and in the course of long and general conversations a would read some few things, though very rarely. He published a few slight works on divers minute points, and also left a good sized "Grove Observations on our Early Language." Naturally, on literary and grammatical topics. of VOL. II. F F DE RHETORIBUS I. RHETORICA quoque apud nos perinde atque grammatica fere 1 recepta est, paululo2 etiam difficilius, quippe quam constet nonnunquam etiam prohibitam exerceri. Quod ne cui dubium sit, vetus S. C.3 item censorium edictum subiciam: "C.4 Fannio Strabone M. Valerio Messala coss. M. Pomponius praetor senatum consuluit. Quod verba facta sunt de philosophis et rhetoribus, de ea re ita censuerunt, ut M. Pomponius praetor animadverteret curaretque, ut ei5 e re p. fideque sua videretur, uti Romae ne essent." De eisdem interiecto tempore Cn. Domitius Aenobarbus, L. Licinius Crassus censores ita edixerunt: "Renuntiatum est nobis, esse homines qui novum genus disciplinae instituerunt, ad quos iuventus in ludum conveniat; eos sibi nomen imposuisse Latinos rhetoras; ibi homines adolescentulos dies totos desidere. Maiores nostri, quae liberos suos 1 fere, VLNGI; sero, O, Beroaldus. 2 paululo, VLGO; paullo, I; paulo, N. 3 S. C., omitted by the mss.; inserted by Stephanus after, and by Lachmann before, item; O omits item also, marking a lacuna. 4 C. added by Stephanus from Gell. 15. 11. 1. 5 ut ei, OW (see Ihm, Rh. Mus. 61. 552 and cf. Gell. 15. 11. 1); ut si ei, edd. ON RHETORICIANS " I. THE study of rhetoric was introduced into our country in about the same way as that of grammar, but with somewhat greater difficulty, since, as is well known, its practice was at times actually prohibited. To remove any doubt on this point, I shall append an ancient decree of the senate, as well as an edict of the censors: "In the consulship of Gaius Fannius Strabo and 161 B.C Marcus Valerius Messala the praetor Marcus Pomponius laid a proposition before the senate. As the result of a discussion about philosophers and rhetoricians, the senate decreed that Marcus Pomponius, the praetor, should take heed and provide, in whatever way seemed in accord with the interests of the State and his oath of office, that they be not allowed to live in Rome." Some time afterward the censors Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Lucius Licinius 92 B.C. Crassus issued the following edict about the same class of men : "It has been reported to us that there be men who have introduced a new kind of training, and that our young men frequent their schools; that these men have assumed the title of Latin rhetoricians, and that young men spend whole days with them in idleness. Our forefathers a This word, like grammaticus, had a different force from that of the corresponding English word; it meant a teacher of declamation and oratory. F F 2 discere et quos in ludos itare vellent, instituerunt. Haec nova, quae praeter consuetudinem ac morem maiorum fiunt, neque placent neque recta videntur. Quapropter et eis qui eos ludos habent, et eis qui eo venire consuerunt, videtur faciundum ut ostenderemus nostram sententiam, nobis non placere." Paulatim et ipsa utilis honestaque apparuit, multique eam et praesidii causa et gloriae appetiverunt. Cicero ad praeturam usque etiam Graece declamitavit, Latine vero senior quoque et quidem cum consulibus Hirtio et Pansa, quos discipulos et grandis praetextatos vocabat. Cn. Pompeium quidam historici tradiderunt sub ipsum civile bellum, quo facilius C. Curioni promptissimo iuveni, causam Caesaris defendenti, contradiceret, repetisse declamandi consuetudinem ; M. Antonium, item Augustum ne Mutinensi quidem bello omisisse. Nero Caesar primo imperii anno, publice quoque bis antea, declamavit. Plerique autem oratorum etiam declamationes ediderunt. Quare magno studio hominibus iniecto, magna etiam professorum ac doctorum profluxit copia, adeoque floruit, ut nonnulli ex infima fortuna in ordinem senatorium atque ad summos honores processerint. Sed ratio docendi nec una omnibus, nec singulis eadem semper fuit, quando vario modo quisque a Cf. Seneca, Controv. 1. praef. 11 ff. Cf. Aug. lxxxiv. 1. determined what they wished their children to learn and what schools they desired them to attend. These innovations in the customs and principles of our forefathers do not please us nor seem proper. Therefore it appears necessary to make our opinion known, both to those who have such schools and to those who are in the habit of attending them, that they are displeasing to us.' By degrees rhetoric itself came to seem useful and honourable, and many devoted themselves to it as a defence and for glory. Cicero continued to declaim in Greek as well as Latin up to the time of his praetorship, and in Latin even when he was getting on in years; and that too in company with the future consuls Hirtius and Pansa, whom he calls "his pupils and his big boys." a Some historians assert that Gnaeus Pompeius resumed the practice of declaiming just before the civil war, that he might be the better able to argue against Gaius Curio, a young man of very ready tongue, who was espousing Caesar's cause; and that Marcus Antonius, and Augustus as well, did not give it up even during the war at Mutina." The emperor Nero declaimed in the first year of his reign, and had also done so in public twice before. Furthermore, many even of the orators published declamations. In this way general enthusiasm was aroused, and a great number of masters and teachers flocked to Rome, where they were so well received that some advanced from the lowest estate to senatorial dignity and to the highest magistracies. But they did not all follow the same method of teaching, and the individual teachers also varied in their practice, since each one trained his pupils |