i. e. shall thrice winne the Spolia opima But where does he read that Marcellus wonne them thrice they were never won during all the victories and triumphs of the long-liv'd Roman Empire but thrice and that by three severall persons after the long interposition of a long interval of time therefore these words of the Poet are to be thus expounded suspendet he shall hang up not dedicate tertia arma capta the third spoils taken from the enemy patri Quirino to Romulus i. e. near the arms of Romulus in the same Temple where Romulus hung up his We have therefore here as we have done elsewhere in case of the like obscurity paraphrastically rendred this verse choosing rather by multiplying of words to give the true sense of the Author then by being to precise and thrifty therein to lose a jot of his meaning or to deviate from the Customes Lawes or History of those times with all which we agree whilest we make Virgil speak thus Father Quirinus he also to thine The third spoils taken from the Foe shall joyn But to return to Marcellus who having done great services for his Country against the Carthaginians as well in Sicilia as in Italy was in his fift Consulship together with his Collegue Q. Crispinus unhappily slain by Annibal in an ambuscade The last of this honorable Catalogue is one of the same name and Family also viz. M. Marcellus the sonne of Caius who was the sonne of M. Marcellus the sixt of this name and Consul with L. Cornelius Lentulus Crus An. V. C. 704. by his wife Octavia Augustus his Sister the fifth in descent from the great Marcellus above mentioned and the ninth from the first of that name who was Consul with Valerius Flaccus An. V. C. 422. a Prince of high hopes and great virtues and well deserving those honorable Elogies given him here by our Author with whom you may compare the character which Seneca in his book de Consolatione ad Marciam c. 2. and Vel. Paterc l. 2. give of him by all which he appears to have been a most accomplished person Augustus designing him for his Successor married him to his Daughter Julia by his first Wife Scribonia but alas he was taken away by an untimely fate dying about the 18. year of his age not without the suspicion of poyson administred to him by Livia Augustus his Wife to make way for her sons to the Empire But his Mother Octavia conceived such insuperable grief for his death that she never ceased to mourn for him so long as she lived It is recorded by Donatus in the life of Virgil that Octavia who was present at the recitation of this book by the Author fell into a trance when he came to these words Tu Marcellus eris and that for every verse she gave him ten Sesterces which according to Budaeus his computation l. 3. de Asse speaking there of the summe given to Virgil by Octavia came to about 5000. French Crowns The great Gassendus in his Treatise de Abaco Sestertiorum pretends to a more exact reduction of the Roman § 99 account to the French reckoning 10 Sesterces for 21 verses viz. from Quis pater ille virum c. to Heu miserande puer c. to amounr to 19541 Livres 13 Solz and 4. Deniers which allowing every Livre valuable at 00 01s 08 d. of our money comes to about 1627 l. 16. s. 01d 0b q. sterling Budaeus his compute falls somewhat short of this for 5000 French Crowns at 00 06s 00 per Crown amounts to just 1500.l sterling The greatest of these was not too great a gratuity for such excellent verses I covet not Virgils reward but his happiness in writing that the English Reader might judge whether Octavia was more munificent or the Poet deserving Since these last sheets were sent to the Press it hath pleased the al-governing Providence to make a sad Interlude amidst our pomps and triumphs by taking away that as highly-meriting as highly-born Prince the illustrious Duke of Glocester The precedent discourse leading us so naturally to it we could not but subjoyn these fâ—llowing verses and cast in our Mice not of sorrow for in that we share as deeply as any but of expressing the same wherein we shall easily give place even to the meanest If we imitate not Virgil in the elegancy of his numbers we will do it in the number of his verses That now I could a Pythagorean be Now were thy soul transfused into me Thy great soul Maro all its faculti's Mine by a happy Metempsychosis 5 That in such numbers as thou didst of yore Thy dead Marcellus best of Bards deplore I our brave Glocester might bewail and teach Our English Muse Virgilian pitch to reach We have a Theme as high an argument 10 As full as thine and can we not lament As learnedly as thou didst can't our Muse As well-accented Threnodies infuse As thine and in words as refined tell Both Rome and thee that we can parallel 15 Your Prince and lâ—sse that in our Glocester we In all things dare with your Marcellus vie No we nor yet thy self 'tis boldly said Thy native wit though all Parnassus aid To such a height our words or sense can raise As can our loss express or his due praise 21 Our Gloc'ster's dead which all our joyes allayes Virgil borrows the conceipt of the two gates or out-lets of Dreams out of Homer Odyss 19. There are two gates of sleep sayes he the one of Horn from whence reall dreams such as are made good and seconded in the event doe proceed the other of Ivory out of which issue such as are false and never come to pass and out of this gate Aeneas was let by Anchises obscurely hinting hereby that this whole discourse of Aeneas his descent into Hell with this ample description thereof are even as true as those dreams which proceed out of the ivory gate See Macrâ—b in Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 3. The reason of which conceit is thus given by Interpreters The Horn gate represents the eye or organ of sight in relation to that tunicle they call Cornea and by a Synechdoche is taken for the whole eye the Ivory the teeth one of the nine instruments of speech which in regard of their whiteness are like to Ivory and are by the same figure taken for the speech in general therefore as what the sight really presents to us is alwayes true and as what we receive from hear-say and report is often-times false so those dreams which issue out of the Horn gate prove true and those which come out of the Ivory one deceitfull and by consequence this whole discourse is to be looked upon as a meer fiction deception and a fallacious dream Finis Annotationum in sextum Aeneidos librum Jucundi acti labores Certain Pieces Relating to the PUBLICK Penned by the AVTHOR Iliaci Cineres flamma extrema meorum Testor in occasu vestro me tela
invicible grief thereat that she resolved not to survive him yet desired that before her death she might see his Ghost which seen she immediately expired That last of this Catalogue was Caenis once a beautifull Virgin who obtained of Neptune that for her surrendred Virginity she might be changed into a man and become invulnerable this was granted her by the gratefull God and so from Caenis a woman she became Caeneus a man changing her name with her sex but at last in the fight between the Centaurs and the Lapithae when he could be wounded by no weapon he was over-whelmed with an heap of wood and so dyed he as Virgil testifies here after his death was turned into his primary sex and therefore is here ranged amongst the women Amongst these the Poet very appositely introduceth the lately deceased Dido describing with all circumstances apt to raise passion the interview betwixt her Aeneas we shall not insist at all upon her story but recommending the Reader to the fourth of the Aeneis where it is inimitably expressed by our divine Author proceed to the next region or partition of Hell Where we are presented with a survey or generall muster of some of the most eminent Warriours and Chieftairs of their times whereof the first he mentions are such as died in the Theban Warres Of these none was more renowned then the valiant Tydeus the Sonne of Oeneus King of the Aetolians and Father of Diomedes a person as high in courage as he was low in statute of whom Statius thus Celsior ille gradu procera in membra simulque Integer annorum sed non viribus infra Tydea fert animus totosque infusa per artus Major in exiguo regnabat corpore virtus Which Mr. Stephens renders thus The Theban was the taller and had told More suns then he but Tydeus was as bold And equall'd him in courage give him 's merit In a lesse room there reign'd a greater spirit § 57 He having unhappily kill'd his Brother Menalippus fled from his incensed Father to Adrastus King of the Argives where meeting Polynêces a fugitive also after sharp conflict between them they were reconciled and became Brothers Tydeus marrying Deiphile and Polynîces Argîa Adrastus his two Daughters He having his native Aetolians under his command was one of the seaven Princes of Greece who followed Adrastus to the Warres of Thebes where having given great and frequent proofs of his valour he was at last slain by one Menalippus a Theban Parthenopaeus was one of those seven Princes also Son of Atalanta and Meleager and King of Arcadia he went very young to those Wars whence returning with ill success he did after accompany the Grecian Princes to the Warres of Troy where having shewed himself as bold in fight as he was skillfull in conduct was slain He was noted as well for his beauty and swiftness of foot as for his valour Of him Statius thus lib 4. Pulchrior haud ulli triste ad discrimen ituro Vultus egregiae tanta indulgentia formae Nec desunt animi veniat modò fortior aetas None of those who did venture to the place Of danger had so sweet a beauteous face Nor is true courage wanting if his age Did lend him strength and power to ingage The third was Adrastus King of the Argives and chief of the league against the Thebans He after the losse of all his great officers but Parthenopaeus returned home where he died ingloriously Before we proceed you may observe by the by that there were three most noted Epoch's or computations of time amongst the Ancients higher then which prophane Story gives us no light The first was from the expedition of the Argonautes to Colchis for the golden Fleece which according to our learned Country-man and most diligent Chronologer Dr. Simpson hapned in the fifteenth year of Gideon of the world 2743. and before our Saviour 1260. The second was from the Theban warre which as the same Author testifies fell out in the fifteenth year of Thola Judge of Israel in the year of the world 2785. forty two years after the former and before our Saviour 1218. Lastly from the Trojan War which was undertaken by the Greeks in the 19. of Judge Jair of the world 2812. before Christ 1191. These three memorable expeditions administred matter to the Heroick Muses of divers famous witts the gests of the Argonauts were celebrated by the Greek Muse of Apollonius Rhodius and by the Latine of Valerius Flaccus two Authors esteemed by the learned though not usually conversed with in our common Schools The Theban Warre was sung by the sublime Papinius Statius Lastly the Trojan was the Theme of the great Homer and the greater Virgil the two glorious Luminaries of heroick poesie and inexhaustible treasuries of all Phiolosophy humane literature But pardon this digression and we shall return From the Grecian Worthies the Poet makes a transition to the Trojan where he makes the interview betwixt them and Aeneas to be with more then ordinary passion He sighs to behold his Country-men and acquaintance whilst they express very great content in seeing a person so deserving and for his deserts so worthily renowned The Trojans ' which Virgil names here were Glaucus sone of Antênor slain by Agamemnon who Medon was it is uncertain Thensilocus was killed by Achilles Il. 21. who the Antenoridae were it is not decided by Interpreters as likewise who Polybaetes was but for Idaeus he was Priam's Charioter whence the Poet makes mention here of his Chariot and Armes Aeneas passeth from his Trojan friends to the Greeks his enemies where our Author whose design it was to magnifie his Aeneas and to undervalue the Greeks makes them for feare to flye from him in the lower world whom they so much dreaded in the upper See and learn hereby to observe that decorum which is required in writing The Poet with much delight to the Reader doth amplifie in the story of Deiphobus one of Priams Sons who after Paris his death married his relict the fair but to her Husbands the ever-fatal Helena Virgils narrative of the cruel massacring and dismembring of Deiphobus agrees with that which Dictys Cretensis the Historian gives of it in his fist book There is nothing of difficulty in this whole relation we shall therefore pass it over with a brief note or two Aeneas hearing of the death of Deiphobus raised according to the custome of those times a Cenotaphium or empty Monument for him which was not only to express the duty of a friend but because such ceremonies were thought efficacious as to the prevention of the hundred years wandring about the banks of Cocytus as we have already hinted § 46. of which the chief and most material was to call on the dead thrice which was done by repeating the word vale three times which were the verba novissima of which we also have already spoken The next was to
and because this used to be richly adorned geniall here is taken for rich stâ—tely or magui ficent As did Sisyphus * The punishment of Ixion * Such were for a time the late Traitors to whom this verse may well be appli'd Ausi omnes immân nefas ausoque polite Virg. * Orpheus * Poean the word here used by Virg. is a hymn in the praise of Apollo * For thus Vates is to be rendred not Poers as Mr. Ogilby hath done â—ee Servius with whom the â—est of Virgils Interpreters agree * Musaeus ☜ * The words of Aeneas * The Soul * Mercury who was said with his Caduceus or rod both to drive souls to hell and to bring them from thence * The words of Aâ—chtâ—es See the Comment * Lavinia Se the Comment See the Comment * Numitor. ☞ See the Comment * Hercules * A Mountain in India * Numa born at Cures a Village of the Sabines * Julius Caesar * Pompey * Caesar who truly used his victory with much moderation and clemency * A name of Romulus * To the other Marcellus * See the Comment * Marcellus * Anchises Aeneas arrived in Italy anno Mâ—â— d. 28â—â— Cumae was built an Mun. 2953. Simps Chron. * We speak according to the opinion of the Peripaâ—â—icks 1. Sibylla Persica 2. Delphica 3. Cumaea 4. Erythraea 5 Samia 6. Cumâna 7 Hellâ—spontiaca 8. Libyca 9. Phrygia 10. Tibu â—ina The Story of Pâ—sipâ—aâ— and 〈◊〉 us c. Sil Ita. Lic l. 12. * Daedalus The story of Androgeos and the Athenians The Labyrinth Apollo's Temple Sibylla's Grot. * Apollo Ludi Apollinares Sibylla Cumâna Servius indeed makes the coin to be Philyppei i. Phillppines so called from Philip. King of Macedon but improperly for Philip was 150 years younger then Tarquin Who come to enquire of the Oracle Orpheus Castor and Pollux Hell The golden Bough The letter Y. Augurium pullarium Oâ— the Roman Funeâ—als 1 Annibal 2 The death of P. Aemilius * Pliny Misenus The Lake of Avernus The manner of sacrificing to the infernall powers Centauâ—s Scylla Briareus Hydra Câ—imaeâ—a Gorgons Harpyes Geryon * The Ancients divided the World into 3. parts viz. Europe Asia and Africa 〈◊〉 our Moderns have added a fourth vâ—z America vi * Morning Noon and Night The Rivers of Hell Acheron Cocytus Styx Phlegeton Lethe Charon Cenotaphium Palinurus Cerberus Theseus Pirithous Ceres Proserpina * Pluto and Proserpine * Theseus the person here speaking Cerberus The Regions of Hell Against Self-murder Of Lovers Phaedra Procris Eâ—ipâ—yle Evadne Laâ—damîa Caenis The Region of Warrior Tydeus Parthenopâ—eus Adâ—aqstus Deiphoâ—us The Judges of Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or lex talionis * Aeacus Father of Peleus who married Thetis and on her be got Achilles who from his Grandsire Aeacus was called Aeaâ—â—des so that by Thetidis socer Thetis her Father in law Aeacus is understood The Futies The Titans The Aloïdes Salmôneus Tityus Pirithous Ixîon The Lapithâ— Democles The Elysium Câ—asia is by Gerard taken to be the same with Lavenâ—ula or Lavender as it is by Dela Cerda Ecclog â— Musâ—â—us The transmigration of Souls * Mr. Sandys * Druidibus The Creation of things Of the nature of the soul Oâ— Purgatory A Summarie of the Roman History from Aeneas his death and the Alban Kings to Augustus his time being about 1100 years * Aenead lib. 7. The Alban Lings Militarie Crowns Romulus Cybele Augustus Caesar Numa Pompilius Tullus Hostilius Ancus Martius Lucius Tarquinius Priscus Servius Tullius Tarquinius Superbus Brutus and Tarquin The 3. Decâ—i Decius the Son A military Devotion Decius the Grandson The Drusi Tit. Manlius * Viz. from Manlius Capitolinus Furius Camillus Caesar Pompey L. Mummâ—us M. Cato * A. Gellius makes Marcus the other Brother to be Father to Cato uticen l. 13. c. 18. Haustus sanè calidus sed gloriae plenus plusquam faemineus Val. Max. Cornelâ—â—â— Cossus The Gracchi The Scâ—pio's Caius Fabricius Luscinus Serranus Serranus The Fabii Thâ— Maâ—celli The two gates of Hell * This clause according to the then state of things was inserted out of a strong presumption that by their means a legal Parliament the Peoples true Representative would in convenient time be assembled The Author though diligently searchd for made his escape * The Antiquities of Canterbury c.
and being very joyfull that they had been continued without interruption they cried Salva res est saltat senex which speech afterward became proverbiall and is fitly used when a sudden evill is seconded with a good event beyond hope and expectation § 11 We cannot here excuse the Poet from a very grosse Parachronisme for these words which he speaks in the person of Aeneas are not in the least applicable to this Sibylla Cumaea to whom they are directed a particular not observed by any of the interpreters of Virgil but to her who was called Cumâna who as contemporary with Tarquinius Priscus or rather Superbus his Grandson notwithstanding the Authority which Gordonus alledgeth out of Solinus Varro Lactantius to which I oppose Pliny lib. 13. c. 13. A. Gellius lib. 1. cap. 19. Halicarnassaeus lib. 4. with that inscription which if Dela Cerda speak truth is at this day to be read in the Vatican Library Tarquinius Superbus libros Sibyllinos tres aliis a muliere incensis tandem emit was more then 600 years younger then Cumaea nor can it be imagined that she could live from Aeneas his time at which time she was very old and therefore by Virgil stiled Phoebi Longaeva sacerdos to Tarquinius Superbus his reign notwithstanding she was said by Ovid to have obtained of Apollo for her Virginity to live as many years as she could grasp sands in her hand for that is but a Poeticall fiction Ovid Met. lib. 14. fab 4. Therefore what Virgil makes Aeneas speak here indeed improperly to Sibylla Cumaea is more properly to be understood of Cumâna whose prophesies were so religiously observed and diligently preserved by the Romans A. Gellius l. 1. c. 19. relates the story thus A certain old woman presenting her self before King Tarquin sirnamed the Proud offered him nine books in three Tomes wherein as she affirmed were contained remedies and redresses for all evills which should betide the Roman people for these she asked 300 Philippines a golden Coyn then much in esteem The King prizing his money above her unrequired Merchandize laughed her to scorn She before his face casting three of the nine into the fire burned them asking the same price for the remaining six whereat Tarquin concluding that the old woman was mad or doated began to be out of patience Then she having condemned three more to the same flames asked him if he would yet give what she demanded for the three which were left The King moved at the constancy of this strange Guest and advised thereunto by his Augures commanded the money to be given her who having delivered the books with a strict charge to lay them up safely suddenly vanished nor was ever after seen or heard of These books so bought were according to her direction laid up in the Capitol under Jupiters Shrine in a Chest of stone and committed to the custody of two men first then of ten and lastly of fifteen thence called the Quindecim-viri which number was afterward increased to 60. as Servius notes but still retained the name of the Quindecim-viri By the by take this note amongst the 10. about the time of the second Punick warre Cornelius Rufus was one for at that time there were no more whom for his great judgement in interpreting Sibylla's Prophecies they sirnâ—med Sibylla which afterward by corruption was changed into Sylla which gave a sirname to a branch of the illustrious family of the Cornelii from whence that great Sylla called the Happy though to his native soyl no man more unhappy deduced his pedegree Macrob Sat. l. 1 c. 17. § 12 Nor were these only the Guardians and Keepers of those Oracles but the interpreters and expounders of the same none other upon pain of death being permitted to peruse them To these books those Officers used to make their addresse upon intestine seditions commotions generall plagues pestilence publick calamities prodigious apparitions and such like as you may read in Halicarnassaeus These books were so preserved untill the Marsick or Social warre 676 years from the building of Rome when the Capitol being set on fire whether casually or purposely it is not known these Oracles were also burned and consumed wherefore those Sibyline Prophecies which we find mentioned by Cicero and the priimitive Fathers and which now passe under that name are not the answers of this Sibylla Cumâna for that is impossible but such a collection as the Roman Embassadours employed by the Senate for that purpose got together at Cumae Erythrae and at other places where any of the Sibyls had lived These Commissioners collected and brought home with them as Varro and Plinie report a thousand Oracles in verse which were laid up in the Capitol new built under the charge of ten men first then of fifteen nor were these the Prophesies of any one Sibyl but a miscellaneous composition of the answers of sundry of those inspired women Sibylla used to write her Oracles in the leaves of the Palm-tree as Servius out of Varro which being left at the mouth or entrance of her Grot the wind did oftentimes so scatter that they could never be brought into order again insomuch that when we would shew the difficulty of digesting things discomposed into order we use Politian's words Laboriosius est quam Sibyllae folia colligere And this is the reason why Aeneas prayeth her to deliver her Oracles by word of mouth but Virgil is the best interpreter of himself lib. 3. Insanam vatem adspicies quae rupe sub imâ Fata canit foliisque not as nomina mandat Quaecunque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo Digerit in numerum atque antro seclusa relinquit Illa manent immota locis neque ab ordine cedunt Verum eadem verso tenuis cúm cardine ventus Impulit teneras turbavit janua frondes Nunquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxo Nec revocare situs aut jungere carmina curat Inconsulti abeunt sedemque odere Sibyllae There shalt thou see the frantick Prophetess Sing destinies in a deep Caves recesse Which she to leaves commits what verse soe're She writes in order plac'd she leaveth there They firmly keep the place to each assign'd But when the open'd door th'intruding wind Admits and doth the lighter leaves disperse She ne're re-orders the disorder'd verse Or cares them to rejoyn unanswer'd * they And Sibyl's Cell detesting goe their way § 13 Sibylla in her answer compares the difficulties which Aeneas had sustained in Phrygia in the late Trojan warres with those which he was to undergoe in the ensuing warres in Italy viz. that at Simois and Xanthus Rivers of Phrygia flowed with the blood of the slain so should Tiber that as he had found the Greeks and Achilles descended of the Goddesse Thetis his enemies in the Trojan war so he should find Turnus Son of the Goddess Venilia with his Rutilians I will not call them Red-coats as restless and implacable enemies here with whom
was a man of very able parts quick witty apprehensive eloquent fitted for any either publick or private employment See the ample character Livie gives of him l. 39. In hoc viro tanta vis animi c. He wrote much and upon various subjects especially in Oratory though by the injury of time we are deprived of those his Monuments He had two Wives his first was of a noble Family by whom he had M. Cato who married Tertia Paulus Aemilius his Daughter a right Gallant and deserving person He died when he was chosen Praetor before he was invested in his office He begot M. Cato who was Consul with Q. Martius Rex an urb 637. and C. Cato Consul with M. Acilius Balbus an urb 640. Marcus the elder of these left another Marcus who being Praetor died in France this is what we can gather concerning Cato's posterity by his first Wife See A. Gell. l. 13. c. 18. He took for his second choice the Daughter of Salonius his Client a woman of mean birth on whom he begot when he was 80. years of age Cato Salonianus who left two Sons M. and L. Cato the first died whilst he sued to be Praetor the second was Consul with Cn. Pompeius Strabo Father to Pompey the Great This Lucius Cato was according to Plutarch Father to M. Cato sirnamed the Philosopher from his wisdome and virtue and Vticensis because he slew himself at Vtica in Africk rather than to receive his life from the hands of Caesar his enemy His life is written at large by Plutarch and his character thus briefly delivered by Vell. Paterculus l. 2. Marcus Cato genitus proavo M. Catone principe illo familiae Porciae homo virtuti simillimus per omnia ingenio Diis quà m hominibus propior qui nunquam rectè fecit ut facere videretur sed quia aliter facere non potuit cuique id solum visum est rationem habere quod haberet justitiam omnibus humanis vitiis immunis semper fortunam in suâ potestate habuit Marcus Cato born of M. Cato his Great-grand-father the chief and first of the Poreian Family was the very image of virtue a person in all things more resembling the Gods then men who never did any handsome thing that it might be said he did it but because he could not doe otherwise as who thought that only reasonable which was just and being free from all vice had fortune still in his power He left a sonne of his own name who although noted for intemperate and loose expiated that stain by dying valiantly on Brutus his side against Augustus as heir to his Fathers cause as well as name He had a daughter also called Porcia the most loving Wife of M. Brutus and true Inheritrix of her Fathers soul who hearing of the death of her beloved Consort when she could no other way put an end to her loathed life swallowed down hot-burning coals and so expired which the ingenious Martial hath thus expressed Conjugis audisset fatum cum Porcia Bruti Et subtracta sibi quaereret arma dolor Nondum scitis ait mortem non posse negari Credideram satis hoc vos docuisse Patrem Dixit ardentes avido bibit ore favillas I nunc ferrum turba molesta nega When Porcia heard of her dear Brutus fate And sought wherewith her own t' accelerate Know you not death can't be deni'd I thought My Father this sufficiently had taught This said she greedily drank glowing coals Now swords deny unreasonable fools And this is what we could collect concerning Cato and the Porcian Family See Plut. in Cat. Major Minor Liv. l. 39. epit l. 114. c. § 92 The Cossi were Patricians of the illustrious and numerous Family of the Cornelii which according to Anton. Augustinus were branched into the Cossi which were subdivided into the Maluginenses and the Arvinae Secondly into the Scipiones who were distinguished by the sirnames of the Asinae Calvi Nasîcae and Africani Thirdly into the Lentuli who were differenced by the houses of the Gaudini Lupi Surae Spintheri and Marcellini we may add to these the Syllae Rufini Dolabellae Merulae and the Cethegi Of the Cornâ—lio-Cossian Family there were very many who bore the greatest offices in the Common-wealth i. e. Pontificate or high Priesthood once the honour of winning the Spolia opima or Royal Spoils three Dictaetorships two Censorships three Triumphs two Decemvirates ten Consulates twenty two Tribunates with Consular power and four Masterships of the horse rested in this Family and were with great honour to themselves and advantage to the State administred by them But the glory and honor of the name and the person more particular to be understood here is Aulus Cornelius Cossus who when the Fidâ—enates a Colony of the Romans assisted by the Falisci and Vejentes rebelled wonne the Spolia opima or Royal Spoils of which more largely anon by killing with his own hand Lars Tolumnius King of the Vejentes See the manner of it in Livie l. 4. by whom it is left very doubtfull both in what Command whether Consul Consular Tribune or Master of the horse Cossus performed this His character Livie gives in short thus viz. That he was a most goodly and beautifull personage of extraordinary strength of body and courage of mind and very ambitious to increase the honour of his Family which being of it self very illustrious he by this exploit render'd much more conspicuous He was the second after Romulus who consecrated the Spolia opima to Jupiter Feretrius and this is what we find recorded concerning Cossus wherefore Quis te Magne Cato tacitum autâ— te Cosse relinquet Who Cato would omit or Cossus thee § 93 I wonder very much that that learned and diligent Author Antonius Augustinus who wrote purposely of the most illustrious and noble Families of Rome should omit that of the Sempronii a Family not of the latest extraction or meanest credit in its time We according to our slender and often-interrupted reading having trac'd the Roman Story find four streams issuing from the same fountain of the Sempronii viz. that of the Blaesi that of the Tuditani that of the Longi and that of the Gracchi to these Fulvius Vrsinus adds the Atratini and the Petitiones names he finds stampt upon some ancient coins C. Sempronius Blaesus was twice Consul first with C. Servilius Caepio an urb 500. about the middle of the first Punick warre He was Consul nine years after with Aul. Manlius Torquatus Atticus M. Semproniuâ— Tudit anus was Consul with C. Claudius Cento an urb 517. Pub. Sempronius Tuditanus his Sonne was Consul with M. Cornelius Cethegus an urb 549. the fifteenth year of the second Punick warre when he fought prosperously against Hannibal M. Sempronius Tuditanus his Sonne was Consul with App. Claudius Pulcher an urb 568. about the time that the Romans warred against Philip King of Macedon Tib. Sempronius Longus
parts of India Nay he preferres the victories of Augustus to those either of Hercules or Bacchus The 12. labours of the first are so well known that we need not insist long upon these which are here mentioned The Hinde called CerenÃtis feigned to be brazen hoof'd was slain by him neer to the Town of Parrhasia he also took a terrible Boar called the Boar of Erymanthus a Mountain of Arcadia alive and brought it to Eurystheus who by Juno's command was his Tax-master and imposed all those hazardous labours upon that invincible Heroe Of the Beast of Lerna i. e. the Hydra we have descoursed at large Paragraph 39. From Augustus after a desultorious manner he returns to the successors of Romulus in whom the royal line of Aeneas did determine The first of these was aged and hoary-headed Numa whom Anchises seems not to know because a stranger and none of his posterity born at â—â—ures a small Dorp or Village of the Sabines on the very day the foundation of Rome was laid The character the Poet gives him and the rest is agreeable to the testimony of History For Numa Pompilius a person fam'd for his justice and religion was by the general vote of the people though a stranger chosen King who when placed in the regal Throne having made peace with all his neighbours applied himself solely to the reforming of the Lawes Manners and Discipline both Civil and Religious introducing all Rites and Ceremonies into their Church whence he is here said to be ramis insignis Olivae and sacra ferens the first denoting his studious love of peace of which the Olive is an embleme the second his great care of Religion and the worship of the Gods whereby as Florus observes populum ferocem eó redegit ut quod vi injuriâ occupaverat imperium religione justitiâ gubernâret He taught them to govern by religion and justice that Empire which they had atchieved by injury and force Hence the very names of these two precedent Kings seem to speak their natures and to have designed them as it were for this different manner of proceeding in the management of affairs for Romulus comes from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. strength and hardiness and Numa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his inventing and ordaining of laws for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law is written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Dores from whence Numa comes and hence his character is truly given us by Livie Numa regno potitus urbem novam conditam vi armis a Romulo scilicet jure eam legibusque ac moribus de integro condere parat Numa founded that City by wholsome laws which Romulus had founded by force and arms He reigned 43 years § 81 Tullus Hostilius the third from Romulus succeeded to Numa Grandson to Hostus Hostilius who died fighting against the Sabines under the Tower of Rome He was chosen for his great valour and known conduct He subdued the Albans razed their City and transplanted the Inhabitants to Rome In the direption and sack of this forlorn Town this is chiefly to be noted that when they had equalled all the edifices whether private or publick with the ground the triumphing enemy out of an awe and reverence to religion spared the Temples of the Gods Templis tamen Deûm ita enim edictum ab rege fuit temperatum est Livie a reproach to the impious and intemperate zeal of this worst of ages wherein the Temples of the true God have born the greatest marks of the irreligious furie not of foreign enemies as here but of the once-children of the same Mother and professors of the same faith This King was the restorer of their military discipline as here characterised and inlarger of the City by taking in the Mount Caelius He reigned according to Livies Compute 32. years § 82 Ancus Martius Grandson to Numa Pompilius by his Daughter the fourth from Romulus was elected after Tullus He is described here as haughty and popular because born of royall blood He was of a disposition and temper much like to that of his Grandsire Numa as to his justice regard of religion and government in peace though in time of warre he equalled any of his Predecessors whence Livie sayes of him Medium erat in Anco ingenium Numae Romuli memor In Ancus there was a mixture of Numa and Romulus the one appeared in his reviving the laws of Numa concerning religious Rites and Ceremonies in walling the City in building a bridge over Tiber in planting a Colony at Ostia a Town situated upon the mouth of Tiber which became a famous Mart in after ages The other in his warres with the Latines Fidenâtes Vejentes Sabines and Volscians He sat upon the Throne 24 years § 83 The fifth from Romulus was Lucius Tarquinius sirnamed Priscus or the elder in regard of L. Tarquinius Superbus his sonne or as Florus writes him his Grandson He though not only not a Roman but also not so much as an Italian was named King propter industriam elegantiam for his industrie and handsome deportment He as Livie tells the story was the sonne of Damarâtus a rich Merchant of Corinth who forced out of his own Country came with his family into Italy and planted himself at Tarquinii a Town of Etruria or Tuscanie He had two sonnes Aruns and Lucumo Lucumo after the death both of his Father and Brother came to Rome where for his wealth prudence he was elected into the Senatorian order by Ancus Martius and instead of Lucumo called Lucius and Tarquinius from Tarquinii the Town of his birth And after Ancus his death notwithstanding the left two sons was thought worthy to be his Successor He conquering the rebelling Sabines Latines and the twelve Tuscan Nations was the first who triumphed in Rome From these last he borrowed and introduced all the ornaments and ensigns of Soveraignty with all the habits and fashions which were afterwards used by the Roman people He reigned thirty eight years and was treacherously murdered by two Villains suborned by the two Sonnes of Ancus Martius As you may read the story at large in Livie l. 1. he left two sonnes Aruns and Lucius called afterward Superbus But neither of these succeeded immediately to their Father but Servius Tullius a Slave by birth as born of Ocrisia a Lady taken in the Corniculan warre Ocrisia as being of the best quality of the Captivâ—s was presented to Tanaquil Wife to Tarquinius and being left with child by her Husband was delivered of a boy which from the servile condition of his Mother was called Servius and from his Father Tullius He from a hopefull and towardly child became a deserving and gallant man insomuch that K. Tarquin thought him worthy of his Daughter and the people of Rome of the Crown For he married the one and after the death of the murdered Tarquin was elected to the other his
predecessors issue being pretermitted He held the reins of goverment 44. years and was as deserving a Prince as any although omitted here by our Author who treats of things not Historically but Poetically and after a grosser manner § 83 The seventh and last of the Kings was Tarquinius Superbus Sonne to Tarquinius Priscus and Sonne-in-law to Servius Tullius who bestowed his Daughter Tullia on him A woman of a violent unquiet and ambitious spirit who incited her Husband L. Tarquinius a man of the like temper with her self to murder the King her own Father and by force to invest himself in the regal power which he as boldly as wickedly effected but administring that government as impotently as he had obtained it wickedly as also for the rape of Lucretia by his Son Sextus He with his whole family was expelled Rome which from that time of a Monarchy became a free State Tarquin tyrannized 25. years so that Rome from Romulus to him was governed by Kings 244. years as Livie computes it And this was the infancy of the Roman State under the regal power and indeed as an Infant it being no more then able to crawl had made but a small advance in order to that greatness which it afterward atchieved For that people which in process of time when it arrived to its virile estate or manhood did bound its Empire with the rising and setting Sun and carried its victorious Eagles from the Northern to the Southern world had not in 250. years gained above fifteen miles in circuit from their Cities walls nor after so many battels conquests and triumphs extended their Territories further then a nimble Footman could run in two hours As if it were in States as it is in nature wherein we see that those things which are designed for strength and duration do soberly and by degrees arrive to perfection but that those which are soon in their wane and decadence do suddenly and as it were per saltum attain to their increment and consistence How often have we seen the power of a State terminate in one man and the glory of a Nation breath out its last when he expired so circumscribed a thing is greatness and so transitory is that gaudy pomp which the world admires but to return § 84 Lucius Junius the sonne of Marcus Junius and Tarquinia Sister to Superbus was the first who brought the sirname of Brutus into the Junian Family For he seeing by the sad examples of his own Father and Brother lately murdered by the jealous Tyrant that to deserve highly was the highest treason and that vertue was the most compendious way to ruine and destruction counterâ—eited himself a fool wherein he acted his part so to the life that he purchased to himself and his Descendants the contemptible but secure nickname of Brutus or the Brute And in all appearance he continued such till a fair opportunity incouraged him to lay aside the fool coat and to appear in the more becomming dress of a man of wisdome and courage For he was the first who having rescued the oppressed people from the impotent rule of the Tarquins changed the form of government from a Monarchy to a State from Regal to Consular and was the first who together with his Collegue Collatinus was invested in this new Magistracy which was annual and to be administred by two on purpose to defeat and disappoint those advantages which a single and continued power might take upon the people who instrusted them They were called Consules à consulendo Reipublicae from the care they took of the common good as Cicero will have it or as Varro quòd consulere populum Senatum deberent because they ought to advise with the Senate and the People in all affairs and designs This office as annual and in the person of two differed only from the Kingly government otherwise they had the same ensigns and marks of soveraignty which the Kings had for they had their twelve Lictors carrying the Fasces or bundle of rods before them with the Secures or Axes as before the late Kings wherefore Virgil calls them here fasces receptos viz. à regibus the Fasces or soveraign power wrested out of the hands of the Kings But to proceed and I hope that the Reader will not think that I doe impertinently seek matter of discourse if I inlarge something upon this Story he shall find many particulars coincident with passages of our own times and agreeing with the sinister policies of our modern Innovators Brutus therefore the principal vindicator of the peoples liberty knowing that there was as much virtue required in maintaining what he had got as in the primarie acquisition endeavours by all means possible to confirm and knit the as-yet-feeble joynts of his infant Republick and to this end in the first place he causeth the people to ingage themselves by oath against the government of a single person jure-jurando populum adegit neminem Romae passuros regnare Livie Secondly he was very industrious in ruining and disâ—abling the royal party which indeed by reason of Tarquins demerits were but few and those either green-headed Courtiers or such of the Nobility quâ—rum in regno libido solutior fuerat whose looseness under a Kingly government were lesse remarkable all the friends I say of the ejected King were suddenly suppressed amongst the rest Collatinus the Husband of the ravished Lucretia and Brutus his Coadjutor in the regifuge and now Companion with him in office was by his means because of Tarquins Family both turned out of his place and banished his Country nay to strike the greater terrour into others who should attempt the restitution of the Tarquins he did not only pronounce sentence upon his own sonnes Titus and Tiberius with others of the Nobility neerly allied to him who were convinced to have held correspondence with the Common enemy but appeared an unmoved and irrelenting overseer and exactor of their punishment qui spectator erat amovendus eum ipsum exactorem supplicii fortuna dedit Livie Thirdly he caused all the estate both real and personal of the ejected Family to be dissipated and divided amongst the people knowing full well that those who had swallowed such fair morsels would be very hardly perswaded to regorge them Bona regia diripienda plebi sunt data ut contactâ regiâ praedâ spem in perpetuum cum his pacis amitteret On the other side the Tarquins were not idle but finding by the disappointment of the late plot that it was in vain to hope to compass any thing by the assistance of disarmed suppressed and discouraged friends at home they as in their case any would doe implore forain aid and flie first to the Veientes and Tarquinienses a people of Etruria and implacable enemies to the Roman name These arme in the quarrel of the exiled Princes and in this battel fell their great Brutus but most remarkably Aruns the sonne of Tarquin who commanded the enemies
was Consul with Pub. Cornelius Scipio Father to Scipio the Great an urb 535. at the first breaking out of the second Punick warre he lost and was slain at the fatal battel of Trebia The two Sonnes of these viz. Tib. Sempronius Longus and Pub. Cornelius Scipio Africanus were Collegues together an urb 559. As for the Gracchi to which Family we must principally confine our discourse the first we meet with of that name who was of Consular digâ—ity was Tib. Sempron Gracchus who was Consul with Publ. Valerius Falco an urb 515. The next was Tib. Sempronius Gracchus haply his Son who was twice Consul first with Quint. Fabius Maximus Verrucossus in the fourth year of the second Punick warre secondly with Quint Fabius Maximus the Sonne of Vâ—rrucossus two years after Tib. Sempronius Gracchus this mans Sonne was Consul with C. Claudius Pulcher an urb 376. Sardinia fell by lot to be his Province wherein he did great service his Consulship expired he remained there as Proconsul in which command he quite reduced that Province to its due obedience See Livie l. 41. He was the second time Consul with M. Juventius Thalva an urb 590. He triumphed twice and was honoured with the Censorship together with C. Claudius Pulcher his Collegue in his first Consulship He was indeed as Paterculus sayes of him vir eminentissimus clarissimus a right eminent and famous person But he did by nothing more ennoble the Sempronian name then by ingrafting it upon a fair stock of the Cornelian Family for he married Cornelia the Daughter of Pub. Scipio that Scipio who subdued Annibal a Lady of most transcendent worth by whom he had a numerous progenie viz. twelve children but three of them only survived Tiberius and Caius his sonnes who made their names as famous by their misdeeds as misfortunes as their Predecessors had done by their noble atchievements and successfull undertakings and Sempronia their Sister who married Scipio Aemilianus the Grandson by adoption to Scipio Africanus and by consequence her own Cousen german the best accomplished Gentleman Rome ever bred of whom more anon Of this Family also was Madam Sempronia who was so deeply concerned in Catilines conspiracie See her character in Salust Tiberius the elder Brother was a man of great parts of an undaunted courage a fluent tongue and a comely personage qualifications of a dangerous consequence if the person so qualified happen to deviate from what is right He was first Quaestor or Treasurer to C. Mancinus in the Numantine War and after his return to Rome was made Tribune of the people in which office whether out of an innate hatred to the Nobility or out of a turbulent and seditious spirit of his own I cannot say he caused a dangerous sedition and made such a schism or rent betwixt the Patricians and the Plebeians as could not without a Civil Warte have been pieced and cemented again had not a sudden and violent death intercepted him And here we may observe with Florus l. 3. c. 13. how that the Tribunician power which was at first intended for the Commons bulwark against the incroachments of the Nobility did its self by degrees degenerate into the greatest exorbitancie and tyranny that could be whilst under that specious and plausible pretence of asserting the peoples liberty those popular Magistrates did drive on their own sinister and ambitious designes and filling all things with faction and sedition disappoint the end for which they were at the first ordained that is did destroy the peoples liberty which they over-eagerly pretended to patronize and slacken the very nerves and sinews of all civil polity by their contentious bandings against the Senate But to proceed Tib. Gracchus partly to despite the Nobility but principally to shake the frame and to subvert the fundamentals of the present power that he might upon the ruines thereof raise the superstructure of his own greatness made it his business to cajole and flatter the people which by virtue of his office he did either by reviving old antiquated Laws or enacting new all which tended to the diminution and weakning of the Patricians either in their private fortunes or in their power and publick employments which pleased the Common people who naturally hate their Betters and fool'd them into a belief that every one of them should come to share the estates and dignities of the ruin'd Nobility little imagining that they were to be used but as brute instruments necessary tools which were to be cast aside when the work was done Wherefore resolved to prosecute the Nobility and haply secretly intending if things hapned right to change the form of government he first preferred the Laws called Agrariae by which he deprived them of their estates and those called Judiciariae by which he clipped the wings of their power By the first it was formerly enacted That all lands belonging to the Commonwealth which were called the publick lands and were the accessions of some new Conquest should at easie rates be rented out to the poorer sort these as Lives were laps'd or as Leases determined the Patricians got into their hands the Commons being by degrees utterly devested of their ancient posseâ—â—ions This caused gâ—eat discontents and many offers were made in vain by some Tribunes to reform this abuse and to reduce things to their original wont and manner but none proceeded so farre herein as Tib. Gracchus who caused the Law to pass and so it was enacted by the Commons That the publick Lands should be taken from the wealthier and reinvested as formerly in the poor Plebeians And this had the face and shew of equity but it was but a face and shew for Gracchus did it not so much to doe right to the people as to spite the Nobility and to prepare the way for some further and more dangerous designe After this had passed he preferred his Judiciary Laws whereby he took the power of Judicature from the Senate to whom it only belonged and transferred it to the Equites or Gentlemen the intermediate degree betwixt the Patricians and the Plebeians therein sâ—ill flattering the people who looked upon themselves as honoured and much strengthened herein the power of Judicature being by falling a degree lower come a step nearer to themselves But whilst Graechus was triumphing in his successes in the Capitol where he held his popular conventions the Senators who were reduced to that extremity that they must suffer the seditious Tribune either to ruine them and with them the Commonwealth or make a vigorous attempt to reskue both from imiment danger led by Scipio Nasîca Grandson to that Nasîca who was called vir optimus the best of men and seconded by a good strong party of friends repairing to the Capitol set upon Gracchus and dissipating his party slew him and by his death put a stop to those desperate innovations which he under colourable pretences had in design But they did but put a stop to them for his
Brother Caius who was chosen Tribune ten years after did not only insist in his Brothers footsteps reviving those Lawes which he had preferred but as Paterculus affirms longè majora atrociora repetens nihil immotum nihil tranquillum nihil quietum in eodem statu relinquebat attempting greater and more horrible things left nothing resting in the same state and condition it was and ought to be But as he did pursue the same pernicious projects so did the same fate in the same place pursue him for being forc'd out of the Capitol where he had fortified himself and hotly pursued by his enemies he commanded his Servant by some called Philocrates by others Euporus to kill him which he did and afterward slaying himself fell down dead upon his Masters body a notable example of the love and fidelity of a servant Val. Max. l. 6. c. 8. Hunc Tib. Gracchi liberi P. Scipionis Africani nepotes vivâ adhuc matre Corneliâ Africani filiâ viri optimis ingeniis malè usi vitâ—â— habuere exitum c. Thus did the Sonnes of Tib. Gracchus and Grandson of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus their Mother Cornelia Scipio's Daughter yet living persons who made ill use of good parts end their dayes who if they could have contained themselves within the bounds of moderation might have quietly and plausibly attain'd those honours which indirectly and illegally they aspired to As Patercules handsomely concludes The bodies of the slain Brethren so hainous had their demerits been in the esteem of their implacable enemies were denied the last honour of sepulture and thrown into the River Tiber. We must not here omit a particular instanced by all Authors to shew the unworthy return of a false friend and the prevalent temptation of gold L. Opimius the Consul made a Proclamation That whosoever should bring the head of C. Gracchus should have the weight of it in gold Septimuleius his intimate familiar and much indeared friend became the ready Executioner of the Consuls command and brought Gracchus his head in a triumphing manner fixed upon a spear which by the deceit of this covetous wretch who had taken out his brains and poured molten lead into his skull weighed seventeen pounds and an half Let the examples of these two unfortunate Brethren serve as a document to the mutinous and seditious who strive by innovation and all indirect means to aggrandize themselves Let them know that at the best if they doe succeed they embroil their native Countrey which they ought by all means to preserve and cherish and if they miscarry which generally is their fate they with their wicked designs expire as they deserve upon a gibbet leaving an infamous and hated memorial of themselves to all posterity Dabit Deus his quoque funem § 94 The Scipio's were as we have said § 92. the fairest branch of the Cornelian stem Scipio in Latine signifies a staffe and became a familiar name from one of that house who serving his decrepit and â—lind Father as his guide was from thence sirnamed Scipio or his Fathers Staffe Macrob. Sat. l. 1. c. 6. Nor did that Scipio from his filial piety deserve more the title of the Staffe of his aged Father then some of his Descendants from their worth and gallantry shewed in the service of the publick that of their distressed Mother the Common-wealth The first of the Scipio's whom History takes notice of as a publick Minister was P. Cornelius Scipio who was made Master of the horse to Furius Camillus that year that the City of Veii was taken which happened an urb 357. He was the next year chosen military Tribune and two years after Interrex To be short there were eleven of the Scipio's who were men of eminent note and merit before the great Scipio sirnamed Africanus hy his heroick atchievments adorned and illustrated the Cornelian name There was one of this branch viz. Cn. Cornelius Scipio the seventh in descent from that first who was Consul with C. Duillius the fifth year of the first Punick Warre which fell out an V. C. 493 on whom though a person of indubitable worth this â—idiculous nick-name of Asina or the she-Asse was upon this occasion imposed and from him transmitted to his posterity Macrob. tells the Story Saturn l. 1. c. 6. This Scipio sayes he the head of the Cornelian Family having contracted for some land was according to the custome of those times commanded by the Judge to give responsible security for the future payment of his money whereupon be bad his servant lead in the she-Asse which stood tied and laden at the door and this being brought into the open Court he offered to the Judge for security which done he paused a while to the great admiration of the Judge and the Assistants who all looked upon this action as an high affront to the Court and a bold contempt of authority having stood silent a while he commanded his Servant to unlade the Asse and tell out the money which as it appeared was put up in a sack and so brought upon the Asse hereat the people smiled but none queâ—ionless had more reason so to doe then he who received the money from this time he was distinguished from the rest of his name by the agnomination of Asina Pub. Asina his Sonne was Consul with Minutius Rufus an V. C. 532. he conquered and triumphed over the Istrians But to come to the persons more particularly design'd by the Poet as to whom we must limit our disâ—ourse you must know that these two Scipio's which Virgil celebrates here under the titles of duo fulmina belli and clades Libyae the two thunderbolts of warre and the subverters of the Carthaginian State were Scipio Africanus whom for distinction sake they styled Major the Grand-father and Scipio Africanus Minor the Grandson In whose Story If we inlarge our selves more then ordinary the copiousness of matter which their glorious actions administred to the Writers of those times must plead our excuse you must therefore understand that L. Scipio younger Brother to the first Scipio Asina and Consul the next year after him with C. Aquilius Florus an urb C. 495. a gallant man as who overthrew Hanno the Carthaginian General in the Island of Sardinia in the first Punick warre Livie epit 17. Val. Max. l. 5. c. 1. had two Sonnes Cnaeus and Publius the eldest of these was Consul with Claudius Marcellus an V. C. 532. the younger viz. Publius with Tib. Sempronius Longus the first year of the second Punick warre which happened an V. C. 536. He fought and lost the battel of Ticînus against Hannibal the earnest and pledge of the Carthaginians future good success in Italy After this he and his Brother Cnaeus having done great service in Spain against Asdrubal the Brother of Hannibal died both in the bed of honour and were slain in fight they were both of them very valiant men and experienced Souldiers From Cnaeus the elder those Scipio's who