History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne

Chapter 19

349 See Arrian's _Epictetus_, i. 9. The very existence of the word f??a????p?a shows that the idea was not altogether unknown.

350 Diog. Laert. _Pyrrho_. There was a tradition that Pythagoras had himself penetrated to India, and learnt philosophy from the gymnosophists. (Apuleius, _Florid._ lib. ii. c. 15.)

351 This aspect of the career of Alexander was noticed in a remarkable pa.s.sage of a treatise ascribed to Plutarch (_De Fort. Alex._).

"Conceiving he was sent by G.o.d to be an umpire between all, and to unite all together, he reduced by arms those whom he could not conquer by persuasion, and formed of a hundred diverse nations one single universal body, mingling, as it were, in one cup of friends.h.i.+p the customs, marriages, and laws of all. He desired that all should regard the whole world as their common country,... that every good man should be esteemed a h.e.l.lene, every evil man a barbarian." See on this subject the third lecture of Mr. Merivale (whose translation of Plutarch I have borrowed) _On the Conversion of the Roman Empire_.

352 They were both born about B.C. 250. See Sir C. Lewis, _Credibility of Early Roman History_, vol. i. p. 82.

353 Aulus Gellius mentions the indignation of Marcus Cato against a consul named Albinus, who had written in Greek a Roman history, and prefaced it by an apology for his faults of style, on the ground that he was writing in a foreign language. (_Noct. Att._ xi. 8.)

354 See a vivid picture of the Greek influence upon Rome, in Mommsen's _Hist. of Rome_ (Eng. trans.), vol. iii. pp. 423-426.

355 Plin. _Hist. Nat._ vii. 31.

356 See Friedlaender, _Murs romaines du regne d'Auguste a la fin des Antonins_ (French trans., 1865), tome i. pp. 6-7.

357 See the curious catalogue of Greek love terms in vogue (Lucretius, lib. iv. line 1160, &c.). Juvenal, more than a hundred years later, was extremely angry with the Roman ladies for making love in Greek (_Sat._ vi. lines 190-195). Friedlaender remarks that there is no special term in Latin for

358 Aul. Gell. _Noct._ xv. 4; Vell. Paterculus, ii. 65. The people were much scandalised at this elevation, and made epigrams about it.

There is a curious catalogue of men who at different times rose in Rome from low positions to power and dignity, in Legendre, _Traite de l'Opinion_, tome ii. pp. 254-255.

359 Dion Ca.s.sius, xlviii. 32. Plin. _Hist. Nat._ v. 5; vii. 44.

360 The history of the influence of freedmen is minutely traced by Friedlaender, _Murs romaines du regne d'Auguste a la fin des Antonins_, tome i. pp. 58-93. Statius and Martial sang their praises.

361 See Tacit. _Ann._ vi. 23-25.

362 On the Roman journeys, see the almost exhaustive dissertation of Friedlaender, tome ii.

363 Joseph. (_Antiq._ xvii. 11, -- 1) says above 8,000 Jews resident in Rome took part in a pet.i.tion to Caesar. If these were all adult males, the total number of Jewish residents must have been extremely large.

364 See the famous fragment of Seneca cited by St. Augustin (_De Civ.

Dei_, vi. 11): "Usque eo sceleratissimae gentis consuetudo convaluit, ut per omnes jam terras recepta sit: victi victoribus leges dederunt." There are numerous scattered allusions to the Jews in Horace, Juvenal, and Martial.

365 The Carthaginian influence was specially conspicuous in early Christian history. Tertullian and Cyprian (both Africans) are justly regarded as the founders of Latin theology. (See Milman's _Latin Christianity_ (ed. 1867), vol. i. pp. 35-36.)

366 Milo had emanc.i.p.ated some slaves to prevent them from being tortured as witnesses. (_Cic. Pro Milo._) This was made illegal. The other reasons for enfranchis.e.m.e.nt are given by Dion. Halicarn. _Antiq._ lib. iv.

367 This subject is fully treated by Wallon, _Hist. de l'Esclavage dans l'Antiquite_.

368 Senec. _De Clemen._ i. 24.

369 See, on the prominence and the insolence of the freedmen, Tacit.

_Annal._ iii. 26-27.

370 Montesquieu, _Decadence des Romains_, ch. xiii.

371 See the very curious speech attributed to Camillus (Livy, v. 52).

372 "Caritas generis humani."-_De Finib._ So, too, he speaks (_De Leg._ i. 23) of every good man as "civis totius mundi."

373 He speaks of Rome as "civitas ex nationum conventu const.i.tuta."

_ 374 De Legib._ i. 7.

_ 375 De Offic._

376 Ibid. iii. 6.

_ 377 De Offic._ iii. 6.

_ 378 De Legib._ i. 15.

379 "Tunc genus humanum positis sibi consulat armis, Inque vicem gens omnis amet."

-_Pharsalia_, vi.

_ 380 Ep._ xcv.

_ 381 Ep._ x.x.xi.

_ 382 De Vita Beata_, xx.

383 Arrian, ii. 10.

384 vi. 44.

385 "Haec duri immota Catonis Secta fuit, servare modum, finemque tenere, Naturamque sequi, patriaeque impendere vitam, Nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo."

Lucan, _Phars._ ii. 380-383.

386 There is a pa.s.sage on this subject in one of the letters of Pliny, which I think extremely remarkable, and to which I can recall no pagan parallel:-"Nuper me cujusdam amici languor admonuit, optimos esse nos dum infirmi sumus. Quem enim infirmum aut avaritia aut libido solicitat? Non amoribus servit, non appet.i.t honores... tunc deos, tunc hominem esse se meminit."-Plin. _Ep._ vii. 26.

_ 387 Ep._ viii. 16. He says: "Hominis est enim affici dolore, sentire, resistere tamen, et solatia admittere, non solatiis non egere."

388 This characteristic of Stoicism is well noticed in Grant's _Aristotle_, vol. i. p. 254. The first volume of this work contains an extremely good review of the principles of the Stoics.

389 Cie. _De Finib._ lib. iv.

390 Arrian, _Epict._ ii. 14.

391 Ibid. i. 9.

392 Ibid. i. 14.

393 Ibid. i. 16.

394 Arrian, ii. 8.

395 Plutarch, _De Profect. in Virt._ This precept was enforced by Bishop Sanderson in one of his sermons. (Southey's _Commonplace Book_, vol.



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