He was not
content, as Pindar expresses it, to collect the drops that rained down
from heaven, but had in himself the living fountain of that copious
flow, and that sublime, that pathetic energy, which were bestowed upon
him by the bounty of Providence, that in one man eloquence might exert
all her powers.
content, as Pindar expresses it, to collect the drops that rained down
from heaven, but had in himself the living fountain of that copious
flow, and that sublime, that pathetic energy, which were bestowed upon
him by the bounty of Providence, that in one man eloquence might exert
all her powers.
Tacitus
s.
19.
[e] We find in the Annals and the History of Tacitus, a number of
instances to justify the sentiments of Maternus. The rich found it
necessary to bequeath part of their substance to the prince, in order
to secure the remainder for their families. For the same reason,
Agricola made Domitian joint heir with his wife and daughter. _Life of
Agricola_, section 43.
[f] By a law of the Twelve Tables, a crown, when fairly earned by
virtue, was placed on the head of the deceased, and another was
ordered to be given to his father. The spirit of the law, Cicero says,
plainly intimated, that commendation was a tribute due to departed
virtue. A crown was given not only to him who earned it, but also to
the father, who gave birth to distinguished merit. _Illa jam
significatio est, laudis ornamenta ad mortuos pertinere, quod coronam
virtute partam, et ei qui peperisset, et ejus parenti, sine fraude lex
impositam esse jubet. _ _De Legibus_, lib. ii. s. 24. This is the
reward 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. He
was a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, says
Tacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue. _Legioni
Vipstanius Messala præerat, claris majoribus, egregius ipse, et qui
solus ad id bellum artes bonas attulisset. _ _Hist. _ lib. iii. s. 9. He
was brother to Regulus, the vile informer, who has been mentioned. See
Life of Agricola, section 2. note a, and this tract, s. xii. note [b].
Messala, we are told by Tacitus, before he had attained the senatorian
age, acquired great fame by pleading the cause of his profligate
brother with extraordinary eloquence, and family affection. _Magnam eo
die 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, the
Dialogue takes a new turn, and, by an easy and natural transition,
slides into the question concerning the causes of the decline of
eloquence.
[b] This is probably the same Asiaticus, who, in the revolt of the
provinces 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 friends
of departed merit, and the only kind of writing, in which men could
dare faintly to utter a sentiment in favour of virtue and public
liberty.
[c] In the declamations of Seneca and Quintilian, we have abundant
examples of these scholastic exercises, which Juvenal has placed in a
ridiculous 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, was
preferred by all men of sound judgement to the unnatural and affected
style that prevailed under the emperors. Quintilian gives a decided
opinion. Cicero, he says, was allowed to be the reigning orator of his
time, and his name, with posterity, is not so much that of a man, as
of eloquence itself. _Quare non immerito ab hominibus ætatis suæ,
regnare in judiciis dictus est: apud posteros vero id consecutus, ut
Cicero jam non hominis, sed eloquentiæ nomen habeatur. _ Lib. x. cap.
1. Pliny the younger professed that Cicero was the orator with whom he
aspired to enter into competition. Not content with the eloquence of
his own times, he held it absurd not to follow the best examples of a
former age. _Est enim mihi cum Cicerone æmulatio, nec sum contentus
eloquentiâ sæculi nostri. Nam stultissimum credo, ad imitandum non
optima quæque præponere. _ Lib. i. epist. 5.
[b] Nicetes was a native of Smyrna, and a rhetorician in great
celebrity. Seneca says (_Controversiarum_, lib. iv. cap. 25), that his
scholars, content with hearing their master, had no ambition to be
heard themselves. Pliny the younger, among the commendations which he
bestows on a friend, mentions, as a praise-worthy part of his
character, that he attended the lectures of Quintilian and Nicetes
Sacerdos, of whom Pliny himself was at that time a constant follower.
_Erat non studiorum tantum, verum etiam studiosorum amantissimus, ac
prope quotidie ad audiendos, quos tunc ego frequentabam, Quintilianum
et Niceten Sacerdotem, ventitabat. _ Lib. vi. epist. 6.
[c] Mitylene was the chief city of the isle of Lesbos, in the Ægean
Sea, 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, who
are masters of the place.
[d] Domitius Afer and Julius Africanus have been already mentioned,
section xiii. note [d]. Both are highly praised by Quintilian. For
Asinius 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 Cicero
is among the Romans. See _Quintilian_, lib. viii. cap. 5.
[b] The siege of Troy is supposed to have been brought to a conclusion
eleven hundred and ninety-three years before Christian æra. From that
time to the sixth year of Vespasian (A. U. C. 828), when this Dialogue
was had, the number of years that intervened was about 1268; a period
which, with propriety, may be said to be little less than 1300 years.
[c] Demosthenes died, before Christ 322 years, A. U. C. 432. From that
time to the sixth of Vespasian, A. U. C. 828, the intervening space was
about 396 years. Aper calls it little more than 400 years; but in a
conversation-piece strict accuracy is not to be expected.
[d] In the rude state of astronomy, which prevailed during many ages
of the world, it was natural that mankind should differ in their
computation of time. The ancient Egyptians, according to Diodorus
Siculus, lib. i. and Pliny the elder, lib. vii. s. 48, measured time
by the new moons. Some called the summer one year, and the winter
another. At first thirty days were a lunar year; three, four, and six
months were afterwards added, and hence in the Egyptian chronology the
vast number of years from the beginning of the world. Herodotus
informs us, that the Egyptians, in process of time, formed the idea of
the solar or solstitial year, subdivided into twelve months. The Roman
year at first was lunar, consisting, in the time of Romulus, of ten
months. Numa Pompilius added two. Men saw a diversity in the seasons,
and wishing to know the cause, began at length to perceive that the
distance or proximity of the sun occasioned the various operations of
nature; but it was long before the space of time, wherein that
luminary performs his course through the zodiac, and returns to the
point from which he set out, was called a year. The great year (_annus
magnus_), or the PLATONIC YEAR, is the space of time, wherein the
seven planets complete their revolutions, and all set out again from
the same point of the heavens where their course began before.
Mathematicians have been much divided in their calculations. Brotier
observes, that Riccioli makes the great year 25,920 solar years;
Tycho Brahe, 25,816; and Cassini, 24,800. Cicero expressly calls it a
period of 12,954 years. _Horum annorum, quos in fastis habemus, MAGNUS
annos duodecim millia nonagentos quinquaginta quatuor amplectitur
solstitiales scilicet. _ For a full and accurate dissertation on the
ANNUS 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 universally
known. He mentions a letter from one of the Jesuits on the mission,
dated _Peking_, 25th October 1725, in which it is stated, that in the
month of March preceding, when Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury were
in conjunction, the Chinese mathematicians fancied that an
approximation 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 of
the nobility, and gave credit to the opinion of the philosophers in
all his public edicts. Meanwhile, _Father Kegler_ endeavoured to
undeceive the emperor, and to convince him that the whole was a
mistake of the Chinese mathematicians: but he tried in vain; flattery
succeeded 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, the
whole being divided by twelve, every month of the great year would be
clearly 1080 years. According to that calculation, Demosthenes not
only 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 which
Virgil alludes in the fourth eclogue:
Incipient magni procedere menses.
Section XVII.
[a] Menenius Agrippa was consul A. U. C. 251. In less than ten years
afterwards, violent dissensions broke out between the patrician order
and the common people, who complained that they were harassed and
oppressed by their affluent creditors. One Sicinius was their
factious demagogue. He told them, that it was in vain they fought the
battles of their country, since they were no better than slaves and
prisoners at Rome. He added, that men are born equal; that the fruits
of the earth were the common birth-right of all, and an agrarian law
was necessary; that they groaned under a load of debts and taxes; and
that a lazy and corrupt aristocracy battened at ease on the spoils of
their labour and industry. By the advice of this incendiary, the
discontented citizens made a secession to the MONS SACER, about three
miles out of the city. The fathers, in the meantime, were covered with
consternation. In order, however, to appease the fury of the
multitude, they dispatched Menenius Agrippa to their camp. In the rude
unpolished 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 Roman
people, was understood and felt. The discontented multitude saw that
the state of man described by Menenius, was _like to an
insurrection_. They returned to Rome, and submitted to legal
government. _Tempore, quo in homine non, ut nunc, omnia in unum
consentiebant, sed singulis membris suum cuique consilium, sum sermo
fuerat, indignatas reliquas partes, suâ curâ, suo labore, ac
ministerio, ventri omnia quæri; ventrem in medio quietum, nihil aliud,
quam datis voluptatibus frui; conspirasse inde, ne manus ad os cibum
ferrent, nec os acciperit datum, nec dentes conficerent. Hac irâ dum
ventrem fame domare vellent, ipsa unâ membra, totumque corpus ad
extremam tabem venisse. Inde apparuisse, ventris quoque haud segne
ministerium esse; nec magis ali quam alere eum; reddentem in omnes
corporis partes hunc, quo vivimus vigemusque, divisum, pariter in
venas, 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 of
innovation, who are not content with the station in which God has
placed them, and, therefore, object to all subordination, all ranks in
society.
[b] Cæsar the dictator was, as the poet expresses it, graced with both
Minervas. Quintilian is of opinion, that if he had devoted his whole
time to the profession of eloquence, he would have been the great
rival of Cicero. The energy of his language, his strength of
conception, and his power over the passions, were so striking, that he
may be said to have harangued with the same spirit that he fought.
_Caius vero Cæsar si foro tantum vacasset, non alius ex nostris contra
Ciceronem 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. It
will be sufficient to refer to Quintilian, who in the chapter above
cited has drawn a beautiful parallel between him and Demosthenes. The
Roman orator, he admits, improved himself by a diligent study of the
best models of Greece. He attained the warmth and the sublime of
Demosthenes, the harmony of Plato, and the sweet flexibility of
Isocrates. His own native genius supplied the rest.
He was not
content, as Pindar expresses it, to collect the drops that rained down
from heaven, but had in himself the living fountain of that copious
flow, and that sublime, that pathetic energy, which were bestowed upon
him by the bounty of Providence, that in one man eloquence might exert
all her powers. _Nam mihi videtur Marcus Tullius, cum se totum ad
imitationem Græcorum contulisset, effinxisse vim Demosthenis, copiam
Platonis, jucunditatem Isocratis. Nec vero quod in quoque optimum fuit
studio consecutus est tantum, sed plurimas vel potius omnes ex se ipso
virtutes extulit immortalis ingenii beatissimâ ubertate. Non enim
pluvias (ut ait Pindarus) aquas colligit sed vivo gurgite exundat,
dono quodam providentiæ genitus, in quo vires suas eloquentia
experiretur. _ Lib. x. cap. 1.
[c] Marcus Cælius Rufus, in the judgement of Quintilian, was an orator
of considerable genius. In the conduct of a prosecution, he was
remarkable for a certain urbanity, that gave a secret charm to his
whole speech. It is to be regretted that he was not a man of better
conduct and longer life. _Multum ingenii in Cælio, et præcipuè in
accusando multa urbanitas; dignusque vir, cui et mens melior, et vita
longior contigisset. _ Quint, lib. x. cap. 1. His letters to Cicero
make the eighth book of the _Epistolæ ad Familiares_. Velleius
Paterculus says of him, that his style of eloquence and his cast of
mind bore a resemblance to Curio, but raised him above that factious
orator. His genius for mischief and evil deeds was not inferior to
Curio, and his motives were strong and urgent, since his fortune was
worse than even his frame of mind. _Marcus Cælius, vir eloquio animoque
Curioni simillimus, sed in utroque perfectior; nec minus ingeniosè
nequam, cum ne in modicâ quidem servari posset, quippe pejor illi res
familiaris, quam mens. _ Vell. Patere. lib. ii. s. 68.
Licinius Macer Calvus, we are told by Seneca, maintained a long but
unjust contention with Cicero himself for the palm of eloquence. He
was a warm and vehement accuser, insomuch that Vatinius, though
defended by Cicero, interrupted Calvus in the middle of his speech,
and said to the judges, "Though this man has a torrent of words, does
it follow that I must be condemned? " _Calvus diu cum Cicerone
iniquissimam litem de principatu eloquentiæ habuit; et usque eò
violentus accusator et concitatus fuit, ut in media actione ejus
surgeret Vatinius reus, et exclamaret, Rogo vos, judices, si iste
disertus est, ideo me damnari oportet? _ Seneca, _Controv. _ lib. iii.
cap. 19. Cicero could not dread him as a rival, and it may therefore
be presumed, that he has drawn his character with an impartial hand.
Calvus was an orator more improved by literature than Curio. He spoke
with accuracy, and in his composition shewed great taste and delicacy;
but, labouring to refine his language, he was too attentive to little
niceties. He wished to make no bad blood, and he lost the good. His
style was polished with timid caution; but while it pleased the ear of
the learned, the spirit evaporated, and of course made no impression
in the forum, which is the theatre of eloquence. _Ad Calvum
revertamur; qui orator fuisset cum literis eruditior quam Curio, tum
etiam accuratius quoddam dicendi, et exquisitius afferebat genus; quod
quamquam scienter eleganterque tractabat, nimium tamen inquirens in
se, atque ipse sese observans, metuensque ne vitiosum colligeret,
etiam verum sanguinem deperdebat. Itaque ejus oratio nimiâ religione
attenuata, doctis et attentè audientibus erat illustris, a multitudine
autem, et a foro, cui nata eloquentia est, devorabatur. _ _De Claris
Orat. _ s. 288. Quintilian says, there were, who preferred him to all
the orators of his time. Others were of opinion that, by being too
severe a critic on himself, he polished too much, and grew weak by
refinement. But his manner was grave and solid; his style was chaste,
and often animated. To be thought a man of attic eloquence was the
height of his ambition. If he had lived to see his error, and to give
to his eloquence a true and perfect form, not by retrenching (for
there was nothing to be taken away), but by adding certain qualities
that were wanted, he would have reached the summit of his art. By a
premature death his fame was nipped in the bud. _Inveni qui Calvum
præferrent omnibus; inveni qui contrà crederent eum, nimiâ contra se
calumniâ, verum sanguinem perdidisse. Sed est et sancta et gravis
oratio, et castigata, et frequenter vehemens quoque. Imitator est
autem Atticorum; fecitque illi properata mors injuriam, si quid
adjecturus, non si quid detracturus fuit. _ Quintil. lib. x. cap. 1.
[d] This was the famous Marcus Junius Brutus, who stood forth in the
cause of liberty, and delivered his country from the usurpation of
Julius Cæsar. Cicero describes him in that great tragic scene,
brandishing his bloody dagger, and calling on Cicero by name, to tell
him that his country was free. _Cæsare interfecto, statim cruentum
altè 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 the
colours 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 philosophical
speculations, and books of moral theory, than for the career of public
oratory. In the former he was equal to the weight and dignity of his
subject: you clearly saw that he believed what he said. _Egregius vero
multoque quam in orationibus præstantior Brutus, suffecit ponderi
rerum; 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 Christian
æra 43. In this year, the famous _triple league_, called the
TRIUMVIRATE, was formed between Augustus, Lepidus, and Antony. The
_proscription_, or the list of those who were doomed to die for the
crime of adhering to the cause of liberty, was also settled, and
Cicero was one of the number. A band of assassins went in quest of him
to his villa, called _Astura_, near the sea-shore. Their leader was
one Popilius Lænas, a military tribune, whom Cicero had formerly
defended with success in a capital cause. They overtook Cicero in his
litter. He commanded his servants to set him down, and make no
resistance; then looking upon his executioners with a presence and
firmness which almost daunted them, and thrusting his neck as forward
as he could out of the litter, he bade them _do their work, and take
what they wanted_. The murderers cut off his head, and both his hands.
Popilius undertook to convey them to Rome, as the most agreeable
present to Antony; without reflecting on the _infamy of carrying that
head, which had saved his own_. He found Antony in the forum, and upon
shewing the spoils which he brought, was rewarded on the spot with the
_honour of a crown, and about eight thousand pounds sterling_. Antony
ordered the head to be _fixed upon the rostra, between the two
hands_; a sad spectacle to the people, who beheld those mangled
members, which used to exert themselves, from that place, in defence
of the lives, the fortunes, and the liberties of Rome. Cicero was
killed on the seventh of December, about ten days from the settlement
of the triumvirate, after he had lived _sixty-three years, eleven
months, and five days_. See Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, 4to edit.
vol. ii. p. 495 to 498. Velleius Paterculus, after mentioning Cicero's
death, breaks out in a strain of indignation, that almost redeems the
character of that time-serving writer. He says to Antony, in a
spirited apostrophe, you have no reason to exult: you have gained no
point by paying the assassin, who stopped that eloquent mouth, and cut
off that illustrious head. You have paid the wages of murder, and you
have destroyed a consul who was the conservator of the commonwealth.
By that act you delivered Cicero from a distracted world, from the
infirmities of old age, and from a life which, under your usurpation,
would have been worse than death. His fame was not to be crushed: the
glory of his actions and his eloquence still remains, and you have
raised it higher than ever. He lives, and will continue to live in
every age and nation. Posterity will admire and venerate the torrent
of eloquence, which he poured out against yourself, and will for ever
execrate the horrible murder which you committed. _Nihil tamen egisti,
Marce Antoni (cogit enim excedere propositi formam operis erumpens
animo ac pectore indignatio): nihil, inquam, egisti; mercedem
cælestissimi oris, et clarissimi capitis abscissi numerando;
auctoramentoque funebri ad conservatoris quondam reipublicæ tantique
consulis irritando necem. Rapuisti tu Marco Ciceroni lucem sollicitam
et ætatem senilem, et vitam miseriorem te principe, quam sub te
triumviro mortem. Famam vero, gloriamque factorum atque dictorum adeo
non abstulisti, ut auxeris. Vivit, vivetque per omnium sæculorum
memoriam; omnisque posteritas illius in te scripta mirabitur, tuum in
eum factum execrabitur. _ Vell. Paterc. lib. ii. s. 66.
[f] Between the consulship of Augustus, which began immediately after
the destruction of Hirtius and Pansa, A. U. C. 711, and the death of
that emperor, which was A. U. 767, fifty-six years intervened, and to
the sixth of Vespasian (A. U. C. 828), about 118 years. For the sake of
a 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 Aper
was in Britain; it could not be till the year of Rome 796, when Aulus
Plautius, by order of the emperor Claudius, undertook the conquest of
the island. See _Life of Agricola_, s. 14. note a. At that time, the
Briton who fought against Cæsar, must have been far advanced in years.
[h] A largess was given to the people, in the fourth year of
Vespasian, 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 custom
of giving large distributions to the people was for many ages
established at Rome. Brotier traces it from Ancus Martius, the fourth
king of Rome, when the poverty of the people called for relief. The
like bounty was distributed by the generals, who returned in triumph.
Lucullus and Julius Cæsar displayed, on those occasions, great pomp
and magnificence. Corn, wine, and oil, were plentifully distributed,
and the popularity, acquired by those means, was, perhaps, the ruin of
the commonwealth. Cæsar lavished money. Augustus followed the example,
and Tiberius did the same; but prodigality was not his practice. His
politic genius taught him all the arts of governing. The bounties thus
distributed, were called, when given to the people, CONGIARIA, and, to
the soldiers, DONATIVA. Whoever desires to form an idea of the number
of Roman citizens who, at different times, received largesses, and the
prodigious expence attending them, may see an account drawn up with
diligent attention by Brotier, in an elaborate note on this passage.
He begins with Julius Cæsar; and pursues the enquiry through the
several successive emperors, fixing the date and expence at every
period, as low down as the consulship of Constantius and Galerius
Maximianus; when, the empire being divided into the eastern and
western, 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 Asinius
Pollio. See s. xii. note [e].
Section XVIII.
[a] Servius Sulpicius Galba was consul A. U. C. 610, before the
Christian æra 144. Cicero says of him, that he was, in his day, an
orator of eminence. When he spoke in public, the natural energy of his
mind supported him, and the warmth of his imagination made him
vehement and pathetic; his language was animated, bold, and rapid; but
when he, afterwards, took his pen in hand to correct and polish, the
fit of enthusiasm was over; his passions ebbed away, and the
composition was cold and languid. _Galbam fortasse vis non ingenii
solum, sed etiam animi, et naturalis quidam dolor, dicentem
incendebat, efficiebatque, ut et incitata, et gravis, et vehemens
esset oratio; dein cum otiosus stilum prehenderat, motusque omnis
animi, tanquam ventus, hominem defecerat, flaccescebat oratio. Ardor
animi non semper adest, isque cum consedit, omnis illa vis, et quasi
flamma oratoris extinguitur. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 93. Suetonius says,
that the person here intended was of consular dignity, and, by his
eloquence, 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 he
had proved himself as good a citizen, as he was an orator. Being
impeached for his turbulent and seditious conduct, he did not choose
to stand the event of a trial, but escaped the judgement of the
senate 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 multis
judiciis causisque cognitus. Hunc qui audierant prudentes homines,
canorum oratorem, et volubilem, et satis acrem, atque eundem et
vehementem, et valde dulcem, et perfacetum fuisse dicebant. _ _De Claris
Orat. _ 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 that
character 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 of
Rome in violent agitation. Amidst the tumult, the senate, by a decree,
ordered the consul, Lucius Opimius, _to take care that the
commonwealth received no injury_; and, says Cicero, not a single night
intervened, before that magistrate put Gracchus to death. _Decrevit
senatus, ut Lucius Opimius, consul, videret, ne quid detrimenti
respublica caperet: nox nulla intercessit; interfectus est propter
quasdam seditionum suspiciones Caius Gracchus, clarissimo patre natus,
avis majoribus. Orat.
[e] We find in the Annals and the History of Tacitus, a number of
instances to justify the sentiments of Maternus. The rich found it
necessary to bequeath part of their substance to the prince, in order
to secure the remainder for their families. For the same reason,
Agricola made Domitian joint heir with his wife and daughter. _Life of
Agricola_, section 43.
[f] By a law of the Twelve Tables, a crown, when fairly earned by
virtue, was placed on the head of the deceased, and another was
ordered to be given to his father. The spirit of the law, Cicero says,
plainly intimated, that commendation was a tribute due to departed
virtue. A crown was given not only to him who earned it, but also to
the father, who gave birth to distinguished merit. _Illa jam
significatio est, laudis ornamenta ad mortuos pertinere, quod coronam
virtute partam, et ei qui peperisset, et ejus parenti, sine fraude lex
impositam esse jubet. _ _De Legibus_, lib. ii. s. 24. This is the
reward 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. He
was a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, says
Tacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue. _Legioni
Vipstanius Messala præerat, claris majoribus, egregius ipse, et qui
solus ad id bellum artes bonas attulisset. _ _Hist. _ lib. iii. s. 9. He
was brother to Regulus, the vile informer, who has been mentioned. See
Life of Agricola, section 2. note a, and this tract, s. xii. note [b].
Messala, we are told by Tacitus, before he had attained the senatorian
age, acquired great fame by pleading the cause of his profligate
brother with extraordinary eloquence, and family affection. _Magnam eo
die 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, the
Dialogue takes a new turn, and, by an easy and natural transition,
slides into the question concerning the causes of the decline of
eloquence.
[b] This is probably the same Asiaticus, who, in the revolt of the
provinces 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 friends
of departed merit, and the only kind of writing, in which men could
dare faintly to utter a sentiment in favour of virtue and public
liberty.
[c] In the declamations of Seneca and Quintilian, we have abundant
examples of these scholastic exercises, which Juvenal has placed in a
ridiculous 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, was
preferred by all men of sound judgement to the unnatural and affected
style that prevailed under the emperors. Quintilian gives a decided
opinion. Cicero, he says, was allowed to be the reigning orator of his
time, and his name, with posterity, is not so much that of a man, as
of eloquence itself. _Quare non immerito ab hominibus ætatis suæ,
regnare in judiciis dictus est: apud posteros vero id consecutus, ut
Cicero jam non hominis, sed eloquentiæ nomen habeatur. _ Lib. x. cap.
1. Pliny the younger professed that Cicero was the orator with whom he
aspired to enter into competition. Not content with the eloquence of
his own times, he held it absurd not to follow the best examples of a
former age. _Est enim mihi cum Cicerone æmulatio, nec sum contentus
eloquentiâ sæculi nostri. Nam stultissimum credo, ad imitandum non
optima quæque præponere. _ Lib. i. epist. 5.
[b] Nicetes was a native of Smyrna, and a rhetorician in great
celebrity. Seneca says (_Controversiarum_, lib. iv. cap. 25), that his
scholars, content with hearing their master, had no ambition to be
heard themselves. Pliny the younger, among the commendations which he
bestows on a friend, mentions, as a praise-worthy part of his
character, that he attended the lectures of Quintilian and Nicetes
Sacerdos, of whom Pliny himself was at that time a constant follower.
_Erat non studiorum tantum, verum etiam studiosorum amantissimus, ac
prope quotidie ad audiendos, quos tunc ego frequentabam, Quintilianum
et Niceten Sacerdotem, ventitabat. _ Lib. vi. epist. 6.
[c] Mitylene was the chief city of the isle of Lesbos, in the Ægean
Sea, 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, who
are masters of the place.
[d] Domitius Afer and Julius Africanus have been already mentioned,
section xiii. note [d]. Both are highly praised by Quintilian. For
Asinius 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 Cicero
is among the Romans. See _Quintilian_, lib. viii. cap. 5.
[b] The siege of Troy is supposed to have been brought to a conclusion
eleven hundred and ninety-three years before Christian æra. From that
time to the sixth year of Vespasian (A. U. C. 828), when this Dialogue
was had, the number of years that intervened was about 1268; a period
which, with propriety, may be said to be little less than 1300 years.
[c] Demosthenes died, before Christ 322 years, A. U. C. 432. From that
time to the sixth of Vespasian, A. U. C. 828, the intervening space was
about 396 years. Aper calls it little more than 400 years; but in a
conversation-piece strict accuracy is not to be expected.
[d] In the rude state of astronomy, which prevailed during many ages
of the world, it was natural that mankind should differ in their
computation of time. The ancient Egyptians, according to Diodorus
Siculus, lib. i. and Pliny the elder, lib. vii. s. 48, measured time
by the new moons. Some called the summer one year, and the winter
another. At first thirty days were a lunar year; three, four, and six
months were afterwards added, and hence in the Egyptian chronology the
vast number of years from the beginning of the world. Herodotus
informs us, that the Egyptians, in process of time, formed the idea of
the solar or solstitial year, subdivided into twelve months. The Roman
year at first was lunar, consisting, in the time of Romulus, of ten
months. Numa Pompilius added two. Men saw a diversity in the seasons,
and wishing to know the cause, began at length to perceive that the
distance or proximity of the sun occasioned the various operations of
nature; but it was long before the space of time, wherein that
luminary performs his course through the zodiac, and returns to the
point from which he set out, was called a year. The great year (_annus
magnus_), or the PLATONIC YEAR, is the space of time, wherein the
seven planets complete their revolutions, and all set out again from
the same point of the heavens where their course began before.
Mathematicians have been much divided in their calculations. Brotier
observes, that Riccioli makes the great year 25,920 solar years;
Tycho Brahe, 25,816; and Cassini, 24,800. Cicero expressly calls it a
period of 12,954 years. _Horum annorum, quos in fastis habemus, MAGNUS
annos duodecim millia nonagentos quinquaginta quatuor amplectitur
solstitiales scilicet. _ For a full and accurate dissertation on the
ANNUS 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 universally
known. He mentions a letter from one of the Jesuits on the mission,
dated _Peking_, 25th October 1725, in which it is stated, that in the
month of March preceding, when Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury were
in conjunction, the Chinese mathematicians fancied that an
approximation 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 of
the nobility, and gave credit to the opinion of the philosophers in
all his public edicts. Meanwhile, _Father Kegler_ endeavoured to
undeceive the emperor, and to convince him that the whole was a
mistake of the Chinese mathematicians: but he tried in vain; flattery
succeeded 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, the
whole being divided by twelve, every month of the great year would be
clearly 1080 years. According to that calculation, Demosthenes not
only 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 which
Virgil alludes in the fourth eclogue:
Incipient magni procedere menses.
Section XVII.
[a] Menenius Agrippa was consul A. U. C. 251. In less than ten years
afterwards, violent dissensions broke out between the patrician order
and the common people, who complained that they were harassed and
oppressed by their affluent creditors. One Sicinius was their
factious demagogue. He told them, that it was in vain they fought the
battles of their country, since they were no better than slaves and
prisoners at Rome. He added, that men are born equal; that the fruits
of the earth were the common birth-right of all, and an agrarian law
was necessary; that they groaned under a load of debts and taxes; and
that a lazy and corrupt aristocracy battened at ease on the spoils of
their labour and industry. By the advice of this incendiary, the
discontented citizens made a secession to the MONS SACER, about three
miles out of the city. The fathers, in the meantime, were covered with
consternation. In order, however, to appease the fury of the
multitude, they dispatched Menenius Agrippa to their camp. In the rude
unpolished 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 Roman
people, was understood and felt. The discontented multitude saw that
the state of man described by Menenius, was _like to an
insurrection_. They returned to Rome, and submitted to legal
government. _Tempore, quo in homine non, ut nunc, omnia in unum
consentiebant, sed singulis membris suum cuique consilium, sum sermo
fuerat, indignatas reliquas partes, suâ curâ, suo labore, ac
ministerio, ventri omnia quæri; ventrem in medio quietum, nihil aliud,
quam datis voluptatibus frui; conspirasse inde, ne manus ad os cibum
ferrent, nec os acciperit datum, nec dentes conficerent. Hac irâ dum
ventrem fame domare vellent, ipsa unâ membra, totumque corpus ad
extremam tabem venisse. Inde apparuisse, ventris quoque haud segne
ministerium esse; nec magis ali quam alere eum; reddentem in omnes
corporis partes hunc, quo vivimus vigemusque, divisum, pariter in
venas, 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 of
innovation, who are not content with the station in which God has
placed them, and, therefore, object to all subordination, all ranks in
society.
[b] Cæsar the dictator was, as the poet expresses it, graced with both
Minervas. Quintilian is of opinion, that if he had devoted his whole
time to the profession of eloquence, he would have been the great
rival of Cicero. The energy of his language, his strength of
conception, and his power over the passions, were so striking, that he
may be said to have harangued with the same spirit that he fought.
_Caius vero Cæsar si foro tantum vacasset, non alius ex nostris contra
Ciceronem 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. It
will be sufficient to refer to Quintilian, who in the chapter above
cited has drawn a beautiful parallel between him and Demosthenes. The
Roman orator, he admits, improved himself by a diligent study of the
best models of Greece. He attained the warmth and the sublime of
Demosthenes, the harmony of Plato, and the sweet flexibility of
Isocrates. His own native genius supplied the rest.
He was not
content, as Pindar expresses it, to collect the drops that rained down
from heaven, but had in himself the living fountain of that copious
flow, and that sublime, that pathetic energy, which were bestowed upon
him by the bounty of Providence, that in one man eloquence might exert
all her powers. _Nam mihi videtur Marcus Tullius, cum se totum ad
imitationem Græcorum contulisset, effinxisse vim Demosthenis, copiam
Platonis, jucunditatem Isocratis. Nec vero quod in quoque optimum fuit
studio consecutus est tantum, sed plurimas vel potius omnes ex se ipso
virtutes extulit immortalis ingenii beatissimâ ubertate. Non enim
pluvias (ut ait Pindarus) aquas colligit sed vivo gurgite exundat,
dono quodam providentiæ genitus, in quo vires suas eloquentia
experiretur. _ Lib. x. cap. 1.
[c] Marcus Cælius Rufus, in the judgement of Quintilian, was an orator
of considerable genius. In the conduct of a prosecution, he was
remarkable for a certain urbanity, that gave a secret charm to his
whole speech. It is to be regretted that he was not a man of better
conduct and longer life. _Multum ingenii in Cælio, et præcipuè in
accusando multa urbanitas; dignusque vir, cui et mens melior, et vita
longior contigisset. _ Quint, lib. x. cap. 1. His letters to Cicero
make the eighth book of the _Epistolæ ad Familiares_. Velleius
Paterculus says of him, that his style of eloquence and his cast of
mind bore a resemblance to Curio, but raised him above that factious
orator. His genius for mischief and evil deeds was not inferior to
Curio, and his motives were strong and urgent, since his fortune was
worse than even his frame of mind. _Marcus Cælius, vir eloquio animoque
Curioni simillimus, sed in utroque perfectior; nec minus ingeniosè
nequam, cum ne in modicâ quidem servari posset, quippe pejor illi res
familiaris, quam mens. _ Vell. Patere. lib. ii. s. 68.
Licinius Macer Calvus, we are told by Seneca, maintained a long but
unjust contention with Cicero himself for the palm of eloquence. He
was a warm and vehement accuser, insomuch that Vatinius, though
defended by Cicero, interrupted Calvus in the middle of his speech,
and said to the judges, "Though this man has a torrent of words, does
it follow that I must be condemned? " _Calvus diu cum Cicerone
iniquissimam litem de principatu eloquentiæ habuit; et usque eò
violentus accusator et concitatus fuit, ut in media actione ejus
surgeret Vatinius reus, et exclamaret, Rogo vos, judices, si iste
disertus est, ideo me damnari oportet? _ Seneca, _Controv. _ lib. iii.
cap. 19. Cicero could not dread him as a rival, and it may therefore
be presumed, that he has drawn his character with an impartial hand.
Calvus was an orator more improved by literature than Curio. He spoke
with accuracy, and in his composition shewed great taste and delicacy;
but, labouring to refine his language, he was too attentive to little
niceties. He wished to make no bad blood, and he lost the good. His
style was polished with timid caution; but while it pleased the ear of
the learned, the spirit evaporated, and of course made no impression
in the forum, which is the theatre of eloquence. _Ad Calvum
revertamur; qui orator fuisset cum literis eruditior quam Curio, tum
etiam accuratius quoddam dicendi, et exquisitius afferebat genus; quod
quamquam scienter eleganterque tractabat, nimium tamen inquirens in
se, atque ipse sese observans, metuensque ne vitiosum colligeret,
etiam verum sanguinem deperdebat. Itaque ejus oratio nimiâ religione
attenuata, doctis et attentè audientibus erat illustris, a multitudine
autem, et a foro, cui nata eloquentia est, devorabatur. _ _De Claris
Orat. _ s. 288. Quintilian says, there were, who preferred him to all
the orators of his time. Others were of opinion that, by being too
severe a critic on himself, he polished too much, and grew weak by
refinement. But his manner was grave and solid; his style was chaste,
and often animated. To be thought a man of attic eloquence was the
height of his ambition. If he had lived to see his error, and to give
to his eloquence a true and perfect form, not by retrenching (for
there was nothing to be taken away), but by adding certain qualities
that were wanted, he would have reached the summit of his art. By a
premature death his fame was nipped in the bud. _Inveni qui Calvum
præferrent omnibus; inveni qui contrà crederent eum, nimiâ contra se
calumniâ, verum sanguinem perdidisse. Sed est et sancta et gravis
oratio, et castigata, et frequenter vehemens quoque. Imitator est
autem Atticorum; fecitque illi properata mors injuriam, si quid
adjecturus, non si quid detracturus fuit. _ Quintil. lib. x. cap. 1.
[d] This was the famous Marcus Junius Brutus, who stood forth in the
cause of liberty, and delivered his country from the usurpation of
Julius Cæsar. Cicero describes him in that great tragic scene,
brandishing his bloody dagger, and calling on Cicero by name, to tell
him that his country was free. _Cæsare interfecto, statim cruentum
altè 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 the
colours 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 philosophical
speculations, and books of moral theory, than for the career of public
oratory. In the former he was equal to the weight and dignity of his
subject: you clearly saw that he believed what he said. _Egregius vero
multoque quam in orationibus præstantior Brutus, suffecit ponderi
rerum; 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 Christian
æra 43. In this year, the famous _triple league_, called the
TRIUMVIRATE, was formed between Augustus, Lepidus, and Antony. The
_proscription_, or the list of those who were doomed to die for the
crime of adhering to the cause of liberty, was also settled, and
Cicero was one of the number. A band of assassins went in quest of him
to his villa, called _Astura_, near the sea-shore. Their leader was
one Popilius Lænas, a military tribune, whom Cicero had formerly
defended with success in a capital cause. They overtook Cicero in his
litter. He commanded his servants to set him down, and make no
resistance; then looking upon his executioners with a presence and
firmness which almost daunted them, and thrusting his neck as forward
as he could out of the litter, he bade them _do their work, and take
what they wanted_. The murderers cut off his head, and both his hands.
Popilius undertook to convey them to Rome, as the most agreeable
present to Antony; without reflecting on the _infamy of carrying that
head, which had saved his own_. He found Antony in the forum, and upon
shewing the spoils which he brought, was rewarded on the spot with the
_honour of a crown, and about eight thousand pounds sterling_. Antony
ordered the head to be _fixed upon the rostra, between the two
hands_; a sad spectacle to the people, who beheld those mangled
members, which used to exert themselves, from that place, in defence
of the lives, the fortunes, and the liberties of Rome. Cicero was
killed on the seventh of December, about ten days from the settlement
of the triumvirate, after he had lived _sixty-three years, eleven
months, and five days_. See Middleton's _Life of Cicero_, 4to edit.
vol. ii. p. 495 to 498. Velleius Paterculus, after mentioning Cicero's
death, breaks out in a strain of indignation, that almost redeems the
character of that time-serving writer. He says to Antony, in a
spirited apostrophe, you have no reason to exult: you have gained no
point by paying the assassin, who stopped that eloquent mouth, and cut
off that illustrious head. You have paid the wages of murder, and you
have destroyed a consul who was the conservator of the commonwealth.
By that act you delivered Cicero from a distracted world, from the
infirmities of old age, and from a life which, under your usurpation,
would have been worse than death. His fame was not to be crushed: the
glory of his actions and his eloquence still remains, and you have
raised it higher than ever. He lives, and will continue to live in
every age and nation. Posterity will admire and venerate the torrent
of eloquence, which he poured out against yourself, and will for ever
execrate the horrible murder which you committed. _Nihil tamen egisti,
Marce Antoni (cogit enim excedere propositi formam operis erumpens
animo ac pectore indignatio): nihil, inquam, egisti; mercedem
cælestissimi oris, et clarissimi capitis abscissi numerando;
auctoramentoque funebri ad conservatoris quondam reipublicæ tantique
consulis irritando necem. Rapuisti tu Marco Ciceroni lucem sollicitam
et ætatem senilem, et vitam miseriorem te principe, quam sub te
triumviro mortem. Famam vero, gloriamque factorum atque dictorum adeo
non abstulisti, ut auxeris. Vivit, vivetque per omnium sæculorum
memoriam; omnisque posteritas illius in te scripta mirabitur, tuum in
eum factum execrabitur. _ Vell. Paterc. lib. ii. s. 66.
[f] Between the consulship of Augustus, which began immediately after
the destruction of Hirtius and Pansa, A. U. C. 711, and the death of
that emperor, which was A. U. 767, fifty-six years intervened, and to
the sixth of Vespasian (A. U. C. 828), about 118 years. For the sake of
a 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 Aper
was in Britain; it could not be till the year of Rome 796, when Aulus
Plautius, by order of the emperor Claudius, undertook the conquest of
the island. See _Life of Agricola_, s. 14. note a. At that time, the
Briton who fought against Cæsar, must have been far advanced in years.
[h] A largess was given to the people, in the fourth year of
Vespasian, 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 custom
of giving large distributions to the people was for many ages
established at Rome. Brotier traces it from Ancus Martius, the fourth
king of Rome, when the poverty of the people called for relief. The
like bounty was distributed by the generals, who returned in triumph.
Lucullus and Julius Cæsar displayed, on those occasions, great pomp
and magnificence. Corn, wine, and oil, were plentifully distributed,
and the popularity, acquired by those means, was, perhaps, the ruin of
the commonwealth. Cæsar lavished money. Augustus followed the example,
and Tiberius did the same; but prodigality was not his practice. His
politic genius taught him all the arts of governing. The bounties thus
distributed, were called, when given to the people, CONGIARIA, and, to
the soldiers, DONATIVA. Whoever desires to form an idea of the number
of Roman citizens who, at different times, received largesses, and the
prodigious expence attending them, may see an account drawn up with
diligent attention by Brotier, in an elaborate note on this passage.
He begins with Julius Cæsar; and pursues the enquiry through the
several successive emperors, fixing the date and expence at every
period, as low down as the consulship of Constantius and Galerius
Maximianus; when, the empire being divided into the eastern and
western, 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 Asinius
Pollio. See s. xii. note [e].
Section XVIII.
[a] Servius Sulpicius Galba was consul A. U. C. 610, before the
Christian æra 144. Cicero says of him, that he was, in his day, an
orator of eminence. When he spoke in public, the natural energy of his
mind supported him, and the warmth of his imagination made him
vehement and pathetic; his language was animated, bold, and rapid; but
when he, afterwards, took his pen in hand to correct and polish, the
fit of enthusiasm was over; his passions ebbed away, and the
composition was cold and languid. _Galbam fortasse vis non ingenii
solum, sed etiam animi, et naturalis quidam dolor, dicentem
incendebat, efficiebatque, ut et incitata, et gravis, et vehemens
esset oratio; dein cum otiosus stilum prehenderat, motusque omnis
animi, tanquam ventus, hominem defecerat, flaccescebat oratio. Ardor
animi non semper adest, isque cum consedit, omnis illa vis, et quasi
flamma oratoris extinguitur. _ _De Claris Orat. _ s. 93. Suetonius says,
that the person here intended was of consular dignity, and, by his
eloquence, 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 he
had proved himself as good a citizen, as he was an orator. Being
impeached for his turbulent and seditious conduct, he did not choose
to stand the event of a trial, but escaped the judgement of the
senate 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 multis
judiciis causisque cognitus. Hunc qui audierant prudentes homines,
canorum oratorem, et volubilem, et satis acrem, atque eundem et
vehementem, et valde dulcem, et perfacetum fuisse dicebant. _ _De Claris
Orat. _ 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 that
character 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 of
Rome in violent agitation. Amidst the tumult, the senate, by a decree,
ordered the consul, Lucius Opimius, _to take care that the
commonwealth received no injury_; and, says Cicero, not a single night
intervened, before that magistrate put Gracchus to death. _Decrevit
senatus, ut Lucius Opimius, consul, videret, ne quid detrimenti
respublica caperet: nox nulla intercessit; interfectus est propter
quasdam seditionum suspiciones Caius Gracchus, clarissimo patre natus,
avis majoribus. Orat.
