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
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
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
But Scaliger in his Book De Emendatione Temporum doth most nobly vindicate him where he thus Characters him Diligentissimus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnium scriptorum Josephus de quo nos hoc audacter dicimus non solum in rebus Judaicis sed etiam in externis tutius ei credi quam omnibus Graecis ac Latinis Josephus the most diligent and the greatest Lover of Truth of all Writers of whom we dare boldly affirm this That not onely in Judaicall matters but also in externall he may be more safely credited then all other Authors whether Greek or Latine He is stiled by Isidore Pelusiote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A man most famous for Erudition and Eloquence No marvell then if he merited a Statue among the Romans for the Glory of his Wit To all this I 'le add but one thing more and its this That he gave an excellent Testimony to our Lord and Saviour in the twenty second Book of his Antiquities Caius Suetonius Tranquillus CAius Suetonius Tranquillus lived in the Reigns of Trajan and Adrian being Magister Epistolarum The principall Secretary to the latter of the two As Spartianus hath recorded it in the life of that noble Emperour His Father was Suetonius Lenis as he himself testifieth in his Otho and not Paulinus as some others have reported Plinius held great Correspondency with this Historian as appeareth by some speciall and choice Epistles directed unto him This man among other of his works writ the lives of the Grammarians and Rhetors but the greater part of them is lost and almost his whole Book of the Poets none of them remaining to be seen but the lives of Terence and Horace as for Lucan and Persius though they are with us yet its questionable whether their Lives were written by him many of the learned Criticks doubt it a Book he wrote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereof Suidas makes mention Vopiscus stiles this man Auctorem emendatissimum candidissimum cui familiare sit amare brevitatem A most faire and most candid Author and to whom its familiar to love brevity Ludovicus Vives calls him also Graecorum ac Latinorum scriptorum diligentissimum atque Incorruptissimum Of the Greek and Latine Writers the most diligent and most pure There are some that would prefer him before those Renowned Ones Livy Salust and Tacitus but the Grammarian Vossius will by no means assent to that who approves of the Encomiums given him by Vopiscus and Vives only in reference to such men that have written Lives like himself Suidas calls him The Roman Grammarian and Plinius Virum probissimum Honestissimum Eruditissimum Justinus JVstinus whom Orosius calls Breviatorem Pompeii The Epitomizer of Trogus Pompeius and Justus Lipsius variarum rerum gentium temporum compendium A Compend of various Things Nations Times He lived almost Contemporary with Suetonius though indeed both his Name and the Age he lived in fall under some mens doubts and suspicions Arnoldus his Edition expresseth him by the name of Frontinus but the Medicaean Library calls him Junianus and the latter may well carry with it more shew of truth because of its Antiquity And now for his time also that hath been under some controversie there are they that think he lived after the Traslation of the Empire to Constantinople as seems to them out of those very words of his in his eigth Book Graeciam nunc viribus dignitate orbis terrarum principem But their mistake lyeth in misapplying the Conjunction Nunc which indeed is to be referred not to the time he writ in as they suppose but to the subject matter whereof he wrote It is the Judgment of Vossius that he lived under Antoninus Pius and dedicated his Epitome unto him as is manifest by those very words in the Preface Quod ad te Imperator Antonine non tam cognoscendi quam emendandi causa transmisi And that he lived under this very Emperour we have besides this the Testimony of Martinus Polonus as he hath asserted it in his Chronicles Dempsier gives him none of the meanest Commendations calling him Quantum stili genus patitur disertum As far as his kind of stile suffereth eloquent Onely one tells us that his Epitome is confused Et omni temporum luce carens Tilem Pausanias PAusanias a man of great Note and Repute in the Reign of Marcus Antoninus was the Disciple of that Herod Atticus who under those two Emperours Adrian and Antoninus Pius had obtained a great Name amongst the Sophists of that Age. The Native Country of this gallant Historian was Cappadocia and the place of his Commoration Caesarea whereupon it has been observed of him that according to the Genius of the Cappadocians he doth produce those Syllables which he should shorten and on the other side shorten those that he should produce and therefore he is very ingenuously resembled to a Cook that provides unpleasing Sauce for good and savoury Meats He declamed not at Athens onely the famous Academy of all Greece but at Rome also the Metropolis of the whole World Philostratus speaketh much of him in his Lives of the Sophists There is extant of his composure a Book De Graecia wherein he describes the Scituation of her Cities Regions Countries and whatsoever in any of her Confines is thought worthy of notice-taking a Treatise of more Learning then Eloquence As concerning his stile it is accounted very weak languid and faint However that which Domitius Piso said once may well be applyed to this Pausanias Thesauros scribi debere non libros That Treasuries ought to be written not Books for his Work is indeed a very Treasury He is stiled also by the Learned Autor ob variarum rerum copiam Historiarum jucundam diversitatem utilissimus An Author for copiousness of divers things and sweet variety of Histories most profitable Herodianus HErodianus flourished much about the time that Commodus was Emperour a man of great esteem for his Abilities amongst the Romans he wrote eight Books of History beginning them from the death of M. Aurelius Antoninus the Philosopher and ending them at the decease of Balbinus and Maximus His stile according to the Judgment of Photius is elegant perspicuous and indeed such that he is comparable upon any account to the best Historian he is much for the truth of things onely in Alexander and Maximinus he doth somewhat decline from it which is well observed by that most exquisite Interpreter of him Angelus Politianus He is commemorated by Julius Capitolinus in his Clodius Albinus where he saith Quod ad fidem pleraque dixit as who was both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So doth also Trebellius Pollio make mention of him in his thirty Tyrants as also Lampridius in his Alexander Severus and Antoninus Diadumenus Ammianus Marcellinus stileth him Artium minutissimum sciscitatorem A most exact Searcher of all Arts and Dempster calleth him Historicum elegantem copiosum An elegant and copious Historian Of his
Oratory and Rhetorick that can be so that his transcendent Wit is very worthy the Readers Admiration What pity is it then that this laudable Work could not come unto our hands so perfect as he intended it a great part thereof being lost indeed so great a part that the remainder may be called but as it were an Epitome of the whole He is stiled by Isaac Casaubon Scriptor vere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Writer very learned in many things ut paucis multa complectamur Grecorum Varro aut Plinius And that we may comprehend much in a little the Varro or Pliny of the Greeks Dempster also calleth him Doctum veterum autorum compilatorem A learned Compiler of ancient Autors There was another of his Name before him one that was an admirable Philosopher as this was an Historian Julius Pollux JVlius Pollux lived under Caesar Commodus and taught Rhetorick at Athens he dedicated his Onomasticon to his Scholar the Emperour Suidas saith That he writ also on other Subjects but they all miscarried This Encomium is given to his Onomasticon that it s called a Treasury of all Words and Things fit for and exposed unto every use Isacus Casaubonus in an Epistle that he writ to one that set him forth hath Characterized him thus Et sane Pollux siquid Judico scriptor optimus eruditissimus utilissimus eo seculo quod tot claros in literis viros tulit dignissimut If I have truly any Judgment Pollux is a very good Writer very Learned very profitable and most worthy of that Age which brought forth so many famous men for Learning Dempster sayes That in his Collections he is incomparably diligent and erudite he died in the fifty eighth year of his Age. Aulus Gellius AVlus Gellius called by Gifanius Maximi Judicii vir A man of deep and solid Judgment flourished according to the account of learned Petavius in the Reigns of Trojan and Antoninus who in his Rationary of times joynes him with some other eminent Grammarians which were then Contemporary with him Nay Gellius himself in his twentieth Book of Attick Nights discovers unto us the Age he lived in where he saith That he was present at the Dispute which was betwixt Sextus Caecilius the Civilian and Favorinus the Philosopher Lipsius in his Miscellanies very highly commends his Latine stiling him Scriptorem purissimae latinitatis plane ad comadiam antiquam A Writer of the purest Latine and plainly suitable to the ancient Comaedian strain Politian speaking of his Books of Attick Nights saith thus of them That they are Maxime candidae Very candid Onely Vives doth most injuriously condemn and under value him for which he is reproved by Henricus Stephanus Pareus calls him Criticorum madulsam and Dempster Grammaticorum utilissimum As for this Authors Name its uncertaine whether it be Agellius as some have thought or Aulus Gellius It s Lipsius his confession Se ejus nomen nunquam nisi dubitantem haesitantem posuisse That he never writ his Name without great haesitation and doubting Martianus Capella MArtianus Capella was a Carthaginian of proconsular degree and dignity whom Dempster calls Rebus latinum verbis Africanum For Things a Roman for Words a Carthaginian And though Barthius acknowledgeth him to be Barbarior scriptor A Writer that savoureth in his Speech of too much Barbarism yet in this he commends him that he is Vtilissimus ad autorum de singulis artibus liberalibus sententiam capiendam very profitable in apprehending the Judgment of Authors touching all the liberall Arts and therefore not worthy to be prostituted by the Criticks unto that reproachfull Name of Tulliaster I will but add to this the commendation which that eminently learned Grotius is pleased to bestow upon him Ad ipsum Martianum te Relego in quo plurima invenies quae nec discere taedebit nec didicisse poenitebit Neque hoc ipsos barbari seculi homines latuit apud quos quanâ—i nominis fuerit Capella vel solùs Turonensis satis superque docebit qui eum in fine libri non aliter nominat quam si Aristotelem Ciceronem Varronem nominasset I send thee to Martianus himself in whom thou shalt find very many things which it will not be irksome to learn nor repent thee to have learned Neither were the men of that barbarous Age ignorant of this with whom in how great repute and credit this Capella was Turonensis alone will more then sufficiently make appear who in the end of his Book calls him after no other name then that of Aristotle Cicero Varro Suidas SVidas was as some say a Monk of Byzantium and flourisht about six hundred years since according to the opinion of learned Casaubon His Work is stiled Thesaurus insignis Amaltheae velut Cornu which though it be imputed unto his Name yet many learned men whose Names are praefixed to the Book were Instrumentall to the composure of it The Grammarian Dempster thus is pleased to limn him and to afford us such a Draught of him as may serve sufficiently to express him Suidas admirabilis incomparabilis unus instar omnium Grammaticorum Suidas an admirable and an incomparable Author one that is worth all the rest of the Grammarians This Encomium may seem to some Censurers hyperbolicall but if any Author in that kind hath merited such a Character Surely this Suidas hath much more deserved it Some there are that have taken notice of a notable slip committed by this Critick in that he hath passed by in his Thesaurus the Names of many eminent Writers particularly amongst the Historians he neither mentions Polybius nor Dion However his Work is called by one that was very learned Copiosa perfecta quaedam Grammatica A certain copious and perfect Grammar There was another Grammarian also of this Name one that was charged with this Fault by the Learned as to be full of untrue Discourses and therefore deservedly stiled by some Fabulosus scriptor A fabulous Writer Caelius Rhodiginus Caelius Rhodiginus called Varro by Caesar Scaliger as was Athenaeus by Isack Casaubon yea Varrone major And greater then Varro and he thinks it spoken without the least shadow of Flattery He is indeed an Author as Dempster saith Admirandae eruditionis Of wonderfull Erudition although he be as the same Critick hath elsewhere decyphered him Asperae dictionis Of rough Phrase or Elocution Jovius doth discredit this mans Thesaurus affirming that it seemeth to him Rancidum quiddam olere To have a very rank and offensive smell however those two well known Verses do sufficiently vindicate him Abfuit usque adeo nihil hoc in Caelio haberent Tempora Varronem quo minus ista suum Desiderius Erasmus DEsiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in Holland honoured by Jovius with this Excellent Title Varro sui seculi Cicero Germaniae The Varro of his Age and Cicero of Germany The same Author saith further to his honour Quod ad arcana cujusque doctrinae infinita
was short and fat whence he was called by Caesar Homuncio a man of low stature or Dwarf he names himself Latinum fidicinem The Latine Harper In his Epods he hath expressed himself an Imitator of the Courage Numbers and great Spirit of Archilochus he was excellent at writing of Iambicks Heinsius saith that he performs much more then he promiseth for when we come unto him as to a Poet we carry away upon our returne such Fruit as speak him a Philosopher He is Optimus vivendi autor One that teacheth all that read him to live well Though he be Vrbanus Jocund yet which may seem strange he is also gracious serious and grave I will but recite that Charecter the eminent Orator Quintilian is pleased to bestow upon him and so proceed to the next Lyricorum Horatius fere solus legi dignus nam insurgit aliquando plenus est jucunditatis gratiae variis figuris verbis felicissime audax Horace of all the Lyrick Poets is almost only worthy to be read for he swelleth sometimes and is full of sweetness and grace being most happily bold with variety of Figures and expressions He is very pleasant in his taxing of the Vices of the times whence is that of Persius Omne vafer vicium ridenti Flaccus amico Tangit admissus circum praecordia ludit Callidus excusso populum suspendere naso He died in the 57 of his age though some others will have him to have reached 70. Publius Ovidius Naso PVblius Ovidius Naso of Sulmone was born the same day with Albius Tibullus that excellent Elegiographer as some have testified in his Childhood he was much addicted to Poetry which his Father wisht him to decline and to betake himself to the study of Oratory that being the right way to get wealth for which end he was instructed in Rhetorick by Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro wherein he made no mean progress in very short time as Annaeus Seneca hath declared However at length he returned to his old study whence he knew he might attain singular fame and rest He had no less then three Wives the two first he put away the one for naughtiness the other for other causes but the third which was his Perilla he adhered to and dearly loved whom he instructed in the Art of Poetry He was intimate with many great Ones eminent both for Learning Birth by name Albius Tibullus Corn. Severus Sabinus Sext. Pompeius Graecinus Flaccus Messala Macer Maximus and many more with these he conversed most familiarly Sueton saith that he was greatly beloved of Julius Higinus Augustus his Freeman one that was eminent both for Wit and Literature He wrote sundry Poems In his Metamorphosis he imitated Parthenius the Chian Poet who wrote in Greek upon the same Argument and Subject This Poem of Ovids was so admired by the Grecian Wits that they translated it into their Mother Tongue In his Elegies he was too lascivious but for his heroick Epistles the Criticks note that they are fraught with excellent Elegancy and Artifice He was banished by Caesar unto Tomos in the Isle of Pontus as for the cause of this his Relegation Authors do differ about it Sextus Aurelius is of opinion that it was for his Book of Loves which for their lasciviousness did highly displease Augustus but others affirm that it was for committing Adultery with Julia Caesars Daughter of this Judgment was Sidonius Apollinaris as these Verses insinuate Nec te carmina per libidinosa Notum Naso tener Tomosque missum Quondam Caesareae nimis puellae Ficto carmine subditum Corinnae Nay the poor Poet himself seems to acknowledge this the cause Lingua sile non est ultra narrabile quicquam Without question or doubt this Julia was a notorious Strumpet infamous for her burning Lust and frequent Adulteries and therefore very likely it is that she prostituted her body to this unhappy Poet. Et hinc causa malorum He is stiled the Prince of Elegiacks by Dempsterus and so admired he was by all men both in his own time and since that he is called Non ingeniosus tantum sed etiam ipsum ingenium Not engenious only but Ingenuity it self Non Musarum sacerdos sed ipsum Numen Not the Priest of the Muses but even their very Deity It s the judgment of the Learned That if the Latine Tongue were quite extinct yet his Poems only remaining there might be from them a very speedy restitution Seneca saith of him That he had been Poetarum ingeniosissimus The most Ingenious of the Poets if he had not reduced the acuteness of his Mind and Wit and Matter to Boyish Fancies Barthius affirms Quod opus ejus universum ingenium potius refert quam curam That his whole Work speaks more his Wit then Care Scaliger reporteth Quod sibi pepercit cum meliora multo posset That he spared himself too much when he could have done much more He was so dexterous in obliging those with whom he conversed that the barbarous Nations to whom he was confined had him in great reverence not being able to contain themselves from lamentation when he died he and Titus Livius deceased both in one year Marcus Manilius MArcus Manilius was an Astronomicall Poet for he wrote Poems of Astronomy and for that Treatise of his he is compared to Atlas and Alcides as the Verse hath expressed him Manilius Altas Alter Alcides qui capite astra tulit What a Poet and of how great Wit this man was we may discover out of the description of his Andromeda which he hath adorned and set out with incomparable Elocution However Scaliger in his Castigations chargeth him with this folly that he should undertake to write of those things whereof he was wholly ignorant The like is said by the Ancients of Nicander and Aratus how that they also aspired to treat of matters beyond their reach and knowledge This Manilius lived in Augustus Caesars time as appeareth by the dedication of his five Books unto him Albius Tibullus ALbius Tibullus was born at Rome being of Knightly Parentage whose Wit was facile and Visage comely so that he drew many of the Nobles into Affection and Admiration of him he was much endeared to Messala Corvinus whom he calls Sui studiosum and whose Praises he celebrates in excellent Verse he accompanied this his Patron and Friend into the Province of the Phaeacians where fasting ill he composed these two Verses as a testimony of his Faith and Fortune Hic jacet immiti consumptus morte Tibullus Messalam terra dum sequiturque mari He loved Horace and Macer those two admirable Poets very intirely He was very inclinable and prone to love and bodily pleasures whence that Distâ—ck is so common Vsset amatorem Nemesis â—asciva Tibullum In tuta juvit quem nihil esse â—omo He wrote four Books of Elegies for which he is reputed one of the chiefest of the Elegiographers Josephus Scaliger accounts him Inter tria lumina
Poetices Romanae One of the three Lights of the Roman Poetry and Julius also thus limnes him Tibullus omnium cultissimus nec redundans in elegia Tibullus of all Poets the most adorned no way redundant in his Elegy Petrus Crinitus speaking of his Books of Loves saith thus of them Facile probatur quam elegans candidum sit ejus carmen ut ejusmodi caloribus describendis latinos omnes videatur superasse cum affectibus exprimendis tum elegantia suavitate ingenii It s easily proved how elegant and candid his Verse is that he seems in describing those heats to have gone beyond all the Latine Poets both for expressing the Affections as also for Elegancy and sweetness of wit He died young to the great grief of his Friend Naso yet his Poetry will never die according to that known Distick Donec erunt ignes arcusque Cupidinis arma Discentur numeri culte Tibulle tui Sextus Aurel. Propertius SExtus Aurel. Propertius an Vmbrian called himself the Roman Callimachus because he was a notable Imitator of that Cyrenean Poet he lost his Father when he was but young even as it were a Child whom Caesar Augustus caused to be slain for his siding with Antonius at Perusia his Son the Poet upon occasion of this sad Accident repaired unto Rome and there lived where he soon procured favour with that noble Heroe Mecaenas as also neer familiarity with Cornelius Gallus both honouring him for his Wit and Breeding Ovid commemorates him as his speciall Friend in this ensuing Distick Saepe suos solitus recitare Propertius ignes Jure sodalitii qui mihi junctus erat It seems that he had communicated unto him his burning Affections to the Maiden Hostia which not so well liking that Name he would familiarly call Cynthia Hence it is that Sidonius Apollinaris reckoning up each Poets Friend calls Propertius his by the name of Cynthia Meminisse debes quod saepe versum Corinna cum suo Nasone complevit Lesbia cum Catullo Cesenna cum Getulico Argentaria cum Lucano Cynthia cum Propertio Delia cum Tibullo As for his commendations Justus Lipsius joynes him with Catullus and Tibullus and then calls them Amorum Triumviros Crinitus speaking of Callimachus Mimnernus and Philetas those Greek Poets whom this Author imitated saith thus Nam ut illi apud Graecos in elegia consensu omnium longe praestiterunt ita Propertius apud Latinos eorum imitatione primus videtur quorundam consecutus For as they among the Greeks by the consent of all men far excelled in Elegy so Propertius amongst the Latines by imitating those Greeks in the Judgment of some hath out-stript many others Quintilian after that he had highly commended Albius Tibullus adds this to it Non deesse tamen qui Propertium malint That there were not wanting those that prefer Propertius I 'le let him pass with that of Barthius Dulciore eruditione eruditiore dulcedine nemo scriptor est tota antiquitate ante Propertium quem scriptorem quo magis rimaberis eo magis amabis quae enim primo intuitu abscuriora videbuntur ea si penetraveris omnium videbuntur naturali quadam venere gratiosissima There is no Writer in all Antiquity to be preferred before Propertius for sweet Erudition and erudite sweetness which Writer the more narrowly you sift him and the more deeply you dive into him the more dearly you will affect him for indeed those very things which at the first sight seem most obscure if you will throughly search into them you will in the end perceive them to be most gratious He had the Name of Nauta given to him and the reason thereof Scaliger in his Castigations tels us his death for the manner and time of it is not certain There are some that say he died at the age of one and forty Gratius GRatius a Latine Poet Contemporary with Albius Tibullus and Propertius wrote a Book in Hexameters De venatione Of hunting he was so ingenious and excellent at his Art that that incomparable Censor Scaliger acknowledgeth in him the felicity of that age He is esteemed next after Virgil inferiour to none As for his phrase of speech Caspar Barthius saies of it that it is Castigata erudita pressaque sibi semper aequalis Corrected and erudite and pressed and alwaies equall unto it self Dempsterus gives him this Encomium That he is Poeta cultus ac tersus An adorned and neat Poet. Barthius was the first that vindicated his Cynegeticon ex carcere squaloris situs From the Corruptions and Errours wherewith it was depraved Lucius Annaeus Seneca LVcius Annaeus Seneca the Tragaedian who of all Latine Writers in that kind is onely extant and it is the Opinion of Learned Heinsius that he onely wrote these four following Tragedies Hercules Furens Oedipus Thyestes and Agamemnon and that the Philosopher composed Hippolitus Troas and Medaea the rest being written by severall distinct persons it being customary for Criticks to deale with Tragick Poets as with other Writers that is to joyn together divers mens Works and then to prefix such a Name as they think most convenient This man was by Nation a Spaniard borne at Corduba Comtemporary with Pomponius secundus of whom Quintilian saith that he affected the same Studies this Poet did as one that took great delight in composing of Tragedies That Grammarian hath commended him both for his Sublimeness and Gravity In the composure of every Tragedy he is sayd to follow those two eminent Ancients Aeschylus and Euripides as it is hinted unto us by Sidonius Apollinaris in these following Verses Non quod Corduba praepotens alumnis Facundam ciet hic putes legendum Quorum unus colit hispidum Platonae Incassumque suum monet Neronem Orchestram quatit alter Euripidis Pictum faecibus Eschylum secutus Scaliger equalleth him for stateliness and Majesty with any of the Greeks and for clearness he prefers him far before Euripides and Dempster stileth him Tragaedum purum gravem A Tragaedian pure and grave Aulus Persius Flaccus AVlus Persius Flaccus of Volaterris a Towne in Etruria was in great esteem when Domitius Nero was Emperour he was instructed in Grammaticall Learning by Rhemmius Palaemon in Rhetorick by Virginius and for his proficiency and growth in Philosophicall Literature he most familiarly conversed with Annaeus Coruntus whom he very gratefully acknowledgeth in one of his Satyrs as appears by these ensuing Verses Cumque iter ambiguum vitae nescius error Deaucit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes Me tibi supposui teneros tususcipis annos Socratico Cornute sinu He imitated that excellent Satyrist Lucilius who was the most dexterous of all the Poets to inveigh against the Vices of the Romans some think that this Poets little Work was not absolved by reason of the Authors suddaine death he living not above the Age of thirty He was very invective against the naughtiness of Nero whom under the person of Miâ—as he laies
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
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
Eloquence that it could detaine and chaine fast to his Society those two famous young men Critias and Alcibiades as also the most excellent Thucidides and Pericles even then when they were both aged Isocrates ISocrates the Son of Theodorus a Rhetor of Athens and Disciple of Gorgias coaetaneous with Plato whom of all the Orators he himself could say That he only admired he was defective in his pronunciation and therefore came not into the Forum to plead causes yet he reconciled Philip by his Letters to the Athenians and in his excellent Panegyrick he stirred up the Greeks against Asia and incited also the Rhetorician Gorgias to do the like Cicero calls him Patrem eloquentiae The Father of Eloquence Et singularem doctorem and a singular good Doctor Lipsius Oratorem militum Nay Tully speaking of him comparatively to other Orators as he commendeth the subtilety of Lysias the acuteness of Hiperides the sound of Eschines the force of Demosthenes so he prayses the sweetness of Isocrates Philostrates calls him the Athenian Syrene telling us that the Syren was placed on his Sepulchre as it were singing In the Greek Anthology he is named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The light of Rhetorick The Roman Orator compares his School to the Trojan Horse out of which most eminent Rhetoricians came forth Quintilian admireth him both for his speaking and teaching whose words are these Clarissimus ille praeceptor Isocrates quem non magis libri bene dixisse quam discipuli bene docuisse testantur That most excellent Schoolmaster Isocrates whom his Books do not more testifie to have spoken well then his Scholars to have taught well his Writings were so precious that Pliny saith He sold one only Oration for twenty Talents Demosthenes DEmosthenes a Citizen of Athens and the Son of a Cutler who although he was left by his Father somewhat wealthy yet being cheated through the dishonesty of his Guardians he became so poor that he had not wherewithall to satisfie his Schoolmasters however at length by his great Industry and paines he attained to such a perfection in Oratory that he became the onely Maintainer of the Liberties of Greece making King Philip odious by his Orations for his endeavouring the infringement of them Isodorus Pelusiota cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The head of all Greece and another eminent Author joyning him with Aristides and Thucidides stils them Tria sydera Rhetorices The three Stars of Rhetorick In the Greek Anthology he is honoured with this following Character 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The eloquent Trumpet of well sounding Oratory a wise Father Suidas telleth us that Salust had by heart all his Orations and that Nonnus had also read him over no less then six times Cicero in his Brutus gives him this Eulogy Oratorem plane perfectum cui nihil admodum desit Demosthenem facile dixeris And again in his Book de Oratore Quo ne Athenas quidem ipsas magis credo fuisse Atticas Then whom I believe Athens it self was not more Athenian Quintilian expresseth him with this Title Lex orandi to all this I will but add that of of the Satyrist Quem mirabuntur Athenae Torrentem pleni moderantem Fraena theatri Eschines ESchines of Athens was first as Suidas relateth a Stage-Player then a Scribe and afterwards an Orator he was Demostenis aemulus but overcome by him in that Cause De Corona Cicero doth very highly extoll him Nihil illo oratore arbitror cogitari posse divinius Indeed he was the first of Orators that was said to speak Divinely because what he delivered was without premeditation as though he had been inspired by some heavenly Deity Wherefore Philostratus saith of him that his Eloquence was such that none could imitate it and hence it was that his very Enemy Demosthenes as it is in Vossius would stile him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Agellius calleth him Acerrimum prudentissimumque oratorum qui apud conciones Atheniensium floruerunt The most sharp and prudent of the Orators which flourisht in the Athenian Forum This man in a weighty Cause corrupted the Judges for which Delinquency he was cast into Prison where by a Draught of Poyson he made himself away he was by the way of jeer called by Demostenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Corrupter of Letters Dionysius makes mention of seven more of this very Name Lysias LYsias the Son of Cephalus the Syracusane was one of the ten Orators born at Athens whither his Father had been transported stiled by Marcus Cicero Venustissimus scriptor ac politissimus A most gracious and polite writer of whom in his Brutus also he gives a most glorious Character preferring none before him but that same Paragon of Greece Demosthenes Neither is Dyonisius any way behind that Orator in commending him who saith this to his immortall praise that he obscured the glory of all those Orators which either were before him or Contemporary with him so that thereupon he stiles him the very Rule or Archetype of the Athenian Language then used When he was a Boy he went to the Colony of Thusios where he continued untill he was seven and forty years of age and then returned a most excellent Orator Quintilian speaks thus of him Lysias subtilis atque elegans quo nihil si oratori satis sit docere quaeras perfectius nihil enim est inane nihil arcessitum puro tamen fonti quam magno flumini propior Lysias is subtile and elegant then whom if it be enough for an Orator to teach you can require nothing more perfect for there is not any thing vain nor any thing borrowed being neerer to the pure Fountain then the great and wide Stream I le let him go with this Character from Dyonisius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 None more diligent and more gracious then Lysias Demades DDemades whom Suidas stileth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Crafty and fortunate of a Mariner and Porter became an Orator of Athens he lived about the times of Philip and Alexander Kings of Macedon he writ sayes Suidas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Olympias was the Wife of Philip and Mother of great Alexander He waxed exceeding rich and Potent and desired nothing more then the favour of the Macedonians and especially of Antipater He was much addicted to Luxury so that he consumed most of his Wealth upon his Belly whence it was Antipaters scâ—ff Nihil ei sicuti coesis victimis praeter linguam ventrem superesse That there was nought more remaining to him then what was wont to the Sacrifices even the Tongue and the Belly Cicero reporteth that he wrote nothing but Suidas mentions somewhat that he should write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Besides what he might dedicate to Olympias Plutarch in the life of Demosthenes doth inform us That Theophrastus being once asked the question What kind of Orator was Demosthenes his Answer was Worthy of this City And then being demanded what a one was this Demades he replyed
Verona docti syllabas amat vatis Aulus Gellius honours him with this Title Elegantissimus poetarum The most elegant of the Poets However Lasciva est pagina his Book is lascivious and biting too beyond moderation so that its reported of him That he would not spare Caesar himself no not even then when he was in his greatest Glory He loved one Clodia whom by a feigned Name he called Lesbia according to Ovids Verses Sic sua lascivo cantata est soepe Catullo Foemina cui falsum Lesbia nomen erat The same Poet doth oppose this very man to Virgils Majesty and the Epigrammatist Martial prefers him before himself in that Epigram of his to his Friend Macer Nec multos mihi praeferas poetas Uno sed tibi sim minor Catullo Gellius in his Attick Nights commends him for a most elegant and sweet Poet He died but young not exceeding the Age of thirty years I 'le let him pass with that well-known Distick Tantum parva suo debet Verona Catullo Quantum magna suo Mantua Virgilio Publius Virgilius Maro PVblius Virgilius Maro called Virgillius a virga which Calvus alludeth unto in that Verse of his Et Vates cui virga dedit memorabile nomen The Poet to whom the Laurel Rod did give a memorable Name Yet some others wil have it to be the Poplar he was called Parthenias from his modesty of his Birth Martial thus speaketh Maiae Mercurium creastis Idus Augustis redit Idibus Diana Octobres Maro consecravit Idus He was born in the Village Ande not far from Mantua and therefore called by Silius Italicus Andinus vates He studied at Cremina and at Naples his Masters were Orbilius and Scribonius he put on his Viril Gown the same day that Lucretius died In his Bucolicks he imitated Theocritus in his Georgicks Hesiod in his Eneids Parthenius Pisander Apollonius and chiefly Homer and amongst the Latines Ennius Livius Andronicus Naevius and Lucretius His choice Friends he converst with were Asinius Pollio Cornelius Galluâ— Quintilius Varus Horatius Flaccus and Maecenas Nay Caesar himsâ—lf was a transcendent Lover of him they writing familiarly each to other Jerome in one of his Epistles compareth him unto Homer stiling him Alterum Homerum Lampridius writing his life names him Platonem poetarum the Plato of the Poets and so Caelius Rhodiginus Poeta platonicus The Platonick Poet. Alexander Severus the Roman Emperour placed his Picture together with the Image of Cicero in the House of his Lares Columella giveth him this Epithet Sydereus vates The Starry Poet Scaliger calleth his Eneids Altiloquentissima Eneis Whensoever any of his Verses were recited in the Theater the people would all rise up and reverence him being present as though he were Caesar Augustus he was had in so great esteem at Rome that whensoever he did but shew himself in publick the people would cry out Delitias Romae Romeâ— Dâ—rling I will but add Scaligers report of him and so pass unto the next Vates suavissimus Nitidissimus pulcherrimus dulcissimus politissimus Inest in eo phrasis regia ipsius Apollinis ore digna sic puto loqui Deorum preceres in Conciliis Caelestibus Non si ipse Jupiter poeta fiat melius loquatur Most sweet fair splendid polite Poet There is in him a regall phrase worthy of Apollo's Mouth so I think the principall Gods speak in their heavenly Counsels and if Jupiter himself were become a Poet he could not speak more sweetly Moreover this eminent Critick comparing him with Homer saith thus Virgilius Magister est Homerus discipulus Virgil is the Master and Homer the Scholar Homerus moles quidem est sed rudis indigesta Virgilius autem Deus melior Natura Homer indeed is an heap and that rude and indigested but Virgil is as God and the better nature His death was deplored by Cornelius Gallus amongst many others in a Paper of Verses to Caesar Augustus Cornelius Gallus COrnelius Gallus was excellent for Elegies born that very yeare wherein the most learned of the Romans Terentius Varro died He was of mean Fortune but by the Favour of Octavianus Caesar he was promoted to great dignities he governd Egypt after that it was made a Province by the Romans being suspected to have been in Conspiracy against Augustus he slew himself as Dion and Marcellinus have recorded and whereunto also that Verse of Ovids doth relate Sanguinis atque animae prodige Galle tuae He was Virgilii delitiae Virgils Darling as doth appeare by the fourth Book of his Georgicks wherein he much advanceth the worth of this Gallus he was in love with Cytheris the free-woman of Volumnius which disdaining him went after Antonius into France whereupon Virgil comforted him who in the tenth Eclog of his Buzolicks calleth this same Cytheris Lycoris Dion writes how that Proculeius meeting accidentally with this Poet clapt his hands forthwith unto his Mouth thereby signifying that it was not safe either to speak or breath where that Gallus was in presence so great indeed was his Insolency There are some Verses imputed unto him which are not after his strain being neither suitable to his time nor phrase but they are presumed to be the invention of one Maximianus a meer Juggler So dear was this Poet to Virgil that his fourth Book of Georgicks from the midst thereof unto the end only comprehendeth his praises Diomedes speaking De elegia joyns this Gallus with Tibullus and Propertius Quintilian mentioning him calls him Poetam duriorem A harder Poet. Quintus Horatius Flaccus QVintus Horatius Flaccus of Venusium a Towne in Apulia lived in the Reign of Caesar Augustus with whom he was in high esteem and great credit as also with his Patron Maecenas He was born two years before the Conspiracy of Lucius Catiline His Father was a Libertine and Collector of the publick Loanes and Taxes his Master was Orbilius of Beneventum whom he stiles in his Poems Plagosum he went to Athens and there studied Philosophy chiefly approving of the Epicureans as appears by that Vrbane Speech of his Me pinguem nitidum bene curata cute vises Cum ridere voles Epicuri de grege porcum He was much prone to Cholar however very pleasing gratefull and officious to his friends among the Poets he was very intimate with Tibullus Quintilius Varrus Valgius and Virgil among the Nobles with Julius Florus Maximus Lollius and Maecenus with whom he lived familiarly seven years and upwards as is manifest by these following Verses Septimus octavo propior jam fugerit annus Ex quo Maecenas me caepit habere suorum In numero In the civill Broils of Rome he took part with Brutus and Cassius as Sidonius Apollinaris amongst many others thus testifieth Et tibi Flacce acies Bruti Cassique secuto Carminis est autor qui fuit veniae However Mecaenas restored him to his Princes Favor and therby to all his pristine Dignities As touching the habit and proportion of this Poets Body he