rules are taken chiefly from Aristotle; but they contain the elements of a just taste in poetical composition, and therefore do not admit of variation. Though he often writes as if he were a votary of Epicurus, we may easily collect from other parts of his works, that he was not insensible to the attractions of a severer philosophy. The Satires of Juvenal, compared with those of Horace, are deficient in facetiousness and urbanity; but they are superior in acuteness of thought, and in manly vigor of sentiment.

In variety of talent, without supreme excellence, and ease and elegance of numbers, no Roman poet has excelled Ovid. In his Metamorphoses particularly, with great fancy, we have specimens of the pathetic, the descriptive, the eloquent, and even the sublime. The mythological stories they contain are sometimes instructive, while in the remains of his Fasti, or calendary verses, we find much that tends to illustrate and explain the religious rites, festivals, and sacrifices of the ancient Romans, and even to throw a considerable light on various ceremonies and observances of the present day. His Elegies have more of nature and of real passion than those of either Tibullus or Propertius. His amatory verses are rendered worse than worthless by their gross immorality and licentiousness.

There is nothing more elegant than the compositions of Tibullus, nothing more delicate than the turn of his expression; but it is not the language of passion. The sentiments are tender; but their power of affecting the heart is weakened by the visible care and solicitude of the poet for refined phraseology and polished numbers; nor is there either much fancy or variety of thought. A single elegy exhibits the sentiments of the whole.

Martial is the last of the Roman poets who can be mentioned with high approbation. His Epigrams, independently of their art and ingenuity, are valuable, as throwing light upon the Roman manners. He possesses, above every other poet, a naïveté of expression, which is chiefly observable in his serious Epigrams. He is well characterized by the younger Pliny, ingeniosus, acer, et qui in scribendo et salis haberet et fellis, nec candoris minus. Epist. iii. 21. Luxuriance of ornament, and fondness for point, and brilliancy of thought and expression, are certain indications of the decline of good taste. These characters strongly mark the Latin poets of the

succeeding ages. Lucan has some scattered examples of genuine poetic imagery, and Persius some happy strokes of animated satire; but they scarcely compensate the affected obscurity of the one, and the bombast of the other. The succeeding poets, Statius, Silius Italicus, and Valerius Flaccus, in their attempts at the most difficult of all species of poetry, the Epic, have only more signally displayed the inferiority of their genius, and the manifest decay of the art.

PHILOSOPHY AMONG THE ROMANS.

The Romans, in the earlier periods of the Republic, had little leisure to bestow on the cultivation of the sciences, and had no idea of philosophical speculation. It was not till the end of the sixth century from the building of the city, and in the interval between the war with Perseus and the third Punic war, that philosophy made its first appearance at Rome. A few learned Achæans, banished from their country, had settled in various parts of Italy, and, applying themselves to the cultivation of literature and the education of youth, diffused a taste for those studies hitherto unknown to the Romans. The elder citizens regarded these pursuits with an unfavorable eye. Jealous of the introduction of foreign manners with foreign studies, the senate banished the Greek philosophers from Rome. But an Athenian embassy arriving soon after, brought thither Carneades and Critolaus, who revived the taste for the Greek philosophy, and left behind them many able disciples, who publicly taught their doctrines.

It was natural that those systems should be most generally adopted, which were most suitable to the national character. While the manners of the Romans had yet a tincture of ancient severity, the Stoical system prevailed. Scipio, Lælius, and the younger Cato, rank among its chief partisans.

The philosophy of Aristotle was little known in Rome till the age of Cicero. Cratippus and Tyrannion then taught his system with great reputation. Yet Cicero complains that the Peripatetic philosophy was little understood at Rome; and, on that account, he sent his son to study its doctrines in the schools of Athens.

Lucullus, whose military genius and warlike pursuits did not interfere with his taste for more intellectual and scientific enjoyments, and whose stay in

Greece gave him an opportunity of being acquainted with all the different sects, disseminated, on his return to Rome, a very general taste for philosophy. His patronage of learned men, amidst the luxuries, and profuse expenses, of the retired scenes of his life, and his liberality in allowing his library to be open for the public use, contributed greatly to the promotion of literature.

The Old and New Academy had each their partisans. Of the former, which may be termed the Stoico-Platonic, the most illustrious disciples were Marcus Brutus and Terentius Varro. To the philosophical talents of Brutus, and the universal erudition of Varro, of whose literary productions so few have been preserved, the writings of Cicero bear the most ample testimony. Cicero himself must be deemed the most eminent of all the Roman philosophers. He is classed among the principal supporters of the New Academy; though it seems rather to have been his purpose to elucidate the Greek philosophy in general, than to rank himself among the disciples of any particular sect.

The oultivation of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, seems to have been little attended to either by the Greeks or Romans. Unless Agriculture should be classed under this description, we know of no Roman authors, except Varro and the elder Pliny, who seem to have bestowed much attention on the operations of nature. The works of the former have perished, except a few fragments; but the Natural History of Pliny is a most valuable storehouse of the knowledge of the ancients in Physics, Economics, and the Arts and Sciences. It is to be regretted that the style is unsuitable to the matter, being too frequently florid, declamatory, and obscure. Western Europe, indeed, stands practically indebted to Rome for the introduction of many common fruits, and culinary plants, which, in the course of her conquests in the East, she was careful to collect, and transfer to Italy; such as apples, pears, cherries, and, in all likelihood, the olive, so much esteemed in France, Spain, and all the southern parts of the Continent.

enemies of Rome ever entertain such principles !" Yet these principles were, in a short time from that period, but too current among her own citi

zens.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MANNERS OF THE ROMANS.

The manners of the Romans in the early ages of the Republic were so different from those of the latter times, that one should be led to suppose some very extraordinary causes to have co-operated to produce so remarkable a change: yet the transition is easy to be accounted for. A spirit of temperance, of frugality, and probity is the characteristic of every infant establishment. A virtuous simplicity of manners, and a rigor of military discipline, paved the way for the extension of the Roman arms, and for their prodigious conquests: these conquests introduced wealth, luxury, and corruption.

In the early times, the patricians, when in the country, forgot the distinction of ranks, and labored in the cultivation of their fields like the meanest plebeians. We have the examples of Cincinnatus, Curius, the elder Cato, and Scipio Africanus. The very names of some of the most distinguished families, as the Lentuli, Pisones, Fabii, &c., are supposed to have been assumed expressly to mark the skill and success of the bearers of them in the cultivation of particular vegetables. It was accounted more noble to belong to one of the thirty-one rustic, than to either of the four city tribes. The town was visited only every ninth or market-day. In those times of virtuous simplicity, says Sallust, Domi militiæque boni mores colebantur.-Duabus artibus, audacia in bello, ubi pax evenerat æquitate, seque remque publicam curabant. But when, in consequence of this very discipline, and these manners, the Romans had extended their dominion, they imported, with the wealth of the conquered nations, their tastes, their manners, and their vices.

The Romans had no natural taste in the fine arts. On the conquest of Greece, an immense field opened at once to their eyes, and the masterpieces of art poured in upon them in abundance. But their excellences they could not appreciate. The Roman luxury, so far as the arts were concerned, was in general displayed in an awkward, heavy, and tasteless magnificence. From the regal to the imperial government, the greatest persons appear to have worn clothes prepared by their wives and daughters.

The robes made by Queen Tanaquil for the first Tarquin were preserved in the time of the Cæsars, and Augustus wore dresses prepared by the hand of Livia.

The public and private life of the Romans will be best elucidated by a short account of the manner in which the day was passed at Rome, both by the higher and lower ranks of the people. The morning hours were spent by a part of the citizens in visiting the temples; by others in attending the levees of the great. The Clientes waited on their Patroni; the patricians visited each other, or paid their compliments to the leaders of the Republic. Popularity was always the first object of ambition at Rome, as paving the way to all advancement. From the levee they proceeded to the forum, either to assist in the public business, or for amusement. There the time was spent till noon, the hour of dinner among the Romans, chiefly a very light repast, and of which it was not customary to invite any guests to partake. After dinner the youth repaired to the Campus Martius, where they occupied themselves in athletic exercises and sports till sunset. The elder class retired for an hour to repose, and then passed the afternoon in their porticoes, galleries, or libraries, where they enjoyed the conversation of their friends, or heard recitations of literary works; even while they were in the baths they had persons to read to them: others repaired to the theatres, or to the shows of the circus and amphitheatre.

Combats of gladiators were introduced for the first time about the 490th year of the city, and soon became a most favorite amusement, as did the combats with wild beasts. The spirit of luxury, which in general is not unfavorable to humanity, showed its progress among the Romans by an increasing ferocity and inhumanity of the public spectacles. Theatrical entertainments were in high request. The taste for pantomime came to such a height, that the art was taught in public schools, and the nobility and people were divided into parties in favor of the rival performers: an abuse which called at length for the interposition of the laws.

From the porticoes, or from the theatre and amphitheatre, it was customary to go to the baths, of which there were many for the use of the public, while the rich had them in their own houses, vying with each other in this as in every other article of

luxury or magnificence. From the bath they went immediately to supper, generally about the ninth or tenth hour, counting from sunrise. At table they reclined on couches. The luxury of the Roman suppers far exceeded everything known among the moderns. An antecœnium of pickles and spices was presented, to prepare and sharpen the appetite. Cookery became a science. The number and costliness of the dishes were incredible. The entertainment was heightened by everything gratifying to the senses; by male and female dancers, musicians, pantomimes, and even shows of gladiators.

In the end of the Republic, pleasure and amusement were the darling objects of all ranks of the citizens: they sought no more than panem et cir

censes.

THE ART OF WAR AMONG THE ROMANS.

From the prodigious success which attended the arms of the Romans, and that dominion they acquired over the greatest part of the known world, it seems a natural inference, that they must have carried the military art to a higher degree of perfection than any other of the contemporary nations. Vegetius expressly assigns their extensive conquests to that cause alone. It is the discipline of an army that makes the multitude act as one man. It likewise increases the courage of troops; for each individual confides in the steady co-operation of his fellows.

From the constant practice of athletic exercises, the Romans were inured from infancy to hardiness and fatigue, and bred to that species of life which a soldier leads in the most active campaign in the field.

The levies were made annually, by the tribes being called out, and divided into their respective number of centuries; each century presenting by rotation as many soldiers as there were legions intended to be raised; and the tribunes of the several legions taking their turn by rotation in the selection of the men presented by the centuries. The number of soldiers in the legion was various at different periods, from 3,000 to 10,000 and 11,000. The term Legion, it may be well to observe, implied selection among the disqualifications, poverty being accounted an insuperable one, it not being judged expedient or safe to intrust the fate of the community to persons who had nothing to lose.

Among the ancient nations there were usually but two different arrangements of the troops in order of battle. The one the Phalanx, or close arrangement in parallelogram, intersected only by great divisions; a disposition commonly used by the Greeks and by most of the barbarous nations. The other the Quincunx, or Chequer, consisting of small companies or platoons, disposed in three straight lines, with alternate spaces between them, equal to the space occupied by each company. In the first line were the Hastati; in the second, the Principes; and in the third, the Triarii. On the flanks of the first line were the cavalry, likewise in detached companies; and in front of the line were the Velites, or light-armed troops, who usually began by a skirmishing attack, and then were withdrawn to make way for the main body to come into action. The arms of the legion were, for the hastati and principes, the pilum or heavy javelin, and the sword and buckler; and for the triarii, the long spear, with the sword and buckler. The advantages of this arrangement were, that the line of battle could be three times formed with fresh troops, and that it was more fitted than any other for rapid changes of movement. From the spear of the triarii, the Romans are supposed to have acquired their appellation Quirites; it being a weapon adopted from the Sabines, and in their language called Quiris, according to the following line of Ovid:

"Sive quod hasta Quiris priscis est dicta Sabinis.”—Fast. ii.

Notwithstanding these advantages, the quincunx went into disuse towards the end of the Republic; and from that time various arrangements of the legion were used, according to circumstances. The tactic of the Romans is supposed to have been at its greatest pitch of excellence during the Punic wars. Hannibal was a great master of the science, and the Romans profited by the experience of his ability. The battle of Cannæ, as described by Polybius, affords signal evidence of the great talents of the Carthaginian general. That description has been misrepresented by Folard, but is accurately explained in the Mémoires Militaires of M. Guischardt, the Quintus Icilius of Frederic the Second of Prussia. Had the quincunx disposition been kept by the Roman army in that engagement, the event might have been very different, as it would have disappointed the effect of an artful manœuvre

planned by Hannibal on observing his enemy's army arranged in the unusual order of the phalanx. The Cuneus and Forceps were among the most curious arrangements; the former being in the form of a wedge, which, by being ably directed against any weak part of the enemy's forces, was sure to pene. trate the ranks with irresistible force. To counteract such operations, the forceps was invented, which, by suddenly opening to receive the wedge, and then closing upon it, committed the greatest slaughter; the cuneus being from its form incapable of any retrograde movement.

sar.

The art of intrenchment was carried to great perfection by the Romans, particularly by Julius CæWith 60,000 men he defended himself in his intrenchments before Alexia, while the lines of circumvallation were attacked by 242,000 Gauls, and the lines of countervallation by 80,000, without effect. These intrenchments consisted of a ditch from nine to fifteen feet in depth and width, fenced on the inside by the mound of excavated earth, and on the outside by strong stakes with pointed branches.

In besieging a town, several camps were formed around the place, joined to each other by lines of circumvallation and countervallation. A mound of earth (agger) was raised, beginning by a gentle slope from one of the camps, and gradually rising in elevation as it approached the city. The front, where the workmen were employed, was defended by a curtain of hides fixed on strong posts. On this mound the engines of attack, Catapulta for the discharge of heavy stones, and Baliste for arrows, were advanced, till they played on the very spot which the besiegers wished to assail. The same machines were used by the besieged, for annoying the enemy. When the batteries from the terrace had silenced those on the walls, the battering-ram (aries) was then brought up under a penthouse (testudo), and, if it once reached the wall, was generally decisive of the fate of the town. The main object of the besieged was, therefore, to prevent its approach by every power of annoyance. Stones, darts, and combustible matters were continually launched upon the assailants; and sometimes a mine was dug from the city, to scoop away the terrace and all its engines. These arts of attack and defence of fortified places were in general use among the nations of antiquity, and continued

A

down to modern times, till the invention of gunpowder. The naval military art was utterly unknown among the Romans till the first Punic war. Carthaginian galley was the first model; and in the space of two months they equipped a fleet of one hundred galleys of five banks of oars, and twenty of three banks. The structure of these galleys, and the mode of arranging the rowers, may be learned from the ancient sculptures and medals; but there was more difficulty in making mariners than ships: they were obliged to learn the art of navigation on shore, as it were, and to adopt such a mode of warfare as enabled them to fight, indeed, but more like soldiers than sailors. The combatants at sea, assailed at a distance with javelins, missile combustibles, and sometimes with catapultæ and balistæ; but the serious attack was made in boarding, when the vessels grappled together by means of a crane let down from the prow.

In the times of the empire, the Romans maintained their distant conquests, not only by their armies, but by their fleets, which were moored in the large rivers and bays, and generally preserved a fixed station, as did the legions.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

The battle of Actium decided the fate of the commonwealth, and Octavius, now named Augustus, was master of the Roman Empire. He possessed completely the sagacity of discerning what character was best fitted for gaining the affections of the people he governed, and the versatility of temper and genius to assume it.

The fate of Cæsar warned him of the insecurity of an usurped dominion; and, therefore, while he studiously imitated the engaging manners and clemency of his great predecessor, he affected a much higher degree of moderation and respect for the rights of the people.

The temple of Janus, which had been open for one hundred and eighty-eight years, since the beginning of the second Punic war,-was closed, an event productive of universal joy.

BIRTH OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

The event of the world happened at this time, its SAVIOUR having been brought forth in lowliness and humility in Bethlehem, in the land of Judæa.

Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew word Joshua,

Jehoshua, "Jehovah, the Saviour," is the name given to the son of the Virgin Mary by the angels who announced his approaching birth (Matt. i. 21; Luke i. 31). The reason of the name was at the same time declared: "for he shall save his people from their sins."

The date of the birth of Jesus is now generally fixed a few years at least four years-before the commencement of the Christian era. The reasons of this opinion we cannot here state, but it may be observed that the reckoning of dates from the birth of Christ did not begin till the 6th century, when error on such a point was very probable. The precise date of the birth of Jesus, however, cannot be determined, nor can the year of his death be much more confidently stated. The common computation fixes his death in 33 A.D., or when he was probably 37 years of age. As to the month or day of the birth of Jesus, nothing is known, although the circumstance, that shepherds were watching their flocks by night, makes it very certain that it did not take place at that time at which the festival of Christmas is held.

With the accounts given by the Evangelists of the birth of Jesus, his ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, every one may be supposed familiar.

The Germans were now engaged with the Romans in a desperate struggle for the preservation of their liberties. Drusus, the valiant step-son of Augustus, was the first Roman who made any conquests on the right bank of the Rhine. Several German tribes united themselves in a confederacy under the leadership of Hermann, or Arminius, the doughty prince of the Cherusci, for the purpose of freeing themselves of the foreign yoke. Varus marched against. them through the Teutoberger forest, but suffered such a defeat from Arminius that the country was covered far and wide with the corpses of the Romans. The eagles were lost, and Varus died by his own hands. Augustus, when he heard the tidings, exclaimed in despair: "Varus! Varus! give me back my legions!"

SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS, B.C. 207, AND ARMINIUS'S VICTORY OVER THE ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER VARUS, A.D. 9.

B.C. 205 to 201. Scipio is made consul, and carries the war into Africa. He gains several victories there, and the Cartha