Chapter 86

'Stupet haec, qui iam post terga reliquit sexaginta annos, Fonteio consule natus.'

Fonteius Capito and C. Iulius Rufus were consuls A.D. 67, in which year the sexagenarian friend whom Juvenal addresses was born. The date of writing will therefore be A.D. 127.[103]

Cf. also 15, 27, 'nuper consule Iunco.' Iuncus was consul A.D. 127, so that this satire could not have been written before A.D. 128. So 15, 44,

'Horrida sane Aegyptos, sed luxuria, quantum ipse notavi, barbara famoso non cedit turba Canopo.'

Juvenal must have added these lines to the satire while he was an exile in Egypt, if he did not write the whole of it there. This is in accordance with what _vita_ v. says, 'in exilio ampliavit satyras.' Supposing this passage to be an addition, we may conclude that Book v. was written about A.D. 128, but not before that year.

_Juvenal's banishment._--As before stated, all the _vitae_ but one give Egypt as the place of Juvenal's exile. The exact place, according to the scholiast on 1, 1 and 4, 38, was the Great Oasis (Hoasa: Hoasis). Three _vitae_ (i. _a_, _b_, iii. _c_) state that he was at that time _octogenarius_. This would make the date A.D. 135 or 136. Most of the _vitae_ give as the reason of his exile the fact that he wrote the lines,[104] 7, 90-2,

'Quod non dant proceres dabit histrio. Tu Camerinos et Baream, tu nobilium magna atria curas? Praefectos Pelopea facit, Philomela tribunos.'

Now these lines, the first he ever wrote (_vita_ iii. _c_) were composed in his youth as an epigram on Paris, Domitian's favourite, probably about A.D. 81-3. The true story then is that, when Juvenal in A.D. 135 or 136 published a new edition of _Sat._ 7, he added these lines (_vitae_ i. _a_, _b_, 'ut ea quoque quae prima fecerat inferciret novis scriptis').[105] Now it has been inferred from Spart. _vit. Hadr._ 23 _sqq._ that at this time an actor had great influence over Hadrian, and the lines were taken as referring to him. The emperor in a rage banished Juvenal to Egypt _per honorem militiae_, writing maliciously on his commission 'Et te Philomela promovit' (_vita_ iv.). The banishment is assigned to the influence of Paris by Iohannes Malalas, p. 262 _sqq._ (Dindorf), and by Suidas. Cf. also _Sat._ 15, 44 _sqq._, already quoted, and Sidonius Apollinaris 9, 267 _sqq._,

'Non qui tempore Caesaris secundi aeterno incoluit Tomos reatu: non qui consimili deinde casu ad volgi tenuem strepentis auram irati fuit histrionis exul.'

_Vita_ iii. _b_, 'Tristitia et angore periit anno aetatis suae altero et octuagesimo.'

_Vita_ v., 'Decessit longo senio confectus exul Antonino Pio imperatore.'

If this last statement is correct, Juvenal died after reaching the age of eighty-two, as Antoninus came to the throne on 10th July, A.D. 138. It follows from this also that he must have been born in the second half of A.D. 55.

_The Satires._--The following are the more important points regarding these:

(1) Juvenal's reasons for writing satire are given in _Sat._ 1, ll. 1-14. He is wearied with tragedies and epics on mythological subjects, 'Semper ego auditor tantum?'

He is resolved to follow in the footsteps of Lucilius; ll. 19-21,

'Cur tamen hoc potius libeat decurrere campo, per quem magnus equos Auruncae flexit alumnus, si vacat ac placidi rationem admittitis, edam.'

His satire is due to indignation at the moral decay of the Roman world.

l. 30, 'Difficile est satiram non scribere' (cf. ll. 63, 79).

However, he does not intend to satirize the living, at least under their own names; and in fact he has in his mind particularly the times of Domitian, while most of his names are those of persons living under Claudius or Nero; l. 170,

'Experiar quid concedatur in illos, quorum Flaminia tegitur cinis atque Latina.'

In the first nine Satires Juvenal's bitterness is directed mainly against the senatorial class, possibly because they had given him no support in his office-seeking. Even his violent attack on women in _Sat._ 6 is launched chiefly against the women of the highest class. Note also the unjust way in which he speaks of the government of the provinces (_Sat._ 8, 87-139). Juvenal is very bitter against Greeks and Orientals, most of all against Egyptians (cf. _Sat._ 15, and his attacks on the Egyptian Crispinus in 4, 1-33, etc.). Cf. 3, 119-125, for his attacks on foreigners.

(2) He claims a wide scope for his subject; 1, 85,

'Quidquid agunt homines, votum timor ira voluptas gaudia discursus nostri farrago libelli est.'

(3) His pessimism is very marked; cf. 1, 147,

'Nil erit ulterius, quod nostris moribus addat posteritas; eadem facient cupientque minores, omne in praecipiti vitium stetit. Utere velis, totos pande sinus.'

So 12, 48-9. His pessimism leads to extravagant language like 6, 29 _sqq._ He is as hard on trifling foibles as on the most heinous offences. Cf. 6, 166 _sqq._, 185 _sqq._, 398 _sqq._, 434-56 (on learned ladies).

(4) His rhetorical learning and style (found in all the Satires, but particularly in the later ones) are shown by

(_a_) His metre and language. Thus we find rhetorical uses of _ergo_ (3, 104; 281, etc.); _nunc_ (3, 268; 10, 210); _porro_ (3, 126; 11, 9); and of other particles.

(_b_) The way in which he chooses themes for his Satires, and subdivides them. Several of the Satires, as 5, 8, 10, 14, are _theses_, _i.e._ problems of a general character worked out in the manner of the rhetorical schools. Thus _Sat._ 5 discusses the question, 'Is the position of a client worth having?' _Sat._ 8, 'Has high birth a value in itself?' He sometimes uses the commonplaces of the schools, as 8, 56,

'Animalia muta quis generosa putet nisi fortia?'

So 8, 215-6. In the manner of a rhetorician he sometimes gives superabundant details. The best example of this is 10, 190-250, on the troubles of old age.

(_c_) His knowledge of mythology, history, law, and philosophy. This is found mostly in the later Books. In the earlier Satires he dealt more with life as he had known it. In the later Satires he has recourse to republican times and to foreign history. His historical examples Friedländer thinks he took mostly from Valerius Maximus. Juvenal's knowledge of philosophy was very superficial, and was probably got from his rhetorical training. Errors occur; thus in 13, 121-2, Stoics and Cynics are looked upon as identical.[106]

(_d_) His high-flown language referred to above.

(_e_) His references to previous literature. Thus Horace is often referred to (cf. 7, 62 and 227); Virgil with great frequency (cf. 1, 162; 6, 434 _sqq._; 7, 66 and 227; 7, 233 _sqq._). Mayor mentions Homer, Herodotus, Plato, Lucilius, Cicero, Ovid, Manilius, Valerius Maximus, Seneca, Lucan, and Martial among the authors imitated by Juvenal.

PLINY THE YOUNGER.

Pliny's full name on the inscriptions of the later period of his life reads 'C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius Secundus.' This name he partly got from his mother's brother C. Plinius Secundus (Pliny the elder), who adopted him by will: cf. _Ep._ v. 8, 5, 'Avunculus meus idemque per adoptionem pater.' Pliny's name before his adoption in A.D. 79 (see below) was P. Caecilius L. f. Ouf. Secundus. His birthplace was Comum, and he belonged to the Oufentina, the tribe of the people of Comum, as well on the side of his natural as on that of his adoptive father. In an inscription preserved at Como (_C.I.L._ v. 5279) Pliny's father, Cilo, is mentioned, and two men who are undoubtedly Cilo's sons, the second mentioned being Pliny the younger, who had always been called Secundus.

'L. Caecilius L. f. Cilo iiii.vir a(edilicia) p(otestate), qui testamento suo (sestertium) n(ummum) xxxx. (milia) municipibus Comensibus legavit, ex quorum reditu quotannis per Neptunalia oleum in campo et in thermis et in balineis omnibus, quae sunt Comi, praeberentur, t(estamento) f(ieri) iussit et L. Caecilio L. f. Valenti et P. Caecilio L. f. Secundo et Lutullae Picti f. contubernali.'[107]

For Cilo's bequests here mentioned cf. Pliny, _Ep._ i, 8, 5; Comum is referred to as 'patria mea' in _Ep._ iv. 30, 1. The Caecilii were a family of station at Comum even in Caesar's time. Cf. Catull. 35,

'Poetae tenero meo sodali velim Caecilio, papyre, dicas, Veronam veniat Novi relinquens Comi moenia Lariumque litus.'

Pliny inherited landed property there from his father and mother.

_Ep._ vii. 11, 5, 'Indicavit mihi cupere se aliquid circa Larium nostrum possidere: ego illi ex praediis meis quod vellet ... optuli, exceptis maternis paternisque.'

The above inscription shows that Pliny's father belonged to the municipal nobility, and possibly had 'equestris nobilitas.'

Pliny was in his eighteenth year (_Ep._ vi. 20, 5, 'agebam duodevicensimum annum') on 24th August, A.D. 79, when his uncle perished in the eruption of Vesuvius, and he was therefore born in the second half of 61 or in the first half of 62 A.D. Cilo died young, before holding the chief municipal post, and before Pliny was of age; and Verginius Rufus became Pliny's guardian.

_Ep._ ii. 1, 8, 'Ille mihi tutor relictus adfectum parentis exhibuit.' Pliny was removed to Rome with his uncle, probably at the end of A.D. 72. While at school he wrote poetry (_Ep._ vii. 4, 2, quoted below), and studied philosophy and rhetoric.

_Ep._ vi. 6, 3, 'Quos tunc ego frequentabam, Quintilianum, Niceten Sacerdotem.' Cf. also ii. 14, 10; i. 20, 4; vii. 4, etc. For literary studies with his uncle cf. _Ep._ vi. 20, 5, 'Posco librum Titi Livi et quasi per otium lego, atque etiam, ut coeperam, excerpo.'

His uncle, as above stated, died on 24th August, A.D. 79, and by his will adopted Pliny, whose name thereafter was C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius Secundus. He therefore changed his praenomen to that of his adoptive father, and put his former nomen among his cognomina. By his contemporaries he is called Plinius (cf. Martial, x. 19), or Secundus, as by Trajan. The name Caecilius was confined to formal inscriptions.

In A.D. 80 or 81 Pliny first appeared as an advocate. Cf. _Ep._ v. 8, 8, 'Undevicensimo aetatis anno dicere in foro coepi.' Before entering the Senate, he held (as stated in the chief inscription, given below) the decemvirate _litibus iudicandis_, the military tribunate in the third Gallic legion, and the title of Sevir in the Roman knighthood. Pliny probably held his military tribunate under Domitian (_i.e._, after 13th September, A.D. 81) in Syria.

Cf. _Ep._ i. 10, 2, 'Hunc [Euphraten philosophum] ego in Syria, cum adulescentulus militarem, penitus et domi inspexi.'

The date of Pliny's praetorship as A.D. 93 is settled by _Ep._ iii. 11, 2, the events recorded in which passage are known from Tac. _Agr._ 45 to have taken place shortly after Agricola's death in August, A.D. 93.

'Fui praetor ... cum ... occisis Senecione Rustico Helvidio, relegatis Maurico Gratilla Arria Fannia ... mihi quoque impendere idem exitium certis quibusdam notis augurarer.'

The words in _Ep._ vii. 16 (of Calestrius Tiro), 'Simul quaestores Caesaris fuimus: ille me in tribunatu liberorum iure praecessit, ego illum in praetura sum consecutus, cum mihi Caesar annum remisisset,' refer to the fact that the emperor did not insist on the year of absence from office between the tribunate and the quaestorship. Pliny was quaestor from 1st June, 89 to 31st May, 90 A.D., being nominated by the emperor, as shown by the above passage. He was _trib. pleb._ from 10th December, 90 to 9th December, 91 A.D., and during his year of office undertook no cases. Cf. _Ep._ i. 23, 2, 'Ipse cum tribunus essem ... abstinui causis agendis.' By special favour he was allowed to take office as praetor on 1st January, A.D. 93. In this year he appeared before the Senate for the people of Baetica against the procurator Baebius Massa.

_Ep._ vii. 33, esp. § 4, 'Dederat me senatus cum Herennio Senecione advocatum provinciae Baeticae contra Baebium Massam.'

The inscriptions of Pliny show that he was _praefectus aerarii militaris_ between his praetorship in 93 and his _praefectura aerarii Saturni_ (from 98 onwards), and this office he held either from 94 to 96 or from 95 to 97 A.D. Pliny tells us that he and Cornutus Tertullus were designated consuls, when they had held the _praefectura aerarii Saturni_ for less than two years.

_Paneg._ 91, 'Nondum biennium compleveramus in officio laboriosissimo et maximo, cum tu nobis ... consulatum obtulisti.'

This _designatio_ took place on 9th January, A.D. 100, whence the _praefectura_ must have been entered on shortly after 9th January, A.D. 98. Pliny was probably nominated to it by Nerva and Trajan.

Cf. _ad Trai._ 3, 'Ut primum me, domine, indulgentia _vestra_ promovit ad praefecturam aerarii Saturni.'

Mommsen[108] believes that this praefectura was held at the same time as the consulship, and on to December, A.D. 101, an unusual length of tenure. H. F. Stobbe, however, makes the trial of Classicus, on which the last date depends, extend from September 99 to July 100 A.D. (_Philologus_, xxx. 347 _sqq._).

_Paneg._ 92, 'Nobis praefectis aerarii consulatum ante quam successorem dedisti.'

Pliny, along with Cornutus Tertullus, his colleague in the _praefectura_, was made consul A.D. 100. He held the office in September of that year, and the tenure was either from July 1 to September 30, or from September 1 to October 31.

_Paneg._ 92, 'Ei nos potissimum mensi attribuisti quem tuus natalis exornat.'

The _Panegyricus_ is a speech of thanks to Trajan spoken on this occasion. In A.D. 99 Pliny, along with Tacitus, appeared for the Africans against the proconsul Marius Priscus (see _Ep._ ii. 11 quoted p. 338); and in A.D. 101, while still _praefectus aerarii_, he appeared for the people of Baetica against the proconsul Caecilius Classicus.

_Ep._ iii. 4, 2, 'Legati provinciae Baeticae questuri de proconsulatu Caecili Classici advocatum me a senatu petierunt.'

Pliny obtained the augurship, probably in 103 or 104, in succession to Sex. Iulius Frontinus, who probably died in 102 or 103 A.D. Cf. _Ep._ iv. 8, 3, 'Successi Iulio Frontino.' In 103 or 104 A.D. he appeared against the Bithynians for the proconsul Iulius Bassus (_Ep._ iv. 9 etc.). He held the _cura alvei Tiberis et riparum et cloacarum urbis_ probably from 105 to 107 A.D. See Pliny's chief inscription (below), and cf. _Ep._ v. 14, 1-2, 'Mihi nuntiatum est Cornutum Tertullum accepisse Aemiliae viae curam ... aliquanto magis me delectat mandatum mihi officium, postquam par Cornuto datum video.'

About A.D. 106 Pliny appeared against the Bithynians for the proconsul Varenus Rufus (_Ep._ vi. 29, 11).

From 111-2 or 112-3 A.D. Pliny was governor of Pontus and Bithynia, being sent out for a special purpose by the emperor as _legatus pro praetore consulari potestate_. Cf. the chief inscription (below) and the words of Trajan.

_Trai._ 32, 'Meminerimus idcirco te in istam provinciam missum, quoniam multa in ea emendanda apparuerint.'

The date of Pliny's governorship is fixed by the mention of Calpurnius Macer in the letters (_ad Trai._ 42; 61; 62) as the governor of the nearest province. Mommsen has identified him with P. Calpurnius Macer Caulius Rufus, who is shown by an inscription (_C.I.L._ iii. 7 and 17) to have been governor of Lower Moesia in 112 A.D. This is corroborated by the fact that no mention is made of Bithynia in the chief collection of letters, which was not completed till A.D. 108 at least. Therefore the governorship falls after that time. On the other hand, Pliny must have been sent out not later than A.D. 113, as in the chief inscription _Optimus_ does not appear in Trajan's name, and this cognomen he assumed in A.D. 114. Finally, the fact that Trajan was at Rome during Pliny's governorship points to a time between the end of the second Dacian War in A.D. 107 and the outbreak of the Parthian War in A.D. 113.

Our information about Pliny ends with the close of his correspondence with Trajan. It is certain that he held no further office, and it is probable that he died before A.D. 114 in his province or shortly after his return to Rome.

As regards municipal relations, Pliny held the post of _flamen divi Augusti_, according to the inscription which the corporation of Vercellae erected to him at his own town (_C.I.L._ v. 5667).

'C. Plini[o L. f. O]uf. Caec[ilio] Secundo [c]os. augur. cur. alv. Tib. [et ripa]r. et cloac. urb. [praef. a]er. Sat. praef. aer. mil. [pr. tr. pl.] imp. sevir. eq. R. tr. m[i]l. leg. iii. Gall. x. viro stl. iud. fl. divi T. Aug.'

For bequests to his native town see the chief inscription (below). Besides these are mentioned gifts in his life-time. Under Domitian Pliny presented his townspeople with a library (_Ep._ i, 8), apparently worth 1,000,000 sesterces (v. 7), and endowed it with 100,000 sesterces. He also gave 500,000 sesterces for the support of freeborn boys and girls (_Ep._ i, 8); and promised to pay one-third of the salary of the professor of rhetoric at Comum (_Ep._ iv. 13, 5).

The following is the chief inscription of Pliny (as restored by Mommsen), which was erected at the _Thermae_ which he presented to Comum (_C.I.L._ v. 5262):

'C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius _Secundus cos._ augur legat. pro pr. provinciae Pon_ti et Bithyniae_ consulari potesta_t_. in eam provinciam e_x. s. c. missus ab_ Imp. Caesar. Nerva Traiano Aug. German_ico Dacico p.p_. curator alvei Ti_b_eris et riparum e_t cloacar. urb_. praef. aerari Satu_r_ni praef. aerari mil_it. pr. trib. pl_. quaestor imp. sevir equitum _Romanorum_ trib. milit. leg. _iii_. Gallicae _x.vir stli_tib. iudicand. therm_as ex HS_ ... adiectis in ornatum HS ccc ... _et eo amp_lius in tutela_m_ HS CC t. f. i. _item in alimenta_ libertor. suorum homin. C. HS XVIII LXVI DCLXVI rei_p. legavit, quorum inc_rement. postea ad epulum _pl_eb. urban. voluit pertin_ere ... item vivus_ dedit in aliment. pueror. et puellar. pleb. urban. HS D _item bybliothecam et_ in tutelam bybliothecae HS C.'

Pliny was also patron of Tifernum Tiberinum and of the Baetici.

_Ep._ iv. 1, 4, 'Oppidum est praediis nostris vicinum, nomen Tiferni Tiberini, quod me paene adhuc puerum patronum cooptavit ... In hoc ego ... templum pecunia mea exstruxi, cuius dedicationem ... differre longius inreligiosum est.'

_Ep._ iii. 4, 4, 'Legati ... inplorantes fidem meam, quam essent contra Massam Baebium experti, adlegantes patrocini foedus.'

Pliny married three times, twice under Domitian. Cf. _ad Trai._ 2, 'Liberos ... habere etiam tristissimo illo saeculo volui, sicut potes duobus matrimoniis meis credere.' For his third wife, Calpurnia, who died A.D. 97, see _Ep._ iv. 19. Pliny had no children, but Trajan conferred on him the _ius trium liberorum_ in A.D. 98. Cf. _ad Trai._ 2, 'Me dignum putasti iure trium liberorum.'

_Pliny as orator and writer._--Most of Pliny's cases were before the _centumviri_, who dealt with inheritances: cf. _Ep._ vi. 12, 2, 'in harena mea, hoc est apud centumviros.' So Mart. x. 19, 14 (written A.D. 96),

'Totos dat tetricae dies Minervae dum centum studet auribus virorum hoc quod saecula posterique possint Arpinis quoque comparare chartis.'

For Pliny's five speeches in criminal trials before the Senate see above. Cf. _Ep._ vi. 29, 7 _sqq._, 'Egi quasdam a senatu iussus ... Adfui Baeticis contra Baebium Massam ... Adfui rursus isdem querentibus de Caecilio Classico ... Accusavi Marium Priscum ... Tuitus sum Iulium Bassum ... Dixi proxime pro Vareno.'

Pliny recited his speeches before delivering them, and subsequently published them, sometimes with additions.

_Ep._ vii. 17, 2, 'Miror quod scribis fuisse quosdam qui reprehenderent quod orationes omnino recitarem.'

_Ep._ iii. 18, 1 (of the _Panegyricus_), 'Quod ego in senatu cum ad rationem et loci et temporis ex more fecissem, bono civi convenientissimum credidi eadem illa spatiosius et uberius volumine amplecti.'

Pliny speaks of his early attempts at poetry:

_Ep._ vii. 4, 2-3, 'Numquam a poetice (altius enim repetam) alienus fui; quin etiam quattuordecim natus annos Graecam tragoediam scripsi. Qualem? inquis: nescio: tragoedia vocabatur.'

In Books i.-iii. he appears only as a lover of poetry and a patron of poets (cf. i. 16; iii. 15). From Book iv. (published A.D. 105) onwards he appears as a poet. In _Ep._ vii. 4, 6 are thirteen poor hexameter lines on Cicero; _ibid._ §§ 7-8, 'Transii ad elegos: hos quoque non minus celeriter explicui: addidi iambos, facilitate corruptus ... Postremo placuit exemplo multorum unum separatim hendecasyllaborum volumen absolvere, nec paenitet. Legitur, describitur, cantatur etiam.' Pliny defends himself for writing light verses in _Ep._ v. 3, etc. In the later books he refers to another proposed collection of verses.

_Ep._ viii. 21, 3, 'Liber fuit et opusculis varius et metris.'

Pliny says he did not observe chronological order in publishing his letters.

_Ep._ i. 1, 1, 'Collegi non servato temporis ordine (neque enim historiam componebam), sed ut quaeque in manus venerat.'

This, however, is not convincing, as it falls in with Pliny's wish to give an appearance of negligence to the work, and besides it may apply only to Book i. Successive publication of the different Books is shown by many references; so _Ep._ ix. 19, 'Significas legisse te in quadam epistula,' where _Ep._ vi. 10 is referred to. So also contemporaneous events are always described in the same Book or in two Books close together; and when a subject is continued in another letter, the order of the two letters fits in with chronology. So iii. 4 and iv. 1 deal with the building of a temple at Tifernum; iii. 20 and iv. 25 with ballot at elections.

The following are the probable dates of publication: Book i. in A.D. 97; Book ii. in A.D. 100; Book iii. in A.D. 101 or 102; Book iv. in A.D. 105; Book v. in A.D. 106; Book vi. possibly in A.D. 106; Book vii. in A.D. 107; Book viii. not before A.D. 109; Book ix. probably about the same time.

The correspondence with Trajan is independent of the nine Books of letters. The epistles are roughly in chronological order. _Epp._ 1-14 range from 98 to 106 A.D. _Epp._ 15 to the end were probably all written in Bithynia during Pliny's governorship there. Trajan's reply is subjoined to most of the letters. The correspondence extant stretches from September A.D. 111 over January A.D. 113.

Pliny had intimate relations with other writers, the principal being Tacitus; Martial (cf. _Ep._ iii. 21); Silius Italicus (cf. _Ep._ iii. 7). See pp. 340, 298, 289. For his literary reputation see _Ep._ ix. 23, 2, quoted p. 338 and cf. _Ep._ i. 2, 6, 'Libelli quos emisimus dicuntur in manibus esse, quamvis iam gratiam novitatis exuerint; nisi tamen auribus nostris bibliopolae blandiuntur.'

_Pliny's character._--Pliny, without being a great man, is a more favourable specimen of character, feeling, and gentlemanly tone, than almost any other Roman author. He avoided censorious writing, and most of the people he mentions are praised. The chief exception is Regulus (_Ep._ i. 5, etc.), and possibly also Iavolenus Priscus (vi. 15). When anybody is blamed, his name is omitted unless he is dead or has been banished.

_Ep._ vii. 28, i, 'Ais quosdam apud te reprehendisse, tamquam amicos meos ex omni occasione ultra modum laudem. Agnosco crimen, amplector etiam. Quid enim honestius culpa benignitatis?'

For his desire of praise cf. _Ep._ ix. 23, 5, 'An ... ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere non debeo? Ego vero et gaudeo et gaudere me dico.'

For his kindness to slaves cf. _Ep._ viii. 16, 1, 'Permitto servis quoque quasi testamenta facere eaque ut legitima custodio' (and the rest of the letter).

For his grief at the loss of friends cf. _Ep._ v. 21, 6, 'Sed quid ego indulgeo dolori? cui si frenos remittas, nulla materia non maxima est. Finem epistulae faciam, ut facere possim etiam lacrimis quas epistula expressit.'

For his love of nature cf. Ep. i. 9, 6, 'O mare, o litus, verum secretumque +mouseion+, quam multa invenitis, quam multa dictatis!'

Cf. also descriptions of natural scenery, as in _Epp._ ii. 17, 3; v. 6, 13; vi. 31, 15; viii. 8.

TACITUS.

(1) LIFE.

The historian's full name is uncertain. Other writers, _e.g._ Pliny the younger, call him Cornelius Tacitus, or simply Tacitus. His praenomen is given as P. in the best Tacitean MS. (Mediceus I.), and as C. in later MSS. and by Sidonius Apollinaris (_Ep._ iv. 14; 22).[109] His birthplace is unknown. The tradition that he was born at Interamna in Umbria arose from the fact that the emperor Tacitus (A.D. 275-6), who claimed descent from the historian (Vopisc. _Tac._ 10, 3), was born there.[110] The probable date of his birth is got from a comparison of two passages:

_Dial._ 1, 'Disertissimorum ... hominum ... quos eamdem hanc quaestionem pertractantes iuvenis admodum audivi.'

Pliny, _Ep._ vii. 20, 3, 'Erit rarum et insigne duos homines aetate dignitate propemodum aequales ... alterum alterius studia fovisse. Equidem adulescentulus, cum iam tu fama gloriaque floreres, te sequi, tibi longo sed proximus intervallo et esse et haberi concupiscebam.'

The dramatic date of the Dialogue is A.D. 75 (_Dial._ 17), and at that time Tacitus, as _iuvenis admodum_, must have been between seventeen and twenty. From a consideration of the words of Pliny, who was born A.D. 61 or 62, the later age seems nearer the mark, and we may conclude that Tacitus was born A.D. 55 or 56.

We have no positive information about Tacitus' family, but his education, political career, and marriage into a distinguished house, prove that he belonged to a family of station. The first person of the name we know of is mentioned by Pliny the elder as an _eques_, and may have been Tacitus' father.

Pliny, _N.H._ vii. 76, 'Corneli Taciti, equitis Romani, Belgicae Galliae rationes procurantis.'

Tacitus received the regular rhetorical training under the best masters.

_Dial._ 2, 'M. Aper et Iulius Secundus, celeberrima tum ingenia fori nostri, quos ego in iudiciis non modo studiose audiebam, sed domi quoque et in publico adsectabar, mira studiorum cupiditate et quodam ardore iuvenili, ut fabulas quoque eorum et disputationes et arcana semotae dictionis penitus exciperem.'

That Tacitus had a very great reputation as a speaker is seen from Pliny, _Ep._ ix. 23, 2, 'Numquam maiorem cepi voluptatem, quam nuper ex sermone Corneli Taciti. Narrabat sedisse se cum quodam Circensibus proximis: hunc post varios eruditosque sermones requisisse "Italicus es an provincialis?" se respondisse "nosti me, et quidem ex studiis." Ad hoc illum "Tacitus es an Plinius?"'

In A.D. 98 (according to others, 97) Tacitus delivered the funeral oration over Verginius Rufus, and in A.D. 100 he and Pliny prosecuted Marius Priscus, proconsul of Africa, for extortion.

Pliny, _Ep._ ii. 1, 6, 'Laudatus est [Verginius Rufus] a consule Cornelio Tacito: nam hic supremus felicitati eius cumulus accessit, laudator eloquentissimus.'

_Ibid._ ii. 11, 2, 'Ego et Cornelius Tacitus, adesse provincialibus iussi.' § 17, 'Respondit Cornelius Tacitus eloquentissime, et quod eximium orationi eius inest, +semnôs+.'

In A.D. 77 Tacitus was betrothed to the daughter of Agricola, then consul, and in A.D. 78 he married her.

_Agr._ 9, 'Consul egregiae tum spei filiam iuveni mihi despondit ac post consulatum collocavit, et statim Britanniae praepositus est.'

Tacitus gives us a clue to his political career in _Hist._ i. 1.

'Dignitatem nostram a Vespasiano incohatam, a Tito auctam, a Domitiano longius provectam non abnuerim.'

This probably means that Vespasian granted him the _latus clavus_, _i.e._ a place in the _ordo senatorius_, which was followed by the _vigintiviratus_ given by the Senate, and a commission in the army as _tribunus militum laticlavius_; that Titus appointed him quaestor A.D. 80-1; and that Domitian made him tribune or aedile (about 84), and in A.D. 88 praetor. For the last office cf. _Ann._ xi. 11,

'Is [Domitianus] edidit ludos saeculares, eisque intentius adfui sacerdotio quindecimvirali praeditus ac tunc praetor.'

That Tacitus was absent from Rome A.D. 90-93 we may infer from what he says of Agricola's death (A.D. 93).

_Agr._ 45, 'Nobis tam longae absentiae condicione ante quadriennium amissus est.'

He must have returned to Rome soon afterwards, for he says in the same chapter: 'Mox nostrae duxere Helvidium in carcerem manus; nos Maurici Rusticique visus, nos innocenti sanguine Senecio perfudit.'

Tacitus was appointed consul suffectus under Trajan A.D. 98 (see Pliny, _Ep._ ii. 1, 6, above quoted).

An inscription found at Mylasa in Caria shows that Tacitus was proconsul of Asia about 112-116 A.D.[111]

Tacitus probably died soon after the publication of the _Annals_ (A.D. 115-7), as he did not live to write his contemplated works on the Augustan age and the reigns of Nerva and Trajan.

_Hist._ i. 1, 'Quod si vita suppeditet, principatum divi Nervae et imperium Traiani ... senectuti seposui.'

_Ann._ iii. 24, 'Cetera illius aetatis [Augusti] memorabo, si effectis in quae tetendi, plures ad curas vitam produxero.'

Tacitus was on intimate terms with Pliny, eleven of whose letters are addressed to him. From vii. 20 and viii. 7 we see that they were in the habit of "exchanging proof-sheets." To the same circle belonged Fabius Iustus, to whom the _Dialogus_ is dedicated, and Asinius Rufus.

Pliny, _Ep._ iv. 15, 1, 'Asinium Rufum singulariter amo. ... Idem Cornelium Tacitum arta familiaritate complexus est.'

(2) WORKS.

1. _Dialogus de Oratoribus_, an inquiry into the causes of the decay of eloquence--'cur nostra potissimum aetas deserta et laude eloquentiae orbata vix nomen ipsum oratoris retineat' (_Dial._ 1). Some critics have supposed that Tacitus meant this work to be an _apologia pro vita sua_, a justification of his preference for a literary to a rhetorical career, but this cannot be proved. That Tacitus is the author is clear from Pliny, _Ep._ ix. 10, 2, 'Itaque poemata quiescunt, quae tu inter nemora et lucos commodissime perfici putas'--a reference to _Dial._ 9, 'poetis ... in nemora et lucos, id est in solitudinem, secedendum est.' The dramatic date is given in _Dial._ 17 as A.D. 75; the statement there and in _Dial._ 24 that one hundred and twenty years have passed since Cicero's death (which would give A.D. 77) is made in round numbers. The date of composition is uncertain. It was not under Domitian, as Tacitus remained silent during his reign (_Agr._ 2). We can hardly suppose it to have been written under Nerva, as its style is so different from that of the _Agricola_; but it may have been written under Domitian, and published after his death. Some authorities put it as early as A.D. 81.[112]

2. _De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae liber_, an account of the life of Cn. Iulius Agricola, Tacitus' father-in-law, and particularly of his career in Britain. It was written early in the reign of Trajan, and therefore after 27th Jan., 98 A.D., and probably in that year.

_Agr._ 3, 'quamquam primo statim beatissimi saeculi ortu Nerva Caesar res olim dissociabiles miscuerit, principatum ac libertatem, augeatque cottidie felicitatem temporum Nerva Traianus.'

3. _Germania_.--The Vatican MSS. give the title as _de origine et situ_ (another MS. adds _moribus ac populis_) Germanorum. The date of publication, as seen from _Germ._ 37, was A.D. 98. The book is not mentioned in _Agr._ 3 among the proposed works of Tacitus; and it has therefore been supposed that the materials were collected for the _Histories_, and that the work was published separately on account of its length, and also the interest felt in Germany at the time. There is nothing in the theory that the book is a political pamphlet, or that it contains a moral purpose. Tacitus is by no means blind to the faults of the Germans (c. 17 _sqq._, etc.), though he compares them favourably in many respects with the Romans.

4. _Historiae_.--The title is guaranteed by Tertull. _apol._ 16, 'Cornelius Tacitus in quinta historiarum suarum.' The work embraced the time from Galba to Domitian, _i.e._ 69-96 A.D. The first four Books and part of the fifth are extant, and give the history of 69 and most of 70 A.D. In MS. Mediceus II., the only ancient MS. that contains _Ann._ xi.-xvi. and the _Histories_, there is no title, but the Books are numbered continuously as belonging to the same work. Cf. Jerome, _Comm. on Zacharias_, iii. 14, 'Cornelius Tacitus, qui post Augustum usque ad mortem Domitiani vitas Caesarum triginta voluminibus exaravit.' If, therefore, the _Annals_ contained sixteen Books, the _Histories_ must have contained fourteen, supposing Jerome's statement to be correct. Some authorities think the numbers were eighteen and twelve respectively. The work was written under Trajan (cf. _Hist._ i. 1, 'principatum divi Nervae et imperium Traiani'), and was probably brought out in instalments. Pliny's letters (vi. 16; 20; vii. 33), written about A.D. 106-9, contain contributions to it.

5. _Annales_, or rather _Ab excessu divi Augusti_, the title given by MS. Med. I. Tacitus often calls his work _annales_ (as in _Ann._ iv. 32), but uses the word to signify his plan of recording events by their years. Cf. _Ann._ iv. 71, 'Ni mihi destinatum foret suum quaeque in annum referre, avebat animus antire,' etc.

He occasionally apologises (as in xii. 40) for departing from this order for the sake of clearness. The Books, the division into which was made by Tacitus himself (cf. vi. 27, 'in prioribus libris'), usually, however, end with some important event.

The _Annals_ deal with the time from the death of Augustus to that of Nero, _i.e._ from 14 to 68 A.D. There are extant Books i.-iv. and a part of v. and vi., and Books xi.-xvi., except the beginning of xi. and the end of xvi. We have thus lost the whole of the reign of Caligula and the reign of Claudius from 41-47 (part), and Nero's reign from the close of 66 to 68. The work was published between A.D. 115 and 117. This is settled by _Ann._ ii. 61, 'Exin ventum Elephantinen ac Syenen, claustra olim Romani imperii, quod nunc rubrum ad mare patescit.'

The conquest here spoken of was made by Trajan A.D. 115, and his successor Hadrian, soon after coming to the throne (August, A.D. 117), gave up the regions beyond the Euphrates and Tigris (Spartianus, _Hadri._ 5).[113]

_Tacitus' views on politics, philosophy, and religion._--

(1) The ideal mixed form of government Tacitus considers to be impracticable.

_Ann._ iv. 33, 'Cunctas nationes et urbes populus aut primores aut singuli regunt: delecta ex eis et consociata rei publicae forma laudari facilius quam evenire, vel si evenit, haud diuturna esse potest.'

Tacitus is essentially a conservative. Thus he always uses _antiquus_ and _priscus_ in a good sense (_H._ ii. 5; 64; _Ann._ vi. 32).

In _Ann._ iii. 60 he speaks with pride of the republic: 'Magna eius diei species fuit, quo senatus maiorum beneficia, sociorum pacta, regum etiam, qui ante vim Romanam valuerant, decreta ipsorumque numinum religiones introspexit, libero, ut quondam, quid firmaret mutaretve.'

See also the speech of C. Cassius in _Ann._ xiv. 43. As an aristocrat Tacitus is sometimes unjust to men of low birth, as in _Ann._ iv. 3, where he sneers at Seianus as 'municipali adultero,' and attaches great value to high birth (cf. vi. 27). He is prejudiced against slaves and barbarians.

Tacitus theoretically prefers a republic (cf. _Ann._ vi. 42, 'Populi imperium iuxta libertatem, paucorum dominatio regiae libidini propior est'), but admits the impossibility of a restitution of the free state (_H._ ii. 37-8) and the necessity of empire. _H._ i. 1 (of Augustus), 'omnem potentiam ad unum conferri pacis interfuit.'

Cf. also Galba's speech in _H._ i. 16. The problem is to reconcile the empire with freedom (see _Agr._ 3 quoted p. 341). One's duty is to steer one's course _inter abruptam contumaciam et deforme obsequium_ (_Ann._ iv. 20). Tacitus gives only modified approval to patriots like Paetus Thrasea (_Ann._ xiv. 12; 49) and Helvidius Priscus (_H._ iv. 6), and on the other hand gives praise for moderation to men like Agricola (_Agr._ 42), M. Lepidus (_Ann._ iv. 20), L. Piso (_Ann._ vi. 10).

_Ann._ xiv. 12, 'Thrasea Paetus ... sibi causam periculi fecit, ceteris libertatis initium non praebuit.'

_Agr._ 42, 'Non contumacia neque inani iactatione libertatis famam fatumque provocabat.'

Tacitus blames those who despair of their own times. _Ann._ ii. 88, 'dum vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.' He thinks that the emperors, from their irresponsible position, were often gradually led into wickedness, their downward career being helped by flatterers and satellites, and draws a moral lesson from the servile Senate and the _delatores_, who, like the emperors themselves, received punishment for their conduct (_Ann._ i. 74; iii. 65 _sqq._).

_Ann._ vi. 48, 'Cum Tiberius post tantam rerum experientiam vi dominationis convulsus et mutatus sit.'

_Ann._ iv. 33, 'Pauci prudentia honesta ab deterioribus utilia ab noxiis discernunt, plures aliorum eventis docentur.'

_Ann._ vi. 6, 'Adeo facinora atque flagitia sua ipsi quoque in supplicium verterant ... Quippe Tiberium non fortuna, non solitudines protegebant, quin tormenta pectoris suasque ipse poenas fateretur.'

(2) Tacitus attaches himself to no particular school of philosophy, and deprecates too close an attention to the subject.

_Agr._ 4, 'Memoria teneo solitum ipsum [Agricolam] narrare se prima in iuventa studium philosophiae acrius, ultra quam concessum Romano ac senatori, hausisse, ni prudentia matris incensum ac flagrantem animum coercuisset.'

He cannot make up his mind as to freewill and predestination, but in spite of this doubt expressly states his desire to find out the causes of events.

_Ann._ vi. 22, 'Sed mihi haec ac talia audienti in incerto iudicium est, fatone res mortalium et necessitate immutabili an forte volvantur' (and the rest of the chapter, where the Stoic and Epicurean views are mentioned). On the other hand, _H._ i. 4, 'Ut non modo casus eventusque rerum, qui plerumque fortuiti sunt, sed ratio etiam causaeque noscantur.'

He expresses his belief in divine agency, particularly in the _Annals_, but sometimes adopts the pessimistic view that the gods take little interest in mankind.

_Ann._ xiv. 5, 'Noctem sideribus inlustrem et placido mari quietam, quasi convincendum ad scelus, di praebuere.'

_H._ v. 5, 'Pessimus quisque spretis religionibus patriis.'

_H._ i. 3, 'Nec enim umquam atrocioribus populi Romani cladibus magisve iustis indiciis adprobatum est non esse curae deis securitatem nostram, esse ultionem.'

_Ann._ xvi. 33, 'Aequitate deum erga bona malaque documenta.'

He believes in the science of divination (see especially _Ann._ iv. 58), but speaks contemptuously of the impostors found among soothsayers and astrologers.

_H._ i. 22, 'Mathematicis ... genus hominum potentibus infidum, sperantibus fallax, quod in civitate nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur.'

Prodigies are recognized, but mentioned only in the _Histories_ and the last books of the _Annals_ (from A.D. 51 onwards). See especially _H._ ii. 50.

_Tacitus as a historian._--As regards his sources, Tacitus makes more use of his predecessors than he does of original documents. Among the latter he mentions _acta diurna_ (_Ann._ iii. 3) and _commentarii_ or _acta senatus_ (_Ann._ xv. 74); but these he did not make much use of, as they were apt to be falsified. He also refers to _publica acta_, probably inscriptions (_Ann._ xii. 24); Tiberius' speeches (_Ann._ i. 81); memoirs of Agrippina, Nero's mother (_Ann._ iv. 53); and of Domitius Corbulo on his campaigns in Parthia (_Ann._ xv. 16). He also refers by name to several historians, especially in dealing with the times after Nero, as C. Plinius (_Ann._ i. 69, quoted p. 284), Vipstanus Messalla (_H._ iii. 25), Fabius Rusticus,[114] and Cluvius Rufus[115] (_Ann._ xiii. 20).

Other writers are sparingly mentioned, as Sisenna (_H._ iii. 51), Caesar (_Germ._ 28). It is certain that Tacitus made use of other historians, but he generally refers to his sources without mentioning names (as _Ann._ i. 29, 'tradunt plerique'). He sometimes weighs the value of two conflicting accounts, or mentions a story only to reject it.

_Ann._ iv. 11, 'Haec vulgo iactata, super id quod nullo auctore certo firmantur, prompte refutaveris.'

Tacitus' credibility has been attacked, particularly as regards his representation of the characters of Tiberius and Nero, but not very successfully. He has, however, made mistakes, the most striking of which are his view of the Christians (_Ann._ xv. 44) and his account of the Jews (_H._ v. 2 _sqq._). The explanation is that he held the view current in the upper classes, and did not take the trouble to investigate these matters, as the Jews and Christians belonged mostly to the lower orders.

Tacitus is not free from superstition (_Ann._ xi. 21; _H._ ii. 50, etc.), but one must not suppose he believes the fables he relates (as _Ann._ vi. 28; _H._ iv. 83) simply because he expresses no opinion of them.

Tacitus is free from party spirit (_Ann._ i. 1, 'sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo'; cf. _H._ i. 1) and just in his judgment, except in a few passages in the _Histories_, where he is rather unfair (i. 42, ii. 95). He is milder in the _Annals_ through advancing years, and from the better times he lived in. Generally he takes a lenient view of things, except (1) in offences against the state (cf. the character of Tiberius); (2) when the religious element comes in; cf. what he says of Claudius' marriage with his brother's daughter Agrippina: _Ann._ xiv. 2, 'Agrippina ... exercita ad omne flagitium patrui nuptiis.'

He shows a somewhat lax morality occasionally, as in _Ann._ xiii. 17 _sqq._, when speaking of Nero's murder of his brother Britannicus. In _Ann._ xi. 19 he approves of compassing a barbarian's death by treachery.

For Tacitus' conception of history as dealing with great events cf. _Ann._ xiii. 31, 'pauca memoria digna evenere, nisi cui libeat laudandis fundamentis et trabibus, quis molem amphitheatri apud campum Martis Caesar extruxerat, volumina implere, cum ex dignitate populi Romani repertum sit res inlustres annalibus, talia diurnis urbis actis mandare.'

His complaints as to his subject-matter in _Ann._ iv. 32, 'Nobis in arto et inglorius labor,' must not be taken too seriously.

SUETONIUS.

(1) LIFE.

C. Suetonius Tranquillus was the son of Suetonius Laetus, a tribune of the thirteenth legion, who took part in the battle of Bedriacum, A.D. 69 (Sueton. _Otho_, 10). His birth seems to have taken place soon after that year,[116] for he was 'adulescens' twenty years after Nero's death; _Nero_ 57, 'cum post viginti annos, adulescente me, exstitisset condicionis incertae qui se Neronem esse iactaret.'

Suetonius was a friend of the younger Pliny, to whom he was indebted for a military tribuneship, which he afterwards passed on to a relative (Plin. _Ep._ iii. 8), and for assistance in the purchase of a small estate (ibid. i. 24). Pliny encouraged him to publish some of his writings (v. 10), and obtained for him from Trajan the _ius trium liberorum_ (_ad Trai._ 94).

Under Hadrian he was _magister epistularum_, but was dismissed from office in A.D. 121. Spartianus, _Hadr._ 11, 3, 'Septicio Claro praefecto praetorio et Suetonio Tranquillo epistularum magistro multisque aliis, quod apud Sabinam uxorem in usu eius familiarius se tunc egerant quam reverentia domus aulicae postulabat, successores dedit.' The remainder of his life appears to have been devoted to literature.

(2) WORKS.

1. _De Vita Caesarum_, in eight Books (Books i.-vi. Iulius-Nero; vii. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius; viii. Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian). It was published A.D. 119-21, as it was dedicated (according to Joannes Lydus) to C. Septicius Clarus, praetorian prefect, who held office during those years. The preface and the beginning of the life of Iulius are wanting. Suetonius is a conscientious and accurate writer (cf. his discussion of Caligula's birthplace, _Calig._ 8), and he makes use of good sources, e.g. the _Monumentum Ancyranum_, _Acta populi_, _Acta senatus_, autograph documents of the emperors (_Aug._ 87, _Nero_ 52); but there is in his work an almost entire absence of dates, and the personal element is, from the point of view of history, unduly prominent.

2. _De Viris Illustribus_, including poets, orators (beginning with Cicero), historians (from Sallust onwards), philosophers, grammarians, and rhetoricians. The greater part of the section _De grammaticis et rhetoribus_ is extant, as well as lives of Terence, Horace, and Lucan from the section _de poetis_, and of Pliny the elder from the section _de historicis_. Extracts from the rest of the work are preserved by Jerome. In each section there was (1) a list of the authors discussed, (2) a general survey of their branch of literature, (3) brief notices of the authors in chronological order. The publication took place, according to Roth, 106-113 A.D.

3. Minor works, now lost (mentioned by Suidas), on Greek games, Roman games, the Roman year, on critical marks, on Cicero's _Republic_, on dress, on imprecations (+peri dysphêmôn lexeôn êtoi blasphêmiôn kai pothen hekastê+), on Roman laws and customs. Some of these were probably only sections of the _Prata_, a miscellany in ten Books, which also treated of natural science and philology. The books on Greek games and on imprecations were almost certainly composed in Greek.

Footnotes to Chapter IV

[72] The praenomen 'Gaius' is rendered highly probable by the reading of the _editio princeps_ and by an inscription found in Africa (_C.I.L._ viii. 10311).

[73] _Les Poètes Latins de la Décadence_, vol. i., p. 8.

[74] Antwerp edition, p. 89.

[75] Tacitus does not say openly that Seneca was privy to the murder. On the whole he is favourable to Seneca, either because he followed the authority of Fabius Rusticus, a friend of Seneca, or because Seneca perished afterwards through Nero's agency, or because he thought Seneca deserved his consideration.

[76] Seneca's influence on the Imperial policy, especially in the liberal view it took regarding religion, is well brought out by Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in his book, _St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen_, pp. 354 _sqq._

[77] See the very large list of parallels collected by Heitland, _Introduction_ to Haskins' _Lucan_, § 51.

[78] See under Varro, p. 96.

[79] Ed. of _Cena Trimalchionis_, p. 7.

[80] See O. Hirschfeld's note on this passage in _Römische Verwaltungsgeschichte_, p. 261.

[81] Messalla was a favourite of Gaius, Narcissus of Claudius.

[82] Pomponius was the author of _Aeneas_ and other tragedies. Pliny calls him 'consularis poeta,' 'vates civisque clarissimus' (_N.H._ vii. 80, xiii. 83). Cf. Tac. _Ann._ xii. 28.

[83] Given with other examples by W. C. Summers, _Study of the Argonautica_ (Camb. 1894), p. 27.

[84] Summers, _ibid._ p. 56.

[85] Cf. Tac. _Hist._ iii. 65.

[86] Mart. vii. 63.

[87] Mart. xi. 48; 49.

[88] Mart. viii. 66.

[89] Mart. ix. 68.

[90] The references are to L. Friedländer's edition (Leipzig, 1886).

[91] Ed. of Book x., Introd. p. 9 (Oxford, 1891).

[92] A passage probably inserted by the pseudo-Frontinus from memoirs of the genuine Frontinus to give an air of authenticity to his work.

[93] J. Dürr, _Das Leben Juvenals_ (Ulm, 1888). L. Friedländer (ed. of Juvenal: Leipzig, 1895) attaches little importance to this and the other _vitae_, but his arguments do not appear to us to be convincing.

[94] E. G. Hardy (ed. of Juvenal: London, 1891, introd. p. 8) thinks that this is supported by Juvenal's gentile name Iunius. As a representative of the middle classes he (thinks Hardy) could not have been related by blood to either of the two _gentes_ of that name. Hardy also states that Decimus is a common _praenomen_ of the plebeian _gens Iunia_, and suggests that Juvenal may have got his _praenomen_ from them. There is no reason, however, to think that every Iunius must be related or associated in some way with one of these two _gentes_.

[95] The statement of the _vitae_, 'ad mediam fere aetatem declamavit,' may imply no more than that he continued his studies in private; but it must be observed that the usual meaning of _declamare_ is 'to attend college classes'; and the statement, in whatever way it is taken, must be looked upon as improbable.

[96] If the number I. is right, and this appears most likely. II. is the only other possible reading, and it must be noted that the second Dalmatian cohort was in Britain at the beginning of the second century, and probably had been there for a considerable time. _Trib._ in the inscription is a conjecture suggested by the _vitae_: _praef._, which is epigraphically possible, is preferred by some authorities.

[97] E. G. Hardy thinks that A.D. 87 was one of the years when _duumviri quinquennales_ (appointed every five years) were elected in Aquinum, and hypothetically assigns Juvenal's holding of the post to that year.

[98] _C.I.L._ vii. 1195.

[99] Cf. E. G. Hardy, ed. of Juvenal.

[100] Cf. E. G. Hardy, _ibid._

[101] The reference in 4, 126, 'De temone Britanno excidet Arviragus,' proves nothing. It is the sort of reference that would be made by an Italian ignorant of Britain, and is, in fact, put into the mouth of one.

[102] The view that _Sat._ i. 33 _sqq._ refers to M. Aquilius Regulus, who died probably A.D. 105 (Pliny, _Ep._ i. 5, 14-15), is rejected by Friedländer _ad loc._

[103] H. Nettleship (_Journal of Philology_, xvi., p. 45) points out that C. Vipstanus Apronianus and C. Fonteius Capito were consuls A.D. 59, and suggests that this may be the year meant. This would give A.D. 119 as the date of composition.

[104] The scholiast connects with 4, 37-8.

[105] This story is rejected both by Hardy and by Friedländer.

[106] Juvenal had a leaning to Stoicism: cf. _Sat._ 10 _ad fin._, and his references to fate, _e.g._ 7, 200; 10, 365; 12, 63. He believes in the gods (13, 247-9), but disbelieves the doctrines of the popular religion (2, 149 _sqq._).

[107] The inscription records the appointment of Cilo's sons and a woman Lutulla as trustees of a fund, the interest of which was to be disbursed to the people of Comum.

[108] _Hermes_, iii. 31 _sqq._

[109] The inscription in Caria, formerly supposed to give P. as praenomen, is now shown to have been misread.

[110] The inhabitants of Terni (Interamna) erected a statue to Tacitus as to a fellow-townsman in A.D. 1514.

[111] _Bull. de Corr. Hell._, 1890, p. 621, quoted by Prof. W. M. Ramsay, _The Church in the Roman Empire_, p. 228.

[112] One of the speakers in the Dialogue, Curiatius Maternus, was the author of tragedies _Medea_ and _Thyestes_, and of praetextae _Domitius_ and _Cato_ (_Dial._ 2-3).

[113] Various attempts have been made, especially in a work published in London, 1878, to prove, of course unsuccessfully, that the _Annals_ were forged in the fifteenth century by the Italian scholar Poggio Bracciolini.

[114] Fabius Rusticus, a friend of Seneca, quoted also for the shape of Britain (_Agr._ 10).

[115] Cluvius Rufus, governor of Hispania Tarraconensis B.C. 69 (_H._ i. 8). Mommsen considers that he is one of the historians censured in _H._ ii. 101.

[116] Roth gives 71, Teuffel 75 at latest.

APPENDIX A

ON SOME OF THE CHIEF ANCIENT AUTHORITIES FOR THE HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE.

1. JEROME[117] (HIERONYMUS) was born about A.D. 335 at Stridon, on the frontiers of Dalmatia and Pannonia, and died A.D. 420 at the monastery of Bethlehem. His contributions to the history of Roman literature are to be found in his translation of the Chronicle (+chronikoi kanones+) of Eusebius, in which the dates are reckoned from the first year of Abraham (= B.C. 2016 according to his chronology), the point at which Eusebius commenced. On the period between the Trojan War and A.D. 325 Jerome not merely translated the remarks of Eusebius, as he had done in the earlier period, but also added numerous extracts from authorities on Roman history and literature. The source from which he derived nearly all his information on literature is universally admitted to have been the work of Suetonius _De Viris Illustribus_. With the statements in the surviving sections of that treatise the observations of Jerome agree, and there can be no reasonable doubt that he made a similar use of the parts no longer extant. It is a significant fact that the important authors on whom Jerome is silent, _e.g._ Tacitus, Juvenal, and the younger Pliny, are precisely those whom Suetonius, as a contemporary, naturally could not discuss.

The statements of Jerome, based as they are on the high authority of Suetonius, may be regarded as in the main trustworthy. Some of them, however, are doubtful, and others manifestly wrong.

(_a_) Jerome's plan obliged him to fix every event to a definite year; and this, in many cases, can only be guess-work, for Suetonius, as may be seen from his extant writings, was often vague in his chronology.

(_b_) Comparison with the remains of Suetonius shows that Jerome's claim to have made his extracts with care was not always well grounded; _e.g._ his statement that Ennius was a native of Tarentum (see p. 27).

(_c_) In reckoning, according to his system of dates, events dated by one of the many confusing systems of chronology current in ancient times, many openings for error presented themselves; _e.g._ he sometimes erred through confusing consuls of the same or similar names, as in the case of Lucilius (p. 59); or through confusing similar events, as in the case of Livius Andronicus, although the mistake about the latter was of long standing (p. 2). Once at least he seems to have confused the date of an author's _floruit_ and that of his death, making Plautus die in B.C. 200 instead of B.C. 184 (p. 8).

2. AULUS GELLIUS[118] was born probably about A.D. 123, and studied under the most eminent teachers both at Rome and at Athens. Of his subsequent life nothing is known except that he held some judicial post at Rome. His work, the _Noctes Atticae_ in twenty Books (of Book viii. only the headings of chapters are preserved), is a miscellany of information on philology, philosophy, rhetoric, history, biography, literary criticism, natural science, and antiquities. The title is due to the fact that the book was commenced in the winter evenings during the author's residence at Athens. The arrangement of the contents simply follows the haphazard order of the notes which Gellius made in the course of his reading of Greek and Roman authors. Those authors, and the conversation of contemporaries, are Gellius' professed sources, but in some cases the author he names is evidently quoted at second-hand, and many of the conversations are doubtless quite imaginary. Our obligations to Gellius are twofold.

(_a_) Innumerable extracts from ancient authors are preserved by him alone. (No quotations are given from post-Augustan writers--a fact which accords with the affected archaism of his style.)

(_b_) His remarks on incidents in the lives of the Roman poets are in the main derived from Varro, whose work _De Poetis_ is quoted for the epitaph of Plautus (see p. 9); elsewhere his source is indicated either vaguely or not at all, e.g. iii. 3, 15, 'accepimus'; xii. 4, 5, 'ferunt.' For literary criticism Varro is quoted: iii. 3, 9, _sqq._; vi. 14, 6 (see pp. 10, 51).

3. NONIUS MARCELLUS,[119] a Peripatetic, of Thubursicum in Numidia, is identified by Mommsen with the Nonius Marcellus Herculius of _C.I.L._ viii. 4878 (date A.D. 323); but nothing is known of his life. His work, _De Compendiosa Doctrina ad Filium_ in twenty Books (of Book xvi. the title only is known; Book xx. is fragmentary), though modelled on that of Gellius, is immeasurably inferior in execution. According to the theory usually received Nonius borrowed largely from Gellius; but it is possible that both compilers made independent use of the same authorities, viz., scholars such as Verrius Flaccus, Valerius Probus, and Suetonius, whose works they knew either directly or through abridgments. The subjects with which Nonius deals are grammar, lexicography, and antiquities; and he is often our sole authority for the titles of works as well as for brief extracts.

4. AMBROSIUS THEODOSIUS MACROBIUS, doubtless identical with the Macrobius who held, among other high offices, the proconsulship of Africa A.D. 410, was probably, like Nonius, of African origin. Besides his commentary on the _Somnium Scipionis_ of Cicero, Macrobius wrote a work in seven Books on Roman literature and antiquities with the title of _Saturnalia_. The imaginary conversations of which it consists are supposed to take place during the festival of the Saturnalia at Rome (hence the title); and the chief subject of discussion is the poetry of Virgil. A remarkable feature of the book is its wealth of quotation from Greek and Latin authors. Macrobius, like Gellius, bases his work on extracts from older authorities; but, unlike him, arranges his matter systematically.

5. AELIUS DONATUS, a grammarian who flourished at Rome about A.D. 350, and was one of Jerome's teachers, extracted from the lost work of Suetonius the Lives of Terence and Virgil, and prefixed them to his own commentaries on Terence and on the _Georgics_ and _Aeneid_. The latter is lost, and the commentary on Terence contains much that is not from the hand of Donatus.

6. SERVIUS.--There are two versions of the Servian commentary on Virgil. The shorter is the work of Maurus Servius Honoratus, who was born about 350 A.D., and lived at Rome (Macrob. _Saturn._ i. 2, 15); his topographical references show that he composed his commentary there. Servius, whose notes are chiefly on the language of the poems, gives illustrative quotations from Roman authors, in some cases from memory and inaccurately. Donatus is the authority whom he mentions oftenest, but he undoubtedly made extensive use of Suetonius.

The longer version contains learned additions to the work of Servius by an anonymous Christian writer, who deals mainly with the subject-matter of Virgil.

7. ACRO and PORPHYRIO.--Helenius Acro (probably about 200 A.D.) was the author of commentaries on Horace and Terence, now lost. The scholia on Horace extant under Acro's name are, with few exceptions, taken from the commentary of Pomponius Porphyrio, which we possess in a mutilated form. Porphyrio, who probably belonged to the 4th cent. A.D., names among his sources Acro and Suetonius.

For ASCONIUS see p. 77; for VALERIUS PROBUS, p. 147.

Footnotes to Appendix A

[117] See _Quaestiones Suetonianae_ in Reifferscheid's _Suetonius_, pp. 363 _sqq._

[118] See H. Nettleship, _Lectures and Essays_ (1885), p. 248 _sqq._

[119] See Nettleship, _ibid._ p. 277 _sqq._

APPENDIX B

SELECT LIST OF EDITIONS.

NOTE.--All editions mentioned have explanatory notes, except those marked "text" (which are merely texts), and those marked "crit." (which have an apparatus criticus).

Editions published in England and Germany have English and German notes respectively, unless otherwise stated.

F.P.R. = Fragmenta Poetarum Romanorum, ed. E. Bährens.

*Livius Andronicus.* Plays-- In Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta, ed. O. Ribbeck (vol. i. _Trag._, ii. _Com._) (crit.), Leip. '71-73 Do. (with Naevius' plays), L. Müller, Berl. '85 Odisia, in E. Bährens' Frag. Poet. Rom. (crit.), Leip. '86

*Naevius.* Bellum Punicum, J. Vahlen, Leip. '54 " F.P.R. Plays (see above)

*Plautus.* J. L. Ussing (Latin commentary), Copenh. '75-87 F. Ritschl, revised by G. Loewe, G. Goetz, and F. Schöll (crit.), Leip. '94 Amphitruo, A. Palmer, Lond. '90 Asinaria, J. H. Gray, Camb. '94 Aulularia, W. Wagner, Camb. '92 Captivi, J. Brix, Leip. '84 " W. M. Lindsay, Oxf. '95 " E. A. Sonnenschein, Lond. '80 " A. R. S. Hallidie, Lond. '95 Epidicus, J. H. Gray, Camb. '93 Mostellaria, A. O. F. Lorenz, Berl. '83 " E. A. Sonnenschein, Camb. '84 Menaechmi, J. Brix and M. Niemeyer, Leip. '91 " W. Wagner, Camb. '92 Miles, J. Brix, Leip. '82 " A. O. F. Lorenz, Berl. '86 " R. Y. Tyrrell, Lond. '94 Pseudolus, A. O. F. Lorenz, Berl. '76 Rudens, E. A. Sonnenschein, Oxf. '91 Stichus, C. A. M. Fennell, Camb. '93 Trinummus, J. Brix and M. Niemeyer, Leip. '88 " W. Wagner, Camb. '90 " C. E. Freeman and A. Sloman, Oxf. '96

*Ennius.* F.P.R. J. Vahlen Leip. '54 Do. (with Naevius' Bell. Pun.), L. Müller, St. Petersb. '85

*Pacuvius* and *Caecilius Statius.* Ribbeck, _Trag._ and _Com._

*Terence.* K. Dziatzko (text), Leip. '84 W. Wagner, Lond. '92 Andria, A. Spengel, Berl. '88 " C. E. Freeman and A. Sloman, Oxf. '93 " and Eunuchus, T. L. Papillon, Lond. '70 Heaut. Tim., E. S. Shuckburgh, Lond. '94 " J. H. Gray, Camb. '95 Phormio, K. Dziatzko, Leip. '85 " A. Sloman, Oxf. '94 " J. Bond and A. S. Walpole, Lond. '95 Adelphoe, K. Dziatzko, Leip. '81 " A. Spengel, Berl. '79 " A. Sloman, Oxf. '92 " S. G. Ashmore, Lond. '93

*Cato the Elder.* De Agricultura (and Varro, Res Rusticae), H. Keil (crit.), Leip. '82-91 Other fragments, H. Jordan (crit.), Leip. '60

*Accius.* Ribbeck, and F.P.R.

*Lucilius.* L. Müller, Leip. '72 C. Lachmann (crit.), Berl. '76 F.P.R.

*Atta, Afranius, Laberius.* Ribbeck.

*Matius, Laevius, Bibaculus, Calvus, Cinna, Varro Atacinus.* F.P.R.

*Auctor ad Herennium.* C. L. Kayser, Leip. '54 F. Marx (crit.), Leip. '94

*Varro.* Sat. Menipp., Logistorici, Sententiae Varronis, A. Riese (crit.), Leip. '65 Sat. Menipp. (text in F. Bücheler's Petronius), Berl. '95 Antiquitates (text in R. Merkel's Ovid, Fasti), Berl. '41 De vita pop. Rom., H. Kettner (crit.), Halle, '63 De gente pop. Rom., H. Peter (Frag. Hist. Rom.), Leip. '83 De Lingua Latina, A. Spengel (crit.), Berl. '85 Res Rusticae, H. Keil (see 'Cato'). Grammatical Works (except _De L. L._), A. Wilmanns (crit.), Berl. '64

*Cicero.* 1. _Speeches_-- Pro Sex. Rosc. Amer., E. H. Donkin, Lond. '95 Pro Sex. Rosc. Amer., G. Landgraf, Erlangen, '84 Pro Q. Rosc. Com., C. A. Schmidt, Leip. '39 Verrines, C. G. Zumpt, Berl. '31 Div. in Caec. and in Verr., Act. i., W. E. Heitland and H. Cowie, Camb. '95 Verr., Act. i., J. R. King, Lond. '87 Div. in Caec. and in Verr.