LIVES OF EMINENT GRAMMARIANS
Title: The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Complete
To Which Are Added, His Lives Of The
Grammarians, Rhetoricians, And Poets
Author: C. Suetonius Tranquillus (Full Bibliography at the end of the document)
(506)
I. The science of grammar [842] was in ancient times far from being in
vogue at Rome; indeed, it was of little use in a rude state of society,
when the people were engaged in constant wars, and had not much time to
bestow on the cultivation of the liberal arts [843]. At the outset, its
pretensions were very slender, for the earliest men of learning, who were
both poets and orators, may be considered as half-Greek: I speak of
Livius [844] and Ennius [845], who are acknowledged to have taught both
languages as well at Rome as in foreign parts [846]. But they (507) only
translated from the Greek, and if they composed anything of their own in
Latin, it was only from what they had before read. For although there
are those who say that this Ennius published two books, one on "Letters
and Syllables," and the other on "Metres," Lucius Cotta has
satisfactorily proved that they are not the works of the poet Ennius, but
of another writer of the same name, to whom also the treatise on the
"Rules of Augury" is attributed.
II. Crates of Mallos
[847], then, was, in our opinion, the first who
introduced the study of grammar at Rome. He was cotemporary with
Aristarchus [848], and having been sent by king Attalus as envoy to the
senate in the interval between the second and third Punic wars [849],
soon after the death of Ennius [850], he had the misfortune to fall into
an open sewer in the Palatine quarter of the city, and broke his leg.
After which, during the whole period of his embassy and convalescence, he
gave frequent lectures, taking much pains to instruct his hearers, and he
has left us an example well worthy of imitation. It was so far followed,
that poems hitherto little known, the works either of deceased friends or
other approved writers, were brought to light, and being read and
commented on, were explained to others. Thus, Caius Octavius Lampadio
edited the Punic War of Naevius [851], which having been written in one
volume without any break in the manuscript, he divided into seven books.
After that, Quintus Vargonteius undertook the Annals of Ennius, which he
read on certain fixed days to crowded audiences. So Laelius Archelaus,
and Vectius Philocomus, read and commented on the Satires of their friend
Lucilius [852], which Lenaeus Pompeius, a freedman, tells us he studied
under Archelaus; and Valerius Cato, under Philocomus. Two others also
taught and promoted (508) grammar in various branches, namely, Lucius
Aelius Lanuvinus, the son-in-law of Quintus Aelius, and Servius Claudius,
both of whom were Roman knights, and men who rendered great services both
to learning and the republic.
III. Lucius Aelius had a double cognomen, for he was called Praeconius,
because his father was a herald; Stilo, because he was in the habit of
composing orations for most of the speakers of highest rank; indeed, he
was so strong a partisan of the nobles, that he accompanied Quintus
Metellus Numidicus [853] in his exile. Servius [854] having
clandestinely obtained his father-in-law's book before it was published,
was disowned for the fraud, which he took so much to heart, that,
overwhelmed with shame and distress, he retired from Rome; and being
seized with a fit of the gout, in his impatience, he applied a poisonous
ointment to his feet, which half-killed him, so that his lower limbs
mortified while he was still alive. After this, more attention was paid
to the science of letters, and it grew in public estimation, insomuch,
that men of the highest rank did not hesitate in undertaking to write
something on the subject; and it is related that sometimes there were no
less than twenty celebrated scholars in Rome. So high was the value, and
so great were the rewards, of grammarians, that Lutatius Daphnides,
jocularly called "Pan's herd" [855] by Lenaeus Melissus, was purchased by
Quintus Catullus for two hundred thousand sesterces, and shortly
afterwards made a freedman; and that Lucius Apuleius, who was taken into
the pay of Epicius Calvinus, a wealthy Roman knight, at the annual salary
of ten thousand crowns, had many scholars. Grammar also penetrated into
the provinces, and some of the most eminent amongst the learned taught it
in foreign parts, particularly in Gallia Togata. In the number of these,
we may reckon Octavius (509) Teucer, Siscennius Jacchus, and Oppius Cares
[856], who persisted in teaching to a most advanced period of his life,
at a time when he was not only unable to walk, but his sight failed.
IV. The appellation of grammarian was borrowed from the Greeks; but at
first, the Latins called such persons literati. Cornelius Nepos, also,
in his book, where he draws a distinction between a literate and a
philologist, says that in common phrase, those are properly called
literati who are skilled in speaking or writing with care or accuracy,
and those more especially deserve the name who translated the poets, and
were called grammarians by the Greeks. It appears that they were named
literators by Messala Corvinus, in one of his letters, when he says,
"that it does not refer to Furius Bibaculus, nor even to Sigida, nor to
Cato, the literator," [857] meaning, doubtless, that Valerius Cato was
both a poet and an eminent grammarian. Some there are who draw a
distinction between a literati and a literator, as the Greeks do between
a grammarian and a grammatist, applying the former term to men of real
erudition, the latter to those whose pretensions to learning are
moderate; and this opinion Orbilius supports by examples. For he says
that in old times, when a company of slaves was offered for sale by any
person, it was not customary, without good reason, to describe either of
them in the catalogue as a literati, but only as a literator, meaning
that he was not a proficient in letters, but had a smattering of
knowledge.
The early grammarians taught rhetoric also, and we have many of their
treatises which include both sciences; whence it arose, I think, that in
later times, although the two professions had then become distinct, the
old custom was retained, or the grammarians introduced into their
teaching some of the elements required for public speaking, such as the
problem, the periphrasis, the choice of words, description of character,
and the like; in order that they might not transfer (510) their pupils to
the rhetoricians no better than ill-taught boys. But I perceive that
these lessons are now given up in some cases, on account of the want of
application, or the tender years, of the scholar, for I do not believe
that it arises from any dislike in the master. I recollect that when I
was a boy it was the custom of one of these, whose name was Princeps, to
take alternate days for declaiming and disputing; and sometimes he would
lecture in the morning, and declaim in the afternoon, when he had his
pulpit removed. I heard, also, that even within the memories of our own
fathers, some of the pupils of the grammarians passed directly from the
schools to the courts, and at once took a high place in the ranks of the
most distinguished advocates. The professors at that time were, indeed,
men of great eminence, of some of whom I may be able to give an account
in the following chapters.
V. SAEVIUS [858] NICANOR
first acquired fame and reputation by his
teaching: and, besides, he made commentaries, the greater part of which,
however, are said to have been borrowed. He also wrote a satire, in
which he informs us that he was a freedman, and had a double cognomen, in
the following verses;
Saevius Nicanor Marci libertus negabit,
Saevius Posthumius idem, sed Marcus, docebit.
What Saevius Nicanor, the freedman of Marcus, will deny,
The same Saevius, called also Posthumius Marcus, will assert.
It is reported, that in consequence of some infamy attached to his
character, he retired to Sardinia, and there ended his days.
VI. AURELIUS OPILIUS
[859], the freedman of some Epicurean, first taught
philosophy, then rhetoric, and last of all, grammar. (511) Having closed
his school, he followed Rutilius Rufus, when he was banished to Asia, and
there the two friends grew old together. He also wrote several volumes
on a variety of learned topics, nine books of which he distinguished by
the number and names of the nine Muses; as he says, not without reason,
they being the patrons of authors and poets. I observe that its title is
given in several indexes by a single letter, but he uses two in the
heading of a book called Pinax.
VII. MARCUS ANTONIUS
GNIPHO [860], a free-born native of Gaul, was
exposed in his infancy, and afterwards received his freedom from his
foster-father; and, as some say, was educated at Alexandria, where
Dionysius Scytobrachion [861] was his fellow pupil. This, however, I am
not very ready to believe, as the times at which they flourished scarcely
agree. He is said to have been a man of great genius, of singular
memory, well read in Greek as well as Latin, and of a most obliging and
agreeable temper, who never haggled about remuneration, but generally
left it to the liberality of his scholars. He first taught in the house
of Julius Caesar [862], when the latter was yet but a boy, and,
afterwards, in his own private house. He gave instruction in rhetoric
also, teaching the rules of eloquence every day, but declaiming only on
festivals. It is said that some very celebrated men frequented his
school,--and, among others, Marcus Cicero, during the time he held the
praetorship [863]. He wrote a number of works, although he did not live
beyond his fiftieth year; but Atteius, the philologist [864], says, that
he left only two volumes, "De Latino Sermone;" and, that the other works
ascribed to him, were composed by his disciples, and were not his,
although his name is sometimes to be found in them.
VIII. M. POMPILIUS
ANDRONICUS, a native of Syria, while he professed to
be a grammarian, was considered an idle follower of the Epicurean sect,
and little qualified to be a master (512) of a school. Finding,
therefore, that, at Rome, not only Antonius Gnipho, but even other
teachers of less note were preferred to him, he retired to Cumae, where
he lived at his ease; and, though he wrote several books, he was so
needy, and reduced to such straits, as to be compelled to sell that
excellent little work of his, "The Index to the Annals," for sixteen
thousand sesterces. Orbilius has informed us, that he redeemed this work
from the oblivion into which it had fallen, and took care to have it
published with the author's name.
IX. ORBILIUS PUPILLUS,
of Beneventum, being left an orphan, by the death
of his parents, who both fell a sacrifice to the plots of their enemies
on the same day, acted, at first, as apparitor to the magistrates. He
then joined the troops in Macedonia, when he was first decorated with the
plumed helmet [865], and, afterwards, promoted to serve on horseback.
Having completed his military service, he resumed his studies, which he
had pursued with no small diligence from his youth upwards; and, having
been a professor for a long period in his own country, at last, during
the consulship of Cicero, made his way to Rome, where he taught with more
reputation than profit. For in one of his works he says, that "he was
then very old, and lived in a garret." He also published a book with the
title of Perialogos; containing complaints of the injurious treatment to
which professors submitted, without seeking redress at the hands of
parents. His sour temper betrayed itself, not only in his disputes with
the sophists opposed to him, whom he lashed on every occasion, but also
towards his scholars, as Horace tells us, who calls him "a flogger;"
[866] and Domitius Marsus [867], who says of him:
Si quos Orbilius ferula scuticaque cecidit.
If those Orbilius with rod or ferule thrashed.
(513) And not even men of rank escaped his sarcasms; for, before he
became noticed, happening to be examined as a witness in a crowded court,
Varro, the advocate on the other side, put the question to him, "What he
did and by what profession he gained his livelihood?" He replied, "That
he lived by removing hunchbacks from the sunshine into the shade,"
alluding to Muraena's deformity. He lived till he was near a hundred
years old; but he had long lost his memory, as the verse of Bibaculus
informs us:
Orbilius ubinam est, literarum oblivio?
Where is Orbilius now, that wreck of learning lost?
His statue is shown in the Capitol at Beneventum. It stands on the left
hand, and is sculptured in marble [868], representing him in a sitting
posture, wearing the pallium, with two writing-cases in his hand. He
left a son, named also Orbilius, who, like his father, was a professor of
grammar.
X. ATTEIUS, THE
PHILOLOGIST, a freedman, was born at Athens. Of him,
Capito Atteius [869], the well-known jurisconsult, says that he was a
rhetorician among the grammarians, and a grammarian among the
rhetoricians. Asinius Pollio [870], in the book in which he finds fault
with the writings of Sallust for his great affectation of obsolete words,
speaks thus: "In this work his chief assistant was a certain Atteius, a
man of rank, a splendid Latin grammarian, the aider and preceptor of
those who studied the practice of declamation; in short, one who claimed
for himself the cognomen of Philologus." Writing to Lucius Hermas, he
says, "that he had made great proficiency in Greek literature, and some
in Latin; that he had been a hearer of Antonius Gnipho, and his Hermas
[871], and afterwards began to teach others. Moreover, that he had for
pupils many illustrious youths, among whom were the two (514) brothers,
Appius and Pulcher Claudius; and that he even accompanied them to their
province." He appears to have assumed the name of Philologus, because,
like Eratosthenes [872], who first adopted that cognomen, he was in high
repute for his rich and varied stores of learning; which, indeed, is
evident from his commentaries, though but few of them are extant.
Another letter, however, to the same Hermas, shews that they were very
numerous: "Remember," it says, "to recommend generally our Extracts,
which we have collected, as you know, of all kinds, into eight hundred
books." He afterwards formed an intimate acquaintance with Caius
Sallustius, and, on his death, with Asinius Pollio; and when they
undertook to write a history, he supplied the one with short annals of
all Roman affairs, from which he could select at pleasure; and the other,
with rules on the art of composition. I am, therefore, surprised that
Asinius Pollio should have supposed that he was in the habit of
collecting old words and figures of speech for Sallust, when he must have
known that his own advice was, that none but well known, and common and
appropriate expressions should be made use of; and that, above all
things, the obscurity of the style of Sallust, and his bold freedom in
translations, should be avoided.
XI. VALERIUS CATO
was, as some have informed us, the freedman of one
Bursenus, a native of Gaul. He himself tells us, in his little work
called "Indignatio," that he was born free, and being left an orphan, was
exposed to be easily stripped of his patrimony during the licence of
Sylla's administrations. He had a great number of distinguished pupils,
and was highly esteemed as a preceptor suited to those who had a poetical
turn, as appears from these short lines:
Cato grammaticus, Latina Siren,
Qui solus legit ac facit poetas.
Cato, the Latin Siren, grammar taught and verse,
To form the poet skilled, and poetry rehearse.
Besides his Treatise on Grammar, he composed some poems, (515) of which,
his Lydia and Diana are most admired. Ticida mentions his "Lydia."
Lydia, doctorum maxima cura liber.
"Lydia," a work to men of learning dear.
Cinna [873] thus notices the "Diana."
Secula permaneat nostri Diana Catonis.
Immortal be our Cato's song of Dian.
He lived to extreme old age, but in the lowest state of penury, and
almost in actual want; having retired to a small cottage when he gave up
his Tusculan villa to his creditors; as Bibaculus tells us:
Si quis forte mei domum Catonis,
Depictas minio assulas, et illos
Custodis vidit hortulos Priapi,
Miratur, quibus ille disciplinis,
Tantam sit sapientiam assecutus,
Quam tres cauliculi et selibra farris;
Racemi duo, tegula sub una,
Ad summam prope nutriant senectam.
"If, perchance, any one has seen the house of my Cato, with marble slabs
of the richest hues, and his gardens worthy of having Priapus [874] for
their guardian, he may well wonder by what philosophy he has gained so
much wisdom, that a daily allowance of three coleworts, half-a-pound of
meal, and two bunches of grapes, under a narrow roof, should serve for
his subsistence to extreme old age."
And he says in another place:
Catonis modo, Galle, Tusculanum
Tota creditor urbe venditahat.
Mirati sumus unicum magistrum,
Summum grammaticum, optimum poetam,
Omnes solvere posse quaestiones,
Unum difficile expedire nomen.
En cor Zenodoti, en jecur Cratetis!
"We lately saw, my Gallus, Cato's Tusculan villa exposed to public sale
by his creditors; and wondered that such an unrivalled master of (516)
the schools, most eminent grammarian, and accomplished poet, could solve
all propositions and yet found one question too difficult for him to
settle,--how to pay his debts. We find in him the genius of Zenodotus
[875], the wisdom of Crates." [876]
XII. CORNELIUS EPICADIUS,
a freedman of Lucius Cornelius Sylla, the
dictator, was his apparitor in the Augural priesthood, and much beloved
by his son Faustus; so that he was proud to call himself the freedman of
both. He completed the last book of Sylla's Commentaries, which his
patron had left unfinished. [877]
XIII. LABERIUS HIERA
was bought by his master out of a slave-dealer's
cage, and obtained his freedom on account of his devotion to learning.
It is reported that his disinterestedness was such, that he gave
gratuitous instruction to the children of those who were proscribed in
the time of Sylla.
XIV. CURTIUS NICIA
was the intimate friend of Cneius Pompeius and Caius
Memmius; but having carried notes from Memmius to Pompey's wife [878],
when she was debauched by Memmius, Pompey was indignant, and forbad him
his house. He was also on familiar terms with Marcus Cicero, who thus
speaks of him in his epistle to Dolabella [879]: "I have more need of
receiving letters from you, than you have of desiring them from me. For
there is nothing going on at Rome in which I think you would take any
interest, except, perhaps, that you may like to know that I am appointed
umpire between our friends Nicias and Vidius. The one, it appears,
alleges in two short verses that Nicias owes him (517) money; the other,
like an Aristarchus, cavils at them. I, like an old critic, am to decide
whether they are Nicias's or spurious."
Again, in a letter to Atticus [880], he says: "As to what you write about
Nicias, nothing could give me greater pleasure than to have him with me,
if I was in a position to enjoy his society; but my province is to me a
place of retirement and solitude. Sicca easily reconciled himself to
this state of things, and, therefore, I would prefer having him.
Besides, you are well aware of the feebleness, and the nice and luxurious
habits, of our friend Nicias. Why should I be the means of making him
uncomfortable, when he can afford me no pleasure? At the same time, I
value his goodwill."
XV. LENAEUS was a
freedman of Pompey the Great, and attended him in most
of his expeditions. On the death of his patron and his sons, he
supported himself by teaching in a school which he opened near the temple
of Tellus, in the Carium, in the quarter of the city where the house of
the Pompeys stood [881]. Such was his regard for his patron's memory,
that when Sallust described him as having a brazen face, and a shameless
mind, he lashed the historian in a most bitter satire [882], as "a
bull's-pizzle, a gormandizer, a braggart, and a tippler, a man whose life
and writings were equally monstrous;" besides charging him with being "a
most unskilful plagiarist, who borrowed the language of Cato and other
old writers." It is related, that, in his youth, having escaped from
slavery by the contrivance of some of his friends, he took refuge in his
own country; and, that after he had applied himself to the liberal arts,
he brought the price of his freedom to his former master, who, however,
struck by his talents and learning, gave him manumission gratuitously.
XVI. QUINTUS CAECILIUS,
an Epirot by descent, but born at Tusculum, was
a freedman of Atticus Satrius, a Roman (518) knight, to whom Cicero
addressed his Epistles [883]. He became the tutor of his patron's
daughter [884], who was contracted to Marcus Agrippa, but being suspected
of an illicit intercourse with her, and sent away on that account, he
betook himself to Cornelius Gallus, and lived with him on terms of the
greatest intimacy, which, indeed, was imputed to Gallus as one of his
heaviest offences, by Augustus. Then, after the condemnation and death
of Gallus [885], he opened a school, but had few pupils, and those very
young, nor any belonging to the higher orders, excepting the children of
those he could not refuse to admit. He was the first, it is said, who
held disputations in Latin, and who began to lecture on Virgil and the
other modern poets; which the verse of Domitius Marcus [886] points out.
Epirota tenellorum nutricula vatum.
The Epirot who,
With tender care, our unfledged poets nursed.
XVII. VERRIUS FLACCUS
[887], a freedman, distinguished himself by a new
mode of teaching; for it was his practice to exercise the wits of his
scholars, by encouraging emulation among them; not only proposing the
subjects on which they were to write, but offering rewards for those who
were successful in the contest. These consisted of some ancient,
handsome, or rare book. Being, in consequence, selected by Augustus, as
preceptor to his grandsons, he transferred his entire school to the
Palatium, but with the understanding that he should admit no fresh
scholars. The hall in Catiline's house, (519) which had then been added
to the palace, was assigned him for his school, with a yearly allowance
of one hundred thousand sesterces. He died of old age, in the reign of
Tiberius. There is a statue of him at Praeneste, in the semi-circle at
the lower side of the forum, where he had set up calendars arranged by
himself, and inscribed on slabs of marble.
XVIII. LUCIUS CRASSITIUS,
a native of Tarentum, and in rank a freedman,
had the cognomen of Pasides, which he afterwards changed for Pansa. His
first employment was connected with the stage, and his business was to
assist the writers of farces. After that, he took to giving lessons in a
gallery attached to a house, until his commentary on "The Smyrna" [888]
so brought him into notice, that the following lines were written on him:
Uni Crassitio se credere Smyrna probavit.
Desinite indocti, conjugio hanc petere.
Soli Crassitio se dixit nubere velle:
Intima cui soli nota sua exstiterint.
Crassitius only counts on Smyrna's love,
Fruitless the wooings of the unlettered prove;
Crassitius she receives with loving arms,
For he alone unveiled her hidden charms.
However, after having taught many scholars, some of whom were of high
rank, and amongst others, Julius Antonius, the triumvir's son, so that he
might be even compared with Verrius Flaccus; he suddenly closed his
school, and joined the sect of Quintus Septimius, the philosopher.
XIX. SCRIBONIUS
APHRODISIUS, the slave and disciple of Orbilius, who was
afterwards redeemed and presented with his freedom by Scribonia [889],
the daughter of Libo who had been the wife of Augustus, taught in the
time of Verrius; whose books on Orthography he also revised, not without
some severe remarks on his pursuits and conduct.
XX. C. JULIUS HYGINUS,
a freedman of Augustus, was a native of Spain,
(although some say he was born at Alexandria,) (520) and that when that
city was taken, Caesar brought him, then a boy, to Rome. He closely and
carefully imitated Cornelius Alexander [890], a Greek grammarian, who,
for his antiquarian knowledge, was called by many Polyhistor, and by some
History. He had the charge of the Palatine library, but that did not
prevent him from having many scholars; and he was one of the most
intimate friends of the poet Ovid, and of Caius Licinius, the historian,
a man of consular rank [891], who has related that Hyginus died very
poor, and was supported by his liberality as long as he lived. Julius
Modestus [892], who was a freedman of Hyginus, followed the footsteps of
his patron in his studies and learning.
XXI. CAIUS MELISSUS
[893], a native of Spoletum, was free-born, but
having been exposed by his parents in consequence of quarrels between
them, he received a good education from his foster-father, by whose care
and industry he was brought up, and was made a present of to Mecaenas, as
a grammarian. Finding himself valued and treated as a friend, he
preferred to continue in his state of servitude, although he was claimed
by his mother, choosing rather his present condition than that which his
real origin entitled him to. In consequence, his freedom was speedily
given him, and he even became a favourite with Augustus. By his
appointment he was made curator of the library in the portico of Octavia
[894]; and, as he himself informs us, undertook to compose, when he was
a sexagenarian, his books of "Witticisms," which are now called "The Book
of Jests." Of these he accomplished one hundred and fifty, to which he
afterwards added several more. He (521) also composed a new kind of
story about those who wore the toga, and called it "Trabeat." [895]
XXII. MARCUS
POMPONIUS MARCELLUS, a very severe critic of the Latin
tongue, who sometimes pleaded causes, in a certain address on the
plaintiff's behalf, persisted in charging his adversary with making a
solecism, until Cassius Severus appealed to the judges to grant an
adjournment until his client should produce another grammarian, as he was
not prepared to enter into a controversy respecting a solecism, instead
of defending his client's rights. On another occasion, when he had found
fault with some expression in a speech made by Tiberius, Atteius Capito
[896] affirmed, "that if it was not Latin, at least it would be so in
time to come;" "Capito is wrong," cried Marcellus; "it is certainly in
your power, Caesar, to confer the freedom of the city on whom you please,
but you cannot make words for us." Asinius Gallus [897] tells us that he
was formerly a pugilist, in the following epigram.
Qui caput ad laevam deicit, glossemata nobis
Praecipit; os nullum, vel potius pugilis.
Who ducked his head, to shun another's fist,
Though he expound old saws,--yet, well I wist,
With pummelled nose and face, he's but a pugilist.
XXIII. REMMIUS PALAEMON
[898], of Vicentia [899], the offspring of a
bond-woman, acquired the rudiments of learning, first as the companion of
a weaver's, and then of his master's, son, at school. Being afterwards
made free, he taught at Rome, where he stood highest in the rank of the
grammarians; but he was so infamous for every sort of vice, that Tiberius
and his successor Claudius publicly denounced him as an improper person
to have the education of boys and young men entrusted to him. Still, his
powers of narrative and agreeable style of speaking made him very
popular; besides which, he had the gift of making extempore verses. He
also wrote a great many in (522) various and uncommon metres. His
insolence was such, that he called Marcus Varro "a hog;" and bragged that
"letters were born and would perish with him;" and that "his name was not
introduced inadvertently in the Bucolics [900], as Virgil divined that a
Palaemon would some day be the judge of all poets and poems." He also
boasted, that having once fallen into the hands of robbers, they spared
him on account of the celebrity his name had acquired.
He was so luxurious, that he took the bath many times in a day; nor did
his means suffice for his extravagance, although his school brought him
in forty thousand sesterces yearly, and he received not much less from
his private estate, which he managed with great care. He also kept a
broker's shop for the sale of old clothes; and it is well known that a
vine [901], he planted himself, yielded three hundred and fifty bottles
of wine. But the greatest of all his vices was his unbridled
licentiousness in his commerce with women, which he carried to the utmost
pitch of foul indecency [902]. They tell a droll story of some one who
met him in a crowd, and upon his offering to kiss him, could not escape
the salute, "Master," said he, "do you want to mouth every one you meet
with in a hurry?"
XXIV. MARCUS VALERIUS
PROBUS, of Berytus [903], after long aspiring to
the rank of centurion, being at last tired of waiting, devoted himself to
study. He had met with some old authors at a bookseller's shop in the
provinces, where the memory of ancient times still lingers, and is not
quite forgotten, as it is at Rome. Being anxious carefully to reperuse
these, and afterwards to make acquaintance with other works of the same
kind, he found himself an object of contempt, and was laughed (523) at
for his lectures, instead of their gaining him fame or profit. Still,
however, he persisted in his purpose, and employed himself in correcting,
illustrating, and adding notes to many works which he had collected, his
labours being confined to the province of a grammarian, and nothing more.
He had, properly speaking, no scholars, but some few followers. For he
never taught in such a way as to maintain the character of a master; but
was in the habit of admitting one or two, perhaps at most three or four,
disciples in the afternoon; and while he lay at ease and chatted freely
on ordinary topics, he occasionally read some book to them, but that did
not often happen. He published a few slight treatises on some subtle
questions, besides which, he left a large collection of observations on
the language of the ancients.
[Footnote 842: It will be understood that the terms Grammar and
Grammarian have here a more extended sense than that which they convey in
modern use. See the beginning of c. iv.]
[Footnote 843: Suetonius's account of the rude and unlettered state of
society in the early times of Rome, is consistent with what we might
infer, and with the accounts which have come down to us, of a community
composed of the most daring and adventurous spirits thrown off by the
neighbouring tribes, and whose sole occupations were rapine and war. But
Cicero discovers the germs of mental cultivation among the Romans long
before the period assigned to it by Suetonius, tracing them to the
teaching of Pythagoras, who visited the Greek cities on the coast of Italy
in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus.--Tusc. Quaest. iv. 1.]
[Footnote 844: Livius, whose cognomen Andronicus, intimates his
extraction, was born of Greek parents. He began to teach at Rome in the
consulship of Claudius Cento, the son of Appius Caecus, and Sempronius
Tuditanus, A.U.C. 514. He must not be confounded with Titus Livius, the
historian, who flourished in the Augustan age.]
[Footnote 845: Ennius was a native of Calabria. He was born the year
after the consulship mentioned in the preceding note, and lived to see at
least his seventy-sixth year, for Gellius informs us that at that age he
wrote the twelfth book of his Annals.]
[Footnote 846: Porcius Cato found Ennius in Sardinia, when he conquered
that island during his praetorship. He learnt Greek from Ennius there,
and brought him to Rome on his return. Ennius taught Greek at Rome for a
long course of years, having M. Cato among his pupils.]
[Footnote 847: Mallos was near Tarsus, in Cilicia. Crates was the
son of
Timocrates, a Stoic philosopher, who for his critical skill had the
surname of Homericus.]
[Footnote 848: Aristarchus flourished at Alexandria, in the reign of
Ptolemy Philometer, whose son he educated.]
[Footnote 849: A.U.C. 535-602 or 605.]
[Footnote 850: Cicero (De Clar. Orat. c. xx., De Senect. c. v. 1)
places the death of Ennius A.U.C. 584, for which there are other
authorities; but this differs from the account given in a former note.]
[Footnote 851: The History of the first Punic War by Naevius is mentioned
by Cicero, De Senect, c. 14.]
[Footnote 852: Lucilius, the poet, was born about A.U.C. 605.]
[Footnote 853: Q. Metellus obtained the surname of Numidicus, on his
triumph over Jugurtha, A.U.C. 644. Aelius, who was Varro's tutor,
accompanied him to Rhodes or Smyrna, when he was unjustly banished, A.U.C.
653.]
[Footnote 854: Servius Claudius (also called Clodius) is commended by
Cicero, Fam. Epist. ix. 16, and his singular death mentioned by Pliny,
xxv. 4.]
[Footnote 855: Daphnis, a shepherd, the son of Mercury, was said to have
been brought up by Pan. The humorous turn given by Lenaeus to Lutatius's
cognomen is not very clear. Daphnides is the plural of Daphnis; therefore
the herd or company, agaema; and Pan was the god of rustics, and the
inventor of the rude music of the reed.]
[Footnote 856: Oppius Cares is said by Macrobius to have written a book
on Forest Trees.]
[Footnote 857: Quintilian enumerates Bibaculus among the Roman poets in
the same line with Catullus and Horace, Institut. x. 1. Of Sigida we know
nothing; even the name is supposed to be incorrectly given. Apuleius
mentions a Ticida, who is also noticed by Suetonius hereafter in c. xi.,
where likewise he gives an account of Valerius Cato.]
[Footnote 858: Probably Suevius, of whom Macrobius informs us that he was
the learned author of an Idyll, which had the title of the Mulberry Grove;
observing, that "the peach which Suevius reckons as a species of the nuts,
rather belongs to the tribe of apples."]
[Footnote 859: Aurelius Opilius is mentioned by Symmachus and Gellius.
His cotemporary and friend, Rutilius Rufus, having been a military tribune
under Scipio in the Numantine war, wrote a history of it. He was consul
A.U.C. 648, and unjustly banished, to the general grief of the people,
A.U.C. 659.]
[Footnote 860: Quintilian mentions Gnipho, Instit. i. 6. We find
that
Cicero was among his pupils. The date of his praetorship, given below,
fixes the time when Gnipho flourished.]
[Footnote 861: This strange cognomen is supposed to have been derived
from a cork arm, which supplied the place of one Dionysius had lost. He
was a poet of Mitylene.]
[Footnote 862: See before, JULIUS, c. xlvi.]
[Footnote 863: A.U.C. 687.]
[Footnote 864: Suetonius gives his life in c. x.]
[Footnote 865: A grade of inferior officers in the Roman armies, of which
we have no very exact idea.]
[Footnote 866: Horace speaks feelingly on the subject:
Memini quae plagosum mihi parvo
Orbilium tractare. Epist. xi. i. 70.
I remember well when I was young,
How old Orbilius thwacked me at my tasks.]
[Footnote 867: Domitius Marsus wrote epigrams. He is mentioned by
Ovid
and Martial.]
[Footnote 868: This is not the only instance mentioned by Suetonius of
statues erected to learned men in the place of their birth or celebrity.
Orbilius, as a schoolmaster, was represented in a sitting posture, and
with the gown of the Greek philosophers.]
[Footnote 869: Tacitus (Annal. cxi. 75) gives the character of
Atteius Capito. He was consul A.U.C. 758.]
[Footnote 870: Asinius Pollio; see JULIUS, c. xxx.]
[Footnote 871: Whether Hermas was the son or scholar of Gnipho, does not
appear,]
[Footnote 872: Eratosthenes, an Athenian philosopher, flourished in
Egypt, under three of the Ptolemies successively. Strabo often mentions
him. See xvii. p. 576.]
[Footnote 873: Cornelius Helvius Cinna was an epigrammatic poet, of the
same age as Catullus. Ovid mentions him, Tristia, xi. 435.]
[Footnote 874: Priapus was worshipped as the protector of gardens.]
[Footnote 875: Zenodotus, the grammarian, was librarian to the first
Ptolemy at Alexandria, and tutor to his sons.]
[Footnote 876: For Crates, see before, p. 507.]
[Footnote 877: We find from Plutarch that Sylla was employed two days
before his death, in completing the twenty-second book of his
Commentaries; and, foreseeing his fate, entrusted them to the care of
Lucullus, who, with the assistance of Epicadius, corrected and arranged
them. Epicadius also wrote on Heroic verse, and Cognomina.]
[Footnote 878: Plutarch, in his Life of Caesar, speaks of the loose
conduct of Mucia, Pompey's wife, during her husband's absence.]
[Footnote 879: Fam. Epist. 9.]
[Footnote 880: Cicero ad Att. xii. 36.]
[Footnote 881: See before, AUGUSTUS, c. v.]
[Footnote 882: Lenaeus was not singular in his censure of Sallust.
Lactantius, 11. 12, gives him an infamous character; and Horace says of
him,
Libertinarum dico;
Sallustius in quas
Non minus insanit; quam qui moechatur.--Sat. i. 2. 48.]
[Footnote 883: The name of the well known Roman knight, to whom Cicero
addressed his Epistles, was Titus Pomponius Atticus. Although Satrius was
the name of a family at Rome, no connection between it and Atticus can be
found, so that the text is supposed to be corrupt. Quintus Caecilius was
an uncle of Atticus, and adopted him. The freedman mentioned in this
chapter probably assumed his name, he having been the property of
Caecilius; as it was the custom for freedmen to adopt the names of their
patrons.]
[Footnote 884: Suetonius, TIBERIUS, c. viii. Her name was Pomponia.]
[Footnote 885: See AUGUSTUS, c. lxvi.]
[Footnote 886: He is mentioned before, c. ix.]
[Footnote 887: Verrius Flaccus is mentioned by St. Jerome, in conjunction
with Athenodorus of Tarsus, a Stoic philosopher, to have flourished A.M.C.
2024, which is A.U.C. 759; A.D. 9. He is also praised by Gellius,
Macrobius, Pliny, and Priscian.]
[Footnote 888: Cinna wrote a poem, which he called "Smyrna," and was nine
years in composing, as Catullus informs us, 93. 1.]
[Footnote 889: See AUGUSTUS, cc. lxii. lxix.]
[Footnote 890: Cornelius Alexander, who had also the name of Polyhistor,
was born at Miletus, and being taken prisoner, and bought by Cornelius,
was brought to Rome, and becoming his teacher, had his freedom given him,
with the name of his patron. He flourished in the time of Sylla, and
composed a great number of works; amongst which were five books on Rome.
Suetonius has already told us (AUGUSTUS, xxix.) that he had the
care of the Palatine Library.]
[Footnote 891: No such consul as Caius Licinius appears in the Fasti; and
it is supposed to be a mistake for C. Atinius, who was the colleague of
Cn. Domitius Calvinus, A.U.C. 713, and wrote a book on the Civil War.]
[Footnote 892: Julius Modestus, in whom the name of the Julian family was
still preserved, is mentioned with approbation by Gellius, Martial,
Quintilian, and others.]
[Footnote 893: Melissus is mentioned by Ovid, De Pontif. iv 16-30.]
[Footnote 894: See AUGUSTUS, c. xxix. p. 93, and note.]
[Footnote 895: The trabea was a white robe, with a purple border, of a
different fashion from the toga.]
[Footnote 896: See before, c. x.]
[Footnote 897: See CLAUDIUS, c. x1i. and note.]
[Footnote 898: Remmius Palaemon appears to have been cotemporary with
Pliny and Quintilian, who speak highly of him.]
[Footnote 899: Now Vicenza.]
[Footnote 900: "Audiat haec tantum vel qui venit, ecce, Palaemon."--Eccl.
iii. 50.]
[Footnote 901: All the editions have the word vitem; but we might
conjecture, from the large produce, that it is a mistake for vineam, a
vineyard: in which case the word vasa might be rendered, not bottles, but
casks. The amphora held about nine gallons. Pliny mentions that
Remmius
bought a farm near the turning on the Nomentan road, at the tenth
mile-stone from Rome.]
[Footnote 902: "Usque ad infamiam oris."--See TIBERIUS, p. 220, and the
notes.]
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Complete
by C. Suetonius Tranquillus
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Title: The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Complete
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Author: C. Suetonius Tranquillus
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