ut scilicet multa audiamus pauca vero loquamur Therefore have we two Ears and but one Mouth that we might hear many things and speak but few Cicero tells us That this was the Philosopher which did distinguish with his hand those two Arts of Logick and Rhetorick Nam cum compresserat digitos pugnumque fecerat dialecticam aâ—ebat ejusmodi esse cum autem diduxerat manum dilataverat palmae illius similem eloquentiam esse dicebat When he contracted his Fingers and clenched his hand then it resembled Logick but when those Fingers were spread abroad and when he had opened his hand then did he represent Rhetorick or Eloquence It s further sayd to his great praise and honour that he did verba vertere in opera Even live as he spake there being no dis-harmony betwixt his Conversation and Doctrines So that his Life was proposed to the Athenians as a Pattern for them to imitate He is stiled by a learned man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A severe Philosopher and one that uttered very sublime things And he is called by Laertius Aegiptius palmes for the talness and procerity of his lean and slender Body Chrysippus CHrysippus the Son of Apollonius or as others will have it Apollonides and the Disciple of Zeno was an eminent Stoick His Opinions were repugnant to many of his Contemporaries He was so excellent a Logician that it was an ordinary expression in the World concerning him That it there were any use of Logick amongst the Gods they then used none other then that of Chrysippus He is called by Carneades 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the smalness of his Body who speaks further in the praise of him Nisi Chrysippus esset ego non â—ssem Unless Chrysippus had been I had not been Heinsius calls him very wittily Retiarium Chrysippum As if like to a Net he was apt to catch all men for his voluminousness and multitude of Books he was thought to emulate Epicurus and therefore was well named by Carneades Librorum ejus parasitus His Books parasite I meet not with any contemptuous or scornfull affront put on him but only with one from Zeno who playing upon his Name very disdainfully cal'd him Chesippum which word is derived from the Greek term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifies an immodest Act Cacare Laertius sayes of him How that next to Cleanthes he was the principall Member of the Stoick School Cleanthes CLeanthes a Stoick Philosopher was the Disciple of Grates and Successor to Zeno whose Philosophy he ever adhered to and propagated it to all that he could converse with Suidas saith of him that he was so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such a great Pains-taker that he attained the name of another Hercules Being very poor and not able to supply himself with dayly Food he would suffer his Labour to be hired all Night and to be used in drawing of water and when the day was come he would spend the greatest part of that either in his private Studies or in Conferences with Disciples yet because he wrought so hard when he came to his handy Labour therefore instead of Cleanthes they would very often call him Phreanthes which being in eâ—pteted sayes Laertius signifies one that is an Emptier of Wells Cicero calls him notwithstanding Stoicum majorum Gentium Zenon is auditorem A Stoick of the highest Rank and the Auditor of Zeno. He was so poor that when he was the Schollar of the forementioned Zeno not being able to buy Paper for his own use he would write the Instructions which he received from his Master in Shells and Bones Anaxagoras ANaxagoras the Disciple of Milesius and the Son of Hegesibulus was called as Plutarch sayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he asserted that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matter and Mind were the Maintainers and Preservers of all things Suidas reports that he was very rich but left all his Lands to be devoured by Cattell whence Apollonius Tyaneus took occasion to say handsomly Anaxagoram potius ovibus quam hominibus philosophatum fuisse That Anaxagoras rather philosophiz'd to Sheep then Men. At length the question being asked him by his Friends why he took no more care of his Country He forthwith stretching forth his Arm to Heaven-ward raplyed as it is in Laertius Patriam eam esse That that was his Country At last returning home and finding every thing out of order his Lands unmanur'd and untilled and his Houses ruinated he brake out into these or such like words Non essem ego salvus nisi istae periissent I had not been safe if they had not perished This Philosopher was the first man that found out the Lunary Ecclipse as Plutarch affirms in the life of Nicias for Nicias his Soldiders at the fight of one were therewith all terrified and looked upon it as a Sign of the Gods displeasure not knowing that there was a naturall cause of it Laertims also writes that he was the first too that undertook to publish to the World the Works he had composed It was his opinion of God That he was Infinita mens quae per seipsam movetur as Polydore Virgil hath recorded it Cicero hath stiled him Virum summum in maximaerum rerum scientia A man most eminently knowing in the most transcendent things Carneades Cyrenaeus CArneades Cyrenaeus called by Suidas Novae Academiae Autor The Author of a new Academy was a great Admirer of the Chrysippaean Philosophy and opponent to the Principles of the Stoick Zeno They say that he made use of the Art of Memory Cicero Gellius and Quintillian write that he was sent with others in an Embassie by the men of Athens to Rome but as soon as Cato had espyed him he informed the Senate that he was a very dangerous man and that it concerned them to be wary of dealing with him least his eloquent and winning Tongue should so master them as to make them grant whatsoever he demanded Tully extolls the Abilities of this man in this following Character Carneadis vis incredibilis illa dicendi varietas perquam esset optanda nobis qui nullam unquam in illis suis disputationibus rem defendit quam non probarit nullam oppugnavit quam non everterit How well were it to be wished that we had that incredible faculty of Carneades his Eloquence who never undertook a Cause but did maintaine never impugned one but over-threw it Whence it was sayes Cicero that it was called Vis Carneadea aut Aristotelia Either a Carneadean or Aristotelian Ability Valerius Maximus cals him Laboriosum sapientiae militem Wisdomes laborious and painfull Soldier and if Pliny may be thought worthy of Credit It was the Censor Catoes opinion and saying That it was a very difficult thing to discern the truth when this Philosopher was disputing He lived ninety yeares and as the forementioned Historian saith of him Idem illi vivendi ac Philosophandi finis fuit Aristoteles
History it is Stephanus his Observation Quod nulla Romana Historia extat quae tam mirabiles rerum in Romano Imperio vicissitudines non plurium annorum spatio complectatur That there is no Roman History extant which comprehends so wonderful vicissitudes of affairs in the Roman Empire no not in a larger space of years as that doth in so short a time Procopius PRocopius lived when Justinian was Emperor and was called by Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was Notary to Bellisarius whose Acts he composed and publisht he has written eight Books of History The two first do treat of the Persian War the two next of the Vandall and the foure last of the Gothick Those twain which give an account of the Persian are Epitomized by Photius in the sixty third Chapter of his Bibliotheca but yet a Synopsis of the whole we meet with in the Preface of Agathius who proceeded where this Procopius ended Before he died he added a ninth unto his former eight which he called by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it contained those things that were not before published Suidas reports That this Historian in this his Addition was very invective against the Emperor Justinian and the Empress Theodora as also against Bellisarius and his Wife whatsoever is extant in the Greek Tongue of this Authors the World is beholding to Heschelius for it but as for the Translation of Porsena it may be justly sayd of him that what he undertook to convert he altogether perverted Dempster stileth this man Historicum Insignem A famous Historian And Bodinus is no way a Detractor from him who writeth thus Cum singulas epistolas Decreta foedera conciones vario dicendi genere ac stilo describit magnum verissimi scriptoris praebet argumentum Seeing that he describes all the Epistles Decrees Leagues Orations with variety both of Speech and stile it is a convincing Argument of a singular true Writer Ammianus Marcellinus AMmianus Marcellinus flourished under Gratianus and Valentinian and wrote one and thirty Books whereof thirteen are not now extant of what Nation and Profession whence he took beginning of his History and where he ended it his own words in his Epilogue will cleerly manifest it he began with Nerva and ended with Valens That he was a Greek not onely a passage in his one and thirtieth Book but also his phrase of Speech or Dialect bewrayeth it Suidas saith That he was familiar with Sallustius the Philosopher who was Captaine of the Praetorians and the first man that designed Valentinian to the Empire He is a grave and serious Writer saith Vossius worthy to be beloved of all men especially of the Germans the Scituation of whose Country he most accurately described as who had been engaged into a Military Employment in that Nation But saith the same Grammarian Dictio horridior est and no marvail if it be for why should any wonder if a Soldier speak like a Soldier more roughly then other Writers And besides he was a Greek and therefore the more excusable if he writ after his own Native Idiome he is remembred by Ammianus Priscianus Barthius speaks nobly of him upon the account of a Soldier whom in that respect he thus Characters Homo magno animo Disciplinae militaris assecla inter tubas strepitum armorum pervenire eo absque ulla animi contentione potuit quo nos studia per tot tantosque anfractus vix ducunt A man of great Courage and an Affector of Military Discipline one that could amidst the sound of Trumpets and noise of Armes arrive there without any reluctancy of Mind whither our Studies through so many and great streights can hardly lead us Neither doth the same Critick speak less of him as a Schollar Vtilitate monitorum veritate Historica nescio an quisquam autor ullibi sit supra Ammianum Marcellinum For profitableness of Admonitions and Historicall Truth I know not whether there be any Author before Ammianus Marcellinus I le but add a Note from Dempster to this of Barthius and so end Ammianus Luculentus Rerum Romanarum scriptor THE CHARACTERS Of some of the chief of the GRAMMARIANS AND ORATORS LONDON Printed by E.C. for Henry Eversden at the Grey-hound in S. Pauls Church-yard 1659. THE NAMES Of the chief GRAMMARIANS Herein handled VArro Athenaeus Julius Pollux Aulus Gellius Martianus Capella Suidas Coelius Rhodiginus Erasmus Budaeus Julius Scaliger Camerarius Casaubonus Josephus Scaliger Justus Lipsius Janus Gruterus Caspar Barthius The Orators ANtiphon Gorgias Isocrates Demosthenes Aeschines Lysias Demades Cicero Marcus Seneca Petronius Arbiter Hermogenes Quintilianus Lucianus Elianus Aristides Symmachus ΜΟΡΦΗ ' ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΧ̄ΠOR THE GRAMMARIANS In their due FORMS Marcus Terentius Varro MArcus Terentius Varro was one of the Learnedst among the Romans highly honoured by Cicero himself although Remmius Palaemon could most arrogantly and contemptuously call him Porcum a Hogg Whereunto one wittily replyed That he should have added Literarum unto it A learned one He is by Lactantius equalled to any one of the Latines or Greeks Marcus Varro saith he Quo nemo unquam doctior ne apud Graecos nedum apud Latinos vixit Marcus Varro then whom none lived more Learned either with the Greeks or Latines Quintilian does prefer him before all the other Romans Vir Romanorum eruditissimus Cicero likewise in his Brutus stiles him diligentissimum investigatorem antiquitatis A most diligent Antiquary Valerius Maximus calls him Vitae humane exemplum The Pattern of mans life and Dempster names him Criticorum patrem Incomparabilem The Incomparable Father of the Criticks I le but add to all this his Character from S. Augustine Quis magno Varrone curiosius ista quaesivit Quis invenit doctius Quis consideravit attentius Quis diligentius pleniusque conscripsit qui tametsi minus est suavis eloquio doctrina tamen atque sententiis ita refertus est ut in onmi eruditione quam nos secularem illi autem liberalem vocant studiosum rerum tantum iste doceat quantum studiosum verborum Cicero delectat Who sought into these things more curiously then Marcus Varro Who more learnedly found them who considered them more attentively Who writ them more diligently and fully Who although he be not so sweet in his Language and Expression yet he is so stuft with Learning and Sentences that in all Erudition which they call liberall we secular he teacheth him that is studious of things as much as Cicero doth him that is studious of Words It 's Terentianus his Versicle of him Vir doctissimus undecuncque Varro Athenaeus AThenaeus was a Grammarian in the Reigne of Marcus Antoninus and was called by the name of Noucratita his Deipnosophists are a Work both commendable for variety and also for Erudition he hath thereby described a magnificent and sumptuous Supper The Order and Structure of the Book being the same with that of a great and large Feast Indeed his Disputes are set out with the greatest
THE TRUE EFFIGIES OR Portraicture Of the chief Philosophers Historians Poets Grammarians and Oratours OR A Compendious VIEW of each both dignified with and distinguished by their peculiar CHARACTERS By Ed. Larkin A. M. late Fellow of Kings Colledge in Cambridge and now of Limesfield in Surrey Minister LONDON Printed by E. Cotes for Henry Eversden and are to be sold at his Shop at the Greyhound in St. Pauls-Church yard 1659. ΕΙΚΩΠΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΩΠOR THE Philosophers In their Express IMAGES By E. Larkin M. A. and late Fellow of Kings Colledge in Cambridge now of Limesfield in Surrey Minister LONDON Printed by E. Cotes for Henry Eversden and are to be sold at his Shop at the Greyhound in St. Pauls-Church-yard 1659. TO THE Right Worshipfull Sir WILLIAM HAWARD OF TANDRIDGE KNIGHT A great Honourer of LEARNING and Learned Men. Noble SIR HAving considered of some few choice Philosophers and Historians when spare houres were for such pleasing Recreations I have here represented them in as brief Characters as I could onely begging your favourable View of them Sir your high Deserts in respect of your Excellent Parts and your large Improvement of them in all Literature together with that serene Candour which is in you to Admiration have emboldned me to make these rude Draughts yours and to shroud them under the Wings of your great Name I know I have pitcht upon as a most Judicious so a most Candid Patron And were I sure to meet with as gentle a Reader I should not then feare that black Coale which young Writers so much dread Sir your Indulgent Acceptance of this so mean a Present will tye me to you with the strongest Cords of Observance and force me not only to write but also to shew myself ever more Yours to Honour and Reverence You Edw. Larkin The Names of the Philosophers as they are handled in order HErmes Pythagoras Democritus Heraclytus Socrates Plato Epicurus Zeno Chrysippus Cleanthes Anaxagoras Carneades Aristoteles Diogenes Theophrastus Seneca Plinius Plutarchus Apollonius Tyan Epictetus Arianus Plotinus Porphyrius Maximus Tyrius Boethius Whereunto are added the Characters of those two most Eminent Physitians HIppocrates Galenus THE CHARACTERS Of the chief of the PHILOSOPHERS Hermes i. e. Mercurius HErmes i. e. Mercurius called by Gyraldus Trismegistus because he was in three respects great as a Philosopher as a Priest and as a King He was esteemed as the wisest of the Egyptians and is thought by learned Suidas to have flourished in the World before Pharaoh He calls him Termaximum not upon that account as Gyraldus doth but because he spake something that did intimate to him he had some acknowledgment of the Trinity Lactantius expresseth this wise Ancient in his Book de Ira Dei where he saith Ob virtutem multarumque artium Scientiam Trismegistus nominatus non modo Plaâ—one verum etiam Pythagora septemque illis sapientibus antiquior Hermes named Trismegistus for his Vertue and Science of many Arts not only more ancient then Plato but Pythagoras also and the seven wise Men. Lypsius tells us That though he was an Egyptian and a Heathen man Tamen in eo multa esse mysteria arcana nostrae legis Yet there are in him many mysteries and secrets of our Law I 'le let him pass with those Verses of Joseph Scaliger Quid vetus ejusdem Tyrannus aulae terque maximus Nili Regnator Hermes qui logisticis punctis Collegit astra coelici penetraliâ— Reseravit adyta venit ad Deos ipsos Coelo potitus sic per astra captivo Pythagoras PYthagoras the Samian Philosopher was the Son of Mâ—esarchus a Jeweller of whom it is sayd That in the Trojan War his Name should be Euphorbus according to that of the Poet Trojani Tempore belli Panthoides Euphorbus eram But being there slain and afterwards reviving he was called thenceforward Pythagoras whence arose that mad opinion of the Pythagorean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby they report that there is a migration of Souls out of one body into another as they suit each with other in their Constitutions and Tempers so that according to this principle if a man of a fierce and fiery disposition dies then his Spirit goes into some wild and ravenous Beast such as is the Bear or Lyon and so their Bodies are inform'd with an humane Soul Now what a Chimaera this is I need not stand to shew it being in its self absurd and monstrous unto every eye This Philosopher is by Justinus in his Dialogue with Tryphon joyn'd with the great Plato and cal'd with him Vir sapiens quasi murus praesidiumque Philosophiae A Wise man and as it were the Wall and Bulwark of Philosophy Valerius Maximus in his seventh Book stiles him perfectissimum opus sapientiae Wisdomes most perfect Work And Plutarch tells us That the Decrees of him and of Empedocles were the only Laws of the Ancient Graecians He was against any mans eating of things wherein there was Blood and Life as is expressed by the Poet in the fifteenth Book of his Metamorphosis I 'le conclude him with that of Lypsius Ejus singula sententiarum frusta gemmas habent All his Crusts of Sentences have their Jewels Democritus DEmocritus Sirnamed Abderites and called as Suidas saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod inania hominam studia derideret Because he derided the vain Studies of men Aelianus further calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wisdome and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he was learned in Physicks Ethicks Mathematicks and in all other liberall Arts and Disciplines Epicurus in Laertius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Censurer of toyes Or else as Hadrianus Jun. would have it read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Philosopher placing himself in his Garden scituate neer the City Walls did there purposely put out the sight of his Eyes that he might be the better disposed for Contemplation His Opinion was That all things were made of Atomes and that there were more Worlds then one He learned Theologie and Astronomy from the Chaldeans He bought himself to great want by reason of his tedious and frequent Travaile which he undertook for no other end but to advantage his Knowledge by them He was the first Anotamist Pliny calls him Virum sagacem vitae utilissimum He lived untill he was very Aged as being an hundred and nine years old when he dyed He wasted himself in supplying the necessities of other men His Father was so rich in Substance that it is reported of him that he entertained Xerxes huge and mighty numerous Host with a sumpteous Banquet Heraclitus HEraclitus the Ephesian Philosopher had affections quite contrary to those of Democritus for he would weep at every Object as the other laughed He is by Suidas cal'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—bscure and dark because he so clouded all his Speeches that the best eyed and most judicious Philosophers could very hardly discover the
meaning of them Some say that he never had any Master to instruct him but that he learnt all he knew by his own only labour and industry however others affirm that he was Schoold both by Xenocrates and Hippasus the Pythagorean Declining in years he fell into a Dropsie but would not use the help of Physitians for the curing of him At last tumbling himself all over Head and Ears in Dung he was torn in pieces by greedy Dogs or as some others say overwhelmed and smothered in the Dirt. Pliny sayes of him that for his rigour and inflexible roughness of nature he was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man without passion In Laertius we meet with this Epigram upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was stiled by Epicurus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Ape or Affectatour as also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mero bibus he said of himself that when he was young he knew nothing and when he came to ripe years he was ignorant of nothing He flourisht in the Reign of the last Darius the Persian he wrote many things in a Poeticall strein and way and is often times cited by the great Peripatetick Aristotle There were four others of this Name Socrates SOcrates the Athenian Philosopher was the Son of Soproniscus and Phanarota his Father being a Statuary and his Mother a Midwife He had two Wives whereof one was named Xantippe a Woman of an unquiet turbulent and restless Spirit of whom its nois'd that whilst her labouring husband was reading of his grave Lectures and in serious conference with his Disciples she would frequently break in upon them and overturn the Tables on purpose to vex him whence the good man was called as we read in Seneca Perpessitius Senex per omnia aspera jactatus Invictus tamen It was his frequent saying Quae supra nos nibil ad nos Those things which are above us are nothing to us The Delphick Oracle spake thus of him as it is noted in Aristophanes his Nubibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sophacles is wise Euripides wiser but of all men Socrates is the wisest Eunapius cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A living Image of Wisdome Valerius Maximus Humanae sapientiae quasi quoddam terrestre oraculum As it were an earthly Oracle of humane wisdome Heinsius Solem sapientiae only Zeno of all men adventures to disparage him in calling him Scurram Atticum Quintilian affirms that he was the first Philosopher that brought down Wisdome from Heaven and placed it here on earth in the habitations of men He learned to play upon the Harp when he was somewhat aged he was compeld to drink a draught of Poyson and so he dyed I 'le add but his Character from Maximus Tyrius Homo saies he corpore purissimus animo optimus vivendi ratione perfectissimus in dicendo suavissimus qui pie cum Deo sancte cum hominibus versabatur A man most pure in body and best in mind most perfect in his way of living and most sweet in his expressions one that lived piously with God and holily with Men. Plato PLato the Prince of the Academick Sect was the Son of Ariston and Parectonia so cal'd as Appuleius saith A corporiâ— habitudine from the habitude of his Body for he had broad Sholders whereas before he was named Aristocles Being young he acquired the Art of Limning and spent also some time then in composing of Poems and Tragedies when he grew in years he followed Socrates from whom he suckt his Rudiments of Philosophy wherein he so out-stript all others of his time that as Cicero saies he was accounted Deus Philosophorum the God of the Philosophers and cal'd as in the Epigram 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tully further in his Book de Divinatione telleth us That being a Child and lying in his Cradle a Swarm of Bees ligted upon his Lips and thence it was answered That he should prove the sweetest of all Oratours His Eloquence was thus foreseen in his Infancy and to it doth that Epigram of Owens relate Quae primum in labris pueri sedere Platonis In Libris resident usque Platonis apes What sayes Antimachus of him in Cicero's Brutus Plato unus mihi instar omnium millium Plato alone is â—o me as many thousands Maximus Tyrius is bold to affirm That Nature herself never saw any thing more eloquent no not so much as great Homer excepted Panoetius therefore stiles him the Homer of Philosophers Pliny Sapientiae Antistitem The President of Wisdome Salvian Romanum Catonem The Roman Cato Et alium Italiae Socratem And another Socrates of Italy He is further compared by a Philosopher to Moses and cal'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moses speaking in the Artick Dialect Lipsius saith That he uttered many things worthy of the Gods and that though he sometime spake yet he did not think with the Multitude He was named Philosychus because he extreamly loved to seed on Figgs he lived his whole life a Batchelour and as some say He dyed Morbo pediculari Of the lousie Disease Epicurus EPicurus the Head of that Sect called the Epicurian was an Athenian Philosopher of whom it is reported That he should place Mans chiefest happiness in Pleasure yet not with Aristippus in that of the Body but in that of the Mind Seneca tells us that he did Sancta recta praecipere Command things holy and just and that he did Male audire Infamis immerito They further write of him That he should deny the Divine Providence as though all things of the World were upheld and maintained without it what ever these say of him yet Lucretius most highly extolleth him doubting not to affirm That this Epicurus hath as far dim'd the light of other Philosophers as the Sun doth out-shine the other Planets He was a man of most continent life notwithstanding that his placing of mans chief good in Pleasure hath caused this that all voluptuous men are from his Name cal'd Epicurians He writ very much whereupon he is in Diogenes Laertius cal'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas saith That he was seven years old at Plato's death and that when he was a young man he could with much ado get out of his Bed and that his Eyes were so weak that he could not bear the Sun-shine Timocrates cal'd his Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A nocturnall and secret Conventicle he cared not for Logick asserting that Philosophy might be comprehended in simple and naked words Zeno. ZEno the Head of the Stoick Sect was had in so great esteem and admiration with the Athenians as Laertius hath reported that they would dare to commit the custody and trust of their City Keys to him honouring him moreover with a Golden Crown and a brazen Image This man one day hearing a Youth to prate idlely and foolishly spake thus unto him Ideo duas habemus aures os autem unum
ARistoteles the Stagyrite the Son of Nicomachus was the Master of great Alexander of Macedon whose Works were had in that reveeence with Chosroes the King of the Persians that he had gotten them all by heart He was Plato's Auditor at Athens for the space of ten years and so profited in the Study of Philosophy that one would think the Characters which the Learned afforded him are Hyperbolicall and yet some there be that think that they do not transcend the mans merit Cicero calls him Aureum eloquentiae flumen A golden River of Eloquence Plutarch Virum eloquentissimum peritum flectendi animos quaqua vellet A man most eloquent and skilfull to incline and draw mens Minds whithersoever he pleased Averroes informs us that he invented three of the Sciences Logicam Naturalem Divinam and in another place the same Author sayes Aristoteles est regula exemplar quod natura Invenit ad demonstrandam ultimam perfectionem humanam Aristotle is that Rule and Sample which Nature hath found out to demonstrate mans ultimate Perfection He is called by Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Natures Scribe and in the Greek Anthology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To Arnobius he is Pater peripateticorum The Father of Peripateticks To Julius Scaliger Summus acprimus omnium scientiâ—rum dictator The chief and prime Dictator of all Sciences And as the same Author further speaketh Neque ipso Pindaro minor neither inferiour to Pindar himself Lastly He is to Lipsius Summus rerum omnium Judeâ— The chief Judge of all matters It is noys'd that he withstood the learnedst of men divine Plato whence Aelian takes an occasion to bring in great Plato calling his Schollar most unthankfull who like a wanton Calf filled with the Mothers Milk lifts up its Heel against its own Damme He died in the sixty eighth of his Age in the same yeare as did Demosthenes Diogenes Synopensis Diogenes Synopensis the Disciple of the Philosopher Antisthenes who would have him to be his Master even against his will for when he refused to take upon him the charge of Schollars Diogenes would not be put off nor recede from him and when he threatned to strike him with his Staff the Cynick most willingly submitted his Pate to it saying withall Nullus tam dirus baculus est qui me a tuo possit obsequio seperare There is no stick so hard as to be able to seperate me from your Service He was familiarly and frequently called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Dog and being demanded why he was so named his answer was to this purpose Quod iis blandior qui dant in eos vero qui non dant oblatro malos autem mordeo Because I flatter and fawn on those which give and bark at such as give not and for the wicked ones I bite them So that that Verse which the Poet Horace applies to sordid Avidienus may very well suit with this Diogenes Cui Canis ex vero ductum cognomen adhaeret For as it is in Diogenes Laertius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas saith That this Philosopher was eminent for his Valour and Courage as others were for other Vertues Xenocrates for mildness Theophrastus for Gravity Zeno for Austerity and Plato for Majesty The latter of which called this Diogenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Distracted Socrates Being Courted once by Great Alexander and desired to ask of him any thing he liked In answer He wished that the King would not take that from him which he could not give him Alexander being so great a Potentate wondred greatly what that might be and forth with he understood that it was the comfort of the Sun-beans for indeed the King stood betwixt him and the Sun Theophrastus THeophrastus a Philosopher of the City Eresse whence called Eresseus was the Disciple of great Aristotle who departing from his School to Chalcis left this man behind to be his Successor Suidas saith that at the beginning his Name was Tyrtamus but afterwards he was called by Aristotle Euphrastus and at length by some others Theophrastus his Philosophy indeed being Heavenly and Divine It was a familiar speech of his that a learned man could never be Amicorum inops Without Friends the same Seneca hath delivered of the wise man They say that he had two thousand Schollars the like not being affirmed of any Philosopher either before or after him Casaubon saith of him That he was Vir dignissimus qui eo seculo viveret quod tulit Socratem vidit Platonem Aristotelem generi humano dedit Triumviros constituendae philosophiae divinitus sine dubio excitatos A man most worthy to live in that Age that brought Socrates into the World Saw Plato and gave Aristotle to Mankind the Triumâ—iri that were raised by Divine Providence for the constitution of Philosophy Therefore he saith further of him Seeing he was as it were bred in the very Bosome of those It is no wonder if he arrived to that deptst of Learning and vein of Eloquence that nothing could seem to proceed from him which was not every way thought perfect by all that were studious of Wisdome He is stiled by Scaliger in his Poetices Divina vir eloquentia A man of divine Eloquence and by Aegllius Suavitate homo insigni linguae pariter ac vitae One both for Tongue ana Life of eminent Sweetness Plutarch affirms how that the Roman Orator M. Tullius was wont to call him his Deliciae his Works are commemorated by Diogenes He died very aged Lucius Annaeus Seneca LVcius Annaeus Seneca of Corduba in Spain was a Stoick Philosopher and the Master of Domitius Nero by whom he was very ill recompensed for all his Learned and good Instructions for that same Monster of men compelled him to open his own Veins and to let out his own blood and that only out of a suspition that he had been one of Piso's Conspiracy He was called as Gyraldus well observes Moralis The Moralist whom Fabius in his tenth Book stiles Egregium vitiorum insectatorem An eminent Scourger of the Vices Quamvis in philosophia parum diligentem Although not so diligent in his Philosophy as the same Author there notes But Pontanus in his Observations upon Macrobius his Saturnals names him Romana philosophiae Syrenem The Syren of the Latine Philosophy And Lipsius Magnum inter magnos virum sapientiae fontem Great amongst the great ones and the Fountain of Wisdome He further calls him an Author amongst all others most praise worthy and for the Study of Vertue almost a Christian his matter was so sweet to him that he could not chuse but break thus out Pura coelo digna mens ad coelum alios subducens O pure Mind and worthy of Heaven and drawing others to Heaven Erasmus could say this also of the man Si legas illum ut paganum scripsit Christiane si ut christianum scripsit paganice If thou readest him as a
were others likewise of this Name but none equall to him in Repute and Fame Zenophon ZEnophon the Son of Gryllus was the Disciple of Socrates and an Historian of Athens he was called for the sweetness of his stile Musa Attica The Athenian Muse he was the first of the Philosophers that writ an History wherein he shewed himself a most accurate Imitatour of Socrates Cicero affirmeth of him That his Speech is sweeter then Honey and that the Muses did as it were use his Language when they spake He is stiled Apis Attica The Athenian Bee by Laertius as before Musa Attica The Athenian Muse by Suidas P. Cornelius Africanus was so high an Esteemer of him and his History that he would never suffer him to be out of his hands and Lucius Lucullus who was sent against that subtle and potent Enemy Mithrydates being himself but a raw and unskilfull Warriour yet by reading the Works of this Zenophon he so bettered his Judgment in Military Affaires that at last he subdued him and triumphed over him The stile of this man is sublime and his Expression Candid so saith Dempster Agellius informes us that he lived sometimes in variance with great Plato There were three more of this Name one of Antioch another of Ephesus and a third of Cyprus so saith the learned Suidas Polybius POlybius an Historian of Megalopolis a City of Arcadia was the Master of Scipio Africanus he wrote the Roman History in forty Books beginning from the Banishment of Cleomenes the Spartan and Philip the Son of Perseus and afterwards joyning the Roman Affaires with the Macedonian where this man ends Possidonius proceeds as also doth Strabo Cicero and Plutarch with many others of the Learned do in his Philosophy admire his Learning in his Manners his Honesty and in his History his prudence Titus Livius was so great an Admirer of his Works that he would be perpetually writing of them and rehearsing them as though they had been the Product of his own Brain And Marcus Brutus that eminent Censurer both of Mens Writings and Manners to whom Cicero himself could not give sufficient satisfaction would never suffer this Polybius to be out of his hands Cicero stiles him Bonum Autorem A good Author Lipsius saith Recta salutaria ubique esse ejus monita That his Admonitions and Counsels are every where right and wholsome And its Vossius his Character of him Cedit uni altetique Graecorum eloquentia civili prudentia scientia militari nulli secundus He is inferiour to one or other of the Greeks for Eloquence but for civil Prudence and military Science he is behind none of them Herodotus HErodotus of Hallycarnassius an excellent Historian wrote nine Books of History calling them by the Names of the Muses he began from Cyrus King of the Persians This man being discontented at the Tyranny of Lygdanus withdrew himself to Samus but afterwards returned upon the Tyrants expulsion he is called Thurius Scriptor because being envied by his Fellows he departed to Thurius a Colony of the Athenians where he wrote his History Cicero calls him Patrem Historiae The Father of History and Quintilian saith That he is both Dulcis candidus fusus Sweet candid and flowing Thucidides would be present at the reciting of his Books and upon the hearing them read unto him he would frequently fall on weeping Dionysius Halycarnassius makes him the chief of the Historians as Sophocles of the Tragaedians and Plato of the Philosophers Scaliger could say of him Herodoti libros mihi difficilius est deponere quam cyathum It s more difficult to me to lay aside Herodotus his Books then the Cup he died either at Thurius or at Pella and where he died there he was buried Dionysius Halycarnassius DIonysius Halycarnassius the Son of Alexander wrote eleven Books of the Roman Antiquities he flourished according to the Judgment and report of Suidas in the Reigne of Caesar Augustus Eo accuratius tempora nemo observavit sayes Scaliger of him No man observed the times with more diligence and care then he Some prefer him before Livie because he seems to deliver many things pertinent to the Roman Antiquities with more accurateness then other Writers his stile is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To savour of comely novity he was a noble Censurer of other mens Labours and Stile even as Quintilian was amongst the Latines being a Rhetorician and Critick of that Repute and Credit that all men would close with his Sentence and Judgment Dempster calls him Historicorum clarissimum eloquentissimum veracissimum antiquitatis studiosissimum omnium ultissimum The most famous most eloquent most true most studious of Antiquities and the most profitable of all Historians Besides his History he wrote the Characters of the ancient Orators together with a Method of composing Epithalamies Epitaphs and Panegyricks all which were translated into Latine by Theodore Gaza Caius Julius Caesar CAius Julius Caesar the Founder of the Roman Empire is very well Characteriz'd by Velleius Paterculus whose words I shall hear recite Secutus deinde Consulatus Caii Caesariis qui scribenti manum injicit quamlibet festinantem in se morari cogit Then followed the Consulship of Caius Caesar who as I am writing layeth his hand upon me and what haft soever I am in constrains me to pause upon him he being extracted from the most noble Julian Family which was accounted by all men of the greatest Antiquity deriving his Descent from Anchises and Venus of person the most lovely of all the Citizens of Rome in vivacity of Spirit most sharp in Bounty most liberall of Courage either above the nature or belief of any mâ—n in greatness of his Desires Celerity in execution Patience in dangers most neerly resembling that great Alexander but him sober and not transported with Anger Finally That used both Sleep and Meat to live and not for Voluptuousness this is Paterculus his Figuration of him Now if his Person and Qualities were so Eminently Illustrious we cannot but estimate his Writings also conformable Quintilian saith thus of him C. Julius Caesar si foro tantum vacasset non alius ex nostris contra Ciceronem nominaretur Had Caesar onely imployed his time at the place of Pleas he and none else of all the Romans might have been opposed to Cicero Vnus mihi saith Gyraldus Caeteros vicisse scribendo pugnando videtur He alone seemed to me to have overcome both in Writing and Fighting Lipsius speaks him an Historian eloquent his Language pure without any meritricious Paintings worthy of the Roman or the Athenian Muses And Dempster compares him with the best of the Orators Velleius Paterculus VElleius Paterculus was at the first a Military Tribune in Thrace afterwards Praefect of the Horse in Germany Then Quaestor then Tiberius his Legate in the Pannonian Warre all which he publisheth of himself in his own History He sprang out of the eminent Princes of Campaine he wrote his
History in the sixteenth yeare of Tiberius his Ancestors were all famous for Military Discipline he dedicated his two Books of History to Marcus Vinicius Tacitus maketh mention of him in the sixth of his Annals where speaking of his Descent he tels us that his Father and Grandfather were of Consular Degree and Dignity a great part of what he writ is lost Vossius thus Characteriseth him and in his little Work Dictio ejus plane Romana ac elegans Quaedam etiam habet quae haud alibi invenias sed in sui aevi rebus nimis Domui Augustae Sejano adulatur His phrase of Speech is truly Roman and elegant he hath also some things which you may not elswhere meet with but in the Affaires of his owne time he too much flatters both Caesars House and Sejanus Dempster herein complies with Vossius who speaking of his History affirms it to be Styli elegantis sed pudendae adulationis of elegant Stile but of shamefull Adulation I 'le end with that of Lipsius Compendium Velleianum laudabile fuit sed potior pars periit judicio ordine tamen scriptum quod exemplar pleniori Chronologiae sit ad Imitandum Velleius his Epitome was worthy of praise but the better part thereof is perisht yet written judiciously and with order and which may be an Imitable Platform to a more full Chronology Diodorus Siculus DIodorus Siculus of Agyrium a Towne in Sicily according to the Geograpy of Cluverius though others call it Argyrium and Angyrium lived in the Reign of Julius Caesar as Eusebius reporteth and yet this contradicteth not learned Suidas who would have him to flourish in the time of Augustus and so he did his Life reaching unto the midst of his long Domination He wrote an Historicall Library or as the Sholiast of Aristophanes calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Librarie of Histories who gave it that appellation because it was Catholick as treating of the Affaires of the Egyptians Assyrians Medians Persians Romans Graecians Carthaginians and others and this Work of his he comprized in forty books the Argument whereof he setteth down in his Preface where he also saith that he was full thirty years in compiling of it much of the time being consumed in Travell through Asia and Europe of all which Books we have at present but fifteen remaining What he writ was highly commended both by Justine Martyr and Eusebius and yet Ludovicus Vives reprehends his Matter and Bodinus his Phrase but Photius the Patriarch had a more noble opinion of him who saith Vsum esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he used a perspicuous Phrase of Speech not too much adorned with Tropes but most convenient for an History I 'le let him pass with the phrase of Stephanus Quantum solis lumen inter stellas tantum inter omnes quotquot ad nostra tempora pervenerunt historicos si utilitatis potius quam voluptatis habenda sit ratio noster hic Diodorus eminere dici potest As far as the Suns light is beyond the Stars so far doth our Diodorus excell the Historians of our times if so be that we regard rather profit then pleasure And Dempster expresseth him to be an Author of ancient Erudition and blames nothing else in him but his corrupt Roman Names Crispus Sallustius CRispus Sallustius was born at Amiternum of the Sabines the year after that Catullus was at Verona and died four years after the Actiack War as Eusebius hath recorded He was Tribune of the People that same year that Cicero was recalled from banishment and Clodius slaine of Milo and in that Tribuneship of his he behaved himself very loosly for being taken in Adultry with Fausta L. Sylla's Daughter he was scourged with Rods by Milo which was the cause that he acted with the Clodian Party against him he was removed the Senate for his Adulteries and Rapes by Claudius Pulcher and Calpurnius Piso though afterwards restored again by Julius Caesar Dion records that he was set over Numidia which he exceedingly pillaged but was absolved of the Crime by the very power that advanced him yet the Infamy ever stuck to him as one that acted those Obliquities which he highly condemned in all others he was at length so enricht with his Numidian Rapes that he bought those stately Buildings on the Quirinall Hill which were afterwards called Sallustii forum The Court of Sallustius His Deportment was so extravagant in his publick Capacities that in respect of his Conversation it prevented him of all Praise however his Writings were ever matter of Applause unto him being a good Writer though a bad man The Ancients do judge his phrase of Speech to be brief and finuous as one that aemulated Thucidides Turnebus calls him Scriptorem Atticum The Athenian Writer and one that comes neerer to Demosthenes then Cicero himself did Tacitus in the third of his Annals stiles him Rerum Romanarum florentissimum autorem A most flourishing Author of Roman Affaires Scaliger calls him Patrem Historiae The Father of History Scriptorem seriae severae orationis Agellius a Writer of serious and severe Speech Principem senatus Historici Lysius the chief of the Historian Senate Romana primum in historia Martial the first for the Roman Story And S. Augustine calls him Nobilitatae veritatis historicum An Historian of enobled Verity Titus Livius Patavinus TItus Livius Patavinus called by Seneca in his first Book De ira vir disertissimus A most eloquent man flourished in the Reigns of Caesar Augustus and Tiberius in the beginning of the latters Reign he compiled his History consisting of an hundred and forty two Books as Petrarch reporteth though others will have two bated of the said number Therein be comprized all the Roman Affaires from the Foundation of the City to the German War which was managed by Drusus of all which Books there are but left remaining thirty and five No Writer expresseth more Majesty and plenty then this Historian Quintilian stiles it Lacteam ubertatem and compares him to Herodotus as Sallustius to Thucidides On the other-side it s written of Caligula one of the Roman Majesties That he much vilified him calling him Verbosum Likewise Asinius Pollio quarrelling with his Phrase was wont to say that he found therein a smack of Patavinity But the forementioned Emperour did so distaste him that he threatned his removall and ejâ—ction out of all the Roman Libraries but no wonder that he was thus transported against this noble Historian when as those two renowned Poets Virgil and Homer could not escape his Censure nay he was like to consume them if we may believe Suetonius in these his words Cogitavit de Homeri carminibus abolendis cur enim sibi non liceret dicens quod Platoni licuit qui eum a civitate quam constituebat ejecerit sed Virgilii Titi Livii scripta paulum abfuit quin ex omnibus bibliothecis amoverit quorum alterum nullius ingenii minimaeque
doctrinae alterum ut verbosum in historia negligentemque earpebat He thought of abolishing Homers Verses saying Why should it not be as lawfull for him to do it as it was for Plato who cast him out of that City wherof he was the Founder But the Judgment of this Savage Prince was no way prejudiciall to those two renowned Authors and as little to this eminent Historian let us therefore heare what better heads have sayd of him He is called by Barthius Patavina Syren The Patavinian Mearmaid Gruterus stiles him Historiae latinae principem The Prince of the Latine History Lipsius Historicorum uberrimum Of Historians the most plentifull And againe sayes the same Author In Livio nimia nobis bona In Livy we meet with things that are too good for us Valerius Maximus VAlerius Maximus lived after Velleius Paterculus as may be made to appeare from his depressing and disgracing of Sejanus whilst Paterculus beyond the bounds of all Moderation parasitically extolls him which shews that when Paterculus writ Sejanus was in his full Greatness and Glory but when Valerius compiled his Collections he was under judgment contempt and Ignominy as his own words do cleerly manifest which are as followeth Eum speaking of Sejanus omni cum stirpe sua Populi Romani pedibus obtritum etiam apud Inferos si tamen illuc receptus est quae meretur supplicia pendere He flourished under Caesar Tiberius for he saith in his second Book and eighth Chapter That he went with Sextus Pompeius into Asia which Pompey was Consull with Sextus Appuleius on that very yeare that Augustus died and so were the first Consulls which sware Alleagiance to Tiberius Further it s proved that he lived then from another passage in his fifth Book where speaking of Marcus Antonius he saith that he was the famous Orator of his Grandfathers time Now this Antony flourished in Julius Caesars Reign Again considering the Language wherewith he scourgeth the Parricide Brutus all to gratifie the care of Tiberius and that Speech of his also in reference to Cassius whom he would not have named without a Note of the grandest Infamy All these Arguments may cleerly convince that he lived after Paterculus in the Reign of the Emperour Tiberius Neither doth the meanness of his Language any way gainsay it for Cicero himselfe could complaine in his time which was many years before that the Roman Tongue began even then to be corrupt through the reception of Forreiners no wonder therefore if this Authors Speech did somewhat decline from that sweet purity that was in the Age before it However let us heare what Testimonies either of Merit or Demerit the Ancients have afforded him It s Caussinus Character of him Valerius Maximus ut Aegyptus Homerica bonis malis mixtus est in plerisque enim est acutus subtilis in plerisque durus obscurus ad plebeium sermonem abjectus a puritate candore latini sermonis longius discedit Est tamen in eo jucunda tot Historiarum quasi florum congesta varietas brevitas narrationum acuminibus sententiarum non raâ—o â—am apte aspersa ut nihil videatur Amaenius Valerius Maximus as Homers Aegyt mixt with good and bad things for he is in very many of them acute and subtile and againe in many hard and obscure and being immerst into the Vulgar Dialect he deviates far from the purity and candor of the Latine Phrase yet there is in him a sweet variety of so many Histories as it were Flowers gathered into a heap and shortness of Narrations with acuteness of Sentences not seldome so aptly scattered that nothing seems more delightfull Thus Caussin Dempster no way detracts from him for he stiles him Authorem rerum varietate eloquentiaque incomparabilem An Author incomparable both for variety of things and for his Eloquence Onely this he saith in his disparagement That he did Sola adulationis foeditate vilescere onely become vile through the deformity of Adulation And another calls him Ineptum affectatorem sententiarum quanquam non inutilem propter exempla A Fond Affectator of Sentences though not unprofitable for examples Quintus Curtius Rufus QVintus Curtius Rufus filled the World with the Exploits of Great Alexander his History being contained in ten Books two whereof are lost yet supplyed by an addition from some other There is a passage in his tenth Book which discovers the Age he lived in which passage is after this manner Proinde jure meritoque Populus Romanus salutem se principi suo debere fatetur Which Prince who it should be the Learned agree not Some wil have him to be Caesar Augustus but that Opinion cannot well stand because he brought not peace along with him as who had civil Wars for the space of thirteen years Others affirm that it may be Claudius Caesar and that those Hurli-burlies before mentioned might relate to the slaughter of Caligula and the Confusions which happened thereupon but this Opinion also is very rationally impugned by some learned Ones Now a third sort refers it to the Reign of the Emperour Vespasian and that because the foregoing words of the Historian may suite well with those Distractions that happened upon the death of Nero when Romes Dominion was sought by force of Armes between Galba Otho and Vitellius And this is the Judgment of Rutgersius and Vossius That he flourisht in the Reign of Vespasian of whom it s reported that he should teach Rhetorick in the last yeare of Tiberius which might well be considering that there were but two and thirty yeares betwixt that and the Reign of Vespasian he being young when a Rhetoritian and old when an Historian Vossius thus advanceth him Vsque adeo auctor est is verborum eligens nec perspicue minus quam terse scribit Acuius etiam est in sententiis inque orationibus mire disertus Imo vel Augustaeo aevo digna esus est dictio vel proxime abit That he is an Author very choice in his words neither writes he less perspicuously then neatly He is also acute in his Sentences and in his Orations wonderfully eloquent Nay his Phrase is worthy of the Age of Augustus or else that which immediatly followed it Lipsius stiles him Historicum proprium principum assidue iis in manu sinuque habendum An Historian proper for Princes and dayly to be had in their hands and Bosomes Floriditas Curtiana quatenus laudanda sayes C. Barthinus Alphonsus King of Arragon being very sick and his Physitians having tryed all the waies they could to cure him with their Physick but therein failing he though very weak on the sudden sell to reading of the History of Great Alexander written by this Curtius and thereupon he recovered crying out Valeant Avicenna Hippocrates caeteri medici vivat Curtius sospitator meus Away with Avicenna Hippocrates and other Physitians and let Curtius live my onely Recoverer Cornelius Tacitus COrnelius Tacitus in some old Editions called by the
name of Publius but misliked of and rejected by the learned he wrote his History in the Reign of the Emperour Nerva and not when Trajane Governed as will appeare by his stiling of Nerva Divus but not Trajan he writ his Annalls after his History although they be placed before it He begins them with the death of Augustus and ends them within two years of the death of Nero. Besides his said Annalls and History he left behind him a Book of the Scituation of Germany and the manners of that People as also a Treatise of the life of his Father-in-Law Julius Agricola which he writ in Trajans time Vossius comparing his History with his Annalls speaketh thus of them Dictio Taciti floridior uberiorque in Historiarum est libris pressior siociorque in Annalibus Interim gravis utrobique disertus The Speech of Tacitus is more florid and copious in the Books of his Histories more contracted and more dry in his Annalls In the mean every where Grave and Eloquent However Alciatus a man well learned prefers Paulus Jovius far before him in comparison of which Author he cals the Lines of this Tacitus but Senticeta Bryars but this was sayd by him in regard of his transcendent Affection to his Friend Jovius But the Emperour M. Claudius Tacitus so highly honoured this Historian that he placed his image in all the Libraries and caused his Books to be ten times transcribed in one yeare by his Notaries for feare of perishing Sidonius saith of him that he should be never mentioned without praise Tacitus nunquam sine laude loquendus Lipsius calls him Sallustii imitatorem The Immitator of Sallustius and of whom he also further saith Quod est omni virtute antiquis proximus si linguae latinae esset eadem puritas caeteris sic perfectus ut vocare illos ipsos antiquos in certamen possit dignitatis That he is in every Vertue next unto the Ancients and if there were but in him the same purity of Language in other matters be is so perfect that he might contend for Dignity with those very Ancients The foresaid Critick moreover stiles him Acrem prudentem scriptorem A sharp and prudent Writer The first five Books of this singular good Author were found hid at Corbeia and being brought to Leo the Great the person which presented them was rewarded with five hundred Pieces Owen has an Epigram upon him with which I shall end his Character Veracem fecit probitas Natura sagacem Obscurum brevitas te Gravitasque brevem Lucius Annaeus Florus LVcius Annaeus Florus flourished as some are of opinion neer the end of the Reign of the Emperour Trajan though others will have it to be in the time of Adrian The Prologue of his History Discovers the Age that he lived in A Caesare Augusto in seculum nostrum saith he sunt non multo minus anni ducenti From Caesar Augustus to our time there are not much fewer then two hundred years But there is a grand mistake in the very number for if we will compute the term of years which interven'd between Augustus and Trajan we shall find that its short of it by fifty and therefore Vossius taking speciall notice thereof will have the number to be but an hundred and fifty It hath been a generall opinion that this Author should be the Epitomizer of that voluminous History of Titus Livius but they which will well observe him will find much of Discrepancy or difference betwixt them There are some that disagree likewise concerning his very name occasioned by Lactantius in his seventh Book of Institutions where he thus writes Non inscite Seneca Romanae urbis tempora distinguit in aetates Soneca doth not unwittily distinguish the times of the Roman City into Ages But questionless they were distinct and different persons onely the one did imitate the other as Florus Seneca However it cannot be denyed but that Florus was of the Family of the Senecaes and therefore called in the ancient Books by the Name of Seneca and Annaeus as well as Julius The Senecaes being all of them Branches of the Annean Family Now for his Character we may receive it from that excellent Grammarian Gerardus Vossius who speaking of him in his Book of the Latine Historians thus extolls him Ea potissima est Flori nostri laus quod scriptor est elegans disertus si paucula exceperis quae frigidius dicta videntur vere floridus That is the principall commendation of our Florus that he is a Writer elegant and eloquent and if you will but except some few things which seem more coldly spoken by him he is truly florid As for his stile it is declamatory and neerer unto Poeticall as one that powreth out Virgils Hemisticks Flavius Josephus FLavius Josephus a Jew was the Son of Matthathias born in the first year of Caius Caligula by the Mother-side neerly related to the Royall Stock of the Maccabes As for his Sect he was a Pharisee which Sext among the Jews was not unlike the Stoicks of the Gentiles He when he was arrived at the Age of twenty six years repaired to the Roman Court that he might there mediate with the Caesarean Majesty for those Priests which Felix the Governour had for some petty Offences cast into Prison Now arriving at Rome and falling into Favour with Poppaea Augustus Caesars Wife his success was such that he did not onely procure liberty for the Captives but was dismissed with bountifull Rewards but soon after returning into his Country and upon an insurrection being chosen chief Captain of those Galilaeans which rebelled was at length besieged in Jotapata and the City being taken by assault he was commmitted unto safe Custody that he might be sent thence to give an account of his Sedition unto Caesar Now being advertized of the Enemies design towards him he requested the favour of Conference with the Generall Vespasian into whose presence as soon as he was admitted he saluted him with a Praediction that he should be Emperour Vespasian at first supposed that he devised that shift thereby to procure his liberty but on the suddain receiving Intelligence of the death both of Nero and Galba as also news of the Civill Wars already commencing between Otho and Vitellius he forthwith not onely discharged him of his Restraint but cloathed him with such Apparell too as might suit with his Education and Condition Now soon after these Attempts and providences that followed them he accompanied that Heroe Titus to the Siege of Jerusalem which Siege he Ingenuously described and commended it when finisht to Vespasian and his Son Titus The latter of the two approving it by a Subscription from his Royall hand and afterwards commanding it to be received into the publick Library This Author writ also the Jewish Antiquities which work was perfected by him in the thirteenth year of the Reign of Domitian Many there were that undervalued the Faith of this Writer
Miracle of Nature Others Natures utmost Strength And others otherwise Casaubon honours him with the Title of Tripos whereto all which are in doubt are to repaire And the same Grammarian further resembleth him to the ancient and wise Cato Plane quod de Catone olim dictum versatile ingenium sic illi pariter ad omnia fuisse ut natum ad id unum diceres quodcunque ageret id verissimum in eo reperiri non seria magis quam lusus evincunt Truly that which was heretofore said of Cato That he had a Wit so pregnant and prompt to every thing that you would say it was formed for the very thing whatsoever it was he was about Now that this is found to be most true in this very man his serious Affairs do not more evince it then his Sports I l'e end him with that of Heinsius Vir sine exemplo magnus A man Great without his Peer Justus Lipsius JVstus Lipsius is saluted by Pareus with the name of the Belgick Seneca and called by Schottus the very Eye of the Low Countries by Woverius Amor deliciae Generis humani The Love and Darling of Man-kind by Gruterus Apex eruditionis reconditae The top of all mysterious Learning By Dausqueius Seculi literati Sydus The Star of the learned Age and by one more Deliciae Musarum The Muses Delights Acidalius in his Readings upon Paterculus gives him this excellent ensuing Character Quem virum per omnia Diis quam hominibus ingenio propiorem uti lumen unicum numen aevi nostri colo veneror praeter omnes quos ille admiratores cultoresque ubique habuit plurimos Which man in all things for Wit more neer the Gods then Men as the onely light and Deity of our Age I love and reverence beyond those many Honourers and Admirers which he hath I l'e add to this but that of Heinsius Lipsius suavissimae quidem sed inimitabilis ut ipse judicabat ne tentandae quidem aliis eloquentiae vir Lipsius a man of most sweet and yet of unimitable Eloquence and as he himself did judge not to be aspir'd unto by any others And therefore it was well said by Gaulterus That he was Major omni invidia Above all Envy Janus Gruterus JAnus Gruterus an excellent Grammarian and Critick is commended by Caspar Barthius for his skill in correcting what in any learned Author may be amiss Vir sayes he emendandi prudentissimus ac perspicacissimus Dempster extolls him for a Critick of incomparable reading and Judgment calling him Seculi sui alterum Varronem Another Varro of that age he lived in Barthius advanceth his prudence Honesty Learning and Wit Praestantissimus Gruterus vir intime bonus prudens super quam credibile eruditus acutus But of all men Pareus bursts forth into a strange admiration of him Janus Gruterus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qui vir 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 criticorum hujus seculi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cujus scripta merum Nectar spirant Ambrosiam Janus Gruterus a Wonderment which man is an Eagle in the Clouds the Alpha and Omega of the Criticks of this Age whose Writings breath forth meer Nectar and Ambrosia Caspar Barthius CAspar Barthius is called by one of the Learned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and graced by Pareus with this following Periphrasis Clarissimum Germaniae lumen columen nutantium literarum The most clear light of Germany and the very Prop of staggering Learning One saith of the Books he writ that they are such that we can scarce read the Indexes of them without astonishmment much less the Books themselves Another thus Characters him Varro alter si quisquam merito dicendus qui tam multa legit ut aliquid ei scribere vacare miremur tam multa scribit quam vix quenquam legere posse credamus Worthy to be called another Varro if any man may be so named who reads so many things that we may wonder he had time to write writes so many things as that we may think no man able to read them I le end all with that Hyberbolicall Eulogy given him by one that Comments upon Musaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The all-seeing Eye of the Graces ΣΧΗ̄ΜΑ ΡΗΤΟΡΩ̄ΠOR THE ORATORS In their right SHAPES Antiphon ANtiphon an Orator of Athens was the first that did write an Oration and delivered Precepts concerning it whereupon he is stiled by Suidas the most ancient of the Orators of whom Cicero saith in his Brutus That no man ever went beyond him in pleading of Causes of life and death as it appeared when he pleaded his own Case No marvell therefore if the foresaid Suidas calls him Nestor and after Gorgius the Prince of Orators And Philostratus who writ the Lives of the Sophists gives him also the same Character and withall inserts the reason Because he was able to perswade in whatsoever he proposed He used to sell his Pleadings at a very high rate so that he became thereby wondrous wealthy he was Contemporary with Socrates with whom he had frequent Conferences Zenophon relates one that he had with that Philosopher he studied also Poetry and profest that the had an Art thereby to drive away all sadness Plutarch tells us that he lived in an hired House neer the Forum where he published by Pen and Paper that he could cure all griefs so that when any made their addresses to him and related the causes of their sorrows he very sweetly allayed them I read not who was his Master but Plutarch acquaints us that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His own Instructer I 'le but add a word from Thuoidides which concers him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 second to none of his time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And one that was most excellent both for Invention and Elocution Suidas saith that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Master of this Thucidides Gorgias GOrgias was a Rhetor of Scicily the Disciple of Empedocles and the Master of Isocrates and other Orators as Cicero hath recorded of whom Philostratus hath said this That as soon as he came forth into the Athenian Forum he was wont to say continually Propound to me what you please and I will forthwith speak copiously to it vanting unto them that he knew all things and could discourse excellently well on every Subject Whence sayes the same Author it was Proverbiall Gorgias his Eloquence Caelius Rhodiginus informs us that his Oratory was had in so great esteem amongst the Athenians that they would call those dayes wherein he was to plead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and his Orations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He gained so much Wealth by his Rhetorick that of all the Orators which ever were he was the first that placed a Statue of beaten Gold within the Temple of Apollo Delphicus whereupon Plato meeting him returning from Delphos said unto him Behold the fair and golden Gorgias You may read more of that Statue in Pliny So sweet was this mans
he composed before his death Postquam est morte captus Plautus Comaedia luget Scena est deserta Deinde risus ludus jocusque numeri Innumeri simul omnes collacrymarunt There were imputed to this Poets composure an hundred and thirty Comedies but Laelius a most learned Writer will have but twenty five acknowledged to be his many being composed by one Plautius whereupon the mistake might be grounded in respect of the vicinity of their Names Publius Terentius PVblius Terentius was by Birth a Carthaginian but brought to Rome in his tender yeares where he was ingenuously trained up and educated both in good Literature and Manners by Terentius Lucanus being naturally furnished with a quick Wit and ripe Judgment he was taken into Fellowship by those two noble Romans Laelius and Scipio whose assistance he had as Cicero writeth in the composure of his most neat and elegant Playes And the learned Varro is also of the same judgment This Comaedian was an Imitator of Menander whereof Justus Lipsius calleth him Menandri Imaginem The Image of Menander and so the Verses of Caius Caesar do Decypher him Tu quoque tu in summis o dimidiate Menander Poneris merito puri sermonis Amator Africanus that great Comaedian prefers him before all other Comick Poets Terentio non similem dices quempiam Heinsius saith that his Wit is incredible and that scarcely one in one hundred understands him Caecilius Afranius and he lived all about the same age Dulces latini leporis facetiae per Caecilium Terentiumque Afranium sub pari aetate nituerunt The dainty witty Conceits of the Latine Tongue about the same age were by Caecilius Terentius and Afranius rendred worthy of an high esteem So Paterculus Horatius Flaccus the best Censurer of the old Poets admires the Gravity of Caecilius and the art of this Terence wherein he wonderfully excelled and of the same judgment was also Quintilian as the Epigrammatist Ausonius compareth Virgil with Homer so he doth Terence with Menander attributing to him the very elegancy of the Latine Tongue Tu quoque qui Latium lecto sermone Terenti Comis astricto percurris pulpita socco Concerning his death Authors vary some say that he died in Arabia others and amongst them the Poet Ausonius do affirm that the loss of his Playes which happened through Shipwrack broke his heart so that he died for very grief Callimachus CAllimachus the Son of Battus and Mesaime was an Elegiographe◠of Cyrene of whom Suidas saith That his industry and diligence was so wonderfull that he could compose Poems in any kind of Verse and also write most excellent smooth Prose The said Author moreover affirmeth that he compiled no less then eight hundred Books he lived in the time of Ptolomaeus Philadelphus Quintilian stileth him Elegiae principem and saith Ovid of him Battiades toto semper cantabitur orbe Quamvis ingenio non valet arte valet He wrote a notable Work De sucrorum origine which he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The argument whereof is much after that of Ovid de Fastis Martiall commemoratos him in his tenth Book in an Epigram to his friend Mamurra Legas Aetia Callimachi Before he came to converse with Ptolomy he taught Grammar at Eleusine a Village of Alexandria He married the Daughter of Euphrates a Syracusan his sisters son was of his Name and an heroick Poet mentioned by Suidas Lucius Afranius LVcius Afranius called by some Marcus Afranius was a Comicall Poet and flourished in Rome at that time when Terence and Caecilius were somewhat aged Cicero in his Brutus stileth him Hominem perargutum in Fabulis etiam disertum A witty man and eloquent in all his Comedies He came neer in his imitation to Menander according to that of the Poet Horatius Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro Indeed Macrobius affirmeth that he borrowed much from that old Comaedian which the Poet himself very ingenuously acknowledgeth as is to be seen in that answer of his to his Obtrectors Fateor sumpsi non a Menandro modo Sed ut quisque habuit quod conveniret mihi Quod me non posse melius facere credidi Quintilian commends his Elegancy but withall takes speciall notice of his filthy loves wherewith he did deprave and corrupt his Arguments He is remembred by that neat Epigrammatist Ausonius Qui toga facundi scenis agitavit Afrani And he is mentioned likewise together with Caelicius and Terentius by Velleius Paterculus ut supra Aulus Gellius highly honours this Poet and chiefly commends that Verse of his wherein he thus speaketh of Wisdome Usus me genuit mater peperit memoria Sophiam me Graii vocant vos sapientiam The Grammarians do frequently make mention of him but of his death the Ancients write not Caius Lucilius CAius Lucilius called by Juvenal Alumnus Aruncae was born of good Parentage being Uncle as some of the Grammarians have written to Cneius Pompeius Petrus Crinitus thus extolls him Illud imprimis manifestum est fuisse Lucilium in genio acerrimo in scribendis versibus festivo urbano He was very intimate and familiar with Quintus Philocomus who was one chief Instrument of the publication of the Works of this Satyrist so records Suetonius He was the first Poet that wrote Satyrs being an Italian by Birth He scourgeth the Vices of those that were his Countrymen by name Rutilius Carbo Tubulus and many others whose wickednesses his Ingenuity could not bear with Horace fastneth this reproach upon him that he should flow muddily At dixi fluere hunc lutulentum And Scaliger saith Illum ne fluere quidem that he floweth not at all But Juvenal well observing his Acrimony thus describes him Ense velut stricto quoties Lucilius ardens Infremuit rubet auditor cui frigida mens est Criminibus tacita sudant praecordia culpa Inde Irae lacrymae The Emperor Adrian preferd this Lucilius before all the Poets that had written Satyrs Gellius and Quintilian were great Admirers of him the Encomium which the latter hath given him we will here publish Satyra quidem tota nostra est in qua primus insignem laudem adeptus est Poeta Lucilius qui quosdam ita deditos sibi habet amatores ut cum non ejusdem modo operis autoribus sed omnibus poet is praeferre non dubitent Ego quantum ab illis tantum ab Horatio dissentio qui Lucilium fluere lutulente esse aliquid quod tollere possis putat nam eruditio in eo mira libertasque acerbitas abunde salis The Satyr is wholly ours wherein the Poet Lucilius hath first attained transcendent praise who hath indeed gained lovers so firme and constant to him that they do not doubt not onely to prefer him to the Authors of the same Work but also to all other Poets In asmuch as I differ from those so I dissent from Horace who thinks that Lucilius floweth muddily and that there is in him which you
open and obnoxious to derision Quintilian highly advanceth his smal Volume Multum verae gloriae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit Although Persius wrote one only Book yet he hath merited thereby much of true glory Whence also is that of the Epigrammatist Martial Saepius in libro memoratur Persius uno Quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide Casaubon saith that he is Gravissimus morum Censor virtutum praeceptor fidissimus A most grave Censurer of our Manners and a most faithfull Master of the Vertues Scaliger in his Poetices tells us That his stile is Morosus and that he endeavoured so to write as that being read none might be able to understand him although now he is become sufficiently intelligible Gyraldus saith of him that he is to be reckoned amongst the laudable Authors notwithstanding his obscurity and darkness for though he be very intricate to some according to that oâ— Owen Scripta tenebrosi lego non intelligo Persi Lectores nimium negligit ille suos Yet he is well enough apprehended and understood by those that are more Learned Caius Pedo Albinovanus CAius Pedo Albinovanus was an Epigrammatist and flourished in the Reign of Nero in his youth he studied Oratory and was accounted no mean Declamator as may be gathered from some words of Annaeus Seneca concerning him Ovid reckons this Pedo amongst those Poets that were notable that way in his time and Martial relates him to be one of the Authors he imitated in his witty kind of Poetry Indeed his Wit was Elegant and Urbane and for his dexterity in composing of happy Epigrams he was had in great account Quintilian stiles him Sublimem Altiloquum poetam A sublime and lofty Poet. Ovid sydereum starry and Seneca Fabulatorem elegantissimum A most elegant Fabulator Non indignum cognitione si vacet Caspar Barthius likens him to the Poet Naso Quem vulgo Pedonem Albinovanum faciunt non alius est Nasone ipso He whom they call Pedo Albinovanus is no other then Ovid himself Pomponius Secundus POmponius Secundus was of Noble and Illustrious Parentage numbred amongst those Poets which were Tragicall he flourisht when those excellent Orators Porcius Latro Domitius Afer and Albusius Silo were living at Rome Quintilian writes that this Author for exceld all those Poets which in that kind of Verse he had ever seen so transcendent was his Erudition and Sublimity in the composure of his Poems that he was stiled by all that read him The Tragick Pindar Pliny wrote two Books of the Life and Manners of this Tragaedian because he was induced thereunto by the eminency of his Name and Vertues He was much endeared to that renowned worthy Caesar Germanicus whom he entertained with a sumpteous Supper Pliny calls him Civem vatem clarissimum Where he speaks of the Monuments of the two Gracchi Caius and Tiberius Maurus Terentianus a worthy Poet mightily bemoans the loss of this mans Tragedies in a paper of well-composed Verses of his Death Authors mention nothing Aruntius Stella ARuntius Stella was a Poet of great repute in Vespasians time he was of Patavium for Martial sayes that the Region of Apenum was dignified and enobled with the Births of Livius Flaccus and this Stella Papinius mentions him in these his Verses commending thereby the nobleness of his Descent Clarus de gente latina Est juvenis quem patriciis majoribus ortum Nobilitas gavisa tulit praesagaque formae Protinus e nostro posuit cognomina coelo He loved Violantilla a Neapolitan Maiden and at length obtained her for his Wife whom Martial calls Ianthis a Greek Name Amongst many Poems which this Poet writ there were Elegies and his Work De Asteride but none so much cried up and had in admiration as that De Interitu Columbae of the death of his Dove which the Epigrammatist prefers before Catullus his Verses of Lesbia's Sparrow as the Epigram declareth Stellae delicium mei Columba Verona licet audiente dicam Vicit maximi passerem Catulli Statius in his Sylvis acquaints us with the Dignities he was honoured with who had been created Praetor and after that Duumvir only for his admirall qualifications and Embellishments whereupon he was so high in that Poets Affections that he could find none in Rome so worthy to whom he might dedicate his Poems as he This Stella was of intimate acquaintance with Julius Secundus and the Poet Martial of his death I read not Decius Jun. Juvenalis DEcius Jun. Juvenalis a Satyricall Poet of Aquinas flourisht in the Reigns of Caesar Domitian Nerva and Trajan in these following Verses he congratulates the Emperour Nerva for favouring so much those of his profession Et spes ratio studiorum in Caesare tantum Solus enim tristes hac tempestate Camaenas Respexit Yet there are some that think they do refer unto Domitian because he greatly affected Poetry as Suetonius and Tacitus have joyntly testified He was instructed in Grammaticall Learning by Fronto a Grammarian of great Name then in Rome though others affirm that his Master was Quintilian a Rhetor of as excellent Endowments and Abilities his chief Friends were Volusius and Corvinus and also Martial who in this Distick speaks his Intimacy with this Satyrist Cum Juvenale meo quae me committere tentas Quid non audebis per fida lingualoqui He is called by Gifanius Satyricorum haud dubie princeps Without doubt the Prince of Satyrists and is preferd by most of the Ancients before Horatius and Persius as one that had attained to the Perfections of them all the salt and bitterness of Lucilius the Candor and Elegancy of Horace and the Gravity of Aulus Persius It s the same Authors commendation of him Juvenalis Ardet Instat Jugulat Juvenal burns presseth stabs Barthius stiles him Scriptorem eruditissimum elegantissimum poetam censorum morum celeberrimum acutissimum A most learned Writer a most elegant Poet and a most free and sharp Censurer of Mens Manners He is dignified by the Criticks with the Title of Ethicus the Moralist being indeed compared and equald to the most flourishing Philosophers by Sarisburiensis Alanus and other Philologues It s Lipsius his observation of him In Satyra nemo Idoneor ad mores corrigendos Juvenali None more fit for correction of mens Manners then Juvenal And it is also Casaubons Vbertate inventionis copia exemplorum tractandi dexteritate praestat Juvenalis Juvenal excels for plenty of Invention abundance of Examples and dexterity of handling Caius Valerius Flaccus CAius Valerius Flaccus called Setinus from the City Setia in Campania was an heroick Poet and Countryman to Titus Livius and Aruntius Stella Martial stiles him Laris Antenorei alumnum He wrote eight Books De Argonauticis which he dedicated to Domitian or as others will have it to his Father Vespasian He had written much more if sudden death had not prevented Quintilian speaks as one very sensible of it in his Books to Marcellus Victorius wherein he sadly complains