A Dialogue Concerning Oratory Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence Part 4

[a] To be rich and have no issue, gave to the person so circ.u.mstanced the highest consequence at Rome. All ranks of men paid their court to him. To discourage a life of celibacy, and promote population, Augustus pa.s.sed a law, called _Papia Poppaea_, whereby bachelors were subjected to penalties. Hence the compliment paid by Horace to his patron:

Diva producas sobolem, patrumque Prosperes decreta super jugandis Foeminis, prolisque novae feraci Lege marita.

CARMEN SaeCULARE.

Bring the springing birth to light, And with ev'ry genial grace Prolific of an endless race, Oh! crown our vows, and bless the nuptial rite.

FRANCIS'S HORACE.

But marriage was not brought into fashion. In proportion to the rapid degeneracy of the manners under the emperors, celibacy grew into respect; insomuch, that we find (Annals xii. s. 52) a man too strong for his prosecutors, because he was rich, old, and childless.

_Valuitque pecuniosa orbitate et senecta._

[b] The faculty of speaking on a sudden question, with unpremeditated eloquence, Quintilian says, is the reward of study and diligent application. The speech, composed at leisure, will often want the warmth and energy, which accompany the rapid emotions of the mind. The pa.s.sions, when roused and animated, and the images which present themselves in a glow of enthusiasm, are the inspirers of true eloquence. Composition has not always this happy effect; the process is slow; languor is apt to succeed; the pa.s.sions subside, and the spirit of the discourse evaporates. _Maximus vero studiorum fructus est, et velut praemium quoddam amplissimum longi laboris, ex tempore dicendi facultas. Pectus est enim quod disertos facit, et vis mentis.

Nam bene concepti affectus, et recentes rerum imagines, continuo impetu feruntur, quae nonnunquam mora stili refrigesc.u.n.t, et dilatae won revertuntur._ Quintilian. lib. x. cap. 7.

Section VII.

[a] The translation is not quite accurate in this place. The original says, when I obtained the _laticlave_, and the English calls it the _manly gown_, which, it must be admitted, is not the exact sense. The _toga virilis_, or the _manly gown_, was a.s.sumed, when the youth came to man's estate, or the age of seventeen years. On that occasion the friends of the young man conducted him to the _forum_ (or sometimes to the capitol), and there invested him with the new gown. This was called _dies tirocinii_; the day on which he commenced a _tiro_, or a candidate for preferment in the army. The _laticlave_, was an additional honour often granted at the same time. The sons of senators and patricians were ent.i.tled to that distinction, as a matter of right: but the young men, descended from such as were not patricians, did not wear the _laticlave_, till they entered into the service of the commonwealth, and undertook the functions of the civil magistracy.

Augustus Caesar changed that custom. He gave leave to the sons of senators, in general, to a.s.sume the _laticlave_ presently after the time of putting on the _toga virilis_, though they were not capable of civil honours. The emperors who succeeded, allowed the same privilege, as a favour to ill.u.s.trious families. _Ovid_ speaks of himself and his brother a.s.suming the _manly gown_ and the _laticlave_ at the same time:

Interea, tacito pa.s.su labentibus annis, Liberior fratri sumpta mihique toga; Induiturque humeris c.u.m lato purpura clavo.

Pliny the younger shews, that the _laticlave_ was a favour granted by the emperor on particular occasions. He says, he applied for his friend, and succeeded: _Ego s.e.xto latumclavum a Caesare nostro impetravi._ Lib. ii. epist. 9. The _latusclavus_ was a robe worn by consuls, praetors, generals in triumph, and senators, who were called _laticlavii_. Their sons were admitted to the same honour; but the emperors had a power to bestow this garment of distinction, and all privileges belonging to it, upon such as they thought worthy of that honour. This is what Marcus Aper says, in the Dialogue, that he obtained; and, when the translation mentions the _manly gown_, the expression falls short of the speaker's idea. Dacier has given an account of the _laticlave_, which has been well received by the learned. He tells us, that whatever was made to be put on another thing, was called _clavus_, not because it had any resemblance to a nail, but because it was made an adjunct to another subject. In fact, the _clavi_ were purple galloons, with which the Romans bordered the fore part of the tunic, on both sides, and when drawn close together, they formed an ornament in the middle of the vestment. It was, for that reason, called by the Greeks, [Greek: mesoporphuron]. The broad galloons made the _laticlave_, and the narrow the _angusticlave_. The _laticlave_, Dacier adds, is not to be confounded with the _praetexta_.

The latter was, at first, appropriated to the magistrates, and the sacerdotal order; but, in time, was extended to the sons of eminent families, to be worn as a mark of distinction, till the age of seventeen, when it was laid aside for the _manly gown_. See Dacier's _Horace_, lib. i. sat. 5; and see Kennet's _Roman Antiquities_, p.

306.

[b] Marcus Aper, Julius Secundus, and Curiatius Maternus, according to Brotier and others, were natives of Gaul. Aper (section x.) mentions the Gauls as their common countrymen: _Ne quid de Gallis nostris loquamur._ If that was the fact, a _new man_ at Rome would have difficulties to surmount. Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus (a Latin historian of the fourth century) says, that at Rome the people despised every thing that did not grow before their eyes within the walls of the city, except the rich who had no children; and the veneration paid to such as had no heirs was altogether incredible. _Vile esse quidquid extra urbis pomaerium nascitur, aestimant; nec credi potest qua obsequiorum diversitate coluntur homines sine liberis Romae._ Lib. xiv. s. 5. In such a city a young man and a stranger could not expect to be favoured.

[c] All causes of a private nature were heard before the _centumviri_.

Three were chosen out of every tribe, and the tribes amounted to five and thirty, so that in fact 105 were chosen; but, for the sake of a round number, they were called CENTUMVIRI. The causes that were heard before that jurisdiction are enumerated by Cicero, _De Orat._ lib. i.

s. 38.

[d] The translation says, _the wills and codicils of the rich_; but it is by no means certain that those words convey the meaning of the text, which simply says, _nec codicillis datur_. After due enquiry, it appears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what we now call _the letters patent of a prince_. Codicils, in the modern sense of the word, implying a supplement to a will, were unknown to the intent Roman law. The Twelve Tables mention testaments only.

Codicils, in aid to wills, were first introduced in the time of Augustus; but, whatever their operation was, legacies granted by those additional writings were for some time of no validity. To confirm this, we are told that the daughter of Lentulus discharged certain legacies, which, being given by codicil, she was not bound to pay. In time, however, codicils, as an addition made by the testator to his will, grew into use, and the legacies thereby granted were confirmed.

This might be the case in the sixth year of Vespasian, when the Dialogue pa.s.sed between the parties; but it is, notwithstanding, highly probable, that the word _codicilli_ means, in the pa.s.sage before us, the _letters patent of the prince_. It is used in that sense by Suetonius, who relates, that Tiberius, after pa.s.sing a night and two days in revelling with Pomponius Flaccus and Lucius Piso, granted to the former the province of Syria, and made the latter prefect of the city; declaring them, _in the patents_, pleasant companions, and _the friends of all hours_. _Codicillis quoque jucundissimos et omnium horarum amicos professus._ Suet. _in Tib._ s.

42.

[e] The common people are called, in the original, _tunicatus populus_; that cla.s.s of men, who wore the _tunic_, and not the _toga_, or the _Roman gown_. The _tunica_, or close coat, was the common garment worn within doors, and abroad, under the _toga_. Kennet says, the _proletarii_, the _capite censi_, and the rest of the dregs of the city, could not afford to wear the _toga_, and therefore went in their _tunics_; whence Horace says (lib. i. epist. 7).

Vilia vendentem tunicato scruta popello.

The TOGA, however, was the peculiar dress of the Roman people. VIRGIL distinguishes his countrymen by their mode of apparel:

Romanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatam.

But, though this was the Roman habit, the lower citizens were obliged to appear abroad is their _tunica_, or close garment. The love of praise is so eager a pa.s.sion, that the public orator is here represented as delighting in the applause of the rabble. Persius, the satirist, has said the same thing:

Pulchrum est digito monstrari, et dicier. HIC EST.

Section VIII.

[a] The character of Eprius Marcellus has been already stated, section v. note [c]. Crispus Vibius is mentioned as a man of weight and influence, _Annals_, book xiv. s. 28. Quintilian has mentioned him to his advantage: he calls him, book v. chap. 13, a man of agreeable and elegant talents, _vir ingenii jucundi et elegantis_; and again, Vibius Crispus was distinguished by the elegance of his composition, and the sweetness of his manner; a man born to please, but fitter for private suits, than for the importance of public causes. _Et VIBIUS CRISPUS, compositus, et jucundus, et delectationi natus; privatis tamen causis, quam publicis, melior._ Lib. x. cap. 1.

[b] Which of these two men was born at Capua, and which at Vercellae, is not clearly expressed in the original. Eprius Marcellus, who has been described of a prompt and daring spirit, ready to embark in every mischief, and by his eloquence able to give colour to the worst cause, must at this time have become a new man, since we find him mentioned in this Dialogue with unbounded praise. He, it seems, and Vibius Crispus were the favourites at Vespasian's court. Vercellae, now _Verceil_, was situated in the eastern part of Piedmont. _Capua_, rendered famous by Hannibal, was a city in Campania, always deemed the seat of pleasure.

[c] Vespasian is said to have been what is uncommon among sovereign princes, a patient hearer of truth. His attention to men of letters may be considered as a proof of that a.s.sertion. The younger Pliny tells us, that his uncle, the author of the Natural History, used to visit Vespasian before day-light, and gained admittance to the emperor, who devoted his nights to study. _Ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem: nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur._ Lib. iii.

epist. 5.

Section IX.

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

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

Jamne lyra, et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordae?

Mire opifex numeris veterum primordia rerum, Atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae; Mox juvenes agitare jocos, et pollice honesto Egregios lusisse senes.

PERSIUS, sat. vi.

[c] Before the invention of printing, copies were not easily multiplied. Authors were eager to enjoy their fame, and the pen of the transcriber was slow and tedious. Public rehearsals were the road to fame. But an audience was to be drawn together by interest, by solicitation, and public advertis.e.m.e.nts. Pliny, in one of his letters, has given a lively description of the difficulties which the author had to surmount. This year, he says, has produced poets in great abundance. Scarce a day has pa.s.sed in the month of April, without the recital of a poem. But the greater part of the audience comes with reluctance; they loiter in the lobbies, and there enter into idle chat, occasionally desiring to know, whether the poet is in his pulpit? has he begun? is his preface over? has he almost finished?

They condescended, at last, to enter the room; they looked round with an air of indifference, and soon retired, some by stealth, and others with open contempt. Hence the greater praise is due to those authors, who do not suffer their genius to droop, but, on the contrary, amidst the most discouraging circ.u.mstances, still persist to cultivate the liberal arts. Pliny adds, that he himself attended all the public readings, and, for that purpose, staid longer in the city than was usual with him. Being, at length, released, he intended, in his rural retreat, to finish a work of his own, but not to read it in public, lest he should be thought to claim a return of the civility which he had shewn to others. He was a bearer, and not a creditor. The favour conferred, if redemanded, ceases to be a favour. _Magnum proventum poetarum annus hic attulit. Toto mense Aprili nullus fere dies, quo non recitaret aliquis. Tametsi ad audiendum pigre coitur. Plerique in stationibus sedent, tempusque audiendis fabulis conterunt, ac subinde sibi nuntiari jubent, an jam recitator intraverit, an dixerit praefationem, an ex magna parte evolverit librum? Tum demum, ac tune quoque lente, cunctanterque veniunt, nec tamen remanent, sed ante finem recedunt; alii dissimulanter, ac furtim, alii, simpliciter, ac libere. Sed tanto magis laudandi probandique sunt, quos a scribendi recitandique studio haec auditorum vel desidia, vel superbia non r.e.t.a.r.dat. Equidem prope nemini defui: his ex causis longius, quam destinaveram, tempus in urbe consumpsi. Possum jam repetere secessum, et scribere aliquid, quod non recitem, ne videar, quorum recitationibus affui, non auditor fuisse, sed creditor. Nam, ut in caeteris rebus, ita in audiendi officio, perit gratia si reposcatur._ Pliny, lib. i. ep. 13. Such was the state of literature under the worst of the emperors. The Augustan age was over. In the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula learning drooped, but in some degree revived under the dull and stupid Claudius. Pliny, in the letter above cited, says of that emperor, that, one day hearing a noise in his palace, he enquired what was the cause, and, being informed that Nonia.n.u.s was reciting in public, went immediately to the place, and became one of the audience. After that time letters met with no encouragement from the great. Lord Shaftesbury says, he cannot but wonder how the Romans, after the extinction of the _Caesarean_ and _Claudian_ family, and a short interval of princes raised and destroyed with much disorder and public ruin, were able to regain their perishing dominion, and retrieve their sinking state, by an after-race of wise and able princes, successively adopted, and taken from a private state to rule the empire of the world. They were men, who not only possessed the military virtues, and supported that sort of discipline in the highest degree; but as they sought the interest of the world, they did what was in their power to restore liberty, and raise again the perishing arts, and the decayed virtue of mankind. But the season was past: _barbarity_ and _gothicism_ were already entered into the arts, ere the savages made an impression on the empire. See _Advice to an Author_, part. ii. s. 1. The _gothicism_, hinted at by Shaftesbury, appears manifestly in the wretched situation to which the best authors were reduced. The poets who could not hope to procure an audience, haunted the baths and public walks, in order to fasten on their friends, and, at any rate, obtain a hearing for their works. Juvenal says, the plantations and marble columns of Julius Fronto resounded with the vociferation of reciting poets:

Frontonis platani convulsaque marmora clamant Semper, et a.s.siduo ruptae lectore columnae.

Expectes eadem a summo minimoque poeta.

SAT. i. ver. 12.

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

----At si dulcedine famae Contentus recites, Maculonus commodat aedes.

Scit dare libertos extrema in parte sedentes Ordinis, et magnas comitum disponere voces.

Nemo dabit procerum, quanti subsellia constent.

SAT. vii. ver. 39.

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

Curritur ad vocem jucundam, et carmen amicae?

Thebaidos, laetam fecit c.u.m Statius urbem?

Promisitque diem: tanta dulcedine vulgi Auditur; sed c.u.m fregit subsellia versu, Esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendit Agaven.

SAT. vii. ver. 82.

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

Section X.

[a] Horace has the same observation:

----Mediocribus esse poetis Non Dii, non homines, non concessere columnae.