Each book is divided into chapters on separate topics (e.g. De Pudicitia), under each of which he gives (1) illustrations from Roman history, (2) those from the history of other nations. The latter of course are few in comparison.

Although Iulius Paris, the epitomizer of Valerius, speaks of ten books, only nine are extant, and it may be doubted whether there ever was a tenth. Book i. is mutilated.

There are only two passages which throw any light on the date of composition—viii. 11, ext. 4, a denunciation of Seianus, obviously written after his fall in A.D. 31; and vi. 1 praef., before the death of Livia, A.D. 29. The work was published at latest in A.D. 37, for it is dedicated to Tiberius, who is the object of the most servile flattery (e.g. ii. 9, 6); similar language is used of Iulius Caesar (iv. 5, 6), and Augustus (i. 7, 1), while Brutus and Cassius are denounced as parricides (i. 5, 7; i. 8, 8).

Two abridgments of Valerius Maximus are extant.



CELSUS.

Of the life of Celsus nothing is known; but he was an older contemporary of Columella. Colum. iii. 17, 4, 'Iulius Atticus et Cornelius Celsus, aetatis nostrae celeberrimi auctores, patrem atque filium Sasernam secuti.'

He wrote an encyclopaedic work on agriculture, medicine, war, rhetoric, and philosophy, but only the section on medicine is extant.

Quint. xi. 12, 24, 'Cum etiam Cornelius Celsus, mediocri vir ingenio, non solum de his omnibus conscripserit artibus sed amplius rei militaris et rusticae et medicinae praecepta reliquerit.'

The first part consisted of five books on agriculture: cf. Colum. i. 1, 14, 'Cornelius totum corpus disciplinae quinque libris complexus est.' This section of the work was probably written in the reign of Tiberius, for it was known to Iulius Graecinus, whose execution took place under Caligula. Plin. N.H. xiv. 33, 'Graecinus, qui alioqui Cornelium Celsum transcripsit.'

There are eight books De Re Medica. The only indication of their date is in iv. 7, where Celsus mentions a prescription as not found 'in monumentis medicorum.' As this prescription is given by Scribonius Largus, who wrote about A.D. 47, Celsus must have written before that year.

The section on war was used by Vegetius (De Re Mil. i. 8).

Rhetoric was also treated in the encyclopaedia. Quintilian, who mentions him as one of the more careful writers on that subject (iii. 1, 21, 'accuratius scripsit Celsus'), frequently combats his opinions and speaks of him rather contemptuously: e.g. ix. 1, 18, 'Cornelius Celsus nimia profecto novitatis cupidine ductus. Nam quis ignorasse eruditum alioqui virum credat,' etc. He may be the Celsus of Juv. 6, 245, who (according to the Scholiast) wrote a manual of rhetoric in seven books.

There were also six books on the history of philosophy. Augustine de haeres. prol., 'Opiniones omnium philosophorum qui sectas varias condiderunt usque ad tempora sua vi. non parvis voluminibus quidam Celsus absolvit; nec redarguit aliquem, sed tantum quid sentirent aperuit. Cum ferme centum philosophos nominasset,' etc.

Celsus also wrote separate treatises (1) on philosophy, Quint. x. 1, 24, 'Scripsit non parum multa Cornelius Celsus, Sextios secutus, non sine cultu ac nitore'; (2) on strategy (Lydus de mag. i. 47).



PHAEDRUS.

The title of Phaedrus' work, 'Phaedri Augusti liberti fabularum Aesopiarum libri,' probably means that he was a freedman of Augustus. Tiberius is called 'Caesar Tiberius' in ii. 6, 7; contrast the reference to Augustus, iii. 10, 39, 'a divo Augusto.' Phaedrus was born in Thrace, possibly in the district of Pieria; but the date is unknown; iii. prol. 17,

'Ego, quem Pierio mater enixa est iugo, in quo tonanti sancta Mnemosyne Iovi fecunda novies artium peperit chorum';

ibid. 54,

'Ego, litteratae qui sum propior Graeciae, cur somno inerti deseram patriae decus? Threissa cum gens numeret auctores suos, Linoque Apollo sit parens, Musa Orpheo.'

Some wrongly take these allusions to mean that he belongs to the realm of poesy. That he came to Rome early is shown by the knowledge of Latin literature he acquired in his boyhood. Cf. iii. epil. 33, where he quotes Ennius,

'Ego, quondam legi quam puer sententiam, "Palam mutire plebeio piaculum est," dum sanitas constabit, pulchre meminero.'

After publishing two books of fables, Phaedrus was persecuted by Seianus, in some way unknown; iii. prol. 38,

'Ego porro illius [Aesopi] semita feci viam, et cogitavi plura quam reliquerat, in calamitatem deligens quaedam meam. Quod si accusator alius Seiano foret, si testis alius, index alius denique, dignum faterer esse me tantis malis.'

This persecution may have arisen from references in his fables, such as i. 1 (Lupus et agnus), l. 14,

'Haec propter illos scripta est homines fabula, qui fictis causis innocentes opprimunt';

i. 6 (Ranae ad solem), which Nisard[73] thinks refers to the ambitious marriage which Seianus projected with Livia, daughter of Germanicus, 'The sun dries up the ponds; what will happen if the sun marries and has children?' l. 9,

'Quidnam futurum est, si crearit liberos?'

Phaedrus survived the attacks made on him, and Book v. was written in his old age (see below).

Several personal points are clear from his writings:

(1) He had to meet the attacks of critics; ii. epil. 10,

'Si livor obtrectare curam voluerit, non tamen eripiet laudis conscientiam.'

(2) His desire for fame and his self-consciousness; iii. prol. 60,

'Ergo hinc abesto livor, ne frustra gemas, quoniam sollemnis mihi debetur gloria.'

(3) His contempt for money; iii. prol. 21,

'Curamque habendi penitus corde eraserim';

v. 4, 7,

'Huius respectu fabulae deterritus periculosum semper vitavi lucrum.'

Phaedrus wrote five Books of fables. Many have certainly been lost. Cf. his reference to tree-fables, none of which we have; i. prol. 6,

'quod arbores loquantur, non tantum ferae.'

There are, besides the five Books, thirty fables usually printed as an appendix, and probably composed by Phaedrus. The fables are all in 'impure' iambic senarii, like those of Terence and Publius Syrus. Phaedrus followed Aesop, but, as he affirms, not slavishly; i. prol. 1,

'Aesopus auctor quam materiam repperit, hanc ego polivi versibus senariis';

iv. prol. 10,

'fabulis quas Aesopias, non Aesopi, nomino.'

We have the Greek originals for about a third of the fables; but Phaedrus speaks of his additions to Aesop; ii. prol. 8,

'Equidem omni cura morem servabo senis; sed si libuerit aliquid interponere, dictorum sensus ut delectet varietas, bonas in partes, lector, accipias velim.'

Stories from contemporary or recent history are given in ii. 6, 7; iii. 10; v. 7.

Books i. and ii. were published under Tiberius; Book iii. was published after Tiberius' death (cf. iii. prol. 33), and is dedicated to Eutychus, who has been identified with a favourite slave of Caligula. Book iv. followed, addressed to Particulo (iv. prol. 10). Book v., addressed to Philetes, was written in the poet's old age; v. 10, 7,

'Cui senex contra Lacon: "Non te destituit animus, sed vires meae. Quod fuimus, lauda, si iam damnas, quod sumus." Hoc cur, Philete, scripserim, pulchre vides.'

Martial is the only classical writer who refers to Phaedrus; iii. 20, 5,

'An aemulatur improbi iocos Phaedri?'



SENECA THE YOUNGER.

(1) LIFE.

L. Annaeus Seneca, the son of Annaeus Seneca, the rhetor, was born at Corduba in Spain. For information about his family see under 'Seneca the elder,' pp. 226-7. He was probably born about the beginning of our era, as he seems to have remembered Asinius Pollio, who died A.D. 5, and had passed his boyhood in A.D. 19, when the Jewish and Egyptian rites were expelled from Rome.

Sen. de tranquill. animi, 17, 7, 'Qualem Pollionem Asinium meminimus, quem nulla res ultra decimam [horam] retinuit.'

Ep. 108, 22, 'In Tiberii Caesaris principatum iuventae tempus inciderat: alienigena tum sacra movebantur.'

At an early age Seneca was brought to Rome by his mother's sister, who was probably the wife of Vitrasius Pollio, prefect of Egypt for sixteen years.

Ad Helv. 19, 2, 'Illius manibus in urbem perlatus sum.'

Seneca's mother took a great interest in his education, which was conducted under Fabianus Papirius (cf. Ep. 100, 9, etc.) and Sotion the Pythagorean, of Alexandria, pupils of Sextius (for Seneca's study of whom see Ep. 64).

Ad Helv. 15, 1, 'Vera vis materni doloris oritur ... "ubi studia, quibus libentius quam femina, familiarius quam mater intereram?"'

Ep. 108, 17, 'Dicebat [Sotion] quare ille animalibus abstinuisset, quare postea Sextius ... par. 22. His ego instinctus abstinere animalibus coepi et anno peracto non tantum facilis erat mihi consuetudo, sed dulcis.'

The elder Seneca put an end to this abstinence, which was associated in the popular view with foreign superstitions (see Ep. 108, 17-23). This must have happened about A.D. 19. The influence of Sotion is seen in passages imitated from his book de ira cohibenda by Seneca. Seneca also studied under Attalus, a Greek Stoic, possibly about A.D. 20.

Ep. 108, 13-15, 'Ego certe cum Attalum audirem in vitia, in errores, in mala vitae perorantem, saepe misertus sum generis humani et illum sublimem altioremque humano fastigio credidi ... Inde mihi quaedam permansere, Lucili. Magno enim in omnia inceptu veneram. Deinde ad civitatis vitam reductus ex bene coeptis pauca servavi: inde ostreis boletisque in omnem vitam renuntiatum est.'

Seneca speaks of his change of studies and occupations in Ep. 49, 2, 'Modo apud Sotionem philosophum puer sedi. Modo causas agere coepi. Modo desii velle agere, modo desii posse.'

In A.D. 31 Seneca was probably still at Rome; cf. N.Q. i. 1, 3, 'Vidimus [prodigium] eo tempore, quo de Seiano actum est.' Lipsius' inference[74] that Seneca made a voyage to Egypt about this time is probable, though Seneca himself gives no direct information about it. According to this theory his host was Vitrasius Pollio, prefect of Egypt. While in Egypt, Seneca was attacked by illness, and escaped death by his aunt's care. Cf. ad Helv. 19, 2, 'Illius pio maternoque nutricio per longum tempus aeger convalui.' Seneca accompanied Vitrasius when he resigned his office and returned with his wife to Italy A.D. 32 (Dio, lviii. 19, 6). They suffered shipwreck, and Vitrasius perished.

Ad Helv. 19, 4, 'Sed si prudentiam perfectissimae feminae novi, non patietur te nihil profuturo maerore consumi et exemplum tibi suum, cuius ego etiam spectator fui, narrabit. Carissimum virum amiserat, avunculum nostrum, cui virgo nupserat, in ipsa quidem navigatione: tulit tamen eodem tempore et luctum et metum evictisque tempestatibus corpus eius naufraga evexit.'

This theory is supported by the fact that Seneca wrote a work 'de ritu (al., situ) et sacris Aegyptiorum' (Serv. ad Aen. vi. 154).

Through his aunt's influence Seneca obtained the quaestorship.

Ad Helv. 19, 2, 'Illa pro quaestura mea gratiam suam extendit, et quae ne sermonis quidem aut clarae salutationis sustinuit audaciam, pro me vicit indulgentia verecundiam.'

Seneca's quaestorship must have been after the death of his aunt's husband, in A.D. 32, as the above passage shows, and before the death of Tiberius in A.D. 37, as it was with Tiberius that his aunt's influence lay, on account of her husband's services. After his quaestorship Seneca appears to have married (cf. de ira, iii. 36, 3, etc.). His wife must have died before A.D. 57, as in that year Seneca married Pompeia Paulina; cf. Dio, lxi. 10, 3, gamon epiphanestaton egeme. By his first wife he had three sons (ad Helv. 2, 5).

While senator, Seneca incurred the jealousy of Caligula, and in A.D. 39 narrowly escaped death.

Dio, lix. 19, 7, ho de de Senekas ... diephthare par' oligon, met' adikesas ti, mete doxas, hoti diken tina en to synedrio parontos autou kalos eipe. For Seneca's attacks on Caligula cf. ad Helv. 10, 4; Apocol. 15, etc.

Sueton. Cal. 53, 'Peroraturus "stricturum se lucubrationis suae telum" minabatur; lenius comtiusque scribendi genus adeo contemnens, ut Senecam, tum maxime placentem, "commissiones meras" componere, et "harenam esse sine calce" diceret.'

In A.D. 41 Seneca was banished to Corsica, through the agency of Messalina, on the charge of adultery with Iulia Livilla, sister of Caligula, but really because he was suspected of belonging to the faction of Agrippina.

Tac. Ann. xiii. 42, 'Nec Suillius questu aut exprobratione abstinebat ... et Senecam increpans infensum amicis Claudii, sub quo iustissimum exilium pertulisset ... Se quaestorem Germanici, illum domus eius adulterum fuisse.'

Seneca was tried before the Senate, and Claudius prevented his execution.

Ad Polyb. 13, 2, 'Deprecatus est pro me senatum, et vitam mihi non tantum dedit, sed etiam petiit.'

While in Corsica he devoted himself to literature and science. Cf. ad Helv. 20, 1 (written in exile), 'Animus omnis occupationis expers operibus suis vacat et modo se levioribus studiis oblectat, modo ad considerandam suam universique naturam veri avidus insurgit: terras primum situmque earum quaerit.'

The Consolatio ad Polybium, written during this time, is full of flattery of Claudius.

Dio, lxi. 10, 2, ten Messalinan kai tous tou Klaudiou exeleutherous ethopeuen hoste kai biblion sphisin ek tes nesou pempsai epainous auton echon, ho meta tauta hyp' aischynes apeleipse.

Seneca was recalled at the beginning of A.D. 49, became Nero's tutor (although he wished to visit Athens), and obtained the praetorship through the influence of Agrippina, with whom his name was coupled by popular rumour.

Tac. Ann. xii. 8, 'At Agrippina, ne malis tantum facinoribus notesceret, veniam exilii pro Annaeo Seneca, simul praeturam inpetrat, laetum in publicum rata ob claritudinem studiorum eius, utque Domitii pueritia tali magistro adulesceret et consiliis eiusdem ad spem dominationis uterentur, quia Seneca fidus in Agrippinam memoria beneficii et infensus Claudio dolore iniuriae credebatur.'

Schol. on Iuv. 5, 105, 'Revocatus ... etsi magno desiderio Athenas intenderet ab Agrippina tamen in palatium adductus.'

Dio, lxi. 10, 1, ou gar apechresen auto ten Ioulian moicheusai, oude beltion ek tes phyges egeneto, alla kai te Agrippine eplesiazen.

For Seneca's tutorship cf. also Sueton. Nero, 52, 'Liberales disciplinas omnes fere puer attigit. Sed a philosophia eum mater avertit, monens imperaturo contrariam esse: a cognitione veterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret.'

It is probable that Seneca was, like Nero, privy to the murder of Claudius in A.D. 54. Cf. his sarcasms against Claudius in his Apocolocyntosis.

Sueton. Nero 33 (of Nero), 'Cuius [Claudi] necis etsi non auctor, at conscius fuit: neque dissimulanter, ut qui boletos, in quo cibi genere venenum is acceperat, quasi deorum cibum, posthac proverbio Graeco conlaudare sit solitus.'

Seneca wrote for Nero a speech which he delivered on the occasion of Claudius' death.

Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, 'Die funeris laudationem eius princeps exorsus est; dum antiquitatem generis, consulatus ac triumphos maiorum enumerabat, intentus ipse et ceteri; liberalium quoque artium commemoratio, et nihil regente eo triste rei publicae ab externis accidisse, pronis animis audita. Postquam ad providentiam sapientiamque flexit, nemo risui temperare, quamquam oratio a Seneca composita multum cultus praeferret, ut fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius auribus accommodatum.'

He acted as a check on Nero (Tac. Ann. xiii. 6; 11), and baffled Agrippina's vengeance and ambition.

Tac. Ann. xiii. 2, 'Ibaturque in caedes, nisi Afranius Burrus et Annaeus Seneca obviam issent. (Ch. 5) Quin et legatis Armeniorum causam gentis apud Neronem orantibus escendere suggestum imperatoris et praesidere simul parabat, nisi ceteris pavore defixis Seneca admonuisset, venienti matri occurreret.'

Seneca interfered to shelter Nero in his amour with Acte, A.D. 55, and used the occasion to stir up feud between Agrippina and Nero (Tac. Ann. xiii. 13). Hence followed an attack by Agrippina on Seneca.

Tac. Ann. xiii. 14, 'Audiretur hinc Germanici filia, inde debilis rursus Burrus et exsul Seneca, trunca scilicet manu et professoria lingua generis humani regimen expostulantes.'

It is unlikely that Seneca opposed the murder of Britannicus (Feb. A.D. 55). Cf. Tac. Ann. xiii. 17, 'Facinus cui plerique iam hominum ignoscebant, antiquas fratrum discordias et insociabile regnum aestimantes.'[75]

Seneca took part shortly afterwards in the trial in which Agrippina was found not guilty (Tac. Ann. xiii. 20-21). There are many references to Seneca's great power and wealth at this time.[76]

Cf. Dio, lxi. 4, 1, autoi (Seneca and Burrus) ten archen hapasan parelabon kai diokesan eph' hoson edynethesan arista kai dikaiotata.

Tac. Ann. xiv. 53 (Seneca addressing Nero in A.D. 62), 'Quartus decimus annus est, Caesar, ex quo spei tuae admotus sum, octavus, ut imperium obtines: medio temporis tantum honorum atque opum in me cumulasti, ut nihil felicitati meae desit nisi moderatio eius... At tu gratiam immensam, innumeram pecuniam circumdedisti, adeo ut plerumque intra me ipse volvam, "Egone, equestri et provinciali loco ortus, proceribus civitatis adnumeror? ... Talis hortos extruit, et per haec suburbana incedit, et tantis agrorum spatiis, tam lato faenore exuberat?"'

Tac. Ann. xiii. 42 (speech of Suillius, A.D. 58), 'Qua sapientia, quibus philosophorum praeceptis, intra quadriennium regiae amicitiae ter miliens sestertium paravisset?' (Dio, lxi. 10, 2, gives his wealth as 75,000,000 denarii).

Seneca had many estates both in Italy (Ep. 123, 1, etc.) and abroad, and lent money abroad, even in Britain. His attraction to finance is seen in the number of metaphors he draws from that subject.

Sen. vit. beat. 17, 2, 'Cur trans mare possides? cur plura quam nosti?'

Dio, lxii. 2, 1 (of the rising of the Britons under Boudicca), ho Senekas chilias sphisi myriadas akousin epi chrestais elpisi tokon daneisas, epeit' athroas te hama autas kai biaios eiseprassen.

His attack on usury (de ben. vii. 10, 3) is a piece of theoretic philosophy.

In A.D. 57 Seneca was consul suffectus (Ulpian, Dig. xxxvi. 1). In A.D. 58 he brought about the downfall of the former delator, P. Suillius. Cf. Tac. Ann. xiii. 42, 'Variis deinde casibus iactatus et multorum odia meritus reus, haud tamen sine invidia Senecae damnatur. Is fuit P. Suillius.' Seneca is thought to have been implicated in Agrippina's murder in A.D. 59. He wrote to the Senate for Nero an account of her death.

Tac. Ann. xiv. 7 (Nero says after the fruitless attempt of Anicetus to kill Agrippina), 'Quod contra subsidium sibi nisi quid Burrus et Seneca expedirent? Quos statim acciverat, incertum an aperiens, et ante ignaros. Igitur longum utriusque silentium, ne inriti dissuaderent; an eo descensum credebant, ut, nisi praeveniretur Agrippina, pereundum Neroni esset? Post Seneca, hactenus promptius, ut respiceret Burrum, ac sciscitaretur an militi imperanda caedes esset. (Ch. 11) Ergo non iam Nero, cuius immanitas omnium questus anteibat, sed Seneca adverso rumore erat, quod oratione tali confessionem scripsisset.'

The death of Burrus in A.D. 62 weakened the power of Seneca, who resolved to retire. His request, however, was not granted by Nero (Tac. Ann. xiv. 55-6), but he reduced his establishment, and lived in semi-privacy.

Tac. Ann. xiv. 52, 'Mors Burri infregit Senecae potentiam, quia nec bonis artibus idem virium erat altero velut duce amoto, et Nero ad deteriores inclinabat. Hi variis criminationibus Senecam adoriuntur ... Certe finitam Neronis pueritiam, et robur iuventae adesse. Exueret magistrum, satis amplis doctoribus instructus maioribus suis. (Ch. 56) Instituta prioris potentiae commutat, prohibet coetus salutantium, vitat comitantis, rarus per urbem, quasi valetudine infensa aut sapientiae studiis domi attineretur.'

Later in A.D. 62, came an unsuccessful attempt to ruin Seneca. Tac. Ann. xiv. 65, 'Romanus secretis criminationibus incusaverat Senecam ut Gai Pisonis socium; sed validius a Seneca eodem crimine perculsus est.'

In A.D. 64, on the occasion of the burning of Rome by Nero, Seneca wished to retire. He is said to have offered money to repair the disasters of the fire.

Tac. Ann. xv. 45, 'Ferebatur Seneca, quo invidiam sacrilegii a semet averteret, longinqui ruris secessum oravisse, et postquam non concedebatur, ficta valetudine, quasi aeger nervis, cubiculum non egressus.'

Dio, lxii. 25, 3, pasan auto ten ousian epi te ton oikodomoumenon prophasei kecharismenos.

The story given in Tac. Ann. xv. 45 of the attempt to poison Seneca probably arose from his abstemious habits.

'Tradidere quidam venenum ei per libertum ipsius cui nomen Cleonicus paratum iussu Neronis, vitatumque a Seneca proditione liberti seu propria formidine, dum persimplici victu et agrestibus pomis, ac si sitis admoneret, profluente aqua vitam tolerat.'

In A.D. 65 Seneca was implicated in the conspiracy of Piso, and was forced to commit suicide. His wife wished to die with him, but was prevented by Nero's orders.

Tac. Ann. xv. 60, 'Sequitur caedes Annaei Senecae, laetissima principi, non quia coniurationis manifestum compererat, sed ut ferro grassaretur, quando veneno non processerat ... (Ch. 63) Post quae eodem ictu brachia ferro exsolvunt. Seneca, quoniam senile corpus et parco victu tenuatum lenta effugia sanguini praebebat, crurum quoque et poplitum venas abrumpit. Saevisque cruciatibus defessus, ne dolore suo animum uxoris infringeret atque ipse visendo eius tormenta ad impatientiam delaberetur, suadet in aliud cubiculum abscedere. Et novissimo quoque momento suppeditante eloquentia advocatis scriptoribus pleraque tradidit ... (Ch. 64) At Nero nullo in Paulinam proprio odio, ac ne glisceret invidia crudelitatis, inhibere mortem. ... Seneca interim, durante tractu et lentitudine mortis, Statium Annaeum, diu sibi amicitiae fide et arte medicinae probatum, orat, provisum pridem venenum, quo damnati publico Atheniensium iudicio exstinguerentur, promeret; adlatumque hausit frustra, frigidus iam artus, et cluso corpore adversum vim veneni. Postremo stagnum calidae aquae introiit, respergens proximos servorum, addita voce, libare se liquorem illum Iovi liberatori. Exin balneo inlatus, et vapore eius exanimatus, sine ullo funeris sollemni crematur.'

There was a rumour that some of the conspirators intended to make Seneca emperor.

Tac. Ann. xv. 65, 'Fama fuit Subrium Flavum cum centurionibus occulto consilio, neque tamen ignorante Seneca, destinavisse, ut post occisum opera Pisonis Neronem Piso quoque interficeretur, tradereturque imperium Senecae, quasi insontibus claritudine virtutum ad summum fastigium delecto.'

(2) WORKS.

The following prose works are extant:

1. Dialogorum libri xii.

(1) ad Lucilium: quare aliqua incommoda bonis viris accidant cum providentia sit; sive de providentia. This was probably a late work.

(2) ad Serenum: nec iniuriam nec contumeliam accipere sapientem; sive de constantia sapientis: written in the first years of Nero's reign.

(3-5) ad Novatum de ira libri iii., probably written in the first year of Claudius' reign.

(6) ad Marciam de consolatione: written to console Marcia, the daughter of Cremutius Cordus, for the death of her son Metilius. The work may have been written in A.D. 41, as Caligula's name is studiously avoided.

(7) ad Gallionem de vita beata. This book, addressed to Seneca's brother Gallio (Novatus), was probably written shortly after A.D. 58, and justifies his having wealth though a philosopher.

(8) ad Serenum de otio. This work, like the next, was addressed to Annaeus Serenus, and was written probably about A.D. 62. Only a part of it is extant. The book discusses whether a wise man should engage in state affairs.

(9) ad Serenum de tranquillitate animi, probably written soon after Seneca's recall.

(10) ad Paulinum de brevitate vitae. For the date cf. 13, 8, 'Sullam ultimum Romanorum protulisse pomoerium.' Now, Claudius extended the pomoerium in A.D. 50, so this must have been written in A.D. 49, as the book was brought out after Seneca's return from exile.

(11) ad Polybium de consolatione. This book was addressed in A.D. 43 or 44 to Polybius, a favourite of Claudius, on the occasion of his brother's death. The date is fixed by the reference to Claudius' expedition to Britain in 12, 2-3. Cf. par. 3, 'Non desinam totiens tibi offerre Caesarem. Illo moderante terras et ostendente, quanto melius beneficiis imperium custodiatur quam armis, illo rebus humanis praeside non est periculum, ne quid perdidisse te sentias.' For similar flattery of Claudius, cf. 7,4; 12,5.

(12) ad Helviam matrem de consolatione, written during his banishment.

2. ad Neronem Caesarem de clementia, in three Books, two of which are extant. The work was written in A.D. 55-6, doubtless to show the public what sort of instruction Seneca had given Nero, and what sort of emperor they had to expect (cf. i, 1, 1). The date is settled by i. 9, 1, '[divus Augustus] cum hoc aetatis esset quod tu nunc es, duodevicesimum egressus annum,' Nero having been born 15th December, A.D. 37. The flattery contained in ii. 1, 1-2, and elsewhere, can be justified to some extent by Nero's conduct at that time. Cf. Sueton. Nero, 10, 'Neque liberalitatis, neque clementiae, ne comitatis quidem exhibendae ullam occasionem omisit.'

3. De Beneficiis in seven Books, addressed to Aebutius Liberalis of Lugdunum. It is probable that Books i.-iv. were published first, shortly after the death of Claudius (who is sneered at in i. 15, 6). Books v.-vii. are probably a later addition. Cf. v. 1, 1, 'In prioribus libris videbar consummasse propositum ... Quidquid ultra moror, non servio materiae, sed indulgeo ... Verum quia ita vis, perseveremus peractis.' The eulogy of Demetrius the Cynic in vii. 8-12, makes it probable that Book vii. at least was written in Seneca's last years.

4. Apocolocyntosis, a political satire on Claudius, written shortly after his death in A.D. 54. The explanation of the title is given by Dio, lx. 35, 2, Agrippina kai ho Neron ... es ton ouranon anegagon hon ek tou symposiou phoraden exenenochesan. hotheuper Loukios Iounios Gallion ho tou Seneka adelphos asteiotaton ti apephthenxato; synetheke men gar kai ho Senekas syngramma, apokolokyntosin auto hosper tina apathanatisin onomasas, ekeinos de en brachytato polla eipon apomnemoneuetai ... ephe ton Klaudion ankistro es ton ouranon anenechthenai. The work does not bear this title in the MSS., and there is no hint of the witticism in the book itself; the St. Gall MS., however, has 'Divi Claudii APOTHEOSIS Annei Senecae per Saturam,' which may be a corruption of the proper title. The title is derived from kolokynte, 'a gourd,' which was used to denote a fool. Seneca (Apocol. 6) takes the official view that Claudius died of a fever. The work may have been published at the Saturnalia, and written shortly before, as Narcissus is represented as having just arrived in Orcus. The personal animosity of Seneca against Caligula and Claudius is everywhere apparent.

5. Naturales Quaestiones in seven Books, addressed to Lucilius. Book ii. was written after A.D. 57, as in ii. 9, 2 an amphitheatre is mentioned which was built by Nero in that year. The work was finished before the end of A.D. 64, for in Book vii. there is no mention among other prodigies of the comet which appeared again at the end of that year.

6. Epistulae morales ad Lucilium. These were addressed to Lucilius Iunior, the author of 'Aetna' (see p. 277). There are extant one hundred and twenty four letters, in twenty Books, but some Books have been lost, as Gell. xii. 2, 3 quotes from Book xxii. Books i.-iii. were probably published by Seneca, the rest after his death, generally in chronological order.

The following poetical works are extant:

1. Epigrams.—Nine on his exile are given in the editions; probably only Nos. 1, 2, and 7 are genuine.

2. Tragedies.—Some of these may have been composed during Seneca's exile in Corsica. See ad Helv. 20 (quoted p. 243). The metrical treatment is strict, especially in the senarii. Anapaestic, glyconic, sapphic lines, etc., are used in the choral odes. There are only three actors, except in the spurious Octavia. The plays are: (1) Hercules Furens and (2) Troades or Hecuba, founded on Euripides. (3) Phoenissae or Thebais. The two parts do not correspond. In ll. 1-362, Oedipus and Antigone are on their way to Cithaeron; from l. 363 to the end we find Iocasta and Antigone in Thebes while it is besieged by the Seven. (4) Medea, founded on Euripides. Ovid has also been imitated; so ll. 56 sqq. from Ovid, Heroides, 12, 137. (5) Phaedra or Hippolytus. (6) Oedipus, after Sophocles. (7) Agamemnon, after Aeschylus. (8) Thyestes. (9) Hercules Oetaeus, of which the second part, at least, is spurious. (10) Octavia, a praetexta, describing the death of Octavia, Nero's wife (A.D. 62). Seneca himself appears in it. It cannot be by Seneca, as Nero's downfall (A.D. 68) is mentioned in ll. 628-36.

The following works are lost or exist only in fragments:

i. Poems of a light nature (Pliny, Ep. v. 3). 2. De motu terrarum, afterwards incorporated in N.Q. vi. (see N.Q. vi. 4, 2). 3. De lapidum natura. 4. De piscium natura. 5. De ritu et sacris Aegyptiorum (see p. 242). 6. De situ Indiae. 7. De forma mundi. 8. Exhortationes. 9. De officiis. 10. De immatura morte. 11. De superstitione dialogus. 12. De matrimonio. 13. De amicitia. 14. De vita patris, along with an edition of his works. 15. Speeches by himself or by Nero. 16. Epistulae (a) ad Novatum, probably written from Corsica, (b) ad Caesonium Maximum. 17. A book in praise of Messalina, afterwards withdrawn (see p. 243). 18. Moralis philosophiae libri (see Ep. 106, 2). 19. De remediis fortuitorum, addressed to Gallio. A synopsis with additions is extant. 20. De paupertate. 21. De formula honestae vitae, probably founded on one of Seneca's works. 22. Notae (see Sueton. pp. 135-6 R.).

The following are spurious works:

1. 'Epistulae Senecae, Neronis imperatoris magistri, ad Paulum Apostolum et Pauli Apostoli ad Senecam.' These letters, fourteen in all, are accepted as genuine by Jerome, de vir. illustr. 12. 'Seneca ... quem non ponerem in catalogo sanctorum, nisi me epistulae illae provocarent, quae leguntur a plurimis, Pauli ad Senecam et Senecae ad Paulum.'

2. A work extant under the title of Sententiae Rufi has been wrongly thought to correspond to Seneca's dying words mentioned in Tac. Ann. xv. 63.

3. The book De moribus or Monita contains maxims by Christian writers.

Views and Character.—For Seneca's training in Stoic doctrines see Ep. 108, 13 (quoted p. 241). With these views he generally associates himself (cf. Ep. 113, 1; 117, 1), but does not bind himself to one school.

Cf. Ep. 45, 4, 'Non enim me cuiquam emancipavi, nullius nomen fero. Multum magnorum virorum iudicio credo, aliquid et meo vindico.'

Especially towards the end of his life, he came under the influence of Demetrius the Cynic.

Ep. 62, 3, 'Demetrium, virorum optimum, mecum circumfero et relictis conchyliatis cum illo seminudo loquor, ilium admiror. Quidni admirer? vidi nihil ei deesse.'

In de provid. 5, 7, after quoting Demetrius' fatalistic views, Seneca adds, 'Fata nos ducunt, et quantum cuique temporis restat, prima nascentium hora disposuit.'

Seneca was one of the few Romans who condemned the butcheries practised in the arena, and his views doubtless influenced Nero's conduct in A.D. 58.

Ep. 95, 33, 'Homo, sacra res homini, iam per lusum ac iocum occiditur et quem erudiri ad inferenda accipiendaque volnera nefas erat, is iam nudus inermisque producitur satisque spectaculi ex homine mors est.'

Tac. Ann. xiii. 31, 'Edixit Caesar ne quis magistratus aut procurator, qui provinciam obtineret, spectaculum gladiatorum aut ferarum aut quod aliud ludicrum ederet.'

For Seneca's love of wealth see p. 246. For his estimate of riches cf. De vita beata, 22, 5. 'Apud me divitiae aliquem locum habent, apud te summum ac postremum. Divitiae meae sunt, tu divitiarum es.'

His simplicity of life has been already dealt with.

Dio, lxi. 10, 2, gives a most unjust account of Seneca's character:

panta ta enantiotata hois ephilosophei poion elenchthe. kai gar tyrannidos kategoron tyrannodidaskalos egineto, kai ton synonton tois dynastais katatrechon ouk aphistato tou palatiou ... tois te plousiois enkalon ousian heptakischilion kai pentakosion myriadon ektesato.

Seneca followed no traditional style. Cf. Ep. 100, 6, 'De compositione non constat'; Ep. 114, 13, 'Oratio certam regulam non habet.' Quintilian, x. 1, 125-131, attacks his style, though admitting his great powers.



CURTIUS RUFUS.

The full name is Q. Curtius Rufus, given in the MSS. of his work, 'Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri x.', the first two Books of which are lost. Curtius is not referred to by name by any ancient writer, but is probably identical with the Q. Curtius Rufus mentioned in the list prefixed to Sueton. de claris oratoribus between M. Porcius Latro and L. Valerius Primanus. This order favours the view that he belonged to the reign of Claudius, a view supported by the two contemporary references in Curtius:

iv. 4, 21 (of Tyre), 'nunc tandem longa pace cuncta refovente sub tutela Romanae mansuetudinis adquiescit.'

x. 9, 3-6, 'Quod imperium sub uno stare potuisset, dum a pluribus sustinetur, ruit. Proinde iure meritoque populus Romanus salutem se principi suo debere profitetur, qui noctis, quam paene supremam habuimus, novum sidus inluxit. Huius hercule, non solis ortus lucem caliganti reddidit mundo, cum sine suo capite discordia membra trepidarent,' etc.

This passage probably refers to the tumultuous scene on the night between 24th and 25th Jan., A.D. 41, before Claudius' accession, after the murder of Caligula (cf. the pun in caliganti), when rival claimants to the throne were put forward, and the Senate wished to restore the republic (cf. discordia membra trepidarent). Sen. ad Polyb. 13, 1, uses similar language of Claudius, 'Sidus hoc, quod praecipitato in profundum et demerso in tenebras orbi refulsit, semper luceat.'

As Curtius says nothing but good about the reign of Claudius, he probably wrote shortly after his accession. The passage in iv. 4, 21 (above) also fits in with this view, as there was little fighting in the Roman world from 17 to 43 A.D. His bold tone with regard to rulers would also suit this time, while it would have been dangerous under Caligula, or from 43 to 54 A.D.

Cf. viii. 5, 6, 'Non deerat talia concupiscenti perniciosa adulatio, perpetuum malum regum, quorum opes saepius adsentatio quam hostis evertit.'

This tone also renders it impossible to identify him with Curtius Rufus, mentioned in Tac. Ann. xi. 21, as governor of Africa, and as 'adversus superiores tristi adulatione, adrogans minoribus, inter pares difficilis.'

Seneca is supposed to have quoted his contemporary Curtius once or twice. Cf. Sen. Ep. 56, 9, 'Nihil tam certum est quam otii vitia negotio discuti'; and Curt. vii. 1, 4, 'Satis prudens, otii vitia negotio discuti.' Cf. also viii. 10, 29 with Sen. Ep. 59, 12.

Curtius claims to transcribe his authorities carefully. Cf. ix. 1, 34, 'Equidem plura transscribo quam credo: nam nec adfirmare sustineo, de quibus dubito, nec subducere quae accepi.'

Curtius' statements are usually parallel to those of one or other of the historians of Alexander, but he appeals only twice to other authorities by name.

ix. 8, 15, 'Clitarchus (c. 300 B.C.) est auctor.'

ix. 5, 21, 'Ptolemaeum (c. 300 B.C.), qui postea regnavit, huic pugnae adfuisse auctor est Clitarchus et Timagenes (c. 55 B.C.). Sed ipse ... afuisse se missum in expeditionem memoriae tradidit.'

The rhetorical tone of the work is seen in the speeches and letters. For the latter cf. iv. 1, 10-74. Curtius has little technical knowledge of war or politics. Thus Alexander's assumption of oriental pomp to conciliate the Asiatics is looked on as hybris. Cf. iii. 12, 18. Like Livy, he attempts to depreciate Alexander's abilities by unduly accentuating his good fortune.

Cf. viii. 3, 1, 'Sed hanc quoque expeditionem, ut pleraque alia, fortuna indulgendo ei numquam fatigata pro absente transegit.'



COLUMELLA.

L. Iunius Moderatus Columella was a native of Gades: x. 185, 'mea [lactuca] quam generant Tartessi littore Gades.' On an inscription he is styled 'trib. mil. leg. vi. ferratae' (C.I.L. ix. 325), and it was probably in the course of his military service that he visited Cilicia and Syria: ii. 10, 18, 'hoc semen Ciliciae Syriaeque regionibus ipse vidi.'

His uncle, M. Columella, was a leading man in the province of Baetica (v. 5, 15); and he himself possessed land in Italy: iii. 9, 2, 'cum et in Ardeatino agro, quem multis temporibus ipsi ante possedimus, et in Carseolano itemque in Albano generis Aminei vites huius modi notae habuerimus.'

He was a contemporary of the younger Seneca, who is spoken of as alive (iii. 3, 3).

His chief work is De Re Rustica in twelve Books, dedicated to P. Silvinus—a practical treatise on husbandry for 'negotiosi agricolae' (ix. 2, 5). Book x., on gardening, is in hexameter verse, and was written at the suggestion of Silvinus and another friend, to fill the gap which Virgil had left in the Georgics (iv. 147-8); cf. the preface, 'Cultus hortorum ... sicut institueram, prosa oratione prioribus subnecteretur exordiis, nisi propositum expugnasset frequens postulatio tua, quae pervicit, ut poeticis numeris explerem Georgici carminis omissas partes, quas tamen et ipse Vergilius significaverat, posteris se memorandas relinquere.'

The last two Books were added as an afterthought; xi. 1, 2, 'numerum quem iam quasi consummaveram voluminum excessi.'

Columella wrote before A.D. 65 (see above); later than Celsus, but earlier than the elder Pliny.

There is also extant a book De Arboribus, which formed Book ii. of an earlier treatise on agriculture: cf. i. 1, 'Quoniam de cultu agrorum abunde primo volumine praecepisse videmur, non intempestiva erit arborum virgultorumque cura.' It covers the same ground as De R.R. iii.-v.

Columella also wrote 'adversus astrologos' (xi. 1, 31), and projected a treatise on the religious rites connected with agriculture (ii. 22, 5, 'lustrationum ceterorumque sacrificiorum, quae pro frugibus fiunt, morem priscis usurpatum').



POMPONIUS MELA.

The geographer Pomponius Mela was a native of Tingentera in Spain (ii. 96). His date can be inferred from iii. 49; the 'principum maximus' mentioned there as triumphing over Britain might be either Claudius (in A.D. 40) or Caligula (in 44); but the earlier date is favoured by Mela's division of Africa according to the system abolished by Caligula in 42 (i. 25-30). The title of his work is De Chorographia, in three Books: the dryness of its details (i. 1, 'opus impeditum et facundiae minime capax') is relieved by word-painting, e.g. the description of Britain, iii. 49. The only authors to whom he acknowledges obligations are Nepos (iii. 45) and Hanno (iii. 90).



PERSIUS.

(1) LIFE.

We possess a very full account of the life of Persius, which, according to the MSS., is taken from Probus' commentary on the poet, and may therefore be looked upon as trustworthy. According to Probus (from whom are taken the quotations throughout), he lived from 34 to 62 A.D.: 'Aulus Persius Flaccus natus est pridie Non. Decembr. Fabio Persico L. Vitellio coss., decessit viii. Kal. Decembr. Rubrio Mario Asinio Gallo coss.' These dates are confirmed by Jerome.

He was born at Volaterrae in Etruria, and was the son of a Roman knight who died when Persius was quite young:

'Natus in Etruria Volaterris, eques Romanus, sanguine et affinitate primi ordinis viris coniunctus. Pater eum Flaccus pupillum reliquit moriens annorum fere sex.'

'Fulvia Sisennia (his mother) nupsit postea Fuscio equiti Romano.'

After the completion of his early education (for which see Sat. 3, 44-51) he studied at Rome, where he came under the influence of the Stoic Annaeus Cornutus:

'Studuit Flaccus usque ad annum xii. aetatis suae Volaterris, inde Romae apud grammaticum Remmium Palaemonem et apud rhetorem Verginium Flavum. Cum esset annorum xvi., amicitia coepit uti Annaei Cornuti, ita ut nusquam ab eo discederet; inductus aliquatenus in philosophiam est.'

In Sat. 5, 21-24 and 30-51, he speaks in the highest terms of Cornutus as his guide in life and close friend: cf. esp. ll. 36-7,

'teneros tu suspicis annos, Socratico, Cornute, sinu.'

Among his other friends were Caesius Bassus (to whom Sat. 6 is addressed), Lucan, Seneca, and his own relative, Paetus Thrasea:

'Cognovit per Cornutum etiam Annaeum Lucanum, aequaevum auditorem Cornuti. Lucanus adeo mirabatur scripta Flacci ut vix retineret se recitante eo cum clamore quin illa esse vera poemata diceret, sua ipse ludos faceret. Sero cognovit et Senecam, sed non ut caperetur eius ingenio ... Idem decem fere annis summe dilectus a Paeto Thrasea est, ita ut peregrinaretur quoque cum eo aliquando, cognatam eius Arriam uxorem habente.'

Persius was a man of considerable means, as is shown by his will and his landed property:

'Reliquit circa HS vicies matri et sorori; scriptis tamen ad matrem codicillis Cornuto rogavit ut daret sestertia ut quidam centum, ut alii volunt ..., et argenti facti pondo viginti, et libros circa septingentos sive bibliothecam suam omnem. Verum a Cornuto sublatis libris, pecuniam sororibus, quas heredes frater fecerat, reliquit.'

'Decessit ad octavum miliarium via Appia in praediis suis ... vitio stomachi anno aetatis xxviii.'

His character was lofty and disinterested:

'Fuit morum lenissimorum, verecundiae virginalis, formae pulchrae, pietatis erga matrem et sororem et amitam exemplo sufficientis. Fuit frugi, pudicus.'

(2) WORKS.

1. His early works, which Cornutus caused to be destroyed at his death, were:

(a) A praetexta, called Vescia (?).

(b) One Book of hodoiporika, no doubt referring to his travels with Thrasea.

(c) Some verses on Arria, the wife of Paetus.

'Scripserat in pueritia Flaccus etiam praetextam Vesciam, et hodoiporikon librum unum, et paucos in socrum Thraseae in Arriam matrem versus ... Omnia ea auctor fuit Cornutus matri eius ut aboleret.'

2. Satires. There are six of these (in hexameters), with a prologue (in scazons). Persius wrote slowly, and the Book was left unfinished:

'Et raro et tarde scripsit. Hunc ipsum librum imperfectum reliquit. Versus aliqui dempti sunt ultimo libro, ut quasi finitus esset. Leviter retractavit Cornutus, et Caesio Basso petenti, ut ipsi cederet, tradidit edendum.'

The prologue, and the first satire (on literary criticism)—the only real satire he wrote—are said to be imitated from Lucilius. The other five are largely Stoic dissertations in verse, and show throughout the influence of Cornutus and Persius' other Stoic friends. Probus says he attacked Nero's poetry in Sat. 1.

'Lecto Lucilii libro x. vehementer satiras componere instituit, cuius libri principium imitatus est ... cum tanta recentium poetarum et oratorum insectatione, ut etiam Neronem ... culpaverit, cuius versus in Neronem cum ita se haberet:

'Auriculas asini Mida rex habet,'

in eum modum a Cornuto, ipso iam tum mortuo, est emendatus:

'Auriculas asini quis non habet?' [1, 121]

ne hoc Nero in se dictum arbitraretur.'

Sat. 1, 99-102 is said to be a travesty of Nero's poetry.

Very few passages, however, are quoted by the Scholiasts as modelled on Lucilius.

Persius refers to Lucilius and Horace in 1, 114-8:

'Secuit Lucilius urbem, te, Lupe, te, Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis; omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico tangit, et admissus circum praecordia ludit, callidus excusso populum suspendere naso.'

His obligations to Horace are paramount, imitations—often unintentional burlesques—occurring everywhere. Examples are: 1, 42,

'cedro digna locutus, linquere nec scombros metuentia carmina nec tus.'

from Hor. A.P. 331,

'carmina ... linenda cedro';

and Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 269,

'Deferar in vicum vendentem tus et odores et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis.'

Again, 5, 103,

'exclamet Melicerta perisse frontem de rebus';

from Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 80,

'clament periise pudorem cuncti paene patres.'

He even borrows Horace's names: Pedius (1, 85), Natta (3, 31), Nerius (2, 14), Craterus (3, 65), Bestius (6, 37).

The statement of Joannes Lydus (i. 41) that Persius imitated the mimic writer, Sophron, has little to support it.

Probus says the work became immediately popular: 'Editum librum continuo mirari homines et diripere coeperunt.'

Cf. also Quint. x. 1, 94, 'multum et verae gloriae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit'; Mart. iv. 29, 7,

'Saepius in libro memoratur Persius uno quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.'



LUCAN.

(1) LIFE.

Besides references to Lucan in other writers, especially Statius, Martial, and Tacitus, we have three biographies of him: (1) a short and defective life, probably by Suetonius, and showing his well-known hatred of the Annaei; (2) one by Vacca, a commentator on Lucan, who lived probably in the sixth century, complete and favourable; (3) one in Codex Vossianus ii. The last two are in part derived from the first.

M. Annaeus Lucanus was born at Corduba in Hispania Baetica, and was the son of M. Annaeus Mela, a Roman knight, and nephew of M. Annaeus Novatus (the Gallio of Acts 18, 12-17) and L. Annaeus Seneca the philosopher.

Vacca, vit. Luc., 'M. Annaeus Lucanus patrem habuit M. Annaeum Melam ex provincia Baetica Hispaniae interioris Cordubensem equitem Romanum, illustrem inter suos, notum Romae et propter Senecam fratrem, clarum per omnes virtutes virum, et propter studium vitae quietioris ... Matrem habuit et regionis eiusdem et urbis Aciliam nomine, Acilii Lucani filiam ... cuius cognomen huic inditum apparet.'

Tac. Ann. xvi. 17, 'Mela, quibus Gallio et Seneca, parentibus natus ... Idem Annaeum Lucanum genuerat, grande adiumentum claritudinis.'

Lucan was born Nov. 3, A.D. 39, and was removed to Rome when eight months old.

Vacca, ibid., 'Natus est iii. Non. Novembr. C. Caesare Germanico ii. L. Apronio Caesiano coss. Octavum mensem agens Romam translatus est.'

He had a successful school and college career. One of his teachers was Cornutus, through whom he knew Persius (see p. 261).

Vacca, ibid., 'A praeceptoribus tunc eminentissimis est eruditus eosque intra breve temporis spatium ingenio adaequavit ... Declamavit et graece et latine cum magna admiratione audientium.'

His first literary success was the laudes Neronis in A.D. 60; this led to his political advancement.

Sueton. vit. Luc., 'Prima ingenii experimenta in Neronis laudibus dedit quinquennali certamine.'

Vacca, ibid., 'Ob quod puerili mutato in senatorium cultum et in notitiam Caesaris Neronis facile pervenit et honore vixdum aetati debito dignus iudicatus est. Gessit autem quaesturam, in qua cum collegis more tunc usitato munus gladiatorium edidit secundo populi favore; sacerdotium etiam accepit auguratus.'

Similarly Suetonius, who also tells us that Lucan had been in Athens.

Sueton. ibid., 'Revocatus Athenis a Nerone cohortique amicorum additus atque etiam quaestura honoratus, non tamen permansit in gratia.'

The reason of the strained relations between Lucan and the emperor was, according to Suetonius, that Lucan had behaved rudely when reciting in public. Vacca says the reason lay in the jealousy felt by Nero, who forbade Lucan to write poetry or to plead causes.

Vacca, ibid., 'Quippe et certamine pentaeterico acto in Pompei theatro laudibus recitatis in Neronem fuerat coronatus et ex tempore Orphea scriptum in experimentum adversum conplures ediderat poetas et tres libros, quales videmus. Quare inimicum sibi fecerat imperatorem. Quo ambitiosa vanitate, non hominum tantum, sed et artium sibi principatum vindicante interdictum est ei poetica, interdictum est etiam causarum actionibus.'

Cf. Tac. Ann. xv. 49, 'Famam carminum eius premebat Nero prohibueratque ostentare, vanus adsimulatione.'

Lucan replied by a poem satirizing Nero and his court.

Sueton. ibid., 'Sed et famoso carmine cum ipsum tum potentissimos amicorum gravissime proscidit.'

Lucan joined the conspiracy of Piso which was started A.D. 62, but was discovered, and compelled to commit suicide, 30th April, A.D. 65.

Sueton. ibid., 'Paene signifer Pisonianae coniurationis extitit.'

Vacca, ibid., 'A coniuratis in caedem Neronis socius adsumptus est, sed parum fauste. Deceptus est a Pisone ... Sua sponte coactus vita excedere venas sibi praecidit periitque pridie Kal. Maias Attico Vestino et Nerva Siliano coss., xxvi. aetatis annum agens.'

Tac. Ann. xv. 70, 'Exin Annaei Lucani caedem imperat. Is, profluente sanguine, ubi frigescere pedes manusque et paulatim ab extremis cedere spiritum fervido adhuc et compote mentis pectore intellegit, recordatus carmen a se compositum, quo volneratum militem per eius modi mortis imaginem obisse tradiderat, versus ipsos rettulit, eaque illi suprema vox fuit.'

Suetonius (corroborated by Tac. Ann. xv. 56) says that Lucan named his mother as a fellow-conspirator.

'Verum detecta coniuratione nequaquam parem animi constantiam praestitit. Facile enim confessus et ad humillimas devolutus preces matrem quoque innoxiam inter socios nominavit, sperans impietatem sibi apud parricidam principem profuturam.... Epulatus largiter brachia ad secandas venas praebuit medico.'

Lucan married Polla Argentaria. Statius and Martial were her friends, and seem to have kept up an observance of Lucan's birthday.

Cf. especially Statius, Silvae, ii. 7, on which the author, in his preface to the book, says, 'Cludit volumen genethliacon Lucani, quod Polla Argentaria, clarissima uxorum, cum hunc diem forte consecraremus, imputari sibi voluit.'

Martial vii. 21, 22, and 23 are written on the subject of Lucan's birthday.

(2) WORKS.

1. The only extant work of Lucan is De Bello Civili. This is the title in the MSS., and in Petron. 118. The usual title comes from ix. 985, 'Pharsalia nostra vivet,' words which come after a list of places in Greece and Asia immortalized by the poets, and which mean 'My story of Pharsalus shall live.' There is no evidence that Lucan gave the poem this title.

2. Lost works. Vacca mentions the following:

(a) In verse: Orpheus; Iliacon; Saturnalia; Catachthonion; Silvarum x.; tragoedia Medea (imperfecta): Salticae Fabulae, xiv.; epigrammata.

(b) In prose: Oratio in Octavium Sagittam et pro eo; de incendio urbis; epistulae ex Campania.

Suetonius also mentions 'Neronis laudes; famosum carmen in Neronem.' Stat. Silv. ii. 7, 62, mentions another work—'allocutio ad Pollam' (his wife).

Lucan's works became immediately popular.

Sueton. ibid., 'Poemata eius etiam praelegi memini, confici vero ac proponi, non tantum operose et diligenter, sed et inepte quoque.'

Mart. xiv. 194,

'Sunt quidam qui me dicunt non esse poetam: sed qui me vendit bibliopola putat.'

The epic poem De Bello Civili in ten Books (the last incomplete) carries the story of the Civil War down to the point where Caesar is besieged in Alexandria. Vacca informs us that Lucan did not live to correct the last seven Books.

'Ediderat ... tres libros quales videmus ... Reliqui vii. belli civilis libri locum calumniantibus tamquam mendosi non darent, qui tametsi sub vero crimine non egent patrocinio: in isdem dici, quod in Ovidii libris praescribitur, potest: "emendaturus, si licuisset, erat."'

Lucan's political views.—The first three Books were published when Lucan was still on good terms with Nero (cf. the gross flattery in i. 33-66), but practically the same view of the empire is taken throughout the poem; only Lucan expresses his views with greater vigour in the last seven Books; and, while in Books i.-iii. the question is one between Caesar and Pompey, afterwards it is one between Caesar and liberty. Even in Books i.-iii. Caesar is the villain of the piece; Pompey embodies all that is good; Cato and Brutus are highly spoken of; the former stands as the ideal Stoic. The Senate, except in Book v. ad init., appears in a rather unfavourable light, and so does the plebs. Lucan did not want the re-establishment of the republican oligarchy, but acquiesced in the empire as being ordained by fate. This is borne out by what we know of the Pisonian conspiracy, the object of which was not to re-establish the republic, but to put some leading man like Seneca on the throne. A few quotations will exemplify these points:

(1) The empire; iv. 691,

'Libyamque auferre tyranno dum regnum te, Roma, facit';

vii. 432,

'Quod fugiens civile nefas redituraque nunquam libertas ultra Tigrim Rhenumque recessit';

vii. 442,

'Felices Arabes Medique eoaque tellus, quam sub perpetuis tenuerunt fata tyrannis. Ex populis qui regna ferunt, sors ultima nostra est, quos servire pudet.'

(2) Pompeius; ii. 732-6,

'Non quia te superi patrio privare sepulchro maluerint, Phariae busto damnantur harenae: parcitur Hesperiae; procul hoc et in orbe remoto abscondat fortuna nefas, Romanaque tellus inmaculata sui servetur sanguine Magni.'

Cf. ix. 601-4 (where apotheosis is assigned him).

(3) Cato (the hero of Book ix.) and Brutus; ii. 234,

'At non magnanimi percussit pectora Bruti terror';

ix. 554,

'Nam cui crediderim superos arcana daturos dicturosque magis quam sancto vera Catoni?'

Cf. ix. 186-9.

(4) Caesar; ii. 439,

'Caesar in arma furens nullas nisi sanguine fuso gaudet habere vias';

v. 242,

'perdere successus scelerum';

vii. 593,

'nondum attigit arcem iuris et humanum columen, quo cuncta premuntur, egressus meruit fatis tam nobile letum. Vivat et, ut Bruti procumbat victima, regnet.'

Caesar's acts are sometimes unfairly represented, as in vii. 798 sqq., ix. 1035 sqq. (on viewing Pompeius' corpse); ll. 1038-9,

'lacrimas non sponte cadentis effudit gemitusque expressit pectore laeto.'

Lucan's philosophical and religious views.—His Stoicism comes out strongly in the poem, ix. 566-84 (speech of Cato), especially 578-80,

'Estque dei sedes, nisi terra et pontus et aer et caelum et virtus? Superos quid quaerimus ultra? Iuppiter est, quodcumque vides, quodcumque moveris?'

vii. 814,

'Communis mundo superest rogus ossibus astra mixturus.'

Note especially the very frequent references to fate; i. 263-4,

'cunctasque pudoris rumpunt fata moras.'

The gods are not introduced as chief agents; cf. the censure of Petronius quoted below. Lucan prides himself on despising the gods, and substitutes for them his favourite divinity, Fortuna; i. 128,

'Victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni';

vii. 445,

'Sunt nobis nulla profecto numina; cum caeco rapiantur saecula casu, mentimur regnare Iovem.'

Rhetorical treatment is seen in (1) the vast amount of hyperbole employed; cf. the account of the siege of Massilia, iii. 538-762; (2) the geographical and mythological learning introduced. This is sometimes inaccurate; the best known instance is his confusion of Pharsalus and Philippi; cf. i. 1 and 688.

Lucan's models.—(1) For diction, chiefly Virgil.[77] Horace and Ovid are also imitated.

(2) For history Lucan is supposed to have used Livy mostly. How far he used other authorities is unknown. His history is sometimes inexact. In ii. 478 sqq. the character of L. Domitius Ahenobarbus is falsely portrayed. So the journey of Cato to the shrine of Hammon, ix. 511 sqq.

(3) Seneca is one of his authorities for science and philosophy. Thus in describing the Nile, x. 194-331, Lucan has used Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iv. 1-2. The biographer of the Codex Vossianus ii. attributes (probably wrongly) the first seven verses of Book i. to Seneca.

'Seneca, qui fuit avonculus eius, quia ex abrupto incohabat, hos vii. versus addidit: "Bella per Emathios" usque "et pila minantia pilis."'

Criticisms of Lucan.—Petronius, in introducing his parody of Lucan, says, par. 118, 'Ecce belli civilis ingens opus quisquis attigerit, nisi plenus litteris, sub onere labetur. Non enim res gestae versibus comprehendendae sunt, quod longe melius historici faciunt, sed per ambages deorumque ministeria et fabulosum sententiarum tormentum praecipitandus est liber spiritus.' See p. 275.

Quint. x. 1, 90, 'Lucanus ardens et concitatus et sententiis clarissimus et, ut dicam quod sentio, magis oratoribus quam poetis imitandus.'



PETRONIUS.

The Satirae of Petronius are attributed in the MSS. to Petronius Arbiter. It is practically certain that the author was C. Petronius, once proconsul of Bithynia and afterwards consul, who was long a member of Nero's inner circle, and who, in A.D. 66, when accused by Tigellinus, anticipated execution by suicide.

Tac. Ann. xvi. 18, 'Proconsul Bithyniae, et mox consul, vigentem se ac parem negotiis ostendit. Dein revolutus ad vitia, seu vitiorum imitatione, inter paucos familiarium Neroni adsumptus est, elegantiae arbiter, dum nihil amoenum et molle adfluentia putat, nisi quod ei Petronius adprobavisset. Unde invidia Tigellini ... (Ch. 19) Forte ... Campaniam petiverat Caesar, et Cumas usque progressus Petronius illic attinebatur. Nec tulit ultra timoris aut spei moras. Neque tamen praeceps vitam expulit, sed incisas venas, ut libitum, obligatas aperire rursum, et adloqui amicos, non per seria aut quibus gloriam constantiae peteret ... Flagitia principis sub nominibus exoletorum feminarumque et novitatem cuiusque stupri perscripsit, atque obsignata misit Neroni.'

The document mentioned above as sent to Nero has nothing to do with the extant Satirae. That C. Petronius is the author of the work is rendered even more certain from the fact that it was obviously written in Nero's time by a man of high culture and knowledge of the world.

The novel contains an account of the adventures of a certain Encolpius, as told by himself. Encolpius comes in contact with Priapus in Massilia, Cumae, and Croton; and probably the wrath of Priapus (a parody of the wrath of Poseidon in the Odyssey) is the leading motive that binds the disjointed parts. Cf. ch. 139,

'Me quoque per terras, per cani Nereos aequor Hellespontiaci sequitur gravis ira Priapi.'

The work, the extant parts of which are from Books xv. and xvi., is in form a Satira Menippea,[78] alternately prose and verse. The longer episodes, as the supper of Trimalchio and the story of the matron of Ephesus, are exclusively prose. In the Cena Trimalchionis, where Encolpius and his company are entertained by a rich freedman, Petronius has given us a correct account of provincial life in South Italy. Mommsen (Hermes, xiii. 106) has shown that Cumae was the town where Trimalchio lived. It is a 'Graeca urbs' (ch. 81), and a Roman colony (ch. 44, etc.), so that it cannot be Naples. The chief magistrates are called praetores (ch. 65), which suits Cumae alone of the towns of this district. The only objection to Cumae being the place is the passage in ch. 48, where an event at Cumae is given as something wonderful and unusual:

'Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Sibylla, ti theleis? respondebat illa: apothanein thelo.'

This, however, may simply be given for comic effect. Friedlaender thinks Cumis is a wrong reading. The date of Encolpius' adventures cannot be under Tiberius, for the emperor is called 'pater patriae' (ch. 60), a title which Tiberius refused. Mommsen thinks the dramatic date is under Augustus; Friedlaender,[79] towards the end of Claudius' or the beginning of Nero's reign. The cognomen of Trimalchio, Maecenatianus (ch. 71), means that he was a freedman of the well-known Maecenas. Trimalchio, therefore, came to Rome as a boy (ch. 29; 75) before Maecenas' death (B.C. 8), and was probably born about B.C. 18. He is represented as 'senex' (ch. 27), i.e. at least sixty, but may have been over seventy. A.D. 57 is probably the later limit of date. Mommsen thinks that the words (ch. 57), 'puer capillatus in hanc coloniam veni: adhuc basilica non erat facta,' mean that when Trimalchio came to Cumae it was not a Roman colony. Now, Cumae became a colony between 43 and 27 B.C., and, on this supposition, the supper of Trimalchio would have to be placed between A.D. 7 and A.D. 23, as it is about fifty years since Trimalchio came to Cumae. Friedlaender, however, thinks that the basilica would not have been put up immediately the town became a colony.

The language of the narrative is that of the educated classes of the time, and is in close agreement with the style of Seneca the younger. The diction of Trimalchio and his fellow-freedman is the South Italian popular speech of the time, filled with grammatical mistakes and provincialisms, and rich in proverbial expressions. The longest poems in the work are: (1) Troiae halosis (ch. 89), 65 senarii, supposed to be a parody of Nero's poem of the same name; (2) De bello civili (ch. 119-124), 295 hexameters, in which Lucan's style is imitated and sometimes parodied. Cf. ll. 26-7,

'Et laxi crines et tot nova nomina vestis, quaeque virum quaerunt,'

with Lucan, i. 164-5,

'Cultus gestare decoros vix nuribus rapuere mares';

and ll. 51-2,

'Praeterea gemino deprensam gurgite plebem faenoris illuvies ususque exederat aeris,'

with Lucan, i. 181,

'Hinc usura vorax, avidumque in tempora faenus.'



CALPURNIUS SICULUS.

Eleven eclogues used to be attributed to T. Calpurnius Siculus, but only the first seven are his work, the last four being written by M. Aurelius Olympius Nemesianus in the second half of the 3rd century A.D. A MS. now lost gave before Ecl. 1, 'Titi Calphurnii Siculi bucolicum carmen ... incipit'; and before Ecl. 8, 'Aurelii Nemesiani poetae Carthaginiensis ecloga prima incipit.'

Some information about Calpurnius' life is got from his works. In 4, 17-8, he (as Corydon) mentions a brother; in 4, 155-6, he speaks of his poverty; and in 4, 29 sqq., of Meliboeus as having come to his assistance when about to leave for Spain; cf. Ecl. 4, 36-42,

Ecce nihil querulum per te, Meliboee, sonamus; per te secura saturi recubamus in umbra, et fruimur silvis Amaryllidos, ultima nuper litora terrarum, nisi tu, Meliboee, fuisses, ultima visuri, trucibusque obnoxia Mauris pascua Geryonis.

The old theory was that Calpurnius lived in the time of Carus and his sons (in the second half of the 3rd century A.D.), but the facts fit in best with the view that he lived at the beginning of Nero's reign. (1) Meliboeus in Ecl. 4 probably stands for Seneca (others suppose Calpurnius Piso to be meant); 4, 53-7,

Nam tibi non tantum venturos discere nimbos agricolis qualemque ferat sol aureus ortum, attribuere dei, sed dulcia carmina saepe concinis.

These lines agree with the fact of Seneca's being the author of Naturales Quaestiones and of tragedies. (2) Ecl. i. 77-83 refers to the comet which appeared at the beginning of Nero's reign. (3) References to Nero's youth and beauty, poetical gifts, the games he gave, and the new era of peace he introduced; 1, 42-5,

Aurea secura cum pace renascitur aetas, et redit ad terras tandem squalore situque alma Themis posito, iuvenemque beata secuntur saecula, maternis causam qui vicit in ulnis

7, 6,

quae patula iuvenis deus edit harena.

Cf. also 1, 84-8; 4, 84-9; 7, 83-4. Ecl. 7 used to be taken as referring to the Colosseum, which was not commenced till about A.D. 77; but the games may be those mentioned in Sueton. Nero, 11, and the wooden amphitheatre in 7, 23-4, may be that mentioned by Sueton. Nero, 12, and Tac. Ann. xiii. 31.

The difference of authorship of Ecl. 1-7 and of Ecl. 8-11 is shown by the following: (1) Final o shows classical usage in 1-7, but in 8-11 we have expecto (9, 26), coniungo (10, 14), ambo (9, 17), and the like; (2) 1-7 show only eight elisions, 7-11 show thirty-nine; (3) no ending like montivagus Pan (10, 17) is found in 1-7; (4) fateor and memini used parenthetically are common in 1-7, and not found in 8-11; (5) there are no allusions to the emperor in 8-11; (6) Ecl. 9 shows imitations of Ecl. 2 and 3; (7) 8-11 agree in many points with Nemesianus' Cynegetica.

The Eclogues are modelled chiefly on Virgil and Theocritus, e.g. Ecl. 3 on Verg. Ecl. 7 and Theocr. 3, 14, and 23.

The poem de laude Pisonis is now generally attributed to Calpurnius Siculus. One point of similarity with Calpurnius' other poems is the rareness of elision, there being only two instances (ll. 24, 259). The description of Piso's liberality and eloquence (ll. 32, 88, 97 sqq.) and of his skill in draughts (ll. 178-96) corresponds with the information given by Tac. Ann. xv. 48 and the Schol. on Iuv. 5, 109, about Calpurnius Piso, who flourished under Claudius.



AETNA.

This poem, in 645 hexameter lines, is attributed to Virgil in the MSS., but is probably by Lucilius Iunior, to whom Seneca addresses his Epistulae Morales, De Providentia, and Quaestiones Naturales. Lucilius was younger than Seneca (Sen. Ep. 26, 7, 'iuvenior es'), and was born at Naples or Pompeii.

Sen. Ep. 49, 1, 'Ecce Campania et maxime Neapolis ad Pompeiorum tuorum conspectum incredibile est quam recens desiderium tui fecerint.'

Lucilius had held procuratorial offices in Alpes Graiae et Poeninae, Epirus, Creta et Cyrene, and Sicily.

Ibid. 44, 2, 'Eques Romanus es et ad hunc ordinem tua te perduxit industria.' Ibid. 31, 9, 'Quo modo, inquis, isto pervenitur? Non per Poeninum Graiumve montem, nec per deserta Candaviae, nec Syrtes tibi nec Scylla aut Charybdis adeundae sunt, quae tamen omnia transisti procuratiunculae pretio.'[80]

Sen. N.Q. iv. praef. 1, 'Delectat te, Lucili, Sicilia et officium procurationis otiosae.'

For his life cf. also the words put into his mouth by Sen. N.Q. iv. praef. 15-17, which show his loyalty to his friends, 'Non mihi in amicitia Gaetulici (died A.D. 39) vel Gaius fidem eripuit, non in aliorum persona infeliciter amatorum Messalla et Narcissus ... propositum meum avertere potuerunt ... videbam apud Gaium tormenta, videbam ignes.'[81]

Seneca speaks of him as a pupil in philosophy in Ep. 34, 2, 'Adsero te mihi: meum opus es.'

A literary work of his is spoken of by Seneca, also a poem in which he mentions Alpheus and Arethusa:

Ep. 46, 1, 'Librum tuum, quem mihi promiseras, accepi. Levis mihi visus est, cum esset nec mei nec tui corporis, sed qui primo adspectu aut T. Livi aut Epicuri posset videri ... Non tantum delectatus, sed gavisus sum.'

N.Q. iii. 26, 6, 'Hoc et a te traditum est ut in poemate, Lucili carissime, et a Vergilio, qui adloquitur Arethusam.'

A poem on Aetna is referred to in Ep. 79, 5-7, 'Donec pudor obstet, ne Aetnam describas in tuo carmine et hunc sollemnem omnibus poetis locum adtingas; quem quo minus Ovidius tractaret, nihil obstitit, quod iam Vergilius impleverat ... Aut ego te non novi aut Aetna tibi salivam movet: iam cupis grande aliquid et par prioribus scribere.'

Some authorities think that Lucilius had meant to incorporate this description in a larger poem, but changed his mind, and wrote a poem on Aetna alone.

As regards the date of the poem: (1) It was written at a time when imitation of Ovid was common. Cf. Sen. N.Q. iv. 2, 2, 'Quare non cum poeta meo iocor et illi Ovidium suum impingo?' (2) There is no mention of Vesuvius in the list of volcanoes in 1. 425 sqq. The poem must therefore have been written before A.D. 79.

The following are the arguments for Lucilius having been the author:

(1) The poem was written by one who knew Aetna and the vicinity. Now Lucilius was long procurator of Sicily.

(2) Military metaphors, as ll. 464-74, would fit in with his having been a soldier.

(3) The author speaks as if he knew the neighbourhood of Naples well.

(4) However, the argument that the writer shows Epicurean views, and that Lucilius was an Epicurean, has little weight. (a) There are Stoical doctrines in the poem. Cf. ll. 33-5, 68-70, on the divinity of the stars; ll. 173-4, which maintain that the world would come back to its former state; ll. 536-9, where Heraclitus' doctrine of fire is recommended. (b) The Epistulae Morales only show that Lucilius had a leaning to Epicureanism, not that he was an Epicurean. Cf. Ep. 23, 9, 'Vocem tibi Epicuri tui reddere,' and other playful references.

(5) The views on natural science given in the poem are sometimes the same as those in Sen. N.Q. This would fix the date of the poem between 65 and 79 A.D. Cf. Aetna, 123,

'Flumina quin etiam latis currentia rivis occasus habuere suos: aut illa vorago derepta in praeceps fatali condidit ore aut occulta fluunt tectis adoperta cavernis atque inopinatos referunt procul edita cursus';

and Sen. N.Q. iii. 26, 3, 'Quaedam flumina palam in aliquem specum decidunt et sic ex oculis auferuntur, quaedam consumuntur paulatim et intercidunt. Eadem ex intervallo revertuntur recipiuntque et nomen et cursum.' Cf. also Aetna, 96,

'Defit namque omnis hiatu, secta est omnis humus penitusque cavata latebris exiles suspensa vias agit';

and Sen. N.Q. v. 14, 1, 'Non tota solido contextu terra in imum usque fundatur, sed multis partibus cava et caecis suspensa latebris.' So the story of the Catanian brothers (ll. 624-45) is told by Sen. De Benef. iii. 37, 2-3.

Imitations of Lucretius abound. Cf. ll. 219 sqq.,

'Nunc quoniam in promptu est operis natura solique, unde ipsi venti, quae res incendia pascit,' etc.

For the author's attacks on superstition, cf. ll. 91-3,

'Debita carminibus libertas ista; sed omnis in vero mihi cura: canam quo fervida motu aestuet Aetna novosque rapax sibi congerat ignes.'

A version of the Phaenomena of Aratus is extant, the author of which is called in the MSS. 'Claudius Caesar,' or 'Germanicus.' He is generally identified with Germanicus, the adopted son of Tiberius (so Jerome and Lactantius), though in modern times the poem has been ascribed to Domitian, who had the title of 'Germanicus' from A.D. 84. There are also fragments of Prognostica, which are independent of Aratus.



PLINY THE ELDER.

(1) LIFE.

There is a very brief life of Pliny by Suetonius, but most of our information about him is derived from his own writings and the letters of his nephew (Plin. Ep. iii. 5; v. 8; vi. 16; vi. 20).

C. Plinius Secundus was born A.D. 23 or 24, for at the time of his death in A.D. 79 he was in his fifty-sixth year (Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 7, 'decessisse anno sexto et quinquagesimo'). His birthplace was Comum in Cisalpine Gaul, according to Sueton. vit. Plin. In an anonymous Life he is styled 'Veronensis,' probably on account of the phrase in N.H. praef. 1, 'Catullum conterraneum meum,' where, however, terra means Gallia, the province, not the city.

Pliny was the son of an eques, and had a sister married to L. Caecilius of Novum Comum (see p. 139). He came to Rome not later than A.D. 35 (N.H. xxxvii. 81, 'Servilii Noniani quem consulem vidimus'), and was trained in poetry and literature, probably by P. Pomponius Secundus[82]; his instructors in rhetoric are not known, but he mentions as rhetoricians Remmius Palaemon (xiv. 49) and Arellius Fuscus (xxxiii. 152). In botany he learned much from Antonius Castor (xxv. 9).

At the beginning of the reign of Claudius, Pliny was an eye-witness of the building operations at the harbour of Ostia, A.D. 42 (ix. 14): in 44 he practised in the law courts. Having decided on a military career, he would begin, according to the regulation of Claudius (Sueton. Claud. 25), with the command of a cohort of infantry. He was next praefectus alae (Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 3) under Corbulo, who was legatus of Germania Inferior, A.D. 47, in his campaign against the Chauci: cf. N.H. xvi. 2, 'Sunt vero in septemtrione visae nobis Chaucorum [gentes]'; and in A.D. 50 fought under Pomponius against the Chatti. His 'castrense contubernium' with Titus (born A.D. 41) was probably in 55 or 56, when he was in the army of Pompeius Paulinus: cf. xxxiii. 143, 'Pompeium Paulinum XII pondo argenti habuisse apud exercitum ferocissimis gentibus oppositum scimus.' Personal knowledge of Germany appears in several passages of the N.H., e.g. xii. 98, 'extremo in margine imperii, qua Rhenus adluit, vidi'; xxii. 8, 'quem morem etiam nunc durare apud Germanos scio.'

Pliny was present at the festivities at Lake Fucinus in A.D. 52 (xxxiii. 63). During Nero's reign he spent some time in Campania (ii. 180) and Cisalpine Gaul (xxxv. 20), was a spectator at the Vatican games in A.D. 59, and saw the building of Nero's golden house after the fire of A.D. 64 (xxxvi. iii).

Under Vespasian Pliny was procurator in Italy, and in several of the provinces: Sueton. vit., 'Procurationes splendidissimas et continuas summa integritate administravit.' (a) Hispania Tarraconensis: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 17, 'cum procuraret in Hispania'; (b) Gallia Narbonensis: N.H. ii. 150, 'ego vidi in Vocontiorum agro'; (c) Gallia Belgica: xviii. 183, 'nec recens subtrahemus exemplum in Treverico agro tertio ante hoc anno compertum'; (d) Africa: vii. 36, 'ipse in Africa vidi.' For his intimacy with Vespasian cf. Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 9, 'ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem ... inde ad delegatum sibi officium.'

In A.D. 79 Pliny was in command of the fleet at Misenum, when his scientific interest in the eruption of Vesuvius led him to approach too near the volcano, with the result that he was suffocated by the ashes (24th August). For a detailed account of his death, see Plin. Ep. vi. 16 (to Tacitus). Cf. Sueton. vit., 'Periit clade Campaniae. Cum enim Misenensi classi praeesset, et flagrante Vesuvio ad explorandas propius causas liburnica pertendisset, neque adversantibus ventis remeare posset, vi pulveris ac favillae oppressus est, vel, ut quidam existimant, a servo suo occisus, quem aestu deficiens ut necem sibi maturaret oraverit.'

(2) WORKS.

A chronological list of Pliny's writings is given by his nephew (Ep. iii. 5).

1. De iaculatione equestri.—'Hunc, cum praefectus alae militaret, pari ingenio curaque composuit.' This manual on the javelin as a cavalry weapon is mentioned by Pliny himself, N.H. viii. 162, 'Nos diximus in libro de iaculatione equestri condito.'

2. De vita Pomponii Secundi, in two Books, a tribute to the memory of a valued friend, the tragic poet Pomponius. Cf. N.H. xiv. 56, 'referentes vitam Pomponii Secundi vatis.'

3. Bella Germaniae, in twenty Books, a narrative of the Roman wars in Germany; begun by Pliny when serving in that country, the apparition of Drusus having besought him to rescue his name from oblivion (so Pliny the younger). Cf. Tac. Ann. i. 69, 'Tradit C. Plinius, Germanicorum bellorum scriptor.'

4. Studiosus, in three Books or six parts, a treatise on rhetoric from the very rudiments. Quintilian, though surprised at some of Pliny's views (xi. 3, 143; 148), numbers him among the more careful exponents of the subject (iii. 1, 21, 'accuratius scripsit'). The book contained models of good style: Gell. ix. 16, 1, 'refert plerasque sententias quas in declamandis controversiis lepide arguteque dictas putat.'

5. Dubius Sermo, in eight Books, published A.D. 67, towards the end of Nero's reign, when purely technical subjects alone could be treated without danger to an author. Cf. N.H. praef. 28, 'libellos quos de grammatica edidi.'

6. A fine Aufidii Bassi, in thirty-one Books. At what point Bassus' history ended and Pliny's began is not known: but the latter certainly dealt with the closing years of Nero's reign (N.H. ii. 199, 'anno Neronis principis supremo, sicut in rebus eius exposuimus'), as well as with the times of Vespasian and Titus (N.H. praef. 20, 'Vos omnes, patrem te fratremque diximus opere iusto, temporum nostrorum historiam orsi a fine Aufidii Bassi'). The work was completed in A.D. 77, but not published till after the author's death. His nephew says he wrote with scrupulous care: Ep. v. 8, 5, 'historias et quidem religiosissime scripsit.' The book was used by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 20; xv. 53; Hist. iii. 28).

7. Naturae Historiae, in thirty-seven Books, is Pliny's only extant work. As he speaks of Titus as 'sexies consul,' the date of its presentation to him was A.D. 77. Book i. consists of a dedicatory epistle to Titus and a table of contents. The body of the work is arranged as follows: Book ii., the universe and the elements; iii.-vi., geography of Europe, Asia, and Africa; vii., anthropology and human physiology; viii.-xi., zoology; xii.-xix., botany; xx.-xxvii., the use of vegetable substances in medicine; xxviii.-xxxii., the use of animal substances in medicine; xxxiii.-xxxvii., mineralogy applied to medicine and the fine arts.

This work, which was meant not for continuous perusal, but for consultation as a book of reference, contained twenty thousand facts; and its preparation involved the reading of about two thousand volumes by one hundred authors (see N.H. praef. 17). The extracts he had made from these sources Pliny bequeathed to his nephew in one hundred and sixty volumes. He makes a point of acknowledging his obligations to other writers (praef. 21, 'in his voluminibus auctorum nomina praetexui, est enim benignum ... et plenum ingenui pudoris fateri per quos profeceris'); cf. the lists of authorities, Roman and foreign, prefixed to the work. Such devotion to natural science was unusual in men of Pliny's class, and not generally appreciated; cf. xxii. 15, 'Plerisque ultro etiam irrisui sumus ista commentantes atque frivoli operis arguimur.' As a scientific writer Pliny fails because he is not an original investigator, and because he lacks the critical faculty. For his method of working see Plin. Ep. iii. 5.

Politically, Pliny recognizes the necessity of the empire, but his heroes are old Romans such as Cincinnatus and Cato. His Roman and Italian feeling is intense: cf. xxxvii. 201, 'In toto orbe ... pulcherrima omnium est in rebusque merito principatum naturae obtinet Italia, rectrix parensque mundi altera.'

His view of life is gloomy (N.H. ii. 25, 'nec quidquam miserius homine'), and through the Naturae Historiae there runs a monotonous strain of condemnation of the immorality of his day. He is uncertain as to divine providence, but considers the belief in it salutary, and he accepts portents (ii. 92). His tendency is, in the main, Stoic; he was probably acquainted with Paetus Thrasea, who corresponded with Pomponius.



VALERIUS FLACCUS.

His full name is given in the Vatican MS. as C. Valerius Flaccus Setinus Balbus. It is doubtful (even if the last two names really belong to the poet) whether Setinus means from Setia in Italy or from Setia in Spain. The poet's Latinity gives no evidence on the point. Quintilian is the only Roman writer who refers to him; x. 1, 90, 'Multum in Valerio Flacco nuper amisimus'; which shows that he must have died about A.D. 90. In the beginning of the first Book of the Argonautica (written shortly after A.D. 70), Valerius addresses Vespasian, referring to his exploits in Britain, and to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus; i. 7 sqq.,

'Tuque o, pelagi cui maior aperti fama, Caledonius postquam tua carbasa vexit oceanus Phrygios prius indignatus Iulos, eripe me populis et habenti nubila terrae, sancte pater, veterumque fave veneranda canenti facta virum. Versam proles tua pandet Idumen (namque potest), Solymo nigrantem pulvere fratrem spargentemque faces et in omni turre furentem.'

i. 5 sqq. probably shows that Valerius was a quindecimvir sacris faciundis,

'Phoebe, mone, si Cymaeae mihi conscia vatis stat casta cortina domo, si laurea digna fronte viret.'

Cf. the allusion in viii. 239 sqq. to Cybele's bath, which was under the management of the xv.viri; and to the rites of lustration, iii. 417 sqq.

There are several allusions to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, e.g. iv. 507.

The Argonautica is in eight Books, the last being incomplete, and the story breaking off shortly before the death of Medea's brother, Absyrtus. Valerius probably meant to write twelve Books, but it is not known how much farther he actually proceeded in his work. There is evidence to show that the last Books would have differed considerably from the story as given by Apollonius Rhodius; e.g. the visit to Phaeacia was probably omitted, as Jason was married at Peuce (Book viii.).

Apollonius is followed very closely, many passages being translated from him; thus iv. 236 = Apoll. ii. 38; vii. 404 = Apoll. in. 966. Valerius, however, amplifies where Apollonius is brief, and vice versa. Thus Apoll. ii. 948 sqq. is dismissed by Valerius v. 110 sqq. in a few words. The character painting of Valerius is superior to that of the original, cf. the character of Jason and of Aeetes. So for his artistic work; thus his portraiture of the gradual progress of Medea's love is superior to Apollonius' description, and to Virgil's of Dido.

The obligations to Virgil are paramount.

(1) Verbal; as i. 55,

'Tu, cui iam curaeque vigent animique viriles,'

from Aen. ix. 311,

'Ante annos animumque gerens curamque virilem.'

Cf. 'horrentem iaculis, nec credere quivi, heu quid agat, libans carchesia, summa dies, miscere polum, rumpere questus,' in Book i.[83]

(2) In matter. The description of Fame, ii. 116 sqq., is from Aen. iv. The character of Styrus, the betrothed of Medea, is modelled on that of Turnus.

After Virgil, Homer (esp. in Book vi.), Ovid, and Seneca's tragedies are chiefly imitated. Statius is full of imitations of Valerius.

Valerius often tries to connect his subject with Rome.[84] Cf. ii. 304,

'Iam nemus Egeriae, iam te ciet altus ab Alba Iuppiter et soli non mitis Aricia regi';

ii 573,

'genus Aeneadum et Troiae melioris honores.'



SILIUS ITALICUS.

The full name of Silius is got from an inscription (C.I.L. vi. 1984), and is Ti. Catius Silius Italicus. Our chief information about his life is found in Pliny, Epist. iii. 7, where his recent death is mentioned. It was probably written A.D. 101, and as it states that Silius was then 75 years old, the year of his birth was A.D. 25. His birthplace is unknown, but was not Italica in Spain, otherwise Martial would have claimed him as a countryman. Pliny tells us that Silius had risen by acting as a delator under Nero, who made him consul A.D. 68. He had taken the side of Vitellius in the war of the succession A.D. 69[85] and had afterwards, as proconsul, governed Asia with success (under Vespasian). After this he possessed great social influence. Towards the end of his life, he retired to Campania, and gave himself up to study. The account of his learned retirement,[86] his reverence for Virgil,[87] the consulship of his son,[88] the death of his younger son,[89] and other details, are corroborated by his contemporary Martial.

The passage of Pliny is as follows:

'Modo nuntiatus est Silius Italicus in Neapolitano suo inedia finisse vitam. Causa mortis valetudo. Erat illi natus insanabilis clavus, cuius taedio ad mortem inrevocabili constantia decucurrit, usque ad supremum diem beatus et felix, nisi quod minorem ex liberis duobus amisit, sed maiorem melioremque florentem atque etiam consularem reliquit. Laeserat famam suam sub Nerone, credebatur sponte accusasse: sed in Vitelli amicitia sapienter se et comiter gesserat, ex proconsulatu Asiae gloriam reportaverat, maculam veteris industriae laudabili otio abluerat. Fuit inter principes civitatis sine potentia, sine invidia: salutabatur, colebatur, multumque in lectulo iacens cubiculo semper non ex fortuna frequenti doctissimis sermonibus dies transigebat, cum a scribendo vacaret. Scribebat carmina maiore cura quam ingenio, non numquam iudicia hominum recitationibus experiebatur. Novissime ita suadentibus annis ab urbe secessit, seque in Campania tenuit, ac ne adventu quidem novi principis inde commotus est ... Erat philokalos usque ad emacitatis reprehensionem. Plures isdem in locis villas possidebat adamatisque novis priores neglegebat. Multum ubique librorum, multum statuarum, multum imaginum, quas non habebat modo verum etiam venerabatur, Vergilii ante omnes, cuius natalem religiosius quam suum celebrabat, Neapoli maxime, ubi monimentum eius adire ut templum solebat. In hac tranquillitate annum quintum et septuagensimum excessit, delicato magis corpore quam infirmo; utque novissimus a Nerone factus est consul, ita postremus ex omnibus quos Nero consules fecerat decessit.'