OF BOHN'S CLASSICAL LIBRARY CICERO ON ORATORY AND ORATORS. GEORGE BELL & SONS LONDON : YORK ST. COVENT GARDEN AND NEW YORK: 66 FIFTH AVENUE BOMBAY : 53 ESPLANADE ROAD CAMBRIDGE : DEIGHTON BELL & CO. CICERO ON ORATORY AND ORATORS: WITH HIS LETTERS TO OUINTUS AND BRUTUS. TRANSLATED OR EDITED BY J. S. WATSON. LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1896. [Reprinted from Stereotype plaits.'] PREFACE A TRANSLATION of the Dialogues De Oratore was published in 1762, by George Barnes, a Barrister of the Inner Temple. Mr. Barnes's version was made with great care, and, though less known than Guthrie's, was far superior to it. If he occasionally mistork the sense of his author, he seems to have been always diligent in seeking for it. He added some notes, of which those deemed worth preserving are distin- guished by the letter B. Barnes's translation is the groundwork of the present j but every page of it has been carefully corrected, and many pages re-written. The text to which it is made conformable is that of Orellius, which differs but little from Ellendt's, the more recent editor and illustrator of the work, from whom some notes have been borrowed. No labour has been spared to produce a faithful and readable translation of a treatise which must always be interesting to the orator and the student. The translation of Cicero's "Brutus; or, Eemarks on Eminent Orators," is by E. Jones, (first published in 1776,) which has long had the well-deserved reputation of com- bining fidelity with elegance. It is therefore reprinted with bnt little variation. J. S. W. N T E N T S. PAGE CICERO'S LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS 1 CICEKO'S LETTERS TO BRUTUS 90 DE ORATORE; OR, ON THE CHARACTER OF AN ORATOR . . 142 BRUTUS; OK, REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS 402 CICEEO'S LETTEBS TO HIS BEOTHEE QUINT US. BOOK I. LETTER I. THIS Letter was written in the year 694 A.U.C., in the consulship of Afranius and Metellus, by Cicero to his brother Quintus, who was commanding in Asia, to inform him that his period of command was extended for a third year ; a year fraught with such im- portant events to the republic, that we learn from Horace that Pollio began his history of the civil wars from this date. 1 The consuls themselves were men of no very great importance ; they were both creatures of Pompey, who had assisted them to obtain the office by the most open corruption : but he was mistaken in reckoning on the adherence of Metellus, whom he had offended by divorcing his sister Mucia ; while Afranius was a man of no character, and of very moderate abilities ; so weak, according to Cicero, as to be ignorant of the value of the consulship which he had bought. 2 With such men for its rulers, the city speedily became a scene of universal dissension. Pompey, who had just celebrated his triumph over Mithridates with unprecedented magnificence, was instigating Flavius, one of the tribunes, to bring forward an agrarian law similar to that of Rullus, for a division of lands in Italy, partly consisting of some of the public domains, and partly of estates to be bought 1 Motum ex Metello consule civicuni Bellique causas, et vitia, et modos, Ludumque Fortunae, gravesque Principum amicitias, et anna Nondum expiatis uncta cruoribua ; Periculosse plenum opus aleae Tractas. Hoa. Carm. IL L * Kp. ad Att. i. 19. B 1 2 CICERO'S LETTERS with the spoils of the war in which he had been so victorious, among the veterans of his army, and the poorer classes in Italy. The senate opposed this measure violently, but Cicero, though he had resisted the former proposition, was now inclined to support this, taking care, indeed, to preserve the vested interests of the possessors; and thinking that when this was provided for, the bill would supply a means for relieving the city of some of its most dangerous inhabitants, and at the same time peopling parts of Italy which were hitherto little better than a desert. 1 No doubt he was partly influenced by his desire to obtain the protection of Pompey in the struggle which he foresaw for himself with Clodius, who was now seeking to be adopted into a plebeian family, in order to be elected a tribune of the people, so as to attack Cicero with greater power of injuring him for the great Catulus died at this time, and Cicero complains to Atticus, that his death had left him without an ally in the dangers which threatened him, and without a companion in his course of defending and upholding the interests of the nobles. 2 About the beginning of this year also, news arrived from Gaul of com- motions in that province, which was always in great danger from the frequent inroads of the Helvetii, from whom an invasion on a larger scale was now apprehended. The senate decreed that the consuls should undertake the defence of the Cisalpine and Transalpine pro- vinces, and sent men of consular rank to different districts to levy armies ; but Pompey and Cicero remained at Rome, being, as he tells Atticus, retained by the express command of the senate, as pledges of the safety of the republic. 3 In the meantime Caesar, who had been serving in Spain as propraetor, wrote letters to the senate to demand a triumph ; but wishing also to obtain the consulship for the succeeding year, he relinquished the idea of the triumph, (which would have prevented him from entering the city till after its celebration,) in order to canvass the citizens for the more substantial honour. Perceiving, on his arrival in Rome, the true posture of affairs, the power which Crassus possessed, de- rived from his character and riches ; the authority with which his military renown, and his position as the acknowledged leader of the aristocratic party, invested Pompey; and his own need of such coadjutors for the project, which he had already begun to conceive, of finally making himself master of the republic, he re- conciled Pompey and Crassus, who had previously been on no very friendly terms ; and then formed that intimate connexion with them both, which is known in history as the first triumvirate ; the three chiefs coming to an agreement to prevent measures of any kind being adopted in the republic without the united consent of them all. Csesar obtained the consulship, but the senate gave him Bibulup for his colleague, and made a further attempt to prevent any great increase to his power or popularity, by assigning to the new consuls 1 Qua constitut& diligenter et sentinam nobis exhaurior ; et Italiae solitudinem frequentari posse arbitrabar.^-Ep. ad Att. i. 19. 2 Ep. ad Att. i. 20. Idem, i. 19. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 3 only the supervision of the roads and forests : a charge, as Suetonius calls it, of the slightest possible importance. This was the posture of affairs at Rome, at, and soon after, the time when Cicero addressed this first letter to his brother. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. I. 1. ALTHOUGH I had no doubt that njany messengers, and common report too, with its invariable rapidity, would out- strip this letter; and that, before its arrival, you would hear from others that a third year has been added to the period during which I have to regret your absence, and you are to continue your labours; still I thought that direct informa- tion of this trouble ought to be conveyed to you from me also. For in my former letters, and that not once only, but repeatedly, even after the matter was despaired of by others, I still gave you hope of an early removal; not merely that I might gratify you as long as possible with the pleasing expec- tation, but also because such great exertions were made both by the pnetors and by myself, that I would not give up all hope that the matter might be managed. 2. But now, since it has so turned out, that the prsetors have not been able to do any good by their influence, nor I by my own zeal, it is extremely difficult to avoid feeling great vexation ; but still it is not fit that our spirits, which have been tried in managing and supporting matters of the greatest moment, should be crushed and rendered powerless by a petty annoyance. And since men are naturally most concerned at misfortunes which have been, incurred by their own fault, there is something in this business that must be borne with more vexation by me than by you. For it hap- pened through my fault, and through acting in opposition to what you had represented to me, both when setting out and afterwards by letter, that a successor was not appointed the year before. In that matter, while I was consulting the safety of the allies, while I was resisting the impudence of some commercial people, and while I was desirous that iny reputation should be advanced by your merit, I acted unwisely ; especially as I have given occasion that that second year of your command may draw on a third after it. . 3. Since, then, I confess that the fault i* mine, it will be the task of your wisdom and kindness to take care and manage that thw matter, too incautiously considered by me, may bo B2 4 CICERO'S LETTERS corrected by your own diligence. And if you arouse yourself with fresh energy to cultivate a good reputation in every respect, so as to rival, not others, but yourself ; if you direct all the faculties of your mind, all your care and thoughts, to the pre-eminent object of obtaining praise in all things, take my word for it, that one year added to your labour will bring happiness for many years to us, and glory to our posterity. 4. I therefore entreat you above all things not to diminish or lower your spirit, nor to allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the affair, as by a wave of the sea ; but, on the other hand, to bear yourself erect to resist, and even of your own accord to meet difficulties. For you do not manage a department of the public of such a nature that for- tune has the rule in it, but one in which method and dili- gence have the greatest influence. If indeed I saw that your period of command was prolonged while you were engaged in any great and perilous war, I should feel misgivings in my mind, because I should know at the same time that the power of fortune over us was also prolonged. 5. But at present, that part of the commonwealth is com- mitted to you, in which fortune has no share, or only an ex- ceedingly insignificant one, and which appears to me to depend wholly on your own virtue and moderation of dispo- sition. We apprehend, I think, no insidious attacks of enemies, no struggle in the field, no revolt of our allies, no want of pay or provisions, no mutiny in the army ; accidents which have very often happened to men of the greatest pru- dence: so that, as the most skilful pilots cannot overcome the violence of a storm, they in like manner have been unable to subdue the violent hostility of fortune. To your lot has fallen the most complete peace, the most entire tranquillity, though in such a way that it may even x overwhelm a sleeping pilot, or even delight a wakeful one. 6. For that province of yours consists in the first place of that class of allies which is the most civilized of all the human race; and secondly, of that class of citizens who either, be- cause they are farmers of the revenue, 2 are bound to us by Vel. Ernesti condemns this word, and Matthise has ejected it. 2 The farmers of the public revenue were generally of the equestrian order, to which Cicero himself belonged ; and in his public character and speeches he had always taken care to maintain the connexion, by seizing every opportunity of extolling and defending them. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 5 ties of the closest connexion, or who, because they manage their dealings so as to become wealthy, think that they pos* sess their fortunes in safety through the beneficial effects oi my consulship. II. 7. But, you will urge, between these very men them- selves there are grave disputes : many injuries arise, and great contests follow ; as if I supposed that you also do not sustain a considerable weight of business. I am aware that your affairs are of very great importance, and require consummate prudence; but remember that I consider this affair depends more upon prudence than upon fortune ; for what difficulty is there in restraining those over whom you have authority, if you also restrain yourself? This may be a great and arduous task for others, as it is indeed most arduous, but it has always been a very easy one for you ; and in truth sc it ought to be, since your natural disposition is such that, even without instruction, it would appear that it might have been excellently regulated, and such an education has been bestowed upon it as might exalt even the most vicious nature. While you yourself resist the temptations of money and of' pleasure, and of every sort of desire, as you do resist them, there will be, I suppose, danger lest you may not be able to check the worthless trader, or the somewhat too covetous farmer. The Greeks, 1 indeed, will look upon you, while you live in such a manner, as some [hero revived] from the old traditions of their annals, or even as some divine being descended from heaven into the province. 8. And I write this now, not that you may act thus, [for that you do,] but that you may rejoice in acting and having acted thus. For it is a glorious thing for you to have lived three 2 years in Asia, invested with the highest military au- thority, in such a manner that no statue, no picture, no vase, 3 1 Cicero calls them Greeks, because all the coast of Asia Minor was colonized by Greeks, and the language had gradually come to prevail throughout the whole peninsula. 2 The text has triennium ; Ernesti and others would read biennium, to suit the commencement of the letter ; a change rendered necessary, indeed, by the verb fuisse. 3 How irresistible such temptations were to Roman governors in general, may be seen in Cicero's orations against Verres ; who was pro- bably only pre-eminent among them for rapacity, because the richness of his province gave him pre-eminent opportunities for displaying it. 6 OICEROS LETTERS lio present of robes or slaves, no allurement of personal beauty, no opportunity of extorting money, (of all which forms of corruption that province is most prolific,) has been able to turn you aside from perfect integrity and moderation. 9. And what can be found so admirable, or so thoroughly desirable, as that that virtue, that moderation of mind, that well-regulated abstinence, should not lie hid and be buried iu darkness, but should be displayed in the light of Asia, and before the eyes of a most splendid province, and cele- brated iii the hearing of every nation and people on the earth ? That men should not be alarmed at your progresses, or exhausted by your expenses, or agitated at your arrival among them ; but that, wherever you come, there should be both publicly and privately the greatest possible joy, while every city looks upon itself as entertaining a protector, not a tyrant, and every family feels that it receives a guest, and not a plunderer ? III. 10. But in all these matters experience itself has already, doubtless, taught you, that it is by no means enough for you to have these virtues yourself, but that you must also take diligent care, in this guardianship of the province, that you may appear to be answerable, not for yourself only, but for all the officers under your government, to the allies, to your fellow- citizens, and to the commonwealth. Although indeed you have lieutenants of such a character that they will of themselves have regard to their own dignity ; among whom Tubero is the first in honour and dignity and age, a man who, I imagine, especially as he is a writer of history, can find many in the annals of his own family whom he may be both inclined and able to imitate ; and Alienus is completely one of us, not only in his general disposition and benevolence, but also in his imitation of our habits of life. For why need I speak of Gratidius? a man whom I know for certain to be so anxious about his own character, that out of his brotherly love for us, he is anxious also aboui ours. 11. You have a quaestor, indeed, not chosen by your own judgment, but the one whom the lot assigned you. It is necessary that he should be moderate in his own inclinations, and obedient to your regulations and precepts. If by chance any one of these men be somewhat sordid, you may bear with him so far as he merely neglects, of himself, those rules by TO HIS BROTHER QUINTU8. 7 which you yourself are bound ; but not so far that he should abuse, for his own private gain, that power which you con- ceded to him for the support of his dignity : for I am not indeed of opinion, especially as the habits to which I allude have had such a tendency to excessive lenity and to a courting of popularity, that you should look too closely into every bit of meanness, and get rid of every one guilty of it; but I think that you should trust just so much to each as there is trustworthiness in each. And of these men, those whom the republic itself has assigned to you as supporters and assistants in the discharge of the public business, you will confine to those limits which I have already laid down. IV. 12. But as to those whom you have selected to have about you as your domestic companions, or your necessary attendants, and who are generally termed a sort of court of the prsetor, not only their actions, but even their whole language, must be answered for by us. But you have such people about you as you can easily love if they act rightly, and with the greatest ease restrain, if they show too little regard for your character ; by whom, when you were inex- perienced, your own ingenuous disposition seems likely to have been deceived ; for the more virtuous any one is himself, the more unwillingly does he suspect others of being wicked ; but now this third year of office should display the same integrity as those preceding, with even more caution and diligence. 13. Let your ears be such as are thought to hear openly what they do hear, and not such as those into which anything may be whispered falsely and hypocritically for the sake of gain. Let your signet ring be not like a piece of furniture, but as it were another self; not the agent of another person's will, but the witness of your own. Let your sergeant 1 be kept in that station in which our ancestors wished him to be; who bestowed the place not as a lucrative appointment, but as one of labour and duty, and not readily to any but their own freedmen, to whom they gave their orders, indeed, in a man- ner not very different from that in which they gave them to 1 The Latin is accensus, which was the name of a public officer attending on several of the Roman magistrates. He anciently preceded the consul who had not the fasces; a custom which, having been long disused, was restored by Caesar the very next year. Vairo de- rives this title from accieo, because they summoned the people to th assemblies. 8 CICERO'S LETTERS their slaves. Let your lictor be the officer, not of his own lenity, but of yours ; and let your fasces and axes give him greater insignia of dignity than power. Lastly, let it be known to the whole province, that the safety, the families, the fame, and the fortunes of all those over whom you act as governor, are objects of the dearest interest to you. Moreover, let the opinion prevail, that you will be dis- pleased, not only with those who have accepted any bribe, but with those also who have given one, if you discover the fact. Nor indeed will any one offer a bribe, when it is once clearly ascertained, that nothing is ever obtained from you by the influence of those who pretend to have great weight with you. 14. Not, indeed, that this advice of mine to you is meant to have such an effect as to make you too harsh or suspicious towards your officers ; for if there be among them any one who during two years has never fallen under any- suspicion of avarice, (as I hear that both Csesius and ChWippus and Labeo have not. and because I know them, I believe it;) there is nothing that I should not think might be most judiciously and properly committed to them, and to whoever else is of the same character; but if there be any one in whom you have detected anything, or in whom you have noticed anything unfavourable, trust him with nothing ; do not put any part of your own character in his power. V. 15. But in the province itself, if you have met with any one who has entered closely into friendship with you, and who was previously unknown to us, take great care hew far you ought to trust such a one ; not but that there may be many honest men among the provincials ; but though we may entertain this hope, it is hazardous to judge that it is so; for the natural character of each individual is concealed under numerous wrappings of disguise, and shrouded, as it were, under veils; the forehead, the eyes, the whole counte- nance are often false, and the language most frequently of all. On which account, how are you to find out, among that class of men, persons who, influenced by desire for money, can yet do without all those things from which we cannot separate ourselves, and who will love you, a foreigner, with all their heart, and not pretend to do so merely for their own advantage 1 To me indeed this seems a consideration o< TO HIS BROTHER QUINTTTS. 9 great importance, especially if those very same people scarcely ever profess a regard for any private individual, but do so at all times for every governor ; therefore, if of this class you have by chance met with any one really more attached to yourself than to the opportunity, (for this may have been possible,) gladly count that man in the list of your friends; but if you do not discover such a disposition, there is no sort of men more carefully to be guarded against in respect to intimacy; because they are acquainted with every avenue of corruption, and do everything for the sake of money, and have no notion of regard for the character of a man with whom they are not going to live permanently. 16. And even among the Greeks themselves, intimacies must be formed with strict care, excepting [those with] a very few men, such as may be worthy of ancient Greece; so deceitful, indeed, are the greater number of them, and fickle, and through long slavery inured to excessive flattery; the whole body of whom I admit ought to be treated with libe- rality, and all the most deserving of them admitted to hos- pitality and friendship; but an excessive intimacy with them is not sufficiently to be trusted, for they do not dare to oppose our inclinations, and are envious, not only of our people, but also of their own countrymen. VI. 17. If I then desire to be so cautious and diligent in matters of that sort, in which I am afraid lest I may appear even somewhat over-rigid ; of what opinion do you conceive me to be with respect to slaves'? whom indeed we ought to rule strictly everywhere, and most especially in the provinces. With respect to this class of persons, many rules may be given, bxit this is the shortest of all, and one which may the most easily be kept in memory, that they are to behave themselves in your Asiatic progresses, as they would if you were travelling along the Appian road, 1 and that they are not to think that it makes any difference whether they arrive at Tralles or at Formise. But if among your slaves there should be any one of exemplary fidelity, let him be employed in your domestic and private affairs; but as to matters which relate to the duties of your command, or to any of the affairs of the 1 The Via Appia, or Appian road, was made by Appius Claudiua CsecuB as censor, about 442 A.U.C., from Rome to Capua. At a later period it was continued from Capua to Brundusium. 10' CICERO'S LETTERS commonwealth, let him have no concern with any of them : for there are many things which may without impropriety te entrusted to faithful slaves, but which, for the sake of avoid- ing talk and censure, must not be entrusted to them. 18. But this letter of mine, I know not how, has run into a process of laying down precepts, though such was not at first my intention. For why should I give precepts to one, whom, particularly in business of this kind, I know to be not at all inferior in prudence to myself, and in practice even superior? But still if my authority were added to enforce the line of conduct which you were already pursuing, I thought that such line of conduct would be more agreeable to you. Let these then be your foundations for dignity of character ; first of all, your own personal integrity and mode- ration; next, self-respect in all those who are about you; and, also, an extremely cautious and most diligent selection in forming intimacies, both \vith men of the province, and with Greeks ; and the maintenance of a steady and consistent discipline in your household. 19. As these observances are honourable in our private and daily habits, they must of necessity appear almost divine in so high a command, amid manners so depraved, and in a province which is such a school of corruption. Such a system and such a discipline can maintain that severity in deciding and determining on measures, which you have dis- played in things from which, to my great joy, we experience some enmity ; unless perchance you fancy that I am moved by the complaints of I know not what fellow called Paconius, a person who is not even a Greek, but rather a Mysian or Phrygian, or by those of Tuscenius, a raving fellow, foul in his language, out of whose most impure jaws you wrested the prey of his most disgraceful covetousness with consummate justice. VII. 20. These and other regulations, full of strictness, which you have appointed in that province, we could not easily maintain without the most complete integrity. Let there be the most rigorous severity, therefore, in administer- ing the law, provided that it be never varied from favour, but observed with uniformity. But still it is of little benefit that the law be administered with uniformity and care by you yourself, unless the same rule of conduct be also observed TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 11 py those to whom you entrust any share of the same duty. And to me, indeed, there appears to be no great variety of ousiness in the government of Asia, but it seems to be all supported, for the most part, by the exposition of the law; in which, above all other things, the very system of knowledge for the regulation of a province lies. But consistency must be observed, and a dignified gravity, which can resist, not only all influence, but even suspicion. 21. There is to be added likewise affability in listening to others, gentleness in pronouncing one's decisions, and diligence in satisfying people, and in discussing their claims. It was by such qualifications that Cneius Octavius lately became very popular, as it was under him that the lictor first had nothing to do, the sergeant was reduced to silence, and every one who Lad a suit before him spoke as often and as long as he pleased. In which particulars he might perchance be looked upon as too remiss, if this very remissness had not been the support of that severity. Sylla's men were compelled to make restitution of the things which they had taken away by violence, and through the influence of fear; and those who in their offices had given unjust decisions, had, when reduced to the rank of private individuals, to bow beneath similar law. This severity of his might appear to have been in- tolerable, had it not been softened by many seasonings of humanity. 22. But if this kind of lenity is agreeable at Rome, where there is such excessive arrogance, such immoderate liberty, such boundless licentiousness among men; and besides such a number of magistrates, so many sources of help, such great power, such absolute authority belonging to the senate ; how attractive surely may the courtesy of a prsetor be in Asia, in which such a multitude of citizens, such a number of allies, so many cities, and so many states, look to the nod of one man ; where there is no help, no power of making complaints, no senate, no assembly of the people! It is therefore the part of a very great man, and of one who is both moderate by natural disposition, and who has also been trained by education, and by the study of the most excellent accomplish- ments, to conduct himself, when invested with so great power, in such a manner that no other authority may be wished for by those over whom he is appointed governor. 12 CICERO'S LETTERS VIII. 23. The "Cyrus" of Xenophon is written not in accordance with the truth of history, but to exhibit a represen- tation of a just government; in whose character the greatest gravity is united by that philosopher with singular courtesy. These books our own countryman, the illustrious Africanus, was accustomed, not without reason, scarcely ever to lay out of his hand, for in them is omitted no duty belonging to careful and moderate government; and if he, who was never to become a private individual, paid such attention to those precepts, how ought they to be observed by those to whom authority has been given on condition of laying it down again, and given them too by those laws to the observance of which they themselves must again return? 24. To me, indeed, everything seems necessary to be re- ferred, by those who rule others, to this principle, that those who shall be under their government may be as happy as possible ; an object which has been established by unvarying fame, and the report of all men, as being of primary import- ance with you, and as having been so from the commence- ment, since you first arrived in Asia. And it is the duty, not only of the man who governs allies and fellow-citizens, but even of him who manages slaves, or dumb animals, to liave a regard to the comforts and advantage of those beings over whom he presides. 25. In this respect I find it agreed by all men that the greatest assiduity is exerted by you; that no new debt is contracted by any state, and that many cities have been freed by you from old, great, and heavy debt; that many cities previously in ruins and almost deserted, among which I may mention one, the most eminent city of Ionia, another, the most eminent city of Caria, Samos and Halicarnassus, have been restored by you; that there are no seditious in the towns, no discord; that provision is made by you that the different states shall be regulated by the counsels of the most respectable citizens; that depredations in Mysia are stopped ; that bloodshed has been suppressed in many places ; that peace is established throughout the whole province; that not only the thefts and robberies on the roads and in the fields, but the more numerous and greater ones in the towns and in the temples, are brought to an end throughout the country; that that most spiteful minister to the avarice of TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 13 governors, false accusation, has been repelled in its attacks on the fame and fortune and ease of the wealthy; that the ex- penses and tributes levied on the different cities are borne with equanimity by all who inhabit the territories of those cities; that access to you is most easy; that your ears are open to the complaints of all men; that no man's poverty or desolateness is excluded by you, not merely from access to you in public and on the tribunal, but even from your house, and your private chamber; that, in short, throughout your whole government, there is nothing severe, nothing cruel; but that everything is full of clemency, and gentleness, and humanity. IX. 26. Again, how great a benefit is it on your part, that you have delivered Asia from that iniquitous and heavy tax imposed upon it by the sediles, 1 though at the expense of great enmity to us. In truth, if one man of noble birth makes a complaint openly that you, by issuing an edict " that money should not be voted for the games at Home," caused him a loss of two hundred sestertia; how great a sum of money must have been paid, if, as had become the custom, it was exacted in the name of all, whoever they were, that exhibited games at Rome? Although we checked these com- plaints of our citizens with this design, (which is extolled in Asia, I know not to what extent, and at Rome with no ordi- nary admiration,) inasmuch as when the cities had voted sums of money to erect a temple and monument in our honour, and when they had done so of their own extreme good-will, in return for my great services, and for your excessive kind- nesses, and when the law made an exception in our favour by name, providing that " it might be permitted to receive money for a temple and a monument;" and that which was then given was not likely to perish, but to remain among the ornaments of the temple, so as to appear to have been given, not more for my sake than that of the Roman people and the immortal gods ; nevertheless I did not think that even that, in which concurred merit, a special law, and the good-will of those who made it, ought to be accepted by me, both for 1 The expense of the games exhibited by the aedileu had grown to be BO enormous that they had established a custom of extorting vast sums from the provinces to meet it. The exact sum mentioned in tLe text would be 161,458*. 6a. Sd. 14 CICERO'S LETTERS other reasons, and in order that others to whom nothing was due, and in whose favour no permission was given, might bear the matter with more equanimity. .... 27. Apply yourself, therefore, with all your heart and witii all your zeal to the course of conduct which you have hitherto pursued, that you may love, and in every way protect, those whom the senate and people of Rome have committed and entrusted to your good faith and power, and that you may take thought for their being as happy as possible. But if chance 1 had set you over Africans, or Spaniards, or Gauls, savage and barbarous nations, it would still have become your humanity to consult their advantage, and to show a regard for their comfort and safety. Since, however, we govern that race of mankind, among whom not only humanity itself pre- vails, but from whom it is even thought to have spread to other nations, we certainly ought, in the greatest possible degree, to exhibit it to those from whom we received it. 28. For I shall not now be ashamed to assert this, (espe- cially amidst such a course of life, and after performing such actions, on which no suspicion of indolence or levity can affix itself,) that we have attained those successes which we have achieved, by the aid of those studies and arts which have been handed down to us by the records and discipline of Greece. On those accounts, besides that common good faith which is due to all mankind, we also appear to be in an especial manner the debtors of that race of men, so that we may show a readiness to display in action those principles in which we have been instructed before that very people from which we have learned them. X. 29. And, indeed, that chief of all genius and learning, Plato, thought that republics would then at last become happy, if either learned and wise men began to govern them, or if those who governed them devoted all their attention to learning and wisdom. This union of power and wisdom he assuredly thought would be security to a state; a union which may have at some time fallen to the lot of our whole republic, but which has certainly, at this present time, fallen to that province of yours; so that he might have the chief power in it, by whom, from his childhood, the most 1 The Latin is sors, lot. The different Roman magistrates had theii provinces assigned to them by lot. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. lO study arid tim-e has been bestowed on acquiring a thorough understanding of virtue and humanity. 30. Be careful, therefore, that this year which is added to your labour may appear at the same time to have been added for the prosperity of Asia. Since Asia has been more for- tunate in her efforts to detain you than we have been in oura to recal you, take care that our regret may be mitigated by the gladness of the province. For if you have been the most diligent of all men in deserving that such great honours should be paid to you as I know not whether any one has received, you ought to exert far greater diligence in preserving those honours. 31. I have, indeed, written to you before what I think of honours of that kind. I have always thought them, if they were common, worthless; if they were appointed for some temporary occasion, trifling; but if, as has been the case now, they were granted to your merits, I thought that much exertion should be used by you to preserve them. Since, therefore, you reside with supreme power and authority in those cities in which you see your virtues consecrated and ranked in the number of [those of] the gods, in everything which you shall determine, or decree, or do, you will recol- lect what you owe to such high opinions of mankind, such favourable judgment concerning you, such exalted honours. This resolution will be of such influence, that you will consult the welfare of all, will remedy the distresses of the people, and provide for their safety, and that you will wish to be both called and thought the father of Asia. XI. 32. No doubt the farmers of the public revenue offer great obstacles to your desires and efforts. But if we oppose them, we shall separate both from ourselves and from the republic an order of men which deserves well of ourselves per- sonally, and which is by our means attached to the republic. Yet, if we comply with their wishes in everything, we shall be allowing those persons to be utterly ruined, not only whose safety, but whose advantage, we are bound to consult. This, if we would form a correct judgment, is the one difficulty which pervades your whole government. For to be disin- terested, to restrain all one's desires, to keep s check upon one's people, to maintain an equitable system of law, to ehow oneself courteous in inquiring into matters of business, and 16 CICERO'S LETTERS affable in listening and giving access to people, is honourable rather than difficult : for it does not depend on any labour, but rather on a certain inclination and willingness of mind. 33. How great distress the line of conduct adopted by the farmers causes the allies, we have learned from those citizens of our own, who lately, in the matter of the removal of the harbour-dues of Italy, complained not so much of the tax itself, as of certain wrongs committed by the tax-collectors. So that I cannot be ignorant what of happens to the allies in remote districts, when I hear the complaints of my own countrymen in Italy, That you should so conduct yourself, in such circumstances, as both to satisfy the farmers, (espe- cially if they made an unlucky contract for the revenues,) and not to allow the allies to be ruined, appears an achievement worthy of some divine virtue, that is, of your own. And in the first place, that which to the Greeks is a most bitter consideration, namely, that they are liable to pay taxes, ought not to appear so bitter; because, without any inter- ference of the power of the Koman people, while they lived under their own laws, they were themselves, and of them- selves, in the same condition; and they have no right to disdain the name of farmer, as they themselves could not pay the tax which Sylla had, with perfect fairness, levied upon them, without a farmer. And that, in exacting the taxes, the Greek farmers are not more lenient than our own, may be seen from this fact, that a little while ago the Caunians, and all the inhabitants of the islands which had been made over to the Rhodians by Sylla, fled to the senate with entreaties to be allowed to pay tribute to us rather than to the Rhodians. Those, therefore, have no right to express any horror of the name of farmer, who have always been liable to the payment of taxes; nor ought those who by themselves could not pay the taxes, to disdain him; nor ought those to object to him, who have actually asked for his appointment. 34. Let Asia at the same time recollect, that no calamity of foreign war, or of domestic dissension, would have been absent from her, if she were not held under the dominion of this country. And as that dominion can by no means be upheld without taxes, let her contentedly purchase for herself perpetual peace and tranquillity with a certain portion of her revenues. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 17 XII. 35. And, if they will endure that class of men, and the name of farmer, with patience, other grievances, through your wisdom and prudence, may possibly appear lighter to them. They may, in making contracts, regard, not the mere Censorian law, 1 but rather the convenience of transacting business, and their freedom from trouble. You, too, may do, what you have already done admirably, and what you still are doing, namely, to take frequent occasions to mention how great worth there is in the farmers, and how much we owe to that order; so that, laying aside authority, and the exertion of power and of the fasces, you may bind the farmers to the Greeks by affection and influence. But you may also beg of those of whom you have deserved extremely well, and who indeed owe everything to you, to allow us, by good-temper on their part, to secure and maintain that connexion which already exists between us and the farmers. 36. But why do I exhort you to this course of conduct-, which you can not only pursue of your own accord without directions from any one, but have already to a great extent practised ? For highly honourable and important companies do not cease to address their thanks to us, and this is the more acceptable to me, because the Greeks do the same. And it is difficult to unite in good-will those things which in interests, utility, and almost in their very nature, are dif- ferent from each other. But I have written what is written above, not for the purpose of instructing you, (for your wisdom stands in need of no instructions from any one,) but because, while thus writing, the commemoration of your virtues was a pleasure to me, although I have been more prolix in this letter than I either intended or expected to be. XIII. 37. There is one thing to which I shall not cease to exhort you ; nor will I allow your praises to be spoken, as far as shall be in my power, with any abatement ; for all who come from those regions speak in such a manner of your virtue, integrity, and humanity, as to make, among your great praises, proneness to anger the only exception. This 1 The terms on which the revenues of the provinces were let wert fixed by the censors, in the edicts called Leges Censorice; but these wert sometimes modified to raise the credit or popularity of the publicans. In the censorship of Cato, 568 A.U.C., the senate itself interfered to lower the terms which his rigour had sought to impose. Liv. xxxix. 44. 18 CICERO'S LETTERS fault, even iu our private and daily life, appears to be that of an unsteady and weak mind ; but nothing is so unseemly as to unite the acerbity of natural ill-temper to supreme power. For this reason I will not now proceed to set before you the observations which are commonly made on passionateness, both because I am unwilling to be too prolix, and because you can easily learn them from the writings of many authors; but that which peculiarly belongs to a letter, I mean that he, to whom it is written, should be informed of matters of which he is ignorant, I think that I ought not to omit. 38. Every one makes us almost the same report, that, when ill-temper does not affect you, nothing can be more agreeable than your behaviour; but that, when any one's dishonesty or perverseness has provoked you, you become so excited that your natural kindness is missed by every one. Since, there- fore, it is not so much any thirst for glory as mere circum- stances and fortune that have brought us into that station of life in which we are, so that the conversation of mankind respecting us will be incessant, let us, as far as we can pos- sibly achieve and succeed, take care that no remarkable vice may be said to have been in us. Nor do I now insist upon that which is perhaps difficult in every disposition, and is certainly so at our time of life, namely, to change the temper, and suddenly to pluck out whatever is deeply implanted in the character; but I give you this admonition, that if you cannot wholly avoid this habit, because your mind is occu- pied by anger before reason can prevent it from being so occupied, you should still prepare yourself beforehand, and meditate every day that you must resist this proneness to anger, and that, when it has the greatest effect upon your mind, your tongue imist then be most carefully restrained ; for this appears to me at times a virtue not inferior to that of never being angry. For the latter is the consequence, not merely of gravity of temper, but sometimes even of dulness; but to restrain your passion and language when you are provoked, or even to be silent, and to keep your agitation of mind and indignation under control, although it be not a proof of perfect wisdom, is certainly an indication of no moderate mental power. 39. In this respect men report that you have already become much more moderate and gentle. No extremely TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 19 violent bursts of passion, no reproaches, no insults, are reported to us; faults which are not only inconsistent with learning and politeness, but at variance with authority and dignity : for if our anger is implacable, it is extreme rancour ; but if easily appeased, it is extreme levity; which, however, in a choice of evils, is to be preferred to rancour. XIV. 40. But since it was your first year that caused the most talk on this subject of censure (I imagine because injustice, and avarice, and insolence in men occurred to you contrary to your anticipation, and on that account appeared intolerable); while the second year was much more quiet, because habit, and reason, and, as I flatter myself, my letters also, have rendered you more patient and gentle; the third year ought to be so corrected that no one may be able to find even the slightest cause for censure in it. 41. And now, on this topic, I speak to you not with ex- hortation and precepts, but with brotherly entreaty, beseech- ing you to devote all your thought, care, and meditation to securing the praise of all men in all quarters. If our rank in life were in a moderate position for talk and dis- cussion about us, nothing extraordinary, nothing beyond the common conduct of other men, would be required of you: but now, by reason of the splendour and importance of the circumstances in which we are placed, unless we secure the highest possible praise from that province, we seem scarcely in a condition to escape extreme censure. Suah is our posi- tion, that while all good men look with favour on us, they at the same time require and expect from us all imaginable diligence and virtue; but all the unprincipled, because we have engaged in everlasting war against them, seem to be contented with the very smallest pretext for censuring us. 42. Since, therefore, a theatre of such a kind, that of all Asia, has been presented for the display of your virtues a theatre crowded with a numerous body of spectators, most ample in size, with an audience of most cultivated judgment; and so well adapted for sound, that the sense and expressions of the actors reach even to Rome ; strive, I entreat you, and labour, not only to appear worthy of the circumstances in which you are placed, but even superior to them by youi own good qualities. XV. 43. And since, among the different offices of the state, c2 20 CICERO'S LETTERS. chance has assigned to me the domestic administration of the republic, but to you a provincial government, if my part is inferior to none, take care that yours may surpass that of others. At the same time reflect that we are not now labouring for a reputation as yet unattained, and only ex- pected; but that we are striving for the preservation of one already earned, which indeed was not so much to be desired previously, as it is now to be maintained by us. And if I could have any interests separate from yours, I should desire for myself nothing more honourable than this position which has been already acquired by me. But such is now the state of affairs, that unless all your actions and expressions in that quarter harmonize with my conduct, I shall think that I have gained nothing by such toils and such dangers on my part, in all of which you were a sharer. But if you alone, above all others, assisted me in obtaining a most honourable fame, you will now assuredly strive beyond all others that I may retain it. You must not regard only the opinions and judgments of men who are now living, but also of those who will live hereafter, though indeed their judgment will be more just, as being free from all detraction and malevolence. 44. Lastly, you ought to remember this too, that you are not seeking glory for yourself alone ; though, even were that the case, you would not neglect it, especially when you had desired to consecrate the memory of your name by the most honourable records ; but it is also to be shared with me, and to be handed down to our children. In regard to it, therefore, you must take care lest, if you are too remiss, you should seem, not merely to have managed ill for yourself, but even to have grudged reputation to your relations. XVI. 45. These remarks are not made with this view, that my words may seem to have roused you when asleep, but rather to have given you an impulse while running ; for you will always give all men cause, as you have done, to praise your equity, your moderation, your strictness, and your integrity. But from the singular love which I bear you, an insatiable eagerness for your glory possesses me; although I am of opinion, that when Asia ought now to be as well known to you as his own private house is to every man, and when such great experience is added to your excel- lent natural sense, there is nothing which can contribute to TO HIS BROTHER QU1NTUS. 21 glory that you do not thoroughly appreciate, and that does not present itself daily to your mind without exhortation from any one. But I, who, while I read your letters, think that I am listening to you, and while I am writing to you, think that I am conversing with you, am consequently most delighted with your longest letters, and am myself often Bomewhat prolix in addressing you. 46. In conclusion, I entreat and exhort you, that as good poets and careful actors are accustomed to do, so you, at the end and termination of your office and administration, should be especially careful, that this third year of your command may, like the third act of a play, 1 appear to be the most highly-finished and ornate of the whole. This you will do most easily if you shall imagine that I, whom you have always desired to please more than all the rest of the world, am always present with you, and take part in every- thing which you shall say and do. It only remains for me to beg you to take most diligent care of your health, if you wish me and all your friends to be well. Farewell. LETTER II. The following letter was written in the year after Letter I. Caesar had begun his contests with the aristocratic party ; and had brought in an agrarian law substantially the same as that of Rullus : proposing among other enactments, to plant 20,000 colonists in the public domain in Campania ; and the appointment of the commissioners to superintend the distributions of these lands was to be vested in Caesar himself. Cato opposed the bill in the senate, and Caesar ordered his lictors to seize him and carry him to prison, though he was deterred from executing this menace by the indignation of the whole senate. His colleague Bibulus was resolute in his opposition ; but when he endeavoured to resist the passing of the measure in the comitia, he was thrown down the steps of the temple 1 Why does Cicero say the third act, which is the middle act of a play ? Does he mean by acts those three parts of a play to which the poets paid so much attention, the protasis, epitasis, and catastrophe, and on the last of which they bestowed the utmost art and industry to secure the applause of the audience ? He has used the same com- parison, in almost the same words, in his Cato. If this explanation satisfy the learned, there is no reason why we should read, as has been proposed, extremus or ullimus, contrary to the old copies. Malespina. Cicero speaks as if Quintus were engaged in a play consisting only of three acts ; assigning one year to each act. FT. Ilotemannw. 22 CICERO'S LETTERS of Castor and Pollux, his fasces were broken, and he himself and some of his attendants wounded. Caesar now released the farmers of the public revenues in Asia from some of the conditions of their contracts, with which they were dissatisfied. (See preceding Letter.) And on the motion of Vatinius, the province of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum was assigned to him for five years ; to which Transalpine Gaul was afterwards added, through the influence of Pompey, who married Julia, Csesar's daughter. Clodius was carrying on the mea- sure of his adoption into a plebeian family, and openly threatening Cicero with impeachment. The consuls-elect for the ensuing year, 696 A.U.C., were Aulus Gabinius, and L. Calpurnius Piso, whose daughter Csasar had just married. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. I. 1. STATius 1 arrived at my house on the 2oth of October. His arrival, as you had written that you should be torn t pieces by your people while he was away, was a disagreeable one to me. But as it put aside the expectation of yourself, and that concourse of people which would have occurred if he had departed at the same time with you, and had not appeared till you did yourself, it seemed to me to have hap- pened not altogether disadvantageously ; for the talk of men is now exhausted, and expressions of this kind are uttered by many, 'AAA' dei TWO. ^>Sra jue^oi', 2 which I am glad is accomplished in your absence. 2. But whereas he seems to have been sent by you for the purpose of clearing himself in my opinion, that was not at all necessary: for, in the first place, he never was sus- pected by me ; nor, in what I wrote to you about him, did I write on my own judgment : but as the estimation and safety of all of us who have joined in the affairs of the common- wealth depended not only on truth, but also on reputation, I 1 A freedman of Quintus Cicero, and one who had had far too much influence over him. 2 The lines in Homer, Od. ix. 513, are 'AAA* dti Tiva 6a\fj.oii ju.' d\dtaffff firei p e8a/j.dffaaTO diva. Thus translated by Pope : I deem'd some godlike giant to behold, Or lofty hero, haughty, brave, and bold ; Not this weak pigmy-wretch, of mean design, Who not by strength subdued me, but by wine. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 23 have constantly written to you the reports of others, and not my own opinions. How common, indeed, and how un- favourable, such reports were, Statius himself learned on his arrival ; for he came just in time to hear the complaints of certain persons, which were made to me concerning himself, and had an opportunity of experiencing that the conversation of the disaffected broke forth especially against his name. 3. But that which used to move me most, was when I heard that he had greater influence with you than the gravity of your age, or the prudence requisite for such a command required; (for how many people do you think have applied to me to recommend them to Statius? how many things do you think he has himself made known, without intending it, in conversation to the same effect ?) that did not please me ; I warned, advised, deterred you. In such proceedings, even if there is the greatest fidelity in him, (as, indeed, I fully believe, since such is your opinion of him,) yet the mere appearance of a freedrnan or of a slave having so much influence over you, can contribute nothing to your dignity. And you may be assured, (for I feel bound neither to say anything without reason, nor to suppress anything through policy,) that Statius has furnished entire matter for the con- versation of those who seek to disparage you : previoualy, it could only have been understood that some persons were offended with your severity; but since he has been emanci- pated, there has not been wanting to those who were offended a subject on which they might enlarge. II. 4. I will now reply to those letters which L. Csesius delivered to me, (whom, as I understand that such is your wish, I will on no occasion fail to support,) one of which relates to Zeuxis of Blandus, 1 who, you write, is urgently recommended by me to you, while he has most unques- tionably murdered his mother. On this subject, and con- cerning this whole class of persons, attend to a few worda from me, lest you should, perchance, be surprised that I am become so solicitous of pleasing the Greeks. As I perceived that the complaints of the Greeks had too much weight, owing to the natural talent of that nation for deceiving, I sought to pacify, by every means in my power, whomsoever I heard make any complaint of you. In the first place, I 1 A town of Phrygia, 24 CICERO'S LETTERS soothed the people of Dionysopolis, who were most bitter enemies of mine; and their chief man, Hermippus, I won over, not merely by talking to him, but by admitting him to intimacy. I received, with all the courtesy and friend- ship in my power, Hephaestus of Apamea, and that most contemptible of men, Megaristus of Antandros, and Nicias of Smyrna, and all the despicable fellows of the district, even, Nymphon of Colophon. All this I did, not because those men, or their whole nation, gave me any pleasure ; for I am thoroughly weary of their levity, their flattery, and their minds that regard no duty but merely time-serving. 5. But, to return to Zeuxis, when he repeated the very same things which you write, about a conversation held by Marcus Cascellius with him, I objected to what he said, and admitted the man to my intimacy. But I know not what strong desire there was in you, when you say that you wished, since you had sewn up two Mysians in a sack at Smyrna, to give a similar example of your severity in the upper part of the province, and therefore desired by all means to draw forth Zeuxis, who, if brought before the tribunal, ought perhaps not to have been let go ; but it was not necessary that he should be sought out and enticed by blandishments, as you write, before the court, especially being a man of such a character, that I know him, from the reports of his fellow- citizens, and, every day more and more, from those of many other persons, to be almost of greater respectability than his native city. 6. But, you will say, I am partial to Greeks only. What'? did I not pacify Lucius Csecilius by every means in my power 1 ? and what a man he was! of what anger! of whav pride ! Whom, indeed, except Tuscenius, whose case cannot be mended, have I not pacified? There just occurs to me Catienus, a fickle and sordid man, though of the equestrian order: even he shall be smoothed down. That you were somewhat severe to his father, I do not blame you, for I well know that you acted with sufficient reason. But what need was there of letters of such a character as you sent to him? telling him that he was of his own accord erecting a cross for himself, from which you had already taken him down; and that you would now take care that he should be burnt olive with the applause of the whole province. Again, what did TO HIS BROTHER QUINTCS. 25 rou write to an unknown fellow called Caius Fabius, (for Titus Catienus carries about that letter too,) telling him that it was reported to you that Licinius, the kidnapper, with his young chick of an extortioner, is exacting tribute 1 You then ask Fabius to burn both father and son alive if he can, and if not, to send them t you, that they may be burnt by judicial sentence. These letters, sent doubtless in joke by you to Caius Fabius, if indeed they are yours at all, appear, when they are read, to contain a barbarity of language cal- culated to excite odium. 7. And if you look back at the precepts contained in all my letters, you will see that there is nothing censured by me except the bitterness of yoxir language and your proneness to anger, and perhaps, in one or two instances, your care- lessness as to letters sent by you. If in these matters my authority had had a little more influence over you than either your own natural disposition, which is somewhat too hasty, or a certain pleasure which you find in passionateness, or wit and facetiousness in speaking, there would really be nothing whatever for us to regret. And do you think that I feel only a trifling concern, when I hear in what estimation Vergilius, and your neighbour Caius Octavius, are held? for if you prefer yourself to your inland neighbours, the Cilician and the Syrian, you do something very great ! And it is a bitter feeling, that while those men whom I have mentioned are not superior to you in innocence, they yet surpass you in the art of conciliating good-will; men who have never read either the Cyrus of Xenophon or his Agesilaus, kings from whom, though possessed of absolute power, no one ever heard a single harsh word. But how much good I have done hi recom- mending this conduct to you from the first, I am not unaware. III. 8. Now however that you are departing, as you seem to me to be already doing, leave behind you, I entreat, as pleasant a recollection of yourself as possible. You have an exceedingly courteous successor. Your other qualities will be much regretted on his arrival. In sending letters, as I have often written to you, you have shown yourself too easy. Put out of the way, if you can, all that are unjust, all that are of an unusual character, all that are inconsistent one with another. Statius has told me that the letters written to you are often brought, and read by him, and that, if they are 26 CICERO'S LETTERS unjust, you are informed of it; but that, before he cama to you, there was no selection of your letters, though since that time there have been rolls of selected letters which commonly met with reprobation. 9. On this subject, indeed, I do not give you any advice now, for it is too late, and you must be aware that I have given you much advice, in various ways, and with great care. Attend to that, however, which I bade Theopompus tell you, when I was reminded of the circumstance by himself, namely, that by means of men well affected to you, these dif- ferent kinds of letters, as is easy, may be put out of the way ; in the first place, those which are unjust; next, those which are contradictory; then those written in an absurd and un- usual manner ; and lastly, all that are insulting to any one. I do not indeed believe that these are exactly such as they are stated to be, and if they have escaped observation through the pressure of your business, at least examine them now, and get rid of them. I have read a letter which your nomen- clator Sylla was said to have written himself, and which cannot be approved; I have read some very angry ones. 10. We will speak, however, of the letters at a fitting time. For while I had hold of this page, Lucius Flavius the praetor-elect came in to me, a man with whom I am on terms of great intimacy. He told me that you had sent letters to his agents which appeared to me most unreasonable, com- manding them to take nothing from the property which had belonged to Lucius Octavius Naso, to whom Lucius Flavius is heir, until they had paid a sum of money to Cains Fundanius; and that you had sent also to the people of Apollonia not to allow any portion of the property which had belonged to Octavius to be taken away, until the debt due to Fuudanius was paid. These things do not seem to me to be probable, for they are wholly inconsistent with your usual prudence. That the heir shall take none of the property ! What if he demurs 1 What if there is no debt at all owing 1 What ! is the pnetor accustomed to decide that there is a debt owing ? What ! (you will say) shall I not desire to serve Fundanius 1 Am I not his friend ? Am I not moved with compassion for him ? No one more so, but in some cases the path of law is of such a character that there is no room for favour. And Flavius told me that it was so expressed in that letter which TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 27 he affirmed to be yours, that you would either give the people thanks as your friends, or bring trouble on them as enemies. 11. In short, he was greatly concerned; he addressed vehement complaints to me on the subject, and entreated me to write to you with all the earnestness possible; as I now do, and entreat you most earnestly again and again, to allow the agents of Flavius to use their own discretion as to taking the property, and to write nothing to the people of Apollonia that is contrary to the interest of Flavius, and, besides, to do everything to gratify Flavius, and consequently Pompey. I should, in truth, be reluctant to appear to you over liberal, because of your injustice to him ; but I entreat you to leave of your own accord some authority and some record of a decree or paper in your own hand-writing, which may have a favourable bearing on the business and cause of Flavius. For the man being at the same time one who pays me great respect, while he is tenacious of his own rights and dignity, is dissatisfied that he had no influence with you, either from considerations of friendship or of right. And, I believe, on some occasion or other, both Pompey and Csesar recommended Flavius's interest to you, and Flavius had written to you himself on the subject, and so, I am sure, did I. If, therefore, there is any one thing which you think you ought to do at my request, let this matter be that one. If you have any regard for me, take care, strive, and mamige, that Flavius may feel all the gratitude possible both to you and to me. I ask this of you with such earnestness that I cannot ask any- thing with greater solicitude. IV. 12. As to what you write to me about Hermias, it was indeed a matter of great annoyance to me. I had written you a letter, by no means in a brotherly style, which I wrote in excessive anger, when I was provoked by a com- munication from Diodotus, the freedman of Lucullus, stating what I had heard at the moment about the agreement ; and I wished to recal it. This letter, written in au unfraternal spirit, you ought in a fraternal spirit to forgive. 13. With respect to Censorinus and Antonius, Cassius and Scsevola, I am very glad indeed that you are, as you write, beloved by them. The other matters in that letter were of a graver character than I wished : 6p6av rdv vavf, and a.Tra Oavtiv. 28 CICERO'S LETTERS Those matters will be more serious. My reproofs were full of affection ; they were not absolutely of no importance, but moderate and light. 1 I should never have thought you de- serving of the very slightest reprehension in anything, while you were conducting yourself with the most rigid propriety, if we had not many enemies. Whatever I wrote at all in the tone of admonition or reproof, I wrote from the anxiety of my caution, in which I still continue, and shall continue, and shall not cease to press you to act in a similar way. 14. Attalus the Iphemian has applied to me to prevail on you not to hinder the money which has been voted for the statue of Quintus Publicenus from being levied; and I do beg this of you, and exhort you not to allow the honour of a man of such a character, and so intimately connected with us, to be at all diminished or obstructed by your means. In the next place, Licinius, the slave of ^Esop the tragedian, my great friend, with whose person you are acquainted, has fled; he was at Athens, staying with Patro the Epicurean, as a free man : from thence he proceeded into Asia. After- wards, a man called Plato, a citizen of Sardis, and an Epi- curean, who is accustomed to be a good deal at Athens, and who was at Athens at the time when Licinius went thither, arrested the man, when he subsequently learned from ^Esop's letters that he was a runaway slave, and delivered him into custody at Ephesus ; but whether he put him in the public prison, or in the private house of correction, I could not well understand from his letter. As he is at Ephesus, I should wish you, by some means or other, to search for the man, and use all your diligence to bring him over with you. DC not consider of what value he is, for he is of little value who has now proved himself worthless ; but .^Esop is so con- cerned and indignant at the wickedness and audacity of the slave, that you can do him no greater favour than to be the means of his recovering him. V. 15. Attend now to what you are most desirous to hear. 1 This is rather obscure. Manutius interprets it, that the meaning of the Greek quotations in the letter which Cicero repented of, was, Let us keep the vessel straight on her course ; if we fail, we can die but once. And now he says, the advice which I am giving you is of greater consequence than the affairs which impelled me then to use that language, in which despondency was mingled with reproof. TO HIS BROTHEK QUINTCS. 29 The republic we have utterly lost; insomuch, that Cato, a young man of no wisdom, but still a Roman citizen and a Cato, scarcely escaped with his life, because, when he was resolved to impeach Gabinius for corruption, and the praters would not grant access for some days, or give him any oppor- tunity of addressing them, he made his way to the rostrum, and called Pompey a " private dictator." Nothing was ever more nearly happening, than that he should be killed. From this circumstance you may see what the state of the whole republic must be. 16. Still men are not likely to be wanting to my own cause. 1 They make professions of adherence to me to a wonderful extent, and offer themselves, and make promises. In truth, I am in the greatest hopes, and even in greater confidence. I hope that we shall get the upper-hand. I feel confident that I need fear no misfortune in this state of affairs. But still this is the condition of things. If Clodius impeaches me, all Italy will throng around me to secure my coming off with increased glory ; but if he attempts to carry his point by violence, I then hope that we shall resist him with force, not only through the efforts of our friends, but even those of strangers. All men promise me the aid of themselves, and their friends, and freedmen, and slaves, and even of their money. Our ancient band of worthies glows with zeal and love for me. If in times past any of them have been at all alienated, or cool, they now, from hatred to these kings, 2 unite themselves with the good citizens. Pompey promises everything, and so does Csesar; whom I trust so far as to abate nothing of my own preparation. The tribunes of the people elect are my friends ; the consuls show themselves in a very favourable light. I find the prsetors most excellent friends, and most energetic citizens, especially Domitius, Nigidius, Memmius, and Lentulus; I find the others 3 also good, but these particularly so. Study there- fore to cherish much courage and good hope. Of everything, however, which takes place from day to day I will keep you continually informed. 1 The attack with which Clodius was threatening him. 2 The triumvirs. 3 There were eight prsotors altogether. 80 CICERO'S LETTERS LETTER III. This letter was written in the next year, 696 A.u.c. Caesar, on the expiration of his consulship, did not depart at once for his province, but remained outside the city with his legions. Clodius, through his influence, obtained the tribuneship, and having won over the consuls by his promises, began a set of revolutionary measures ; introducing a bill to limit the power of the censors, and another to restore the colleges or guilds which had been suppressed a few years before ; and a third to repeal the Lex JElia Fufia. which gave the consuls a power of dissolving the comitia by declaring the auspices unfavourable. Having strengthened himself by these measures, he proceeded in his threatened attack upon Cicero. Caesar offered him one of his Cam- panian commissionerships as a means of withdrawing in honour for a while; or a lieutenancy in Gaul under himself; but he refused these offers, trusting to the attachment of the people and Pompey. When he found them likely to fail him, he, and the greater part of the senate and knights, put on black garments, as a dress of suppli- cation ; and Cicero made personal application to Piso for his protec- tion. At last, in the beginning of April, by the advice of his friends, Cicero withdrew from the city, taking an image of Minerva, and placing it in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus as a deposit ; and this letter was written while he was in exile at Thessalonica. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. I. 1. MY brother, my brother, my brother, were you afraid that, under the influence of some angry feeling, I had sent to you slaves without any letters ; or that I was even unwilling to see you ? I angry with you ! How could I have been angry with you 1 I dare say ; for you, I suppose, have crushed me ; your enemies, your unpopularity has ruined me ; and it is not I who have miserably undone you. That consulship of mine, so much extolled, has torn from me you, my children, my country, my fortunes; would that it may have taken nothing from you but me alone ! But certainly, on your part, everything honourable, agreeable, has befallen me , from me there arises to you only sorrow for my ill-fortune, fear for your own, regret, grief, and solitude. Could I be un- willing to see you? Nay, rather I was unwilling to be seen by you. 1 For you would not have seen your brother; you 1 Quintus was just quitting his government in Asia, and returning to Rome, where his enemies were preparing to impeach him. He pro- posed to come out of his way to Thessalonica, to see his brother; but Cicero urged him rather to hasten to Rome. He says to Atticus, (Ep. iii. 19,) that it was necessary for his brother " to hasten to Rome with all speed, lest any injury should be done to him in his absence." . . . TO HIS BROTHER QUINTU8. 31 would not have seen him whom you had left, him whom you had known, him to whom, weeping, you had bidden farewell, yourself weeping, of whom you, when departing, had taken leave, after he had attended you some way on your journey: you would have seen not even a trace or image of him, but a sort of effigy of a breathing corpse. And I wish that you had rather seen or heard that I was dead ; I wish that I had left you surviving, not only my life, but my dignity. 2. But I call all the gods to witness, that I have been re- called from death by this single expression alone, that all men declared that a part of your life also was laid up in my life. I have therefore erred and acted wrongly: for if I had died, my death of itself would have been an ample proof of my love and affection for you ; but I have been the cause, that though I am alive, you are without me, and that while I am alive, you are in need of the assistance of others; and that my voice is silent above all in our domestic dangers, after having often been a protection against perils which did not at all affect ourselves. For as to the fact of slaves having come to you without any letters, since you see it did not happen through anger, the cause was assuredly indolence, and an infinite multitude of sorrows and miseries. 3. With what sorrow do you think that these very words are written? with as much as I know that yoii read them. Can I ever cease to think of you, or ever think of you without tears? For when I regret your absence, is it a brother alone that I am regretting? Nay, I rather regret one who is almost a contemporary in affection; 1 a son in reverential " Therefore I preferred that he should hasten to Rome, instead of coming to see me ; and at the same time, (for I will tell the plain truth, by which you will be able to see the greatness of my distress,) I could not bring my mind to see him who is so greatly attached to me in such trouble ; nor to exhibit to him my own misery and grief, and the utter ruin of my fortune ; nor could I endure to be seen by him. And I feared, too, what no doubt would have been the case, that he would not be able to tear himself from me." This letter to Atticus bears the same date as the one in the text to Quintus. 1 Suavitate prope cequalem. Cicero's meaning (if the text be aa Cicero wrote it) seems to be, that his brother is almost his equal, not merely in length of life, but in length of affection. Marcus has loved Quintus longer than Quintus has loved Marcus, because Marcus loveul Quintus in his infancy before Quintus could return his love. In saying this, I have some doubt whether I am giving the right sense to cither 32 CICERO'S LETTERS obedience ; a father in wisdom. What has ever been agreeablt to nie without you, or to you without me ? Why need I add that at the same time I regret the absence of my daughter- A maiden of what affection, what modesty, what ability ! the image of my own countenance and conversation and disposi tion. Why need I add, that I regret also my son, that most graceful youth, and most dearly loved by me ! whom I. like a cruel and hard-hearted man, dismissed from my embrace, a youth of greater wisdom than I could have wished ; for the unhappy boy had sense to feel what was going on. Why too should I speak of your son, your own image, whom my boy Cicero both loved as a brother and respected even as an elder brother 1 ? Why should I observe that I did not permit that most miserable woman, my most faithful wife, to attend me in my exile, in order that there might be some one to protect the relics left from our common calamity, our common children ? 4. But still, I did write you a letter, in such a way as I could, and gave it to Philogonus your freedman, and I imagine that it was subsequently delivered to you ; in which I continued to exhort and entreat you, as your slaves told you in the verbal message which they gave you from me, to go straight to Rome, and to go with speed. For, in the first place, I wished you to be there to protect yourself, in case there were still any enemies of ours whose cruelty was not yet satisfied with the calamities which had befalleu me ; and, in the second place, I dreaded the lamentations which must have broken out at our meeting, and I could not have en- dured your departure; I feared too that very thing which you mention in your letter, that you would not have been able to tear yourself from me. For these reasons, this great misfortune of not seeing you- at all, than which it does not suavitas or cequalis. But we can hardly take cequalis in the sense of " equal," for Cicero would have offered poor praise to his brother if he had said to him, ' You are almost my equal in suavitas." " Suavitas," says Malespina, " est inter amicos." But the soundness of the text is extremely doubtful. The old editions have suavitate prope cequalem, prope frairem; the modern editors omit prope fratrem. Lambinua would read suavitate fratrem, setate prope cequalem, which Gruter calls a frigid emendation, but which would materially improve the passage. jEtate, however, is by no means necessary; for, if it were omitted, cequalis would still be taken in the sense of ' equal in age." TO HI3 BROTHER QUINTUS. 33 seem possible for any more painful and bitter grief to have befallen affectionate and devoted brothers, was less bitter and less distressing than our meeting and our separation would have been. 5. Now, if you can, do what I, who have always appeared to you to be a man of fortitude, cannot; raise and strengthen yourself if there is any contest to be encountered. I hope, if my hope has any weight, that your own integrity, and the affection which the city bears you, and even pity for me, will bring you some protection. But if you find yourself free from that danger, you will do, I am sure, anything which you shall think possible tu be done in my behalf. On this subject many of my friends write me many letters, and show that they still entertain hopes ; but I myself do not see clearly what to hope, as my enemies have very great power; and of my friends, some have deserted me, and some have even betrayed me, as they fear perhaps in my return a reproof to their own wickedness. But what is the real position of affairs in that respect, I should wish you to examine thoroughly, and to let me know. For myself, as long as it shall be of any use to you, if you shall see that there is danger to be met, I will continue to live; longer than that I cannot exist: for no prudence and no learning has power enough to endure such a weight of sorrow. 6. I know that there has been a more honourable and a more useful opportunity of dying, but I not only let that slip, but many other things too; but, if I chose to waste time in lamenting what is past, I should be doing nothing but increasing your sorrow, and exhibiting my own folly. What, however, neither ought to be done nor can be done, is for me to remain in so miserable and dishonourable an ex- istence as this any longer than the chance of an opportunity of serving you or any well-grounded hope shall require ; so that I, who was formerly most happy in my brother, in my children, my wife, my resources, and even in respect of riches, 1 and in dignity, authority, repute, and favour, not inferior to the greatest men who have ever existed, now, in these crushed and ruined circumstances, am no longer able even to lament, myself and my friends. 1 Genere ipso pecunice. Paul Maautius would read, gencre ipso ttecunid. D 34 CICERO'S LETTEES 7. Why, therefore, have you written to me about any billa of exchange? As if your resources did not now support me. in which very matter, miserable that I am, I both see and feel how great an error I have committed : while you have to satisfy those in whose debt you are, out of your own means and those of your son, I have squandered to no pur- pose money drawn out of the treasury in your name. But still, the sum which you mentioned in your letters has been paid to Mark Antony, and the same amount to Csepio. And what I have with me is quite sufficient for the objects which I have in view ; for whether I am restored, or whether I am forced to abandon all hope, I want nothing more here ; and as for you, if perchance any annoyance should arise, I advise you to apply to Crassus and to Calidius. 8. How much trust may be placed in Hortensius I do not know. He treated me with the greatest possible dishonesty and treachery, though with the greatest pretences of affection, and with unremitting attention day after day, Arrius being also in league with him ; and it was from being deceived by their advice, and promises, and recommendations, that I fell into this misfortune. But you will take no notice of this, that they may not injure you ; only be on your guard on this point, (and with this view I would have you cultivate the friendship of Horteusius himself through the instru- mentality of Pomponius,) 1 that that verse 2 which was quoted against you with reference to the Aurelian law, when you were a candidate for the sedileship, may not be confirmed by false witness. For there is nothing that I am so much afraid of as that, when men find out how much pity for me, your prayers, and a regard for your safety, is likely to excite, they will oppose you with greater violence. 9. I believe that Messala is well affected towards you ; and I think that even Pompey pretends to be so ; but I wish that you may have no occasion to experience this. And I would pray to the gods that you might not, if they had not given 1 Titus Pomponius Atticus. 2 Cicero was afraid, I imagine, that his brother Quintus might be accused of bribery, because, when he was a candidate for the sedileship, he had given away money contrary to the laws ; on which occasion some verse had beet quoted about him, in reference to the Aurelian law, touching upon bribery. We may suppose that by the Aurelian law some provisions were made regarding bribery. Paul Manutius. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 35 up attending to my prayers. But still, I do pray that they may be content with the infinite misfortunes which have fallen upon me ; in which, however, there is not only no dishonour from wickedness, but my whole sorrow is that most severe punishments are inflicted upon the most virtuous actions. 10. Why, my brother, need I recommend to you my daughter and yours, and my little Cicero? One of my sorrows is that their orphaned state will cause you no less grief than it causes me. But, as long as you are safe, they will not be orphans. As to the rest, so may some safety be granted me, and an opportunity of dying in my native land, as tears suffer me to write no more. I would have you also take care of Terentia, and write me an answer with a full account of everything. Keep up your courage as far as the nature of circumstances will allow. Dated on the 13th of June at Thessalonica. LETTER IV. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. I ENTREAT you, my brother, if you and all my friends are involved in my individual ruin, do not attribute it to any dishonesty or evil-doing of mine, but rather to my impru- dence and ill-fortune. There is no error on my part, except that I have believed those men, by whom I thought it would be impious for me to be deceived, or even for whose very interests I did not think it would be advantageous. But every one of my most intimate friends every one most nearly connected with me, and most dear to me, either feared for himself or envied me ; and so, wretched that I was, I had nothing but the good faith of my friends. * * * My own prudence was at fault. 2. But if your own innocence, and the pity which men feel, sufficiently protect you at this moment from annoyance, you no doubt see clearly whether there is any hope of safety left for me. For Pomponius and Sestius, and my friend Piso, have hitherto detained me at Thessalonica, as they prevented me from departing to a greater distance from the city, on 2 36 CICEKO'S LETTERS account of I know not what changes; but I looked for seme result, more because of their letters, than from any well- founded hope of my own. For what could I hope, with my enemy in full power, under the rule of my detractors, with my friends faithless, and numbers envious of me ? 3. Of the new tribunes of the people, 1 Sestius indeed is full of wishes to serve me, and so, as I hope, are Curius, Milo, Fadius, and Fabricius ; though Clodius is most bitter against a man who, even when out of office, will be able to exert the same power to stir up the assembly: and then, some one will also be prepared to interpose his veto. 4. These things were not set before me when I was leaving the city, but I was constantly told that I should be brought back in three days with the greatest honour. How did you act then 1 ? you will ask me. How? Many things came together to disturb my mind; the sudden defection of Pompey, the alienation of the consuls, also that of the pnetors, the fears of the farmers of the public revenues, the dread of civil war. The tears of my friends prevented me from going forth to encounter death; a course which cer- tainly would have been best suited to my honour, and the best calculated to afford me a refuge from my intolerable miseries. But on this subject I wrote to you in that letter which I gave to Phaethon. Now, since you too are sunk down into such grief and perplexity as no one else ever suffered, if the pity of men can afford any relief in our common calamity, you will certainly gain an incredible advantage ; but if we are utterly ruined (alas, me !) then I shall have been the destruction of all my friends, to whom I was previously no disgrace. 5. But do you, as I wrote to you before, examine the matter in all its bearings, and acquaint yourself with it thoroughly, and write me the exact truth, as the state of the time with reference to me, and not as your affection for me, dictates. I will cling to life as long as I shall think that it is for your advantage, or that it is possible to retain any hope ; you will know Sestius, who is most friendly to me ; and I imagine you will wish, for your own sake, to know 1 The election of tribunes took place in the middle of July, and thia letter was apparently writte: soon afterwards, in the same year as the preceding one. TO HIS BROTHER QUINT US. 37 Lentulus, who is going to be consul ; although facts are more stubborn things than words. You will see fully what is required, and what is the state of affairs; if no one shall despise your solitary condition and our common distress, something Avill be able to be effected by you, or else not by any means. But if your enemies begin to attack you, do not be idle,; for against me they will not proceed with swords, but with law-suits. However, I trust that there may be nothing of this. I entreat you to write me full information of every- thing; and to think, if you please, that there is in me less courage or wisdom than before, and but less love and affection for you. 38 CICERO S LETTERS BOOK II. LETTER I. This letter was written at the end of the year 697 A.tr.c., in the consul- ship of Lentulus Spinther and Metellus Nepos. Cicero had never been formally banished ; for though Clodius had prevailed to inter- dict him from fire and water, he yet did not propose any vote that he should be banished, nor did he attempt to have his name removed from the roll of the senate. He did indeed destroy his house, and dedicate the site to the goddess Liberty ; and the consuls seized his Tusculan villa ; but still no legal sentence had ever been pro- nounced against him. At the end of the year 696, when his enemy Piso, the late consul, was coming to Macedonia, which had been allotted to him as his province, Cicero moved to Dyrrhachium, in order to be nearer Italy, where his brother, and Pomponius Atticus (mentioned in the last letter), were making great exertions to render the people favourable to his return. Pompey had become alienated from Clodius by his violence and insolence ; and Lentulus, one of the consuls, was wholly devoted to Cicero. The consuls formally proposed that Cicero should be invited to return. One of the tri- bunes, Serranus, prevented the formal adoption of any such measure for a time ; but _in August it was carried, and in September Cicero returned to Rome, where he was received with acclamations. He immediately began to cultivate the good-will of Pompey, by 'pro- posing his appointment to an extraordinary commission for supplying the city, which was iu great distress from scarcity ; and^he himself accepted a subordinate commissionership. The site of his house on the Palatine hill was restored to him, it being declared to have been illegally and informally consecrated ; and a sum of money was voted to him to recompense him for his other losses, though Cicero was not at all satisfied with the amount of compensation. The consuls- elect for the ensuing year were Lentulus Mtrcellinus, and Marciua Philippus. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. THE letter which you read I had written in the morning, but Licinius acted with kind consideration in coming to me in the evening as soon as the senate was adjourned, in order that, if I chose, I might write you an account of all that had taken place. The senate was more numerous than we TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 39 had thought it could possibly have been in the rncnth of December, close upon the festival days. 1 Of the men of consular dignity, we were there ourselves, and the two con- suls-elect; and Publius Servilius, and Marcus Luoullus, and Lepidus, and Volcatius, and Glabrio, praetors. We certainly were a very numerous assembly, in all about two hundred. Lupus had excited our expectations; he discussed the ques- tion of the Campanian land with sufficient accuracy. He was listened to with profound silence. You are not ignorant of the subject. He did not pass over a single one of our actions. Some sharp things were said against Caius Caesar ; some insulting observations were made on Gellius ; and some expostulations addressed to Pompey in his absence. When he had summed up the whole matter at a late hour, he said he would not ask us for our votes, lest he should lay on us the burden of incurring any one's enmity; from the reproaches which had been uttered on previous occasions, and from the present silence, he was well aware what the feelings of the senate were. Immediately he began to adjourn the senate. Then Marcellinus said, "Do not, Lupus, from our silence attempt to judge what on this occasion we either approve or disapprove; I, as far as I myself am concerned, and I believe that the same feelings influence the rest, am silent, because I do not think that, as Pompey is absent, it is proper for the question of the Campanian land to be dis- cussed." Then he said that he had no wish to detain the senate any longer. 2. Racilius rose, and began to make a motion with respect to the threatened impeachments. And, first of all, he asked Marcellinus's opinion. He, after having complained with great bitterness of the conflagrations, and murders, and stonings perpetrated by Clodius, gave his opinion that he himself should assign the judges by lot with the assistance of the city praetor; that when the business of assigning of the judges was finished, the comitia should be held; and that whoever offered any obstacle to the tribunals would act con- trary to the interests of the republic. After his opinion had been received with great approbation, Caius Cato spoke against 1 From the middle of December to the end of the year, the whola time was taken up with the different festivals, Saturnalia, Opalia, Angeronalia, Larentinalia, and Juvenalia. 40 CICERO'S LETTERS it, and so did Cassias, calling forth great acclamations from the senate, as he expressed his opinion that the comitia ought to take precedence of the impeachments. Philippua agreed with Leutulus. 3. Afterwards Racilius asked me my opinion, first of all the senators out of office. I made a long speech about the whole frenzy and piratical wickedness of Publius Clodius ; I accused him as if he had been on his trial, with incessant and favour- able murmurs of assent 'from the whole senate. Severus Autistius praised my speech at tolerable length, and in lan- guage far from ineloquent; and he supported the cause of the courts of justice, and said that he should always consider it of the greatest importance. That opinion was adopted. Then Clodius. when he was asked his opinion, began to take up all the rest of the day with his speech; he declared in furious language, that he had been attacked by Racilius in a most insulting and discourteous manner. And then his factious mob on a sudden, in the space in front of the senate- house, and on the steps, raised a very great disturbance, being excited, I imagine, against Quintus Sextilius, and the friends of Milo. The fear of this uproar spreading abroad, we im- mediately broke up, with great complaints from all parties. You have an account of the transactions of one day. The rest of the business, I imagine, will be postponed till the month of January. Of the tribunes of the people, we find Racilius by far the best. Antistius, too, seems likely to be friendly to us. As for Plancius, he is wholly devoted to us. If you love me, be very considerate and careful how you put to sea in the month of December. LETTER II. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. IT is not from pressure of business, with which, how- ever, I am pretty much hindered, but from a slight attack of weak eyes, that I am led to dictate this letter, instead of writing with my own hand, as I usually do to you. And in the first place I excuse myself to you in the very par- ticular in which I accuse you ; fcr no one has ever yet asked me, "Whether I wished to send anything to Sardinia?" but TO HIS BROTHER QUIITTU8. 4 1 I suppose you often find people ask you, "Whether you wish to send anything to Rome 1" As to what you wrote tc me in the name of Lentulus and Sestius, I spoke on that matter with Cincius. However the business stands, it is not a veiy easy one ; but in truth Sardinia has something very well suited to recal to people's mind a circumstance which had escaped their recollection. For as the great Grac- chus, when he was augur, after he arrived in that province, recollected what had happened to him contrary to the auspices, when holding the comitia in the Campus Martius for the election of consuls, so you, too, seem to me, now that you are in Sardinia, 1 to have reflected again at your leisure on the shape of the house of Minucius, and on the debt which you owe to Pomponius. But as yet I have bought nothing. The auction of Culleo's property has taken place. There was no one to purchase the property; if the terms should be very favourable, perhaps I may not let it slip myself. 2. About your building, I do not cease to press Cyrus, and I hope that he will attend to his duty; but everything is a little slow, because of the expectation which is entertained of a frantic sedileship. 2 For the comitia seem likely to take place without delay ; they have been given out for the 22d of January. However, I would not wish you to be uneasy about them ; every kind of caution shall be practised by us. 3. A vote of the senate has been passed about the king of Alexandria, 3 that it appears dangerous to the republic for him to be restored with a multitude; and when there fol- lowed a contest in the senate, whether Lentulus or Pompey should be appointed to restore him, Lentulus appeared to have the majority. In this transaction I satisfied my sense of obligation to Lentulus to admiration, and that of good- 1 Quintus was in Sardinia, as one of Pompey's commissioners to procure corn for the city. 1 Clodius was standing for the sedileship. 3 This was Ptolemy Auletes, who was now at Rome, and who had procured a vote to be passed that he should be restored to his king- dom. The vote that he should not be restored with a multitude, waa caused by a verse which Caius Cato, a tribune, professed to have found in the Sibylline verses, and which he interpreted to mean that an army ought not to be employed in the matter ; while one of tha reasons which made so many desirous of the appointment to rest oil him, was, that it would furnish a pretext for levying an army. 42 CICERO'S LETTERS will to Pompey with honour. But, by those who wished to disparage Lentulus, the matter was protracted by means oi false accusations. The days of the comitia followed, during which a senate could not be held. What will be the result of the bandit-like conduct of the tribunes, I cannot conceive; but still I suspect that Caninius will carry his motion by force. What Pompey's wishes in that matter are, I do not clearly see ; but every one discerns what his friends want : and the creditors of the king, without any disguise, furnish money to be used against Lentulus. Beyond all doubt, the matter now appears to be out of the reach of Lentulus, to my great sorrow, although he has done many things for which, if it were proper, we might fairly feel angry with him. 4. I should wish you, if it is convenient, as soon as the weather is fine and settled, to embark on board ship, and come to me ; for there are great numbers of things in which I want you daily in every way. Your family and mine are well. 19th January. LETTER III. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. I WROTE to you already what happened before; learn now what took place afterwards. The business of embassies was postponed from the 1st of February to the 13th. On that day the matter was not settled. On the 2d of February, Milo was present; and Pompey came to give him his coiinte- nance. Marcellus spoke, being asked by me. We came off very respectably. The day of trial was put off to the 6th of February. In the meantime, as the business of the embas- sies was postponed till the 13th, a motion was made about the provinces of the quaestors, and about some compliments to be paid to the praetors; but, from the introduction of frequent complaints about the general state of affairs, no business was transacted. Caius Cato proposed a law to take away his command from Lentulus. His son changed his dress. 2. On the 6th of February Milo appeared ; Pompey spoke, or rather, intended to speak ; for as soon as he was on his legs, the mob in Clodius's pay raised a disturbance, which lasted throughout his whole speech ; and in such a manner TO HIS BROTHER QU1NTUS. 43 that he was hindered from being heard, not merely by the noise, but by reproaches and abuse. When he had summed up what he had been saying, (for in that matter he behaved with courage enough; he was not deterred from proceeding; he said all that he meant to say; and, indeed, there were moments when he was heard in silence ; and he continued to the end with great authority ; but when he had summed up,) up rose Clodius, when such a shout was raised against him by our party, for we determined to pay him off, that he was master neither of his senses, nor of his expressions, nor of his countenance. This scene was continued till two o'clock, Pompey having scarcely finished his peroration at twelve, while every sort of abuse, and even the most obscene verses, were uttered in the way of attack upon Clodius and Clodia. He, furious with passion, and pale with terror, amid the uproar, addressed questions to his mob: "Who was it that was killing the people with famine?" The mob replied, " Pompey." " Who was it that wanted to go to Alexandria?" They replied again, " Pompey." "Whom did they wish to go ?" They answered, " Crassus." And he, on this occasion, was present with Milo ; but with a disposition far from friendly. At about three o'clock, as if a signal had been given, Clodius's mob began to spit upon our party. Indignation rose to a great height; they began to press on in order to drive us from our seats. A rush was made upon them by our party; and a flight of the mob took place. Clodius was driven from the rostrum, and we too then fled, lest we should meet with any accident in the confusion. The senate was summoned to the senate-house; Pompey went home. Nor did I indeed attend the senate, that I might neither be silent on matters of such importance, nor offend the feelings of the well-affected citizens, by defending Pompey; for he was attacked by Bibulus, and Curio, and Favonius, and the younger Servilius. The matter was put off till the next day. Clodius deferrred the day of impeachment to the Quirinalia. 3. On the 9th of February, the senate met in the temple of Apollo, in order that Pompey might be present. The matter was handled by him with great gravity. On that day nothing was done. On the 10th of February, a decree of senate was made in the temple of Apollo, " That what had been done on the 6th of February had been contrary to the interests of the republic." On that day Cato inveighed 44; CICERO'S BETTERS against Pompey with great vehemence ; and throughout hia whole speech accused him as if he had been upon his trial. Of' me, much against my will^ he said a great deal; extolling me very highly; and when he exposed Pompey's treachery towards me, he was listened to with profound silence by the disaffected. Pompey replied to him with great energy, and gave a character of Crassus, and said in plain words, that he would be better prepared to defend his life than Africanug had been, whom Caius Carbo had killed. 4. Thus great matters appeared to me to be in agitation; for Pompey understands these things, and communicates them to me, being well aware that plots are formed against his life; that Caius Cato is supported by Crassus, that money is fur- nished to Clodius, and that both of them are encouraged by him, by Curio, and Bibulus, and the rest of those who are always disparaging him; and that he has to take the most diligent care not to be overwhelmed, while the populace which attends all the assemblies is almost entirely alienated from him; while the nobility is hostile to him, the senate un- favourable, and the youth of the city corrupted. He is, therefore, preparing himself, and sending for people from tha country. And Clodius is strengthening his mob of artisans. A strong force is being prepared for the Quirinalia, and in that respect we are much superior to the number of Pompey's adherents. But a great body of men is also expected from Picenum and Gaul, that we may also resist Cato's motion* about Milo and Lentulus. 5. On the 10th of February, Sestius was impeached under the Pupiuian law by Cneeus Nerius the informer, on a charge of corruption, and on the same day by a certain Marcus Tullius for violence. He was sick. Immediately, as it was our duty to do, we went to see him at his house, and pro- mised our entire energies to his service ; and we did this con- trary to the general expectation, (as men thought that we were with reason offended with him,) in order to appear both to him and to all men to be of a most humane and grateful disposition. And so we shall continue to do. But this same informer, Nerius, add^d to the number of those whom he affirmed to be his accomplices, Cuama Lentulua Vaccias, and Caius Cornelius. On the same day, a vote of the senate was passed, that all the different com- panies, and those who belonged to the different decuria;, TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 43 should depart; and that a law should be enacted respecting them, to the effect, that those who should not depart, should be liable to the punishment which is inflicted for violence. 6. On the llth of February I made a speech in defence of Bestia, who was accused of corruption before Cnseus Domitiua the praetor, in the middle of the forum, in the presence of a vast crowd of people, and while speaking, I happened to touch upon that occasion when Sestius, after receiving many wounds in the temple of Castor, was saved by the assistance of Bestia. Here I very seasonably made the best of those things which were imputed to Sestius as crimes, and I extolled him with well-deserved praises, with the great approbation of all men. The affair was exceedingly grateful to the man. And I mention this to you now, because in your letters you have often given me a hint on keeping well with Sestius. 7. On the 12th of February I wrote this letter before daybreak; on that day I was going to sup with Pomponius on the occasion of his marriage. Everything else in our affairs of this nature is, as you described to me, though I could hardly believe you, full of dignity and influence, which have been restored both to you and to me, ray brother, in consequence of your prudence, patience, integrity, piety, and courteousness. The house of Licinius at the grove of Pis: is hired for you ; but I hope that within a few months after the 1st of July, you will move into your own. Those elegant tenants, the Lamise, have hired your house in the Carinae. I have never received any letter from you since that which waa dated at Olbia. I want to know what you are doing, and how you are amusing yourself ; and above all things, I want to see you as soon as possible. Take care to preserve your health, my brother, and though it is winter, recollect that it is r, Sardinian 1 winter. 15th February. LETTER IV. Marcus to ,\is brother Quintus, greeting. 1. OUR friend Sestius was acquitted on the 14th of March, aud ho was acquitted unanimously; a point which was o 1 Sardinia had a bad character as an unhealthy island. 46 CICERO'S LETTERS very great importance to the republic, that there should appear to be no difference of opinion in a cause of that kind. As to that other object too, which I knew was often a cause of anxiety to you, namely, that we should give no oppor- tunity to any ill-disposed person to censure us, (who might say that we were ungrateful if we did not bear with that man's perverseness in some particulars as patiently as pos- sible,) you may be assured that we completely attained it in that trial, so that I was considered to have displayed the greatest possible sense of gratitude; for in defending the ill-tempered man I abundantly satisfied him; and, for my own gratification, I, as he was above all things desirous should be done, cut up Vatinius, by whom he was openly attacked, amid the applause of gods and men. Moreover, when our friend Paullus was produced as an evidence against Sestius, he confirmed the statement that he was going to lay an information against Vatinius, if Macer Licinius delayed to do so ; when Macer rose from the seats occupied by the friends of Sestius, and declared that he would not fail to stand by him. Would you know the result? Vatinius, petulant and audacious as he is, went away in great agitation, and greatly weakened in his influence. 2. Your son Quintus, a most excellent boy, is going on with his education remarkably well ; and I have now the more opportunity of noticing this, as Tyrannic gives him lessons at my house. The building of both our houses is going on vigorously. I have provided for the payment of half his money to your contractor ; and I hope that before the winter we shall be both living together under one roof. Respecting my daughter Tullia, a girl who is really very much attached to you, I hope that I have concluded matters with Crassipes. 1 There were two days after the Latin holidays which are accounted sacred, or else it would have been settled. Latiar 2 was going * * * * * 1 Tullia was a widow now. Her first husband had been Liicius Calpurnius Piso Frugi. She now married Junius Crassipes. After hia death, she married Dolabella. 2 There is some error in the MS. here. This name is most likely wrong ; and the end of the letter seems tc be lost. There is some difference of opinion between the various editors, as to the division of this, and one or two of the subsequent letters. I have fallowed the old arrangement, which ia ako adopted by Nobbe. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 47 LETTER V. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. I HAD written you a letter before, in which it was men- tioned that my daughter Tullia was betrothed to Crassipes on the 4th of April; and I gave you also other details of the affairs of the republic, and of my own private matters. The following particulars have taken place since: On the 5th of April, a sum of money, to the amount of more than three hundred and twenty thousand pounds, 1 was voted to Pompey, by a decree of the senate, to purchase corn for the city. But on the same day there was a violent discussion about the lands in Campania, with an uproar in the senate almost equal to that of an assembly of the people. The want of money, and the high price of corn, made the dispute sharper. 2. I must not omit to mention this either. The Capitoline 2 college, and the priests of Mercury, have expelled Marcus Furius Flaccus, a Roman knight, and a most worthless fellow, from the college, though he was present when they came to the decision, and threw himself at the feet of every one of them. LETTER VI. Marcus Cicero to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. ON the 6th of April I gave the wedding-feast to Cras- Bipes. But at this banquet that excellent boy, your and 1 HSCCCC. Paul Manutius considers that quadringenties centena millia numm'Am is meant, i.e. 40,000 sestertia, or something more than 320,000. Let it be observed, however, that with regard to most, or all,- of the sums of money mentioned in these letters, there is very great uncertainty. 2 The Cftpitoline college consisted of men dwelling in the Capitol and in the citadel, of whom Camillus made a college, for the purpose of superintending the games in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus, which were instituted for the preservation of the CapitoL See Livy, v. 50. 48 CICERO'S LETTERS my Quintus, was not present, because he had taken some slight offence; and therefore, two days afterwards, I went to Quintus, and found him quite candid; and he held a long conversation with me, full of good feeling, about the quarrels of our wives. What would you have more? Nothing could be in better taste than his language. Pomponia, however, made some complaints of you; but these matters we will discuss when we meet. 2. When I left the boy I went into your grounds ; the business was going on with plenty of builders. I urged Longilius, the contractor, to make haste. He assured me positively that he was anxious to give us satisfaction. It wiK be a very fine house, for a better notion could now be formed of it than we had conceived from the plan. At the same time, my house, too, was going on with great speed. That day I supped with Crassipes ; and after supper I went in a litter to see Pompey at his villa. I had not been able to meet Lucceius, because he was away, and I was very anxious to see him, because I was going to leave Rome the next day, and because he was going to Sardinia. At last I found the man, and begged him to send you back to us as soon as possible. He said he would do so immediately. And he was going to set out as he said on the llth of April, with the intention of embarking either at Leghorn or at Pisa. 3. As soon as he shall have arrived, my brother, do not let slip the first opportunity for sailing, provided the weather be favourable. That abundance (ayu.tAacat wno aad undertaken it. TO HIS BROTHER 4UINTU8. 65 votes in all, after the senators and knights had condemned him. The same day, in the afternoon, I appeared in court to defend Vatinius; that was not a difficult task. The comitia are postponed till the month of September. The trial of Scaurus will be brought on immediately, and we shall not be wanting in our exertions on his behalf. I by no means approved of the Messmates of Sophocles, although I see that the piece was very neatly acted by you. 4. Now I come to that, which perhaps ought to have made the first part of my letter. how delightful to me are your letters from Britain. I was afraid of the ocean : I was afraid of the shore of the island. I do not indeed despise the obstacles which may yet remain, but they present more ground for hope than for fear, and I am anxious more because of the eagerness of my expectation than from any alarm. And I see that you have an admirable subject for writing about. What a situation you have to describe, what natural cha- racteristics of circumstances and places, what customs of the people, what nations and battles, and even what a commander ! I will with all my heart help you, as you ask, in whatever you wish ; and will send you the verses for which you ask, like an owl to Athens. 5. But ah ! I see that I am kept in the dark by you ; for how, my dear brother, did Caesar express himself about my verses ? for he wrote me word before, that he had read my first book, and praised the beginning so much that he says he has not read anything better even in Greek. What came after, he thought, was in some places a little paOvpiyrepa. (more careless), this is the very word that he uses. Tell me th<> truth, is it the matter, or the style that does riot please him ? There is no reason why you should fear to tell me the truth. for I shall not be an atom the less satisfied with myseii Write to me on this subject with frankness, and, as jou always do, with brotherly affection. 60 CICERO S LFTTERS. BOOK III. LETTER I. Marcus Cicero to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. 1. AFTER the great heat, (for I do not recollect ever having felt greater,) I refreshed myself in the neighbourhood of Arpinum, -with the extreme agreeableness of the river, during the days of the games, 1 having recommended the men of my tribe to Philotimus. I was at Arcanum on the 10th of September: there I found Messidius and Philoxenus, and the water which they had contracted to bring near the villa flowing pleasantly enough, especially considering the great general drought ; and they said that they would collect it in somewhat larger quantities. Everything was going on well with Henis. 2 At your Manlian farm I found Diphilus slower than Diphilus ; yet nothing remained for him to do, except the bath-rooms, the colonnade to walk under, and the aviary. The villa pleased me exceedingly, because the paved portico had an appearance of great dignity, which was now for the first time visible to me, since it is completely uncovered, and the columns are polished. Everything now depends on the ceiling being, elegant, which shall be an object of attention to me. The pavements appeared to me to be done correctly; some of the rooms I did not quite like, and ordered them to be altered., 2. Where they say that you have written orders for a small hall to be made in the colonnade, the place pleased me better as it is ; for there did not seem to be room enough even for a little hall, nor is one usually made, except in houses in which there is a larger hall; nor could it have any bed- chambers attached to it, or apartments of that kind. But now, even from the mere beauty of the vaulted roof, it will get the character of an excellent summer retreat. 8 However, 1 The Roman games took place in September. 2 The bailiff. 3 Manutius thinks this quite corrupt and unintelligible. TO HTS BROTHER QUINTUS. 67 if you are of a different opinion, write again at the first opportunity. In the bath-rooms I have moved forward the stoves into the other corner of the dressing-room ; because they were before placed in such a manner, that their chimney, from which the heat comes, was situated under the bed- chambers. But I greatly approved of having a tolerably large bed-chamber and a lofty winter-room, because they were of a good size, and admirably situated on one side of the covered walk, on that side, I mean, which is next to the bath-rooms. Diphilus had not put the pillars upright, nor opposite to one another; he will accordingly pull them down again. Some day or other he will learn how to use a perpen- dicular and a line. Altogether, I hope that Diphilus's work will be finished in a few months, for Csesius, who was with me on that occasion, gives most diligent attention to it. II. 3. From that place we went straight along the Vitu- larian road to your Fufidian farm, which, according to the last communication, I had bought of Fufidius at Arpinum, for a little more than eight thousand pounds. I never saw a place more shady in the summer, with water flowing through the land in many places, and in great abundance. What would you have ? Csesius thought that you would easily be able to irrigate fifty acres of meadow-land. This, at all events, which I understand better, I can affirm positively, that you will have a villa of exceeding pleasantness, with a fish-pond, and springs of water besides, and a palaestra, and a green wood. I hear that you wish to retain this farm near Bovillse ; what you may choose to do about it, you will decide yourself. Calvus said that though the water was excepted, and the right over that water reserved, and though a service 1 lay upon the farm, still we could keep up the price if we chose to sell it. I had Messidius with me : he said that he had agreed with you at three sestertii 2 a foot ; and observed that he himself 'had measured the distance, by steps, making fourteen hundred paces. To me it appeared more; but I will under- take to say, that the money could nowhere be more advan- tageously spent. I had sent for Chilo from Venafrum ; but Service, servitus, on a piece of land, when there was a right of way through it, of carrying water through it, of taking water from it f feeding cattle on it, &c. 2 The sestertius was equal to 1 penny 8J farthing*. F2 68 CICERO'S LETTERS that very day a subterraneous passage at Venafrum had crushed four of his fellow-workmen and apprentices. 4. On the 13th of September I was at Laterium. I saw the road, which pleased me so much, that I thought it was a public work, with the exception of a hundred and fifty paces ; for I measured it from the little bridge, which is close to the temple of Farina on the side of Satricum. At that spot, dust has been thrown in and not gravel ; but that shall be altered ; and that part of the road is very steep ; but I was told that it could not have been carried in any other direction, especially as you did not wish to have it go through the farm of Locusta, or through that of Varro. Varro had almost com- pleted the roads through his estate before. Locusta had not touched his ; but I shall call upon him at Rome, and, as I expect, shall move him ; and at the same time I will ask Marcus Taurus, who is now at Rome, and who, I hear, gave you a promise on the subject, about carrying the water through his farm. 5. I conceived a good opinion of Nicephoius, your bailing and I asked him, whether you had given him any charge about that little building at Laterium of which you spoke to me. And then he told me, in reply, that he himself had contracted for that work for about a hundred and thirty pounds; but that afterwards you had added a good deal to the work to be done, but nothing to the money to be paid for it ; and that, therefore, he had given up the contract. I am in truth exceedingly well-pleased that you should add those things as you determined ; although the villa which at present exists, seems to be something like philosophy re- proving the insanity visible in other villas : however, that addition will give great pleasure. I praised, too, your ornamental gardener ; he clothes every- thing so with ivy, not only the foundations of the villa, but the spaces between the pillars of the covered walk. So that those figures in the Greek dresses appear to be cutting the trees into shape, and to be selling the ivy. As for the dressing- room, nothing can be more cool and mossy. 6. You have now heard nearly all that I have to say about country affairs. He and Philotimus and Cincius are press- ing forward the polishing of your town-house ; but I myself also frequently go to look at it, as is easy to be done ; and I TO HIS BROTHER QUINTU8. 69 therefore hope you will feel relieved from that cause of anxiety. III. 7. As to what you ai'e always asking me about Cicero, I pardon you, indeed ; but I also wish you to pardon me. For I will not allow you to love him more than I do myself; and I wish that he had been with me during those days In the country near Arpinum, as he himself had desired, and I no less. As to Pomponia, if it seems good to you, I wish you would send an order, that when we go anywhere she is to go with us, and take the boy. I shall raise a perfect uproar if I can have him with me without his having any- thing to do ; for at Rome he has no breathing room. You know that I promised you that before gratuitously : what do you think now that so great a bribe is offered me from you? 8. I now come to your letters ; of which I received several while I was in the neighbourhood of Arpinum ; for three were delivered to me on one day, and indeed, as they seemed, all written by you at one time. One was at great length, in which the first statement was, that an earlier day was men- tioned in your letter than in that of Casar. Oppius some- times does that from necessity ; because, after he has arranged to send off the couriers, and has received a letter from us, he is hindered by some new business ; and of necessity sends it off later than he had intended to do ; nor do we, when the letter is once dated, care about the date being altered. 9. You mention Caesar's exceeding regard for us : you will do your best to cherish this ; we too will increase it by all the means in our power. With regard to Pompey, I do with all diligence, and will continue to do, what you advise. That my permission for you to remain longer is acceptable to you, though to my own great sorrow and regret, I am yet partly glad. What your object is in sending for horsebreakers and others I have no notion ; there is not one of that sort of people who will not expect a present from you equal to a suburban, farm. And as for your mixing up my friend Trebatius with that fellow, for that you have no foundation. I sent him to Csesar, because he had previously satisfied me ; if he does not please him equally, I am not bound to anything, and I acquit and release you also of any charge in respect of him. With regard to your statement, that you are every day more and more esteemed by Csesar, I am rejoiced beyond all expression. 70 CICERO'S LETTERS I am also very much attached to Balbus, who is, as you write^ an active assistant in that business; I am very glad too that my friend Trebonius is beloved by you, and you by him. 10. As to what you "write about the tribuneship, I asked it for Curtius by name ; and Caesar wrote me back word that it was secured for Curtius, also mentioning him by name ; and he reproached me for my shamefaced ness in asking. If I ever ask for any one again, (as I told Oppius too, that he might write to him,) I shall easily allow a refusal to be given me, since those who are troublesome to me 1 do not easily allow refusals to be given them from me. I love Curtius, (as I told the man himself,) on account not only of your asking, but of your testimony in his favour, because from your letters I easily perceived his zeal for our safety. With respect to the affairs of Britain, I learned from your letters that there was no reason either why we should fear, or why we should rejoice. With respect to public affairs, on which you wish Tiro to write to you, I was already writing to you rather carelessly myself ; because I knew that everything, as well of the smallest as of the greatest importance, was sent to Csesar. IV. 11. I have now completed my answer to your longest letter: hear now as to your little one; in which the first remark is, about Clodius's letter to Csesar, in which affair I approve of Caesar's conduct, in not granting you leave, though you asked it in the most affectionate manner, to write a single word of answer to that Fury. The next observation is about the speech of Marius Calventius. I marvel at your saying that you think I should write a reply to it, especially as no one is likely to read it if I write nothing in reply, while all the children will learn my answer to him by heart as a lesson. I have begun those books of mine which you are looking for, but am unable to finish them at the present time. I have completed the required speeches for Scaurus and for Plancius. The poem to Csesar, which I had composed, I have destroyed. 2 What you ask, I will write for you, since the springs them- selves are now thirsty, if I have any room. 1 Noble considers that the text is here incorrect or defective. 2 Inddi. .Hlrnesti interprets this verb by conscindere ; and Schillet agrees with him in giving it the sense of "cutting to pieces," ol ** annulling." TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS 71 12. I now come to the third letter. As to what you say, that Balbus is soon coming to Rome with a number of com- panions, and that he will be constantly with me till the middle of May ; that will be very pleasant and delightful to me. As to the exhortations which you give me, in the same letter, as oftentimes before, to ambition and to diligence, I will observe them; but when am I to enjoy life ? 13. A fourth letter was delivered to me on the 13th of September, which you had dated from Britain on the 10th of August. In it there was no news, except about the Erigona; which if I receive from Oppius, I will write you word what I think of it; and I have no doubt that it will give me pleasure. And (a matter which I have passed over) with respect to the person who, you say, wrote to Csesar about the applause which Milo received, I readily allow Csesar to imagine that the applause was very great ; and, in fact, so it was ; and yet the applause which is given to him appears in some degree to be given to us. 14. A very old letter from you has also been brought me, but brought rather late, in which you give me instructions about the temple of Tellus, and the portico of Catulus. Both works are going on with all speed ; at the temple of Tellus, in- deed, I have also placed your statue. Also, as to the wishes that you express about the gardens, I never was very desirous of such things ; and my house now makes up to me for the want of the luxury of a garden. When I came to Rome, on the 19th of September, I found the roof of your house completed, which, above the chambers, you had decided should not have any great number of gables; but it slopes down in anything but a neat manner to the roof of the colonnade below. While I have been absent, my Cicero has not ceased from his attendance on the rhetorician : you have no reason to be anxious about his attainments, since you know his natural abilities; and his studious disposition I see myself. All his other interests I look to, as if I thought that I were going surety for them. V. 15. As yet, three parties are prosecuting Gabinius : Lucius Lentulus, the son of the flamen, who has already lodged an accusation of treason 1 against him ; Tiberius Nero, with his well-disposed backers; and Caius Memmius, the tribune of 1 Magestas. See noto, p. 74. 72 CICERO'S LETTERS the people, with Lucius Capito. He arrived in the city on the 20th of September ; no entrance was ever more mean or more solitary. But I do not dare to place any confidence in these trials. Because Cato was indisposed, he has not as yet been prosecuted for peculation. Pompey labours very hard to reconcile me to him ; but he has not succeeded as yet, and, if I retain any portion of my liberty, he shall not succeed. I am extremely anxious for a letter from you. 16. As to what you write me word that you have heard, namely, that I interfered in the coalition of the candidates for the consulship, it is not true ; for agreements were made iu that coalition of such a character (which Memmius subse- quently exposed) that no respectable person ought to have been concerned in them : and, besides, it was not a proceed- ing for me, to have anything to do with a coalition from which Messala was excluded, a man with whom I agree perfectly in all points; and, in my opinion, also with Memmius. I have already done many things for Domitius, which he wished, and which he requested of me; and I have laid Scaurus under great obligations to me by defending him. As yet it has been uncertain, both- when the comitia would take place, and who were to be the new consuls. 17. When I was just folding up this letter, a courier arrived from you on the 21st of September, having made the iourney in twenty days. how anxious I am ! How much I have grieved over that most kind letter from Csesar; but the more kind it was, the greater grief did that misfortune of his cause me. 1 But I come to your own letter. In the first place, I approve above all things of your intention of remaining, especially since, as you write me word, you have consulted Caesar on the subject. I wonder that Oppius should have said anything to Publius, for I did not like the man. 18. As to what you write in your enclosure, that I should be appointed one of Pompey 's lieutenants in the middle of September, I have not heard it; and I have written to Csesar, that Vibullius brought directions from Caesar about my stay to Pompey, but not to Oppius. With what object ? Although I detained Oppius, because the right of speaking 1 It seems probable that this refers to a storm mentioned in the fourth book of his account of the Gallic war, in which he lost a great number of ships. His daughter Julia, too, died nearly about this time. TO ffiS BROTHER QUINTUS. 73 first to Pompey belonged to Vibullius ; for Ccesar had talked the matter over iu an interview with him ; to Oppius he had written. However, I can have no second thoughts in Caesar's affairs. He is next to you and to our children in my heart; so near, indeed, that he is almost equal to them. I seem to myself to feel thus from judgment ; for indeed I ought ; but still I am warmed with love for him. VI. 19. When I had written these last lines, which are in my own hand, your Cicero came in to us to supper, as Pom- ponia was supping out. He gave me your letter to read, which he had received a short time before; a letter written in the Aristophanic spirit, being in truth both pleasant and sensible; and I was greatly pleased with it. He also gave me that other letter of yours, in which you enjoin him to attach himself as much to me as to his tutor. How those letters delighted him! how they gratified me! Nothing can be more engaging than that boy, no one can be more attached to me. These lines I dictated to Tiro while at supper, that you may not be surprised at their being in a different hand. 20. Your letters were very acceptable also to Annalis, as they showed that you were very anxious about him, and, at the same time, assisted him with most serious advice. Publius Servilius the father, from the letters which he says have been sent him from Caesar, intimates that you have done what was very acceptable to him, in having spoken with great courtesy and great earnestness of his attachment to Caesar. 21. When I had returned to Rome from the neighbour- hood of Arpiuum, I was told that a horsebreaker had set out to go to you. I cannot say that I was astonished at his having acted so like a barbarian as to go without any letter from me to you; I merely say that it was vexatious to me, for I had been thinking of it for a long time, in consequence of what you wrote to me, that if there should be anything which I should wish to be conveyed to you with extra- ordinary care, I was to give it to him ; because, in truth, in these letters which I usually send to you, I generally write nothing which would cause me any annoyance if it fell into other hands. I used to keep myself for Minucius, and Salvius, and Labeo. Labeo wiU either go at a late period, oi 74 CICERO'S LETTERS will remain here. The horsebreaker did not even ask if 1 wished to send anything. 22. Titus Pinarius sends very kindly-expressed letters about you to me ; saying that he is beyond all measure delighted with your letters, conversation, and, besides, with your sup- pers. That man has always pleased me, and his brother is a great deal with me. Do you, therefore, as you have begun to do, cherish that young man. VII. 23. As I have had this letter under my hands several days, owing to the delay of the couriers, many different things have consequently been thrown into it, one thing at one time, and another at another ; as for instance this : Titus Anicius has already often said to me, that he should not hesitate to purchase a suburban villa for you, if he could meet with one. In regard to this remark of his, I cannot but wonder at two things : that though you write to him about buying you a suburban villa, you not only do not write to me about it, but even write to quite the contrary effect; and also, that when you are writing to him, you recollect nothing about him, nothing about those letters of his which you showed me when you were at Tusculum, and nothing about the precepts of Epicharmus, " Take notice how he treats any one else." You forget, in short, the man's whole countenance, and language, and disposition; and, as I conjecture, just as if l but to these things you must look yourself. 24. Take care that I may know what you really wish about this suburban villa, and take care at the same time that he does not cause any trouble. What more have I to say? What? Oh, this : Gabinius, on the 28th of September, entered the city by night; and to-day, at the eighth hour, when, according to the edict of Caius Alfius, he ought to have appeared to the accusation of majesty, 2 he was almost over- whelmed by the concourse and by the detestation of the whole people. Nothing ever was more contemptible than his ap- pearance. Piso, however, comes very near to him; I am therefore thinking of introducing a marvellous episode in the 1 Orellius says that this is not an aposiopesis, but that some Greek word or phrase is lost. 2 Majesty was nearly equivalent to treason. It was a general term for any offence committed against the Roman people, or ita scanty. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 75 second of my books : Apollo in the council of the gods pre- dicting what sort of return that of the two generals will be, of whom one has lost his army, and the other has sold it. 25. Caesar wrote me a letter from Britain on the 1st of September, which I received on the 28th, giving a satis- factory account of the affairs of Britain ; in it, that I may not be surprised at receiving no letter from you, he says that he had been without your company, as he had gone to the coast. I have not sent him any answer to that letter, noi even to congratulate him, because of his private mourning. Again and again, my dear brother, I beg you to take care of your health. LETTER II. 9 Marcus Cicero to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. ON the 10th of October, Salvius went by sea to Ostia r late in the evening, with the things which you wished to have sent to you from home. On the same day, Memmius had given Gabinius a warming before the people with so lucid an accusation, that Calidius was unable to utter a single word on his behalf. But the day after, which was coming on as I was writing this before dawn, a great argument was to be held at Cato's between Memmius and Tiberius Nero, and Caiu& Antonius and Lucius Antonius, the sons of Marcus, as to who- should manage the prosecution against Gabinius. We thought that it would be allotted to Memmius, although there was an extraordinary struggle on the part of Nero. What would you have? The matter is well pressed forward, did not our friend Pompey, in spite of both gods and men, upset the business. 2. Understand now the boldness of the man, and that some- thing still amuses us in so distressed a condition of public- affairs. After Gabinius, wherever he went, had said that he was demanding a triumph, and after this good general had suddenly entered the city by night, (as if, evidently, it had been the city of an enemy,) he did not venture to present himself before the senate. In the meantime, on the tenth day after his arrival, on which he ought to have given in his report of the numbers of the enemies and of our troops, he sneakei 76 CICERO'S LETTERS into the senate-house with a very small following. When he was about to depart, he was detained by the consuls. The farmers of the revenues were introduced. The man, being attacked on all sides, and being wounded by me most of all, could bear it no longer, and with a trembling voice called me an exile. On this, (0 ye gods ! nothing more honourable ver happened to me,) the whole senate to a man rose in an uproar against him, so that they came close to him ; while the farmers of the revenue started up with a similar noise and rush. What more do you ask 1 ? All of them behaved as if you yourself had been there. Nothing can be more complimentary than the language of men out-of-doors. I, however, restrain myself from accusing him, with difficulty indeed, but I do restrain myself, not only because I do not wish to oppose Pompey, (the business which presses me about Milo is quite enough,) but because we have no judges whom we can trust. I dread a failure. I may take also into con- sideration the malevolence of men, and I am afraid that if I were to accuse him, something might happen to him; nor do I despair that the matter may be accomplished without me, though in some degree by my means. 3. All who are candidates for the consulship are impeached on the charge of bribery. Domitius by Memmius, Memmius by Quintus Curtius, a good and accomplished young manj Messala by Quintus Pompey, Scaurus by Triarius. It is a :great measure in agitation, because the ruin either of tha men, or of the laws, is threatened. Some efforts are made, that no trials may take place. The affair appears to point to an interregnum. The consuls wish to hold the comitia; tha impeached parties are against it, and Memmius above all, because on the arrival of Caesar he hopes to become consul. But he has an extraordinarily bad chance. Domitius and Messala appeared sure of success ; Scaurus had lost heart. Appius asserts, that if it were not for a lex curiata, he should succeed our friend Lentulus, who on that day showed won- derful vigour against Gabiiiius, (a thing which I had almost forgotten to mention;) he accused him of treason; names 2? witnesses were given in ; while Gabinius did not say a wori You now know the affairs of the forum. At home things go on well, and the house itself is proceeding with great rapidity under the hands of the contractors. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTTJS. 7? LETTER III. Marcus Cicero to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. THE hand of my secretary may be a sign to you how busy I am. Be assured that there does not a day pass in which I do not speak on behalf of some accused person. Thus, whatever I compose or meditate, I generally throw into the time of my walk. In this state is my public business t our domestic affairs go on as I wish. The boys are well; they learn with great diligence ; they are taught with great pains; they love us, and love one another. The polishing of both our houses is going on; while your rural matters at Arcanum and Laterium are advancing to completion. 1 Besides, in one of my letters, I omitted nothing to give you a clear account about the water, and the road. But this subject of anxiety disturbs and annoys me, that for the space of now more than fifty days, not only no letter has come from you, none from Csesar, none from that country, but not even a single report ; and that sea, and that country, keep me now in a state of anxiety. Nor do I cease (as is the case with persons in love) to imagine the things which I least wish. I do not therefore now ask you to write to me about yourself and about affairs in that quarter, (for I know that you never omit to do so when you have an oppor- tunity,) but I wish you to know, that I scarcely ever longed for anything so much, as, when I wrote this, I did for a letter from you. 2. Hear now what is going on in the republic. Day after day appointed for the comitia is constantly cancelled by notices of ill omens, to the great joy of the well-affected citizens, in such unpopularity are the consuls on account of the suspicion of their having bargained for bribes from the candidates. There are four candidates for the consulship; all are prosecuted ; the causes are difficult ones ; but still we will exert ourselves that Messala may come off safe; a result which is even connected with the safety of the rest. Publius Sylla has impeached Gabinius of bribery, his stepson Mem- mius supporting the accusation, as well as his brother Csecilius, 1 A corrupt passage, says Orellius. There are various readings, but none satisfactory. 78 CICERO S LETTERS and his son Sylla. Lucius Torquatus made objections, but failed in his purpose, to the great joy of all men. 3. Do you ask, what is to become of Gabinius? We shall know in three days about the impeachment for treason ; on which charge he is weighed down by the detestation of all classes ; and is especially damaged by the evidence. He has very cool accusers; the bench is of a varied character; the chief judge, Alfius, is a man of high and resolute temper. Pompey is earnest in canvassing the judges; how it will end I know not; but I see no room for him in the city. I have a moderate wish for his downfal, but the faintest possible as to the result of the whole proceedings. 4. You have now an account of almost everything. I will add this one particular : your Cicero and mine is now apply- ing himself with great diligence to the instructions of Pseonius, a rhetorician, a man, in my opinion, well accomplished, and of excellent character; but you know well enough that my own style of education is a little more learned and philo- sophical. Though, therefore, I do not wish Cicero's progress, and that course of instruction, to be impeded; and the boy himself seems to be greatly charmed and delighted with the exercise in declamation; (and as I was myself also practised in it, I would allow him to go on in my steps, for I feel sure that he will arrive at the same end,) but still, if I take him anywhere into the country with me, I shall lead him into my own method and practice. For a great reward is offered me from you, which certainly I shall not fail to gain through my own fault. In what parts you are going to winter, and with what expectations, I should wish you to write me word with all possible minuteness. Farewell. LETTER IV. Marcus Cic;ro to his brother Quint us, greeting. 1. GABINIUS has been acquitted. Altogether, nothing could be more childish than Lentulus, his accuser, and his fellow- prosecutors, nothing more corrupt than the bench ; but still, if the exertion and entreaties of Pompey had not been extra- ordinary, and if the report of a coming dictatorship had not TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 79 been full of alarm, he would not have made any reply even to Lentulus; and yet with him for his accuser, and with that bench for his judges, he had thirty-two votes against him, seventy persons voting. Certainly, this trial is of so severe a character, that he seems likely to be convicted on the other accusations, and especially on that of peculation ; but you see that there is really no republic at all, no senate, no judges, no dignity in any one of us. Why should I say more about the judges ? Two men of prae- torian rank were on the bench ; Domitius Calvinus; he voted openly for his acquittal, so that all might see it; and Cato; 1 he, after the votes had been counted, withdrew himself from the circle, and was the first to announce the result to Pompey. 2. Some say, and Sallust among them, that I ought to have been the accuser. Should I trust myself to such judges? What would have been thought of me if he had escaped while I had pleaded against him ? But other considerations influenced me. Pompey would have thought that he had a dispute with me, not about the safety of Gabinius, but his own dignity. He would have entered the city. The matter would have come to a regular quarrel ; I should have seemed like Pacideianus when matched with ^Eserninus the Samnite; perhaps he would have bitten off my ear. He would at least have been reconciled to Clodius. With my own conduct certainly, I am thoroughly satisfied, particularly if you do not disapprove of it. He, after he had been honoured by me with eminent exertions on my part, and though I owed Lire. nothing, and he owed everything to me, was still unable tz bear my differing in opinion with him about the affairs of the commonwealth, (I will not use a harsher expression ;) ant. even at the period when he was less powerful, he showed hov much he could do against me when I was at the height o- my reputation. Now, when I myself am not even anxious t : acquire any great influence, when the republic itself has cer tainly no power at all, and when he has power over everything could I possibly contend with him? For so I must hav: done. I do not believe that you think that I ought to hav undertaken such a task. 3. [You should,] Sallust still argues, [have done] cne of 1 What Cato, is uncertain ; but it was not, as Paul Manutius observes, the Cato afterwards called Uticensia. 80 CICERO'S LETTERS two things ; [if you did not accuse him,] you should have defended him, and have granted that to the entreaty of Pompey : for indeed he did entreat very earnestly. A plea- sant friend certainly Sallust is, who thinks that I was bound either to incur a most dangerous enmity or everlasting infamy. But I myself am pleased with this middle course ; and it is gratifying to me, that after I had with great serious- ness given my evidence in accordance with good faith and religion, the defendant said, that if he could possibly have been in the city, he would have satisfied me; 1 nor did he put a single question to me. 4. With respect to the verses which you wish me to writ* out for you, the task cannot be undertaken by me, a task which requires not only time, but also a mind free from all care. But enthusiasm is also wanting, for I am not altogether "without anxiety as to the coming year, though I am without apprehension. And at the same time (I assure you that I speak without the slightest irony) I assign a higher place ia that kind of writing to you than to myself. 5. As to completing your Greek library, changing some books, and procuring some Latin ones, I wish indeed that those matters may be done, especially as they have reference to my accommodation. But I myself have no person by whose agency I can get such things done for me; for the books which have attractions for me are not for sale, and cannot be completed except by a man who is both skilful and diligent : however, I will give Chrysippus a commission, and I will speak with Tyrannio. I will inquire too, what Scipio has done about the money. Whatever seems proper, I will attend to it. As to Ascanio, you shall do whatever you please ; I will interpose no obstacle on my own account. I commend you for not being in a hurry about your suburban villa, but I advise you to have one. 6. I have written this on the 24th of October, the day on which the games were beginning, as I was going to my Tusculan villa, and taking my Cicero with me for a game 2 of instruction, not of amusement ; on that account 1 Would have thanked me, for not having been his accuser, but having merely given testimony against him. Paul Manutius. 2 In ludum discendi, non lusionis. He plays on the word ludv* t whick he had used just before; ludi committebantur. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 81 I did not go further than I wanted, because I desired to be present at the triumph of Pomptinius. 1 on the 3d of Novem- ber ; for there will be I know not what trifle of business j since Cato and Servilius, the praetors, threaten that they will prevent it ; and I do not know what they can do, as he will both have Appius the consul with him, and the majority of the praetors, and the tribunes of the people. However, they BO threaten, and especially Quintus Scaevola, who breathes nothing but war. My kindest and dearest brother, take care of your health. ; LETTERS V. VI. Marcus Cicero to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. WITH respect to your question, what I have done about those books which, when I was in the neighbourhood of Cumse, I began to write, I have not been idle, nor am I idle ; but I have several times changed my whole plan and method of treating the subject : for after two books were completed, in which, during that nine days' festival which took place in the consulship of Tuditanus and Aquilius, a conversation is commenced by rue between Africanus, 2 a little before his death, and Lselius, Philus, Manilius, Quintus Tubero, and Fannius and Scaevola, the sons-in-law of Laelius ; and that conversation is extended over nine days, and through nine books, being on the best form of government, and the charac- ter of the best citizen, (the work in truth was put together with sufficient clearness, and the dignity of the speakers added some weight to the arguments ;) when these books were read by me at my Tusculan villa in the hearing of Sallust, I was assured by him that opinions might be given on those sub- jects with much greater authority, if I myself were to speak on the republic, especially as I was not a Heraclides of Pon- tus, but a man of consular rank, and one who had myself been concerned in the most important affairs of state; but that what I attributed to characters of such antiquity, would appear to be fictitious; that as to the dialogue upon oratory 1 Over the Allobroges. 2 That is, the younger Africanus. The book alluded to is the treatin* De Republic^,, discovered in this century. a 82 CICERO'S LETTERS in thjse treatises of mine, I had done well not to utter in my own character what was said on the art of speaking, but to refer it to those men whom I had seen myself; but that Aristotle himself delivers in his own character what he writes about the commonwealth, and the most excellent kind of citizen. 2. He made an impression upon me, and so much the more because, [by the plan that I had adopted,] I was unable to touch upon the greatest disturbances in our commonwealth, inasmuch as they were posterior to the age of the speakers ; though at first I had made this very thing one of my objects, lest in touching on our own times, I should give offence to any one. Now I shall both avoid that, and shall myself converse with you ; but, nevertheless, if I come to Rome, I shall send you what I had originally written ; for I imagine that you will be of opinion, that those books were not put aside by me without some feeling of disappointment. 3. I am exceedingly gratified by Caesar's great good-will, of which he has assured me in his letter : but I do not depend much on the promises which he holds out. I am neither eager for honours nor anxious for glory; and I am more desirous of the duration of his good- will, than the fulfilment of his promises. Nevertheless, I live amidst the same-ambi- tion and labour, as if I were expecting what I never solicit. 4. As to what you ask me about making verses, it is in- credible, my dear brother, how much I want time ; nor indeed am I sufficiently animated in thought to sing of those things which you wish. And do you, who have surpassed all men in that description of language and expression, ask me for suggestions on a subject which I cannot fully grasp even with the utmost exertion of thought 1 Nevertheless, I would do it as well as I could, but, (what by no means escapes your knowledge,) there is need, for composing a poem, of a certain cheerfulness of spirit, which the times altogether take away from me. I indeed free myself, as far as I can, from all anxiety on account of the commonwealth, and devote myself to literature; but still I will tell you what in truth I wished above all things concealed from you : I am made wretched, my dearest brother, I am made wretched by the consideration that there is no commonwealth; no courts of justice; and that this present time of life of mice, which ought to be in full TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 83 possession of the authority of a senator, is either harassed with the labour of pleadiug'in the forum, or endured with the aid of private literary pursuits ; and that the idea which I cherished from my childhood, At all times to excel, and be above My fellows, is all come to nothing ; that of my enemies, some are not attacked by me, some are even defended; that not only my inclinations, but my very dislikes are not free ; and that Caesar is the only one of all men who is found to love me aa much as I desire ; or even, as some think, is the only one whe is inclined to love me. Yet none of these vexations are of such a nature tha^ I cannot every day soothe myself with great consolation ; bul the greatest consolation of all will be if we shall be together again; but, at present, to those other disquietudes of mine, there is added even the most vehement longing to see you. 5. If, as Pansa thinks that I ought to have done, I had defended Gabinius, I should have been utterly ruined ; those who hate him, and they are all ranks of men, would have begun to hate me, on account of him whom they already hate. I bore myself, in my opinion, admirably, so as to do only so much as every one might see. And in the whole of my conduct, as you advise me, I devote myself greatly to the cultivation of ease and tranquillity. 6. In respect of the library, it is Tyrannic who is the idler. I will speak to Chrysippus; but it is a troublesome task, and one that requires a very diligent man. I find this myself, who, with a great deal of trouble, meet with no suc- cess. But for Latin books, I know not whither to turn my- self; so faultily are they copied, and so dishonestly are they sold ; however, I will not neglect to do what may be done. Crebrius, as I wrote you word before, is at Rome, and the men who take their oaths to anything, tell me that he is under jreat obligations to you. I fancy that the money matters have oeen settled in my absence. 7. When you say that you have finished four tragedies in jxteen days, are you borrowing anything from any one else 1 And are you aiming at credit l by copying out the Electra or the Troades 1 Do not be an idler ; and do not fancy that 1 Most texts have XP^ OS ' Qronovius and some others prefer A ti s. 84 CICERo'i LETTERS. the saying yvwOt o-eavrov is intended merely to diminish arrogance, but that it also intimates that we should know our own powers. However, I would wish you to send me both them, and the Erigona. You have in this packet my last two letters. LETTER VII. Marcus Cicero to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. THERE is a wonderful flood at Rome, and especially along the Appian road, as far as the temple of Mars; the walks of Crassipes, and his gardens, have been carried away, and many shops. There has been an amazing quantity of water down as far as the public fish-ponds. The passage of Homer l is powerfully illustrated : As on an autumn day, when Jupiter Pours violent waters forth, whene'er, enraged, His anger burns 'gainst men : For it applies well to the acquittal of Gabinius : Men who by force in council will pronounce Judgments unjust, and banish right, the voice Of heav'n not heeding. But I have made up my mind not to trouble myself about these matters. 2. When I arrive at Rome, I will write you word what I observe, and especially about the dictatorship; and I will give the courier letters, both for Labienus and for Ligurius. I wrote this before daybreak, by the light of a little wooden candlestick, which was very acceptable to me, because they said that you, when you were at Samos, had had it made. Farewell, my most affectionate and most excellent brother. LETTER VIII. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. THERE is no need for me to reply to your former letter, which is full of discontent and complaints; of which kind too you say that you had given Labienus another the day before; bathe has not arrived yet. For your more recent 1 II. xvi. 386. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 85 letter has removed from me every feeling of annoyance ; only I both advise and entreat you, to recollect amid all those annoyances and labours and feelings of regret, what our intention was in your journey. For we were not aiming at any trifling or ordinary advantages ; for what advantage could there have been which we should have thought worth p\vc- chasing at the price of our separation? We were seeking most powerful protection, for the full maintenance of our dignity, from the good-will of a most excellent and most influential man. More is risked on hope than on money; everything else will go l to loss. If, therefore, you often turn back your thoughts to the consideration of our old objects and hopes, you will more easily bear those hardships of military service, and other things which annoy you; and still you will be able to shake them off when you please. But the full time for that matter has not arrived yet, though it is approaching. 2. Moreover, I recommend you not to trust anything tc your letters, from which, if it should be divulged, we should suffer annoyance. There are many things of which I had rather be ignorant than be informed of them at any risk. I will write to you further with a mind at ease, when my Cicero is going on well again, as I hope he will. I would wish you to take care and let me know to whom I must give the letter which I am to send you next ; whether to the couriers of Csesar, that he may at once send them on to you, or to those of Labienus; for where those Nervii 2 are, or how far off they are, I know not. 3. I derived great pleasure from your letter concerning the virtue and gravity of Caesar, which he had displayed when under deep affliction. And as to your requesting me to finish the poem which I have begun to him, although I am distracted with labour, and still more in mind, still, since Csesar has learned from the letter which I had sent to you, that I have begun something, I will resume what I had commenced, and complete it in these idle days of supplica- tions ; during which I am extremely glad that our friend 1 Struentur is the reading of Orellius and most othar editors ; Nobba has xtruantur. 2 The Nervii in Gaul, among whom Quintus was in winter quarters with hia legion. Gees. B. G. v. Paul Manutiua. 86 CICERO S LETTERS Messala and the rest are relieved from annoyance, aoid when you Bet him down as quite sure to be consul with Domitius, ycu do not in the least dissent from my own opinion. I will under- take for Messala's conduct to Csesar; but Memmius places hopes in the arrival of Csesar, in which I think he is mis- taken ; here at least he is coldly regarded : as for Scaurus, Pompey cast him off some time ago. 4. Matters are postponed ; the comitia are brought to an interregnum. The rumour of a dictator is disagreeable to the well-affected; but what they say is far more disagreeable to me. However, the whole business is regarded with alarm, and goes on slowly. Pompey plainly denies that he has any inclination for it. Before he did not use to deny it to me. Hirrus seems likely to propose it. ye gods, what a fool of a man ! how does he love himself without a rival ! He frightened off, by my means, Crassus Junianus, 1 a man wholly devoted to me. It is very hard to know whether he wishes it, or whether he does not. However, while Hirrus is acting, he will not make people believe that he has any disinclination. People at this time were talking of nothing else with regard to public affairs ; at all events, nothing else is done. 5. The funeral of Serrarius Domesticus the son, was a very mournful one : it took place on the 1 9th of November. The father spoke a funeral panegyric over him, of my writing. 6. Now as to Milo: Pompey has given nothing to him, and everything to Gutta; and says that he will take care that Csesar shall use all his endeavours to further his interest. Milo is apprehensive of this, and not without reason, and almost despairs, if he becomes dictator. If he with any armed force, or with his protection, should assist any one who inter- posed a veto to his dictatorship, he fears Pompey would be his enemy; and if he does not assist some one, then he is afraid that matters will be carried by violence. He is pre- paring the most magnificent games, 2 of such a character that no man has ever exhibited any more costly ones ; a double and a treble piece of folly, as they are not demanded, 3 either because he had already exhibited a very fine show, or because 1 The name is probably corrupt. 2 In honour of the dead, by whose will he had received a bequest, Paul Manutius. 3 By the people. See Ep. ad Fam. ix. 8. Idem. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTU8. 8t means were wanting, or because he was a director, 1 or because he might fairly look upon himself as a director, and not as an sedile. 2 I have now written nearly all that I had to say. My dearest brother, take care of your health. LETTER IX. Marcus to his brother Quintus, greeting. 1. IN the matter of Gabinius, none of those things which were most affectionately imagined by you, were necessary to be done: Then may the wide-mouthed earth, with ample yawn, Swallow me quick. I acted with the most consummate dignity, as all men are of opinion, and also with the greatest lenity, in all the steps which I took : I neither pressed him hard, nor relieved him. I was a very strong witness ; in other respects I was quiet. The disgraceful and ruinous result of the trial I took very easily; and my prudence indeed now redounds to my ad- vantage; so that I am not in the least moved by these calamities of the commonwealth, and the licentiousness of audacious citizens, with which I used to be distracted ; for nothing can be more utterly lost than these men and these times. 2. Since, therefore, no pleasure can now be derived from public affairs, I do not know why I should vex myself. Literature, my studies, and leisure, my country-houses, and especially our boys, give me great pleasure. Milo is the only one that gives me annoyance ; but I wish that the consulship may put an end to it ; in regard to which I will use no less exertions than I used about my own ; and you, from where you are, will be able to help me, as indeed you do. Concerning 1 Magister. A director or trustee to see the property divided among the legatees. Idem. 2 Cicero's meaning is, that to exhibit games was the part of sediles, not of magistri, directors or trustees, and that Milo, therefore, na he was only a magister, and not an sedile, ought to have forborne from exhibiting games. Idem, 88 CICERO'S LETTERS that matter, the other points, unless violence breaks them off, are going on well. For his estate I am in fear : But the man rages beyond all endurance, and is preparing games which are to cost a hundred thousand pounds. 1 But in this one particular I will bear with his in- considerateness as well as I can ; and it is for your firmness to be able to bear it. 3. With respect to the commotions of the coming year, I had wished you to understand that there is no cause for domestic apprehension, but only for the common condition of the republic, about which, if I am not able to effect any good, I am still unable to be wholly indifferent. But how cautious I wish you to be in writing, you may conjecture from this, that I do not even write to you any account of the disturb- ances which are openly made in the republic, lest my letters, being intercepted, should hurt any one's feelings. I there- fore would have you free from domestic anxiety. As to the interests of the commonwealth, I know how anxious you always are about them. I see that our friend Messala is consul ; if by the interven- tion of the interrex, without any proper decision; if by the dictator's 2 influence, still without danger ; he has no unpopu- larity to contend with. The ardour of Hortensius will have great influence : the acquittal of Gabinius is looked on as the promulgation of a law of impunity. By the bye, there has. not been anything done yet about a dictator. Pompey is away ; Appius disturbs everything ; Hirrus is preparing to act. Many people are counted ready to inter- pose their veto. The people does not care ; the chiefs are adverse; I take no part. 4. I am greatly obliged to you for the promises which you make about the slaves, and I am, as you write word, but very poorly attended both in Rome and in the country ; but take care of troubling yourself, I intreat you, about anything which regards my convenience, unless it is entirely convenient to you, and quits within your power. 1 Copies vary as to this sum. Most of them have Hsccc ; which has been generally thought corrupt. 1 Per dictator em. An allusion to Pompey, whom a party wished to make dictator. TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS. 5. I laughed at Vatinius's letter; but I am well aware that I am observed by him. in such a manner, that I must not only swallow his existing hatred, but even digest [and put up with] it. 6. As to the work which you exhort me to finish, I have finished a very pleasant epic poem, (as it appears to me,) to Caesar ; but I want a trustworthy courier, lest that should happen which happened to your Erigona, for which alone^. since Csesar has had the command, the road out of Gaul has not been safe. 7. * * * Well? if I have not good mortar, ought I to pull down the house? which indeed pleases me more and more every day; and, above all, the lower portico; and the rooms out of it are admirably made. As to Arcanum^ that is a work of Caesar himself, or indeed of some still neater workman : for those images, and that palaestra, and fish-pond, and stream, is the work of many Philotimi, not Diphili. But I will myself go there, and send orders, and give directions. 8. You would complain still more of the will of Felix, if you- knew the truth ; for the documents which he thought that he was signing, in which he had laid down strict directions as- to the division of his property, he did not sign ; (he mistook partly though his own blunder, and partly through that off his slave, Sicuras;) and he signed documents which he did not intend to sign. But let him bemoan himself. Let us- take care of ourselves. 9. I love your Cicero as you beg me, and as he deserves, and as I ought ; but I do not keep him always with me, both> that I may not withdraw him from his teachers, and because- his mother Porcia is away, without whom I am afraid of the- boy's appetite ; but still we are a great deal together. I have now replied to everything in your letter, my most affectionate and most excellent brother. Fare you well. 90 CICERO'S LETTERS TO BRUTUS. CICERO'S LETTERS 10 BRUTUS. INTRODUCTION. The genuineness of this volume has been very commonly doubted; but that question is one on which it seems now hardly worth while to enter. The first of these Letters was written hi the year of Caesar's murder, 710 A.U.C., in the consulship of Antonius and Dolabella, who seized that office on the death of Caesar, which he himself had previously promised to resign to him. Cicero, though he had not been privy to the conspiracy, yet as soon as the deed was done, ranged himself on the side of the conspirators, as being the only party with sufficient power to secure order. In a few days, however, they negotiated with Antony, and he, desirous to grasp the power which had been possessed by Caesar, procured them distant provinces, some of which had been previously assigned to them by Caesar. Brutus was to have Macedonia ; Cassius, Syria ; and Decimus Brutus, Cisalpine Gaul. Soon afterwards Octavius re- turned to Italy, arriving at Naples in the middle of April, where he had an interview with Cicero ; and before the end of the month, he arrived in Rome. Brutus and Cassius had already become unpopular in the city, and retreated to Lavinium ; and Antony now began to show his hostility to their party, forbidding Decimus Brutus to go to his province, and prevailing on the senate to transfer Macedonia and Syria from Marcus Brutus and Cassius to himself and Dolabella, while they were to have, instead, the charge of supplying the city vrith grain. The day after this vote was passed, (June 6,) Cicero had an interview with Brutus and Cassius at Antium, where nothing was decided on. As the city-praetor, Brutus ought to have exhibited the Ludi ApoUinarea ; but he was afraid to return to the city, which indeed even Cicero did not think that he could do with safety. He retired to the neighbourhood of Baiao, while his colleague presided over the games, which were celebrated at his expense, and with great magnificence. The conspirators were a little encouraged by news of some advantages which Sextus Pompey had gained in Spain, though he did not belong to their party; but he, in consequence, and learning that Lepidus was raising an army to attack him, proposed a general disarming of all parties. Cicero himself was absent from Rome, visiting different places on the coast, during the summer. Antony reconciled himself to Antonius, and by his aid prevailed on the senate to allow him to resign Mace- donia to his brother Caius, and to give him Decimus Brutus's province of Cisalpine GauL Brutus and Cassius, as praetors, had no right to be absent from the city without leave ; but they obtained ii CICERO TO BRUTUS. 9l from the senate, and subsequently quitted Italy for the East with the resolution to endeavour to make themselves masters by force of the provinces which had been originally assigned to them, and of which they had new been deprived. Cicero sailed from Italy, and went to Syracvise, intending to proceed to Athens ; but the wind being unfavourable, he was driven back to Italy. He returned to Rome on the last day of August, where he was received with accla- mations by all parties ; but as he refused to appear the next day in the senate, Antony was offended, and attacked him: and the day afterwards Cicero delivered his first Philippic. Antony and Octavius quarrel : Antony leaves Rome for Brundusium, to take the command of the legions assembled there ; and Octavius visits the colonies in Campania, and then Ravenna, and the towns between Rome and tha frontiers of Gaul. Cicero supports Octavius. Antony returns to Rome, and again leaves it, and goes northward to attack Decimus Brutus, who throws himself into Mutina. The consuls-elect for th ensuing year were Hirtius and Pansa. LETTER I. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. Lucius Clodius, 1 tribune of the people elect, has a very great liking for me ; or, that I may use a more emphatic expression, has a very great love for me ; and as I am quite certain of that, I have no doubt that you (for you know my disposition thoroughly) will suppose that he also is beloved by me : for nothing appears to me to be less becoming to a man, than not to respond in attachment to those by whom you are in- vited to it. He appeared to me to suspect, (and not indeed, without great concern,) that something has been reported to you by his enemies, or rather through the agency of his enemies, by which your affection has been alienated from him. It is not my custom, my dear Brutus, (and this I think you know,) to say anything rashly about another; for it is dangerous, on account of the secret nature of men's wishes, and the variety of their characters. But I have thoroughly examined and understood and appreciated the disposition of Clodius : there are many indications of it, but not necessary to bo written ; for I wish you to look upon this rather as a testi- monial than as a letter. He was promoted by the favour of Antony, and a great portion of that very favour is owing tc you ; and therefore, as long as it did not interfere with our 1 Nothing more is known of this Clodiua. 92 BRUTUS TO CICERO. safety, he would be glad to see him safe. But he is aware that matters have been brought into such a state, (for he is, as you are aware, by no means deficient in acuteness,) that both cannot be safe : and therefore he prefers that we should be so. And of you yourself he speaks and feels with the greatest friendliness : so that if any one has written you a different account of him, or has sought to give you a different impression in conversation, I beg of you over and over again rather to believe me, who am both able to judge of him more easily than any obscure informer, and am more sincerely at- tached to you : think therefore that Clodius is most friendly to you, and that he is such a citizen as a man of the greatest prudence and of the most affluent fortune ought to be. LETTER IT. Brutus to Cicero, greeting. I HAVE been earnestly expecting your letter, which you wrote after you received the news of the state of our affairs, and of the death of Trebonius; 1 for I have no doubt that you fully explain your views to me. By a most shameful atrocity, we have lost a most excellent citizen, and have been expelled from the possession of the province, which it is easy to recover; nor will it be less disgraceful or iniquitous that it should not be recovered, if it be possible. Antony 2 is as yet with us ; but, I assure you, I am both moved by the entreaties of the man, and I am afraid that the madness of some parties may fall upon him. I am altogether in perplexity. But if I knew what you thought best, I should be free from anxiety, 1 This was the first blood shed by either party after the death of Caesar. Trebonius had been assigned the province of Asia Minor, and had taken possession of it ; but Dolabella proceeded through Asia Minor, to take possession of Syria, where Cassius was already in arms. Trebonius did not dare openly to defy him ; but the gates of the dif- ferent cities were closed against him. He attacked Smyrna, in which Trebonius himself was, scaled the walls by night, seized him in his bed, and beheaded him; while the soldiers mutilated the body, and tearing down the head from Dolabella's tribune, kicked it about the streets, till the features could no longer be recognised. This oonarred about th end of February 711 A.TJ.C. 2 Caius Antony, who was a prisoner. BRUTUS TO CICERO. 93 for I should feel sure that that really -was the best. As soon as possible, therefore, make me acquainted with your opinions. Our friend Cassius has Syria, and the Syrian legions ; having been invited spontaneously by Murcus and Martius, and by the troops themselves. I have written to my sister Tertia, and fcD my mother, not to spread any account of this most admirable and fortunate exploit of Cassius, till they knew your opinion, and till you thought it desirable to do so. I have read your two speeches; of which you spoke one on the 1st of January, and the other was in reply to Calenus, on the subject of my letters. You now doubtless expect me to praise them : I know not whether the merit of courage or of ability displayed in them be the greater. I now grant that they may be called Philippics, as you wrote, jestingly, in one of your letters. We are in need of two things, my dear Cicero ; money, and reinforcements ; one of which may be hastened by you, I mean that some portion of the troops from Italy may be sent to us, either secretly, and in spite of Pansa, or else by an open motion in the senate; the other thing, money, which is still more necessary, not more for my troops than those of the other commanders, * * On this account I am the more concerned that we have lost Asia; which I hear is oppressed to such a degree by Dolabella, that the murder of Trebonius no longer appears his most barbarous action. Vetus Antistius, however, has aided me with money. Your son Cicero endears himself to me so greatly by his industry, patience, diligence, and magnanimity, in short, by the performance of every kind of duty, that he seems never for a moment to forget whose son he is. Though, therefore, I cannot make you love him more than you do, since he is already most dear to you; at least allow so much weight to my opinion, as to feel sure that he will not have to appropriate any of your glory, in order to arrive at honours similar to those of his father. Dyrrhachium, the 1st of Apri... 1 1 These letters are differently arranged in different editions. I have followed the arrangement of Middleton as most consistent with the historical order of the events alluded to ; but the letters of Brutus are just as spurious as those attributed fco Cicero. It may save troupe CICERO TO BKUTUS. LETTER III. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. You have been able to learu the admirable disposition oi Plancus for the good of the commonwealth, and the number of his Legions and auxiliary troops, and, in short, of his "whole force, from his letters, of which I suppose that a copy has been sent to you. I imagine too, that from the letters of your own friends, you have arrived at a complete understand- ing of the levity and inconsistency of your friend Lepidus, to give the arrangement of the different editions, that adopted by Middleton, and the ordinary arrangement, which divides these Letters into two books : FIRST WORDS. MIDDLETON. ORDINARY EDITION. odius . , I. Book I. 1. as ... II. II. 5. mum . . III. II. 2. 8 ... IV. II. 4. e . . . V. II. 7. ntistii . VI. 1.11. >i . . . VII. I. 8. scribebam VIII. II. 1. 3 . . . IX. I. 3. ilendas . X. I. 5. n Isetitia XL I. 4. Dulus . . XII. I. 7. stare . . XIII. I. 6. obsignata XIV. I. 2. hi. . . XV. 1.17. XVI. I. 9. us . . XVII. I. 12. Lepido . XVIII. 1.13. 1UC . . XIX 1. 10. 30 ... XX. I. 14. habes . XXI. 1.15. a literarum XXII. 1.16. te . . XXIII. .18. a . . . XXIV. II. 8. Literas tuas Planci animi Datis mane Quse literse Veteris Ant Multos tibi Cum haec sc Nostne res A. d. v. Ct Quanta sii Lucius Bil Noli expe< Scripta et Scribis mi Fungerer , Etsi daturus De Marco L Nullas adhu Breves tuae Messalam hi Particulam ' Cum ssepe te Si per tuas There is also one given in the ordinary editions as a fragment of a separate letter ; but printed by Middleton as the end of Letter II. and one beginning " Quod egere," which Middleton considers a portion of Letter IV., but which I have followed the ordinary edition, in giving is a separate letter, and which will be found as Letter IV. Letter XXIV. Middleton himself gives up as a forgery. CICERO TO BRUTUS. 95 (who, next to his own brother, hates his relations above all people,) and his invariably hostile feelings towards the com- monwealth. My expectation disquiets me, the fulfilment of which is wholly reduced to an extremely critical state ; for all my hopes depend on the delivery of Brutus, for whom I was in a state of great alarm. At present, I have sufficient difficulty here, with that mad- man Servilius, with whom I have borne longer than my dignity fairly allowed ; but I did bear with him for the sake of the republic, that I might not give the profligate portion, of the citizens a man, not indeed of great wisdom, but of noble birth, to whom they might flock as a leader which, nevertheless, they do. But I did not think it right that he should be alienated from the republic. However, I have done with enduring him now, for he had begun to show such inso- lence, that he looked upon no one as free. In the case of Plancus, he burst forth with incredible indignation, and con- tended with me in such a spirit for two days, and was so completely beaten by me, that I hope that he will be more modest hereafter. And while this very contest was going on, at the time when the debate was proceeding with the greatest vehemence, on the 9th of April, a letter was deli- vered to me in the senate, from our friend Lentulus, with an account of Cassius and his legions, and Syria; and as soon as I had read it aloud, Servilius lost heart, as well as many others, for there are several other persons of high rank who are thoroughly disaffected : but Servilius was exceedingly indignant that assent was expressed to my opinion about Plancus. He is a great monster in regard to the common- wealth, but * * * LETTER IV. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. As to your remark that you are in need of two necessary things, reinforcements and money, it is very difficult to know what advice to give you ; for no means occur to my recol- lection, which I consider that you can use, except those which the senate has voted, giving you the power of borrowing money from the different cities. But about the reinforce- 96 CIOERO TO BRUTUS. ment, I do not see what can be done ; fot so far is Pansa from being able to afford you any portion of his army, or of his new levies, that he is even greatly annoyed at so many volunteers going to you; in my opinion, because he thinks .that for those affairs about which there is now a contention in Italy, no forces can be too great ; but as many people suspect, because he has no desire for you to become too strong. I, however, have no suspicion of this kind. With regard to what you say, that you have written to your sister Tertia, bidding her not to make public the things which have been done by Cassius, till I approved of it, I see that you were afraid of what there was good reason to fear, namely, that the disposition of Caesar's party (as parties have still distinctive appellations) would be greatly excited by the intelligence. But, before we received your letters, the affair was known and spread abroad; and, besides, your couriers had brought letters to many of your friends. The fact was therefore not to be suppressed, since, indeed, it could not be done; and if it could have been done, we should have thought it a matter not to be published, rather than wholly concealed. With respect to my Cicero, if there really is as much in him as you say in your letter, I am as glad as I ought to be; and if, because you love him, you make his merits so much the greater, I still rejoice extremely on that very account, that he is beloved by you. April 12th. LETTER V. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. AFTER I had given Scaptius letters for you on the morning of the llth of April, the same day I received one from you in the evening, dated on the 1st of April, from Dyrrhachium ; and, therefore, when on the next day I was informed by Scaptius that the men to whom he had given the letters the day before had not started, but were going to set off imme- diately, I scratched these few lines to you in the midst of the confusion of my morning levee. About Cassius I am delighted, and congratulate the republic on his success; I congra- tulate myself too, for having delivered my opinion in spite of UICERO TO BRUTUS. 97 the opposition and anger of Pansa, that Cassius should pur- sue Dolabella actively as an enemy; and I declared with great boldness that he was already carrying on that war with' out waiting for any decree of the senate from us. I also said about you what I thought at that time ought to be said. This speech of mine will be sent to you, since I see that you are pleased with my Philippics. As to my advice that you ask respecting Caius Antonius, I think that you ought to keep him prisoner till we know the result of the affairs of Brutus. 1 From the letters which you have sent me, Dolabella seems to be oppressing Asia, and conducting himself most shamefully in that province; but you have written to several people that " Dolabella has been shut out by the Rhodians." Now, if he has been to Rhodes, it seems to me that he must have left Asia; and if that be the case, I think that you ought to stay there; but if he has once got possession of the place, then, believe me, you ought not, but should, as I think, pursue him into Asia. You seem to be likely to do nothing better at the present moment * * * LETTER VI. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. I CONCLUDE that your relations, to none of whom do I yield in attachment to you, have informed you what letter was read publicly in the senate on the 13th of April in your name, and at the same time in that of Antony. But it was not necessary that we should all write about the same things; what was necessary for me to write to you was, what I thought of the entire conduct of this war, and what my deliberate opinion and sentiments were. My feeling, my dear Brutus, with respect to the republic in general, haa always been the same as your own ; my plan of action in some points, not indeed in all, may perhaps have been a little more vigorous. You know that my opinion has always been, that the republic should be delivered not only from the tyrant, but also from the tyranny. You adopted more gentle notions, 1 P'.'cimua Brutus. TT 4)8 CICERO TO BRUTUS. certjv.uly, to your own immortal honour; but which of the two plans was the better, we have felt with great grief, and still feel, to our great danger. On that recent occasion you referred everything to the object of ensuring peace, which could not be managed by mere speeches ; I directed all iny aims to secure liberty, which indeed can have no existence without peace ; and peace itself I thought could be best esta- blished by war and arms. Zeal was not wanting to those who cried for arms, but we repressed their impetuosity, and checked their ardour. In consequence, our affairs fell into such a state, that if some god had not inspired Csesar Octavianus with the feelings which animated him, we must have fallen into the power of that most abandoned and infamous man, Mark Antony, with whom you see how great and perilous a contest there is ; and there would have been none, if Antony had not been spared on that occasion. 1 But I forbear to speak of those matters ; for the exploit then performed by you, 2 an exploit ever memorable, and almost divine, precludes all blame; and, indeed, it cannot be extolled with all the praise that it deserves. You have lately appeared of a grave countenance. You have collected by yourself, in a short time, an army, and troops, and a sufficient number of legions. ye immortal gods, what an announcement was that, what a letter ! how great was the joy of the senate ! how extreme the alacrity of the whole city ! I never saw anything extolled with such unani- mity. There had been some expectation about the remains -of Antony's force, whom you had deprived of his cavalry and of the chief part of his legions ; but it came to such an end as we could have wished ; for your letter, which was read in the senate, shows the wisdom of the general, the valour of the soldiers, the industry of your friends, and among them of rny Cicero. Had it seemed advisable to your friends that a motion should be made respecting your letter, and had it not arrived at a most turbulent time, after the departure of Pansa the consul, proper and deserved honours would have been decreed to the immortal gods on the occasion. Behold, on the 13th of April, early in the morning, your rapid courier, Pilus, arrives. What a man ! ye gods, how 1 When Cffisar was murdered. 2 The assassination of Crcsar. CICERO TO BRUTUS. 99 grave ! how steady ! how well affected to the republic ! He brings two letters, one in your name, and one in tL&t of Antony. He delivers them to Servilius the tribune of the people, Servilius gives them to Cornutus; they are read in the senate : " Antony the proconsul." There was great asto- nishment, just as if any one had read " Dolabella the emperor :" from whom, indeed, couriers had arrived, but no one like Pilus, bold enough to produce the letters, or deliver them to the magistrates. Your letter was read; it was short, indeed, but very mild towards Antony. The senate admired it greatly ; to me it was not quite clear what I ought to do. Should I pronounce it forged ? But what if you owned it 1 Should I pronounce it genuine 1 That was not for your honour. 1 The day, there- fore, was suffered to pass in silence. But the next day, when conversation on the matter had become general, and when Pilus had given a great deal of apparent offence, a commencement was fairly made on my part. I said a good deal about the " proconsul Antony." Sextius was not wanting to the cause; and afterwards he spoke to me, observing in how much danger he thought his son and mine would be, if they had taken up arms against a proconsul. You know the man; he did full justice to the argument. Others spoke too ; and our friend Labeo remarked that your seal was not affixed to the letter, or the date added, and that you had not written to your relations, as you used to do. By this he wished to prove that the letter was forged ; and, if you wish to know more, did prove it. Now, my dear Brutus, you have to decide upon the whole plan of the war. I see that you are pleased with lenity, and think it of the greatest advantage. It is very honourable, but it is in a different situation of affairs, and at other seasons, that there is room for clemency. At present, my dear Brutus, what is the state of affairs 1 The hopes of the needy and profligate point to the destruction of the temples of the immortal gods ; nor, indeed, is anything else to be determined by this war, but whether we are to exist, or not. Who is it that we are sparing, and what are we doing! 1 For if Antony had been a legal proconsul, it must have been not only dishonourable, bvit criminal in Brutus, to act against him a.s an enemy. Middle ton. ii 2 100 BRUTUS TJ CICERO, Are we thinking of the safety of those, by whom, if they should be victorious, not a trace of us will be left 1 For what differ- ence is there between Dolabella and any one of the three Anton ies ? If we spare any one of them, we shall have been too harsh with Dolabella. Although the stkte of affairs themselves compelled the senate and people of Rome to embrace such opinions as these, still it was only brought about in a very great degree by my prudence and authority. If you do not approve this course, I will defend the opinion which you may express, but shall not abandon my own. Men expect from you nothing careless on the one hand, or cruel on the other. Moderation in this matter is easy, by being strict to the leaders, but liberal to the common soldiers. I wish, my dear Brutus, that you would have my Cicero with you as much as possible. He will find no better school of virtue than the contemplation and imitation of you. 16th of April. LETTER VII. Brutus to Cicero, greeting. SUCH are the feelings of Vetus Antistius towards the com- monwealth, that I do not doubt that he would have proved himself a most strenuous defender of the common liberty in reference to Csesar and Antony, if he could have found an opportunity ; for he who, when he encountered Dolabella in Achaia, furnished with infantry and cavalry, preferred to run any risk from the treachery of a bandit ready for everything, rather than seem either to have been compelled to give, or to have given willingly, any money to that most profligate and infamous person, has of his own accord promised us, and actually given, above sixteen thousand pounds 1 out of his own funds ; and, what is much more valuable still, he has offered us himself, and united himself to us. I have endeavoured to persuade him to remain as general in the camp, and to aid in the defence of the republic ; but ie considered that he ought to depart, since he had disbanded 1 nsxx. Paul Manutius admonishes us that we must take this for rides, centena miUia nummfim, i.e. 2,000 ses'rtia, or, as Middleton give* it, 16,'AiL CICERO TO BRUTUS. 101 his army; but he promised to return to us immediately, accepting an appointment as lieutenant, unless the consula should proceed to hold comitia for the election of praetors. For I earnestly recommended him, as he was so well affected to the commonwealth, not to postpone offering himself as a candidate. His conduct ought to be acceptable to all, at least such as look upon this as the army of the republic ; and so much the more pleasing to you, as you defend our liberty with greater courage and glory, and as you will gain a greater accession of dignity, if that result for which we hope shall attend our counsels. Moreover, my dear Cicero, I beg of you most particularly, and as a friend may, to look favourably on Vetus, and to exert yourself to add to his honours ; since, although nothing can turn him aside from the path which he has chosen, yet he may be excited by your praises and kindness to adhere more vigorously and tenaciously to his resolution ; and this will very much oblige me. LETTER VIII. Cicero to Urutiis, greeting. I HAVE recommended many persons to you, and I must continue to recommend ; for every virtuous man and good citizen is guided chiefly by your judgment, and all men of courage are eager to exert their efforts and spirit in your service ; nor is there "any one who does not think that my interest and influence have great weight with you. But I recommend to you Caius Nasennius, a native of the municipal town of Suessa, in such a way that I cannot recommend any one with more sincerity. For in the Cretan war, he com- manded the eighth century of the Principes under Metellus, and, since that time, he has been occupied in his own family affairs. At present, being influenced both by the state of the republic and by your pre-eminent dignity, he would be glad to obtain some post by your means. I recommend to you, my dear Brutus, a brave man, a pru- dent man, and, if that be anything to the purpose, a wealthy man. It will give me great pleasure if you treat him in such a manner that he may thank me for your favour to him. 102 CICERO TO 3RUTU8. LETTER IX. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. AT the time that I was writing this letter, mattei? were supposed to have been reduced to the last extremity; for melancholy letters and news arrived about our friend Brutus. They did not indeed very much disturb me, for I could by no means distrust the armies and generals whom we have ; yet I did not agree with the majority, for I had not a bad- opinion of the fidelity of the consuls, which was strongly suspected. I desired in some particulars more prudence and promptness ; and if they had exerted those qualities, we should have already reestablished the republic. For you are not ignorant how great is the importance of seasonableness in public affairs, and what a difference it makes, whether the same thing be determined, undertaken,, or done, a little sooner or a little later. If everything that was voted with resolution in this tumult, had either been done on the day on which I delivered my opinion, and not postponed from day to day, or if, from the time when things were engaged to be done, they had not been still delayed and procrastinated, we should now have no war at all. I, my dear Brutus, have done everything for the republic that a man is bound to do, who has been placed in the rank in which I have been, by the deliberate judgment of the senate and people ; not merely those things, which indeed are all that are to be required of a man, good faith, vigilance, and attachment to my country; for those are duties which every man ought to practise ; but, by him who delivers his opinion on affairs of a state among the chief men of it, I think that prudence ought also to be exhibited; nor, when I have taken so much upon myself as to assume the helm of the state, do I think myself less liable to reproof if I have given any unprofitable advice to the senate, than I should be if I had given any that is treacherous. I am aware that a careful account is sent to you of what has been done, and what is going forward. But there is also something on my part of which I wish -jou to be informed, namely, that my mind is fixed on the war, and that I attend CICERO TO BRUTUS. 103 to no other obje,t, unless perchance the advantage of the republic calls me to something else; and the chief part of my thoughts are directed towards Cassius and yourself. Pre- pare yourself, therefore, my dear Brutus, to understand, that if affairs turn out well at this crisis, it is by you that the republic must be improved ; or, if any miscarriage takes place, it is by you that the republic must be restored. LETTER X. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. OUR affairs seemed to be in a better position ; for I know for a certainty that an account has been sent to you of what has taken place. The consuls have proved to be just such men as I often described them to you ; but the natural inclination of young Csesar for virtue is marvellous. I trust that when he is in the full possession of honours and influence, we may be able to guide and restrain him with as much ease as we have controlled him hitherto. No doubt that will be a more difficult task, but still we do not despair, for the young man feels altogether persuaded, chiefly by me, that it is through his means that we have been saved ; and, doubt- less, if he had not kept Antony away from the city, all would have been lost. But three or four days before this most fortunate event, the whole city, under the influence of some alarm, were running off with their wives and children to you ; but having by the 20th of April recovered their spirits, they were de- sirous rather that you should come hither, than that they should go to you. On that day, indeed, I reaped the greatest reward of all my great labours and long anxiety, if indeed there is any reward in solid and true glory ; for a concourse of as numerous a multitude as our city can contain flocked to my house; by whom I was conducted as far as the Capitol, and then, with the utmost acclamations and applause, placed in the rostrum. There is no vanity in me, nor ought there to be any; but yet the unanimity, the avowed gratitude, and the congratulations of all ranks of men excite me, because it is glorious for me to be popular from having secured the welfare of the people. But I would rather that you should 104 CICERO TO BKUTUS. hear of these things from others; and I would wish you to keep me informed, with the utmost care, of all your affaira and plans, and to beware lest your easiness of dealing with people may seem to resemble indifference. The senate feels, and the Roman people feel, that no enemies were ever more worthy of the last extremity of punishment, than those citizens who in this war have taken up arms against their country ; on whom I cry for vengeance, and whom I attack with every vote that I give, while all honest men approve of my conduct. How you ought to judge of this matter, is a question for your own prudence. My opinion is, that the cause of the three brothers is one and the same. We have lost two con- suls, honest men, indeed, but honest men merely. Hirtius, it is true, died in the hour of victory, after he had defeated the enemy, a few days before, in a great battle ; for Pansa had retired from the field, after receiving some wounds under which he could not support himself. Brutus * is pursuing the remains of the enemy, and so is Caesar. All those who have adhered to the party of Mark Antony have been de- clared public enemies; and accordingly most men interpret that decree of the senate as affecting those whom you have in your hands, whether captured, or having surrendered. I myself, indeed, advanced nothing more severe when I was giving judgment on Caius Antonius by name, as I had settled my opinion, that the senate ought to learn his case from you. 22d of April LETTER XL Cicero to Brutus, greeting. ON the 22d of April, when opinions were given in the senate about the propriety of pursuing with war those who had been declared enemies, Servilius included Ventidius in the number, and added, that Cassius ought to pursue Dola- bella. Having expressed my agreement with him, I proposed further, that you also, if you thought it desirable, and for the advantage of the state, should pursue Dolabella with your i Decimus Brutus. CICERO TO BRUTUS. 105 army; but that, if you could not do so with any benefit to the state, or if you did not conceive that it would be fo* the public advantage, you should keep your army where it is. The senate could do nothing more honourable, than to leave it wholly to you to decide upon what appeared to you most beneficial for the commonwealth. My own opinion, indeed, is, that if Dolabella has any force, if he has a camp, or any ground on which to make a stand, it will be becoming your character and your dignity to pur- sue him. Of the forces of our friend Cassius we knew nothing, for no letters have come from him, nor was any news brought upon which we could rely as certain. But of how much importance it is that Dolabella should be crushed, you are certainly aware, not only that he may receive the punishment due to his atrocities, but that there may be no place to which the leaders of the rebels may betake themselves in their flight from Mutina. And that this was my opinion even before, you may call to mind from my former letters; although at that time there was a haven of refuge in your camp, and a resource for safety in your army; for which reason, now that we are delivered from our dangers, as I trust that we are, we ought the more to devote ourselves to the destruction of Dolabella. However, you will give a still more diligent consideration to these matters, and come to a wise determination respecting them. You will give us in- formation, if you please, how you decide, and what you are doing. I am very anxious to have my Cicero elected into your college, 1 and I certainly think that, in the comitia for the election of priests, a regard for the wishes of the absent mem- bers may be had; for such a thing has been done before ; since Caius Marius, when he was in Cappadocia, was made augur by the Domitian law: nor has any law prohibited such a thing from being done in future. Moreover, in the Julian law, which is the most recent law jn the subject of appointments to the priesthood, there is a ilause in these words, " Who is present as a candidate, or to jrhom regard shall be had," which clearly shows that regard 1 That is, of the Pontifices, or minor priests, in which there wen everal vacancies at th's time. Sea Letter XIV. Middleton. 106 BRUTUS TO CICERO may be had to a person, even though he is not present. On this subject I have written to him to follow your advice, as in everything else. You must also determine what is to be done with respect to Domitius and to our friend Cato. But, though it may be lawful for regard to be had to a person in hia absence, yet everything is easier to those who are on the spot. If you decide, however, that you must go into Asia, there will be no possibility of bringing our friends hither for the comitia. We certainly expected that if Pausa had been alive, every- thing would have been sooner settled ; for he would at once have chosen himself a colleague, [in the room of Hirtius,] and then the comitia for the election of priests would have taken place before those for the election of prsetors ; but now I foresee a great deal of delay by means of the auspices; for, while there shall be one patrician magistrate, the auspices cannot lapse into the hands of the senators. Certainly affairs are in a state of great confusion. I should wish you to put me in posses- sion of your sentiments on the whole matter. The 5th of May. Farewell. LETTER XII. Brutus to Cicero, greeting. IT is easier for you to imagine, than for me to express, how much delight I felt on learning the exploits of our Brutus and the consuls. I am pleased with other things, and am glad tfcat they happened; but I am especially delighted that the sally made by Brutus was not only advantageous to him- self, but of the greatest service to the attainment of the victory. As to what you say, in your letter, that the cause of the three Antonies is one and the same, and that it is for me to determine what opinions I should entertain, I have no opinion but this, that the right of decision concerning those citizens who were not killed in the battle against us, belongs to the senate or people of Rome. But, you will reply, you are wrong in this, that you call men of a hostile disposition to the republic, citizens. Nay, I am strictly right ; for what the senate has not yet decreed, or the Roman people ordered. I do not arrogantly pre- BRUTUS TO CICERO. 107 judge, or bring under my own decision. Nor do I change my feelings with regard to this particular in my conduct, that from him whom circumstances did not compel me to put to death, 1 I neither took anything away with cruelty, nor did I treat him with at all too much indulgence, but kept him in my power as long as the war lasted. I look upon it as by far more honourable, and what the republic may better allow, to abstain from persecuting the miserable in their misfortunes, rather than to heap boundless powers on those already powerful, which may but excite their cupidity and arrogance. In this respect, my dear Cicero, best and bravest of men, deservedly most dear to me for my own sake, and for that of the republic, you seem to trust too much to your hopes, and to be too willing, as soon as any one has done anything properly, to give and entrust everything to him, as if it were not easy for a mind corrupted by bribery to be led away to evil counsels. Such is your good temper, that you will bear an admonition with equanimity, especially in regard to the safety of the commonwealth. Still, you will do what you yourself think best, and I will do the same when you have given me your opinion. At present, my dear Cicero, we must take care not to exult idly at the overthrow of Antony, and not to allow our method of eradicating the first evil to cause the production of a second and worse calamity ; for no misfortune can now befal us, either through inadvertence, or passive permission, in which there would not be something to blame in all, and especially in you, whose authority the senate and people of Rome not only allow, but desire to be, as great as that of one man can possibly be in a free state ; authority which you are bound to uphold by cherishing sentiments, not only of honour, but of prudence. Nor is any exercise of prudence, of which you have abundance, necessary to be demanded! from you, except moderation in dispensing honours. All other eminent qualities are found in you in such a degree that they may be compared to those of any of the ancients ;. but this one propensity of yours, proceeding, as it does, from' grateful and liberal feelings, requires to be checked by a more 1 He refers again to Caixis Antony, who was in his power, and seem* to think the war terminated by the battle of Mutina. 108 BRUTUS TO CICERO. cautious and moderate exercise of geierosity; fcr the senate ought to give nothing to any one, wh ch may be either a pre- cedent or a protection to disaffected persons. I am very apprehensive, therefore, about the consulship, lest your friend Csesar should think that he has already mounted higher through your decrees than he will rise from his present eminence, if he become consul. But if Antony found in the instruments of regal power left him by another an oppor- tunity of assuming regal power himself, of what disposition do you think any one likely to be, who by the authority, not of a slain tyrant, but of the senate itself, imagines that he has a right to covet all imaginable power 1 I shall then, accordingly, praise your good fortune and your prudence, when I begin to see clearly that Csesar will be contented with the extraordinary honours which he has al- ready received. Are you then, you will say, going to make me liable for the misconduct of another? For another's mis- conduct assuredly, if measures might have been taken to prevent its occurrence. I only wish that you could clearly see my fears respecting him. After I had written this letter, I heard that you were made consul. If I really see that come to pass, I shall then indeed begin to imagine to myself a true republic, relying on its own strength. Your son is well, and has been sent forward into Macedonia with the cavalry. The 15th of May. From the camp. LETTER XIII. Brutus to Cicero, greeting. No one can know better than yourself, whose exertions and anxieties for the commonwealth have been so great, how dear Lucius Bibulus ought to be to me. And, therefore, either his own virtue, or our friendship, ought sufficiently to recom- mend him to you ; so that I think I need not write at any length to you. For my wishes ought to have influence with you, provided they are reasonable, or provided they are ex- pressed in compliance with a necessary duty. He has resolved to be a candidate foi 1'ansa's place; and we both solicit BRUTUS TO CICERO. 109> a nomination for it from you; for you cannot confer thia favour on one more closely connected with you than I am, or nominate any one more deserving than Bibulus. Why need I say anything about Domitius and Apuleius, when they are thoroughly recommended to you by their own good qualities? Still you ought to support Apuleius by your influence ; but the character of Domitius will be made apparent from his own letter. Do not exclude Bibulus from your confidence, a man of siich merit already, that, believe me, he is likely to become one that may deserve the praises of the few resembling yourself. LETTER XIV. Brutus to Cicero, greeting. Do not wait for me to offer you any formal expression of thanks ; for such formality ought long ago to have been banished from our friendship, which has arrived at the utmost degree of affection. Your son is not with me at present ; but we are to meet in Macedonia; for he has been ordered to bring the cavalry from Ambracia through Thessaly, and I have written to him to meet me at Heraclea. When I see him, since you give me leave to do so, we will settle the matter together about hia returning to offer himself a candidate, or to recommend him- self for that honour. I most earnestly recommend to you Glycon, Pansa's physician, who is married to the sister of our friend Achilles ; for we hear that he has fallen under sus- picion with Torquatus of having been accessory to the death of Pansa, and is kept in prison as a murderer; but nothing is less worthy of belief ; for who has suffered more misfortune by the death of Pansa ? Moreover, he is a modest and pru- dent man; one whom no personal advantage seems likely to have prompted to crime. I entreat you, and, indeed, earnestly entreat you, (for our friend suffers no less anxiety than is natural,) to deliver him from custody and to save him. I think that this concerns my duty in regard to my private affairs as much as any other thing whatever. While I was writing this letter to you, a letter was 110 CICEEO TO BRUTUS. delivered to me by Satrius, the lieutenant of Cuius Trebonius, from Tullius and Deiotarus, with the news that Dolabella had been defeated uid put to flight. I have sent you a Greek letter from a man named Cyche- reus, which was written to Satrius. My friend Flavius has chosen you as arbitrator in a dis- pute which he has with the people of Dyrrhachium about an estate ; and both I and Flavius, my dear Cicero, entreat you to bring the affair to a settlement. There is no doubt what- ever, that the city was indebted to the man who has made Flavius his heir ; nor do the Dyrrhachians themselves deny this ; but they declare that the debt was remitted by Caesar. Do not allow an injury to be done by your friends to my friend. The 1 6th of May. The camp in the lower part of Candavia. 1 LETTER XV. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. AFTER my letter had been written and sealed up, a letter was brought to me from you full of news : and, what was the strangest of all things, saying, that Dolabella had sent five cohorts into the Chersonese. Has he such an abundance of men with him, that he, who was said to be fleeing from Asia, can attempt to attack Europe? And did he think that ha would be able to do anything with five cohorts, when you have in that country five legions, an excellent body of cavalry, and a very numerous force of allies? I hope indeed that those cohorts are already yours, since that robber has been eo insane. I greatly aj prove of your wisdom, in not having moved your army from Apollonia and Dyrrhachium until you heard of the flight of Antony, the sally of Brutus, and the victory of the Roman people. As to what you write, therefore, that you have since determined to lead your army into the Chersonese, and not to permit the empire of the Roman people to be a sport to a most profligate enemy, you act as becomes your own dignity, and for the advantage of the republic. 1 A. mountainous district between Macedonia and Illyricuni. BRUTUS TO ATTIC OS. Ill With respect to your intelligence of the sedition whici haa taken place in the fourth legion about Caius Antony, (you will take what I say in good part,) the severity of the soldiers pleases me better than your own. I am very glad indeed that you have experienced the good- will of the army and of the cavalry. If you have any news about Dolabella, you will send me word of it, as you promise; with respect to whom, I am very much pleased that I had provided beforehand that your judgment should be unfettered as to carrying on war against him ; it was of very great importance to the republic, as I perceived at the time; and, as I now think, to your own dignity. As to what you write, that " I have managed so as to be able to pursue the Antonies at perfect leisure," and praise me for having done so, I dare say that such appears to you to be the case; but I myself am far from approving of the dis- tinction which you draw ; for you write, that " civil wars are to be prevented with more resolution, than revenge is to be inflicted on the vanquished." On this point, my dear Brutus, I most completely disagree with you ; not that I yield to you in clemency; but a salutary severity is far superior to an empty show of mercy. If we are determined to be merciful, we shall never be without civil wars. However, this you must settle. As to myself, I may say what the Father in Plautus's Trinummus says, But for my part, my life is almost ended ; You are the most concern' d. Take my word for it, my dear Brutus, you will be crushed, if you do not take care: for you will riot always have the people in the same disposition as at present; nor the senate; nor the leader of the senate. You may receive this as de- clared to you by the oracle of the Pythian Apollo; nothing can be more true. 18th of May. LETTER XVI. Urutus to AUicus, greeting. You write me word, that Cicero is surprised that I nevei give any opinion of his actions. Sinoa you press i he question, 112 BKUTUS TO ATTICUS. , I will, under compulsion from you, tell you what I think. 1 know that Cicero has done everything with the best inten- tions: for what is better known to me than his disposition towards the republic? Yet he seems to me, though of all men the most prudent, to have done some things (what shall I say?) imprudently, or with a view to popularity, since in the cause of the republic he has not hesitated to make the most powerful Antony his enemy. I know not what to say to you, except this one thing, that the cupidity and boldness of the boy Caesar have been rather excited than repressed by Cicero ; and that he gives way so much to his indulgence for him, as not to restrain himself from attacks upon others, attacks which recoil upon himself with double force; since he himself has put more persons than one to death, 1 and since he must confess himself to be an assassin before he makes the objections to Casca's 2 act which he does make, and, in his conduct to Casca, imitates Bestia. 3 Because we are not every moment boasting of the ides of March, as he is always talking of the nones 4 of December, will Cicero, for that reason, condemn that most laudable act on a better pretext than that on which Bestia and Clodius have been accustomed to inveigh against his consulship? Our good friend Cicero boasts to me, that he has supported the whole war against Antony in the garb of peace. Of what profit is that to me, if a succession to the position occu- pied by Antony is demanded as the wages for having put Antony down, and if he, who has repressed that evil, has become the author of another, which will have a more solid foundation, and a deeper root, if we will but allow it ? for the line of conduct which he has taken is that of one who is 1 In Catiline's plot, for which he put five of the principal conspira- tors to death. Middleton. 2 The passage seems to imply that Cicero had reproached him for killing Caesar, and called him an assassin. Middleton. 3 L. Calpurnius Bestia was a tribune of the people, at the expiration of Cicero's consulship ; supposed to have been deeply engaged in Catiline's conspiracy; and, when Cicero laid down his office, joined with his colleague Metellus in prohibiting him from speaking to th< people ; and was ever after a perpetual enemy and reviler of his admi- nistration. Vid. Sallust, c. 43 ; Plutar. in Cic. Middleton. 4 It was on the nones of December that Cicero crushed the con- spiracy of Catiline. The whole tone of this letter proves it to be forgery, and a very clumsy oi; BRUTUS TO ATTICUS. 113 afraid, not of tyranny itself, but of Antony being the tyrant. But I do not thank the man who, provided that he is not slave to an angry master, does not object to slavery itself; but to whom even triumphs and rewards are decreed, and who is honoured with every sort of complimentary vote. A man ought to be ashamed to desire that fortune of which he has now taken on him the name ! Is this the conduct of a man of consular rank ? Does this become Cicero 1 Since you would not let me be silent, you will read what must of necessity be unpleasant to you. Indeed, I feel myself with how much uneasiness I write this to you; nor am I ignorant what your sentiments are with regard to the present state of affairs, which, though desperate, you think may still be retrieved. And in truth, my dear Atticus, I do not blame you ; for your age, your habits, and your family, render you inactive, as, indeed, I have learned from the report of our friend Flavius. But I return to Cicero. What difference is there between Salvidienus and him 1 or what more would Salvidienus pro- pose to be voted to Octavius than he does ? You will reply, he is still afraid of the remains of civil war. Is there then any one so afraid of a defeated enemy, as not to think that there is also reason to fear the power of one who has a vie torious aray, and the rashness of a boy ? Or does he act thus, because he thinks that everything ought to be sur- rendered to Octavius, at once and voluntarily, because of his great dignity 1 the great folly of fear, so to guard against that very object which we fear, that, when we perhaps might have avoided it, we of our own accord invite it and draw it upon ourselves! We are too much afraid of death and exile and poverty : these things appear to Cicero to be the very extreme of evils; and as long as he finds people from whom he can obtain what he wishes, and by whom he may be honoured and praised, he does not despise slavery, provided it be honourable ; if indeed anything can be honourable in the worst and most wretched of all contumely. Though Octavius, therefore, call Cicero his father; though ne refer everything to him, and extol him, and thank him ; yet it will be seen at last that his words are at variance with his acts : for what can be so inconsistent with every feeling ol t 114 BKUTUS TO ATTICUS. a himan being, as to look upon that man as a parent, who is not even in the condition of a free man ? Yet that excel- lent man directs his efforts only to this end, makes this his aim, hastens to attain this object, that Octavius may be favourable to him. I indeed now think nothing of those accomplishments, with which I know that Cicero is so com- pletely furnished; for of what profit to him are the writings which he has composed in such vast abundance, in defence of the liberty of our country, concerning dignity, concerning death, and exile, and poverty ? and how much more justly does Philippus l appear to understand things, who has given less to a stepson than Cicero gives to a stranger 1 Let him cease, therefore, in his boasting, to insult our sorrows ; for what advantage is it to us that Antony has been defeated, if he is defeated only that what he held may be open to another ? Although your letter intimates that things are doubtful. Let Cicero then live, as he can endure to do so, a suppliant, and submissive to another; if he has no regard either to his age, his honours, or his past achievements. As for me, there will assuredly be no condition of slavery so attractive, as that I should be diverted by it from waging war with the thing itself, that is to say, with kingly authority, with extra- ordinary commands, with absolute dominion, and with power that seeks to set itself above the laws, even though Antony be a good man, as you describe him, but as I never thought him to be. But our ancestors would have no master over them, even if he had been their father. If I did not love you really as much as Cicero is pei-suaded that he is loved by Octavius, I should not have written this to you. I am sorry that you must be vexed at what I have now written, since you are greatly attached to all your friends, and especially to Cicero ; but assure yourself that nothing is abated of my good-will towards him, though much of my favourable opinion of him ; for it can never be, but that as anything appears to a man, so he will form his opinion of it. I wish you had sent me word, what are the conditions offered to my dear Attica; 2 I might have been able to tell you sme- 1 Philippus had married Atia, the mother of Octavius ; but the letter is mistaken, for Philippus had gone far beyond Cicero in the honours which he wished to procure for Octavius. 2 The daughter of Atticus. Paul Manutius supposes that the allu- sion intended is to a proposal of marriage. CICERO TO BRUTUS. 115- thing of my own feelings on the subject. I do not wonder that the health of my dear Portia is an object of concern to you. To conclude, I will cheerfully do what you ask me ; for my sisters also make the same request: and I know the man, and what it is that he wants. LETTER XVII. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. I SHOULD perform the same office for you, which you per- formed for me in my sorrow, 1 and should endeavour to comfort you by letter, if I did not know that you do not require in your distress the remedies with which you alleviated my grief; and I wish that you may now cure yourself with greater ease than T, on that occasion, cured myself. For it is inconsistent with the character of so great a man as you are, not to be able to do himself, what he has recommended to another. As for myself, not only the arguments which you had collected, but your authority, deterred me from indulging in too much sorrow : for, when I appeared to you to bear my distress with less fortitude than became a man, especially oue who was in the habit of addressing consolation to others, you reproached me in your letters in harsher language than was your habit. Having, therefore, a high opinion of your wisdom, and being in awe of it, I recollected myself, and attached the more weight to the things which I had formerly learned and read and heard, after your authority was added to them. And at that time, my dear Brutus, I had to obey only duty, and my natural disposition ; you have to regard the people, and the public stage (as we say) on which yoii are ; for since the eyes, not only of ycur own army, but of all your fellow-citizens, and almost of all nations, are turned upon you, it least of all becomes him by whose means we are rendered bolder, to appear himself weakened in spirit. You have indeed met with affliction, (for you have lost that to which tiiere was nothing similar on earth,) and you must grieve at 1 For his daughter Tullia. i2 116 CICEEO TO BRUTUS. BO severe a misfortune, lest to want all sense of grief should be found more wretched than to grieve; but as it is bene- ficial to others to mourn with moderation, it is for you necessary. I would say more, if even what I have said was not too much to say to you. We are looking for you and your army, without which, (though everything else may succeed to our wish,) we scarcely seem likely to have sufficient freedom. Of the general aspect of the affairs of the commonwealth, I will write more at length; and, perhaps, with more certainty, in a letter which I was thinking of entrusting to our friend Vetus. LETTER XVIII. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. ALTHOUGH I was just going to give a letter to Messala Corvinus, still I did not like my friend Vetus to go to you without a letter from me. The republic, my dear Brutus, is in a situation of the greatest danger; and though victorious, we are forced to fight again; this has happened through the wickedness and folly of Marcus Lepidus. For the republic, there was nothing at which I felt greater concern, than that I was unable to yield to the entreaties of your mother and sister; for I thought that I should easily satisfy you, which is an object of the highest importance with me. Tor in no way could the cause of Lepidus be distinguished from that of Antony; indeed, in everybody's judgment it was the worse of the two, because after Lepidus had been com- plimented by the senate with the highest honours, and after he had only a few days before sent an admirable letter to the senate, he suddenly not only received the relics of our defeated enemies as his friends, but is even carrying on a most vigorous war against us by land and sea, of which it is uncer- tain what will be the result. When we are asked, therefore, fco show pity to his children, no argument is advanced why the greatest severities are not to be endured by us, (may BRUTUS TO CICEEO. 117 Jupiter avert the omen !) if the father of those children should be victorious. Not indeed that it escapes my recollection, how bitter a thing it is that the crimes of fathers should be atoned for by the punishment of their children ; but this has been admirably provided by the laws, that their affection for their children may make the parents more truly attached to the republic. It is Lepidus, therefore, who is cruel to his chil- dren, not he who pronounces Lepidus a public enemy; and if he, after laying down his arms, had been condemned for violence to the state, in a trial for which he would have had nothing to say in his defence, his children would suffer the same punishment, their property being confiscated; although what your mother and sister deprecate for those children, the same and many more cruel evils Lepidus, Antony, and the rest of our enemies, are denouncing against us all. At this time, therefore, our greatest hope is placed in you, and in your army. It is of the very greatest consequence, both to the general state of the commonwealth, and also to your own glory and dignity, that you, as I have written before, should come into Italy with all possible speed; for the republic is in the greatest need, both of your forces, and of your wisdom. Because of your letter, I gladly embraced Vetus, out of regard to his good-will and singular service to you; and I see that he really is most thoroughly attached and devoted both to you and to the republic. I shall see my Cicero, as I hope, shortly, for I trust that he will very soon come into Italy with you. LETTER XIX. B'rutm to Cicero, greeting. THE fear that every one else entertains of Marcus Lepidus, makes me also fear. If he should withdraw himself from us, (a suspicion which I hope that men have entertained of him groundlessly and wrongfully,) I beg and entreat you, my dear Cicero, invoking our intimate friendship and your good- will to me, to forget that the children of my sister are sons Jib CICKUO TO UKUTUS. of Lepidus, and to think that I have succeeded to the place of father to them; if I obtain this of you, then there is nothing, assuredly, which you will hesitate to undertake iu their behalf. Other people live with their relations on different terms; I can do nothing for the children of my sister sufficient to satisfy either my inclination or my feelings of duty. But what is there that good citizens can grant me, (if I am worthy of having anything granted me,) or what is there that I can do for my mother or sister, or for these children, if their uncle Brutus has no weight with you, and the rest of the senate, to counterbalance the conduct of their father Lepidus? I am not able to write you a long letter, for my anxiety and sorrow; nor, indeed, have I any reason: for if in a matter of such importance, and one that touches me so olosely, there is need of words to arouse or to encourage you, there is no hope that you will do what I wish, and what you ought. Do not, therefore, expect a long entreaty from me. Look 'upon me ; consider who I am ; a man that has a right to obtain this favour either from Cicero, as one closely attached to me as a private individual, or from a man of consular rank, and of such a character, without reference to private friendship. What you resolve to do, I should wish you as eoon as possible to let me know iu reply. The 1st of July. At the camp. LETTER XX. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. As yet I have received no letter from you ; nor even any report to tell me that you, having received the authority of the senate for such a step, were proceeding with your army to Italy ; though the republic was very desirous for you to do that, and to do it with all speed. For our intestine evil grows worse and worse every day; nor do we suffer more from our foreign enemies than from our domestic foes, who existed, indeed, at the very beginning of the war, but who at that time were more easily put down. The senate inen CICERO TO BRUTUS. 119 assumed a more erect attitude, being roused not only by my known opinions, but also by my exhortations. In the senate, Pansa was energetic and fierce enough, both against the rest of this faction, and especially against his father-in-law, who, as consul, wanted neither courage at the beginning of his office, nor fidelity at the end. The war was carried on at Mutina in such a way that there was no fault to be found with Csesar. There may have 1 < en something to blame in Hirtius ; and the general fortu:.. of the war, if compared with prosperous ones, has been wavering; if with disastrous ones, good. The republic was victorioiis, the troops of Antony having been routed, and he himself expelled by Brutus. But so many errors were afterwards committed, that, as one may say, victory slipped through our fingers; our generals did not pursue the enemy, though disheartened, disarmed, disabled ; and an opportunity was given to Lepidus, through which we might feel his inconstancy, often felt indeed before in still greater disasters. The armies of Brutus and Plancus are good, but untrained. The auxiliary forces from the Gauls are very faithful and very numerous. But some persons, by most scandalous letters, and by treacherous accounts and information, have excited Caesar, who has hitherto been governed by my counsels, and who is himself of a most excellent disposition and admirable steadiness, to conceive a confident hope of obtaining the consulship. And as soon as I perceived that such was the case, I never ceased to warn him, as he was absent, by letter, nor to reproach his friends, who were here on the spot, and who appeared to be encouraging that desire of his : nor did I, in the senate, hesitate to lay open the true source of those most flagitious counsels ; nor do I remember the senate or the magistrates to have been on any occasion better disposed. For it has never happened before, when there has been a question about con- ferring some honour out of the usual course of things on a powerful man I may even say, on the most powerful man in the state (since power now depends on force and arms) that no tribune of the people, no one invested with any other magistracy, no private individual, ever could be found to propose it. But still, with all this exhibition of lesolution and virtue, the city wat nevertheless in an anxious state j for we are 120 CICERO TO BRUTUS. mocked, my dear Brutus, both by the licentiousness of tha Boldiers and the insolence of the generals. Every one de- mands to have as much authority in the republic as he haa force at command. Neither reason, nor moderation, nor law, nor precedent, nor duty, nor even the deliberate judg- ment and opinion of the citizens, nor regard for the estima- tion of posterity, has any weight at all. I, foreseeing all this a long time ago, was fleeing from Italy, at the very time when the news of your edicts caused me to return. But you, Brutus, roused me again at Velia ; for although I grieved that I was going to a city from which you, who had delivered it, were taking flight, (which indeed had formerly happened to me also, under a similar danger and sadder fortune, 1 ) still I proceeded, and came to Rome, and without any support made Antony quake ; and, in opposi- tion to his impious arms, I by my authority and counsels secured for us the protection of Caesar, which was volun- tarily offered; and if he remains in the same disposition and continues to be guided by me, we seem likely to have quite sufficient defence. But if the counsels of bad men have more weight than mine, or if the tenderness of his age prove unable to support the heavy burden of affairs, all our hope is in you. Fly to us, therefore, I beseech you ; and, in the result, complete the deliverance of that republic which you have already delivered, more through your own virtue and magnanimity than through any train of circumstances. A general concourse of all classes will gather round you. Exhort Cassius to the same course by letter. There is no hope of liberty anywhere except in the head-quarters of your united armies. In the west, we find both generals and armies entirely true to us. And, for my part, I feel confident that the support of the young Octavius may be relied on ; but so many persons are trying to shake his fidelity, that I some- times am afraid that he may be influenced by them. You now know the general aspect of the affairs of the com- monwealth, as they stood at the time when I wrote this letter. I trust that, in process of time, they may grow better ; but if 1 He alludes to the case of his exile, when he was not only driven out of the city by his enemies, as Brutus now was, but was banished by a particular law, which had not yet happened to Brutus, though it did in a short time after. Middlelon. CICERO TO BRUTUS. 121 the contrary should be the case, (which presage may the gods avert !) I shall grieve for the fate of the republic which de- served to be immortal : but for myself how short a space of life is left ! LETTER XXI. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. YOUR letter was short. Short, do I say 1 It was no letter at all. Does Brutus, at such a crisis as this, write me those lines only. You had better have written nothing at all ; and yet you expect letters from me. Which of your friends has ever come to you without a letter from me? And which of my letters had not something of consequence in it ? If, indeed, they have failed to reach you, I suppose that not even your own family letters have arrived either. You write me word, however, that you will send me a longer letter by my son Cicero. You will indeed do well; but still this one ought to have been longer. But I, as soon as you wrote to me about Cicero's departure from you, 1 im- mediately packed off a courier with letters for him, bidding him, even if he had reached Italy, to return to you; for nothing could be more agreeable to me, or more honourable to him, although I had several times written to him that the comitia for the election of priests had, by my extreme exer- tions, been postponed to another year; a delay which I exerted myself to procure, not only for the sake of Cicero himself, but for that of Domitius, Cato, Lentulus, and the Bibuli, as I also wrote to you. However, when you sent off to me that dwarfish letter i f yours, this was not yet known to you. I do therefore, my dear Brutus, beg of you with all earnest- ness, not to let my son depart from you, but to bring him with you when you come ; and this, if you have any just regard for the republic, for the benefit of which you were born, you ought to do instantly. For the war has revived, and that through the no small wickedness of Lepidus. And 1 This alludes, as Middleton observes, to Letter XIII., in which it was said that young Cicero was to come to Rome, to be a candidate for one of the va:ant priesthoods. 122 CICEKO TO BRUTUS. Caesar's army, which was most excellent, is not only of no uss to us, but even compels us to demand the presence of yours. If that once reaches Italy, then there will be no citizen, at least no one who deserves to be called a citizen, who will not betake himself to your camp, although we have Decimus Brutus admirably united with Plancus. But you are not ignorant how little to be trusted the dispositions of men are when infected with party spirit, and how uncertain, too, are the events of battles. Moreover, if we conquer, as I hope we shall, still affairs will require the powerful direction of your wisdom and influence to guide them. Come therefore to our assistance, I implore you, and come as soon as possible ; and be assured that you did not do a greater service to your country on the ides of March, on which you repelled slavery from your fellow-citizens, than you will do now if you come speedily. __ July the 13th. LETTER XXII. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. You have Messala with you : how then shall I be able, by ;any letter which I may write with ever so much care, to ex- plain to you more clearly than he can what is going on in the republic, and what is the state of affairs in it, since he is thoroughly acquainted with everything, and is able also to set it before you, and represent it to you in the neatest pos- sible manner? For do not fancy, my dear Brutus (although it is not necessary for me to write to you what is already well known to you, yet I cannot pass over in silence such excel- lence in all qualities which deserves praise) ; do not fancy, I say, that there is any man like him for honesty, consistency, anxiety, and zeal for the commonwealth ; so that eloquence, in which he wonderfully excels, seems scarcely to find in his character any room as a subject of praise, although in this very particular his wisdom is the more conspicuous; with such dignified judgment and exceeding skill has he practised himself in the soundest kind of oratory. So great, too, is his modesty, so incessant his application to study, that it ia not to his genius (eminent as it is) that his greatest obligations appear to be due. CICERO TO BRUT08. 123 But I am letting myself be carried away too far by my regard for him ; for it was not my sole object in this letter to extol Messala, especially to Brutus, to whom his merit is not less known than to myself, and to whom are still better known those studies of his which I am now praising. And though I was grieved at taking leave of him, I was comforted by this one consideration, that as he was going to you, whom I look upon as another self, he was both performing his duty and pursuing a path to the greatest glory. But enough of this. I come now, after a long interval certainly, to a certain letter of yours, in which, while praising me on many accounts, you found fault with me in one point as being too liberal, and as it were prodigal, in giving my voice for awarding honours. 1 It is for this that you blame me ; others, perhaps, charge me with being too severe as to punishment and penalties; unless, perhaps, you bring both accusations against me. If such be the case, I desire that my opinion on both these subjects should be thoroughly under- stood by you; not merely that I may cite the saying of Solon, who was both the wisest of the seven wise men, and also the only legislator of the seven, and who said that com- monwealths were held together by two things, rewards and punishments ; for I would add, that there certainly is mode- ration to be observed in both these points as in all other things, and a certain medium to be kept as to each of them. But it is not my purpose to discuss so important a topic in this place. However, I do not think it improper to explain to you what I have aimed at during this war in the several votes which I have given in the senate. After the death of Caesar and your memorable ides of March, my dear Brutus, you have not forgotten what I said had been omitted 2 by you, and how great a tempest I declared to be hanging over the republic. A great plague had been repelled by you, a great stain on the lioman people had been effaced, and an immortal glory had been gained by yourselves. But the whole equipage of kingly power was only transferred to Lepidus and Antony, one of whom was a vacillating man, the other polluted with vice; both of them were afraid of peace, and enemies to tranquillity. 1 Especially to Octavius. * I.e. ciie cutting Antonv to death. 124 CICERO TO BRUTUS. While these men were burning with a desire of throwing the republic into confusion, we had no force that could be opposed to them ; but the whole city had roused itself with entire unanimity to preserve its freedom. We were at that time too energetic ; you perhaps acted more wisely in quitting the city which you had delivered, and declined the aid of Italy, which offered its services in your eause. When, therefore, I saw the whole city occupied by traitors, that neither you nor Cassius could be safe in it, and that it was overawed by the forces of Antony, I thought that I also ought to depart. For a city overwhelmed by wicked men, and deprived of all power of helping itself, was a wretched spectacle. But the same disposition which is always in me, through devotion to my country, could not bear to be absent from its dangers ; and accordingly, in the middle of my voyage to Achaia, when, at the times of the Etesian winds, the west wind, as if dissuading me from my resolution, had brought me back to Italy, I met you at Velia, and expressed the greatest concern on the occasion. For you were retreating, my dear Brutus: you were retreating, I say; since our friends the Stoics deny that it is for a wise man to flee. When I came to Eome, I immediately put myself forward to check the wickedness and insanity of Antony; and when I had exasperated him against myself, I began to adopt resolutions quite in the character of Brutus himself (for such resolutions are the peculiar inheritance of your family) to deliver the republic. The long recital of what followed I shall omit, for it relates to myself; I will only say that the character of this young man Caesar, by whose means, if we would but confess the truth, we still exist, has sprung wholly from the source of my counsels. No honours have been paid him from me, my dear Brutus, that were not justly his due; none that were not absolutely necessary. For when we first began to recover our liberties, when not even the divine virtue of Decimus Brutus had exerted itself in such a manner that we could appreciate its value, and when our whole hope of defence lay in that boy who had turned Antony away from our throats, what honour was too great to be voted to him? Although at that moment I paid him honour only in words, and that expressed in moderate terms, I also proposed to invest him with CICERO TO BRUTUS. 125 military command; and though this may have appeared a compliment to one of his age, yet it was indispensable, as he had an army; and what is an army without such command? Philippus proposed to vote him a statue ; Servius, first of all, voted him the privilege of standing for offices before the usual time; Servilius made that time still earlier; nothing at that moment appeared too great for him. But, I know not how, men are more commonly found to be liberal under the influence of fear than grateful in the hour of victory. For I myself, when Decimus Brutus had been de- livered; when that day, most joyful to the city, had shed its light upon it, and that very day, as it happened, was the birth- day of Brutus, proposed a vote that the name of Brutus should be attached to that day in the calendar. And in this proposi- tion I followed the precedent of our ancestors, who paid this compliment to Larentia, 1 a woman at whose altar in the Vela- brum you pontiffs are in the habit of offering sacrifice. When I proposed this honour to Brutus, my object was that there should be in the calendar a memorial of his most welcome victory; but on that day I found that there were rather more malevolent than grateful people in the senate. At that very time too I lavished, if you will have it so, honours on the dead, Hirtius and Pansa, as well as Aquila ; and who would blame me for so doing but those who, now that they are delivered from their fear, have forgotten also their past danger ? To the grateful recollection of these services there was added another reason for my conduct, which I hoped might have a beneficial effect upon posterity; for I wished that there should exist undying records of the public hatred to oui most cruel enemies. I suspect, too, that this other matter is the less approved by you, because it is not approved by your friends, who are very excellent men indeed, but of no expe- rience in public affairs; namely, the vote which I proposed, that Csesar might be permitted to enter the city with an ovation. But I am of opinion (though I may perhaps be 1 It is rather uncertain who Larentia was : the tradition is that she was Romulus's nurse, and that Romulus instituted a yearly sacrifice and festival in her honour. The Velabrum was a street or square, aa Middleton remarks, where the Forum Boarium and Temple of Jauui tood. 126 CICERO TO BRUTUS. mistaken, nor is my temper such that my own opinions delight me in preference to those of others), that during the whole of this war I have not done a wiser thing. Why it is so I must not explain, lest I should seem to have been prudent rather than grateful ; and even to say this is to say too much ; let us therefore turn to something else. I proposed that honours should be voted to Decimus Brutus, and also to Lucius Plaucus. Those, indeed, are noble dispositions which are attracted by glory; but the senate also is wise, which employs every method, provided it be honourable, by which it thinks that any one can be induced to support the republic. But in the case of Lepidus I am blamed; inasmuch as after I had proposed to erect a statue to him in the rostra, I at a subsequent time proposed to remove it. The truth was, that I sought by means of that honour to recall him from desperate measures; but the insane folly of that most vacillating of men defeated my prudence ; nor was so much harm done in raising a statue to Lepidus, as good in over- throwing it. I have said enough on the subject of honours ; I must now add a few words on the subject of punishment; for I have re- peatedly understood from your letters, that you were desirous of having your clemency extolled towards those whom you had defeated in war. I believe that nothing is done by you otherwise than wisely ; but to omit inflicting punishment on guilt, (for that is what is called pardoning,) even though under other circumstances it may be endurable, I think ruinous in this war. For of all the civil wars which within my recollection have taken place in our republic, there has not been one of such a character that, whichever side proved vic- torious, there would not still have been some form of a com- monwealth left : but in this war, what sort of republic we shall have, if victorious, I would not willingly say ; if defeated, we shall certainly have none at all. I therefore pronounced very severe opinions against Antony; I pronounced severe ones against Lepidus ; not so much for the sake of inflicting vengeance upon them, as with a view at present to deter un- principled citizens by fear from making war on their country, and, for the future, to raise a record to prevent any one from imitating such rashness, although this opinion was not more CICERO TO BRUTUS. 127 my own in particular than that of all the citizens. Ard in it there is indeed this appearance of cruelty, that the penalty reaches to their children who have deserved no punishment. But it is an ancient custom, and one which prevails in all states ; since even the children of Themistocles were reduced to want. And if the same punishment falls on citizens judicially condemned, how could we be more merciful to enemies ? And what ground of complaint has any one against me, who must confess that if he had been victorious, he would himself have been more severe towards me? You have now the ground of the opinions which I de- livered, at least on this subject of honours and penalties. What opinions I entertained, and what votes I gave, on other matters, I think you have heard; but to mention these is not of so much necessity; what is absolutely necessary is, that you, my dear Brutus, should come into Italy with your army with all speed ; there is the strongest desire for your arrival ; if you but set foot in Italy, all will flock to you. For whether we are victorious (and we should indeed already have been most gloriously victorious, if Lepidus had not chosen to overturn everything, and ruin himself as well as his friends), we shall require your authority to establish some constitution in the state ; or whether there be still struggles to come, our greatest hope is still in your authority and in the power of your army. But hasten to us, I conjure you by the gods ; for you know how much depends on opportu- nities, how much depends on promptness. I will take all possible care of the interests of your sistei - 's sons, as I hope that you will learn from the letters of your mother and your sister; in which cause I have a greater regard for your wishes, which are most dear to me, than, as some think, for my own consistency. But in nothing have I a stronger wish both to be and to seem consistent, than in my affection for you. 128 BIIUTUS TO CICERO. LETTER XXIII. Brutus to Cicero, greeting. I HAVE read a small part of your letter, which you sent to Octavius, and which was forwarded to me by Atticus. Your eeal and anxiety for my safety have given me no new delight ; for it is not only a common thing, but one of even daily occurrence, for me to hear something about you which you have said or done, faithfully and honourably, for the mainte- nance of my dignity. Yet that same part of the letter which you wrote to Octavius about me has caused me as much concern as I am capable of feeling ; for you thank him on behalf of the republic in such language, in such a suppliant and humble tone, (what shall I say? I am ashamed of our condition and fortune, but still I must write it; you recom- mend my safety to him ; and what kind of death would not be preferable to safety so secured?) that you show plainly that the overbearing power has not been removed, but only the master changed. Recollect the words that you have used, and then deny, if you can, that they are the language of prayer addressed by a slave to his king. You say that there is one thing only which is demanded and expected from him; namely, that he should allow those citizens, of whom virtuous men and the Roman people have a favourable opinion, to live in security. But what if he will not allow it ? Are we to have no existence ? But it would be better to iave none than to exist only through his permission. I, assuredly, do not believe that all the gods are so unfavourable to the safety of the Roman people that Octavius must be entreated for the safety of any citizen; I will not say for that of the deliverers of the whole world. For I am glad to take a high tone ; and it is fit that I should do so towards those who know not what is to be feared for each individual, or what ought to be asked of any one. Do you then confess, Cicero, that Octavius has this power, and are you nevertheless a friend to him? or, if you have any regard for me, do you wish me to appear at Rome, when I must first be recommended to that boy that I may have the liberty of being there ? And for what have you to thank him, if you think he must be entreated to consent and allow us to BRUTUS TO CICERO. 129 live in safety? Is this to be regarded as a favour, that he prefers to be the person himself from whom such things are to be petitioned, rather than Antony ? Does any one address entreaties to a person who is the chastiser of the domineering power of another, and not rather his successor in it, that men who have done great services to the republic may be per- mitted to live in it in safety? But that imbecility and despair (the fault of which is not to be imputed to you in a greater degree than to every one else) both impelled Julius Csesar to covet kingly power, and after his death persuaded Antony to endeavour to occupy the place of him who had been slain ; and now, too, it has elevated that boy to such a degree, that you have thought that the safety of such men as we are must be obtained of him by entreaties; and have considered that we shall only be safe through the mercy of one who is hardly yet a man, and by no other means. But if we had recollected that we were Romans, these vilest of men would not be more bold in their desires to grasp dominion, thau we should be in our determination to stop their course; nor would Antony have been more encouraged by the height of power attained by Crcsar, than deterred by his fate. How can you, a man of consular rank, and the avenger of such atrocious crimes (though, while they are checked, I still fear that our ruin has only been postponed by you for a short time), how can you, I say, contemplate what you yourself have done, and at the same time approve those other things, or at least bear them with so lowly and acquiescent a spirit as to wear the appearance of one who does approve of them? What private ill-feeling had you towards Antony? None, for any other reason but that he assumed such authority, requiring that men's safety should be begged of him; that we, from whom he himself had received liberty, should enjoy only a precarious safety ; and that his will as to the common- wealth should be absolute. You then thought it time to seek for arms, by which he might be prevented from lording it over us : but was it your object that, while he was pre- vented from so doing, we might address our prayers to some one else, who would permit himself to be put in his stead; or that the republic might have its full rights and be mistress of itself? unless, indeed, our objection was not to slavery 130 BHUTUS TO CICERO. itself, bat to some particular kind of slavery . But we might not only have endured our fortune, with Antony for an easy master, but with advantages also and honours, as sharers in them with him, to whatever extent we pleased; for what would he have denied to those whose patience he found to be the main support of his authority ? But none of these con- siderations were of such importance that we should sell our good faith and liberty for it. What would not this very boy, whom the name of Csesar appears to excite against the de- stroyers of Csesar, what would not he think it worth, (if there were an opportunity for such a bargain,) to have, with our support, as much power as he certainly is likely to have, since we are so eager to live, and to retain our fortunes, and to be called men of consular rank? But then that other Caesar will have been slain to no purpose ; and why did we rejoice at his death, if, after it, we were to be slaves no less than before? Let no anxiety be felt, then, by others. But, as for me, may all the gods and goddesses deprive me of everything, sooner than of the determination not to allow to the heir of the man whom I have slain what I did not allow to the man himself, and what I would not allow even to my own father, if he were to come to life again ; namely, that he should have more power than the laws and the senate with my permission. Can you possibly believe that the rest of the citizens will be free under him, without whose permission there is no room for us in the city? How, moreover, is it possible for you tc obtain what you ask? for you ask him to permit us to be safe. Do we appear to you, then, certain of receiving safety from him when we have received life? And how can we receive it, if we fii'st throw away our dignity and our freedom? Do you think that to live at Rome is to be safe ? It is cir- cumstances, and not place, which must procure me safety. I was not safe while Caesar was alive, unless indeed it was after I had resolved upon that deed. Nor can I be an exile anywhere as long as I hate to be a slave, and to endure in- sults worse than all other evils. Is not this to fall back into the same darkness, when we request of him who has taken to himself the name of a tyrant, (while in Grecian states even the children of tyrants, after the parents are put down, aro subjected to the same fate,) that the mortal enemies and BRUTUS TO CICERO. 131 suppressors of absolute power may be allowed to live in safety ? Can I wish to see this state in such a condition, ot even think it a state at all, if it is not able to receive freedom when put into its hands, and even forced upon it ; and when it is more afraid of the name of the king who has been re- moved, in the person of a boy, than confident in itself, even after it has seen that very man who had the greatest power of all cut off by the public spirit of a few individuals? Here- after, do not recommend me to your Caesar; no, nor even yourself, if you will listen to me. You value the number of years, which your time of life renders it probable that you may enjoy, at a very high rate, if, for the sake of them, you will supplicate that boy. In the next place, with regard to the admirable line of conduct which you have adopted, and still pursue, towards Antony, take care lest, instead of being praised as the part of great magnanimity, it should be imputed to fear. For if you like Octavius, as one from whom we must beg our safety, you will appear not to have objected to a master, but only to have been desirous of a more friendly one. That you praise him for what he has hitherto done, 1 commend you ; for his conduct deserves to be praised ; provided only that he under- took that course of action in opposition to the power of an- other, and not for the sake of establishing his own. But when you judge that it is not only lawful for him to have such power, but also that it should be given him by you, so that he must be entreated not to prohibit us from living in safety, you then grant too high a reward to his merits ; for you are bestowing on him that very thing which the republic appeared to possess in consequence of his conduct. Nor does it occur to you, that if Octavius deserves any honours for waging war against Antony, the Koman people could then never bestow on those who eradicated that evil, and of whom these are the relics, anything with which their merit could be compensated, even if it were to heap upon them all honours and rewards at once. But see how much more lively men's fears are than their recollections, because Antony is alive and in arms ; but with respect to Csesar, all that was possible, or ought to have been done, has been done ; nor can it now be recalled and undone. But is Octavius a person of ouch importance, that \he Roman people ought to K? 132 BRUTUS TO CICERO. wait to see what decision he will form respecting us? And are wo of so little consequence, that it peems proper to entreat a, single individual for our safety? I, however, (to return to that point,) am of such a disposi- tion, that I not only would not address supplications to any one, but would repress those who require supplications to be made to them ; or else I will withdraw from those who are slaves, and fancy that Rome is in any place wherever I am permitted to be free. And I will pity you, in whom neither &ge, nor honours, nor the example of other men's virtue, can diminish the fond desire of life. For my part, I shall seem to myself to be happy, if I can but perpetually and constantly cherish the persuasion that due gratitude has been shown for my affection for my country. For what is more desirable than for a man, enjoying the recollection of glorious actions and the possession of liberty, to look down upon human affairs? At all events, I will not yield to those who yield; nor will I be conquered by those who wish themselves to be conquered; and I will make every possible eifort and endeavour, and never cease to attempt to free our city from slavery. If that fortune which ought to follow my endeavours shall attend them, we shall all rejoice; if not, at least I myself shall rejoice. For in what acts or meditations can my life be better spent, than in such as have for their object the deliver- ance of my fellow-citizens? You, my dear Cicero, I beg and exhort not to be weary, nor to distrust the event. Ever, in averting present evils, attend also to those which may come hereafter, lest they should make a way for themselves, unless you check them in time. Consider that the bold and free spirit, such as that with which you saved the state when consul, and uphold it now when you are of consular rank, is valueless without consistency and steadiness. I admit, indeed, that the condition of tried, is harder than that of untried virtue; for we expect services from it as debts ; and if anything turns out unfortunately, we then reproach the possessors of it in a hostile spirit, as though we had been deceived by them. Although, therefore, it is conduct worthy of great praise for Cicero to resist Antony, yet, because his character as consul 1 seemed necessarily to promise that he would be of similar character as a consular, 2 no man wonders at it. But 1 In suppressing the ccnspiiacy of Catiline. * In resisting Antony. CICERO TO 8S r JTU8. 133 if the same Cicero should waver in that judgment with regard to others, which he has used with such firmness and magna- nimity in repelling Antony, he will not only deprive himself of all hope of future glory, but will cause even the renown of his past achievements to be forgotten. For nothing is great in itself, except that in which a prin- ciple of sound judgment is visible. And as it becomes no one more than yourself, to be attached to the republic, and to be the defender of its liberties, both from your talents and yo.ir actions, and in accordance with the wishes and demands of all men, Octavius must, consequently, not be solicited to allow us to live in safety. Rouse yourself rather, that, you may feel convinced that that city, in which you have performed the greatest deeds, will ever be free and honourable, provided that the people have proper leaders to resist the counsels of the unprincipled. LETTER XXIV. Cicero to Brutus, greeting. AFTER I had repeatedly exhorted you by letter to come as soon as possible to the succour of the republic, and to bring your army into Italy, and did not suppose that your own friends had any scruples about the propriety of the measure, I was requested by that most prudent and anxious lady, your mother, 1 whose every care is bent upon you and devoted to you, to pay her a visit on the twenty-fifth of July, which I, as I was bound to do, did without hesitation. When I arrived, Casca and Labeo and Scaptius were with her. But she immediately mentioned the business on which she sent for me, and asked me what my opinion was: whether we ought to send for you, and consider such a step to be for your advantage, or whether it would be better for you to delay and remain where you were. I gave such an answer as I 1 Servilia, the mother of Brutus, who is referred to in this letter, had intrigued with Caesar; so that scandal had even called Brutuu Camr's son. Brutus appears to have had a great opinion of her al ilitiea, and to have been greatly guided by her in the transactions which fol- lowed upon Caesar's death. 134 CICERO TO BKUTUS. tho oght most suited to your dignity and reputation ; saying that you should, at the earliest possible moment, bring your aid to the tottering and almost falling republic. For what misfortune, do you think, is not to be expected in a war in which the victorious armies declined to pursue a fleeing enemy; 1 in which a general, in the enjoyment of complete safety, of the most ample honours and the most abundant fortune, blessed with a wife and children, near relations of your own, 2 declares war against the republic? and during which, (need I add?) amid the great unanimity of senate and people, there is still such a vast amount of evil remaining within the walls? But, at the time that I was writing this, I was afflicted with the utmost grief, because, when the re- public had accepted me as a surety, 3 as it were, for this young man, this almost boy, I scarcely thought that I should be able to perform what I had undertaken. And an engagement for another person's principles and sentiments, especially in affairs of preeminent importance, is a graver obligation, and one more difficult to endure, than an engagement for money. For money can be paid, and the loss of property may be borne; but how are you to discharge that for which you have engaged to the state, unless he on whose behalf you made the engagement is willing to allow it to be discharged? Yet I shall be able, as I hope, to hold this youth to his engage- ments, in spite of many that offer resistance to me. For there seems to be in him a good natural disposition; but his age is ductile, and many are ready to lead him astray, who, by holding out to him the splendour of false honour, think that the perspicacity of his judgment may be dazzled. To my other troubles, therefore, is added the labour also of using every contrivance to keep the young man to his duty, that I may not incur the imputation of rashness. And yet what rashness is it? For I have bound him for whom I have become surety, rather than myself. Nor is it possible that the republic should repent that I have become surety for him, since in his conduct he has grown more 1 This alludes, observes Middleton, to Octavius, who, with Decimua Brutus, forbore to pursue Antony after the battle at Mutina. 2 This refers to Lepidus, whose wife was the sister of Brutus. 3 When Cicero speaks of being surety for Octavius, he refers to the Fifth Philippic, c. 8. Octavius was at this time only twenty years of age. CICERO TO BRUTUS. 135 steady, not only from his natural disposition, but in conse- quence also of my promise. However, if I am not mistaken, the greatest difficulty in the republic is the want of pecuniary resources; for the re- spectable classes stop their ears more and more daily against the call for tribute; 1 because that which was collected by the tax of one per cent., 2 where the rich were iniquitously rated, has all been spent in rewards to the legions. Boundless expenses also threaten us, both for those armies with which we are now defended, and also for yours ; as to Cassius, he seems likely to come sufficiently provided. But I wish to discuss these and many other matters in conversa- tion with you; and I trust to do so very soon. With respect to your sister's sons, my dear Brutus, I did not wait for you to write to me. Doubtless the times them- selves (for this war is sure to be protracted) reserve the whole affair for you. 3 But, from the very first, when I could form no conjecture with respect to the duration of the war, I pleaded the cause of the boys in the senate with such earnest- ness as I suppose you have already understood from their mother's letters. Nor shall there ever be any matter in. which, even at the peril of my life, I will not both do and say what I think that you wish, and what I conceive to be for your advantage. Farewell. The 27th of July. 1 This tribute seems to have been a sort of capitation tax, propor- tioned to each man's substance, and had been wholly disused in Rome ever since the conquest of Macedonia by Paulina ^Emilius, which pro- duced a revenue sufficient to ease the republic ever after from that burden, until the present necessity obliged them to renew it. Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 3. Middleton. 2 1 per cent, a month. 3 Cicero, perceiving Brutus's great tenderness for his sister's chil- dren, puts him here again in mind that before the receipt even of his letters, he had been using his authority with the senate to make that matter easy to them; but that, without any endeavours of his, the fjmes themselves would throw the affair into his hands whenever he should come into Italy, since the war, by the treachery cf Lepidus, wa* oow likely to be carried into length. Ididdleton. 136 OIOEBO TO OCTAVIUS. LETTER XXV. Cicero to Octavius, greeting. 1 HAD permission been allowed me by your legions, which are most hostile to my name and to the Roman people, to come into the senate and discuss the affairs of the republic before that assembly, I should have done so ; and that not so much from inclination as from necessity; for no remedies which are applied to wounds cause such severe pain as those which tend to effect a complete cure. But since the senate is surrounded with armed men, it cannot honestly come to any decision but that it is afraid : (there are the standards of armies in the capitol; soldiers are strolling about the city; 2 a camp is pitched in the Campus Martius; and all Italy ia occupied in every quarter by legions raised to protect our liberties, but brought hither to enslave us, and by the cavalry of foreign nations :) I will for the present yield to you the forum, and the senate-hotise, and the most sacred temples of the immortal gods, in which (liberty, that revived for a time, being now again put down) the senate is consulted about nothing, fears much, and agrees to everything. In a short time, if the times should require such a step, I will also depart from the city, which, having been saved by me, in order that it might be free, I shall not endure to see in slavery. I shall be willing even to depart from life, which, although it is full of anxiety, yet, as long as it is likely to be of service to the state, consoles me with favourable hopes of a fair reputation with posterity ; but should those hopes be taken away, I shall die without hesitation, and I shall depart in such a manner, that good fortune shall appear to have been wanting to my judgment, rather than courage to myself. But this one thing, which is at once an indication of my present distress, an evidence of the past injustice with which 1 Middleton himself gives up this letter as spurious, chiefly because he fancies that the style is inferior to others of Cicero's letters. " In, Bhort, it is no epistle, but the declamation of some boy venting his indignation, and trying, under the person of Cicero, how well he could harangue on the perfidy and ingratitude of Octavius." Middleton't Preface to the Epistles to Quintus and Brutus. 2 It was contrary to the Roman constitution and la^rs to introduc* the legiona into the city. CICERO TO OCTAVIUS 137 I have been treated, and a proof of my feeling for those from whom I am separated, I will not omit to mention, in order that since I am fDrbidden to do so while present, I may be of service in my absence: if indeed my personal safety is either useful to the commonwealth, or at the least connected with the public safety. For, by the faith of the immortal gods, (unless haply I appeal to those in vain whose ears and minds are alienated from us,) and by the fortune of the Roman people, (which although it is now unfavourable to us, was at one time, and, as I trust, will again be propitious,) who is there so devoid of humanity, who so bitterly hostile to the name of this city, and to the homes of the citizens, as to be able either to conceal his grief, or to feel none, at such events as these 1 Or who, if he cannot by any means remedy the public miseries, would not withdraw from his own share in the danger by death? For, that I may begin at the beginning, and proceed to the end, and compare the last events with the first, what day, as it has arrived, has not been more miserable than the preced- ing one? And what successive hour has not been more full of calamities to the Roman people than that which was before it? Mark Antony, a man of the greatest courage, (would that he had elso been a man of wise counsels !) after Caius Csesar had been removed (bravely, indeed, but far from for- tunately) from the dominion which he was exercising over the republic, had become eager to obtain a more king-like authority than a free city could possibly endure. He squan- dered the public money; he drained the treasury; he dimi- nished the revenues; he lavished the freedom of the city in every direction, in professed compliance with Cajsar's will; he exercised a dictatorship ; he imposed laws ; he prevented a dictator from being appointed by law ; he himself in the senate opposed the decrees of the senate ; he desired to en- gross all the provinces to himself. From a man, indeed, by whom Macedonia was despised as a province, though Caesar, when victorious, had taken it for himself, what could we hope or expect? You stood forward as the assertor of our freedom, a most excellent assertor according to your conduct at that time; (would that neither our own opinion, nor your assurances ol good-faith, had deceived us !) and collecting all the veteran? 138 CICEKO TO OCTAVIDS. into one body, and drawing off two of the legions, from menacing the ruin of their country, to contribute to ita safety, you suddenly, by your own power, raised up the repub- lic when in great distress and almost overthrown. What at that time did not the senate bestow upon you before you solicited it, more abundantly than jou even desired, and with more frequency than you had ventured to hope? It gave you the forces, in order that it might have a defender armed with authority, not that it might arm an adversary with military power against itself. It gave you the title of Imperator, after the army of the enemy 1 had been routed, assigning you honour, and not intending that that army, fleeing and routed, should confer such a title on you by its utter defeat. It voted you a statue in the forum, a place in the senate, the highest honours in the state, before you arrived at the legal age for them. If there is anything else which can be bestowed on you, let it add that ; but what is there beyond this that you can wish to receive? If, however, everything has been bestowed on you without any regard to your age, or to precedent, or even to the fact that you are a mortal man, why do you so cruelly, if un- grateful, so wickedly, if forgetful of the benefits heaped upon you, thus seek to cripple the power of the senate? Whither have we sent you? from whom are you returning? Against whom is it that we have armed you? Against whom is it that you are thinking of waging war? From whom are you leading away your army? Against whom are you marshalling your troops? Why is any enemy left? Why is a citizen re- garded as an enemy? Why, in the middle of your march, is your camp moved further from that of the enemy, and nearer to the city ? Alas me! never really wise, though at one time vainly thought to be that which I was not, how greatly, Boman people, has your opinion of me deceived you ! Alas for my unfortunate and rash old age ! Alas for my grey hairs, dis- honoured at the end of a life deprived of judgment! It was I that incited the conscript fathers to the ruin of their country ; it was I that deceived the republic. It was I my- jelf that persuaded the senate to lay violent hands 011 its own 1 The army of Antony, defeated at the battle of Mutina. CICERO TO OCTAVIUS. 139 existence, when I called you a Junonian 1 youth, and the golden offspring of your mother. But the fates of your native land pointed you out as its future Paris, one who should lay waste the city with conflagration, Italy with war ; one who should pitch his camp in the temples of the immor- tal gods, and hold the senate in his camp. Alas ! for the miserable change in the affairs of the com- monwealth, so rapid and sudden, so different from all former circumstances ! What writer will ever exist of such genius, as to be able so to give an account of these events that they shall appear to be facts and not fictions? What reader will ever exist of so credulous a disposition, as not to think those things akin to fable which will then be handed down in our records with the greatest truth? For reflect that Antony was pronounced a public enemy ; that the consul elect, the very father of the republic, was besieged by him ; that you went forth to deliver the consul and to crush the enemy; that the enemy was routed by you, and the consul delivered from his state of siege; then, that a short time afterwards that very enemy who had been routed was sent for by you, and united as a coheir with you to seize the goods of the Roman people, as if the republic had been dead; that the consul elect was again blockaded in a place where he defended him- self, not with walls, but with rivers and mountains : Who will attempt to relate such events as these? Who will dare to believe them ? It may indeed be permitted to a man to have erred once with impunity ; and a frank confession may be an excuse for an offender ; for I will speak the truth ; I would rather, Antony, that we had not driven you away when you were our master, than that we should receive this youth in that character ! Not that any slavery is desirable, but because the fortune of the slave is more or less dis- honourable according to the dignity of his master; and of two evils, while we have to avoid the greater, we must choose the less. Antony, however, condescended to obtain by entreaty the things which he wished tr> appropriate ; you, Octavius, extort them by force. He applied for a province legitimately, as a 1 Either because Mars, the god of war, was the son of Juno; or because all the sons of Juno were godlike beings. Facciol. in voc, Junonius. HO CICERO TO OCTWIUS. consul ; you coveted one, though invested with no office. He erected tribunals, and passed laws, to ensure the safety of tha wicked; you do so to procure the destruction of the most virtuous. He protected the capital from bloodshed and from conflagration at the hands of slaves; you wish to destroy everything, and bury it under blood and flame. If he acted as a king, who assigned provinces to Cassius and the Bruti, and those other protectors of our name, what will he do who seeks to rob them of life 1 ? If he who drove them out of the city was a tyrant, what shall we call him who does not leave them even a place to live in exile? If, therefore, there is any sense at all in those buried re- mains of our ancestors ; if all sense and feeling is not con- sumed in the same fire with the body; what, if they should ask what the Roman people are now doing, what, I say, will any one of us reply who next takes his departure to those eternal mansions? Or what account will those ancient heroes of our race, the African!, the Fabii, the Paulli, and the Scipios, receive of their posterity? What will they fear concerning their country, which they themselves decorated with spoils and triumphs? Will any one venture to tell them that there is a certain young man, about eighteen years old, whose grandfather was a banker, whose father was a mere hack bail, each of them subsisting on precarious sources of livelihood ; the one continuing such practices till his old age, so that he cannot deny it; the other beginning them in his boyhood, so that it is impossible for him not to confess it : that this youth is plundering and ravaging the republic ; a youth to whom no valour, no provinces reduced in war and annexed to the empire, no dignity on the part of his ances- tors, had attached the assistance of the powerful, but whose beauty, by infamous practices, had gained him money, and caused, in his person, a respectable name to be polluted with licentiousness; that he had collected the veteran gladiators of Julius, woru out with wounds and age, the needy relics of the school of Caesar, to take up arms again, surrounded with whom he might throw everything into confusion, show pity for no one, and live for himself alone ; a youth who obtained possession of the republic as if it were a dowry settled on him at his marriage, or bequeathed to him by will? The two Decii will hear that those citizens are now slavey CICERO TO OCTAVIU8. 141 to secure whose dominion over their enemies they devoted themselves to death as the only means of victory. Caiu? Marius will hear that we are under the orders of a licentioua master; he who would not keep even a private soldier of loose character in his army. Brutus will hear that that people, whom he himself in the first instance, and whom his posterity in a subsequent age, emancipated from kingly power, is now surrendered to slavery as the price of shameless debauchery. If this intelligence is conveyed to them by no one else, it ehall certainly be soon conveyed to them by me; for if, while alive, I shall be unable to escape those evils, I have determined to flee from them by quitting life at tie sania time. CICERO'S DIALOGUES DE ORATOKE; OR, ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. BOOK I. THE ARGUMENT. These Dialogues were written, or at least published, by Cicero in the year B.C. 55, when he was about fifty-two years old, in the second consulship of Pompey and Crassus. He composed them at the re- quest of his brother Quintus, in order that he might set forth in better form, at a more advanced period of life, and after his long experience, those opinions on oratory which he had somewhat hastily and crudely advanced in his early years in his books on Invention. The Dialogues are supposed to have been held B.C. 91, when there were great contentions at Rome respecting the proposal of the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus to allow the senators, in common with the equites, to be judges on criminal trials. The persons present at the dialogue related in the first book are Lucius Licinius Crassus, Marcus Antonius, his friend, the two most eminent orators of their day; Quintus Mucius Scsevola, the father-in-law of Crassus, who was celebrated for his knowledge of the civil law, and from whom Cicero himself received instruction in his youth ; and two young men, Caius Amelius Gotta, and Publius Sulpicius Rufus, youths of much ability and promise, who were anxious to distinguish them- selves in oratory, and for whose instruction the precepts and obser- vations conveyed in the Dialogues are supposed to have been delivered. The scene of the conversations is the Tusculan villa of Crassus, to which he had retired from the tumults at Rome, and where he was joined by the rest of the party. The object of Cicero, in these books, was to set before his reader all that was important in the rhetorical treatises of Aristotle, Isocrates, and other ancient writers on oratory, divested of technicalities, and presented in a pleasing form. Crassus and Antonius, in the first book, discourse on all the qualifica- tions of a perfect orator, Crassus being the exponent of the senti- osnts of Cicero himself, and maintaining that a complete orator must be acquainted with the whole circle of art and science. Antonius expresses his opinion that far less learning is required in the orator than Crassus supposes, aa^ that, as universal knowledge O.I.] DE ORATORE. 143 is unattainable, it will be well for him not to attempt to acquire too much, as he will thus only distract his thoughts, and render himself less capable of attaining excellence in speaking, than if, contenting himself with moderate acquirements, he devoted his attention chiefly to the improvement of his natural talents and qualifications for oratory. Cicero bestowed great consideration on the work, and had it long in hand. Ep. ad Att. iv. 12. See also Ad Att. iv. 16; xiii. 19; Ad Fam. i. 9. I. As I frequently contemplate and call to mind the times of old, those in general seem to me, brother Quintus, to have been supremely happy, who, while they were distinguished with honours and the glory of their actions in the best days of the republic, were enabled to pursue such a course of life, that they could continue either in employment without danger, or in retirement with dignity. To myself, also, there was a time 1 when I thought that a season for relaxation, and for turning my thoughts again to the noble studies once pursued by both of us, would be fairly allowable, and be conceded by almost every one; if the infinite labour of forensic business and the occupations of ambition should be brought to a stand, either by the completion of my course of honours, 2 or by the decline of age. Such expectations, with regard to my studies and designs, not only the severe cala- mities resulting from public occurrences, but a variety of our own private troubles, 3 have disappointed. For in that period, 4 which seemed likely to offer most quiet aud tran- quillity, the greatest pressures of trouble and the most turbulent storms arose. Nor to our wishes and earnest desires has the enjoyment of leisure been granted, to culti- vate and revive between ourselves those studies to which we have from e*rly youth been addicted. For at our first entrance into life we fell amidst the perturbation 5 of all 1 After his consulship, A.tr.c. 691 , in the forty-fourth year of his age. 2 There was a certain course of honours through which the Romans passed. After attaining the qusestorship, they aspired to the aedileship, and then to the praetorship and consulate. Cicero was augur, quaestor, sedile, praetor, consul, and proconsul of Asia. Prowt. 3 He refers to his exile, and the proposed union between Caesar and Pompey to rtake themselves masters of the whole commonwealth,' a matter to which he was unwilling to allude more plainly. Ellcndt. 4 Qui locus. Quae vitae pars. Proust. 4 The civil wars of Marius and Sylla. Ettendt. 144 UK O&ATORE ; OR, [B. i ancient order; in my cci-snlship we were involved in strug- gles and the hazard of everything; 1 and all the time since that consulship we havo .nad to make opposition to those waves which, prevented by my efforts from causing a genera, destruction, have abundantly recoiled upon myself. Yet amidst the difficulties of affairs, and the straitness of time. I shall endeavour to gratify my love of literature ; and what- ever leisure the malice of enemies, the causes of friends, or the public service will allow me, I shall chiefly devote to writing. As to you, brother, I shall not fail to obey your exhortations and entreaties; for no person can have more influence with me than you have both by authority and affection. II. Here the recollection of an old tradition must be revived in my mind, a recollection not indeed sufficiently distinct, but adapted, I think, so far to reply to what you ask, that you may understand what opinions the most famous and eloquent men entertained respecting the whole art of oratory. For you wish, as you have often said to me. (since what went abroad rough and incomplete 2 from our own note- books, when we were boys or young men, is scarcely worthy of my present standing in life, and that experience which I have gained from so many and such important causes as I have pleaded,) that something more polished and complete should be offered by me on the same subjects ; and you are at times inclined to dissent from me in our disputations on this matter; inasmuch as I consider eloquence to be the offspring of the accomplishments of the most learned men ; 3 but you think it must be regarded as independent of ele- gant learning, and attributable to a peculiar kind of talent and practice. Often, indeed, as I review in thought the greatest of man- kind, and those endowed with the highest abilities, it haa appeared to me worthy of inquiry what was the cause that a greater number of persons have been admirable in every other pursuit than in speaking. For which way soever you direct your view in thought and contemplation, you will see 1 Alluding to the conspiracy of Catiline. * The two books De Inventions Rhetoricd. 3 Prudentissimorum. Equivalent to doctisstmorum. Pearce. Some manuscripts have eruditissimorum. C. III.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 145 numbers excellent in every rr^ecies, not only of the humble, but even of the highest arts. Who, indeed, is there, that, if he would measure the qualifications of illustrious men, either by the usefulness or magnitude of their actions, would not prefer a general to an orator? Yet who doubts that we can produce, from this city alone, almost innumerable excellent commanders, while we can number scarcely a few eminent in speaking 1 ? There have been many also in our own memory, and more in that of our fathers, and even of our forefathers, who had abilities to rule and govern affairs of state by their counsel and wisdom; while for a long period no tolerable orators were found, or scarcely one in every age. But lest any one should think that the art of speaking may more justly be compared with other pursuits, which depend upon abstruse studies, and a varied field of learning, than with the merits of a general, or the wisdom of a prudent senator, let him turn his thoughts to those particular sciences themselves, and contemplate who and how many have flourished in them, as he will thus be best enabled to judge how great a scarcity of orators there is and has ever been. III. It does not escape your observation that what the Greeks call PHILOSOPHY, is esteemed by the most learned men, the originator, as it were, and parent of all the arts which merit praise; philosophy, I say, in which it is difficult to enumerate how many distinguished men there have been, and of how great knowledge, variety, and comprehensiveness in their studies, men who have not confined their labours to one province separately, but have embraced whatever they could master either by scientific investigations, or by pro- cesses of reasoning. Who is ignorant in how great obscurity of matter, in how abstruse, manifold, and subtle an art they who are called mathematicians are engaged? Yet iu that pursuit so many men have arrived at excellence, that not one seems to have applied himself to the science in earnest without attaining in it whatever he desired. Who has ever devoted himself wholly to music ; who has ever given himself up to the learning which they profess who are called gramma- rians, without compassing, in knowledge and understanding, the whole substance and matter of those sciences, though almost boundless? Of all those who have engaged in the most liberal pursuits and departments of such sciences, I think I fc 146 DE OKA TORE; OR, [B.I. may truly say that a smaller number of eminent poets have arisen than of men distinguished in any other branch of litera- ture; and in the whole multitude of the learned, among whom there rarely appears one of the highest excellence, there will be found, if you will but make a careful review of our own list and that of the Greeks, far fewer good orators than good poets. This ought to seem the more wonderful, as attain- ments in other sciences are drawn from recluse and hidden springs ; but the whole art of speaking lies before us, and is concerned with common usage and the custom and language of all men ; co that while in other things that is most excel- lent which is most remote from the knowledge and under- standing of the illiterate, it is in speaking even the greatest of faults to vary from the ordinary kind of language, and the practice sanctioned by universal reason. IV. Yet it cannot be said with truth, either that more are devoted to the other arts, or that they are excited by greater pleasure, more abundant hope, or more ample rewards ; for to say nothing of Greece, which was always desirous to hold the first place in eloquence, and Athens, that inventress of all literature, in which the utmost power of oratory was both discovered and brought to perfection, in this very city of ours, assuredly, no studies were ever pursued with more earnestness than those tending to the acquisition of elo- quence. For when our empire over all nations was esta- blished, and after a period of peace had secured tranquillity, there was scarcely a youth ambitious of praise who did not think that he must strive, with all his endeavours, to attain the art of speaking. For a time, indeed, as being ignorant of all method, and as thinking there was no course of ex- ercise for them, or any precepts of art, they attained what they could by the single fcrce of genius and thought. But afterwards, having heard the Greek orators, and gained an acquaintance with Greek literature, and procured instruc- tors, our countrymen were inflamed with an incredible passion for eloquence. The magnitude, the variety, the mul- titude of all kind of causes, excited them to such a degree, that to that learning which each had acquired by his indi- vidual study, frequent practice, which was superior to the precepts of al\ masters, was at once added. There were then, as there are also now, the highest inducements offered for the C. V.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 147 cultivation of this study, in regard to public favour, wealth, and dignity. The abilities of our countrymen (as we may judge from many particulars,) far excelled those of the men of every other nation. For which reasons, who would not justly wonder that in the records of all ages, times, and states, so small a number of orators should be found ? But the art of eloquence is something greater, and col- lected from more sciences and studies, than people imagine. V. For who can suppose that, amid the greatest multitude of students, the utmost abundance of masters, the most emi- nent geniuses among men, the infinite variety of causes, the most ample rewards offered to eloquence, there is any other reason to be found for the small number of orators than the incredible magnitude and difficulty of the art- 1 ? A knowledge of a vast number of things is necessary, without, which volubility of words is empty and ridiculous ; speech itself is to be formed, not merely by choice, but by careful construction of words ; and all the emotions of the mind, which nature has given to man, must be intimately known ; for all the force and art of speaking must be employed in allaying or exciting the feelings of those who listen. To this must be added a certain portion of grace and wit, learning worthy of a well-bred man, and quickness and brevity in replying as well as attacking, accompanied with a refined decorum and urbanity. Besides, the whole of antiquity and a multitude of examples is to be kept in the memory; nor is the knowledge of laws in general, or of the civil law in par ticular, to be neglected. And why need I add any remarks on delivery itself, which is to be ordered by action of body, by gesture, by look, and by modulation and varia- tion of the voice, the great power of which, alone and in itself, the comparatively trivial art of actors and the stage proves, on which though all bestow their utmost labour to form their look, voice, and gesture, who knows not how fev there are, and have ever been, to whom we can attend with, patience 1 What can I say of that repository for all things, the memory, which, unless it be made the keeper of the matter and words that are the fruits of thought and inven- tion, all the talents of the orator, we see, though they be of the highest degree of excellence, will be of no avail 1 Let s then cease to wonder what is the cause of the scarcity 01 r-2 148 DE ORATORE; OR, [B.I. good speakers, since eloquence results from all tl ose quali- fications, in each of which singly it is a great merit to labour successfully; and let us rather exhort our children, and others whose glory and honour is dear to us, to contemplate in their minds the full magnitude of the object, and not to trust that they can reach the height at which they aim, by the aid of the precepts, masters, and exercises, that they are all now follow- ing, but to understand that they must adopt others of a different character. VI. In my opinion, indeed, no man can be an orator po&oessed of every praiseworthy accomplishment, unless he has attained the knowledge of everything important, and of all liberal arts, for his language must be ornate and copious from knowledge, since, unless there be beneath the surface matter understood and felt by the speaker, oratory become* an empty and almost puerile flow of words. Yet I will not lay so great a burden upon orators, especially our own, amid so many occupations of public and private life, as to think it allowable for them to be ignorant of nothing ; although the qualifications of an orator, and his very pro- fession of speaking well, seem to undertake and promise that he can discourse gracefully and copiously on whatever sub- ject is proposed to him. But because this, I doubt not, will appear to most people an immense and infinite undertaking, and because I see that the Greeks, men amply endowed not only with genius and learning, but also with leisure and appli- cation, have made a kind of partition of the arts, and have not singly laboured in the whole circle of oratory, but have separated from the other parts of rhetoric that department of eloquence which is used in the forum on trials or in deli- berations, and have left this species only to the orator ; I shall not embrace in these books more than has been attri- buted to this kind of speaking 1 by the almost unanimoua consent of the greatest men, after much examination and discussion of the subject ; and I shall repeat, not a series of precepts drawn from the infancy of our old and boyish learn- ing, but matters which I have heard were formerly argued in a discussion among some of our countrymen who were of the highest eloquence, and of the first rank in 3very kind 1 Deliberative and judicial oratory ; omitting the epideictic or demon- strative kind. C. VII. ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 149 of dignity. Not that I contemn the instructions which the Greek rhetoricians and teachers have left as, but, as they are already public, and within the reach of all, and can neither be set forth more elegantly, nor explained more clearly by my interpretation, you will, I think, excuse me,. my brother, if I prefer to the Greeks the authority of those to whom the utmost merit in eloquence has been allowed by our own countrymen. VII. At the time, then, when the consul Philippus was vehe- mently inveighing against the cause of the nobility, and the tribuneship of Drusus, undertaken to support the authority of the senate, seemed to be shaken and weakened, I was told, I remember, that Lucius Crassus, as if for the purpose of collecting his thoughts, betook himself, during the days of the Roman games, to his Tusculan country-seat, whither also Quintus Mucius, who had been his father-in-law, is said to have come at the same time, as well as Marcus Antonius, a sharer in all the political proceedings of Crassus, and united in the closest friendship with him. There went out with Crassus him- self two young men besides, great friends of Drusus, youths of whom our ancestors then entertained sanguine hopes that they would maintain the dignity of their order ; Caius Cotta, who was then a candidate for the tribuneship of the people, and Publius Sulpicius, who was thought likely to stand for that office in due course. These, on the first day, conferred much together until very late in the evening, concerning the condition of those times, and the whole com- monwealth, for which purpose they had met. Cotta re- peated to me many things then prophetically lamented ani\a(}>es, and Manutius ad Cic. Div. ii. 11, p. 254. Cicero aptly refers to that dialogue of Plato, because much is said about eloquence in it. The plane-tree was greatly admired by the Romans for its wide-spreading ehade. See I. H. Vossius ad Virg. Georg. ii. 70; Plin. H. N. xiL 1; xvii, 15 ; Hor. Od. ii. 15. 5; Gronov. Obss. i. 5. Ettendt. 0. IX.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 151 an oration adorned and polished with wise thoughts and weighty expressions ? Or what is so striking, so astonishing, as that the tumults of the people, the religious feelings of judges, the gravity of the senate, should be swayed by the speech of one man ? Or what, moreover, is so kingly, so liberal, so munificent, as to give assistance to the suppliant, to raise the afflicted, to bestow security, to deliver from dangers, to maintain men in the rights of citizenship 1 What, also, is so necessary as to keep arms always ready, with which you may either be protected yourself, or defy the malicious, or avenge yourself when provoked 1 Or consider, (that you may not always contemplate the forum, the benches, the rostra, and the senate,) what can be more delightful in leisure, or more suited to social intercourse, than elegant conversa- tion, betraying no want of intelligence on any subject 1 For it is by this one gift that we are most distinguished from brute animals, that we converse together, and can express our thoughts by speech. Who therefore would not justly make this an object of admiration, and think it worthy of his utmost exertions, to surpass mankind themselves in that single ex- cellence by which they claim their superiority over brutes 1 But, that we may notice the most important point of all, what other power could either have assembled mankind, when dispersed, into one place, or have brought them from wild and savage life to the present humane and civilized state of society; or, when cities were established, have described for them laws, judicial institutions, and rights ? And that I may not mention more examples, which are almost without number, I will conclude the subject in one short sentence : for I consider, that by the judgment and wisdom of the perfect orator, not only his own honour, but that of many other individuals, and the welfare of the whole state, are principally upheld. Go on, therefore, as you are doing, young men, and apply earnestly to the study in which yoy are engaged, that you may be an honour to yourselves, an advantage to your friends, and a benefit to the republic." IX. Scaevola then observed with courtesy, as was always his manner, " I agree with Crassus as to other points (that I may not detract from the art or glory of Lselius, my father-in-law, or of my son-in-law here), 1 but I am afraid, 1 CraasuB. 1 52 DE OEATORE ; OR, [B. L Crassus, that I cannot grant you these two points ; one, that states were, as you said, originally established, and have often been preserved, by orators ; the other, that, setting aside the forum, the assemblies of the people, the courts of judicature, and the senate-house, the orator is, as you pronounced, accom- plished in every subject of conversation and learning. For who will concede to you, either that mankind, dispersed originally in mountains and woods, enclosed themselves in towns and walls, not so much from being convinced by the counsels of the wise, as from being charmed by the speeches of the eloquent 1 } Or that other advantages, arising either from the establishment or preservation of states, were settled, not by wise and brave men, but by fluent and elegant speakers? Does Romulus seem to you to have assembled the shepherds, and those that flocked to him from all parts, or to have formed marriages with the Sabines, or to have repelled the power of the neighbouring people, by eloquence, and not by counsel and eminent wisdom ? Is there any trace of eloquence apparent in Numa Pompilius, in Servius Tullius, or in the rest of our kings, from whom we have many excel- lent regulations for maintaining our government? After the kings were expelled (though we see that their expulsion was effected by the mind of Lucius Brutus, and not by his tongue), we not perceive that all the subsequent transactions are full of wise counsel, but destitute of all mixture of eloquence? But if I should be inclined to adduce examples from our own and other states, I could cite more instances of mischief than of benefit done to public affairs by men of eminent eloquence; but, to omit others, I think, Crassus, that the most eloquent men I ever heard, except you two, 1 were the Sempronii, Tiberius and Caius, whose father, a prudent and grave man, but by no means eloquent, on several other occa- sions, but especially when censor, was of the utmost service to the republic; and he, not by any faultless flow of speech, but by a word and a nod, transferred the freedmen into the city tribes; 2 and, if he had not done so, we should now have 1 Crassus and Antonius. 2 Livy, xlv. 15, says that the freedmen were previously dispersed among all the four city tribes, and that Gracchus included them all in the Esquiline tribe. The object was to allow the freedmen as little influence as possible in voti ig. J.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 153 no republic, which we still maintain with difficulty; but his sons, who were eloquent, and qualified for speaking by all the helps of nature and of learning, having found the state in a most flourishing condition, both through the counsels of their father, and the arms of their ancestors, brought their country, by means of their oratory, that most excellent ruler of states as you call it, to the verge of ruin. X. " Were our ancient laws, and the customs of our an- cestors; were the auspices, over which you, Crassus, and 1 preside with great security to the republic ; were the reli- gious rites and ceremonies; were the civil laws, the know- ledge of which has long prevailed in our family, (and without any praise for eloquence,) either invented, or understood, or in any way ordered by the tribe of orators? I can remember that Servius Galba, a man of godlike power in speaking, as well as Marcus ^Emilius Porcina, and Cneius Carbo himself, whom you defeated when you were but a youth, 1 was igno- rant of the laws, at a loss in the practices of our ancestors, and unlearned in civil jurisprudence ; and, except you, Crassus, who, rather from your own inclination to study, than because it was any peculiar business of an orator, have learned the civil law from us, as I am sometimes ashamed to say, this generation of ours is ignorant of law. " But what you assumed, as by a law of your own, in the last part of your speech, that an orator is able to speak fluently on any subject, I would not, if I were not here in your own domain, tolerate for a moment, but would head a party who should either oppose you by an interdict, 2 or Bumnion you to contend with them at law, for having so unceremoniously invaded the possessions of others. In the first place, all the Pythagoreans, and the followers of Demo- critus, would institute a suit against you, with the rest of the natural philosophers, each in his own department, men whc 1 Caius Papirius Carbo, after having been a very seditious tribune, went over in his consulship to the side of the patricians, and highly extolled Lucius Opimius for killing Caius Gracchus. But, at the ex- piration of his consulship, being impeached by Crassus, on what grounds we do not know, he put himself to death. Cic. Orat. iii. 20, 74 ; Brut. 27, 103. Ellendt. 2 An edict of the praetor forbidding something to be done, in con- tradistinction to a decree, which ordered something to be done. Ellendt refers to Gaius, iv. 139, 160. 154 DE OEATORB j OR, [fi. L are elegant and powerful speakers, with whom you could not contend on equal terms. 1 Whole troops of other philosophers would assail you besides, even down from Socrates their origin and head, and would convince you that you had learned nothing about good and evil in life, nothing about the passions of the mind, nothing about the moral conduct of mankind, nothing about the proper course of life ; they would show you that you have made no due inquiry after know- ledge, and that you know nothing ; and, when they had made an attack upon you altogether, then every sect would bring its separate action against you. The Academy would press you, and, whatever you asserted, force you to deny it. Our friends the Stoics would hold you entangled in the snares of their disputatious and questions. The Peripatetics would prove that those very aids and ornaments to speaking, which you consider the peculiar property of the orators, must be sought from themselves; and they would show you that Aristotle and Theophrastus have written not only better, but also far more copiously, on these subjects, than all the masters of the art of speaking. I say nothing of the mathematicians, the grammarians, the musicians, with whose sciences this art of speaking of yours is not connected by the least affinity. I think, therefore, Crassus, that such great and numerous pro- fessions ought not to be made. What you can effect is suf- ficiently great; namely, that in judicial matters the cause which you plead shall seem the better and more probable; that in public assemblies, and in delivering opinions, your oratory shall have the most power to persuade; that, finally, you shall seem to the wise to speak with eloquence, and even to the simple to speak with truth. If you can do more than this, it will appear to me that it is not the orator, but Crassus himself that effects it by the force of talents peculiar to himself, and not common to other orators." XI. Crassus then replied, " I am not ignorant, Scaevola, that things of this sort are commonly asserted and maintained among the Greeks; for I was an auditor of their greatest 1 Justo sacramento. The sacramentum was a deposit of a certain sura of money laid down by two parties who were going to law; and when the decision was made, the victoricu.3 party received his money back, while that of the defeated party went into the public treasury Varro, L. L. v. 180, C. XI.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 155 men, when I came tj Athens as quaestor from Macedonia, 1 and when the Academy was in a flourishing state, as it was represented in those days, for Charmadas, and Clitomachus, and jEschiass were in possession of it. There was also Me- trodorus, who, with the others, had been a diligent hearer of the famous Carneades himself, a man beyond all others, as they told me, a most spirited and copious speaker. Miiesar- chus, too, was in great esteem, a hearer of your friend Pansetius, and Diodorus, a scholar of Critolaus the Peri- patetic; and there were many other famous men besides, highly distinguished in philosophy, by all of whom, with one voice as it were, I observed that the orator was repelled from the government of states, excluded from all learning and knowledge of great affairs, and degraded and thrust down into the courts of justice and petty assemblies, as into a workshop. But I neither assented to those men, nor to the originator of these disputations, and by far the most eloquent of them all, the eminently grave and oratorical Plato ; whose Gorgias I then diligently read over at Athens with Char- madas ; from which book I conceived the highest admiration of Plato, as he seemed to me to prove himself an eminent orator, even in ridiculing orators. A controversy indeed on the word ORATOR has long disturbed the minute Grecians, who are fonder of argument than of truth. For if any one pronounces him to be an orator who can speak fluently only on law in general, or on judicial questions, or before the people, or in the senate, he must yet necessarily grant and allow him a variety of talents; for he cannot treat even of these matters with sufficient skill and accuracy without great attention to all public affairs, nor without a knowledge of laws, customs, and equity, nor without understanding the nature and manners of mankind ; and to him who knows these things, without which no one can maintain even the most minute points in judicial pleadings, how much is wanting of the knowledge even of the most important affairs? But if you allow nothing to belong to the orator but to speak aptly, ornately, and copiously, how can he even attain these qualities without that knowledge which you do not allow him? for there can be no true merit in speaking, unless what is said is 1 Crassus was quaestor in Asia, A.U.C. 645, and, on his return, at th expiration of his office, passed through Macedonia. Ellendt. 16fl DE ORA10RE ; OR, [u. 1, thorouglily understood by him who says it. If, therefore, the natural philosopher Democritus spoke with elegance, as he ia reported to have spoken, and as it appears to me that he did speak, the matter on which he spoke belonged to the philosopher, but the graceful array of words is to be ascribed to the orator. And if Plato spoke divinely upon subjects most remote from civil controversies, as I grant that he did ; if also Aristotle, and Theophrastus, and Carneades, were eloquent, and spoke with sweetness and grace on those matters which they dis- cussed; let the subjects on which they spoke belong to other studies, but their speech itself, surely, is the peculiar offspring of that art of which we are now discoursing and inquiring. For we see that some have reasoned on the same subjects jejunely and drily, as Chrysippus, whom they celebrate as the acutest of philosophers; nor is he on this account to be thought to have been deficient in philosophy, because he did not gain the talent of speaking from an art which is foreign to philosophy. XII. " Where then lies the difference 1 Or by what term will you discriminate the fertility and copiousness of speech in those whom I have named, from the barrenness of those who use not this variety and elegance of phrase ? One thing there will certainly be, which those who speak well will exhibit as their own ; a graceful and elegant style, dis- tinguished by a peculiar artifice and polish. But this kind of diction, if there be not matter beneath it clear and intelligible to the speaker, must either amount to nothing, or be received with ridicule by all who hear it. For what savours so much of madness, as the empty sound of words, even the choicest and most elegant, when there is no sense or knowledge contained in them ? Whatever be the subject of a speech, therefore, in whatever art or branch of science, the orator, if he has made himself master of it, as of his client's cause, will speak on it better and more elegantly than even the very originator and author of it can. 1 If indeed any one shall say that there are certain trains of thought and reasoning properly belonging to orators, and a knowledge of certain things ^circumscribed within the limits of the forum, I will confess that our common speech is employed about these matters chiefly ; but yet there are many things, in 1 See Quintilian, ii 21. 0. Till.] ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 157 these very topics, which those masters of rhetoric, as they ara called, neither teach nor understand. For who is inorant that the highest power of an orator consists in exciting tna minds of men to anger, or to hatred, or to grief, or in recall- ing them from these more violent emotions to gentleness and compassion ? which power will never be able to effect its ob- ject by eloquence, unless in him who has obtained a thorough insight into the nature of mankind, and all the passions of humanity, and those causes by which our minds are either impelled or restrained. But all these are thought to belong to the philosophers, nor will the orator, at least with my con- sent, ever deny that such is the case ; but when he has conceded to them the knowledge of things, since they are willing to exhaust their labours on that alone, he will assume to himself the treatment of oratory, which without that knowledge is nothing. For the proper concern of an orator, as I have already often said, is language of power and elegance accommodated to the feelings and understandings of mankind. XIII. " On these matters I confess that Aristotle and Theo- phrastus have written. 1 But consider, Scaevola, whether this is not wholly in my favour. For I do not borrow from them what the orator possesses in common with them ; but they allow that what they say on these subjects belongs to oratory. Their other treatises, accordingly, they distinguish by the name of the science on which each is written ; their treatises on oratory they entitle and designate as books of rhetoric. For when, in their discussions, (as often happens,) such topics present themselves as require them to speak of the immortal gods, of piety, of concord, of friendship, of the common rights of their fellow-citizens, or those of all mankind, of the law of nations, of equity, of temperance, of greatness of mind, of every kind of virtue, all the academies and schools of philosophy, I imagine, will cry out that all these subjects are their property, and that no particle of them belongs to the orator. But when I have given them liberty to reason on all these subjects in corners to amuse their leisure, I shall give and assign to the orator his part, which is, to set forth with full power and attraction the very same topics which they discuss in such tame and bloodless phraseology. Thes* 1 Though they are philosophers, and not orators or rhetoricians. IS 8 DE ORATORE j OR, [u. I. points I then discussed with the philosophers in person at Athens, for Marcus Marcellus, our countryman, who is now ourule sedile, obliged me to do so, and he would certainly have taken part in our present conversation, were he not now celebrating the public games ; for he was then a youth mar- vellously given to these studies. "Of the institution of laws, of war, of peace, of alliances, of tributes, of the civil law as relating to various ranks and ages respectively, 1 let the Greeks say, if they will, that Ly- curgus or Solon (although I think that these should be enrolled in the number of the eloquent) had more knowledge than Hypereides or Demosthenes, men of the highest accom- plishments and refinement in oratory ; or let our countrymen prefer, in this sort of knowledge, the Decemviri who wrote the Twelve Tables, and who must have been wise men, to Servius Galba, and your father-in-law Lselius, who are al- lowed to have excelled in the glorious art of speaking. I, indeed, shall never deny that there are some sciences pecu- liarly well understood by those who have applied their whole study to the knowledge and consideration of them ; but the accomplished and complete orator I shall call him who can speak on all subjects with variety and copiousness. XIV. For cften in those causes which all acknowledge properly to lelong to orators, there is something to be drawn forth and adopted, not from the routine of the Forum, which is the only knowledge that you grant to the orator, but from some of the more obscure sciences. I ask whether a speech can be made for or against a general, without an acquaintance with military affairs, or often without a knowledge of certain inland and maritime countries ? whether a speech can be made to the people about passing or rejecting laws, or in the senate on any kind of public transactions, without the greatest knowledge and judgment in political matters? whether a speech can be adapted to excite or calm the thoughts and 1 De jure civili generatim in ordines cetatesque descripto. Instead cf civili, the old reading was civium, in accordance with which Lambinua altered descripto into descriptorum. Civili was an innovation of Ernesti, which Ellendt condemns, and retains civium; observing that Cicero means jura civium publica sinyutis ordinibus et cetatibus assignata. " By ordines," says Ernesti, " are meant patricians and plebeians, senators, knights, and classes in the census; by cetates, younger t^" 1 older persons." 0. XV.] ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 159 passions (which alone is a great business of the orator) without a most diligent examination of all those doctrines which are set forth on the nature and manners of men by the philosophers? I do not know whether I may not be less successful in maintaining what I am going to say; but I shall not hesitate to speak that which I think. Physics, and mathematics, and those other things which you just now decided to belong to other sciences, belong to the peculiar knowledge of those who profess them; but if any one would illustrate those arts by eloquence, he must have recourse to the power of oratory. Nor, if, as is said, Philo, 1 the famous architect, who built an arsenal for the Athenians, gave that people an eloquent account of his work, is it to be imagined that his eloquence proceeded from the art of the architect, but from that of the orator. Or, if our friend Marcus Antonius had had to speak for Hermodorus 2 on the subject of dock- building, he would have spoken, when he had learned the case from Hermodorus, with elegance and copiousness, drawn, from an art quite unconnected with dock-building. And Asclepiades, 3 whom we knew as a physician and a friend, did not, when he excelled others of his profession in eloquence, employ, in his graceful elocution, the art of physic, but that of oratory. What Socrates used to say, that all men ara sufficiently eloquent in that which they understand, is very plausible, but not true. It would have been nearer truth t/o say, that no man can be eloquent on a subject that he doers not understand ; and that, if he understands a subject ever so well, but is ignorant how to form and polish his speech, he cannot express himself eloquently even about what he does understand. XV. " If, therefore, any one desires to define and compre- hend the whole and peculiar power of an orator, that man, in my opinion, will be an orator, worthy of so great a name, who, whatever subject comes before him, and requires rheto- rical elucidation, can speak on it judiciously, in set form, 1 He is frequently mentioned by the ancients ; the passages relating to him have been collected by Juuius de PicturG, In Catnl. Artif. Ernesti. See Plin. H. N. vii. 38 ; Plut. Syll. c. 14 ; Val. Max. vii. 12. 1 A Roman shipbuilder. See Turneb. Advers. xi. 2. ' See Plin. H. N. vii. 37. Celsus often refers to his authority as th* ft under of a new party. EtteiwU. 160 DB ORATORS ; OR, [B, I. elegantly, and from memory, and with a certain dignity of action. But if the phrase which I have used, ' on whatever subject,' is thought by any one too comprehensive, let him retrench and curtail as much of it as he pleases ; but this I will maintain, that though the orator be ignorant of what belongs to other arts and pursuits, and understands only what concerns the discussions and practice of the Forum, yet \f he has to speak on those arts, he will, when he has learned what pertains to any of them from persons who understand them, discourse upon them much better than the very persona of whom those arts form the peculiar province. Thus, if our friend Sulpicius have to speak on military affairs, he will inquire about them of my kinsman Caius Marius, 1 and when he has received information, will speak upon them in such a manner, that he shall seem to Marius to understand them better than himself. Or if he has to speak on the civil law, he will consult with you, and will excel you, though eminently wise and learned in it, in speaking on those very points which he shall have learned from yourself. Or if any subject pre- sents itself, requiring him to speak on the nature and vices of men, on desire, on moderation, on continence, on grief, on death, perhaps, if he thinks proper, (though the orator ought to have a knowledge of these things.) he will consult with Sextus Pompeius, 2 a man learned in philosophy. But this he will certainly accomplish, that, of whatever matter he gains a knowledge, or from whomsoever, he will speak upon it much more elegantly than the very person from whom he gained the knowledge. But, since philosophy is distinguished into three parts, inquiries into the obscurities of physics, the subtilties of logic, and the knowledge of life and manners, let us, if Sulpicius will listen to me, leave the two former, and consult our ease; but unless we have a knowledge of the third, which has always been the province of the orator, we 1 The son of the great Caius Marius, seven times consul, had married Mucia, the daughter of the augur Scscvola. In Cicero's Oration for Balbus, also, c. 21, 49, where tho merits of that eminent commander ai'e celebrated, Crassus is called his affinis, relation by marriage. Henrichsen, '' The uncle of Cneius Pompey the Great, who had devoted excel- lent talents to the attainment of a, thorough knowledge of civil law. geometry, and the doctrines of th* Stoics. See Cic Brut. 47 ; Philipp. xii. 11; Beier, ad Off. L 6- *0. EUendt. C. XVI.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 101 shall, leave him nothing in which ne can distinguish himself. The part of philosophy, therefore, regarding life and manners, must be thoroughly mastered by the orator; other subjects, even if he has not learned them, he will be able, whenever there is occasion, to adorn by his eloquence, if they are brought before him and made known to him. XVI. "For if it is allowed amongst the learned that Aratus. a man ignorant of astronomy, has treated of heaven and the constellations in extremely polished and excellent verses; if Nicander, 1 of Colophon, a mau totally unconnected with the country, has written well on rural affairs, with the aid of poetical talent, and not from understanding husbandry, what reason is there why an orator should not speak most elo- quently on those matters of .which he shall have gained a knowledge for a certain purpose and occasion? For the poet is nearly allied to the orator; being somewhat more restricted in numbers, but less restrained in the choice of words, yet in many kinds of embellishment his rival and almost equal; in one respect, assuredly, nearly the same, that he circumscribes or bounds his jurisdiction by no limits, but reserves to himself full right to range wherever he pleases with the same ease and liberty. For why did you say, Sceevola, 2 that you would not endure, unless you were in my domain, my assertion, that the orator ought to be accom- plished in every style of speaking, and in every part of polite learning? I should certainly not have said this if I had thought myself to be the orator whom I conceive in my imagination. But, as Caius Lucilius used frequently to say (a man not very friendly to you, 3 and on that account less familiar with me than he could wish, but a man of learning and good breeding), I am of this opinion, that no one is to be numbered among orators who is not thoroughly accom- 1 Nicander, a physician, grammarian, and poet, flourished in the time of Attalus, the second king of Pergamus, about fifty years before Christ. His Theriaca and Alexipharmaca are extant ; his Qeargica, to which Cicero here alludes, has perished. Henrichsen. 2 See c. x. 3 It is Lucilius the Satirist that is meant. What cause there had been for unfriendliness between him and Scaevola is unknown ; perhaps lie might have spoken too freely, or made some satirical remark on the accusation of Scaevola by Albucius for bribery, on which there arc *cne verses in b. iii. o. 43. Ellendt. u 162 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. It phshed iii all branches of knowledge requisite for a man oi good breeding; and though we may not put forward such knowledge in conversation, yet it is apparent, and indeed evident, whether we are destitute of it, or have acquired it ; as those who play at tennis do not exhibit, in playing, the gestures of the palaestra, but their movements indicate whe- ther they have learned those exercises or are unacquainted with them; and as those who shape out anything, though they do not then exercise the art of painting, yet make it clear whether they can paint or not; so in orations to courts of justice, before the people, and in the senate, although other sciences have no peculiar place in them, yet is it easily proved whether he who speaks has only been exercised in the parade of declamation, or has devoted himself to oratory after having been instructed in all liberal knowledge." XVII. Then Scaevola, smiling, said : " I will not struggle with you any longer, Crassus ; for you have, by some artifice, made good what you asserted against me, so as to grant me whatever I refused to allow to the orator, and yet so as to wrest from me those very things again I know not how, and to transfer them to the orator as his property. 1 When I went as praetor to Rhodes, and communicated to Apol- lonius, that famous instructor in this profession, what I had learned from Panaetius, Apollonius, as was his manner, ridi- culed these matters, 2 threw contempt upon philosophy, and made many other observations with less wisdom than wit; but your remarks were of such a kind as not to express con- tempt for any arts or sciences, but to admit that they are all attendants and handmaids of the orator ; and if ever any one should comprehend them all, and the same person should add to that knowledge the powers of supremely elegant oratory, I cannot but say that he would be a man of high distinction 1 You granted me all that I desired when you said that all arts and sciences belong, as it were, respectively to those who have invented, or profess, or study them ; . . . . but when you said that those arts and sciences are necessary to the orator, and that he can speak upon them, if he wishes, with more elegance and effect than those who have made them their peculiar study, you seemed to take them all from me again, and to transfer them to the orator as his own property. Proust, 2 Orellius reads H^ in- ventors and first authors of rhetorical science; and then named a vast number of the most eloquent men who had neither learned, nor cared to understand the rules of art, and amongst whom, (whether in jest, or because he thought, or had heard something to that effect,) he instanced me as one who had received none of their instructions, and yet, as he said, had some abilities as a speaker; of which two observations I readily granted the truth of one, that I had never been instructed, but thought that in the other he was either joking with me, or was under some mistake. But he denied there was any art, except such as lay in things that were known and thoroughly understood, things tending to the same object, and never misleading; but that everything treated by the orators was doubtful and uncertain ; as it was uttered by those who did not fully understand it, and was heard by them to whom knowledge was not meant to be communicated, but merely false, or at least obscure notions, 1 Quasi deditd operd. As if Charmadas himself had collected all the writers on the art of rhetoric, that he might be in a condition to prove what he now asserted ; or, as if the writers on the art of rhetoric them- selves had purposely abstained from attempting to be eloquent. But Ohannadas was very much in the wrong ; for Gurgins, Isocrates, Prota- goras, Theophrastus, and other teachers of rhetoric were eminent for eloquence. Proust. - Two Sicilians, said to have been the most anciont writers on rhetoric. See Quintilian, iii. 1. C. XXI.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 167 intended to live in their minds only for a short time. In short, he seemed bent on convincing me that there was no art of speaking, and that no one could speak skilfully, or so as fully to illustrate a subject, but one who had attained that knowledge which is delivered by the most learned of the philosophers. On which occasions Charmadas used to say, with a passionate admiration of your genius, Crassus, that I appeared to him very easy in listening, and you most pertinacious in disputation. XXI. " Then it was that I, swayed by this opinion, re- marked in a little treatise 1 which got abroad, and into people's hands, without my knowledge and against my will, that I had known many good speakers, but never yet any one that was truly eloquent ; for I accounted him a good speaker, who could express his thoughts with accuracy and perspi- cuity, according to the ordinary judgment of mankind, before an audience of moderate capacity; but I considered him alone eloquent, who could in a more admirable and noble manner amplify and adorn whatever subjects he chose, and who em- braced in thought and memory all the principles of everything relating to oratory. This, though it may be difficult to us, who, before we begin to speak in public, are overwhelmed by canvassings for office and by the business of the forum, is yet within the range of possibility and the powers of nature. For I, as far as I can divine by conjecture, and as far as I can estimate the abilities of our countrymen, do not despair that there may arise at some time or other a person, who, when, with a keener devotion to study than we feel, or have ever felt, with more leisure, with better and more mature talent for learning, and with superior labour and industry, he shall have given himself up to hearing, reading, and writing, may become such an orator as we desire to see, one who may justly be called not only a good speaker, but truly eloquent; and such a character, in my opinion, is our friend Crassus, or some one, if such ever was, of equal genius, who, having heard, read, and written more than Crassus, shall be able to make some little addition to it." Here Sulpicius observed : " That has happened by acci- dent, Crassus, which neither Cotta nor I expected, but which we both earnestly desired, I mean, that you should in- 1 See :. 47 Cicero speaks of it as exilis, poor and dry, Brut. 44 ; Orat. 5. 168 DE ORATOREj OR, [B. I. sensibly glide into a discourse of this kind. For, ae we were coming hither, we thought it would be a pleasure, if, while you were talking on other matters, we might gather some- thing worthy to be remembered from your conversation ; but that you should go into a deep and full discussion on this very study, or art, or faculty, and penetrate into the heart of it, was what we could scarcely venture to hope. For I, who> from my early youth, have felt a strong affection for yon both, and even a love for Crassus, having never left his com- pany, could never yet elicit a word from him on the method and art of speaking, though I not only solicited him myself, but endeavoured to move him by the agency of Drusus ; on which subject you, Antonius, (I speak but the truth,) never failed to answer my requests and interrogatories, and have very often told me what you used to notice in speaking. And since each of you has opened a way to these subjects of our research, and since Crassus was the first to commence this discourse, do us the favour to acquaint us fully and exactly what you think about the various kinds of eloquence. If we, obtain this indulgence from you, I shall feel the greatest obligation to this school of yours, Crassus, and to your Tus- culan villa, and shall prefer your suburban place of study to the famous Academy and Lyceum." XXII. " Nay rather, Sulpicius," rejoined Crassus, " let us ask Antonius, who is both capable of doing what you desire, and, as I hear you say, has been accustomed to do so. As to myself, I acknowledge that I have ever avoided all such kind of discourse, and have often declined to comply with your requests and solicitations, as you just now observed. This I did, not from pride or want of politeness, nor because I was unwilling to aid your just and commendable aspirations, especially as I knew you to be eminently and above others formed and qualified by nature to become a speaker, but, in truth, from being unaccustomed to such kind of discussions, and from being ignorant of those principles which are laid down as institutes of the art." " Then," said Cotta, " since we have got over what we thought the greatest difficulty, to induce you, Crassus, to speak at all upon these subjects, for the rest, it will be our own fault if we let you go before you have explained all that we have to ask." " I believe I roust answer," says Crassus, " as is usual'y written in the C. XXII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 169 formulae for entering on inheritances, 1 concerning such points AS I KNOW AND SHALL BE ABLE." " And which of us," rejoined Ootta, '* can be so presuming as to desire to know or to be able to do anything that you do not know or cannot do 1 ?'' " Well, then," returned Crassus, " on condition that I may say that I cannot do what I cannot do, and that I may own that I do not know what I do not know, you may put ques- tions to me at your pleasure." " We shall, then, first ask of you," said Suipicius, " what you think of what Antonius has advanced ; whether you think that there is any art in speak- ing?" "What!" exclaimed Crassus, "do you put a trifling question to me, as to some idle and talkative, though perhaps studious and learned Greek, on which I may speak accord- ing to my humour? When do you. imagine that I have ever regarded or thought upon such matters, or have not always rather ridiculed the impudence of those men who, seated in the schools, would demand if any one, in a numerous assembly of persons, wished to ask any question, and desire him to speak ? This Gorgias the Leontine is said to have first done, who was thought to undertake and promise some- thing vast, in pronouncing himself prepared to speak on all subjects on which any one should be inclined to hear him. But afterwards those men made it a common practice, and continue it to this day; so that there is no topic of such importance, or so unexpected, or so new, on which they do not profess that they will say all that can be said. But if I had thought that you, Cotta, or you, Suipicius, were desirous to hear such matters, I would have brought hither some Greek to amuse you with their manner of disputation; for there is with M. Piso, 2 (a youth already addicted to this intel- lectual exercise, and one of superior talents, and of great affec- tion for me,) the peripatetic Staseas, a man with whom I am well acquainted, and who, as I perceive is agreed amongst the learned, is of the first eminence in his profession." 1 Cretionibus. An heir was allowed a certain time to determine, cernere, whether he would enter upon an estate bequeathed to him, or not. See Cic. ad Att. xi. 12; xiii. 46; Gaius, Instit. ii. lt>4 ; Ulpian, Fragm. xxii. 27; Heinecc. Syntagm. ii. 14, 17. 2 Marcus Pupius Piso Calpurnianus, to whom Cicero was introduced by his father, that he might pic fit by his learning and experience. Bee Ascon. Pedian. ad Pison. 26; Cic. Brut. 67; De Nat. Eeor. . 7, 16. 170 SE ORATORE : OR, [B. L XXIII. "Why do you speak to me," says Scsevola, "of this Staseas, this peripatetic 1 You must comply with the wishes of these young gentlemen, Crassus, who do not want the common, profitless talk of any Greek, or any empty declamation of the schools, but desire to know the opinions of a man in whose footsteps they long to tread, one who is the wisest and most eloquent of all men, who is not dis- tinguished by petty books of precepts, but is the first, both in judgment and oratory, in causes of the greatest conse- quence, and in this seat of empire and glory. For my part, as I always thought you a god in eloquence, so I have never attributed to you greater praises for oratory than for polite- ness; which you ought to show on this occasion especially, and not to decline a discussion on which two young men of such excellent ability invite you to enter." " I am certainly," replied Crassus, " desirous to oblige them, nor shall I think it any trouble to speak briefly, as is my manner, what I think upon any point of the subject. And to their first question, (because I do not think it right for me to neglect your admo- nition, Scsevola,) I answer, that I think there is either no art of speaking at all, or but very little ; but that all the disputation about it amongst the learned arises from a difference of opinion about the word. For if art is to be defined according to what Antonius just now asserted, 1 as lying in things thoroughly understood and fully known, such as are abstracted from the caprice of opinion and comprehended in the limits of science, there seems to me to be no art at all in oratory; since all the species of our forensic diction are various, and suited to the common understanding of the people. Yet if those things which have been observed in the practice and method of speaking, have been noted and chronicled by ingenious and skilful men, have been set forth in words, illustrated in their several kinds, and distributed into parts, (as I think may possibly be done,) I do not understand why speaking may not be deemed an art, if not according to the exact definition of Antonius, at least according to common opinion. But whether it be an art, or merely the resemblance of an art, it is not, indeed, to be neglected; yet we must understand that there are other things of more consequence for the attainment of eloquence." : Cap. xx. C.XXV.J ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR 171 XXIV. Antonius then observed, that he was very strongly of opinion with Crassus ; for he neither adopted such a defini- tion of art as those preferred who attributed all the powers of eloquence to art, nor did he repudiate it entirely, as most of the philosophers had done. " But I imagine, Crassus," added he, " that you will gratify these two young men, if you will specify those particulars which you think may be more con- ducive to oratory than art itself." " I will indeed mention them," said he, " since I have engaged to do so, but must beg you not to publish my trifling remarks ; though I will keep myself under such restraint as not to seem to speak like a master, or artist, but like one of the number of private citizens, moderately versed in the practice of the forum, and not altogether ignorant ; not to have offered anything from myself, but to have accidentally fallen in with the course of your conversation. Indeed, when I was a candidate for office, I used, at the time of canvassing, to send away Scsevola from me, telling him I wanted to be foolish, that is, to solicit with flattery, a thing that cannot be done to any purpose unless it be done foolishly ; and that he was the only man in the world in whose presence I should least like to play the fool; and yet fortune has appointed him to be a witness and spectator of my folly. 1 For what is more foolish than to speak about speaking, when speaking itself is never otherwise than foolish, except it is absolutely necessaiy 1 " " Proceed, however, Cras- sus," said Scaevola; "for I will take upon myself the blame which you fear." XXV. " I am, then, of opinion," said Crassus, " that nature and genius in the first place contribute most aid to speaking; and that to those writers on the art, to whom Antonius just now alluded, it was not skill and method in speaking, but natural talent that was wanting; for there ought to be cer- tain lively powers in the mind 2 and understanding, which may be acute to invent, fertile to explain and adorn, and strong and retentive to remember; and if any one imagines that these powers may be acquired by art, (which is false, for 1 See Val. Max. IT. 5. 4. 2 Animi atque ingenii celeres quidam motus. This sense of motus, as Ellendt observes, is borrowed from the Greek Kivi^ifis, by which the philosophers intimated an active power, as, without motion, all thing! would remain unchanged, and nothing be generated. See Matth. ad Cic. pro Sext. 68, 143. 172 DE OKATOUE ; OR, [B. 1. it is very well if they can be animated and excited by art; but they certainly cannot by art be ingrafted or instilled, since they are all the gifts of nature,) what will he say of those qualities which are certainly born with the man him- self, volubility of tongue, tone of voice, strength of lungs, and a peculiar conformation and aspect of the whole coun- tenance and body ? I do not say, that art cannot improve iq these particulars, (fcr am not ignorant that what is good may be made better by education, and what is not very good may be in some degree polished and amended;) but there are some persons so hesitating in their speech, so inhar- monious in their tone of voice, or so unwieldy and rude in the air and movements of their bodies, that, whatever power they possess either from genius or art, they can never be reckoned in the number of accomplished speakers; while there are others so happily qualified in these respects, so eminently adorned with the gifts of nature, that they seem not to have been born like other men, but moulded by some divinity. It is, indeed, a great task and enterprise for a person to undertake and profess, that while every one else is silent, he alone must be heard on the most important sub- jects, and in a large assembly of men; for there is scarcely any one present who is not sharper and quicker to discover defects in the speaker than merits ; and thus whatever offends the hearer effaces the recollection of what is worthy of praise. I do not make these observations for the purpose of altogether deterring young men from the study of oratory, even if they be deficient in some natural endowments. For who does not perceive that to C. Cselius, my contemporary, a new man, the mere mediocrity in speaking, which he was enabled to attain, was a great honour ? Who does not know that Q. Varius, your equal in age, a clumsy, uncouth man, has obtained his great popularity by the cultivation of such faculties aa he has ? XXVI. "But as our inquiry regards the COMPLETE ORATOR, we must imagine, in our discussion, an orator from whom every kind of fault is abstracted, and who is adorned with every kind of merit. For if the multitude of suits, if tha variety of causes, if the rabble and barbarism of the forum, afford room for even the most wretched speakers, we must not, for that reason, take our eyes from the object of out 0. XXVI.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 173 inquiry. In those arts, in which it is not indispensable usefulness that is sought, but liberal amusement for the mind, how nicely, how almost fastidiously, do we judge ! For there are no suits or controversies which can fcax-e men, though they may tolerate indifferent orators in the forum, to endure also bad actors upon the stage. The orator there- fore must take the most studious precaution not merely to satisfy those whom he necessarily must satisfy, but to seem worthy of admiration to those who are at liberty to judge disinterestedly. If you would know what I myself think, I will express to you, my intimate friends, what I have hitherto never mentioned, and thought that I never should mention. To me, those who speak best, and speak with the utmost ease and grace, appear, if they do not commence their speeches with some timidity, and show some confusion in the exordium, to have almost lost the sense of shame, though it is impossible that such should not be the case; 1 for the better qualified a man is to speak, the more he fears the difficulties of speaking, the uncertain success of a speech, and the expectation of the audience. But he who can pro- duce and deliver nothing worthy of his subject, nothing worthy of the name of an orator, nothing worthy the attention of his audience, seems to me, though he be ever so confused while he is speaking, to be downright shameless ; for we ought to avoid a character for shamelessness, not by testifying shame, but by not doing that which does not become us. But the speaker who has no shame (as I see to be the case with many) I regard as deserving, not only of rebuke, but of personal castigation. Indeed, what I often observe in you I rery frequently experience in myself, that I turn pale in the sutset of my speech, and feel a tremor through my whole thoughts, as it were, and limbs. When I was a young man, I was on one occasion so timid in commencing an accusation, that I owed to Q. Maximus 2 the greatest of obligations for immediately dismissing the assembly, as soon as he saw me absolutely disheartened and incapacitated through fear." Here they all signified assent, looked significantly at one 1 Tametsi id accidere non potest. " Quamvis id fieri non possit, in qui optime dicit, in exordio non perturbetur." Proust. 2 He seems to be Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus, who was consul A.TJ.C. 638, and who, it is probable, presided as pnctor on tbe occasion of which Crassus speaks. Ellendt. 3 74 DE ORATORE ; OR, [u. I, another, aud began to talk together; for there was a won- derful modesty m Crassus, which however was not only no disadvantage to his oratory, but even an assistance to it, by giving it the recommendation of probity, XXVII. Antonius soon after said, " I have often observed, as you mention, Crassus, that both you and other most accomplished orators, although in my opinion none was ever equal to you, have felt some agitation in entering upon their speeches. When I inquired into the reason of this, and considered why a speaker, the more ability he possessed, felt the greater fear in speaking, I found that there were two causes of such timidity : one, that those whom experience and nature had formed for speaking, well knew that the event of a speech did not always satisfy expectation even in the greatest orators; and thus, as often as they spoke, they feared, not without reason, that what sometimes happened might happen then; the other (of which I am often in the habit of complaining) is, that men, tried and approved in other arts, if they ever do anything with less success than usual, are thought either to have wanted in- clination for it, or to have failed in performing what they knew how to perform from ill health. ' Roscius,' they say, ' would not act to-day,' or, ' he was indisposed.' But if any deficiency is seen in the orator, it is thought to proceed from want of sense ; and want of sense admits of no excuse, because nobody is supposed to have wanted sense because he ' was in- disposed,' or because 'such was his inclination.' Thus we undergo a severer judgment in oratory, and judgment is pronounced upon us as often as we speak; if an actor is once mistaken in an attitude, he is not immediately con- sidered to be ignorant of attitude in general; but if any fault is found in a speaker, there prevails for ever, or at least for a very long time, a notion of his stupidity. XXVIII. " But in what you observed, as to there being many things in which, unless the orator has a full supply of them from nature, he cannot be much assisted by a master I agree with you entirely; and, in regard to that point, I have always expressed the highest approbation of that emi- nent teacher, Apollonius of Alabanda, 1 who, though he taught 1 A town of Caria. The ApoUonius mentioned above, c. 17, ww Apollonius Molo, a native of Rhodes. Proust. 3. XXVIII. | ON THE CHAEACTER OF THE ORATOR. 1 76 for pay, would not s affer such as he judged could never oecome orators, to lose their labour with him; and he sent them away with exhortations and encouragements to each of them to pursue that peculiar art for which he thought him naturally qualified. To the acquirement of other arts it is sufficient for a person to resemble a man, and to be able to comprehend in his mind, and retain in his memory, what is instilled, or, if he is very dull, inculcated into him ; no volu- bility of tongue is requisite, no quickness of utterance ; none of those things which we cannot form for ourselves, aspect, countenance, look, voice. But in an orator, the acuteness of the logicians, the wisdom of the philosophers, the language almost of poetry, the memory of lawyers, the voice of tra- gedians, the gesture almost of the best actors, is required. Nothing therefore is more rarely found among mankind than a consummate orator; for qualifications which professors of other arts are commended for acquiring in a moderate degree, each in his respective pursuit, will not be praised in the orator, unless they are all combined in him in the highest possible excellence." "Yet observe," said Crassus, "how much more diligence as used in one of the light and trivial arts than in this, which is acknowledged to be of the greatest importance ; for I often near Koscius say, that ' he could never yet find a scholar that he was thoroughly satisfied with; not that some of them were not worthy of approbation, but because, if they had any fault, he himself could not endure it.' Nothing indeed is so much noticed, or makes an impression of such lasting continuance on the memory, as that in which you give any sort of offence. To judge therefore of the accomplishments of the orator by comparison with this stage-player, do you not observe how everything is done by him unexceptionably ; everything with the utmost grace ; everything in such a way as is becoming, and as moves and delights all? He has accordingly long attained such distinction, that in -whatever pursuit a man excels, he is called a Roscius in his art. For my own part, while I desire this finish and perfection in an orator, of which I fall so far short myself, I act audaciously ; for I wish indulgence to be granted to myself, while I grant none to others; for I think that he who has not abilities, who is faulty in action, who, in short, wants a gracefiU 176 DE ORATORE; OR, [fi. I. manner, should be sent ofF, as Apollonius advised, to tli.t for which he has a capacity." XXIX. " Would you then," said Sulpicius, " desire me, or our friend Cotta, to learn the civil law, or the military art 1 l for who can ever possibly arrive at that perfection of yours, that high excellence in every accomplishment?" "It was," replied Crassus, " because I knew that there was in both of you excellent and noble talents for oratory, that I have expressed myself fully on these matters ; nor have I adapted my remarks more to deter those who had not abilities, than to encourage you who had; and though I perceive in you both consummate capacity and industry, yet I may say that the advantage of personal appearance, on which I have perhaps said more than the Greeks are wont to say, are in you, Sulpicius, even godlike. For any person better qualified for this profession by gracefulness of motion, by his very carriage and figure, or by the fulness and sweetness of his voice, I think that I have never heard speak; endowments which those, to whom they are granted by nature in an inferior degree, may yet succeed in managing, in such measure as they possess them, with judgment and skill, and in such a manner as not to be unbecoming ; for that is what is chiefly to be avoided, and concerning which it is most dif- ficult to give any rules for instruction, not only for me, who talk of these matters like a private citizen, but even for Roscius himself, whom I often hear say, 'that the most essential part of art is to be becoming? which yet is the only thing that cannot be taught by art. But, if it is agreeable, let us change the subject of conversation, and talk like our- selves a little, not like rhetoricians." " By no means," said Cotta, " for we must now intreat you (since you retain us in this study, and do not dismiss us to any other pursuit) to tell us something of your own abilities, whatever they are, in speaking; for we are not inordinately ambitious ; we are satisfied with that mediocrity of eloquence of yours; and what we inquire of you is (that we may not attain more than that humble degree of oratory at which you have arrived) 2 what you think, since you say that the eudow- 1 The young Roman nobles were accustomed to pursue one of three studies, jurisprudence, eloquence, or war. Proust. 2 Cotta speaks ironically C. XXXI. 1 OX THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 177 ments to be derived from nature are not very deficient in us, we ought to endeavour to acquire in addition." XXX. Crassus, smiling, replied, " What do you think is wanting to you, Gotta, but a passionate inclination, and a sort of ardour like that of love, without which no man will ever attain anything great in life, and especially such dis- tinction as you desire? Yet I do not see that you need any encouragement to this pursuit; indeed, as you press rather hard even upon me, I consider that you burn with an extra- ordinarily fervent affection for it. But I am aware that a desire to reach any point avails nothing, unless you know what will lead and bring you to the mark at which you aim. Since therefore you lay but a light burden upon me, and do not question me about the whole art of the orator, but about my own ability, little as it is, I will set before you a course, not very obscure, or very difficult, or grand, or imposing, the course of my own practice, which I was accustomed to pursue when I had opportunity, in my youth, to apply to such studies." " day much wished for by us, Cotta ! " exclaimed Sul- picius ; " for what I could never obtain, either by entreaty, or stratagem, or scrutiny, (so that I was unable, not only to see what Crassus did, with a view to meditation or composition, but even to gain a notion of it from his secretary and reader, Diphilus,) I hope we have now secured, and that we shall learn from himself all that we have long desired to know." XXXI. "I conceive, however," proceeded Crassus, "that when you have heard me, you will not so much admire what I have said, as think that, when you desired to hear, there was no good reason for your desire; for I shall say nothing abstruse, nothing to answer your expectation, nothing either previously unheard by you, or new to any one. In the first place, I will not deny that, as becomes a man well born and liberally educated, I learned those trite and common precepts of teachers in general; first, that it is the business of an orator to speak in a manner adapted to persuade ; next, that every speech is either upon a question concerning a matter in general, without specification of persons or times, or concerning a matter referring to certain persons and times. But that, in either case, whatever falls under controversy, the question with regard to it is usually, whether such a X 17$ DE ORATORE; OR. [B. *- ihing has been done, or, if it has been done, of what nature it is, or by what name it should be called ; or, as some add, whether it seems to have been done rightly or not. That controversies arise also on the interpretation of writing, in which anything has been expressed ambiguously, or contra- dictorily, or so that what is written is at variance with the writer's evident intention ; and that there are certain lines of argument adapted to all these cases. But that of such sub- jects as are distinct from general questions, part come under the head of judicial proceedings, part under that of delibe- rations; and that there is a third kind which is employed in praising or censuring particular persons. That there are also certain common places on which we may insist in judicial proceedings, in which equity is the object; others, which we may adopt in deliberations, all which are to be directed to the advantage of those to whom we give counsel; others in panegyric, in which all must be referred to the dignity of the persons commended. That since all the business and art of an orator is divided into five parts, 1 he ought first to find out what he should say; next, to dispose and arrange his matter, not only in a certain order, but with a sort of power and judgment; then to clothe and deck his thoughts with language; then to secure them in his memory; and lastly, to deliver them with dignity and grace. I had learned and understood also, that before we enter upon the main subject, the minds of the audience should be conciliated by an exor- dium; next, that the case should be clearly stated; then, that the point in controversy should be established; then, that what we maintain should be supported by proof, and that whatever was said on the other side should be refuted; and that, in the conclusion of our speech, whatever was in our favour should be amplified and enforced, and whatever made for our adversaries should be weakened and invalidated. XXXII. "I had heard also what is taught about the costume of a speech; in regard to which it is first directed that we should speak correctly and in pure Latin; next, intelligibly and with perspicuity ; then gracefully ; then suitably to the dignity of the subject, and as it were becom- ingly; and I had made myself acquainted with the rules 1 Invention, disposition, embellishment, memsry, and delivery. See VL 19. Elkndt. O. XXXIII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 179 relating to every particular. Moreover, I had seen art applied to those things which are properly endowments of nature; for I had gone over some precepts concerning action, and Bome concerning artificial memory, which were short indeed, but requiring much exercise; matters on which almost all the learning of those artificial orators is employed ; and if I should say that it is of no assistance, I should say what is no. true; for it conveys some hints to admonish the orator, as it were, to what he should refer each part of his speech, and to what points he may direct his view, so as not to wander from the object which he has proposed to himself. But I consider that with regard to all precepts the case is this, not that orators by adhering to them have obtained dis- tinction in eloquence; but that certain persons have noticed what men of eloquence practised of their own accord, and formed rules accordingly ; l so that eloquence has not sprung from art, but art from eloquence ; not that, as I said before, I entirely reject art, for it is, though not essentially necessary to oratory, yet proper for a man of liberal education to learn. And by you, my young friends, some preliminary exercise must be undergone; though indeed you are already on the course; but those 2 who are to enter upon a race, and those who are preparing for what is to be done in the forum, as their field of battle, may alike previously learn, and try their powers, by practising in sport." "That sort of exercise," said Sulpicius, " is just what we wanted to understand ; but we desire to hear more at large what you have briefly and cursorily delivered concerning art; though such matters are not strange even to us. Of that subject, however, we shall inquire hereafter; at present we wish to know your sen- timents on exercise." XXXIII. "I like that method," replied Crassus, "which you are accustomed to practise, namely, to lay down a case similar to those which are brought on in the forum, and to 1 Atque id egisse. Most critics have supposed these words in some way faulty. Gesner conjectured, atqtie digessisse; Lambinus, atque in tvrtem redegisse ; Ernesti, ad artemque redeyisse. Ellendt supposes that id egisse may mean ei rei operam dedisse. 2 Sed its, qui ingrediuntur. Orellius and Ellendt retain this reading, though Ernesti had long before observed that there is no verb on which iis can be considered as dependent, and that we must read ii or hi a] a nominative to the following possunt. K2 180 UE ORATORE; OR, [B. i. speak upon it, as nearly as possible, as if it were a real case. 1 But in such efforts the generality of students exercise only their voice (and not even that skilfully), and try their strength of lungs, and volubility of tongue, and please them- selves with a torrent of their own words; in which exercise what they have heard deceives them, that men by speaking succeed in becoming speakers. For it is truly said also, That men by speaking badly make sure of becoming bad speakers. In those exercises, therefore, although it be useful even fre- quently to speak on the sudden, yet it is mere advantageous, after taking time to consider, to speak with greater prepara- tion and accuracy. But the chief point of all is that which (to say the truth) we hardly ever practise (for it requires great labour, which most of us avoid) ; I mean, to write as much as possible. Writing is said to be the best and most excellent modeller and teacher of oratory; and not without reason; for if what is meditated and considered easily surpasses sudden and extemporary speech, a constant and diligent habit of writing will surely be of more effect than meditation and consideration itself; since all the argumente relating to the subject on which we write, whether they are suggested by art, or by a certain power of genius and understanding, will present themselves, and occur to us, while we examine and contemplate it in the full light of our intellect; and all the thoughts and words, which are the most expressive of their kind, must of necessity come under and submit to the keen- ness of our judgment while writing; and a fair arrangement and collocation of the words is effected by writing, in a certain rhythm and measure, not poetical, but oratorical. Such are the qualities which bring applause and admiration to good orators ; nor will any man ever attain them, unless after long and great practice in writing, however resolutely he may have exercised himself in extemporary speeches ; and he who comes to speak after practice in writing brings this advantage with him, that though he speak at the call of the moment, yet what he says will bear a resemblance to something written; and if ever, when he comes to speak, he brings anything with him in writing, the rest of his speech, when he departs from what is written, will flow on in a similar strain. As, when 1 Quam maximd ad veritatem accommodate, " with as much adapt* tion as possible to truth." C, XXXI V.J ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 181 a boat has once been impelled forward, though the rowers suspend their efforts, the vessel herself still keeps her motiou and course during the intermission of the impulse and force of the oars; so, in a continued stream of oratory, when written matter fails, the rest of the speech maintains a similar flow, being impelled by the resemblance and force acquired from what was written. XXXIV. " But in my daily exercises I used, when a youth, to adopt chiefly that method which I knew that Cains Carbo, my adversary, 1 generally practised ; which was, that, having selected some nervous piece of poetry, or read over such a portion of a speech as I could retain in my memory, I used to declaim upon what I had been reading in other words, chosen with all the judgment that I possessed. But at length I perceived that in that method there was this inconvenience, that Ennius, if I exercised myself on his verses, or Gracchus, if I laid one of his orations before me, had forestalled such words as were peculiarly appropriate to the subject, and such as were the most elegant and altogether the best; so that, if I used the same words, it profited nothing; if others, it was even prejudicial to me, as I habituated myself to use such as were less eligible. Afterwards I thought proper, and continued the practice at a rather more advanced age, 2 to translate the orations of the best Greek orators; 3 by fixing upon which I gained this advantage, that while I rendered into Latin what I had read in Greek, I not only used the best words, and yet such as were of common occurrence, but also formed some words by imitation, which would be new to our countrymen, taking care, however, that they were unob- jectionable. "As to the exertion and exercise of the voice, of the breath, of the whole body, and of the tongue itself; they do not so much require art as labour ; but in those matters we ought to be particularly careful whom we imitate and whom we would wish to resemble. Not only orators are to be observed by us, but even actors, lest by vicious habits we contract any awkwardness or ungracefulness. The memory is also to be 1 See c. x. a Adolescens. When he imitated the practice of Carbo, be was, lu tJtys, adolescentulus. a A practice recommended "by Quintilian, x. 5. 182 . DB ORATORE ; OR, [B. I exercised, by learning accurately by heart as many of our own writings, and those of others, as we can. In exercising the memory, too, I shall not object if you accustom yourself to adopt that plan of referring to places and figures which is taught in treatises on the art. 1 Your language must then be brought forth from this domestic and retired exercise, into the midst of the field, into the diist and clamour, into the camp and military array of the forum; you must acquire practice in everything; you must try the strength of your understanding; and your retired lucubrations must be ex- posed to the light of reality. The poets must also be studied ; an acquaintance must be formed with history; the writers and teachers in all the liberal arts and sciences must be read, and turned over, and must, for the sake of exercise, be praised, interpreted, corrected, censured, refuted; you must dispute on both sides of every question; and whatever may seem maintainable on any point, must be brought forward and illustrated. The civil law must be thoroughly studied; laws in general must be understood ; all antiquity must be known ; the usages of the senate, the nature of our government, the rights of our allies, our treaties and convention?, and. what- ever concerns the interests of the state, must be learned. A certain intellectual grace must also be extracted from every kind of refinement, with which, as with salt, every oration must be seasoned. I have poured forth to you all I had to say, and perhaps any citizen whom you had laid hold of in any company whatever, would have replied to your inquiries on these subjects equally well.' 1 XXXV. When Crassus had uttered these words a silence ensued. But though enough seemed to have been said in the opinion of the company present, in reference to what had been proposed, yet they thought that he had concluded his speech more abruptly than they could have wished. Scsevola then said, "What is the matter, Gotta? why are you silent ? Does nothing more occur to you which you would wish to ask Crassus?" "Nay," rejoined he, "that is the very thing of which I am thinking; for the rapidity of his words was such, and his oration was winged with such speed, that though I perceived its force and energy I could scarcely sea 1 This is sufficiently explained in book ii. c. 87. See also Qvint Xi. 2. C. XXXV.] OX THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 183 its track and course; and, as if I had come into some rich. and -well-furnished house, where the furniture 1 was not un- packed, nor the plate set out, nor the pictures and statues placed in view, but a multitude of all these magnificent things laid up and heaped together; so just now, in the speech of Crassus, I saw his opulence and the riches of m'a genius, through veils and curtains as it were; but when I desired to take a nearer view, there was scarcely opportunity for taking a glance at them ; I can therefore neither say that I am wholly ignorant of what he possesses, nor that I have plainly ascertained and beheld it." " Then," said Scsevola, " why do you not act in the same way as you would do, if you had really come into a house or villa full of rich fur- niture? If everything was put by as you describe, and you had a great curiosity to see it, you would not hesitate to ask the master to order it to be brought out, especially if he was your friend ; in like manner you will now surely ask Crassus to bring forth into the light that profusion of splendid objects which are his property, (and of which, piled together in one place, we have caught a glimpse, as it were through a lattice, 1 as we passed by,) and set everything in its proper situation." " I rather ask you, Scaevola," says Cotta, "to do that for me ; (for modesty forbids Sulpiciiis and myself to ask of one of the most eminent of mankind, who has ever held in contempt this kind of disputation, such things as he perhaps regards only as rudiments for children ;) but do you oblige us in this, Scsevola, and prevail on Crassus to unfold and enlarge upon those matters which he has crowded together, and crammed into so small a space in his speech." " Indeed," said Scsevola, " I desired that before, more upon your account than my own ; nor did I feel so much longing for this discussion from Crassus, as I experience pleasure from his orations in pleading But now, Crassus, I ask you also on my own account, that since we have so much more leisure than has been allowed us for long time, you would not think it troublesome to complete the edifice which you have commenced; for I see a finer 1 Veste. Under this word is included tapestry, coverings of couches, jmE ORATORE ; OR, IB. i perty, of party walls, lights, stillicidia, 1 of wills, transgressed or established, and innumerable other matters are debated, when a man is utterly ignorant what is properly his own, and what his neighbour's, why any person is considered a citizen or a foreigner, a slave or a freeman, is a proof of extraordinary impudence. It is ridiculous arrogance for a man to confess himself unskilful in navigating smaller vessels, and yet say that he has learned to pilot galleys with five banks of oars, or even larger ships. You who are deceived by a quibble of your adversary in a private company, you who set your seal to a deed for your client, in which that is written by which he is overreached; can I think that any cause of greater consequence ought to be entrusted to you? Sooner assuredly shall he who oversets a two-oared boat in the harbour steer the vessel of the Argonauts in the Euxine Sea. " But what if the causes are not trivial, but often of the utmost importance, in which disputes arise concerning points of civil law ? What front must that advocate have who dares to appear in causes of such} a nature without any knowledge of that law? What cause, for instance, could be of more consequence than that of the soldier, of whose death a false report having been brought home from the army, and his father, through giving credit to that report, having altered his will, and appointed another person, whom he thought proper, to be his heir, and having then died himself, the affair, when the soldier returned home, and instituted a suit for his paternal inheritance, came on to be heard before the centum viri? The point assuredly in that case was a question of civil law, whether a son could be disinherited of his father's possessions, whom the father neither appointed his heir by will, nor disinherited by name? 2 1 When a person was obliged to let the water, which dropped from his house, run into the garden or area of his neighbour ; or to receive the water that fell from his neighbour's house into his area. Adam's Roman Antiquities, p. 49. 2 For he who had a son under his power should have taken care to institute him his heir, or to disinherit him by name ; since if a father vretermitted or passed over his son in silence, the testament was of no Affect. Just. Inst. ii. 13. And if the parents disinherited their chil- dren without cause, the civil law was, that they might complain that such testaments were invalid, under colour that their parents were not itf sound mind when they made them. Just. Inst. ii. 1 8. B. d. XXXIX.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 189 XXXIX. " On the point too which the centumviri decided between the Marcelli and the Claudii, two patrician families, when the Marcelli said that an estate, which had belonged to the son of a freedman, reverted to them by right of stirps, and the Claudii alleged that the property of the man reverted to them by right of gens, was it not necessary for the pleaders in that cause to speak upon all the rights of stirps and gens ? 1 As to that other matter also, which we have heard was con- tested at law before the centumviri, when an exile came to Rome, (who had the privilege of living in exile at Rome, if he attached himself to any citizen as a patron,) and died in- testate, was not, in a cause of that nature, the law of attach- ment? obscure and indeed unknown, expounded and illustrated by the pleader? When I myself lately defended the cause of Sergiiis Aurata, on a private suit against our friend Antonius, did not my whole defence turn upon a point of law? For when Marius Gratidianus had sold a house to Aurata, and had not specified, in the deed of sale, that any part of the building owed service, 3 we argued, that for what- 1 The son of a freedman of the Claudian family had died without making a wiJl, and his property fell by law to the Claudii : but there were two families of them, the Claudii Pulchri, who were patricians, and the Claudii Marcelli, who were plebeians; and these two families went to law about the possession of the dead man's property. The patrician Claudii (whose family was the eldest of the name) claimed the inheritance by right of gems, on the ground that the freedman was of the gens Claudia, of which their family was the chief ; . . . . while the Claudii Marcelli, or plebeian Claudii, claimed it by right of stirps, ~n the ground that the freedman was more nearly related to them than to the Pulchri. Peccrce. The term gens was used in reference to patri- cians ; that of stirps, to plebeians. Proust. ' 2 Jus application/Is. This was a right which a Roman quasi-patronus had to the estate of a foreign client dying intestate. He was called quasi-patronus, because none but Roman citizens could have patrons. The difficulty in this cause proceeded from the obscurity of the law on which this kind of right was founded. 3 The services of city estates are those which appertain to buildings. It is required by city services that neighbours should bear the burdens of neighbours ; and, by such services, one neighbour may be permitted to place a beam upon the wall of another ; may be compelled to receive the droppings and currents from the gutter-pipes of another man's house upon his own house, area, or sewer ; or may be exempted from receiving them ; or may be restrained from raising his house in height.. est he should darken the habitation of his neighbour. Harris's Jua tiuiaii, ii. 3. /'. 190 BE ORATORE; OR, [B.I. ever incumbrance attended the thing sold, if the seller knew of it, and did not make it known, he ought to indemnify the pur chaser. 1 In this kind of action our friend Marcus Bucculeius ; a man not a fool in my opinion, and very wise in his own, and one who has no aversion to the study of law, made a mistake lately, in an affair of a somewhat similar nature. For when he sold a house to Lucius Fufius, he engaged, in the act of conveyance, that the window-lights should remain as they then were. But Fufius, as soon as a building began to rise in some part of the city, which could but just be seen from that house, brought an action against Bucculeius, on the ground that whatever portion of the sky was intercepted, at however great a distance, the window-light underwent a change. 2 Amidst what a concourse of people too, and with what universal interest, was the famous cause between Manius Curius and Marcus Copouius lately conducted before the cen- tumviri ! On which occasion Quintus Scsevola, my equal in age, and my colleague, 3 a man of all others the most learned in the practice of the civil law, and of most acute genius and discernment, a speaker most polished and refined in his lan- guage, and indeed, as I am accustomed to remark, the best orator among the lawyers, and the best lawyer among the 1 There is a more particular statement of this cause between Grati- dianus and Aurata in Cicero's Offices, iii. 16. The Roman law, in that par- ticular founded on the law of nature, ordained, to avoid deceit in bargain and sale, that the seller should give notice of all the bad qualities in the thing sold which he knew of, or pay damages to the purchaser for his silence ; to which law Horace alludes, Sat. iii. 2 : Mentem nisi litigiosus Exciperet dominus cum venderet. But if he told the faults, or they were such as must be seen by a person using common care, the buyer suffered for his negligence, as Horace again indicates, Episk ii. 2 : Ille feret pretium pcense securus opinor : Prudens emisti vitiosum. Dicta tibi est Lex. See also Grotius, ii. 12, and Puffendorf, v. 3. s. 4, 5. B. 2 The mistake of Bucculeius seems to have consisted in this; he meant to restrain Fufius from raising the house in height, which might darken, or making any new windows which might overlook, some neighbouring habitation which belonged to him; but by the use of words adapted by law for another purpose, he restrained himself from building within the prospect of those windows already made in the house which Fufius purchased. B. 3 In the consulship. C. XL.] OX THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR 191 orators, argued] the law from the letter of the will, and maintained that he who was appointed second heir, after a posthumous son should be born and die, could not possibly inherit, utiless such posthumous son had actually been born, and had died before he came out of tutelage : I, on the other side, argued that he who made the will had this intention, that if there was no son at all who could come out of tute- lage, Manius Curius should be his heir. Did either of us, in that cause, fail to exert ourselves in citing authorities, and precedents, and forms of wills, that is, to dispute on the pro- foundest points of civil law 1 ? 1 XL. " I forbear to mention many examples of causes of the greatest consequence, which are indeed without number. It may often happen that even capital cases may turn upon a point of law ; for, as an example, Publius Rutilius, the son of Marcus, when tribune of the people, ordered Caius Man- cinus, a most noble and excellent man, and of consular dignity, to be put out of the senate; on the occasion when the chief herald had given him up to the Numantines, according to a decree of the senate, passed on account of the odium which he had incurred by his treaty with that people, and they would not receive him, 2 and he had then returned home, and had not hesitated to take his place in the senate ; the tribune, I say, ordered him to be put out of the house, maintaining that he was not a citizen ; because it was a re- ceived tradition, That he whom his own father, or the people, had sold, or the chief herald had given up, had no postlimi- nium 3 or right of return. What more important cause or argument can we find, among all the variety of civil transac- tions, than one concerning the rank, the citizenship, the liberty, the condition of a man of consular dignity, especially as the case depended, not on any charge which he might deny, but on the interpretation of the civil law? In a like case, but concerning a person of inferior degree, it was in- quired among our ancestors, whether, if a person belonging 1 This celebrated cause is so clearly stated by Cicero as to requ in no explanation. It was gained by Crassus, the evident intention ol the testator prevailing over the letter of the will It is quoted ae a precedent by Cicero, pro Caecina, c. 18. 2 See Florus, ii. 18 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 1. 3 See Cic. Topic, c. 8 ; Gaius, i. 129 ; Aul. GelL vii. 18. 192 DE OKATORE; OB, [a i, to a state in alliance with Rome had been in servitui* amongst us, and gained his freedom, and afterwards returned home, he returned by tiie right of postlimlnium, and lost the citizenship of this city. May not a dispute arise on a point of civil law respecting liberty, than which no cause can be 01 more importance, when the question is, for example, whether he who is enrolled as a citizen, by his master's consent, is free at once, or when the lustrum is completed? As to the case also, that happened in the memory of our fathers, when the father of a family, who had come from Spain to Rome, and ad left a wife pregnant in that province, and married another at Rome, without sending any notice of divorce to the former, and died intestate, after a son had been born of each wife, did a small matter come into controversy, when the question was concerning the rights of two citizens, I mean concerning the boy who was born of the latter wife and his mother, who, if it were adjudged that a divorce was effected from a former wife by a certain set of words, and not by a second marriage, would be deemed a concubine? For a man, then, who is ignorant of these and other similar laws of his own country, to wander about the forum with a great crowd at his heels, erect and haughty, looking hither and thither with a gay and assured face and air, offering and tendering protection to his clients, assistance to his friends, and the light of his genius and counsel to almost all his fellow-citizens, is it not to be nought in the highest degree scandalous? XLI. " Since I have spoken of the audacity, let me also censure the indolence and inertness of mankind. For if the study of the law were illimitable and arduous, yet the great- ness of the advantage ought to impel men to undergo the labour of learning it ; but, ye immortal gods. I would not say this in the hearing of Scsevola, unless he himself were accus- tomed to say it, namely, that the attainment of no science seems to him more easy. It is, indeed, for certain reasons, thought otherwise by most people, first, because those of old, who were at the head of this science, would not, for the sake of securing and extending their own influence, allow their art to be made public ; in the next place, when it was published, the forms of actions at law being first set forth by Cneius FJavius, there were none who could compose a general system of those matters arranged under regular heads. For nothing C. XLII.] ON THE CHARACTER OP THE OHATOR. 193 can Le reduced into a science, unless he who understands the matters of which he would form a science, has previously gained such knowledge as to enable him to constitute a science out of subjects in which there has never yet been any science. I perceive that, from desire to express this briefly, I have expressed it rather obscurely; but I will make an effort to explain myself, if possible, with more perspicuity. XLII. " All things which arc now comprised in sciences, were formerly unconnected, and in a state, as it were, of dis- persion; as in music, numbers, sounds, and measures; in geometry, lines, figures, spaces, magnitudes ; in astronomy, the revolution of the heavens, the rising, setting, and other motions of the stars; in grammar, the study of the poets, the knowledge of history, the interpretation of words, the peculiar tone of pronunciation ; and finally, in this very art of oratory, invention, embellishment, arrangement, memory, delivery, seemed of old not to be fully understood by any, and to be wholly unconnected. A certain extrinsic art was therefore applied, adopted from another department of knowledge, 1 which the philosophers wholly claim to themselves, an art which might serve to cement things previously separate and uncombined, and unite them in a kind of system. " Let then the end proposed in civil law be the preserva- tion of legitimate and practical equity in the affairs and causes of the citizens. The general heads of it are then to be noted, and reduced to a certain number, as few as may be. A general head is that which comprehends two or more par- ticulars, similar to one another by having something in common, but differing in species. Particulars are included under the general heads from which they spring. All names, which are given either to general heads, or particulars, must be limited by definitions, showing what exact meaning they have. A definition is a short and concise specification of whatever properly belongs to the thing which we would define. I should add examples on these points, were I not sensible to whom my discourse is addressed. I will now comprise what I proposed in a short space. For if I should have leisure to do what I have long meditated, or if any other person should undertake the task while I am occupied 1 From philosophy O 194 DK ORATORS ; OR, [fi. I. or accomplish it after my death, (I mean, to digest, first of all, the whole civil law under general heads, which are very few ; next, to branch out those general heads, as it were, into members; then to explain the peculiar nature of each by a definition ;) you will have a complete system of civil law, large and full indeed, but neither difficult nor obscure. In the meantime, while what is unconnected is being combined, a person may, even by gathering here and there, and col- lecting from all parts, be furnished with a competent know- ledge of the civil law. XLIII. " Do you not observe that Caius Aculeo, 1 a Roman knight, a man of the most acute genius in the world, but of little learning in other sciences, who now lives, and has always lived with me, understands the civil law so well, that none even of the most skilful, if you except my friend Scsevola here, can be preferred to him? Everything in it, indeed, is Bet plainly before our eyes, connected with our daily habits, with our intercourse among men, and with the forum, and is not contained in a vast quantity of writing, or many large volumes; for the elements that were at first published by several writers are the same; and the same things, with the change of a few words, have been repeatedly written by the same authors. Added to this, that the civil law may be more readily learned and understood, there is (what most people little imagine) a wonderful pleasure and delight in acquiring a knowledge of it. For, whether any person is attracted by the study of antiquity, 2 there is, in every part of the civil law, in the pontifical books, and in the Twelve 1 This Aculeo married Cicero's aunt by the mother's side, as he tells us in the beginning of the second book of this treatise, c. 1, and his sons by that marriage, cousins to Cicero and his brother Quintus, were all bred up together with them, in a method approved by L. Crassus, the chief character in this dialogue, and by those very masters under whom Crassus himself had been. B. 2 Orellius retains haec aliena studio, in his text, but acknowledges aliena, to be corrupt. Wyttenbach conjectured antiqua studia, for antiquitatis studia. Ellendt observes that Madvig proposed jEliana, from Lucius JElius Stilo, the master of Varro, extolled by Cicero, Brut. 56 ; Acad. i. 2, 8 ; Legg. ii. 23. See Suetonius, de 111. Grarnm. e. 3 ; and Aul. Gell. x. 21. This conjecture, says Henrichsen, will suit very well with the word hate, which Crassus may be supposed to have used, because /Elius Stilo was then alive, and engaged in studies. . XLIV.J ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 195 Tables, abundance of instruction as to ancient matters, since not only the original sense of words is thence understood, but certain kinds of law proceedings illustrate the customs and lives of our ancestors ; or if he has a view to the science of government (which Scaevola judges not to belong to the orator, but to science of another sort), he will find it all com- prised in the Twelve Tables, every advantage of civil govern- ment, and every part of it being there described; or if authoritative and vaunting philosophy delight him, (I will speak very boldly,) he will find there the sources of all the philosophers' disputations, which lie in civil laws and enact- ments; for from these we perceive that virtue is above all things desirable, since honest, just, and conscientious industry is ennobled with honours, rewards, and distinctions ; but the vices and frauds of mankind are punished by fines, ignominy, imprisonment, stripes, banishment, and death; and we are taught, not by disputations endless and full of discord, but by the authority and mandate of the laws, to hold our appe- tites in subjection, to restrain all our passions, to defend our own property, and to keep our thoughts, eyes, and hands, from that of others. XLIV. " Though all the world exclaim against me, I will say what I think : that single little book of the Twelve Tables, if any one look to the fountains and sources of laws, seems to me, assuredly, to surpass the libraries of all the philo- sophers, both in weight of authority, and in plenitude of utility. And if our country has our love, as it ought to have in the highest degree, our country, I say, of which the force and natural attraction is so strong, that one of the wisest of mankind preferred his Ithaca, fixed, like a little nest, among the roughest of rocks, to immortality itself, with what affection ought we to be warmed towards such a country as ours, which, preeminently above all other countries, is the seat of virtue, empire, and dignity? Its spirit, customs, and discipline ought to be our first objects of study, both because our country is the parent of us all, and because as much wisdom must be thought to have been em- ployed in framing such laws, as in establishing so vast and powerful an empire. You will receive also this pleasure and delight from the study of the law, that you will then most iceadily comprehend hov; far our ancestors excelled other o2 196 DB ORATORE j OR, [B. L nations in wisdom, if you compare our laws with those of their Lycurgus, Draco, and Solon. It is indeed incredible how undigested and almost ridiculous is all civil law, except our own ; on which subject I am accustomed to say much in. my daily conversation, when I am praising the wisdom of our countrymen above that of all other men, and especially of the Greeks. For these reasons have I declared, Scsevola r that the knowledge of the civil law is indispensable to those who would become accomplished orators. XLV. " And who does not know what an accession of honour, popularity, and dignity, such knowledge, even of itself, brings- with it to those who are eminent in it? As, therefore, among the Greeks, men of the lowest rank, induced by a trifling reward, offer themselves as assistants to the pleaders on trials (men who are by them called pragmatici), 1 so in our city, on the contrary, every personage of the most eminent rank and character, such as that ^Elius Sextus, 2 who, for his knowledge in the civil law, was called by our great poet, ' A man of thought and prudence, nobly wise/ and many besides, who, after arriving at distinction by means 1 It appears from Quintilian and Juvenal, that this -was a Roman custom as well as a Grecian, under the emperors ; they are also men- tioned by Ulpian. But in Cicero's time the Patroni causarum, or advocates, though they studied nothing but oratory, and were in general ignorant of the law, yet did not make use of any of these low people called Pragmatici, as the Greeks did at that time, but upon any doubts on the law, applied themselves to men of the greatest repu- tation in that science, such as the Scsevolse. But under the emperors- there was not the same encouragement for these great men to study that science ; the orators, therefore, fell of necessity into the Grecian custom. Quint, xii. 3 : " Neque ego sum nostri moris ignarus, obli- tusve eorum, qui velut ad Arculas sedent, et tela agentibus subiai- nistrant, neque idem Grsecos nescio factitare, unde nomen his Prag- maticorum datum est." Juv. Sat. vii. 123 : Si quater egisti, si contigit aureus unus, Inde cadunt partes ex foedere Pragmaticorum. B. 2 As the collection of forms published by Flavins, and from him called Jut civile Flavianum, soon grew defective, as new contracts arose every day, another was afterwards compiled, or rather only made public, by Sextus .iiElius, for the forms seem to have been composed as the dif- ferent emergencies arose, by such of the patricians as understood the law, and to h ave been by them secreted to extend their own influence; however ; this collection, wherein were many new forms adapted to the cases and circumstances which had happened since the time of Flavius, went under the title of Jus jElianum, from this ^Elius here praised by Ennius. B- C. ILVI.] ON THE CHARACTEE OP THE ORATOR. 197 of their ability, attained such influence, that in answering questions on points of law, 1 they found their authority of more weight than even their ability. For ennobling and dignifying old age, indeed, what can be a more honourable resource than the interpretation of the law? For myself, I have, even from my youth, been securing this resource, not merely with a view to benefit in pleadings in the forum, but also for an honour and ornament to the decline of life ; so that, when my strength begins to fail me (for which the time is even now almost approaching), I may, by that means, pre- serve my house from solitude. For what is more noble than for an old man, who has held the highest honours and offices of the state, to be able justly to say for himself, that which the Pythian Apollo says in Ennius, that he is the person from whom, if not nations and kings, yet all his fellow- citizens, solicit advice, ' Uncertain how to act; whom, by my aid, , I send away undoubting, full of counsel, No more with rashness things perplex' d to sway ; ' for without doubt the house of an eminent lawyer is tho oracle of the whole city. Of this fact the gate and vestibule of our friend Quintus Mucius is a proof, which, even in his very infirm state of health, and advanced age, is daily frequented by a vast crowd of citizens, and by persons of the highest rank and splendour. XL VI. " It requires no very long explanation to show why I think the public laws 2 also, which concern the state and government, as well as the records of history, and the prece- 1 The custom Respondendi de Jure, and the interpretations and de- cisions of the learned, were so universally approved, that, although they were unwritten, they became a new species of law, and were called Auctoritas, or Response, Prudentum. This custom continued to the time of Augustus without interruption, who selected particular lawyers, and gave them the sanction of a patent; but then grew into desuetude, till Hadrian renewed this office or grant, which made so considerable a branch of the Roman law. B, 2 Jwra publica. Dr. Taylor, in his History of the Roman Law, p. 62, has given us the heads of the Roman Jus publicum, which were, religion and divine worship -peace and war legislation exchequer and resfisvi, escheats the prerogative law of treasons taxes and imposts coin- age j urisdiction magistracies regalia embassies honours an J titles colleges, schools, corporations castles and fortifications fairs, tnercats, staple forests naturalization. B. 198 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. 1 dents of antiquity, ought to be known to the orator; for as in causes and trials relative to private afiairs, his language is often to be borrowed from the civil law, and therefore, as we said before, the knowledge of the civil law is necessary to the orator ; so in regard to causes- affecting public matters, before our courts, in assemblies of the people, and in the senate, all the history of these and of past times, the authority of public law, the system and science of governing the state, ought to be at the command of orators occupied with affairs of govern- ment, as the very groundwork of their speeches. 1 For we are not contemplating, in this discourse, the character of an every-day pleader, bawler, or barrator, but that of a man, who, in the first place, may be, as it were, the high-priest of this profession, for which, though nature herself has given rich endowments to man, yet it was thought to be a god that gave it, so that the very thing which is the distinguishing property of man, might not seem to have been acquired by ourselves, but bestowed upon us by some divinity; who, in the next place, can move with safety even amid the weapons of his adversaries-, distinguished not so much by a herald's caduceus, 2 as by his title of orator; who, likewise, is able, by means of his eloquence, to expose guilt and deceit to the hatred of his countrymen, and to restrain them by penalties ; who can also, with the shield of his genius, protect inno- cence from punishment ; who can rouse a spiritless and de- sponding people to glory, or reclaim them from infatuation, or inflame their rage against the guilty, or mitigate it, if incited against the virtuous ; who, finally, whatever feeling in the minds of men his object and cause require, can either excite or calm it by his eloquence. If any one supposes that this power has either been sufficiently set forth by those who have written on the art of speaking, or can be set forth by me in so brief a space, he is greatly mistaken, and understands neither my inability, nor the magnitude of the subject. For my own part, since it was your desire, I thought that the fountains ought to be shown you, from which you 1 Tanquam aliqua materies. Ernesti's text, says Orellius, has alia, by mistake. Aliqua is not very satisfactory. Nobbe, the editor ot Tauchnitz's text, retains Ernesti's alia. 2 The herald's caducous, or wand, renders- hia person inviolable fearce. C. XLVII.J ON THE CHABACTEE OF THE ORATOR. 199 might draw, and the roads which you might pursue, not so that I should become your guide (which would be an endless and unnecessary labour), but so that I might point out to you the way, and, as the practice is, might hold out my finger towards the spring." 1 XLVII. " To me," remarked Scsevola, " enough appears to have been said by you, and more than enough, to stimulate the efforts of these young men, if they are but studiously inclined; for as they say that the illustrious Socrates used to observe that his object was attained if any one was by his exhortations sufficiently incited to desire to know and under- stand virtue ; (since to those who were persuaded to desire nothing so much as to become good men, what remained to be learned was easy;) so I consider that if you wish to pene- trate into those subjects which Crassus has set before you in his remarks, you will, with the greatest ease, arrive at your object, after this course and gate has been opened to you." " To us," said Sulpicius, " these instructions are exceedingly pleasant and delightful ; but there are a few things more which we still desire to hear, especially those which were touched upon so briefly by you, Crassus, in reference to ora- tory as an art, when you confessed that you did not despise them, but had learned them. If you will speak somewhat more at length on those points, you will satisfy all the eagerness of our long desire. For we have now heard to what objects we must direct our efforts, a point which is of great importance ; but we long to be instructed in the ways and means of pursuing those objects." " Then," said Crassus, " (since I, to detain you at my house with less difficulty, have rather complied with your desires, than my own habit or inclination,) what if we ask Antonius to tell us something of what he still keeps in reserve, and has not yet made known to us, (on which subjects he complained, a while ago, that a book has already dropped from his pen,) and to reveal to us his mysteries in the art of speaking?" " As you please," said Sulpicius, " for, if Autonius speaks, we shall still learn what you think." " I request of you then, Antonius," said Crassus, " since this task is put upon men of 1 Ut fieri aolet. Ernesti conjectures ut did iolet. Ellendt thinks the common reading right, requiring only that we should understand d commonttrantibua. 200 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. I. our time of life by the studious inclinations of these youths, to deliver your sentiments upon these subjects which, you see, are required from you." XL VIII. " I see plainly, and understand indeed," replied Antonius, "that I am caught, not only because those things are required from me in which I am ignorant and unprac- tised, but because these young men do not permit me to avoid, on the present occasion, what I always carefully avoid in my public pleadings, namely, not to speak after you, Crassus. But I will enter upon what you desire the more boldly, as I hope the same thing will happen to me in this discussion as usually happens to me at the bar, that no flowers of rhetoric will be expected from me. For I am not going to speak about art, which I never learned, but about my own practice ; and those very particulars which I have entered in my common-place book are of this kind, 1 not ex- pressed with anything like learning, but just as they are treated in business and pleadings ; and if they do not meet with approbation from men of your extensive knowledge, you must blame your own unreasonableness, in requiring from me what I do not know ; and you must praise my complaisance, since I make no difficulty in answering your questions, being induced, not by my own judgment, but your earnest desire." " Go on, Antonius," rejoined Crassus, "for there is no danger that you will say anything otherwise than so discreetly that no one here will repent of having prompted you to speak." " I will go on, then," said Antonius, " and will do what I think ought to be done in all discussions at the commence- ment; I mean, that the subject, whatever it may be, on which the discussion is held, should be defined ; so that the discourse may not be forced to wander and stray from its course, from the disputants not having the same notion of the matter under debate. If, for instance, it were inquired, 'What is the art of a general T I should think that we ought to settle, at the outset, what a general is ; and when he was defined to be a commander for conducting a war, we might then proceed to speak of troops, of encampments, of marching in battla array, of engagements, of besieging towns, of provisions, of 1 Not recorded with any elegance, but in the plain style in which I am now going to express myself. Ernesti. C. XLIX.] ON T3B CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 201 laying and avoiding ambuscades, and other matters relative to the management of a war ; and those who had the capacity and knowledge to direct such affairs I should call generals ; and should adduce the examples of the Africaui and Maximi. and speak of Epaminondas, and Hannibal, and men of such character. But if we should inquire what sort of character he is, who should contribute his experience, and knowledge, and zeal to the management of the state, I should give this sort of definition, that he who understands by what means the interests of the republic are secured and promoted, and employs those means, is worthy to be esteemed a director in affairs of government, and a leader in public councils ; and I should mention Publius Lentulus, that chief of the senate, 1 and Tiberius Gracchus the father, and Quintus Metellus, and Publius Africanus, and Caius Lselius, and others without number, as well of our own city as of foreign states. But if it should be asked, 'Who truly deserved the name of a lawyer?' I should say that he deserves it who is learned in the laws, and that general usage' 2 ' which private persons observe in their intercourse in the community, who can give an answer on any point, can plead, and can take precautions for the interests of his client; and I should name Sextus ^lius, Manius Manilius, Publiua Mucius, as distinguished in those respects. XLIX. In like manner, to notice sciences of a less important character, if a musician, if a grammarian, if a poet were the subject of consideration, I could state that which each of them possesses, and than which nothing more is to be expected from each. Even of the philosopher himself, who alone, from his abilities and wisdom, professes almost every- thing, there is a sort of definition, signifying, that he who studies to learn the powers, nature, and causes of all things, divine and human, and to understand and explain the whole science of living virtuously, may justly deserve this appellation. " The orator, however, since it is about him that we are considering, I do not conceive to be exactly the same cha- racter that Crassus makes him, who seemed to me to in- clude all knowledge of all matters and sciences, under the single profession and name of an orator; but I regard him 1 Prmcipem ilium. Nempe tenatfit. He wag consul with Cneiui Domitius, A.U.O. 592. Ellendt. 2 The unwritten law. 202 DB ORATORE j OR, [B. I. as one who can use words agreeable to hear, and thoughts adapted to prove, not only in causes that are pleaded in the forum, but in causes in general. Him I call an orator, and would have him besides accomplished in delivery and action, and with a certain degree of wit. But our friend Crassus seemed to me to define the faculty of an orator, not by the proper limits of his art, but by the almost immense limits of his own genius; for, by his definition, he delivered the helm of civil government into the hands of his orator ; a point, which it appeared very strange to me, Scsevola, that you should grant him ; when the senate has often given its assent on affairs of the utmost consequence to yourself, though you have spoken briefly and without ornament. And M. Scaurus, who I hear is in the country, at his villa not far off, a man eminently skilled in affairs of government, if he should hear that the authority which his gravity and counsels bear ~itli them, is claimed by you, Crassus, as you say that it is the property of the orator, he would, I believe, come hither without delay, and frighten us out of our talk by his very countenance and aspect ; who, though he is no contemptible speaker, yet depends more upon his judgment in affairs of consequence, than upon his ability in speaking; and, if any one has abilities in both these ways, he who is of authority in the public councils, and a good senator, is not on those accounts an orator; and if he that is an eloquent and powerful speaker be also eminent in civil administration, he did not acquire his political knowledge 1 through oratory. Those talents differ very much in their nature, and are quite sepa- ~ate and distinct from each other; nor did Marcus Cato, Publius Africanus, Quintus Metellus, Caius Lselius, who were all eloquent, give lustre to their own orations, and to the dignity of the republic, by the same art and method. L. " It is not enjoined, let me observe, by the nature of things, or by any law or custom, that one man must not know more than one art; and therefore, though Pericles was the best orator in Athens, and was also for many years director of the public counsels in that city, the talent for 1 Aliquam scientiam. For aliquam Manutius conjectured illam, which Lambinus, Ernesti, and M tiller approve. Wyttenbach suggested alienam, which has been adopted by Scbutz and Orellius. I have followed Uanutius. a LL] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 205 both those characters must not be thought to belong to the same art because it existed in the same man ; nor if Publius Crassus was both an orator and a lawyer, is the knowledge of the civil law for that reason included in the power of speaking. For if every man who, while excelling in any art or science, has acquired another art or science in addition, shall represent that his additional knowledge is a part of that in which he previously excelled, 1 we may, by such a mode of argument, pretend that to play well at tennis or counters, 2 is a part of the knowledge of civil law, because Publius Mucius was skilled in both ; and, by parity of reasoning, those whom the Greeks call (frvmKoi, 'natural philosophers,' may be re- garded as poets, because Empedocles the natural philosopher wrote an excellent poem. But not even the philosophers themselves, who would have everything, as their own right, to be theirs, and in their possession, have the confidence to say that geometry or music is a part of philosophy, because all acknowledge Plato to have been eminently excellent in those sciences. And if it be still your pleasure to attribute all sciences to the orator, it will be better for us, rather, to express ourselves to this effect, that since eloquence must not be bald and unadorned, but marked and distinguished by a certain pleasing variety of manifold qualities, it is necessary for a good orator to have heard and seen much, to have gone over many subjects in thought and reflection, and many also in reading; though not so as to have taken possession of them as his own property, but to have tasted of them as things belonging tc others. For I confess that the orator should be a knowing man, not quite a tiro or novice in any subject, not utterly ignorant or inexperienced in any business of life. LI. " Nor am I discomposed, Crassus, by those tragic argu- ments of yours, 3 on which the philosophers dwell most of. all; * * Sciet excelled The commentators say nothing against these futures. 3 Duodecim scriptis. This was a game played with counters ou a board, moved according to throws of the dice, but different from our backgammon.' The .reader may find all that is known of it in Adam's Roman Antiquities, p. 423, and Smith's Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Ant. art. Latrunculi. 3 Istis tragcediis tuis. Persons are said tragcedias in nugis agere, who make a small matter great by clamouring over it, as is done by actorr in tragedies. Proust. See b. ii. c. 51 ; Quint. vL 1. 86. 204 DB ORATORE; OR, [B. L I mean, when you said, That no man can, by speaking, excite the passions of his audience, or calm them when excited, (in which efforts it is that the power and greatness of an orator are 210 DE OKATORE ; 01^ [B. I. LVI. " But as to your wouder at the effrontery of those advocates who, though they were ignorant of small things, profess great ones, or who ventured, in the management of causes, to treat of the most important points in the civil law, though they neither understood nor had ever learned them, the defence on both charges is easy and ready. For it is not at all surprising that he who is ignorant in what form of words- a contract of marriage is made, should be able to defend the cause of a woman who has- formed such a contract; nor, though the same skill in steering is requisite for a small as for a large vessel, is he therefore, who is ignorant of the form of words by which an estate is to be divided, in- capable of pleading a cause relative to the division of an estate. 1 For though you appealed to causes of great conse- quence, pleaded before the Centumviri, that turned upon points of law, what cause was there amongst; them all, which could not have been ably pleaded by an eloquent man un- acquainted with law? in all which causes, as in the cause of Manius Curius, which was lately pleaded by you, 2 and that of Caius Hostilius Mancinus, 3 and that of the boy who was born of a second wife, without any notice of divorce having been sent to the first, 4 there was the greatest disagreement among the most skilful lawyers on points of law. I ask, then, how in these causes a knowledge of the law could have aided the orator, when that lawyer must have had the superiority, who was supported, not by his own, but a foreign art, not by know- 1 Herctwm cieri herciscundce familial. Co-heirs, when an estate de- scended amongst them, were, by the Roman law, bound to each other by the action families herciscundce ; that is, to divide the whole family inheritance, and settle all the accounts which related to it. Just. Inst. iii. 28. 4. The word herctum, says Festus, signifies whole or undivided, and do, to divide ; so, familiam herctam ciere was to divide the inherit- ance of the family, which two words, herctum ciere, were afterward* contracted into herciscere : hence this law-term used here, familiam "wrciscere. Servius has, therefore, from Donatus, thus illustrated a passage in Yirgil, at the end of the VHIth ^Eneid, Citse Metium in diversa quadrigae Distulerant. dice, says he, is a law-term, and signifies divided, as hereto non cito, the inheritance being undivided. Citce quadrigce, therefore, in that passage, does not mean quick or swift, as is generally imagined, but drawing different ways. B, 2 See c. 39 3 C. 40, C. 40. C. LVII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 211 ledge of the law, but by eloquence? I have often heard that, when Publius Crassus was a candidate for the sedileship, and Servius Galba, though older than he, and even of consular dignity, attended upon him to promote his interest, (having betrothed Crassus's daughter to his son Caius,) there came a countryman to Crassus to consult him on some matter of law ; and when he had taken Crassus aside, and laid the affair before him, and received from him such an answer as was rather right than suited to his wishes, Galba, seeing him look dejected, called him by his name, and asked him on what matter he had consulted Crassus; when, having heard his case, and seeing the man in great trouble, 'I perceive,' said he, ' that Crassus gave you an answer while his mind was anxious, and pre-occupied with other affairs.' He then took Crassus by the hand, and said, ' Hark you, how came it into your head to give this man such an answer 1 ' Crassus, who was a man of great legal knowledge, confidently repeated that the matter was exactly as he had stated in his answer, and that there could be no doubt. But Galba, referring to a variety and multiplicity of matters, adduced abundance of similar cases, and used many arguments for equity against the strict letter of law; while Crassus, as he could not main- tain his ground in the debate, (for, though he was numbered among the eloquent, he was by no means equal to Galba,) had recourse to authorities, and showed what he had asserted in the books of his brother Publius Mucius, 1 and in the com- mentaries of Sextus ^Elius; though he allowed, at the same time, that Galba's arguments had appeared to him plausible, and almost true. LVII. " But causes which are of such a kind, that there can be no doubt of the law relative to them, do not usually come to be tried at all. Does any one claim an inheritance under a will, which the father of a family made before he had a son born 1 Nobody ; because it is clear that by the birth of a son the will is cancelled. 2 Upon such points of law, therefore, there are no questions to be tried. The orator, accordingly, may be ignorant of all this part cf the law 1 The Crassus here mentioned was Publius Crassus Dives, brother oi Publius Mucius, Pontifex Maximus. See c. 37. Ellendt. 1 Cicero pro Csecina, c. 25 ; Gains, ii. 138. rS 212 DE ORATORE; 03, [B.I. relative to controversies, 1 which is without doubt the far greater part ; but on those points which are disputed, even among the most skilful lawyers, it will not be difficult for the orator to find some writer of authority on that side, whichsoever it be, that he is to defend, from whom, when he has received his javelins ready for throwing, he will hurl them with the arm and strength of an orator. Unless we are to suppose, indeed, (I would wish to make the observation with- out offending this excellent man Scaevola,) that you, Crassus, defended the cause of Manius Curius out of the writings and rules of your father-in-law. Did you not, on the contrary, undertake the defence of equity, the support of wills, and the intention of the dead 1 Indeed, in my opinion, (for I was frequently present and heard you,) you won the far greater number of votes by your wit, humour, and happy raillery, when you joked upon the extraordinary acuteness, and ex- pressed admiration of the genius, of Scsevola, who had discovered that a man must be born before he can die; and when you adduced many cases, both from the laws and decrees of the senate, as well as from common life and intercourse, not only acutely, but facetiously and sarcastically, in which, if we attended to the letter, and not the spirit, nothing would result. The trial, therefore, was attended with abun- dance of mirth and pleasantry; but of what service your knowledge of the civil law was to you upon it, I do not understand ; your great power in speaking, united with the utmost humour and grace, certainly was of great service. Even Mucius himself, the defender of the father's right, whc fought as it were for his own patrimony, what argument did he advance in the cause, when he spoke against you, that appeared to be drawn from the civil law? What particular law did he recite 1 ? What did he explain in his speech that was unintelligible to the unlearned 1 ? The whole of his oration was employed upon one point ; that is, in maintaining that what was written ought to be valid. But every boy is exercised on such subjects by his master, when he is instructed to 1 Omnem hanc partem juris in controversiis. For in controversiit Lanibinus and Ernesti would read, from a correction in an old copy, incontroversi ; but as tnsre is no authority for this word, Ellendt, -with Bakius, prefers non controversi. With this alteration, the sense will b 1; all this uncontroverted part of the law." C.LVIII.] ON THE CHARACTER Of THE OKATOR. 213 support, in such cases as these, sometimes the written letter, sometimes equity. In that cause of the soldier, I presume, if you had defended either him or the heir, you would have had recourse to the cases of Hostilius, 1 and not to your owjj power and talent as an orator. Nay, rather, if you had defended the will, you would have argued in such a manner, that the entire validity of all wills whatsoever would have seemed to depend upon that single trial; or, if you had pleaded the cause of the soldier, you would have raised his father, with your usual eloquence, from the dead ; you would have placed him before the eyes of the audience ; he would have em- braced his son, and with tears have recommended him to the Centumviri ; you would have forced the very stones to weep and lament, so that all that clause, AS THE TONGUE HAD DECLARED, would seem not to have been written in the Twelve Tables, which you prefer to all libraries, but in some mere formula of a teacher. LVIII. "As to the indolence of which you accuse our youth, for not learning that science, because, in the first place, it is very easy, (how easy it is, let them consider who strut about before us, presuming on their knowledge of the science, as if it were extremely difficult; and do you yourself also consider that point, who say, that it is an easy science, which you admit as yet to be no science at all, but say that if somebody shall ever learn some other science, so as to br able to make this a science, it will then be a science ;) and! because, in the next place, it is full of pleasure, (but as to that matter, every one is willing to leave the pleasure to yourself, and is content to be without it, for there is not one of the young men who would not rather, if he must get anything by heart, learn the Teucer of Pacuvius than the Manilian laws 2 on emption and vendition ;) and, in the third place, because you think, that, from love to our country, we ought to acquire a knowledge of the practices of our an- cestors; do you not perceive that the old laws are either 1 Certain legal formulae, of which some lawyer named Hostilius wa. the author. Erneati. 2 Manilianos leges. They were formula? which those who wisherl not to be deceived might use in buying and selling ; they are callei] actiones by Varro, K. R. ii. 5, II. ... The author was Manius Manilius, an eminent lawyer, who was consul A.U.O. 603. Erneati, 214 DE ORATORE; OR, [B. i. grown out of date from their very antiquity, or are set aside oy such as are new? 1 As to your opinion, that men are rendered good by learning the civil law, because, by laws, rewards are appointed for virtue, and punishments for vice ; I, for my part, imagined that virtue was instilled into man- kind (if it can be instilled by any means) by instruction and persuasion, not by menaces, and force, and terror. As to the maxim that we should avoid evil, we can understand how good a thing it is to do so without a knowledge of the law. And as to myself, to whom alone you allow the power of managing causes satisfactorily, without any knowledge of law, I make you, Crassus, this answer : that I never learned the civil law, nor was ever at a loss for the want of know- ledge in it, in those causes which I was able to defend in the courts. 2 It is one thing to be a master in any pursuit or art, and another to be neither stupid nor ignorant in common life, and the ordinary customs of mankind. May not every one of us go over our farms, or inspect our country affairs, for the sake of profit or delight at least? 3 No man lives without using his eyes and understanding, so far as to be entirely ignorant what sowing and reaping is ; or what pruning vines and other trees means; or at what season of the year, and in what manner, those things are done. If, there- fore, any one of us has to look at his grounds, or give any directions about agriculture to his steward, or any orders to his bailiff, must we study the books of Mago the Car- thaginian, 4 or may we be content with our ordinary know- ledge? Why, then, with regard to the civil law, may we not also, especially as we are worn out in causes and public busi- ness, and in the forum, be sufficiently instructed, to such a degree at least as not to appear foreigners and strangers in 1 There is no proper grammatical construction in this sentence. Ernesti observes that it is, perhaps, in some way unsound. 2 Injure. " Apud tribunal praetoris." Ernesti. 3 I translate the conclusion of this sentence in conformity with the text of Orellius, who puts tamen at the end of it, instead of letting it stand at the beginning of the next sentence, as is the case in other editions. His interpretation is, invisere saltern. " Though we be much occupied, yet we can visit our farms." 4 He wrote eight-and-twenty books on country affairs in the Punic language, which were translated into Latin, by order of the senate, by Cftssius Dionysius of Utica. See Varro, R. R. i. 1 ; and Columella. wh calls him the father of farming. Promt. C. B ORATORE ; OR, [B. III. not our friend Ceesar here, too, in troduced a new kind of oratory, and brought before us an almost peculiar style of eloquence ? Who has ever, besides him, treated tragical subjects in an almost comic manner, serious subjects with pleasantry, grave subjects with gaiety, and subjects suited to the forum with a grace peculiar to the stage ? in such a way that neither is the jocular style excluded by the importance of the subject, nor is the weight of the matter lessened by the humour with which it is treated. Here are present with us two young men, almost of equal age, Sulpicius and Gotta; what things were ever so dissimilar as they are one to another? yet what is so excellent as they are in their respective styles ? One is polished and refined, explaining things with the greatest pro- priety and aptitude of expression; he always adheres to his cause, and, when he has discovered, with his keen discern- ment, what he ought to prove to the judge, he directs his whole attention and force of oratory to that point, without regarding other arguments; while Sulpicius has a certain irresistible energy of mind, a most full and powerful voice, a most vigorous action, and consummate dignity of motion, united with such weight and copiousness of language, that he appears of all men the best qualified by nature for eloquence. IX. "I now return to ourselves; (because there has ever been such a comparison made between us, that we are brought, as it were, into judgment on account of rivalship, in the common conversation of mankind;) what two things can be more dissimilar than Antonius's manner of speaking and my own 1 though he is such an orator that no one can possibly surpass him ; and I, though I am altogether dissatisfied with myself, am yet in preference to others admitted to a com- parison with him. Do you notice what the manner of Auto- nius is? It is bold, vehement, full of energy and action, fortified and guarded on every point of the cause, spirited, acute, explicit, dwelling upon every circumstance, retiring with honour, pursuing with eagerness, terrifying, supplicating, exhibiting the greatest variety of language, yet without satiety to the ear; but as to myself, whatever I am as a speaker (since I appear to you to hold some place among speakers), I certainly differ very greatly from his style. What my talents are it becomes not me to say, because every ere is least known to himself, and it is extremely difficult for any persor C. X.] OX THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 341 to form a judgment of his own capacity ; but the dissimilitude may be easily perceived, both from the mediocrity of my action, and from the circumstance that I usually conclude in the same track in which I first set out; and that labour and care in choosing words causes me greater anxiety than choice of matter, being afraid that if my language should be a little obsolete, it may appear unworthy of the expecta- tion and silent attention of the audience. But if in us who are present there are such remarkable dissimilitudes, such decided peculiarities in each of us, and in all this variety the better is distinguished from the worse by difference in ability rather than by difference in kind, and everything is praise- worthy that is perfect in its nature, what do you imagine must be the case if we should take into consideration all the orators that anywhere exist, or ever existed 1 Would it not happen that almost as many kinds of eloquence as of orators would be found ? But from this observation of mine, it may perhaps occur to you, that if there be almost innumerable varieties and characters of eloquence, dissimilar in species, yet laudable in their kind, things of so diversified a nature can never be formed into an art by the same precepts and one single method of instruction. This is not the case ; and it is to be attentively considered by those who have the con- duct and education of others, in what direction the natural genius of each seems principally to incline him. For we see that from the same schools of artists and masters, eminent in their respective pursuits, there have gone forth pupils very unlike each other, yet all praiseworthy, because the instruc- tion of the teacher has been adapted to each person's natural genius ; a fact of which the most remarkable example (to say nothing of other sciences) is that saying of Isocrates, an eminent teacher of eloquence, that he used to apply the spur to Ephorus, but to put the rein on Theopompus ; for the one, who overleaped all bounds in the boldness of his expressions, he restrained ; the other, who hesitated and was bashful, as it were, he stimulated : nor did he produce in them any resemblance to each other, but gave to the one such an addi- tion, and retrenched from the other so much superfluity, as to form in both that excellence of which the natural genius of each was susceptible. X. " I thought it necessary to premise these particulars 342 flE OKATORE ; OR, [B. III. that if every remark of mine did not exactly adapt itself to the inclinations of you all, and to that peculiar style of speak- ing -which each of you most admired, you might be sensible that I described that character of eloquence of which I myself most approved. " Those matters, therefore, of which Antouius has treated so explicitly, are to be endowed with action and elocution by the orator in some certain manner. What manner of elocu- tion can be better (for I will consider action by-and-by) than that of speaking in pure Latin, with perspicuity, with grace- fulness, and with aptitude and congruity to the subject in question ? Of the two which I mentioned first, purity and clearness of language, I do not suppose that any account is expected from me ; for we do not attempt to teach him to be an orator who cannot speak ; nor can we hope that he who cannot speak grammatical Latin will speak elegantly; nor that he who cannot speak what we can understand, will ever speak anything for us to admire. Let us, therefore, omit these matters, which are easy of attainment, though necessary in practice ; for the one is taught in school-learning and the rudiments of children ; the other 1 is cultivated for this reason, that what every person says may be understood, a qualifica- tion which we perceive indeed to be necessary, yet that none can be held in less estimation. 2 But all elegance of lan- guage, though it receive a polish from the science of grammar, is yet augmented by the reading of orators and poets ; for those ancients, who could not then adorn what they expressed, had almost all a kind of nobleness of diction; and those who are accustomed to their style cannot express themselves otherwise than in pure Latin, even though they desire to do so. Yet we must not make use of such of their words as our modern mode of speaking does not admit, unless sometimes for the sake of ornament, and but sparingly, as I shall ex- plain; but he who is studious and much conversant with ancient writers, will make such use of common expressions as always to adopt the most eligible. XI. " In order to speak pure Latin, we must take care not only to use words with which nobody can justly find fault, 1 Perspicuity. 2 This Beems to b [B. in. with public affairs ; for if- they should convince us, and every man of eminent ability, of the truth of that maxinv, they will be unable to remain, as they especially desire, in tranquillity. XVIII. "The Stoics, too, whom I by no means disapprove, I notwithstanding dismiss; nor am I afraid that they will be angry, as they are proof against anger; and I feel grateful to them on this account, that they alone, of all the philoso- phers, have declared eloquence to be virtue and wisdom. But there are two peculiarities in their doctrine, which are quite unsuitable to that orator whom we are forming ; one, that they pronounce all who are not wise, to be slaves, robbers, enemies, and madmen, and yet do not admit that any person is wise ; (but it would be very absurd to trust the interests of an assembly of the people, or of the senate, or any other body of men, to one to whom none of those present would appear to be in their senses, none to be citizens, none to be freemen;) the other, that they have a manner of speaking which is perhaps subtle, and certainly acute, but for an orator, dry, strange, unsuited to the ear of the popu- lace, obscure, barren, jejune, and altogether of that species which a speaker cannot use to a multitude. Other citizens, or rather all other people, have very different notions of good and evil from the Stoics; their estimation of honour and ignominy, revels and punishments, is entirely different; whether justly or otherwise, is nothing to the present occa- sion ; but if we should adopt their notions, we should never be able to expedite any business by speaking. The remaining sects are the Peripatetic and the Academic; though of the Academics, notwithstanding there is but one name, there are two distinct systems of opinion; for Speusippus, Plato's sister's son, and Xenocrates, who had been a hearer of Plato, and Polemo, who had been a hearer of Xenocrates, and Grantor, differed in no great degree from Aristotle, who had also been a hearer of Plato; in copiousness and variety of diction, however, they were perhaps unequal to him. Arce- silas, who had been a hearer of Polemo, was the first who eagerly embraced the doctrine drawn from the various writings of Plato and the discourses of Socrates, that ' there is nothing certain to be known, either by the senses or the understanding;' he is reported to have adopted an eminently graceful manner of speaking, to have rejected all judgment C. XIX.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 351 of the mind and the senses, and to have established first che practice (though it was indeed greatly adopted by Socrates) of not declaring what he himself thought, but of disputing against whatever any other person said that he thought, Hence the New Academy derived its origin, in which Car- neades distinguished himself by a quickness of wit, that was in a manner divine, and a peculiar force of eloquence. I knew many at Athens who had been hearers of this philo- sopher, but I can refer for his character to two persons of undoubted authority, my father-in-law Scsevola, who heard him when a youth at Rome, and Quintus Metellus, the son of Lucius, my intimate friend, a man of high dignity, who informed me that in the early part of his life at Athens, he attended for many days the lectures of this celebrated phi- losopher, then almost broken with age. 1 XIX. "But the streams of learning have flowed from the common summit of science, 2 like rivers from the Apennines, in different directions, so that the philosophers have passed, as it were, into the Upper or Ionian sea, a Greek sea, abound- ing with harbours, but the orators have fallen into the Lower or Tuscan, a barbarian sea, infested with rocks and dangers, in which even Ulysses himself had mistaken his course. If, therefore, we are content with such a degree of eloquence, and such an orator as has the common discretion to know that you ought either to deny the charge which is brought against you, or, if you cannot do that, to show that what he who is accused has committed, was either done justifiably, or through the fault or wrong of some other person, or that it is agreeable to law, or at least not contrary to any law, or that it was done without design, or from necessity; or that it does not merit the term given it in the accusation ; or that the pleading is not conducted as it ought to have been or might have been; and if you think it sufficient to have learned the rules which the writers on rhetoric have delivered, which however Antonius has set forth with much more grace and fulness than they are treated by them ; if, I say, you are 1 Qui illwn a se adolescents Athenis jam affectum senectute multos dies auditum esse dictbat. " Who said that he had been heard by him wheu a young man for many days at Athens (where he was) now affected with old age." 1 Ex commwni sapientium jugo. I read sapientice with Ellendt. It is a comparison, as he observes, of Socrates to a hill. 36'2 DB ORATORE; on, [B. n\ content with these qualifications, and those which you wished to be specified by me, you reduce the orator from a spacious and immense field of action into a very narrow compass: but if you are desirous to emulate Pericles, or Demo- sthenes, who is more familiar to us from his numerous writings; and if you are captivated with this noble and illustrious idea and excellence of a perfect orator, you must include in your minds all the powers of Carneades, or those of Aristotle. For, as I observed before, the ancients, till the time of Socrates, united all knowledge and science in all things, whether they appertained to morality, to the duties of life, to vii'tue, or to civil government, with the faculty of speaking; but afterwards, the eloquent being separated by Socrates from the learned, (as I have already explained,) and this distinction being continued by all the followers of Socrates, the philosophers disregarded eloquence, and the orators philosophy; nor did they at all encroach upon each other's provinces, except that the orators borrowed from the philosophers, and the philosophers from the orators, such things as they would have taken from the common stock if they had been inclined to remain in their pristine union. But as the old pontiffs, on account of the multitude of reli- gious ceremonies, appointed three officers called Epulones, 1 though they themselves were instituted by Numa to perform the epulare sacrificium at the games; so the followers of Socrates excluded the pleaders of causes from their own body, and from the common title of philosophers, though the ancients were of opinion that there was a miraculous harmony between speaking and understanding. -XX. " Such being the case, I shall crave some little indul- gence for myself, and beg you to consider that whatever I say, I say not of myself, but of the complete orator. For I am a person, who, having been educated in my boyhood, with great care on the part of my father, and having brought into the forum such a portion of talent as I am conscious of possess- ing, and not so much as I may perhaps appear to you to have, cannot aver that I learned what I now comprehend, exactly 38 I shall say that it ought to be learned ; since I engaged in public business most early of all men, and at one-and-twenty years of age brought to trial a man of the highest rank, and 1 See Lav. xxxiii. 42. C. XXI. J ON THE CHARACTER OP THE OKATOa. 353 the greatest eloquence; 1 and the forum has teen my school, and practice, with the laws and institutions of the Roman people, and the customs of our ancestors, my instructors. J got a small taste of those sciences of which I am speaking, feeling some thirst for them, while I was quaestor in Asia ; having procured a rhetorician about my own age from the Academy, that Metrodorus, of whose memory Antonius has made honourable mention ; and, on my departure from Asia. at Athens, where I should have stayed longer, had I not been displeased with the Athenians, who would not repeat their mysteries, for which I came two days too late. The fact, therefore, that I comprise within my scheme so much science, and attribute so much influence to learning, makes not only not in my favour, but rather against me, (for I am not con- sidering what I, but what a perfect orator can do,) and against all those who put forth treatises on the art of rhetoric, and who are indeed obnoxious to extreme ridicule ; for they write merely about the several kinds of suits, about exordia, and statements of facts ; but the real power of eloquence is such, that it embraces the origin, the influence, the changes of all things in the world, all virtues, duties, and all nature, so far as it affects the manners, minds, and lives of mankind. It can give an account of customs, laws, and rights, can govern a state, and speak on everything relating to any sub- ject whatsoever with elegance and force. In this pursuit I employ ray talents as well as I can, as far as I am enabled by natural capacity, moderate learning, and constant practice; nor do I conceive myself much inferior in disputation to those who have as it were pitched their tent for life in phi- losophy alone. XXL " For what can my friend Caius Velleius 2 allege, to show why pleasure is the chief good, which I cannot either maintain more fully, if I were so inclined, or refute, with the aid of those common-places which Antonius has set forth, and that habit of speaking in which Velleius himself is unexercised, but every one of us experienced ? Wiiat is there that either .Sextus Pompeius, or the two Balbi, 3 or my acquaintance ' Carbo. See note on i. 10. 2 The same that speaks, iii the dialogue De Naturd Devrum, on th* tenets of the Epicureans. * One Balbus is a speaker in the De Nat. Deorum, on the doctrines A A 35i DK OKATORE; OK, [c. in. Marcus Yigellius, who lived with Pansetius, all men of the Stoic sect, can maintain concerning virtue, in such a manner that either I, or any one of you, should give place to them in debate 1 For philosophy is not like other arts or sciences ; since what can he do in geometry, or in music, who has never learned? He must be silent, or be thought a madman; but the principles of philosophy are discovered by such minds as have acuteness and penetration enough to extract what is most probable concerning any subject, and are elegantly expressed with the aid of exercise in speaking. On such topics, a speaker of ordinary abilities, if he has no great learning, but has had practice in declaiming, will, by virtue of such practice, common to others as well as to him, beat our friends the philosophers, and not suffer himself to be despised and held in contempt; but if ever a person shall arise who shall have abilities to deliver opinions on both sides of a question on all subjects, after the manner of Aristotle, and, from a knowledge of the precepts of that phi- losopher, to deliver two contradictory orations on every con- ceivable topic, or shall be able, after the manner of Arcesilas or Carneades, to dispute against every proposition that can be laid down, and shall unite with those powers rhetorical skill, and practice and exercise in speaking, be will be the true, the perfect, the only orator. For neither without the nervous eloquence of the forum, can an orator have sufficient weight, dignity, and force ; nor, without variety of learning, sufficient elegance and judgment. Let us suffer that old Corax of yours, 1 therefore, to hatch his young birds in the nest, that they may fly out disagreeable and troublesome bawlers ; and let us allow Pamphilus, whoever he was, 2 to depict a science of such of the Stoics. The other, says Ellendt, is supposed to be the lawyer who is mentioned by Cicero, Brut. c. 42, and who was the master of Servius Sulpicius. Of Vigellius nothing is known. 1 See i. 20. He jokes on the name of Corax, which signifies a crow. 2 PampMlum nescio quern. Some suppose him to be the painter that is mentioned as the instructor of Apelles by Pliny, H. N". xxxv. 36. 8. He seems, whoever he was, to have given some fanciful map-like view of the rules of rhetoric. But it is not intimated by Pliny that the Pamphilus of whom he speaks was, though a learned painter, anything more than a painter. A Pamphilus is mentioned by Quintilian, iii. 6. 34; xii 1C. 6; and by Aristotle, Khet. ii. 23. By infulce in the text, which I have rendered " flags," Ellendt supposes that something similar to our pricreed cotton handkerchiefs, or flags hung out at booths at C. XXII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 335 consequence upon flags, as if for an amusement for children ; while we ourselves describe the whole business of an orator, in so short a disputation as that of yesterday and to- day; admitting, however, that it is of such extent as to be spread through all the books of the philosophers, into which none of those rhetoricians l has ever dipped." XXII. Catulus then said, " It is, indeed, by no means astonishing, Crassus, that there should appear in you either such energy, or such agreeableness, or such copiousness of lan- guage; though I previously supposed that it was merely from the force of natural genius that you spoke in such a way as to seem to me not only the greatest of orators, but the wisest of men ; but I now understand that you have always given precedence to matters relating to philosophy, and your copious stream of eloquence has flowed from that source ; and yet, when I recollect the different stages of your life, and when I consider your manner of living and pursuits, I can neither conceive at what time you acquired that learning, nor can I imagine you to be strongly addicted to those studies, or men, or writings ; nor can I determine at which of these two things I ought most to feel surprised, that you could obtain a thorough knowledge of those matters which you persuade me are of the utmost assistance to oratory, amid such important occupations as yours, or that, if you could not do so, you can speak with such effect." Here Crassus rejoined, " I would have you first of all, Catulus, persuade yourself of this, that, when I speak of an orator, I speak not much otherwise than I should do if I had to speak of an, actor; for I should say that he could not possibly give satis- faction in his gesture unless he had learned the exercises of the palaestra, and dancing ; nor would it be necessary that, when I said this, I should be myself a player, though it per- haps would be necessary that I should be a not unskilful critic in another man's profession. In like manner I am now, at your request, speaking of the orator, that is, the perfect orator ; for, about whatever art or faculty inquiry is made, it always relates to it in its state of absolute perfection ; and if, fairs, is meant. Talams thinks that the tables of rules might have been called infulce in ridicule, from their shape. 1 Such "disagreeable and troublesome bawlers," as those from th nest of Corax just mentioned. Ernesti. AA2 356 DE ORATOBE; OR, [B. 111. therefore, you now allow me to be a speaker, if even a pretty good one, or a positively good one, I will not contradict you ; (for why should I, at my time of life, be so foolish 1 I know that I am esteemed such ;) but, if it be so, I am certainly not perfect. For there is not among mankind any pursuit of greater difficulty or effort, or that requires more aids from learning ; but, since I have to speak of the orator, I must of necessity speak of the perfect orator; for unless the powers and nature of a thing be set before the eyes in their utmost perfection, its character and magnitude cannot be understood. Yet I confess, Catulus, that I do not at present live in any great familiarity with the writings or the pro- fessors of philosophy, and that, as you have rightly observed, I never had much leisure to set apart for the acquisition of such learning, and that I have only given to study such portions of time as my leisure when I was a youth, and vaca- tions from the business of the forum, have allowed me. XXIII. " But if, Catulus, you. inquire my sentiments on that learning, I am of opinion that so much time need not be spent on it by a man of ability, and one who studies with a view to the forum, to the senate, to causes, to civil administra- tion, as those have chosen to give to it whom life has failed while they were learning. For all arts are handled in one manner by those who apply them to practice ; in another by those who, taking delight in treating of the arts themselves, never intend to do anything else during the whole course of their lives. The master of the gladiators * is now in the ex- tremity of age, yet daily meditates upon the improvement of his science, for he has no other care; but Quintus Velocius 2 had learned that exercise in his youth, and, as he was na- turally formed for it, and had thoroughly acquired it, he was, as it is said in Lucilius, Though as a gladiator in the school Well skill'd, and bold enough to match with any, yet resolved to devote more attention to the duties of the forum, and of friendship, and to his domestic concerns. Valerius 3 eung every day ; for he was on the stage ; what else was he 1 See note on ii. 80. 2 This name was intraduced on the conjecture of Victorias. Pre> riously the passage was unintelligible. 3 Of Valerius and Furius nothing is known. Ellendt. C. XXIV.J ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 357 to do ? But our friend Numerius Furius sings only when it is agreeable to him ; for he is the head of a family, and of equestrian dignity ; he learned when a boy as much as it was necessary for him to learn. The case is similar with regard to sciences of the greatest importance ; we have seen Quintus Tubero, 1 a man of eminent virtue and prudence, engaged in the study of philosophy night and day, but his uncle Africa- nus 2 you could scarcely ever perceive paying any attention to it, though he paid a great deal. Such knowledge is easily gained, if you only get as much of it as is necessary, and have a faithful and able instructor, and know how to learn yourself. But if you are inclined to do nothing else all your life, your very studies and inquiries daily give rise to some- thing for you to investigate as an amusement at your leisure; thus it happens, that the investigation of particular points is endless, though general knowledge is easy, if practice establish learning once acquired, moderate exercise be devoted to it, and memory and inclination continue. But it is pleasant to be constantly learning, if we wish to be thoroughly masters of anything ; as if I, for instance, had a desire to play excel- lently at backgammon, or had a strong attachment to tennis, though perhaps I should not attain perfection in those games ; but others, because they excel in any performance, take a more vehement delight in it than the object requires, as Titius 3 in tennis, Brulla in backgammon. There is no reason, therefore, why any one should dread the extent of the sciences because he perceives old men still learning them ; for either they were old men when they first applied to them, or have been detained in the study of them till they became old ; or are of more than ordinary stupidity. And the truth in my opinion is, that a man can never learn thoroughly that which he has not been able to learn quickly." XXIV. " Now, now," exclaimed Catulus, " I understand, Crassus, what you say, and readily assent to it ; I see that there has been time enough for you, a man of vigour and ability to learn, to acquire a knowledge of what you mention." " Do you Btill persist," rejoined Crassus, "to think that I say what I say of myself, and not of my subject 1 But, if it be agreeable to 1 Cic. Tusc. Quaest. iv. 2 ; Fin. iv. 9. * See ii. 37. * Titiiis is mentioned ii. 62. Of Brulla nothing is known. Ettcndt, 35S DE ORATORE ; OB, [fi. Ill you, let us now i-eturn to our stated business." u To me," said Catulus, " it is very agreeable." " To what end, then," continued Crassus, " does this dis- course, drawn out to so great a length, and brought from such deep sources, tend 1 The two parts which remain for me, that of adorning language, and contemplating eloquence in general in its highest perfection, one of which requires that we should speak gracefully, the other aptly, have this influence, that eloquence is rendered by their means pro- ductive of the utmost delight, made to penetrate effectually into the inmost hearts of the audience, and furnished with all possible variety of matter. But the speech which we use in the forum, adapted for contest, full of acrimony, formed to suit the taste of the vulgar, is poor indeed and beggarly ; and, on the other hand, even that which they teach who pro- fess themselves masters of the art of speaking, is not of much more dignity than the common style of the forum. We have need of greater pomp, 1 of choice matter collected, imported, and brought together from all parts; such a provision as must be made by you, Caesar, for the next year, 2 with such pains as I took in my sedileship, because I did not suppose that I could satisfy such a people as ours with ordinary mat- ters, or those of their own country. " As for choosing and arranging words, and forming them into proper periods, the art is easy, or, I may say, the mere practice without any art at all. Of matter, the quantity and variety are infinite; and as the Greeks 3 were not properly furnished with it, and our youth in consequence almost grew ignorant while they were learning, even Latin teachers of rhetoric, please the gods, have arisen within the last two years; a class of persons whom I had suppressed by my edict, 4 when I was censor, not because I was unwilling (as 1 Apparatu. In allusion, says Petavius, to the shows given by the sediles. 2 Ad annum. That of his sedileship. Ernesti. 3 The Greek rhetoricians. Pewce. 4 Quintilian refers to this passage, ii. 4. 42 The edict of the censors Crassus and Ahenobarbus, which was marked by all the ancient severity, is preserved in Aul. GelL xv. 11 ; and Suetonius, De Clar. Ehet. procem. Crassus intimates that that class of men sprung up again after his edict ; for the censors had not such power that their mere prohibitions could continue in force after their term of office wa? expired. Ellendt. C. XXV.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. '359 some, I know not who, asserted,) that the abilities of cur youth should be improved, but because I did not wish that their understandings should be weakened and their impudence strengthened. For among the Greeks, whatever was their character, I perceived that there was, besides exercise of the tongue, some degree of learning, as well as politeness suited to liberal knowledge; but I knew that these new masters could teach youth nothing but effrontery, which, even when joined with good qualities, is to be avoided, and, in itself, especially so ; and as this, therefore, was the only thing that was taught by the Latins, their school being indeed a school of impudence, I thought it became the censor to take care that the evil should not spread further. I do not, however, determine and decree on the point, as if I despaired that the subjects which we are discussing can be delivered, and treated with elegance, in Latin ; for both our language and the nature of things allows the ancient and excellent science of Greece to be adapted to our customs and manners ; but for such a work are required men of learning, such as none of our country- men have been in this department; but if ever such arise, they will be preferable to the Greeks themselves. XXV. " A speech, then, is to be made becoming in its kind, with a sort of complexion and substance of its own ; for that it be weighty, agreeable, savouring of erudition and liberal knowledge, worthy of admiration, polished, having feeling and passion in it, as far as is required, are qualities not confined to particular members, but are apparent in the whole body; but that it be, as it were, strewed with flowers of language and thought, is a property which ought not to be equally diffused throughout the whole s.peech, but at such intervals, that, as in the arrangement of ornaments, 1 there may be certain remarkable and luminous objects disposed here and there. Such a kind of eloquence, therefore, is to be chosen, as is most adapted to interest the audience, such as may not only delight, but delight without satiety; (for I do not imagine it to be expected of me, that I should admonish you to beware that your language be not poor, or rude, or vulgar, or obsolete: both your age and your geniuses en- courage me to something of a higher nature ;) for it is difficult 1 In ornatu. The arrangement of such ornaments aa were display:*! at games and festivals. 560 DE ORATORE ; OB, [_B. III. to toll what the cause is why, from those objects which most strongly strike our senses with pleasure, and occasion the most violent emotions at their first appearance, we should soonest turn away with a certain loathing and satiety. How much more florid, in the gaiety and variety of the colouring, are most objects in modern pictures than in ancient ones; which, however, though they captivate us at first sight, do not afford any lasting pleasure; whereas we are strongly attrao-ied by rough and faded colouring in the paintings of antiquity. How much softer and more delicate are fanciful x modulations and notes in music, than those which are strict and grave ; and yet if the former are often repeated, not only persons of an austere character, but even the multitude, raise an outcry against them. We may perceive, too, in regard to the other senses, that we take a less permanent delight in perfumes composed of the sweetest and most powerful odours, than in those of a more moderate scent ; that that is more commended which appears to smell like wax, than that which is as strong as saffron ; and that, in the sense of feeling itself, there is a limit required both to softness and smoothness. How soon does even the taste, which of all our senses is the most desirous of gratification, and is delighted with sweetness beyond the others, nauseate and reject that which is too luscious ! Who can take sweet drinks and meats long together 1 while, in both kinds of nutriment, such things as affect the sense with but a slight pleasure are the furthest removed from that satiating quality; and so, in all ether things, loathing still borders upon the most exquisite delights; and therefore we should the less wonder at this effect in lan- guage, in which we may form a judgment, either from the poets or the orators, that a style elegant, ornate, embellished, and sparkling, without intermission, without restraint, with- out variety, whether it be prose or poetry, though painted with the brightest colours, cannot possibly give lasting pleasure. And we the sooner take offence at the false locks and paint of the orator or poet, for this cause, that the senses, when affected with too much pleasure, are satiated, not from reason, but constitutionally; in writings and in speeches these disguised blemishes are even more readily noticed, not 1 Fakas. Fracfce et molliores. Erneati* C. XXVI.l ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 361 only from the judgment of the ear, but from that of the understanding. XXVI. " Though such expressions of applause, therefore, aa * very well,' ' excellent,' may be often repeated to me, I would not have ' beautifully,' ' pleasantly,' come too often ; yet 1 would have the exclamation Nothing can be better, very frequent. But this high excellence and merit in speaking Bhould be attended with some portions of shade and obscurity, that the part on which a stronger light is thrown may seem to stand out, and become more prominent. Roscius never delivers this passage with all the spirit that he can, The wise man seeks for honour, not for spoil, As the reward of virtue ; but rather in an abject manner, that into tLe next speech, What do I see ? the steel-girt soldier holds The sacred seate, he may throw his whole powers, may gaze, may express wonder jnd astonishment. How does the other great actor 1 utter What aid shall I solicit ? How gently, how sedately, how calmly ! For he proceeds with father ! my country ! House of Priam ! in which so much action could not be exerted if it had been consumed and exhausted by any preceding emotion. Nor did the actors discover this before the poets themselves, or, indeed, before even those who composed the music, by both of whom their tone is sometimes lowered, sometimes heightened, sometimes made slender, sometimes full, with variation and distinction. Let our orator, then, be thus graceful and de- lightful (nor can he indeed be so otherwise) ; let him have a severe and solid grace, not a luscious and delicious sweetness ; r or the precepts relative to the ornament of eloquence, which are commonly given, are of such a nature that even the worst speaker can observe them. It is first of all necessary, there- fore, as I said before, that a stock of matter and thoughts bo got together ; a point on which Antonius has already spoken ; these are to be interwoven into the very thread and essence of the oration, embellished by words, and diversified by illustrations. 1 JSsopus, as I suppose. Ellendt ; who observes that the verses art from the Andromache of Ennius. See c. 47, 58 ; Tusc. Disp. iii. 19. 362 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. III. " Bat the greatest glory of eloquence is to exaggerate a subject by embellishment; which has effect not only in am- plifying and extolling anything in a speech to an extra- ordinary degree, but also in extenuating it, and making it appear contemptible. XXVII. This is required on all those points -which Antonius said must be observed in order to gain credit to our statements, when we explain anything, or when we conciliate the feelings, or when we excite the pas- sions of our audience; but in the particular which I men- tioned last, amplification is of the greatest effect ; and excel- lence in it the peculiar and appropriate pnjise of the orator. Even that exercise is of more than ordinary importance which Antonius illustrated l in the latter part of his disser- tation, (in the beginning 2 he set it aside,) I mean that of panegyric and satire ; for nothing is a better preparative for exaggeration and amplification in a speech than the talent of performing both these parts in a most effective manner. Consequently, even those topics are of use which, though they ought to be proper to causes, and to be inherent in their very vitals, yet, as they are commonly applied to ge- neral subjects, have been by the ancients denominated com- mon places; of which some consist in bitter accusations and complaints against vices and crimes, with a certain amplifica- tion, (in opposition to which nothing is usually said, or can be said,) as against an embezzler of the public money, or a traitor, or a parricide ; remarks which we ought to intro- duce when the charges have been proved, for otherwise they sire jejune and trifling; others consist in entreaty or com- miseration; others relate to contested points of argument, whence you may be enabled to speak fully on either side of any general question, an exercise which is now imagined to be peculiar to those two sects of philosophy 3 of which I spoke before ; among those of remote antiquity it belonged to those from whom all the art and power of speaking in forensic pleadings was derived; 4 for concerning virtue, duty, justice and equity, dignity, utility, honour, ignominy, rewards and punishments, and similar subjects, we ought to possess the epirit, and talent, and address, to speak on either side of the 1 B. ii. c. 84. 2 B ^ , 10 . 3 The Academic and Peripatetic ; nne iii. 17, 18. Prowl. 4 Those who taught forensic eloquence. Proust. C. XXVIII.] ON THE CHAEACTER OP THE ORATOR. 363 question. But since, being driven from our own possessions, we are left in a poor little farm, and even that the subject of litigation, and since, though the patrons of others, we have not been able to preserve and protect our own property, let us borrow what is requisite for us (which is a notable dis- grace) from those l who have made this irruption into our patrimony. XXVIII. " Those, then, who take their name from a very small portion 2 of Athens and its neighbourhood, .and are denominated Peripatetic or Academic philosophers, but who formerly, on account of their eminent knowledge in important affairs, were by the Greeks called political philosophers, being distinguished by a name relating to all public administration, say that every speech on civil affairs is employed on one or other of these two kinds of questions, either that of a de- finite controversy limited to certain times and parties; as, 'Whether is it proper that our captives be recovered from the Carthaginians by the restitution of theirs?' or on an indefinite question, inquiring about a subject generally; as, 'What should be determined or considered concerning captives in general ? ' Of these, they term the former kind a cause or controversy, and limit it to three things, law-suits, delibera- tions, and panegyric ; but the other kind of question, or pro- position as it were, the indefinite, is denominated a consulta- tion. 3 So far they instruct us. The rhetoricians, however, use this division in their instructions, but not so that they seem to recover a lost possession by right, by a decision in their favour, or by force, but appear, according to the prac- tice of the civil law, to assert their claim to the premises by breaking off a branch; 4 for they keep possession of that former kind which is restricted to certain times, places, and parties, and that as it were by the hem of the garment; 5 for at this present time, under Philo, 6 who flourishes, I hear, aa 1 The philosophers. 2 From the Academy, and the gymnasia in the suburbs of Athens. Ellendt. 3 Consultatio. See Cic. Part. Orat. i. 18, 20. 4 A ceremony by which a claim to a possession was made. See Gaius, iv. 17. 5 Lacinia. Like persons who scarcely keep their hold of a thing Ellendt. 6 Philo of Larissa, called by some the founder of a fourth Academy, was a hearer of Clitomachus, Acad. ii. 6. He fled to Rome, with many 3G4 DE ORATORE ; OR. [B. III. chief of the Academy, the knowledge and practice of even these causes is much observed; as to the latter kind, they only mention it in delivering the first principles of the art, and say that it belongs to the orator; but neither explain its powers, nor its nature, nor its parts, nor general heads, so that it had better have been passed over entirely, than left when it was once attempted ; for they are now understood to say nothing about it for want of something to say; in the other case, they would have appeared to be silent from judgment. XXIX. " Every subject, then, has the same susceptibleness of ambiguity, concerning which it may be inquired and dis- puted ; whether the discussion relate to consultations on inde* finite points, or to those causes which are concerned with civil aifairs and contests in the forum ; nor is there any that may not be referred either to the nature and principles of knowledge or of action. For either the knowledge itself and acquaintance with any affair is the object of inquiry; as, * Whether virtue be desirable on account of its own intrinsic worth, or for the sake of some emolument attending it?' or counsel with regard to an act is sought ; as, ' Whether a wise man ought to concern himself in the administration of go- vernment?' And of knowledge there are three kinds, that which is formed by conjecture, that which admits of certain definition, and that which is (if I may so term it) conse- quential. For whether there be anything in any other thing, is inquired by conjecture ; as, ' Whether there is wisdom in mankind?' But what nature anything has, a definition ex- plains ; as if the inquiry be, ' What is wisdom ? ' And con- sequential knowledge is the subject treated of, when the question is, 'What peculiarity attends on anything?' as, ' Whether it be the part of a good man to tell a falsehood on any occasion ?' But to conjecture they return again, and divide it into four kinds ; for the question is either, ' What a thing is,' as, ' Whether law among mankind is from nature or from opinions?' or, 'What the origin of a thing is,' as, 'What is the foundation of civil laws and governments ? ' or the cause of the chief men of Athens, in the Mithridatic war, when Cicero, then a young man, attended diligently to his instructions. Brut. 89 ; Plut. Cic. c. 3. He sometimes gave instructions in rhetoric, sometimes in philosophy, as appears from Tusc. Disp. ii. 3. Henrichsen. C. XXX.l ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 365 and reason of it; as if it is asked, 'Why do the most learned men differ upon points of the greatest importance V or as to the possible changes in anything; as if it is disputed, 'Whe- ther virtue can die in men, or whether it be convertible into vice 1 ' With regard to definition, disputes arise, either when the question is, ' What is impressed, as it were, on the com- mon understanding ?' as if it be considered, ' Whether that be right which is advantageous to the greater number 1 ?' or when it is inquired, ' What is the peculiar property of any character?' as, 'Whether to speak elegantly be peculiar to the orator, or whether any one else can do so 1 ' or when a thing is distributed into parts ; as if the question be, ' How many kinds of desirable things there are 1 ?' and, 'Whether there be three, those of the body, those of the mind, and external things?' or when it is described what is the form or, as it were, natural characteristic of any person; as if it be inquired, ' What is the exact representation of an avaricious, a seditious, or a vain-glorious man?' Of the consequential, two principal kinds of questions are proposed ; for the ques- tion is either simple, as if it be disputed, ' Whether glory be desirable ? ' or comparative, ' Whether praise or wealth is more to be coveted ? ' But of such simple questions there are three sorts, as to things that are to be desired or avoided ; as, 'Whether honours are desirable?' 'Whether poverty is to be avoided ?' as to right and wrong; as, 'Whether it be right to revenge injuries, even those of relations?' as to honour and ignominy; as, ' Whether it be honourable to suffer death for the sake of glory ?' Of the comparative also there are two sorts : one, when the question is whether things are the same, or there be any difference betwixt them; as betwixt fear and reverence, a king and a tyrant, a flatterer and a friend; the other, when the inquiry is, ' Which of two things is pre- ferable?' as, ' Whether wise men are led by the approbation of the most worthy, or by popular applause ?' Thus are the controversies which relate to knowledge described, for the most part, by men of the greatest learning. XXX. " Bat those which relate to action, either concern controverted points of moral duty, under which head it may be inquired, 'What is right and to be practised;' of which head the whole train of virtues and of vices is the subject- matter ; or refer to the excitement, or alleviation, or removal 3G6 DE ORATORE; OB, [B. in. of some emotion f the mind. Under this head are included exhortation, reproof, consolation, compassion, and all that either gives impulse to any emotion of the mind, or, if it so happen, mitigates it. These kinds, then, and modes of all questions being explained, it is of no consequence if the partition of Antonius in any particular disagrees with my division; for there ai-e the same parts in both our disserta- tions, though divided and distributed by me a little otherwise than by him. Now I will proceed to the sequel, and recall myself to my appointed task and business. For the argu- ments for every kind of question are to be drawn from those common places which Antonius enumerated ; but some common places will be more adapted to some kinds than to others; concerning which there is no necessity for me to speak, not because it is a matter of any great length, but of sufficient perspicuity. " Those speeches, then, are the most ornate which spread over the widest field, and, from some private and single question, apply and direct themselves to show the nature of such questions in general, so that the audience, from under- standing its nature, and kind, and whole bearing, may deter- mine as to particular individuals, and as to all suits criminal and civil. Antonius has encouraged you, young men, to per- severance in this exercise, and intimated that you were to be conducted by degrees from small and confined questions to all the power and varieties of argument. Such qualifications are not to be gained from a few small treatises, as they have imagined who have written on the art of speaking; nor are they work merely for a Tusculan villa, or for a morning walk and afternoon sitting, such as these of ours; for we have not only to point and fashion the tongue, but have to store the mind with the sweetness, abundance, and variety of most important and numerous subjects. XXXI. " For ours is the possession (if we are indeed orators, if we are to be consulted as persons of authority and leaders in the civil contests and perils of the citizens and in public councils), ours, I say, is the entire possession of all that wisdom and learning, upon which, as if it were vacant and had fallen in to them, men abounding in leisure have seized, taking advantage of us, and either speak of the orator with ridicule and sarcasm, as Socrates in the Gorgias, or write C. XXXII.] ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 367 something on the art of oratory in a few little treatises, and call them books on rhetoric ; as if all those things did not equally concern the orator, which are taught by the same philosophers on justice, on the duties of life, on the establish- ment and administration of civil government, and on the whole systems of moral and even natural philosophy. These matters, since we cannot get them elsewhere, we must now borrow from those very persons by whom we have been pil- laged; so that we apply them to the knowledge of civil affairs, to which they belong, and have a regard ; nor let ITS (as I observed before) consume all our lives in this kind of learning, but, when we have discovered the fountains, (which he who does not find out immediately will never find at all,) let us draw from them as much as occasion may re- quire, as often as we need. For neither is there so sharp a discernment in the nature and understanding of man, that any one can descry things of such importance, unless they are pointed out; nor yet is there so much obscurity in the things, that a man of penetrating genius cannot obtain an insight into them, if he only direct his view towards them. As the orator therefore has liberty to expatiate in so large and immense a field, and, wherever he stops, can stand upon his own territory, all the furniture and embellishments of eloquence readily offer themselves to him. For copiousness of matter produces copiousness of language; and, if there be an inherent dignity in the subjects on which he speaks, there must be, from the nature of the thing, a certain splendour in his expression. If the speaker or writer has but been liberally instructed in the learning proper for youth, and has an ardent attachment to study, and is assisted by natural endowments, and exercised in those indefinite ques- tions on general subjects, and has chosen, at the same time, the most elegant writers and speakers to study and imitate, he will never, be assured, need instruction from such pre- ceptors how to compose or embellish his language ; so readily, in an abundance of matter, will nature herself, if she be but stimulated, fall without any guide into all the art of adorning eloquence." XXXII. Catulus here observed, " ie immortal gods, what an infinite variety, force, and extent of matter have you, Crassus, embraced, and from how narrow a circle have you 368 DE ORATORE; OR, [li. III. ventured to lead forth the orator, and to place him in tha domains of his ancestors! For we have understood that those ancient masters and authors of the art of speaking considered no kind of disputation to be foreign to their pro- fession, but were always exercising themselves in every branch of oratory. Of which number was Hippias of Elis, who, when he came to Olympia, at the time of the vast concourse at the games celebrated every fifth year, boasted, in the hearing of almost all Greece, that there was no subject in any art or science of which he was ignorant ; as he under- stood not only those arts in which all liberal and polite learning is comprised, geometry, music, grammar, and poetry, and whatever is said on the natures of things, the moral duties of men, and the science of government, but that he had himself made, with his own hand, the ring which he wore, and the cloak and shoes which he had on. 1 He indeed went a little too far; but, even from his example, we may easily conjecture how much knowledge those very orators desired to gain in the most noble arts, when they did not shrink from learning even the more humble. Why need I allude to Prodicus of Chios, Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, or Protagoras of Abdera? every one of whom in those days dis- puted and wrote much even on the nature of things. Even Gorgias the Leontine himself, under whose advocacy (as Plato represented) the orator yielded to the philosopher; 2 who was either never defeated in argument by Socrates, (and then the Dialogue of Plato is wholly fictitious,) or, if he was so de- feated, it was because Socrates was the more eloquent and convincing, or, as you term it, the more powerful and better orator; but this Gorgias, in that very book of Plato, offers to speak most copiously on any subject whatever, that could be brought under discussion or inquiry; and he was the first of all men that ventured to demand, in a large assembly, on what subject any one desired to hear him speak; and to whom such honours were paid in Greece, that to him alone, of all great men, a statue was erected at Delphi, not gilded, but of solid gold. Those whom I have named, and many 1 See Plato, Hipp. Min. p. 2S1 G. 2 Gorgias, in the Dialogue of Plato, undertakes the defence ol oratory against Socrates, whom Plato represents as maintaining the dignity of philosophy. Gorgias is vanquished by Socrates. Promt. C. XXXIII.] OX 7HJ CHARACTER OF THE OUATOU. 3CC other mosl consummate masters in the art of speaking, flourished at the same time; from whose examples it may be understood, that the truth is really such as you, Crassus, have stated, and that the name of the orator was distin- guished among the ancients in Greece in a more extensive sense, and with greater honour than among ourselves. I am therefore the more in doubt whether I should attribute a greater degree of praise to you, or of blame to the Greeks ; since you, born under a different language and manners, in the busiest of cities, occupied either with almost all the private causes of the people, or with the government of the world and the direction of the mightiest of empires, have mastered such numbers of subjects, and acquired so extensive a know- ledge, and have united all this with the science and practice of one who is of authority in the republic by his counsels and eloquence ; whilst they, born in an atmosphere of learning, ardently attached to such studies, but dissolved in idleness, have not only made no acquisitions, but have not even preserved as their own that which was left and consigned to them." XXXIII. Crassus then said, " Not only in this particular, Catulus, but in many others, the grandeur of the sciences has been diminished by the distribution and separation of their parts. Do you imagine, that when the famous Hippo- crates of Cos flourished, there were then some of the medical faculty who cured diseases, others wounds, and a third class the eyes 1 Do you suppose that geometry under Euclid and Archimedes, that music under Damon and Aristoxenus, that grammar itself when Aristophanes and Callimachus treated of it, were so divided into parts, that no one comprehended the universal system of any of those sciences, but different persons selected different parts on which they meant to bestow their labour? I have, indeed, often heard from my father and father-in-law, that even our own countrymen, who were ambitious to excel in renown for wisdom, were wont ta comprehend all the objects of knowledge which this city had then learned. They mentioned, as an instance of this, Sextus ^Elius ; and we ourselves have seen Manius Manilius walking across the forura ; a signal that he who did so, gave all the citizens liberty to cons^t him upon any subject ; and to such persons, when thus walking or sitting at home upon their seats a 370 DE ORATORE; OR, [B. rn. of ceremony, all people had free access, not only to consult them upon points of civil law, but even upon the settlement of a daughter in marriage, the purchase of an estate, or the cultivation of a farm, and indeed upon any employment or business whatsoever. Such was the wisdom of the well- known elder Publius Crassus, such that of Titus Coruncanius, such that of the great-grandfather of Scipio, my son-in-law, a person of great judgment; all of whom were supreme pon- tiffs, so that they were consulted upon all affairs, divine and human; and the same men gave their counsel and dis- charged their duty in the senate, before the people, and in the private causes of their friends, in civil and military service, both at home and abroad. What was deficient in Marcus Cato, except the modern polish of foreign and ad- ventitious learning? Did he, because he was versed in the civil law, forbear from pleading causes? or, because he could speak, neglect the study of jurisprudence? He laboured in both these kinds of learning, and succeeded in both. Was he, by the popularity which he acquired by attending tc the business of private persons, rendered more tardy in the public service of the state? No man spoke with more courage before the people, none was ever a better senator; he was at the same time a most excellent commander-in- chief; and indeed nothing in those days could possibly be known or learned in this city which he did not investigate and thoroughly understand, and on which he did not also write. Now, on the contrary, men generally come to assume offices and the duties of public administration unarmed and defenceless; prepared with no science, nor any knowledge of business. But if any one happen to excel the multitude, he is elevated with pride by the possession of any single talent, as military courage, or a little experience in war, (which indeed has now fallen into decay, 1 ) or a knowledge of the law, (not of the whole law, for nobody studies the pontifical law, which is annexed to civil jurisprudence, 2 ) or eloquence, : For, except Metellus Numidicus and Marius, no one in those days had gained any great reputation by his conduct in the field. 2 Quod est conjunctum. That is, "conjunctum cum jure civili." Prcust. What Cicero says here is somewhat at variance with what he saya, DeLegg. ii. 19, where he shows, at some length, that only a small part of the civil law is necessary to be combined with the knowledge ol the pontifical law. EUendt. C. XXXIV. J ON THE CHARACTEE OP THE ORATOR. 371 (which they imagine to consist in declamation and a torrent of words,) while none have any notion of the alliance and affinity that connects all the liberal arts and sciences, and even the virtues themselves. XXXIV. " But to direct my remarks to the Greeks, (whom we cannot omit in a dissertation of this nature ; for as exam- ples of virtue are to be sought among our own countrymen, so examples of learning are to be derived from them;) seven are said to have lived at one time, who were esteemed and denominated wise men. All these, except Thales of Miletus, had the government of their respective cities. Whose learning is reported, at the same period, to have been greater, or whose eloquence to have received more ornament from literature, than that of Pisislratus? who is said to have been the first that arranged the books of Homer as we now have them, when they were previously confused. He was not indeed of any great service to the community, but was eminent for eloquence, at the same time that he excelled in erudition and liberal knowledge. What was the character of Pericles ? of whose power in speaking we have heard, that when he spoke for the good of his country against the incli- nations of the Athenians, that very severity with which he contradicted the favourites of the people, became popular and agreeable to all men ; and on whose lips the old comic poets declared, (even when they satirized him, as was then lawful to be done at Athens,) that the graces of per- suasion dwelt, and that there was such mighty energy in him that he left, as it were, certain stings in the minds of those who listened to him. Yet no declaimer had taught him to bawl for hours by the water-clock, but, as we have it from tradition, the famous Anaxagoras of Clazomenee, a man emi- nent in all the most valuable sciences, had instructed him. He, accordingly, excelling as he did in learning, judgment, and eloquence, presided at Athens forty years together over civil and military affairs. What was the character of Critias, or of Alcibiades 1 ? They were not indeed useful members of the state in which they lived, but were certainly men of learning and eloquence ; and were they not improved by con- versation with Socrates? Who instructed Dion of Syracuse in every branch of learning? Wan it not Plato? The same illustrious philosopher, too, who formed him not to oratory 372 DI oRATonE; OB, [B. m only, but to courage and virtue, impelled, equipped, and armed him to deliver his country. Did Plato, then, instruct Dion iu sciences different from those in which Tsocrates formed the renowned Timotheus the son of Conon the eminent general, and himself a most excellent commander, and a man of extensive learning? Or from those in which Lysis the Pythagorean trained Epaminondas of Thebes, who perhaps was the most remarkable man of all Gieece? Or from those which Xenophon taught Agesilaus, or Archytas of Tarentum Philolaus, or Pythagoras himself all that old province of Italy which was formerly called Great Greece? XXXV. I do not imagine that they were different ; for I see that one and the same course of study comprised all those branches of knowledge which were esteemed necessary for a man of learning, and one who wished to become eminent in civil administration ; and that they who had received this knowledge, if they had sufficient powers for speaking in public, and devoted themselves, without any impediment from nature, to oratory, became distinguished for eloquence. Aristotle himself, accordingly, when he saw Isocrat.es grow remarkable for the number and quality of his scholars, [be- cause he himself had diverted his lectures from forensic and civil causes to mere elegance of language, 1 ] changed on a sudden almost his whole system of teaching, and quoted a verse from the tragedy of Philoctetes 2 with a little alteration; for the hero said, that It was disgraceful for him to be silent while he allowed barbarians to speak; but Aristotle said that it was disgraceful for him to be silent while he allowed Isocrates to speak. He therefore adorned and illustrated all philoso- phical learning, and associated the knowledge of things with practice in speaking. Nor did this escape the knowledge of that very sagacious monarch Philip, who sent for him as a tutor for his son Alexander, that he might acquire from the same teacher instructions at once in conduct and in language. Now, if any one desires either to call that philosopher, who instructs us fully in things and words, an orator, he may do 1 The words in brackets, says Ellendt, are certainly spurious, for they ;ould not possibly have been written by Cicero. In the original, quod pse, &c., ipse necessarily refers to Aristotle, of whom what is here said could, never have been true. * The Philoctetes of Eurindes, as is generally supposed. C. XXXVI.] ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 373 o without opposition from me ; or if he prefer to call that orator, of whom I speak as having wisdom united with eloquence, a philosopher, I shall make no objection, provided it be allowed that neither his inability to speak, who under- stands his subject but cannot set it forth in words, nor his ignorance, to whom matter is wanting though words abound, can merit commendation ; and if I had to choose one of the two, I should prefer uneloquent good sense to loquacious folly. But if it be inquired which is the more eminent excellence, the palm is to be given to the learned orator ; and if they allow the same person to be a philosopher, there is an end of controversy ; but if they distinguish them, they will acknow- ledge their inferiority in this respect, that all their knowledge is inherent in the complete orator; but in the knowledge of the philosophers eloquence is not necessarily inherent ; which, though it may be undervalued by them, must of necessity be thought to give a finishing grace to their sciences." When Crassus had spoken thus, he made a pause for a while, and the rest kept silence. XXXVI. Cotta then observed, " I cannot indeed complain, Crassus, that you seem to me to have given a dissertation upon a different subject from that on which you had under- taken to speak ; for you have contributed to our conversation more than was either laid upon you by us, or given notice of by yourself. But certainly it was the part that belonged to you, to speak upon the embellishments of language, and you had already entered upon it, and distributed the whole excellence of eloquence into four parts ; and, when you had spoken upon the first two, as we indeed thought suffi- ciently, but, as you said yourself, cursorily and slightly, you- had two others left : how we should speak, first, elegantly, and next, aptly. But when you were proceeding to these particulars, the tide, as it were, of your genius suddenly hurried you to a distance from land, and carried you out into the deep, almost beyond the view of us all ; for, em- bracing all knowledge of everything, you did not indeed teach it us, (for that was impossible in so short a space of time,) but, I know not what improvement you may have made in the rest of the company, as for myself, you have carried me altogether into the heart of the academy, in regard to which I could wish that that were true which 374 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. III. you have often asserted, that it is not necessary to consume our lives in it, but that he may see everything in it who only turns his eyes towards it : but even if the view be somewhat obscure, or I should be extraordinarily dull, I shall assuredly never rest, or yield to fatigue, until I understand their doubtful ways and arts of disputing for and against every question." Ceesar then said, " One thing in your remarks, Crassus, struck me very much, that you said that he who did not learn anything soon, could never thoroughly learn it at all ; so that I can have no difficulty in making the trial, and either immediately understanding what you extolled to the skies in your observations, or, if I cannot do so, losing no time, as I may remain content with what I have already acquired." Here Sulpicius observed, "I, indeed, Crassus, neither desire any acquaintance with your Aristotle, nor Carneades, nor any of the philosophers ; you may either imagine that I despair of being able to acquire their know- ledge, or that, as is really the case, I despise it. The ordinary knowledge of common affairs, and such as are litigated in the forum, is great enough for me, for attaining that degree of eloquence which is my object; and even in that narrow circle of science I am ignorant of a multitude of things, which I begin to study, whenever any cause in which I am to speak requires them. If, therefore, you are not now fatigued, and if we are not troublesome to you, revert to those particulars which contribute to the merit and splendour of language; particulars which I desired to hear from you, not to make me despair that I can ever possibly attain eloquence, but to make some addition to my stock of learning." XXXVII. " You require of me," said Crassus, " to speak on matters which are very well known, and with which you, Sulpicius, are not unacquainted ; for what rhetorician has not treated of this subject, has not given instructions on it, has not even left something about it in writing? But I will com- ply with your request, and briefly explain to you at least such points as are known to me; but I shall still think that you ought to refer to those who are the authors and inventors of these minute precepts. All speech, then, is formed of words, which we must first consider singly, then in composition ; for there is one merit of language which lies in single words, another which is produced by words joined and compounded. C. XXXVIII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 375 We shall therefore either use such words as are the proper and fixed names as it were of things, and apparently almost born at the same time with the things themselves ; or such as are metaphorical, and placed as it were in a situation foreign to them ; or such as we invent and make ourselves. In regard then to words taken in their own proper sense, it is a merit in the orator to avoid mean and obsolete ones, and to use such as are choice and ornamental; such as have in them some fulness and force of sound. But in this kind of proper words, selection is necessary, which must be decided in some measure by the judgment of the ear; in which point the mere habit of speaking well is of great effect. Even what is vulgarly said of orators by the illiterate multitude, He uses proper words, or Such a one uses improper words, is not the result of any acquired skill, but is a judgment arising from a natural sense of what is right ; in which respect it is no great merit to avoid a fault, (though it is of great im- portance to do so,). yet this is the ground- work, as it were and foundation of the whole, namely, the use and command of proper words. But the superstructure which the orator himself is to raise upon this, and in which he is to display his art, appears to be a matter for us to examine and illustrate. XXXVIII. " There are three qualities, then, in a simple word, which the orator may employ to illustrate and adorn his language ; he may choose either an unusual word, or one that is new or metaphorical. Unusual words are generally of ancient date and fashion, and such as have been long out of use in daily conversation; these are allowed more freely to poetical licence than to ours; yet a poetical word gives occasionally dignity also to oratory ; nor would I shrink from Baying, with Coelius, Qud tempestate Poenus in Italiam venti, f At the season when the Carthaginian came into Italy :' nor proles, 'progeny;' nor suboles, 'offspring;' nor effari, 'to utter;' nor nuncupari, 'to declare;' nor, as you are in the habit of saying, Catulus, non rebar, 'I did not deem;' nor non opinabar, 'I did not opine;' nor many others, from which, if properly introduced, a speech assumes an air of greater grandeur. New words are such as are produced and formed by the speaker; either by joining words together, af these. 376 DE ORATORE ; on, [B. in. Turn pKvor sapientiam omnem mt exatimato expectoiat, Then fear expels all wisdom from tLe breast Of me astonished ; or, Num non vis hujus me versutiloquas malitias ? Would you not have me dread his cunning malice ? for you see that versutiloquas and expectorat are words not newly produced, but merely formed by composition. But words are often invented, without composition, as the ex- pression of Ennius, 1 Dii genitales, ' the genial gods ; ' or bac- carum ubertate incurviscere, ' to bend down with the fertile crop of berries.' " The third mode, that of using words in a metapliorical sense, is widely prevalent, a mode of which necessity was the parent, compelled by the sterility and narrowness of language ; but afterwards delight and pleasure made it frequent ; for as a dress was first adopted for the sake of keeping off the cold, but in process of time began to be made an ornament of the body, and an emblem of dignity, so the metaphorical use of words was originally invented on account of their paucity, but became common from the delight which it afforded. For even the countrymen say, gemmare vites, that ' the vines are budding;' luxuriem esse in kerbis, that ' there is a luxuriancy in the grass ;' and Icetas segetes, that ' there is a bountiful crop;' for when that which can scarcely be signified by its proper word is expressed by one used in a metaphorical sense, the similitude taken from that which we indicate by a foreign term gives clearness to that which we wish to be understood. These metaphors, therefore, are a species of borrowing, as you take from something else that which you have not of your own. Those have a greater degree of boldness which do not show poverty, but bring some accession of splendour to our lan- guage. But why should I specify to you either the modes of their production or their various kinds 1 XXXIX. " A metaphor is a brief similitude contracted into a single word ; which word being put in the place of another, 1 All the editions retain ille senius, though universally acknowledged to be corrupt. The conjecture of Turnebus, ille Ennius, has found most favour ; that of Orellius, Mud Ennii, is approved by Ellendt. That th words dt genitales were used by En^ius appears from Servius on Virg JEu. vi. 764. 0. XI . "I ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 377 as if it were in its own place, conveys, if the resemblance be acknowledged, delight; if there is no resemblance, it is con- demned. But such words should be metaphorically used aa may make the subject clearer j as all these : l Inkorrescit mare, Tenebrce conduplicantur, noctisque et nimbUm occcecat nigror, Flairtma inter nubes coruscat, ccelum tonitru contremit, Grando mixta imbri largifluo subita pracipitans cadit ; Undique omnes venti erumpunt, scuvi existunt turbines ; Fervit cestu pelagus. The sea begins to shudder, Darkness is doubled ; and the black of night And of the tempest thickens ; fire gleams vivid Amid the clouds ; the heavens with thunder shake ; Hail mixed with copious rain sudden descends Precipitate ; from all sides every blast Breaks forth ; fierce whirlwinds gather, and the flood Boils with fresh tumult. Here almost everything is expressed in words metaphori- cally adapted from something similar, that the description may be heightened. Or metaphors are employed that the whole nature of any action or design may be more signi- ficantly expressed ; as in the case of him who indicates, by two metaphorical words, that another person was designedly obscure, in order that what he intended might not be under- stood, Quandoquidem is se circumvestit dictis, scepit seduld, Since thus he clothes himself around with words, And hedges constantly. " Sometimes, also, brevity is the object attained by meta- phor; as, Si telum manufugit, 'If from his hand the javelin fled.' The throwing of a missile weapon unawares could not be described with more brevity in the proper words than it ia signified by one used metaphorically. On this head, it often appears to me wonderful why all men are more delighted with words used in a metaphorical or foreign sense than in their own proper and natural signification. XL. For if a thing has not a name of its own, and a term peculiar to it, as the pes, or ' hawser,' in a ship ; nexum, a ' bond,' which is a ceremony performed with scales ; 2 divortium, a 'divorce,' with 1 From Pacuvius. See Cic. Divin. i. 14. 2 See Smith's Diet, of Qr. and Rom. Ant., art. Nexun. 378 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. III. reference tc a wife, 1 necessity compels you to borrow from another what you have not yourself; but, even in the gssatest abundance of proper words, men are much more charmed with such as are uncommon, if they are used metaphori- cally with judgment. This happens, I imagine, either because it is some manifestation of wit to jump over such expres- sions as lie before you, and catch at others from a greater distance; or because he who listens is led another way in thought, and yet does not wander from the subject, which ia a very great pleasure; or because a subject, and entire com- parison, is despatched in a single word ; or because every metaphor that is adopted with jiidgment. is directed imme- diately to our senses, and principally to the sense of sight, which is the keenest of them all. For such expressions as the odour of urbanity, the softness of humanity, the murmur of the sea, and sweetness of language, are derived from the other senses ; but those which relate to the sight are much more striking, for they place almost in the eye of the mind such objects as we cannot see and discern by the natural eyes. There is, indeed, nothing in universal nature, the proper name and term of which we may not use with regard to other matters; for whencesoever a simile may be drawn (and it may be drawn from anything), from thence a single word, which contains the resemblance, metaphorically applied, may give illustration to our language. In csuch metaphorical ex- pressions, dissimilitude is principally to be avoided ; as, Cceli ingentes fornices, The arch immense of heaven ; for though Ennius 2 is said to have brought a globe upon the stage, yet the semblance of an arch can never be inherent in the form of a globe. Vive, Ulixes, dum licet: Oculis postremum lumen radiatum rape : 8 Live, live, Ulysses, while you may, and snatch, Snatch with thine eyes the last light shining on them. 1 Divortium, in its proper sense, denoted the separation of roads or waters. ' In his tragedy of Hecuba, aa is supposed by Hermann, ad Eurip. Hec. p. 167. See Varro, L. L. v. p. 8. s Supposed by Bothe, Trag. Lat. Fragm. p. 278, to be from the NiptM 3? Pacuvius. See Cic. Qusost. Acad. ii. 28. 0. XLI.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 379 He did not say, cape, ' take,' nor pete, ' seek.' for such ex- pressions might have implied delay, as of one hoping to live longer ; but rape, ' snatch,' a word which was peculiarly suit- able to what he had said before, dum licet, ' while you may.' XLI. " Care is next to be taken that the simile be not too far-fetched; as, for 'the Syrtis of his patrimony,' I should rather have said, ' the rock ;' for ' the Charybdis of his posses- sions,' rather ' the gulf :' for the eyes of the mind are more easily directed to those objects which we have seen, than to those of which we have only heard. And since it is the greatest merit in a metaphorical word, that what is meta- phorical should strike the senses, all ofiensiveness is to be avoided in those objects to which the comparison must naturally draw the minds of the audience. T would not have it said that the republic was 'castrated' by the death of Africanus ; I would not have Glaucia called ' the excrement of the senate;' for though there may be a resemblance, yet it is a depraved imagination in both cases that gives rise to such a comparison. I would not have the metaphor grander than the subject requires, as ' a tempest of revelling;' nor meaner, as ' the revelling of the tempest.' I would not have the metaphorical be of a more confined sense than the proper and peculiar term would have been; as, Quidnam est, obsecro, quid te adiri abnutas ? l Why ia it, prythee, that thou nodd'st us back From coming to thee ? Vetas, prohibes, absterres, ' forbid,' ' hinder,' ' terrify,' hai been better, because he had before said, Fly quickly hence, 2 Lest my contagion or my shadow fall On men of worth. Also, if you apprehend that the metaphor may appear too harsh, it may frequently be softened by prefixing a word or words to it ; as if, in old times, on the death of Marcus Cato, any one had said that the senate was left ' an orphan,' the ex- pression had been rather bold ; but, ' so to speak, an orphan,' is somewhat milder; for a metaphor ought not to be too daring, 1 From ihe Thyestes of Ennius. Cic. Tusc. iii. 12. 1 Orellius's text has iatim, which is considered to be the same a* iitinc. See Victcriug ad Cic. Ep. ai Div. vi. 6. 380 DE ORATORE ; OK, [c. HI. but of such a nature that it may appear to have been introduced into the place of another expression, not to have sprung into it ; to have come in by entreaty, and not by violence. And there is no mode of embellishment more effective as regards single words, nor any that throws a greater lustre upon lan- guage; for the ornament that flows from this figure does not consist merely in a single metaphorical word, but may be connected by a continuation of many, so that one thing may be expressed and another understood; as, Nor will I allow Myself again to strike the Grecian fleet On the same rock and instrument of ruin. 1 And this, You err, you err, for the strong reins of law Shall hold you back, exulting and confiding Too much in your own self, and make you bow Beneath the yoke of empire. Something being assumed as similar, the words which are proper to it are metaphorically transferred (as I termed it before) to another subject. XLII. " This is a great ornament to language, but obscurity is to be avoided in it; for from this figure arise what are called senigrnas. Nor is this rule to be observed in single words only, but in phrases, that is, in a continuation of words. Nor have metonymy and hypallage 2 their form from a single word, but from a phrase or sentence ; as, Grim Afric trembles with an awful tumult ; 3 where for the Africans is used Afric; not a word newly impounded, as in Mare saxifragis undis, ' The sea with its rock-breaking waves ;' nor a metaphorical one, as, Mollitur mare, ' The sea is softened ;' but one proper name exchanged for another, for the sake of embellishment. Thus, ' Cease, Rome, thy foes to cherish,' and, ' The spacious plains are witnesses. This figure contributes exceedingly to the ornament of style, and is frequently to be used ; of which kind of expression these are examples : that the Mars, or fortune, of war is common ; and to say Ceres, for corn; Bacchus, for wine; Neptune, for 1 Whence this and the following quotation are taken is uncertain. 2 Traductio atque immutatio. See Cic. Orat. 27 ; Quint, viii. 6 ' ix. 3 ; infra, c. 43, 54. 3 Prom the Annals of Ennius. See Cic. Ep. &d Div. ix. 7 ; Orat. 27 Fostua v. metonymia. ON THE CHAKACTER OF THE ORATOR. 381 the sea; the curia, or house, for the senate; the campus, fol the comitia or elections ; the gown, for peace ; arms or weapons^ for war. Under this figure, the virtues and vices are used for the persons in whom they are inherent : ' Luxury has broken into that house ;' or, ' whither avarice has penetrated ;' or, 'honesty has prevailed;' or, 'justice has triumphed.' You per- ceive the whole force of this kind of figure, when, dy the variation or change of a word, a thing is expressed more elegantly; and to this figure is closely allied another, 1 which, though less ornamental, ought not to be unknown ; as when we would have the whole of a thing understood from a part; as we say walls or roof for a whole building; or a part from the whole, as when we call one troop the cavalry of the Roman people; or when we signify the plural by the sin- gular, as, But still the Roman, though the affair has been Conducted well, is anxious in his heart ; 2 or when the singular is understood from the plural, We that were Rudians once are Romans now ; or in whatever way, by this figure, the sense is to be under- stood, not as it is expressed, but as it is meant. XLIII. "We often also put one word catachrestically for another, not with that elegance, indeed, which there is in a metaphor; but, though this is done licentiously, it is some- times done inoffensively ; as when we say a great speech for a long one, a minute soul for a little one. " But have you perceived that those elegances which arise from the connexion of several metaphors, do not, as I ob- served, 3 lie in one word, but in a series of words ? But all those modes of expression which, I said, lay in the change of a vrord, or are to be understood differently from what is expressed, are in some measure metaphorical. Hence it hap- pens, that all the virtue and merit of single words consists in three particulars : if a word be antique, but such, however, as usage will tolerate ; if it be formed by composition, or newly invented, where regard is to be paid to the judgment of the ear and to custom; or if it be used metaphorically; pecu- 1 Synecdoche. a This quotation and the following are from the Annals of Ennius. C.41 382 DB ORATOKE; OR, [am, liarities which eminently distinguish and brighten language, as with so many stars. " The composition of words follows next, which principally requires attention to two things; first, collocation, and, next, a certain modulation and form. To collocation it belongs to compose and arrange the words in such a way that their junction may not be rough or gaping, but compact, as it were, and smooth ; in reference to which qualities of style, the poet Lucilius, who could do so most elegantly, has expressed him- self wittily and sportively in the character of my father- in-law i 1 How elegantly are his words arranged ! All like square stones inserted skilfully In pavements, with vermiculated emblems ! And after saying this in ridicule of Albucius, he does not refrain from touching on me : I've Crassus for a son-in-law, nor think Yourself more of an orator. What then 1 this Crassus, of whose name you, Lucilius, make such free use, what does he attempt? The very same thing indeed as ScsBvola wished, and as I would wish, but with some- what better effect than Albucius. But Lucilius spoke jestingly with regard to me, according to his custom. However, such an arrangement of words is to be observed, as that of which I was speaking ; such a one as may give a compactness and coherence to the language, and a smooth and equal flow ; this you will attain if you join the extremities of the antecedent words to the commencements of those that follow in such a manner that there be no rough clashing in the consonants, nor wide hiatus in the vowels. XLIV. " Next to diligent attention to this particular, follows modulation and harmonious structure of the words; a point, I fear, that may seem puerile to our friend Catulus here. The ancients, however, imagined in prose a harmony almost like that of poetry ; that is, they thought that we ought to adopt a sort of numbers; for they wished that there should be short phrases in speeches, to allow us to recover, and not loss our breath ; and that they should be distinguished, not by the marks of transcribers, but according to the modulation 1 Mucius Scaevola. He accused Albucius of extorticn. C. XLV.J ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 383 of the words and sentences; 1 and this practice Isocrates is said to have been the first to introduce, that he might (as his scholar Naucrates writes) 'confine the rude manner of epeaking among those of antiquity within certain numbers, to give pleasure and captivate the ear.' For musicians, who were also the poets of former ages, contrived these two things as the ministers of pleasure, verse, and song; that they might banish satiety from the sense of hearing by gratifica- tion, arising from the numbers of language and the modulation, of notes. These two things, therefore, (I mean the musical management of the voice, and the harmonious structure of words,) should be transferred, they thought, as far as the strictness of prose will admit, from poetry to oratory. On this head it is remarkable, that if a verse is formed by the composition of words in prose, it is a fault ; and yet we wish such composition to have a harmonious cadence, roundness, and finish, like verse; nor is there any single quality, out of many, that more distinguishes a true orator from an un- skilful and ignorant speaker, than that he who is unpractised pours forth all he can without discrimination, and measures out the periods of his speech, not with art, but by the power of his breath; but the orator clothes his thoughts in such a manner as to comprise them in a flow of numbers, at once confined to measure, yet free from restraint ; for, after restrict- ing it to proper modulation and structure, he gives it an ease and freedom by a variety in the flow, so that the words are neither bound by strict laws, as those of verse, nor yet have such a degree of liberty as to wander without control. XLV. " In what manner, then, shall we pursue so important an object, so as to entertain hopes of being able to acquire this talent of speaking in harmonious numbers 1 It is not a matter of so much difficulty as it is of necessity; for there is nothing so pliant, nothing so flexible, nothing which will so easily follow whithersoever you incline to lead it, as lan- guage; out of which verses are composed; out of which all the variety of poetical numbers; out of which also prose oi various modulation and of many different kinds ; for there ia not one set of words for common discourse, and another for oratorical debate ; nor are they taken from one class for daily eonversation, and from another for the stage and for display] 1 Ellendt aptly refers to Cic. Orat. c. 68 ; Aristotle, Rhet. iii. 8. 6. 384 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. Ill but, when we have made our selection from those that lie Before us, we form and fashion them at our pleasure like tha softest wax. According, therefore, as we ourselves are grave, or subtle, or hold a middle course between both, so the form of our language follows the nature of our thoughts, and is changed and varied to suit every method by which we delight the ear or move the passions of mankind. But as in most things, so in language, Nature herself has wonderfully con- trived, that what carries in it the greatest utility, should have at the same time either the most dignity, or, as it often happens, the most beauty. We perceive the very system of the universe and of nature to be constituted with a view to the safety and preservation of the whole ; so that the firmament should be round, and the earth in the middle, and that it should be held in its place by its own nature and tendency; 1 that the sun should go round, that it should approach to the winter sign, 2 and thence gradually ascend to the opposite region; that the moon, by her advance and retreat, should receive the light of the sun ; and that the five planets should perform the same revolutions by different motions and courses. This order of things has such force, that, if there were the least alteration in it, they could not possibly subsist together; and such beauty, that no fairer appearance of nature could even be imagined. Turn your thoughts now to the shape and figure of man, or even that of other animals ; you will find no part of the body fashioned without some necessary use, and the whole frame perfected as it were by art, not by chance. XLVI. How is it with regard to trees, of which neither the trunk, nor the boughs, nor even the leaves, are formed otherwise than to maintain and preserve their own nature, yet in which there is no part that is not beautiful? Or let us turn from natural objects, and cast our eyes on those of art ; what is so necessary in a ship as the sides, the hold, 3 the prow, the stern, the yards, 1 Nutu. Compare Cic. De Nat. Deor. ii. 39. Ellendt thinks that by nut us is meant something similar to our centripetal force. 2 Brumal* signum. The tropic of Capricorn. De Nat. Deor. iii. 14. 3 Cavernce. Some editions have cannce, and Lambinus reads carina. If we retain cavernee, it is not easy to say exactly in what sense it should t>e taken. Servius, on Virgil, ^En. ii. 19, observes that the fustes cum 'VMvium. quibus extrinsecus fabulce affiguntur, were called cavernee ; but in this sense, as Ellandt observes, it is much the same with latera, C, XLVH.J ON THE CHARACTER OF THE OFATOR. 386 the sails, the masts? which yet have so much beauty in their appearance, that they seem to have been invented not for safety only, but also for the delight afforded by the spectacle. Pillars support temples and porticoes, and yet have not more of utility than of dignity. It was not regard to beauty, but necessity, that contrived the cupola of the Capitol, and other buildings ; for when a plan was contemplated by which the water might run off from each side of the roof, the dignity of the cupola was added to the utility of the temple; but in such a manner, that should the Capitol be built in heaven, where no rain can fall, it would appear to have no dignity without the cupola. It happens likewise in all parts of lan- guage, that a certain agreeableness and grace are attendant on utility, and, I may say, on necessity ; for the stoppage of the breath, and the confined play of the lungs, introduced periods and the pointing of words. This invention gives such gratification, that, if unlimited powers of breath were granted to a person, yet we could not wish him to speak without stopping ; for the invention of stops is pleasing to the ears ot mankind, and not only tolerable, but easy, to the lungs. XLVII. " The largest compass of a period, then, is that which can be rounded forth in one breath. This is the bound set by nature; art has other limits; for as there is a great variety of numbers, your favourite Aristotle, Catulus, inclines to banish from oratorical language the frequent Tise of the iambus and the trochee ; which, however, fall of them- selves naturally into our common discourse and conversation ; but the strokes of time 1 in those numbers are remarkable, and the feet short. He therefore principally invites us to the heroic measure, [of the dactyl, the anapaest, and the spondee;] 2 in which we may proceed with impunity two which precedes. Ellendt himself, therefore, inclines to take it in the sense of cavitas alvei, " hold " or " keel," which, as it is divided into parts, may, he thinks, be expressed in the plural number. 1 Percussiones. The ictus metrici ; so called, because the musician, in beating time, struck the ground with his foot. In a senarius he struck the ground three times, once for every two feet ; whence there were said to be in such a verse three ictus or percussione*. But on pro- nouncing those syllables, at which the musician struck the ground, the actor raised bis voice ; and hence percussio was in Greek &pais, and the raised or accented syllables were said to be iv fyxrei, the others being said to be in Bsffft. See Bentiey de Metr. Terentian iAiit. ~vesti. 3 Madvig and Ellendt justly regard the words ,u urncke*.s m spu O 386 DE ORATORE ; OR, [B. III. feet only, or a little more, lest we plainly fall into ver^e, or the resemblance cf verse ; Alia | sunt g^m\\nce qull&s These three heroic feet fall in gracefully enough with the be- ginnings of continuations of words. But the pseon is most of all approved by Aristotle; it is of two kinds; 1 for it either begins with a long syllable which three short syllables follow, as in these words, des&nite, inciplte, comprtm/de ; or with a suc- cession of three short syllables, the last being produced and made long, as in these words, dtimuerant, s8ntpedes; and it is agreeable to the notions of that philosopher to commence with the former peeon, and to conclude with the latter ; and this latter pseon is almost equal, not indeed in the number of the syllables, but by the measure of the ear, which is a more acute and certain method of judgment, to the cretic, which consists of a long, a short, and a long syllable ; as in this verse, Quid pZtdm prwsidl, aut exsequdr ? Quov2 nunc ? 2 With which kind of foot Fannius s began, Si, QuirUes, Minds illius. This Aristotle thinks better adapted to conclusions of periods, which he wishes to be terminated generally by a syllable that is long. XLVIII. " But these numbers in oratory do not require such sharp-sighted care and diligence as that which must be used by poets, whom necessity compels, as do the very numbers and measures, so to include the words in versi- fication, as that no part may be, even by the least breath, 4 shorter or longer than the metre absolutely demands. Prose has a more free scope, and is plainly, as it is called, soluta., unconfined, yet not so that it may fly off or wander without nous. I follow those critics also in reading Alice sunt getmnce quttna, though, as Ellendt observes, Alice ought very likely to be Arce. Alice, which is in most editions, made the passage utterly inexplicable, though Ernesti, Strebsous, and others did what they could to put some meaning into it. 1 The first and fourth only are meant. 2 C. 26 ; where Pearce observos that they are the words of Andro- raache in Ennius, according to Bentloy on Tusc. Disp. iii. 19. 3 Caius Fannius Strabo, who was consul A.U.C. 632. He left one speech f. gainst Caius Gracchus : Cic. Brut. c. 26. * iY tf/iritu Quidem mininio. C. XLIX.J ON THE CHARACTER OF THr ORATOR. 387 control, but may regulate itself witho> - ' being absolutely in fetters ; for I agree in this particular with Theoph:-astus, who thinks that style, at least such as is to a certain degree polished and well constructed, 1 ought to be numerous, yet not as in confinement, but at ease. For, as he suspects, from those feet of which the common hexameter verse is formed, grew forth afterwards the auapsestic, a longer kind of measure ; thence flowed the still more free and rich dithyramb, the members and feet of which, as the same writer observes, are diffused through all style, that is enriched with the distin- guishing ornaments of eloquence. And if that is numerous in all sounds and words, which gives certain strokes as it were, and which we can measure by equal intervals, this harmony of numbers, if it be free from sameness, will be justly con- sidered a merit in the oratorical style. Since if perpetual and ever-flowing loquacity, without any pauses, is to be thought rude and unpolished, what other reason is there why it should be disliked, except that Nature herself modu- lates the voice for the human ear? and this could not be the case unless numbers were inherent in the human voice. But in an uninterrupted continuation of sound there are no numbers; distinction, and strokes at equal or often varied intervals, constitute numbers; which we may remark in the falling of drops of water, because they are distin- guished by intervals, but which we cannot observe in the rolling stream of a river. But as this unrestrained com- position of words 2 is more eligible and harmonious, if it be distinguished into parts and members, than if it be carried on without intermission, those members ought to be mea- sured by a certain rule of proportion; for if those at the end are shorter, the compass as it were of the words is made irregular; the compass, 3 I say, for so the Greeks denominate these rounded divisions of style; the subsequent clauses in a sentence, therefore, ought to be equal to the antecedent, the last to the first ; or, which has a better and more pleasing effect, of a greater length. XLIX. " These precepts are given by tliose philosophers 1 Facta. That is, carefully laboured. See Brut. o. 8. Ellendt. 2 Continuatio verborum soluta. See above, near the beginning of thii chapter, oratio verd foluta. * A mbitut. The Greek word is vtptoSos. See Orat. c. 61. o o2 383 DE ORATOUE; OR, [B. in. *o whc m you, Catulus, have the greatest attacLment ; a re- mark which I the oftener make, that by referring to my authors, I may avoid the charge of impertinence." " Of what sort of impertinence 1 ?" said Catulus; "or what could be brought before us more elegant than this discussion of yotrs, or expressed more judiciously?" "But still I am afraid," said Crassus, " lest these matters should either appear to these youths 1 too difficult for study, or lest, as they are not given in the common rules of instruction, I should appear to have an inclination that they should seem of more importance and difficulty than they really are." Catulus replied, " You are mistaken, Crassus, if you imagine that either I or any of the company expected from you those ordinary or vulgar precepts ; what you say is what we wished to be said; and not so much indeed to be said, as to be said in the very manner in which you have said it; nor do I answer for myself only, but for all the rest, without the least hesitation." " And I," said Antonius, " have at length discovered such a one as, in the book which I wrote, I said that I had never found, a person of eloquence; but I never interrupted you, not even to pay you a compliment, for this reason, that no part of the short time allotted for your dis- course might be diminished by a single word of mine." " To this standard, then," proceeded Crassus, " is your style to be formed, as well by the practice of speaking, as by writing, which contributes a grace and refinement to other excellences, but to this in a more peculiar manner. Nor is this a matter of so much labour as it appears to be ; nor are our phrases to be governed by the rigid laws of the cul- tivators of numbers and music ; and the only object for our endeavours is, that our sentences may not be loose or ram- bling, that they neither stop within too narrow a compass, nor run out too far ; that they be distinguished into clauses, and have well-rounded periods. Nor are you to use per- petually this fulness and as it were roundness of language, but a sentence is often to be interrupted by minuter clauses, which very clauses are still to be modulated by numbers. Nor let the paeon or heroic foot give you any alarm ; they will naturally come into your phrases ; they will, I say, offer themselves, and will answer without being called; only let it 1 Gotta and Sulpicius. 0. L.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR, 339 be your care and practice, both in writing and speaking, that your sentences be concluded with verbs, and that the junction of those verbs with other words proceed with numbers that are long and free, especially the heroic feet, the first pseon, or the cretic; but let the cadence be varied and diversified; for it is in the conclusion that sameness is chiefly remarked. Anil if these measures are observed at the beginning and at the conclusion of sentences, the intermediate numbers may be disi-egarded ; only let the compass of your sentence not be shorter than the ear expects, nor longer than your strength and breath will allow. L. " But I think that the conclusions of periods ought to be studied more carefully than the former parts; because it is chiefly from these that the finish of style is judged; for in a verse, the commencement of it, the middle, and the ex- tremity are equally regarded ; and in whatever part it fails, it loses its force; but in a speech, few notice the beginnings, but almost all the closes, of the periods, which, as they are observable and best understood, should be varied, lest they be disapproved, either by the judgment of the understanding or by the satiety of the ear. For the two or three feet towards the conclusion are to be marked and noted, if the preceding members of the sentence were not extremely short and concise ; and these last feet ought either to be trochees, cr heroic feet, or those feet used alternately, or to consist of the latter paeon, of which Aristotle approves, or, what is equal to it, the cretic. An interchange of such feet will have these good effects, that the audience will not be tired by an offen- sive sameness, and that we shall not appear to make similar endings on purpose. But if the famous Antipater of Sidou, 1 whom you, Catulus, very well remember, used to pour forth extempore hexameter and other verses, in various numbers and measures, and if practice had so much power in a man of great ability and memory, that whenever he turned his 'thoughts and inclinations upon verse, the words followed of course, how much more easily shall we attain this facility in oratory, when application and exercise are used ! " Nor let any one wonder how the illiterate part of an audience observe these things when they listen to a speech; 1 Some of whose apigrana are to be seen in the fireek Anthology He flourished about 100 B.C. 390 DE OUATORE ; OR, B. IU aince, in all other things, as well as in this, the force of nature ia great and extraordinary ; for all men, by a kind of tacit sense, without any art or reasoning, can form a judgment of what ia right and wrong in art and reasoning; and as they do this with regard to pictures, statues, and other works, for under- standing which they have less assistance from nature, so they display this faculty much more in criticising words, numbers, and sounds of language, because these powers are inherent in our common senses, nor has nature intended that any person should be utterly destitute of judgment in these particulars. All people are accordingly moved, not only by words artfully arranged, but also by numbers and the sounds of the voice. How few are those that understand the science of numbers and measures ! yet if in these the smallest offence be given by an actor, so that any sound is made too short by contraction, or too long by extension, whole theatres burst into exclamations. Does not the same thing also happen with regard to musical notes, that not only whole sets and bands of musicians are turned out by the multitude and the populace for varying one from another, but even single performers for playing out of tune ? LI. " It is wonderful, when there is a wide interval of dis- tinction betwixt the learned and illiterate in acting, how little difference there ia in judging; 1 for art, being derived from nature, appears to have effected nothing at all if it does not move and delight nature. And there is nothing which so naturally affects our minds as numbers and the harmony of sounds, by which we are excited, and inflamed, and soothed, and thrown into a state of languor, and often moved to cheer- fulness or sorrow ; the most exquisite power of which is best suited to poetry and music, and was not, as it seems to me, undervalued by our most learned monarch Numa and our ancestors, (as the stringed and wind instruments at the sacred banquets and the verses of the Salii sufficiently indicate,) but was most cultivated in ancient Greece; [concerning which subjects, and similar ones, I could wish that you had chosen to discourse, rather than about these puerile verbal meta- phors !] - But as the common people notice where there is 1 See Cic. Brut. c. 49. The words in brackets are condemned is spurious by all the recent editors. C. LII,] ON THE CHARACTER OP THE ORATOR. 391 anything faulty in a verse, so they are sensible of any lame- ness in our language; but they grant the poet no pardon; to us they show some indulgence; but all tacitly discern that what we have uttered has not its peculiar propriety and finish. The speakers of old, therefore, as we see some do at the present day, when they were unable to complete a circuit and, as it were, roundness of period, (for that is what we have recently begun, indeed, either to effect or attempt,) spoke in clauses consisting of three, or two words, or sometimes uttered only a dingle word at a time ; and yet in that infancy of our tongue they understood the natural gratification which the human ears required, and even studied that what they spoke should be expressed in correspondent phrases, and that they should take breath at equal intervals. LII. " I have now shown, as far as I could, what I deemed most conducive to the embellishment of language; for I have spoken of the merits of single words ; I have spoken of them in composition; I have spoken of the harmony of numbers and structure. But if you wish me to speak also of the form and, as it were, complexion of eloquence, there is one sort which has a fulness, but is free from tumour; one which is plain, but not without nerve and vigour; and one which, par- ticipating of both these kinds, is commended for a certain middle quality. In each of these three forms there ought to be a peculiar complexion of beauty, not produced by the daubing of paint, but diffused throughout the system by the blood. Then, finally, 1 this orator of ours is so to be finished as to his style and thoughts in general, that, as those who study fencing and polite exercises, not only think it necessary to acquire a skill in parrying and striking, but also grace and shgance of motion, so he may use such words as are suited to elegant and graceful composition, and such thoughts as contribute to the impressiveness of language. Words and thoughts are formed in almost innumerable ways; as is, I am sure, well known to you ; but betwixt the formation of words and that of thoughts there is this difference, that that of the 1 Turn denique. Ellendb incloses turn in brackets, and thinks that much of the language of the rest of the chapter is confused and in- correct. The words ut ii, qui in armor um tractatione versantur, which occur a little below, and which are generally condemned, are no* ir.msiated. 3D-' DE ORATORE; OB, [B. HI. words is destroy .sd if you cliange them, that of the thoughts remains, whatever words you think proper to nse. But I think that you ought to be reminded (although, indeed, you net agreeably to what I say) that you should not imagine there is anything else to be done by the orator, at least any- thing else to produce a striking and admirable effect, than to observe these three rules with regard to single words; to use frequently metaphorical ones, sometimes new ones, and rarely very old ones. " But with regard to continuous composition, when we have acquired that smoothness of junction and harmony of numbers which I have explained, our whole style of oratory is to be distinguished and frequently interspersed with bril- liant lights, as it were, of thoughts and of words. LI II. For the dwelling on a single circumstance has often a considerable effect; and a clear illustration and exhibition of matters to the eye of the audience, almost as if they were transacted before them. This has wonderful influence in giving a re- presentation of any affair, both to illustrate what is repre- sented, and to amplify it, so that the point which we amplify may appear to the audience to be reaDy as great as the powers of our language can represent it. Opposed to this is rapid transition over a thing, which may often be practised. There is also signification that more is to be understood than you have expressed; distinct and concise brevity ; and extenuation, and, what borders upon this, ridicule, not very different from that which was the object of Caesar's instructions ; and di- gression from the subject, and when gratification has thus beeu afforded, the return to the subject ought to be happy and elegant ; proposition of what you are about to say, transi- tion from what has been said, and retrogression ; there ia repetition; apt conclusion of reasoning; exaggeration, or sur- passing of the truth, for the sake of amplification or diminu- tion; interrogation, and, akin to this, as it were, consultation or seeming inquiry, followed by the delivery of your owu opinion; and dissimulation, the humour of saying one thing and signifying another, which steals into the minds of men in a peculiar manner, and which is extremely pleasing when it ia well managed, not in a vehement strain of language, but if. a conversational style; also doubt; and distribution; and correction of yourself, either before or after you have said C. LIV.J ON" THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 395 a thing, or when you repel anything from your self; there is also premunition, with regard to what you are going to prove; there h the transference of Wave to another person; there is communication, or consultation as it were, with the audience before whom you are speaking ; imitation of manners and character, either with names of persons or without, which is a great ornament to a speech, and adapted to conciliate the feelings even in the utmost degree, and often also to rouse them ; the introduction of fictitious characters, the most height- ened figure of exaggeration; there is description; falling into a wilful mistake; excitement of the audience to cheerfulness; anticipation; comparison and example, two figures which have a very great effect; division; interruption; contention; 1 suppression; commendation; a certain freedom and even un- controlledness of language, for the purpose of exaggeration; inger; reproach; promise; deprecation; beseeching; slight devia- tion from your intended course, but not like digression, which I mentioned before ; expurgation; conciliation; attack; wishing; execration. Such are the figures with which thoughts give lustre to a speech. LIV. " Of words themselves, as of arms, there is a sort of threatening and attack for use, and also a managemeut for grace. For the reiteration of words has sometimes a peculiar force, and sometimes elegance; as well as the variation or deflexion of a word from its common signification ; and the frequent repetition of the same word in the beginning, and recurrence to it at the end, of a period; forcible emphasis on the same words; conjunction;^ adjunction;' 6 progression , A a sort of distinction as to some word often used ; the recal of a word ; the use of words, also, which end similarly, or have similar cadences, or which balance one another, or which correspond 1 Contentio. This is doubtless some species of comparison ; there is no allusion to it in the Orator. See ad Herenn. iv. 45. Ellendt. 2 Concursio. The writer ad Herenn. iv. 14, calls this figure traductio ; the Greeks ffvpirXoKT]. Ellendt. 3 Adjunctio. It appears to be that which Quintilian (ix. 3) calls ffwe^fuy/j.tvoi', where several words are connected with the same verb. Ellendt. * What proyrcssio is, no critic has been able to inform us, nor is there any notice of it in any other writer on rhetoric. I see no mode of explaining the passage, unless we take adjwnctio md prognssio together, and suppose them to signify that the speech proceeds with several words hi conj zmction. Elkndt. 394 DE ORATORE ; OR, |B. Ill to one another. There is also a certain gradation, a conver- sion, 1 an elegant exaggeration of the sense of words; there ia antithesis, asyndeton, declination" reprehension, 3 exclamation, diminution; the use of the same word in different cases ; the referring of what is derived from many particulars to each particular singly ; reasoning subservient to jour proposition, and reasoning su'ted tc the order of distribution; concession; and agein another kind of doubt;* the introduction of some- thing unexpected; enumsration; another correction; 5 division; continuation; interruption; imagery; answering your own ques- tions; immutation; 6 disjunction; order; relation; digression;" and circumscription. These are the figures, and others like these, or there may even be more, which adorn language by peculiarities in thought or structure of style." LV. "These remarks, Crassus," said Gotta, "I perceive that you have poured forth to us without any definitions or examples, because you imagined us acquainted with them." " I did not, indeed," said Crassus, " suppose that any of the things which I previously mentioned were new to you, but acted merely in obedience to the inclinations of the whole company. But in these particulars the sun yonder admo- nished me to use brevity, which, hastening to set, compelled me also to throw out these observations almost too hastily. But explanations, and even rules on this head, are common, though the application of them is most important, and tho most difficult of anything in the whole study of eloquence. 1 An antithetic position of words, as esse ut vivas, non vivere ut edas. Ellendt. 2 Declinatio. Called airi/uera/SoA.}? by Quintilian, ix. 3. 85. 3 Reprehensio. 'A.optff/jAs or Siopr/t<5j. Jul. Rufin. p. 207. Compare QuintiL ix. 2. 18 ; Ern. p. 332. Ellendt. 4 How this kind of doubt differs from that which is mentioned in the preceding chapter, among the figures of thought, it is not easy to say. Ellendt. 5 Correctio verbi. Different from that which is mentioned above, in tho middle of c. 53. Ellendt. 6 Called dXXotuxris by Quintilian, ix. 3. 92. Ellendt. 7 Digression has been twice mentioned before. Strebseus supposes it to be similar to /jterd^affis or airoo-rpo^rj. I have no doubt that the word ought to be ejected. Circumscription Quintilian himself could not understand, and has excluded it from his catalogue of figures (ix. 3. 91). Ellendt. Most of the figures enumerated in this chapter are illustrated by the writer ad Herennium, b. iv., and by Quintilian, b. ix. C. LYI.] ON THE CHARACTER OI THE ORATCR. 395 " Since, then, all the points which relate to all the orna- mental parts of oratory are, if not illustrated, at least pointed out, let us now consider what is meant by propriety, that is, what is most becoming, in oratory. It is, however, clear that no single kind of style can be adapted to every cause, or every audience, or every person, or every occasion. For capital causes require one style of speaking, private and inferior causes another; deliberations require one kind of oratory, panegyric another, judicial proceedings another, common con- versation another, consolation another, reproof another, dis- putation another, historical narrative another. It is of conse- quence also to consider who form the audience, whether the senate, or the people, or the judges; whether it is a large or a small assembly, or a single person, and of what character; it ought to be taken into account, too, who the speakers them- selves are, of what age, rank, and authority; and the time also, whether it be one of peace or war, of hurry or leisure. On this head, therefore, no direction seems possible to be given but this, that we adopt a character of style, fuller, plainer, or middling, 1 suited to the subject on which we are to speak ; the same ornaments we may use almost constantly, but sometimes in a higher, sometimes in a lower strain; and it is the part of art and nature to be able to do what is becoming on every occasion ; to know what is becoming, and when, is an affair of judgment. LVI. " But all these parts of oratory succeed according as they are delivered. Delivery, I say, has the sole and supreme power in oratory; without it, a speaker of the highest mental capacity can be held in no esteem; while one of moderate abilities, with this qualification, may surpass even those of the highest talent. To this Demosthenes is said to have assigned the first place, when he was asked what was the chief requisite in eloquence; to this the second, and to this the third. For this reason, I am wont the more to admire what was said by ^Eschiues, who, when he had retired from Athens, on account of the disgrace of having lost his cause, and betaken himself to Rhodes, is reported to have read, at the entreaty of the Rhodians, that excellent oration which he had spoken against Ctesiphon, in opposition to Demosthenes ; and when he had concluded jt, he was asked to read, next day 1 Compare c. 52 init. 396 DE ORATORE ; 2R, [n. Ill that also which h?.d been published by Demosthenes on the other side in favour of Ctesiphou ; and when he had read this too in a most pleasing and powerful tone of voice, and all expressed their admiration, How much more would you have admired it, said he, if you had heard him deliver it himself ! By this remark, he sufficiently indicated how much depends on delivery, as he thought the same speech would appear different if the speaker were changed. What was it in Grac- chus, whom you, Catulus, remember better, that was so highly extolled when I was a boy 1 Whither shall I, unhappy wretch, betake myself? Whither shall I turn ? To the Capitol ? ut that is drenched with the blood of my brother I Or to my home, that I may see my distressed and afflicted mother in all the agony of lamentation ? These words, it was allowed, were uttered by him with such delivery, as to countenance, voice, and gesture, that his very enemies could not restrain their tears. I dwell the longer on these particulars, because the orators, who are the deliverers of truth itself, have neglected this whole department, and the players, who are only the imitators of truth, have taken possession of it. LVII. " In everything, without doubt, truth has the ad- vantage over imitation ; and if truth were efficient enough in delivery of itself, we should certainly have no need for the aid of art. But as that emotion of mind, which ought to be chiefly expressed or imitated in delivery, is often so confused as to be obscured and almost overwhelmed, the peculiarities which throw that veil over it are to be set aside, and such as are eminent and conspicuous to be selected. For every emo- tion of the mind has from nature its own peculiar look, tone, and gesture; and the whole frame of a man, and his whole countenance, and the variations of his voice, sound 1 like strings in a musical instrument, just as they are moved by the affec- tions of the mind. For the tones of the voice, like musical chords, are so wound up as to be responsive to every touch, sharp, flat, quick, slow, loud, gentle ; and yet, among all these, each in its kind has its own middle tone. From these tones, too, are derived many other sorts, as the rough, the smooth, the contracted, the broad, the protracted, and interrupted; 1 Sonant. As this word does not properly apply to vultiis, the coun- tenance, Schutz would make some alteration in the text. But Miillei fcnd 7'hers observe that such a zeugma is not uncommon. C. LVIII.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 397 the broken and divided, the attenuated and inflated, with varieties of modulation; for there is none of these, or those that resemble them, which may not be influenced by art and management; and they are presented to the orator, as colours to the painter, to produce variety. LVIII. " Anger, for instance, assumes a particular tone of voice, acute, vehement, and with frequent breaks : My impious brother drives me on, ah wretched ! To tear my children with my teeth ! ' and in those lines which you, Antonius, cited awhile ago : 2 Have you, then, dared to separate him from you ? and, Does any one perceive this ? Bind him and almost the whole tragedy of Atreus. But lamentation and bewailing assumes another tone, flexible, full, interrupted, in a voice of sorrow : as, Whither shall I now turn myself ? what road Shall I attempt to tread ? Home to my father, Or go to Peliaa' daughters ? 3 and this, father, my country, House of Priam ! and that which follows, All these did I behold enwrapt in flames, And life from Priam torn by violence. 4 Fear has another tone, desponding, hesitating, abject: In many ways am I encompass'd round ! By sickness, exile, want. And terror drives All judgment from my breast, deprived of sense ! One threats my life with torture and destruction, And no man has so firm a soul, such boldness, But that his blood shrinks backward, and his look Grows pale with timid fear. 5 Violence has another tone, strained, vehement, impetuous, with a kind of forci'ule excitement : 1 From the Atreu of Accius, whence also the next quotation but one is taken. See Tusc. Qutcst. iv. 36. " See ii. 46. 3 From the Medea of Ennius. 4 From the Andromache of Eimlus 6ee Tusc. Quaest. i. 35 ; iii. 19 1 From the Alcmieon of Enniua. 398 DE ORATORE; OR IB. in Again Thyestes comes to drag on Atreus : Again attacks me, and disturbs my quiet : Some greater storm, some greater ill by me Must be excited, that I may confound And crush his cruel heart. 1 Pleasure another, unconstrained, mild, tendir, cheeiful, languid : But when she brought for me the crown design' d To celebrate the nuptials, 'twas to thee She offer'd it, pretending that she gave it To grace another ; then on thee she placed it Sportive, and graceful, and with delicacy. 2 Trouble has another tone ; a sort of gravity without lamenta- tion ; oppressed, as it were, with one heavy uniform sound : 'Twas at the time when Paris wedded Helen In lawless nuptials, and when I was pregnant, My months being nearly ended for delivery, Then, at that very time, did Hecuba Bring forth her latest offspring, Polydore. LIX. " On all those emotions a proper gesture ought to attend; not the gesture of the stage, expressive of mere words, but one showing the whole force and meaning of a passage, not by gesticulation, but by emphatic delivery, by a strong and manly exertion of the lungs, not imitated from the theatre and the players, but rather from the camp and the palaestra. The action of the hand should not be too affected, 3 but following the words rather than, as it were, expressing them by mimicry ; the arm should be considerably extended, as one of the weapons of oratory; the stamping of the foot should be used only in the most vehement efforts, at their commencement or conclusion. But all depends on the countenance ; and even in that the eyes bear sovereign sway; and therefore the oldest of our countrymen showed the more judgment in not applauding even Roscius himself to any great degree when he performed in a mask ; for all the powers of action proceed from the mind, and the countenance is the image of the mind, and the eyes are its interpreters. This, indeed, is the only part of the body that can effectually ' Prom the Atreus of Accius. See Tusc. Quaest, iii. 36; De Nat Deor. iii. 20. 2 Whence this and the next quotation are taken is unknown. Aryula. Argutice digitomm. Orat. c. 18. Manus inter agendwm iiiodum et geetuosce. Aul. Gell. i 5. U. LX.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 399 display as infinite a number of significations and changes, as there is of emotions in the soul ; nor can any speaker pro- duce the same effect with his eyes shut, 1 as with them open. Theophrastus indeed has told us, that a certain Tauriscua used to say, that a player who pronounced his part gazing on any particular object was like one who turned his back on the audience. 2 Great care in managing the eyes is there- fore necessary; for the appearance of the features is not to be too much varied, lest we fall into some absurdity or dis- tortion. It is the eyes, by whose intense or languid gaze, as well as by their quick glances and gaiety, we indicate the workings of our mind with a peculiar aptitude to the tenor of our discourse ; for action is, as it were, the speech of the body, and ought therefore the more to accord with that of the soul. And Nature has given eyes to us, to declare our internal emotions, as she has bestowed a mane, tail, and ears on the horse and the lion. For these reasons, in our oratorical action, the countenance is next in power to the voice, and is influenced by the motion of the eyes. But in everything appertaining to action there is a certain force bestowed by Nature herself; and it is by action accordingly that the illiterate, the vulgar, and even barbarians themselves, are principally moved. For words move none but those who are associated in a participation of the same language; and sensible thoughts often escape the understandings of senseless men; but action, which by its own powers displays the movements of the soul, affects all mankind ; for the minds of all men are excited by the same emotions, which they recognise in others, and indicate in themselves, by the same tokens. LX. " To effectiveness and excellence in delivery the voice doubtless contributes most; the voice, I say, which, in its full strength, must be the chief object of our wishes ; and next, whatever strength of voice we have, to cherish it. On this point, how we are to assist the voice has nothing to do with precepts of this kind, though, for my part, I think that we should assist it to the utmost. But it seems not un- 1 I follow Ellendt in reading connivens, instead of contuens, the com- mon reading, which Orellius retains. 2 Aversum. " Qui stet averaua a theatro. et spectatoribua teigunj cbvertat." Schutz. Of Tauriscua nothing is known. 400 , DE ORATORE ; OR, [u. Ill suitable to the pin-port of my present remarks, to observe, aa I observed a little while ago, ' that in most things what ia most useful is, I know not how, the most becoming;' for nothing is more useful for securing power of voice, than the frequent variation of it; nothing more pernicious than an immoderate straining of it without intermission. And what is more adapted to delight the ear, and produce agreeableness of delivery, than change, variety, and alteration of tone? Caius Gracchus, accordingly, (as you may hear, Catulus, from your client Licinius, a man of letters, whom Gracchus formerly had for his amanuensis,) used to have a skilful person with an ivory pitch-pipe, to stand concealed behind him when he made a speech, and who was in an instant to sound such a note as might either excite him from too languid a tone, or recal him from one too elevated." " I have heard this before," said Catulus, " and have often admired the diligence of that great man, as well as his learning and knowledge." " And I, too," said Crassus ; " and am grieved that men of such talents should fall into such miscarriages with regard to the commonwealth ; although the same web is still being woven; 1 and such a state of manners is advancing in the country, and held out to pos- terity, that we now desire to have citizens such as our fathers would not tolerate." " Forbear, Crassus, I entreat you," in- terposed Caesar, " from this sort of conversation, and go back to Gracchus's pitch-pipe, of which I do not yet clearly under- stand the object." LXI. " There is in every voice," continued Crassus, " a certain middle key ; but in each particular voice that key is peculiar. For the voice to ascend gradually from this key is advantageous and pleasing; since to bawl at the beginning of a speech is boorish, and gradation is salutary in strength- ening the voice. There is also a certain extreme in the highest pitch, (which, however, is lower than the shrillest cry,) to which the pipe will not allow you to ascend, but will recal you from too strained an effort of voice. There is also, on the other hand, an extreme in the lowest notes, to which, aa oeing of a full sound, we by degrees descend. This variety and this gradual progression of the voice throughout all the notes, will preserve its powers, and add agreeableness to deli 1 AH to the state of the republic at that time, e& I 7 EUttidt, C. I. XI.] ON THE CHARACTER OF THE ORATOR. 401 very. But you -will leave the piper at home, and carry with you into the forum merely the intention of the custom. " I have said what I could, though not as I wished, but as the shortness of the time obliged me; for it is wise to lay the blame upon the time, when you cannot add more even if you desired." " But," said Catulus, " you have, as far as I can judge, brought together everything upon the subject, and that in so excellent a manner, that you seem not to have received instructions in the art from the Greeks, but to be able to instruct the Greeks themselves. I rejoice that I have been present at your conversation; and could wish that my son-in-law, your friend Hortensius, 1 had also been present; who, I trust, will excel in all those good qualities of which you have treated in this dissertation." " Will excel!" exclaimed Crassus; "I consider that he already excels. I had that opinion of him when he pleaded, in my consulship, the cause of Africa 2 in the senate ; and I found myself still more con- firmed in it lately, when he spoke for the king of Bithynia. You judge rightly, therefore, Catulus; for I am convinced that nothing is wanting to that young man, on the part either of nature or of learning. You, therefore, Cotta, and you, Sulpicius, must exert the greater vigilance and industry ; for he is no ordinary orator, who is springing up to rival those of your age ; but one of a penetrating genius, and an ardent attachment to study, of eminent learning, and of singular powers of memory; but, though he is a favourite of mine, I only wish him to excel those of his own standing; for to desire that he, who is so much younger, 3 should outstrip you, is hardly fair. But let us now arise, and refresh our- selves, and at length relieve our minds and attention from this fatiguing discussion." 1 The orator afterwards so famous. 2 He pleaded this cause, observes Ellendt, at the age of nineteen; but the nature of it, as well as that of the king of Bithynia, is un- known. 3 He was ten years younger than Gotta and Sulpicius. Brut. c. 88 EUendt. BRUT US; OR, REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. ARGUMENT. fiiis treatise was the fruit of Cicero's retirement, during the remains of the civil war in Africa, and was composed in the form of u dialogue. It contains a few short, but very masterly sketches of all the speakers who had flourished either in Greece or Rome, with any reputation of eloquence, down to his own time ; and as he generally touches the principal incidents of their lives, it will be considered, by an attentive reader, as a concealed epitome of the Roman history. The conference is supposed to have been held with Atticus, and their common friend Brutus, in Cicero's garden at Rome, under the statue of Plato, whom he always admired, and usually imitated in his Dialogues. 1. WHEN I had left Cilicia, and arrived at Rhodes, word was brought me of the death of Hortensius. I was more affected with it than, I believe, was generally expected; for, by the loss of my friend, I saw myself for ever deprived of the ileaGure of his acquaintance, and of our mutual intercourse A good offices. I likewise reflected, with concern, that the dignity of our college must suffer greatly by the decease of such an eminent augur. This reminded me that he was the person who first introduced me to the college, where he attested my qualification upon oath, and that it was he also who installed me as a member; so that I was bound by the constitution of the order to respect and honour him as a parent. My affliction was increased, that, in such a deplorable dearth of wise and virtuous citizens, this excellent man, my faithful associate in the service of the public, expired at the very time when the commonwealth could least spare him, and when we had the greatest reason to regret the want of his prudence and authority. I can add, very sincerely, that in him I lamented the loss, not (as most people imagined) of a dangerous rival who opposed my reputation, but of a generous associate who engaged with me in the pursuit of fame. For if we have instances in history, though in studies of less BRUTUS ; OR, REMARKS ON EMIJfHHT ORATORS. 403 importance, that some distinguished poets have been greatly alllictcd at the death of their contemporary bards, with what tender concern should I honour the memory of a man with whom it is more glorious to have disputed the prize of eloquence, than never to have combated as an antagonist, especially as he was always so far from obstructing my endea- vours, or I his, that, on the contrary, we mutually assisted each other with our credit and advice ! But as he, who had a perpetual run of felicity, 1 left the world at a happy moment for himself, though a most unfortunate one for his fellow- citizens, and died when it would have been much easier for him to lament the miseries of his country than to assist it, after living in it as long as he could have lived with honour and reputation, we may, indeed, deplore his death as a heavy loss to MS who survive him. If, however, we consider it merely as a personal event, we ought rather to congra- tulate his fate than to pity it ; that, as often as we revive the memory of this illustrious and truly happy man, we may appear at least to have as much affection for him as for our- selves. For if we only lament that we are no longer permitted to enjoy him, it must, indeed, be acknowledged that this is a heavy misfortune to us; which it however becomes us to support with moderation, lest our sorrow should be suspected to arise from motives of interest, and not from friendship. But if we afflict ourselves, on the supposition that he was the sufferer, we misconstrue an event, which to him was certainly a very happy one. II. If Hortensius were now living, he would probably regret many other advantages in common with his worthy fellow- citizens. But when he beheld the forum, the great theatre in which he used to exercise his genius, no longer accessible to that accomplished eloquence which could charm the ears of a Roman or a Grecian audience, he must have felt a pang cf which none, or at least but few, besides himself could be susceptible. Even / indulge heartfelt anguish, when I behold my country no longer supported by the talents, the wisdom, and the authority of law, the only weapons which I have 1 Quoniam perpetud quddam felicitate usus ille, cessit & vitd, suo may it fjiiam xuorum civium tempore. This fine sentiment, conveyed in such elegant language, carries an allusion to the conversation of Solon with Crossus, in which the former maintained the seeming paradox, that lie alone can be deemed happy who meets a happy death. See Herod. Clio, 32. B D 2 404: SKUTUS ; OR, jsained tc wield, and to which I have long been accustomed, and which are most suitable to the character of an illustrious citizen, and of a virtuous and well-regulated state. But if there ever was a time when the authority and eloquence of an honest individual could have wrested their arms from the hands of his distracted fellow-citizens, it was then when the proposal of a compromise of our mutual differences was rejected, by the hasty imprudence of some and the timorous mistrust of others. Thus it happened, among other mis- fortunes of a more deplorable nature, that when my declining age, after a life spent in the service of the public, should have reposed in the peaceful harbour, not of an indolent and total inactivity, but of a moderate and honourable retirement, and when my eloquence was properly mellowed and had acquired its full maturity; thus it happened, I say, that recourse was then had to those fatal arms, which the persona who had learned the use of them in honourable conquest could no longer employ to any salutary purpose. Those, therefore, appear to me to have enjoyed a fortunate and happy life, (of whatever state they were members, but especially in ours,) who, together with their authority and reputation, either for their military or political services, are allowed to enjoy the advantages of philosophy; and the sole remembrance of them, in our present melancholy situation, was a pleasing relief to me, when we lately happened to mention them in the course of conversation. III. For, not long ago, when I was walking for my amuse- ment in a private avenue at home, I was agreeably interrupted by my friend Brutus and Titus Pomponius, who came, as indeed they frequently did, to visit me, two worthy citizens, who were united to each other in the closest friendship, and were so dear and so agreeable to me, that on the first sight of them, all my anxiety for the commonwealth subsided. After the usual salutations, "Well, gentlemen," said I, "how go the times'? What news have you brought?" " None," replied Brutus, " that you would wish to hear, or that I can venture to tell you for truth." " No," said Atticus ; " we are come with an intention that all matters of state should be dropped, and rather to hear something from you, than to say anything which might serve to distress you." " Indeed," said I, " your company is a present remedy for my sorrow ; and youi letters, when absent, were so encouraging, that they first revived REMARKS OX EMINENT ORATORS. 4G5 my attention to my studies." " I remember," replied Atticus, " that Brutus sent you a letter from Asia, which I read with infinite pleasure ; for he advised you in it like a man of sense, and gave you every consolation which the warmest friendship could suggest." " True," said I ; " for it was the receipt of that letter which recovered me from a growing indisposition, to behold once more the cheerful face of day; and as the Eornan state, after the dreadful defeat near Cannae, first raised its drooping head by the victory of Marcellus at Nola, which was succeeded by many other victories, so, after the dismal wreck of our affairs, both public and private, nothing occurred to me, before the letter of my friend Brutus, which I thought to be worth my attention, or which contributed, in any degree, to ease the anxiety of my heart." " That was certainly my intention," answered Brutus ; " and if I had the happiness to succeed, I was sufficiently rewarded for my trouble. But I could wish to be informed what you received from Atticus, which gave you such uncommon pleasure." " That," said I, " which not only entertained me, but I hope has restored me entirely to myself." " Indeed ! " replied he ; " and what mi- raculous composition could that be 1" " Nothing," answered I, " could have been a more acceptable or a more seasonable present than that excellent treatise of his, which roused me from a state of languor and despondency." " You mean," said he, " his short and, I think, very accurate abridgement of universal history." " The very same," said I ; " for that little treatise has absolutely saved me." IV. " I am heartily glad of it," said Atticus; "but what could you discover in it which was either new to you or so won- derfully beneficial as you pretend ?" " It certainly furnished many hints," said I, " which were entirely new to me ; and the exact order of time which you observed through the whole, gave me the opportunity I had long wished for, of beholding the history of all nations in one regular and com- prehensive view. The attentive perusal of it proved an excel- lent remedy for my sorrows, and led me to think of attempt- ing something oa your own plan, partly to amuse myself, and partly to returu your favour by a grateful, though not an equal, acknowledgment. We are commanded, it is true, in that precept of Hesiod, so much admired by the learned, to return with the same measure we have received, or, if possible, with a larger. As to a friendly inclination, I shall certainly 40G BRUTUS j OS, return you a full proportion of it; but as to a recompense in kind, I confess it to be out of my power, and therefore hope you will excuse me; for I have not, as husbandmen are accustomed to have, gathered a fresh harvest out of which to repay the kindness 1 1 have received; my whole harvest having sickened and died, for want of the usual manure; and as little am I able to present you with anything from those hidden stores which are now consigned to perpetual darkness, and to which I am denied all access, though formerly I was almost the only person who was able to command them at pleasure. I must, therefore, try my skill in a long-neglected and uncultivated soil; which I will endeavour to improve with so much care/that I may be able to repay your liberality with interest; provided my genius should be so happy as to resemble a fertile field, which, after being suffered to lie fallow a considerable time, produces a heavier crop than usual." " Very well," replied Atticus, " I shall expect the fulfilment of your promise ; but I shall not insist upon it till it suits your convenience, though, after all, I shall certainly be better pleased if you discharge the obligation." " And I also," said Brutus, " shall expect that you perform your promise to my friend Atticus ; nay, though I am only his voluntary solicitor, I shall, perhaps, be very pressing for the discharge of a debt which the creditor himself is willing to submit to your own choice." V. " But I shall refuse to pay you," said I, "unless the original creditor takes no further part in the suit." " This is more than I can promise," replied he ; " for I can easily fore- see that this easy man, who disclaims all severity, will urge his demand upon you, not indeed to distress you, but yet with earnestness and importunity." " To speak ingenuously," said Atticus, " my friend Brutus, I believe, is not much mis- taken ; for as I now find you in good spirits for the first time, after a tedious interval of despondency, I shall soon make bold to apply to you ; and as this gentleman has promised his assistance to recover what you owe me, the least I can do is to solicit, in my turn, for what is due to him." " Explain your meaning," said I. " I mean," replied he, " that you must write something to amuse us; for your pen has been 1 Non enim ex novis, ut agricolce solcnt, fructibus eat, wn.de tibi redden/, quod accepi. The allusion is to a farmer, who, in time of necessity, borrows corn cr fruit of his more opulent neighbour, which he repay? La kind as soon as his harvest is gathered home. Cicero was not, h saya, in a situation to make a similar return. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATOHS. 40? totally silent this long time; and since your treatise on politics, we have had nothing from you of any kind, though it was the perusal of that which fired me with the ambition to write an abridgement of universal history. But we shall, however, leave you to answer this demand when and in what manner you shall think most convenient. At present, if you are not otherwise engaged, you must give us your sentiments on a subject on which we both desire to be better informed." "And what is that?" said I. " A work which you had just begun," replied he, " when I saw you last at Tusculanum, the History of Eminent Orators, when they made their ap- pearance, and who and what they were ; which furnished such an agreeable train of conversation, that when I related the substance of it to your, or I ought rather to have said our common, friend Brutus, he expressed an ardent desire to hear the whole of it from your own mouth. Knowing you, there- fore, to be at leisure, we have taken the present opportunity to wait upon you ; so that, if it is really convenient, you will oblige us both by resuming the subject." " Well, gentlemen," said I, " as you are so pressing, I will endeavour to satisfy you in the best manner I am able." " You are able enough," replied he ; " only unbend, or rather, if possible, set at full liberty your mind." " If I remember right," said I, " Atticus. what gave rise to the conversation was my observing that the cause of Deiotarus, a most excellent sovereign and a faithful ally, was pleaded by our friend Brutus, in my hearing, with the greatest elegance and dignity." VI. " True," replied he ; " and you took occasion, from the ill-success of Brutus, to lament the loss of a fair administration of justice in the forum." " I did so," answered I, " as indeed I frequently do; and whenever I see you, my Brutus, I am concerned to think whore your wonderful genius, your finished erudition, and unpavalleled industry will find a theatre to display themselves. For after you had thoroughly improved your abilities, by pleading a variety of important causes, and when my declining vigour was just giving way and lowering the ensigns of dignity to your more active talents, the liberty of the state received a fatal overthrow, and that eloquence, of which we are now to give the history, was condemned to per- petual silence." " Our other misfortunes," replied Brutus, " I lament sincerely, and I think I ought to lament them; but at to eloquence, I am not so fond of the influence and the glory 4U8 BRUTT/SJ on, it bestows, as of the study and the practice of it, which nothing can deprive me of, while you are so well disposed to assist me; for no man can be an eloquent speaker who hits not a clear and teady conception. Whoever, therefore, applies himself to the study of eloquence, is at the same time im- proving his judgment, which is a talent equally necessary in all military operations." " Your remark," said I, " is very just; and I have a higher opinion of the merit of eloquence, because, though there is scarcely any person so diffident as not to persuade himself that he either has or may acquire every other accomplishment which formerly could have given him consequence in the state, I can find no person who has been made an orator by the success of his military prowess. But that we may carry on the conversation with greater ease, let us seat ourselves." As my visitors had no objection to this, we accordingly took our seats in a private lawn, near a statue of Plato. Then resuming the conversation, " To recommend the study of'eloqueuce," said I, " and describe its force, and the great dignity it confers upon those who have acquired it, is neither our present design, nor has any neces- sary connexion with it. But I will not hesitate to affirm, that whether it is acquired by art or practice, or the mere powers of nature, it is the most difficult of all attainments ; for each of the five branches of which it is said to consist, is of itself a very important art ; from whence it may easily be conjectured how great and arduous must be the profession which unites and comprehends them all. VII. '' Greece alone is a sufficient witness of this ; for though she was fired with a wonderful love of eloquence, and has long since excelled every other nation in the practice of it, yet she had all the rest of the arts much earlier; and had not only invented, but even completed them, a considerable time before she was mistress of the full powers of elocution. But when I direct my eyes to Greece, your beloved Athens, my Atticus, first strikes my sight, and is the brightest object in my view; for in that illustrious city the orator first made his appearance, and it is there we shall find the earliest records of eloquence, and the first specimens of a discoivrse conducted by rules of art. But even in Athens there is not a single production now extant which discovers any taste for ornament, or seems to have been the effort of a real orator, before the time ot Pericles ^whose name is prefixed to some orations which stiU REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 409 remain) and his contemporary Thucydides ; who flourished, not in the infancy of the state, but when it had arrived at its full maturity of power. It is, however, supposed, that Pisistratus, (who lived many years before,) together with Solon, who was something older, and Clisthenes, who survived them both, were very able speakers for the age they lived in. But some years after these, as may be collected from the Attio annals, came Themistocles, who is said to have been as much distinguished by his eloquence as by his political abili- ties ; and after him the celebrated Pericles, who, though adorned with every kind of excellence, was most admired for his talents as a speaker. Cleon also, their contem- porary, though a turbulent citizen, was allowed to be a tolerable orator These were immediately succeeded by Alcibiades, Critias, and Theramenes ; the character of their eloquence may be easily inferred from the writings of Thucy- dides, who lived at the same time ; their discourses were nervous and stately, full of sententious remarks, and so exces- sively concise as to be sometimes obscure. VIII. " But as soon as the force of a regular and well- adjusted style was understood, a crowd of rhetoricians immedi- ately appeared, such as Gorgias the Leontine, Thrasymachus the Chalcedonian, Protagoras the Abderite, and Hippias the Elean, who were all held in great esteem, rwith many others of the same age, who professed (it must be owned rather too arrogantly) to teach their scholars how the worse might be made, by the force of eloquence, to appear the better cause. But these were openly opposed by Socrates, who, by a subtle method of arguing peculiar to himself, took every opportunity to refute the principles of their art. His instructive confer- ences produced a number of intelligent men, and Philosophy is said to have derived her birth from him ; not the doctrine of Physics, which was of an earlier date, but that Philosophy which treats of men and manners, and of the nature of good and evil. But as this is foreign to our present subject, W3 must defer the philosophers to another opportunity, and return to the orators, from whom I have ventured to make a short digression. When the professors, therefore, above- mentioned, were in the decline of life, Isocrates made his appearance, whose house stood open to .11 Greece as the tchool of eloquence. He was an accomplished orator, and an excellent teacher ; though he did not display his talents in the 410 BRUTUS ; OK, splendour of the forum, but cherished ai.d improved within the walls of an obscure academy, that glory which, in my opinion, no orator has since acquired. He composed many valuable specimens of his art, and taught the principles of it to others ; and not only excelled his predecessors in every part of it, but first discovered that a certainr hythm and modu- lation should be observed in prose, care being taken, however, to avoid making verses. Before Mm, the artificial structure and harmony of language was unknown ; or, if there are any traces of it to be discovered, they appear to have been made without design ; which, perhaps, will be thought a beauty; but whatever it may be deemed, it was, in the present case, the effect rather of native genius, or of accident, than of art and observation. For Nature herself teaches us to close our sentences within certain limits ; and when they are thus con- fined to a moderate flow of expi-ession, they will frequently have an harmonious cadence ; for the ear alone can decide what is full and complete, and what is deficient; and the course of our language will necessarily be regulated by our breath, in which it is excessively disagreeable, not only to fail, but even to labour. IX. " After Isocrates came Lysias, who, though not personally engaged in forensic causes, was a very accurate and elegant composer, and such a one as you might almost venture to pronounce a complete orator; for Demosthenes is the man who approaches the character so nearly, that you may apply it to him without hesitation. No keen, no artful turns could have been contrived for the pleadings he has left behind him, which he did not readily discover; nothing could have been expressed with greater nicety, or more clearly and poignantly, than it has been already expressed by him; and nothing greater, nothing more rapid and forcible, nothing adorned with a nobler elevation, either of language or sentiment, can be conceived, than what is to be found in his orations. He was soon rivalled by his contemporaries Hyperides, JEschines, Lycurgus, Dinarchus, and Demades, (none of whose writings are extant,) with many others that might be mentioned ; for this age was adorned with a profusion of good orators ; and to the end of this period appears to me to have flourished that vigorous and blooming eloquence, which is distinguished by a natural beauty of composition, without disguise or affec- tation. When these orators were in the decline of life, they REMARKS < EMINENT OKATORS. 411 were succeeded by Phalereus, then in the prime of youth. Ha indeed surpassed them all in learning, but was fitter tc appear on the parade, than in the field ; and, accordingly, he rather pleased and entertained the Athenians, than inflamed their passions ; and marched forth into the dust and heat of the forum, not from a weather-beaten tent, but from the shady recesses of Theophrastus, a man of consummate erudition. He was the first who relaxed the force of Eloquence, and gave her a soft and tender air ; and he rather chose to be agree- able, as indeed he was, than great and striking ; but agreeable in such a manner as rather chai-med, than warmed the mind of the hearer. His greatest ambition was to impress his audience with a high opinion of his elegance, and not, as Eupolis relates of Pericles, to animate as well as to please. X. " You see, then, in the very city in which Eloquence was born and nurtured, how late it was before she grew to maturity ; for before the time of Solon and Pisistratus, we meet with no one who is so much as mentioned as an able speaker. These, indeed, if we compute by the Roman date, may be reckoned very ancient : but if by that of the Athe- nians, we shall find them to be moderns. For though they flourished in the reign of Servius Tullius, Athens had then subsisted much longer than Rome has at present. I have not, nowever, the least doubt that the power of eloquence has been always more or less conspicuous. For Homer, we may suppose, would not have ascribed such superior talents of elocution to Ulysses and Nestor, (one of whom he celebrates for his force, and the other for his sweetness,) unless the art of speaking had then been held in some esteem ; nor could the poet himself have attained a style so finished, nor exhibited such fine specimens of oratory, as we actually find in him. The time, indeed, in which he lived is undetermined ; but we are certain that he flourished many years before Romulus, and as early at least as the elder 1 Lycurgus, the legislator of the Spartans. But a more particular attention to the art, and a greater ability in the practice of it, may be observed iu Pisis- tratus. He was succeeded in the following century by The- mistocles, who, according to the Roman date, was a person of the remotest antiquity ; but according to that of the Athe- nians, he was almost a modern. For he lived when Greece 1 Sv.pcriurem. So called, as Oreliiuu observes, to distinguish him from Lycurgus the Athenian orator, mentioned in the preceding chapter. 412 BRUTUS; OR, was in the height of her power, and when the city of Home had but lately been emancipated from the shackles of regal tyranny; for the dangerous war with the Volsci, who were headed by Coriolanus (then a voluntary exile), happened nearly at the same time as the Persian war; and we may add, that the fate of both commanders was remarkably similar. Each of them, after distinguishing himself as an excellent citizen, being driven from his country by the insults of an ungrateful people, went over to the enemy; and each of them repressed the efforts of his resentment by a voluntary death. For though you, my Atticus, have represented the death of Corio- lanus in a different manner, you must pardon me if I do not subscribe to the justness of your representation." XI. " You may use your pleasure," replied Atticus, with a smile; " for it is the privilege of rhetoricians to exceed the truth of history, that they may have an opportunity of em- bellishing the fate of their heroes : and accordingly, Clitarchus and Stratocles have entertained us with the same pretty fiction about the death of Themistocles, which you have in- vented for Coriolanus. Thucydides, indeed, who was himself an Athenian of the highest rank and merit, and lived nearly at the same time, has only informed us that he died, and was privately buried in Attica, adding, that it was suspected by some that he had poisoned himself. But these ingenious writers have assured us, that, having slain a bull at the altar, he caught the blood in a large bowl, and, drinking it off, fell suddenly dead upon the ground. For this species of death had a tragical air, and might be described with all the pomp of rhetoric ; whereas the ordinary way of dying afforded no opportunity for ornament. As it will, therefoi'e, suit your purpose, that Coriolanus should resemble Themistocles in everything. I give you leave to introduce the fatal bowl ; and you may still farther heighten the catastrophe by a solemn sacrifice, that Coriolanus may appear in all respects to have been a second Themistocles." "I am much obliged to you," said I, "for your courtesy ; but, for the future, I shall be more cautious in meddling with history when you are present ; whom I may justly commend as a most exact and scrupulous relator of the Roman history; but nearly at the time we are speaking of (though somewhat later) lived the above-men- tioned Pericles, the illustrious son of Xantippus, who first improved his eloq ;ence by the friendly aids of literature ; KEMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 413 not that kind of literature which treats professedly of the art of speaking, of which there was then no regular system ; but after he had studied under Anaxagoras, the naturalist, he directed with alacrity his attention from abstruse and intricate speculations to forensic and popular debates. All Athens was charmed with the sveetuess of his language, and not only admired him for his fluency, but was awed by the superior force and terrors of his eloquence. XII. " This age, therefore, which may be considered as the infancy of the art, furnished Athens with an orator who almost reached the summit of his profession ; for an emulation to shine in the forum is not usually found among a people who are either employed in settling the form of their govern- ment, or engaged in war, or struggling with difficulties, or subjected to the arbitrary power of kings. Eloquence is the attendant of peace, the companion of ease and prosperity, and the tender offspring of a free and well- established constitu- tion. Aristotle, therefore, informs us, that when the tyrants were expelled from Sicily, and private property, after a long interval of servitude, was secured by the administration of justice, the Sicilians, Corax and Tisias, (for this people, in general, were very quick and acute, and had a natural turn for disquisition,) first attempted to write precepts on the art of speaking. Before them, he says, no one spoke by prescribed method, conformably to rules of art, though many discoursed very sensibly, and generally from written notes ; but Prota- goras took the pains to compose a number of dissertations, on such leading and general topics as are now called commcn places. Gorgias, he adds, did the same, and wrote panegyrics and invectives on every subject ; for he thought it was the province of an orator to be able either to exaggerate, or extenuate, as occasion might require. Antiphon the Rham- nusian composed several essays of the same species ; and (according to Thucydides, a very respectable writer, who was present to hear him) pleaded a capital cause in his own defence, with as much eloquence as had ever yet been dis- played by any man. But Lysias was the first who openly professed the art ; and, after him, Theodorus, being better versed in the theory than the practice of it, began to compose orations for others to pronounce ; but confined to himself the art of composing them. In the same manner, Isocrates at first declined to teach the art, but wrote speeches for othef 414 BRUTUS: OB, people to deliver ; on which account, being often prosecuted tor assisting, contrary to law, to circumvent one or another of the parties in judgment, he left off composing orations foi other people, and wholly applied himself to prescribe rules, and reduce them into a system. XIII. " Thus, then, we have traced the birth and origin of the orators of Greece, who were, indeed, very ancient, as I have before observed, if we compute by the Roman annals ; but of a much later date, if we reckon by their own ; for the Athe- nian state had signalized itself by a variety of great exploits, both at home and abroad, a considerable time before she became enamoured of the charms of eloquence. But this noble art was not common to Greece in general, but almost peculiar to Athens. For who has ever heard of an Argive, a Corinthian, or a Theban orator, at the times we are speaking of ? unless, perhaps, some merit of the kind may be allowed to Epaminondas, who was a man of uncommon erudition. But I have never read of a Lacedemonian orator, from the earliest period of time to the present. For Menelaus himself, though said by Homer to have possessed a sweet elocution, is like- wise described as a man of few words. Brevity, indeed, upon some occasions, is a real excellence ; but it is very far from being compatible with the general character of eloquence. The art of speaking was likewise studied, and admired, beyond the limits of Greece; and the extraordinary honours which were paid to oratory have perpetuated the names of many foreigners who had the happiness to excel in it. For no sooner had eloquence ventured to sail from the Pireeeus, but die traversed all the isles, and visited every part of Asia ; till tt last, infected with their manners, she lost all the purity and the healthy complexion of the Attic style, and indeed almost forgot her native language. The Asiatic orators, therefore, though not to be undervalued for the rapidity and the copious variety of their elocution, were certainly too loose and luxu- riant. But the Rhodians were of a sounder constitution, and more resembled the Athenians. So much, then, for the Greeks; for, perhaps, what I have already said of them is more than was necessary." " Respecting the necessity of it," answered Brutus, " there is no occasion to speak; but what yoii have said of them has entertained me so agreeably, that instead of being longer, it has been much shorter than I could have wished." " A very handsome compliment," said I ; <: but REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 415 it is time to begin with our countrymen, of whom it is difficult to give any further account than what we are able to conjec- ture from our annals. XIV. " For who can question the address and the capacity of Brutus, the illustrious founder of your family ; that Brutus, who so readily discovered the meaning of the oracle, which promised the supremacy to him who should first salute his mother; 1 that Brutus, who, under the appearance of stupidity, concealed the most exalted understanding ; who dethroned and banished a powerful monarch, the son of an illustrious sovereign ; who settled the state, which he had rescued from arbitrary power, by the appointment of an annual magistracy, a regular system of laws, and a free and open course of justice ; and who abrogated the authority of his colleague, that he might banish from the city the smallest vestige of the regal name ? events which could never have been produced without exerting the powers of persuasion ! We are likewise informed that a few years after the expulsion of the kings, when the Plebeians retired to the banks of the Anio, about three miles from the city, and had possessed themselves of what is called the Sacred Mount, Marcus Vale- rius the dictator appeased their fury by a public harangue; for which he was afterwards rewarded with the highest posts of honour, and was the first Roman who was distinguished by the surname of Maximus. Nor can Lucius Valerius Potitua be supposed to have been destitute of the powers of utterance, who, after the odium which had been excited against the Patricians by the tyrannical government of the Decemviri, reconciled the people to the senate by his prudent laws and conciliatory speeches. We may likewise suppose, that Appiua Claudius was a man of some eloquence ; since he dissuaded the senate from consenting to a peace with king Pyrrhus, though they were much inclined to it. The same might be said of Caius Fabricius, who was despatched to Pyrrhus to treat for the ransom of his captive fellow-citizens ; and of Tiberius Coruncanius, who appears, by the memoirs of the pon- tifical college, to have been a person of the greatest genius ; 1 The words here alluded to occur in Livy : " Imperium summum llomse habebit, qui vestrum primus, juvenes, osculum matri tulerit." This at first was interpreted of Tarquin, who kissed his mother. But Brutus gave the words a different and more ingenious turn; he illus- trated their meaning by falling down and kissing the earth, the co'ui'!"U mother of all mankind. 416 BBUTU3 j OK, and likewise of Manius Curius (then a tribune of the people) who, when the Interrex Appius the Mind, an able speaker; held the Comitia contrary to law, refusing to admit any consul of plebeian rank, prevailed upon the senate to protest against the conduct of his antagonist ; which, if we consider that the Mseuian law was not then in being, was a very bold attempt. We may also conclude that Marcus Pompilius was a man of abilities, who, in the time of his consulship, when he was solemnizing a public sacrifice in the proper habit of his office, (for he was also a Flamen Carmeutalis,) hearing of the mutiny and insurrection of the people against the senate, rushed immediately into the midst of the assembly, covered as he was with his sacerdotal robes, and quelled the sedition by his authority and th.3 force of his elocution. I do not pretend to have historical evidence that the persons hers mentioned were then reckoned orators, or that any sort of reward or encouragement was given to eloquence ; I only infer what appears very probable. It is also recorded that Caius Flaminius, who, when tribune of the people, proposed the law for dividing the conquered territories of the Gauls and Piceni among the citizens, and who, after his promotion to the consulship, was slain near the lake Thrasimeuus, became very popular by historical talents. Quintus Maximus Verrucosus was likewise reckoned a good speaker by his contemporaries ; as was also Quintus Metellus, who, in the second Punic war. was joint-consul with Lucius Veturius Philo. XV. " But the first person we have any certain account of, who was publicly distinguished as an orator, and who really appears to have been such, was Marcus Cornelius Cethegus ; whose eloquence is attested by Quintus Ennius, a voucher of the highest credibility ; bince he actually heard him speak, and gave him this character after his death ; so that there is no reason to suspect that he was prompted by the warmth of his friendship to exceed the bounds of truth. In the ninth book of his Annals, he has mentioned him in the following terms : Additur orator Corneliu' suaviloquenti Or3 Cethegus Marcu', Tuditano collega, Marci filius. Add the orator Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, so much admired for his mellifluent tongue ; who was the colleague of Tuditanus, and the son of Marcus.' He expressly calls him an orator, you REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 417 see, and attributes to him a remarkable sweetness of elocution ; which, even in the present times, is an excellence of which few are possessed : for some of our modem orators are so iusuffer- aoly harsh, that they may be said rather to bark than to speak. But what the poet so much admires in his friend, may certainly be considered as one of the principal ornaments of eloquence He adds : is dictus, ollis popularibus olim, Qui turn vivebant homines, atque sevum agitabant, Floa delibatus populi. ' He was called by his contemporaries, the choicest flower of the state.' A very elegant compliment ! for as the glory of a man is the strength of his mental capacity, so the brightest orna- ment of genius is eloquence; in which, whoever had the happiness to excel, was beautifully styled, by the ancients, the flower of the state ; and, as the poet immediately subjoins, suadseque medulla : ' the very marrow and quintessence of persuasion.' That which the Greeks call 7rei#o> (i. e. persuasion), and which it is the chief business of an orator to effect, is here called suada by Ennius; and of this he commends Cethegus as the quint- essence; so that he makes the Roman orator to be himself the very substance of that amiable goddess, who is said by Eupolia to have dwelt on the lips of Pericles. This Cethegus was joint-consul with Publius Tuditanus in the second Punic war at which time also Marcus Cato was quaestor, about one hun- dred and forty years before I myself was promoted to the consulship ; which circumstance would have been absolutely lost, if it had not been recorded by Ennius ; and the memory of that illustrious citizen, as has probably been the case of many others, would have been buried in the ruins of anti- quity. The manner of speaking which was then in vogue, may easily be collected from the writings of Nsevius ; for Nsevius died, as we learn from the memoirs of the timee, when the persons above-mentioned were consuls ; though Varro, a most accurate investigator of historical truth, thinka there is a mistake in this, and fixes the death of Nseviua something later. For Plautus died in the consulship of Pub- liua Claudius and Lucius Porcius, twenty years after the consulship of the persons we have beer speaking cf, and when B E 4 1 8 BRUTUS : OR, Cato was censor. Cato, therefore, must have been younger than Cethegus, for he was consul nine years after him; but we always consider him as a person of the remotest antiquity, though he died in the consulship of Lucius Marcius anc 1 Manius Manilius, and but eighty-three years before my owi promotion to the same office. XVI. " He is certainly, however, the most ancient orator we have, whose writings may claim our attention; unless any one is pleased, on account of the above-mentioned speech re- specting the peace with Pyrrhus, or a series of panegyrics on the dead, which, I own, are still extant, to compliment Appius with that character. For it was customary, in most families of note, to preserve their images, their trophies of honour, and their memoirs, either to adorn a funeral when any of the family deceased, or to perpetuate the fame of their ancestors, or prove their own nobility. But the truth of history has been much corrupted by these encomiastic essays ; for many circumstances were recorded in them which never existed, such as false triumphs, a pretended succession of consulships, and false alliances and elevations, when men of inferior rank were confounded with a noble family of the same name ; as if I myself should pretend that I am descended from Manius Tullius, who was a Patrician, and shared the consulship with Servius Sulpicius, about ten years after the expulsion of the kings. But the real speeches of Cato are almost as numerous as those of Lysias the Athenian ; under whose name a great number are still extant. For Lysias was certainly an Athe- nian; because he not only died, but received his birth at Athens, and served all the offices of the city ; though Timseus, as if he acted by the Licinian or the Mucian law, orders his return to Syracuse. There is, however, a manifest resem- blance between his character and that of Cato ; for they are both of them distinguished by their acuteness, their elegance, their agreeable humour, and their brevity. But the Greek has the happiness to be most admired; for there are some who are so extravagantly fond of him, as to prefer a graceful air to a vigorous constitution, and who are perfectly satisfied with a slender and an easy shape, if it is only attended with a moderate share of health. It must, however, be acknow- ledged, that even Lysias often displays a vigour of mind, which no human power can excel; though his mental frame is certainly more delicately wrought than that of Cato. Not- KEMARKS OX EMINENT ORATORS. 419 withstanding, he has many admii-ers, who are charmed with him, merely on account of his delicacy. XVII. " But as to Cato, where will you find a modern orator who condescends to read him? nay, I might have said, who has the least knowledge of him 1 ? And yet, good gods ! what a wonderful man ! I say nothing of his merit as a citizen, a senator, and a general; we must confine our attention to the orator. Who, then, has displayed more dignity as a panegyrist 1 ? more severity as an accuser? greater acuteness of sentiments ? or greater address in re- lating and informing 1 Though he composed above a hun- dred and fifty orations, (which I have seen and read,) they are crowded with all the beauties of langxiage and sentiment. Let us select from these what deserves our notice and ap- plause ; they will supply us with all the graces of oratory. Not to omit his Antiquities, who will deny that these also are adorned with every flower, and with all the lustre of elo- quence ? and yet he has scarcely any admirers ; which some ages ago was the case of Philistus the Syracusan, and even of Thucydides himself. For as the lofty and elevated style of Theopompus soon diminished the reputation of their pithy and laconic harangues, which were sometimes scarcely intel- ligible from excessive brevity and quaintness ; and as De- mosthenes eclipsed the glory of Lysias ; so the pompous and stately elocution of the modems has obscured the lustre of Cato. But many of us are deficient in taste and discernment, for we admire the Greeks for their antiquity, and what is called their Attic neatness, and yet have never noticed the same quality in Cato. This was the distinguishing character, say they, of Lysias and Hyperides. I own it, and I admire them for it ; but why not allow a share of it to Cato ? They are fond, they tell us, of the Attic style of eloquence ; and their choice is certainly judicious, provided they not only copy the dry bones, but imbibe the animal spirits of those models. What they recommend, however, is, to do it justice, an agreeable quality. But why must Lysias and Hyperides be so fondly admired, while Cato is entirely overlooked? His language indeed has an antiquated air, and some of his expressions are rather too harsh and inelegant. But let us remember that this was the language of the time ; only ciiange and modernise it, which it was not in his power to do ; add the improvements of number and cadence, give an s s 2 420 BRUTUS; OB, easier turn to his sentences, and regulate the structure and connexion of his words, (which was as little practised even by the older Greeks as by him,) and you will find no one who can claim the preference to Cato. The Greeks themselves acknow- ledge that the chief beauty of composition results from thg frequent use of those tralatitious forms of expression which they call tropes, and of those various attitudes of language and sentiment which they call figures; but it is almost in- credible in what copiousness, and with what amazing variety, they are all employed by Cato. XVIII. " I know, indeed, that he is not sufficiently polished,, and that recourse must be had to a more perfect model for imitation ; for he is an author of such antiquity, that he is the oldest now extant whose writings can be read with patience \ and the ancients, in general, acquired a much greater reputa- tion in every other art, than in that of speaking. But who that has seen the statues of the moderns, will not perceive in a moment that the figures of Cauachus are too stiff and formal to resemble life? Those of Calamis, though evidently harsh, are somewhat softer. Even the statues of Myron are not sufficiently alive ; and yet you would not hesitate to pro- nounce them beautiful. But those of Polycletes are much finer, and, in my mind, completely finished. The case is the same in painting ; for in the works of Zeuxis, Polygnotus,. Timanthes, and several other masters, who confined themselves to the use of four colours, we commend the air and the sym- metry of their figures ; but in Echion, Nicomachus, Proto- genes, and Apelles, everything is finished to perfection. This, I believe, will hold equally true in all the other arts ; for there is not one of them which was invented and carried to perfec- tion at the same time. I cannot doubt, for instance, that there were many poets before Homer ; we may infer it from those very songs which he himself informs us were sung at the feasts of the Phseacians, and of the profligate suitors of Penelope. Nay, to go no farther, what is become of the ancient poems of our own countrymen ? Such as the fauns and rustic bards composed, When none the rocks of poetry had cross'd, Nor wish'd to form his style by rules of art, Before this vent'rous man, &c. " Old Ennius here speaks of himself; nor does he carry hia boast beyond tho bounds of truth ; the case being really a* REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 421 n<2 describes it. For we had only an Odyssey in Latin, which i-esembled one of the rough and unfinished statues of Dsedalus ; and some dramatic pieces of Livius, which will scarcely bear a second reading. This Livius exhibited his first performance at Rome in the consulship of Marcus Tuditanus, and Caius Clodius the son of Cgecus, the year before Ennius was born, and, according to the account of my friend Atticus, (whom I choose to follow,) the five hundred and fourteenth from the building of the city. But historians are not agreed about the date of the year. Attius informs us that Livius was taken prisoner at Tarentum by Quintus Maximus in his fifth con- sulship, about thirty years after he is said by Atticus, and our ancient annals, to have introduced the drama. He adds, that, he exhibited his first dramatic piece about eleven years after, in the consulship of Caius Cornelius and Quintus Minucius, at the public games which Salinator had vowed to the Goddess of Youth for his victory over the Senones. But in this, Attius was so far mistaken, that Ennius, when the persons above-mentioned were consuls, wan forty years old ; so that if Livius was of the same age, as in this case he would have been, the first dramatic author we had must have been younger than Plautus and Nsevius, who had exhibited a great number of plays before the time he specifies. XIX. " If these remarks, my Brutus, appear unsuitable to the subject before us, you must throw the whole blame upon Atticus, who has inspired me with a strange curiosity to inquire into the age of illustrious men, and the respective times of their appearance." " On the contrary," said Brutus, " I am highly pleased that you have carried your attention so far; and I think your remarks well adapted to the curious task you have undertaken, the giving us a history of the dif- ferent classes of orators in their proper order." " You under- stand me rightly," said I; " and I heartily wish those venerable Odes were still extant, which Cato informs us, in his Anti- quities, used to be sung by eveiy guest in his turn at the homely feasts of our ancestors, many ages before, to comme- morate the feats of their heroes. But the Punic War of that antiquated poet, whom Ennius so proudly ranks among the fauns and rustic bards, affords me as exquisite a pleasure as 'the finest statue that was ever formed by Myron. Ennius, I allow, was a more finished writer; but if he had really undervalued the other, as he pretends to do, he would scarcely 422 BRUTUS; OR, have omitted such a bloody war as the first Fume, -when he attempted professedly to describe all the wars of the Pvepublic. Nay, he himself assigns the reason : Others (said he) that cruel war have sung. Very true, and they have sung it with great order and pre- cision, though not, indeed, in such elegant strains as yourself. This you ought to have acknowledged, as you must certainly be conscious that you have borrowed many ornaments from Nsevius ; or if you refuse to own it, I shall tell you plainly that you have pilfered them. " Contemporary with the Cato above-mentioned (though somewhat older) were Caius Flaminius, Caius Varro, Quintus Maximus, Quintus Metellus, Publius Lentulus, and Publius Crassus, who was joint consul with the elder Africanus. This Scipio, we are told, was not destitute of the powers of elocu- tion ; but his son, who adopted the younger Scipio (the son of Paulus ^Emilius), would have stood foremost in the list of orators, if he had possessed a firmer constitution. This is evident from a few speeches, and a Greek History of his, which are very agreeably written. XX. " In the same class we may place Sextus ^Elius, who was the best lawyer of his time, and a ready speaker. A little after these, flourished Caius Sulpicius Gallus, who was better acquainted with the Grecian literature than all the rest of the nobility, and to his reputation as a graceful orator, he added the highest accomplishments in every other respect ; for a more copious and splendid way of speaking began now to prevail. When this Sulpicius, in quality of praetor, was celebrating the public shows in honour of Apollo, died the poet Ennius, in the consulship of Quintus Marcius and Cneius Servilius, after exhibiting his tragedy of Thyestes. At the same time lived Tiberius Gracchus, the son of Publius, who was twice consul and censor ; a Greek oration of his to the Rhodians is still extant, and he bore the character of a worthy citizen and an eloquent speaker. We are likewise told that Publius Scipio Nasica, surnamed Corculum, 1 as favourite of the people, and who also had the honour to bo 1 His name was Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica. From Cornelius, as being a favourite of the people, he was called Corculum, the " little heart " of the people. In our language, with nearer affinity to his real uame, he might have been styled " kernel " of the people. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 423 twice chosen consul and censor, was esteemed aa able orator. To him we may add Lucius Lentulus, who was joint consul with Caius Figulus; Quintus Nobilior, the son of Marcus, who was inclined to the study of literature by his father's example, and presented Eniiius (who had served under his father in JStolia) with the freedom of the city, when he founded a colony in quality of triumvir ; and his colleague Titus Annius Luscus, who is said to have been tolerably elo- quent. We are likewise informed that Lucius Paulus, the father of Africanus, defended the charactor of an eminent citizen in a public speech ; and that Cato, who died in the eighty-third year of his age, was then living, and actually pleaded that very year against the defendant Servius Galba, in the open forum, with great energy and spirit ; he has left a copy of this oration behind him. XXI. " But when Cato was in the decline of life, a crowd of orators, all younger than himself, made their appearance at the same time ; for Aulus Albinus, who wrote a history in Greek, and shared the consulship with Lucius Lucullus, was greatly admired for his learning and elocution ; and nearly ranked with him were Servius Fulvius and Servius Fabius Pictor, the latter of whom was well acquainted with the laws of his country, the belles lettres, and the histoiy of antiquity. Quintus Fabius Labeo likewise excelled in the same accom- plishments. But Quintus Metellus, whose four sons attained the consular dignity, was admired for his eloquence beyond the rest; he undertook the defence of Lucius Cotta, when accused by Africanus, and composed many ether speeches, particularly that against Tiberius Gracchus, of which we have a full account in the annals of Caius Fannius. Lucius Cotta himself was likewise reckoned a skilful speaker; 1 but Caius Lselius and Publius Africauus were allowed by all to be more finished orators ; their orations are still extant, and may serve as specimens of their respective abilities. But Servius Galba, who somewhat preceded either of them in years, was indis- putably the best speaker of the age. He was the first among the Romans who displayed the proper and distinguishing talents of an orator ; such as, digressing from his subject *o 1 The original is velerator habitus. He was deemed " a veteran," i. e. he possessed all the skill of long-continued practice. Sextus Pom- peius interprets veteratores, " callidi dicti a multa rerum gejendaruin vetustate." 424 BRCTUS; OR, embellish and diversify it, soothing or alarming the passions, exhibiting every circumstance in the strongest light, im- ploring the compassion of his audience, and artfully en- larging on those topics, or general principles of prudence or morality, on which the stress of his argument depended : and yet, I know not how, though he is allowed to have been the greatest orator of his time, the orations he has left are more inanimate, and have more the air of antiquity, than those of Lselius, or Scipio, or even of Cato himself. Their beauties have so decayed with age, that scarcely anything remains of them but the bare skeleton. In the same manner, though both Lselius and Scipio are greatly extolled for their abilities, the preference was given to Lselius as a speaker; and yet his oration, in defence of the privileges of the Sacerdotal college, has no greater merit than any one that might be named of the numerous speeches of Scipio. Nothing, indeed, can be sweeter and milder than that of Lselius, nor could anything have been urged with greater dignity to support the honour of religion ; but, of the two, Lselius appears to me to be less polished, and to speak more of the mould of time than Scipio ; and, as different speakers have different tastes, he had, in my mind, too strong a relish for antiquity, and was too fond of using obsolete expressions. But such is the jea- lousy of mankind, that they will not allow the same person to be possessed of too many perfections. For, as in military prowess they thought it impossible that any man could vie with Scipio, though Lselius had not a little distinguished himself in the war with Viriathus ; so for learning, eloquence, and wisdom, though each was allowed to be above the reach of any other competitor, they adjudged the preference to Lselius. Nor was this the opinion of the public only, but it :>eeins to have been allowed by mutual consent between themselves ; for it was then a general custom, as candid in this respect as it was fair and just in every other, to give his due to each. XXII. "I accordingly remember that Publius Rutilius Rufus once told me at Smyrna, that when he was a young man, the two consuls Publius Scipio and Decimus Brutus, by order of the Senate, tried a capital cause of great consequence. For several persons of note having been murdered in the Silan Forest, and the domestics and some of the sons of a company of gentlemen who farmed the taxes of the pitch-manufactory, REMARKS ON EMIXEXT ORATORS. ' 425 being charged with the fact, the consuls were ordered to try the cause in person. Lselius, he said, spoke very sensibly and elegantly, as indeed he always did, on the side of the farmers of the customs. But the consuls, after hearing both sides, judging it necessary to refer the matter to a second trial, the same Leelius, a few days after, pleaded their cause again with more accuracy, and much better than at first. The affair, however, was once more put off for a further hearing. Upon this, when his clients attended Lselius to his own house, and, after thanking him for what he had already done, earn- estly begged him not to be disheartened by the fatigue he had suffered, he assured them he had exerted his utmost to defend their reputation ; but frankly added, that he thought their cause would be more effectually supported by Servius Galba, who possessed talents more powerful and penetrating than his own. They, accordingly, by the advice of Lselius, requested Galba to undertake it. To this he consented, but with the greatest modesty and reluctance, out of respect to the illustrious advocate he was going to succeed ; and as he had only the next day to prepare himself, he spent the whole of it in considering and digesting his cause. When the day of trial was come, Rutilius himself, at the request of the defendants, went early in the morning to Galba, to give him notice of it, and conduct him to the court in proper time. But till word was brought that the consuls were going to the bench, .he confined himself in his study, where he suffered no one to be admitted ; and continued very busy in dictating to his amanuenses, several of whom (as indeed he often used to do) he kept fully employed at the same time. While he was thus engaged, being informed that it was high time for him to appear in court, he left his house with that animation and glow of countenance, that you would have thought he had not only prepared his cause, but actually carried it. Rutilius added, as another circumstance worth noticing, that his scribes, who attended him to the bar, appeared excessively fatigued ; from whence he thought it probable that he was equally warm and vigorous in the composition, as in the de- livery of his speeches. But to conclude the story, Galba pleaded his cause before Laelius himself, and a very numerous and attentive audience, with such uncommon force and dig- nity, that every part of his oration received the applause of Aiis hearers ; and so powerfully did he move the feelings and 426 BRUTUS; OR, ensure the sympathy of the judges, that his clients were im mediately acquitted of the charge, to the satisfaction of the whole court. XXIII. "As, therefore, the two principal qualities required; in an orator, are perspicuity in stating the subject, and dig- nified ardour in moving the passions ; and as he who fires and inflames his audience, will always effect more than he who can barely inform and amuse them; we may conjecture from the above narrative, with which I was favoured by Rutilius, that Lselius was most admired for his elegance, and Galba for his pathetic force. But the energy peculiar to him was most remarkably exerted, when, having in his prsetorship put to- death some Lusitanians, contrary, it was believed, to his pre- vious and express engagement, Titus Libo, the tribune, exas- perated the people against him, and preferred a bill which was to operate against his conduct as a subsequent law. Marcus Cato, as I have before mentioned, though extremely old, spoke in support of the bill with great vehemence ; which speech he inserted in his book of Antiquities, a few days, or at most only a month or two, before his death. On this occa- sion, Galba not refusing to plead to the charge, and submitting his fate to the generosity of the people, recommended his children to their protection, with tears in his eyes; and par- ticularly his young ward, the son of Caius Gallus Sulpicius, his deceased friend, whose orphan state and piercing cries, which were the more regarded for the sake of his illustrious- father, excited their pity in a wonderful manner; and thus, as Cato informs us in his History, he escaped the flames which would otherwise have consumed him, by employing the children to move the compassion of the people. I likewise find (what may be easily judged from his orations still extant) that his prosecutor, Libo, was a man of some eloquence." As I con- cluded these remarks with a short pause, " What can be the reason," said Brutus, "if there was so much merit in the oratory of Galba, that there is no trace of it to be seen in his orations ? a circumstance which I have no opportunity to bo surprised at in others, who have left nothing behind them in writing." XXIV. " The reasons," said I, "why some have not written: anything, and others not so well as they spoke, are very- different. Some of our orators, as being indolent, and un- williug to add the fatigue of private to public business, d* REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 427 not practise composition ; for most of the orations we are now possessed of were written, not before they were spoken, but some time afterwards. Others did not choose the trouble of improving themselves, to which nothing more contributes- than frequent writing ; and as to perpetuating the fame of their eloquence, they thought it unnecessary ; supposing that their eminence in that respect was sufficiently established already, and that it would be rather diminished than in- creased by submitting any written specimen of it to the arbi- trary test of criticism. Some also were sensible that they spoke much better than they were able to write ; which is generally the case of those who have a great genius, but little learning, such as Servius Galba. When he spoke, he was perhaps so much animated by the force of his abilities, and the natural warmth and impetuosity of his temper, that his language was rapid, bold, and striking ; but afterwards, when he took up the pen in his leisure hours, and his passion had sunk into a calm, his elocution became dull and languid. This indeed can never happen to those whose only aim is to be neat and polished; because an orator may always be master of that discretion which will enable him both to speak and write in the same agreeable manner ; but no man can revive at pleasure the ardour of his passions ; and when that has once subsided, the fire and pathos of his language will be extinguished. This is the reason why the calm and easy spirit of Lselius seems still to breathe in his writings; whereas the vigour of Galba is entirely withered away. XXV. " We may also reckon in the number of middling, orators, the two brothers Lucius and Spurius Mummius, both whose orations are still in being; the style of Lucius ia plain and antiquated; but that of Spurius, though equally unembellished, is more close and compact ; for he was well versed in the doctrine of the Stoics. The orations of Spurius Alpinus, their contemporary, are very numerous; and we have several by Lucius and Caius Aurelius Oresta, who were esteemed indifferent speakers. Publius Popilius also was a worthy citizen, and had a moderate share of elocution; but his son Caius was really eloquent. To these we may add Caius Tuditanus, who was not only very polished and grace- ful in his manners and appearance, but had an elegant turn* of expression ; and of the same class was Marcus Octavius, a man of inflexible constancy in every just and laudable 428 BRUTUS; OR, measure ; and who, after being insulted and disgraced in the most public manner, defeated his rival Tiberius Gracchus by the mere dint of his perseverance. But Marcus JEmilius Lepidus, who "was surnamed Porcina, and flourished at the same time as Galba, though he was indeed something younger, was esteemed an orator of the first eminence ; and really appears, from his orations which are still extant, to have been a masterly writer. For he was the first speaker among the Romans who gave us a specimen of the easy gracefulness of the Greeks ; and who was distinguished by the measured flow of his language, and a style regularly polished and improved by art. His manner was carefully studied by Caius Carbo and Tiberius Gracchus, two accom- plished youths, who were nearly of an age : but we must defer their character as public speakers, till we have finished our account of their elders. For Quintus Pompeius, consider- ing the time in which he lived, was no contemptible orator, and actually raised himself to the highest honours of the state by his own personal merit, and without being recom- mended, as usual, by the quality of his ancestors. Lucius Cassius too derived his influence, which was very considerable, not indeed from the highest powers, yet from a tolerable share of eloquence ; for it is remarkable that he made himself popular, not as others did, by his complaisance and liberality, but by the gloomy rigour and severity of his manners. His law for collecting the votes of the people by way of ballot, was strongly opposed by the tribune Marcus Antius Briso, who was supported by Marcus Lepidus, one of the consuls : and it was afterwards objected to Africanus, that Briso dropped the opposition by his advice. At this time the two Csepios were very serviceable to a number of clients by their superior judgment and eloquence ; but still more so by their extensive interest and popularity. But the written speeches of Pompeius (though it must be owned they have rather an antiquated air) discover an amazing sagacity, and are very far from being dry and spiritless. XXVI. "To these we must add Publius Crassus, an orator of uncommon merit, who was qualified for the profession by the united efforts of art and nature, and enjoyed some other advantages which were almost peculiar to his family. For he had contracted an affinity with that accomplished speaker Servius Galba above-mentioned, by giviag his daughter ia KEMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 423 marriage to Galba's son ; and being likewise himself the son, of Mucius and the brother of Publius Scsevola, he had a fine opportunity at home (which he made the best use of) to gain. a thorough knowledge of the civil law. He was a man of unusual application, and was much beloved by his fellow- citizens; being constantly employed either in giving his advice, or pleading causes in the forum. Contemporary with the speakers I have mentioned were the two Caii Fannii, the sons of Caius and Marcus, one of whom, (the son of Caius,) who was joint consul with Domitius, has left us an ex- cellent speech against Gracchus, who proposed the admission of the Latin and Italian allies to the freedom of Rome." " Do- you really think, then," said Atticus, " that Fannius was the author of that oration ? For when we were young, there were different rpinions about it. Some asserted it was written by Caius Persius, a man of letters, and much extolled for his learning by Lucilius ; and others believed it the joint pro- duction of a number of noblemen, each of whom contributed his best to complete it." " This I remember," said I ; " but I could never persuade myself to coincide with either of them. Their suspicion, I believe, was entirely founded on the cha- racter of Fannius, who was only reckoned among the middling orators ; whereas the speech in question is esteemed the best which the time afforded. But, on the other hand, it is too much of a piece to have been the mingled composition, of many; for the flow of the periods, and the turn of the language, are perfectly similar, throughout the whole of it. And as to Persiiis, if he had composed it for Fannius to pro- nounce, Gracchus would certainly have taken some notice of it in his reply; because Fannius rallies Gracchus pretty severely, in one part of it, for employing Menelaus of Maratho, and several others, to compose his speeches. We may add,, that Fannius himself was no contemptible orator; for he pleaded a number of causes, and his tribuneship, which was. chiefly conducted under the management and direction of Publius Africanus, exhibited much oratory. But the other Caius Fannius (the son of Marcus and son-in-law of Cams- Lselius) was of a rougher cast, both in his temper and manner of speaking. By the advice of his father-in-law, (of whom, by the by, he was not remarkably fond, because he had not voted for his admission into the college of augurs, but gave the preference to his younger son-in-law, Quintus Scwvola j 430 BRUTUS ; OR, though Laelius politely excused himself, ly saying that the preference was not given to the youngest son, but to his wife the eldest daughter,) by his advice, I say, he attended the lectures of Pansetius. His abilities as a speaker may be easily inferred from his history, which is neither destitute of elegance, nor a perfect model of composition. As to hia brother Mucius, the augur, whenever he was called upon to defend himself, he always pleaded his own cause ; as, for in- stance, in the action which was brought against him for bribery by Titus Albucius. But he was never ranked among the orators; his chief merit being a critical knowledge of the civil law, and an uncommon accuracy of judgment. Lucius Cselius Antipater, likewise, (as you may see by his works,) was an elegant and a perspicuous writer for the time he lived in ; he was also an excellent lawyer, and taught the principles of jurisprudence to many others, particularly to Lucius Crassus. XXVII. " As to Caius Carbo and Tiberius Gracchus, I wish they had been as well inclined to maintain peace and .good order in the state, as they were qualified to support it by their eloquence ; their glory would then have never been excelled. But the latter, for his turbulent tribuneship, which he entered upon with a heart full of resentment against the great and good, on account of the odium he had brought upon ^himself by the treaty of Numantia, was slain by the hands of the republic ; and the other, being impeached of a seditious affectation of popularity, rescued himself from the severity of the judges by a voluntary death. That both of them were excellent speakers, is very plain from the general testimony of their contemporaries; for, as to their speeches now extant, though I allow them to be very skilful and judicious, they are certainly defective in elocution. Gracchus had the advantage of being carefully instructed by his mother Cornelia from his very childhood, and his mind was enriched with all the stores of Grecian literature ; for he vas constantly attended by the ablest masters from Greece, a: d particularly, in his youth, by Diophanes of Mitylene, who was the most eloquent Grecian o his age ; but though he was a man of uncommon genius, ho had but a short time to improve and display it. As to 'Carbo, his whole life was spent in trials, and forensic debates. He is said, by very sensible men who heard him, and among others by oxir friend Lucius Gellius, who lived in his family REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 431 m the time of his consulship, to have been a sonorous, a fluent, and a spirited speaker, and likewise, upon occasion, very pathetic, very engaging, and excessively humorous : Gellius used to add, that he applied himself very closely to his studies, and bestowed much of his time in writing and private declamation. He was, therefore, esteemed the best pleader of his time ; for no sooner had he begun to distin- guish himself in the forum, but the depravity of the age 'gave birth to a number of law-suits ; and it was first found neces- sary, in the time of his youth, to settle the form of public trials, which had never been done before. We accordingly find that Lucius Piso, then a tribune of the people, was the first who proposed a law against bribery ; which he did when Censorinus and Manilius were consuls. This Piso too was a professed pleader, who moved and opposed a great number of laws ; he left some orations behind him, which are now lost, and a book of annals very indifferently written. But in the public trials, in which Carbo was concerned, the assistance of an able advocate had become more necessary than ever, in consequence of the law for voting by ballots, which was pro- posed and carried by Lucius Cassius, in the consulship of Lepidus and Mancinus. XXVIII. " I have likewise been often assured by the poet Attius, (an intimate friend of his,) that your ancestor Decimus Brutus, the sou of Marcus, was no inelegant speaker; and that, for the time he lived in, he was well versed both in the Greek and Roman literature. He ascribed the same accom- plishments to Quintus Maximus, the grandson of Lucius Paulus ; and added that, a little prior to Maximus, the Scipio, by whose instigation (though only in a private capacity) Tiberius Gracchus was assassinated, was not only a man of great ardour in all other respects, but very warm and spirited in his manner of speaking. Publius Lentulus too, the father of the senate, had a sufficient share of eloquence for an honest and useful magistrate. About the same time Lucius Furius Philus was thought to speak our language as elegantly and more correctly than any other man ; Publius Scsevola to be very acute and judicious, and rather more fluent than Philus ; Manius Manilius to possess almost an equal share of judgment with the latter ; and Appius Claudius to be equally fluent, but more warm and pathetic. Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, &nd Caius Cato the nephew of Africanus, were likewise 1 ^lerable 432 BRUTUS; OR, orators ; some of the writings of Flaccus are still in being, in which, nothing, however, is to be seen but the mere scholar. Publius Decius was a professed rival of Flaccus ; he too was not destitute of eloquence ; but his style was too bold, as his temper was too violent. Marcus Drusus, the son of Claudius ; who, in his tribuneship, baffled 1 his colleague Gracchus (then raised to the same office a second time), was a nervous speaker, and a man of great popularity : and next to him was his brother Caius Drusus. Your kinsman also, my Brutus, (Marcus Pennus,) successfully opposed the tribune Gracchus, who was something younger than himself. For Gracchus was quaestor, and Pennus (the son of that Marcus, who was joint consul with Quintus ^Elius) was tribune, in the consul- ship of Marcus Lepidus and Lucius Orestes ; but after enjoy- ing the sedileship, and a prospect of succeeding to the highest honours, he was snatched off by an untimely death. As to Titus Flamininus, whom I myself have seen, I can learn nothing but that he spoke our language with great accuracy. XXIX. " To these we may join Caius Curio, Marcus Scaurus, Publius Rutilius, and Caius Gracchus. It will not be amiss to give a short account of Scaurus and Eutilius ; neither of whom, indeed, had the reputation of being a first- rate orator, though each of them pleaded a number of causes. But some deserving men, who were not remarkable for their genius, may be justly commended for their industry; not that the persons I am speaking of were really destitute of genius, but only of that particular kind of it which distm- guishes the orator. For it is cf little consequence to discover what is proper to be said, unless you are able to express it in a free and agreeable manner ; and even that will be insuffi- cient, if not recommended by the voice, the look, and the gesture. It is needless to add, that much depends upon art ; for though, even without this, it is possible, by the mere force of nature, to say many striking things ; yet, as they will after all be nothing more than so many lucky hits, we shall not be able to repeat them at our pleasure. The style of Scaurus,. who was a very sensible and an honest man, was remarkably 1 Baffled. In the original it runs, Caium Gfracchum collegam, iterum Tribunum, fecit : but this was undoubtedly a mistake of the tran- scriber, as being contrary not only to the truth of history, but to Cicero's own account of the matter in Jib. iv. De Finibus. Pighius therefore Las very properly recommended the vrortlfregit instead of fecit. REMARKS ON EMINENT CKATORS. 433 grave, and commanded the respect of the hearer ; so that, when he was speaking for his client, you would rather have thought he was giving evidence in his favour, than pleading his cause. This manner of speaking, however, though but indifferently adapted to the bar, was very much so to a calm debate in the senate, of which Scaurus was then esteemed the father ; for it not only bespoke his prudence, but, what was still a more important recommendation, his credibility. This advantage, which it is not easy to acquire by art, he derived entirely from nature ; though you know that even here we Lave some precepts to assist us. We have several of his orations still extant, and three books inscribed to Lucius Fufidius, containing the history of his own life, which, though a very useful work, is scarcely read by anybody. But the Institution of Cyrus, by Xenophon, is read by every one ; which, though an excellent performance of the kind, is much less adapted to our manners and form of government, and not superior in merit to the honest simplicity of Scaurus. XXX. " Fufidius himself was likewise a tolerable pleader ; but Rutilius was distinguished by his solemn and austere way of speaking; and both of them were naturally warm and spirited. Accordingly, after they had rivalled each other for the consulship, he who had lost his election, imme- diately sued his competitor for bribery; and Scaurus, the defendant, being honourably acquitted of the charge, re- turned the compliment to Rutilius, by commencing a similar prosecution against him. Rutilius was a man of great indus- try and application ; for which he -was the more respected, because, besides his pleadings, he undertook the office (which ivas a very troublesome one) of giving advice to all who applied to him, in matters of law. His orations are very dry, but his juridical remarks are excellent ; for he was a learned man, and well versed in the Greek literature, and was likewise an attentive and constant hearer of Paneetius, and a thorough proficient in the doctrine of the Stoics ; whose method of dis- coursing, though very close and artful, is too precise, and not at all adapted to engage the attention of common people. That self-confidence, therefore, which is so peculiar to the sect, was displayed by him with amazing firmness and resolu- tion ; for though he was perfectly innocent of the charge, a prosecution was commenced against him for bribery (a trial which, raised a violent commotion in the city), and yet F I- 434; BRUTUS; OR, though Lucius Crassus and Marcus Antonius, both of consu* lar dignity, were at that time in very high repute for their eloquence, he refused the assistance of either ; being deter- mined to plead his cause himself, which he accordingly did. Cams Cotta, indeed, who was his nephew, made a short speech in his vindication, which he spoke in the time style of an orator, though he was then but a youth. Quintus Mucius too said much in his defence, with his usual accuracy and elegance ; but not with that force and extension which the mode of trial and the importance of the cause demanded. Rutilius, therefore, was an orator of the Stoical, and Scaurus of the Antique cast ; but they are both entitled to our com- mendation ; because, in them, even this formal and unpromising species of elocution has appeared among us with some degree of merit, i For as in the theatre, so in the forum, I would not have our applause confined to those alone who act the busy and more important characters ; but reserve a share of it for the quiet and unambitious performer, who is distinguished by a simple truth of gesture, without any violence. XXXI. " As I have mentioned the Stoics, I must take some notice of Quintus JElius Tubero, the grandson of Lucius Paullus, who made his appearance at the time we ore speaking o He was never esteemed an orator, but was a man of the most rigid virtue, and strictly conformable to the doctrine he professed ; but, in truth, he had not sufficient ease and polish. In his Triumvirate, he declared, contrary to the opinion of Publius Africanus his uncle, that the augurs had 110 right of exemption from sitting in the courts of justice ; and as in his temper, so in his manner of speaking, he was harsh, unpolished, and austere ; on which account, he could never raise himself to the honourable posts which were enjoyed by his ancestors. But he was a brave and steady citizen, and a warm opposer of Gracchus, as appears from Gracchus's oration against him ; we have likewise some of Tubero's speeches against Gracchus. He was not indeed a shinmg orator : but he was a learned and very skilful disputant." " I find," said Brutus, " that the case is much the same among us, as with the Greeks ; and that the Stoics, in general, are very judicious at an argument, which they conduct by cer- tain rules of art, and are likewise very neat and exact in their language ; but if we take them from this, to speak in public,, they make a poor appearance. Cato, however, must be ex. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 435 cepted ; in whom, though as rigid a Stoic as ever existed, I eould not wish for a more consummate degree of eloquence. I can likewise discover a moderate share of it in Fannius, not so much in Rutilius ; but none at all in Tubero." " True," said I ; " and we may easily account for it ; their whole attention was so closely confined to the study of logic, that they never troubled themselves to acquire the free, dif- fusive, and variegated style which is so necessary for a public speaker. But your uncle, you doubtless know, was wise enough to borrow only that from the Stoics which they were able to furnish for his purpose (the art of reasoning) ; but for the art of speaking, he had recourse to the masters of rhetoric, and exercised himself in the manner they directed. If, how- ever, we must be indebted for everything to the philosophers, the Peripatetic discipline is, in my mind, much the most proper to form our language. For which reason, my Brutus, I the more approve your choice, in attaching yourself to a sect, (I mean the philosophers of the old Academy,) in whose system a just and accurate way of reasoning is enlivened by a perpetual sweetness and fluency of expression; but even the delicate and flowing style of the Peripatetics and Academics is not sufficient to complete an orator ; nor yet can he be complete without it. For as the language of the Stoics is too close and contracted to suit the ears of common people, so that of the latter is too diffusive and luxuriant for a spirited contest in the forum, or a pleading at the bar. Who had a richer style than Plato ? The philosophers tell us, that if Jupiter himself was to converse in Greek, he would speak like him. Who also was more nervous than Aristotle ? Who sweeter than Theophrastus ? We are told that even Demo- sthenes attended the lectures of Plato, and was fond of reading what he published ; which, indeed, is sufficiently evident from the turn and majesty of his language ; and he himself has expressly mentioned it in one of his letters. But the style of this excellent orator is, notwithstanding, much too violent for the academy ; as that of the philosophers is too mild and placid for the forum. XXXII. " I shall now, with your leave, proceed to the age and merits of the rest of the Roman orators." " Nothing," said Atticus " for I can safely answer for my friend Brutus would please us better." " Curio, then," said I, " was nearly 01 the age I have just mentioned; a celebrated speaker, whose FF2 43G BRUTUS; OR, genius may be easily ascertained from his orations. For, among several others, we have a noble speech of his for Ser- vius Fulvius, in a prosecution for incest. When we were children, it was esteemed the best then extant ; but now it is almost overlooked among the numerous performances of the same kind which have been lately published." " I am very sensible," replied Brutus, " to whom we are obliged for the numerous performances you speak of." " And I am equally sensible," said I, " who is the person you intend ; for I have at least done a service to my young countrymen, by intro- ducing a loftier and more embellished way of speaking than was used before ; and, perhaps, I have also done some harm, because after mine appeared, the speeches of our pre- decessors began to be neglected by most people ; though never by me, for I can assure you, I always prefer them to my own." " But you must reckon me," said Brutus, " among the most people; though I now see, from your recommenda- tion, that I have a great many books to read, of which before I had very little opinion." " But this celebrated oration," said I, " in the prosecution for incest, is in some places exces- sively puerile ; and what is said in it of the passion of love, the inefficacy of questioning by tortures, and the danger of trusting to common hearsay, is indeed pretty enough, but would be insufferable to the chastened ears of the moderns, and to a people who are justly distinguished for the solidity of their knowledge. He likewise wrote several other pieces, spoke a number of good orations, and was certainly an emi- nent pleader ; so that I much wonder, considering how long he lived and the character he bore, that he was never preferred to the consulship. XXXIII. " But I have a man here, 1 (Caius Gracchus,) who had an amazing genius, and the most ardent application ; and was a scholar from his very childhood ; for you must not imagine, my Brutus, that we have ever yet had a speaker whose language was richer and more copious than his." '' I really think so," answered Brutus ; " and he is almost the only author we have, among the ancients, that I take the trouble to read." " And he well deserves it," said I ; " for the Roman name and literature were great losers by his untimely 1 He refers, perhaps, to the works of Gracchus, -which he might theu have in his hand ; or, more probably, to a statue of him, which stood near the place where he and his friends were sitting. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 437 fate. I wish he had transferred his affection for his brother to his country ! How easily, if he had thus prolonged his life, would he have rivalled the glory of his father and grand- father ! In eloquence, I scarcely know whether we should yet have had his equal. His language was noble ; his senti- ments manly and judicious ; and his whole manner great and striking. He wanted nothing but the finishing touch : for though his first attempts were as excellent as they were numerous, he did not live to complete them. In short, my Brutus, he, if any one, should be carefully studied by the Roman youth ; for he is able, not only to sharpen, but to enrich and ripen their talents. After him appeared Caius Galba, the son of the eloquent Servius, and the son-in-law of Publius Crassus, who was both an eminent speaker and a skilful civilian. He was much commended by our fathers, who respected him for the sake of his; but he had the mis- fortune to be stopped in his career. For being tried by the Mamilian law, as a party concerned in the conspiracy to sup- port Jugurtha, though he exerted all his abilities to defend himself, he was unhappily condemned. His peroration, or, as it is often called, his epilogue, is still extant ; and was so much in repute ; when we were schoolboys, that we used to learn it by heart ; he was the first member of the Sacerdotal College, since the building of Rome, who was publicly tried and condemned. XXXIV. " As to Publius Scipio, who died in his consul- ship, he neither spoke much, nor often ; but he was inferior to no one in purity of language, and superior to all in wit and pleasantry. His colleague, Lucius Bestia, who began his tribuneship very successfully, (for, by a law which he preferred for the purpose, he procured the recal of Popillius, who had been exiled by the influence of Caius Gracchus,) was a man of spirit, and a tolerable speaker; but he did not finish his consulship equally happily. For, in consequence of the invidious law of Mamilius above-mentioned, Caius Galba, one of the priests, and the four consular gentlemen, Lucius Bestia, Caius Cato, Spurius Albinus, and that excellent citizen Lucius Opimius, who killed Gracchus, of which he was ac- quitted by the people, though he had constantly sided against them, were all condemned by their judges, who were of the Gracchan party. Very unlike him in his tribuneship, and indeed in every other part of his life, was that infamous i-38 BRUTUS ; OR, citizen Caius Licinius Nerva; but he was not destitute of eloquence. Nearly at the same time (though, indeed he was somewhat older) flourished Caius Fimbria, who was rather rough and abusive, and much too warm and hasty ; but his application, and his great integrity and firmness, made him a serviceable speaker in the senate. He was likewise a tolerable pleader and civilian, and distinguished by the same rigid freedom in the turn of his language, as in that of his vir- tues. When we were boys, we used to think his orations worth reading ; though they are now scarcely to be met with. But Caius Sextius Calvinus was equally elegant, both in his taste and his language, though, unhappily, of a very infirm constitution; when the pain in his feet intermitted, he did not decline the trouble of pleading, but he did not attempt it very often. His fellow-citizens, therefore, made use of his advice, whenever they had occasion for it ; but of his patron- age, only when his health permitted. Contemporary with these, my good friend, was your namesake Marcus Brutus, the disgrace of your noble family ; who, though he bore that honourable name, and had the best of men and an eminent civilian for his father, confined his practice to accusations, as Lycurgus is said to have done at Athens. He never sued for any of our magistracies ; but was a severe and a troublesome prosecutor; so that we easily see that, in him, the natural goodness of the stock was corrupted by the vicious inclina- tions of the man. At the same time lived Lucius Caesulenus, a man of plebeian rank, and a professed accuser, like the former; I myself heard him in his old age, when he endea- voured, by the Aquilian law, to subject Lucius Sabellius to a fine, for a breach of justice. But I should not have taken any notice of such a low-born wretch, if I had not thought that no person I ever heard, could give a more suspicious turn to the cause of the defendant, or exaggerate it to a higher degree of criminality. XXXV. " Titus Albucius, who lived in the same age, was well versed in the Grecian literature, or, rather, was ulmost a Greek himself. I speak of him as I think ; but any person who pleases may judge what he was by his ^rations. In his youth, he studied at Athens, and returned from thence a thorough proficient in the doctrine of Epicurus ; which, of all others, is the least adapted to form an orator. His contemporary, Quintus Catulus, was an accomplished REMARKS ON EMIN&T ORATORS. 439 speaker, not in the ancient taste, but (unless anything more perfect canJse exhibited) in the finished style of the moderns. He had copious stores of learning ; an easy, winning elegance, not only in his manners and disposition, but in his very lan- guage; and an unblemished purity and correctness of style. This may be easily seen by his orations ; and particularly by the History of his Consulship, and of his subsequent trans- actions, which he composed in the soft and agreeable manner of Xenophon, and made a present of to the poet Aulus Furius, .an intimate acquaintance of his. But this performance is as little known as the three books of Scaurus before-mentioned." " Indeed, I must confess," said Brutus, " that both the one and the other are perfectly unknown to me ; but that is entirely iny own fault. I shall now, therefore, request a sight of them from you; and am resolved, in future, to be more careful in collecting such valuable curiosities." " This Catulus," said I, " as I have just observed, was distinguished by the purity of his language; which, though a material accomplishment, is too much neglected by most of the Roman orators ; for as to the elegant tone of his voice, and the sweetness of his accent, as you knew his son, it will be needless to take any notice of them. His son, indeed, was not in the list of orators ; but whenever he had occasion to deliver his sen- timents in public, he neither wanted judgment, nor a neat and liberal turn of expression. Nay, even the father himself was not reckoned the foremost in the rank of orators; but still he had that kind of merit, that notwithstanding after you had heard two or three speakers who were particularly eminent in their profession, you might judge him inferior; yet, whenever you hear him alone, and without an immediate opportunity of making a comparison, you would not only be satisfied with him, but scarcely wish for a better advocate. As to Quintus Metellus Numidicus, and his colleague Marcus Silanus, they spoke, on matters of government, with as much eloquence as was really necessary for men of their illustrious character, and of consular dignity. But Marcus Aurelius Scaurus, though he spoke in public but seldom, always spoke very neatly, and he had a more elegant command of the Roman language than most men. Auk.s Albinus was a speaker of the same kind; but Albinus the flancan -was esteemed an orator. Quintus Caepio, too, had a great deal of spirit, and was a brave citizen; but the unlucky chance of 440 BRUTUS; OK, war was imputed to him as a crime, and the general odium of the people proved his ruin. XXXVI. " Caius and Lucius Memmius were likewise in- different orators, and distinguished by the bitterness and. asperity of their accusations ; for they prosecuted many, but seldom spoke for the defendant. Spurius Thorius, on the other hand, was distinguished by his popular way of speak- ing ; the very same man who, by his corrupt and frivolous law, diminished x the taxes which were levied on the public lands. Marcus Marcellus, the father of ^Eserninus, though not reckoned a professed pleader, was a prompt, and, in some degree, a practised speaker; as was also his son Publius Len- tulus. Lucius Cotta likewise, a man of praetorian rank, waa esteemed a tolerable orator ; but he never made any great progress ; on the contrary, he purposely endeavoured, both in. the choice of his words and the rusticity of his pronunciation, to imitate the manner of the ancients. I am indeed sensible that in this instance of Cotta, and in many others, I have and shall again insert in the list of orators those who, in reality, had but little claim to the chai'acter. For it was, professedly my design to collect an account of all the Eomans, without exception, who made it their business to excel in the profes- sion of eloquence ; and it may be easily seen from this account by what slow gradations they advanced, and how excessively difficult it is in everything to rise to the summit of perfec- tion. As a proof of this, how many orators have been already recounted, and how much time have we bestowed upon them,, before we could ascend, after infinite fatigue and drudgery, as, among the Greeks, to Demosthenes and Hyperides, so now, among our own countrymen, to Antonius and Crassus! For, in my mind, these were consummate orators, and the first among the Komaus whose diffusive eloquence rivalled the glory of the Greeks. XXXVII. "Antonius comprehended everything which could be of service to his cause, and he arranged his materials in the most advantageous order; and as a skilful general posts the cavalry, the infantry, and the light troops, where each of them can act to most advantage, so Antonius drew up his arguments in those parts of his discom-se, where they were likely to have the best effect. He had a quick and retentive memory, and a frankness of manner which precluded any 1 By dividing great part of them among the people. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 441 Buspbion of artifice. All his speeches were, in appearance, the unpremeditated effusions of an honest heart ; and yet, in reality, they were preconcerted with so much skill, that the judges were sometimes not so well prepared as they, should have been, to withstand the force of them. His language,, indeed, was not so refined as to pass for the standard of ele- gance ; for which reason he was thought to be rather a care- less speaker; and yet, on the other hand, it was neither, vulgar nor incorrect, but of that solid and judicious turn which constitutes the real merit of an orator, as to the choice of his words. For, though a purity of style is certainly, as has been observed, a very commendable quality, it is not so much so for its intrinsic consequence, as because it is too gene- rally neglected. In short, it is not so meritorious to speak our native tongue correctly, as it is disgraceful to speak it other- wise; nor is it so much the characteristic of a good orator as of a well-bred citizen. But in the choice of his words (in. which he had more regard to their weight than their bril- liance), and likewise in the structure of his language and the compass of his periods, Antonius conformed himself to the dictates of reason, and, in a great measure, to the nicer rules of art; though his chief excellence was a judicious manage- ment of the figures and decorations of sentiment. This was likewise the distinguishing excellence of Demosthenes; in which he was so far superior to all others, as to be allowed, in the opinion of the best judges, to be the prince of orators. For the figures (as they are called by the Greeks) are the principal ornaments of an able speaker ; I mean those which, contribute not so much to paint and embellish our language, as to give a lustre to our sentiments. XXXVIII. "But besides these, of which Antonius had a great command, he had a peculiar excellence in his manner of delivery, both as to his voice and gesture ; for the latter was such as to correspond to the meaning of every sentence^ without beating time to the words. His hands, his shoulders ; the turn of his body, the stamp of his foot, his posture, his air, and, in short, all his motions, were adapted to his language and sentiments ; and his voice was strong and firm, though naturally hoarse, a defect which he alone was capable ol improving to his advantage ; for in capital causes, it had a mournful dignity of accent, which was exceedingly proper both to win the assent of the judges, and excite their corce 442 BRUTUS; OR, passion for a suffering client ; so that in him the observation of Demosthenes was eminently verified; who, being asked what was the first quality of a good orator, what the second, and what the third, constantly replied, ' A good enunciation.' But many thought that he was equalled, and others that he was even excelled, by Lucius Crassus. All, however, were agreed in this, that whoever had either of them for his advo- cate, had no cause to wish for a better. For my own part, notwithstanding the uncommon merit I have ascribed to Antonius, I must also acknowledge, that there cannot be a more finished character than that of Crassus. He pos- sessed a wonderful dignity of elocution, with an agreeable mixture of wit and pleasantry, which was perfectly polished, and without the smallest tincture of scurrility. His style was correct and elegant, without stiffness or affectation; his method of reasoning was remarkably clear and distinct ; and when his cause turned upon any point of law or equity, he had an inexhaustible fund of arguments and comparative illustrations. XXXIX. " For as Antonius had an admirable turn for sug- gesting apposite hints, and either suppressing or exciting the suspicions of the hearer, so ho man could explain and define, or discuss a point of equity, with a more copious facility than Crassus; as sufficiently appeared upon many other occasions, but particularly in the cause of Manius Curius, which was ti'ied before the Centumviri. For he urged a great variety of arguments in the defence of right and equity, against the literal jubet of the law; and supported them by such a numerous series of precedents, that he overpowered 'Quintus Scsevola (a man of uncommon penetration, and the ablest civilian of his time), though the case before them was only a matter of legal right. But the cause was so ably managed by the two advocates, who were nearly of an age, and both of consular rank, that while each endeavoured to interpret the law in favour of his client, Crassus was univer- eally allowed to be the best lawyer among the orators, and Scsevola to be the most eloquent civilian of the age : for the latter could not only discover with the nicest precision what was agreeable to law and equity, but had likewise a concise- ness and propriety of expression, which was admirably adapted to his purpose. In short, he had such a wonderful vein of oratory in commenting, explaining, and discussing, that I REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 443 never beheld his equal; though in amplifying, embellishing, and refuting, he was rather to be dreaded as a formidable critic, than admired as an eloquent speaker." XL. " Indeed," said Brutus, " though I always thought I sufficiently understood the character of Scsevola, by the account I had heard of him from Caius Rutilius, whose company I frequented for the sake of his acquaintance with him, I had not the least idea of his merit as an orator. I am now, therefore, not a little pleased to be informed, that our republic has had the honour of producing so accom- plished a man, and such an excellent genius." " Really, my Brutus," said I, " you may take it from me, that the Roman state had never been adorned with two finer characters than these. For, as I have before observed that the one was the best lawyer among the orators, and the other the best speaker among the civilians of his time; so the difference between them, in all other respects, was of such a nature, that it would almost be impossible for you to determine which of the two you would rather choose to resemble. For, as Orassus was the closest of all our elegant speakers, so Scaevola was the most elegant among those who were distinguished by the concise accuracy of their language; and as Crassus tempered his affability with a proper share of severity, so the rigid air of Scsevola was not destitute of the milder graces of an affable condescension. Though this was really their character, it is very possible that I may be thought to have embellished it beyond the bounds of truth, to give an agreeable air to my narrative; but as your favourite sect, my Brutus, the old Academy, has defined all virtue to be a just mediocrity, it was the constant endeavour of these two eminent men to pursue this golden mean ; and yet it so hap- pened, that while each of them shared a part of the other's excellence, he preserved his own entire." " To speak what I think," replied Brutus, " I have not only acquired a proper acquaintance with their characters from your account of them, but I can likewise discover, that the same comparison might bo drawn between you and Servius Sulpicius, which you have just been making between Crassus and ScaDvola." "In what manner 1 ?" said I. "Because you" replied Brutus, " have taken the pains to acquire as extensive a knowledge of the law as is necessary for an orator ; and Sulpicius, on the other hand, took care to furnish himself with sufficient 444 BRUTUS j OR, eloquence to support the character of an able civilian. Besides, your age corresponded as nearly to his, as the age of Crassus did to that of Scsevola." XLI. " As to my own abilities," said I, " the rules of decency forbid me to speak of them; but your character of Servius is a very just one, and I may freely tell you what I think of him. There are few, I believe, who have applied themselves more assiduously to the art of speaking than he did, or indeed to the study of every useful science. In our youth, we both of us followed the same liberal exercises ; and he afterwards accompanied me to Ehodes, to pursue those studies which might equally improve him as a man and a scholar; but when he reVrned from thence, he appears to me to have been rather ambitious of being the foremost man in a secondary profession, than the second in that which claims the highest dignity. I will not pretend to say, that he could not have ranked himself among the first in the latter profession ; but he rather chose to be, what he actually made himself, the first lawyer of his time." " Indeed ! " said Brutus : " and do you really prefer Servius to Quintus Scsevola?" "My opinion," said I, "Brutus, is, that Quintus Scsevola and many others had a thorough practical know- ledge of the law; but that Servius alone understood it as a science; which he could never have done by the mere study of the law, and without a previous acquaintance with the art, which teaches us to divide a whole into its subordinate parts, to explain an indeterminate idea by an accurate defini- tion ; to illustrate what is obscure by a clear interpretation ; and first to discover what things are of a doubtful nature^ then to distinguish them by their different degrees of proba- bility; and, lastly, to be provided with a certain rule or measure by which we may judge what is true, and what false, and what inferences fairly may or may not be deduced from any given premises. This important art he applied to those subjects which, for want of it, were necessarily managed by others without due order and precision." XLII. "You mean, I suppose," said Brutus, "the art of logic." " You suppose very rightly," answered I ; " but lit- added to it an extensive acquaintance with polite literature, and an elegant manner of expressing himself; as is suffi- ciently evident from the incomparable writings he has left behind him. And as he attached himself, for the improve- REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 445 Bient of his eloquence, to Lucius Ln cilius Balbus and Caiua Aquilius Gallus, two very able speakers, he effectually thwarted the prompt celerity of the latter (though a keen, experienced man) both in supporting and refuting a charge, by his ac- curacy and precision, and overpowered the deliberate formality of Balbus (a man of great learning and erudition) by his adroit and dexterous method of arguing ; so that he equally possessed the good qualities of both, without their defects. As Crassus, therefore, in my mind, acted more prudently than Scsevola; (for the latter was very fond of pleading causes, in which he was certainly inferior to Crassus; whereas ihe former never engaged himself in an unequal competition with Scsevola, by assuming the character of a civilian;) so Servius pursued a plan which sufficiently discovered his wisdom ; for as the profession of a pleader and a lawyer are both of them held in great esteem, and give those who are masters of them the most extensive influence among their fellow- citizens, he acquired an undisputed superiority in the one, and improved himself as much in the other as was necessary to support the authority of the civil law, and promote him to the dignity of consul." " This is precisely the opinion I had formed of him," said Brutus. " For a few years ago I heard him often, and very attentively, at Samos, when I wanted to be instructed by him in the pontifical law, as far as it is connected with the civil ; and I am now greatly confirmed in my opinion of him, by finding that it coincides so exactly with yours. I am likewise not a little pleased to observe, that the equality of your ages, your sharing the same honours and preferments, and the affinity of your respective studies and professions, has been so far from precipitating either of you into that envious detraction of the other's merit, which most people are tormented with, that, instead of interrupting your mutual friendship, it has only served to increase and strengthen it; for, to my own knowledge, he had the same affection for, and the same favourable sentiments of you, which I now discover in you towards him. I cannot, therefore, help regretting very sin- cerely, that the Roman state has so long been deprived of the benefit of his advice and of your eloquence ; a circum- stance which is indeed calamitous enough in itself, but must appear much more so to him who considers into what hands that once respectable authority has been of late, I will not 446 BRUTUS; OR, Bay transferred, but forcibly wrested." " You certainly forget," said Atticus, " that I proposed, when we began the conversation, to drop all matters of state ; by all means, therefore, let us keep to our plan ; for if we once begin to repeat our grievances, there will be no end, I need not say to our inquiries, but to our sighs and lamentations." XLIII. " Let us proceed, then," said I, " without any farther digression, and pursue the plan we set out upon. Crassus (for he is the orator we were just speaking of) always came into the forum ready prepared for the combat. He was expected with impatience, and heard with pleasure. When he first began his oration (which he always did in. a very accurate style), he seemed worthy of the great ex- pectations he had raised. He was very moderate in the movements of his body, had no remarkable variation of voice, never advanced from the ground he stood upon, and seldom stamped his foot ; his language was forcible, and sometimes warm and pathetic; he had many strokes of humour, which were always tempered with a becoming dignity; and, what is difficult to attain, he was at once very florid and very concise. In a close contest, he never met with his equal ; and there was scarcely any kind of causes in which he had not signalised his abilities ; so that he enrolled himself very early among the first orators of the time. He accused Caius Carbo, though a man of great eloquence, when he was but a youth; and displayed his talents in such a manner, that they were not only applauded, but admired by everybody. He afterwards defended the virgin Licinia, when he was only twenty-seven years of age; on which occasion he discovered an uncommon share of eloquence, as is evident from those parts of his oration which he left behind him in writing. As he was then desirous to have the honour of settling the colony of Narbonne (as he afterwards- did), he thought it advisable to recommend himself by under- taking the management of some popular cause. His oration in support of the act which was proposed for that purpose, is still extant ; and discovers a greater maturity of genius than, might have been expected at that time of life. He afterwards- pleaded many other causes; but his tribuneship was so re- markably silent, that if he had not supped with Granius the beadle when he enjoyed that office (a circumstance which, has been twice mentioned by Lucilius), we should scarcely REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 44T have known that a tribune of that name had existed.** " I believe so," replied Brutus; "but I have heard as little of the tribuneship of Scsevola, though I must naturally suppose that he was the colleague of Crassus." " He was so," said I, "in all his other preferments; but he was not tribune till the year after him ; and when he sat in the rostrum in that capacity, Crassus spoke in support of the Servilian law. I must observe, however, that Crassus had not Scsevola for his colleague in the censorship; for none of the Scsevolas ever solicited that office. But when the last-mentioned oration of Crassus was published (which I dare say you have frequently read), he was thirty-four years of age, which was exactly the difference between his age and mine. For he supported the law I have just been speaking of, in the very consulship under which I was born; wh-ereas he himself was born in. the consulship of Quintus Csepio and Caius Lgelius, about three years later than Antonius. I have particularly noticedt this circumstance, to specify the time when the Roman eloquence attained its first maturity; and was actually car- ried to such a degree of perfection, as to leave no room for any one to carry it higher, unless by the assistance of a more complete and extensive knowledge of philosophy, jurispru- dence, and history." XLIV. " But does there," said Brutus, " or will there ever exist a man, who is furnished with all the united accomplish- ments you require?" "I really do not know," said I; " but we have a speech made by Crassus in his consulship, in praise of Quintus Csepio, intermingled with a defence of his conduct, which, though a short one if we consider it as an oration, is not so as a panegyric; and another, which was his last, and which he spoke in the forty-eighth year of his age, at the time he was censor. In these we have the genuine com- plexion of eloquence, without any painting or disguise ; but his periods (I mean those of Crassus) were generally short and concise; and he was fond of expressing himself in those minuter sentences, or members, which the Greeks call colons" " As you have spoken so largely," said Brutus, " in praise of the two last-mentioned orators, I heartily wish that Antonius had left us some other specimen of his abilities than his trifling essay on the art of speaking, and Crassus more than he has; by so doing, they would have transmitted their fame to posterity, and to us a valuable system of eloquence. For a* 448 BRUTUS; OB, to the elegant language of Scsevola, we have sufficient proofc of it in the orations he has left behind him." " For my part," said I, " the oration I was speaking of, on Csepio'a case, has been a model which served to instruct me from my 'very childhood. It supports the dignity of the senate, which was deeply interested in the debate ; and excites the jealousy of the audience against the party of the judges and accusers, whose powers it was necessary to expose in the most popular terms. Many parts of it are very strong and nervous ; many others very cool and composed; and some are distinguished by the asperity of their language, and not a few by their wit and pleasantry : but much more was said than was committed to writing, as is sufficiently evident from several heads of the oration, which are merely proposed without any enlarge- ment or explanation. But the oration in his censorship against his colleague Cneius Domitius, is not so much an oration as an analysis of the subject, or a general sketch of what he had said, with here and there a few ornamental touches, by way of specimen; for no contest was ever con- ducted with greater spirit than this. Crassus, however, was eminently distinguished by the popular turn of his language ; but that of Antonius was better adapted to judicial trials than to a public debate. XLV. " As we have had occasion to mention him, Domitius himself must not be left unnoticed; for though he is not enrolled in the list of orators, he had a sufficient share, both of utterance and genius, to support his character as a magis- trate, and his dignity as a consul. I might likewise observe of Caius Cselius, that he was a man of great application and many eminent qualities, and had eloquence enough to support the private interests of his friends, and his own dignity in the state. At the same time lived Marcus Herennius, who was reckoned among the middling orators, whose principal merit was the purity and correctness of their language ; and yet, in a suit for the consulship, he got the better of Lucius Philippus, a man of the first rank and family, and of the most extensive connexions, and who was likewise a member of the college, and a very eloquent speaker. Then also lived Caius Clodius, who, besides his consequence as a nobleman ol the first distinction and a man of the most powerful influence, was likewise possessed cf a moderate share of eloquence, .Nearly of the same age was Caius Titius, a Roman kuigb.% REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 44i *vho, in my judgment, arrived at as high a degree of per- tection as a Roman orator was able to do, without the assist* an co of the Grecian literature, and a good share of practice. His orations have so many delicate turns, such a number of well-chosen examples, and such an agreeable vein of polite- ness, that they almost seem to have been composed in the true Attic style. He likewise transferred his delicacies into his tragedies, with ingenuity enough, I confess, but not in the tragic taste. But the poet Lucius Afranius, whom he studiously imitated, was a very lively writer, and, as you well know, possessed great dramatic eloquence. Quintus Ilubrius Varro, who with Caius Marius was declared an enemy by the senate, was likewise a warm and very spirited prosecutor. My relation, Marcus Gratidius, was a plausible speaker of the same kind, well versed in Grecian literature, formed by nature for the profession of eloquence, and an intimate acquaintance of Marcus Antonius; he commanded under him in Cilicia, where he lost his life; and he once commenced a prosecution against Caius Fimbria, the father of Marcus Marius Gratidianus. XLVI. " There have likewise been several among the allies, and the Latins, who were esteemed good orators; as, for instance, Quintus Vettius of Vettium, one of the Marsi, whom I myself was acquainted with, a man of sense, and a concise speaker ; the Valerii, Quintus and Decimus, of Sora, my neighbours and acquaintances, who were not so remark- able for their talent in speaking, as for their skill both in Greek and Roman literature ; and Caius Rusticellus of Bononia, an experienced orator, and a man of great natural volubility. But the most eloquent of all those who were not citizens of Rome, was Tiberius Betucius Barrus of Asculum, some of whose orations, which were spoken in that city, are still extant ; that which he made at Rome against Csepio, is really excellent ; the speech which Csepio delivered in answer to it, was made by ^Elius, who composed a number of orations, but pronounced none himself. But among those of a re- moter date, Lucius Papirius of Fregellse in Latium, who was almost contemporary with Tiberius Gracchus, was universally esteemed the most eloquent; we have a speech of his in vin- dication of the Fregellans, and the Latin colonies, which was delivered before the senate." " And what then is the merit," said Brutus, " which you mean to ascribe to these provincial c a 450 BRUTUS ; OR, orators'?" "What else," replied I, " but the very same which I have ascribed to the city orators ; excepting that their lan- guage is not tinctured with the same fashionable delicacy." "What fashionable delicacy do you mean?" said he. " I cannot," said I, " pretend to define it ; I only know that there is such a quality existing. When you go to your pro- vince in Gaul, you will be convinced of it. You will there find many expressions which are not current iu Rome : but these may be easily changed, and corrected. But what is of greater importance, our orators have a particular accent in their manner of pronouncing, which is more elegant, and has a more agreeable effect than any other. This, however, is not peculiar to the orators, but is equally common to every well-bred citizen. I myself remember that Titus Tineas, of Placentia, who was a very facetious man, ouce engaged in raillery with my old friend Quintus Granius, the public crier." " Do you mean that Granius," said Brutus, " of whom Lucilius has related such a number of stories 1 " " The very same," said I ; " but though Tineas said as many smart things as the other, Granius at last overpowered him by a certain vernacular godt, which gave an additional relish to his humour ; so that I am no longer surprised at what is said to have happened to Theophrastus, when he inquired of an old woman who kept a stall, what was the price of something which he wanted to purchase. After telling him the value of it, ' Honest stranger,' said she, ' I cannot afford it for less;' an answer which nettled him not a little, to think that lie who had resided almost all his life at Athens, and spoke the lan- guage very correctly, should be taken at last for a foreigner. In the same manner, there is, in my opinion, a certain accent as peculiar to the native citizens of Rome, as the other was to those of Athens. But it is time for us to return home ; I mean, to the orators of our own growth. XLVII. " Next, therefore, to the two capital speakers above-mentioned, (that is, Crassus andAntonius,) came Lucius Pliilippus, not indeed till a considerable time afterwards; but still he must be reckoned the next. I do not mean, however, though nobody appeared in the interim who could dispute the prize with him, that he was entitled to the second, or even the third post of honour. For as in a chariot- race I cannot properly consider him as either the second or third winner, who has scarcely got clear of the starting-post, REMARKS OH EMINENT ORATORS. 45} before the first has readied the goal ; so. among orators, I can scarcely honour him with the name of a competitor, who has been so far distanced by the foremost as hardly to appear on the same ground with him. But yet there were certainly some talents to be observed in Philippus, which any person who considers them, without subjecting them to a comparison with the superior merits of the two before-mentioned, must allow to have been respectable. He had an uncommon free- dom of address, a large fund of humour, great facility in the invention of his sentiments, and a ready and easy manner of expressing them. He was likewise, for the time he lived in, a great adept in the literature of the Greeks; and, in the heat of a debate, he could sting, and lash, as well as ridicule his opponents. Almost contemporary with these was Lucius Gellius, who was not so much to be valued for his positive, as for his negative merits ; for he was neither destitute of learning, nor invention, nor unacquainted with the history and the laws of his country ; besides which, he had a tolerable freedom of expression. But he happened to live at a time when many excellent orators made their appearance ; and yet he served his friends upon many occasions to good purpose } in short, his life was so long, that he was successively con- temporary with a variety of orators of different periods, and had an extensive series of practice in judicial causes. Nearly at the same time lived Decimus Brutus, who was fellow- consul with Mamercus ; and was equally skilled both in the Grecian and Roman literature. Lucius Scipio likewise was not an unskilful speaker ; and Cnseus Pompeius, the son of Sextus, had some reputation as an orator ; for his brother Sextus applied the excellent genius he was possessed of, to acquire a thorough knowledge of the civil law, and a complete acquaintance with geometry and the doctrine of the Stoics. A little before these, Marcus Brutus, and very soon after him Caius Bilienus, who was a man of great natiiral capacity, made themselves, by nearly the same application, equally eminent in the profession of the law ; the latter would have been chosen consul, if he had not been thwarted by the repeated promotion of Marius, and some other collateral em- barrassments which attended his suit. But the eloquence of Cneeiis Octavius, which was wholly imknown before his elevation to the consulship, was effectually displayed, after his preferment to that office, in a great variety of speeches. It is> AJlC BRUTUS ; OK, however, time for us to drop those who were only classed in the number of good speakers, and turn our attention to such as were really orators" " I think so too," replied Atticus ; " for I understood that you meant to give us an account, not of those who took great pains to be eloquent, but of those who were so in reality." XLVIII. " Caius Julius then," said I, " (the son of Lucius,) was certainly superior, not only to his predecessors, but to all his contemporaries, in wit and humour; he was not, indeed, a nervous and striking orator, but, in the elegance, the plea- santry, and the agreeableness of his manner, he has not been excelled by any man. There are some orations of his still extant, in which, as well as in his tragedies, we may discover a pleasing tranquillity of expression with very little energy. Publius Cethegus, his equal in age, had always enough to say on matters of civil regulation ; for he had studied and com- prehended them with the minutest accuracy ; by which means he acquired an equal authority in the senate with those who had served the office of consul, and though he made no figure in a public debate, he was a serviceable veteran in any suit of a private nature. Quintus Lucretius Vispillo was an acute speaker, and a good civilian in the same kind of causes ; but Osella was better qualified for a public harangue than to conduct a judicial process. Titus Annius Velina was likewise a man of sense, and a tolerable pleader ; and Titus Juventius had a great deal of practice in the same way : the latter indeed was rather too heavy and inani- mate, but at the same time was keen and artful, and knew how to seize every advantage which was offered by his antagonist; to which we may add, that he was far from being a man of no literature, but had an extensive knowledge of the civil law. His scholar, Publius Orbius, who was almost contemporary with me, had no great practice as a pleader ; but his skill in the civil law was in no respect inferior to his master's. As to Titus Aufidius, who lived to a great age, he was a professed imifcator of both ; and was indeed a worthy inoffensive man; but he seldom spoke at the bar. His brother, Marcus Virgilius, who, when he was a tribune of the people, commenced a prosecution against Lucius Sylla, then rtdvanced to the rank of genera], had as little practice as Aufi- dius. Virgilius's colleague, Publius Magius, was more copious and diflusive. But of all the orators, or rather ranters, 1 ever REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS* 453 knew who were totally illiterate and unpolished, and (I might have added) absolutely coarse and rustic, the readiest and keenest were Quintus Sertorius, and Caius Gorgonius, the one of consular, and the other of equestrian rank. Titus Junius (the son of Lucius), who had served the office cf tri- bune, and prosecuted and convicted Publius Sextius of bribery, when he was prsetor elect, was a prompt and an easy speaker ; he lived in great splendour, and had a very promising genius; and, if he had not been of a weak, and indeed a sickly con- stitution, he would have advanced much further than he did in the road to preferment. XLIX. " I am sensible, however, that in the account I have been giving, I have included many who were neither real, nor reputed orators ; and that I have omitted others, among those of a remoter date, who well deserved not only to have been mentioned, but to be recorded with honour. But this I was forced to do, for want of better information; for what could I say concerning men of a distant age, none of whose productions are now remaining, and of whom no mention is made in the writings of other people ? But I have omitted none of those who have fallen within the compass of my own knowledge, or that I myself remember to have heard. For I wish to make it appear, that in such a powerful and ancient republic as ours, in which the greatest rewards have been proposed to eloquence, though all have desired to be good speakers, not many have attempted the task, and but very few have succeeded. But I shall give my opinion of every one in such explicit terms, that it may be easily undei'- stood whom I consider as a mere declaimer, and whom as an orator. About the same time, or rather something later than the above-mentioned Julius, but almost contemporary with each other, were Caius Gotta, Publius Sulpicius, Quintua Varius, Cnaeus Pomponius, Caius Curio, Lucius Fufius, Mar- cus Drusus, and Publius Antistius ; for no age whatsoever has been distinguished by a more numerous progeny of orators. Of these, Gotta and Sulpicius, both in my opinion and in that of the public at large, had an evident claim to the preference." " But wherefore," interrupted Atticus, " do you say, in your own opinion, and in that of the public at large f In deciding the merits of an orator, does the opinion of the vulgar, think you, always coincide with that of the learned ? Or rather, does not one receive the approbation of the populace, 454 BRUTUS; OR, while another of a quite opposite character is preferred by those who are better qualified to give their j udgmeut ? " "You have started a very pertinent question," said I ; " but, perhaps, the public at large will not approve my answer to it." "And what concern need that give you," replied Atticus, " if it meets the approbation of Brutus ?" " Very true," said I ; " for I had rather my sentiments on the qualifications of an orator should please you and Brutus, than all the world besides ; but as to my eloquence, I should wish this to please every one. For he who speaks in such a manner as to please the people, must inevitably receive the approbation of the learned. As to the truth and propriety of what I hear, I am indeed to judge of this for myself, as well as I am able ; but the general merit of an orator must and will be decided by the effects whicLLis eloquence produces. For (in my opinion at least) there are three things which an orator should be able to effect ; viz. to inform his hearers, to please them, and to move their passions. By what qualities in the speaker each of these effects may be produced, or by what deficiencies they are either lost, or but imperfectly performed, is an inquiry which none but an artist can resolve; but whether an audience is really so affected by an orator as shall best answer his pur- pose, must be left to their own feelings, and the decision of the public. The learned therefore, and the people at large, have never disagreed about who was a good orator, and who was otherwise. L. " For do you suppose, that while the speakers above- mentioned were in being, they had not the same degree of reputation among the learned as among the populace 1 ? If you had inquired of one of the latter, who was the most eloquent man in the city, he might have hesitated whether to say Antoniusor Crassus; or this man, perhaps, would have men- tioned the one, and that the other. But would any one hav^e given the preference to Philippits, though otherwise a smooth, a sensible, and a facetious speaker ? that Philippus whom we, who form our judgment upon these matters by rules of art, have decided to have been the next in merit ? Nobody would, I am certain. For it is the invariable prerogative of an accomplished orator, to be reckoned such in the opinion of the people. Though Antigenidas, therefore, the musician, might say to his scholar, who was but coldly received by the public, Play on, to please me and the Muses; 1 shall say tc REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATCR.S. 455 my friend Brutus, when he mounts the rostra, as he frequently does, Play to me and the people; that those who hear him may be sensible of the effect of his eloquence, while I can likewise amuse myself with remarking the causes which pro- duce it. When a citizen hears an able orator, he readily credits what is said ; he imagines everything to be true, he believes and relishes the force of it ; and, in short, the per- suasive language of the speaker wins his absolute, his hearty assent. You, who are possessed of a critical knowledge of the art, what more will you require 1 The listening multitude is charmed and captivated by the force of his eloquence, and feels a pleasure which is not to be resisted. What here can you find to censure ? The whole audience is either flushed with joy, or overwhelmed with grief; it smiles or weeps, it loves or hates, it scorns or envies, and, in short, is alternately seized with tiie various emotions of pity, shame, remorse, resentment, wonder, hope, and fear, according as it is influenced by the language, the sentiments, and the action of the speaker. In this case, what necessity is there to await the sanction of a critic t For here, whatever is approved by the feelings of the people, must be equally so by men of taste and erudition ; and, in this instance of public decision, there can be no disagreement between the opinion of the vulgar, and that of the learned. For though many good speakers have appeared in every species of oratory, which of them who was thought to excel the rest in the judgment of the populace, was not approved as such by every man of learning'? or which of our ancestors, when the choice of a pleader was left to his own option, did not immediately fix it either upon Crassus or Antonius ? There were certainly many others to be had ; but though any person might have hesitated to which of the above two he should give the pre- ference, there was nobody, I believe, who would have made choice of a third. And in the time of my youth, when Cotta and Hortensius were in such high reputation, who, that had liberty to choose for himself, would have employed any other?" LI. " But what occasion is there," said Brutus, " to quote the example of other speakers to support your assertion? have we not seen what has always been the wish of the de- fendant, and what the judgment of Hortensius, concerning yourself 1 ? for whenever the latter shared a cause with you, (and I was often present on those occasions,) the peroration. 456 BKCTUS ; OR, which requires the greatest exertion of the powers of elo- quence, was constantly left to you." " It waV' said I ; " and Hortensius (induced, I suppose, by the warmth of his friend- ship) always resigned the post of honour to me. But, as to myself, what rank I hold in the opinion of the people I am unable to determine ; as to others, however, I may safely assert, that such of them as were reckoned most eloquent in the judgment of the vulgar, were equally high in the esti- mation of the learned. For even Demosthenes himself could not have said what is related of Antimachus, a poet of Glares, who, when he was rehearsing to an audience, assembled for the purpose, that voluminous piece of his which you are well acquainted with, and was deserted by all his hearers except Plato, in the midst of his performance, cried out, / shall pro- ceed notwithstanding ; for Plato alone is of more consequence to me than many thousands. The remark was very just. For an abstruse poem, such as his, only requires the approbation of the judicious few ; but a discourse intended for the people should be perfectly suited to their taste. If Demosthenes, therefore, after being deserted by the rest of his audience, had even Plato left to hear him, and no one else, I will answer for it, he could not have uttered another syllable. Nor could you yourself, my Brutus, if the whole assembly were to leave you, as it once did Curio ?" " To open my whole mind to you," replied he, " I must confess that even in such causes as fall under the cognisance of a few select judges, and not of the people at large, if I were to be deserted by the casual crowd who came to hear the trial, I should not be able to proceed." " The case, then, is plainly this," said I : "as a flute, which will not return its proper sound when it is applied to the lips, would be laid aside by the musician as useless ; so, the ears of the people are the instrument upon which an orator is to play ; and if these refuse to admit the breath he bestows upon them, or if the hearer, like a restive horse, will not obey the spur, the speaker must cease to exert himself any further. LIT. " There is, however, this exception to be made ; the people sometimes give their approbation to an orator who does not deserve it. But even here they approve what they have had no opportunity of comparing with something better ; as, for instance, when they are pleased with an indifferent or, perhaps, a bid speaker. His abilities satisfy their expectation ; REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 457 they have seen nothing preferable ; and, therefore, the merit ) the day, whatever it may happen to be, meets their full applause. For even a middling orator, if he is possessed of any degree of eloquence, will always captivate the ear ; and the order and beauty of a good discourse has an astonishing effect upon the human mind. Accordingly, what common hearer who was present when Quintus Scsevola pleaded fo( Mucius Coponius, in the cause above-mentioned, would have wished for, or indeed thought it possible to find any- thing which was more correct, more elegant, or more com- plete ? When he attempted to prove, that, as Mucius Curius was left heir to the estate only in case of the death of his future ward before he came of age, he could not possibly be a legal heir, when the expected ward was never born ; what did he leave unsaid of the scrupulous regard which should be paid to the literal meaning of every testament 1 what of the accuracy and preciseuess of the old and established forms of law ? and how carefully did he specify the manner in which the will would have been expressed, if it had intended that Curius should be the heir in case of a total default of issue ? in what a masterly manner did he represent the ill conse- quences to the public, if the letter of a will should be dis- regarded, its intention decided by arbitrary conjectures, and the written bequests of plain illiterate men left to the artful interpretation of a pleader ? how often did he urge the autho- rity of his father, who had always been an advocate for a strict adherence to the letter of a testament ? and with what emphasis did he enlarge upon the necessity of supporting the common forms of law 1 All which particulars he discussed not only with great art and ingenuity ; but in such a neat, such a close, and, I may add, in so florid and so elegant a style, that there was not a single person among the common part of the audience, who could expect anything more com- plete, or even think it possible to exist. LIII. " But when Crassus, who spoke on the opposite side, began with the story of a notable youth, who, having found an oar-niche of a boat as ho was rambling along the shore, took it into his head that he would build a boat to it ; and when he applied the tale to Sceevola, who, from the oar-niche of an argument [which he had deduced from certain imagi- nary ill consequences to the public], represented the decision of a private will to be a matter of such importance as to 458 BRUTUS; OR, deserve the attention of the Centumviri; when Crassus, I say^ in the beginning of his discourse, had thus taken off the edge of the strongest plea of his antagonist, he entertained hia hearers with many other turns of a similar kind ; and, in a short time, changed the serious apprehensions of all who were present into open mirth and good-humour ; which is one of those three effects which I have just observed an orator should be able to produce. He then proceeded to remark that it waa evidently the intention and the will of the testator, that in case, either by death, or default of issue, there should happen to be no son to fall to his charge, the inheritance should devolve to Curius ; that most people in a similar case would express themselves in the same manner, and that it would certainly stand good in law, and always had. By these, and many other observations of the same kind, he gained the assent of his hearers ; which is another of the three duties of an orator. Lastly, he supported, at all events, the true mean- ing and spirit of a will, against the literal construction; justly observing, that there would be an endless cavilling about words, not only in wills, but in all other legal deeds, if tha real intention of the party were to be disregarded ; and hint- ing very smartly, that his friend Scsevola had assumed a most unwarrantable degree of importance, if no person must after- wards presume to indite a legacy, but in the musty form which he himself might please to prescribe. As he enlarged on each of these arguments with great force and propriety, supported them by a number of precedents, exhibited them in a variety of views, and enlivened them with many occa- sional turns of wit and pleasantry, he gained so much applause, and gave such general satisfaction, that it was scarcely remem- bered that anything had been said on the contrary side of the question. This was the third, and the most important duty we assigned to an orator. Here, if one of the people were to be judge, the same person who had heard the first speaker with a degree of admiration, would, on hearing the second, despise himself for his former want of judgment ; whereas a man of taste and erudition, on hearing Scaevola, would have observed that he was really master of a rich and ornamental style ; but if, on comparing the manner in which each of them concluded his cause, it was to be inquired which of the two was the best orator, the decision of the man of learning would not have differed from that of the vulgar. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 459 LIV. " What advantage, then, it will be said, has the skilful critic over tho illiterate hearer] A great and very important advantage ; if it is indeed a matter of any conse- quence, to be able to discover by what means that which is the true and real end of speaking, is either obtained or lost. He has likewise this additional superiority, that when two or more orators, as has frequently happened, have shared the applauses of the public, he can judge, on a careful observation of the principal merits of each, what is the most perfect cha- racter of eloquence ; since whatever does not meet the appro- bation of the people, must be equally condemned by a more intelligent hearer. For as it is easily understood by the sound of a harp, whether the strings are skilfully touched ; so it may likewise be discovered from the manner in which the passions of an audience are affected, how far the speaker is able to command them. A man, therefore, who is a real connoisseur in the art, can sometimes by a single glance, as he passes through the forum, and without stopping to listen attentively to what is said, form a tolerable judgment of tho ability of the speaker. When he observes any of the bench either yawning, or speaking to the person who is next to him, or looking carelessly about him, or sending to inquire the time of day, or teazing the quaesitor to dismiss the court ; he concludes very naturally that the cause upon trial is not pleaded by an orator who understands how to apply the powers of language to the passions of the judges, as a skilful musician applies his fingers to the harp. On the other hand, if, as he passes by, he beholds the judges looking attentively before them, as if they were either receiving some material information, or visibly approved what they had already heard ; if he sees them listening to the voice of the pleader with a kind of ecstasy, like a fond bird to some melodious tune ; and, above all, if he discovers in their looks any strong indi- cations of pity, abhorrence, or any other emotion of the mind ; though he should not be near enough to hear a single word, he immediately discovers that the cause is managed by a real orator, who is either performing, or has already played his part to good purpose." LV. After I had concluded these digressive remarks, my two friends were kind enough to signify their approbation, and I resumed my subjeot. " As this digression," said I, " took its rise from Cotta and Sulpicius, whom I mentioned as thf 460 BRUTUS; OR, two most approved orators of the age they lived in, I shall first return to them, and afterwards notice the rest in their proper order, according to the plan we began upon. I have already observed that there are two classes of good orators (for we have no concern with any others), of which the former are distinguished by the simple neatness and brevity of their language, and the latter by their copious dignity and eleva- tion ; but although the preference must always be given to that which is great and striking; yet, in speakers of real merit, whatever is most perfect of the kind, is justly entitled to our commendation. It must, however, be observed, that the close and simple orator should be careful not to sink into a dryness and poverty of expression ; while, on the other hand, the copious and more stately speaker should be equally on his guard against a swelling and empty parade of words. To begin with Cotta, he had a ready, quick invention, and spoke correctly and freely ; and as he very prudently avoided every forcible exertion of his voice, on account of the weak- ness of his lungs, so his language was equally adapted to the delicacy of his constitution. There was nothing in his style but what was neat, compact, and healthy ; and (what may justly be considered as his greatest excellence) though he was scarcely able, and therefore never attempted to force the passions of the judges by a strong and spirited elocution, yet he managed them so artfully, that the gentle emotions he raised in them, answered exactly the same purpose, and pro- duced the same effect, as the violent ones which were excited by Sulpicius. For Sulpicius was really the most striking, and, if I may be allowed the expression, the most tragical oratot I ever heard : his voice was strong and sonorous, and yet sweet and flowing ; his gesture and his deportment were graceful and ornamental, but in such a style as to appear to have been formed for the forum, and not for the stage ; and his language, though rapid and voluble, was neither loose nor exuberant. He was a professed imitator of Crassus, while Cotta chose Antonius for his model ; but the latter wanted the force of Antonius, and the former the agreeable humour of Crassus." " How extremely difficult, then," said Brutus, " must be the art of speaking, when such consummate orators as these were each of them destitute of one of its principal beauties !" LVI. "We may likewise observe," said I, "in th3 present instance, that two orators may have the highest degree of REMARKS OX EMINENT ORATORS. 461 merit, who are totally unlike each other ; for none could be more so than Cotta and Sulpicius, and yet both of them were far superior to any of their contemporaries. It is therefore the business of every intelligent master to notice what is the natural bent of his pupil's capacity ; and taking that for his guide, to imitate the conduct of Isocrates with his two scho- lars Theopompus and Ephorus, who, after remarking the lively genius of the former, and the mild and timid bashfulness of the latter, is reported to have said, that he applied a spur to the one, and a curb to the other. The orations now extant, which bear the name of Sulpicius, are supposed to have been written after his decease by my contemporary Publius Ca- nutius, a man indeed of inferior rank, but who, in my mind, had a great command of language. But we have not a single speech of Sulpicius that was really his own ; for I have often heard him say, that he neither had, nor ever could commit anything of the kind to writing. And as to Cotta's speech in defence of himself, called a vindication of the Varian law, it was composed, at his own request, by Lucius JElius. This ^Elius was a man of merit, and a very worthy Roman knight, who was thoroughly versed in Greek and Roman literature. He had likewise a critical knowledge of the antiquities of his country, both as to the date and particulars of every new improvement, and every memorable transaction, and was perfectly well read in the ancient writers ; a branch of learning in which he was succeeded by our friend Varro, a man of genius, and of the most extensive erudition, who after- wards enlarged the plan by many valuable collections of his own, and gave a much fuller and more elegant system of it to the public. For ^Elius himself chose to assume the character of a Stoic, and neither aimed to be, nor ever was an orator ; but he composed several orations for other people to pro- nounce ; as, for Quintus Metellus. Fabius Quintus Csepio, and Quintus Pompeius Rufus ; though the latter composed those speeches himself whijh he spoke in his own defence, but not without the assistance of jiElius. For I myself was present at the writing of them, in the younger part of my life, when I used to attend -^Elius for the benefit of his instructions. But I am surprised that Cctta, who was really an excellent orator, and a man of good learning, should be willing that the trifling speeches of ^Elius should be published to the world &s his. LVII. " To the two above-mentioned, uo third person of 462 BRUTUS; OB, the same age was esteemed an equal ; Pomponius, howevw was a speaker much to my taste ; or, at least, I have very little fault to find with him. But there was no employment for any in capital causes, excepting for those I have already mentioned ; because Antonius, who was always courted on these occasions, was very ready to give his service ; and Crassus, though not so compilable, generally consented, on any pressing solicitation, to give his. Those who had not interest enough to engage either of these, commonly applied to Philippus or Csesar ; but when Cotta and Sulpicius were at liberty, they generally had the preference ; so that all the causes in which any honour was to be acquired, were pleaded by these six orators. We may add, that trials were not so frequent then as they are at present ; neither did people employ, as they do now, several pleaders on the same side of the question ; a practice which is attended with many dis- advantages. For hereby we are often obliged to speak in reply to those whom we had not an opportunity of hearing ; in which case, what has been alleged on the opposite side, is often represented to us either falsely or imperfectly ; and besides, it is a very material circumstance, that I myself should be present to see with what countenance my antago- nist supports his allegations, and, still more so, to observe the effect of every part of his discourse upon the audience. And as every defence should be conducted upon one uniform plan, nothing can be more improperly contrived, than to recommence it by assigning the peroration, or pathetical part of it, to a second advocate. For every cause can have but one natural introduction and conclusion ; and all the other parts of it, like the members of an animal body, will best retain their proper strength and beauty, when they are regu- larly disposed and connected. We may add, that, as it is very difficult in a single oration of any length, to avoid saying something which does not comport with the rest of it so well as it ought to do, how much more difficult must it be to con- trive that nothing shall be said, which does not tally exactly with the speech of another person who has spoken before you ? But as it certainly requires more labour to plead a whole cause, than only a part of it, and as many advantageous con- nexions are formed by assisting in a suit in which several persons are interested, the custom, however preposterous in itself, lias been readily adopted. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 463 LVIII. " There were some, however, who esteemed Curie the third best orator of the age ; perhaps, because his lan- guage \vas brilliant and pompous, and because he had a habit (for which I suppose he was indebted to his domestic educa- tion) of expressing himself with tolerable correctness ; for he was a man of very little learning. But it is a circumstance of great importance, what sort of people we are used to con- verse with at home, especially in the more early part of life; and what sort of language we have been accustomed to hear from our tutors and parents, not excepting the mother. We have all read the letters of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi ; and are satisfied, that her sons were not so much nurtured in their mother's lap, as in the elegance and purity of her language. I have often too enjoyed the agree- able conversation of Lselia, the daughter of Caius, and ob- served in her a strong tincture of her father's elegance. I have likewise conversed with his two daughters, the Mucise, and his grand-daughters, the two Licinise, with one of whom (the wife of Scipio) you, my Brutus, I believe, have some- times been in company." " I have," replied he, " and was much pleased with her conversation ; and the more so, because she was the daughter of Crassus." " And what think you," said I, " of Crassus the son of that Licinia, who was adopted by Crassus in his will?" "He is said," replied he, " to have been a man of great genius ; and the Scipio you have mentioned, who was my colleague, likewise appears to me to have been a good speaker, and an elegant companion." " Your opinion, my Brutus," said I, " is very just. For thia family, if I may be allowed the expression, seems to have been the offspring of wisdom. As to their two grandfathers, Scipio and Crassus, we have taken notice of them already ; as we also have of their great grandfathers, Quintus Metellus, who had four sons ; Publius Scipio, who, when a private citizen, rescued the republic from the arbitrary influence of Tiberius Gracchus ; and Quintus Scsevola, the augur, who was the ablest and most affable civilian of his time. And lastly, how illustrious are the names of their next immediate progenitors, Publius Scipio, who was twice consul, and was called the darling of the people; and Caius Lselius, who was esteemed the wisest of men." "A generous stock indeed!" cried Brutus, " into which the wisdom of many has been succes- sively ingrafted, like a number of scions on the same tree !" 464 BRUTUS; OK, LIX. " I have likewise a suspicion," replied I, " (if w may compare small things with great,) that Curio's family, though he himself was left an orphan, vas indebted to his father's instruction, and good example, for the habitual purity of their language ; and so much the more, because, of all those who were held in any estimation for their elo- quence, I never knew one who was so totally uninformed and unskilled in every branch of liberal science. He had not read a single poet, or studied a single orator ; and he knew little or nothing either of public, civil, or common law. We might say almost the same, indeed, of several others, and Borne of them very able orators, who (we know) were but little acquainted with these useful parts of knowledge ; as, for instance, of Sulpicius and Antonius. But this deficiency was supplied in them by an elaborate knowledge of the art of speaking ; and there was not one of them who was totally unqualified in any of the five 1 principal parts of which it is composed ; for whenever this is the case, (and it matters not in which of those parts it happens,) it entirely incapacitates a man to shine as an orator. Some, however, excelled in one part, and some in another. Thus Antonius could readily invent such arguments as were most in point, and afterwards digest and methodize them to the best advan- tage; and he could likewise retain the plan he had formed with great exactness ; but his chief merit was the goodness of his delivery, in which he was justly allowed to excel. In some of these qualifications he was upon an equal footing with Crassus, and in others he was superior; but then the lan- guage of Crassus was indisputably preferable to his. In the same manner, it cannot be said that either Sulpicius or Cotta, or any other speaker of repute, was absolutely deficient in any one of the five parts of oratory. But we may justly infei from the example of Curio, that nothing will more recommend an orator, than a brilliant and ready flow of expression ; for he was remarkably dull in the invention, and very loose and unconnected in the disposition, of his arguments. LX. " The two remaining parts are, pronunciation and memory ; in each of which he was so miserably defective, as to excite the laughter and the ridicule of his hearers. Hig gesture was really such as Caius Julius represented it, in a severe sarcasm, that will never be forgotten ; for as he was 1 Invention, disposition, elocution, memory, and pronunciation. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATOHS, 4G5 swaying and reeling his whole body from side to side, Julius facetiously inquired who it was t/iat was speaking from a boat 1 To the same purpose was the jest of Cneeus Sicinius, a man very vulgar, but exceedingly humorous, which was the omy qualification he had to recommend him as an orator. When this man, as tribune of the people, had summoned Curio and Octavius, who were then consuls, into the forum, and Curio had delivered a tedious harangue, while Octavius sat silently by him, wrapt up in flannels, and besmeared with ointments, to ease the pain of ths gout ; Octavius, said he, you are infinitely obliged to your colleague; for if he had not tossed and flung himself about, to-day, in the manner he did, you would certainly have been devoured by the flies. As to his memory, it was so extremely treacherous, that after he had divided his subject into three general heads, he would sometimes, in the course of speaking, either add a fourth, or omit the third. In a capital trial, in which I had pleaded for Titinia, the daughter of Cotta, when he attempted to reply to me in defence of Servius Nsevius, he suddenly forgot every- thing he intended to say, and attributed it to the pretended witchcraft and magic artifices of Titinia. These were un- doubted proofs of the weakness of his memory. But, what is still more inexcusable, he sometimes forgot, even in his written treatises, what he had mentioned but a little before. Thus, in a book of his. in which he introduces himself as en- tering into conversation with our friend Pansa, and his son Curio, when he was walking home from the senate-house ; the senate is supposed to have been summoned by Caesar in his first consulship ; and the whole conversation arises from the son's inquiry, what the house had resolved upon. Curio launches out into a long invective against the conduct of Caesar, and as is generally the custom in dialogues, the parties are engaged in a close dispute on the subject; but very un- happily, though the conversation commences at the breaking up of the senate which Caesar held when he was first consul, the author censures those very actions of the same Caesar, which did not happen till the next, and several other suc- ceeding years of his government in Gaul." LXI. " Is it possible then," said Brutus, with an air of surprise, "that any man (and especially in a written per- formance) could be so forgetful as not to discover, upon a subsequent perusal of his own work, what au egreghui 4OT BRUTUS ; OR, blunder he had committed?" " Very true," said I ; " for if he wrote with a design to discredit the measures which he represents in such an odious light, nothing could be more atupid than not to commence his dialogue at a period which was subsequent to those measures. But he so entirely forgets himself, as to tell us, that he did not choose to attend a senate which was held in one of Caesar's future consulships, in the very same dialogue in which he introduces himself ai returning home from a senate which was held in his first consulship. It cannot, therefore, be wondered at, that he who was so remarkably defective in a faculty which is the handmaid of our other intellectual powers, as to forget, even ,,t a written treatise, a material circumstance which he had mentioned but a little before, should find his memory fail him, ns it generally did, in a sudden and unpremeditated harangue. It accordingly happened, though he had many connexions, and was fond of speaking in public, that few causes were intrusted to his management. But, among his contem- poraries, he was esteemed next in merit to the first orators of the age; and that merely, as I said before, for his good choice of words, and his uncommon readiness, and great fluency of expression. His orations, therefore, may deserve a cursory perusal. It is true, indeed, they are much too lan- guid and spiritless ; but they may yet be of service to enlarge and improve an accomplishment, of which he certainly had a moderate share ; and which has so much force and efficacy, that it gave Curio the appearance and reputation of an orator without the assistance of any other good quality. LXII. " But to return to our subject ; Caius Carbo, of the same age, was likewise reckoned an orator of the second class ; he was the son, indeed, of the truly eloquent man before mentioned, but was far from being an acute speaker himself; he was, however, esteemed an orator. His lan- guage was tolerably nervous, he spoke with ease ; and there was an air of authority in his address that was perfectly natural. But Quintus Varius was a man of quicker inven- tion, and, at the same time, had an equal freedom of expres- sion ; besides which, he had a bold and spirited delivery, and a vein of elocution which was neither poor, nor coarse ano vulgar ; in short, you need not hesitate to pronounce him an orator. Cnseus Pomponius was a vehement, a rousing, and a fierce and eager speaker, and more inclined to act the part o* EMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 467 a prosecutor, than of an advocate. But far inferior to these was Lucius Fufius ; though his application was, in some measure, rewarded by the success of his prosecution against Maniua Aquilius. For as to Marcus Drusus, your great uncle, who spoke like an orator only upon matters of government ; Lucius Lucullus, who was indeed an artful speaker, and your father, my Brutus, who was well acquainted with the common and civil law; Marcus Lucullus, and Marcus Octavius, the son of Cneeus, who was a man of so much authority and address, as to pro- cure the repeal of Sempronius's corn-act, by the suffrages of a full assembly of the people ; Cnseus Octavius, the son of Marcus; and Marcus Cato, the father, and Quintus Catulus, the son ; we must excuse these (if I may so express myself) from the fatigues and dangers of the field, that is, from the management of judicial causes, and place them in garrison over the general interests of the republic, a duty to which they seem to have been sufficiently adequate. I should have assigned the same post to Quintus Csepio, if he had not been so violently attached to the equestrian order, as to set him- self at variance with the senate. I have also remarked, that Cnseus Carbo, Marcus Marius, and several others of the same stamp, who would not have merited the attention of an audience that had any taste for elegance, were extremely well suited to address a tumultuous crowd. In the same class (if I may be allowed to interrupt the series of my narrative) Lucius Quintius lately made his appearance; though Pali- canus, it must be owned, was still better adapted to please the ears of the populace. But, as I have mentioned this in- ferior kind of speakers, I must be so just to Lucius Apuleius Saturninus, as to observe that, of all the factious declaimers since the time of the Gracchi, he was generally esteemed the ablest; and yet he caught the attention of the public more by his appearance, his gesture, and his dress, than by any real fluency of expression, or even a tolerable share cf good sense. But Caius Servilius Glaucia, though the most aban- doned wretch that ever existed, was very keen and artful, and excessively humorous; and notwithstanding the mean- ness of his birth, and the depravity of his life, he would have been advanced to the dignity of a consul in his prcetorship, if it had been judged lawful to admit his suit ; for the populace were entirely at his devotion, and he had secured the interest of the knights by an act he had procured in their favour. II H 2 468 BRUTUS; on, He was slain in the open forum, while ne was prsetor, on the same day as the tribune Saturninus, in the consulship of Marius and Flaccus : and bore a near resemblance to Hyper- bolus, the Athenian, whose profligacy was so severely stigma- tized in the old Attic comedies. These were succeeded by Sextus Titius, who was indeed a voluble speaker, and pos sessed a ready comprehension ; but he was so loose and effe- minate in his gesture, as to furnish room for the invention of a dance, which was called the Titian jig ; so careful should we be to avoid every peculiarity in our manner of speaking, which may afterwards be exposed to ridicule by a ludicrous imitation. LXIII. " But we have rambled back insensibly to a period which has been already examined : let us, therefore, return to that which we were reviewing a little before. Contemporary with Sulpicius was Publius Antistius, a plausible declaimer, who, after being silent for several years, and exposed (as he often was) not only to the contempt, but the derision of his hearers, first spoke with applause in his tribuneship, in a real and very interesting protest against the illegal application of Caius Julius for the consulship ; and that so much the more, because, though Sulpicius himself, who then happened to be his colleague, spoke on the same side of the debate, Antistius argued more copiously, and to better purpose. This raised his reputation so high, that many, and (soon afterwards) every cause of importance, was eagerly recommended to his patronage. To speak the truth, he had a quick conception, a methodical judgment, and a retentive memory ; and though his language was not much embellished, it was very far from being low. In short, his style was easy and flowing, and his appearance rather gentlemanly than otherwise ; but his action was a little defective, partly through the disagreeable tone oi his voice, and partly by a few ridiculous gestures, of which he could not entirely break himself. He flourished in the time between the flight and the return of Sylla, when tho republic was deprived of a regular administration of justice, and of its former dignity and splendour. But the reception which he met with was the more favourabb, as the forum was in a measure destitute of good orators. For Sulpiciua was dead ; Cotta and Curio were abroad ; and no pleaders of eminence were left but Carbo and Pomponius, from each of whom he easily carried off the palm. REMARKS ON" EMINENT ORATORS. 46S LXIV. " His nearest successor in the following age wan Lucius Sisenna, who was a man of learning, had a taste for the liberal sciences, spoke the Roman language with accuracy; was well acquainted with the laws and constitution of hia country, and had a tolerable share of wit ; but he was not a speaker of any great application, or extensive practice ; and as he happened to live in the intermediate time between the appearance of Sulpicius and Hortensius, he was unable to equal the former, and forced to yield to the superior talents of the latter. We may easily form a judgment of his abilities from the historical works he has left behind him ; which, though evidently preferable to anything of the kind which had appeared before, may serve as a proof that he was far below the standard of perfection, and that this species of composi- tion had not then been improved to any great degree of excellence among the Romans. But the genius of Quintus Hortensius, even in his early youth, like one of Phidias's sta- tues, was no sooner beheld than it was universally admired ! He spoke his first oration in the forum in the consulship of Lu- cius Crassus and Quintus Scsevola, to whom it was personally addressed ; and though he was then only nineteen years old, lie descended from the rostra with the hearty approbation not only of the audience in general, but of the two consuls themselves, who were the most intelligent judges in the whole city. He died in the consulship of Lucius Paulus and Caius Marcellus; from which it appears that he was four- and-forty years a pleader. We shall review his character more at large in the sequel ; but in this part of my history, I chose to include him in the number of orators who were rather of an earlier date. This indeed must necessarily happen to all whose lives are of any considerable length ; for they are equally liable to a comparison with their elders and their juniors; as in the case of the poet Attius, who says that both he and Pacuvius applied themselves to the cultiva- tion of the drama under the same sediles; though, at the time, the one was eighty, and the other only thirty years old. Thus Hortensius may be compared not only with those who vere properly his contemporaries, but with me, and you, my Brutus, and with others of a prior date. For he began to speak in public while Crassus was living ; but his fame increased when he appeared as a joint advocate with Antonius and Philippus (at that time in the decline of life) in defence of 470 BRUTUS; OR. Cnseus Pompeius, a cause in which (though a mere youth) he distinguished himself above the rest. He may therefore be included in the list of those whom I have placed in the time of Sulpicius ; but among his proper coevals, such as Marcus Piso, Marcus Crassus, Cnaeus Lentulus, and Publius Lentulus Sura, he excelled beyond the reach of competition ; and after these he happened upon me, in the early part of my life (for I was eight years younger than himself), and spent a number of years with me in pursuit of the same forensic glory ; and at last, (a little before his death,) he once pleaded with you, in defence of Appius Claudius, as I have frequently done for others. LXV. " Thus you see, my Brutus, I am come insensibly to yourself, though there was undoubtedly a great variety of orators between my first appearance in the forum, and yours. But as I determined, when we began the conversation, to make no mention of those among them who are still living, to prevent your inquiring too minutely what is my opinion concerning each ; I shall confine myself to such as are now no more." " That is not the true reason," said Brutus, " why you choose to be silent about the living." " What then do you suppose it to be f said I. " You are only fearful," replied he, " that your remarks should afterwards be men- tioned by us in other company, and that, by this means, you should expose yourself to the resentment of those whom you may not think it worth your while to notice." " Indeed," answered I, " I have not the least doubt of your secrecy." " Neither have you any reason," said he ; " but after all, I suppose, you had rather be silent yourself, than rely upon our taciturnity." " To confess the truth," replied I, " when I first entered upon the subject, I never imagined that I should have extended it to the age now before us ; whereas I have been drawn by a continued series of history among the moderns of latest date." " Introduce, then," said he, " those intermediate orators you may think worthy of our notice ; and afterwards let us return to yourself, and Hortensius." " To Hortensius," replied I, " with all my heart ; but as to my own character, I shall leave it to other people to examine, if they choose to take the trouble." " I can by no means agree to that," said he ; " for though every part of the account you have favoured us with, has entertained me very agreeably, it now begins to seem tedious, because I arn REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 471 Impatient to hear something of yourself; I do not mean the wonderful qualities, but the progressive steps, and the advances of your eloquence; for the former are sufficiently known already both to me, and the whole world." " As you do not require me," said I, " to sound the praises of my own genius, but only to describe my labour and application to improve it, your request shall be complied with. But to preserve the order of my narrative, I shall first introduce such other speakers as I think ought to be previously noticed. " And I shall begin with Marcus Crassus, who was con- temporary with Hortensius. LXVI. With a tolerable share of learning, and a very moderate capacity, his application, assiduity, and interest, procured him a place among the ablest pleaders of the time for several years. His language was pure, his expression neither low nor vulgar, and his ideas well digested ; but he had nothing in him that was florid av;d ornamental ; and the real ardour of his mind was not si ported by any vigorous exertion 01 his voice, so that he pronounced almost everything in the same uniform tone. His equal, and professed antagonist, Caius Fimbria, was not able to maintain his character so long ; and though he always spoke with a strong and elevated voice, and poured forth a rapid torrent of well-chosen expressions, he was so im- moderately vehement that you might justly be surprised that the people should have been so absent and inattentive as to admit a madman, like him. into the list of orators. As to Cnaeus Lentulus, his action acquired him a reputation for his eloquence very far beyond his real abilities; for though he was not a man of any great penetration (notwithstanding he carried the appearance of it in his countenance), nor possessed any real fluency of expression (though he was equally specious in this respect as in the former), yet by his sudden breaks, and exclamations, he affected such an ironical air of surprise, with a sweet and sonorous tone of voice, and his whole action was so warm and lively, that his defects were scarcely noticed. For as Curio acquired the reputation of an orator with no other quality than a tolerable freedom of elocution, BO Cnseus Lentulus concealed the mediocrity of his other accomplishments by his action, which was really excellent. Much tho same might be said of Publius Lentulus, whose poverty of invention and expression was secured from notice by the mere dignity of his presence. ln& correct and graceful 472 BRUTUS; OR, gesture, and the strength and sweetness of his voice; and his merit depended so entirely upon his action, that he was more deficient in every other quality than his namesake. LXVII. " But Marcus Piso derived all his talents from his erudition ; for he was much better versed in Grecian literature than any of his predecessors. He had, however, a natural keenness of discernment, which he greatly improved by art, and exerted with great address and dexterity, though in very indifferent language; but he was frequently warm and choleric, sometimes cold and insipid, and now and then rather smart and humorous. He did not long support the fatigue and emulous contention of the forum ; partly on account of the weakness of his constitution ; and partly, because he could not submit to the follies and impertinences of the common people (which we orators are forced to swallow), either, as it was generally supposed, from a peculiar moroseness of temper, or from a liberal and ingenuous pride of heart. After acquiring, therefore, in his youth, a tolerable degree of reputation, his character began to sink ; but in the trial of the Vestals, he again recovered it with some additional lustre, and being thus recalled to the theatre of eloquence, he kept his rank, as long as he was able to support the fatigue of it; after which his credit declined, in proportion as he remitted his application. Publius Murena had a moderate genius, but was passionately fond of the study of antiquity; he applied himself with equal diligence to the belles lettres, in which he was tolerably versed ; in short, he was a man of great industry, and took the utmost pains to distinguish himself. Caius Censorinus had a good stock of Grecian literature, explained whatever he advanced with great neat- ness and perspicuity, and had a graceful action, but was too cold and inanimate for the forum. Lucius Turius, with a very indifferent genius, but the most indefatigable applica- tion, spoke in public very often, in the best manner he was able ; and, accordingly, ho only wanted the votes of a few centuries to promote him to the consulship. Caius Mtcer was never a man of much interest or authority, but was one of the most active pleaders of his time ; and if his life, his manners, and his very looks, had not ruined the credit of his genius, he would have ranked higher in the list of orators. He was neither copious, nor dry and barren ; neither neat and embellished, nor wholly inelegant ; and his voice, hia REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 473 gesture, and every part of his action, was without any grace ; but in inventing and digesting his ideas, he had a won- derful accuracy, such as no man I ever saw either possessed or exerted in a more eminent degree ; and yet, somehow, he displayed it rather with the air of a quibbler, than of an orator. Though he had acquired some reputation in public causes, he appeared to most advantage and was most courted and employed in private ones. LXV1II. " Caius Piso, who comes next in order, had scarcely any exertion, but he was a speaker who adopted a very familiar style ; and though, in fact, he was far from being slow of invention, he had more penetration in his look and appearance than he really possessed. His contemporary, Marcus Glabrio, though carefully instructed by his grandfather Scsevola, was prevented from distinguishing himself by his natural indolence and want of attention. Lucius Torquatus, on the contrary, had an elegant turn of expression, and a clear comprehension, and was perfectly polite and well-bred in his whole manner. But Cnseus Pompeius, my coeval, a man who was born to excel in everything, would have acquired a more distinguished reputation for his eloquence, if he had not been diverted from the pursuit of it by the more dazzling charms of military fame. His language was naturally bold and elevated, and he was always master of his subject ; and as to his powers of enunciation, his voice was sonorous and manly, and his gesture noble and full of dignity. Decimus Silanus, another of my contemporaries, and your father-in- law, was not a man of much application, but he had a very competent share of discernment and elocution. Quintus Pompeius, the son of Aulus, who had the title of Biihynicus, and was about two years older than myself, was, to my own knowledge, remarkably fond of the study of eloquence, had an uncommon stock of learning, and was a man of indefatigable industry and perseverance ; for he was connected with Marcus Piso and me, not only as an intimate acquaintance, but as an associate in our studies and private exercises. His elocution was but ill recommended by his action ; for though the former was sufficiently copious and diffusive, there was nothing graceful in the latter. His contemporary, Publiua Autrouius, had a very clear and strong voice ; but he w*a distinguished by no other accomplishment. Lucius Octivivfl Keatinus died in his youth, while he was in full practice ; but 474 BRUTUS; OR, he ascended the rostra with more assurance than ability, Caius Staienus, who changed his name i*to ^Elius by a kind of self-adoption, was a warm, an abusive, and indeed a furious speaker; which was so agreeable to the taste of many, that he would have risen to some rank in the state, if it had not been for a crime of which he was clearly convicted, and for which he afterwards suffered. LXIX. " At the same time were the two brothers Cains and Lucius Csepasius, who, though men cf an obscure family and little previous consequence, were yet, by mere dint of application, suddenly promoted to the quaestorship, with no other recommendation than a provincial and unpolished kind of oratory. That I may not seem wilfully to omit any de- claimer, I must also notice Caius Cosconius Calidianus, who, without any discernment, amused the people with a rapidity of language (if such it might be called) which he attended with a perpetual hurry of action, and a most violent exertion of his voice. Of much the same cast was Quintus Arrius. who may be considered as a second-hand Marcus Crassus. He is a striking proof of what consequence it is in such a city as ours to devote oneself to the interests of the many. and to be as active as possible in promoting their safety, or their honour. For by these means, though of the lowest parentage, having raised himself to offices of rank, and to considerable wealth and influence, he likewise acquired the reputation of a tolerable patron, without either learning or abilities. But as inexperienced champions, who, from a pas- sionate desire to distinguish themselves in the circus, can bear the blows of their opponents without shrinking, are often overpowered by the heat of the sun, when it is increased by the reflection of the sand ; so he, who had hitherto supported even the sharpest encounters with good success, could not stand the severity of that year of judicial contest, which blazed upon him like a summer's sun." " Upon my word," cried Atticus, " you are now treating us with the very dregs of oratory, and you have entertained us in this manner for some time ; but I did not offer to inter- rupt you, because I never dreamed you would have descended BO low as to mention the Staieni and Autronii /" " As I havft been speaking of the dead, you will not imagine, I suppose,* said I, " that I have done It to court their favour ; but in pursuing the order of history, [ was necessarily led by degreei REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 475 to a period of time which falls within the compass of our own knowledge. But I wish it to be noticed, that after recount- ing all who ever ventured to speak in public, we find but few (very few indued !) whose names are worth recording ; and not many who had even the repute of being orators. Let us, however, return to our subject. LXX. " Titus Torquatus, then, the son of Titus, was a man of learning, (which he first acquired in the school of Molo in Rhodes,) and of a free and easy elocution which he received from nature. If he had lived to a proper age, he would have been chosen consul, without any solicitation ; but he had more ability for speaking, than inclination ; so that, in fact, he did not do justice to the art he professed ; and yet he was never wanting to his duty, either in the pri- vate causes of his friends and dependents, or in his senatorial capacity. My townsman, too, Marcus Pontidius, pleaded a number of private causes. He had a rapidity of expression, and a tolerable quickness of comprehension ; but he was very warm, and indeed rather too choleric and irascible ; so that he often wrangled, not only with his antagonist, but (what appears very strange) with the judge himself, whom it was rather his business to sooth and gratify. Marcus Messala, who was something younger than myself, was far from being a poor and abject pleader, and yet he was not a very ele- gant one. He was judicious, penetrating, and wary, very exact in digesting and methodizing his subject, and a man of uncommon diligence and application, and of very extensive practice. As to the two Metelli, (Celer and Nepos,) these also had a moderate share of employment at the bar ; but being destitute neither of learning nor abilities, they chiefly applied themselves (and with some success) to debates of a more popular kind. But Cneeus Lentulus Marcellinus, who was never reckoned a bad speaker, was esteemed a very eloquent one in his consulship. He wanted neither sentiment nor expression ; his voice was sweet and sonorous ; and he had a sufficient stock of humour. Caius Memmius, the son of Lucius, was a perfect adept in the learning of the Greeks ; for he had an insuperable disgust to the literature of the Romans. Ho was a neat and polished speaker, and had a sweet and harmo- nious turn of expression ; but as he was equally averse to every laborious effort either of the mind or the tongue, hig eloquence declined in proportion as he lessened his application." 476 BRUTUS ; OK, LX.XI. " But I heartily wish," said Brutus, " that you would give us your opinion of those orators who are still living ; or, if you are determined to say nothing of the rest, there are two at least, (that is, Csesar and Marcellus, whom I have often heard you speak of with the highest approba- tion,) whose characters would give me as much entertainment as any of those you have already specified." " But why," answered I, " should you expect that I should give you my opinion of men who are as well known to yourself as to me V " Marcellus, indeed," replied he, " I am very well acquainted with ; but as to Csesar, I know little of him. For I have heard the former very often ; but by the time I was able to iudge for myself, the latter had set out for his province." " But what," said I, " think you of him whom you have heard so often? " "What else can I think," replied he, "but that you will soon have an orator, who will very nearly resemble your- self? " " If that is the case," answered I, " pray think of him as favourably as you can." " I do," said he ; " for he pleases me very highly ; and not without reason. He is absolutely master of his profession, and, neglecting every other, has applied himself solely to this ; and, foi that purpose, has persevered in the rigorous task of composing a daily essay in writing. His words are well chosen ; his language is full and copious ; and everything he says receives an additional ornament from the graceful tone of his voice, and the dignity of his action. Tn short, he is so complete an orator, that there is no quality I know of, in which I can think him defi- cient. But he is still more to be admired, for being able, in these unhappy times, (which are marked with a distress that, by some cruel fatality, has overwhelmed us all,) to console himself, as opportunity offers, with the consciousness of his own integrity, and by the frequent renewal of his literary pursuits. I saw him lately at Mitylene ; and then (as I have already hinted) I saw him a thorough man. For though 1 had before discovered in him a strong resemblance of your- self, the likeness was much improved after he was enriched by the instructions of your learned and very intimate friend Cratippus." " Though I acknowledge," said I, " that I have listened with pleasure to your eulogies on a very worthy man, for whom I have the warmest esteem, they have led me insensibly to the recollection of our common miseries, which our present conversation was intended to suspend. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 477 But I would willingly hear what is Atticus's opinion of Caesar." LXXII. " Upon my word," replied Atticus, "you are wonderfully consistent with your plan, to say nothing your- self of the living ; and indeed, if you were to deal with them, as you already have with the dead, and say something of every paltry fellow that occurs to your memory, you would plague us with Autronii and Staieni without end. But though you might possibly have it in view not to encumber yourself with such a numerous crowd of insignificant wretches; or perhaps, to avoid giving any one room to complain that he was either unnoticed, or not extolled according to his ima- ginary merit ; yet, certainly, you might have said something of Caesar ; especially, as your opinion of his abilities is well known to everybody, and his concerning yours is very far from being a secret. But, however," said he, (addressing himself to Brutus,) " I really think of Csesar, and everybody else says the same of this accurate master in the art of speak- ing, that he has the purest and the most elegant command of the Roman language of all the orators that have yet appeared ; and that not merely by domestic habit, as we have lately heard it observed of the families of the Lselii and the Mucii, (though even here, I believe, this might partly have been the case,) but he chiefly acquired and brought it to its present perfection, by a studious application to the most intricate and refined branches of literature, and by a careful and constant attention to the purity of his style. But that he, who, involved as he was in a perpetual hurry of business, could dedicate to you, my Cicero, a laboured treatise on the art of speaking correctly ; that he, who, in the first book of it, laid it down as an axiom, that an accurate choice of words is the foundation of elo- quence ; and who has bestowed," said he, (addressing himself again to Brutus,) " the highest encomiums on this friend of ours, who yet chooses to leave Caesar's character to me; that he should be a perfect master of the language of polite con- versation, is a circumstance which is almost too obvious to be mentioned. I said, the highest encomiums" pursued Atticus, " because he says in so many words, when he addresses himself to Cicero, ' If others have bestowed all their time and atten- tion to acquire a habit of expressing themselves with ease and correctness, how much is the name and dignity of the Roman people indebted to you, who are the highest pattern, aud 478 BRUTUS; OR, indeed the first inventor of that rich fertility of language which distinguishes your performances.'" LXXIII. "Indeed," said Brutus, "I think he has extolled your merit in a very friendly and a very magnificent style ; for you are not only the highest pattern, and even the first inventor of all our fertility of language, which alone is praise enough to content any reasonable man, but you have added fresh honours to the name and dignity of the Roman people ; for the very excellence in which we had hitherto been con- quered by the vanquished Greeks, has now been either wrested from their hands, or equally shared, at least, between us and them. So that I prefer this honourable testimony of Caesar, I will not say to the public thanksgiving which was decreed for your own military services, but to the triumphs of many heroes." " Very true," replied I, " provided this honourable testimony was really the voice of Caesar's judgment, and not of his friendship ; for he certainly has added more to the dignity of the Roman people, whoever he may be, (if indeed any such man has yet existed,) who has not only exemplified and enlarged, but first produced this rich fertility of expres- sion, than the doughty warriors who have stormed a few paltry castles of the Ligurians, which have furnished us, you know, with many repeated triumphs. In reality, if we can submit to hear the truth, it may be asserted (to say nothing of those godlike plans, which, supported by the wisdom of our generals, have frequently saved the sinking state both abroad and at home) that an orator is justly entitled to the preference to any commander in a petty war. But the general, yoti will say, is the more serviceable man to the public. Nobody denies it : and yet (for I am not afraid of provoking your censure, in a conversation which leaves each of us at liberty to say what he thinks) I had rather be the author of the single oration of Crassus, in defence of Curius, than be honoured with two Ligurian triumphs. You will, perhaps, reply, that the storming a castle of the Ligurians was a thing of more consequence to the state, than that the claim of Curius should be ably supported. This I own to be true. But it was also of more consequence to the Athenians, that their houses should be securely roofed, than to have their city graced with a most beautiful statue of Minerva ; and yet, notwithstanding this, I would much rather Lave been a Phidias, than the most skilful joiner in Athens. In the RKMAUKS ON EMINENT OIUTORG. 479 present case therefore, we are not to consider a man's useful- ness but tne strength of his abilities; especially as the number of painters and statuaries who have excelled in their profession, is very small; whereas there can never be any want of joiners and mechanical labourers. LXXIV. But proceed, my Atticus, with Caesar ; and oblige us with the remainder of his character." " We see then," said he, " from what has just been mentioned, that a pure and correct style is the groundwork, and the very basis and foundation, upon which an orator must build his other accomplishments ; though it is true, that those who had hitherto possessed it, derived it more from early habit, than from any principles of art. It is needless to refer you to the instances of Lselius and Scipio ; for a purity of language, as well as of manners, was the characteristic of the age they lived in. It could not, indeed, be applied to every one ; for their two contemporaries, Csecilius and Pacuvius, spoke very incorrectly ; but yet people in general who had not resided out of the city nor been cor- rupted by any domestic barbarisms, spoke the Roman lan- guage with purity. Time, however, as well at Rome as in Greece, soon altered matters for the worse ; for this city (as had formerly been the case at Athens) was resorted to by a crowd of adventurers from different parts, who spoke very corruptly; which shows the necessity of reforming our lan- guage, and reducing it to a certain standard, which shall not be liable to vary like the capricious laws of custom. Though we were then very young, we can easily remember Titus Flamininus, who was joint-consul with Quintus Metellus ; he was supposed to speak his native language with correctness, but was a man of no literature. As to Catulus, he was far indeed from being destitute cl learning, as you have already observed; but his reputed purity of diction was chiefly owing to the sweetness of his voice and the delicacy of his accent. Cotta, who, by his broad pronunciation, lost all resemblance of the elegant tone of the Greeks, and affected a harsh and rustic utterance, quite opposite to that of Catulus, acquired the same reputation of correctness, by pursuing a wild and unfrequented path. But Sisenna, -ffho had the am- bition to think of reforming our phraseology, could not be lashed out of his whimsical and new-fangled turns of expres- sion, by all the raillery of Caius Rusius." " What do you refer to ?" said Brutus ; " and who was the Caius. Rusius you ara 4SO BRUTUS ; OR, speaking of?" " He was a noted prosecutor," replied he, " some years ago. When this man had supported an indict- ment against one Caius Rutilius, Sisenna, who was counsel for the defendant, told him, that several parts of his accu- sation were spitatical. 1 LXXV. My lords, cried Rusius to the judges, I shall be cruelly over-reached, unless you give me your assistance. His charge overpowers my com' prehension; and I am afraid he has some unfair design upon me. What, in the name of heaven, can he intend by SPITATICAL? I know the meaning O/SPIT, or SPITTLE; but this horrid ATIOAL, at the end of it, absolutely puzzles me. The whole bench laughed very heartily at the singular oddity of the expression ; my old friend, however, was still of opinion, that to speak correctly, was to speak differently from other people. " But Caesar, who was guided by the principles of art, has corrected the imperfections of a vicious custom, by adopting the rules and improvements of a good one, as he found them occasionally displayed in the course of polite conversation. Accordingly, to the purest elegance of expression, (which is equally necessary to every well-bred citizen, as to an orator,) he has added all the various ornaments of elocution ; so that he seems to exhibit the finest painting in the most advan- tageous point of view. As he has such extraordinary merit even in the tenor of his language, I must confess that there is no person I know of, to whom he should yield the prefer- ence. Besides, his manner of speaking, both as to his voice and gesture, is splendid and noble, without the least appear- ance of artifice or affectation ; and there is a dignity in his very presence, which bespeaks a great and elevated mind." " Indeed," said Brutus, " his orations please me highly ; for I have had the satisfaction to read several of them. He haa likewise written some commentaries, or short memoirs, of his own transactions." " And such," said I, " as merit the highest approbation ; for they are plain, correct, and graceful, and divested of all the ornaments of language, so as to appear (if I may be allowed the expression) in a kind of undress. But while he pretended only to furnish the loose materials, for such as might be inclined to compose a regular history, 1 la the original tputatUica, worthy to be spit upon. It appears, from the connexion, to have been a word whimsically derived by tba author of 't from sputa, spittle. REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 481 be may, perhaps, have gratified the vanity of a few literary frisseurs; but he has certainly prevented all sensible men from attempting any improvement on his plan. For, in his- tory, nothing is more pleasing than a correct and elegant brevity of expression. With your leave, however, it is high time to return to those orators who have quitted the stage of life. LXXVI. " Caius Sicinius, then, who was a grandson of the censor Quintus Pompey, by one of his daughters, died after his advancement to the qusestorship. He was a speaker of some merit and reputation, which he derived from the system of Hermagoras ; who, though he furnished but little assist- ance for acquiring an ornamental style, gave many useful precepts to expedite and improve the invention of an orator. For in this system we have a collection of fixed and determi- nate rules for public speaking ; which are delivered indeed without any show or parade, (and I might have added, in a trivial and homely form,) but yet are so plain and me- thodical, that it is almost impossible to mistake the road. By keeping close to these, and always digesting his subject before he ventured to speak upon it, (to which we may add, that he had a tolerable fluency of expression,) he so far suc- ceeded, without any other assistance, as to be ranked among the pleaders of the day. As to Caius Visellius Varro, who was my cousin, and a contemporary of Sicinius, he was a man of great learning. He died while he was a member of the court of inquests, into which he had been admitted after the expiration of his cedileship. The public, I confess, had not the same opinion of his abilities that I have : for he never passed as a man of sterling eloquence among the people. His speech was excessively quick and rapid, and consequently indistinct ; for, in fact, it was embarrassed and obscured by the celerity of its course ; and yet, after all, you will scarcely find a man who had a better choice >f words, or a richer vein of sen- timent. He had besides, a complete fund of polite literature, and a thorough knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, which he learned from his father Aculeo. To proceed in our account of the dead, the next that presents himself is Lucius Torquatus, whom you will not so readily pronounce a proficient in the art of speaking (though he was by no means destitute of elocution), as what is called by the Greeks, a political adept. He had a plentiful stock of 1 1 482 BRUTUS; OR, learning, not indeed of the common sort, but of a more abstruse and curious nature ; he had likewise an admirable memory, and a very sensible and elegant turn of expression ; all which qualities derived an additional grace from the dignity of his deportment, and the integrity of his manners. I was also highly pleased with the style of his contemporary Triarius, which expressed to perfection the character of a worthy old gentleman, who had been thoroughly polished by the refinements of literature. What a venerable severity was there in his look ! what forcible solemnity in his lan- guage ! and how thoughtful and deliberate every word he spoke !" At the mention of Torquatus and Triarius, for each of whom he had the most affectionate veneration, " It fills my heart with anguish," said Brutus, " (to omit a thousand other circumstances,) when I reflect, as I cannot help doing, on your mentioning the names of these worthy men, that your long-respected authority was insufficient to procure an accommodation of our differences. The republic woiild not otherwise have been deprived of these, and many other excellent citizens." " Not a word more," said I, " on this melancholy subject, which can only aggravate our sorrow ; for as the remembrance of what is already past is painful enough, the prospect of what is yet to come is still more afflicting. Let us, therefore, drop our unavailing complaints, and (agreeably to our plan) confine our attention to the forensic merits of our deceased friends. LXXVII. " Among those, then, who lost their lives in this unhappy war, was Marcus Bibulus, who, though not a pro- fessed orator, was a very accurate writer, and a solid and experienced advocate ; and Appius Claudius, your father-in- law, and my colleague and intimate acquaintance, who was not only a hard student, and a man of learning, but a prac- tised orator, a skilful augurist and civilian, and a thorough adept in the Roman history. As to Lucius Domitius, he was totally unacquainted with any rules of art ; but he spoke his native language with purity, and had a great freedom of address. We had likewise the two Lentuli, men of consular dignity ; one of whom, (I mean Publius,) the avenger of my wrongs, and the author of my restoration, derived all hia powers and accomplishments from the assistance of art, and not from the bounty of nature ; but he had such a great and noble disposition, that he claimed all the honours of the most REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 483 illustrious citizens, and supported them with the utmost dignity of character. The other (Lucius Lentulus) was an animated speaker, for it woxild be saying too much, perhaps, to call him an orator ; but, unhappily, he had an titter aver- sion to the trouble of thinking. His voice was sonorous ; and his language, though not absolutely harsh and forbidding, was warm and vigorous, and carried in it a kind of terror. In a judicial trial, you would probably have wished for a more agreeable and a keener advocate ; but in a debate on matters of government, you would have thought his abilities sufficient. Even Titus Postumius had such powers of utter- ance as were not to be despised ; but in political matters, he spoke with the same unbridled ardour he fought with ; in short, he was much too warm ; though it must be owned he possessed an extensive knowledge of the laws and constitution of his country." " Upon my word," cried Atticus, " if the persons you have mentioned were still living, I should be apt to imagine that you were endeavouring to solicit their favour. For you intro- duce everybody who had the courage to stand up and speak his mind ; so that I almost begin to wonder how Marcus Servilius has escaped your notice." LXXVIII. " I am, indeed, very sensible," replied I, "that there have been many who never spoke in public, that were much better qualified for the task, than those orators I have taken the pains to enumerate; 1 but I have, at least, answered one pur- pose by it, which is to show you, that in this populous city we have not had very many who had the resolution to speak at all ; and that even among these, there have been few who werp entitled to our applause. I cannot, therefore, neglect to take some notice of those worthy knights, and my intimate friends, very lately deceased, Publius Cominius Spoletinus, against whom I pleaded in defence of Caius Cornelius, and who was a methodical, spirited, and ready speaker; and Tiberius Accius, of Pisaurum, to whom I replied in behalf of Aulus Cluentius, and who was an accurate, and a tolerably copious advocate : he was also well instructed in the precepts of Her- magoras, which, though of little service to embellish and enrich our elocution, furnish a variety of arguments, which, like the weapons of the light infantry, may be readily managed, and are adapted to every subject of debate. I must 1 This was probably intended as an indirect compliment to Atticv* U2 484 BRUTUS ; OR, dd, that I never knew a man of greater industry and appli- cation. As to Caius Piso, my son-in-law, it is scarcely possible to mention any one who was blessed with a finer capacity. He was constantly employed either in public speaking, and private declamatory exercises, or, at least, in writing and thinking : and, consequently, he made such a rapid progress, that he rather seemed to fly than to run. He had an elegant choice of expression, and the structure of his periods was perfectly neat and harmonious ; he had an astonishing variety and strength of argument, and a lively and agreeable turn of thought; and his gesture was naturally so graceful, that it appeared to have been formed (which it really was not) by the nicest rules of art. I am rather fearful, indeed, that I should be thought to have been prompted by my affection for him to have given him a greater character than he deserved ; but this is so far from being the case, that I might justly have ascribed to him many qualities of a different and more valuable nature ; for in continence, social ardour, and every other kind of virtue, there was scarcely any of his contemporaries who was worthy to be compared with him. LXXIX. " Marcus Caelius too must not pass unnoticed, notwithstanding the unhappy change, either of his fortune or disposition, which marked the latter part of his life. As long as he was directed by my influence, he behaved himself so well as a tribune of the people, that no man supported the interests of the senate, and of all the good and virtuous, in opposition to the factious and unruly madness of a set of abandoned citizens, with more firmness than he did ; a part in which he was enabled to exert himself to great advantage, by the force and dignity of his language, and his lively humour and polite address. He spoke several harangues in a very sensible style, and three spirited invectives, which originated from our political disputes; and his defensive speeches, though not equal to the former, were yet tolerably good, and had a degree of merit which was far from being contemptible. After he had been advanced to the sedileship, by the hearty approbation of all the better sort of citizens, as he had lost my company (for I was then abroad in Cilicia) he likewise lost himself ; and entirely sunk his credit, by imitat- ing the conduct of those very men, whom he had before s successfully opposed. But Marcus Calidius has a more parti cuJar claim to our notice for the singularity of his character RBMAEKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 485 which cannot so properly be said to have entitled him to a place among our other orators, as to distinguish him from the whole fraternity; for in him we beheld the most uncommon and the most delicate sentiments, arrayed in the softest and finest language imaginable. Nothing could be so easy as the turn and compass of his periods ; nothing so ductile ; nothing more pliable and obsequious to his will ; so that he had a greater command of words than any orator what- ever. In short, the flow of his language was so pure and limpid, that nothing could be clearer; and so free, that it was never clogged or obstructed. Every word was exactly in the place where it should be, and disposed (as Lucilius expresses it) with as much nicety as in a curious piece of mosaic work. We may add, that he had not a single expres- sion which was either harsh, unnatural, abject, or far-fetched; and yet he was so far from confining himself to the plain and ordinary mode of speaking, that he abounded greatly in the metaphor, but such metaphors as did not appear to usurp a post that belonged to another, but only to occupy their own. These delicacies were displayed, not in a loose and effeminate style, but in such a one as was strictly numerous, without either appearing to be so, or running on with a dull uni- formity of sound. He was likewise master of the various ornaments of language and thought which the Greeks call figures, whereby he enlivened and embellished his style as with so many forensic decorations. We may add that he readily discovered, upon all occasions, what was the real point of debate, and where the stress of the argument lay ; and that his method of ranging his ideas was extremely artful, his action gentlemanly, and his whole manner very engaging and very sensible. LXXX. In short, if to speak agreeably is the chief merit of an orator, you will find no one who was better qualified than Calidius. " But as we have observed a little before, that it is the business of an orator to instruct, to please, and to move the passions; he was, indeed, perfectly master of the first two; for no one could better elucidate his subject, or charm the atten- tion of his audience. But as to the third qualification, the moving and alarming the passions, which is of much greater efficacy than the former, he was wholly destitute of it. He had no force, no exertion ; either by his own choice, and from an opinion that those who had a loftier turn of expres* 486 BRUTUS ; OR, sion, and a more warm and spirited action, were little better than madmen; or because it was contrary to his natural temper and habitual practice; or, lastly, because it was beyond the strength of his abilities. If, indeed, it is a useless quality, his want of it was a real excellence ; but if otherwise, it was certainly a defect. I particularly remember, that when he prosecuted Quintus Gallius for an attempt to poison him, and pretended that he had the plainest proofs of it, and could produce many letters, witnesses, informations, and other evidences to put the truth of his charge beyond a doubt, interspersing many sensible and ingenious remarks on the nature of the crime ; I remember, I say, that when it tame to my turn to reply to him, after urging every argu- ment which the case itself suggested, I insisted upon it as a material circumstance in favour of my client, that the prose- cutor, while he charged him with a design against his life, and assured us that he had the most indubitable proofs of it then in his hands, related his story with as much ease, and as much calmness and indifference, as if nothing had happened. ' Would it have been possible,' said I, (addressing myself to Calidius,) ' that you should speak with this air of unconcern, unless the charge was purely an invention of your own ? And, above all, that you, whose eloquence has often vindicated the wrongs of other people with so much spirit, should speak so coolly of a crime which threatened your life 1 ? Where was that expression of resentment which is so natural to the in- jured ? Where that ardour, that eagerness, which extorts the most pathetic language even from men of the dullest capa- cities 1 There was no visible disorder in your mind, no emotion in your looks and gesture, no smiting of the thigh or the forehead, nor even a single stamp of the foot. You were, therefore, so far from interesting our feelings in your favour, that we could scarcely keep our eyes open, while you were relating the dangers you had so narrowly escaped.' Thus we tmployed the natural defect, or, if you please, the sensible calmness of an excellent orator, as an argument to invalidate 3iis charge." " But is it possible to doubt," cried Brutus, * whether this was a sensible quality, or a defect? For as the greatest merit of an orator is to be able to inflame the passions, and give them such a bias as shall best answer hia purpose; he who is destitute of this must certainly be de- ficient iu the most capital part of his profession " REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 487 LXXX1. " I am of the same opinion," said I "but let uf aow proceed to him (Hortensius) who is the only rerndtininv orator worth noticing; after which, as you seem to insisr upon it, I shall say something of myself. I must first, how ever, do justice to the memory of two promising youths, who, if they had lived to a riper age, would have acquired the highest reputation for their eloquence." " You mean, I suppose," said Brutus, " Caius Curio, and Caius Licinius Calvus." " The very same," replied I. " One of them, besides his plausible manner, had such an easy and voluble flow of expression, and such an inexhaustible variety, and some- times accuracy of sentiment, that he was one of the most ready and ornamental speakers of his time. Though he had received but little instruction from the professed masters of the art, nature had furnished him with an admirable capa- city for the practice of it. I never, indeed, discovered in him any great degree of application ; but he was certainly very ambitious to distinguish himself ; and if he had continued to listen to my advice, as he had begun to do, he would have preferred the acquisition of real honour to that of untimely grandeur." " What do you mean T said Brutus ; " or in what manner are these two objects to be distinguished?" " I dis- tinguish them thus," replied I : " as honour is the reward of virtue, conferred upon a man by the choice and affection of his fellow-citizens, he who obtains it by their free votes and suffrages is to be considered, in my opinion, as an honourable member of the community. But he who acquires his power and authority by taking advantage of every unhappy incident, and without the consent of his fellow-citizens, as Curio aimed to do, acquires only the name of honour, without the sub- stance. Whereas, if he had hearkened to me, he would have risen to the highest dignity, in an honourable manner, and with the hearty approbation of all men, by a gradual advance- ment to public offices, as his father and many other eminent citizens had done before. I often gave the same advice to Publius Crassus. the son of Marcus, who courted my friend- ship in the early part of his life ; and recommended it to him very warmly, to consider that as the truest path to honour which had been already marked out to him by the example of his ancestors. For he had been extremely well educated, and was perfectly versed in every branch of polite literature ; he had likewise a penetrating genius, and an elegant variety 488 BRUTUS ; OB, of expression; and appeared grave and sententious feithoui arrogance, and modest and diffident without dejection.. But, like many other young men, he was carried away by the tide of ambition ; and after serving a short time with reputation as a volunteer, nothing could satisfy him but to try his for- tune as a general, an employment which was confined by the wisdom of our ancestors to men who had arrived at a certain age, and who, even then, were obliged to submit their pre- tensions to the uncertain issue of a public decision. Thus, by exposing himself to a fatal catastrophe, while he was endea- vouring to rival the fame of Cyrus and Alexander, who lived to finish their desperate career, he lost all resemblance of Lucius Crassus, and his other worthy progenitors. LXXXII. But let us return to Calvus, whom we have just mentioned, an orator who had received more literary improvements than Curio, and had a more accurate and delicate manner of speak- ing, which he conducted with great taste and elegance ; but, (by being too minute and nice a critic upon himself,) while he was labouring to correct and refine his language, he suf- fered all the force and spirit of it to evaporate. In short, it was so exquisitely polished, as to charm the eye of every skilfiu observer ; but it was little noticed by the common people in a crowded forum, which id the proper theatre of eloquence." " His aim," said Brutus, " was to be admired as an Attic orator ; and to this we must attribute that accurate exility of style, which he constantly affected." " This, indeed, was his professed character," replied I ; " but he was deceived him- self, and led others into the same mistake. It is true, who- ever supposes that to speak in the Attic taste, is to avoid every awkward, every harsh, every vicious expression, has, in this sense, an undoubted right to refuse his approbation to every- thing which is not strictly Attic. For he must naturally detest whatever is insipid, disgusting, or incorrect ; while he considers correctness and propriety of language as the religion and good-manners of an orator ; and every one who pretends to speak in public should adopt the same opinion. But if he bestows the name of Atticism on a meagre, a dry, and a niggardly turn of expression, provided it is neat, correct, and polished, I cannot say, indeed, that he bestows it im- properly ; as the Attic orators, however, had many qualities of a more important nature, I would advise him to be careful that he does not overlook their different kinds and decrees of REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 489 merit, and their great extent and variety of character. The Attic speakers, he will tell me, are the models upon which he wishes to form his eloquence. But which of them does he mean to fix upon ? for they are not all of the same cast. Who, for instance, could be more unlike each other than Demosthenes and Lysias? or than Demosthenes and Hy- perides? Or who more different from either of them, than ./Eschines? Which of them, then, do you propose to imitate? If only one, this will be a tacit implication, that none of the rest were true masters of Atticism ; if all, how can you possibly succeed, when their characters are so opposite ? Let me further ask you, whether Demetrius Phalereus spoke in the Attic style ? In my opinion, his orations have the very taste of Athens. But he is certainly more florid than either Hyperides or Lysias ; partly from the natural turn of his geni\is, and partly by choice. LXXXIII. " There were likewise two others at the time we are speaking of, whose characters were equally dissimilar ; and yet both of them were truly Attic. The first (Charisius) was the author of a number of speeches, which he composed for his friends, professedly in imitation of Lysias ; and the other (Demochares, the nephew of Demosthenes) wrote several orations, and a regular history of what was transacted in Athens under his own observation ; not so much, indeed, in the style of an historian, as of an orator. Hegesias took the former for his model, and was so vain of his own taste for Atticism, that he considered his predecessors, who were really masters of it, as mere rustics in comparison of himself. But what can be more insipid, more frivolous, or more puerile, than that very concinnity of expression which he actually acquired 1 ' But still we wish to resemble the Attic speakers.' Do so by all means. But were not those, then, true Attio speakers, we have just been mentioning ? ' Nobody denies it ; and these are the men we imitate.' But how ? when they are so very different, not only from each other, but from all the rest of their contemporaries ? ' True ; but Thucydides is our leading pattern.' This, too, I can allow, if you design to compose histories, instead of pleading causes. For Thu- cydides was both an exact and a stately historian ; but he never intended to write models for conducting a judicial pro- cess. I will even go so far as to add, that I have often com- mended the speeches which he has inserted in his history 490 BRUTUS ; OH, in great numbei-s ; though I must frankly own, that I neither could imitate them, if I would, nor indeed would, if I could , like a man who would neither choose his wine -so new as to have been tunned off in the preceding vintage, nor so exces- sively old as to date its age from the consulship of Opimius or Anicius. ' The latter,' you will say, 'bears the highest price.' Very probably ; but when it has too much age, it has lost that delicious flavour which pleases the palate, and, in my opinion, is scarcely tolerable. ' Would you choose, then, when you have a mind to regale yourself, to apply to a fresh, unripened cask V By no means ; but still there is a certain age, when good wine arrives at its utmost perfection. In the same manner, I would recommend neither a raw, unmellowed style, which (if I may so express myself) has been newly drawn off from the vat ; nor the rough and antiquated lan- guage of the grave and manly Thucydides. For even lie, if he had lived a few years later, would have acquired a much softer and mellower turn of expression. " ' Let us, then, imitate Demosthenes.' LXXXIV. Good Gods ! to what else do 1 direct all my endeavours, and my wishes ! But it is, perhaps, my misfortune not to succeed. These Atticisers, however, acquire with ease the paltry cha- racter they aim at ; not once recollecting that it is not only recorded in history, but must have been the natural con- sequence of his superior fame, that when Demosthenes was to speak in public, a'il Greece flocked in crowds to hear him. But when our Attic orators venture to speak, they are pre- sently deserted, not only by the little throng around them who have no interest in the dispute, (which alone is a morti- fying proof of their insignificance,) but even by their associates and fellow-advocates. If to speak, therefore, in a dry and lifeless manner, is the true criterion of Atticism, they are heartily welcome to enjoy the credit of it ; but if they wish to put their abilities to the trial, let them attend the Comitia, or a judicial process of real importance. The open forum demands a fuller and more elevated tone ; and he is the orator for me, who is so universally admired, that when he is to plead an interesting cause, all the benches are filled beforehand, the tribunal crowded, the clerks and notaries busy in adjusting their seats, the populace thronging about the rostra, and the judge brisk and vigilant ; he, who haa such a commanding air, that when he rises up to speak, the XEMARKS ON EMINENT OBATQRS. 491 whole audience is hushed into a profound silence, which la soon interrupted by their repeated plaudits and acclamations, or by those successive bursts of laughter, or violent transports of passion, which he knows how to excite at his pleasure ; sc that even a distant observer, though unacquainted with the subject he is speaking upon, can easily discover that hia hearers are pleased with him, and that a JRoscius is perform- ing his part on the stage. Whoever has the happiness to be thus followed and applauded, is, beyond dispute, an Attic speaker ; for such was Pericles, such was Hyperides, and ^Eschines, and such, in the most eminent degree, was the great Demosthenes ! If, indeed, these connoisseurs, who have so much dislike to everything bold and ornamental, only mean to say that an accurate, a judicious, and a neat and compact, but unembellished style, is really an Attic one, they are not mistaken. For in an art of such wonderful extent and variety as that of speaking, even this subtile and confined character may claim a place ; so that the conclusion will be, that it is very possible to speak in the Attic taste without deserving the name of an orator ; but that all, in general, who are truly eloquent, are likewise Attic speakers. " It is time, however, to return to Hortensius." LXXXV u Indeed, I think so," cried Brutus; "though I must acknow- ledge that this long digression of yours has entertained me very agreeably." " But I made some remarks," said Atticus, " which I was several times inclined to mention ; only I was loth to interrupt you. As your discourse, however, seems to be drawing towards an end, I think I may venture to state them." " By all means," replied I. " I readily grant, then," said he, " that there is something very humorous and elegant in that continued irony, which Socrates employs to so much advantage in the dialogues of Plato, Xenophon, and ^Eschines. For when a dispute commences on the nature of wisdom, he professes, with a great deal of humour and ingenuity, to have no pretensions to it himself ; while, with a kind of concealed raillery, he ascribes the highest degree of it to those who had the arrogance to lay an open claim to it. Thus, in Plato, he extols Protagoras, Hippias, Prodicus, Gorgias and several others, to the skies ; but represents himself as quite ignorant. This in hint was peculiarly becoming ; nor can I agree with Epicurus, who thinks it censurable. But in a professed history, (for such, in fact, is the account you have been giving 492 BRUTUS; OR, ps of the Roman orators,) I shall leave you to judge, whethei an application of the irony is not equally reprehensible, as it would be in giving judicial evidence." " Pray, what are you driving at ? " said I ; " for I cannot comprehend you." " I mean," replied he, " in the first place, that the commen- dations which you have bestowed upon some of our orators, have a tendency to mislead the opinion of those who are unacquainted with their true characters. There were like- wise several parts of your account, at which I could scarcely forbear laughing ; as, for instance, when you compared old Cato to Lysias. He was, indeed, a great, and a very extra- ordinary man. Nobody, I believe, will say to the contrary. But shall we call him an orator ? Shall we pronounce him the rival of Lysias, who was the most finished character of the kind? If we mean to jest, this comparison of yours would form a pretty irony ; but if we are talking in real earnest, we should pay the same scrupulous regard to truth, as if we were giving evidence upon oath. As a citizen, a senator, a general, and, in short, a man who was distinguished by his prudence, his activity, and every other virtue, your favourite Cato has my highest approbation. I can likewise applaud his speeches, considering the time he lived in. They exhibit the outlines of a great genius ; but such, however, as are evidently rude and imperfect. In the same manner, when you represented his Antiquities as replete with all the graces of oratory, and compared Cato with Philistus and Thucydides, did you really imagine, that you could persuade Brutus and me to believe you ? or would you seriously degrade those, whom none of the Greeks themselves have been able to equal, into a comparison with a stiif country gentleman, who scarcely suspected that there was any such thing in being as a copious and ornamental style ? LXXXVI. " You have likewise said much in commenda- tion of Galba ; if as the best speaker of his age, I can so far agree with you, for such was the character he bore ; but if you meant to recommend him as an orator, produce his orations (for they are still extant), and then tell me honestly, whether you would wish your friend Brutus here to speak as he did ? Lepidus, too, was the author of several speeches, which have received your approbation ; in which I can partly join with you, if you consider them only as specimens of our ancient eloquence. The same might be said of Afri- REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 493 canus and Lselius, than whose language (you tell us) nothing in the world can be sweeter ; nay, you have mentioned it with a kind of veneration, and endeavoured to dazzle our judgment by the great character they bore, and the uncom- mon elegance of their manners. Divest it of these adven- titious graces, and this sweet language of theirs will appear so homely, as to be scarcely worth noticing. Carbo, too, was mentioned as one of our capital orators ; and for this only reason, that in speaking, as in all other professions, whatever is the best of its kind, for the time being, how deficient soever in reality, is always admired and applauded. What I have said of Carbo, is equally true of the Gracchi ; though, in some particulars, the character you have given them was no more than they deserved. But to say nothing of the rest of your orators, let us proceed to Antonius and Crassus, your two paragons of eloquence, whom I have heard myself, and who were certainly very able speakers. To the extraordinary commendation you have bestowed upon them, I can readily give my assent ; but not, however, in such an unlimited manner as to persuade myself that you have received as much improvement from the speech in support of the Servilian law, as Lysippus said he had done by studying the famous statue 1 of Polycletus. What you have said on this occasion I consider as absolute irony ; but T shall not inform you why I think so, lest you should imagine I design to flatter you. I shall therefore pass over the many fine encomiums you have bestowed upon these; and what you have said of Cotta and Sulpicius, and but very lately of your pupil Cselius. I acknowledge, however, that we may call them orators ; but as to the nature and extent of their merit, let your own judgment decide. It is scarcely worth observing, that you have had the additional good-nature to crowd so many daubers into your list, that there are some, I believe, who will be ready to wish they had died long ago, that you might have had an opportunity to insert their names among the rest." LXXXVII. " You have opened a wide field of in- quiry," said I, " and started a subject which deserves a separate discussion ; but we must defer it to a more convenient time. For, to settle it, a great variety of authors must be examined, and especially Cato ; which could not fail to convince you, that nothing was wanting to complete his pieces, but those rich 1 Doryphorus. A spearman. 494 BllL'TUB J OR, and glowing colours which had not then been invented. Aa to the above oration of Crassus, he himself, perhaps, could have written better, if he had been willing to take the trouble ; but nobody else, I believe, could have mended it. You have no reason, therefore, to think I spoke ironically, when I mentioned it as the guide and tutoress of my eloquence ; for though you seem to have a higher opinion of my capacity, in its present state, you must remember that, in our youth, we could find nothing better to imitate among the Romans. And as to my admitting so many into my list of orators, I only did it (as I have already observed) to show how few have succeeded in a profession, in which all were desirous to excel. I therefore insist upon it that you do not consider me in the present case as a practiser of irony; though we are in- formed by Caius Fannius, in his history, that Africanus was a very excellent one." "As you please about that" cried Atticus ; " though, by the bye, I did not imagine it would have been any disgrace to you, to be what Africanus and Socrates have been before you." " We may settle this another time," in- terrupted Brutus; "but will you be so obliging," said he, (addressing himself to me,) " as to give us a critical analysis of some of the old speeches you have mentioned ?" " Very willingly," replied I ; " but it must be at Cuma, or Tusculum, when opportunity offers : for we are near neighbours, you know, in both places. LXXXVIII. At present, let us return to Hortensius, from whom we have digressed a second time. " Hortensius, then, who began to speak in public when he was very young, was soon employed even in causes of the greatest moment ; and though he first appeared in the time of Cotta and Sulpicius, (who were only ten years older,) and when Crassus and Antonius, and afterwards Philippus and Julius, were in the height of their reputation, he was thought worthy to be compared with either of them in point of eloquence. He had such an excellent memory as I never knew in any person ; so that what he had composed in private, he was able to repeat, without notes, in the very same words he had made use of at first. He employed this natural advantage with so much readiness, that he not only recollected whatever he had written or premeditated himself, but remembered everything that had been said by his opponents, without the help of a prompter. He was likewise inflamed with such REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 495 A passionate fondness for the profession, that I never saw any one who took more pains to improve himself; for he would not suffer a day to elapse without either speaking in the forum, or composing something at home ; and very often he did both in the same day. He had, besides, a turn of expres- sion which was very far from being low and unelevated ; and possessed two other accomplishments, in which no one could equal him, an uncommon clearness and accuracy in stating the points he was to discuss ; and a neat and easy manner of collecting the substance of what had been said by his anta- gonist, and by himself. He had likewise an elegant choice of words, an agreeable flow in his periods, and a copious elocution, for which he was partly indebted to a fine natural capacity, and which was partly acquired by the most laborious rhetorical exercises. In short, he had a most retentive view of his subject, and always divided and distributed it into distinct parts with the greatest exactness ; and he very seldom over- looked anything which the case could suggest, that was proper either to support his own allegations, or to refute those of his opponent. Lastly, he had a sweet and sonorous voice ; but his gesture had rather more art in it, and was managed with more precision than is requisite in an orator. " While he was in the height of his glory, Crassus died, Cotta was banished, our public trials were intermitted by the Marsic war, and I myself made my first appearance in the forum. LXXXIX. Hortensius joined the army, and served the first campaign as a volunteer, and the second as a military tribune; Sulpicius was made a lieutenant-general ; and Au- tonius was absent on a similar account. The only trial we had, was that upon the Varian law ; the rest, as I have just observed, having been intermitted by the war. We had scarcely anybody left at the bar but Lucius Memmius and Quintus Pompeius, who spoke mostly on their own affairs ; and, though far from being orators of the first distinction, were yet tolerable ones, (if we may credit Philippus, who was himself a man of some eloquence,) and, in supporting evidence, displayed all the poignancy of a prosecutor, with a moderate freedom of elocution. The rest, who were esteemed our capital speakers, were then in the magistracy, and I had the benefit of hearing their harangues almost every day. Caius Curio was chosen a tribune of the people, though he left off speaking after being once deserted by his whole BRUTES ; OB, audience. To him I may add Quintus Metellus Celer, who, though certainly no orator, was far from being destitute of utterance ; but Quintus Varius, Caius Carbo, and Cnseua Pomponius, were men of real elocution, and might almost be said to have lived upon the rostra. Caius Julius too, who was then a curule sedile, was daily employed in making speeches to the people, which were composed with great neatness and accuracy. But while I attended the forum with this eager curiosity, my first disappointment was the banishment of Cotta ; after which I continued to hear the rest with the same assiduity as before ; and though I daily spent the re- mainder of my time in reading, writing, and private decla- mation, I cannot say that I much relished my confinement to these preparatory exercises. The next year Quintus Varius was condemned, and banished by his own law ; and I, that I might acquire a competent knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, then attached myself to Quintus Scsevola, the son of Publius, who, though he did not choose to undertake the charge of a pupil, yet, by freely giving his advice to those who consulted him, answered every purpose of instruction to such as took the trouble to apply to him. In the suc- ceeding year, in which Sylla and Pompey were consuls, as Sulpicius, who was elected a tribune of the people, had occasion to speak in public almost every day, I had oppor- tunity to acquaint myself thoroughly with his manner of speaking. At this time Philo, a philosopher of the first, name in the Academy, with many of the principal Athenians, having deserted their native home, and fled to Rome, from the fury of Mithridates, I immediately became his scholar, and was exceedingly taken with his philosophy ; and, besides the pleasure I received from the great variety and sublimity of his matter, I was still more inclined to confine my atten- tion to that study ; because there was reason to apprehend that our laws and judicial proceedings would be wholly over- turned by the continuance of the public disorders. In the same year Sulpicius lost his life; and Quintus Catulus, Marcus Antonius, and Caius Julius, three orators who were partly contemporary with each other, were most inhumanly put to death. Then also I attended the lectures of Molo the Rhodian, who was newly come to Rome, and was both au excellent pleader, and an able teacher of the art. XC. " I have mentioned these particulars, which, perhaps REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATOBa 497 may appear foreign to our purpose, that you, my Brutus, (for Atticus is already acquainted with them,) may be able to mark my progress, and observe how closely I trod upon the heels of Hortensius. The three following years the city was free from the tumult of arms; but either by the death, the voluntary retirement, or the flight of our ablest orators, (for even Marcus Crassus, and the two Lentuli, i who were then in the bloom of youth, had all left us,) Hortensius, of course, was the first speaker in the forum. Antistius, too, was daily rising into reputation ; Piso pleaded pretty often ; Pomponius, ot so frequently ; Carbo, very seldom ; and Philippus, only once or twice. In the meanwhile I pursued my studies of every kind, day and night, with unremitting application. I lodged and boarded at my own house (where he lately died) Diodotus the Stoic ; whom I employed as my preceptor in various other parts of learning, but particularly in logic, which may be con- sidered as a close and contracted species of eloquence ; and without which, you yourself have declared it impossible to acquire that full and perfect eloquence, which they suppose to be an open and dilated kind of logic. Yet with all my atten- tion to Diodotus, and the various arts he was master of, I never suffered even a single day to escape me, without some exercise of the oratorical kind. I constantly declaimed in private with Marcus Piso, Quintus Pompeius, or some other of my acquaintance ; pretty often in Latin, but much oftener in Greek; because the Greek furnishes a greater variety of ornaments, and an opportunity of imitating and introducing them into the Latin ; and because the Greek masters, who were far the best, could not correct and improve us, unless we declaimed in that language. This time was distinguished by a violent struggle to restore the liberty of the republic ; the barbarous slaughter of the three orators, Scsevola, Carbo, and Antistius; the return of Cotta, Curio, Crassus, Pompey, and the Lentuli ; the re-establishment of the laws and courts of judicature, and the entire restoration of the commonwealth; but we lost Pomponius, Censorinus, and Murena, from the roll of orators. I now began, for the first time, to under- take the management of causes, both private and public ; not, as most did, with a view to learn my profession, but to make a trial of the abilities which I had taken so much pains to acquire. I had then a second opportunity of attending the instructions of Molo, who came to Rome while Sylla was K K 498 BRUTUS; OS, dictator, to solicit the payment of what was due to his countrymen for their services in the Mithridatic war. My defence of Sextus Roscius, which was the first cause I pleaded, met with such a favourable reception, that, from that moment, I was looked upon as an advocate of the first class, and equal to the greatest and most important causes ; and after this I pleaded many others, which I precomposed with all the care and accuracy I was master of. XCI. " But as you seem desirous not so much to be ac- quainted with any incidental marks of my character, or the first sallies of my youth, as to know me thoroughly, I shall mention some particulars, which otherwise might have seemed unnecessary. At this time my body was ex- ceedingly weak and emaciated; my neck long and slender; a shape and habit which I thought to be liable to great risk of life, if engaged in any violent fatigue, or labour of the lungs. And it gave the greater alarm to those who had a regard for me, that I used to speak without any remission or variation, with the utmost stretch of my voice, and a total agitation of my body. When my friends, therefore, and physicians, advised me to meddle no more with forensic causes, I resolved to run any hazard rather than quit the hopes of glory which I had proposed to myself from plead- ing; but when I considered, that by managing my voice, and changing my way of speaking, I might both avoid all future danger of that kind and speak with greater ease, I took a resolution of travelling into Asia, merely for an op- portunity to correct my manner of speaking ; so that after I had been two years at the bar, and acquired some reputa- tion in the forum, I left Rome. When I came to Athens, I spent six months with Antiochus, the principal and most j udicious philosopher of the old Academy ; and under this able master, I renewed those philosophical studies which I had laboriously cultivated and improved from my earliest youth. At the same time, however, I continued my rhetorical exer- cises under Demetrius the Syrian, an experienced and re- putable master of the art of speaking. After leaving Athens, I traversed every part of Asia, where I was voluntarily at- tended by the principal orators of the country, with whom I re- newed my rhetorical exercises. The chief of them was Menippua of Stratonica, the most eloquent of all the Asiatics; and if to be neither tedious nor impertinent is the characteristic BEMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 49S of ail Attic orator, he may be justly ranked in that class. Dionysius also of Magnesia, ^Eschylus of Cnidos, and Xenocles of Adramyttium, who were esteemed the first rhetoricians of Asia, were continually with me. Not contented with these, I went to Rhodes, and applied myself again to Molo, whom I had heard before at Rome ; and who was both an expe- rienced pleader and a fine writer, and particularly judicious in remarking the faults of his scholars, as well as in his method of teaching and improving them. His principal trouble with me was to restrain the luxuriancy of a juvenile imagination, always ready to overflow its banks, within its due and proper channel. Thus, after an excursion of two years, I returned to Italy, not only much improved, but almost changed into a new man. The vehemence of my voice and action was considerably abated ; the excessive ardour of my language was corrected ; my lungs were strengthened ; and my whole constitution confirmed and settled. XCII. " Two orators then reigned in the forum (I mean Cotta and Hortensius), whose glory fired my emulation. Cotta's way of speaking was calm and easy, and distinguished by the flowing elegance and propriety of his language. The other was splendid, warm, and animated ; not such as you, my Brutus, have seen him, when he had shed the blossom of his eloquence, but far more lively and pathetic both in his style and action. As Hortensius, therefore, was nearer to me in age, and his manner more agreeable to the natural ardour of my temper, I considered him as the proper object of my competition. For I observed that when they were both engaged in the same cause, (as, for instance, when they defended Marcus Canuleius, and Cneius Dolabella, a man of consular dignity,) though Cotta was generally employed to open the defence, the most important parts of it were left to the management of Hortensius. For a crowded audience and a clamorous forum require an orator who is lively, ani- mated, full of action, and able to exert his voice to the highest pitch. The first year, therefore, after my return from Asia, I undertook several capital causes ; and in the interim I put up as a candidate for the qusestorship, Cotta for the consulate, and Hortensius for the eedileship. After I was chosen quaestor, I passed a year in Sicily, the province assigned to me by lot ; Cotta went as consul into Gaul ; and Hortensius, whose new office required his presence at Rom*' BOO BRUTUS; OR, was left of course the undisputed sovereign of the forum. In the succeeding year, when I returned from Sicily, my ora- torical talents, such as they were, displayed themselves in their full perfection and maturity. " I have been saying too much, perhaps, concerning myself; but my design in it was not to make a parade of my eloquence and ability, which I have no temptation to do, but only to specify the pains and labour which I have taken to improve it. After spending the five succeeding years in pleading a variety of causes, and with the ablest advocates of the time, I was declared an sedile, and undertook the patronage of the Sicilians against Hortensius, who was then one of the consuls elect. XCIII. But as the subject of our conversation not only requires an historical detail of orators, but such preceptive remarks as may be necessary to elucidate their characters ; it will not be improper to make some observations of this kind upon that of Hortensius. After his appointment to the consulship (very probably, because he saw none of consular dignity who were able to rival him, and despised the competition of others of inferior rank) he began to remit that intense application which he had hitherto persevered in from his childhood ; and having settled himself in very affluent circumstances, he chose to live for the future what he thought an easy life, but which, in truth, was rather an indolent one. In the three succeeding years, the beauty of his colouring was so much impaired as to be very perceptible to a skilful connoisseur, though not to a common observer. After that, he grew every day more unlike himself than before, not only in other parts of eloquence, but by a gradual decay of the former celerity and elegant texture of his language. I, at the same time, spared no pains to improve and enlarge my talents, such as they were, by every exercise that was proper for the purpose, but particularly by that of writing. Not to mention several other advantages I derived from it, I shall only observe, that about this time, and but a very few years after my aedileship, I was declared the first preetor, by the unanimous suffrages of my fellow-citizens. For, by my diligence and assiduity as a pleader, and my accurate way of speaking, which was rather superior to the ordinary style of the bar, the novelty of my eloquence had engaged the atten- tion and secured the good wishes of the public. But I will say nothing of myself; I will confine my discourse to ouy KEMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 501 other speakers, among whom there is not one who has gained more than a common acquaintance with those parts of litera- ture which feed the springs of eloquence : not one who has been thoroughly nurtured at the breast of Philosophy, which is the mother of every excellence either in deed or speech ; not one who has acquired an accurate knowledge of the civil law, which is so necessary for the management even of private causes, and to direct the judgment of an orator ; not one who is a complete master of the Roman history, which would enable us, on many occasions, to appeal to the venerable evidence of the dead ; not one who can entangle his opponent in such a neat and humorous manner, as to relax the severity of the judges into a smile or an open laugh ; not one who knows how to dilate and expand his subject, by reducing it from the limited considerations of time and person, to some general and indefinite topic ; not one who knows how to enliven it by an agreeable digression ; not one who can rouse the indignation of the judge, or extort from him the tear of compassion ; or who can influence and bend his soul (which is confessedly the capital perfection of an orator), in such a manner as shall best suit his purpose. XCIV. " When Hortensius, therefore, the once eloquent and admired Hortensius, had almost vanished from the forum, my appointment to the consulship, which happened about six years after his own promotion to that office, revived his dying emulation ; for he was unwilling that, after I had equalled him in rank and dignity, I should become his superior in any other respect. But in the twelve succeeding years, by a mutual deference to each other's abilities, we united our efforts at the bar in the most amicable manner ; and my con- sulship, which had at first given a short alarm to his jealousy, afterwards cemented our friendship, by the generous candour with which he applauded my conduct. But our emulous efforts were exerted in the most conspicuous manner, just before the commencement of that unhappy period, when Eloquence herself was confounded and terrified by the din of arms into a sudden and total silence ; for after Pompey had proposed and carried a law, which allowed even the party accused but three hours to make his defence, I appeared (though comparatively as a mere noviciate by this new regu- lation) in a number of causes which, in fact, were become per- fectly the same, or very nearly so; most of which, my Brutus, 50U BRUTUS; OR, you 'were present to hear, as having been my partner and fellow-advocate in many of them, though you pleaded several by yourself; and Hortensius, though he died a short v ime afterwards, bore his share in these limited efforts. He began to plead about ten years before the time of your birth ; and in his sixty-fourth year, but a very few days before his death, he was engaged with you in the defence of Appius, your father-in-law. As to our respective talents, the orations we have published will enable posterity to form a proper judg- ment of them. XCV. " But if we mean to inquire, why Hortensiusi was more admired for his eloquence in the younger part of his life than in his latter years, we shall find it owing to the fol- lowing causes. The first was, that an Asiatic style is more allowable in a young man than in an old one. Of this there are two different kinds. The former is sententious and sprightly, and abounds in those turns of thought which are not so much distinguished by their weight and solidity as by their neatness and elegance ; of this cast was Timseus the historian, and the two orators so much talked of in our younger days, Hierocles of Alabanda, and his brother Menecles, but particularly the latter ; both whose orations may be reckoned master-pieces of this kind. The other sort is not so remarkable for the plenitude and richness of its thoughts, as for its rapid volubility of expression, which at present is the ruling taste in Asia ; but, besides its uncom- mon fluency, it is recommended by a choice of words which are peculiarly delicate and ornamental ; of this kind were JSschylus the Cnidian, and my contemporary JEschines.the Milesian ; for they had an admirable command of language, with very little elegance of sentiment. These showy kinds of eloquence are agreeable enough in young people; but they are entirely destitute of that gravity and composure which befits a riper age. As Hortensius therefore excelled in both, he was heard with applause in the earlier part of his life. For he had all that fertility and graceful variety of sentiment which distinguished the character of Menecles : but, as in Menecles, so in him, there were many turns of thought which were more delicate and entertaining than really useful, or indeed sometimes convenient. His language also was brilliant and rapid, and yet perfectly neat and accurate ; but by no means agreeable to men cf riper yeara. I have REMA3KS Off EMINENT ORATORS. 503 often seen it received by Philippus with the utmost derision, and, upon some occasions, with a contemptuous indignation ; but the younger part of the audience admired it, and the populace were highly pleased with it. In his youth, there- fore, he met the warmest approbation of the public, and maintained his post with ease as the first orator in the forum. For the style he chose to speak in, though it has little weight or authority, appeared very suitable to his age ; and as it discovered in him the most visible marks of genius and appli- cation, and was recommended by the numerous cadence of his periods, he was heard with universal applause. But when the honours he afterwards rose to, and the dignity of his years, required something more serious and composed, he still continued to appear in the same character, though it no longer became him ; and as he had, for some considerable time, intermitted those exercises, and relaxed that laborious attention which had once distinguished him, though his former neatness of expression and luxuriancy of conception still remained, they were stripped of those brilliant ornaments they had been used to wear. For this reason, perhaps, my Brutus, he appeared less pleasing to you than he would have done, if you had been old enough to hear him, when he was fired with emulation, aud flourished in the full bloom of his eloquence." XCVI. " I am perfectly sensible," said Brutus, " of the justice of your remarks ; aud yet I have always looked upon Hortensius as a great orator, but especially when he pleaded for Messala, in the time of your absence." " I have often heard of it," replied I ; " and his oration, which was afterwards pub- lished, they say, in the very same words in which he delivered it, is no way inferior to the character you give it. Upon the whole, then, his reputation flourished from the time of Crassxw and Sccevola (reckoning from the consulship of the former), to the consulship of Paullus and Marcellus ; and I held out in the same career of glory from the dictatorship of Sylla, to the period I have last mentioned. Thus the eloquence of Hortensius was extinguished by his own death, and mine by that of the commonwealth." " Presage more favourably, I beg of you," cried Brutus. " As favourably as you please," said I, " and that, not so much upon my own account aa yours. But his death was truly fortunate, who did not live to behold the mist: ties which he had long foreseen ; for we 504 BRUTUS ; OR, often lamented, between ourselves, the misfortunes whicb hung over the state, when we discovered the seeds of a civil war in the insatiable ambition of a few private citizens, and saw every hope of an accommodation excluded by the rash- ness and precipitancy of our public counsels. But the felicity which always marked his life seems to have exempted him, by a seasonable death, from the calamities that followed. But as, after the decease of Hortensius, we seem to have been left, my Brutus, as the sole guardians of an orphan eloquence, let us cherish her, within our own walls at least, with a gene- rous fidelity ; let us discourage the addresses of her worthless and impertinent suitors ; let us preserve her pure and im- blemished in all her virgin charms, and secure her, to the utmost of our ability, from the lawless violence of every armed ruffian. I must own, however, though I am heartily grieved that I entered so late upon the road of life as to be over- taken by a gloomy night of public distress, before I had finished my journey, that I am not a little relieved by the tender consolation which you administered to me in your very agreeable letters; in which you tell me I ought to recollect my courage, since my past transactions are such as will speak for me when I am silent, and survive my death ; and saoh as, if the Gods permit, will bear an ample testimony to the prudence and integrity of my public counsels, by the final restoration of the republic ; or, if otherwise, by burying me in the ruins of my country. XCVII. " But when I look upon you, my Brutus, it fills me with anguish to reflect that, in the vigour of your.youth, and when you were making the most rapid progress in the road to fame, your career was suddenly stopped by the fatal overthrow of the commonwealth. This unhappy circum- stance has stung me to the heart ; and not me only, but my worthy friend here, who has the same affection for you and the same esteem for your merit which I have. We have the warmest wishes for your happiness, and heartily pray that you may reap the rewards of your excellent virtues, and live to find a republic in which you will be able, not only to revive, but even to add to the fame of your illustrious ancestors. For the forum was your birthright, your native theatre of action ; and you were the only person that entered it, who had aot only formed his elocution by a rigorous course of privata practice, but enriched his oratory with the furniture of phil<* REMARKS ON EMINENT ORATORS. 505 ophical science, and thus united the highest virTue to the most consummate eloquence. Your situation, therefore, wounds us with the double anxiety that you are deprived of the republic, and the republic of you. But still continue, my Brutus, (notwithstanding the career of your genius has been checked by the rude shock of our public distresses,) continue to pursue your favourite studies, and endeavour (what you have almost, or rather entirely effected already) to distinguish yourself from the promiscuous crowd of pleaders with which I have loaded the little history I have been giving you. For it would ill befit you (richly furnished as you are with those liberal arts which, unable to acquire at home, you imported from that celebrated city which has always been revered as the seat of learning) to pass after all as an ordinary pleader. For to what purposes have you studied under Pammenes, the most eloquent man in Greece ? or what advantage have you derived from the discipline of the old Academy, and its hereditary master Aristus, (my guest and very intimate acquaintance,) if you still rank yourself in the common class of orators 1 Have we not seen that a whole age could scarcely furnish two speakers who really excelled in their profession? Among a crowd of contemporaries, Galba, for instance, was the only orator of distinction ; for old Cato (we are informed) was obliged to yield to his superior merit, as were likewise his two juniors, Lepidus and Carbo. But, in a public harangue, the style of his successors, the Gracchi, was far more easy and lively; and yet, even in their time, the Roman eloquence had not reached its perfection. Afterwarda came Antonius and Crassus ; and then Gotta, Sulpicius, Hor- tensius, and but I say no more ; I can only add, that if I had been so fortunate The conclusion it INDEX. ACADEMICS, discipline of the, 435 ; their doctrines, 350. Academy, the, 154, 155 ; orators of the, 155 ; manner of disputing in the, 164, etseq.; founded by Xenocrates, 349; New, founded by Arcesilas, 351. Accent, peculiarities of, 450. Accius, T. remarks on, 483. Achilles, the friend of Brutus, 109. Acting, points to be observed in, 361. Action, nature and principles of, 364 ; various questions relating to, 365 ; on the proper use of, 398 ; the speech of the body, 399 ; displays the movements of the soul, 399. Actor, not condemned for being once mistaken in an attitude, 174; emo- tions of the, 274, 275. Acts of a play, 21, el n. Aculeo, 221 ; his great knowledge of law, 194. Acusilas, the historian, 234. Admonition, how to be applied, 322. ^Elius, Sextus, the Roman lawyer, 196, 201, 422; commentaries of, 211; his universal knowledge, 369 ; orations of, 449 ; remarks on, 461. JEmilianus, Africanus, an ironical jester, 302. jEmilius, M. 276; an eminent orator, 428. ^Enigmas of metaphor, 380. ^Eschines, the orator, 155, 410; anecdote of, 395, 396. JE&op, the tragedian, 23. jEsopus, 218. Afius, C. 74. Afranius, the senator, 53. Afranius, M. the poet, 449. Agesilaus, acquirements of, 372. Agitation, on commencing a speech, na- tural, 176. Agnation, law of, 187, et n. Agrarian law, brought in by Julius Caesar, 21. Ahenobarbus, Cn. D. the orator, 287. et n. Albinus, A. the historian and orator, 423 ; notices of, 439. Albucius, T. remarks on, 438 Alcibiades, works of, 246, el n. ; kit learning and eloquence, 371, 409. Alfius, the judge, 78. Alienus, the lieutenant of Q. Cicero, 6. Allegorical phraseology, use of, in ora- tory, 299. Allies, rights of, should be known to the orator, 182. Alpinus, S. oratlcas of, 427. Ambiguity, every suojsct possesses the same susceptibleness o", 364. Ambiguous words, plays on, 295, 296. 'AfKjj,\a(pi Ms various measures. 30, INDEX. Oil his bitterness, 36 ; his contests in the senate, 43, 44; his wish to obtain an embassy, 52, et n, ; his letter to Caesar noticed, 70. Coelius, S. impeachment and trial of, 50, 58. Co-heirs, Roman law of, 210. Collocation of words, 382. Colons, minute sentences, 447. Comitia. holding of the, 64, 58 ; brought to an Interregnum, 86. Commagene, king of, 56. Common-places to be fixed in the me- mory, 26P. Common things, eloquence of, 234. Comparative, two sorts of questions re- garding the, 365. Comparison, a jest may be derived from, 300. Composition of words, 382. Confidence, in whom it should be placed, 8. Consequential, questions connected with the, 365. Consolation must be treated with elo- quence, 234. Consuls, alienated from the cause of Cicero, 36 ; their absolute power, 53. Consulship, contests for the, 63, et n. ; candidates for the, impeached for bribery, 76, 77; Messala elected to the, 88. Contested causes, difficulties of, 240. Contraries, arguments to be drawn from, 268. Copiousness of matter produces copious- ness of language, 367. Coponius, M. 190, 260. Corax, 166; jests on the name, 354. Corculum, a surname of Scipio Nasica, 422, et n. Coriolanus, exile and death of, 412. Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, 463. Cornelius, C. the informer, 44. Cornelius, P. anecdote of, 301. Corruption, decree of the senate on the subject of, 48 ; prevalence of, at Rome, 63, 64. Coruncanius, T. wisdom of, 370; his eloquence, 415. Costume of speech, 178. Cotta, C. A. one of the personages of Cicero's Dialogues, 142, 149, 150, et seq.; expelled from office, 334; hit faults of pronunciation, 344. Cotta, L. a skilful speaker, 423 ; re- marks on, 440, 460, 479. Countenance, its importance in oratory , 398, 399. Country, love of, 195. Crassipes, the son-in-law of Cicero, 44, 47. Crassus, Justinianus, the friend of Cicero, 86. Crassus, Lucius L. one of the orators of Cicero's Dialogues, 142, 149, el teg. , his praises of oratory, 150 ; quaestoi in Asia, 155, et n.', his oratorical accomplishments, 254 ; his witticism* against Brutus, 285, 286 ; jesting at, 299 ; witty sarcasm of, 304 ; his inge- nious mode of examination, 306 ; hi* varied talents, 329, 330, 446 ; anecdote of, 336 ; his general views of eloquence, 337, et seq. ; his great skill as an orator, 442; his skilful pleading, 457; his oration in defence of Curius, 478. Crassus, Marcus, the praetor, 184; his great acquirements, 471 ; his political power, 2 ; consulship of, 52. Crassus, P. 186, et n.; 211 ; wisdom of, 370: n orator of great merit, 428; notices of, 429; his high character. 487. Crebrius, notices of, 83. Criminal matters, modes of conducting, 250. Critias,writings of, 246, etn.; his learning and eloquence, 371, 409. Critolaus, the philosopher, 264, 265. Ctesiphon, 395, 396. Culleo, auction of his property, 41. Curio, C. the orator, 43, 44, 248, 432 ; his genius, 435, 436 ; the third best orator of his age, 463 ; his want of memory, 465 ; family of, 464 ; remarks on, 464, 465 ; his high character, 487. Curius, M. the friend of Cicero, 36, 190, 210, 284 ; eloquence of,416. Curtius, a candidate for the tribuneship, 70. Cychereus, letter of, noticed, 110. Cynics, Antisthenes the founder of, 349. Cyrenaic philosophy, Aristippus the founder of, 349. Cyrus, the architect, 41. " Cyrus," of Xenophon, its objects, 12. DECIUS, P. style of, 432. Definition, meaning of the term, 193; how far useful, 251 ; the various dis- putes on, 365. Deliberations in cases of law, 250. Delivery, one of the essentials of an jration, 178 n.; manner of, the sol* power in oratory, 395 ; Demosthenes' opinion of, 395 ; the voice materially contributes to its effectiveness, 399. Demades, the orator, 410. Demochares, the Greek writer, 247; notices of, 489. Democritus, the philosopher, 156; hi* followers, 153. Demosthenes, possessed of the utmost energy of eloquence, 165 ; his ef- forts to acquire perfection, 218; hi* opinion of the chief requisite of elo- quence, 395; a complete orator, 410; style of, 435. AaXeitTiK^, the art taught by DiogeM% Mi. 612 Piligence, requisite for finding argu- ment, 262 ; to be particularly culti- vated, 262. Dinarchus, the orator, 410. Diogenes, the philosopher, 264, 265. Dion of Syracuse, learning of, 371. Dionysius, 236 ; a great intriguer, 59. Dionysopolis, the people of, 24. Diophanes, the eloquent Grecian, 430. Diphilus, 66, 67. Disposition, one of the parts of an oration, 178 n. Disputation, manner of, among the Greeks, 164, et seq., 169 ; no kinds of, should be foreign to the orator, 368. Dissimilarity, arguments to be drawn from, 268. Dissimulation, joking similar to a sort of, 302. Distortion of features, unworthy of an orator, 295. Divisores, explanation of the term, 297 n. Dolabella, kills Trebonius, 92; his career in Asia, 93 ; his oppressions, 97 ; de- feated and slain, 110; reports respect- ing, 1)0. Domitius Calvinus, 79. Domitius, Cnaeus, the praetor, 29, 58; consulship of, 55, 58, 63 ; his coalition with Memmius, 63 n. ; befriended by Cicero, 72 ; impeached for bribery, 76, 77; commended by Brutus, 109; jest of Crassus against, 291 n.; remarks on, 448. Domitius, L. notices of, 482. Doubt, matters admitting of, how to be decided, 261. Drusus, 142, 149; acquitted of prevari- cation, 64 ; his complaints against Philippus, 332. Drusus, M. and C. the orators, 432, 467. Duodecim Scriptis, the game so called, 203 n. Dyrrhachium, 93, 96. Ea w-ao-at, quoted by Cicero, 54. Echion, the Greek painter, 420. Egilius, witty repartee of, 304. El 6' ex cuy Ifno-av.'quoted by Cicero, 54. Elocution necessary in oratory, 342. Eloquence, difficulty of acquiring the art of, 147 ; the piaises of Crassus in favour of, 150, 151 ; Scaevola's opinions on, opposed to those of Crassus, 152 ; the early Romans destitute of, 152; ancient laws, customs, &c. not esta- blished by, 153; saying of Socrates on, 159 : connected with oratory, 163 ; consists in the art of speak- ing well, 164; of the Academicians, 164, et teq. ; different from good peaking, 167 ; eTery branch of know- ledge necessary to, 222 ; advantage of, 229 ; whether it is desirable t 232; of common things, 234; power of, mostly the same, 321 ; one and U same, in whatever regions of debaU engaged, 338, 339 ; the different kind* of, 339, et teg. ; the distinguishing title of, 346; power of, denominated wisdom, 347 ; the real power of, 353; various requisites for, 359, 391, etseq.; the greatest glory of, to exaggerate by embellishment, 362; wonderful lovo of, in Greece, 408; the house of Jso- crates the school of, 409 ; the age when it nourished, 410, el seq.; the attendant of peace, &c. 413 ; what is the perfect character of, 459. See Oratory and Speaking. Embassies, nature of, explained, 52. Embellishment, one of the parts of an oration, 178 n. Emotions of the mind, 272, et leq. ; ex- pressed on the countenance, 396 ; and by gestures, 398. Empedoclea of Sallust, 56. Empedocles, 203. Ennius, 181; an axiom of, 284; his "An- nals," 416; remarks on, 417; notices of, 420, 421 ; death of, 422. Entreaty, sometimes very advantageous, 322. Epaminondas, talents of, 372 ; erudition of, 414. Ephorus, the historian, 236. Equity, sometimes the object of oratory, 178; on questions of, 260. Eretrians, sect of, 349. Evidence, to be given with great exact- ness, 233. Exhortation must be treated with elo- quence, 234. Exile, letter written by Cicero in, 30; miseries of enumerated, 32 ; cause* of, 36. Exordium of a speech, 316 318. Expectation, jokes contrary to, 206. Expediency, how to be treated in ora tory, 311. Eyes, management of the, in oratory, 399 FABIUS, C. 25. Fabius Maximus, jest on, 302. Fabius, S. the orator, 423. Fabricius, the friend of Cicero, 36. Fabricius, C. witticism of, 301; eloquene* of, 415. Facetiousness, good effect of, 322. Facts, questions on the nature of, In- numerable and intricate, 259 ; from the facts themselves, very few and clear, 259 ; statement of, in a speech, 319. Fadius, the friend of Cicero, 36. Fannii, Caii, the orators, 429. Fannius, the annalist, 301. Farmers of the revenue, 4; dispute* among the, 5; on the just manage- ment of, 15, 16; wrongs committed by the, 16; released from some of ths INDEX. 513 conditions of their contract, 22; their extortions in Syria, 50, el n. Favonins, 43. Fear, feelings of, 280 ; assumes a parti- cular tone of voice, 397. Feelings to be worked on, 280. Felix, will of, left unsigned, 89. Festivals of Rome in December, 39, et n. Fimbria, C. notices of, 245, 438, 471. Flaccus, M. F. a tolerable orator, 431, 432. Flaminius, T. an accurate speaker, 432; remarks on, 479. Flavius, his disputed estate referred to Cicero, 110. Flavius, Cn. 192. Flavius, L. his interview with Cicero, 26, 27. Flood of waters at Rome, 84. Folly, witty, mode of exposing, 304. Formiae in Campania, 9. Fortune not to be relied on so much as virtue and moderation, 4. Forum, affairs of the, 76. Friendship, professions of, to be guard- ed against, 8; especially among the Greeks, 9. Fufidius, 67 ; a tolerable pleader, 433. Fufius, L. 190, 345 ; remarks on, 467. Fulvius, the orator, 423. Fundanus, C. 26. Furius, L. 264. Furius, M. expelled from the Capitoline College, 47. Fusius, 245. GABINIAX law, 58. Gabinius, 29; proconsul of Syria, 51, et n.; governor ot Syria, 58; prosecuted by different parties, 71, 75, 76 ; his un- popularity, 74; his conduct, 75; im- peached for bribery, 77, 78 ; detested by all, 78; his acquittal, 78; Cicero not an advocate, but simply a witness respecting him, 87. Galba, C. notices of, 437. fialba, S. 153, 21 1; his tragic speech, 206 ; repartee of, 299; the best speaker of his age, 423; his successful pleadings, 424; his energetic defence against Libo, 426; inferiority of his written compositions, 427 ; remarks on, 492. Callus, C. A. an able speaker, 445. Games, excessive taxation for support- ing the, 13, et n. Gaul, commotions in, 2. Gauls, auxiliary forces from the, 119. Gellius, 39, 430; remarks on, 421. General, what he is, 200, 201. Genius, the great end of speaking, 171 ; "equisite for finding argument, 262. Gesture, appropriate, ought to attend the emotions of the mind, 398. Glabrio, notices of, 39, 473. Glaucia, repartee of, 299; remarks on, 467. Glory of a great name, 20. Glycon, the physician of Pansa, 109. Good breeding essential to the orator, 161. Gorgias, the Leontine, 169 ; his universal knowledge, 368; a rhetorician, 409 ; an essayist, 413. Gorgonius, C. remarks on, 453. Government, precepts on the just admi- nistration of, 11, 12; beneficial results of, under Q.. Cicero, 12; the sort of wis- dom applied to, 164; nature of, should be known to the orator, 182. Gracchus, the augur, 41. Gracchus, Caius, his pitchpipe for regu- lating the voice, 400 ; genius of, 436. Gracchus, T. the Roman orator, 201, 422, 428; his effective delivery, 396; hit death, 430. Grammarians, number of, who have ex- celled, 145. Granius, witticisms of, 292, 296, 305; anecdote of, 450. Gratidianus, M. 189, 449. Gratidius, the lieutenant of Q. Cicero, 6. Gratidius, M. notices of, 449. " Great Annals," the early records of Rome, 234. Greece, the studies and arts of, advan- tageous, 14 ; the seven wise men of, 371 ; her wonderful love of eloquence, 408; orators of, very ancient, 414. Greek, on the reading and study of, 236, 237. Greek orators, translations of, 18. Greek writers have produced their dif- ferent styles in different ages, 246, 247 ; their varied abilities, 263. Greeks, their friendship to be guarded against, 9; their right to pay taxes, 16; complaints of the, 23; oratory of the, 148, 155; their manner of dis- putation, 164 et teq., 169; character of the, 226; their powers as writers of history, 234 ; their manner of teach- ing oratory, 242 ; objections to it, 243 ; some degree of learning and politenesi among the, 359. Greeks of Asia Minor, 5, et n. Greville, punning on the name, 293, 294 n. Gutta, supported by Pompey, 86. HALICAHNASSUS, in Asia Minor, 12. Hand, action of the, in oratory, 398. Hannibal, his opinion of Phormio's ora tion on the military art, 241. Harmony of words, 382, 383; ef natural things, 384 ; of sounds, 390. Hatred, feelings of, 280. Hearers influenced by the different qua lilies of a speaker, 271. Hegesias, remarks on, 489. Hellanicus, the historian, 234. Helvetii, frequent inroads of the, 2. Hephaestus of Apamea, 24. Herctum, the legal meaning, 210, tt f Hercules of Polyctetus, 239. L L 514 INDEA. Herennius, M. remarks on, 448. Herillians, sect of, 349. Hermias, Cicero's letter respecting, 27. Hermippus of Dionysopolis, 24. Hermodorus the dock-builder, 159. Herodotus, eloquence of, 235. Herus, the bailiff of Cicero, 66. Hierocles, 247. Hippias of Elis, his universal knowledge, 368, 409. Hirrus, Cicew sneers at, 86, 88. Hirtius the consul, 91 ; slain in battle, 104. History must be studied by the orator, 182 ; a knowledge of, essential to oratory, 217; what are the talents requisite for, 234 ; Greek and Latin writers of, 234, 235, 236; how far is it the business of the orator? 237; the general rules of, obvious to common sense, 237 ; humorous allusions may be drawn from, 300; truth of, much corrupted, 418. Homer, eloquence appreciated by, 411; poets existed before his time, 420. Honour, how to be treated in oratory, 321. Honours, on the conferring of, 126, 127; course of, through which the Romans had to pass, 143, et n. ; whether they should be sought? 232. Hope, feelings of, 280, 281. Hortensius the orator, 401 ; his death, 402 ; his character, 402, el seq. ; his genius, 469 ; his coevals, 470 ; biogra- phical notices of, 494; his distin- guished qualities, 495, 502, et seq.; succeeded by Cicero, 501. Hostilius, C. 210; " Cases of," 213. House, contest respecting the sale of a, 189, 190. Humanity, to be exhibited to those from whom we received it, 14. Humour, strokes of, necessary in oratory, 283, et seq. Hypallage, form of, 380. Hyperides, the orator, 410. Hypsasus, his contest with C. Octavius, 184, 185, et n. ICTUS metric!, explained, 385 n. Ill-temper, proneness to, 18. Imitation, advice respecting, 245; the orator should be moderate in, 291. Impertinent, definition of the word, 225. Impossible, on treating the, 321. Incidi, explanation of the word, 70. Indecency of language to be avoided in oratory, 295. Indiscretion, various ways in which it may be prejudicial to the orator, 311, et n. Inheritances, formulae for entering on, 169, H n. Inquiry, various subjects of, 364. Instances, parallel, argument* to be drawn from, 268. Intestacy, law of, 18. Intimacies, caution to be observed in ths formation of, 10. Invention, one of the parts of an oration, 178 n. Invention and arrangement essential t oratory, 220. Ionia, in Asia Minor, 12. Ironical dissimulation sometimes pro- duces an agreeable effect, 301. Ironical use of words, 299. Irony of Socrates, 491. Isocrates, the father of eloquence, 228, 392 ; his house the school of elo- quence, 246, 409 ; his mode of teach- ing, 383, 410, 461 ; a writer of orations* 414. Italy, formerly called " Magna Graecia," 264. JESTING, mimicry a species of, 295 ; the various kinds of, 295, et seq. Jests, Greek books on, 283; the kind that excite laughter, 289, 293; various sort* of, 295, et seq. ; infinite in variety, but reducible to a few general heads, 308. Jocosity, useful in oratory, 283. Jokes, 289; sometimes border on scur- rility, 292 ; often lie.in a single word>, 297. See Jests. Joking, caution to be observed in, 290. Joy, feelings of, 280, 281. Julius, C. 224; death of, 324; variel talents of, 452. Julius, L. death of, 334. Juntos, T. remarks on, 453. Jupiter, a work so called, 52, 53 n. Jurisprudence, a knowledge of essential to oratory, 217. Jns applicationis, 189. Jus civile, 196. See Civil Law. Jus puWicum, the various heads of, 197 n. Juventius, T. remarks on, 452. KINDRED, law of, 187, et n. Knowledge, the liberal departments of, linked together in one bond, 337; thre* kinds of, 364 ; all the objects of, eom- pehended by certain distinguished individuals, 369, 370. LABEO, an officer of Q. Cicero's, 8, 73, 99. Laelia, the daughter of C. Laelius, 463 ; her sweetness of voice, 344. Laelius, C. 201, 264; his light amuse- ments, 226; repartee of, 306; a finished orator, 423, 424 ; his pleadings, 425 ; esteemed the wisest of men, 463. L.-clius, Decimus, 227. Lama, L. JE. repartee of, 299. Lamia, C. his boldness of speech, 58. Lamia:, the, 45. Language, purity of, necessary, 342, faults of noticed, 343; on the ambi- guity of, 345 ; form of, follows th nature of our thoughts, 384 ; agreeable LNDEX. ess and grace of, 385 ; metrical struc- ture of, 385 j the various figures which tend to adorn, 391, et teq. ; fashionable delicacy of, 450. Larentia, the nurse of Romulus, 125. Largius's limb, joke on Memmius re- specting, 290, et n. Laterium, a countiy house of Cicero's, 50 ; Cicero's description of, 68, 69. Latiar, error in the name of, 46. Latin, to be spoken with purity, 342. Laughter, five things connected with, which are subjects of consideration, J89; sort of jests calculated to excite, 293, 306. Law, severity in its administration ne- cessary, 10; qualities necessary for, 11; instances of ignorance of, 185, 18(i; various disputed cases of, 188 192 ; a knowledge of, necessary to the orator, 209 ; case of, discussed be- tween Crassus and Galba, 210 ; cases in which there can be no dispute, 211 ; cases in which the civil law is not absolutely necessary, 212, 214, et seq. (see Civil Law.) Laws must be understood by the orator, 182 ; different kinds of, specified, 187 ; of Athens, 208. Lawyer, who truly deserves the name ? 201. Learning, advantages of, 356, 357; its progress in Rome, 358 ; of the Greeks, 359. Legatio libera, meaning of the term, 52. Lentulus, Cn. 44, 471, 475. Lentulus, L. the orator, his contests in the senate, 41, 42; consulship of, 48; engages to supply Rome witli corn, 49 n.; accuses Gabinius, 78; remarks on, 423. Lentulus, Lucius, son of the flamen, 71. Lentulus, Marcellinus, consulship of, 38. Lentulus, P. the praetor, 29, 201 ; elo- quence of, 431 ; remarks on, 440. Lentulus, P. and L. notices of, 482. Lentulus, Spinther, consulship of, 38. Lepidus, M. levity and inconsistency of, *4, 95 ; folly of, 116 ; his children suf- ferers by it, 1 17 ; the fear in which he was held, 117; his wickedness, 121 ; a vacillating man, 123 ; his statue over- thrown, 126; saying of, 307; witticism of, 307 ; remarks on, 492. Lepidus and Antony, kingly power trans- ferred to, 123, 124. LETTERS, of Cicerto to his brother Quintus, 1 89 ; to Junius Brutus, 90 135 ; to Octavius, 136 (see CICERO); Cicero complains of their non-arrival, 84, 85 ; cautions respecting the con- veyance of, 85; of Junius Brutus to Cicero, 92, 100, 106, 108, 109, 117, 128; to Atticus, 111 ; those of Br tus dif- ferently arranged in different editions 93, 94 n. Lex .fijlia Fulvia, 30. Lex Licinia Mucia tie ch ibus regendit, 297. Libo, T. the tribune 426. Liciniae, the, 463. Licinius, the kidnapper, 25. Licinius, the slave of wEsop, 28. Licinius, M. 45, 46. Lictor, duties of his office, 8. Literature and study the great pleasure of Cicero, 87. Livius, biographical notices of, 421. Locusta, 6b. Longilius, the contractor, 48. Longinus, 217. Love, feelings of, 280. Lucilius, C. the satirist, 161, et n.; t man of great learning, 227 ; obscurity of a passage in, 295, et n. Lucius, a common Latin praenomen; see passim. Lucretius, poems of, 56. Luculli, L. and M. the orators, 467. Lucullus, M. the przetor, 39. Lupus, the senator, his speech, 39. Lycurgus, 410, 411. Lysias, a complete orator, 410, 411; notices of, 418. MACEDONIA, 155. Macer, C. remarks on. 472. Hagius, jest respecting, 300; remarks on, 452. Magnesians, make honourable mention of Q. Cicero, 55. Mago, the Carthaginian, 214, et n. Majesty, crime against, equivalent to treason, 74, et n, Maius, C. 160. Maluginensis, M. S. joke of, 298. Mancia, M. satirical jest on, 300. Mancinus, C. case of, 191. Manilian laws, 213. Manilius, M. 201; his universal know- ledge, 369; his judgment, 431. Manlius, Cn. 255, et n. Manucius, 73. Manutius, Paul, 100, n. Marcelli, 189. Marcellinus, the senator, his speech, 39; Cicero's complaint against, 49. Marcellus, M. 42, 159; remarks on, 440. Marcus, a common praer.ornen among the Romans; seepattim. Marcus, Q. a Roman orator, 423. Marius, the friend of Cicero, 54, 55. Marius, C. 276. Marius, M. the orator, 467. Matadors of Cato, 49. Mathematics, the numbers who ban excelled in, 145. Maximus, Q. the orator, 431. Megaiians, sect of, 349. Megaristus of Antandros, 24. 516 INDEX. Memmius, 23, 71 ; hrs coalition with Domitius, (53, et n.; exposes the coali- tion, 72; impeached for bribery, 76, 77; his reliance on Caesar, 86; jests respecting, 290, 300, 301; his witty reproof, 306; remarks en, 475. Memmius, C. and L. remarks on, 440. Memory, the repository of all things, 147; one of the requisites of an ora- tor, 178, n.; to be exercised, 181, 182; ait of, 311, 327, 328; Simonides the inventor, 325, 326; a great benefit to the orator, 326. Menecles, of Alabanda, 247. Menedemus, of Athens, 164. Messala, 34; Cicero's opinion 01, 72, 86; impeached for bribery, 76, 77; made consul, 88; his high character, 122; remarks on, 475. Messala, V. elected consul, 63, et n. Messidius, 66, 67. Metaphor, a brief similitude, 376 ; on the use of, 377; brevity sometimes ob- tained by, 377,378; not to be too far- fetched, 379; on the connexion of several metaphors, 381. Metaphorical use of words, 299. Metelli, C. and N. remarks on the, 475. Metellus, notices of, 201, 301, et n., 439; eloquence of, 416, 423. Metellus Nepos, consulship of, 38. Method, requisite for finding argument, 262. Metonymy, form of, 380. Metrical quantities of words or sen- tences, 385, 386. Metrodorus, 328, 353. Military art, Phormio's lecture on the, 241. Milp, the friend of Cicero, 36, 42, 43; Cicero complains of his imprudence, 50 ; applause awarded to, 71; opposed by Pompey, 86 ; prepares toexhibit games, 86, 88 ; censured by Cicero, 88. Mimicry, a kind of ludicrous jesting, 295. Misenum, of Campania, 236. Mnesarchus, 155, 164. Modulation of words, 382, 383. Molo, the rhetorician, 496. Money, charges of extortion, 250; em- bezzlement of, 250. " Motus," meaning of, 171. Mucia, sister of Metellus, 1. Muciae, the, 463. Mucius, P. 201, 211, 234. Mucius, Q. 149, 197. Mummius, L. and S. the Roman orators, 427. M arena, P. remarks on, 472. Music, the numbers who have excelled in, 145. Myron, the Greek sculptor, 420. Mysia, in Asia Minor, 12. Mysians. mode of punishing two of them. 24. fimvivs, punnir.g on the name, 29t writings of, 417. Narration, contained in a speech, 3 IS- difficulties of, 300. Nasica, witty repartees of, 298, 303, 30 1 Naso, L. O. 26. Nassenius, C. recomirended by Cicero 101. Nature, harmony and beauty of, 384. Nature and genius, the great end oi speaking, 171. Nauorates, writings of, 247, et n. Nerius, Cn. the informer, 44. Nero, C. C. old saying of, 293. Nerva, C. L. 438. Nervii, of Gaul, 85. Nicander, of Colophon, 161, et n. Nicephorus, the bailiff of Q. Cicero, 68. Nicias of Smyrna, 24. Nicomachus, the Greek painter, 420. Nigidius, the praetor, 29. Nobilior, punning alteration of the word, 296, t n. Norbanus, C. the tribune, 255, etn., 273, 276, n., 277. Numa Pompilius, 152, 264. Numerius Furius, notices of, 357. Nummius, punning on his name, 297. Nuncupative wills, 206, et n. Nymphon of Colophon, 24. OBSCURITY, to be avoided in metaphor, 380. Octavianus, or Octavius, his difficulties on the death of Caesar, 90, 91 ; lauded by Cicero, 98, 124; Brutus's opinion of, 113, 114; the friend of Cicero, 120; honours proposed to, 125 ; Brutus refuges to solicit clemency from, or to allow him regal authority, 128133; his obligations to Cicero, 134 ; Cicero's epistle to, on his character and con- duct, 136141 ; this epistle considered spurious, 136 n.; his tyranny and op- pression, 139, 140. Octavius, Caius, the associate of Q. Cicero, 25. Octavius Cn. his wise administration 11 ; his contest with Hypsaeus, 184, 185, et n. ; eloquence of, 451. Octavius, M. and Cn. the orators, 427, 467. Oppius, the confidential friend of Caesar, 69, 70, T2, 73. Oration, its effects when adorned and polished, 151 ; the different methods of dividing it, 242 ; difficulties attend- ing it, 243. Orations, written ones often inferior to those spoken, 427. ORATOR, The, Cicero's Dialogues on his character, 142, et .teg. ; when and why composed, 142; the different person introduced, 142 ; must obtain th knowledge of everything important, 148 , to be accomplished in every su*> INDEX. 51' Ject of conversation and learning, 152; can speak well on every subject, 156 ; his power consists in exciting the feelings, 157; he is an orator who can define his power, 159; ethical philo- sophy may be mastered by, 161 ; good breeding essential to him, 161 ; nature and genius his great aids, 171 ; defini- tions of the complete orator, 172, 173, et seq. ; condemned for the least imper- fection, 174, 175; writing his best modeller and teacher, 180; his general studies, 181, 182; the various depart- ments of knowledge with which he should be familiar, 182 ; a knowledge of civil law absolutely necessary, 184, it teg. ; an acquaintance with the arts and sciences essential, 193; one who can use appropriate words and thoughts, 202 ; must study philosophy, 204 ; the various objects he ought to embrace, 204, 205; one who can use the art of persuasion, 218; invention and arrangement essential, 220, etseq.; no excellence superior to that of a con- summate orator, 229, 230 ; how far history is hi* business, 237 ; the kinds of subjects on which he may speak, 238, 239; Cato defines him as "vir bonus dicendi peritus," 244 n. ; his excitement of the passions, 280, 281 ; his jocosity and wit, 283; should be moderate in imitation, 291 ; distortion of features unworthy of the, 295; his various kinds of indiscretion, 3ll,etn.i his proper mode of arranging facts and arguments, 313, et seq. ; a popular assembly his most enlarged scene, 321, 322 ; his use of panegyric, 323 325 ; memory greatly beneficial to, 326 ; should speak with perspicuity and gracefulness, 342 ; compared with the philosopher, 371, 372; first made his appearance in Athens, 408 ; the prin- cipal qualities required, 426 ; three things which he should be able to effect, 454. Orator and poet nearly allied, 161. Orators, opinions of the Academicians on, IG4, et teg. ; a wide distinction between the accomplishments and natural abilities of, 339 ; enumeration of, 339 ; of antiquity, 347, 348; Cicero's remarks on, 402, et seq. ; the early ones of Athens, 409 ; the Rhodian and Asiatic, 414; different styles of, 435; two classes of good ones, 460 ; of the Attic style, 488 490. Orators of Greece, very ancient, 414. Orators of Rome, the early ones, 415, et teg.; their age and merits, 4S5, et seq ; contemporary ones, 453 ; the leading ones, 462 ; their treatment, 496, 497. Oratory, on the general study of, 150; business and art of, to be divided into five parts, 178 ; writing the best mo- deller and teacher of, 180; may exist without philosophy, 208 ; legal know- ledge necessary to, 209 ; a perfect mastery over all the arts not necessary in, 215, 216; strokes of wit and hu- mour useful in, 283, et ssq. ; joking in to be cautiously practised, 290 ; on the use of the ridiculous in, 292, 294; sorts of jests calculated to excite laughter, 293, 294 ; punning in, 292 294 ; peculiar habits to be avoided, 295 ; various kinds of jesting used in, 295, et seq. ; talents applicable to, 310, 311; ancient professors of. 368; me- trical harmony to be observed in, 385, 386 ; the most illiterate are capable of judging of, 390 ; the various requisites of, 391, et seq. ; considerations of what is the most becoming, 395 ; importance of delivery, 395 ; almost peculiar to Athens, 414; on the effects of, 455, 456. See Eloquence and Speaking. Orbius, P. remarks on, 452. Oresta, L. and C. A. the Roman orators, 427. Orfius, M. a Roman knight, commended by Cicero, 60. " Origines," a work written by Mare is- Cato, 206. 'Optiuv rav vavv, a Greek proverb, 27. Osella, remarks on, 452. PACOJTIUS, the Mysian, 10. Pacuvius, passage from the play of, 264. Pteanand Munio, explanation of, 216 n. Pseonius, the rhetorician, 78. Painters of Greece, 420. Painting, a single art, though possessing different styles, 339. Palicanus, the orator, 467. Pamphilus, notices of, 354, et n. Panegyric, the ornaments and delivery of, 232, 233 ; use of, in oratory, 322 325. Pansa, the consul, 91 ; his military posi- tion, 96; death of, 104; remarks on his death, 109 j his energy in the senate, 119. Papirius, L. eloquence of, 449. Parallel cases, arguments to be drawn from, 269. Particulars, arguments to be drawn from, 267. Parties, political, of Rome, 90, 92. Passion, to be restrained, 18, 19. Passions, the power of the orator con- sists in exciting them, 157; the art o( influencing the. 204 ; moving of the, 272, etteq.; to be called into action, 280, et seq. ; excitement of the, ai essential part of oratciy, 280, 281. Patro, the Epicurean, 2$. Patroni causaium, 196 n. Pauim, L. the orator, 423. ennua, M. the orator, 433. 518 INDEX. Percussions, metitcal, S65, et n. I'ericles, the best orator in Athens, 202; his compositions 246, et n. ; his elo- quence, 371, 408, 409; how it was acquired, 412, 413. Period, the largest com pass of a, 383. Periods, conclusions of, to be carefully studied, 389. Peripatetics, the, 154; fonnded by Aris- totle, 349 ; discipline of the, 435 Persius, 227 ; a man of letters, 429. Persuasion, the business of an orator, 177; most useful to him, 218; the chief object to be effected, 417. Phaethon, 36. Phalereus, the orator, 411. Phericydes, the historian, 234. Philippics of Cicero, 93. Philippus, the consul, 40, 149 ; the step- father of Octavius, 114. Philippus, L. orations of, 331, 332; notices of, 448, 454 ; his varied talents, 450, 451. Philippus, M. consulship of, 38. Philistus, the Sicilian writer, 59, et n, Philistus, the historian, 236 , writings of, 247, et n. Philo, the architect, 159; the philosopher of Athens, 363, 496. F'hiloi'onus, the freedman, 32. Philolaus, acquirements of, 372. Philosopher, who deserves the appella- tion, 201; compared with the orator, 372, 373. Philosophers, various sorts of, 849 ; of Athens, 363 ; their teaching, 435. Philosophy, the parent of all the arts, 145 ; ethical philosophy may be mas- tered by the orator, 161 ; the wisdom derived from, 164, 165 ; must be studied by the orator, 204, 205 ; never despised by the Romans, 264; knowledge in the arts and sciences so denominated, 348; principles of, 354; moral philo- sophy derived its birth from Socrates, 409. Philotimus, 68. Philoxenus, 66. Philus, L. F. a correct speaker, 431. Phormio, the peripatetic, Hannibal's opinion of, 241. I'uo-oioi, natural philosophers, 203. Pictor, the historian, 235. Pilus, the courier, 98, 99. Pinarius, T. Cicero's respect for, 74; jest on, SCO. Pisistratus, learning of, 371 ; oratory of, 409, 411. Piso, the historian, 235. Piso, C. hig i character of, 484. Piso, L. the tribune, 431 ; a professed pleader, 431. Piso, M. the peripatetic Staseas, 169; his great erudition, 472 ; ijtices ot, 472, 473. Pity, feelings of, 280, 28i. Plancius, the *enator, a friend of Cicero'n, 40 ; Cicero's speech prepared for, 70. Plancus, L. his military arrangements, 94,95; his forces of, 119; honour! proposed to, 126. Plato, the chief of all genius and learn- ing, 14; a citizen of Sardii, 28; tin Gorgias of, 155; saying of, 337; the ancient school of, 349 ; the instructor of Dion, 371 ; statue of, 408 ; richness of his style, 435; anecdote of, 456. Plautus, death of, 417. Plays on ambiguous words extremely ingenious, 5P5. Pleading, impassioned manner of, 279; the strong ^points of a cause to be taken, 309 ; manner of, to be adopted, 310. Pleasure assumes a particular tone ot the voice, 398. Poem, epic, written by Cicero, 89. Poet, must possess ardour of imagina- tion, 275. Poetry, Cicero's ideas on writing, 82, 85. Poets, the small number who have risen to eminence, 14(i; must be studied by the orator, 182; have the nearest affinity to orators, 161, 339. Poisoning, charges of, 250. Political treatises, preparing by Cicero, 59. Pollio, his history of the civil wars, 1. Polycletus, the Greek sculptor, 239, 420. Polygnotus, the Greek painter, 420. Pompeius, C. remarks on, 473. Pompeius, C. and S. remarks on, 451. Pompeius, Q. the orator, 428 ; remarks on, 473. Pompeius, S. the philosopher, 160, 353. Pompey, the great, 1, 2; his defection from Cicero, 36 ; his contests in the senate, 42, et seg. ; large amount of money voted to, 47 ; his unpopularity, 50 ; consulship of, 52 ; Cicero's inter- views with, 52, 55 ; defends Gabinius, 78, 79 ; patronage of, 86. Pompey and Crassus, second consulship of, 142. Pompilius, M. a man of abilities, 416. Pouiponia, 48, 69. Pomponius the orator. 34, 345 ; marriage of, 45 ; his conference with Cicero OB eminent orators, 404. See Atticus. Pomptinius, triumph of, 81. Pontidius, P. notices of, 475. Popilia, 232. Popilius, P. and C. the Roman orator*, 427. Popular Assembly, the most enlarged scene of action for an orator, 321, 322. Porcia, the mother of young Cicero, 89. Porcina, M. 153. Portia, 115. Postumius, T. remarks on, 482 Power and wisdom, on the ui ion of, V political government, 14. INDEX. 519 * Praer.9 actionum," an instructor of forms, 209, et n. Praetexta, Cicero's ridicule of the, 56. Praetors, ineffectiveness of the, 3; at- tendants on the, 7 ; the friends of Cicero, 29 j list of in the senate, 39. Pragmatici, pleaders' assistants, 196, el it., 216. Praises of all men to be secured, 19. Precepts addressed to Q. Cicero, 10. Prevarication, the legal meaning of, 64, et n. Promises of adherence made to M. Ci- cero, 29. Proof, two kinds of matter for the pur- pose of, 253. Property, reproof of Q. Cicero respecting the disposition of, 26. Protagoras, the rhetorician, 409 ; an es- sayist, 413. Protogenes, the Greek painter, 420. Proverhs may be applied in orator) 1 , 297. Ptolemy Auletes, king of Alexandria, 41, et n. Publius, a common praenomea among the Romans ; see passim. Publius Africanus, 201, 264, 423. Publius, C. saying of, 302. Punishments necessary to inflict on the guilty, 126, 127. Punning, anecdotes of, 292294. Pupian law, 53. Pyrrhonians, sect of, 349. Pythagoraa, 372. Pythagoreans, the, 153; Italy formerly full of, 264. QUAESTOR, duties of the, 6. " Quasi dedita opera," remark on, 166 n, Questions to be employed in controversy, 363, et seq. Quintius, L. the orator, 467. Quintus, the son of Quintus Cicero, 46, 47. Quintui Curtius lauded by Cicero, 76. Quintus Marcius Rex, 255, et n. Quintus Publicenus, statue of, 28. Quirinalia, the, 44. RACILIUB the senator, his speech, 39, 40. Ranters of Rome, 452, 453. 'PatfujLtorepa, definition of, 65. Reatinus, L. O. remarks on, 473 Rebuke, severity of, 322. Repartees, 299. Reproof must be treated with eloquence, 234; familiar reproof often amusing, 305. Republic, dangerous state of the, 29: Cicero's account of the situation of the, 77; Cicero's anxieties respecting its difficulties, 88. See Rome. Republics may be happy, if governed by wisdom, 14. deputation, to be cultivated, 4 ; necessity of maintaining it when earned, 20. Respondendi de jure, the custom, 197 n. Rhetoric, masters of, 157; books of, 157; on the study of, 265, 266; Latin teach- ers of, 358. Rhetoricians, 164, 165; their mode of reasoning, S63 ; of Athens, 409 ; theii mode of teaching, 409 ; opposed by Socrates, 409. Rhythm and harmony essential in ora- tory, 3cl, 346. Ridicule, 304. Ridiculous, what are the several kinds of the, 289; in thinas, 291; in words, 291 ; sometimes slides into scurrility, 292 ; not always wit, 294. Roman language, its purity corrupted by strangers, 479. Rome, political struggles in, 2, 29, 62, 88, 90, 119, 120; general licentiousness in, 1 1 ; excessive taxation for the games at, 13, et n. ; great flood at, 84; civil commotions in, 99,102, 103,etseq., 110, 111, 116; under the power of Lepidus and Antony, 123, 124; her pecuniary difficulties, 135; the capitation tax re- sisted, 135, et n. ; Cicero's portraiture of her subjugation, 136 141 ; early orators of, 415, et seq.; orators con- temporary with Cato, 422 ; on the age and merits of the orators of, 435, et teq.; contemporary orators of, 453; their treatment, 496, 497 ; overthrow of the commonwealth of, 504. Romulus, 152. Roscius, the Roman actor, 174, 215. 216 ; his perfection in acting, 175, 361; his judgment of action, 288. Rufius, C. remarks on, 479; his speech, 480. Rufus, his discourse on the passions, &c. 279, et teq. ; on strokes of wit and humour, 283 286. Rules of art not necessary in the elo- quence of common things, 234. Rullus, the law of, 1, 21. Rusca, M. P. jesting of, 299. Rusticellus, C. remarks on, 449. Ruta, meaning of, 286 n. Rutilius, 191; his high character, 206, 207 ; sent into exile, 207 n. ; anecdote of, 305 ; his qualities as an orator, 42i 425, 432, 433. SACRAMENTO, explained, 154 n. Salinator, L. jest on, 302. Sallust, 79 ; his opinion of Cicero's wort on the best form of government, 81. Salvidienus, 113. Salvius, 73, 75. Samos, in Asia Minor, 12. Sannio, why so called, 294 n. Sardinia, an unhealthy island, 45, et n. Satrius, the lieutenant of Treboniu% 110. Sayings, called Dicta, 284. Scsevola, the pontiff, 184 . 520 TNDEX. Sosovola, M. JE. a candidate for the con- sulship, 63, el n. Soeevola, P. 186, tt n. ; his acuteness. 431. Scsevola, Q. the tribune, 27, 184, 185, 463; one of the orators of Cicero's Dialogues, 142, 150, d seq.; hit great learr.ing, 190 ; accusation against, 3U5, et n. ; an able civilian, 442; his merits as an orator, 443 ; pleadings of, 457. Scaurus, Cicero's speech prepared for, 70 ; impeached for bribery, 76, 77 ; cast off by Pompey, 86 ; defended by Cicero, 72; -witty reproof of, 305; his oratory, 432, 433, 439. Science necessary to the orator, 353. Sciences, a knowledge of, essential to oratory, 193; extent of the, not to be dreaded. 357 ; their grandeur dimi- nished by the distribution of their parts, 369 ; comprehended by certain distinguished individuals, 369, 370. Scipio the elder, jesting of, 299. Scipio, Lucius, remarks on, 451. Scipio, P. the Roman orator, 422 ; notices of, 437 ; called the darling of the peo- ple, 463. Scopas, anecdote of, 325, 326. Scribonius, L. 206. Sculptors of Greece, 420. Sculpture, a single art, though possess- ing different styles, 339. Self-respect, to be supported, 10. Sempronii, T. and C. 152. Sempronius, A. 293. ' Senate of Home, Cicero's aceount of its proceedings, 39 ; violent contests in the, 43, 47, 64 ; proceedings in the, 49 j its usages should be known to the orator, 183. Septumuleius, jest on, 301. Sergius aurata, 139. Serjeant, duties of his office, 7, et n. Serranus, Domesticus, funeral of, 86. Sertorius, Q. remarks on, 453. Service, right of, explained, 67 n. ; law of, 189, 190, etn. Servilia, the mother of Brutus, Cicero's visit to, 133, et n. Servilius, 39, 73, 81, 99; Cicero's ani- madversions on, 95; jesting of, 299; notices of, 483. Servilius the younger, 43. Servius narrowly escapes conviction, 50. Servius Pola, brutal character of, 58. Servius Tullius, 162. Sestius, the friend of Cicero, 36 ; im- peached, 44, 45 ; his acquittal, 45, 46. Severus Antistius, the senator, 40. Sextantis, non esse, a punning expres- sion, 296, et n. Suxtilius, Q. the senator, 40. Sextius, C. joke on, 292. Ship, arrangement and art of a. 484, 85. Sicilians, thtir first attempts to writ* precepts on the art of speaking, 413. Sicinius, Cn. jest of, 465 ; i speaker of some reputation, 481. Signet-ring, importance of its proper use, 7. Silanus, D. remarks on, 473. Silanus, M. remarks on, 439. Similarity, arguments to be drawn from, 268. Similes, not to be too far-tetched, 379. Similitudes, jests derived from, 300. Simonides, of Ceos. inventor of the art of memory, 325, 326. Sisenna, his qualifications as an orato;. 469, 479. Slaves, how far they are to be trusted, 9. Smart sayings, 294. Snow, black, 58. Socrates, his Phaedrus of Plato, 150; sayings of, 159, 109; his defence before his judges, 208 ; condemned through want of skill in speaking, 208; his ironical wit, 302, 491 ; his great genius and varied conversation, 348 ; various sects of philosophers who followed him, 349 ; opposed to the rhetoricians, 409. Solon, oratory of, 409. Sounds, harmony of, 390. Speaking, many persons admirable in everything but this, 144, 145 ; the general study of, 146 ; it is noble to affect assemblies of men by, 150, 151 ; who may be considered a good speaker, 167; what is the art of, 170; a mere difference about the word, 170, 171; nature and genius the great ends of, 171; men by speaking badly become bad speakers, 180; the correct order of, 200 ; the whole success of, depends on three things, 253 ; three things re- quisite for finding argument, 262; on receiving instructions in the art of, 266 ; the hearer should be favourable to the speaker, 270 ; morals and prin- ciples of the speaker to merit esteem, 271 ; fashion of, to be varied, 321 ; different peculiarities of, 340 ; ancient masters in the art of, 368 ; various requisites in the art of, 391, et seq.; first attempts of the Sicilians to write precepts on the art of, 413 ; art of, studied beyund the limits of Greece, 414. See Eloquence and Oratory. Speech, costume of, 178 ; requisites for a, 359. Speeches, mode of arranging, 314, et teg. ; exordium of, 316 ; narration, 318 ; statement of facts, 319 ; less dis- play required before the senate than the people, 320 ; on the treatment ol different subjects, 321, et seq. ; use ol panegyric in, 322, 323; the mosl ornate which spread over the widest Held, 356. INDEX. 521 Spirit, i.ot to be lowered, 4. Spoletinus, P. C. notices of, 483. Spondalia, remarks on the word, J '5. SputatUica, observations on the word, 480, et n. Stabbing, charges of, 250. Stajenus, C. remarks on, 474. State, interests of the, should be learnt by the orator, 182. Statius, the freedman, his visit to Cicero, 22 ; his undue influence, 23. Stellicidia, law of, 188. Stirps and gens, legal difference, 189. Stoics, the, 124 ; Antisthenes their founder, 349; their doctrine, 350 ; lan- guage of the, 435. Style in speaking, every age has pro- duced a peculiar one, 246, 247-; metri- cal harmony of, 331, 387, 388 ; to be ornamented with a tasteful choice of words, 331, 346, et *eq. ; a well-adjusted one established in Athens, 409. Styles of the Greek orators, 435. ' ' Suavitateeq. Witticisms. See Jests. Words without sense valueless, 256 ; on the choice and arrangement of, 358; proper and improper, on the use of, 375, 370 ; metaphorically used, 376, 377; composition, collocation, and modu- lation of, 382, et fcq. Writing, controversies respecting the interpretation of, 178; the best mo- deller and teacher of oratory, 180; con- tests respecting the interpretation of, 251, 252. XEXOCRATES, the founder of the Ac demy, 349. Xenophon, the historian, 236. ZEUIIS of Blandus, 23 ; his reputatirj and character, 24. Zeuxis, the Greek painter, 4JO. LONDOX: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AXD .-ONS, LIMITED, .STAMFOUD STBEEI AND CHABINO CBOSS. 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