 Chapter 24, Section 4 of J. B. Bury's The Student's Roman Empire, Part 2. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Student's Roman Empire, Part 2 by John Bagnell Bury, Chapter 24. Trajan's Principe, Section 4. Trajan's Wars and Conquests in the East, His Death Ever since Tiridates had received the Armenian Diadem from the hands of Miro, peace had subsisted between Rome and Parthia. The relations between the Flavian emperors and the Arsacids had hardly been troubled by a single cloud, but under Trajan they became less friendly. King Pacherus did not decline to negotiate with Decebelus the enemy of Rome. This negotiation, however, was not followed by any action on the part of Parthia and did not lead to hostilities. But under Chosros, the brother and successor of Pacherus, the crucial question of Armenia came up once more. The Armenian throne having become vacant, Trajan bestowed upon Axidaris a son of Pacherus. But Chosros deposed Axidaris and set up Parthimus Cyrus, another son of Pacherus, on the ground that Axidaris was incapable of governing. This action of Chosros was a direct violation of the treaty existing between the two states, and Trajan was not a man to pass this over. He declared war immediately and left Rome for the east at the end of 113 A.D. When he reached Athens, he was met by a Parthian embassy sent to divert him from his purpose, for Chosros was not prepared for war. At this time Parthia was distracted by internal dissensions, and several rival kings were ruling in different parts of the realm. The ambassadors declared that Parthimus Cyrus was prepared to acknowledge himself the client of Rome and receive the diadem from Trajan as Tiritites had received it from Nero. But the emperor refused to recognize one who had been set up in defiance of his authority. He dismissed the embassy, saying shortly that he looked for deeds and not for words. Another emperor would probably have been satisfied with the compromise, and Trajan, if he had intended to follow the eastern policy of his predecessors, would not have dismissed the Parthian envoys as he did. But he had come to the conclusion that the settlement of the Armenian question which had been come to in the reign of Nero was no settlement at all, and he determined to make the position of Armenia clear by converting it into a Roman province. This step, which previous emperors had declined to take, would remove once for all every pretext for Parthian interference in Armenia, and put an end to the unsatisfactory combination of nominal Roman sway and real Parthian influence. The resolve of Trajan was quite in accordance with his previous policy in the case of Dacia and Arabia. The conversion of client states into provinces is a feature of his reign. But his purpose went even further than the annexation of Armenia. He decided to carry out an idea which had been in the air for more than a hundred years, and subdue the realm of Parthia as he had subdued the realm of Decibalis. It was a project which Julius Caesar might have attempted if he had lived. It was an inspiration of Roman poets from Horus who dreams of Rome giving laws to the vanquished Medes to Stadius who, in addressing Domitian on his 17th Consulate, reminds him that Bactra and Babylon still remained to be curbed by a new tribute. From Athens Trajan proceeded to Antioch and found that the Syrian army had degenerated in discipline and vigor owing to the long peace, so that his first task was to restore the efficiency of the troops. There were seven legions in the east available for the Parthian war, four in Syria, one in Judea, and two in Cappadocia, in addition to which Trajan summoned some Pannonian reinforcements, but it is uncertain how he apportioned his forces. Hostilities had already commenced, and the advantage was on the side of the Parthians who had taken Samosata. Before Trajan took the field in Spring 115 AD, he received a letter from the pretender Parthimus Cyrus, of which he took no notice because the writer styled himself king. The first event of the campaign was the recovery of Samosata. Then Trajan marched to Satala in little Armenia, intending to make that country the basis of his operations. At Satala he was met by the kings of various Caucasian countries who came to assure him of their devotion and obedience, such as the Iberians, Albanians, and Epsilians. Among others, Ancialis king of the Heniochi and Macholones was distinguished with marks of favor by the emperor, to whom the attitude of these northern barbarians was a matter of importance for the success of his further operations. Here, too, another message was received from Parthimus Cyrus, couched in far humbler terms than the previous one, and begging for an interview with M. Junius, the governor of Cappadocia. Trajan sent the son of Junius to treat with the pretender, and himself, returning on his steps, proceeded with the army in the direction of Arduxata, and halted at Elegia, near Urzororum, a locality well adapted for concentrating forces. Here Parthimus Cyrus was permitted to wait upon the emperor, who took his seat on a suggestus in the presence of his troops. The Parthian prince, taking the diadem from his head, laid it at the feet of Trajan, in order that the ceremonial of investiture might be performed. But the soldiers, misunderstanding his attitude and thinking that he was renouncing Armenia, conceived that this country was one for Rome without a blow, and saluted Trajan as Imperator. Brightened by the cries of the soldiers, Parthimus Cyrus made as if he would flee, but he was surrounded and could not escape. He then begged for a private interview with the emperor, and was led into the imperial tent. But Trajan's mind was made up, and the Parthian's offer was rejected. After a few minutes they issued from the tent, Trajan resumed his seat on the suggestus, and commanded Parthimus Cyrus to declare his demands clearly before the army, in order that the words which passed between them might never be falsely reported. The soldiers pressed round, but Parthimus Cyrus in this dangerous situation did not lose his self-possession. He said simply that Armenia rightly belonged to him on condition of receiving the diadem from Trajan's hands, that he had come of his own accord for this purpose, and not as a defeated or captured enemy, and that he expected to suffer no injury. The emperor, in reply, shortly announced that Armenia belonged to Rome, and should henceforth be ruled by a Roman governor. Parthimus Cyrus, with his Parthian retinue, was then permitted to depart under an escort of Roman horse to prevent them from holding communications with anyone until they were beyond the frontiers of Armenia. The Armenians who had accompanied him were sent back to their own homes. Soon after he had left the camp, Parthimus Cyrus was slain by his escort. It is unknown whether this act was committed in cold blood by the orders of Trajan or whether the Parthian prince made an attempt to escape from his conductors. Armenia submitted to its fate without a struggle and became a Roman province. The Caucasian kingdoms now stood to Rome in the same relation in which Armenia stood before. Meanwhile the Moorish captain, Lucius Quietus, who had distinguished himself in the Dacian war, had hastened eastward with a part of the army, crossed the Araxes, and occupied Atropatine or Medea. He surprised the strong and important fortress of Singara, whose possession was a great advantage for an invader of Parthia. As soon as Trajan had occupied Armenia, he marched into Mesopotamia where he met with little resistance. Batonet and Nisibus were taken without difficulty, and the fortress of Thebitha between Nisibus and Singara secured a line of communication between the main army and the detachment of Lucius Quietus. Abgar, king of Osrowine, had long ago volunteered to desert his allegiance to Parthia and became a Roman vassal. At Edessa he publicly offered his submission to the conqueror, and other phylarchs and satraps followed his example. Civil war among the Parthians hindered them from taking any steps to oppose the conquest of the land between the Euphrates and Tigris. The king Chasorese was overthrown by a pretender of Arab race named Manisarese, who now sent a message to Trajan, proposing to divide the spoils of the Arsicid. Trajan refused to entertain the proposal or admit the envoys to a conference, and Manisarese allied himself with another Arab king, Manis, and prepared to oppose the advance of the Romans. But Trajan did not intend to cross the Tigris until the following year, as the season was already far advanced. He organized Mesopotamia as a Roman province and retired to Antioch for the winter. His stay there was marked by a terrible earthquake, December 13, 115 AD, which cost many lives and demolished a large part of the city, and Trajan himself narrowly escaped destruction. The winter was employed with the construction of a fleet on the Euphrates, which was to operate in the next campaign along with the army. Trajan, ennobled by the name of Parthicus, which the senate had decreed to him, proceeded to Nisibis in spring 116 AD, and then slid his army to the upper Tigris, where it flows through the district of Cordouine. The passage of the river was made on boats, which had been built in the woods of Nisibis, and transported thence on wagons. The army crossed with difficulty, for the Cardoutians of the adjacent mountains lined the opposite shore, but at length, seeing that the numbers of the Romans rendered resistance hopeless, the barbarians retired. The whole country of the Adiabene was occupied by Trajan with little opposition, and was made into a third Roman province under the name of Assyria. Recrossing the Tigris, Trajan joined his fleet on the Euphrates and reviewed his troops at Osigardana near the Baitoumen Springs, which supplied the Babylonians with building cement. Babylon, nearly deserted by its inhabitants on account of the civil wars, fell an easy prey to the Romans, who then proceeded to attack Stesophan, the Parthian capital. The two rivers were connected by the Nahar-Mulcha, or Royal Canal, which joined the Tigris at Stesophan, and this canal was used by Trajan to transport his ships from the Euphrates to the Tigris. His plans for the siege of Stesophan rendered it necessary to disembark his troops on the left bank of the Tigris at a distance from the city, and accordingly a new canal was dug connecting the Nahar-Mulcha with the river at a point above Stesophan. The Romans soon captured the capital of the Aracids. Chosros himself escaped, but his daughter was captured and the golden throne of the Parthian kings was taken and reserved for the triumph of Trajan. With this success the soldiers regarded Parthia as conquered, or at least its conquest as assured, and Parthia-Capta was inscribed on coins. The emperor then descended the Tigris with fifty ships as far as Cherax-Basinu near its mouth. This place was in the territory of Atam-Belos, king of Messin, who submitted to the Roman conqueror and became his tributary. Old as Trajan was, his imagination was excited by this proximity to the Indian Sea. At Cherax, seeing a vessel bound for the Indies, he expressed regret that he was not young enough to visit them himself. He was the first western conqueror since Alexander the Great, who had penetrated so far, and he may have dreamed of rivaling Alexander by still more extensive conquests. But he was speedily aroused from his dreams by the news that the lands which he had won so easily, Babylonia and Mesopotamia, had revolted. A legion under the general Maximus was cut to pieces by the insurgents. Nisibus, Seleucia and Odessa slew or drove out the Roman garrisons and shut their gates. This rebellion, in which the Jews played a prominent part, was suppressed but not without difficulty. The important cities which had revolted were treated severely. In Babylonia, Seleucia was taken by Erucia's Clarus and Julius Alexander and burnt to the ground. The recovery of Mesopotamia, where the Jewish populations were the leaders of the revolt, was entrusted to the gallant Moor, Lucia's quietest. He besieged and reduced both Nisibius and Odessa, and the city of Abgar, who had doubtless fallen a victim to the rebels, was burnt down like Seleucia. This revolt forced Trajan to be content for the present with the three new provinces which he had added to the empire by his two campaigns, and to desist from further conquests, especially as the Parthians were rallying forces and preparing to make an attempt to wrest Armenia from its new lord. Trajan prevented their projects by a stroke of diplomacy. Although he had not penetrated further than the western borders of the great eastern realm, he regarded Parthia as a conquered country, and at Stesophan he stowed a crown upon Parthimus Bades, son of Chosros, who accepted it as a client of Rome. Thus a king was given to the Parthians, Rex Parthias Datus as coins record, and thus Parthia itself came to hold nominally the same position towards Rome as formerly Armenia. The Roman army then returned to Syria. On the way, an attempt was made to take Hatra, a small but strongly fortified city in the Mesopotamian desert, on the way from Stesophan to Singara. The nature of the country and the parching sun rendered a long siege impossible, and the inhabitants were brave. Though a breach was made in the walls, the soldiers could not enter. Trajan himself, approaching with a small body of horse, and conspicuous by his white hair and majestic form, was the mark for the arrows of the garrison, but he escaped injury, though a horseman at his side was slain. A thunderstorm compelled the Romans to retreat, and the sufferings that they endured from the heat, noxious insects, and want of water and pasture, saved Hatra from further assaults. The emperor returned to Antioch about April 117 AD. The attempt of Mesopotamia to throw off the yoke of Rome closely connected with another more widespread movement of rebellion in the eastern provinces of the empire. Fifty years had not fully elapsed since the great Jewish war which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem, and now the Jews made another desperate attempt to break free from the rule of their Roman masters. Their hope was to drive both Greeks and Romans out of those countries in which there was a considerable Jewish population. Cyprus, the Cyrenaica, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine and form an independent Jewish state. They chose the moment when the emperor was in the Far East. Wherever the insurgents succeeded, they exterminated their enemies with relentless fury. In Cyprus, which had long been the refuge of Jews from Palestine and Syria, it is said that 240,000 were slain. When the revolt was afterwards put down, the Jews were forbidden thenceforth to set foot on the island. In Cyrenaica, a senatorial province unprotected by a military garrison, the Jewish population outnumbered the natives and under a chief named Andrew or Lukuas who assumed the title of king obtained rapid successes. Here 220,000 natives were slain with great barbarity. In Egypt, the prefect Rutilius Lupus unprepared for the emergency was compelled to shut himself up in Alexandria. The Jews in the city, though numerous, were in a minority and were massacred by the Greeks. Trajan sent Q. Marcius Turbo with an army and fleet to restore order in Egypt and Cyrene and the rebels were soon crushed by the trained troops. The Jews of Egypt were almost exterminated. The suppression of the movement in Mesopotamia by Lucius Quietus has already been narrated. Not only the Jews took advantage of the absence of the emperor in the Far East but the enemies of Rome in other quarters also seized the opportunity to rebel or invade. The Danubian provinces were threatened by the Sarmatians. Africa was harried by the Moors, a revolt broke out in Britain. Thus Trajan's presence was earnestly demanded in the West and the Senate urged his return. The Eastern War was regarded as finished and preparations were made at Rome for a brilliant triumph. But, like Alexander whom he emulated, he was not destined to reach home. His journey was interrupted at Salinas in Cilicia by an illness to which he succumbed. He died on August 8, 117 A.D. The triumph over the Parthians was celebrated in his name after his death and was the only case in which a dead emperor obtained that honor. The consecrated conqueror, Divus Trajanus Parthicus, as he was designated, was represented by a statue in the triumphal car. His ashes, placed in a golden urn, were buried at the foot of his own pillar in his own forum and he is the only one of the emperors whose remains were permitted to rest within the limits of the city. Trajan must have been well aware that his easily won successes in the East had been largely due to the internal divisions of Parthia and that his conquests would be endangered as soon as unity should be restored. The institution of a dependent Parthian kingdom cannot have been more than a temporary device for the purpose of avoiding an immediate difficulty. Or at least, if Trajan intended it to be permanent, he must have known well that it would need more fighting and bloodshed to establish a lasting overlordship over Parthia. Alexander's conquests had been one at Issus and Arbella, but Trajan's had been almost bloodless. It is probable that Trajan intended to return to the East after his triumph and renew the war for the purpose of reducing the power of the Parthians and securing more firmly the frontiers of his new provinces. He had made the Tigris instead of the Euphrates, the eastern boundary of the empire, and it was a boundary perhaps more easy to defend. It is rash and unjust to condemn this extension of the empire as a mistake into which Trajan was misled by mere ambition, for his conduct can be explained and defended on political grounds. Once he condemned the Armenian policy of his predecessors and it certainly was not unassailable and decided to annex Armenia, the annexation of Mesopotamia was a logical consequence. The province of Assyria was an advanced position beyond the Tigris, somewhat as the province of Dacia beyond the Danube. The new acquisitions should have been a great commercial advantage for Rome by bringing into her hands command of a whole line of traffic from Syria to the Persian Gulf. But owing to Trajan's inopportune death and the different policy of his successor, the empire was not permitted to test the consequences of an eastward extension of its borders. The Student's Roman Empire, Part II by John Buniel Buri Chapter 25 Literature from the Death of Tiberius to Trajan 37 to 117 AD Section 1 Literature under Claudius and Nero After the lull during the reign of Tiberius, literary activity was awakened again under his successors. But it has no longer the freshness of inspiration which characterized the epoch of Augustus. The golden age has passed, the silver age has begun. There's no doubt that the political events at Rome exercised an unfavorable influence on literature. The despotism of Tiberius in his later years, the wild career of Caligula, the vicissitudes under the rule of the wives and freedmen of Claudius, the follies of Nero, did not constitute a genial atmosphere for the development of successors to Virgil, Horace and Livy. The contemporaries of Augustus had witnessed order arisen out of disorder, and the world set to rights. But to Romans under Claudius and Nero, the world seemed to have gone mad. The men who write are no longer proud of their age or confident of the future. They regard the government with distrust, knowing not what a day may bring forth. They look upon the Caesar's palace as a scene of intrigues, guile and violence. There's nothing in public life to inspire them. Literature retreats into itself. Most of the works produced during this period are either of a reflective character or concerned with scientific subjects or mere imitations of older literature. In poetry and history, the great Augustan writers are regarded as the models to be followed, and earlier authors are looked down upon as vastly inferior. All kinds of compositions are marked by rhetoric, the result being that the prose is poetical and the poetry prosaic. It has been already mentioned that Claudius and Nero were themselves authors, Claudius an historian, Nero a poet. Claudius was incited in his youth to historical studies by Livy himself. None of his compositions remain with the exception of part of the speech which he delivered in the Senate in 48 AD for the admission of the Gallic nobility to the Roman magistracies. The memoirs of the Empress Agrippina were an important source for the secret history of the court of Claudius, but they have also been lost as well as other contemporary records of his experiences by prominent men of the day. Thus, Domitius Crabullo wrote an account of his exploits in the Armenian wars. Suetonius Polinus, whose name he chiefly associated with Britain, described his deeds in Mauritania, and Lucius Antistius Vitas wrote a work on his experiences as commander in Germany in 58 AD. All these works, whatever their literary value, would have had great historical interest if they had been preserved. The only historian of this age whose work has reached us is Quintus Cartius Rufus, of whose life we know nothing. He wrote a history of Alexander the Great in ten books, of which the two first are lost. He derived his information from Greek writers, but displayed no critical faculty in using his sources. His style is modeled on that of Livy, but is unconsciously influenced by the mannerisms of his own age. He strives ever antithetic sentences and poetical expressions. He hardly appreciates the political greatness of Alexander, but regards his Eastern expedition as a brilliant adventure. He has an eye for the more telling episodes and hurries rapidly over all that is less striking, though perhaps more important. Seneca is the most characteristic and interesting literary figure of this age. All the great Augustan writers were Roman or Italian, but Seneca was a Spaniard of Cordoba. We have already met his father, the Returition, a man of some literary note. The provinces are now beginning to play a prominent part in Roman literature, or rather Spain is setting the example to the other subject lands. Two other conspicuous authors at this time were of Spanish origin, Matthew, Lucan and Colomala of Gades. The writings of Seneca reflect in many ways the spirit of the age. He wrote on a variety of subjects, but his most important works are philosophical and contemplative. His philosophy was popular in style as well as in matter. He desired the applause of his contemporaries. Literary vanity was a feature of the time and did not write with a view to the judgment of posterity. His style was suitable to the taste of his age. He had a wide range of knowledge, a nice faculty of psychological observation and was by no means pedantic, but his philosophy was neither original nor deep. He's always ready to sacrifice the thought to a verbal antithesis. He wrote too much and was not sufficiently diligent in philosophy. He's often tediously diffuse and the same sentiment meets the reader again and again, disguised in a new dress. An excellent Roman critic censures his style as officiated by agreeable faults, such as captivate boys. It is possible that ambition was his chief motive in writing. He may have aimed at obtaining political influence by winning literary reputation, but it would be unjust to deny him a genuine interest in philosophy, especially in its practical aspect. Although from a higher point of view, philosophy can only regard him like Cicero as a dabbler. Most of his philosophical works, composed at various times, are collected in 12 books under the title of dialogues. They treat of the following subjects. 1. If there is a providence, why do good men meet with troubles? 5. Leisure Both of these treatises were written after his retirement from public life. 3. Anger in three books. 4. The happy life. 6. Tranquility of mind. 7. Brevity of life. 2. The wise man receives neither injury nor insult. Also three works of consolation. 8. To a lady on the death of her son. 9. To Polybius the freedman on the loss of a brother. 10. To his mother Helvia on his own banishment. Beyond these dialogues, there are extant, the treatise on clemency, written after Nero's accession, and seven books De Beneficis. Seneca also wrote a work in seven or eight books on questions of natural history, Naturale's questiones, which he dedicated to his young friend Lysilius, procurator of Sicily. Bibles asks further a collection of letters to the same Lysilius, and written with the intention of publication. They do not possess in any degree the interest which belongs to the letters of Cicero and Pliny. Seneca's satire on Claudius has been noticed already in another connection. Seneca wrote verse as well as prose. Nine tragedies have been preserved, all dealing with subjects of Greek mythology and founded on Greek originals. Hercules furens, Troades, or Hecuba, Phoenisae, or Thebais, Medea, Phaedra, or Hippolytus, Oedipus, Agamemnon, Thiestes, and Hercules oitaios. In the case of most of these plays, we possess the Greek originals, and can judge of the deplorable taste of the Neuronian age, where in which Seneca has spoiled the works of the great masters, omitting all the finer touches and smothering the action with declamation. The purpose of the characters in Seneca is to decline. The action and the plot are of subordinate importance. It has been a disputed question whether these tragedies were meant for representation on the stage, and although they are in every way unsuitable for acting, it is nevertheless not impossible that at that age they may have been acted with applause. But it is probable that Seneca in composing them had the recitation of separate scenes before select audiences chiefly in view. The versification of these plays is very strict, and conforms to the rules of the Augustan poets. Besides the iambic trimeters and anapists, sapphic, leconic, and esclopied measures are also introduced, with little regard, however, to the scope of nature and subject. More interesting historically is the fabulapritexta or tragedy with Roman characters entitled Octaulia, which used to be attributed to Seneca and is always included among his works. The subject of this drama is the tragic fate of Nero's wife. And Seneca himself is one of the characters. He cannot, however, have been the author, as there is an illusion to the fall of Nero. It seems probable that the work was composed under the Flavian emperors before the end of the first century, but even this cannot be regarded as certain. Seneca's contemporary and countrymen, Lucius Junius Modrates Colomela of Gades, devoted himself to the subject of agriculture and tried to revive an interest in it, somewhat as Virgil had done nearly a century before. His uncle, a learned man, was an extensive farmer in Betica, and so he had an opportunity of studying his subject practically. He wrote two prose treatises on agriculture, De Re Rustica, the second much more elaborate than the first. Of the first we possess one book on trees, but the second in 12 books has been preserved entire. One of these books, the 10th, is composed in excellent examiter verses. The author made this variation because horticulture, the subject of this book, had been omitted by Virgil. He intended it as a sort of supplement to the georgics, the precepts, as he says, of the sidereal bard. Here may be mentioned other books on special subjects, such as the treatise on medicaments by Scribonius Largus, and the work De Corografia in three books by the geographer Pomponius Mela of Tangentera in Spain. Quintus Asconius Padianus composed his commentary on the speeches of Cicero about 55 AD. This highly important work has been preserved in fragmentary form. The language is pure, the comments acute. He also wrote a work against the detractors of Virgil, but it has not survived. Grammatical investigation was represented by Marcus Valerius Provis of Baritus, who made the subject of criticism and explanations in the same way that the Alexandrian scholars treated classical Greek authors. He issued annotated editions of Virgil, Horace and Lucretius, and he wrote and lectured on Old Latin. He enjoyed a high reputation with later workers in the same subject as an illustrious grammarian and an acute critic. The most important writers on jurisprudence were Procolus, the Proculean School, and Cassius Langinus, who was banished by Nero to Sardinia and recalled by Vespasian. It is possible that some of Seneca's tragedies were composed in the reign of Claudius, but the only poetical work, which he can set down as probably belonging to his age, is a panagyric inexameter on the console Piso, by an unknown youthful author, supposed by some to be Copernius. The two were the descendants of the Augustan poets with whom the author was well acquainted. The versification is strict and elegant. There are only two illusions in the whole poem. Of Nero's effusions only a few odd lines have been preserved, but they seem to have been read and well-known long after his death. The two most important poets of his reign were Percius and Lucan, who resembled each other in their stoic doctrines, their equivalents, and in their early deaths. Percius Flacas was born in 34 A.D. at Volaterae in Etruria and died at the age of 28, in 62 A.D. He studied at Rome under the stoic philosopher Aeneas Cernatus, for whom he entertained an affectionate regard to which he has given expression in his writings. Having read Lysilius, he was stimulated to write poetical poems, and he was also much under the literary influence of Horus. His six satires have come down to us, but only one of them, the first, is a satire in our sense of the word. In it, he ridicules the poets of the day and the prevailing public taste. But the others are merely tirades or sermons on stoic texts embroidered with some burlesque dramatic scenes. The persons introduced are generally borrowed, from Lysilius or Horus, and the verses are full of phrases, beginnings and ends of lines, taken directly or in a modified form from these poets, especially from Horus. But in both style and spirit, the satires of Perseus are vastly different from those of his master. The Augustan poet was a genial Epicurean who laughed good-humoredly at the follies of mankind. The Neuronian verse writer was a satire who aspired to amend the world. The youthful Perseus takes upon himself to instruct mankind, the more mature Horus is content to amuse. It is to be remarked that Perseus does not deal at all with contemporary politics. He does not regret the Republic or condemn the Empire. In point of style, it is unfortunate that Perseus did not profit more by his study of Horus. He could not manage his character with ease. His thoughts were poor, and he labored to express them with the utmost possible obscurity. His intentions were pure, but he had no originality and no poetical gift, and he tried to cover this defect by mannerism and affectation. A friend of Perseus, Cesius Bossas, may be mentioned as the chief representative of lyric poetry in Nero's Reign. We do not possess any of his poetical works, but remains of his own metric have been preserved. Epic poetry was very popular, Virgil was the model, and national subjects were in vogue. Nero entertained the project of writing an epos on the history of Rome. The Farsalia of Lucan, 39-65 AD, whom we have already met as one of the sufferers in connection with the conspiracy of Piso, is a poem on the civil wars in ten books left unfinished at the author's death. Lucan was brought up in a cultivated family. His grandfather was Seneca, the retherer. His uncle, Seneca, the philosopher. In his early years he was a great friend of Nero, who, afterwards, however, became jealous of his literary reputation and forbade him to compose poetry. The Farsalia was begun before the breach with the emperor, for the introductory verses contain epic on him. Lucan's epic must be considered a remarkable feat in its way, when it is remembered that the author died at the age of 26, but it has not a spark of genius. The practice, which was then in fashion of reciting literary works before private audiences, had a specially unfortunate effect on epic poetry. The poet, thinking of these recitations, was tempted to sacrifice the unity of the whole to the effectiveness of special scenes, which might be read aloud to applauding hearers. For the same reason, poetry became rhetorical. The reciter wanted stuff to decline. The Farsalia is a versified oratory, not poetry. Lucan is to be imitated, says Quintilian, hitting as usual the nail on the head by orators rather than by poets. The choice of subject was very natural to a story, breathing the atmosphere of Farsalia and Helvidius and reared up with a deep veneration for the senate, but from a literary point of view, it was unfortunate. Pompey is the hero, but the miserable part which he played in the civil wars make the poem ridiculous. Cato is a sort of second hero, though perhaps as has been cleverly said, the true hero is neither Pompey nor Cato, but the senate. The cause of Caesar is denounced as crying. His victory is regarded not only as the death blow to freedom but as a destruction of Rome's greatness. The work is full of stoical doctrine, pretentious phrases, sounding commonplaces, tedious speeches. The language is often difficult on account of its affectations and the introduction of out-of-the-way geographical and mythological learning renders some parts of the work repulsive. But there are episodes which show considerable power of imagination and there are many well-turned phrases such as the epigram on Cato. If Virgil's epic inspired Lucan and his georgics, Columella, his vocalics found an imitator in Copernia's sycolas, it isn't certain whether sycolas designates the actual home of the poet or was assumed on account of the Sicilian associations of theocrates. He was a poor man and begged some patron whom he calls Mellibius, perhaps Seneca or Copernius Pizzo, to bring his productions under the emperor's notice. Seven eclogues are preserved. They are metrically exact like the rest of the poetry of the age, but the void of all originality being copied from Virgil and the Greek pastoral writers. Hiro, spoken of in court style as a god, is described as inaugurating a new period of freedom and clemency and the seventh eclogue contains an account of magnificent games which he exhibited. The didactic poem entitled Epna illustrates the tendency of the age to put the most unpromising subjects into verse. It discusses the scientific causes of volcanic phenomena and combats the popular views diffused by the poets. The authorship is uncertain, but the most probable view ascribes the poem to Lysilius, the friend of Seneca, the same to whom the philosopher addressed his epistles. Lysilius was for a considerable time procurator in Sicily and had an opportunity of studying the mountain. The poem contains echos of Lucretius, the author has none of Lucretius power in investing a dry subject with poetic attraction. He rises higher when he is contrasting the pleasure of observing nature with the patiness of human life. The poem ends with the story of two brothers who rescued their old parents in an eruption of the volcano. It is probable that to this age also belongs the Homerus Latinus, a short Latin version of the story of the Iliad. In some parts, almost a translation of Homer. This was intended for using schools and has no merit except its scrupulously exact meter. Perhaps the most interesting work of Nero's age was the satirical work of Petronius Arbiter in 20 books. It may be considered almost certain that this Petronius was the same as the aesthetic voluptuary whose death by Nero's orders in 66 AD has been described in a foregoing chapter. His work, entitled Satiai, or satiricon, recounted all sorts of imaginary adventures in which he satirized the manners and weaknesses of his age. Unluckily, only fragments of the book remain of which the largest is the banquet of Tremolchio, describing a feast given by a wealthy, uneducated upstart in a Greek town of Campania, probably Cume. The person who tells the tale is a freedman named Enculpius who recounts his traveling experiences in company with Asiltus, another freedman, and Gitan, a slave in the last years of Claudius or the early years of Nero. The work is wonderfully clever and artistic full of wit, humor and delicate irony, displaying wide knowledge of the world and great dramatic power in making the persons introduced speak in character. The motive which united the various parts of the composition was probably the anger of the god Priapus, who may have played a part meant to travesty that of Poseidon in the Odyssey. The work is quite the void of any moral tendency. The author shows a fine appreciation of Greek art and satirizes pointedly the literary taste of the day. One of the characters is a vain poet named Enmolpius, who recites two poems of considerable length, the Troiae Halossis or Capture of Troy, Niamhic Trimeters, and the Bellum Kiwile in Examinters. But the prose narrative sometimes passes into verse in all sorts of meters in the style of the Manipian satire. The former is clearly elusive to the poem of Nero on the same subject, and the Bellum Kiwile might be a parody of the Pharsalia. Chapter 25, Section 1 Chapter 25, Section 2 of J. B. Bury's The Student's Roman Empire, Part 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lenny The Student's Roman Empire, Part 2 by John Buniel Bury Chapter 25 Literature from the Death of Tiberius to Trajan, Section 2 Literature under the Flavian Emperors All the Flavian Emperors patronized literature although none of them was so devoted to it as either Claudius or Nero. Vespasian was not unskilled even in Greek eloquence and he wrote memoirs. We hear of Titus writing a poem on the appearance of a comet and the mission was devoted to poetry in his youth. But Vespasian also actively encouraged literary talent. He was the first to endowed Latin and Greek rhetoricians with a yearly allowance 100,000 sisteresses from the Fisk. He gave rich rewards to distinguished poets and encouraged art in the same way. The mission promoted poetical activity by the Capital Lion and Alban Contests. The effect of the mission's despotism on literature may be easily exaggerated. His rule, though absolute, was not despotic until the later years of his reign and it was only a small class of people who had anything to fear from his suspicion or jealousy. There is no question that men were not free to criticize the government or write republican tirades which were really an attack on the imperial system. But there were many other subjects for poets or prose writers to choose if they wished. The writing of contemporary history is the only branch of literature which must necessarily suffer under such a rule as that of the mission. Gaius Plinius Secundus AD 23-79 of Comum in Cisalpine Goal generally called the Elder Plini to distinguish him from his nephew was perhaps the most learned man of his time. His death, in the great eruption of Vesuvius, has already been mentioned. He had filled the office of procurator in various provinces and had found time amid his official activities to pursue studies of the most varied and comprehensive character and to write a great number of books. Besides lesser works he wrote a history in 20 books of all the wars that Rome ever waged with the Germans a work entitled Studiosi being a sort of introduction to rhetoric with examples a grammatical treatise dealing with doubtful forms in declension and conjugation a contemporary history in 31 books probably reaching from the fall of Gaius to the year 71 AD and a natural history. Plini's nephew gives us an interesting account of the manner in which his uncle disposed of his time so as to be able to get through an amount of literary work which another man with all his time to himself could hardly accomplish. Before dawn he used to attend on the Emperor Vespasian in his capacity of procurator Caesaris and then proceed to the execution of his business which was thus finished early. On returning home he devoted the rest of his time to study. After food he read a book making notes and extracts for he read nothing without making extracts from it. In the bath he either dictated or listened to something read out in travelling he always had at his side a secretary with book and notebook whose hands in winter collected by gloves. He deemed all time lost that was not spent on study. As he wrote so much Plini could attend little to the form or style of his writing and his works are memorable rather for the quantity of matter which he put together than for the quality of the composition or the discretion of his criticism. The only one of his works which has been preserved is his naturalis Historia dedicated to the Emperor Titus in 77 AD. It consisted according to the design of the author of 36 books to which was prefixed a list of the contents and an account of the sources which he used. This prefatory matter was afterwards issued probably by his nephew as the first book so that the work in its present form consists of 37 books. It gives an encyclopedic account of the results of natural science and deals with physics, geography, zoology, anthropology, botany and mineralogy. Plini was conscious of the dryness of his work which sometimes becomes a mere enumeration of details and he endeavoured to enliven it by introducing occasional descriptions in the rhetoric style which was that in fashion. He introduces the different subjects of which he treats by general remarks often in a moralizing tone and very concisely expressed. Like Seneca and Columella he frequently deplores the degeneracy of the age. In religion he is hostile to the popular creed but is not a follower of any particular philosophical system. His view of the universe is pantheistic. His son is the spirit and mind of the world, the chief ruler and deity of nature. The most eminent historians under Vespasian were Marcus Clovious Rufus an orator of consular rank and Vipstana's Missala also an orator and a friend of Tacitus in his youth. The work of Rufus embraced the reign of Nero in the events of the year of the four emperors. A favorable view of Seneca whereas another historical writer of the time Fabius Rusticus praised Seneca's political career. Missala who had taken part as a military tribune in the events of 69 AD wrote memoirs of his own experiences. Under the mission Vibius Maximus wrote a universal history. None of these works have survived. Of orators William Upper was one of the most distinguished. Of jurists the Sabinian Celia Sabinas a man of great influence under Vespasian and the Proculean Pegasus reported to have been an incorruptible interpreter of the laws. More eminent than Upper and the other pleaders of the day was the teacher and scientific student of rhetoric Marcus Fabius Quintillianus who increases the goodly role of Spaniards distinguished in literature. Born at Caliguris about 35 AD he came to Rome in the train of Galba soon gained a reputation for his eloquence and became the glory of the Roman toga. Like his countrymen Seneca he was entrusted with the education of the imperial princes the grand nephews of the mission. He was the first to hold the professorial chair of rhetoric at Rome founded by Vespasian. He was very successful as a teacher and acquired wealth. His great work entitled Instituto Oratoria the training of an orator consists of 12 books intended to be a complete guide to immense education for a public career from childhood. He has a high ideal of the duties and rights of an orator. His treatise is not so superficial as those of Cicero on the same subject but it is more popular than the technical handbooks on rhetoric. He has a sober, independent judgment and remarkable insight in literary criticism. He is not blinded by great reputations or misled by the current ideas of his age. On the contrary he is remarkable for his depreciation of Seneca's style and for his opposition to contemporary prejudices especially in his admiration of Cicero whom it was the fashion to underrate as an orator but whom he regards as a model in his critical estimates he is more inclined to be too lenient than too severe. Quintilian recognized clearly and condemned judicially the faults of taste the mannerisms, the affectations the marks of decadence which characterized the literature of his own age the inspiration of nature the expression of a simple feeling was regarded as a baseness a defect of art nothing was considered worth reading or at least worthy of admiration that was not far-fetched or that did not glitter with figures and phrases almost all our speech is metaphor the antique the remote the unexpected were the fashion of the day Quintilian frequently uses the word lasquia to describe the nature of the modern style of writing but in spite of the protests of Quintilian and some others like him the modern style was victorious men would not go back to the simple un-combed antiquity even when after the first impulse of reaction they came to admire its excellences we have already met Sixtus Julius from Tennis as conqueror of the Celiurs in Britain and afterwards as assisting the mission in establishing strategic posts beyond the Rhine he was clearly an able man Tacitus even describes him as a great man who would have approved himself great if he had not been hindered by the jealousy of the mission here he has to be spoken of as a writer on technical subjects two of his treatises have been preserved in fragments of a third the Strategemata consists of three books illustrating the artifices of strategy by examples chiefly taken from Roman history some later writer added a fourth book to the genuine work of Frantinus the the aqueous urbis Romei composed in 97 AD in which year he held the post of Curator Aquarium and published after a nervous death furnishes us with the most valuable account of the aqueducts of Rome, their construction and administration Frantinus also wrote a book on field measurement gromatica of which only some extracts are extant he died about the year 103 AD whenever he was not holding a public office he lived a retired life on the companion coast his modesty seems to have been equal to his merits he forbade a monument to be erected to his memory the expense, he said is unnecessary our memory will endure if we have deserved it by our life another technical writer of the mission's time deserves mention the gromarian Emilius Asper, best known for his commentary on Virgil which seems to have been a valuable work but unfortunately the extracts remain epic poetry was diligently cultivated in the Flavian age and repossessed no less than four heroic poems, three of considerable length Gaius Valerius Flocus began his Argonautica in the reign of Espasian whom he invokes in the opening verses the composition of the work went on during the following reign until the poet died before the year 90 AD leaving his poem unfinished in eight books the death of Medea's brother, Absurtus and the return of the Argonauts to Greece were still to be told and it seems probable that Valerius intended the whole work to consist of twelve books on the model of the Enate Valerius made the Argonautica of the Alexandrian poet Apollonius of Rhodes the basis of his composition but took care not to borrow the tedious erudition of the Greek he aims more than his model at sentimental and pathetic effects and takes pains with the psychological development of his characters he formed his style closely on that of Virgil whom he imitates and echoes on every page somewhat as precious imitated Horus and like precious he's often difficult and obscure by reason of his artificiality in versification he is as strict as Ovid another epic writer under Vespasian was Salaeus Bacis but none of his works are preserved it is related that Vespasian bestowed upon him a liberal present in recognition of his poetry and Tacitus calls him a most perfect poet in the same reign Caryatius Maternis wrote tragedies on Roman subjects and a Greek play Titus Cacius Cilius Italicus 25-101 AD chose after the example of Lucan an episode of Roman history as subject of an epic poem he chose the Second Punic War and his work entitled Punica in 17 books has come down to us Cilius went through the usual stages of an official career which was respectable but not distinguished he held the consulship in the year of Nero's death and was afterwards per consul of Asia as a senator he was respected but had no political influence on the other hand he made no enemies after his per consulship he retired from public life and devoted himself to the service of the muses now says his friend Marshall Helican is his forum Proco is his forum which is celebrated in a Helicon forum Cilius suffered from an incurable tumor and it finally became so irksome to him that he determined to put an end to his life and starved himself to death in his villa at Naples Cilius wrote his Punica in the reign of the mission whom he addresses in the usual tone of courtly flattery O Germanicus will transcend the deeds of thy kinsmen Vespasian and Titus and he celebrates the emperor as a greater bar than Orpheus the poem was judged by a contemporary writer to display greater diligence than talent a judgment which might be extended to most of the writers of the age to a modern reader the work is irredeemably dull it abounds in imitations from an incident as well as in language and is not marked by the least originality of any kind Cilius was an enthusiastic admirer of the poet of the Enate used to celebrate his birthday with a religious solemnity especially when he was at Naples and used to visit the tomb of Virgil as if it were a temple he has by no means the same skill as his contemporary Valerius Flockus in introducing the battles the punica ends with Scipius' triumph after the battle of Zama and like the Enate is national in sentiment but while Virgil's national sentiment is a genuine inspiration that of Cilius is a cold and correct reflection of the Virgilian spirit Hannibal plays the part of Ternus like Ternus too Hannibal fights with a phantom and Juno plays the same common part in the poem of Cilius that she had played in the poem of Virgil the usual epic profanalia are duly worked in the catalogue, the neckia the games, the description of a shield the dream god, the battle on a river's bank a tendency to stoicism can be distinctly traced in the poem but, unlike Lucan Cilius never touches upon politics he neither reflects on the present nor regrets the past to him the warriors of the old republic are no longer the men of the forum and the capitol such as he sees before his own eyes they have passed into the twilight of myths and demigods to him Scipio is a second Hercules the achiever of labours the tamer of monsters the umpire of the divinities of pleasure and virtue Hannibal is an ogre or giant of romance who seems to vanish at the catastrophe of the story in a tempest of flaming cloud this contrast with Lucan is an instructive indication of the change in spirit which took place at Rome even in stoic circles during the last 40 years of the first century in the technical construction of his verses Cilius is excessively strict like all his contemporaries Publius Papinius Stocius of Naples 45 to 96 AD also composed epic poems in the reign of the mission he had inherited a taste for poetry from his father who had celebrated inverse the burning of the capitol in 69 AD it was about to compose a work on the eruption of Azubius when he died the younger Stocius won the olive ref at the album contest in poetry instituted by that emperor three times but he was defeated in the capital line competition his circumstances were comfortable and he possessed a country place at Alba which was perhaps a gift of the emperor he enjoyed a patronage of a nobleman named Mithius Seller at the beginning of the mission's reign he composed a mime entitled Agaoui he promised and perhaps began to write an epic celebrating the german expedition of the emperor but if begun it was never finished three works of Stocius have been preserved of which the longest and most ambitious is the Thebade which occupied him for twelve years the subject of the poem is the war between Aetiochleus and Polynesus the sons of Oedipus and it is treated very unequally the first ten books are devoted to the preparations and are lengthened out with digressions and proletic speeches while all the important events to which these preparations lead up including the combat of the brothers and the story of Antigone are compressed in the last two books books five and six are occupied with the episode of Hipsapil and Archimeras this want of artistic proportion is to some extent compensated for by careful finish in the detail but there is little psychological skill in portraying the characters in little poetical imagination like Valerius and Cilius he regards Virgil as the epic mode it is probable that he drew his material from the Thebade from the Greek poet Antimachus of another epic poem dealing with the life of Achilles only a small part was written and this has come down to us the first book of the accolade tells how Thetis hid her son among the daughters of comedies at Cyrus how the distinguished hero made love to Deidemia and was discovered by Ulysses of the second book only a short fragment remains the style is less craved than in the Thebade the seal white is a collection of occasional poems arranged in five books and is the most interesting of the works of Stocius each poem was composed separately and a number from 5-9 afterwards collected in a book which was published with a prose preface the greater number of these pieces are in examiter meter but some are in henticacelabic alcaic and sapphic meters they were almost all written in the last six years of the mission's reign the first book is dedicated to the poet Stella and one of the poems included in it is an epithalamium on the occasion of the marriage and violentilla deaths and births the handsome villas the rich baths or the beautiful statues belonging to wealthy friends form the subjects of other pieces there is a lemon composed on the death of the poet's father in an eclogue really a sort of familiar epistle to his wife Claudia one poem celebrates the birthday of the poet Lucan whom he extols with enthusiasm that he praises Cato and speaks sympathetically of the spirit of Lucan's poem shows that the mission's censorship of the press cannot have been as severe as it is sometimes made out to be Sasha's however regarded Lucan entirely from a literary point of view he was a court poet and was ready to purchase the favor of the mission by adulation both of the emperor himself and of his favorites on the occasion of the mission's 17th consulship he adopted a tone of hyperbolic flattery he composed a special poem to thank the emperor for an invitation to dine at the imperial table he wrote lines on the locks of the boy Uranus a favorite of the mission in the poems of Sasha's we observe a tendency to epigrammatic writing and an anxious care in the coinage of phrases skill in epigram is indeed the characteristic of the age and Marshall is the characteristic poet the verses of Marshall it has been said are the quintessence of the Flavian poetry Marcos Valerios Martialis about 40 to 102 AD was born at Bilbilis in Spain and thus makes the fourth Spaniard of the first century who holds a very distinguished place in literature for 34 years in Rome and returned to his native country at the end of his life 98 AD he was poor and seems to have had no fixed employment he possessed a small house in Rome and a small country place at Nomenthen in the Sabian territory both Titus and the mission conferred upon him in recognition of his poems the privileges which the law gave to those who were the fathers of three children and he was made a military tribune which gave him the standing of a knight his flattery to do mission is even more extravagant than that of Stasius he was a more needy and more eager bitter for court favor among his patrons were Irianus Crispinus and Parthenius as an example of his glorification of the emperor may be quoted the verses in which he cries under what leader was Marshall Rome fairer and greater under what principles he enjoys such great liberty Marshall can be convicted of being a time-server out of his own mouth for after the death of the mission he confesses that the reign of terror is over it is conceivable however that here too he spoke less from conviction than from a desire to be agreeable to the new government his epigrams were collected in fourteen books of which each contains about a hundred epigrams most of the books are introduced by a preface either in prose like the silhouette of Stasius or in verse the thirteenth and fourteenth books entitled respectively Xenia and Apoporeta consist altogether of dystics on present suitable for the Saturnalian festival epigrams in the original sense of the word the other books contain epigrams in the later sense of the word short and often with a fine point besides these there is an unnumbered book known as the Liber Spectaculorum consisting of poems which refer to the public spectacles at Rome in the art of epigram Marshall regarded Catullus and the Missus Marces as his models a large number of his verses turn on filthy subjects but he's careful to tell us that if his page is wanton his life is honest La Schiwa est nobis pagina we ta proba est he was however a man of no character he prostituted his muse to the taste of the punles but he was a writer of the greatest talent and his best verses are very good indeed his works give a most valuable picture of the Roman life of his time especially perhaps its shady sides and we meet many notable literary persons in his pages such as the younger Pliny Silius and Stella it is remarkable that he does not mention either Stocius or Tacitus in his stinging epigrams he always used fictitious names such as Ponticus Tuca, Tonglianus he mentions living persons by their true names he praises or says something indifferent A runcious Stella of Potavium the friend of Stocius and Marshall composed love poems which were inspired by Violentilla who afterwards became his wife he celebrated her under the fictitious name of Asterius but in the pages of Marshall she appears as Ionthus a Greek rendering of her true name the death of her pet dove is the subject of one of Marshall's epigrams another writer of erotic poems was Sulpicia the wife of Colinas her verses were remarkable for their wantoness Turnus a distinguished satiric poet also deserves mention many other verse writers in various styles who works have perished are mentioned by Marshall, Stocius and Pliny but they are now nothing more than names of Chapter 25, Section 2 Chapter 25, Section 3 of J. B. Bury's The Students Roman Empire Part 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Liny The Students Roman Empire Part 2 by John Bonnell Bury Chapter 25 Literature from the Death of Tiberius to Trajan Section 3 Literature under Trajan After the death of the mission there was, according to contemporary writers a revival of literature this revival has probably been exaggerated but it is certain that history at least an oratory regained their freedom Nerva would doubtless have been a patron of men of letters but his reign was too short to affect literature Trajan was not a man of culture and did little directly to further learning but he was certainly not against it he showed special favor to the Greek rhetorician Diane Chrysostom and he wrote himself Memories of the Dacian War his answers to Pliny's letters are brief and to the point the private recitations which have been a marked feature in the reign of the mission are now less conspicuous this may be partly due to the greater liberty which orators enjoyed under Trajan Decimus Eunius Uenalis was born at Aquinum probably about 55 AD he busied himself in his youth with rhetorical studies and served in the army in the year 81 AD he served under Dracula in Britain as the tribune or prefect of a Dalmatian court he lived far into the reign of Hadrian by whom he seems to have been banished to Egypt in the year 135 AD at the age of 80 but the question of the banishment is very difficult there is some evidence for supposing that the populace declaimed certain offensive verses of juvenile in the theater in the emperor's presence which punished the people punished the innocent poet juvenile 16 satires were published in 5 books at different times like the Sylve of Stasis the exact date at which they appeared are not certain he states that indignation at crime and folly drove him to write satire Sinatura negat facet indignatio versum and he paints in vivid and dark colors often with revolting realism the social vices of his age the persons whom he introduces have either fictitious names or belong to the past especially to the reigns of Nero and Domitian his verses are forcible and pointed and the standard of morality which he sets up has been so much admired in modern times that some churchmen have thought that he must have owed something to the inspiration of Christianity but his morality was really the stock virtue of the rhetorical schools well and eloquently expressed we cannot take too seriously the declamatory invectives and biting epigrams which he launches against his contemporaries he was not concerned to give a true picture of his times he wrote his satires at once to make an effect and gratify his spleen their value for us lies in the accessory parts of the pictures they enable us to realize more vividly than we could otherwise do life and manners at Rome under Domitian Trajan and Hadrian the first satire gives a general description of the follies and vices of the day and forms a general introduction to the satires the poet defines his subject as a whole of human life manspeciance, pleasures and business who take care of the people who are afraid to go or fight they are afraid to speak our pharagic libelia it may be dangerous to attack the living but he may at all events show up the sins of the dead whose ashes are interred on the flamenian and latin ways experience who conceded in idols who are flamenian and turkish and latin the second deals with gross vices practiced by hypocritical philosophers and hidden under a cloak of austerity the third with the dangers and vexations of life in Rome the fourth contains the travesty of Domitian's concilium of which a brief account has been given in a previous chapter the fifth describes the wretched life of a parasite and the rebuffs and scorn which hindures for the sake of a poor dinner the sixth which is the most powerful of all it contains in heightened colors the fashions, follies and vices of contemporary women the seventh portrays the struggles and poverty of men of letters the eighth holds up to ridicule pride in long pedigrees it were better to be the son of their cities and able to wield the arms of a killis than to have a killis for sire and be a their cities oneself the ninth treats of vices common in the time of juvenile the theme of the tenth is the vanity of human wishes it is shown that what seems to be best is often worst and that men know not what is really best for them they are often ruined if the gods take them they are often ruined if the gods take them they are often ruined if the gods take them at their word the eleventh in the form of an invitation to a friend to a simple dinner holds up to ridicule the prevalent luxury at table the twelfth celebrates the safe return of a friend from a voyage and describes the perils of the ocean and considerizes fortune hunters captatores who pay court to the rich and childless the thirteenth a consolation to a certain colvinus who had been cheated of ten cistercia eighty pounds his full of stoic doctrines epigrammatically expressed colvinus is admonished that such crimes are the order of the day perjury is general and it would be absurd to raise an outcry for such a trifle only small minds desire revenge it is a feminine weakness colvinus is bitten to leave his false friend to his own devices for he is not likely to stop at the first crime and will probably sooner or later come to a bad end the fourteenth enlarges on the theme that children learn vise and especially avarice from the example of their parents the fifteenth describes a quarrel between umbi kum umbu and tentera dendera in upper egypt at a religious feast held by the umbites and interrupted by the tenterites the latter were put to flight and one of them was caught and devoured by the umbites the sixteenth sketches the advantages of a religious life the seventh satire is interesting and important for literary history and deserves special notice in this place the bulk of it seems to have been written under trajan but the introduction to have been added in the reign of hadrian under whose auspices poetry and other studies are described as reviving its space at ratio studiorum in caesare tantum hitherto a number of letters have been forced in order to support life to engage in the meanest pursuits the poets have had no miscellaneous to patronize them the most a rich man who pretends to have a taste for poetry will do is to land a dusty and inconvenient room for the poet to give a recitation and send his freedmen to applaud the best poets like stascius had to write verses to order for the stage in order to get a living the historians are worse off than the poets their task is more laborious and they get less who will give an historian as much as one would give to the actuarius who reads aloud the daily chronicle qui sdabet historico quantum daret act alegenti the rhetoricians were miserably paid too the profession of a music master was far more lucrative rich quintillion was quite an exception the fact that the fact that so little encouragement was given to poetry by trajan may have been partly the cause where there was no distinguished poets in his reign with the exception of juvenile himself there were a few of last note and known to us only by name caninius who set himself to the task of an epic on the dacian war of trajan and pacenus paulis who wrote alleges figuratively in the house of perpercius may be mentioned the most striking literary figure of trajan's principle and one of the greatest historians of the world was carnelius tacitus in a history of the early empire he and his works claims special attention because his writings so far as they have been preserved to us are our chief authority we have to thank him for most of the details which we know about the reigns of tiberius, claudius and nero and about the civil wars which followed nero's death if his works had been entirely preserved he would have been our main guide from the death of augustus to the death of the mission it is because large portions of his writings have been lost that we are so ill informed about the history of caligula and that of the flavian emperors of the life of tacitus we know little he was born about 54 a.d and in his early years studied jurisprudence and rhetoric he went through the ordinary senatorial career beginning as a military tribune under vespasian becoming questor under tydus idile or tribune and then praetor in 88 a.d under domitian while praetor he was also one of the queen de quim wedi to whom the care of the sibilian books was entrusted we have already seen that he married a daughter of agricula after the return of agricula to rome tacitus probably in the year 90 obtained a post in the provinces either as legatus of a legion in lower germany or as governor of belgica and was absent from rome for four years during which his father in law died under nerva in 98 a.d he was promoted to the consulship of the rest of his life we only know that he was occupied by historical works it seems possible that his death took place in the first years of hadrian the works of tacitus which have come down to us wholly or partially are five in number one, his earliest work a consequence of his rhetorical studies was the dialogus de oratoribus which perhaps appeared soon after 80 a.d the dialogue is supposed to have taken place in the sixth year of the spasian 75 a.d and the speakers are the most celebrated rhetoricians and men of letters of that time including the object of the work is to trace and explain the decline of oratory under the empire the causes which he assigns are both political and social and in the earliest work the republican sympathies and imperial bias of the author can be seen plainly it also exhibits the same psychological acuteness and the same skill insane sharp things which are distinguishing marks of his historical works in point of style he is under the influence of cicero two the next composition of tacitus the life and character of jillius agricola, his father in law has been already noticed in his connection with agricola's work in britain it was written at the beginning of trajan's reign the influence of cellist is conspicuous and the very form of the work as a historical monograph resembles the catiline and jugertha the same influence is also evident in three, the germania which appeared in the same year and of which some account has already been given it was a result of the researches which the author have been making for some years back with a view to a large historical work but which he now published in a separate form apropos of the work of trajan on the ryan and describing the manners and institutions of german communities tacitus cannot resist pointing comparisons between the simplicity of the barbarians and the corruption of roman civilization he remarks for example that good manners are of more avail there than good laws elsewhere and that there no men laughs at vices but it is absurd to suppose as some have done that the book was written nearly as a hit at rome for the historiae consisting of about 12 or 14 books was written under trajan and embraced the period from the elevation of galba to the death of the mission unluckily only the first four books and part of the fifth have come down these are taken up with the events of 69 and 70 AD owing to the loss of the later books our knowledge of the reign of the flavian emperors is very fragmentary and this loss is especially to be regretted as the author was a contemporary of the events about which he wrote the annals entitled from the death of the divine augustus was likewise written under trajan and was published between 115 and 117 AD and embraced the period between augustus and galba 14 to 68 AD and as the material is arranged chronologically all the various events of each year being with few exceptions grouped together the work is designated by the author himself as annales the first six books which contain the reign of tiberius are extant with the exception of the greater part of book 5 the next books 7 to 10 and a portion of 11 which comprise the reign of gaius and the first year of claudius are lost books 12 to 15 and a part of 16 bringing us down to the year 66 AD are preserved but the end is lost and it is not certain of how many books the work originally consisted tacitus had made further plans for historical work but they were not carried out he intended if he had lived to lead up to his annals by a work on the principle of augustus and also at the other extremity to continue his histories by a work on the principles of nerva and trajan if these designs had been executed he would have covered the whole imperial period down to the death of trajan the political sympathies of tacitus penetrate his whole work and while they give it much of its literary flavor they also diminish its historical value he was an aristocrat in his views sympathize with the senate of the republic and disliked the imperial constitution although his common sense obliged him to confess that the empire was a necessity it was a necessity against which his heart revolted in which the events which he saw in his eyes in the last years of the mission rendered still more odious to him it was a calamity he thought due to the anger of the gods against the roman state his historical works are written to arraign the empire and he sees everything in the worst light even if he does not intend to misrepresent we have already seen how he sets up germanicus as a foil to tiberius and corbelo as a foil to nero the aggressions of the emperors on the functions of the senate are crimes in his eyes and he regards the roman world as in a state of servitude yet, on the other hand he despises the vain talk about liberty by which such men as Helvidius Friscus courted martyrdom and he laid down the principle that see monarchy to be a necessity we should pray for good emperors and put up with whatever kind we get connected with his prejudice in favor of the senate is his prejudice in favor of Rome and Italy he tolerates the provinces but takes no interest in them and has not the slightest conception that their needs justify the empire in estimating the work of an emperor the character of his provincial administration would have small weight with tacitus who thinks far more of a disturbance in Rome than of distant events affecting a whole country with these narrow and old fashioned views he was unable to see the true significance of the empire on which he pondered so much and on which he has made many acute observations his lack of interest in provincial matters affects his history in another way which is much more irritating it makes him indifferent to geographical details and thus it is often hopeless to follow on the map his vague descriptions of warfare in Britain Germany, Armenia or Thrace like Livy he cared little for historical research and was far more concerned with the form than with the matter of his work the military parts of his history are generally judged to be untrustworthy yet in spite of these faults tacitus is always regarded as one of the greatest historians this is mainly due to his excellence as an artist in style he wrote for effect and he was ready to sacrifice facts to art his picture of Tiberias is a great literary achievement but at the expense of historical truth his work abounds in telling epigrams and in acute and cynical observations which show great psychological insight many of his phrases have become familiar quotations such as his style is concise but always dignified and cold never passionate or declamatory his points of contact with his contemporaries should be observed in bitterness in his view of the degeneracy of society in writing for effect he resembles juvenile while in his taste for pointed epigram he shows that he belongs to the same age as the court poet Marshall Pliny the Younger belongs originally to the family of the Sicilii which was settled at Comom in Transparen Italy his father was Lysius Sicilius Silo and his own name for adoption was probably Plinyus Sicilius Secundus he was 18 years old at the time of the eruption of Zivius, 79 AD so that he must have been born about 61 AD during his boyhood there was no school at Comom but he was taught well and wrote a Greek tragedy at the age of 14 on his father's death he was placed under the guardianship of Virginia's Rufus and was presently sent to Rome to finish his education where he attended the lectures of Quintilian in rhetoric but it was the young man's uncle Gaius Plinyus Secundus whom we have already met who exercised most influence on his studies and his future career he and his mother were staying with his uncle at Missanum when the fatal eruption of Zivius took place which caused his uncle's death the young Sicilius was adopted by his uncle's will into the Plinyan family and henceforth his name was Gaius Plinyus Sicilius Secundus a year later Pliny pleaded his first cause before the court of the Centumviri in the Basilica Giulia soon after this he was appointed one of the Camuides Clitibus Udicandis who, by a regulation of Augustus presided over the Centumviral court under the general control of a preter he next became a military tribune of the legion third Galica which was stationed in Syria 82-83 AD on returning to Rome he was appointed a Sawir of the Romanites and held this office until he became Quester probably in 83 AD his next step was the tribunate of the plebs 10th of December 91 AD and he was promoted to be preter in 93 AD the emperor having dispensed him from the interval fixed by the lex Analis in this rapid advancement Pliny was supported by his former guardian Virginia's Rufus about this time he successfully aided in the prosecution of a proconsul of Berica but this action seems to have injured him in the favor of the mission the death of the tyrant was a relief to him he had been already appointed prefect of the Aerarium Militare Nerva promoted him to be prefect of the Aerarium Satturni likewise these duties so much this time that he renounced pleading in the courts and it was with much difficulty that he was persuaded in 100 AD to plead the cause of the Provincials of Africa against the extortionate proconsul Marius Priskas the accusers were successful Marius was condemned in the same year Pliny was advanced by Trajan to the consul's ship which he held in September and October it devolved upon him to thank the emperor on the first day of this office and he did so in a panagyric which has been preserved and which, though not interesting from a literary point of view is of great historical value as it gives an account of the acts of Trajan in the first years of his reign in the following year Pliny was again induced to act as the advocate of Provincials against an oppressive governor he undertook the cause of Berica Plasicas sometime after this he received the honor of an augurship he had given up his treasury appointment and returned to his occupation as a pleader it was also appointed two important cases occurred in 104 and 106 AD in connection with Bithynia and were successfully conducted by Pliny this led to his appointment in 111 AD probably as a special legatus in that province as we have already seen the date of his death is unknown but was probably before 115 AD he was married three times but had no children Trajan granted him however they used trium liberorum the career of Pliny is interesting as it illustrates how citizens belonging to an Italian or provincial municipality rose to the highest offices in the state his letters are interesting as illustrating the life, opinions and feelings of an enlightened and generous Roman gentleman but he was neither a great writer nor a great statesman he could discharge meritoriously the ordinary duties of a senator he was an ardent reader a careful and pleasant writer he was rich and liberal we find him giving pecuniary help to Quintillion and Marshall he remedied the want of a school at Comum by paying one-third of the salary of a teacher he also gave his native town a public library at the cost of a million cestorses 8,000 pounds and granted half a million more for the maintenance of poor children his letters proved that he was a loving husband a kind master to his slaves and that he always honestly wished to do the right thing the letters of Pliny consist of one, nine books of letters dating from 97 to 109 AD and two, the correspondence with Trajan chiefly from the Bithynian period of which specimens were given in the preceding chapter they concern all sorts of subjects and show the character of the author and his relations with his friends in the most favorable light he is very vain but then he is very candid the letters were written with a view to publication and therefore they have not the freshness and directness of the letters of Cicero who was Pliny's model as he tells us himself he owns that his great desire is to be remembered by posterity there is consequently a great deal of self-consciousness in the epistles Tacitus and Pliny were intimate friends in one of his letters Pliny tells a story how at the Cersensian games Tacitus sat next in a known person who entered into learned conversation with him and after some time asked are you an Italian or a provincial you know me said Tacitus from your reading are you Tacitus or Pliny asked the stranger besides the panegyric of Pliny which is a specimen of the style of rhetoric then in fashion we have a fragment of a dialogue on the theme was Virgil an orator or a poet Virgil use orator an poet by P. Agnus Flores an African by birth he had competed under the mission at the capital line Agon and unfairly according to himself had not been crowned leaving Rome he traveled about and finally settled as a man of letters at to Rocco where he lived under Trajan at a later time he returned to Rome and interchanged light verses with the Emperor Hadrian for he was also a verse writer and some small fragments of verse under the name of Flores have come down the work of Hygienus on the jurisprudence of field measurement of which fragment have come down to us the treatise of Ciculus Flacus decondicione busagrorum the works on orthography of copper and vilius longus which belong to this period can only be mentioned End of Chapter 25 Section 3 Chapter 25 Section 4 of J. B. Buries the student's Roman Empire Part 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lenny the student's Roman Empire Part 2 by John Buniel Burie Chapter 25 Literature from the death of Tiberius to Trajan Section 4 Greek Literature the growing importance of the Jews in the Hellenic world is illustrated by the circumstances that two of the most important Greek writers of the first century AD whose work have come down to us belonged to the Hebrew race these were the historian Josephus and the philosopher Philo we have already met Flavius Josephus in the tale of the Jewish rebellion under Nero and Vespasian born about 37 AD he belonged to a distinguished societal family and on the mother side to the royal house of the Maccabees in religion he inclined to be the first of the Pharisees he first visited Rome in 63 AD to defend some of his countrymen and succeeded in his object through the influence of Popea the part which he played in the last struggle of the Jews for independence has been already told received into favor by Vespasian he lived hence forward at Rome and wrote his historical works there his purpose in writing makes acquainted with the history and character of his own people the best known and most interesting of his writings is the story of the Jewish war in seven books which has all the value of a contemporary witness who had taken part in it himself and been present at the most striking scenes and a witness who although a Jew was able to see the Roman as well as the Jewish side of the question he wrote this work in Hebrew and then got it translated into Greek his Jewish archaeology in 20 books reaching from the creation to Nero is a much larger work the later books are very valuable for the history of the first Roman emperors and in book 18 occurs the earliest notice in literature of the founder of Christianity Josephus also wrote his own autobiography The Life of Flavius Josephus in two books against Appian and Alexandrian Gramerian who on occasion of the Jewish embassy to Caligula had attacked the Jews and a treatise on the sovereignty of reason like Josephus fellow of Alexandria also appears in political as well as in literary history we met him as one of that embassy of Alexandrian Jews which waited on the emperor Gaius and of which he wrote an account as a philosopher he was one of the earliest who attempted to combine Greek and Jewish ideas into a philosophical system on the one hand he makes Moses speak with the lips of Socrates on the other he derives the views of Plato, Heraclitus and other Greek philosophers from mosaic sources he interprets the Old Testament allegorically with his chief inspiration is drawn from Plato in his treatment of Plato in whose writings he finds more than Plato ever dreamed of he is a precursor of the Neoplatonists Plutarch was born at Caronea about 46 AD and educated at the University of Athens under Vespasian he visited Rome as an envoy from his native place and seems to have won some influence at the imperial court Trajan granted him consular rank and directed the governor of Achaea to avail himself of his councils but the favor which he enjoyed at Rome did not induce him to quit his home where he lived a happy domestic life and died at an advanced age his attachment to Bioscia was a feature of his character Hysiod and Pinder as the two great poets had always a special charm for him he seems to have occupied himself with informal teaching and lecturing as well as with writing his historical and philosophical works his historical work consists of the parallel lives a series of 46 biographies of great Greek and Roman statesmen grouped in pairs in every case except in that of the Gregi a Greek is compared with a Roman this way of setting Greek and Roman history side by side was natural enough in a Greek under the empire recognizing the greatness of his conquerors as well as that of his own nation the example of such parallels had been set by Cornelius Nepus in some cases such as Demosthenes and Cicero Alexander and Caesar the comparisons are obvious in others such as Piraeus and Marius less striking in most cases Plutarch appends to the pair of lives a formal statement of the points of likeness and contrast besides these parallel lives there are four single biographies of Artaxerces, Arethus, Galba and Otho in compiling this historical gallery Plutarch thought far less of finding out and relating what actually occurred than of edifying his readers and promoting virtue he has no idea of historical criticism he's much more at home in ethical disposition he loved anecdotes which point immoral the consequence is that perhaps no ancient history has been more popular down to the present day than his lives his other works consist of numerous essays and treatises on various subjects chiefly ethical and generally grouped together moralia among them maybe mentioned the platonic questions controversial pamphlets against the Stoics and the Epicureans and against superstition an attempt to explain the myth of Isis and Osiris a large number of sermons on moral subjects such as virtue is teachable fortune, cheerfulness a physical treatise on the face in the moon a discussion of the question how old men take part in public life literary questions are considered in the malice of Herodotus and a comparison of Aristophanes and Menander his dialogue and music is very important for the history of ancient music and meter perhaps the most attractive of all Plutarch's works is the Symposieca in nine books containing discussions on all sorts of subjects the scene constantly changes the Symposieca are sometimes at Athens, sometimes at Rome sometimes at the author's house as examples of the questions discussed may be mentioned the number of the muses the grafting of trees the most suitable form of entertainment a table the absence of Jews from pork another Greek assaist contemporary with Plutarch was Diane of Prusa in Bithynia, surnamed Chrysostomus Goldmouthed from his eloquence he had come to Rome under Vespasian but fell under suspicion with the mission and banished from Italy retired to the North Shore of the Black Sea of the old fashioned life at Olbia on the Boris themes of the enthusiasm for Homer which prevailed in that remote Greek colony and of the dangers which constantly threaten the Greek civilization in those regions from the cityans he has given an interesting account in his Boristhenic discourse under Nerva he was recalled to Rome and when he afterwards returned to his native town Prusa he obtained some privileges for it by his influence with Trajan although Diane is counted among the Sophists and went about as a rhetorician it must be said to his honor that he was by no means a typical specimen he did not like the ordinary Sophist sacrifice thought to expression he was a deeper thinker inclined to stoicism than most of his class and he sometimes makes a hit at the vapid Sophistic style of his discourses or essays 79 are extant and many of them are most interesting in the Alexandrina he is against the extravagant luxury of life in Alexandria in the Olympica he places in the mouth of Phidias a description and explanation of that sculpture's great statue of Zeus at Olympia in his four discourses on monarchy he sketches for the benefit of Trajan the rule of an ideal sovereign one of the most pleasing essays is the Elboica in which an idyllic description is given of the life of two rustic families in a desolate part of Obia and a counter picture is drawn of life in the town Dian aimed at writing pure etic his chief models were Plato and Xenophon End of chapter 25 section 4