Chapter IV: Post-Augustan Writers (3)

Quintilian married late in life. His wife died at the age of eighteen, his younger son soon afterwards at the age of five, the elder one subsequently at the age of nine.

vi. prooem. § 2, 'Illum, de quo summa conceperam et in quo spem unicam senectutis reponebam, repetito volnere orbitatis amisi'; § 9, 'Non flosculos, sicut prior, sed iam decimum aetatis ingressus annum, certos ac deformatos fructus ostenderat'; § 4, 'erepta prius mihi matre eorumdem, quae nondum expleto aetatis undevicesimo anno duos enixa filios ...'; § 5, 'cum omni virtute, quae in feminas cadit, functa insanabilem adtulit marito dolorem, tum aetate tam puellari, praesertim meae comparata, potest et ipsa numerari inter volnera orbitatis'; § 6, 'Mihi filius minor quintum egressus annum prior alterum ex duobus eruit lumen.'

The date of Quintilian's death is unknown. If he outlived Domitian it was not for long, as Pliny in the letters quoted above (the earlier written about A.D. 100) does not speak of Quintilian as alive.

(2) WORKS.

_Earlier works._--Quintilian refers to a work _de causis corruptae eloquentiae_, and to an _ars rhetorica_ in two Books. For speeches of his taken down and published, see vii. 2, 24, quoted p. 303.

vi. prooem. 3, 'eum librum, quem de causis corruptae eloquentiae emisi.'

i. prooem. 7, 'Duo iam sub nomine meo libri ferebantur artis rhetoricae neque editi a me neque in hoc comparati. Namque alterum, sermone per biduum habito, pueri, quibus id praestabatur, exceperant; alterum pluribus sane diebus, quantum notando consequi potuerant, interceptum, boni iuvenes sed nimium amantes mei, temerario editionis honore volgaverant.'

The _Institutio Oratoria_.--For the date of publication see p. 304. The circumstances of publication are given by Quintilian in the preface addressed to his bookseller Trypho.

'Efflagitasti cottidiano convicio, ut libros, quos ad Marcellum meum de Institutione oratoria scripseram, iam emittere inciperem. Nam ipse eos nondum opinabar satis maturuisse, quibus componendis, ut scis, paulo plus quam biennium tot alioqui negotiis districtus impendi ... Sed si tanto opere efflagitantur quam tu affirmas, permittamus vela ventis et oram solventibus bene precemur.'

The work is dedicated to Vitorius Marcellus (to whom Statius' _Silvae_, Book iv., is addressed), and was originally written in view of the education of his son Geta.

i. prooem. 6, 'Quod opus, Marcelle Vitori, tibi dicamus ... quod erudiendo Getae tuo ... non inutiles fore libri videbantur.'

Book iv. prooem. was written when Quintilian had been appointed tutor to the young princes, who are mentioned along with Geta and Quintilian's elder son; Book vi. prooem. was written not long afterwards, and refers to his bereavements; in Book xii. prooem. no names are mentioned.

The work deals with the whole education of the future orator.

i. prooem. 5, 'Nec aliter, quam si mihi tradatur educandus orator, studia eius formare ab infantia incipiam.'

Quintilian himself gives a sketch of the contents:

i. prooem. 21-2, 'Liber primus ea quae sunt ante officium rhetoris continebit [including grammar and philology]. Secundo prima apud rhetorem elementa et quae de ipsa rhetorices substantia quaeruntur tractabimus. Quinque deinceps (iii.-vii.) inventioni, nam huic et dispositio subiungitur, quattuor (viii.-xi.) elocutioni, in cuius partem memoria ac pronuntiatio veniunt, dabuntur. Unus (xii.) accedet, in quo nobis orator ipse informandus est, ut qui mores eius, quae in suscipiendis, discendis, agendis causis ratio, quod eloquentiae genus, quis agendi debeat esse finis, quae post finem studia ... disseramus.'

The ordinary handbooks of rhetoric are attacked.

i. prooem. 24-5, 'Nam plerumque nudae illae artes nimia subtilitatis affectatione frangunt atque concidunt quidquid est in oratione generosius, et omnem sucum ingeni bibunt et ossa detegunt, quae ut esse et adstringi nervis suis debent, sic corpore operienda sunt. Ideoque nos non particulam illam, sicut plerique, sed quidquid utile ad instituendum oratorem putabamus, in hos duodecim libros contulimus breviter omnia demonstraturi.'

Quintilian uses his own experience and the best views of different authorities.

vi. 2, 25, 'Quod si tradita mihi sequi praecepta sufficeret, satisfeceram huic parti, nihil eorum, quae legi vel didici, quod modo probabile fuit, omittendo; sed eruere in animo est, quae latent, et penitus ipsa huius loci aperire penetralia, quae quidem non aliquo tradente sed experimento meo ac natura ipsa duce accepi.'

Quintilian insists that the orator must be a good man (cf. the importance he attaches to early education, i. 1, etc.).

xii. 1, 1, 'Sit ergo nobis orator, quem constituimus, is qui a M. Catone finitur, vir bonus dicendi peritus; verum, id quod et ille posuit prius, et ipsa natura potius ac maius est, utique vir bonus.'

Cf. i. prooem. 9-10; ii. 2 (the whole chapter); ii. 15, 1.

Quintilian's exposition is founded mainly on Cicero, from whom he seldom differs. Cf. vii. 3, 8, 'Quamquam dissentire vix audeo a Cicerone.'

Quintilian's illustrations are mainly drawn from classical writers. Upwards of four hundred and fifty passages of Cicero and about one hundred and forty of Virgil are referred to. Quintilian not only attacks the modern style, but warns his pupils against the early writers.

ii. 5, 21-2, 'Duo autem genera maxime cavenda pueris puto: unum, ne quis eos antiquitatis nimius admirator in Graccorum Catonisque et aliorum similium lectione durescere velit ... Alterum, quod huic diversum est, ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur, ut praedulce illud genus et puerilibus ingeniis hoc gratius, quo propius est, adament.'

For Quintilian's high appreciation of Cicero see x. 1, 105-112; and for his antagonism to Seneca, x. 1, 125-131, and to philosophers in general, i. prooem. 10.

For Quintilian's authorities see iii. 1, 'Prooemium de scriptoribus artis rhetoricae.' They include Dionysius of Halicarnassus; Caecilius; Chrysippus (for education; cf. i. 1, 16, etc.); Cicero; _Auctor ad Herenn._; Celsus, cf. iii. 1, 21, etc.; Rutilius, cf. ix. 3, 89; Remmius Palaemon.

Literary criticism is treated of in Book X. as regards the Greek and Latin authors useful to the orator. The principal authority used was the +peri mimêseôs+ of Dionysius Halicarnassius. Much of Quintilian's criticism is traditional, and the lists of great writers came ultimately from the critics of Alexandria. Roman literary critics referred to were Cicero (_e.g._ on the Attic orators, x. 1, 76-80) and Horace (x. 1, 24; 56, etc.).

_Spurious works._--These include two collections of _declamationes_.

1. Nineteen long pieces, ascribed to Quintilian by Jerome and others, but much later than Quintilian's time.

2. One hundred and forty-five shorter pieces out of an original collection of three hundred and eighty-eight, the first half being lost. Some suppose they are the 'libri artis rhetoricae' (i. prooem. 7, quoted above), but this is not likely.

FRONTINUS.

(1) LIFE.

Iulius Frontinus (as he is called by Tacitus: inscriptions and some MSS. give the _praenomen_ Sextus) was born at latest A.D. 41, for he was _praetor urbanus_ A.D. 70.

Tac. _Hist._ iv. 39, 'in senatu quem Iulius Frontinus praetor urbanus vocaverat ... Mox eiurante Frontino Caesar Domitianus praeturam cepit.'

He served in Gaul during the revolt of Civilis, and received the submission of the Lingones (Front. _Strat._ iv. 3, 14[92]). Under Vespasian he held the consulship, and preceded Agricola in the command in Britain, where he conquered the Silures, probably A.D. 76-78.

Tac. _Agr._ 17, 'Et Cerealis quidem alterius successoris curam famamque obruisset: sustinuit molem Iulius Frontinus, vir magnus, quantum licebat, validamque et pugnacem Silurum gentem armis subegit, super virtutem hostium locorum quoque difficultates eluctatus.'

His knowledge of the tactics of Domitian (_Strat._ i. 1, 8; i. 3, 10; ii. 3, 23; ii. 11, 7) makes it probable that he took part in the war with the Chatti, A.D. 83. In 97 he became _curator aquarum_ (_Aq._ 102), and at the beginning of the following year was consul for the second time (_C.I.L._ iii., p. 862); cf. Martial x. 48, 20, 'bis Frontino consule.' In 100 he was once more consul (_C.I.L._ viii. 7066). He also held the office of augur, in which, A.D. 103 or 104, he was succeeded by the younger Pliny; Plin. _Ep._ iv. 8, 'gratularis mihi quod acceperim auguratum ... Successi Iulio Frontino, principi viro.' His death then may be placed in A.D. 103.

Frontinus was a friend of Martial, who addresses to him _Epig._ x. 58.

We get a glimpse of his character from Pliny's words, _Ep._ ix. 19, 6, 'Vetuit exstrui monumentum: sed quibus verbis? "Impensa monumenti supervacua est: memoria nostri durabit si vita meruimus."'

(2) WORKS.

During the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81-96) Frontinus composed two works. One of these, of which only fragments survive, dealt with the art of land-surveying and the laws relating to land. The other, written after A.D. 84, when Domitian received the title of Germanicus (_Strat._ ii. II, 7, 'eo bello quo victis hostibus cognomen Germanici meruit'), is a manual of strategy, in three Books, entitled _Strategemata_. It is a sequel to a previous work (now lost) on the theory of the art of war, and illustrates its rules by historical examples derived chiefly from Sallust, Caesar, and Livy. The purpose of the book did not require the citation of authorities, and the mention of Livy in ii. 5, 31 and 34, is probably spurious. Frontinus gives either a paraphrase retaining some of the expressions of the original (cf. _Strat._ i. 5, 16, with Liv. xxxv. 11, 2-13), or a bald summary (cf. _Strat._ ii. 5, 1, with Liv. i. 14, 6-11). See G. Gundermann, _Jahrb. f. class. Philol._, suppl. xvi., p. 315 _sqq._ (1888). Some later hand has added a fourth Book, which not only presents marked differences in style and tone from the original three, but deals with an entirely different subject--the maintenance of discipline, and other duties of a commander.

Under Nerva and Trajan (A.D. 97-98) Frontinus wrote his treatise on the Roman water-supply, _De Aquis Urbis Romae_. Having been appointed _curator aquarum_, he considered it his first duty to acquaint himself with the details of his department, and published the result of his inquiries in the hope that they might be useful to his successors (cf. the preface). The book was begun under Nerva (praef. 'cum ... sit nunc mihi ab Nerva Augusto ... aquarum iniunctum officium'), but Nerva had been succeeded by Trajan before it was completed (118, 'divus Nerva'; 93, 'Traianum Augustum').

JUVENAL.

The sources for Juvenal's life are (1) his works; (2) an inscription found at Aquinum; (3) thirteen extant _vitae_; (4) information of the scholiasts; (5) references in Martial and other writers.

The inscription at Aquinum has been much debated; but it is safe to follow the opinion of Mommsen, whose experience in identifying people mentioned in inscriptions with historical characters depends upon a width of knowledge that no other person possesses. The _vitae_ are all early mediaeval works, probably founded on a brief account of the poet's life composed by some unknown ancient writer, and existing at the early Renaissance. The extant _vitae_ contain a very few facts which appear to be derived from this source, together with a number of inferences gathered, often incorrectly, from Juvenal's works. The most important statement is that regarding Juvenal's birth, which is contained in the _vita_ in the Codex Barberinus, 8, 18, discovered by J. Dürr. The date is given in such precise and accurate terms, and is in itself so probable as solving so many of the questions connected with the poet's works, that to invent it requires an amount of knowledge with which we cannot credit the writer of this otherwise very poor account. The statements of the _vitae_ must be carefully weighed, and accepted only when rendered probable by other considerations.[93]

Juvenal's name is given in some of the MSS. as Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis. He was born A.D. 55.

_Codex Barberinus_, 'Iunius Iuvenalis Aquinas Iunio Iuvenale patre, matre vero Septumuleia ex Aquinati municipio Claudio Nerone et L. Antistio consulibus natus est. Sororem habuit Septumuleiam, quae Fuscino nupsit.'

The statement about his sister and mother is very doubtful; that about Fuscinus is a bad inference from the fact that _Sat._ 14 (on the education of children) is addressed to him. The name _Septumuleia_ may be invented from 14, 105, _septima lux_. Juvenal's sister must have been called Iunia after her father; the naming of a girl after her mother was a mediaeval idea.

Juvenal was born at Aquinum, a town of the Volscians. Twelve of the _vitae_ agree in this, and they are confirmed by the poet's own words supposed to be addressed to him by his friend Umbricius: 3, 318-21,

'Quotiens te
Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,
me quoque ad Helvinam Cererem vestramque Dianam
converte a Cumis.'

Cf. 6, 57,

'agello cedo paterno.'

This is corroborated by the inscription found at Aquinum (_C.I.L._ x. 5382), which gives us other information about the poet:

_cere_RI · SACRVM
_d . iu_NIVS · IVVENALIS
_trib_ COH_·i_·DELMATARVM
II · VIR · QVINQ · FLAMEN
DIVI · VESPASIANI
VOVIT · DEDICAV_itq_VE
SVA PEC

This inscription appears to have stood near the temple of Ceres Helvina or Elvina, dedicated by a member of the gens Elvia, references to which are found on inscriptions of the district.

The _vitae_ say that Juvenal was the son of a freedman.[94] Cf. _Vitae_ i. _a_, i. _b_, ii. _c_ (Dürr): 'libertini locupletis incertum filius an alumnus.' _Vita_ v. (Dürr), 'ordinis ut fertur libertinorum.' This story is due to a misapprehension of some of Juvenal's references. 1, 99-102,

'Iubet a praecone vocari
ipsos Troiugenas (nam vexant limen et ipsi
nobiscum): "da praetori, da deinde tribuno."
Sed libertinus prior est.'

_Libertinus_ here is not to be taken to mean that the entire set are freedmen.

As to 4, 98,

'unde fit ut malim fraterculus esse gigantis,'

it gives no evidence whatever of Juvenal's position. If it meant anything, it would rather imply that Juvenal was the son of a poor Italian and not of a foreign slave. So for 11, 145-6. His family was respectable, his means were fair, and he could afford to look down on upstarts in virtue both of his birth and of his property, although it is clear from his own works that he had in Rome the position of a rather humble dependent, who would be exposed to insult at the tables of the rich and powerful. Cf. 3, 318; 6, 57 (above); 12, 89, 'laribus paternis'; 1, 24,

'patricios omnes opibus cum provocet unus,
quo tondente gravis iuveni mihi barba sonabat.'

So 10, 225.

In _vita_ iv. he is said to have attained equestrian rank. (Tribunician rank implied equestrian). This, on the whole, is confirmed by the inscription, and may be founded on the original _vita_.

Juvenal had a full course of education, first under the _litterator_ and the _grammaticus_, then under the _rhetor._[95] Cf. 1, 15,

'Et nos ergo manum ferulae subduximus, et nos
consilium dedimus Sullae, privatus ut altum
dormiret.'

This would imply a good position, and a certain command of money. Such _patres libertini_ as Horace's were very rare.

The inscription above quoted (_divi Vespasiani_ shows that its date is after A.D. 79, and probably not long after) informs us that Juvenal was (1) 'tribunus cohortis I. Delmatarum'[96]; (2) 'duumvir quinquennalis'[97] and 'flamen divi Vespasiani' at Aquinum. The dates when Juvenal held these posts cannot be determined exactly; but we can infer certain points.

(1) There was a _certus ordo honorum_ in municipal life, and Juvenal must have held the quaestorship and the aedileship before the _duumviratus quinquennalis_. The lower limit of entering on a municipal career was twenty-five, according to an order of Augustus, and people did not usually begin it much later; we may therefore conclude that these municipal posts were held by Juvenal somewhere between A.D. 80 and 90. The last year is approximately fixed by the way in which Martial in two of his epigrams (vii. 24 and 91) belonging to A.D. 91 or 92 speaks of Juvenal; the words show that the latter must have been established in Rome for some time.

(2) In ordinary course Juvenal would enter the army after the completion of his seventeenth year. The short time he took to arrive at the position of tribune, and the statement of _vita_ iv. 'cum ... ad dignitatem equestris ordinis pervenire sua virtute meruisset,' make it probable that he entered the army as _petitor militiae equestris_, as a preliminary step towards entering on a political career.

The cohors Delmatarum I., which Juvenal commanded as tribune, was in Britain in A.D. 106, and in A.D. 124.[98] Probably it had been stationed there for a period of years, and it is likely that Juvenal filled his tribuneship there. Now, all the _vitae_ inform us that Juvenal was banished under the pretext of a military command. While the other _vitae_ give Egypt as the place of his banishment, _vita_ iv. gives Scotland; and it seems highly probable that _vita_ iv. has confused Juvenal's regular military command in Britain, and his banishment, late in life, to Egypt. The words are:

'[Tyrannus] sub honoris praetextu fecit eum praefectum militis contra Scotos, qui bellum contra Romanos moverant.'

This is supported by Juvenal's references to Britain. Some of these, like his references to Egypt, seem, in contradistinction to most of his references to foreign parts, to imply personal knowledge and observation. They are as follows:

(1) 2, 159-161,

'Arma quidem ultra
litora Iuvernae promovimus et modo captas
Orcadas ac minima contentos nocte Britannos.'

Here 'Iuverna' is the old name of Ireland, which is not mentioned even in Tacitus' _Agricola_[99]; for the Orcades cf. Tac. _Agr._ 10; and the excessive shortness of the summer nights mentioned in the last clause is especially true of the north of Scotland.

(2) 10, 14,

'Quanto delphinis balaena Britannica maior.'

This is also particularly applicable to the north of Scotland, whales being frequently seen off the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

(3) 4, 141,

'Rutupinove edita fundo
ostrea.'

(4) 14, 196,

'Castella Brigantum.'

(5) 15, 111,

'Gallia causidicos docuit facunda Britannos,
de conducendo loquitur iam rhetore Thule.'

Cf. Tac. _Agr._ 21.

(6) 15, 124, 'Brittones.' This form is rarely found except in military inscriptions,[100] and could scarcely have been used except by one familiar with the camp in Britain.[101]

That Juvenal came to Rome about A.D. 90 has been shown above. This step he may have taken to forward his promotion in the army and afterwards in the procuratorial service. His failure in this direction may have led to his pessimism. His friendship with Martial (whom, however, he does not mention) is shown by Mart. vii. 24 (cf. vii. 91),

'Cum Iuvenale meo quae me committere temptas,
quid non audebis, perfida lingua, loqui?' etc.

That he was still in Rome in B.C. 101, and had the entrée of the atria of rich nobles is shown by Mart. xii. 18, written in that year.

'Dum tu forsitan inquietus erras
clamosa, Iuvenalis, in Subura
aut collem dominae teris Dianae,
dura per limina te potentiorum
sudatrix toga ventilat vagumque
maior Caelius et minor fatigant,
me multos repetita post Decembres
accepit mea rusticumque fecit
auro Bilbilis et superba ferro.'

From this we see that he lived in the Subura, the plebeian quarter. Cf. 3, 5,

'ego vel Prochytam praepono Suburae.'

While in Rome he still possessed his land at Aquinum and also a property at Tibur; 11, 65,

'de Tiburtino veniet pinguissimus agro
haedulus.'

The statement of the _vitae_ that Juvenal studied rhetoric till middle life is, as already stated, improbable, as being inconsistent with his military and municipal career; 'facundus,' applied to him by Mart. vii. 91, 1, does not mean 'declaiming,' but 'poetical' or 'oratorical.'

_Vitae_ i. _a_ and _b_ (and other seven) say, 'ad mediam fere aetatem declamavit animi magis causa quam quod scholae se aut foro praepararet.'

_Juvenal's literary life._--In the MSS. the satires are divided into Books, and the division seems ancient. Book i. includes _Sat._ 1-5; Book ii. = _Sat._ 6; Book iii. = _Sat._ 7-9; Book iv. = _Sat._ 10-12; Book v. = _Sat._ 13-16.

Book i. was written under Trajan; certainly after A.D. 100, the date of the trial of Marius Priscus [102]; 1, 49,

'exul ab octava Marius bibit et fruitur dis
iratis.'

Book ii. not earlier than A.D. 116. It is highly probable that 6, 407, 'instantem regi Armenio Parthoque cometen,' refers to a comet seen at Rome in November A.D. 115; and 6, 411, 'nutare urbes, subsidere terras,' to the earthquake at Antioch, 13th December, A.D. 115.

Book iii., probably about A.D. 120, was written under Hadrian, who is eulogized in 7, 1-35. Dürr thinks it probable that 7, 36-243, was written under Trajan, and that the introduction, in praise of Hadrian, was written afterwards. This is also Friedländer's view; cf. l. 1, 'Et spes et ratio studiorum in Caesare tantum,' with Spart. _vit. Hadr._ 14, 8, 'poematum studiosissimus.' This also supports the view that the introduction was written not long after Hadrian's accession, when a new era for poets was supposed to be beginning.

Book iv. was probably written about A.D. 125.

Book v. A clue to the date is found in 13, 16-7,

'Stupet haec, qui iam post terga reliquit
sexaginta annos, Fonteio consule natus.'

Fonteius Capito and C. Iulius Rufus were consuls A.D. 67, in which year the sexagenarian friend whom Juvenal addresses was born. The date of writing will therefore be A.D. 127.[103]

Cf. also 15, 27, 'nuper consule Iunco.' Iuncus was consul A.D. 127, so that this satire could not have been written before A.D. 128. So 15, 44,

'Horrida sane
Aegyptos, sed luxuria, quantum ipse notavi,
barbara famoso non cedit turba Canopo.'

Juvenal must have added these lines to the satire while he was an exile in Egypt, if he did not write the whole of it there. This is in accordance with what _vita_ v. says, 'in exilio ampliavit satyras.' Supposing this passage to be an addition, we may conclude that Book v. was written about A.D. 128, but not before that year.

_Juvenal's banishment._--As before stated, all the _vitae_ but one give Egypt as the place of Juvenal's exile. The exact place, according to the scholiast on 1, 1 and 4, 38, was the Great Oasis (Hoasa: Hoasis). Three _vitae_ (i. _a_, _b_, iii. _c_) state that he was at that time _octogenarius_. This would make the date A.D. 135 or 136. Most of the _vitae_ give as the reason of his exile the fact that he wrote the lines,[104] 7, 90-2,

'Quod non dant proceres dabit histrio. Tu Camerinos
et Baream, tu nobilium magna atria curas?
Praefectos Pelopea facit, Philomela tribunos.'

Now these lines, the first he ever wrote (_vita_ iii. _c_) were composed in his youth as an epigram on Paris, Domitian's favourite, probably about A.D. 81-3. The true story then is that, when Juvenal in A.D. 135 or 136 published a new edition of _Sat._ 7, he added these lines (_vitae_ i. _a_, _b_, 'ut ea quoque quae prima fecerat inferciret novis scriptis').[105] Now it has been inferred from Spart. _vit. Hadr._ 23 _sqq._ that at this time an actor had great influence over Hadrian, and the lines were taken as referring to him. The emperor in a rage banished Juvenal to Egypt _per honorem militiae_, writing maliciously on his commission 'Et te Philomela promovit' (_vita_ iv.). The banishment is assigned to the influence of Paris by Iohannes Malalas, p. 262 _sqq._ (Dindorf), and by Suidas. Cf. also _Sat._ 15, 44 _sqq._, already quoted, and Sidonius Apollinaris 9, 267 _sqq._,

'Non qui tempore Caesaris secundi
aeterno incoluit Tomos reatu:
non qui consimili deinde casu
ad volgi tenuem strepentis auram
irati fuit histrionis exul.'

_Vita_ iii. _b_, 'Tristitia et angore periit anno aetatis suae altero et octuagesimo.'

_Vita_ v., 'Decessit longo senio confectus exul Antonino Pio imperatore.'

If this last statement is correct, Juvenal died after reaching the age of eighty-two, as Antoninus came to the throne on 10th July, A.D. 138. It follows from this also that he must have been born in the second half of A.D. 55.

_The Satires._--The following are the more important points regarding these:

(1) Juvenal's reasons for writing satire are given in _Sat._ 1, ll. 1-14. He is wearied with tragedies and epics on mythological subjects, 'Semper ego auditor tantum?'

He is resolved to follow in the footsteps of Lucilius; ll. 19-21,

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

His satire is due to indignation at the moral decay of the Roman world.

l. 30, 'Difficile est satiram non scribere' (cf. ll. 63, 79).

However, he does not intend to satirize the living, at least under their own names; and in fact he has in his mind particularly the times of Domitian, while most of his names are those of persons living under Claudius or Nero; l. 170,

'Experiar quid concedatur in illos,
quorum Flaminia tegitur cinis atque Latina.'

In the first nine Satires Juvenal's bitterness is directed mainly against the senatorial class, possibly because they had given him no support in his office-seeking. Even his violent attack on women in _Sat._ 6 is launched chiefly against the women of the highest class. Note also the unjust way in which he speaks of the government of the provinces (_Sat._ 8, 87-139). Juvenal is very bitter against Greeks and Orientals, most of all against Egyptians (cf. _Sat._ 15, and his attacks on the Egyptian Crispinus in 4, 1-33, etc.). Cf. 3, 119-125, for his attacks on foreigners.

(2) He claims a wide scope for his subject; 1, 85,

'Quidquid agunt homines, votum timor ira voluptas
gaudia discursus nostri farrago libelli est.'

(3) His pessimism is very marked; cf. 1, 147,

'Nil erit ulterius, quod nostris moribus addat
posteritas; eadem facient cupientque minores,
omne in praecipiti vitium stetit. Utere velis,
totos pande sinus.'

So 12, 48-9. His pessimism leads to extravagant language like 6, 29 _sqq._ He is as hard on trifling foibles as on the most heinous offences. Cf. 6, 166 _sqq._, 185 _sqq._, 398 _sqq._, 434-56 (on learned ladies).

(4) His rhetorical learning and style (found in all the Satires, but particularly in the later ones) are shown by

(_a_) His metre and language. Thus we find rhetorical uses of _ergo_ (3, 104; 281, etc.); _nunc_ (3, 268; 10, 210); _porro_ (3, 126; 11, 9); and of other particles.

(_b_) The way in which he chooses themes for his Satires, and subdivides them. Several of the Satires, as 5, 8, 10, 14, are _theses_, _i.e._ problems of a general character worked out in the manner of the rhetorical schools. Thus _Sat._ 5 discusses the question, 'Is the position of a client worth having?' _Sat._ 8, 'Has high birth a value in itself?' He sometimes uses the commonplaces of the schools, as 8, 56,

'Animalia muta
quis generosa putet nisi fortia?'

So 8, 215-6. In the manner of a rhetorician he sometimes gives superabundant details. The best example of this is 10, 190-250, on the troubles of old age.

(_c_) His knowledge of mythology, history, law, and philosophy. This is found mostly in the later Books. In the earlier Satires he dealt more with life as he had known it. In the later Satires he has recourse to republican times and to foreign history. His historical examples Friedländer thinks he took mostly from Valerius Maximus. Juvenal's knowledge of philosophy was very superficial, and was probably got from his rhetorical training. Errors occur; thus in 13, 121-2, Stoics and Cynics are looked upon as identical.[106]

(_d_) His high-flown language referred to above.

(_e_) His references to previous literature. Thus Horace is often referred to (cf. 7, 62 and 227); Virgil with great frequency (cf. 1, 162; 6, 434 _sqq._; 7, 66 and 227; 7, 233 _sqq._). Mayor mentions Homer, Herodotus, Plato, Lucilius, Cicero, Ovid, Manilius, Valerius Maximus, Seneca, Lucan, and Martial among the authors imitated by Juvenal.

PLINY THE YOUNGER.

Pliny's full name on the inscriptions of the later period of his life reads 'C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius Secundus.' This name he partly got from his mother's brother C. Plinius Secundus (Pliny the elder), who adopted him by will: cf. _Ep._ v. 8, 5, 'Avunculus meus idemque per adoptionem pater.' Pliny's name before his adoption in A.D. 79 (see below) was P. Caecilius L. f. Ouf. Secundus. His birthplace was Comum, and he belonged to the Oufentina, the tribe of the people of Comum, as well on the side of his natural as on that of his adoptive father. In an inscription preserved at Como (_C.I.L._ v. 5279) Pliny's father, Cilo, is mentioned, and two men who are undoubtedly Cilo's sons, the second mentioned being Pliny the younger, who had always been called Secundus.

'L. Caecilius L. f. Cilo iiii.vir a(edilicia) p(otestate), qui testamento suo (sestertium) n(ummum) xxxx. (milia) municipibus Comensibus legavit, ex quorum reditu quotannis per Neptunalia oleum in campo et in thermis et in balineis omnibus, quae sunt Comi, praeberentur, t(estamento) f(ieri) iussit et L. Caecilio L. f. Valenti et P. Caecilio L. f. Secundo et Lutullae Picti f. contubernali.'[107]

For Cilo's bequests here mentioned cf. Pliny, _Ep._ i, 8, 5; Comum is referred to as 'patria mea' in _Ep._ iv. 30, 1. The Caecilii were a family of station at Comum even in Caesar's time. Cf. Catull. 35,

'Poetae tenero meo sodali
velim Caecilio, papyre, dicas,
Veronam veniat Novi relinquens
Comi moenia Lariumque litus.'

Pliny inherited landed property there from his father and mother.

_Ep._ vii. 11, 5, 'Indicavit mihi cupere se aliquid circa Larium nostrum possidere: ego illi ex praediis meis quod vellet ... optuli, exceptis maternis paternisque.'

The above inscription shows that Pliny's father belonged to the municipal nobility, and possibly had 'equestris nobilitas.'

Pliny was in his eighteenth year (_Ep._ vi. 20, 5, 'agebam duodevicensimum annum') on 24th August, A.D. 79, when his uncle perished in the eruption of Vesuvius, and he was therefore born in the second half of 61 or in the first half of 62 A.D. Cilo died young, before holding the chief municipal post, and before Pliny was of age; and Verginius Rufus became Pliny's guardian.

_Ep._ ii. 1, 8, 'Ille mihi tutor relictus adfectum parentis exhibuit.' Pliny was removed to Rome with his uncle, probably at the end of A.D. 72. While at school he wrote poetry (_Ep._ vii. 4, 2, quoted below), and studied philosophy and rhetoric.

_Ep._ vi. 6, 3, 'Quos tunc ego frequentabam, Quintilianum, Niceten Sacerdotem.' Cf. also ii. 14, 10; i. 20, 4; vii. 4, etc. For literary studies with his uncle cf. _Ep._ vi. 20, 5, 'Posco librum Titi Livi et quasi per otium lego, atque etiam, ut coeperam, excerpo.'

His uncle, as above stated, died on 24th August, A.D. 79, and by his will adopted Pliny, whose name thereafter was C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius Secundus. He therefore changed his praenomen to that of his adoptive father, and put his former nomen among his cognomina. By his contemporaries he is called Plinius (cf. Martial, x. 19), or Secundus, as by Trajan. The name Caecilius was confined to formal inscriptions.

In A.D. 80 or 81 Pliny first appeared as an advocate. Cf. _Ep._ v. 8, 8, 'Undevicensimo aetatis anno dicere in foro coepi.' Before entering the Senate, he held (as stated in the chief inscription, given below) the decemvirate _litibus iudicandis_, the military tribunate in the third Gallic legion, and the title of Sevir in the Roman knighthood. Pliny probably held his military tribunate under Domitian (_i.e._, after 13th September, A.D. 81) in Syria.

Cf. _Ep._ i. 10, 2, 'Hunc [Euphraten philosophum] ego in Syria, cum adulescentulus militarem, penitus et domi inspexi.'

The date of Pliny's praetorship as A.D. 93 is settled by _Ep._ iii. 11, 2, the events recorded in which passage are known from Tac. _Agr._ 45 to have taken place shortly after Agricola's death in August, A.D. 93.

'Fui praetor ... cum ... occisis Senecione Rustico Helvidio, relegatis Maurico Gratilla Arria Fannia ... mihi quoque impendere idem exitium certis quibusdam notis augurarer.'

The words in _Ep._ vii. 16 (of Calestrius Tiro), 'Simul quaestores Caesaris fuimus: ille me in tribunatu liberorum iure praecessit, ego illum in praetura sum consecutus, cum mihi Caesar annum remisisset,' refer to the fact that the emperor did not insist on the year of absence from office between the tribunate and the quaestorship. Pliny was quaestor from 1st June, 89 to 31st May, 90 A.D., being nominated by the emperor, as shown by the above passage. He was _trib. pleb._ from 10th December, 90 to 9th December, 91 A.D., and during his year of office undertook no cases. Cf. _Ep._ i. 23, 2, 'Ipse cum tribunus essem ... abstinui causis agendis.' By special favour he was allowed to take office as praetor on 1st January, A.D. 93. In this year he appeared before the Senate for the people of Baetica against the procurator Baebius Massa.

_Ep._ vii. 33, esp. § 4, 'Dederat me senatus cum Herennio Senecione advocatum provinciae Baeticae contra Baebium Massam.'

The inscriptions of Pliny show that he was _praefectus aerarii militaris_ between his praetorship in 93 and his _praefectura aerarii Saturni_ (from 98 onwards), and this office he held either from 94 to 96 or from 95 to 97 A.D. Pliny tells us that he and Cornutus Tertullus were designated consuls, when they had held the _praefectura aerarii Saturni_ for less than two years.

_Paneg._ 91, 'Nondum biennium compleveramus in officio laboriosissimo et maximo, cum tu nobis ... consulatum obtulisti.'

This _designatio_ took place on 9th January, A.D. 100, whence the _praefectura_ must have been entered on shortly after 9th January, A.D. 98. Pliny was probably nominated to it by Nerva and Trajan.

Cf. _ad Trai._ 3, 'Ut primum me, domine, indulgentia _vestra_ promovit ad praefecturam aerarii Saturni.'

Mommsen[108] believes that this praefectura was held at the same time as the consulship, and on to December, A.D. 101, an unusual length of tenure. H. F. Stobbe, however, makes the trial of Classicus, on which the last date depends, extend from September 99 to July 100 A.D. (_Philologus_, xxx. 347 _sqq._).

_Paneg._ 92, 'Nobis praefectis aerarii consulatum ante quam successorem dedisti.'

Pliny, along with Cornutus Tertullus, his colleague in the _praefectura_, was made consul A.D. 100. He held the office in September of that year, and the tenure was either from July 1 to September 30, or from September 1 to October 31.

_Paneg._ 92, 'Ei nos potissimum mensi attribuisti quem tuus natalis exornat.'

The _Panegyricus_ is a speech of thanks to Trajan spoken on this occasion. In A.D. 99 Pliny, along with Tacitus, appeared for the Africans against the proconsul Marius Priscus (see _Ep._ ii. 11 quoted p. 338); and in A.D. 101, while still _praefectus aerarii_, he appeared for the people of Baetica against the proconsul Caecilius Classicus.

_Ep._ iii. 4, 2, 'Legati provinciae Baeticae questuri de proconsulatu Caecili Classici advocatum me a senatu petierunt.'

Pliny obtained the augurship, probably in 103 or 104, in succession to Sex. Iulius Frontinus, who probably died in 102 or 103 A.D. Cf. _Ep._ iv. 8, 3, 'Successi Iulio Frontino.' In 103 or 104 A.D. he appeared against the Bithynians for the proconsul Iulius Bassus (_Ep._ iv. 9 etc.). He held the _cura alvei Tiberis et riparum et cloacarum urbis_ probably from 105 to 107 A.D. See Pliny's chief inscription (below), and cf. _Ep._ v. 14, 1-2, 'Mihi nuntiatum est Cornutum Tertullum accepisse Aemiliae viae curam ... aliquanto magis me delectat mandatum mihi officium, postquam par Cornuto datum video.'

About A.D. 106 Pliny appeared against the Bithynians for the proconsul Varenus Rufus (_Ep._ vi. 29, 11).

From 111-2 or 112-3 A.D. Pliny was governor of Pontus and Bithynia, being sent out for a special purpose by the emperor as _legatus pro praetore consulari potestate_. Cf. the chief inscription (below) and the words of Trajan.

_Trai._ 32, 'Meminerimus idcirco te in istam provinciam missum, quoniam multa in ea emendanda apparuerint.'

The date of Pliny's governorship is fixed by the mention of Calpurnius Macer in the letters (_ad Trai._ 42; 61; 62) as the governor of the nearest province. Mommsen has identified him with P. Calpurnius Macer Caulius Rufus, who is shown by an inscription (_C.I.L._ iii. 7 and 17) to have been governor of Lower Moesia in 112 A.D. This is corroborated by the fact that no mention is made of Bithynia in the chief collection of letters, which was not completed till A.D. 108 at least. Therefore the governorship falls after that time. On the other hand, Pliny must have been sent out not later than A.D. 113, as in the chief inscription _Optimus_ does not appear in Trajan's name, and this cognomen he assumed in A.D. 114. Finally, the fact that Trajan was at Rome during Pliny's governorship points to a time between the end of the second Dacian War in A.D. 107 and the outbreak of the Parthian War in A.D. 113.

Our information about Pliny ends with the close of his correspondence with Trajan. It is certain that he held no further office, and it is probable that he died before A.D. 114 in his province or shortly after his return to Rome.

As regards municipal relations, Pliny held the post of _flamen divi Augusti_, according to the inscription which the corporation of Vercellae erected to him at his own town (_C.I.L._ v. 5667).

'C. Plini[o L. f. O]uf. Caec[ilio] Secundo [c]os. augur. cur. alv. Tib. [et ripa]r. et cloac. urb. [praef. a]er. Sat. praef. aer. mil. [pr. tr. pl.] imp. sevir. eq. R. tr. m[i]l. leg. iii. Gall. x. viro stl. iud. fl. divi T. Aug.'

For bequests to his native town see the chief inscription (below). Besides these are mentioned gifts in his life-time. Under Domitian Pliny presented his townspeople with a library (_Ep._ i, 8), apparently worth 1,000,000 sesterces (v. 7), and endowed it with 100,000 sesterces. He also gave 500,000 sesterces for the support of freeborn boys and girls (_Ep._ i, 8); and promised to pay one-third of the salary of the professor of rhetoric at Comum (_Ep._ iv. 13, 5).

The following is the chief inscription of Pliny (as restored by Mommsen), which was erected at the _Thermae_ which he presented to Comum (_C.I.L._ v. 5262):

'C. Plinius L. f. Ouf. Caecilius _Secundus cos._ augur legat. pro pr. provinciae Pon_ti et Bithyniae_ consulari potesta_t_. in eam provinciam e_x. s. c. missus ab_ Imp. Caesar. Nerva Traiano Aug. German_ico Dacico p.p_. curator alvei Ti_b_eris et riparum e_t cloacar. urb_. praef. aerari Satu_r_ni praef. aerari mil_it. pr. trib. pl_. quaestor imp. sevir equitum _Romanorum_ trib. milit. leg. _iii_. Gallicae _x.vir stli_tib. iudicand. therm_as ex HS_ ... adiectis in ornatum HS ccc ... _et eo amp_lius in tutela_m_ HS CC t. f. i. _item in alimenta_ libertor. suorum homin. C. HS XVIII LXVI DCLXVI rei_p. legavit, quorum inc_rement. postea ad epulum _pl_eb. urban. voluit pertin_ere ... item vivus_ dedit in aliment. pueror. et puellar. pleb. urban. HS D _item bybliothecam et_ in tutelam bybliothecae HS C.'

Pliny was also patron of Tifernum Tiberinum and of the Baetici.

_Ep._ iv. 1, 4, 'Oppidum est praediis nostris vicinum, nomen Tiferni Tiberini, quod me paene adhuc puerum patronum cooptavit ... In hoc ego ... templum pecunia mea exstruxi, cuius dedicationem ... differre longius inreligiosum est.'

_Ep._ iii. 4, 4, 'Legati ... inplorantes fidem meam, quam essent contra Massam Baebium experti, adlegantes patrocini foedus.'

Pliny married three times, twice under Domitian. Cf. _ad Trai._ 2, 'Liberos ... habere etiam tristissimo illo saeculo volui, sicut potes duobus matrimoniis meis credere.' For his third wife, Calpurnia, who died A.D. 97, see _Ep._ iv. 19. Pliny had no children, but Trajan conferred on him the _ius trium liberorum_ in A.D. 98. Cf. _ad Trai._ 2, 'Me dignum putasti iure trium liberorum.'

_Pliny as orator and writer._--Most of Pliny's cases were before the _centumviri_, who dealt with inheritances: cf. _Ep._ vi. 12, 2, 'in harena mea, hoc est apud centumviros.' So Mart. x. 19, 14 (written A.D. 96),

'Totos dat tetricae dies Minervae
dum centum studet auribus virorum
hoc quod saecula posterique possint
Arpinis quoque comparare chartis.'

For Pliny's five speeches in criminal trials before the Senate see above. Cf. _Ep._ vi. 29, 7 _sqq._, 'Egi quasdam a senatu iussus ... Adfui Baeticis contra Baebium Massam ... Adfui rursus isdem querentibus de Caecilio Classico ... Accusavi Marium Priscum ... Tuitus sum Iulium Bassum ... Dixi proxime pro Vareno.'

Pliny recited his speeches before delivering them, and subsequently published them, sometimes with additions.

_Ep._ vii. 17, 2, 'Miror quod scribis fuisse quosdam qui reprehenderent quod orationes omnino recitarem.'

_Ep._ iii. 18, 1 (of the _Panegyricus_), 'Quod ego in senatu cum ad rationem et loci et temporis ex more fecissem, bono civi convenientissimum credidi eadem illa spatiosius et uberius volumine amplecti.'

Pliny speaks of his early attempts at poetry:

_Ep._ vii. 4, 2-3, 'Numquam a poetice (altius enim repetam) alienus fui; quin etiam quattuordecim natus annos Graecam tragoediam scripsi. Qualem? inquis: nescio: tragoedia vocabatur.'

In Books i.-iii. he appears only as a lover of poetry and a patron of poets (cf. i. 16; iii. 15). From Book iv. (published A.D. 105) onwards he appears as a poet. In _Ep._ vii. 4, 6 are thirteen poor hexameter lines on Cicero; _ibid._ §§ 7-8, 'Transii ad elegos: hos quoque non minus celeriter explicui: addidi iambos, facilitate corruptus ... Postremo placuit exemplo multorum unum separatim hendecasyllaborum volumen absolvere, nec paenitet. Legitur, describitur, cantatur etiam.' Pliny defends himself for writing light verses in _Ep._ v. 3, etc. In the later books he refers to another proposed collection of verses.

_Ep._ viii. 21, 3, 'Liber fuit et opusculis varius et metris.'

Pliny says he did not observe chronological order in publishing his letters.

_Ep._ i. 1, 1, 'Collegi non servato temporis ordine (neque enim historiam componebam), sed ut quaeque in manus venerat.'

This, however, is not convincing, as it falls in with Pliny's wish to give an appearance of negligence to the work, and besides it may apply only to Book i. Successive publication of the different Books is shown by many references; so _Ep._ ix. 19, 'Significas legisse te in quadam epistula,' where _Ep._ vi. 10 is referred to. So also contemporaneous events are always described in the same Book or in two Books close together; and when a subject is continued in another letter, the order of the two letters fits in with chronology. So iii. 4 and iv. 1 deal with the building of a temple at Tifernum; iii. 20 and iv. 25 with ballot at elections.

The following are the probable dates of publication: Book i. in A.D. 97; Book ii. in A.D. 100; Book iii. in A.D. 101 or 102; Book iv. in A.D. 105; Book v. in A.D. 106; Book vi. possibly in A.D. 106; Book vii. in A.D. 107; Book viii. not before A.D. 109; Book ix. probably about the same time.

The correspondence with Trajan is independent of the nine Books of letters. The epistles are roughly in chronological order. _Epp._ 1-14 range from 98 to 106 A.D. _Epp._ 15 to the end were probably all written in Bithynia during Pliny's governorship there. Trajan's reply is subjoined to most of the letters. The correspondence extant stretches from September A.D. 111 over January A.D. 113.

Pliny had intimate relations with other writers, the principal being Tacitus; Martial (cf. _Ep._ iii. 21); Silius Italicus (cf. _Ep._ iii. 7). See pp. 340, 298, 289. For his literary reputation see _Ep._ ix. 23, 2, quoted p. 338 and cf. _Ep._ i. 2, 6, 'Libelli quos emisimus dicuntur in manibus esse, quamvis iam gratiam novitatis exuerint; nisi tamen auribus nostris bibliopolae blandiuntur.'

_Pliny's character._--Pliny, without being a great man, is a more favourable specimen of character, feeling, and gentlemanly tone, than almost any other Roman author. He avoided censorious writing, and most of the people he mentions are praised. The chief exception is Regulus (_Ep._ i. 5, etc.), and possibly also Iavolenus Priscus (vi. 15). When anybody is blamed, his name is omitted unless he is dead or has been banished.

_Ep._ vii. 28, i, 'Ais quosdam apud te reprehendisse, tamquam amicos meos ex omni occasione ultra modum laudem. Agnosco crimen, amplector etiam. Quid enim honestius culpa benignitatis?'

For his desire of praise cf. _Ep._ ix. 23, 5, 'An ... ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere non debeo? Ego vero et gaudeo et gaudere me dico.'

For his kindness to slaves cf. _Ep._ viii. 16, 1, 'Permitto servis quoque quasi testamenta facere eaque ut legitima custodio' (and the rest of the letter).

For his grief at the loss of friends cf. _Ep._ v. 21, 6, 'Sed quid ego indulgeo dolori? cui si frenos remittas, nulla materia non maxima est. Finem epistulae faciam, ut facere possim etiam lacrimis quas epistula expressit.'

For his love of nature cf. Ep. i. 9, 6, 'O mare, o litus, verum secretumque +mouseion+, quam multa invenitis, quam multa dictatis!'

Cf. also descriptions of natural scenery, as in _Epp._ ii. 17, 3; v. 6, 13; vi. 31, 15; viii. 8.

TACITUS.

(1) LIFE.

The historian's full name is uncertain. Other writers, _e.g._ Pliny the younger, call him Cornelius Tacitus, or simply Tacitus. His praenomen is given as P. in the best Tacitean MS. (Mediceus I.), and as C. in later MSS. and by Sidonius Apollinaris (_Ep._ iv. 14; 22).[109] His birthplace is unknown. The tradition that he was born at Interamna in Umbria arose from the fact that the emperor Tacitus (A.D. 275-6), who claimed descent from the historian (Vopisc. _Tac._ 10, 3), was born there.[110] The probable date of his birth is got from a comparison of two passages:

_Dial._ 1, 'Disertissimorum ... hominum ... quos eamdem hanc quaestionem pertractantes iuvenis admodum audivi.'

Pliny, _Ep._ vii. 20, 3, 'Erit rarum et insigne duos homines aetate dignitate propemodum aequales ... alterum alterius studia fovisse. Equidem adulescentulus, cum iam tu fama gloriaque floreres, te sequi, tibi longo sed proximus intervallo et esse et haberi concupiscebam.'

The dramatic date of the Dialogue is A.D. 75 (_Dial._ 17), and at that time Tacitus, as _iuvenis admodum_, must have been between seventeen and twenty. From a consideration of the words of Pliny, who was born A.D. 61 or 62, the later age seems nearer the mark, and we may conclude that Tacitus was born A.D. 55 or 56.

We have no positive information about Tacitus' family, but his education, political career, and marriage into a distinguished house, prove that he belonged to a family of station. The first person of the name we know of is mentioned by Pliny the elder as an _eques_, and may have been Tacitus' father.

Pliny, _N.H._ vii. 76, 'Corneli Taciti, equitis Romani, Belgicae Galliae rationes procurantis.'

Tacitus received the regular rhetorical training under the best masters.

_Dial._ 2, 'M. Aper et Iulius Secundus, celeberrima tum ingenia fori nostri, quos ego in iudiciis non modo studiose audiebam, sed domi quoque et in publico adsectabar, mira studiorum cupiditate et quodam ardore iuvenili, ut fabulas quoque eorum et disputationes et arcana semotae dictionis penitus exciperem.'

That Tacitus had a very great reputation as a speaker is seen from Pliny, _Ep._ ix. 23, 2, 'Numquam maiorem cepi voluptatem, quam nuper ex sermone Corneli Taciti. Narrabat sedisse se cum quodam Circensibus proximis: hunc post varios eruditosque sermones requisisse "Italicus es an provincialis?" se respondisse "nosti me, et quidem ex studiis." Ad hoc illum "Tacitus es an Plinius?"'

In A.D. 98 (according to others, 97) Tacitus delivered the funeral oration over Verginius Rufus, and in A.D. 100 he and Pliny prosecuted Marius Priscus, proconsul of Africa, for extortion.

Pliny, _Ep._ ii. 1, 6, 'Laudatus est [Verginius Rufus] a consule Cornelio Tacito: nam hic supremus felicitati eius cumulus accessit, laudator eloquentissimus.'

_Ibid._ ii. 11, 2, 'Ego et Cornelius Tacitus, adesse provincialibus iussi.' § 17, 'Respondit Cornelius Tacitus eloquentissime, et quod eximium orationi eius inest, +semnôs+.'

In A.D. 77 Tacitus was betrothed to the daughter of Agricola, then consul, and in A.D. 78 he married her.

_Agr._ 9, 'Consul egregiae tum spei filiam iuveni mihi despondit ac post consulatum collocavit, et statim Britanniae praepositus est.'

Tacitus gives us a clue to his political career in _Hist._ i. 1.

'Dignitatem nostram a Vespasiano incohatam, a Tito auctam, a Domitiano longius provectam non abnuerim.'

This probably means that Vespasian granted him the _latus clavus_, _i.e._ a place in the _ordo senatorius_, which was followed by the _vigintiviratus_ given by the Senate, and a commission in the army as _tribunus militum laticlavius_; that Titus appointed him quaestor A.D. 80-1; and that Domitian made him tribune or aedile (about 84), and in A.D. 88 praetor. For the last office cf. _Ann._ xi. 11,

'Is [Domitianus] edidit ludos saeculares, eisque intentius adfui sacerdotio quindecimvirali praeditus ac tunc praetor.'

That Tacitus was absent from Rome A.D. 90-93 we may infer from what he says of Agricola's death (A.D. 93).

_Agr._ 45, 'Nobis tam longae absentiae condicione ante quadriennium amissus est.'

He must have returned to Rome soon afterwards, for he says in the same chapter: 'Mox nostrae duxere Helvidium in carcerem manus; nos Maurici Rusticique visus, nos innocenti sanguine Senecio perfudit.'

Tacitus was appointed consul suffectus under Trajan A.D. 98 (see Pliny, _Ep._ ii. 1, 6, above quoted).

An inscription found at Mylasa in Caria shows that Tacitus was proconsul of Asia about 112-116 A.D.[111]

Tacitus probably died soon after the publication of the _Annals_ (A.D. 115-7), as he did not live to write his contemplated works on the Augustan age and the reigns of Nerva and Trajan.

_Hist._ i. 1, 'Quod si vita suppeditet, principatum divi Nervae et imperium Traiani ... senectuti seposui.'

_Ann._ iii. 24, 'Cetera illius aetatis [Augusti] memorabo, si effectis in quae tetendi, plures ad curas vitam produxero.'

Tacitus was on intimate terms with Pliny, eleven of whose letters are addressed to him. From vii. 20 and viii. 7 we see that they were in the habit of "exchanging proof-sheets." To the same circle belonged Fabius Iustus, to whom the _Dialogus_ is dedicated, and Asinius Rufus.

Pliny, _Ep._ iv. 15, 1, 'Asinium Rufum singulariter amo. ... Idem Cornelium Tacitum arta familiaritate complexus est.'

(2) WORKS.

1. _Dialogus de Oratoribus_, an inquiry into the causes of the decay of eloquence--'cur nostra potissimum aetas deserta et laude eloquentiae orbata vix nomen ipsum oratoris retineat' (_Dial._ 1). Some critics have supposed that Tacitus meant this work to be an _apologia pro vita sua_, a justification of his preference for a literary to a rhetorical career, but this cannot be proved. That Tacitus is the author is clear from Pliny, _Ep._ ix. 10, 2, 'Itaque poemata quiescunt, quae tu inter nemora et lucos commodissime perfici putas'--a reference to _Dial._ 9, 'poetis ... in nemora et lucos, id est in solitudinem, secedendum est.' The dramatic date is given in _Dial._ 17 as A.D. 75; the statement there and in _Dial._ 24 that one hundred and twenty years have passed since Cicero's death (which would give A.D. 77) is made in round numbers. The date of composition is uncertain. It was not under Domitian, as Tacitus remained silent during his reign (_Agr._ 2). We can hardly suppose it to have been written under Nerva, as its style is so different from that of the _Agricola_; but it may have been written under Domitian, and published after his death. Some authorities put it as early as A.D. 81.[112]

2. _De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae liber_, an account of the life of Cn. Iulius Agricola, Tacitus' father-in-law, and particularly of his career in Britain. It was written early in the reign of Trajan, and therefore after 27th Jan., 98 A.D., and probably in that year.

_Agr._ 3, 'quamquam primo statim beatissimi saeculi ortu Nerva Caesar res olim dissociabiles miscuerit, principatum ac libertatem, augeatque cottidie felicitatem temporum Nerva Traianus.'

3. _Germania_.--The Vatican MSS. give the title as _de origine et situ_ (another MS. adds _moribus ac populis_) Germanorum. The date of publication, as seen from _Germ._ 37, was A.D. 98. The book is not mentioned in _Agr._ 3 among the proposed works of Tacitus; and it has therefore been supposed that the materials were collected for the _Histories_, and that the work was published separately on account of its length, and also the interest felt in Germany at the time. There is nothing in the theory that the book is a political pamphlet, or that it contains a moral purpose. Tacitus is by no means blind to the faults of the Germans (c. 17 _sqq._, etc.), though he compares them favourably in many respects with the Romans.

4. _Historiae_.--The title is guaranteed by Tertull. _apol._ 16, 'Cornelius Tacitus in quinta historiarum suarum.' The work embraced the time from Galba to Domitian, _i.e._ 69-96 A.D. The first four Books and part of the fifth are extant, and give the history of 69 and most of 70 A.D. In MS. Mediceus II., the only ancient MS. that contains _Ann._ xi.-xvi. and the _Histories_, there is no title, but the Books are numbered continuously as belonging to the same work. Cf. Jerome, _Comm. on Zacharias_, iii. 14, 'Cornelius Tacitus, qui post Augustum usque ad mortem Domitiani vitas Caesarum triginta voluminibus exaravit.' If, therefore, the _Annals_ contained sixteen Books, the _Histories_ must have contained fourteen, supposing Jerome's statement to be correct. Some authorities think the numbers were eighteen and twelve respectively. The work was written under Trajan (cf. _Hist._ i. 1, 'principatum divi Nervae et imperium Traiani'), and was probably brought out in instalments. Pliny's letters (vi. 16; 20; vii. 33), written about A.D. 106-9, contain contributions to it.

5. _Annales_, or rather _Ab excessu divi Augusti_, the title given by MS. Med. I. Tacitus often calls his work _annales_ (as in _Ann._ iv. 32), but uses the word to signify his plan of recording events by their years. Cf. _Ann._ iv. 71, 'Ni mihi destinatum foret suum quaeque in annum referre, avebat animus antire,' etc.

He occasionally apologises (as in xii. 40) for departing from this order for the sake of clearness. The Books, the division into which was made by Tacitus himself (cf. vi. 27, 'in prioribus libris'), usually, however, end with some important event.