L. Accius was born B.C. 170 at Pisaurum (of. Pliny, N.H. vii. 128, 'Attio Pisaurense').

Jerome yr. Abr. 1878 = B.C. 139, 'L. Accius tragoediarum scriptor clarus habetur, natus Mancino et Serrano coss. (B.C. 170) parentibus libertinis et seni iam Pacuvio Tarenti sua scripta recitavit. A quo et fundus Accianus iuxta Pisaurum dicitur, quia illuc inter colonos fuerat ex urbe deductus.'

This last statement must refer to Accius' father, as the colony of Pisaurum was founded B.C. 184. Jerome's chronology is corroborated by

Cic. Brut. 229, 'Accius isdem aedilibus (B.C. 140) ait se et Pacuvium docuisse fabulam, cum ille lxxx., ipse xxx. annos natus esset.'

Accius' friendship and influence with leading men is shown by Cic. pro Arch. 27, 'D. Brutus, summus vir et imperator (cons. B.C. 138) Acci amicissimi sui carminibus templorum ac monumentorum aditus exornavit suorum.'

Auct. ad Herenn. i. 24, 'Mimus quidam nominatim Accium poetam compellavit in scaena. Cum eo Accius iniuriarum egit'; ii. 19, 'P. Mucius eum qui L. Accium poetam nominaverat condemnavit.'

The above shows his self-consciousness; cf. also Pliny N.H. xxxiv. 19, 'Notatum ab auctoribus et L. Accium poetam in Camenarum aede maxima forma statuam sibi posuisse, cum brevis admodum fuisset.'

For Accius' friendship with Pacuvius, see p. 35. Accius must have lived to about B.C. 86, as Cicero (born B.C. 106) talked with him on literary subjects.

Cic. Brut. 107, 'D. Brutus M. filius, ut ex familiari eius L. Accio poeta sum audire solitus.'

His Tereus was produced in B.C. 104, as is seen from

Cic. Phil. i. 36 (B.C. 44), 'Nisi forte Accio tum plaudi et sexagesimo post anno palmam dari, non Bruto, putabatis.'

(2) WORKS.

1. Tragedies.—Titles of about forty-five plays, and about seven hundred lines of fragments are extant. The fragments show imitation of Aeschylus as well as of Sophocles and Euripides.

2. Praetextae.—Aeneadae or Decius, and Brutus. Decius treated of the self-sacrifice of P. Decius Mus at Sentinum, B.C. 295. Cf. l. 15, 'Patrio exemplo et me dicabo atque animam devoro (= devovero) hostibus.' Brutus treated of the overthrow of Tarquinius Superbus and the establishment of the consulship.

3. Didascalica, in at least nine books, a history of Greek and Latin poetry, with special attention to the drama. The few fragments are mostly in Sotadean metre. Cf. Gell. vi. 9, 16, 'L. Accius in Sotadicorum libro I.'

4. Pragmaticon libri (in trochaic tetrameters) on literary subjects.

5. Praxidica, on agriculture. Two lines on ploughing are quoted from 'liber parergon,' i., but it is not certain whether this is an independent work.

6. Annales, in hexameters.

7. A work in Saturnians.

Accius gave attention to points of language. Cf. Quint. i. 7, 14, 'Semivocales geminare diu non fuit usitatissimi moris, atque e contrario usque ad Accium et ultra porrectas syllabas geminis, ut dixi, vocalibus scripserunt.'

Accius, like Ennius and Pacuvius, attacks superstition. Cf. ll. 169-70,

'Nil credo auguribus, qui auris verbis divitant alienas, suas ut auro locupletent domos.'

That Virgil imitated Accius is mentioned by Macrob. vi. 1, 58, who compares, e.g., l. 156,

'Virtuti sis par, dispar fortunis patris,'

and Aen. xii. 435-6,

'Disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem, fortunam ex aliis.'

Views on Accius.—A few of these may be referred to. Cic. pro Sest. 120, 'Summi poetae ingenium.' Ovid. Am. i. 15, 19,

'Animosi Accius oris.'

Cf. also Quint. x. 1, 97; Tac. Dial. 20; and Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 55 (see 'Pacuvius,' p. 37).

Of the prose writers contemporary with Accius, the most important were the annalists L. Cassius Hemina and L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi; the orators Ti. and C. Graccus, and their opponent C. Fannius, and M. Aemilius Scaurus, the princeps senatus, who also wrote an autobiography (Cic. Brut. 112). L. Coelius Antipater wrote a history of the Second Punic War in seven Books, making use of Silenus, whose account was favourable to the Carthaginians (Cic. de Div. i. 49). His strength lay in style (Cic. de Or. ii. 53); though painstaking, he was apt to exaggerate (Liv. xxvii. 27, 12; xxix, 25, 3).



LUCILIUS.

(1) LIFE.

C. Lucilius' dates are given by Jerome as B.C. 148-103.

yr. Abr. 1869 = B.C. 148, 'Lucilius poeta nascitur.'

yr. Abr. 1914 = B.C. 103, 'C. Lucilius satirarum scriptor Neapoli moritur, ac publico funere effertur anno aetatis xlvi.'

If Jerome's notice were correct, Lucilius would have been only thirteen years old at the time of the Numantine War (B.C. 134) in which he served.

Velleius ii. 9, 4, 'Celebre et Lucili nomen fuit qui sub P. Africano Numantino bello eques militaverat.'

It is probable that Jerome has confused the consuls of B.C. 180, A. Postumius Albinus and C. Calpurnius Piso, with those of B.C. 148, Sp. Postumius Albinus and L. Calpurnius Piso, and that Lucilius was born B.C. 180. No reference is found in Lucilius to any event after B.C. 103, so that Jerome may be right in giving that as the year of his death. In Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 34, Lucilius is called senex, which shows that he lived a long life.

Lucilius was born at Suessa in Campania. He was an eques, and was the great-uncle of Pompey. Juv. 1, 19,

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

Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 75, '"infra Lucili censum": Constat enim Lucilium avonculum maiorem Pompei fuisse: etenim avia Pompei Lucilii soror fuerat.'

Velleius ii. 29, 2, 'Fuit [Cn. Pompeius] genitus matre Lucilia, stirpis senatoriae.' This Lucilia was Lucilius' niece, and her father, Lucilius' brother, was a senator.

Lucilius was very intimate with Africanus the younger and Laelius, and celebrated them in his works. Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 71,

'Quin ubi se a volgo et scaena in secreta remorant virtus Scipiadae et mitis sapientia Laeli, nugari cum illo et discincti ludere, donec decoqueretur olus, soliti.'

Schol. Cruq. ad loc., 'Scipio Africanus et Laelius feruntur tam fuisse familiares et amici Lucilio, ut quodam tempore Laelio circum lectos triclinii fugienti Lucilius superveniens eum obtorta mappa quasi feriturus sequeretur.'

Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 16,

'Attamen et iustum poteras et scribere fortem, Scipiadam ut sapiens Lucilius.'

Lucil. Sat. xxx. 5 (of Scipio),

'Sicubi ad auris fama tuam pugnam clarans adlata dicasset.'

Such intimate association could not have existed if Lucilius had been, as Jerome implies, only nineteen at Scipio's death in B.C. 129.

There are many references to Lucilius' attacks on public men. Cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 62,

'Quid? cum est Lucilius ausus primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem, detrahere et pellem, nitidus qua quisque per ora cederet, introrsum turpis, num Laelius et qui duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen ingenio offensi aut laeso doluere Metello famosisque Lupo cooperto versibus? atqui primores populi arripuit populumque tributim, scilicet uni aequus virtuti atque eius amicis.'

Lucil. lib. incert., ll. 63-4, quoted by Cic. N.D. i. 64,

'"Tubulus si Lucius umquam, si Lupus aut Carbo, Neptuni filius,"

ut ait Lucilius, putasset esse deos, tam periurus aut tam impurus fuisset?'

Pers. 1, 114,

'Secuit Lucilius urbem, te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis.'

Juv. 1, 165,

'Ense velut stricto quotiens Lucilius ardens infremuit, rubet auditor cui frigida mens est criminibus, tacita sudant praecordia culpa.'

The Saturae.—There were thirty Books altogether, by whom arranged is unknown. Fragments are extant from all the Books, except xxi. and xxiv. (and possibly xxiii. and xxv.). Books i.-xx. and xxx. were in hexameters; xxii. in elegiacs; xxvi.-xxvii. in trochaic septenarii; and the next two in trochaic septenarii, iambic senarii, and hexameters. Books xxvi.-xxix. were published first, then Book xxx. In Book xxvi. Lucilius states his views of life, his poetic principles, what led him to write satire, etc. Cf. l. 3,

'Nunc itidem populum aucupamur istis cum scriptoribus.'

Lines 7-20 contain a conversation between Lucilius and a friend who wishes him to engage in public life. Cf. ll. 16-7,

'Publicanu' vero ut Asiae fiam scripturarius pro Lucilio, id ego nolo, et uno hoc non muto omnia.'

Two divisions of the work may be recognized—(i) Books i.-xxi. (to which xxii.-xxv. may be an addition) in hexameters; these Books are referred to as one collection by Varro, L.L. v. 17. (2) Books xxvi.-xxx. in various metres.

Dates of Composition.—Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 62-70 (quoted above), shows that Lucilius attacked Lupus and Metellus while Scipio and Laelius were still alive, i.e. not after B.C. 129; xxvi., ll. 88-9, in which Lucilius sneers at marriage,

'Homines ipsi hanc sibi molestiam ultro atque aerumnam offerunt. Ducunt uxores, producunt, quibus haec faveant, liberos,'

may have special reference to the attempts of Metellus in his censorship (B.C. 131) to encourage it. If this is so, Books xxvi.-xxx. were composed about B.C. 131-129. Book i. was composed after the death of Carneades in B.C. 129 (cf. l. 12, 'nec si Carneaden ipsum Orcu' remittat'), and probably soon after the death of Lupus, on whom the gods are represented as sitting in judgment.

Serv. ad Aen. x. 104, 'Totus hic locus de primo Lucili translatus est libro; ubi inducuntur di habere concilium et agere primo de interitu Lupi cuiusdam ducis in re publica, postea sententias dicere.'

In B.C. 126 Lucilius was probably, along with other peregrini, banished under the law of M. Iunius Pennus, trib. pl. in that year. He probably returned in B.C. 124, when the law was repealed by C. Graccus. Bk. xi. was composed after the condemnation of L. Opimius in B.C. 110. Cf. ll. 19-21,

'Quintus Opimius ille, Iugurtini pater huius, et formosus homo fuit et famosus, utrumque primo adulescens, posterius dat rectiu' sese.'

Subjects of the Satires.—These were very varied. Besides personal satire, we have (1) ethical criticism, as ridicule of philosophers and attacks on luxury.

Lib. incert. ll. 134-5 (imitated by Hor. Sat. i. 3, 132 sqq.; Ep. i. 1, 106-8),

'Nondum etiam, qui haec omnia habebit, formonsus, dives, liber, rex solu' feretur?'

iv. 4-6 (cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 2, 46-8),

'O Publi, o gurges, Galloni: es homo miser, inquit, cenasti in vita numquam bene, cum omnia in ista consumis squilla atque acupensere cum in decimano.'

(2) Travels, as the account of the journey to the Sicilian Strait, imitated by Hor. Sat. i. 5.

(3) Literary criticism. Lucilius jeers at Ennius' line,

'Sparsis hastis longis campus splendet et horret,'

according to Servius ad Aen. xi. 601, 'Est versus Ennianus vituperatus a Lucilio dicente per irrisionem eum debuisse dicere "horret et alget."' Euripides is criticised in xxix., frag. 9. Points of orthography and the like are also treated of, cf. ix. 11,

'Iam puerei venere. E postremum facito atque i, ut pueri plures fiant. I si faci' solum, pupilli, pueri, Lucili hoc uniu' fiet.'[23]

Some other points may be noted:

(1) He addresses a large circle of readers, xxix. 99,

'Persium non curo legere: Laelium Decumum volo.'

Cf. Cic. de Or. ii. 25, 'Hic [Persius] fuit enim, ut noramus, omnium fere nostrorum hominum doctissimus: "Laelium Decimum volo," quem cognovimus virum bonum et non inlitteratum sed nihil ad Persium.'

(2) For his self-esteem of. xxvi. 16, (quoted above). So xxx. 1,

'Quoi sua conmittunt mortali claustra Camenae.'

(3) He often mixes Greek words with Latin. Cf. v. 12,

'Hoc nolueris et debueris te si minu' delectat, quod technion Eisocratiumst +lerodes+que totum ac symmeirakiodes, non operam perdo.'

(4) For his carelessness as to style of. Hor. Sat. i. 4, 9,

'In hora saepe ducentos, ut magnum, versus dictabat, stans pede in uno: cum flueret lutulentus, erat quod tollere velles; garrulus atque piger scribendi ferre laborem, scribendi recte; nam ut multum, nil moror.'

For Lucilius' influence on other poets, see above; also under 'Persius,' p. 262. For Horace's views on Lucilius, see above; also Sat. i. 4; i. 10; ii. 1.

Cf. Quint. x. 1, 93, 'Satira quidem tota nostra est, in qua primus insignem laudem adeptus Lucilius quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores, ut eum non eiusdem modo operis auctoribus sed omnibus poetis praeferre non dubitent. Ego quantum ab illis tantum ab Horatio dissentio, qui Lucilium "fluere lutulentum" et "esse aliquid, quod tollere possis" putat. Nam eruditio in eo mira et libertas atque inde acerbitas et abundantia salis.'



ATTA AND AFRANIUS.

Writers of togatae were Atta and Afranius.

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

T. Quintius Atta died B.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 in Ep. ii. 1, 79 sqq.,

'Recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attae fabula si dubitem, clament periisse pudorem cuncti paene patres, ea cum reprendere coner quae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit.'

L. Afranius was probably born between B.C. 154 and 144. He was the chief writer of togatae (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 title Brundusinae, 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 credidi etiam a Latino"' (ll. 25-8).

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



MINOR POETS:

(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 poem Bellum Histricum, which was probably on the war of B.C. 125. Frag. 5 (Baehrens),

'Non si mihi linguae centum atque ora sient totidem vocesque liquatae,'

is from Il. 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 the fabula palliata. He wrote indices of Plautus (Gell. iii. 3, 1), and a work De 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 of Mimiambi, and a translation of the Iliad. An example of the last is Frag. I (Baehrens) = Il. i. 56,

'Corpora Graiorum maerebat mandier igni.'

(2) Laevius, author of Erotopaegnia, 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 instances oblittera for oblitterata; 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 of fabula 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 the fabula Atellana are retained, as is seen from the titles. Cf. Duo Dosseni, Maccus Copa of Novius; Bucco Adoptatus, Maccus Miles, Maccus Sequester, Maccus Virgo of Pomponius.



PROSE WRITERS OF THE SAME PERIOD:

L. Cornelius Sisenna (praetor B.C. 78), author of Historiae of 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 the Milesiaka of Aristides is mentioned by Ovid, Tr. ii. 443.

Contemporary with Sisenna were Q. Claudius Quadrigarius, and Valerius 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. the libri 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.

Sulla wrote memoirs of his own life (Plut. Lucull. 1), and Lucullus composed in Greek a history of the Marsian War (ibid.).



Footnotes to Chapter I

[1] The scheme of this old national metre, which depends on accent and not on quantity, may be seen from the two examples given below. Various forms are found, but one of the commonest types is identical with the rhythm of the nursery rhyme,

'The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey.'

[2] 'I have heard that a Roman poet is languishing in prison with head on hand'—probably a metaphor from a pillar (but the sense is far from certain).

[3] Utica was besieged by Scipio from 204 to 202 B.C.

[4] In the fabula togata or tabernaria the surroundings of the comedy were Roman, in the fabula palliata Greek, as in Plautus' plays. Togata in a wider sense included tragedy as well as comedy.

[5] This term means the construction of a new play by uniting two old ones.

[6] The references are to the revised edition of Ritschl.

[7] A species of burlesque tragedy, called after its inventor Rhinthon, who flourished B.C. 300.

[8] R.H. ii. p. 431 trans.

[9] This shows that the ancient (rough alphabetical) order has been departed from. Some grammarian of the fifth century altered the position of the play on account of the reference to it in Epid. 213-5 (quoted above).

[10] I.e. the 'Patruus' written by the old Roman (lit., 'son of the porridge-eater').

[11] These games were celebrated in April. Plays were exhibited also at the Ludi Romani (September) and the Ludi Plebei (November).

[12] Much of the information on this head is taken from J. Brix's edition of the Trinummus. Leipzig, 1888.

[13] This is shown in the universal classical usage of bene, male, etc.

[14] The references are to Vahlen's edition.

[15] Thus the original name of Beneventum was Maleventum, i.e. MaloFenta, accusative of MaloFeis; cf. Agrigentum from Akragas, and Tarentum from Taras.

[16] Euhemerus of Messana, who wrote about the end of the fourth century B.C., tried in this work to show that the worship of the gods arose from the worship of deified kings and heroes.

[17] The Oscan form of Pacuvi.

[18] The term doctus refers to his knowledge of the Greek laws of artistic composition.

[19] After Ambivius' name appears in most of the didascaliae 'L. Hatilius Praenestinus.' Probably this person was an actor at some later productions, and his name has in this way crept into the MSS.

[20] Tibiae were called pares or impares according as they were or were not of the same length and key. Duae dextrae were two pipes both playing the treble. Tibiae Sarranae, from Sarra, the old Latin name for Tyre, were a special form of tibiae pares.

[21] Mediocritas = to meson, the intermediate style between to hadron, 'the florid' (ubertas), and to ischnon, 'the simple' (gracilitas). See W. Peterson's note on Quint. x. 1, 44.

[22] For the omission of names, cf. iv. 12 (Jordan), 'dictatorem Karthaginiensium magister equitum monuit' (of Hannibal and Maharbal).

[23] This means that Lucilius would represent the nom. plu. by -ei and the gen. sing, by -i.

[24] The fabula Atellana was a species of farce adopted by the Romans from the Oscan town of Atella in Campania. See Livy, vii. 2, for this and the early history of the Roman drama.



CHAPTER II

THE CICERONIAN AGE.



CICERO.

(1) LIFE.

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 in Brut. 306 sqq. In civil law he was a pupil, in B.C. 89, of Q. Scaevola the Augur, and afterwards of the pontifex of the same name (de Am. 1). In B.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 Rome B.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 of repetundae (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 a supplicatio), 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 leading optimates, 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 (born B.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 of Philippics against 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).

(2) WORKS.

(a) Speeches.

1. The earliest extant speech is that Pro Quinctio, delivered B.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: par. 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 speech Pro Roscio Comoedo, usually assigned to B.C. 76, was a defence of the famous actor in a civil case.

4. The year 70 B.C. is memorable for the group of speeches ('accusationis vii. libri,' Orat. 103), against Verres, accused of repetundae by the Sicilians, at whose urgent entreaty Cicero undertook the prosecution. The preliminary question, who should conduct the prosecution, is argued in the Divinatio in Caecilium. Q. Caecilius Niger, Verres' quaestor, claimed the right to prosecute, but this manoeuvre failed. Of the six speeches in Verrem only one, the Actio 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. par. 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 the Actio Secunda were published afterwards in order that the facts might be thoroughly known.

5. Pro M. Fonteio (incomplete), for Fonteius, propraetor of Gallia Narbonensis B.C. 75-3, on a charge of repetundae. This trial perhaps took place B.C. 69, certainly after the equites had been placed on the iudicia by the Lex Aurelia of 70 (cf. par. 26).

6. To the same year probably belongs the speech Pro Caecina in a civil case.

7. In B.C. 66 Cicero made his first political speech, Pro Lege Manilia, or De 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 speech Pro A. Cluentio Habito. The date is fixed as the year of Cicero's praetorship by par. 147, 'mea quaestio de pecuniis repetundis.'

9. The three speeches De Lege Agraria are concerned with the bill of P. Servilius Rullus for the appointment of decemviri with 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 before contiones.

10. The speech Pro C. Rabirio perduellionis reo was delivered on behalf of Rabirius, charged before the comitia with the murder of the tribune Saturninus in B.C. 100. The prosecution had been instituted by the democratic party to vindicate the old right of provocatio ad populum, and to establish the inviolability of the tribunes.

11. Of the four speeches In 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, the Pro Murena. The defendant was charged with bribery in his candidature for the consulship, and among the prosecutors was Cato.

13-14. In B.C. 62 Cicero defended P. Sulla, who was accused of complicity with Catiline (Pro Sulla), and delivered the speech Pro Archia in support of his friend's title to the Roman citizenship.

15. In B.C. 59 L. Flaccus was accused of repetundae as propraetor of Asia 62-60, and defended by Cicero in the speech Pro Flacco.

16-19. After Cicero's return from exile he returned thanks to the Senate in the speech Cum Senatui gratias egit, 5th September B.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 speech De Domo Sua was delivered before the pontifices, who decided that the site of Cicero's house, which Clodius had consecrated, should be restored to its owner. Connected with this is the speech De Haruspicum Responsis, of the year 56, rebutting the argument of Clodius that the declaration of the haruspices, 'loca sacra et religiosa profana haberi' (par. 9) referred to the restitution of Cicero's house.

20. The speech Pro Sestio is in defence of one of Cicero's friends who, as tribune, had worked energetically for his recall from exile, and was now accused de vi at the instigation of Clodius. Sestius was acquitted in March, B.C. 56 (ad Q.F. ii. 4, 1).

21. The Interrogatio in P. Vatinium testem was 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 in B.C. 56, for Cn. Domitius, who tried the case (par. 32), was praetor in that year (ad Q.F. ii. 3, 6).

23. The speech De 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 the palinodia of ad Att. iv. 5, 1, and contrasts Cicero's tone to Caesar in this speech with his attitude in the Pro Sestio, In Vatinium, and De Haruspicum Responsis.

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

25. In Pisonem, an attack on Cicero's enemy (consul B.C. 58), delivered in the Senate B.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 Milo de vi in B.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 speech Pro Marcello thanked Caesar for allowing Marcellus, the consul of B.C. 51, to return to Rome.

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

31. In the latter part of B.C. 45 he delivered in Caesar's house the speech Pro Rege Deiotaro on 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, called Philippics, 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 alternative Antonianae. The Philippics cover the period from 2nd September 44 to 22nd April 43. They were all delivered in the Senate, except iv. and vi., which are contiones, 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 invective in Sallustium, and the speech Pridie 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. in Pro 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.'

(b) Philosophical Works.

1. De Re Publica, a discussion of the ideal state and the ideal citizen, was published before B.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 the Somnium 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. The De Legibus succeeded the De Re Publica, as Plato's Laws came after the Republic. 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 in De Divinatione ii. 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 in B.C. 46, the year of the Brutus (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 tract Paradoxa, 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, a Consolatio, of which only fragments survive. Plin. N.H. praef. 22, quotes Cicero as saying that he here followed the Greek philosopher, Crantor, peri penthous. It contained notices of the deaths of great men, De Div. ii. 22, 'clarissimorum hominum nostrae civitatis gravissimos exitus in Consolatione collegimus.'

5. In the Hortensius Cicero 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 the Prior Academics, the speakers in both dialogues being the same. The Hortensius seems 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 treatise De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum discusses various theories of the summum 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. The Academics appeared in two editions. Of the original edition Book ii., entitled Lucullus, 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 of Tusculanae 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 by B.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 the Tusculans (de Div. ii. 3): in July 45 (ad Att. xiii. 39, 2) Atticus is asked for the loan of Phaidrou peri theon and peri Pallados.

10. The essay De Senectute, called also Cato Maior after 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 the Laelius, or De Amicitia (de Am. 4 mentions the de Sen.), in which Laelius discourses on friendship. In this book, according to Gell. i. 3, 10-11, Cicero was under obligations to Theophrastus peri philias.

12. De Divinatione, in two Books, forms a supplement to the De 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 essay De Fato was written in 44, after Caesar's death (cf. par. 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 treatise De Gloria, in two Books, now lost (ad Att. xvi. 2, 6; de Off. ii. 31).

15. The latest of the extant philosophical works is the De 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 Virtutibus and De Auguriis; and we possess fragments of a translation of Plato's Protagoras and Timaeus, which cannot be earlier than B.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, 'apographa sunt; 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 in De 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]

(c) Rhetorical Treatises.

1. The earliest of these is De Inventione, or Rhetorica, in two Books, written probably for the author's own use during Sulla's absence in Asia B.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 the Rhet. 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 Books De Oratore were 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 in B.C. 91, at the Tusculan villa of L. Licinius Crassus; he and the rival orator, M. Antonius, are the chief speakers.

3. The dialogue Brutus, or De 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 (par. 231), he discusses Caesar, M. Marcellus, and himself. The speakers are Brutus, Atticus, and Cicero; and the date is probably 46, for the Brutus is earlier than the Orator, which refers to it (par. 23).

4. The Orator or De Optimo Genere Dicendi is a sequel to the De Oratore and the Brutus, 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 Oratoriae is a catechism on rhetoric, in which the questions are put to Cicero by his son.

6. The Topica was written in response to repeated requests from Trebatius for explanation of Aristotle's Topics. 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 treatise De Optimo Genere Oratorum was 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.

(d) Letters.

Cicero's correspondence begins B.C. 68 with ad 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 est synagoge, 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.

1. Epistulae ad Atticum, in sixteen Books, belonging to the years B.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 years B.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, written B.C. 62-43. This title is not found in any MS. Late MSS. and old editions have 'Epistulae Familiares': for the title 'Ad Diversos' there is no authority. In the best MSS. 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, written B.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 of B.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 in B.C. 59.

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

7. A translation of Xenophon's Oeconomicus, 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, entitled Pontius Glaucus: Plut. Cic. 2, kai ti poiemation eti paidos autou diasozetai Pontios Glaukos en tetrametro pepoiemenon.

2. In B.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 in De Nat. Deor. ii. 104 sqq.

3. In the same year he wrote a poem De 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 in De Div. i. 17 sqq.

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 poem Ad 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 are Limon, in which Terence was praised (see p. 51), and iocularis 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 sic omnia dixisset.'

Tac. Dial. 21 (quoted p. 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 the MSS. 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 the ad Herennium. He may have been the Q. Cornificius who opposed Cicero for the consulship in B.C. 64. The date of the treatise is probably B.C. 86-84.



QUINTUS CICERO.

Q. Tullius Cicero, the brother of the orator, was born probably B.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 as legatus of Pompey in Sardinia B.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 the Commentariolum Petitionis (the title in par. 58) or De Petitione Consulatus. It is in the form of a letter, and is headed in the best MSS. '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 speech in 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 in De Fin. v. 3; ad Fam. xvi. 8, 2.



TIRO.

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 also p. 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, as pandektai, mentioned by Gell. xiii. 9, 2.

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



T. POMPONIUS ATTICUS (B.C. 109-32).

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's De Re Publica that suggested its composition (Cic. Brut. 19), its date cannot be earlier than B.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), written B.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 good MSS. to reproduce in his establishment makes him important in the history of the preservation of ancient literature.



M. TERENTIUS VARRO.

(1) LIFE.

M. Terentius Varro was born B.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 a corona navalis for his services. Varro R.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, Trikaranos, against them (Appian B.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. 103 sqq.). He was proscribed, but the devotion of his friends secured his escape (Appian B.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 in B.C. 27, in his ninetieth year. Jerome yr. Abr. 1990, 'M. Terentius Varro philosophus prope nonagenarius moritur.'

(2) WORKS.

Cicero (ad Att. xiii. 18) calls Varro 'homo polygraphotatos,' 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 treatise De Re Rustica in 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 written B.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 books De 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, qui agrum quia in eo agatur aliquid, et graculos quia gregatim volent dictos voluit persuadere Ciceroni?' From Book v. onwards the work was dedicated to Cicero, in return for his Academics; 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 probably B.C. 45-3.

Of the minor works on grammar, some at least were prior to the De 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, Peri charakteron.

3. Roman History and Antiquities. Varro's great work in this department was the Antiquitates rerum divinarum humanarumque, in forty-one Books. The arrangement, according to Augustine De 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 as pontifex maximus. As it is mentioned by Cic. Ac. i. 9, it must have been published before B.C. 45.

Minor works under this head were Annales, Res urbanae, De gente populi Romani, De vita populi Romani, De familiis Troianis, Tribuum Liber; Aetia (aitia), explaining Roman usages, in the form of a catechism; Eisagogikos to 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 about B.C. 77, a weather almanack for sailors; Ephemeris rustica or agrestis, for farmers. (b) Libri navales, perhaps identical with the above, (c) De ora maritima.

5. Law.—De iure civili in 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. Disciplinae in 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 the Hebdomades or Imaginum Libri xv. 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's Peplos had dealt similarly with the heroes of the Trojan War, and the 'Peplographia Varronis' of Cic. ad Att. xvi. 11, 3 is usually identified with the Hebdomades.

11. Logistorikoi, 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 the Saturae 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 century B.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. 'Dis paides hoi gerontes,' '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 of Poemata, four of Satires, and six of Pseudotragoediae (tragi-comedy).

13. Oratory.—Varro left twenty-two Books of Orationes and three of Suasiones, 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 name Sententiae Varronis is of uncertain authenticity.



LABERIUS.

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

In B.C. 45 Laberius, although an eques, 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, 2 sqq., '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 impetum voluerunt multi effugere, pauci potuerunt, quo me detrusit paene extremis sensibus! Quem nulla ambitio, nulla umquam largitio, nullus timor, vis nulla, nulla auctoritas movere potuit in iuventa de statu: ecce in senecta ut facile labefecit loco viri excellentis mente clemente edita summissa placide blandiloquens oratio! Etenim ipsi di negare cui nil potuerunt, hominem me denegare quis posset pati? Ego bis tricenis annis actis sine nota eques Romanus e Lare egressus meo domum 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 are manuatus est for furatus est; abluvium for diluvium.

(b) His use of plebeian expressions.

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

(c) His references to philosophy.

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 (written B.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 poem de rerum natura.



M. FURIUS BIBACULUS.

According to Jerome, Bibaculus was born B.C. 103, but, as he laughs at the old age of the grammarian Orbilius (114-c. 17 B.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 as iambi by 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, Aethiopis and Bellum Gallicum (on Iulius Caesar's exploits), are probably referred to by Hor. Sat. i. 10, 36,

'Turgidus Alpinus iugulat dum Memnona, dumque diffingit Rheni luteum caput.'

Acron ad loc., 'Bibaculum quemdam poetam Gallum tangit.'

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

'Seu pingui tentus omaso Furius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpes.'

Acron ad 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 work Lucubrationes. (Pliny N.H. xxiv. praef.)



CAESAR.

(1) LIFE.

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, Appian B.C. ii. 149, Plut. Caes. 69), must have placed his birth in B.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 in B.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 in B.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 of flamen Dialis before 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 the civica corona for 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 the pontifices in the room of his uncle, C. Aurelius Cotta, he returned to Rome in 74, and soon became a tribunus militum. In the agitation for the restoration of the powers of the tribunes of the plebs, Caesar took a prominent part; he also supported the Lex Aurelia of 70, which gave the equites a share in the iudicia, and the Lex 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 the quaestio de sicariis, he condemned some of the most active agents in Sulla's proscriptions. In 63 he supported the lex agraria of P. Servilius Rullus, and brought about the prosecution of C. Rabirius for the murder of the tribune Saturninus. On the re-enactment of the Lex Domitia de sacerdotiis, Caesar was elected pontifex 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 the Leges Iuliae; and before he went out of office his position was secured by the Lex 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 consulship in 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).

He had been created dictator in 49 and 48, with the tribunician power in perpetuity; and on his return to Rome in 45 he was made consul for ten years, dictator, and praefectus morum, with the title of imperator for life. In the intervals between his campaigns he carried out numerous reforms, including the rectification of the calendar, B.C. 46 (see p. 110). His assassination by Brutus and Cassius and the other conspirators took place on 15th March, B.C. 44.

(2) WORKS.

1. De Bello Gallico, in seven Books. The title used by Caesar himself was probably Commentarii rerum suarum (as in Cic. Brut. 262, and Sueton. Iul. 56; cf. Strabo, iv. 1, 1 hypomnemata), although this does not appear in the best MSS., which give variously libri, historiae, or ephemeris rerum gestarum belli Gallici.

The work describes Caesar's operations in Gaul, Germany, and Britain during the years B.C. 58-52, the events of each year occupying a separate Book. It was written and published as a whole, not in parts at the end of each year's campaign. Otherwise it is difficult to see why Cicero should not have heard of it from his brother Quintus or his friend Trebatius, both of whom were with Caesar; or why Hirtius should have spoken of the rapidity with which the work was composed (B.G. viii. praef. 6, 'Ceteri quam bene atque emendate, nos etiam quam facile atque celeriter eos perfecerit, scimus'). This view is corroborated by the statement of Asinius Pollio, that there were mistakes in the work due to defective memory (Sueton. Iul. 56, 'quae ... memoria lapsus perperam ediderit'); and by some expressions in the earlier Books pointing forward to events mentioned later (i. 28 compared with vii. 9, and iv. 21 with vii. 76).

The time of composition was probably the winter after the last campaign narrated in the Book (B.C. 52-51). It was certainly published before B.C. 46, the date of Cicero's Brutus, and probably before the rupture with Pompey, of whom Caesar speaks with approbation (vii. 6, 'Cum iam ille urbanas res virtute Cn. Pompei commodiorem in statum pervenisse intellegeret').

The aim of the book was twofold: (1) to provide material for professed historians: Hirt. B.G. viii. praef. 5, 'qui sunt editi, ne scientia tantarum rerum scriptoribus deesset'; (2) to furnish a defence of the author's own conduct—an object carefully kept in the background. It has been proved that Caesar suppressed facts which would have told against him at Rome (e.g. his rapacity, Sueton. Iul. 54), and the plausible motives which he assigns for some of his actions cannot be accepted as genuine. Cf. the criticism of Asinius Pollio, Sueton. Iul. 56, 'Pollio Asinius parum diligenter parumque integra veritate compositos putat, cum Caesar pleraque et quae per alios erant gesta temere crediderit, et quae per se vel consulto vel etiam memoria lapsus perperam ediderit, existimatque rescripturum et correcturum fuisse.' The style is remarkable for its brevity, directness, and the absence of ornament and emotion (Cic. Brut. 262, 'Nudi sunt, recti et venusti, omni ornatu orationis, tamquam veste, detracto').

Among the materials used by Caesar in writing the Commentarii were his own despatches to the Senate (ii. 35, iv. 38, vii. 90) and the reports of his legati. Late writers speak of his ephemerides (e.g. Plut. Caes. 22), but there is no ground for supposing that he kept a regular diary. He depended to a great extent on his own memory (cf. Pollio's criticism, above).

2. De Bello Civili, in three Books, similar in plan to the Bell. Gall. Book iii. ends abruptly with an event of no great importance, and, as the death of Pompey would have formed a natural ending, we must suppose that Caesar had intended to continue the narrative with the Alexandrian, Spanish, and African wars, but was prevented from carrying out his plan. The work was published after his death, without undergoing revision (Sueton. Iul. 56, 'Pollio existimat rescripturum et correcturum fuisse').

Other works in the Corpus Caesarianum.—Sueton. Iul. 56 says, 'Alexandrini Africique et Hispaniensis [belli] incertus auctor est. Alii Oppium putant, alii Hirtium, qui etiam Gallici belli novissimum imperfectumque librum suppleverit.'

Suetonius evidently believed that Hirtius was the author of B.G. viii., for he introduces a quotation from the preface to that Book with the words, 'Hirtius ita praedicat' (ibid.). Hirtius is also mentioned in the MSS. as the author of B.G. viii., and there is no reason to doubt that this is the case. That he is the author of any of the others is rendered doubtful by the fact that his bad health (which lasted to November, B.C. 44) and his position as consul would leave him little time for literature between the death of Caesar (15th March, B.C. 44) and his own death at Mutina (27th April, B.C. 43). Hirtius was thus able to carry out only the first part of the plan sketched in B.G. viii. praef. 2, 'Caesaris nostri commentarios rerum gestarum, non cohaerentibus superioribus atque insequentibus eius scriptis, contexui, novissimumque imperfectum ab rebus gestis Alexandriae confeci usque ad exitum non quidem civilis dissensionis, cuius finem nullum videmus, sed vitae Caesaris.'

G. Landgraf, Untersuchungen zu Caesar und seinen Fortsetzern (Erlangen, 1888), arrives at the following conclusions:

1. In the Bellum Africum we possess the notes of Asinius Pollio, who took part in the war. That the work partook of the nature of a journal is shown by the style; e.g. interim is used about eighty times as a connecting link, and dates and hours of the day are given carefully. Landgraf supports his position by instancing similarities of expression in the Bell. Afr. and in three letters from Pollio to Cicero (ad Fam. x. 31; 32; 33).

2. Ch. 48-64 of the Bell. Alex. on events in Spain in B.C. 48-7 were sent to Hirtius by Pollio, who was governor of Hispania Ulterior in B.C. 45, and as such was best acquainted with these incidents.

3. On the death of Hirtius, Pollio, on searching for his own papers (which he had lent Hirtius to help him in his work), found Hirtius' Bell. Gall. viii., and made some additions.

4. The Bell. Civ. was in Hirtius' possession unedited at his death. Hirtius evidently intended to publish it along with B.G. viii. The third Book had been left unfinished by Caesar, whose notes, some of which were very brief, Hirtius had extended, and filled up the gaps in the narrative. There were also some notes on the Bell. Alex. The Bell. Alex. in the narrower sense (cc. 1-33) Hirtius began with, and in the early chapters contented himself with making small additions. In the later parts are found considerable additions both by Hirtius and by Pollio. Landgraf attempts to distinguish the work of the two: cc. 34-41, on the Bellum Ponticum, being mostly by Pollio, and cc. 65-76, on the wars in Illyria and against Pharnaces, mostly by Hirtius.

5. The authorship of the Bellum Hispaniense, which in style is far below the Bellum Africum, Landgraf leaves an open question.

E. Woelfflin (Sitzungsberichte der k. b. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Muenchen, 1889, pp. 323 sqq., and ed. of the Bell. Afr., 1889) holds the same views as Landgraf, and gives many instances of difference in diction between Bell. Afr. on the one hand, and Gall. viii. and Alex. on the other; e.g.

Bell. Afr. Bell. Gall. viii.; Bell. Alex. suppetiae, - 7 times - never. convallis, - 5 " - vallis, 10 times. convulnero, - 9 " - vulnero (as in Caesar). contendo + infin., 20 " - never. adorior, - 14 " - only in Gall. viii. 34. adgredior, - never - 14 times. grandis, - 7 times - magnus. subito, - 22 " - never. repente, - never - 16 times. postquam, - 34 " - not in Gall. viii. hist. infin., - 24 " - never.

On the other hand, Widmann, Philologus, L. (1891), p. 565, proves that the author of the note-book worked up in the Bell. Afr. was an officer of the 5th legion, that Pollio was not connected with the 5th legion, and probably did not go through the whole African war, as the author clearly must have done. This, of course, also proves that Hirtius cannot have been the author.

On the whole, we think it proved that the Bell. Afr. was not written by the author of B. Gall. viii. and B. Alex., and that the author was not in any case Pollio. The B. Alex. is probably worked up from note-books written by several hands. The attempt to distinguish the work of Hirtius and another hand in B. Gall. viii. is against the evidence of Suetonius; and though several hands have co-operated in B. Alex., it is hardly possible to distinguish them precisely.

The Bell. Hisp. is evidently the work of an eye-witness, cf. c. 29, 'nostri ad dimicandum procedunt, id quod adversarios existimabamus esse facturos.' He is apt to be bombastic (c. 5, 'hic alternis non solum morti mortem exaggerabant, sed tumulos tumulis exaequabant'), and makes a ridiculous show of learning (quoting the combat of Achilles and Memnon, c. 25, and Ennius, c. 23, 'nostri cessere parumper'; c. 31, 'pes pede premitur, armis teruntur arma.')

(3) CAESAR'S LOST WORKS.

1. De Analogia, a treatise on grammar in two Books, dedicated to Cicero (Cic. Brut. 253) and composed in the interval between two of the campaigns in Gaul. Sueton. Iul. 56, 'Reliquit et de Analogia duos libros ... In transitu Alpium, cum ex citeriore Gallia conventibus peractis ad exercitum rediret ... fecit.' It supported the view that analogia, not anomalia, should be the governing principle in grammar, i.e. that order should be introduced into the chaos of varying usages. Gellius i. 10, 4 has a notable quotation from the first Book, 'Habe semper in memoria atque in pectore, ut tamquam scopulum sic fugias inauditum atque insolens verbum.'

2. De Astris, a book on astronomy, written apparently in connexion with the rectification of the calendar, B.C. 46, perhaps in Greek. Suetonius says nothing about it, but it was known to Macrobius, Saturn., i. 16, 39, 'Iulius Caesar ... siderum motus, de quibus non indoctos libros reliquit, ab Aegyptiis disciplinis hausit.' The liber de computatione and liber fastorum, attributed to Caesar by the Scholiast on Lucan, x. 185, 187, may have formed part of the De Astris.

3. Anticatones, written B.C. 45, in reply to Cicero's panegyric on Cato, with flattering references to Cicero himself. Sueton. Iul. 56, 'Reliquit et de Analogia duos libros et Anticatones totidem. ... Sub tempus Mundensis proelii fecit.' Cicero expresses himself as highly pleased with the book, ad Att. xiii. 51, 'bene existimo de illis libris, ut tibi coram'; but his tone is different in Topica, 94, 'quibus omnibus generibus usus est nimis impudenter Caesar contra Catonem meum.'

4. Apophthegmata, a collection of notable sayings, probably growing out of the Dicta Collectanea of Sueton. Iul. 56, and completed B.C. 46-5. Cic. ad Fam. ix. 16, 4, 'audio Caesarem, cum volumina iam confecerit apophthegmaton, si quod afferatur ad eum pro meo, quod meum non sit, reicere solere.'

5. Letters.—In the time of Suetonius, Caesar's official despatches to the Senate were extant, and also private letters to Cicero and other friends, e.g. his confidants Balbus and Oppius. In these a cypher was, where necessary, employed. Cf. Sueton. Iul. 56, and Gell. xvii. 9, 1.

6. Speeches.—About a dozen titles of speeches are known, but only a few detached words and phrases survive. As an orator, Caesar stood in the front rank (Sueton. Iul. 55). For encomiums on his style see Cic. Brut. 252, and Quintilian, x. 1, 114, who considered him second only to Cicero, and remarkable for vis, acumen, concitatio, and elegantia. The language of Tac. Dial. 21 is less complimentary, 'Nisi forte quisquam aut Caesaris pro Decio Samnite aut Bruti pro Deiotaro rege ceterosque eiusdem lentitudinis ac teporis libros legit, nisi qui et carmina eorumdem miratur.'

7. Poems.—Caesar in his youth composed a poem in praise of Hercules, and a tragedy, Oedipus. Plutarch (Caes. 2) speaks of him as reciting poems of his own composition to the pirates who took him prisoner. On his journey from Rome to Spain, B.C. 46, he wrote a descriptive poem with the title of Iter.

Sueton. Iul. 56, 'Reliquit ... poema quod inscribitur Iter ... [fecit] dum ab urbe in Hispaniam ulteriorem quarto et vicensimo die pervenit ... Feruntur et a puero et ab adulescentulo quaedam scripta, ut Laudes Herculis, tragoedia Oedipus, item Dicta Collectanea: quos omnes libellos vetuit Augustus publicari, in epistula quam brevem admodum ac simplicem ad Pompeium Macrum, cui ordinandas bibliothecas delegaverat, misit.'

Pliny the younger mentions Caesar as a love poet (Ep. v. 3, 5). His poetry is spoken of by Tacitus in no flattering terms, Dial. 21, 'fecerunt enim [Caesar et Brutus] et carmina et in bibliothecas rettulerunt, non melius quam Cicero, sed felicius, quia illos fecisse pauciores sciunt.'

The only extant lines are those on Terence (q.v.).



C. ASINIUS POLLIO.

C. Asinius Pollio (B.C. 76-A.D. 5), governor of Farther Spain B.C. 44, consul B.C. 40, retired from public life after his Dalmatian triumph, B.C. 39. He was famous as an orator, and was the author of (1) A history of the civil wars from B.C. 60 (Hor. Od. ii. 1, 1 sqq.). (2) Tragedies (Verg. Ecl. 8, 10; Hor. Sat. i. 10, 42; Od. ii. 1, 9 sqq.) and love poems (Plin. Ep. v. 3, 5). (3) A work in which the style of Sallust was criticized (Sueton. Gramm. 10). His remarks on Caesar, Cicero, and Livy may be from the same book (Sueton. Iul. 56; Quint. xii. 1, 22; i. 5, 56).

For Pollio's style, cf. Quint. x. 1, 113, 'A nitore et iucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest ut videri possit saeculo prior.' Pollio founded the first public library at Rome, in the Atrium Libertatis, B.C. 38 (Plin. N.H. xxxv. 10), For his intimacy with the poet Cinna, who wrote the Propempticon Pollionis in his honour, see p. 142; and for his patronage of Virgil and Horace, see Verg. Ecl. 3, 84; 8, 6-13; Hor. Sat. i. 10, 42. Pollio, of course, belongs to the Augustan Age, but is mentioned here because of his connexion with the Corpus Caesarianum.