Imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se' Quam timeo, victus ne poenas exigat Ajax, a considerable degree of influence, and nominally gave, or rather sold, their suffrages, till the days of Julius Cæsar. That they were ripe for the slavery which awaited them, cannot be denied; for such was their corruption and rapacity, that they only enquired which of the candidates would bribe highest. Cæsar, however, did not directly deprive the people of their suffrages; he only took the nomination of the consuls upon himself, and left the choice, or rather the sale, of the inferior magistracies to them, upon condition that he should have the recommendation to one half! Suetonius has preserved his congé d'élire, and a very curious one it is: Cæsar Dictator Illi Tribui. Commendo vobis illum, et illum, ut vestro suffragio suam dignitatem teneant; Cæs. 41. 19. Aug. 40. (CAS.) These recommendations were never overlooked: preces erant, sed quibus contradici non possit; Tac. Augustus seems somewhat to have enlarged the power of the people, which was again abridged by Tiberius, or rather taken quite away; neque, says the historian, with honest indignation, populus ademtum jus questus est, nisi inani rumore. Caligula, in a fit of popularity, showed symptoms of reestablishing them in a part of their rights, which however came to nothing: this was the last effort in their favour, and from this period they gradually, and indeed deservedly, sunk into insignificance and contempt. It argues great courage in our author to reproach the Romans for their supineness; and must have been highly offensive to their rulers. About this, however, he appears to be little solicitous; nay, much of what he says here is immediately levelled at Trajan, who had, about this time, transferred to the Senate, or rather to himself, the very trifling degree of power which the people had hitherto been permitted to retain. G. It has lost all interest.' The meta- 79. Omnia; Sulp. 38. Phædr. IV. xxiii. 5. (BU.) R. 80. Note on iii. 223. PR. cf. Tac. A. i. 2. R. 81. Bread:' vii. 174 sq. PR. 82. It is a large little furnace,' LU. R. Looking palish.' 83. Brutidius Niger, the rhetorician and historian, was an intimate friend of Sejanus, and included in the sentence of death. Tac. A. iii. 66. Sen. Suas. vii. PR. Of Mars the avenger,' SCH. in the forum of Augustus. Suet. Aug. 29. R. 84. Ajax (vii. 115. PR. xiv. 286. R.) here means the emperor. Suet. Tib. 61 sq. Lest in a fit of disappointment, he should wreak dire vengeance on those, by whom he may consider that his honour had been but inadequately vindicated.' PR. There is also an indirect reproach to the Romans for their submitting to be butchered: R. like so many sheep; Hor. II S. iii. 197. 86. Αὐτὸν ὁ ὅμιλος τρισὶν ὅλαις ἡμεραῖς ἐλυμήνατο, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν iißaλs Dio Iviii. SCH. cf. 66. R. This was a common method of insulting over the fallen. Hom. I. N 618. Soph. El. Aj. Anacr. xlvi. 6. Arist. Eq. 596. R. quicumque amisit dignitatem pristinam, ignavis etiam jocus est in casu gravi; Phædr. I. xxi. [Livy xxiii, 43, 3. ED.] 87. Servants often turned informers Cervice obstricta dominum trahat." Hi sermones C Tunc de Sejano, secreta hæc murmura vulgi. 90 Visne salutari, sicut Sejanus? habere Tantumdem? atque illi summas donare curules? Illum exercitibus præponere? tutor haberi, Principis angusta Caprearum in rupe sedentis Cum grege Chaldæo? Vis certe pila, cohortes, 95 Egregios equites, et castra domestica? Quidni against their masters, VS. in cases of high treason, the only circumstances under which their evidence was admissible against them. Tac. A. ii. 28. cf. Dio Ixviii. p. 769. decreta accusatoribus præcipua præmia, nonnumquam et testibus: nemini delatorum fides abrogata: omne crimen pro capitali receptum, etiam pauco rum simpliciumque verborum; Suet. Tib. 61. ἤρκει γὰρ μόνον πρὸς κατηγορίαν τινός τὸ τοῦ Σειανοῦ φίλων ἢ γενέσθαι ἡ δόξαι Xiph. Tib. R. 88. Those who were taken up and dragged before the magistrates, had a chain or halter fastened round their neck: as felons among us are brought to trial with gyves or fetters on their legs. M. 92. Tutor regent' for Tiberius, LU. and also his guardian and protector;" as though the emperor were too childish to administer his own affairs, M. and completely under the thumb of his favourite. R. 93. Capreas se contulit, præcipue delectatus insula, quod uno parvoque litore adiretur, septa undique præruptis immensæ altitudinis rupibus et profundo maris; Suet. 40. Tac. A. iv. 67. PR. He spent the last seven years of his life there. R. Sedentis, cf. Suet. 43. HE. Mart. V. lxxi. 3. a. and xañola are used in speaking of an indolent and obscure life. Tyrt. p. 143. (KL.) R. 94. Cf. vi. 553. PR. 576. Suet. Tib. 14. 69. LU. ὁ Τιβέριος ἐμπειρότατος διὰ τῶν ἄστρων μαντικῆς ἦν Dionlvi. R. It may seem a little extraordinary that Tiberius, who, at a former period, had driven the astrologers out of Italy, nay, put some of them to death, should in the decline of life, have secluded himself from the world to enjoy their society without molestation; but his conduct may be accounted for, from the condition of human nature. The multiplied cruelties that followed the fall of Sejanus, though they could not appease the ferocity, had yet alarmed the conscience, of this execrable monster: anguish and despair took possession of all his thoughts, and if we could for a moment suppose the damned permitted to make their" eternal blazon to ears of flesh and blood,"(Shaksp.Ham. I. v.) we could not image terms of deeper horror for them, than those with which he begins one of his letters to the senate: Quid scribam vobis, P. C.? aut quomodo scribam? aut quid omnino non scribaın, hoc tempore? Dii me Deæque pejus perdant, quam quotidie perire sentio, si scio. Suet.67. In this state, afflicted at the past, dissatisfied with the present, and trembling for the future, his enfeebled and distracted mind clung for relief to the wretched impostures of astrology, which it had formerly rejected; and endeavoured to divert the evils of to-day, by vague and senseless researches into the destiny of to-morrow. The strange inconsistency of atheism has been elsewhere noticed; Tiberius is a striking proof of it. G. Pila may here denote the lucrative and honourable post of standardbearer, xiv. 197. which was held by the centurion of the first century of the first maniple of the Triarii or veterans,' who were armed with the pilum or javelin.' AD. Sil. iv. 550. R. Cohorts.' i. 58. R. 95. Egregios equites: cf. vii. 89. R. Castra domestica i. e. the command of the prætorian bands.' VS. cf. viii. 43. 1 Hæc cupias? et, qui nolunt occidere quemquam, " Hujus, qui trahitur, prætextam sumere mavis, 100 An Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse potestas Et de mensura jus dicere, vasa minora Frangere pannosus vacuis dilis Ulubris? Ergo quid optandum foret, ignorasse fateris Sejanum: nam qui nimios optabat honores 105 Et nimias poscebat opes, numerosa parabat Excelsæ turris tabulata, unde altior esset Casus et impulsæ præceps immane ruinæ. Quid Crassos, quid Pompeios evertit, et illum, Ad sua qui domitos deduxit flagra Quirites? 110 Summus nempe locus nulla non arte petitus sobu), are. Magnaque numinibus vota exaudita malignis. Ad generum Cereris sine cæde et vulnere pauci 98. Ut even though.' R. Potestas; Cic. T. Q. i. 30. Suet. Cæs. 101. Pers. i. 130 sq. (CAS.) LU. Ulubris; Hor. I E. xi. 30. PR. 106. Jam non ad culmina rerum injustos crevisse queror: tolluntur in altum, ut lapsu graviore ruant; Claud. Ruf. i. 21 sqq. PR. in Toroúry di izaígsobov as a ἐφ' ὑψηλοτέρου ἀλγεινότερον καταπεσού Luc. Cont. 14. K. celsa graviore casu decidunt turres; Hor. II Od. x. 10 sq. R. Horace himself was perhaps in debted to Menander rayons res ὕψος ηρμένον τινὰ λαμπρῶς τι πλούτῳ καὶ γένει γαυρούμενον. ὀφούν σε μείζω τῆς τύχης ἐπηρκότα τούτου ταχείαν νέμεσιν εὐθὺς προσδόκα, ἐπαίρεται γὰρ μεῖζον, ἵνα μov ion G. 108. Cf. Sen. Ep. 94. M. Licinius Crassus and his son Publius fell, in the Parthian war, sacrifices to their avarice rather than their ambition; App. H. Parth. 22-65. Plut. Crass. PR. R. G. Cn. Pompeius Magnus and his two sons Cnus and Sextus. PR. App. B. C. ii. 81-86. 104 sqq. v. 142 sqq. R. 109. C. Julius Cæsar, who fell in the senate-house, pierced with three and twenty wounds. LU. In the times of the republic, it was unlawful to ' scourge' a Roman citizen. FA. Acts xxii. 25 sqq. 110. According to Cicero, Cæsar always had in his mouth that saying of Euripides: si jus violandum, regnandi gratia violandum est, cæteris rebus pietatem colas. SCH. 111. Eo vota inimicitiora, quo cessere felicius: inde maligni dii, qui nos exaudierunt, ut, quum ad summa erecti, in profundum detruderent; Sen. Ep. 60. R. Compare Spectator No. 207. 112. Pluto's queen, Proserpine, was the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres. LU. M. Descendunt reges et sicca morte tyranni. Eloquium ac famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis. 115 Incipit optare et totis Quinquatribus optat, at Quisquis adhuc uno partam colit asse Minervam, 120 Ingenio manus est et cervix 113. By a bloodless (i. e. a natural) death.' VS. ́ ́ ut ferrum Marte cruentum, siccum pace, feras; Claud. L. Stil. ii. 15 sq. (K.) K. 115. The quinquatria was a festival (instituted by Domitian, FA.) in honour of Minerva, VS. as the patroness of arts and sciences. It began on March the 19th, and lasted, as the name imports, for five days, during which the schools were shut up. G. M. Öv. F. ini. 809 sqq. vi. 651 sqq. (H.) Gell. ii. 21. Suet. Dom. 4. PR. Hor. II Ep. ii. 197. R. 116. " The boy at the bottom of the school, who has not yet paid his annual compliment to the master more than once.' M. R. This fee was called Minerval, and was presented at the above festival. Pallada nunc pueri teneræque ornate puellæ qui bene placarit Pallada, doctus erit; Ov. F. iii. 815 sq. PR. 117. This is a very natural image of little master, going to school with a servant lad (called capsarius) to carry his satchel of books after him. M. PO. Suet. Ner. 36. PR. The expressions vernula and angustæ are to denote that this aspirant after eloquence was a mere child. R. 118. Gell. xv. 28. PR. 120. Ingenio; the abstract for the con. crete. R. Cicero was murdered by the second triumvirate. Antony, whom Juvenal supposes to have been particularly irritated by the second Philippic, despatched a band of assassins after him, who overtook him as he was proceeding to the sea-side. He made no resistance, but looking sternly on the leader, C. Popilius Lenas, whose life he had formerly saved, and thrusting his neck as forward as he could out of the litter, he bade him take what he wanted. The ungrateful wretch cut off his head and his hands, and carried them to Antony, who rewarded him for the agreeable present with a civic crown! and a large sum of money. The head was fixed on the Rostra, between the two hands, (where, as we find from Florus, the people ran as eagerly to see his relics, as formerly to hear his eloquence,) a piece of impotent revenge, which, not long after, recoiled on the author of it. Speaking of Antonius (the grandfather of the triumvir), who fell in the bloody proscription of Sylla, Cicero has an observation of striking singularity: in his ipsis rostris in quibus ille rempublicam constantissime consul defenderat, positum caput illud fuit, a quo erant multorum civium capita servata! Never could it be more truly said, mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur, Hor. I S. i. 69 sq. G. LU. Plut. Ant. and Cic. Quint. Decl. cclxix. Sen. Suas. vii. R. 121. Minus in parvos fortuna furit, modicisque rebus longius ævum est. ĽU. Naves Antiatium partim in navalia Romæ subductæ ; partim incensæ, rostrisque earum suggestum in foro exstructum adornari placuit; rostra que id templum appellatum; Liv. viii. 14. PR. This spot was in front of the Curia Hostilia. LÜ. 122. This is a verse of Cicero's on the occasion of the discovery and suppression of Catiline's conspiracy. It is condemned for its cacophony. Quint. IX. iv. 4. LU. XI. i. Sen. Decl. iii. de I. iii. 37. Diomed. ii. R. "How fortunate a natal day was thine, In that proud consul a te, Ŏ Rome, of mine!" This line, or some one like it, was made the subject of ridicule during the author's life: he was not, however, ashamed of Antonî gladios potuit contemnere, si sic Omnia dixisset. Ridenda poemata malo, will ofer Volveris a prima quæ proxima. Sævus et illum ael and The mer 125 Quam te conspicuæ, divina Philippica, famæ, Exitus eripuit, quem mirabantur Athenæ at Torrentem et pleni moderantem frena theatri. Dîs ille adversis genitus fatoque sinistro, 130 Quem pater ardentis massa fuligine lippus རངགི་ཆུ་རིགཏ¢༦/ the sentiment, for he repeats it in prose: O Nona Decembres! quæ me consule fuistis, ego diem vere natalem hujus urbis, &c. Or. for Flac. In the second Philippic, after severely retorting upon Antony, he adds, nec vero tibi de versibus respondebo; tantum dicam breviter neque illos, neque ullus te omnino literas nosse. This is the reply churlish, when, instead of answering an adversary, you disable his judgement:" what he subjoins, however, is a noble apology for his lighter studies. It may be doubted whether Cicero's poetry, generally speaking, deserves the epithet (ridenda) which Juvenal is pleased to affix to it: the verse in question, indeed, has long been the jest of small wits, and even the "mousing Martial hawks at it;" but there are many vigorous and elegant passages scattered amongst his works: after all, perhaps, it was the me consule, and not the natam natam, the vanity, and not the jingle, of the verse which provoked the sneers of his contemporaries. When Juvenal wrote, however, personality and envy had long been extinct; and he evidently diverts himself with the want of taste, which could permit so many similar sounds to be crowded into the compass of a single line. To confess the truth, there appears, in many parts of Cicero's works, a predilection for trifles of this kind, derived, perhaps, from his long acquaintance with the rhetoricians and grammarians of Greece. Middleton has laboured to establish his poetical character: Plutarch, he says, reckons Cicero among the most eminent of the Roman poets; but Plutarch's judgement, in this matter, is of no great weight. Had he not been the first of orators, no one would have been unjust enough to style him the last of poets. G. 123. Had Cicero's oratory been no better than his poetry, he might have set at defiance the swords of Antony.' LU contemsi Catilinæ gladios, non per timescam tuos; Cic. Phil. ii. 46. PR. cf. Tac. A. ii. 34, 6. Hor. Ep. iv. 16. R. 125. Cicero called his fourteen orations against Antony, not Antonians, but Philippics, after those of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon. BRI. PR. Cic. Att. ii. 1. M. 126. Volveris, in allusion to the rolled volumes of the ancients. xiv. 102. M. A prima proxima 'the second.' LU. cf. alter ab undecimo annus; Virg. E. viii. 39. 127. Exitus; Lucr. iii. 1099. R. On the approach of the Macedonian army under Antipater one of Philip's generals, Demosthenes fled from Athens and sought asylum at a temple of Neptune near Calabria in Thrace. Being pursued thither, he poisoned himself. FA. VS. Plut. PR. 128. Orations were often delivered to the people in the theatres: see Acts xix. 29-31. FA. Agathocles veluti reipublicæ statum formaturus, populum in the atrum ad concionem vocari jubet; Just. xxii. PR. Tac. H. ii. 80. (LI.) C. Nep. Tim. 4. (HAR.) ER, Cl. Cic. qui Pandioniam movebat arte orator caveam tumultuosus, seu luscum raperetur in Philippum, causam seu Ctesiphontis, actitaret, vir semper popularitate crescens et juste residens in arte fandi; Sidon. xxiii. 136 sqq. R. 129. Pers. iv. 27. Hor. II S. iii. 8. 123. vii. 14. R. 130. The father was a sword-cutler in large business, and kept two and twenty men in constant employ. VS. FA. žv μìv τῶν καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν ὡς ἱστορεῖ souros ixxakuro de μaxaigoποιός, ἐργαστήριον ἔχων μέγα καὶ δούλους τεχνίτας τοῦτο πράττοντας· Plut. V. Max. iii. 4. ext. 2. PR. cf. xiii. 44 sq. M. Sidon. ii. 23. 188. R. Opifices, per quorum manus sterile terræ genus et informe perpurgatur, multa |