§ 124.non parum multa: litotes, as at vi. 2, 3 semper fuerunt non parum multi.—Becher compares also non parum multi Cic. in Verr. iii. 9, 22: Phil. vii. 6, 18: pro Quinctio 3, 11: in Verr. iv. 12, 29: parum saepe de Fin. ii. 4, 12. The opposite ofnon parumisnon nimis: cp. Liv. xxii. 26, 4 haud parum callide with Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 25, 70 nihil horum nimis callide.Cornelius Celsus: a celebrated encyclopaedist under Augustus and Tiberius, who wrote on rhetoric, jurisprudence, farming, medicine, military art, and practical philosophy. Only eight books on medicine have come down to us. He survived into the reign of Nero. Cp.§23above. Of his philosophy Augustine writes as follows (de Haeres. Prol.): opiniones omnium philosophorum qui sectas varias condiderunt usque ad tempora sua ... sex non parvis voluminibus ... absolvit; nec redarguit aliquem, sed tantum quid sentirent aperuit, ea brevitate sermonis ut tantum adhiberet eloquii quantum ... aperiendae iudicandaeque sententiae sufficeret. In xii. 11, 24 Quintilian refers to the universality of his knowledge, though he speaks of him as mediocri vir ingenio. “In other passages also Quintilian often expresses his disagreement from this predecessor of his, e.g. ii. 15, 22, 32: iii. 6, 13 sq.: viii. 3, 47: ix. 1, 18 ... Even when he agrees with him he does so with reserve, e.g. vii. 1, 10.—It may be that Quintilian was vexed that a subject to which he had devoted an entire life was merely cursorily treated by Celsus, and besides an encyclopaedia might easily be open to technical objections. At all events, Celsus’ rhetorical manual was obscured by that of Quintilian. It is mentioned only by Fortunat. iii. 2 (p. 121, 10 H)”—Teuffel, 275.Sextios. The Sextii, father and son, were contemporary with Caesar and Augustus, and belonged to the Pythagorean school, though not without a leaning to the Stoics (Seneca, Ep. 64 §2–). Seneca speaks frequently of the elder Sextius in his letters: e.g. 59 §7– ‘virum acrem, Graecis verbis, Romanis moribus philosophantem.’ In the Nat. Quaest. vii. 32, 2 we are told how their following—‘Sextiorum nova et Romani roboris secta’—soon fell away: ‘inter initia sua extincta est,’ v. Teuffel 261.cultu ac nitore: v.§79and§83, with notes.Plautus. The text is not certain (seeCrit. Notes), but as Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 14, 2 and iii. 6, 23) refers to a philosopherof this name as employing the unusual wordsqueentiaandessentia, it may as well be retained. (In ii. 14, 2 however Meister reads Flavi: cp. Teuffel, 261, §9.)levis: ‘of no weight.’Catius, an Insubrian by birth, contemporary with Cicero, who speaks of his recent death ad Fam. xv. 16, 1; cp. 19, 2 Epicurus, a quo omnes Catii et Amafinii, mali verborum interpretes (referring to their faithful transcripts of Greek terminology) proficiscuntur. The scholiast on Hor. Sat. ii. 4 tells us that he wrote ‘quattuor libros de rerum natura et de summo bono.’I:125Ex industriaSenecamin omni genere eloquentiae distuli propter vulgatam falso de me opinionem, qua damnare eum et invisum quoque habere sum creditus. Quod accidit mihi dum corruptum et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendi genus revocare ad severiora iudicia contendo; tum autem solus hic fere in manibus adulescentium fuit.§ 125.Seneca:A.D.2-65. For his life and works see Teuffel 282 sqq., Bernhardy p. 871 sq. Martha gives an estimate of the moral teaching of his well-known Letters in ‘Moralistes sous l’Empire Romain.’ Quintilian’s criticism of Seneca is subjected to a searching examination by M. Samuel Rocheblave in a pamphlet De M. Fabio Quintiliano L. Annaei Senecae Judice (Paris, 1890): see esp. chs. iii. and iv. Introduction, pp. xxiv. sqq.opinionem. Quintilian worked hard to recall the Romans to a more temperate and classical style. He aimed too at a partial ‘return to Cicero,’ and considered Seneca a dangerous model for the youth of the day. See Introduction, pp. xxxix. sqq. Fronto and others used stronger language: e.g. p. 155 N eloquentiam ... Senecae mollibus et febriculosis prunuleis insitam subvertendam censeo radicitus ... neque ignoro copiosum sententiis et redundantem hominem esse, verum sententias eius tolutares video, quatere campum quadripedo concita cursu, tenere nusquam, pugnare nusquam ... dicteria potius eum quam dicta continere. Cp. Aul. Gell. xii. 2, 1 de Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros attingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius vulgaris videatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut levi et quasi dicaci argutia, eruditio autem vernacula et plebeia nihilque ex veterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii vero elegantiae in verbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum quas dicat scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in vitiis morum obiurgandis severitatem gravitatemque non invenustam. So too Caligula (Suet. 53) had called Seneca’s productions arena sine calce, commissiones merae.damnare ... invisum habere. There is nothing in this of a moral judgment, though some of Quintilian’s contemporaries, notably Tacitus, disliked Seneca, probably because they could not acquit him from blame in regard to his pupil Nero’s excesses, and other matters. The only parallel toet invisum quoquein classical Latin is said by Becher to be Cic. pro Domo §47 quoniam iam dialecticus es et haec quoque liguris. It does not occur in Caesar, seldom in Livy, but frequently in Quintilian. Cp. on§20.corruption ... genus. He is not speaking of the false taste of Seneca’s style exclusively, but of the general deterioration that prevailed: cp.§43recens haec lascivia.dum contendo: ‘through the efforts I made’: thetumwhich follows shows that it refers to past time.solus hic fere in manibus. Tac. Ann. xiii. 3 fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius auribus adcommodatum. In his endeavours to introduce a purer taste Quintilian naturally made so popular an author as Seneca the peg on which to hang his discourse.I:126Quem non equidem omnino conabar excutere, sed potioribus praeferri non sinebam, quos ille non destiterat incessere, cum diversi sibi consciusgeneris placere se in dicendo posseiisquibus illi placerent diffideret. Amabant autem eum magis quam imitabantur, tantumque ab illo defluebant quantum ille ab antiquis descenderat.§ 126.excutere: sc. e manibus adulescentium.incessere. At the close of the passage quoted above, Gellius goes on to quote, with much indignation, Seneca’s disparaging criticism of Ennius, Cicero, and Vergil, from Book xxii of the Letters to Lucilius (no longer extant). In Ep. 114 we findhim censoring Sallust and those who imitated him. Sueton. Ner. 52 a cognitione veterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret (Neronem avertit). Foriis, seeCrit. Notes.defluebant= degenerabant, i. 8, 9 quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus.I:127Foret enim optandum pares ac saltem proximos illi viro fieri. Sed placebat propter sola vitia et ad ea se quisque dirigebat effingenda, quae poterat; deinde cum se iactaret eodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat.§ 127.Foret ... optandum, of a wish that is considered impossible,—which shows how high was Quintilian’s opinion of Seneca: cp.ac saltem proximus. So velles§130. For the infin. see Introd.p. lvi.ad ea ... effingenda: cp. Cic. Orat. §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum dirigebat. Foreffingendacp.§108.quae poterat, sc. effingere: cp. Caesar, B.C. 37 quam celerrime potuit (comparare).infamabat, ‘brought reproach on.’I:128Cuius et multae alioqui et magnae virtutes fuerunt, ingenium facile et copiosum, plurimum studii, multa rerum cognitio, in qua tamen aliquando ab his quibus inquirenda quaedam mandabat deceptus est.§ 128.alioqui: see Introd.p. li.quibus ... mandabat. Especially for physical science he must have been greatly indebted to external aid. His VII Books ‘Naturalium Quaestionum,’ with the addition of moral meditations, were used as a text-book in the Middle Ages.I:129Tractavit etiam omnem fere studiorum materiam; nam et orationes eius et poemata et epistulae et dialogi feruntur. In philosophia parum diligens, egregius tamen vitiorum insectatorfuit. Multae in eo claraeque sententiae, multa etiam morum gratia legenda, sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque atque eo perniciosissima, quod abundant dulcibus vitiis.§ 129.orationes. None survive. Quintilian refers (viii. 5, 18) to the speech he made for Nero on the occasion of his mother’s funeral: Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, cp. 11. It is probable also that Seneca wrote the speeches mentioned by Suet. Ner. 7, the ‘gratiarum actio’ in the Senate, ‘pro Bononiensibus latine, pro Rhodiis atque Iliensibus graece.’ He also pleaded with success in the law-courts (Dion Cass. 59, 19, 7.).poemata. That Seneca wrote poetry is evident from Tacitus Ann. xiv. 52, where his accusers, in order to prejudice him in the eyes of Nero (who was jealous of his reputation as a poet and an orator),—obiiciebant etiam eloquentiae laudem uni sibi adsciscere et carmina crebrius factitare postquam Neroni amor eorum venisset: cp. Suet. Ner. 52. He is said also to have written epigrams, and other forms of verse.—His tragedies are not referred to here, though Quintilian quotes from the Medea ix. 2, 8: see for them Teuffel 285; Bernhardy, note 322.epistulae. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, as we have them now (see 3rd vol. of Teubner edition), are 124 in number, arranged in twenty books. There were more however originally, and Priscian speaks of Book x of the letters to Novatus (in decimo epistularum ad Novatum), while Martial (vii. 45, 3) refers to letters to Caesonius Maximus, of which we know nothing more.dialogi, i.e. the works called by this name in the Milan MS., not his tragedies, though these were written to be read rather than to be acted. There are twelve of them (v. Teuffel 284 §4–), and each is dedicated to some particular individual. There is besides the De Clementia ad Neronem, and a Dialogus de Superstitione (no longer extant except in the fragment given in Augustine’s C.D. vi. 10) directed against the anthropomorphism of popular superstition.feruntur:§23.parum diligens: ‘not very critical.’ He was a student of life rather than a student of thought.vitiorum insectator: cp. Lactantius,Inst. Div. v. 9 morum vitiorumqne publicorum et descriptor verissimus et accusator acerrimus.eofor ideo: cp. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 89 eoque non ... Quod non ingenuos habeat ... parentes.I:130Velles eum suo ingenio dixisse, alieno iudicio; nam siobliqua contempsisset, si parumrectanon concupisset, si non omnia sua amasset, si rerum pondera minutissimis sententiis non fregisset, consensu potius eruditorum quam puerorum amore comprobaretur.§ 130.iudicio, ‘taste,’ as§127above: cp. M. Seneca (of Capito) ‘habebat in sua potestate ingenium, in aliena modum.’obliqua. For this apt conjecture (in place of the traditionalaliqua), see Crit. Notes.si parum recta. On the assumption that a word has fallen out of the MSS. afterparum,rectais preferable to Halm and Meister’ssana. Forrectumas abstr. cp. ii. 13, 11: xii. 1, 12. SeeCrit. Notes.omnia sua amasset,§88of Ovid, nimium amator ingenii sui. Cp. below3 §12utros peccare validius putem, quibus omnia sua placent...rerum pondera ... fregisset: contrast§123suffecit ponderi rerum. Seneca ‘weakened the force of his matter by striving after epigrammatic brevity.’amore, of an ill-considered attachment (§94:2 §19), whereasstudiowould have indicated mature taste, vi. 2, 12 amorπάθος, caritasἦθος.I:131Verum sic quoque iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus vel ideo quod exercere potest utrimque iudicium. Multa enim, ut dixi, probanda in eo, multa etiam admiranda sunt; eligere modo curae sit, quod utinam ipse fecisset. Digna enim fuit illa natura, quae meliora vellet: quod voluit effecit.§ 131.sic quoque=καὶ οὕτως.robustis, opp. topueris: cp.5 §1below. Cp. Tac. Dial. 35 ‘controversiae robustioribus adsignantur,’ while ‘suasoriae pueris delegantur.’firmatis. So occupatos3 §27: exercitatos5 §17. Introd. pp. xlviii-ix.vel ideo quod:§86:5 §16.utrimque, i.e. laudantium et vituperantium, ‘for and against him.’ So 5, 20: 6, 7: and cp. 1, 22. Introd.p. lii.Multa enim ... digna enim, another instance of the want of care that has been already noted,2 §23.natura: cp.§86.
§ 124.non parum multa: litotes, as at vi. 2, 3 semper fuerunt non parum multi.—Becher compares also non parum multi Cic. in Verr. iii. 9, 22: Phil. vii. 6, 18: pro Quinctio 3, 11: in Verr. iv. 12, 29: parum saepe de Fin. ii. 4, 12. The opposite ofnon parumisnon nimis: cp. Liv. xxii. 26, 4 haud parum callide with Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 25, 70 nihil horum nimis callide.Cornelius Celsus: a celebrated encyclopaedist under Augustus and Tiberius, who wrote on rhetoric, jurisprudence, farming, medicine, military art, and practical philosophy. Only eight books on medicine have come down to us. He survived into the reign of Nero. Cp.§23above. Of his philosophy Augustine writes as follows (de Haeres. Prol.): opiniones omnium philosophorum qui sectas varias condiderunt usque ad tempora sua ... sex non parvis voluminibus ... absolvit; nec redarguit aliquem, sed tantum quid sentirent aperuit, ea brevitate sermonis ut tantum adhiberet eloquii quantum ... aperiendae iudicandaeque sententiae sufficeret. In xii. 11, 24 Quintilian refers to the universality of his knowledge, though he speaks of him as mediocri vir ingenio. “In other passages also Quintilian often expresses his disagreement from this predecessor of his, e.g. ii. 15, 22, 32: iii. 6, 13 sq.: viii. 3, 47: ix. 1, 18 ... Even when he agrees with him he does so with reserve, e.g. vii. 1, 10.—It may be that Quintilian was vexed that a subject to which he had devoted an entire life was merely cursorily treated by Celsus, and besides an encyclopaedia might easily be open to technical objections. At all events, Celsus’ rhetorical manual was obscured by that of Quintilian. It is mentioned only by Fortunat. iii. 2 (p. 121, 10 H)”—Teuffel, 275.Sextios. The Sextii, father and son, were contemporary with Caesar and Augustus, and belonged to the Pythagorean school, though not without a leaning to the Stoics (Seneca, Ep. 64 §2–). Seneca speaks frequently of the elder Sextius in his letters: e.g. 59 §7– ‘virum acrem, Graecis verbis, Romanis moribus philosophantem.’ In the Nat. Quaest. vii. 32, 2 we are told how their following—‘Sextiorum nova et Romani roboris secta’—soon fell away: ‘inter initia sua extincta est,’ v. Teuffel 261.cultu ac nitore: v.§79and§83, with notes.Plautus. The text is not certain (seeCrit. Notes), but as Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 14, 2 and iii. 6, 23) refers to a philosopherof this name as employing the unusual wordsqueentiaandessentia, it may as well be retained. (In ii. 14, 2 however Meister reads Flavi: cp. Teuffel, 261, §9.)levis: ‘of no weight.’Catius, an Insubrian by birth, contemporary with Cicero, who speaks of his recent death ad Fam. xv. 16, 1; cp. 19, 2 Epicurus, a quo omnes Catii et Amafinii, mali verborum interpretes (referring to their faithful transcripts of Greek terminology) proficiscuntur. The scholiast on Hor. Sat. ii. 4 tells us that he wrote ‘quattuor libros de rerum natura et de summo bono.’I:125Ex industriaSenecamin omni genere eloquentiae distuli propter vulgatam falso de me opinionem, qua damnare eum et invisum quoque habere sum creditus. Quod accidit mihi dum corruptum et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendi genus revocare ad severiora iudicia contendo; tum autem solus hic fere in manibus adulescentium fuit.§ 125.Seneca:A.D.2-65. For his life and works see Teuffel 282 sqq., Bernhardy p. 871 sq. Martha gives an estimate of the moral teaching of his well-known Letters in ‘Moralistes sous l’Empire Romain.’ Quintilian’s criticism of Seneca is subjected to a searching examination by M. Samuel Rocheblave in a pamphlet De M. Fabio Quintiliano L. Annaei Senecae Judice (Paris, 1890): see esp. chs. iii. and iv. Introduction, pp. xxiv. sqq.opinionem. Quintilian worked hard to recall the Romans to a more temperate and classical style. He aimed too at a partial ‘return to Cicero,’ and considered Seneca a dangerous model for the youth of the day. See Introduction, pp. xxxix. sqq. Fronto and others used stronger language: e.g. p. 155 N eloquentiam ... Senecae mollibus et febriculosis prunuleis insitam subvertendam censeo radicitus ... neque ignoro copiosum sententiis et redundantem hominem esse, verum sententias eius tolutares video, quatere campum quadripedo concita cursu, tenere nusquam, pugnare nusquam ... dicteria potius eum quam dicta continere. Cp. Aul. Gell. xii. 2, 1 de Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros attingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius vulgaris videatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut levi et quasi dicaci argutia, eruditio autem vernacula et plebeia nihilque ex veterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii vero elegantiae in verbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum quas dicat scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in vitiis morum obiurgandis severitatem gravitatemque non invenustam. So too Caligula (Suet. 53) had called Seneca’s productions arena sine calce, commissiones merae.damnare ... invisum habere. There is nothing in this of a moral judgment, though some of Quintilian’s contemporaries, notably Tacitus, disliked Seneca, probably because they could not acquit him from blame in regard to his pupil Nero’s excesses, and other matters. The only parallel toet invisum quoquein classical Latin is said by Becher to be Cic. pro Domo §47 quoniam iam dialecticus es et haec quoque liguris. It does not occur in Caesar, seldom in Livy, but frequently in Quintilian. Cp. on§20.corruption ... genus. He is not speaking of the false taste of Seneca’s style exclusively, but of the general deterioration that prevailed: cp.§43recens haec lascivia.dum contendo: ‘through the efforts I made’: thetumwhich follows shows that it refers to past time.solus hic fere in manibus. Tac. Ann. xiii. 3 fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius auribus adcommodatum. In his endeavours to introduce a purer taste Quintilian naturally made so popular an author as Seneca the peg on which to hang his discourse.I:126Quem non equidem omnino conabar excutere, sed potioribus praeferri non sinebam, quos ille non destiterat incessere, cum diversi sibi consciusgeneris placere se in dicendo posseiisquibus illi placerent diffideret. Amabant autem eum magis quam imitabantur, tantumque ab illo defluebant quantum ille ab antiquis descenderat.§ 126.excutere: sc. e manibus adulescentium.incessere. At the close of the passage quoted above, Gellius goes on to quote, with much indignation, Seneca’s disparaging criticism of Ennius, Cicero, and Vergil, from Book xxii of the Letters to Lucilius (no longer extant). In Ep. 114 we findhim censoring Sallust and those who imitated him. Sueton. Ner. 52 a cognitione veterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret (Neronem avertit). Foriis, seeCrit. Notes.defluebant= degenerabant, i. 8, 9 quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus.I:127Foret enim optandum pares ac saltem proximos illi viro fieri. Sed placebat propter sola vitia et ad ea se quisque dirigebat effingenda, quae poterat; deinde cum se iactaret eodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat.§ 127.Foret ... optandum, of a wish that is considered impossible,—which shows how high was Quintilian’s opinion of Seneca: cp.ac saltem proximus. So velles§130. For the infin. see Introd.p. lvi.ad ea ... effingenda: cp. Cic. Orat. §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum dirigebat. Foreffingendacp.§108.quae poterat, sc. effingere: cp. Caesar, B.C. 37 quam celerrime potuit (comparare).infamabat, ‘brought reproach on.’I:128Cuius et multae alioqui et magnae virtutes fuerunt, ingenium facile et copiosum, plurimum studii, multa rerum cognitio, in qua tamen aliquando ab his quibus inquirenda quaedam mandabat deceptus est.§ 128.alioqui: see Introd.p. li.quibus ... mandabat. Especially for physical science he must have been greatly indebted to external aid. His VII Books ‘Naturalium Quaestionum,’ with the addition of moral meditations, were used as a text-book in the Middle Ages.I:129Tractavit etiam omnem fere studiorum materiam; nam et orationes eius et poemata et epistulae et dialogi feruntur. In philosophia parum diligens, egregius tamen vitiorum insectatorfuit. Multae in eo claraeque sententiae, multa etiam morum gratia legenda, sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque atque eo perniciosissima, quod abundant dulcibus vitiis.§ 129.orationes. None survive. Quintilian refers (viii. 5, 18) to the speech he made for Nero on the occasion of his mother’s funeral: Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, cp. 11. It is probable also that Seneca wrote the speeches mentioned by Suet. Ner. 7, the ‘gratiarum actio’ in the Senate, ‘pro Bononiensibus latine, pro Rhodiis atque Iliensibus graece.’ He also pleaded with success in the law-courts (Dion Cass. 59, 19, 7.).poemata. That Seneca wrote poetry is evident from Tacitus Ann. xiv. 52, where his accusers, in order to prejudice him in the eyes of Nero (who was jealous of his reputation as a poet and an orator),—obiiciebant etiam eloquentiae laudem uni sibi adsciscere et carmina crebrius factitare postquam Neroni amor eorum venisset: cp. Suet. Ner. 52. He is said also to have written epigrams, and other forms of verse.—His tragedies are not referred to here, though Quintilian quotes from the Medea ix. 2, 8: see for them Teuffel 285; Bernhardy, note 322.epistulae. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, as we have them now (see 3rd vol. of Teubner edition), are 124 in number, arranged in twenty books. There were more however originally, and Priscian speaks of Book x of the letters to Novatus (in decimo epistularum ad Novatum), while Martial (vii. 45, 3) refers to letters to Caesonius Maximus, of which we know nothing more.dialogi, i.e. the works called by this name in the Milan MS., not his tragedies, though these were written to be read rather than to be acted. There are twelve of them (v. Teuffel 284 §4–), and each is dedicated to some particular individual. There is besides the De Clementia ad Neronem, and a Dialogus de Superstitione (no longer extant except in the fragment given in Augustine’s C.D. vi. 10) directed against the anthropomorphism of popular superstition.feruntur:§23.parum diligens: ‘not very critical.’ He was a student of life rather than a student of thought.vitiorum insectator: cp. Lactantius,Inst. Div. v. 9 morum vitiorumqne publicorum et descriptor verissimus et accusator acerrimus.eofor ideo: cp. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 89 eoque non ... Quod non ingenuos habeat ... parentes.I:130Velles eum suo ingenio dixisse, alieno iudicio; nam siobliqua contempsisset, si parumrectanon concupisset, si non omnia sua amasset, si rerum pondera minutissimis sententiis non fregisset, consensu potius eruditorum quam puerorum amore comprobaretur.§ 130.iudicio, ‘taste,’ as§127above: cp. M. Seneca (of Capito) ‘habebat in sua potestate ingenium, in aliena modum.’obliqua. For this apt conjecture (in place of the traditionalaliqua), see Crit. Notes.si parum recta. On the assumption that a word has fallen out of the MSS. afterparum,rectais preferable to Halm and Meister’ssana. Forrectumas abstr. cp. ii. 13, 11: xii. 1, 12. SeeCrit. Notes.omnia sua amasset,§88of Ovid, nimium amator ingenii sui. Cp. below3 §12utros peccare validius putem, quibus omnia sua placent...rerum pondera ... fregisset: contrast§123suffecit ponderi rerum. Seneca ‘weakened the force of his matter by striving after epigrammatic brevity.’amore, of an ill-considered attachment (§94:2 §19), whereasstudiowould have indicated mature taste, vi. 2, 12 amorπάθος, caritasἦθος.I:131Verum sic quoque iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus vel ideo quod exercere potest utrimque iudicium. Multa enim, ut dixi, probanda in eo, multa etiam admiranda sunt; eligere modo curae sit, quod utinam ipse fecisset. Digna enim fuit illa natura, quae meliora vellet: quod voluit effecit.§ 131.sic quoque=καὶ οὕτως.robustis, opp. topueris: cp.5 §1below. Cp. Tac. Dial. 35 ‘controversiae robustioribus adsignantur,’ while ‘suasoriae pueris delegantur.’firmatis. So occupatos3 §27: exercitatos5 §17. Introd. pp. xlviii-ix.vel ideo quod:§86:5 §16.utrimque, i.e. laudantium et vituperantium, ‘for and against him.’ So 5, 20: 6, 7: and cp. 1, 22. Introd.p. lii.Multa enim ... digna enim, another instance of the want of care that has been already noted,2 §23.natura: cp.§86.
§ 124.non parum multa: litotes, as at vi. 2, 3 semper fuerunt non parum multi.—Becher compares also non parum multi Cic. in Verr. iii. 9, 22: Phil. vii. 6, 18: pro Quinctio 3, 11: in Verr. iv. 12, 29: parum saepe de Fin. ii. 4, 12. The opposite ofnon parumisnon nimis: cp. Liv. xxii. 26, 4 haud parum callide with Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 25, 70 nihil horum nimis callide.Cornelius Celsus: a celebrated encyclopaedist under Augustus and Tiberius, who wrote on rhetoric, jurisprudence, farming, medicine, military art, and practical philosophy. Only eight books on medicine have come down to us. He survived into the reign of Nero. Cp.§23above. Of his philosophy Augustine writes as follows (de Haeres. Prol.): opiniones omnium philosophorum qui sectas varias condiderunt usque ad tempora sua ... sex non parvis voluminibus ... absolvit; nec redarguit aliquem, sed tantum quid sentirent aperuit, ea brevitate sermonis ut tantum adhiberet eloquii quantum ... aperiendae iudicandaeque sententiae sufficeret. In xii. 11, 24 Quintilian refers to the universality of his knowledge, though he speaks of him as mediocri vir ingenio. “In other passages also Quintilian often expresses his disagreement from this predecessor of his, e.g. ii. 15, 22, 32: iii. 6, 13 sq.: viii. 3, 47: ix. 1, 18 ... Even when he agrees with him he does so with reserve, e.g. vii. 1, 10.—It may be that Quintilian was vexed that a subject to which he had devoted an entire life was merely cursorily treated by Celsus, and besides an encyclopaedia might easily be open to technical objections. At all events, Celsus’ rhetorical manual was obscured by that of Quintilian. It is mentioned only by Fortunat. iii. 2 (p. 121, 10 H)”—Teuffel, 275.Sextios. The Sextii, father and son, were contemporary with Caesar and Augustus, and belonged to the Pythagorean school, though not without a leaning to the Stoics (Seneca, Ep. 64 §2–). Seneca speaks frequently of the elder Sextius in his letters: e.g. 59 §7– ‘virum acrem, Graecis verbis, Romanis moribus philosophantem.’ In the Nat. Quaest. vii. 32, 2 we are told how their following—‘Sextiorum nova et Romani roboris secta’—soon fell away: ‘inter initia sua extincta est,’ v. Teuffel 261.cultu ac nitore: v.§79and§83, with notes.Plautus. The text is not certain (seeCrit. Notes), but as Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 14, 2 and iii. 6, 23) refers to a philosopherof this name as employing the unusual wordsqueentiaandessentia, it may as well be retained. (In ii. 14, 2 however Meister reads Flavi: cp. Teuffel, 261, §9.)levis: ‘of no weight.’Catius, an Insubrian by birth, contemporary with Cicero, who speaks of his recent death ad Fam. xv. 16, 1; cp. 19, 2 Epicurus, a quo omnes Catii et Amafinii, mali verborum interpretes (referring to their faithful transcripts of Greek terminology) proficiscuntur. The scholiast on Hor. Sat. ii. 4 tells us that he wrote ‘quattuor libros de rerum natura et de summo bono.’
§ 124.non parum multa: litotes, as at vi. 2, 3 semper fuerunt non parum multi.—Becher compares also non parum multi Cic. in Verr. iii. 9, 22: Phil. vii. 6, 18: pro Quinctio 3, 11: in Verr. iv. 12, 29: parum saepe de Fin. ii. 4, 12. The opposite ofnon parumisnon nimis: cp. Liv. xxii. 26, 4 haud parum callide with Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 25, 70 nihil horum nimis callide.
Cornelius Celsus: a celebrated encyclopaedist under Augustus and Tiberius, who wrote on rhetoric, jurisprudence, farming, medicine, military art, and practical philosophy. Only eight books on medicine have come down to us. He survived into the reign of Nero. Cp.§23above. Of his philosophy Augustine writes as follows (de Haeres. Prol.): opiniones omnium philosophorum qui sectas varias condiderunt usque ad tempora sua ... sex non parvis voluminibus ... absolvit; nec redarguit aliquem, sed tantum quid sentirent aperuit, ea brevitate sermonis ut tantum adhiberet eloquii quantum ... aperiendae iudicandaeque sententiae sufficeret. In xii. 11, 24 Quintilian refers to the universality of his knowledge, though he speaks of him as mediocri vir ingenio. “In other passages also Quintilian often expresses his disagreement from this predecessor of his, e.g. ii. 15, 22, 32: iii. 6, 13 sq.: viii. 3, 47: ix. 1, 18 ... Even when he agrees with him he does so with reserve, e.g. vii. 1, 10.—It may be that Quintilian was vexed that a subject to which he had devoted an entire life was merely cursorily treated by Celsus, and besides an encyclopaedia might easily be open to technical objections. At all events, Celsus’ rhetorical manual was obscured by that of Quintilian. It is mentioned only by Fortunat. iii. 2 (p. 121, 10 H)”—Teuffel, 275.
Sextios. The Sextii, father and son, were contemporary with Caesar and Augustus, and belonged to the Pythagorean school, though not without a leaning to the Stoics (Seneca, Ep. 64 §2–). Seneca speaks frequently of the elder Sextius in his letters: e.g. 59 §7– ‘virum acrem, Graecis verbis, Romanis moribus philosophantem.’ In the Nat. Quaest. vii. 32, 2 we are told how their following—‘Sextiorum nova et Romani roboris secta’—soon fell away: ‘inter initia sua extincta est,’ v. Teuffel 261.
cultu ac nitore: v.§79and§83, with notes.
Plautus. The text is not certain (seeCrit. Notes), but as Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 14, 2 and iii. 6, 23) refers to a philosopherof this name as employing the unusual wordsqueentiaandessentia, it may as well be retained. (In ii. 14, 2 however Meister reads Flavi: cp. Teuffel, 261, §9.)
levis: ‘of no weight.’
Catius, an Insubrian by birth, contemporary with Cicero, who speaks of his recent death ad Fam. xv. 16, 1; cp. 19, 2 Epicurus, a quo omnes Catii et Amafinii, mali verborum interpretes (referring to their faithful transcripts of Greek terminology) proficiscuntur. The scholiast on Hor. Sat. ii. 4 tells us that he wrote ‘quattuor libros de rerum natura et de summo bono.’
I:125Ex industriaSenecamin omni genere eloquentiae distuli propter vulgatam falso de me opinionem, qua damnare eum et invisum quoque habere sum creditus. Quod accidit mihi dum corruptum et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendi genus revocare ad severiora iudicia contendo; tum autem solus hic fere in manibus adulescentium fuit.
§ 125.Seneca:A.D.2-65. For his life and works see Teuffel 282 sqq., Bernhardy p. 871 sq. Martha gives an estimate of the moral teaching of his well-known Letters in ‘Moralistes sous l’Empire Romain.’ Quintilian’s criticism of Seneca is subjected to a searching examination by M. Samuel Rocheblave in a pamphlet De M. Fabio Quintiliano L. Annaei Senecae Judice (Paris, 1890): see esp. chs. iii. and iv. Introduction, pp. xxiv. sqq.opinionem. Quintilian worked hard to recall the Romans to a more temperate and classical style. He aimed too at a partial ‘return to Cicero,’ and considered Seneca a dangerous model for the youth of the day. See Introduction, pp. xxxix. sqq. Fronto and others used stronger language: e.g. p. 155 N eloquentiam ... Senecae mollibus et febriculosis prunuleis insitam subvertendam censeo radicitus ... neque ignoro copiosum sententiis et redundantem hominem esse, verum sententias eius tolutares video, quatere campum quadripedo concita cursu, tenere nusquam, pugnare nusquam ... dicteria potius eum quam dicta continere. Cp. Aul. Gell. xii. 2, 1 de Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros attingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius vulgaris videatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut levi et quasi dicaci argutia, eruditio autem vernacula et plebeia nihilque ex veterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii vero elegantiae in verbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum quas dicat scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in vitiis morum obiurgandis severitatem gravitatemque non invenustam. So too Caligula (Suet. 53) had called Seneca’s productions arena sine calce, commissiones merae.damnare ... invisum habere. There is nothing in this of a moral judgment, though some of Quintilian’s contemporaries, notably Tacitus, disliked Seneca, probably because they could not acquit him from blame in regard to his pupil Nero’s excesses, and other matters. The only parallel toet invisum quoquein classical Latin is said by Becher to be Cic. pro Domo §47 quoniam iam dialecticus es et haec quoque liguris. It does not occur in Caesar, seldom in Livy, but frequently in Quintilian. Cp. on§20.corruption ... genus. He is not speaking of the false taste of Seneca’s style exclusively, but of the general deterioration that prevailed: cp.§43recens haec lascivia.dum contendo: ‘through the efforts I made’: thetumwhich follows shows that it refers to past time.solus hic fere in manibus. Tac. Ann. xiii. 3 fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius auribus adcommodatum. In his endeavours to introduce a purer taste Quintilian naturally made so popular an author as Seneca the peg on which to hang his discourse.
§ 125.Seneca:A.D.2-65. For his life and works see Teuffel 282 sqq., Bernhardy p. 871 sq. Martha gives an estimate of the moral teaching of his well-known Letters in ‘Moralistes sous l’Empire Romain.’ Quintilian’s criticism of Seneca is subjected to a searching examination by M. Samuel Rocheblave in a pamphlet De M. Fabio Quintiliano L. Annaei Senecae Judice (Paris, 1890): see esp. chs. iii. and iv. Introduction, pp. xxiv. sqq.
opinionem. Quintilian worked hard to recall the Romans to a more temperate and classical style. He aimed too at a partial ‘return to Cicero,’ and considered Seneca a dangerous model for the youth of the day. See Introduction, pp. xxxix. sqq. Fronto and others used stronger language: e.g. p. 155 N eloquentiam ... Senecae mollibus et febriculosis prunuleis insitam subvertendam censeo radicitus ... neque ignoro copiosum sententiis et redundantem hominem esse, verum sententias eius tolutares video, quatere campum quadripedo concita cursu, tenere nusquam, pugnare nusquam ... dicteria potius eum quam dicta continere. Cp. Aul. Gell. xii. 2, 1 de Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros attingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius vulgaris videatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut levi et quasi dicaci argutia, eruditio autem vernacula et plebeia nihilque ex veterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii vero elegantiae in verbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum quas dicat scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in vitiis morum obiurgandis severitatem gravitatemque non invenustam. So too Caligula (Suet. 53) had called Seneca’s productions arena sine calce, commissiones merae.
damnare ... invisum habere. There is nothing in this of a moral judgment, though some of Quintilian’s contemporaries, notably Tacitus, disliked Seneca, probably because they could not acquit him from blame in regard to his pupil Nero’s excesses, and other matters. The only parallel toet invisum quoquein classical Latin is said by Becher to be Cic. pro Domo §47 quoniam iam dialecticus es et haec quoque liguris. It does not occur in Caesar, seldom in Livy, but frequently in Quintilian. Cp. on§20.
corruption ... genus. He is not speaking of the false taste of Seneca’s style exclusively, but of the general deterioration that prevailed: cp.§43recens haec lascivia.
dum contendo: ‘through the efforts I made’: thetumwhich follows shows that it refers to past time.
solus hic fere in manibus. Tac. Ann. xiii. 3 fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius auribus adcommodatum. In his endeavours to introduce a purer taste Quintilian naturally made so popular an author as Seneca the peg on which to hang his discourse.
I:126Quem non equidem omnino conabar excutere, sed potioribus praeferri non sinebam, quos ille non destiterat incessere, cum diversi sibi consciusgeneris placere se in dicendo posseiisquibus illi placerent diffideret. Amabant autem eum magis quam imitabantur, tantumque ab illo defluebant quantum ille ab antiquis descenderat.
§ 126.excutere: sc. e manibus adulescentium.incessere. At the close of the passage quoted above, Gellius goes on to quote, with much indignation, Seneca’s disparaging criticism of Ennius, Cicero, and Vergil, from Book xxii of the Letters to Lucilius (no longer extant). In Ep. 114 we findhim censoring Sallust and those who imitated him. Sueton. Ner. 52 a cognitione veterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret (Neronem avertit). Foriis, seeCrit. Notes.defluebant= degenerabant, i. 8, 9 quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus.
§ 126.excutere: sc. e manibus adulescentium.
incessere. At the close of the passage quoted above, Gellius goes on to quote, with much indignation, Seneca’s disparaging criticism of Ennius, Cicero, and Vergil, from Book xxii of the Letters to Lucilius (no longer extant). In Ep. 114 we findhim censoring Sallust and those who imitated him. Sueton. Ner. 52 a cognitione veterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret (Neronem avertit). Foriis, seeCrit. Notes.
defluebant= degenerabant, i. 8, 9 quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus.
I:127Foret enim optandum pares ac saltem proximos illi viro fieri. Sed placebat propter sola vitia et ad ea se quisque dirigebat effingenda, quae poterat; deinde cum se iactaret eodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat.
§ 127.Foret ... optandum, of a wish that is considered impossible,—which shows how high was Quintilian’s opinion of Seneca: cp.ac saltem proximus. So velles§130. For the infin. see Introd.p. lvi.ad ea ... effingenda: cp. Cic. Orat. §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum dirigebat. Foreffingendacp.§108.quae poterat, sc. effingere: cp. Caesar, B.C. 37 quam celerrime potuit (comparare).infamabat, ‘brought reproach on.’
§ 127.Foret ... optandum, of a wish that is considered impossible,—which shows how high was Quintilian’s opinion of Seneca: cp.ac saltem proximus. So velles§130. For the infin. see Introd.p. lvi.
ad ea ... effingenda: cp. Cic. Orat. §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum dirigebat. Foreffingendacp.§108.
quae poterat, sc. effingere: cp. Caesar, B.C. 37 quam celerrime potuit (comparare).
infamabat, ‘brought reproach on.’
I:128Cuius et multae alioqui et magnae virtutes fuerunt, ingenium facile et copiosum, plurimum studii, multa rerum cognitio, in qua tamen aliquando ab his quibus inquirenda quaedam mandabat deceptus est.
§ 128.alioqui: see Introd.p. li.quibus ... mandabat. Especially for physical science he must have been greatly indebted to external aid. His VII Books ‘Naturalium Quaestionum,’ with the addition of moral meditations, were used as a text-book in the Middle Ages.
§ 128.alioqui: see Introd.p. li.
quibus ... mandabat. Especially for physical science he must have been greatly indebted to external aid. His VII Books ‘Naturalium Quaestionum,’ with the addition of moral meditations, were used as a text-book in the Middle Ages.
I:129Tractavit etiam omnem fere studiorum materiam; nam et orationes eius et poemata et epistulae et dialogi feruntur. In philosophia parum diligens, egregius tamen vitiorum insectatorfuit. Multae in eo claraeque sententiae, multa etiam morum gratia legenda, sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque atque eo perniciosissima, quod abundant dulcibus vitiis.§ 129.orationes. None survive. Quintilian refers (viii. 5, 18) to the speech he made for Nero on the occasion of his mother’s funeral: Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, cp. 11. It is probable also that Seneca wrote the speeches mentioned by Suet. Ner. 7, the ‘gratiarum actio’ in the Senate, ‘pro Bononiensibus latine, pro Rhodiis atque Iliensibus graece.’ He also pleaded with success in the law-courts (Dion Cass. 59, 19, 7.).poemata. That Seneca wrote poetry is evident from Tacitus Ann. xiv. 52, where his accusers, in order to prejudice him in the eyes of Nero (who was jealous of his reputation as a poet and an orator),—obiiciebant etiam eloquentiae laudem uni sibi adsciscere et carmina crebrius factitare postquam Neroni amor eorum venisset: cp. Suet. Ner. 52. He is said also to have written epigrams, and other forms of verse.—His tragedies are not referred to here, though Quintilian quotes from the Medea ix. 2, 8: see for them Teuffel 285; Bernhardy, note 322.epistulae. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, as we have them now (see 3rd vol. of Teubner edition), are 124 in number, arranged in twenty books. There were more however originally, and Priscian speaks of Book x of the letters to Novatus (in decimo epistularum ad Novatum), while Martial (vii. 45, 3) refers to letters to Caesonius Maximus, of which we know nothing more.dialogi, i.e. the works called by this name in the Milan MS., not his tragedies, though these were written to be read rather than to be acted. There are twelve of them (v. Teuffel 284 §4–), and each is dedicated to some particular individual. There is besides the De Clementia ad Neronem, and a Dialogus de Superstitione (no longer extant except in the fragment given in Augustine’s C.D. vi. 10) directed against the anthropomorphism of popular superstition.feruntur:§23.parum diligens: ‘not very critical.’ He was a student of life rather than a student of thought.vitiorum insectator: cp. Lactantius,Inst. Div. v. 9 morum vitiorumqne publicorum et descriptor verissimus et accusator acerrimus.eofor ideo: cp. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 89 eoque non ... Quod non ingenuos habeat ... parentes.
I:129Tractavit etiam omnem fere studiorum materiam; nam et orationes eius et poemata et epistulae et dialogi feruntur. In philosophia parum diligens, egregius tamen vitiorum insectatorfuit. Multae in eo claraeque sententiae, multa etiam morum gratia legenda, sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque atque eo perniciosissima, quod abundant dulcibus vitiis.
§ 129.orationes. None survive. Quintilian refers (viii. 5, 18) to the speech he made for Nero on the occasion of his mother’s funeral: Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, cp. 11. It is probable also that Seneca wrote the speeches mentioned by Suet. Ner. 7, the ‘gratiarum actio’ in the Senate, ‘pro Bononiensibus latine, pro Rhodiis atque Iliensibus graece.’ He also pleaded with success in the law-courts (Dion Cass. 59, 19, 7.).poemata. That Seneca wrote poetry is evident from Tacitus Ann. xiv. 52, where his accusers, in order to prejudice him in the eyes of Nero (who was jealous of his reputation as a poet and an orator),—obiiciebant etiam eloquentiae laudem uni sibi adsciscere et carmina crebrius factitare postquam Neroni amor eorum venisset: cp. Suet. Ner. 52. He is said also to have written epigrams, and other forms of verse.—His tragedies are not referred to here, though Quintilian quotes from the Medea ix. 2, 8: see for them Teuffel 285; Bernhardy, note 322.epistulae. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, as we have them now (see 3rd vol. of Teubner edition), are 124 in number, arranged in twenty books. There were more however originally, and Priscian speaks of Book x of the letters to Novatus (in decimo epistularum ad Novatum), while Martial (vii. 45, 3) refers to letters to Caesonius Maximus, of which we know nothing more.dialogi, i.e. the works called by this name in the Milan MS., not his tragedies, though these were written to be read rather than to be acted. There are twelve of them (v. Teuffel 284 §4–), and each is dedicated to some particular individual. There is besides the De Clementia ad Neronem, and a Dialogus de Superstitione (no longer extant except in the fragment given in Augustine’s C.D. vi. 10) directed against the anthropomorphism of popular superstition.feruntur:§23.parum diligens: ‘not very critical.’ He was a student of life rather than a student of thought.vitiorum insectator: cp. Lactantius,Inst. Div. v. 9 morum vitiorumqne publicorum et descriptor verissimus et accusator acerrimus.eofor ideo: cp. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 89 eoque non ... Quod non ingenuos habeat ... parentes.
§ 129.orationes. None survive. Quintilian refers (viii. 5, 18) to the speech he made for Nero on the occasion of his mother’s funeral: Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, cp. 11. It is probable also that Seneca wrote the speeches mentioned by Suet. Ner. 7, the ‘gratiarum actio’ in the Senate, ‘pro Bononiensibus latine, pro Rhodiis atque Iliensibus graece.’ He also pleaded with success in the law-courts (Dion Cass. 59, 19, 7.).
poemata. That Seneca wrote poetry is evident from Tacitus Ann. xiv. 52, where his accusers, in order to prejudice him in the eyes of Nero (who was jealous of his reputation as a poet and an orator),—obiiciebant etiam eloquentiae laudem uni sibi adsciscere et carmina crebrius factitare postquam Neroni amor eorum venisset: cp. Suet. Ner. 52. He is said also to have written epigrams, and other forms of verse.—His tragedies are not referred to here, though Quintilian quotes from the Medea ix. 2, 8: see for them Teuffel 285; Bernhardy, note 322.
epistulae. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, as we have them now (see 3rd vol. of Teubner edition), are 124 in number, arranged in twenty books. There were more however originally, and Priscian speaks of Book x of the letters to Novatus (in decimo epistularum ad Novatum), while Martial (vii. 45, 3) refers to letters to Caesonius Maximus, of which we know nothing more.
dialogi, i.e. the works called by this name in the Milan MS., not his tragedies, though these were written to be read rather than to be acted. There are twelve of them (v. Teuffel 284 §4–), and each is dedicated to some particular individual. There is besides the De Clementia ad Neronem, and a Dialogus de Superstitione (no longer extant except in the fragment given in Augustine’s C.D. vi. 10) directed against the anthropomorphism of popular superstition.
feruntur:§23.
parum diligens: ‘not very critical.’ He was a student of life rather than a student of thought.
vitiorum insectator: cp. Lactantius,Inst. Div. v. 9 morum vitiorumqne publicorum et descriptor verissimus et accusator acerrimus.
eofor ideo: cp. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 89 eoque non ... Quod non ingenuos habeat ... parentes.
I:130Velles eum suo ingenio dixisse, alieno iudicio; nam siobliqua contempsisset, si parumrectanon concupisset, si non omnia sua amasset, si rerum pondera minutissimis sententiis non fregisset, consensu potius eruditorum quam puerorum amore comprobaretur.
§ 130.iudicio, ‘taste,’ as§127above: cp. M. Seneca (of Capito) ‘habebat in sua potestate ingenium, in aliena modum.’obliqua. For this apt conjecture (in place of the traditionalaliqua), see Crit. Notes.si parum recta. On the assumption that a word has fallen out of the MSS. afterparum,rectais preferable to Halm and Meister’ssana. Forrectumas abstr. cp. ii. 13, 11: xii. 1, 12. SeeCrit. Notes.omnia sua amasset,§88of Ovid, nimium amator ingenii sui. Cp. below3 §12utros peccare validius putem, quibus omnia sua placent...rerum pondera ... fregisset: contrast§123suffecit ponderi rerum. Seneca ‘weakened the force of his matter by striving after epigrammatic brevity.’amore, of an ill-considered attachment (§94:2 §19), whereasstudiowould have indicated mature taste, vi. 2, 12 amorπάθος, caritasἦθος.
§ 130.iudicio, ‘taste,’ as§127above: cp. M. Seneca (of Capito) ‘habebat in sua potestate ingenium, in aliena modum.’
obliqua. For this apt conjecture (in place of the traditionalaliqua), see Crit. Notes.
si parum recta. On the assumption that a word has fallen out of the MSS. afterparum,rectais preferable to Halm and Meister’ssana. Forrectumas abstr. cp. ii. 13, 11: xii. 1, 12. SeeCrit. Notes.
omnia sua amasset,§88of Ovid, nimium amator ingenii sui. Cp. below3 §12utros peccare validius putem, quibus omnia sua placent...
rerum pondera ... fregisset: contrast§123suffecit ponderi rerum. Seneca ‘weakened the force of his matter by striving after epigrammatic brevity.’
amore, of an ill-considered attachment (§94:2 §19), whereasstudiowould have indicated mature taste, vi. 2, 12 amorπάθος, caritasἦθος.
I:131Verum sic quoque iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus vel ideo quod exercere potest utrimque iudicium. Multa enim, ut dixi, probanda in eo, multa etiam admiranda sunt; eligere modo curae sit, quod utinam ipse fecisset. Digna enim fuit illa natura, quae meliora vellet: quod voluit effecit.
§ 131.sic quoque=καὶ οὕτως.robustis, opp. topueris: cp.5 §1below. Cp. Tac. Dial. 35 ‘controversiae robustioribus adsignantur,’ while ‘suasoriae pueris delegantur.’firmatis. So occupatos3 §27: exercitatos5 §17. Introd. pp. xlviii-ix.vel ideo quod:§86:5 §16.utrimque, i.e. laudantium et vituperantium, ‘for and against him.’ So 5, 20: 6, 7: and cp. 1, 22. Introd.p. lii.Multa enim ... digna enim, another instance of the want of care that has been already noted,2 §23.natura: cp.§86.
§ 131.sic quoque=καὶ οὕτως.
robustis, opp. topueris: cp.5 §1below. Cp. Tac. Dial. 35 ‘controversiae robustioribus adsignantur,’ while ‘suasoriae pueris delegantur.’
firmatis. So occupatos3 §27: exercitatos5 §17. Introd. pp. xlviii-ix.
vel ideo quod:§86:5 §16.
utrimque, i.e. laudantium et vituperantium, ‘for and against him.’ So 5, 20: 6, 7: and cp. 1, 22. Introd.p. lii.
Multa enim ... digna enim, another instance of the want of care that has been already noted,2 §23.
natura: cp.§86.