ Quintil. Lib. Ix. Cap. 4. 

Section XXIII. 

[a] The remark in this place alludes to a passage in the orationagainst PISO, where we find a frivolous stroke of false wit. Ciceroreproaches Piso for his dissolute manners, and his scandalousdebauchery. Who, he says, in all that time, saw you sober? Who beheldyou doing any one thing, worthy of a liberal mind? Did you once appearin public? The house of your colleague resounded with songs andminstrels: he himself danced naked in the midst of his wanton company;and while he _wheeled_ about with alacrity in the _circular motion_ ofthe dance, he never once thought of THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE. _Quis teillis diebus sobrium, quis agentem aliquid, quod esset libero dignum?Quis denique in publico vidit? Cum collegæ tui domus cantu et cymbalispersonaret; cumque ipse nudus in convivio saltaret, in quo ne tumquidem, cum illum suum_ SALTATORIUM VERSARET ORBEM, FORTUNÆ ROTAM_pertimescebat. Oratio in Pisonem_, prima pars, s. 22. Delph. Edit. Vol. Iii. 

[b] The passage here alluded to, presents us with a double pun. Theword _Verres_ is the name of a man, and also signifies a _boar pig_, as we read in Horace, _Verris obliquum meditantis ictum_. Lib. Iii. Ode 22. The word _jus_ is likewise of twofold meaning, importing _law_and _sauce_, or broth; _tepidumque ligurierit jus_. Lib. I. Sat. 3. Theobjection to Cicero is, that playing on both the words, and takingadvantage of their ambiguous meaning, he says it could not be matterof wonder that the _Verrian jus_ was such bad HOG-SOUP. The wit (if itdeserves that name) is mean enough; but, in justice to Cicero, itshould be remembered, that he himself calls it frigid, and says, thatthe men, who in their anger could be so very facetious, as to blamethe priest who did not sacrifice such a hog (_Verres_), were idle andridiculous. He adds, that he should not descend to repeat such sayings(for they were neither witty, nor worthy of notice in such a cause), had he not thought it material to shew, that the iniquity of VERRESwas, in the mouth of the vulgar, a subject of ridicule, and aproverbial joke. _Hinc illi homines erant, qui etiam ridiculiinveniebantur ex dolore: quorum alii, ut audistis, negabant mirandumesse_, JUS _tam nequam esse_ VERRINUM: _alii etiam frigidiores erant;sed quia stomachabantur, ridiculi videbantur esse, cum_ SACERDOTEM_execrabantur, qui_ VERREM _tam nequam reliquisset, Quæ ego noncommemorarem (neque enim perfacetè dicta, neque porro hac severitatedigna sunt) nisi vos id vellem recordari, istius nequitiam etiniquitatem tum in ore vulgi, atque communibus proverbiis esseversatam. In Verrem_, lib. I. Pars tertia, s. 121. 

[c] Quintilian acknowledges that the words _esse videatur (it seems tobe)_ occur frequently in Cicero's Orations. He adds, that he knewseveral, who fancied that they had performed wonders, when they placedthat phrase in the close of a sentence. _Noveram quosdam, qui sepulchrè expressisse genus illud cælestis hujus in dicendo viri sibividerentur, si in clausulâ posuissent esse videatur. _ Quintil. Lib. X. Cap. 2. 

[d] The species of composition, called satire, was altogether of Romangrowth. Lucilius had the honour of being the inventor; and hesucceeded so well, that even in Quintilian's time, his admirerspreferred him not only to the writers who followed in the same way, but to all poets of every denomination. _Lucilius quosdam ita deditossibi adhuc habet imitatores, ut eum non ejusdem modo operis, sedomnibus poetis præferre non dubitent. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. The greatcritic, however, pronounces judgement in favour of Horace, who, hesays, is more terse and pure; a more acute observer of life, andqualified by nature to touch the ridicule of the manners with thenicest hand. _Multo est tersior, ac purus magis Horatius, et adnotandos hominum mores præcipuus. _

[e] Lucretius is not without his partisans at this hour. Many of theFrench critics speak of him with rapture; and, in England, Dr. Whartonof Winchester seems to be at the head of his admirers. He does notscruple to say that Lucretius had more spirit, fire, and energy, moreof the _vivida vis animi_, than any of the Roman poets. It is neithersafe nor desirable to differ from so fine a genius as Dr. Wharton. Thepassages which he has quoted from his favourite poet, shew great tastein the selection. It should be remembered, however, that Quintiliandoes not treat Lucretius with the same passionate fondness. He placesVirgil next to Homer; and the rest, he says, of the Roman poetsfollow at a great distance. MACER and LUCRETIUS deserve to be read:they have handled their respective subjects with taste and elegance;but Macer has no elevation, and Lucretius is not easily understood. _Cæteri omnes longe sequuntur. Nam MACER et LUCRETIUS legendi quidem;elegantes in suâ quisque materiâ, sed alter humilis, alterdifficilis. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. Statius, the poet, who flourished in thereign of Domitian, knew the value of Lucretius, and, in one line, seems to have given his true character; _et docti furor arduusLucreti_; but had he been to decide between him and Virgil, it isprobable, that he would say to Lucretius, as he did to himself, ----Nec tu divinam Æneida tenta, Sed longe sequere, et vestigia semper adora. THEBAIDOS lib. Xii. Ver. 816. 

[f] Aufidius Bassus and Servilius Nonianus were writers of history. Bassus, according to Quintilian, deserved great commendation, particularly in his History of the German war. In some of his otherworks he fell short of himself. Servilius Nonianus was known toQuintilian, and, in that critic's judgement, was an author ofconsiderable merit, sententious in his manner, but more diffuse thanbecomes the historic character. See Quintilian, lib. X. Cap. 1. Thedeath of SERVILIUS, an eminent orator and historian, is mentioned byTacitus in the _Annals_, b. Xiv. S. 19; but the additional name ofNONIANUS is omitted. The passage, however, is supposed to relate tothe person commended by Quintilian. He died in the reign of Nero, A. U. C. 812; of the Christian æra 59. 

[g] Varro was universally allowed to be the most learned of theRomans. He wrote on several subjects with profound erudition. Quintilian says, he was completely master of the Latin language, andthoroughly conversant in the antiquities of Greece and Rome. His workswill enlarge our sphere of knowledge, but can add nothing toeloquence. _Peritissimus linguæ Latinæ, et omnis antiquitatis, etrerum Græcarum, nostrarumque; plus tamen scientiæ collaturus, quameloquentiæ. _ Lib. X. Cap. 1. 

Sisenna, we are told by Cicero, was a man of learning, well skilled inthe Roman language, acquainted with the laws and constitution of hiscountry, and possessed of no small share of wit; but eloquence was nothis element, and his practice in the forum was inconsiderable. See _DeClaris Oratoribus_, s. 228. In a subsequent part of the same work, Cicero says, that Sisenna was of opinion, that to use uncommon wordswas the perfection of style. To prove this he relates a pleasantanecdote. One Caius Rufus carried on a prosecution. Sisenna appearedfor the defendant; and, to express his contempt of his adversary, saidthat many parts of the charge deserved to be spit upon. For thispurpose he coined so strange a word, that the prosecutor implored theprotection of the judges. I do not, said he, understand Sisenna; I amcircumvented; I fear that some snare is laid for me. What does he meanby _sputatilica?_ I know that _sputa_ is spittle: but what is_tilica?_ The court laughed at the oddity of a word so strangelycompounded. _Rufio accusante Chritilium, Sisenna defendens dixitquædam ejus SPUTATILICA esse crimina. Tum Caius Rufius, Circumvenior, inquit, judices, nisi subvenitis. Sisenna quid dicat nescio; metuoinsidias. SPUTATILICA! quid est hoc?_ Sputa _quid sit, scio_; tilica_nescio. Maximi risus, De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 260. Whether thiswas the same Sisenna, who is said in the former quotation to have beena correct speaker, does not appear with any degree of certainty. 

[h] For the character of Secundus, see s. Ii. Note [c]. 

[i] Quintilian says, the merit of a fine writer flourishes after hisdeath, for envy does not go down to posterity. _Ad posteros enimvirtus durabit, nec perveniet invidia. _ Lib. Iii. C. 1. Envy is alwayssure to pursue living merit; and therefore, Cleo observes toAlexander, that Hercules and Bacchus were not numbered among the gods, till they conquered the malignity of their contemporaries. _NecHerculem, nec Patrem Liberum, prius dicatos deos, quàm vicissent secumviventium invidiam. _ Quintus Curtius, lib. Viii. S. 18. Pliny theyounger has a beautiful epistle on this subject. After praising, inthe highest manner, the various works of Pompeius Saturninus, he saysto his correspondent, Let it be no objection to such an author, thathe is still living. If he flourished in a distant part of the world, we should not only procure his books, but we should have his picturein our houses: and shall his fame be tarnished, because we have theman before our eyes? Shall malignity make us cease to admire him, because we see him, hear him, esteem and love him? _Neque enim debetoperibus ejus obesse, QUOD VIVIT. An si inter eos, quos nunquamvidimus, floruisset, non solum libros ejus, verum etiam imaginesconquireremus, ejusdem nunc honor præsentis et gratia quasi satietatelanguescet? At hoc pravum malignumque est, non admirari hominemadmiratione dignissimum, quia videre, alloqui, audire, complecti, neclaudare tantum, verum etiam amare contingit. _ Lib. I. Ep. 16. 

Section XXIV. 

[a] In the Dialogues of Plato, and others of the academic school, theablest philosophers occasionally supported a wrong hypothesis, inorder to provoke a thorough discussion of some important question. 

[b] Cicero was killed on the seventh of December, in the consulship ofHirtius and Pansa, A. U. C. 711; before Christ, 43. From that time tothe sixth of Vespasian the number of years is exactly 117; though inthe Dialogue said to be 120. See s. Xvii. Note [e]. 

Section XXV. 

[a] See Plutarch's Lives of Lysias, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, andHyperides. See also the elegant translation of the Orations of Lysias, by Dr. Gillies. 

[b] For Quintilian's opinion of Cæsar's eloquence, see s. Xvii. Note[b]. To what is there said may be added the authority of Cicero, whofairly owns, that Cæsar's constant habit of speaking his language withpurity and correctness, exempted him from all the vices of thecorrupt style adopted by others. To that politeness of expressionwhich every well-bred citizen, though he does not aspire to be anorator, ought to practise, when Cæsar adds the splendid ornaments ofeloquence, he may then be said to place the finest pictures in thebest light. In his manner there is nothing mechanical, nothing ofprofessional craft: his voice is impressive, and his action dignified. To air these qualities he unites a certain majesty of mien and figure, that bespeaks a noble mind. _Cæsar autem rationem adhibens, consuetudinem vitiosam et corruptam purâ et incorruptâ consuetudineemendat. Itaque cum ad hanc elegantiam verborum Latinorum, quæ etiamsi orator non sis, et sis ingenuus civis Romanus, tamen necessariaest, adjungit illa oratorio, ornamenta dicendi; tum videtur tanquamtabulas bene pictas collocare in bono lumine. Hanc cum habeatpræcipuam laudem in communibus, non video cui debeat cedere. Splendidam quamdam, minimeque veteratoriam rationem dicendi tenet, voce, motu: formâ etiam magnificâ, et generosâ quodammodo. _ _De ClarisOratoribus_, s. 261. 

For Cælius, see s. Xvii. Note [c]; and for Brutus, the same section, note [d]. 

[c] Servius Galba has been already mentioned, s. Xviii. Note [a]. Caius Lælius was consul A. U. C. 614; before the Christian æra, 140. Hewas the intimate friend of Scipio, and the patron of Lucilius, thefirst Roman satirist. See Horace, lib. Ii. Sat. I. Ver. 71. 

 Quin ubi se a vulgo et scenâ in secretâ remôrant Virtus Scipiadæ, et mitis sapientia Lælî, Nugari cum illo, et discincti ludere, donec Decoqueretur olus, soliti. 

 When Scipio's virtue, and of milder vein When Lælius' wisdom, from the busy scene And crowd of life, the vulgar and the great. Could with their favourite satirist retreat, Lightly they laugh'd at many an idle jest, Until their frugal feast of herbs was drest. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

It is probable, that the harsh manner of Lucilius, _durus componereversus_, infected the eloquence of Lælius, since we find in Cicero, that his style was unpolished, and had much of the rust of antiquity. _Multo tamen vetustior et horridior ille quam Scipio, et, cum sint indicendo variæ, voluntates, delectari mihi magis antiquitate videtur, et lubenter verbis etiam uti paulo magis priscis Lælius. _ _De ClarisOratoribus_, s. 83. 

Section XXVI. 

[a] For an account of Caius Gracchus, see s. Xviii. Note [d]. 

[b] For Lucius Crassus, see s. Xviii. Note [f]. 

[c] The false taste of Mæcenas has been noted by the poets and criticswho flourished after his death. His affected prettinesses are comparedto the prim curls, in which women and effeminate men tricked out theirhair. Seneca, who was himself tainted with affectation, has left abeautiful epistle on the very question that makes the main subject ofthe present Dialogue. He points out the causes of the corrupt tastethat debauched the eloquence of those times and imputes the mischiefto the degeneracy of the manners. Whatever the man was, such was theorator. _Talis oratio quails vita. _ When ancient discipline relaxed, luxury succeeded, and language became delicate, brilliant, spangledwith conceits. Simplicity was laid aside, and quaint expressions grewinto fashion. Does the mind sink into languor, the body movesreluctantly. Is the man softened into effeminacy, you see it in hisgait. Is he quick and eager, he walks with alacrity. The powers of theunderstanding are affected in the same manner. Having laid this downas his principle, Seneca proceeds to describe the soft delicacy ofMæcenas, and he finds the same vice in his phraseology. He cites anumber of the lady-like terms, which the great patron of lettersconsidered as exquisite beauties. In all this, says he, we see the manwho walked the streets of Rome in his open and flowing robe. _Nonnestatim, cum hæc legis, occurrit hunc esse, qui solutis tunicis in urbesemper incesserit?_ Seneca, epist. Cxiv. What he has said of Mæcenasis perfectly just. The fopperies of that celebrated minister are inthis Dialogue called CALAMISTRI; an allusion borrowed from Cicero, who praises the beautiful simplicity of _Cæsar's Commentaries_, andsays there were men of a vicious taste, who wanted to apply the_curling-iron_, that is, to introduce the glitter of conceit andantithesis in the place of truth and nature. _Commentarios quosdamscripsit rerum suarum, valde quidem probandos: nudi enim sunt, etrecti, et venusti, omni ornatu orationis, tanquam veste, detracto. Ineptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui volunt illa_ CALAMISTRIS _inurere. _Cicero _De Claris Orat. _ s. 262. 

[d] Who Gallio was, is not clearly settled by the commentators. Quintilian, lib. Iii. Cap. 1, makes mention of Gallio, who wrote atreatise of eloquence; and in the _Annals_, b. Xv. S. 73, we findJunius Gallio, the brother of Seneca; but whether either of them isthe person here intended, remains uncertain. Whoever he was, hiseloquence was a tinkling cymbal. Quintilian says of such orators, whoare all inflated, tumid, corrupt, and jingling, that their malady doesnot proceed from a full and rich constitution, but from mereinfirmity; for, As in bodies, thus in souls we find, What wants in blood and spirits, swell'd with wind. 

_Nam tumidos, et corruptos, et tinnulos, et quocumque alio cacozeliægenere peccantes, certum habeo, non virium, sed infirmitatis vitiolaborare: ut corpora non robore, sed valetudine inflantur. _ Quintil. Lib. Ii. Cap. 3. 

[e] Pliny declares, without ceremony, that he was ashamed of thecorrupt effeminate style that disgraced the courts of justice, andmade him think of withdrawing from the forum. He calls it sing-song, and says that nothing but musical instruments could be added. _Pudetreferre, quæ quam fractâ pronunciatione dicantur; quibus quam tenerisclamoribus excipiantur. Plausus tantum, ac sola cymbala et tympana, illis canticis desunt. _ Pliny, lib. Ii. Epist. 14. The chief aim ofPersius in his first satire is levelled against the bad poets of histime, and also the spurious orators, who enervated their eloquence byantithesis, far-fetched metaphors, and points of wit, delivered withthe softest tone of voice, and ridiculous airs of affectation. 

 Fur es, ait Pedio: Pedius quid? Crimina rasis Librat in antithetis; doctus posuisse figuras Laudatur. Bellum hoc! hoc bellum! an Romule ceves? Men' moveat quippe, et, cantet si naufragus, assem Protulerim? Cantas, cum fractâ te in trabe pictum Ex humero portes? PERSIUS, sat. I. Ver. 85. 

 Theft, says the accuser, to thy charge I lay, O Pedius. What does gentle Pedius say? Studious to please the genius of the times, With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes. He lards with flourishes his long harangue: 'Tis fine, say'st thou. What! to be prais'd, and hang? Effeminate Roman! shall such stuff prevail, To tickle thee, and make thee wag thy tail? Say, should a shipwreck'd sailor sing his woe, Wouldst thou be mov'd to pity, and bestow An alms? What's more prepost'rous than to see A merry beggar? wit in misery! DRYDEN'S PERSIUS. 

[f] For Cassius Severus, see s. Xix. Note [a]. 

[g] Gabinianus was a teacher of rhetoric in the reign of Vespasian. Eusebius, in his Chronicon, eighth of Vespasian, says that Gabinianus, a celebrated rhetorician, was a teacher of eloquence in Gaul. _Gabinianus, celeberrimi nominis rhetor, in Galliâ docuit. _ Hisadmirers deemed him another Cicero, and, after him, all such oratorswere called CICERONES GABISTIANI. 

Section XXVIII. 

[a] In order to brand and stigmatise the Roman matrons who committedthe care of their infant children to hired nurses, Tacitus observes, that no such custom was known among the savages of Germany. See_Manners of the Germans_, s. Xx. See also Quintilian, on the subjectof education, lib. I. Cap. 2 and 3. 

[b] Cornelia, the mother of the two Gracchi, was daughter to the firstScipio Africanus. The sons, Quintilian says, owed much of theireloquence to the care and institutions of their mother, whose tasteand learning were fully displayed in her letters, which were then inthe hands of the public. _Nam Gracchorum eloquentiæ multum contulisseaccepimus Corneliam matrem, cujus doctissimus sermo in posteros quoqueest epistolis traditus. _ Quint. Lib. I. Cap. 1. To the same effectCicero: _Fuit Gracchus diligentiâ Corneliæ matris a puero doctus, etGræcis litteris eruditus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 104. Again, Cicero says, We have read the letters of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, fromwhich it appears, that the sons were educated, not so much in the lapof their mother, as her conversation. _Legimus epistolas Corneliæ, matris Gracchorum: apparet filios non tam in gremio educatos, quam insermone matris. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 211. Pliny the elder informs usthat a statue was erected to her memory, though Cato the Censordeclaimed against shewing so much honour to women, even in theprovinces. But with all his vehemence he could not prevent it in thecity of Rome. Pliny, lib. Xxxiv. S. 14. 

[c] For Aurelia, the mother of Julius Cæsar, see _The GenealogicalTable of the Cæsars_, No. 2. 

[d] For Atia, the mother of Augustus, see _Genealogical Table of theCæsars_, No. 14. As another instance of maternal care, Tacitus informsus that Julia Procilla superintended the education of her son. See_Life of Agricola_, s. Iv. 

Section XXIX. 

[a] Quintilian thinks the first elements of education so highlymaterial, that he has two long chapters on the subject. He requires, in the first place, that the language of the nurses should be pure andcorrect. Their manners are of great importance, but, he adds, let themspeak with propriety. It is to them that the infant first attends; helistens, and endeavours to imitate them. The first colour, imbibed byyarn or thread, is sure to last. What is bad, generally adherestenaciously. Let the child, therefore, not learn in his infancy, whathe must afterwards take pains to unlearn. _Ante omnia, ne sit vitiosussermo nutricibus. Et morum quidem in his haud dubiè prior ratio est;rectè tamen etiam loquantur. Has primùm audiet puer; harum verbaeffingere imitando conabitur. Et naturâ tenacissimi sumus eorum, quærudibus annis percipimus; nec lanarum colores, quibus simplex illecandor mutatus est, elui possunt. Et hæc ipsa magis pertinaciterhærent, quæ deteriora sunt. Non assuescat ergo, ne dum infans quidemest, sermoni, qui dediscendus est. _ Quint. Lib. I. Cap. 1. Plutarchhas a long discourse on the breeding of children, in which allmistakes are pointed out, and the best rules enforced with greatacuteness of observation. 

[b] Juvenal has one entire satire on the subject of education:

 Nil dictu fœdum visuque hæc limina tangat, Intra quæ puer est. Procul hinc, procul inde puellæ Lenonum, et cantus pernoctantis parasiti. Maxima debetur puero reverentia. SAT. Xiv. Ver. 44. 

 Suffer no lewdness, no indecent speech, Th' apartment of the tender youth to reach. Far be from thence the glutton parasite, Who sings his drunken catches all the night. Boys from their parents may this rev'rence claim. DRYDEN'S JUVENAL. 

[c] The rage of the Romans for the diversions of the theatre, andpublic spectacles of every kind, is often mentioned by Horace, Juvenal, and other writers under the emperors. Seneca says, that, atone time, three ways were wanted to as many different theatres:_tribus eodem tempore theatris viæ postulantur_. And again, the mostillustrious of the Roman youth are no better than slaves to thepantomimic performers. _Ostendam nobilissimos juvenes mancipiapantomimorum. _ Epist. 47. It was for this reason that Petronius laysit down as a rule to be observed by the young student, never to listhimself in the parties and factions of the theatre:

 ----Neve plausor in scenâ Sedeat redemptus, histrioniæ addictus. 

It is well known, that theatrical parties distracted the Romancitizens, and rose almost to phrensy. They were distinguished by the_green_ and the _blue_, Caligula, as we read in Suetonius, attachedhimself to the former, and was so fond of the charioteers, who woregreen liveries, that he lived for a considerable time in the stables, where their horses were kept. _Prasinæ factioni ita addictus etdeditus, ut cœnaret in stabulo assidue et maneret. Life of Caligula_, s. 55. Montesquieu reckons such party-divisions among the causes thatwrought the downfall of the empire. Constantinople, he says, was splitinto two factions, the _green_ and the _blue_, which owed their originto the inclination of the people to favour one set of charioteers inthe circus rather than another. These two parties raged in every citythroughout the empire, and their fury rose in proportion to the numberof inhabitants. Justinian favoured the _blues_, who became so elatewith pride, that they trampled on the laws. All ties of friendship, all natural affection, and all relative duties, were extinguished. Whole families were destroyed; and the empire was a scene of anarchyand wild contention. He, who felt himself capable of the mostatrocious deeds, declared himself a BLUE, and the GREENS weremassacred with impunity. _Montesquieu, Grandeur et Décadence desRomains_, chap. Xx. 

[d] Quintilian, in his tenth book, chap. 1. Has given a full accountof the best Greek and Roman poets, orators, and historians; and in b. Ii. Ch. 6, he draws up a regular scheme for the young student topursue in his course of reading. There are, he says, two rocks, onwhich they may split. The first, by being led by some fond admirer ofantiquity to set too high a value on the manner of Cato and theGracchi; for, in that commerce, they will be in danger of growing dry, harsh, and rugged. The strong conception of those men will be beyondthe reach of tender minds. Their style, indeed, may be copied; and theyouth may flatter himself, when he has contracted the rust ofantiquity, that he resembles the illustrious orators of a former age. On the other hand, the florid decorations and false glitter of themoderns may have a secret charm, the more dangerous, and seductive, asthe petty flourishes of our new way of writing may prove acceptable tothe youthful mind. _Duo autem genera maximè cavenda pueris puto: unum, ne quis eos antiquitatis nimius admirator in Gracchorum, Catonisque, et aliorum similium lectione durescere velit. Erunt enim horridi atquejejuni. Nam neque vim eorum adhuc intellectu consequentur; etelocutione, quæ tum sine dubio erat optima, sed nostris temporibusaliena, contenti, quod est pessimum, similes sibi magnis virisvidebuntur. Alterum, quod huic diversum est, ne recentis hujuslasciviæ flosculis capti, voluptate quâdam pravâ deliniantur, utprædulce illud genus, et puerilibus ingeniis hoc gratius, quo propiusest, adament. _ Such was the doctrine of Quintilian. His practice, wemay be sure, was consonant to his own rules. Under such a master theyouth of Rome might be initiated in science, and formed to a justtaste for eloquence and legitimate composition; but one man was notequal to the task. The rhetoricians and pedagogues of the agepreferred the novelty and meretricious ornaments of the style then invogue. 

Section XXX. 

[a] This is the treatise, or history of the most eminent orators (DECLARIS ORATORIBUS), which has been so often cited in the course ofthese notes. It is also entitled BRUTUS; a work replete with thesoundest criticism, and by its variety and elegance always charming. 

[b] Quintus Mucius Scævola was the great lawyer of his time. Cicerodraws a comparison between him and Crassus. They were both engaged, onopposite sides, in a cause before the CENTUMVIRI. Crassus provedhimself the best lawyer among the orators of that day, and Scævola themost eloquent of the lawyers. _Ut eloquentium juris peritissimusCrassus; jurisperitorum eloquentissimus Scævola putaretur. _ _De ClarisOrat. _ s. 145. During the consulship of Sylla, A. U. C. 666, Cicerobeing then in the nineteenth year of his age, and wishing to acquire acompetent knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, attachedhimself to Mucius Scævola, who did not undertake the task ofinstructing pupils, but, by conversing freely with all who consultedhim, gave a fair opportunity to those who thirsted after knowledge. _Ego autem juris civilis studio, multum operæ dabam Q. Scævolæ, quiquamquam nemini se ad docendum dabat, tamen, consulentibusrespondendo, studiosos audiendi docebat. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 306. 

[c] Philo was a leading philosopher of the academic school. To avoidthe fury of Mithridates, who waged a long war with the Romans, he fledfrom Athens, and, with some of the most eminent of hisfellow-citizens, repaired to Rome. Cicero was struck with hisphilosophy, and became his pupil. _Cùm princeps academiæ Philo, cumAtheniensium optimatibus, Mithridatico bello, domo profugisset, Romamque venisset, totum ei me tradidi, admirabili quodam adphilosophiam studio concitatus. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 306. 

Cicero adds, that he gave board and lodging, at his own house, toDiodotus the stoic, and, under that master, employed himself invarious branches of literature, but particularly in the study oflogic, which may be considered as a mode of eloquence, contracted, close, and nervous. _Eram cum stoico Diodoto: qui cum habitavissetapud me, mecumque vixisset, nuper est domi meæ mortuus. A quo, cum inaliis rebus, tum studiosissime in dialecticâ exercebar, quæ quasicontracta et adstricta eloquentia putanda est. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 309. 

[d] Cicero gives an account of his travels, which he undertook, afterhaving employed two years in the business of the forum, where hegained an early reputation. At Athens, he passed six months withAntiochus, the principal philosopher of the old academy, and, underthe direction of that able master, resumed those abstractspeculations which he had cultivated from his earliest youth. Nor didhe neglect his rhetorical exercises. In that pursuit, he was assistedby Demetrius, the Syrian, who was allowed to be a skilful preceptor. He passed from Greece into Asia; and, in the course of his travelsthrough that country, he lived in constant habits with Menippus ofStratonica; a man eminent for his learning; who, if to be neitherfrivolous, nor unintelligible, is the character of Attic eloquence, might fairly be called a disciple of that school. He met with manyother professors of rhetoric, such as Dionysius of Magnesia, Æschylusof Cnidos, and Zenocles of Adramytus; but not content with theirassistance, he went to Rhodes, and renewed his friendship with MOLO, whom he had heard at Rome, and knew to be an able pleader in realcauses; a fine writer, and a judicious critic, who could, with a justdiscernment of the beauties as well as the faults of a composition, point out the road to excellence, and improve the taste of hisscholars. In his attention to the Roman orator, the point he aimed at(Cicero will not say that he succeeded) was, to lop away superfluousbranches, and confine within its proper channel a stream ofeloquence, too apt to swell above all bounds, and overflow its banks. After two years thus spent in the pursuit of knowledge, andimprovement in his oratorical profession, Cicero returned to Romealmost a new man. _Is (MOLO) dedit operam (si modo id consequi potuit)ut nimis redundantes nos, et superfluentes juvenili quadam dicendiimpunitate, et licentiâ, reprimeret, et quasi extra ripas diffluentescœrceret. Ita recepi me biennio post, non modo exercitatior, sed propèmutatus. _ See _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 315 and 316. 

[e] Cicero is here said to have been a complete master of philosophy, which, according to Quintilian, was divided into three branches, namely, physics, ethics, and logic. It has been mentioned in thissection, note [c], that Cicero called logic a contracted and closemode of eloquence. That observation is fully explained by Quintilian. Speaking of logic, the use, he says, of that contentious art, consistsin just definition, which presents to the mind the precise idea; andin nice discrimination, which marks the essential difference ofthings. It is this faculty that throws a sudden light on everydifficult question, removes all ambiguity, clears up what wasdoubtful, divides, develops, and separates, and then collects theargument to a point. But the orator must not be too fond of this closecombat. The minute attention, which logic requires, will exclude whatis of higher value; while it aims at precision, the vigour of the mindis lost in subtlety. We often see men, who argue with wonderful craft;but, when petty controversy will no longer serve their purpose, we seethe same men without warmth or energy, cold, languid, and unequal tothe conflict; like those little animals, which are brisk in narrowplaces, and by their agility baffle their pursuers, but in the openfield are soon overpowered. _Hæc pars dialectica, sive illam diceremalimus disputatricem, ut est utilis sæpe et finitionibus, etcomprehensionibus, et separandis quæ sunt differentia, et resolvendâambiguitate, et distinguendo, dividendo, illiciendo, implicando; itasi totum sibi vindicaverit in foro certamen, obstabit melioribus, etsectas ad tenuitatem vires ipsâ subtilitate consumet. Itaque reperiasquosdam in disputando mirè callidos; cum ab illâ verò cavillationediscesserint, non magis sufficere in aliquo graviori actu, quam parvaquædam animalia, quæ in angustiis mobilia, campo deprehenduntur. _Quint. Lib. Xii. Cap. 2. 

Ethics, or moral philosophy, the same great critic holds to beindispensably requisite. _Jam quidem pars illa moralis, quæ diciturethice, certè tota oratori est accommodata. Nam in tantâ causarumvarietate, nulla ferè dici potest, cujus non parte aliquâ tractatusæqui et boni reperiantur. _ Lib. Xii. Unless the mind be enriched witha store of knowledge, there may he loquacity, but nothing thatdeserves the name of oratory. Eloquence, says Lord Bolingbroke, mustflow like a stream that is fed by an abundant spring, and not spoutforth a little frothy stream, on some gaudy day, and remain dry forthe rest of the year. See _Spirit of Patriotism_. 

With regard to natural philosophy, Quintilian has a sentiment so trulysublime, that to omit it in this place would look like insensibility. If, says he, the universe is conducted by a superintending Providence, it follows that good men should govern the nations of the earth. Andif the soul of man is of celestial origin, it is evident that weshould tread in the paths of virtue, all aspiring to our nativesource, not slaves to passion, and the pleasures of the world. Theseare important topics; they often occur to the public orator, anddemand all his eloquence. _Nam si regitur providentiâ mundus, administranda certè bonis viris erit respublica. Si divina nostrisanimis origo, tendendum ad virtutem, nec voluptatibus terreni corporisserviendum. An hoc non frequenter tractabit orator?_ Quint. Lib. Xii. Cap. 2. 

Section XXXI. 

[a] Quintilian, as well as Seneca, has left a collection ofschool-declamations, but he has given his opinion of all suchperformances. They are mere imitation, and, by consequence, have notthe force and spirit which a real cause inspires. In public harangues, the subject is founded in reality; in declamations, all is fiction. _Omnis imitatio ficta est; quo fit ut minus sanguinis ac viriumdeclamationes habeant, quam orationes; quod in his vera, in illisassimulata materia est. _ Lib. X. Cap. 2. Petronius has given a livelydescription of the rhetoricians of his time. The consequence, he says, of their turgid style, and the pompous swell of sounding periods, hasever been the same: when their scholars enter the forum, they look asif they were transported into a new world. The teachers of rhetorichave been the bane of all true eloquence. _Hæc ipsa tolerabiliaessent, si ad eloquentiam ituris viam facerent: nunc et rerum tumore, et sententiarum vanissimo strepitu, hoc tantum proficiunt, ut quum inforum venerint, putent se in alium terrarum orbem delatos. Pace vestrâliceat dixisse, primi omnium eloquentiam perdidistis. _ Petron. _inSatyrico_, cap. 1 and 2. That gay writer, who passed his days inluxury and voluptuous pleasures (see his character, _Annals_, b. Xvi. S. 18), was, amidst all his dissipation, a man of learning, and, atintervals, of deep reflection. He knew the value of true philosophy, and, therefore, directs the young orator to the Socratic school, andto that plan of education which we have before us in the presentDialogue. He bids his scholar begin with Homer, and there drink deepof the Pierian spring: after that, he recommends the moral system;and, when his mind is thus enlarged, he allows him to wield the armsof Demosthenes. 

 ----Det primos versibus annos, Mæoniumque bibat felici pectore fontem: Mox et Socratico plenus grege mutet habenas Liber, et ingentis quatiat Demosthenis arma. 

[b] Cicero has left a book, entitled TOPICA, in which he treats atlarge of the method of finding proper arguments. This, he observes, was executed by Aristotle, whom he pronounces the great master both ofinvention and judgement. _Cum omnis ratio diligens disserendi duashabeat partes; unam INVENIENDI, alteram JUDICANDI; utriusque princeps, ut mihi quidem videtur, Aristoteles fuit. _ Ciceronis _Topica_, s. Vi. The sources from which arguments may be drawn, are called LOCICOMMUNES, COMMON PLACES. To supply the orator with ample materials, and to render him copious on every subject, was the design of theGreek preceptor, and for that purpose he gave his TOPICA. _Aristotelesadolescentes, non ad philosophorum morem tenuiter disserendi, sed adcopiam rhetorum in utramque partem, ut ornatius et uberius diciposset, exercuit; idemque locos (sic enim appellat) quasi argumentorumnotas tradidit, unde omnis in utramque partem traheretur oratio. _Cicero, _De Oratore_. Aristotle was the most eminent of Plato'sscholars: he retired to a _gymnasium_, or place of exercise, in theneighbourhood of Athens, called the _Lyceum_, where, from a custom, which he and his followers observed, of discussing points ofphilosophy, as they walked in the _porticos_ of the place, theyobtained the name of Peripatetics, or the walking philosophers. SeeMiddleton's _Life of Cicero_, vol. Ii. P. 537, 4to edit. 

[c] The academic sect derived its origin from Socrates, and its namefrom a celebrated _gymnasium_, or place of exercise, in the suburbs ofAthens, called the _Academy_, after _Ecademus_, who possessed it inthe time of the _Tyndaridæ_. It was afterwards purchased, anddedicated to the public, for the convenience of walks and exercisesfor the citizens of Athens. It was gradually improved withplantations, groves and porticos for the particular use of theprofessors or masters of the academic school; where several of themare said to have spent their lives, and to have resided so strictly, as scarce ever to have come within the city. See Middleton's _Life ofCicero_, 4to edit. Vol. Ii. P. 536. Plato, and his followers, continued to reside in the porticos of the academy. They chose

 ----The green retreats Of Academus, and the thymy vale, Where, oft inchanted with Socratic sounds, Ilyssus pure devolv'd his tuneful stream In gentle murmurs. AKENSIDE, PLEAS. OF IMAG. 

For dexterity in argument, the orator is referred to this school, forthe reason given by Quintilian, who says that the custom of supportingan argument on either side of the question, approaches nearest to theorator's practice in forensic causes. _Academiam quidam utilissimamcredunt, quod mos in utramque partem disserendi ad exercitationemforensium causarum proximè accedat. _ Lib. Xii. Cap. 2 Quintilianassures us that we are indebted to the academic philosophy for theablest orators, and it is to that school that Horace sends his poetfor instruction:

 Rem tibi Socraticæ poterunt ostendere chartæ, Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur. ARS POET. Ver. 310. 

 Good sense, that fountain of the muse's art, Let the rich page of Socrates impart; And if the mind with clear conception glow, The willing words in just expressions flow. FRANCIS'S HORACE. 

[d] Epicurus made frequent use of the rhetorical figure calledexclamation; and in his life, by Diogenes Lærtius, we find a varietyof instances. It is for that manner of giving animation to a discoursethat Epicurus is mentioned in the Dialogue. For the rest, Quintiliantells us what to think of him. Epicurus, he says, dismisses the oratorfrom his school, since he advises his pupil to pay no regard toscience or to method. _Epicurus imprimis nos a se ipse dimittit, quifugere omnem disciplinam navigatione quam velocissima jubet. _ Lib. Xii. Cap. 2. Metrodorus was the favourite disciple of Epicurus. Brotier says that a statue of the master and the scholar, with theirheads joined together, was found at Rome in the year 1743. 

It is worthy of notice, that except the stoics, who, without aiming atelegance of language, argued closely and with vigour, Quintilianproscribes the remaining sects of philosophers. Aristippus, he says, placed his _summum bonum_ in bodily pleasure, and therefore could beno friend to the strict regimen of the accomplished orator. Much lesscould Pyrrho be of use, since he doubted whether there was any suchthing in existence as the judges before whom the cause must bepleaded. To him the party accused, and the senate, were alikenon-entities. _Neque vero Aristippus, summum in voluptate corporabonum ponens, ad hunc nos laborem adhortetur. Pyrrho quidem, quas inhoc opere partes habere potest? cui judices esse apud quos verbafaciat, et reum pro quo loquatur, et senatum, in quo sit dicendasententia, non liquebat. _ Quintil. Lib. Xii. Cap. 2. 

Section XXXII. 

[a] We are told by Quintilian, that Demosthenes, the great orator ofGreece, was an assiduous hearer of Plato: _Constat Demosthenem, principem omnium Græciæ oratorum, dedisse operam Platoni. _ Lib. Xii. Cap. 2. And Cicero expressly says, that, if he might venture to callhimself an orator, he was made so, not by the manufacture of theschools of rhetoric, but in the walks of the Academy. _Fateor meoratorem, si modo sim, aut etiam quicumque sim, non ex rhetorumofficinis, sed ex Academiæ spatiis extitisse. Ad Brutum Orator_, s. 12. 

Section XXXIII. 

[a] The ancient critics made a wide distinction, between a merefacility of speech, and what they called the oratorical faculty. Thisis fully explained by Asinius Pollio, who said of himself, that bypleading at first with propriety, he succeeded so far as to be oftencalled upon; by pleading frequently, he began to lose the proprietywith which he set out; and the reason was, by constant practice heacquired rashness, not a just confidence in himself; a fluentfacility, not the true faculty of an orator. _Commodè agenda factumest, ut sæpe agerem; sæpe agenda, ut minus commodè; quia scilicetnimia facilitas magis quam facultas, nec fiducia, sed temeritas, paratur. _ Quintil. Lib. Xii. 

Section XXXIV. 

[a] There is in this place a trifling mistake, either in Messala, thespeaker, or in the copyists. Crassus was born A. U. C. 614. See s. Xviii. Note [f]. Papirius Carbo, the person accused, was consul A. U. C. 634, and the prosecution was in the following year, when Crassusexpressly says, that he was then only one and twenty. _Quippe quiomnium maturrimè ad publicas causas accesserim, annosque natus UNUM ETVIGINTI, nobilissimum hominem et eloquentissimum in judicium vocârim. _Cicero, _De Orat. _ lib. Iii. S. 74. Pliny the consul was anotherinstance of early pleading. He says himself, that he began his careerin the forum at the age of nineteen, and, after long practice, hecould only see the functions of an orator as it were in a mist. _Undevicessimo ætatis anno dicere in foro cœpi, et nunc demum, quidpræstare debeat orator, adhuc tamen per caliginem video. _ Lib. V. Epist. 8. Quintilian relates of Cæsar, Calvus, and Pollio, that theyall three appeared at the bar, long before they arrived at theirquæstorian age, which was seven and twenty. _Calvus, Cæsar, Pollio, multum ante quæstoriam omnes ætatem gravissima judicia susceperunt. _Quintilian, lib. Xii. Cap. 6. 

Section XXXV. 

[a] Lipsius, in his note on this passage, says, that he once thoughtthe word _scena_ in the text ought to be changed to _schola_; but heafterwards saw his mistake. The place of fictitious declamation andspurious eloquence, where the teachers played a ridiculous part, wasproperly called a theatrical scene. 

[b] Lucius Licinius Crassus and Domitius Ænobarbus were censors A. U. C. 662. Crassus himself informs us, that, for two years together, a newrace of men, called Rhetoricians, or masters of eloquence, kept openschools at Rome, till he thought fit to exercise his censorianauthority, and by an edict to banish the whole tribe from the city ofRome; and this, he says, he did, not, as some people suggested, tohinder the talents of youth from being cultivated, but to save theirgenius from being corrupted, and the young mind from being confirmedin shameless ignorance. Audacity was all the new masters could teach;and this being the only thing to be acquired on that stage ofimpudence, he thought it the duty of a Roman censor to crush themischief in the bud. _Latini (sic diis placet) hoc biennio magistridicendi extiterunt; quos ego censor edicto meo sustuleram; non quo (utnescio quos dicere aiebant) acui ingenia adolescentium nollem, sed, contra, ingenia obtundi nolui, corroborari impudentiam. Hos vero novosmagistros nihil intelligebam posse docere, nisi ut auderent. Hoc cumunum traderetur, et cum impudentiæ ludus esset, putavi esse censoris, ne longius id serperet, providere. _ _De Orat. _ lib. Iii. S. 93 and 94. Aulus Gellius mentions a former expulsion of the rhetoricians, by adecree of the senate, in the consulship of Fannius Strabo and ValeriusMessala, A. U. C. 593. He gives the words of the decree, and also of theedict, by which the teachers were banished by Crassus, several yearsafter. See _A. Gellius, Noctes Atticæ_, lib. Xv. Cap. 2. See alsoSuetonius, _De Claris Rhet. _ s. 1. 

[c] Seneca has left a collection of declamations in the two kinds, viz. The persuasive, and controversial. See his SUASORIÆ, andCONTROVERSIÆ. In the first class, the questions are, Whether Alexandershould attempt the Indian ocean? Whether he should enter Babylon, whenthe augurs denounced impending danger? Whether Cicero, to appease thewrath of Marc Antony, should burn all his works? The subjects in thesecond class are more complex. A priestess was taken prisoner by aband of pirates, and sold to slavery. The purchaser abandoned her toprostitution. Her person being rendered venal, a soldier made hisoffers of gallantry. She desired the price of her prostituted charms;but the military man resolved to use force and insolence, and shestabbed him in the attempt. For this she was prosecuted, andacquitted. She then desired to be restored to her rank of priestess:that point was decided against her. These instances may serve as aspecimen of the trifling declamations, into which such a man as Senecawas betrayed by his own imagination. Petronius has described theliterary farce of the schools. Young men, he says, were there trainedup in folly, neither seeing nor hearing any thing that could be ofuse in the business of life. They were taught to think of nothing, butpirates loaded with fetters on the sea-shore; tyrants by their edictscommanding sons to murder their fathers; the responses of oraclesdemanding a sacrifice of three or more virgins, in order to abate anepidemic pestilence. All these discourses, void of common sense, aretricked out in the gaudy colours of exquisite eloquence, soft, sweet, and seasoned to the palate. In this ridiculous boy's-play the scholarstrifle away their time; they are laughed at in the forum, and stillworse, what they learn in their youth they do not forget at anadvanced age. _Ego adolescentulos existimo in scholis stultissimosfieri, quia nihil ex iis, quæ in usu habemus, aut audiunt aut vident;sed piratas cum catenis in littore stantes, et tyrannos edictascribentes, quibus imperent filiis, ut patrum suorum capita præcidant;sed responsa in pestilentiâ data, ut virgines tres aut pluresimmolentur; sed mellitos verborum globos, et omnia dicta factaquequasi papavere et sesamo sparsa. Nunc pueri in scholis ludunt; juvenesridentur in foro; et, quod utroque turpius est, quod quisque perperamdiscit, in senectute confiteri non vult. _ Petron. _in Satyrico_, cap. 3 and 4. 

[d] Here unfortunately begins a chasm in the original. The words are, _Cum ad veros judices ventum est, * * * * rem cogitare * * * * nihilhumile, nihil abjectum eloqui poterat. _ This is unintelligible. Whatfollows from the words _magna eloquentia sicut flamma_, palpablybelongs to Maternus, who is the last speaker in the Dialogue. Thewhole of what Secundus said is lost. The expedient has been, to dividethe sequel between Secundus and Maternus; but that is mere patch-work. We are told in the first section of the Dialogue, that the severalpersons present spoke their minds, each in his turn assigningdifferent but probable causes, and at times agreeing on the same. There can, therefore, be no doubt but Secundus took his turn in thecourse of the enquiry. Of all the editors of Tacitus, Brotier is theonly one who has adverted to this circumstance. To supply the loss, aswell as it can now be done by conjecture, that ingenious commentatorhas added a Supplement, with so much taste, and such a degree ofprobability, that it has been judged proper to adopt what he hasadded. The thread of the discourse will be unbroken, and the reader, it is hoped, will prefer a regular continuity to a mere vacant space. The inverted comma in the margin of the text [transcriber's note: notused, but numbered with decimal rather than Roman numerals] will markthe supplemental part, as far as section 36, where the originalproceeds to the end of the Dialogue. The sections of the Supplementwill be marked, for the sake of distinction, with figures, instead ofthe Roman numeral letters. 

SUPPLEMENT. 

Section 1. 

[a] Petronius says, you may as well expect that the person, who is forever shut up in a kitchen, should be sweet and fresh, as that youngmen, trained up in such absurd and ridiculous interludes, shouldimprove their taste or judgement. _Qui inter hæc nutriuntur, non magissapere possunt, quam bene olere, qui in culiná habitant. _ Petronius, _in Satyrico_, s. 2. 

Section 2. 

[a] The means by which an orator is nourished, formed, and raised toeminence, are here enumerated. These are the requisites, that lead tothat distinguished eloquence, which is finely described by Petronius, when he says, a sublime oration, but sublime within due bounds, isneither deformed with affectation, nor turgid in any part, but, depending on truth and simplicity, rises to unaffected grandeur. _Grandis, et, ut ita dicam, pudica oratio, non est maculosa, necturgida, sed naturali pulchritudine exsurgit. _ Petronius, _inSatyrico_, s. 2. 

Section 3. 

[a] Maternus engaged for himself and Secundus, that they wouldcommunicate their sentiments: see s. 16. In consequence of thatpromise, Messala now calls upon them both. They have already declaredthemselves admirers of ancient eloquence. It now remains to be known, whether they agree with Messala as to the cause that occasioned arapid decline: or whether they can produce new reasons of their own. 

Section 4. 

[a] Secundus proceeds to give his opinion. This is managed by Brotierwith great art and judgement, since it is evident in the original textthat Maternus closed the debate. According to what is said in theintroduction to the Dialogue, Secundus agrees with Messala upon mostpoints, but still assigns different, but probable reasons. Arevolution, he says, happened in literature; a new taste prevailed, and the worst models were deemed worthy of imitation. The emotions ofthe heart were suppressed. Men could no longer yield to the impulse ofgenius. They endeavoured to embellish their composition with novelty;they sparkled with wit, and amused their readers with point, antithesis, and forced conceits. They fell into the case of the man, who, according to Martial, was ingenious, but not eloquent:

 Cum sexaginta numeret Casselius annos; Ingeniosus homo est: quando disertus erit? Lib. Vii. Epig. 8. 

[b] Enough, perhaps, has been already said in the notes, concerningthe teachers of rhetoric; but it will not be useless to cite onepassage more from Petronius, who in literature, as well as convivialpleasure, may be allowed to be _arbiter elegantiarum_. Therhetoricians, he says, came originally from Asia; they were, however, neither known to Pindar, and the nine lyric poets, nor to Plato, orDemosthenes. They arrived at Athens in evil hour, and imported withthem that enormous frothy loquacity, which at once, like a pestilence, blasted all the powers of genius, and established the rules of corrupteloquence. _Nondum umbraticus doctor ingenia deleverat, cum Pindarusnovemque lyrici Homericis versibus canere non timuerunt. Certe nequePlatona, neque Demosthenem, ad hoc genus exercitationis accessissevideo. Nuper ventosa isthæc et enormis loquacitas Athenas ex Asiacommigravit, animosque juvenum ad magna surgentes veluti pestilentiquodam sidere afflavit; simulque corruptæ eloquentiæ regula stetit etobtinuit. _ Petron. _Satyricon_, s. 2. 

Section 5. 

[a] When the public taste was vitiated, and to _elevate and surprise_, as Bayes says, was the _new way of writing_, Seneca is, with goodreason, ranked in the class of ingenious, but affected authors. Menagesays, if all the books in the world were in the fire, there is notone, whom he would so eagerly snatch from the flames as Plutarch. Thatauthor never tires him; he reads him often, and always finds newbeauties. He cannot say the same of Seneca; not but there areadmirable passages in his works, but when brought to the test theylose their apparent beauty by a close examination. Seneca serves to bequoted in the warmth of conversation, but is not of equal value in thecloset. Whatever be the subject, he wishes to shine, and, byconsequence, his thoughts are too refined, and often _false. Menagiana_, tom. Ii. P. 1. 

Section 6. 

[a] This charge against Seneca is by no means new. Quintilian was hiscontemporary; he saw and heard the man, and, in less than twentyyears after his death, pronounced judgement against him. In theconclusion of the first chapter of his tenth book, after having givenan account of the Greek and Roman authors, he says, he reserved Senecafor the last place, because, having always endeavoured to counteractthe influence of a bad taste, he was supposed to be influenced bymotives of personal enmity. But the case was otherwise. He saw thatSeneca was the favourite of the times, and, to check the torrent thatthreatened the ruin of all true eloquence, he exerted his best effortsto diffuse a sounder judgement. He did not wish that Seneca should belaid aside: but he could not in silence see him preferred to thewriters of the Augustan age, whom that writer endeavoured todepreciate, conscious that, having chosen a different style, he couldnot hope to please the taste of those who were charmed with theauthors of a former day. But Seneca was still in fashion; hispartisans continued to admire, though it cannot be said that theyimitated him. He fell short of the ancients, and they were still morebeneath their model. Since they were content to copy, it were to bewished that they had been able to vie with him. He pleased by hisdefects, and the herd of imitators chose the worst. They acquired avicious manner, and flattered themselves that they resembled theirmaster. But the truth is, they disgraced him. Seneca, it must beallowed, had many great and excellent qualities; a lively imagination, vast erudition, and extensive knowledge. He frequently employed othersto make researches for him, and was often deceived. He embraced allsubjects; in his philosophy, not always profound, but a keen censor ofthe manners, and on moral subjects truly admirable. He has brilliantpassages, and beautiful sentiments; but the expression is in a falsetaste, the more dangerous, as he abounds with delightful vices. Youwould have wished that he had written with his own imagination, andthe judgement of others. To sum up his character; had he known how torate little things, had he been above the petty ambition of alwaysshining, had he not been fond of himself, had he not weakened hisforce by minute and dazzling sentences, he would have gained, not theadmiration of boys, but the suffrage of the judicious. At present hemay be read with safety by those who have made acquaintance withbetter models. His works afford the fairest opportunity ofdistinguishing the beauties of fine writing from their opposite vices. He has much to be approved, and even admired: but a just selection isnecessary, and it is to be regretted that he did not choose forhimself. Such was the judgement of Quintilian: the learned readerwill, perhaps, be glad to have the whole passage in the author'swords, rather than be referred to another book. _Ex industriâ Senecam, in omni genere eloquentiæ versatum, distuli, propter vulgatam falso deme opinionem, quâ damnare eum, et invisum quoque habere sum creditus. Quod, accidit mihi, dum corruptum, et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendigenus revocare ad severiora judicia contendo. Tum autem solus hic ferein manibus adolescentium fuit. Quem non equidem omnino conabarexcutere, sed potioribus præferri non sinebam, quos ille nondestiterat incessere, cum, diversi sibi conscius generis, placere sein dicendo posse iis quibus illi placerent, diffideret. Amabant autemeum magis, quàm imitabantur; tantumque ab illo defluebant, quantumille ab antiquis descenderat. Foret enim optandum, pares, aut saltemproximos, illi viro fieri. Sed placebat propter sola vitia, et ad ease quisque dirigebat effingenda, quæ poterat. Deinde cum se jactareteodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat. Cujus et multæ alioqui et magnævirtutes fuerunt; ingenium facile et copiosum; plurimum studii; etmultarum rerum cognitio, in quâ tamen aliquando ab iis, quibusinquirenda quædam mandabat, deceptus est. Tractavit etiam omnem ferèstudiorum materiam; In philosophiâ parum diligens, egregius tamenvitiorum insectator. Multa in eo claræque sententiæ; multa etiam morumgratiâ legenda; sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque, atque eoperniciosissima, quod abundat dulcibus vitiis. Velles eum suo ingeniodixisse, alieno judicio. Nam si aliqua contempsisset; si parumconcupisset, si non omnia sua amasset; si rerum pondera minutissimissententiis non fregisset, consensu potius eruditorum, quàm puerorumamore comprobaretur. Verùm sic quoque jam robustis, et severioregenere satis firmatis, legendus, vel ideo, quod exercere potestutrimque judicium. Multa enim (ut dixi) probanda in eo, multa etiamadmiranda sunt; eligere modo curæ sit, quod utinam ipse fecisset. _Quintil. Lib. X. Cap. 1. From this it is evident, that Seneca, even inthe meridian of his fame and power, was considered as the grandcorrupter of eloquence. The charge is, therefore, renewed in thisDialogue, with strict propriety. Rollin, who had nourished his mindwith ancient literature, and was, in his time, the Quintilian ofFrance, has given the same opinion of Seneca, who, he says, knew howto play the critic on the works of others, and to condemn the strainedmetaphor, the forced conceit, the tinsel sentence, and all theblemishes of a corrupt style, without desiring to weed them out of hisown productions. In a letter to his friend (epist. 114), which hasbeen mentioned section xxvi. Note [c], Seneca admits a generaldepravity of taste, and with great acuteness, and, indeed, elegance, traces it to its source, to the luxury and effeminate manners of theage; he compares the florid orators of his time to a set of youngfops, well powdered and perfumed, just issuing from their toilette:_Barbâ et comâ nitidos, de capsulâ totos_; he adds, that such affectedfinery is not the true ornament of a man. _Non est ornamentum virile, concinnitas. _ And yet, says Rollin, he did not know that he wassitting to himself for the picture. He aimed for ever at somethingnew, far fetched, ingenious, and pointed. He preferred wit to truthand dignified simplicity. The marvellous was with him better than thenatural; and he chose to surprise and dazzle, rather than merit theapprobation of sober judgement. His talents placed him at the head ofthe fashion, and with those enchanting vices which Quintilian ascribesto him, he was, no doubt, the person who contributed most to thecorruption of taste and eloquence. See Rollin's _Belles Lettres_, vol. I. _sur le Gout_. Another eminent critic, L'ABBE GEDOYN, who has givenan elegant translation of Quintilian, has, in the preface to thatwork, entered fully into the question concerning the decline ofeloquence. He admits that Seneca did great mischief, but he takes thematter up much higher. He traces it to OVID, and imputes the taste forwit and spurious ornament, which prevailed under the emperors, to thefalse, but seducing charms of that celebrated poet. Ovid was, undoubtedly, the greatest wit of his time; but his wit knew no bounds. His fault was, exuberance. _Nescivit quod bene cessit relinquere_, says Seneca, who had himself the same defect. Whatever is Ovid'ssubject, the redundance of a copious fancy still appears. Does hebewail his own misfortunes; he seems to think, that, unless he iswitty, he cannot be an object of compassion. Does he write letters toand from disappointed lovers; the greatest part flows from fancy, andlittle from the heart. He gives us the brilliant for the pathetic. With these faults, Ovid had such enchanting graces, that his style andmanner infected every branch of literature. The tribe of imitators hadnot the genius of their master; but being determined to shine in spiteof nature, they ruined all true taste and eloquence. This is thenatural progress of imitation, and Seneca was well aware of it. Hetells us that the faults and blemishes of a corrupt style are everintroduced by some superior genius, who has risen to eminence in badwriting; his admirers imitate a vicious manner, and thus a false tastegoes round from one to another. _Hæc vitia unus aliquis inducit, subquo tunc eloquentia est: cæteri imitantur; et alter alteri tradunt. _Epist. 114. Seneca, however, did not know that he was describinghimself. Tacitus says he had a genius suited to the taste of the age. _Ingenium amœnum et temporis ejus auribus accommodatum. _ He adoptedthe faults of Ovid, and was able to propagate them. For these reasons, the Abbé Gedoyn is of opinion, that Ovid began the mischief, andSeneca laid the axe to the root of the tree. It is certain, that, during the remaining period of the empire, true eloquence neverrevived. 

Section 7. 

[a] Historians have concurred in taxing Vespasian with avarice, insome instances, mean and sordid; but they agree, at the same time, that the use which he made of his accumulated riches, by encouragingthe arts, and extending liberal rewards to men of genius, is asufficient apology for his love of money. 

[b] Titus, it is needless to say, was the friend of virtue and ofevery liberal art. Even that monster Domitian was versed in politelearning, and by fits and starts capable of intense application: butwe read in Tacitus, that his studies and his pretended love of poetryserved as a cloak to hide his real character. See _History_, b. Iv. S. 86. 

[c] Pliny the younger describes the young men of his time rushingforward into the forum without knowledge or decency. He was told, hesays, by persons advanced in years, that, according to ancient usage, no young man, even of the first distinction, was allowed to appear atthe bar, unless he was introduced by one of consular dignity. But, inhis time, all fences of respect and decency were thrown down. Youngmen scorned to be introduced; they forced their way, and tookpossession of the forum without any kind of recommendation. _Athercule ante memoriam meam (majores natu ita solent dicere), nenobilissimis quidem adolescentibus locus erat, nisi aliquo consulariproducente; tantâ veneratione pulcherrimum opus celebrabatur. Nuncrefractis pudoris et reverentiæ claustris, omnia patent omnibus. Necinducuntur, sed irrumpunt. _ Plin. Lib. Ii. Epist. 14. 

Section 8. 

[a] This want of decorum before the tribunals of justice would appearincredible, were it not well attested by the younger Pliny. Theaudience, he says, was suited to the orators. Mercenary wretches werehired to applaud in the courts, where they were treated at theexpence of the advocate, as openly as if they were in abanqueting-room. _Sequuntur auditores actoribus similes, conducti etredempti mancipes. Convenitur in mediâ basilicâ, ubi tam palamsportulæ quam in triclinio dantur. _ Plin. Lib, ii. Epist. 14. He addsin the same epistle, LARGIUS LICINIUS first introduced this custom, merely that he might procure an audience. _Primus hunc audiendi moreminduxit Largius Licinius, hactenus tamen ut auditores corrogaret. _

[b] This anecdote is also related by Pliny, in the following manner:Quintilian, his preceptor, told him that one day, when he attendedDomitius Afer in a cause before the _centumviri_, a sudden andoutrageous noise was heard from the adjoining court. Afer made apause; the disturbance ceased, and he resumed the thread of hisdiscourse. He was interrupted a second and a third time. He asked, whowas the advocate that occasioned so much uproar? Being told, thatLicinius was the person, he addressed himself to the court in thesewords: _Centumvirs! all true eloquence is now at an end. ExQuintiliano, præceptore meo, audisse memini: narrabat ille, AssectabarDomitium Afrum, cum apud centumviros diceret graviter et lentè (hocenim illi actionis genus erat), audiit ex proximo immodicuminsolitumque clamorem; admiratus reticuit; ubi silentium factum est, repetit quod abruperat; iterum clamor, iterum reticuit; et postsilentium, cœpit idem tertio. Novissimè quis diceret quæsivit. Responsum est, Licinius. Tum intermissâ causâ_, CENTUMVIRI, _inquit_, HOC ARTIFICIUM PERIIT. Lib. Ii. Ep. 14. Domitius Afer has beenmentioned, s. Xiii. Note [d]. To what is there said of him may beadded a fact related by Quintilian, who says that Afer, when old andsuperannuated, still continued at the bar, exhibiting the decay ofgenius, and every day diminishing that high reputation which he oncepossessed. Hence men said of him, he had rather _decline_ than_desist_. _Malle eum deficere, quam desinere. _ Quint. Lib. Xii. Cap. 11. 

[c] The men who applauded for hire, went from court to court to bellowforth their venal approbation. Pliny says, No longer ago thanyesterday, two of my _nomenclators_, both about the age of seventeen, were bribed to play the part of critics. Their pay was about three_denarii_: that at present is the price of eloquence. _Ex judicio injudicium pari mercede transitur. Heri duo nomenclatores mei (habentsane ætatem eorum, qui nuper togas sumpserunt), ternis denariis adlaudandum trahebantur. Tanti constat, ut sis disertus. _ Lib. Ii. Epist. 14. 

[d] The whole account of the trade of puffing is related in theDialogue, on the authority of Pliny, who tells us that those wretchedsycophants had two nick-names; one in Greek, [Greek: Sophokleis], andthe other in Latin, LAUDICÆNI; the former from _sophos_, the usualexclamation of applause, as in Martial: _Quid tam grande sophos clamattibi turba, togata_; the Latin word importing _parasites_ who soldtheir praise for a supper. _Inde jam non inurbanè [Greek: Sophokleis]vocantur; iisdem nomen Latinum impositum est_, LAUDICÆNI. _Et tamencrescit indies fœditas utrâque linguâ notata. _ Lib. Ii. Epist. 14. 

Section 10. 

[a] Pliny tells us, that he employed much of his time in pleadingcauses before the _centumviri_; but he grew ashamed of the business, when he found those courts attended by a set of bold young men, andnot by lawyers of any note or consequence. But still the service ofhis friends, and his time of life, induced him to continue hispractice for some while longer, lest he should seem, by quitting itabruptly, to fly from fatigue, not from the indecorum of the place. Hecontrived however to appear but seldom, in order to withdraw himselfby degrees. _Nos tamen adhuc et utilitas amicorum, et ratio ætatis, moratur ac retinet. Veremur enim ne fortè non has indignitatesreliquisse, sed laborem fugisse videamur. Sumus tamen solito rariores, quod initium est gradatim desinendi. _ Lib. Ii. Epist. 14. 

Section 11. 

[a] The person here distinguished from the rest of the rhetoricians, is the celebrated Quintilian, of whose elegant taste and superiorjudgement it were superfluous to say a word. Martial has given hischaracter in two lines:--

 Quintiliane, vagæ moderator summe juventæ, Gloria Romanæ, Quintiliane, togæ. Lib. Ii. Epig. 90. 

It is generally supposed that he was a native of _Calaguris_ (now_Calahorra_), a city in Spain, rendered famous by the martial spiritof Sertorius, who there stood a siege against Pompey. Vossius, however, thinks that he was born a Roman; and GEDOYN, the eleganttranslator mentioned section 6. Note [a], accedes to that opinion, since Martial does not claim him as his countryman. The same writersays, that it is still uncertain when Quintilian was born, and when hedied; but, after a diligent enquiry, he thinks it probable that thegreat critic was born towards the latter end of Tiberius; and, ofcourse, when Domitius Afer died in the reign of Nero, A. U. C. 812, A. D. 59, that he was then two and twenty. His Institutions of an Oratorwere written in the latter end of Domitian, when Quintilian, as hehimself says, was far advanced in years. The time of his death is nowhere mentioned, but it probably was under Nerva or Trajan. It mustnot be dissembled, that this admirable author was not exempt from theepidemic vice of the age in which he lived. He flattered Domitian, andthat strain of adulation is the only blemish in his work. The love ofliterature may be said to have been his ruling passion; but, in hisestimation, learning and genius are subordinate to honour, truth, andvirtue. 

Section 12. 

[a] Maternus, without contradicting Messala or Secundus, gives hisopinion, viz. That the decline of eloquence, however other causesmight conspire, was chiefly occasioned by the ruin of a freeconstitution. To this he adds another observation, which seems to befounded in truth, as we find that, since the revival of letters, Spainhas produced one CERVANTES; France, one MOLIERE; England, oneSHAKSPEARE, and one MILTON. 

Section 13. 

[a] Examples of short, abrupt, and even sublime speeches out of themouth of Barbarians, might, if the occasion required it, be producedin great abundance. Mr. Locke has observed, that the humours of apeople may be learned from their usage of words. Seneca has said thesame, and, in epistle cxiv. Has explained himself on the subject withacute reasoning and beautiful illustration. The whole letter meritsthe attention of the judicious critic. The remainder of this, and thewhole of the following section, serve to enforce the proposition ofthe speaker, viz. That Roman eloquence died with public liberty. TheSupplement ends here. The original text is resumed in the nextsection, and proceeds unbroken to the end of the Dialogue. 

Section XXXVI. 

[a] When great and powerful eloquence is compared to a flame, thatmust be supported by fresh materials, it is evident that the sentenceis a continuation, not the opening of a new argument. It has beenobserved, and it will not be improper to repeat, that the two formerspeakers (Messala and Secundus) having stated, according to their wayof thinking, the causes of corrupt eloquence, Maternus, as waspromised in the outset of the Dialogue, now proceeds to give anotherreason, and, perhaps, the strongest of all; namely, the alteration ofthe government from the old republican form to the absolute sway of asingle ruler. 

[b] The colonies, the provinces, and the nations that submitted to theRoman arms, had their patrons in the capital, whom they courted withassiduity. It was this mark of distinction that raised the ambitiouscitizen to the first honours in the state. To have a number ofclients, as well at home as in the most important colonies, was theunremitting desire, the study, and constant labour of all who aimed atpre-eminence; insomuch that, in the time of the old republic, the menwho wished to be distinguished patrons, impoverished, and often ruinedtheir families, by their profusion and magnificence. They paid courtto the common people, to the provinces, and states in alliance withRome; and, in their turn, they received the homage of their clients. See _Annals_, b. Iii. S. 55. 

[c] We read in Quintilian, that oral testimony, and depositions signedby the witnesses, were both in use in his time. Written evidence, heobserves, was easily combated; because the witness who chose to speakin the presence of a few who signed his attestation, might be guiltyof a violation of truth with greater confidence; and besides, notbeing cited to speak, his being a volunteer in the cause was acircumstance against him, since it shewed that he acted with ill-willto the opposite party. With regard to the witness who gives histestimony in open court, the advocate has more upon his hands: he mustpress him with questions, and in a set speech observe upon hisevidence. He must also support his own witnesses, and, therefore, mustdraw up two lines of battle. _Maximus patronis circa testimonia sudorest. Ea dicuntur aut per tabulas, aut a præsentibus. Simplicior contratabulas pugna. Nam et minus obstitisse videtur pudor inter paucossignatores, et pro diffidentiâ premitur absentia. Tacitâ prætereaquâdam significatione refragatur his omnibus, quod nemo per tabulasdat testimonium, nisi suâ voluntate; quo ipso non esse amicum ei se, contra quem dicit, fatetur. Cum præsentibus verò ingens dimicatio est:ideoque velut duplici contra eos, proque his, acie confligitur, actionum et interrogationum. _ Quint. Lib. V. Cap. 7. 

Section XXXVII. 

[a] For an account of Mucianus, see section 7, note c [transcriber'snote: reference does not match]; also _the History_, b. Ii. S. 5. Suetonius relates that Vespasian, having undertaken to restore threethousand brazen plates, which had perished in the conflagration of thecapital (see the _Hist. Of Tacitus_, b. Iii. S. 71), ordered adiligent search to be made for copies, and thereby furnished thegovernment with a collection of curious and ancient records, containing the decrees of the senate, acts of the commons, andtreaties of alliance, almost from the building of the city. Suetonius, _Life of Vespasian_, s. 8. This, with the addition of speeches andletters composed by men of eminence, was, most probably, thecollection published by Mucianus. We may be sure that it contained afund of information, and curious materials for history; but the wholeis unfortunately lost. 

[b] The person intended in this place must not be confounded withLucius Crassus, the orator celebrated by Cicero in the Dialogue DEORATORE. What is here said, relates to Marcus Crassus, who was joinedin the triumvirate with Pompey and Cæsar; a man famous for his riches, his avarice, and his misfortunes. While Cæsar was engaged in Gaul, andPompey in Spain, Crassus invaded Asia, where, in a battle with theParthians, his whole army was cut to pieces. He himself was in dangerof being taken prisoner, but he fell by the sword of the enemy. Hishead was cut off, and carried to Orodes, the Parthian king, whoordered liquid gold to be infused into his mouth, that he, whothirsted for gold, might be glutted with it after his death. _Caputejus recisum ad regem reportatum, ludibrio fuit, neque indigno. Aurumenim liquidum in rictum oris infusum est, ut cujus animus arserat auricupiditate, ejus etiam mortuum et exangue corpus auro uteretur. _Florus, lib. Iii. Cap. 11. Cicero says, that with slender talents, anda small stock of learning, he was able for some years, by hisassiduity and interest, to maintain his rank in the list of eminentorators. _Mediocriter a doctrinâ instructus, angustius etiam a naturâ, labore et industriâ, et quod adhibebat ad obtinendas causas curametiam, et gratiam, in principibus patronis aliquot annos fuit. Inhujus oratione sermo Latinus erat, verba non abjecta, res compositædiligenter; nullus flos tamen, neque lumen ullum: animi magna, vocisparva contentio; omnia ferè ut similiter, atque uno modo dicerentur. _Cicero, _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 233. 

[c] Lentulus succeeded more by his action than by real ability. With aquick and animated countenance, he was not a man of penetration;though fluent in speech, he had no command of words. His voice wassweet and melodious; his action graceful; and with those advantages hewas able to conceal all other defects. _Cneius autem Lentulus multomajorem opinionem dicendi actione faciebat, quam quanta in eo facultaserat; qui cum esset nec peracutus (quamquam et ex facie et ex vultuvidebatur) nec abundans verbis, etsi fallebat in eo ipso; sed vocesuavi et canorâ calebat in agendo, ut ea, quæ deerant, nondesiderarentur. _ Cicero, _De Claris Oratoribus_, s. 234. Metellus, Lucullus, and Curio, are mentioned by Cicero in the same work. Curiowas a senator of great spirit and popularity. He exerted himself withzeal and ardour for the legal constitution and the liberties of hiscountry against the ambition of Julius Cæsar, but afterwards soldhimself to that artful politician, and favoured his designs. Thecalamities that followed are by the best historians laid to hischarge. Lucan says of him, Audax venali comitatur Curio linguâ; Vox quondam populi, libertatemque tueri Ausus, et armatos plebi miscere potentes. Lib. I. Ver. 269. 

And again, Moméntumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum, Gallorum captus spoliis, et Cæsaris auro. PHARSALIA, lib. Iv. Ver. 819. 

[d] Demosthenes, when not more than seven years old, lost his father, and was left under the care of three guardians, who thought an orphanlawful prey, and did not scruple to embezzle his effects. In the meantime Demosthenes pursued a plan of education, without the aid oradvice of his tutors. He became the scholar of Isocrates, and he wasthe hearer of Plato. Under those masters his progress was such, thatat the age of seventeen he was able to conduct a suit against hisguardians. The young orator succeeded so well in that prelude to hisfuture fame, that the plunderers of the orphan's portion werecondemned to refund a large sum. It is said that Demosthenes, afterwards, released the whole or the greatest part. 

Section XXXVIII. 

[a] The rule for allowing a limited space of time for the hearing ofcauses, the extent of which could not be known, began, as Pliny theyounger informs us, under the emperors, and was fully established forthe reasons which he gives. The custom, he says, of allowing twowater-glasses (_i. E. Two hour-glasses_) or only one, and sometimeshalf a one, prevailed, because the advocates grew tired before thebusiness was explained, and the judges were ready to decide beforethey understood the question. Pliny, with some indignation, asks, Arewe wiser than our ancestors? are the laws more just at present? Ourancestors allowed many hours, many days, and many adjournments, inevery cause; and for my part, as often as I sit in judgement, I allowas much time as the advocate requires; for would it not be rashness toguess what space of time is necessary in a cause which has not beenopened? But some unnecessary things may be said; and is it not better, that what is unnecessary should be spoken, than that what is necessaryshould be omitted? And who can tell what is necessary, till he hasheard? Patience in a judge ought to be considered as one of the chiefbranches of his duty, as it certainly is of justice. See Plin. B. Vi. Ep. 2. In England, there is no danger of arbitrary rules, to gratifythe impatience of the court, or to stifle justice. The province ofjuries, since the late declaratory act in the case of libels, is nowbetter understood; and every judge is taught, that a cause is tried_before him_, not BY HIM. It is his to expound the law, and wait, withtemper, for the verdict of those whom the constitution has intrusted. 

[b] Pompey's third consulship was A. U. C. 702; before Christ, 52. Hewas at first sole consul, and in six or seven months Metellus Scipiobecame his colleague. 

[c] The centumviri, as mentioned s. Vii. Note [c], were a body of mencomposed of three out of every tribe, for the decision of such mattersas the prætors referred to their judgement. The nature of the severalcauses, that came before that judicature, may be seen in the first bookDE ORATORE. 

[d] The question in this cause before the centumviri was, whetherClusinius Figulus, the son of Urbinia, fled from his post in battle, and, being taken prisoner, remained in captivity during a length oftime, till he made his escape into Italy; or, as was contended byAsinius Pollio, whether the defendant did not serve under two masters, who practised physic, and, being discharged by them, voluntarily sellhimself as a slave? See Quintilian, lib. Vii. Cap. 2. 

Section XXXIX. 

[a] The advocates, at that time, wore a tight cloak, or mantle, likethat which the Romans used on a journey. Cicero, in his oration forMilo, argues that he who wore that inconvenient dress, was not likelyto have formed a design against the life of any man. _Apparet uteresset insidiator; uter nihil cogitaret mali: cum alter veheretur inrheda, penulatus, unà sederet uxor. Quid horum non impeditissimum?Vestitus? an vehiculum? an comes?_ A travelling-cloak could giveneither grace nor dignity to an orator at the bar. The business wastransacted in a kind of chat with the judges: what room for eloquence, and that commanding action which springs from the emotions of thesoul, and inflames every breast with kindred passions? The coldinanimate orator is described, by Quintilian, speaking with his handunder his robe; _manum intra pallium continens. _ Section XL. 

[a] Maternus is now drawing to a conclusion, and, therefore, calls tomind the proposition with which he set out; viz. That the flame oforatory is kept alive by fresh materials, and always blazes forth intimes of danger and public commotion. The unimpassioned style, whichsuited the _areopagus_ of Athens, or the courts of Rome, where theadvocate spoke by an hour-glass, does not deserve the name of genuineeloquence. The orations of Cicero for Marcellus, Ligarius, and kingDejotarus, were spoken before Cæsar, when he was master of the Romanworld. In those speeches, what have we to admire, except delicacy ofsentiment, and elegance of diction? How different from the _torrent, tempest, and whirlwind of passion_, that roused, inflamed, andcommanded the senate, and the people, against Catiline and MarcAntony!

[b] For the account of Cicero's death by Velleius Paterculus, see s. Xvii. Note [e]. Juvenal ascribes the murder of the great Roman oratorto the second Philippic against Antony. 

 ----Ridenda poemata malo, Quam te conspicuæ divina Philippica famæ, Volveris a primâ quæ proxima. SAT. X. Ver. 124. 

 I rather would be Mævius, thrash for rhymes Like his, the scorn and scandal of the times, Than the _Philippic_, fatally divine, Which is inscrib'd the second, should be mine. DRYDEN'S JUVENAL. 

What Cicero says of Antonius, the celebrated orator, may be applied tohimself: That head, which defended the commonwealth, was shewn fromthat very rostrum, where the heads of so many Roman citizens had beensaved by his eloquence. _In his ipsis rostris, in quibus illerempublicam constantissime consul defenderat, positum caput illudfuit, a quo erant multorum civium capita servata. _ Cicero _DeOratore_, lib. Iii. S. 10. 

Section XLII. 

[a] The urbanity with which the Dialogue is conducted, and the perfectharmony with which the speakers take leave of each other, cannot butleave a pleasing impression on the mind of every reader of taste. Ithas some resemblance to the conclusion of Cicero's Dialogue DE NATURADEORUM. In both tracts, we have a specimen of the politeness withwhich the ancients managed a conversation on the most interestingsubjects, and by the graces of style brought the way of instructing bydialogue into fashion. A modern writer, whose poetical genius cannotbe too much admired, chooses to call it a _frippery way of writing_. He advises his countrymen to abandon it altogether; and this for anotable reason: because the Rev. Dr. Hurd (now Bishop of Worcester)has shewn the true use of it. That the dialogues of that amiablewriter have an intrinsic value, cannot be denied: they contain a fundof reflection; they allure by the elegance of the style, and theybring us into company with men whom we wish to hear, to know, and toadmire. While we have such conversation-pieces, not to mention othersof the same stamp, both ancient and modern, the public taste, it maybe presumed, will not easily be tutored to reject a mode ofcomposition, in which the pleasing and useful are so happily blended. The present Dialogue, it is true, cannot be proved, beyond acontroversy, to be the work of Tacitus; but it is also true, that itcannot, with equal probability, be ascribed to any other writer. Ithas been retained in almost every edition of Tacitus; and, for thatreason, claims a place in a translation which professes to give allthe works of so fine a writer. 

CONCLUSION. 

The Author of these volumes has now gone through the difficult taskof translating Tacitus, with the superadded labour of supplements togive continuity to the narrative, and notes to illustrate suchpassages as seemed to want explanation; but he cannot lay down hispen, without taking the liberty of addressing a few words to thereader. As what he has to offer relates chiefly to himself, it shallbe very short. He has dedicated many years of his life to thisundertaking; and though, during the whole time, he had the pleasureand the honour of being acquainted with many gentlemen of taste andlearning, he had no opportunity of appealing to their opinion, orguiding himself by their advice. Amidst the hurry of life, and thevarious pursuits in which all are engaged, how could he hope that anyone would be at leisure to attend to the doubts, the difficulties, andminute niceties, which must inevitably occur in a writer of sopeculiar a genius as Tacitus? He was unwilling to be a troublesomevisitor, and, by consequence, has been obliged, throughout the wholeof his work, to trust to his own judgement, such as it is. He sparedno pains to do all the justice in his power to one of the greatestwriters of antiquity; but whether he has toiled with fruitlessindustry, or has in any degree succeeded, must be left to thejudgement of others. 

He is now at the end of his labours, and ready, after the example ofMontesquieu, to cry out with the voyager in Virgil, _Italiam!Italian!_ But whether he is to land on a peaceful shore; whether themen who delight in a wreck, are to rush upon him with hostile pens, which in their hands are pitch-forks; whether his cargo is to becondemned, and he himself to be wounded, maimed, and lacerated; alittle time will discover. Such critics will act as their natureprompts them. Should they _cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war_, it may be said, Quod genus hoc hominum, quæve hunc tam barbara morem Permittit patria? Hospitio prohibemur arenæ; Bella cient, primâque vetant consistere terrâ. 

This, they may say, is anticipating complaint; but, in the worst thatcan happen, it is the only complaint this writer will ever make, andthe only answer they will ever receive from his pen. 

It is from a very different quarter that the translator of Tacituswaits for solid criticism. The men, as Pliny observes, who read withmalignity, are not the only judges. _Neque enim soli judicant, quimalignè legunt. _ The scholar will see defects, but he will pronouncewith temper: he will know the difficulty, and, in some cases, perhapsthe impossibility, of giving in our language the sentiments of Tacituswith the precision and energy of the original; and, upon the whole, hewill acknowledge that an attempt to make a considerable addition toEnglish literature, carries with it a plea of some merit. While theFrench could boast of having many valuable translations of Tacitus, and their most eminent authors were still exerting themselves, withemulation, to improve upon their predecessors, the present writer saw, with regret, that this country had not so much as one translationwhich could be read, without disgust, by any person acquainted withthe idiom and structure of our language. To supply the deficiency hasbeen the ambition of the translator. He persevered with ardour; but, his work being finished, ardour subsides, and doubt and anxiety taketheir turn. Whatever the event may be, the conscious pleasure ofhaving employed his time in a fair endeavour will remain with him. For the rest, he submits his labours to the public; and, at thattribunal, neither flushed with hope, nor depressed by fear, he isprepared, with due acquiescence, to receive a decision, which, fromhis own experience on former occasions, he has reason to persuadehimself will be founded in truth and candour. 

GEOGRAPHICAL TABLE:

OR, INDEX OF THE NAMES OF PLACES, RIVERS, &c. MENTIONED IN THESE VOLUMES. 

A. 

ACHAIA, often taken for part of Peloponnesus, but in Tacitus generallyfor all Greece. 

ACTIUM, a promontory of Epirus, now called the _Cape of Tigolo_, famous for the victory of Augustus over M. Antony. 

ADDUA, a river rising in the country of the _Grisons_, and in itscourse separating Milan from the territory of the Venetians, till itfalls into the Po, about six miles to the west of Cremona. It is nowcalled the _Adda_. 

ADIABENE, a district of Assyria, so called from the river Adiaba;_Adiabeni_, the people. 

ADRANA, now the _Eder_; a river that flows near _Waldeck_, in thelandgravate of _Hesse_, and discharges itself into the _Weser_. 

ADRIATIC, now the gulf of Venice. 

ADRUMETUM, a Phœnician colony in Africa, about seventeen miles fromLeptis Minor. 

ÆDUI, a people of Ancient Gaul, near what is now called _Autun_, inLower Burgundy. 

ÆGEÆ, a maritime town of Cilicia; now _Aias Kala_. 

ÆGEAN SEA, a part of the Mediterranean which lies between Greece andAsia Minor; now the _Archipelago_. 

ÆGIUM, a city of Greece, in the Peloponnesus; now the _Morea_. 

ÆNUS, a river rising in the country of the _Grisons_, and runningthence into the Danube. 

ÆQUI, a people of Ancient Latium. 

AFRICA generally means in Tacitus that part which was made aproconsular province, of which Carthage was the capital; now theterritory of _Tunis_. 

AGRIPPINENSIS COLONIA, so called from Agrippina, the daughter ofGermanicus, mother of Nero, and afterwards wife of the emperorClaudius. This place is now called _Cologne_, situate on the Rhine. 

ALBA, a town of Latium, in Italy, the residence of the Alban kings;destroyed by Tullus Hostilius. 

ALBANIA, a country of Asia, bounded on the west by Iberia, on the eastby the Caspian Sea, on the south by Armenia, and on the north by MountCaucasus. 

ALBINGANUM; now _Albinga_, to the west of the territory of Genoa, atthe mouth of the river _Cente_. 

ALBIS, now the _Elbe_; a river that rises in the confines of_Silesia_, and, after a wide circuit, falls into the German sea below_Hamburgh_. 

ALBIUM INTEMELIUM; now _Vintimiglia_, south-west of the territory ofGenoa, with a port on the Mediterranean, between _Monaco_ and _S. Remo_. 

ALESIA, a town in Celtic Gaul, situate on a hill. It was besieged byJulius Cæsar. See his Commentaries, lib. Vii. S. 77. 

ALEXANDRIA, a principal city of Egypt, built by Alexander the Great, on the Mediterranean; famous for the library begun by PtolemyPhiladelphus, and consisting at last of seven hundred thousandvolumes, till in Cæsar's expedition it was destroyed by fire. 

ALISO, a fort built by Drusus, the father of Germanicus, in the partof Germany now called Westphalia, near the city of _Paderborn_. 

ALLIA, river of Italy, running into the Tiber, about forty miles fromRome; famous for the slaughter of the Romans by the Gauls, underBrennus. 

ALLOBROGES, a people of Narbon Gaul, situate between the Rhodanus andthe Lacus Lemanus. 

ALPS, a range of high mountains separating Italy from Gaul andGermany. They are distinguished into different parts, under severalnames: such as the _Maritime Alps_, near Genoa; the _Cottian Alps_, separating Dauphiné from Piedmont; the _Graian Alps_, beginning fromMount Cenis, where the _Cottian_ terminate, and extending to Great St. Bernard; the _Pennine Alps_, extending from west to east to the_Rhetian Alps_, the _Alpes Noricæ_, and the _Pannonian Alps_, as faras the springs of the _Kulpe_. Their height in some places is almostincredible. They are called _Alps_, from _Alpen_, a Celtic term forhigh mountains. 

ALTINUM, a town in the territory of Venice, on the Adriatic; now inruins, except a tower, still retaining the name of _Altino_. 

AMANUS, a mountain of Syria, separating it from Cilicia; now called_Montagna Neros_ by the inhabitants; that is, the watery mountain, abounding in springs and rivulets. 

AMATHUS, a maritime town of Cyprus, consecrated to Venus, with anancient temple of Adonis and Venus: it is now called _Limisso_. 

AMAZONIA, a country near the river Thermodon, in Pontus. 

AMISIA, now the _Ems_; a river of Germany that falls into the Germansea, near Embden. 

AMORGOS, an island in the Egean sea, now Amorgo. 

AMYDIS, a town near the gulf of that name, on the coast of Latium inItaly. 

ANAGNIA, a town of ancient Latium, now _Anagni_, thirty-six miles tothe east of Rome. 

ANCONA, a port town in Italy, situate on the gulf of Venice. 

ANDECAVI, now _Anjou_. 

ANEMURIUM, a promontory of Cilicia, with a maritime town of the samename near it. See Pomponius Mela. 

ANGRIVARIANS, a German people, situate on the west side of the Weser, near _Osnaburg_ and _Minden_. 

ANSIBARII, a people of Germany. 

ANTIOCH, or ANTIOCHIA, the capital of Syria, called _Epidaphne_, todistinguish it from other cities of the name of Antioch. It is nowcalled _Antakia_. 

ANTIPOLIS, now _Antibes_, on the coast of Provence, about threeleagues to the west of _Nice_. 

ANTIUM, a city of the ancient Volsci, situate on the Tuscan Sea; thebirth-place of Nero. Two Fortunes were worshipped there, whichSuetonius calls _Fortunæ Antiates_, and Martial, _Sorores Antii_. Horace's Ode to Fortune is well known--

_O Diva gratum quæ regis Antium. _

The place is now called _Capo d'Anzo_. 

ANTONA, now the _Avon_. See Camden. 

AORSI, a people inhabiting near the Palus Mæotis; now the eastern partof Tartary, between the _Neiper_ and the _Don_. 

APAMEA, a city of Phrygia, near the banks of the Mæander; now_Aphiom-Kara-Hisar_. 

APENNINUS, now the _Apennine_, a ridge of mountains running throughthe middle of Italy, extremely high, yet short of the _Alps_. Its nameis Celtic, signifying a high mountain. 

APHRODISIUM, a town of _Caria_ in Thrace, on the Euxine. 

APOLLONIDIA, a city of Lydia. 

APULIA, a territory of Italy, along the gulf of Venice; now_Capitanate, Otranto_, &c. 

AQUILEIA, a large city of the Veneti, and formerly a Roman colony, near the river _Natiso_, which runs into the gulf of Venice. 

AQUINUM, a town of the Ancient Latins; now _Aquino_, but almost inruins. 

AQUITANIA, a division of Ancient Gaul, bounded by the _Garumna_ (now_Garonne_), by the Pyrenees, and the ocean. 

ARABIA, an extensive country of Asia, reaching from Egypt to Chaldea. It is divided into three parts, _Arabia Petræa_, _Deserta_, and_Felix_. 

ARAR, or ARARIS, a river of Gaul; now the _Saone_. 

ARAXES, a river of Mesopotamia, which runs from north to south, andfalls into the Euphrates. 

ARBELA, a city of Assyria, famous for the battle between Alexander andDarius. 

ARCADIA, an inland district in the heart of Peloponnesus; mountainous, and only fit for pasture; therefore celebrated by bucolic or pastoralpoets. 

ARDEN, _Arduenna_, in Tacitus; the forest of Arden. 

ARENACUM, an ancient town in the island of Batavia; now _Arnheim_, inGuelderland. 

ARICIA, a town of Latium in Italy, at the foot of Mons Albanus, abouta hundred and sixty stadia from Rome. The grove, called _AricinumNemus_, was in the vicinity. 

ARII, a people of Asia. 

ARIMINUM, a town of Umbria, at the mouth of the river Ariminus, on thegulf of Venice. 

ARMENIA, a kingdom of Asia, having Albania and Iberia to the north, and Mount Taurus and Mesopotamia to the south: divided into theGREATER, which extends astward to the Caspian Sea; and the LESSER, tothe west of the GREATER, and separated from it by the Euphrates; nowcalled _Turcomania_. 

ARNUS, a river of Tuscany, which visits Florence in its course, andfalls into the sea near Pisa. 

ARSANIAS, a river of the GREATER ARMENIA, running between Tigranocertaand Artaxata, and falling into the Euphrates. 

ARTAXATA, the capital of Armenia, situate on the river Araxes. 

ARVERNI, a people of Ancient Gaul, inhabiting near the Loire; theirchief city _Arvernum_ now _Clermont_, the capital of _Auvergne_. 

ASCALON, an ancient city of the Philistines, situate on theMediterranean; now _Scalona_. 

ASCIBURGIUM, a citadel on the Rhine, where the Romans stationed a campand a garrison. 

ATESTE, a town in the territory of Venice, situate to the south ofPatavium. 

ATRIA, a town of the Veneti, on the river Tartarus, between the Padusand the Athesis, now the _Adige_. 

AUGUSTA TAURINORUM, a town of the Taurini, at the foot of the Alps;now _Turin_, the capital of _Piedmont_. 

AUGUSTODUNUM, the capital of the Ædui; now _Autun_, in the duchy ofBurgundy. It took its name from Augustus Cæsar. 

AURIA, an ancient town of Spain; now _Orense_, in Galicia. 

AUZEA, a strong castle in Mauritania. 

AVENTICUM, the capital of the Helvetii; by the Germans called_Wiflisburg_, by the French _Avenches_. 

B. 

BACTRIANI, a people inhabiting a part of Asia, to the south of theriver _Oxus_, which rains from east to west into the Caspian Sea. 

BAIÆ, a village of Campania, between the promontory of Misenum andPuteoli (now _Pozzuolo_), nine miles to the west of Naples. 

BALEARES, a cluster of islands in the Mediterranean, of which_Majorca_ and _Minorca_ are the chief. 

BASTARNI, a people of Germany, who led a wandering life in the vastregions between the Vistula and the Pontic sea. 

BATAVIA, an island formed by two branches of the Rhine and the Germansea. See Annals, book ii. S. 6; and Manners of the Germans, s. 29. Note a. 

BATAVODURUM, a town in the island of Batavia; now, as some of thecommentators say, _Wyk-te-Duurstede_. 

BEBRYACUM, or BEDRYACUM, a village situate between Verona and Cremona;famous for two successive defeats; that of Otho, and soon after thatof Vitellius. 

BELGIC GAUL, the country between the Seine and the Marne to the west, the Rhine to the east, and the German sea to the north. 

BERYTUS, now _Barut_, in Phœnicia. 

BETASII, the people inhabiting the country now called _Brabant_. 

BITHYNIA, a proconsular province of Asia Minor, bounded on the northby the Euxine and the Propontic, adjoining to Troas, over-againstThrace; now _Becsangial_. 

BŒTICA, one of the provinces into which Augustus Cæsar divided theFarther Spain. 

BOII, a people of Celtic Gaul, in the country now called Bourbonnois. There was also a nation of the same name in Germany. See Manners ofthe Germans, s. 28. 

BONNA, now _Bonn_, in the electorate of _Cologne_. 

BONONIA, called by Tacitus _Bononiensis_; now _Bologna_, capital ofthe _Bolognese_ in Italy. 

BOSPHORANI, a people bordering on the Euxine; the _Tartars_. 

BOSPHORUS, two straits of the sea so called; one _Bosphorus Thracius_, now _the straits of Constantinople_; the other _Bosphorus Cimmerius_, now _the straits of Caffa_. 

BOVILLÆ, a town of Latium, near Mount Albanus; about ten miles fromRome, on the Appian Road. 

BRIGANTES, the ancient inhabitants of _Yorkshire_, _Lancashire_, _Durham_, _Westmoreland_, and _Cumberland_. 

BRIXELLUM, the town where Otho dispatched himself after the defeat at_Bedriacum_; now _Bresello_, in the territory of _Reggio_. 

BRIXIA, a town of Italy, on this side of the Po; now _Brescia_. 

BRUCTERIANS, a people of Germany, situate in Westphalia. See theManners of the Germans, s. 33. Note a. 

BRUNDUSIUM, a town of Calabria, with an excellent harbour, at theentrance of the Adriatic, affording to the Romans a commodious passageto Greece. The Via Appia ended at this town. Now _Brindisi_, in theterritory of _Otranto_, in the kingdom of Naples. 

BYZANTIUM, a city of Thrace, on the narrow strait that separatesEurope from Asia; now _Constantinople_. See Annals, xii. S. 63. 

C. 

CÆLALETÆ, a people of Thrace, near Mount Hæmus. 

CÆRACATES, probably the diocese of _Mayence_. 

CÆSAREA, a maritime town in Palestine; now _Kaisarié_. 

CÆSIAN FOREST, now the Forest of _Heserwaldt_, in the duchy of Cleves. It is supposed to be a part of the Hercynian Forest. 

CALABRIA, a peninsula of Italy, between Tarentum and Brundusium; nowthe territory of Otranto, in the kingdom of Naples. 

CAMELODUNUM, said by some to be _Malden_ in Essex, but by Camden, andothers, _Colchester_. It was made a Roman colony under the emperorClaudius; a place of pleasure rather than of strength, adorned withsplendid works, a theatre, and a temple of Claudius. 

CAMERIUM, a city in the territory of the Sabines; now destroyed. 

CAMPANIA, a territory of Italy, bounded on the west by the Tuscan sea. The most fertile and delightful part of Italy; now called _Terra diLavoro_. 

CANGI, the inhabitants of Cheshire, and part of Lancashire. 

CANINEFATES, a people of the Lower Germany, from the same origin asthe Batavians, and inhabitants of the west part of the isle ofBatavia. 

CANOPUS, a city of the Lower Egypt, situate on a branch of the Nilecalled by the same name. 

CAPPADOCIA, a large country in Asia Minor, between Cilicia the Euxinesea. Being made a Roman province, the inhabitants had an offer madethem of a free and independent government; but their answer was, Liberty might suit the Romans, but the Cappadocians would neitherreceive liberty, nor endure it. 

CAPREA, an island on the coast of Campania, about four miles in lengthfrom east to west, and about one in breadth. It stands opposite to thepromontory of _Surrentum_, and has the bay of Naples in view. It wasthe residence of Tiberius for several years. 

CAPUA, now _Capoa_, a city in the kingdom of Naples; the seat ofpleasure, and the ruin of Hannibal. 

CARMEL, a mountain in Galilee, on the Mediterranean. 

CARSULÆ, a town of Umbria, about twenty miles from Mevania; now inruins. 

CARTHAGO, once the most famous city of Africa, and the rival of Rome;supposed by some to have been built by queen Dido, seventy years afterthe foundation of Rome; but Justin will have it before Rome. It wasthe capital of what is now the kingdom of _Tunis_. 

CARTHAGO NOVA, a town of _Hispania Tarraconensis_, or the HitherSpain; now _Carthagena_. 

CASPIAN SEA, a vast lake between Persia, Great Tartary, Muscovy andGeorgia, said to be six hundred miles long, and near as broad. 

CASSIOPE, a town in the island of Corcyra (now _Corfou_), called atpresent _St. Maria di Cassopo_. 

CATTI, a people of Germany, who inhabited part of the country nowcalled _Hesse_, from the mountains of _Hartz_, to the Weser and theRhine. 

CAUCI. See CHAUCI. 

CELENDRIS, a place on the coast of Cilicia, near the confines ofPamphylia. 

CENCHRIÆ, a port of Corinth, situate about ten miles towards the east;now _Kenkri_. 

CENCHRIS, a river running through the Ortygian Grove. 

CEREINA, an island in the Mediterranean, to the north of the SyrtisMinor in Africa; now called _Kerkeni_. 

CHALCEDON, a city of Bithynia, situate at the mouth of the Euxine, over-against Byzantium. It was called the _City of the Blind_. SeeAnnals, xii. S. 63. 

CHAUCI, a people of Germany, inhabiting what we now call _EastFriesland_, _Bremen_, and _Lunenburg_. See Manners of the Germans, s. 35. 

CHERUSCANS, a great and warlike people of Ancient Germany, to thenorth of the _Catti_, between the _Elbe_ and the _Weser_. 

CIBYRA, formerly a town of Phrygia, near the banks of the Mæander, butnow destroyed. 

CILICIA, an extensive country in the Hither Asia, bounded by MountTaurus to the north, by the Mediterranean to the south, by Syria tothe east, and by Pamphylia to the west. It was one of the provincesreserved for the management of the emperor. 

CINITHIANS, a people of Africa. 

CIRRHA, a town of Phocis, near Delphi, sacred to Apollo. 

CIRRHUS, a town of Syria, in the district of Commagene, and not farfrom Antioch. 

CIRTA, formerly the capital of Numidia, and the residence of the king. It is now called _Constantina_, in the kingdom of Algiers. 

CLITÆ, a people of Cilicia, near Mount Taurus. 

CLUNIA, a city in the Hither Spain. 

COLCHOS, a country of Asia, on the east of the Euxine, famous for thefable of the Golden Fleece, the Argonautic Expedition, and the FairEnchantress, Medea. 

COLOPHON, a city of Ionia, in the Hither Asia. One of the places thatclaimed the birth of Homer; now destroyed. 

COMMAGENE, a district of Syria, bounded on the east by the Euphrates, on the west by Amanus, and on the north by Mount Taurus. 

COOS. See Cos. 

CORCYRA, an island in the Adriatic; now _Corfou_. 

CORINTHUS, a city of Achaia, on the south part of the isthmus whichjoins Peloponnesus to the continent. From its situation between twoseas, Horace says, _Bimarisve Corinthi mœnia. _

The city was taken and burnt to the ground by Mummius the Romangeneral, A. U. C. 608. It was afterwards restored to its ancientsplendour, and made a Roman colony. It retains the name of _Corinth_. 

CORMA, a river in Asia; mentioned by Tacitus only. 

CORSICA, an island in the part of the Mediterranean called the Sea ofLiguria, in length from north to south about a hundred and fiftymiles, and about fifty where broadest. To the south it is separatedfrom Sardinia by a narrow channel. 

COS, or COOS, one of the islands called the Cyclades, in the Ægeansea, famous for being the birth-place of Apelles; now _Stan Co_. 

COSA, a promontory of Etruria; now _Mont Argentaro_, in Tuscany. 

CREMERA, a river of Tuscany, falling into the Tiber a little to thenorth of Rome, rendered famous by the slaughter of the Fabii. 

CREMONA, a city of Italy, built A. U. C. 536, and afterwards, in theyear 822, rased to the ground by the army of Vespasian, in the warwith Vitellius. It was soon rebuilt by the citizens, with theexhortations of Vespasian. It is now a flourishing city in the duchyof Milan, and retains the name of Cremona. 

CUMÆ, a town of Campania, near Cape Misenum, famous for the cave ofthe Cumæan Sibyl. 

CUSUS, a river in Hungary, that falls into the Danube. 

CYCLADES, a cluster of islands in the Ægean sea, so called from_Cyclus_, the orb in which they lie. Their names and number are notascertained. Strabo reckons sixteen. 

CYME, a maritime town of Æolia in Asia. 

CYPRUS, a noble island opposite to the coast of Syria, formerly sacredto Venus, whence she was called the Cyprian goddess. 

CYRENE (now called _Curin_), the capital of Cyrenaica, a district ofAfrica, now the _Desert of Barca_. It stood about eleven miles fromthe sea, and had an excellent harbour. 

CYTHERA, an island situated on the coast of Peloponnesus formerlysacred to Venus, and thence her name of _Cytherea_. The island is nowcalled _Cerigo_. 

CYTHNUS, one of the islands called the Cyclades, in the Ægean Sea. 

CYZICUS, a city of Mysia, in the Hither Asia, rendered famous by thelong siege of Mithridates, which at last was raised by Lucullus. 

D. 

DACIA, a country extending between the Danube and the Carpathianmountains to the mouth of the Danube, and to the Euxine, comprising apart of Upper Hungary, Transylvania, and Moldavia. The inhabitants tothe west, towards Germany, were called _Daci_; those to the easttowards the Euxine were called _Getæ_. The whole country was reducedby Trajan to a Roman province. 

DAHÆ, a people of Scythia, to the south of the Caspian, with theMassagetæ on the east. Virgil calls them _indomitique Dahæ_. 

DALMATIA, an extensive country bordering on Macedonia and Mæsia, andhaving the Adriatic to the south. 

DANDARIDÆ, a people bordering on the Euxine. Brotier says that somevestiges of the nation, and its name, still exist at a place called_Dandars_. 

DANUBE, the largest river in Europe. It rises in Suabia, and aftervisiting Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, and taking thence a prodigiouscircuit, falls at last into the Black or Euxine sea. See Manners ofthe Germans, s. 1. Note g. 

DELOS, the central island of the Cyclades, famous in mythology for thebirth of Apollo and Diana. 

DELPHI, a famous inland town of Phocis in Greece, with a temple andoracle of Apollo, situate near the foot of Mount Parnassus. 

DENTHELIATE LANDS, a portion of the Peloponnesus that lay betweenLaconia and Messenia; often disputed by those states. 

DERMONA, a river of Gallia Transpadana; it runs into the Ollius (now_Oglio_), and through that channel into the Po. 

DIVODURUM, a town in Gallia Belgica, situate on the Moselle, on thespot where _Metz_ now stands. 

DONUSA, or DONYSA, an island in the Ægean sea, not far from _Naxos_. Virgil has, _Bacchatamque jugis Naxon, viridemque Donysam_. 

DYRRACHIUM, a town on the coast of Illyricum. Its port answered tothat of Brundusium, affording a convenient passage to Italy. 

E. 

ECBATANA, the capital of Media; now _Hamedan_. 

EDESSA, a town of Mesopotamia; now _Orrhoa_, or _Orfa_. 

ELEPHANTINE, an island in the Nile, not far from Syene; at which lastplace stood the most advanced Roman garrison, _Notitia Imperii_. 

ELEUSIS, a district of Attica near the sea-coast, sacred to Ceres, where the Eleusinian mysteries were performed; now in ruins. 

ELYMÆI, a people bordering on the gulf of Persia. 

EMERITA, a city of Spain; now _Merida_ in the province of_Estramadoura_. 

EPHESUS, an ancient and celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia Minor; now_Efeso_. It was the birth-place of Heraclitus, the weepingphilosopher. 

EPIDAPHNE, a town in Syria, not far from Antioch. 

EPOREDIA, a town at the foot of the Alps, afterwards a Roman colony;now _Jurea_, or _Jura_, a city of Piedmont. 

ERINDE, a river of Asia, mentioned by Tacitus only. 

ERITHRÆ, a maritime town of Ionia, in Asia Minor. 

ETRURIA, a district of Italy, extending from the boundary of Liguriato the Tiber; now _Tuscany_. 

EUBŒA, an island near the coast of _Attica_; now _Negropont_. 

EUPHRATES, a river of Asia, universally allowed to take its rise inArmenia Major. It divides into two branches, one running throughBabylon, and the other through Seleucia. It bounds Mesopotamia on thewest. 

EUXINE, or PONTUS EUXINUS; now the Black Sea. 

F. 

FERENTINUM, a town of Latium, in Italy; now _Ferentino_, in theCampania of Rome. 

FERENTUM, a town of Etruria; now _Ferenti_. 

FERONIA, a town in Etruria. 

FIDENÆ, a small town in the territory of the Sabines, about six milesto the north of Rome. The place where the ruins of Fidenæ are seen, isnow called _Castello Giubileo_. 

FLAMMINIAN WAY, made by Flamminius A. U. C. 533, from Rome to_Ariminum_, a town of Umbria, or Romana, at the mouth of the riverAriminus, on the gulf of Venice. It is now called _Rimini_. 

FLEVUS, a branch of the Rhine, that emptied itself into the lakeswhich have been long since absorbed by the _Zuyderzee_. A castle, called _Flevum Castellum_, was built there by Drusus, the father ofGermanicus. 

FORMIÆ, a maritime town of Italy, to the south-east of _Cajeta_. Theruins of the place are still visible. 

FOROJULIUM. See FORUM JULIUM. 

FORUM ALLIENI, now _Ferrare_, on the Po. 

FORUM JULIUM, a Roman colony in Gaul, founded by Julius Cæsar, andcompleted by Augustus, with a harbour at the mouth of the river_Argens_, capable of receiving a large fleet. The ruins of two molesat the entrance of the harbour are still to be seen. See Life ofAgricola, s. 4. Note a. The place is now called _Frejus_. 

FRISII, the ancient inhabitants of _Friesland_. See Manners of theGermans. 

FUNDANI MONTES, now _Fondi_, a city of Naples, on the confines of thePope's dominions. 

G. 

GABII, a town of Latium, between Rome and Preneste. A particularmanner of tucking up the gown, adopted by the Roman consuls when theydeclared war or attended a sacrifice, was called _Cinctus Gabinus_. The place now extinct. 

GÆTULI, a people of Africa, bordering on Mauritania. 

GALATIA, or GALLOGRÆCIA, a country of Asia Minor, lying between_Cappadocia, Pontus_, and _Pophlagonia_; now called _Chiangare_. 

GALILÆA, the northern part of Canaan, or Palestine, bounded on thenorth by _Phœnicia_, on the south by _Samaria_, on the east by the_Jordan_, and on the west by the _Mediterranean_. 

GALLIA, the country of ancient Gaul, now _France_. It was divided bythe Romans into _Gallia Cisalpina_, viz. Gaul on the Italian side ofthe Alps, with the _Rubicon_ for its boundary to the south. It wasalso called _Gallia Togata_, from the use made by the inhabitants ofthe Roman _Toga_. It was likewise called _Gallia Transpadana_, or_Cispadana_, with respect to Rome. The second great division of Gaulwas _Gallia Transalpina_, or _Ulterior_, being, with respect to Rome, on the other side of the Alps. It was also called _Gallia Comata_, from the people wearing their hair long, which the Romans wore short. The southern part was GALLIA NARBONENSIS, _Narbon Gaul_, calledlikewise _Braccata_, from the use of _braccæ_, or breeches, which wereno part of the Roman dress; now _Languedoc_, _Dauphiny_, and_Provence_. For the other divisions of Gaul on this side of the Alps, into the _Gallia Belgica, Celtica, Aquitanica_, further subdivided byAugustus, see the Manners of the Germans, s. 1. Note a. 

GARAMANTES, a people in the interior part of Africa, extending over avast tract of country at present little known. 

GARIZIM, a mountain of Samaria, famous for a temple built on it bypermission of Alexander the Great. 

GELDUBA, not far from Novesium (now _Nuys_, in the electorate ofCologne) on the west side of the Rhine. 

GEMONIÆ, a place at Rome, into which were thrown the bodies ofmalefactors. 

GERMANIA, Ancient Germany, bounded on the east by the Vistula (the_Weissel_), on the north by the Ocean, on the west by the Rhine, andon the south by the Danube. A great part of Gaul, along the west sideof the Rhine, was also called Germany by Augustus Cæsar, _GermaniaCisrhenana_, and by him distinguished into _Upper_ and _LowerGermany_. 

GOTHONES, a people of ancient Germany, who inhabited part of Poland, and bordered on the Vistula. 

GRAIAN ALPS, Graiæ Alpes, supposed to be so called from the Greeks whosettled there. See ALPS. 

GRINNES, a town of the Batavi, on the right side of the Vahalis (nowthe _Waal_), in the territory of Utrecht. 

GUGERNI, a people originally from Germany, inhabiting part of theduchy of Cleves and Gueldre, between the Rhine and the Meuse. 

GYARUS, one of the islands called the _Cyclades_, rendered famous bybeing allotted for the banishment of Roman citizens. Juvenal says, _Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris, et carcere dignum, si vis essealiquis. _

H. 

HÆMUS, MOUNT, a ridge of mountains running from Illyricum towards theEuxine sea; now _Mont Argentaro_. 

HÆMONADENSIANS, a people bordering on Cilicia. 

HALICARNASSUS, the capital of Caria, in Asia Minor, famous for beingthe birth-place of Herodotus and Dionysius, commonly called _DionysiusHalicarnassensis_. 

HELVETII, a people in the neighbourhood of the Allobroges, situate onthe south-west side of the Rhine, and separated from Gaul by theRhodanus and Lacus Lemanus. 

HENIOCHIANS, a people dwelling near the Euxine Sea. 

HERCULANEUM, a town of Campania, near Mount Vesuvius, swallowed up byan earthquake. Several antiquities have been lately dug out of theruins. 

HERCYNIAN FOREST: in the time of Julius Cæsar, the breadth could notbe traversed in less than nine days; and after travelling lengthwaysfor sixty days, no man reached the extremity. Cæsar, De Bell. Gal. Lib. Vi. S. 29. 

HERMUNDURI, a people of Germany, in part of what is now called UpperSaxony, bounded on the north by the river _Sala_, on the east by the_Elbe_, and on the south by the _Danube_. 

HIERO-CÆSAREA, a city in Lydia, famous for a temple to the PersianDiana, supposed to have been built by Cyrus. 

HISPALIS, a town of Bœtica in the Farther Spain; now _Seville_ in_Andalusia_. 

HISPANIA, Spain, otherwise called _Iberia_, from the river _Iberus_. It has the sea on every side except that next to _Gaul_, from which itis separated by the _Pyrenees_. During the time of the republic, thewhole country was divided into two provinces, _Ulterior_ and_Citerior_, the _Farther_ and _Hither_ Spain. Augustus divided theFarther Spain into two provinces; _Bœtica_, and _Lusitania_. TheHither Spain he called _Tarraconensis_, and then Spain was formed intothree provinces; _Bœtica_, under the management of the senate; and theother two reserved for officers appointed by the prince. 

HOSTILIA, a village on the Po: now _Ostiglia_, in the neighbourhood ofCremona. 

HYPÆPA, a small city in _Lydia_, now rased to the ground. 

HYRCANIA, a country of the Farther Asia, to the east of the CaspianSea, with Media on the west, and Parthia on the south; famous for itstigers. There was a city of the same name in Lydia. 

I. 

IBERIA, an inland country of Asia, bounded by Mount Caucasus on thenorth, by Albania on the cast, by Colchis and part of Pontus on thewest, and by Armenia on the south. Spain was also called Iberia, fromthe river Iberus; now the _Ebro_. 

IBERUS, a noble river of the Hither Spain; now the _Ebro_. 

ICENI, a people of Britain; now _Essex, Suffolk_, and _Norfolk_. 

ILIUM, another name for ancient Troy. A new city, nearer to the sea, was built after the famous siege of Troy, and made a Roman colony. But, as was said of the old city, _Etiam periere ruinæ_. 

ILLYRICUM, the country between Pannonia to the north, and the Adriaticto the south. It is now comprised by _Dalmatia_ and _Sclavonia_, underthe respective dominion of the Venetians and the Turks. 

INSUBRIA, a country of Gallia Cisalpina; now the _Milanese_. 

INTEMELIUM. See ALBIUM INTEMELIUM. 

INTERAMNA, an ancient town of the Volsci in Latium, not far from theriver Liris. It is now in ruins. 

IONIAN SEA, the sea that washes the western coast of Greece, oppositeto the gulf of Venice. 

ISICHI, a people bordering on the Euxine, towards the east. 

ISTRIA, an island in the gulf of Venice, still retaining its ancientname. There was also a town of the same name near the mouth of theIster, on the Euxine Sea. 

ITURÆA, a _Transjordan_ district of Palestine, now _Bacar_. 

J. 

JAPHA, a strong place, both by nature and art, in the Lower Galilee, not far from _Jotapata_; now _Saphet_. 

JAZYGES, a people of Sarmatia Europæa, situate on this side of thePalus Mæotis, near the territory of Maroboduus, the German king. 

JUGANTES, said by Camden to be the same as the _Brigantes_, butBrotier thinks it probable that they were a distinct, people. 

L. 

LACUS LEMANUS, now the _Lake of Geneva_. 

LANGOBARDI, a people of Germany, between the _Elbe_ and the _Oder_, inpart of what is now called _Brandenburg_. 

LANUVIUM, a town of Latium, about sixteen miles from Rome; now _CivitaLavinia_. 

LAODICEA, a town of Phrygia, called, to distinguish it from othercities of the same name, _Laodicea ad Lycum_. Spon, in his account ofhis travels, says it is rased to the ground, except four theatresbuilt, with marble, finely polished, and in as good condition as ifthey were modern structures; now called _Ladik_. 

LAODICEA AD MARE, a considerable town on the coast of Syria, wellbuilt, with a commodious harbour. 

LATIUM, the country of the Latini, so called from king Latinus;contained at first within narrow bounds, but greatly enlarged underthe Alban kings and the Roman consuls, by the accession of the Æqui, Volsci, Hernici, &c. 

LECHÆUM, the west port of Corinth, which the people used for theirItalian trade, as they did _Cenchræ_ for their eastern or Asiatic. 

LEPTIS, there were in Africa two ancient cities of the name, _Leptismagna_, and _Leptis parva_. The first (now called _Lebeda_) was in theterritory of Tripoli; the second, a town on the Mediterranean, not farfrom Carthage. 

LESBOS, an island in the Egean Sea, near the coast of Asia; thebirth-place of Sappho: now called _Metelin_. 

LEUCI, a people of Gallia Belgica, to the north of the Lingones, between the Moselle and the Meuse. 

LIBYA, the name given by the Greeks to all Africa; but, properlyspeaking, it was an interior part of Africa. 

LIGERIS; now the _Loire_. 

LIGURIA, a country of Italy, divided into the maritime, _Ligus Ora_;and the inland _Liguria_; both between the Apennine to the south, theMaritime Alps to the west, and the Po to the north. It contained whatis now called _Ferrara_, and the _territories of Genoa_. 

LINGONES, a people of Gallia Belgica, inhabiting the country about_Langres_ and _Dijon_. 

LONGOBARDI, or LANGOBORDI, a people of Germany, between the Elbe andthe Oder. See Manners of the Germans, s. 40 note a. 

LUCANIA, a country of ancient Italy; now called the _Basilicate_. 

LUGDUNUM, a city of ancient Gaul; now _Lyons_. 

LUGDUNUM BATAVORUM, a town of the Batavi, now _Leyden_ in Holland. There was another town of the name in Gallia Celtica, at theconfluence of the Arar (the _Saone_) and the Rhodanus (the _Rhone_). The place is now called Lyons. 

LUPPIA, a river of Westphalia; now the _Lippe_. 

LUSITANIA, now the kingdom of _Portugal_, on the west of Spain, formerly a part of it. 

LYCIA, a country in Asia Minor, bounded by Pamphylia, Phrygia, and theMediterranean. 

LYDIA, an inland country of Asia Minor, formerly governed by Crœsus;now _Carasia_. 

LYGII, an ancient people of Germany, who inhabited the country nowcalled _Silesia_, and also part of _Poland_. 

M. 

MACEDONIA, a large country, rendered famous by Philip of Macedon andhis son Alexander; now a province of the Turkish empire, bounded byServia and Bulgaria to the north, by Greece to the south, by Thraceand the Archipelago to the east, and by Epirus to the west. 

MÆOTIS PALUS, a lake of Sarmatia Europæa, still known by the samename, and reaching from Crim Tartary to the mouth of the _Tanais_ (the_Don_). 

MÆSIA, a district of the ancient Illyricum, bordering on Pannonia, containing what is now called _Bulgaria_, and part of _Servia_. 

MAGNESIA: there were anciently three cities of the name; one in Ionia, on the Mæander, which, it is said, was given to Themistocles byArtaxerxes, with these words, _to furnish his table with bread_; it isnow called _Guzel-Hissard_, in Asiatic Turkey: the second was at thefoot of Mount Sipylus, in Lydia; but has been destroyed byearthquakes: the third Magnesia was a maritime town of Thessaly, onthe Egean Sea. 

MAGONTIACUM, a town of Gallia Belgica; now _Mentz_, situate at theconfluence of the Rhine and the Maine. 

MARCODURUM, a village of Gallia Belgica; now _Duren_ on the _Roer_. 

MARCOMANIANS, a people of Germany, between the Rhine, the Danube, andthe Neckar. They removed to the country of the Boii, and havingexpelled the inhabitants, occupied the country now called _Bohemia_. See Manners of the Germans, s. 42. 

MARDI, a people of the Farther Asia, near the Caspian Sea. 

MARITIME ALPS. See ALPS. 

MARSACI, a people in the north of Batavia, inhabiting the sea-coast. 

MARSI, a people of Italy, who dwelt round the Lacus Fucinus. Anotherpeople called Marsi, in Germany, to the south of the Frisii, in thecountry now called _Paderborne_ and _Munster_. 

MASSILLIA, a town of Gallia Narbonensis, formerly celebrated forpolished manners and learning; now _Marseilles_, a port town ofProvence. 

MATTIACI, a branch of the Catti in Germany. Their capital town was

MATTIUM, supposed now to be _Marpourg_ in _Hesse_. 

MAURITANIA, a large region of Africa, extending from east to westalong the Mediterranean, divided by the emperor Claudius into_Cæsariensis_, the eastern part, and _Tingitana_, the western. It hadNumidia to the east, and Getulia to the south; and was also bounded bythe Atlantic ocean, the straits of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean tothe north. The natives were called Mauri, and thence the name of_Mauritania_; now _Barbary_. 

MEDIA, a country of the Farther Asia, bounded on the west by Armenia, on the east by Parthia, on the north by the Caspian Sea, on the southby Persia. _Ecbatana_ was the capital. 

MEDIOLANUM, now _Milan_ in Italy. 

MEDIOMATRICI, a people of Gallia Belgica; now the diocese of _Metz_. 

MELITENE, a city of Cappadocia. 

MEMPHIS, a city of Egypt, famous for its pyramids. 

MENAPII, a people of Belgia; now _Brabant_ and _Flanders_. 

MESOPOTAMIA, a large country in the middle of Asia; so called, becauseit lies, [Greek: mesae potamon], between two rivers, the Euphrates onthe west, and the Tigris on the east. 

MESSENA, or MESSANA, an ancient and celebrated city of Sicily, on thestrait between that island and Italy. It still retains the name of_Messina_. 

MEVANIA, a town of Umbria, near the Clitumnus, a river that runs fromeast to west into the Tiber. 

MILETUS, an ancient city of Ionia, in Asia Minor; now totallydestroyed. 

MILVIUS PONS, a bridge over the Tiber, at the distance of two milesfrom Rome, on the _Via Flamminia_; now called _Ponte-Molle_. 

MINTURNÆ, a town on the confines of Campania, near the river Liris. 

MISENUM, a promontory of Campania, with a good harbour, near the_Sinus Puteolanus_, or the bay of Naples, on the north side. It wasthe station for the Roman fleets. Now _Capo di Miseno_. 

MITYLENE, the capital city of the isle of Lesbos, and now gives nameto the whole island. 

MONA, an island separated from the coast of the Ordovices by a narrowstrait, the ancient seat of the Druids. Now the isle of _Anglesey_. 

MONÆCI PORTUS, now _Monaco_, a port town in the territory of _Genoa_. 

MORINI, a people of Belgia, inhabiting the diocese of _Tournay_, andthe country about _St. Omer_ and _Boulogne_. 

MOSA, a large river of Belgic Gaul; it receives a branch of the Rhine, called _Vahalis_, and falls into the German Ocean below the Briel. Itis now the _Mæse_, or _Meuse_. 

MOSELLA, a river, which, running through Lorrain, falls into the Rhineat _Coblentz_, now called the _Moselle_. 

MOSTENI, the common name of the people and their town on the riverHermus, in Lydia. 

MUSULANI, an independent savage people in Africa, on the confines ofCarthage, Numidia, and Mauritania. 

MUTINA, now _Modena_, a city of Lombardy, in Italy. 

MYRINA, a town of _Æolis_, or _Æolia_, in the Hither Asia; now_Sanderlik_. 

N. 

NABALIA, the name of the channel made by Drusus from the Rhine to theriver Sala; now the _Ysell_. See Annals, ii. S. 8. 

NABATHÆI, a people between the Euphrates and the Red Sea;comprehending Arabia Petræa, and bounded by Palestine on the north. 

NAR, a river which rises in Umbria, and, falling into the lake_Velinus_, rushes thence with a violent and loud cascade, and emptiesitself into the Tiber. 

NARBON GAUL, the southern part of Gaul, bounded by the Pyrenees to thewest, the Mediterranean to the south, and the Alps and the Rhine tothe east. 

NARNIA, a town of Umbria, on the river _Nar_; now _Narni_, in theterritory of the Pope. 

NAUPORTUM, a town on a cognominal river in Pannonia. 

NAVA, a river of Gallia Belgica, which runs north-east into the westside of the Rhine; now the _Nahe_. 

NAVARIA, now _Novara_, a city of Milan. 

NEMETES, a people originally of Germany, removed to the diocese of_Spire_, on the Rhine. 

NICEPHORUS, a river of Asia that washes the walls of _Tigranocerta_, and runs into the _Tigris_; _D'Anville_ says, now called _Khabour_. 

NICOPOLIS: there were several towns of this name, viz. In Egypt, Armenia, Bithynia, on the Euxine, &c. A town of the same name wasbuilt by Augustus, on the coast of Epirus, as a monument of hisvictory at Actium. 

NINOS, the capital of _Assyria_; called also _Nineve_. 

NISIBIS, a city of Mesopotamia, at this day called _Nesibin_. 

NOLA, a city of Campania, on the north-east of Vesuvius. At thisplace Augustus breathed his last: it retains its old name to this day. 

NORICUM, a Roman province, bounded by the Danube on the north, by the_Alpes Noricæ_ on the south, by Pannonia on the east, and Vindeliciaon the west; now containing a great part of Austria, Tyrol, Bavaria, &c. 

NOVESIUM, a town of the Ubii in Gallia Belgica; now _Nuys_, on thewest side of the Rhine, in the electorate of _Cologne_. 

NUCERIA, a city of Campania; now _Nocera_. 

NUMIDIA, a celebrated kingdom of Africa, bordering on Mauritania, andbounded to the north by the Mediterranean; now _Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli_, &c. The eastern part of the kingdom of _Algiers_. Syphax wasking of one part, and Masinissa of the other. 

O. 

OCRICULUM, a town of Umbria, near the confluence of the Nar and theTiber; now _Otricoli_, in the duchy of _Spoletto_. 

ODRYSÆ, a people situated in the western part of Thrace, how aprovince of European Turkey. 

OEENSES, a people of Africa, who occupied the country between the twoSyrtes on the Mediterranean. Their city was called _Oea_, now_Tripoli_. 

OPITERGIUM, now _Oderzo_, in the territory of Venice. 

ORDOVICES, a people who inhabited what we now call _Flintshire, Denbighshire, Carnarvon_, and _Merionethshire_, in North Wales. 

OSTIA, formerly a town of note, at the mouth of the Tiber (on thesouth side), whence its name; at this day it lies in ruins. 

P. 

PADUS, anciently called _Eridanus_ by the Greeks, famous for thefable of Phæton; it receives several rivers from the Alps andApennine, and, running from west to east, discharges itself into theAdriatic. It is now called the Po. 

PAGIDA, a river in Numidia; its modern name is not ascertained. D'Anville thinks it is now called _Fissato_, in the territory of_Tripoli_. 

PALUS MÆOTIS; see MÆOTIS. 

PAMPHYLIA, a country of the Hither Asia, bounded by Pisidia to thenorth, and by the Mediterranean to the south. 

PANDA, a river of Asia, in the territory of the _Siraci_; not wellknown. 

PANDATARIA, an island of the Tuscan Sea, in the Sinus Puteolanus (now_il Golfo di Napoli_), the place of banishment for illustrious exiles, viz. Julia the daughter of Augustus, Agrippina the wife of Germanicus, Octavia the daughter of Claudius, and many others. It is now called_L'lsle Sainte-Marie_, or _Santa Maria_. 

PANNONIA, an extensive country of Europe, bounded by Mæsia on theeast, by Noricum on the west, Dalmatia on the south, and by the Danubeto the north; containing part of _Austria_ and _Hungary_. 

PANNONIAN ALPS. See ALPS. 

PAPHOS: there were two towns of the name, both on the west side of theisland of Cyprus, and dedicated to Venus, who was hence the _Paphian_and the _Cyprian_ goddess. 

PARTHIA, a country of the Farther Asia, with Media on the west, Asiaon the east, and Hyrcania on the north. 

PATAVIUM, now _Padua_, in the territory of Venice. 

PELIGNI, a people of Samaium, near Naples. 

PELOPONNESUS, the large peninsula to the south of Greece, so calledafter _Pelops_, viz. _Pelopis Nesus_. It is joined to the rest ofGreece by the isthmus of Corinth, which lies between the Egean andIonian seas. It is now called the _Morea_. 

PENNINÆ ALPES. See ALPS. 

PERGAMOS, an ancient and famous city of _Mysia_, situate on theCaicus, which runs through it. It was the residence of Attalus and hissuccessors. This place was famous for a royal library, formed, withemulation, to vie with that of Alexandria in Egypt. The kings of thelatter, stung with paltry jealousy, prohibited the exportation ofpaper. Hence the invention of parchment, called _Pergamana charta_. Plutarch assures us, that the library at Pergamos contained twohundred thousand volumes. The whole collection was given by MarcAntony as a present to Cleopatra, and thus the two libraries wereconsolidated into one. In about six or seven centuries afterwards, thevolumes of science, by order of the calif Omar, served for a fire towarm the baths of Alexandria; and thus perished _all the physic of thesoul_. The town subsists at this day, and retains the name of_Pergamos_. See Spon's Travels, vol. I. 

PERINTHUS, a town of Thrace, situate on the Propontis, now called_Heraclea_. 

PERUSIA, formerly a principal city of Etruria, on the north side ofthe Tiber, with the famous _Lacus Trasimenus_ to the east. It wasbesieged by Augustus, and reduced by famine. Lucan has, _Perusinafames_. It is now called _Perugia_, in the territory of the Pope. 

PHARSALIA, a town in Thessaly, rendered famous by the last battlebetween Pompey and Julius Cæsar. 

PHILADELPHIA: there were several ancient towns of this name. Thatwhich Tacitus mentions was in Lydia, built by Attalus Philadelphus; itis now called by the Turks, _Alah Scheyr_. 

PHILIPPI, a city of Macedonia, on the confines of Thrace; built byPhilip of Macedon, and famous for the battle fought on its plainsbetween Augustus and the republican party. It is now in ruins. 

PHILIPPOPOLIS, a city of Thrace, near the river _Hebrus_. It derivedits name from Philip of Macedon, who enlarged it, and augmented thenumber of inhabitants. 

PICENTIA, the capital of the _Picentini_, on the Tuscan Sea. Not farfrom Naples. 

PICENUM, a territory of Italy, to the east of Umbria, and in someparts extending from the Apennine to the Adriatic. It is now supposedto be the _March of Ancona_. 

PIRÆEUS, a celebrated port near Athens. It is much frequented at thisday; its name, _Porto Lione_. 

PISÆ, a town of Etruria, which gave name to the bay of Pisa, _SinusPisanus_. 

PLACENTIA, a town in Italy, now called _Placenza_, in the duchy ofParma. 

PLANASIA, a small island near the coast of Etruria, in the Tuscan Sea;now _Pianosa_. 

POMPEII, a town of Campania, near Herculaneum. It was destroyed by anearthquake in the reign of Nero. 

POMPEIOPOLIS: there were anciently two cities of the name; one inCilicia, another in Paphlagonia. 

PONTIA, an island in the Tuscan sea; a place of relegation orbanishment. 

PONTUS, an extensive country of Asia Minor, lying between Bithynia andPaphlagonia, and extending along the _Pontus Euxinus_, the Euxine orthe Pontic Sea, from which it took its name. It had that sea to theeast, the mouth of the Ister to the north, and Mount Hæmus to thesouth. The wars between Mithridates, king of Pontus, and the Romans, are well known. 

PRÆNESTE, a town of Latium to the south-east of Rome, standing veryhigh, and said to be a strong place. The town that succeeded it, stands low in a valley, and is called _Palestrina_. 

PROPONTIS, near the Hellespont and the Euxine; now the Sea of_Marmora_. 

PUTEOLI, a town of Campania, so called from its number of wells; now_Pozzuolo_, nine miles to the west of Naples. 

PYRAMUS, a river of Cilicia, rising in Mount Taurus, and running fromeast to west into the Sea of Cilicia. 

PYRGI, a town of Etruria, on the Tuscan Sea; now St. _Marinella_, about thirty-three miles distant from Rome. 

Q. 

QUADI, a people of Germany, situate to the south-east of Bohemia, onthe banks of the Danube. See Manners, of the Germans, s. 42. Note b. 

R. 

RAVENNA, an ancient city of Italy, near the coast of the Adriatic. Aport was constructed at the mouth of the river Bedesis, and byAugustus made a station for the fleet that guarded the Adriatic. It isstill called _Ravenna_. 

REATE, a town of the Sabines in Latium, situate near the lake Velinus. 

REGIUM. See RHEGIUM. 

REMI, a people of Gaul, who inhabited the northern part of_Champagne_; now the city of _Rheims_. 

RHACOTIS, the ancient name of Alexandria in Egypt. 

RHÆTIA, a country bounded by the Rhine to the west, the Alps to theeast, by Italy to the south, and _Vindelicia_ to the north. Horacesays _Videre Rhæti bella sub Alpibus Drusum gerentem, et Vindelici_. Now the country of the _Grisons_. 

RHEGIUM, an ancient city at the extremity of the Apennine, on thenarrow strait between Italy and Sicily. It is now called _Reggio_, inthe farther Calabria. 

RHINE, the river that rises in the Rhætian Alps, and divides Gaul fromGermany. See Manners of the Germans, s. 1. Note f; and s. 29. Notea. 

RHODANUS, a famous river of Gaul, rising on Mount Adula, not far fromthe head of the Rhine. After a considerable circuit it enters the_Lake of Geneva_, and in its course visits the city of Lyons, and fromthat place traverses a large tract of country, and falls into theMediterranean. It is now called the _Rhone_. 

RHODUS, a celebrated island in the Mediterranean, near the coast ofAsia Minor, over-against _Caria_. The place of retreat for thediscontented Romans. Tiberius made that use of it. 

RHOXOLANI, a people on the north of the _Palus Mæotis_, situate alongthe Tanais, now the _Don_. 

RICODULUM, a town of the Treviri on the Moselle. 

S. 

SABRINA, now the _Severn_; a river that rises in _Montgomeryshire_, and running by _Shrewsbury_, _Worcester_, and _Glocester_, emptiesitself into the Bristol Channel, separating Wales from England. 

SALA. It seems that two rivers of this name were intended by Tacitus, One, now called the Issel, which had a communication with the Rhine, by means of the canal made by Drusus, the father of Germanicus. Theother SALA was a river in the country now called _Thuringia_, described by Tacitus as yielding salt, which the inhabitantsconsidered as the peculiar favour of heaven. The salt, however, wasfound in the salt springs near the river, which runs northward intothe Albis, or Elbe. 

SALAMIS, an island near the coast of Attica, opposite to _Eleusis_. There was also a town of the name of Salamis, on the eastern coast ofCyprus, built by Teucer, when driven by his father from his nativeisland. Horace says, _Ambiguam tellure novâ Salamina futuram_. 

SAMARIA, the capital of the country of that name in Palestine; theresidence of the kings of Israel, and afterwards of Herod. Samaritans, the name of the people. Some magnificent ruins of the place are stillremaining. 

SAMBULOS, a mountain in the territory of the Parthians, with the river_Corma_ near it. The mountain and the river are mentioned by Tacitusonly. 

SAMNIS, or SAMNITES, a people of ancient Italy, extending on bothsides of the Apennine, famous in the Roman wars. 

SAMOS, an island of Asia Minor, opposite to Ephesus; the birth-placeof Pythagoras, who was thence called the _Samian Sage_. 

SAMOTHRACIA, an island of Thrace, in the Egean Sea, opposite to themouth of the Hebrus. There were mysteries of initiation celebrated inthis island, held in as high repute as those of Eleusis; with a sacredand inviolable asylum. 

SARDES, the capital of Lydia, at the foot of Mount Tmolus, from whichthe Pactolus ran down through the heart of the city. The inhabitantswere called _Sardicni_. 

SARDINIA, an island on the Sea of Liguria, lying to the south ofCorsica. It is said that an herb grew there, which, when eaten, produced a painful grin, called _Sardonius risus_. The island nowbelongs to the Duke of Saxony, with the title of king. 

SARMATIA, called also _Scythia_, a northern country of vast extent, and divided into _Europæa_ and _Asiatica_; the former beginning at theVistula (its western boundary), and comprising Russia, part of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania; and the latter bounded on the west by SarmatiaEuropæa and the Tanais (the _Don_), extending south as far as MountCaucasus and the Caspian Sea, containing Tartary, Circassia, &c. 

SAXA RUBRA, a place on the Flamminian road in Etruria, nine miles fromRome. 

SCEPTEUCI, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, between the Euxine and theCaspian Sea. 

SCYTHIA, a large country, now properly Crim Tartary; in ancientgeography divided in Scythia Asiatica, on either side of Mount Imaus;and Scythia Europæa, about the Euxine Sea and the Mæotic Lake. Seealso SARMATIA. 

SEGESTUM, a town of Sicily, near Mount _Eryx_, famous for a templesacred to the _Erycinian_ Venus. 

SELEUCIA, a city of Mesopotamia, situate at the confluence of the_Euphrates_ and the _Tigris_; now called _Bagdad_. We find in ancientgeography several cities of this name. 

SEMNONES, a people of Germany, called by Tacitus the most illustriousbranch of the Suevi. They inhabited between the Albis and Viadrus. 

SENENSIS COLONIA, now Sienna, in Tuscany. 

SENONES, inhabitants of Celtic Gaul, situate on the _Sequana_ (now theSeine); a people famous for their invasion of Italy, and taking andburning Rome A. U. C. 364. 

SEQUANI, a people of Belgic Gaul, inhabiting the country now called_Franche Comté_ or the _Upper Burgundy_, and deriving their name fromthe _Sequana_ (now the _Seine_), which, rising near _Dijon_ inBurgundy, runs through Paris, and, traversing Normandy, falls into theBritish Channel near _Havre de Grace_. 

SERIPHOS, a small island in the Ægean Sea, one of the Cyclades: now_Serfo_, or _Serfanto_. 

SICAMBRI, an ancient people of Lower Germany, between the Mæse and theRhine, where _Guelderland_ is. They were transplanted by Augustus tothe west side of the Rhine. Horace says to that emperor, _Te cædegaudentes Sicambri compositis venerantur armis_. 

SILURES, a people of Britain, situate on the _Severn_ and the BristolChannel; now _South Wales_, comprising _Glamorgan_, _Radnorshire_, _Hereford_, and _Monmouth_. See Camden. 

SIMBRUINI COLLES, the Simbruine Hills, so called from the _SimbruinaStagna_, or lakes formed by the river _Anio_, which gave the name ofSublaqueum to the neighbouring town. 

SINOPE, one of the most famous cities in the territory of Pontus. Itwas taken by Lucullus in the Mithridatic war, and afterwards receivedRoman colonies. It was the birth-place of Diogenes the cynic, who wasbanished from his country. The place is still called _Sinope_, a porttown of Asiatic Turkey, on the Euxine. 

SINUESSA, a town of Latium, on the confines of Campania, beyond theriver Liris (now called _Garigliano_). The place was much frequentedfor the salubrity of its waters. 

SIPYLUS, a mountain of Lydia, near which Livy says the Romans obtaineda complete victory over Antiochas. 

SIRACI, a people of Asia, between the _Euxine_ and the _Caspian_ Seas. 

SMYRNA, a city of Ionia in the Hither Asia, which laid a claim to thebirth of Homer. The name of Smyrna still remains in a port town ofAsiatic Turkey. 

SOPHENE, a country between the Greater and the Lesser Armenia; nowcalled _Zoph_. 

SOZA, a city of the _Dandaridæ_. 

SPELUNCA, a small town near _Fondi_, on the coast of Naples. 

STÆCHADES, five islands, now called the _Hieres_, on the coast ofProvence. 

STRATONICE, a town of Caria in the Hither Asia, so called after_Stratonice_, the wife of Antiochus. 

SUEVI, a great and warlike people of ancient Germany, who occupied aprodigious tract of country. See Manners of the Germans, s. 38. Andnote a. 

SUNICI, a people removed from Germany to Gallia Belgica. According toCluverius, they inhabited the duchy of _Limburg_. 

SWINDEN, a liver that flows on the confines of the _Dahæ_. It ismentioned by Tacitus only. Brotier supposes it to be what is nowcalled _Herirud_, or _La Riviere d'Herat_. 

SYENE, a town in the Higher Egypt, towards the borders of Ethiopia, situate on the Nile. It lies under the tropic of Cancer, as isevident, says Pliny the elder, from there being no shadow projected atnoon at the summer solstice. It was, for a long time, the boundary ofthe Roman empire. A garrison was stationed there: Juvenal was sent tocommand there by Domitian, who, by conferring that unlocked forhonour, meant, with covered malice, to punish the poet for hisreflection on Paris the comedian, a native of Egypt, and a favouriteat court. 

SYRACUSE, one of the noblest cities in Sicily. The Romans took itduring the second Punic war, on which occasion the great Archimedeslost his life. It is now destroyed, and no remains of the place areleft. _Etiam periere ruinæ_. 

SYRIA, a country of the Hither Asia, between the Mediterranean and theEuphrates, so extensive that Palestine, or the Holy Land, was deemed apart of Syria. 

SYRTES, the _deserts of Barbary_: also two dangerous sandy gulfs inthe Mediterranean, on the coast of Barbary; one called _Syrtis Magna_, now the _Gulf of Sidra_; the other _Syrtis Parva_, now the _Gulf ofCassos_. 

T. 

TANAIS, the _Don_, a very large river in Scythia, dividing Asia fromEurope. It rises in Muscovy, and flowing through _Crim Tartary_, runsinto the _Palus Mæotis_, near the city now called Azoff, in the handsof the Turks. 

TARENTUM, now Tarento, in the province of _Otranto_. The Lacedemoniansfounded a colony there, and thence it was called by Horace, _Lacedæmonium Tarentum_. 

TARICHÆA, a town of Galilee. It was besieged and taken by Vespasian, who sent six thousand of the prisoners to assist in cutting a passagethrough the isthmus of Corinth. 

TARRACINA, a city of the Volsci in Latium, near the mouth of the_Ufens_, in the Campania of Rome. Now _Terracina_, on the Tuscan Sea. 

TARRACO, the capital of a division of Spain, called by the Romans_Tarraconensis_; now Taragon, a port town in Catalonia, on theMediterranean, to the west of _Barcelona_. See HISPANIA. 

TARTARUS, a river running between the Po and the Athesis, (the_Adige_) from west to east, into the Adriatic; now _Tartaro_. 

TAUNUS, a mountain of Germany, on the other side of the Rhine; nowMount _Heyrick_, over-against _Mentz_. 

TAURANNITII, a people who occupied a district of _Armenia Major_, notfar from _Tigranocerta_. 

TAURI, a people inhabiting the _Taurica Chersonesus_, on the _Euxine_. The country is now called _Crim Tartary_. 

TAURINI, a people dwelling at the foot of the Alps. Their capital wascalled, after Augustus Cæsar, who planted a colony, there, _AugustaTaurinorum_. The modern name is _Turin_, the capital of Piedmont. 

TAURUS, the greatest mountain in Asia, extending from the Indian tothe Ægean Sea; said to be fifty miles over, and fifteen hundred long. Its extremity to the north is called _Imaus_. 

TELEBOÆ, a people of Æolia or Acarnania in Greece, who removed toItaly, and settled in the isle of Capreæ. 

TEMNOS, an inland town of Æolia, in the Hither Asia. 

TENCTERI, a people of Germany. See the Manners of the Germans, s. 32. 

TENOS, one of the Cyclades. 

TERMES, a city in the Hither Spain; now a village called _Tiermes_, inCastille. 

TERRACINA, a city of the _Volsci_ in Latium, near the mouth of the_Ufens_, on the Tuscan Sea; now called _Terracina_, in the territoryof Rome. 

TEUTOBURGIUM, a forest in Germany, rendered famous by the slaughter ofVarus and his legions. It began in the country of the Marsi, andextended to Paderborn, Osnaburg, and Munster, between the _Ems_ andthe _Luppia_. 

THALA, a town in Numidia, destroyed in the war of Julius Cæsar againstJuba. 

THEBÆ, a very ancient town in the Higher Egypt, on the east side ofthe Nile, famous for its hundred gates. Another city of the same namein Bœotia, in Greece, said to have been built by Cadmus. It had thehonour of producing two illustrious chiefs, Epaminondas andPelopidas, and Pindar the celebrated poet. Alexander rased it to theground; but spared the house and family of Pindar. 

THERMES otherwise THERMA, a town in Macedonia, afterwards called_Thessalonica_, famous for two epistles of St. Paul to theThessalonians. The city stood at the head of a large bay, called_Thermæus Sinus_; now _Golfo di Salonichi_. 

THESSALY, a country of Greece, formerly a great part of Macedonia. 

THRACIA, an extensive region, bounded to the north by Mount Hæmus, tothe south by the Ægean Sea, and by the Euxine and Propontis to theeast. In the time of Tiberius it was an independent kingdom, butafterwards made a Roman province. 

THUBASCUM, a town of Mauritania in Africa. 

THURII, a people of ancient Italy, inhabiting a part of Lucania, between the rivers Crathis (now _Crate_), and Sybaris (now _Sibari_). 

TIBER, a town of ancient Latium, situate on the Anio, about twentymiles from Rome. Here Horace had his villa, and it was the frequentretreat of Augustus. Now _Tivoli_. 

TICINUM, a town of _Insubria_, situate on the river Ticinus, near itsconfluence with the Po; now _Pavia_, in Milan. 

TICINUS, a river of Italy falling into the Po, near the city of_Ticinum_, or Pavia; now _Tesino_. 

TIGRANOCERTA, a town of Armenia Major, built by Tigranes in the timeof the Mithridatic war. The river _Nicephorus_ washes one side of thetown. Brotier says, it is now called _Sert_ or _Sered_. 

TIGRIS, a great river bounding the country called Mesopotamia to theeast, while the Euphrates incloses it to the west. Pliny gives anaccount of the Tigris, in its rise and progress, till it sinks underground near Mount Taurus, and breaks forth again with a rapid current, falling at last into the Persian Gulf. It divides into two channels atSeleucia. 

TMOLUS, a mountain of Lydia, commended for its vines, its saffron, itsfragrant shrubs, and the fountain-head of the Pactolus. It appearsfrom Tacitus, that there was a town of the same name, that stood nearthe mountain. 

TOLBIACUM, a town of Gallia Belgica; now _Zulpich_, or _Zulch_, asmall town in the duchy of Juliers. 

TRALLES, formerly a rich and populous city of Lydia, not far from theriver Meander. The ruins are still visible. 

TRAPEZUS, now _Trapezond_ or _Trebizond_, a city with a port in theLesser Asia, on the Euxine. 

TREVIRI, the people of _Treves_; an ancient city of the Lower Germany, on the Moselle. It was made a Roman colony by Augustus, and became themost famous city of Belgic Gaul. It is now the capital of anelectorate of the same name. 

TRIBOCI, a people of Belgica, originally Germans. They inhabited_Alsace_, and the diocese of _Strasbourg_. 

TRIMETUS, an island in the Adriatic; one of those which the ancientscalled _Insulæ Diomedeæ_; it still retains the name of _Tremiti_. Itlies near the coast of the _Capitanate_, a province of the kingdom ofNaples, on the Gulf of Venice. 

TRINOBANTES, a people of Britain, who inhabited _Middlesex_ and_Essex_. 

TUBANTES, an ancient people of Germany, about _Westphalia_. 

TUNGRI, a people of Belgia. Their city, according to Cæsar, _Atuaca_;now _Tongeren_, in the bishopric of Liege. 

TURONII, a people of ancient Gaul, inhabiting the east side of the_Ligeris_ (now the _Loire_). Hence the modern name of _Tours_. 

TUSCULUM, a town of Latium, to the north of _Alba_, about twelve milesfrom Rome. It gave the name of _Tusculanum_ to Cicero's villa, wherethat great orator wrote his Tusculan Questions. 

TYRUS, an ancient city of Phœnicia, situate on an island so near thecontinent, that Alexander the Great formed it into a peninsula, by themole or causey which he threw up during the siege. See Curtius, lib. Iv. S. 7. 

U. 

UBIAN ALTAR, an altar erected by the Ubii, on their removal to thewestern side of the Rhine, in honour of Augustus; but whether this wasat a different place, or the town of the Ubii, is not known. 

UBII, a people originally of Germany, but transplanted by Augustus tothe west side of the Rhine, under the conduct of _Agrippa_. Theircapital was then for a long time called _Oppidum Ubiorum_, and, atlast, changed by the empress Agrippina to _Colonia Agrippinensis_; now_Cologne_, the capital of the electorate of that name. 

UMBRIA, a division of Italy, to the south-east of Etruria, between theAdriatic and the Nar. 

UNSINGIS, a river of Germany, running into the sea, near _Groningen_;now the _Hunsing_. 

URBINUM, now _Urbino_, a city for ever famous for having given birthto Raphael, the celebrated painter. 

USIPII, or USIPETES, a people of Germany, who, after their expulsionby the Catti, settled near _Paderborn_. See Manners of the Germans, s. 32. And note a. 

USPE, a town in the territory of the _Siraci_; now destroyed. 

V. 

VADA, a town on the left-hand side of the Nile, in the island ofBatavia. 

VAHALIS, a branch of the Rhine; now the Waal. See Manners of theGermans, s. 29. And note a. 

VANGIONES, originally inhabitants of Germany, but afterwards settledin Gaul; now the diocese of _Worms_. 

VASCONES, a people who inhabited near the Pyrenees, occupying landsboth in Spain and Gaul. 

VELABRUM, a place at Rome, between Mount Aventine and Mount Palatine, generally under water, from the overflowing of the Tiber. Propertiusdescribes it elegantly, lib. Iv. Eleg. X. 

 Qua Velabra suo stagnabant flumine, quáque Nauta per urbanas velificabat aquas. 

VELINUS, a lake in the country of the Sabines. 

VENETI, a people of Gallia Celtica, who inhabited what is now called_Vannes_, in the south of Britanny, and also a considerable tract onthe other side of the Alps, extending from the Po along the Adriatic, to the mouth of the _Ister_. 

VERCELLÆ, now _Vercelli_ in Piedmont. 

VERONA, now _Verona_, in the territory of Venice, on the _Adige_. 

VESONTIUM, the capital of the Sequani; now _Besançon_, the chief cityof Burgundy. 

VETERA, i. E. Vetera Castra. The Old Camp, which was a fortifiedstation for the legions; now _Santen_, in the duchy of Cleves, not farfrom the Rhine. 

VIA SALARIA, a road leading from the salt-works at Ostia to thecountry of the Sabines. 

VIADRUS, now the _Oder_, running through _Silesia_, _Brandenburg_, _Pomerania_, and discharging itself into the Baltic. 

VICETIA, now _Vicenza_, a town in the territory of Venice. 

VIENNÆ, a city of Narbonese Gaul; now _Vienne_, in _Dauphiné_. 

VINDELICI, a people inhabiting the country of _Vindelicia_, near theDanube, with the Ræhti to the south; now part of _Bavaria_ and_Suabia_. 

VINDONISSA, now _Windisch_, in the canton of Bern, in Swisserland. 

VISURGIS, a river of Germany, made famous by the slaughter of Varusand his legions; now the _Weser_, running north between Westphalia andLower Saxony, into the German Sea. 

VOCETIUS MONS, a mountain of the Helvetii, thought to be the roughestpart of Mount _Jura_, to which the Helvetii fled when defeated byCæcina. See Hist. I. S. 67. 

VOLSCI, a powerful people of ancient Latium, extending from _Antium_, their capital, to the _Upper Liris_, and the confines of _Campania_. 

VULSINII, or VOLSINII, a city of Etruria, the native place of Sejanus;now _Bolseno_, or _Bolsenna_. 

Z. 

ZEUGMA, a town on the _Euphrates_, famous for a bridge over the river. See Pliny, lib, v. S. 24.