Chapter XV: Section XIII: a The rural delight of Virgil is described by himself

Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes;
Flumina amem, sylvasque inglorius. O ubi campi,
Sperchiusque, et virginibus bacchata Lacænis
Taygeta! O quis me gelidis sub montibus Hæmi
Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbrâ?
GEORGICA, lib. ii. ver. 485.

Me may the lowly vales and woodland please,
And winding rivers, and inglorious ease;
O that I wander'd by Sperchius' flood,
Or on Taygetus' sacred top I stood!
Who in cool Hæmus' vales my limbs will lay,
And in the darkest thicket hide from day?
WHARTON'S VIRG.

Besides this poetical retreat, which his imagination could command at any time, Virgil had a real and delightful villa near Naples, where he composed his Georgics, and wrote great part of the Æneid.

[b] When Augustus, or any eminent citizen, distinguished by his public merit, appeared in the theatre, the people testified their joy by acclamations, and unbounded applause. It is recorded by Horace, that Mæcenas received that public honour.

----Datus in theatro
Cum tibi plausus,
Care Mæcenas eques, ut paterni
Fluminis ripæ, simul et jocosa
Redderet laudes tibi Vaticani
Montis imago.
Lib. i. ode 20.

When Virgil appeared, the audience paid the same compliment to a man whose poetry adorned the Roman story. The letters from Augustus, which are mentioned in this passage, have perished in the ruins of ancient literature.

[c] Pomponius Secundus was of consular rank, and an eminent writer of tragedy. See _Annals_, b. ii. s. 13. His life was written by Pliny the elder, whose nephew mentions the fact (book iii. epist. 5), and says it was a tribute to friendship. Quintilian pronounces him the best of all the dramatic poets whom he had seen; though the critics whose judgement was matured by years, did not think him sufficiently tragical. They admitted, however, that his erudition was considerable, and the beauty of his composition surpassed all his contemporaries. _Eorum, quos viderim, longe princeps Pomponius Secundus, quem senes parum tragicum putabant, eruditione ac nitore præstare confitebantur._ Lib. x. cap. 1.

[d] Quintilian makes honourable mention of Domitius Afer. He says, when he was a boy, the speeches of that orator for Volusenus Catulus were held in high estimation. _Et nobis pueris insignes pro Voluseno Catulo Domitii Afri orationes ferebantur._ Lib. x. cap 1. He adds, in another part of the same chapter, that Domitius Afer and Julius Africanus were, of all the orators who flourished in his time, without comparison the best. But Afer stands distinguished by the splendour of his diction, and the rhetorical art which he has displayed in all his compositions. You would not scruple to rank him among the ancient orators. _Eorum quos viderim, Domitius Afer et Julius Secundus longe præstantissimi. Verborum arte ille, et toto genere dicendi præferendus, et quem in numero veterum locare non timeas._ Lib. x. cap. 1. Quintilian relates, that in a conversation which he had when a young man, he asked Domitius Afer what poet was, in his opinion, the next to Homer? The answer was, _Virgil is undoubtedly the second epic poet, but he is nearer to the first than to the third. Utar enim verbis, quæ ex Afro Domitio juvenis accepi; qui mihi interroganti, quem Homero crederet maximè accedere: Secundus, inquit, est Virgilius, propior tamen primo quam tertio._ Lib. x. cap. 1. We may believe that Quintilian thought highly of the man whose judgement he cites as an authority. Quintilian, however, had in view nothing but the talents of this celebrated orator. Tacitus, as a moral historian, looked at the character of the man. He introduces him on the stage of public business in the reign of Tiberius, and there represents him in haste to advance himself by any kind of crime. _Quoquo facinore properus clare cere._ He tells us, in the same passage (_Annals_, b. iv. s. 52), that Tiberius pronounced him an orator in his own right, _suo jure disertum_. Afer died in the reign of Nero, A.U.C. 812, A.D. 59. In relating his death, Tacitus observes, that he raised himself by his eloquence to the first civil honours; but he does not dismiss him without condemning his morals. _Annals_, b. xiv. s. 19.

[e] We find in the Annals and the History of Tacitus, a number of instances to justify the sentiments of Maternus. The rich found it necessary to bequeath part of their substance to the prince, in order to secure the remainder for their families. For the same reason, Agricola made Domitian joint heir with his wife and daughter. _Life of Agricola_, section 43.

[f] By a law of the Twelve Tables, a crown, when fairly earned by virtue, was placed on the head of the deceased, and another was ordered to be given to his father. The spirit of the law, Cicero says, plainly intimated, that commendation was a tribute due to departed virtue. A crown was given not only to him who earned it, but also to the father, who gave birth to distinguished merit. _Illa jam significatio est, laudis ornamenta ad mortuos pertinere, quod coronam virtute partam, et ei qui peperisset, et ejus parenti, sine fraude lex impositam esse jubet._ _De Legibus_, lib. ii. s. 24. This is the reward to which Maternus aspires; and, that being granted, he desires, as Horace did before him, to waive the pomp of funeral ceremonies.

Absint inani funere næniæ,
Luctusque turpes et querimoniæ;
Compesce clamorem, ac sepulchri
Mitte supervacuos honores.
Lib. ii. ode 20.

My friends, the funeral sorrow spare,
The plaintive song, and tender tear;
Nor let the voice of grief profane,
With loud laments, the solemn scene;
Nor o'er your poet's empty urn
With useless idle sorrow mourn.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.