Section IX.

[a] Agamemnon and Jason were two favourite dramatic subjects with the Roman poets. After their example, the moderns seem to have been enamoured with those two Grecian heroes. Racine has displayed the former, in his tragedy of Iphigenia, and the late Mr. Thomson in a performance of great merit, entitled Agamemnon. Corneille, and, the late Mr. Glover, thought Jason and Medea worthy of their talents.

[b] Saleius Bassus has been already mentioned, s. v. note [a]. It may be added in this place, that the critics of his time concurred in giving him the warmest praise, not only as a good and excellent man, but also as an eminent and admirable poet. He was descended from a family of distinction, but was poor and often distressed. Whether he or Cæsius Bassus was the friend of Persius, is not perfectly clear. Be the fact as it may, the satirist describes a fine poet, and his verses were applicable to either of them:

[c] Before the invention of printing, copies were not easily multiplied. Authors were eager to enjoy their fame, and the pen of the transcriber was slow and tedious. Public rehearsals were the road to fame. But an audience was to be drawn together by interest, by solicitation, and public advertisements. Pliny, in one of his letters, has given a lively description of the difficulties which the author had to surmount. This year, he says, has produced poets in great abundance. Scarce a day has passed in the month of April, without the recital of a poem. But the greater part of the audience comes with reluctance; they loiter in the lobbies, and there enter into idle chat, occasionally desiring to know, whether the poet is in his pulpit? has he begun? is his preface over? has he almost finished? They condescended, at last, to enter the room; they looked round with an air of indifference, and soon retired, some by stealth, and others with open contempt. Hence the greater praise is due to those authors, who do not suffer their genius to droop, but, on the contrary, amidst the most discouraging circumstances, still persist to cultivate the liberal arts. Pliny adds, that he himself attended all the public readings, and, for that purpose, staid longer in the city than was usual with him. Being, at length, released, he intended, in his rural retreat, to finish a work of his own, but not to read it in public, lest he should be thought to claim a return of the civility which he had shewn to others. He was a bearer, and not a creditor. The favour conferred, if redemanded, ceases to be a favour. Magnum proventum poetarum annus hic attulit. Toto mense Aprili nullus fere dies, quo non recitaret aliquis. Tametsi ad audiendum pigre coitur. Plerique in stationibus sedent, tempusque audiendis fabulis conterunt, ac subinde sibi nuntiari jubent, an jam recitator intraverit, an dixerit præfationem, an ex magná parte evolverit librum? Tum demum, ac tune quoque lentè, cunctanterque veniunt, nec tamen remanent, sed ante finem recedunt; alii dissimulanter, ac furtim, alii, simpliciter, ac liberè. Sed tanto magis laudandi probandique sunt, quos a scribendi recitandique studio hæc auditorum vel desidia, vel superbia non retardat. Equidem prope nemini defui: his ex causis longius, quam destinaveram, tempus in urbe consumpsi. Possum jam repetere secessum, et scribere aliquid, quod non recitem, ne videar, quorum recitationibus affui, non auditor fuisse, sed creditor. Nam, ut in cæteris rebus, ita in audiendi officio, perit gratia si reposcatur. Pliny, lib. i. ep. 13. Such was the state of literature under the worst of the emperors. The Augustan age was over. In the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula learning drooped, but in some degree revived under the dull and stupid Claudius. Pliny, in the letter above cited, says of that emperor, that, one day hearing a noise in his palace, he enquired what was the cause, and, being informed that Nonianus was reciting in public, went immediately to the place, and became one of the audience. After that time letters met with no encouragement from the great. Lord Shaftesbury says, he cannot but wonder how the Romans, after the extinction of the Cæsarean and Claudian family, and a short interval of princes raised and destroyed with much disorder and public ruin, were able to regain their perishing dominion, and retrieve their sinking state, by an after-race of wise and able princes, successively adopted, and taken from a private state to rule the empire of the world. They were men, who not only possessed the military virtues, and supported that sort of discipline in the highest degree; but as they sought the interest of the world, they did what was in their power to restore liberty, and raise again the perishing arts, and the decayed virtue of mankind. But the season was past: barbarity and gothicism were already entered into the arts, ere the savages made an impression on the empire. See Advice to an Author, part. ii. s. 1. The gothicism, hinted at by Shaftesbury, appears manifestly in the wretched situation to which the best authors were reduced. The poets who could not hope to procure an audience, haunted the baths and public walks, in order to fasten on their friends, and, at any rate, obtain a hearing for their works. Juvenal says, the plantations and marble columns of Julius Fronto resounded with the vociferation of reciting poets:

The same author observes, that the poet, who aspired to literary fame, might borrow an house for the purpose of a public reading; and the great man who accommodated the writer, might arrange his friends and freedmen on the back seats, with direction not to be sparing of their applause; but still a stage or pulpit, with convenient benches, was to be procured, and that expence the patrons of letters would not supply.

Statius, in Juvenal's time, was a favourite poet. If he announced a reading, his auditors went in crowds. He delighted all degrees and ranks of men; but, when the hour of applause was over, the author was obliged to sell a tragedy to Paris, the famous actor, in order to procure a dinner,

This was the hard lot of poetry, and this the state of public reading, which Aper describes to his friend Maternus.

Section X.

[a] Horace has the same observation:

[b] Notwithstanding all that is said, in this Dialogue, of Saleius Bassus, it does not appear, in the judgement of Quintilian, that he was a poet whose fame could extend itself to the distant provinces. Perfection in the kind is necessary. Livy, the historian, was at the head of his profession. In consequence of his vast reputation, we know from Pliny, the consul, that a native of the city of Cadiz was so struck with the character of that great writer, that he made a journey to Rome, with no other intent than to see that celebrated genius; and having gratified his curiosity, without staying to view the wonders of that magnificent city, returned home perfectly satisfied. Nunquamne legisti Gaditanum quemdam Titi Livii nomine gloriâque commotum, ad visendum eum ab ultimo terrarum orbe venisse; statimque, ut viderat, abiisse? Lib. ii. epist. 3.

[c] In Homer and Virgil, as well as in the dramatic poets of the first order, we frequently have passages of real eloquence, with the difference which Quintilian mentions: the poet, he says, is a slave to the measure of his verse; and, not being able at all times to make use of the true and proper word, he is obliged to quit the natural and easy way of expression, and avail himself of new modes and turns of phraseology, such as tropes, and metaphors, with the liberty of transposing words, and lengthening or shortening syllables as he sees occasion. Quod alligati ad certam pedum necessitatem non semper propriis uti possint, sed depulsi a rectâ viâ, necessario ad quædam diverticula confugiant; nec mutare quædam modo verba, sed extendere, corripere, convertere, dividere cogantur. Quint, lib. x. cap. 1. The speaker in the Dialogue is aware of this distinction, and, subject to it, the various branches of poetry are with him so many different modes of eloquence.

[d] The original has, the citadel of eloquence, which calls to mind an admired passage in Lucretius:

[e] It is a fact well known, that in Greece the most illustrious of both sexes thought it honourable to exercise themselves in the exhibitions of the theatre, and even to appear in the athletic games. Plutarch, it is true, will have it, that all scenic arts were prohibited at Sparta by the laws of Lycurgus; and yet Cornelius Nepos assures us, that no Lacedæmonian matron, however high her quality, was ashamed to act for hire on the public stage. He adds, that throughout Greece, it was deemed the highest honour to obtain the prize in the Olympic games, and no man blushed to be a performer in plays and pantomimes, and give himself a spectacle to the people. Nulla Lacedæmoni tam est nobilis vidua, quæ non in scenam eat mercede conducta. Magnis in laudibus totâ fuit Græciâ, victorem Olympiæ citari. In scenam vero prodire, et populo esse spectaculo nemini in iisdem gentibus fuit turpitudini. Cor. Nep. in Præfat. It appears, however, from a story told by Ælian and cited by Shaftesbury, Advice to an Author, part ii. s. 3, that the Greek women were by law excluded from the Olympic games. Whoever was found to transgress, or even to cross the river Alpheus, during the celebration of that great spectacle, was liable to be thrown from a rock. The consequence was, that not one female was detected, except Callipatria, or, as others called her, Pherenicè. This woman, disguised in the habit of a teacher of gymnastic exercises, introduced her son, Pisidorus, to contend for the victor's prize. Her son succeeded. Transported with joy at a sight so glorious, the mother overleaped the fence, which enclosed the magistrates, and, in the violence of that exertion, let fall her garment. She was, by consequence, known to be a woman, but absolved from all criminality. For that mild and equitable sentence, she was indebted to the merit of her father, her brothers, and her son, who all obtained the victor's crown. The incident, however, gave birth to a new law, whereby it was enacted, that the masters of the gymnastic art should, for the future, come naked to the Olympic games. Ælian lib. x. cap. 1; and see Pausanias, lib. v. cap. 6.

[f] Nicostratus is praised by Pausanias (lib. v. cap. 20), as a great master of the athletic arts. Quintilian has also recorded his prowess. "Nicostratus, whom in our youth we saw advanced in years, would instruct his pupil in every branch of his art, and make him, what he was himself, an invincible champion. Invincible he was, since, on one and the same day, he entered the lists as a wrestler and a boxer, and was proclaimed conqueror in both." Ac si fuerit qui docebitur, ille, quem adolescentes vidimus, Nicostratus, omnibus in eo docendi partibus similiter uteretur; efficietque illum, qualis hic fuit, luctando pugnandoque quorum utroque in certamine iisdem diebus coronabatur invictum. Quint. lib, ii. cap. 8.

Section XI.

[a] Nero's ambition to excel in poetry was not only ridiculous, but, at the same time, destructive to Lucan, and almost all the good authors of the age. See Annals, b. xv. According to the old scholiast on the Satires of Persius, the following verses were either written by Nero, or made in imitation of that emperor's style:

The affectation of rhyme, which many ages afterwards was the essential part of monkish verse, the tumour of the words, and the wretched penury of thought, may be imputed to a frivolous prince, who studied his art of poetry in the manner described by Tacitus, Annals, b. xiv. s. 16. And yet it may be a question, whether the satirist would have the hardiness to insert the very words of an imperial poet, armed with despotic power. A burlesque imitation would answer the purpose; and it may be inferred from another passage in the same poem, that Persius was content to ridicule the mode of versification then in vogue at court.

[b] Vatinius was a favourite at the court of Nero. Tacitus calls him the spawn of a cook's-shop and a tippling-house; sutrinæ et tabernæ alumnus. He recommended himself to the favour of the prince by his scurrility and vulgar humour. Being, by those arts, raised above himself, he became the declared enemy of all good men, and acted a distinguished part among the vilest instruments of that pernicious court. See his character, Annals xv. s. 34. When an illiberal and low buffoon basks in the sunshine of a court, and enjoys exorbitant power, the cause of literature can have nothing to expect. The liberal arts must, by consequence, be degraded by a corrupt taste, and learning will be left to run wild and grow to seed.

Section XII.

[a] That poetry requires a retreat from the bustle of the world, has been so often repeated, that it is now considered as a truth, from which there can be no appeal. Milton, it is true, wrote his Paradise Lost in a small house near Bunhill Fields; and Dryden courted the muse in the hurry and dissipation of a town life. But neither of them fixed his residence by choice. Pope grew immortal on the banks of the Thames. But though the country seems to be the seat of contemplation, two great writers have been in opposite opinions. Cicero says, woods and groves, and rivers winding through the meadows, and the refreshing breeze, with the melody of birds, may have their attraction; but they rather relax the mind into indolence, than rouse our attention, or give vigour to our faculties. Sylvarum amænitas, et præterlabentia flumina, et inspirantes ramis arborum auræ, volucrumque cantus, et ipsa late circumspiciendi libertas ad se trahunt; at mihi remittere potius voluptas ista videtur cogitationem, quam intendere. De Orat. lib. ii. This, perhaps, may be true as applied to the public orator, whose scene of action lay in the forum or the senate. Pliny, on the other hand, says to his friend Tacitus, there is something in the solemnity of venerable woods, and the awful silence which prevails in those places, that strongly disposes us to study and contemplation. For the future, therefore, whenever you hunt, take along with you your pen and paper, as well as your basket and bottle; for you will find the mountains not more inhabited by Diana, than by Minerva. Jam undique sylvæ, et solitudo, ipsumque illud silentium, quod venationi datur, magna cogitationis incitamenta sunt. Proinde, cum, venabere, licebit, auctore me, ut panarium et lagunculam, sic etiam pugillares feras. Experiaris non Dianam magis montibus quam Minervam inerrare. Lib. i. epist. 6. Between these two different opinions, a true poet may be allowed to decide. Horace describes the noise and tumult of a city life, and then says,

[b] The expression in the original is full and expressive, lucrosæ hujus et sanguinantis eloquentiæ; that gainful and blood-thirsty eloquence. The immoderate wealth acquired by Eprius Marcellus has been mentioned in this Dialogue, section 8. Pliny gives us an idea of the vast acquisitions gained by Regulus, the notorious informer. From a state of indigence, he rose, by a train of villainous actions, to such immense riches, that he once consulted the omens, to know how soon he should be worth sixty millions of sesterces, and found them so favourable, that he had no doubt of being worth double that sum. Aspice Regulum, qui ex paupere et tenui ad tantas opes per flagitia processit, ut ipse mihi dixerit, cum consuleret, quam cito sestertium sexcennies impleturus esset, invenisse se exta duplicata, quibus portendi millies et ducenties habiturum. Lib. ii. ep. 20. In another epistle the same author relates, that Regulus, having lost his son, was visited upon that occasion by multitudes of people, who all in secret detested him, yet paid their court with as much assiduity as if they esteemed and loved him. They retaliated upon this man his own insidious arts: to gain the friendship of Regulus, they played the game of Regulus himself. He, in the mean time, dwells in his villa on the other side of the Tiber, where he has covered a large tract of ground with magnificent porticos, and lined the banks of the river with elegant statues; profuse, with all his avarice, and, in the depth of infamy, proud and vain-glorious. Convenitur ad eum mirâ celebritate: cuncti detestantur, oderunt; et, quasi probent, quasi diligant, cursant, frequentant, utque breviter, quod sentio, enunciem, in Regulo demerendo, Regulum imitantur. Tenet se trans Tyberim in hortis, in quibus latissimum solum porticibus immensis, ripam statuis suis occupavit; ut est, in summâ avaritia sumptuosus, in summâ infamiâ gloriosus. Lib. iv. ep. 2. All this splendour, in which Regulus lived, was the fruit of a gainful and blood-thirsty eloquence; if that may be called eloquence, which Pliny says was nothing more than a crazed imagination; nihil præter ingenium insanum. Lib. iv. ep. 7.

[c] Orpheus, in poetic story, was the son of Calliope, and Linus boasted of Apollo for his father.

Orpheus embarked in the Argonautic expedition. His history of it, together with his hymns, is still extant; but whether genuine, is much doubted.

[d] Lysias, the celebrated orator, was a native of Syracuse, the chief town in Sicily. He lived about four hundred years before the Christian æra. Cicero says, that he did not addict himself to the practice of the bar; but his compositions were so judicious, so pure and elegant, that you might venture to pronounce him a perfect orator. Tum fuit Lysias, ipse quidem in causis forensibus non versatus sed egregiè subtilis scriptor, atque elegans, quem jam prope audeas oratorem perfectum dicere. Cicero De Claris Orat. s. 35. Quintilian gives the same opinion. Lysias, he says, preceded Demosthenes: he is acute and elegant, and if to teach the art of speaking were the only business of an orator, nothing more perfect can be found. He has no redundancy, nothing superfluous, nothing too refined, or foreign to his purpose: his style is flowing, but more like a pure fountain, than a noble river. His ætate Lysias major, subtilis atque elegans, et quo nihil, si oratori satis sit docere, quæras perfectius. Nihil enim est inane, nihil arcessitum; puro tamen fonti, quam magno flumini propior. Quint, lib. x. cap. 1. A considerable number of his orations is still extant, all written with exquisite taste and inexpressible sweetness. See a very pleasing translation by Dr. Gillies.

Hyperides flourished at Athens in the time of Demosthenes, Æschynes, Lycurgus, and other famous orators. That age, says Cicero, poured forth a torrent of eloquence, of the best and purest kind, without the false glitter of affected ornament, in a style of noble simplicity, which lasted to the end of that period. Huic Hyperides proximus, et Æschynes fuit, et Lycurgus, aliique plures. Hæc enim ætas effudit hanc copiam; et, ut opinio mea fert, succus ille et sanguis incorruptus usque ad hanc ætatem oratorum fuit, in qua naturalis inesset, non fucatus nitor. De Claris Orat. s. 36. Quintilian allows to Hyperides a keen discernment, and great sweetness of style; but he pronounces him an orator designed by nature to shine in causes of no great moment. Dulcis in primis et acutus Hyperides; sed minoribus causis, ut non dixerim utilior, magis par. Lib. x. cap. 1. Whatever might be the case when this Dialogue happened, it is certain, at present, that the fame of Sophocles and Euripides has eclipsed the two Greek orators.

[e] For an account of Asinius Pollio and Corvinus Messala, see Annals, b. xi. s. 6. Quintilian (b. xii. chap. 10) commends the diligence of Pollio, and the dignity of Messala. In another part of his Institutes, he praises the invention, the judgement, and spirit of Pollio, but at the same time says, he fell so short of the suavity and splendour of Cicero, that he might well pass for an orator of a former age. He adds, that Messala was natural and elegant: the grandeur of his style seemed to announce the nobility of his birth; but still he wanted force and energy. Malta in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur; et consilii et animi satis; a nitore et jucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, ut videri possit sæculo prior. At Messala nitidus et candidus, et quodammodo præ se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor. Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1. The two great poets of the Augustan age have transmitted the name of Asinius Pollio to the latest posterity. Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in the Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.

Horace has added the orator and the statesman:

But after all, the question put by Maternus, is, can any of their orations be compared to the Medea of Ovid, or the Thyestes of Varius? Those two tragedies are so often praised by the critics of antiquity, that the republic of letters has reason to lament the loss. Quintilian says that the Medea of Ovid was a specimen of genius, that shewed to what heights the poet could have risen, had he thought fit rather to curb, than give the rein to his imagination. Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere quantum vir ille præstare potuisset, si ingenio suo temperare, quam indulgere maluisset. Lib. x. cap. 1.

The works of Varius, if we except a few fragments, are wholly lost. Horace, in his journey to Brundusium, met him and Virgil, and he mentions the incident with the rapture of a friend who loved them both:

Horace also celebrates Varius as a poet of sublime genius. He begins his Ode to Agrippa with the following lines:

A few fragments only of his works have reached posterity. His tragedy of THYESTES is highly praised by Quintilian. That judicious critic does not hesitate to say, that it may be opposed to the best productions of the Greek stage. Jam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Græcorum comparari potest. Varius lived in high favour at the court of Augustus. After the death of Virgil, he was joined with Plotinus and Tucca to revise the works of that admirable poet. The Varus of Virgil, so often celebrated in the Pastorals, was, notwithstanding what some of the commentators have said, a different person from Varius, the author of Thyestes.

Section XIII.

[a] The rural delight of Virgil is described by himself: