ATTA AND AFRANIUS.

Writers oftogataewere Atta and Afranius.

Sueton. p. 15R., ‘Togatas tabernarias in scaenam dataverunt praecipue duo, L. Afranius et T. Quintius.’

T. Quintius Atta diedB.C.77, according to Jerome yr. Abr. 1940, ‘T. Quintius Atta, scriptor togatarum, Romae moritur.’

Eleven titles and about twenty lines of fragments are extant. Horace refers to Atta inEp.ii. 1, 79sqq.,

‘Recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attaefabula si dubitem, clament periisse pudoremcuncti paene patres, ea cum reprendere conerquae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit.’

L. Afranius was probably born betweenB.C.154 and 144. He was the chief writer oftogatae(Quint. x. 1, 100, ‘Togatis excellit Afranius’), and also an orator.

Cic.Brut.167, ‘L. Afranius poeta, homo perargutus, in fabulis quidem etiam ut scitis disertus.’

There are extant forty-two titles (with Latin names) and more than four hundred lines of fragments. The plays exhibit Roman surroundings, and describe low life, especially of the provincial towns. Cf. the titleBrundusinae, also l. 136,

‘Ubi hice Moschis, quaeso, habet, meretrix Neapolitis?’

Afranius imitated Menander, and probably Terence.

Hor.Ep.ii. 1, 57,

‘Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro.’

Macrob.Saturn.vi. 1, 4, ‘Afranius togatarum scriptor in ea togata, quae Compitalia inscribitur, non inverecunde respondens arguentibus, quod plura sumpsisset a Menandro,

“Fateor” inquit “sumpsi non ab illo modo,sed ut quisque habuit conveniret quod mihi,quod me non posse melius facere credidietiam a Latino”’ (ll. 25-8).

Sueton.vit. Ter.p. 33R., ‘Terentium Afranius omnibus comicis praefert.’

(a) The poets immediately after Afranius include

(1) Hostius.—He was perhaps the grandfather of Cynthia (Hostia), Propertius’ mistress. Prop. iv. 20, 7,

‘Est tibi forma potens; sunt castae Palladis artes,splendidaque a docto fama refulget avo.’

There are nine lines extant from his epic poemBellum Histricum, which was probably on the war ofB.C.125. Frag. 5 (Bährens),

‘Non si mihi linguaecentum atque ora sient totidem vocesque liquatae,’

is fromIl.ii. 489, and is imitated by Verg.Aen.vi. 625 (as noticed by Macrob.Saturn.vi. 3, 6).

(2) Writers of epigrams—Pompilius, Valerius Aedituus, Porcius Licinus, and Q. Lutatius Catulus (cons.B.C.102).

(3) Q. Valerius Soranus wrote verse on philology and archaeology.

(4) Volcacius Sedigitus wrote verse on literary history up to the time of thefabula palliata. He wroteindicesof Plautus (Gell. iii. 3, 1), and a workDe Poetis, which included his canon on the comic poets (Gell. xv. 24).

‘Caecilio palmam Statio do mimico.Plautus secundus facile exuperat ceteros.Dein Naevius, qui fervet, pretio in tertiost.Si erit, quod quarto detur, dabitur Licinio.Post insequi Licinium facio Atilium.In sexto consequetur hos Terentius,Turpilius septimum, Trabea octavum optinet,nono loco esse facile facio Luscium.Decimum addo causa antiquitatis Ennium.’

(b) The following poets wrote during Cicero’s youth,B.C.106-84:

(1) Cn. Matius, author ofMimiambi, and a translation of theIliad. An example of the last is Frag. I (Bährens) =Il.i. 56,

‘Corpora Graiorum maerebat mandier igni.’

(2) Laevius, author ofErotopaegnia, of a lyrical character. Porphyr. ad Hor.Od.iii. 1, 2, ‘Romanis utique non prius audita, quamvis Laevius lyrica ante Horatium scripserit; sed videntur illa non Graecorum lege ad lyricum characterem exacta.’

About sixty lines are extant. Gell. xix. 7 speaks of Laevius’ curious vocabulary, and instancesoblitteraforoblitterata;trisaeclisenex,dulciorelocus, etc.

(3) A. Furius of Antium. Only six lines are extant.

(4) C. Iulius Caesar Strabo, a tragic writer and orator.

(5) Sueius. His works are (a)Moretum, an idyll; (b)Pulli, on the breeding of fowls; (c)Nidus; (d) an epic poem,Annales.

(6) Writers offabula Atellana;[24]Novius and L. Pomponius (Bononiensis). Fronto p. 62 (ed. Naber), ‘Elegantis Novium et Pomponium et id genus in verbis rusticanis et iocularibus ac ridiculariis.’

Of Novius forty-three titles and over one hundred lines are preserved, and of Pomponius about seventy titles and two hundred lines. The well-known characters of thefabula Atellanaare retained, as is seen from the titles. Cf.Duo Dosseni,Maccus Copaof Novius;Bucco Adoptatus,Maccus Miles,Maccus Sequester,Maccus Virgoof Pomponius.

L. Cornelius Sisenna(praetorB.C.78), author ofHistoriaeof the Social and Civil Wars (Vell. Pat. ii. 9). Cicero thought him superior to his predecessors, but childish (Brut.228,De Leg.i. 7), and Sallust remarks his want of frankness in speaking of Sulla’s career (Iug.95). He avoided a piecemeal and desultory treatment of events; cf. his own words quoted by Gell. xii. 15, 2, ‘Nos una aestate in Asia et Graecia gesta litteris idcirco continentia mandavimus, ne vellicatim aut saltuatim scribendo lectorum animos impediremus.’ His translation of theΜιλησιακάof Aristides is mentioned by Ovid,Tr.ii. 443.

Contemporary with Sisenna wereQ. Claudius Quadrigarius, andValerius Antias, whose narrative was coloured by partiality for the Valerii and for Scipio Africanus (see under ‘Livy’).

C. Licinius Macer, father of the poet Calvus, was one of Livy’s sources for the early history. Dion. Hal. (vi. 11 and vii. 1) complains of his carelessness and the weakness of his chronology. He claimed that he used original authorities,e.g.thelibri lintei, lists of magistrates written on linen. He was a strong democrat, and is looked upon by Mommsen (R.H.iv., p. 602) as manufacturing authorities in support of his political views.

Sullawrote memoirs of his own life (Plut.Lucull.1), andLuculluscomposed in Greek a history of the Marsian War (ibid.).

M. Tullius Cicero, the son of a Roman knight, was born at Arpinum on 3rd January,B.C.106. Jerome yr. Abr. 1911, ‘M. Tullius Cicero Arpini nascitur matre Helvia, patre equestris ordinis ex regio Volscorum genere.’ Cic.ad Att.xiii. 42, 3, ‘Diem meum scis esse iii. Non. Ian.’

He gives an account of his education inBrut.306sqq.In civil law he was a pupil, inB.C.89, of Q. Scaevola the Augur, and afterwards of the pontifex of the same name (de Am.1). InB.C.88 he studied philosophy under Philo the Academic, and rhetoric under Molo of Rhodes. Dialectic he practised with the Stoic Diodotus, who lived and died in Cicero’s house (B.C.87-5). Other teachers of Cicero were the poet Archias (pro Arch.1), the orator Antonius (de Or.ii. 3), the actors Roscius and Aesopus (Plut.Cic.5), the rhetorician M. Antonius Gnipho (Sueton.Gramm.7), and the philosophers Phaedrus and Zeno.

After establishing a reputation at the bar by his defence of Quinctius and of Roscius of Ameria, he visited Asia to recruit his health and improve his oratorical style. On his way to the East he stayed six months at Athens, where he renewed his philosophical studies under Antiochus the Academic. In Asia he attended the leading rhetoricians, especially his old teacher Molo at Rhodes, who endeavoured to chasten the exuberance of his manner. At Rhodes he also made the acquaintance of the famous Stoic Posidonius (de Fin.i. 6). After an absence of two years he returned to RomeB.C.77, and shortly afterwards married Terentia.

Cicero, who had served in the Social War,B.C.89 (Phil.xii. 27), began his official career in 75 as quaestor of the district of Lilybaeum in Sicily, where he won golden opinions from all classes (pro Planc.64). He headed the poll at the election of aediles for 69, and of praetors for 66 (in Pis.2); as praetor he presided over the court for the trial of cases ofrepetundae(pro Clu.147). His canvass for the consulship of 63 began as early as July 65 (ad Att.i. 1, 1); he was returned with C. Antonius as his colleague (in Pis.3). His services to the State in 63 in the crushing of the Catilinarian conspiracy need not be dwelt on here: his activity as an orator in that year was great, and he passed a law against undue influence by candidates, ‘Lex Tullia de ambitu’ (in Vat.37). He waived his right to a province, allowing Metellus Celer to take Gaul.

In 58 the hostility of P. Clodius effected Cicero’s banishment, on the ground that he had put the Catilinarian conspirators to death without trial. Retiring at first to Vibo, in Lucania, he moved successively to Sicily, Thurii, Tarentum, Brundisium, Dyrrhachium, Thessalonica, and Athens. At Dyrrhachium he resided from November 58 to August 57, when, after several unsuccessful efforts by his friends, a law was passed for his recall.

In 53 he was chosen augur in succession to the younger Crassus (Plut.Cic.36), and two years later was appointed proconsul of Cilicia, under the new arrangement providing for an interval of five years between office in Rome and the government of a province. There he carried on a petty warfare with the mountaineers, and captured the fort of Pindenissus (a success for which the Senate decreed asupplicatio), occupying the winter with judicial business in the towns. His absence from the centre of affairs, though it lasted only a year, was most distasteful to him; cf.ad Att.v. 11, 1, ‘Ne provincia nobis prorogetur, per fortunas! dum ades, quidquid provideri potest, provide: non dici potest quam flagrem desiderio urbis, quam vix harum rerum insulsitatem feram.’ For his just dealing with the provincials, cf.ad Att.v. 21, 5.

In November, 50, Cicero returned to Italy, to find a crisis imminent, and finally cast in his lot with the senatorial party. He left Rome with the consuls and the leadingoptimates, and for some time had charge of the district of Capua (ad Fam.xvi. 11, 3, ‘nos Capuam sumpsimus’). On 7th June,B.C.49, he embarked to join Pompey in Epirus, though far from enthusiastic for his leadership (ad Fam.vii. 3, 2, ‘mei facti poenituit... Nihil boni praeter causam.’) The chiefs of the party looked upon him with suspicion, and he was not present at the battle of Pharsalus. After Pompey’s overthrow he returned to Brundisium, and in 47 was allowed by Caesar to return to Rome (ad Fam.xiv. 23). His mode of life at this time he thus describes (ad Fam.ix. 20, 3), ‘Ubi salutatio defluxit, litteris me involvo, aut scribo aut lego. Veniunt etiam qui me audiant quasi doctum hominem, quia paullo sum quam ipsi doctior.’

In 46 he divorced his wife Terentia, of whose neglect he complains,ad Fam.iv. 14, 3; and married Publilia, with whom he parted in the following year. In 45 he lost his only daughter Tullia, who had been thrice married; he tried to drown his grief by close application to literary work, moving about from villa to villa, and it is to this period that most of his philosophical works belong. In 44 he appeared once more in Rome, and took a prominent part in the proceedings which followed upon Caesar’s death. April to July he spent at his various villas (ad Att.xiv.passim), and then decided to visit Athens, where his son (bornB.C.65) was studying. On 1st August he reached Syracuse, but hearing at Leucopetra that his presence was required at Rome, he gave up his plan of travel and returned to the city. With the series ofPhilippicsagainst Antony (44-3) Cicero’s career closes. In the proscription agreed on by the triumvirs he was marked out as one of the chief victims. A fragment of Livy, quoted by Seneca,Suas.6, 17, states that he fled first to Tusculum, then to Formiae, and took ship from Caieta, but returned to land, exclaiming, ‘Moriar in patria saepe servata.’ On his way from the shore to his villa he was slain by a party of Antony’s soldiers, and his head was carried to Rome and exposed on the Rostra. The date of the assassination was 7th December,B.C.43 (Tiro quoted by Tac.Dial.17).

1. The earliest extant speech is thatPro Quinctio, deliveredB.C.81 (Gell. xv. 28, 3) in an action before a iudex for restitution of property. This was not Cicero’s first appearance as an advocate: § 4, ‘quod mihi consuevit in ceteris causis esse adiumento.’

2. Next year (cf. Gell.ibid.) Cicero made his first speech in a criminal case, defending Sex. Roscius of Ameria on a charge of parricide. By so doing he incurred the risk of Sulla’s enmity, but at the same time established his own position.De Off.ii. 51, ‘contra L. Sullae dominantis opes pro S. Roscio Amerino’;Brut.312, ‘prima causa publica, pro Sex. Roscio dicta, tantum commendationis habuit, ut non ulla esset quae non digna nostro patrocinio videretur.’ In later years he criticized the ‘iuvenilis redundantia’ of this speech (Orat.108).

3. The speechPro Roscio Comoedo, usually assigned toB.C.76, was a defence of the famous actor in a civil case.

4. The year 70B.C.is memorable for the group of speeches (‘accusationis vii. libri,’Orat.103), against Verres, accused ofrepetundaeby the Sicilians, at whose urgent entreaty Cicero undertook the prosecution. The preliminary question, who should conduct the prosecution, is argued in theDivinatio in Caecilium. Q. Caecilius Niger, Verres’ quaestor, claimed the right to prosecute, but this manoeuvre failed. Of the six speechesin Verremonly one, theActio Prima, was delivered: Cicero, seeing that the other side were anxious to carry the trial over into the next year, confined himself to this short introductory speech (on 5th August, cf. § 31), after which he called his witnesses. Their evidence was so damaging that Hortensius[25]threw up the defence, and Verres was sentenced to banishment and his property confiscated. The five Books of theActio Secundawere published afterwards in order that the facts might be thoroughly known.

5.Pro M. Fonteio(incomplete), for Fonteius, propraetor of Gallia NarbonensisB.C.75-3, on a charge ofrepetundae. This trial perhaps took placeB.C.69, certainly after the equites had been placed on theiudiciaby the Lex Aurelia of 70 (cf. § 26).

6. To the same year probably belongs the speechPro Caecinain a civil case.

7. InB.C.66 Cicero made his first political speech,Pro Lege Manilia, orDe Imperio Cn. Pompei, in support of the bill of the tribune Manilius for conferring on Pompey the command against Mithradates.

8. In the same year he defended Cluentius, charged with murder, in the speechPro A. Cluentio Habito. The date is fixed as the year of Cicero’s praetorship by § 147, ‘mea quaestio de pecuniis repetundis.’

9. The three speechesDe Lege Agrariaare concerned with the bill of P. Servilius Rullus for the appointment ofdecemviriwith full power to buy and sell land and to establish colonies. The first speech (incomplete) was made in the Senate on 1st January, the second and third beforecontiones.

10. The speechPro C. Rabirio perduellionis reowas delivered on behalf of Rabirius, charged before thecomitiawith the murder of the tribune Saturninus inB.C.100. The prosecution had been instituted by the democratic party to vindicate the old right ofprovocatio ad populum, and to establish the inviolability of the tribunes.

11. Of the four speechesIn Catilinam, i. was delivered in the Senate on 8th November, and followed by Catiline’s flight from Rome; ii. to the people on 9th November; iii. to the people on 3rd December, when the Allobroges gave their evidence about the conspiracy; iv. in the Senate, on 5th December, calling for the capital punishment of the conspirators.[26]

12. In this crisis Cicero made one of his most graceful and witty speeches, thePro Murena. The defendant was charged with bribery in his candidature for the consulship, and among the prosecutors was Cato.

13-14. InB.C.62 Cicero defended P. Sulla, who was accused of complicity with Catiline (Pro Sulla), and delivered the speechPro Archiain support of his friend’s title to the Roman citizenship.

15. InB.C.59 L. Flaccus was accused ofrepetundaeas propraetor of Asia 62-60, and defended by Cicero in the speechPro Flacco.

16-19. After Cicero’s return from exile he returned thanks to the Senate in the speechCum Senatui gratias egit, 5th SeptemberB.C.57 (ad Att.iv. 1, 5), delivered from manuscript (‘propter rei magnitudinem dicta de scripto,’Pro Planc.74). The genuineness of the corresponding speech to the people,Cum populo gratias egit, is suspected; it is mentioned by Dio. xxxix. 9, 1, but not by Cicero himself. On 30th September (ad Att.iv. 2, 2) the speechDe Domo Suawas delivered before thepontifices, who decided that the site of Cicero’s house, which Clodius had consecrated, should be restored to its owner. Connected with this is the speechDe Haruspicum Responsis, of the year 56, rebutting the argument of Clodius that the declaration of theharuspices, ‘loca sacra et religiosa profana haberi’ (§ 9) referred to the restitution of Cicero’s house.

20. The speechPro Sestiois in defence of one of Cicero’s friends who, as tribune, had worked energetically for his recall from exile, and was now accusedde viat the instigation of Clodius. Sestius was acquitted in March,B.C.56 (ad Q.F.ii. 4, 1).

21. TheInterrogatio in P. Vatinium testemwas a successful attack on the credibility of Vatinius, who had been one of the chief witnesses against Sestius.

22.Pro M. Caelio.—The prosecution of Caelius on a charge of poisoning was instigated by his former mistress, Clodia; it took place inB.C.56, for Cn. Domitius, who tried the case (§ 32), was praetor in that year (ad Q.F.ii. 3, 6).

23. The speechDe Provinciis Consularibus,B.C.56, argues that Caesar should be allowed to continue as proconsul of Gaul, and that Syria and Macedonia should be taken away from Gabinius and Piso. Mommsen[27]regards it as theπαλινῳδίαofad Att.iv. 5, 1, and contrasts Cicero’s tone to Caesar in this speech with his attitude in thePro Sestio,In Vatinium, andDe Haruspicum Responsis.

24. The speechPro Balbodeals with a case similar to that of Archias. L. Cornelius Balbus, a native of Gades, and the trusted friend of Caesar, had received thecivitasfrom Pompey, and this speech is in defence of his right thereto (B.C.56).

25.In Pisonem, an attack on Cicero’s enemy (consulB.C.58), delivered in the SenateB.C.55.

26.Pro Plancio,B.C.54, on behalf of Cn. Plancius, accused of organizing clubs to secure by bribery his election to the aedileship.

27.Pro Rabirio Postumo,B.C.54. Rabirius was charged with extortion in Egypt.

28.Pro Milone.—At the trial of Milode viinB.C.52 Cicero was so intimidated by the uproar of the rabble that his speech was a failure, and Milo was condemned. The speech now extant was written by Cicero at his leisure. Both were known to Asconius,[28]who supplies a valuable introduction.

29. For six years we have no speech; but in 46 Cicero broke his rule of silence (‘in perpetuum tacere,’ad Fam.iv. 4, 4), and in the speechPro Marcellothanked Caesar for allowing Marcellus, the consul ofB.C.51, to return to Rome.

30. On 26th NovemberB.C.46 he pleaded before Caesar the cause of Q. Ligarius (Pro Ligario).

31. In the latter part ofB.C.45 he delivered in Caesar’s house the speechPro Rege Deiotaroon behalf of his ‘hospes vetus et amicus,’ the tetrarch of Galatia, accused of treachery to Caesar.

32. Cicero’s oratorical career closes with the fourteen speeches against Antony, calledPhilippics, after the speeches of Demosthenes. This title was suggested by the author himself; cf. the letter of Brutus (ad Brut.ii. 5, 4), ‘iam concedo ut vel Philippicae vocentur, quod tu quadam epistula iocans scripsisti.’ It was the usual title in antiquity, though Gellius (xiii. 1, 1) uses the alternativeAntonianae. ThePhilippicscover the period from 2nd September 44 to 22nd April 43. They were all delivered in the Senate, except iv. and vi., which arecontiones, and ii., which was never spoken, but published as a political pamphlet after Antony had left Rome: for its fame cf. Juv. 10, 125,

‘Te conspicuae, divina Philippica, famae,volveris a prima quae proxima.’

There are fragments of about twenty speeches, and the titles of thirty others are known. The invectivein Sallustium, and the speechPridie quam in exilium iret, are undoubtedly spurious.

Many of the speeches were to a large extent extempore, the heads only being committed to writing. These notes were afterwards collected by Tiro (Quint. x. 7, 30-1). In publishing, Cicero occasionally omitted some passages of the spoken oration,e.g.inPro Mur.57 only the headings appear, ‘De Postumi criminibus.’ ‘De Servi adulescentis’: cf. Plin.Ep.i. 20, 7, ‘ex his apparet illum permulta dixisse, cum ederet omisisse.’ For the practice of reporting his speeches in shorthand cf. Ascon.in Mil.‘manet illa quoque excepta eius oratio’ (his speech at Milo’s trial). The only case in which Cicero appeared for the prosecution was that of Verres: the part of an accuser was generally distasteful to him; cf.De Off.ii. 50, ‘duri hominis vel potius vix hominis videtur, periculum capitis inferre multis.’

1.De Re Publica, a discussion of the ideal state and the ideal citizen, was published beforeB.C.51, for Caelius writes to Cicero in Cilicia, ‘tui politici libri omnibus vigent’ (ad Fam.viii. 1, 4). In this treatise Cicero made use of Plato, and of Aristotle, Theophrastus, and other Peripatetics (de Div.ii. 3). There were six Books; but until 1822 theSomnium Scipionis, extracted by Macrobius from Book vi., was the only portion of the work known to exist, with the exception of a few fragments. In that year Mai published at Rome, from a Vatican palimpsest, remains which make up about one-third of the whole.

2. TheDe Legibussucceeded theDe Re Publica, as Plato’sLawscame after theRepublic. The speakers in this dialogue are Atticus, Cicero, and his brother Quintus. Book i. expounds the Stoic position that the laws of the ideal state are made by the wise man in accordance with the mind of God; this position is worked out in Book ii. in the regulations for religion, and in iii. on the duties of magistrates. The treatise was never completed, and was perhaps a posthumous publication: it is not mentioned in the list inDe Divinationeii. 1-3, and there is no preface, though Cicero says (ad Att.iv. 16, 2) ‘in singulis libris utor prooemiis.’ Certainly it had not appeared inB.C.46, the year of theBrutus(Brut.19). It was composed after the murder of Clodius in January,B.C.52 (ii. 42), and in Pompey’s lifetime (iii. 22): probably in 52, as the government of Cilicia and the civil war left Cicero no time for literature during the years 51-48.

3. In the spring of 46 was written the short tractParadoxa, a discussion of six Stoic paradoxes (e.g.that the wise man alone is free). It was addressed to Brutus, and was later than the dialogue which bears his name; cf. the preface, ‘accipies hoc parvum opusculum, lucubratum his iam contractioribus noctibus, quoniam illud maiorum vigiliarum munus in tuo nomine apparuit.’

4. The death of Tullia in February, 45, led Cicero to write, at Astura, aConsolatio, of which only fragments survive. Plin.N.H.praef. 22, quotes Cicero as saying that he here followed the Greek philosopher, Crantor,περὶ πένθους. It contained notices of the deaths of great men,De Div.ii. 22, ‘clarissimorum hominum nostrae civitatis gravissimos exitus in Consolatione collegimus.’

5. In theHortensiusCicero appeared as the champion of philosophy:De Fin.i. 2, ‘philosophiae vituperatoribus satis responsum est eo libro, quo a nobis philosophia defensa et collaudata est, cum esset accusata et vituperata ab Hortensio.’ It cannot be traced beyond the seventh century, and is now represented by a few fragments. In the Middle Ages it was confounded with thePrior Academics, the speakers in both dialogues being the same. TheHortensiusseems to have been written before Cicero went to Astura in March,B.C.45: there is no allusion to it in his letters.

6. The treatiseDe Finibus Bonorum et Malorumdiscusses various theories of thesummum bonum—the Epicurean in Books i.-ii., the Stoic in iii.-iv., the Peripatetic in v. The scene of the dialogue changes from Cumae to Tusculum and then to the Academy at Athens. The work was dedicated to Brutus in June, 45 (ad Att.xiii. 12, 3).

7. TheAcademicsappeared in two editions. Of the original edition Book ii., entitledLucullus, has survived; the speakers in it are Lucullus, Catulus, Hortensius, and Cicero, and the scene, Hortensius’ villa. Cicero was not satisfied with this arrangement (ad Att.xiii. 12, 3, ‘homines nobiles illi quidem, sed nullo modo philologi, nimis acute locuntur’), and after provisionally transferring the parts of Lucullus, Catulus, and Hortensius, to Cato and Brutus, he finally adopted the suggestion of Atticus to gratify Varro by giving him a share in the dialogue together with Atticus and himself (ad Att.xiii. 13, 1, ‘commotus tuis litteris, quod ad me de Varrone scripseras, totam Academiam ab hominibus nobilissimis abstuli transtulique ad nostrum sodalem et ex duobus libris contuli in quattuor’). Of this second edition in four Books we possess only Book i. (incomplete), and fragments of the others; the scene is at Cumae. The dedicatory epistle to Varro is still preserved (ad Fam.ix. 8).

8. In the five Books ofTusculanae Disputationes, conversations between Cicero and a friend at his Tusculan villa, the subject is the chief essentials for happiness. Book i. inculcates the proper attitude towards death, ii. to grief, iii. to pain, iv. to other trials, v. asserts the sufficiency of virtue for happiness. The treatise is dedicated to Brutus, and was finished byB.C.44, in which year (ad Att.xv. 2, 4) the first Book is known to Atticus.

9.De Natura Deorum, in three Books, is also addressed to Brutus. The Epicurean, Stoic, and Peripatetic doctrines are represented by C. Velleius, Q. Lucilius Balbus, and C. Aurelius Cotta, respectively. This treatise was written after theTusculans(de Div.ii. 3): in July 45 (ad Att.xiii. 39, 2) Atticus is asked for the loan ofΦαίδρου περὶ θεῶνandπερὶ Παλλάδος.

10. The essayDe Senectute, called alsoCato Maiorafter the principal speaker in the dialogue, was addressed to Atticus at the end of 45 or early in 44 (de Div.ii. 3;ad Att.xiv. 21, 3).

11. To a later date in the same year belongs theLaelius, orDe Amicitia(de Am.4 mentions thede Sen.), in which Laelius discourses on friendship. In this book, according to Gell. i. 3, 10-11, Cicero was under obligations to Theophrastusπερὶ φιλίας.

12.De Divinatione, in two Books, forms a supplement to theDe Natura Deorum. Cicero and his brother discuss, at Tusculum, the nature and validity of ‘divinatio,’ which is defined (i. 9) as ‘earum rerum quae fortuitae putantur praedictio atque praesensio.’ The date is 44.

13. The incomplete essayDe Fatowas written in 44, after Caesar’s death (cf. § 2). The conversation takes place at Puteoli, between Cicero and the consul-designate Hirtius.

14. On 11th July of the same year Cicero sent to Atticus his treatiseDe Gloria, in two Books, now lost (ad Att.xvi. 2, 6;de Off.ii. 31).

15. The latest of the extant philosophical works is theDe Officiis, written for the instruction of the author’s son. Cicero had completed two Books by November,B.C.44 (xvi. 11, 4), following the treatment of Panaetius, and discussing in Book i. the issue between vice and virtue, in Book ii. the expediency of a given action. In Book iii. he was indebted to Posidonius, for the discussion of apparent conflict between virtue and expediency.

There are traces of two other treatises,De VirtutibusandDe Auguriis; and we possess fragments of a translation of Plato’sProtagorasandTimaeus, which cannot be earlier thanB.C.45 (de Fin.i. 7).

Cicero propounds no original scheme of philosophy, claiming only that he renders the conclusions of Greek thinkers accessible to his own countrymen. This sort of work cost him little trouble:ad Att.xii. 52, 3, ‘ἀπόγραφαsunt; minore labore fiunt: verba tantum affero, quibus abundo.’ At the same time he is not a mere translator:de Fin.i. 6, ‘nos non interpretum fungimur munere, sed tuemur ea quae dicta sunt ab eis quos probamus, eisque nostrum iudicium et nostrum scribendi ordinem adiungimus.’ His motives for entering upon this task are explained inDe Nat. Deor.i. 7-9: (1) he desired to do a service to his country: ‘ipsius rei publicae causa philosophiam nostris hominibus explicandam putavi’; (2) he sought relief for his own mind: ‘hortata etiam est ut me ad haec conferrem animi aegritudo, fortunae magna et gravi conmota iniuria.’ Cicero is an eclectic, with a leaning to the New Academy:Tusc.iv. 7, ‘nullis unius disciplinae legibus adstricti, quibus in philosophia necessario pareamus.’ Probability is all that he expects to reach:ibid., ‘quid sit in quaque re maxime probabile semper requiremus.’ The philosophy most attractive to him is that which best called forth the oratorical faculty:Tusc.ii. 9, ‘mihi semper Peripateticorum Academiaeque consuetudo de omnibus rebus in contrarias partes differendi ... placuit ... quod esset ea maxima dicendi exercitatio.’[29]

I. The earliest of these isDe Inventione, orRhetorica, in two Books, written probably for the author’s own use during Sulla’s absence in AsiaB.C.87-83. In his mature years Cicero looked back with contempt on this youthful effort:de Or.i. 5, ‘quae pueris aut adulescentulis nobis ex commentariolis nostris incohata ac rudia exciderunt.’ He borrows much from theRhet. ad Herenn., and frequently mentions and criticises the views of Hermagoras; but all the best writers on rhetoric were laid under contribution: ii. 4, ‘omnibus unum in locum coactis scriptoribus, quod quisque commodissime praecipere videbatur, excerpsimus.’

2. The three BooksDe Oratorewere finished in 55:ad Att.iv. 13, 2, ‘de libris oratoriis factum est a me diligenter: diu multumque in manibus fuerunt: describas licet.’ They were written at a time when Cicero’s voice was seldom heard:ad Fam.i. 9, 23, ‘ab orationibus diiungo me fere referoque ad mansuetiores Musas.’ The dialogue takes place inB.C.91, at the Tusculan villa of L. Licinius Crassus; he and the rival orator, M. Antonius, are the chief speakers.

3. The dialogueBrutus, orDe Claris Oratoribus, after a brief survey of Greek oratory, criticises the Roman orators from L. Brutus to Cicero’s own time. In spite of his intention to omit living persons (§ 231), he discusses Caesar, M. Marcellus, and himself. The speakers are Brutus, Atticus, and Cicero; and the date is probably 46, for theBrutusis earlier than theOrator, which refers to it (§ 23).

4. TheOratororDe Optimo Genere Dicendiis a sequel to theDe Oratoreand theBrutus, adding practical rules to the exposition of theory (de Div.ii. 4). It was written at the request of Brutus, to whom it is addressed, in the year 46 (ad Fam.xii. 17, 2).

5.Partitiones Oratoriaeis a catechism on rhetoric, in which the questions are put to Cicero by his son.

6. TheTopicawas written in response to repeated requests from Trebatius for explanation of Aristotle’sTopics. It was done by Cicero, without the aid of books, on his voyage from Velia to Rhegium in July, 44 (Top.5;ad Fam.vii. 19).

7. The short treatiseDe Optimo Genere Oratorumwas introductory to a version of the speeches of Demosthenes and Aeschines ‘on the Crown,’ designed to show the Romans what the best Attic oratory was like.

Cicero’s correspondence beginsB.C.68 withad Att.i. 5, and ends 28th July,B.C.43. Besides seven hundred and seventy-four letters written by Cicero, we have ninety addressed to him by friends. The collection was made by friends like Tiro and Atticus: cf.ad Att.xvi. 5, 5 (B.C.44), ‘Mearum epistularum nulla estσυναγωγή, sed habet Tiro instar septuaginta, et quidem sunt a te quaedam sumendae: eas ego oportet perspiciam, corrigam; tum denique edentur.’

The letters now extant fall into four groups.

i.Epistulae ad Atticum, in sixteen Books, belonging to the yearsB.C.68-43, and valuable for their thorough frankness (ad Att.viii. 14, 2, ‘ego tecum tamquam mecum loquor’). Nepos appreciates their supreme importance for the history of Cicero’s time, although he dates the commencement of the correspondence wrongly:Att.16, ‘xvi. volumina epistularum ab consulatu eius usque ad extremum tempus ad Atticum missarum; quae qui legat, non multum desideret historiam contextam eorum temporum.’ Atticus’ own letters were not published, though Cicero preserved them:ad Att.ix. 10, 4, ‘Evolvi volumen epistularum, quod ego sub signo habeo servoque diligentissime.’

2.Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem, in three Books, of the yearsB.C.60-54.

3.Epistulae ad Brutum, originally in nine Books, of which only two remain. The present Book i. was really Book ix., and Book ii., which contains letters earlier than those in Book i., may have formed part of the original Book viii.

4.Epistulae ad Familiares, in sixteen Books, letters to and from friends, writtenB.C.62-43. This title is not found in anyMS.LateMSS.and old editions have ‘Epistulae Familiares’: for the title ‘Ad Diversos’ there is no authority. In the bestMSS.the Books are titled separately by the name of the person to whom the first letter in each is written,e.g.‘M. Tulli Ciceronis epistularum ad P. Lentulum liber i.’

For the colloquial style of the letters cf.ad Fam.ix. 21, 1 (to Paetus), ‘Quid tibi ego in epistulis videor? nonne plebeio sermone agere tecum? nec enim semper eodem modo: quid enim simile habet epistula aut iudicio aut contioni? ... epistulas vero cottidianis verbis texere solemus.’

The following works are now lost: (a)Miscellaneous prose writings.—1. Panegyrics on Porcia (ad Att.xiii. 37, 3) and Cato,B.C.45; and funeral orations written for other people to deliver (ad Q.F.iii. 8, 5, ‘laudavit pater scripto meo’).

2. Memoirs of Cicero’s consulship, writtenB.C.60, in both Greek and Latin (ad. Att.i. 19, 10). He took great pains with this book, and was anxious that it should be well circulated (ad Att.ii. 1, 1).

3. A secret history,Anekdota, mentioned in letters ofB.C.59 and 44 (ad Att.ii. 6, 2; xiv. 17, 6).

4.Admiranda, a collection of wonders (Pliny,N.H.xxxi. 51).

5.Chorographia, a book on geography, mentioned by Priscian. The letters to Atticus show that Cicero was studying the subject inB.C.59.

6. A work on law,De iure civili in artem redigendo(Gell. i. 22, 7).

7. A translation of Xenophon’sOeconomicus, made when Cicero was about the age of twenty (de Off.ii. 87).

(b)Poems.—1. Cicero’s earliest effort in verse was a poem in tetrameters, entitledPontius Glaucus: Plut.Cic.2,καὶ τι ποιημάτιον ἔτι παιδὸς αὐτοῦ διασῴζεται Πόντιος Γλαῦκος ἐν τετραμέτρῳ πεποιημένον.

2. InB.C.60 he made a verse translation of the astronomical poems of Aratus,ad Att.ii. 1, 2, ‘Prognostica mea ... propediem exspecta.’ Quotations are given inDe Nat. Deor.ii. 104sqq.

3. In the same year he wrote a poemDe Suo Consulatu, in three Books:ad Att.i. 19, 10, ‘poema exspectato, ne quod genus a me ipso laudis meae praetermittatur.’ A long passage from Book ii., spoken by the Muse Urania, is recited by Q. Cicero inDe Div.i. 17sqq.

4. Another poem in three Books,De Temporibus Suis, belonged probably to the year 55. Cicero writes to Lentulus in 54 (ad Fam.i. 9, 23), ‘scripsi versibus tres libros de temporibus meis, quos iam pridem ad te misissem, si esse edendos putassem.’

5. In the letters to Quintus from June to December, 54, there is frequent mention of a poemAd Caesarem. Quintus is consulted for information about Britain:ad Q.F.ii. 15, 2, ‘mihi date Britanniam, quam pingam coloribus tuis, penicillo meo.’

6. A poem on Cicero’s great townsman Marius is quoted,De Div.i. 106.

Among others quoted areLimon, in which Terence was praised (seep. 51), andiocularis libellus(Quint. viii. 6, 73). Translations from Greek poets occur in the philosophical works, e.g.de Fin.v. 49, from Homer,Odys.xii. 184-191;Tusc.ii. 23, from various parts of Aeschylus,Prom. Vinct.

The ancient criticisms on Cicero’s poetry are all unfavourable:

De Off.i. 77, ‘Illud optimum est, in quo invadi solere ab improbis et invidis audio:

“Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea laudi.”’

Juv. 10, 122,

‘“O fortunatam natam me consule Romam!”Antoni gladios potuit contemnere, si sicomnia dixisset.’

Tac.Dial.21 (quotedp. 111).

Quint. xi. 1, 24, ‘In carminibus utinam pepercisset, quae non desierunt carpere maligni.’

Rhetorica ad Herennium.—This treatise on rhetoric in four Books, addressed to the author’s relative C. Herennius, is usually printed among Cicero’s works, and is attributed to him by theMSS.and by Jerome and Priscian. But it is clearly not by Cicero, for (a) it does not agree with his own description of his early rhetorical writings as ‘incohata ac rudia’; (b) the author’s position, as described by himself, is not Cicero’s. It is generally held that one Cornificius was the author; Quintilian (e.g.v. 10, 2) attributes to a person of that name several expressions found in thead Herennium. He may have been the Q. Cornificius who opposed Cicero for the consulship inB.C.64. The date of the treatise is probablyB.C.86-84.

Q. Tullius Cicero, the brother of the orator, was born probablyB.C.102. He was aedile in 65 (ad Att.i. 4, 1); praetor in 62, when he tried the case of Archias; propraetor of Asia 61-58 (ad Q.F.i. 1, 2). He acted aslegatusof Pompey in SardiniaB.C.56 (pro Scauro, 39); of Caesar in Gaul, taking part in the second invasion of Britain (Caes.B.G.v.); and of his brother in Cilicia (ad Fam.xv. 4, 8). At the outbreak of the civil war he was with Marcus at Formiae and Capua; but after the death of Pompey there was a breach between them. Being proscribed by the triumvirs he took flight, but was betrayed by his slaves and put to death,B.C.43 (Plut.Cic.47). His wife was Pomponia, the sister of Atticus.

For the benefit of M. Cicero in his candidature for the consulship,B.C.64, Quintus wrote theCommentariolum Petitionis(the title in § 58) orDe Petitione Consulatus. It is in the form of a letter, and is headed in the bestMSS.‘Q. M. Fratri S. D.’ Quintus writes with special reference to his brother’s circumstances, but most of the rules which he lays down are of general application. The authenticity of this treatise has been called in question by Eussner, who ascribes it to a clever imitator, partly on the ground of coincidences of expression with Cicero’s speechin Toga Candida; but his arguments are refuted by Prof. Tyrrell (Cicero’s Correspondence, i. pp. 110-121).

There are also extant three letters to Tiro and one to M. Cicero. Quintus’ poetry is now represented only by twenty hexameters on the signs of the zodiac; but he wrote an epic poem,Annales(ad Att.ii. 16, 4 [Quintus] ‘ita remittit ut me roget ut annales suos emendem et edam’), and composed tragedies with great rapidity (ad Q.F.iii. 6, 7, ‘quattuor tragoedias xvi. diebus absolvisse cum scribas, tu quidquam ab alio mutuaris?’). His admiration for Sophocles and Euripides appears inDe Fin.v. 3;ad Fam.xvi. 8, 2.

M. Tullius Tiro, the freedman of Cicero, who had a high opinion of his worth and ability (ad Fam.xvi. 4, 3;ad Att.vii. 5, 2), wrote (1) a biography of his patron: Ascon. p. 49, ‘ut legimus apud Tironem libertum Ciceronis in libro iiii. de vita eius.’

(2) Editions of Cicero’s speeches and letters: Gell. i. 7, 1, ‘in oratione Ciceronis v. in Verrem, libro spectatae fidei, Tironiana cura atque disciplina facto.’ (See alsop. 85.)

(3) A collection of Cicero’s witticisms: Quint. vi. 3, 5, ‘utinam libertus eius Tiro aut alius, quisquis fuit, qui iii. hac de re libros edidit, parcius dictorum numero indulsissent.’

(4) Grammatical works, asπανδέκται, mentioned by Gell. xiii. 9, 2.

For his system of shorthand, cf. Sueton. p. 136R., ‘Romae primus Tullius Tiro, Ciceronis libertus, commentatus est notas, sed tantum praepositionum.’

Author of (1)Annalis, a chronological table of the chief events in Roman and foreign history, accompanied by genealogies (Nepos,Att.18, 1). As it was Cicero’sDe Re Publicathat suggested its composition (Cic.Brut.19), its date cannot be earlier thanB.C.54. (2) Family histories,e.g.of the Iunii (Nepos,Att.18, 3), published separately. (3)De Imaginibus, a collection of inscriptions in verse for the busts of celebrated men (Nepos,Att.18, 5). (4)De Consulatu Ciceronis, in Greek (Nepos,Att.18, 6), writtenB.C.60 (Cic.ad Att.ii. 1, 1).

Atticus is an interesting figure on account of the large publishing business which he conducted (Nepos,Att.13, 3); and the great care with which he sought out goodMSS.to reproduce in his establishment makes him important in the history of the preservation of ancient literature.

M. Terentius Varro was bornB.C.116 at Reate in the Sabine country.

Jerome yr. Abr. 1901, ‘M. Terentius Varro philosophus et poeta nascitur.’ Symmachus,Ep.i. 2, calls him ‘Terentius Reatinus’; and he owned property in that district:R.R.ii. praef. 6, ‘ipse pecuarias habui grandes, in Apulia oviarias, et in Reatino equarias.’

Of his family nothing is known except that he had an uncle belonging to the equestrian order (Plin.N.H.vii. 176). His philosophical education was received at Athens, where he was a disciple of Antiochus of Ascalon: Cic.Ac. Post.12, ‘Aristum Athenis [Brutus] audivit aliquamdiu, cuius tu [Varro] fratrem Antiochum.’

He took part in the war with Sertorius in Spain,B.C.76 (Sall.Hist.ii. fr. 69). In the war with the pirates,B.C.67, he was one of Pompeius’ lieutenants, and received acorona navalisfor his services. VarroR.R.ii. praef. 7, ‘cum piratico bello inter Delum et Ciliciam Graeciae classibus praeessem.’ Plin.N.H.vii. 115, ‘[Varroni] Magnus Pompeius piratico ex bello navalem [coronam] dedit.’ Probably he was also with Pompeius in the war with Mithradates (Plin.N.H.xxxiii. 136, xxxvii. 11; knowledge of the Caspian, vi. 38). To the coalition of Pompeius, Caesar, and Crassus he was originally hostile, going so far as to write one of his satires,Τρικάρανος, against them (AppianB.C.ii. 9); but in 59 he was a member of the commission appointed to establish Caesar’s veterans in Campania: Plin.N.H.vii. 176, ‘Varro auctor est xx. viro se agros dividente Capuae,’ etc. He also held the office of tribune (Gell. xiii. 12, 6), and was aedile with Murena (Plin. xxxv. 173).

When the civil war broke out he was one of Pompeius’ lieutenants in Farther Spain, and resisted Caesar without success (Caes.B.C.ii. 17-20). From Spain he withdrew to Epirus, where he was coldly received by the Pompeians (Cic.ad Fam.ix. 6, 3, ‘crudeliter otiosis minabantur, eratque eis et tua invisa voluntas et mea oratio’). We hear of him at Corcyra (R.R.i. 4), and at Dyrrhachium a few days before the battle of Pharsalus (Cic.de Div.i. 68). After Caesar’s victory he lived quietly at his Tusculan villa (Cic.ad Fam.ix. 6, 4, ‘his tempestatibus es prope solus in portu ... equidem hos tuos Tusculanenses dies instar esse vitae puto’). He was more easily reconciled than Cicero to the new government, and was made librarian by Caesar: Sueton.Iul.44, ‘Destinabat bibliothecas Graecas Latinasque quas maximas posset publicare, data M. Varroni cura comparandarum ac digerendarum.’ This, however, did not prevent him writing a funeral oration on Cato’s sister Porcia (Cic.ad Att.xiii. 48, 2).

After Caesar’s death Varro was exposed to the persecution of Antonius, whose raid on his villa at Casinum is vividly described by Cicero (Phil.ii. 103sqq.). He was proscribed, but the devotion of his friends secured his escape (AppianB.C.iv. 47).

His old age was spent in peace, the literary activity for which his whole life was remarkable being maintained to the end. At the age of eighty-three he was still writing: Plin.N.H.xxix. 65, ‘Cunctarer in proferendo ex his remedio, ni M. Varro lxxxiii vitae anno prodidisset,’ etc.

Varro’s death took place inB.C.27, in his ninetieth year. Jerome yr. Abr. 1990, ‘M. Terentius Varro philosophus prope nonagenarius moritur.’

Cicero (ad Att.xiii. 18) calls Varro ‘homoπολυγραφώτατος,’ and Varro himself said that he had written four hundred and ninety Books by the end of his seventy-seventh year: Gell. iii. 10, 17, ‘Addit se quoque iam duodecimam annorum hebdomadam ingressum esse et ad eum diem septuaginta hebdomadas librorum conscripsisse.’ A letter of Jerome[30]gives a list of thirty-nine works in four hundred and ninety Books, admitting at the same time that these were only half of the total number (‘vix medium descripsi indicem’). The titles of twenty-one other works are known from various sources.

1.Agriculture.—Of this enormous number only one has survived in a complete form, the treatiseDe Re Rusticain three Books, in the form of a dialogue. Book i. treats of agriculture; ii. of stock-raising; iii. of poultry, game, and fish. It was writtenB.C.37-6:R.R.i. 1, 1, ‘Annus octogesimus admonet me ut sarcinas colligam ante quam proficiscar e vita.’

2.Grammar.—Of the twenty-five booksDe Lingua Latina, only v.-x. have been preserved, but the scope of the whole is known from Varro’s own words. Book i. was introductory; ii.-vii. dealt with etymology; viii.-xiii. with inflexions; xiv.-xxv. with syntax. Varro’s derivations are ridiculed by Quintilian i. 6, 37, ‘Sed cui non post Varronem sit venia, quiagrumquia in eoagaturaliquid, etgraculosquiagregatimvolent dictos voluit persuadere Ciceroni?’ From Book v. onwards the work was dedicated to Cicero, in return for hisAcademics; it is announced in Cic.Ac.i. 2, where Varro says, ‘Habeo opus magnum in manibus, idque iam pridem: ad hunc enim ipsum (me autem dicebat) quaedam institui, quae et sunt magna sane et limantur a me politius.’ The date of publication was probablyB.C.45-3.

Of the minor works on grammar, some at least were prior to theDe Lingua Latina: Cic.Ac.i. 9, ‘Plurimum poetis nostris omninoque Latinis et litteris luminis et verbis attulisti.’ The titles known are,De sermone Latino,De origine linguae Latinae,De similitudine verborum,De utilitate sermonis,De antiquitate litterarum,Περὶ χαρακτήρων.

3.Roman History and Antiquities.Varro’s great work in this department was theAntiquitates rerum divinarum humanarumque, in forty-one Books. The arrangement, according to AugustineDe Civ. Dei, vi. 3, was as follows: (a) i.-xxv.res humanae; i. introductory, ii.-vii. history of Rome down to its capture by the Gauls, viii.-xiii. geography of Italy, xiv.-xix. Roman Calendar, with dates of the chief historical events, xx.-xxv. Roman institutions, (b) xxvi.-xli.res divinae; the persons who sacrifice, the places, the times, the rites, and the gods were discussed in three Books each, xxvi. being introductory. The second part, at least, was addressed to Caesar aspontifex maximus. As it is mentioned by Cic.Ac.i. 9, it must have been published beforeB.C.45.

Minor works under this head wereAnnales,Res urbanae,De gente populi Romani,De vita populi Romani,De familiis Troianis,Tribuum Liber;Aetia(αἴτια), explaining Roman usages, in the form of a catechism;Εἰσαγωγικόςto Pompey on the duties of a consul (B.C.71), Gell. xiv. 7, 1;De Pompeio,Legationum Libri,De sua vita.

4.Geography.—(a)Ephemeris navalis, addressed to Pompey before his departure for Spain aboutB.C.77, a weather almanack for sailors;Ephemeris rusticaoragrestis, for farmers. (b)Libri navales, perhaps identical with the above, (c)De ora maritima.

5.Law.—De iure civiliin fifteen Books.

6.Rhetoric.—Rhetorica.

7.Philosophy.—De Forma Philosophiae,De Philosophia.

8.Mathematics, etc.—De mensuris,Mensuralia,De principiis numerorum,Libri numerorum,De geometria,De astrologia.

9.Disciplinaein nine Books, forming a complete course of education in the liberal arts.

10.History of Literature and the Drama.—De poetis,De poematis,De lectionibus,De bibliothecis,De proprietate scriptorum,De personis,De descriptionibus,De actis scenicis,De scenicis actionibus,De originibus scenicis,Quaestiones Plautinae.In theHebdomadesorImaginum Librixv. Varro gave short accounts in prose and verse of seven hundred famous Greeks and Romans, with their portraits (Plin.N.H.xxxv. 11), the title being derived from the arrangement in groups of seven. Aristotle’sΠέπλοςhad dealt similarly with the heroes of the Trojan War, and the ‘ΠεπλογραφίαVarronis’ of Cic.ad Att.xvi. 11, 3 is usually identified with theHebdomades.

11.Λογιστορικοί, in seventy-six Books, were probably not a mixture of fable and history, but essays enlivened by historical examples. The titles were double, the chief speaker being named as well as the subject of the essay,e.g.Catus de liberis educandis. To this work Cicero probably refers,Ac.i. 9, ‘Philosophiam multis locis incohasti, ad impellendum satis, ad edocendum parum.’

12. Varro’s poetical works are now represented only by fragments of theSaturae Menippeae, a medley of prose and verse in one hundred and fifty books (Cic.Ac.i. 9, ‘Varium et elegans omni fere numero poema fecisti’). They were so called by Varro himself (Gell. ii. 18, 7, ‘In satiris quas alii Cynicas, ipse appellat Menippeas’), being founded on the dialogues of Menippus, the Cynic of Gadara, of the third centuryB.C.Their object was to present philosophy in a popular dress: Cic.Ac.i. 8, ‘Quae cum facilius minus docti intellegerent, iucunditate quadam ad legendum invitati.’ From the way in which they are spoken of in the same passage (‘in illis veteribus nostris’), most of them must have been among Varro’s earliest writings. The titles are extremely curious,e.g.‘Δὶς παῖδες οἱ γέροντες,’ ‘Longe fugit qui suos fugit.’ Quintilian considers Varro as the founder of a type of satire distinct from that of Lucilius, Horace, and Persius: x. 1, 95, ‘Alterum illud etiam prius satirae genus sed non sola carminum varietate mixtum condidit Terentius Varro, vir Romanorum eruditissimus.’ His other poetical works were ten books ofPoemata, four ofSatires, and six ofPseudotragoediae(tragi-comedy).

13.Oratory.—Varro left twenty-two Books ofOrationesand three ofSuasiones, but he had no fame as an orator: Quint. x. 1, 95, ‘Plus scientiae collaturus quam eloquentiae.’

14.Letters.—Of these there seem to have been two collections: (a)Epistulae Latinae, real letters to acquaintances; (b)Epistolicae Quaestiones, discussing in epistolary form points of history, grammar, etc.

The collection of maxims which passes under the nameSententiae Varronisis of uncertain authenticity.

The date of D. Laberius’ birth is got from Sueton.Iul.39, ‘Ludis D. Laberius eques Romanus mimum suum egit.’ This event took place inB.C.45, and in the prologue to the piece (quoted below), l. 109, Laberius says he is sixty years old; hence he was born aboutB.C.105. He died in January,B.C.43.

Jerome yr. Abr. 1974 =B.C.43, ‘Laberius mimorum scriptor decimo mense post C. Caesaris interitum Puteolis moritur.’

InB.C.45 Laberius, although aneques, was, as a punishment for his political opinions, compelled by Caesar to perform in one of his own mimes, and was beaten by Publilius Syrus.

Macrob.Saturn.ii. 7, 2sqq., ‘Laberium asperae libertatis equitem Romanum Caesar quingentis milibus invitavit, ut prodiret in scaenam et ipse ageret mimos, quos scriptitabat. Sed potestas non solum si invitet sed etiam si supplicet cogit, unde se et Laberius a Caesare coactum in prologo testatur his versibus:

“Necessitas, cuius cursus transversi impetumvoluerunt multi effugere, pauci potuerunt,quo me detrusit paene extremis sensibus!Quem nulla ambitio, nulla umquam largitio,nullus timor, vis nulla, nulla auctoritasmovere potuit in iuventa de statu:ecce in senecta ut facile labefecit locoviri excellentis mente clemente editasummissa placide blandiloquens oratio!Etenim ipsi di negare cui nil potuerunt,hominem me denegare quis posset pati?Ego bis tricenis annis actis sine notaeques Romanus e Lare egressus meodomum revertar mimus,” etc.

In ipsa quoque actione subinde se, qua poterat, ulciscebatur inducto habitu Syri, qui velut flagris caesus praeripientique similis exclamabat

“Porro Quirites libertatem perdimus”

et paulo post adiecit

“Necesse est multos timeat quem multi timent.”

Quo dicto universitas populi ad solum Caesarem oculos et ora convertit, notantes inpotentiam eius hac dicacitate lapidatam. Ob haec in Publilium vertit favorem ... [Publilius Syrus] cum mimos componeret ingentique adsensu in Italiae oppidis agere coepisset, productus Romae per Caesaris ludos, omnes qui tunc scripta et operas suas in scaenam locaverant provocavit ut singuli secum posita in vicem materia pro tempore contenderent. Nec ullo recusante superavit omnes, in quis et Laberium. Unde Caesar adridens hoc modo pronuntiavit

“Favente tibi me victus es, Laberi, a Syro”

statimque Publilio palmam et Laberio anulum aureum cum quingentis sestertiis dedit.’

We have forty-three titles of mimes by Laberius, and about one hundred and fifty lines of fragments. From the above we see that Laberius criticized contemporary society with great vigour. Other features are

(a) His invention of words.

Gell. xvi. 7, 1, ‘Laberius in mimis, quos scriptitavit, oppido quam verba finxit praelicenter.’ Examples aremanuatus estforfuratus est;abluviumfordiluvium.

(b) His use of plebeian expressions.

Gell. xix. 13, 3, ‘quae a Laberio ignobilia nimis et sordentia in usum linguae Latinae intromissa sunt.’

Cf. l. 17,

‘nec Pythagoream dogmam doctus’;

l. 72,

‘Democritus Abderites physicus philosophus,’ etc.

For views on Laberius cf. Hor.Sat.i, 10, 5,

‘Nam sic et Laberi mimos ut pulchra poemata mirer.’

Cic.ad Fam.xii. 18, 2 (writtenB.C.46), ‘Equidem sic iam obdurui ut ludis Caesaris nostri animo aequissimo viderem T. Plancum, audirem Laberi et Publili poemata.’

Contemporaries of Laberius were the satirist Abuccius, and Egnatius, who wrote a didactic poemde rerum natura.

According to Jerome, Bibaculus was bornB.C.103, but, as he laughs at the old age of the grammarian Orbilius (114-c. 17B.C.), authorities put the date twenty years later.

Jerome yr. Abr. 1914, ‘M. Furius poeta cognomento Bibaculus Cremonae nascitur.’

Sueton.Gramm.9, ‘[Orbilius] vixit prope ad centesimum aetatis annum, amissa iam pridem memoria, ut versus Bibaculi docet,

“Orbilius ubinam est, litterarum oblivio?”’

Bibaculus wrote poems against the monarchical party; these are referred to asiambiby Quintilian, x. 1, 96.

Tac.Ann.iv. 34, ‘Carmina Bibaculi et Catulli referta contumeliis Caesarum leguntur: sed ipse divus Iulius, ipse divus Augustus et tulere ista et reliquere.’

Two epics,AethiopisandBellum Gallicum(on Iulius Caesar’s exploits), are probably referred to by Hor.Sat.i. 10, 36,

‘Turgidus Alpinus iugulat dum Memnona, dumquediffingit Rheni luteum caput.’

Acronad loc., ‘Bibaculum quemdam poetam Gallum tangit.’

Cf. Hor.Sat.ii. 5, 40,

‘Seu pingui tentus omasoFurius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpes.’

Acronad loc., ‘Furius Bibaculus in pragmatia belli Gallici: Iuppiter hibernas,’ etc.

It is probably from this epic that Macrob.Saturn.vi. 1, 31-4, quotes passages imitated by Virgil. So, ‘Furius in primo annali “Interea Oceani linquens Aurora cubile.”’ (Cf. Virg.Aen.iv. 585.)

Bibaculus also wrote a prose workLucubrationes. (PlinyN.H.xxiv. praef.)

The main facts of C. Iulius Caesar’s life are found in a compendious form in the Life by Suetonius. The ancient authorities, who are unanimous in stating that at the time of his death (15th March,B.C.44) Caesar was in his fifty-sixth year (Sueton.Iul.88, AppianB.C.ii. 149, Plut.Caes.69), must have placed his birth inB.C.100. But if this date were correct Caesar must have held the various magistracies two years before the legal time—a fact nowhere mentioned, and in itself improbable; it is therefore natural to hold that he was born inB.C.102 (Mommsen,R.H.iv., p. 15, note). His birthday was 12th July (Macrob.Saturn.i, 12, 34).

His father, C. Iulius Caesar, was praetor inB.C.84, and died in the same year; Aurelia, his mother, took great interest in his education (Tac.Dial.28). From the first Caesar was connected with the leaders of the democratic party in the State. Marius, who had married his father’s sister Julia, conferred on him the office offlamen Dialisbefore he was sixteen years of age; and his first wife was Cornelia, daughter of Cinna. His refusal to divorce her at the bidding of Sulla drew down upon him the enmity of the dictator; and he fled in disguise to the Sabine mountains, where he remained until Sulla reluctantly consented to spare his life.

Caesar obtained his first experience of military service as a member of the staff of M. Thermus, propraetor of Asia, who conferred on him thecivica coronafor saving the life of a fellow-soldier at the siege of Mytilene. After serving for a short time under Servilius Isauricus against the pirates in Cilicia, he returned to Rome on the news of Sulla’s death in 78, and in the following year commenced his career as an orator with the prosecution of Cn. Cornelius Dolabella, proconsul of Macedonia, for extortion.

Towards the end of that year Caesar left Rome for Rhodes—on his way thither being captured by pirates near Miletus—and studied for a year under the famous rhetorician Molo, taking part also in some operations on the mainland against one of the officials of Mithradates. Having been elected one of thepontificesin the room of his uncle, C. Aurelius Cotta, he returned to Rome in 74, and soon became atribunus militum. In the agitation for the restoration of the powers of the tribunes of theplebs, Caesar took a prominent part; he also supported theLex Aureliaof 70, which gave theequitesa share in theiudicia, and theLex Plautia, granting an amnesty to the adherents of Lepidus and Sertorius.

The year 68 he spent as quaestor in Farther Spain, and on his return to Rome strenuously advocated the claims of the Transpadane Gauls to the Roman franchise. His first wife having died, he married Pompeia, daughter of Q. Pompeius Rufus, and granddaughter of Sulla, whom he divorced five years later on account of her alleged adultery with P. Clodius. In 67 and 66 the bills of Gabinius and Manilius, conferring extensive military powers upon Pompey, were supported by Caesar and the other leading democrats.

Whether Caesar was concerned in the abortive attempt of Catiline at revolution in 65, is a moot point. He was now aedile, and acquired great popularity by the splendid shows which he gave to the people, and by his restoration of the statue and trophies of Marius. In 64, as president of thequaestio de sicariis, he condemned some of the most active agents in Sulla’s proscriptions. In 63 he supported thelex agrariaof P. Servilius Rullus, and brought about the prosecution of C. Rabirius for the murder of the tribune Saturninus. On the re-enactment of theLex Domitia de sacerdotiis, Caesar was electedpontifex maximus. He was again suspected, probably with good ground, of complicity with Catiline’s designs; he certainly proposed in the Senate that the conspirators should be punished with imprisonment instead of death. Praetor in 62, he worked in Pompey’s cause by proposing that the charge of rebuilding the Capitoline temple should be transferred to him from the aristocratic champion Catulus, and by supporting the bill of the tribune Metellus Nepos for electing Pompey consul in absence. Next year Caesar was propraetor of Farther Spain, where he conquered the Lusitanians and Gallaecians, and amassed considerable wealth. His coalition with Pompey and Crassus procured for him the consulship of 59, rendered notable by theLeges Iuliae; and before he went out of office his position was secured by theLex Vatinia, conferring on him the government of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for five years, with the command of three legions; Transalpine Gaul and another legion were added by the Senate. The following nine years (58-50) were occupied with the subjugation of Gaul and the two invasions of Britain (55 and 54). At the conference at Luca, in the winter of 57-56, it was agreed that Caesar should be continued in office for a second period of five years, and be allowed to increase the number of his legions to ten. In 50, realizing the danger of his position if he returned to Rome as a private person, he was anxious to be a candidate for the consulshipin absentia; but Pompey thwarted his plan. Caesar refused to disband his army at the bidding of the Senate, and crossed the Rubicon early in 49. Italy soon submitted; he defeated the Pompeians in Spain, captured Massilia, and secured Sicily and Sardinia. Landing in Epirus in 48, he was defeated at Dyrrhachium, and retreated to Thessaly, where he overthrew Pompey at Pharsalus. Then followed his victories over the king of Egypt in the Alexandrian war (48), Pharnaces in Asia Minor (47), the Pompeians and Juba at Thapsus (46), and C. and Sex. Pompeius at Munda (45).

Back to Index Next