former greatness, a factitious and sentimental importance attached itself to this ancient office and its attainment was regarded down to the latest times as the goal of a Roman's ambition. Cf. Tac. Ag. 44 quippe et vera bona, quae in virtutibus sita sunt, impleverat, et consulari ac triumphalibus ornamentis praedito quid aliud adstruere fortuna poterat? Sen. de brev. vit. 20, 1 ut unus ab illis numeretur annus, omnes annos suos conterent. Wenige Erscheinungen der späteren römischen Welt,' Friedländer S. G. I p. 265 well says, 'sind so merkwürdig wie diese, dass selbst das klägliche Schattenbild der alten Grösse Jahrhunderte lang in so hohem Grade statt des längst entschwundenen Wesens gelten, die alte Ehrfurcht erwecken, den alten unwiderstehlichen Zauber üben konnte.'

From this it will appear that the addition of vel before 'ad' (et MSS.) is far more appropriate and also easier than Vahlen's insertion (accepted by John) of 'praeturas' or 'sacerdotia,' for an enumeration of some of the political offices an orator might secure, decidedly weakens the force of the passage. evexerint: A poetic word and in this figurative sense not elsewhere in Tac. Cf. Hor. C. I 1, 6 Verg. Aen. VI 130 Stat. Silv. III 3, 76 Vell. Pat. II 90, 1 quem usque in tertium consulatum . . evexerat.

4 securum et quietum: Cf. c. 10 ext. quietis et securitatis Livy XXXIX 1 quietum et securum. Vergilii secessum: Vita Verg. p. 57 R. habuitque domum Romae in Esquiliis iuxta hortos Maecenatis quamquam secessu Campaniae Siciliaeque plurimum uteretur.

6 Augusti epistulae: Cf. Vita Verg. p. 61 R. Augustus vero... supplicibus atque etiam minacibus per iocum litteris efflagitaret ut sibi de Aeneide, ut ipsius verba sunt, vel prima carminis inoypadń vel quodlibet kŵλov mitteret Claud. Ep. ad Olybr. (n. 41) v. 23 dignatus tenui Caesar scripsisse Maroni.

7 auditis in theatro Vergilii versibus: Both 'versibus' and 'forte praesentem' seem to leave no reasonable doubt that the reference is not to the recitation of an entire poem (cf. Donat. Vita Verg. p. 60 R. bucolica eo successu edidit ut in scaena quoque per cantores crebro pronuntiarentur Serv. Verg. Ecl. VI 11 dicitur autem ingenti favore esse recitata sqq.) but more probably to the quotation of some Virgilian lines in some play or mimus. - surrexit universus: rose as one man.' This particular homage was usually paid only to the Emperor (Plin. Paneg. 54 in venerationem tui theatra ipsa

consurgent Suet. Claud. 6), and occasionally to members of the imperial family (Suet. Octav. 56 filiis praetextatis adhuc assurectum ab universis in theatro et a stantibus plausum gravissime questus est). On the great popularity of Virgil during his lifetime, and during the Early Empire cf. Vita Virg. p. 57: si quando Romae, quo rarissime commeabat, viseretur in publico, sectantis demonstrantisque se suffugeret in proximum tectum and Comparetti, Virgilio nel medio evo c. 3.

8 praesentem spectantemque: It is not necessary to regard this phrase as a kind of hendiadys, in the sense of 'praesentem inter spectatores.' It is simply one of the numerous examples of that fullness of expression so characteristic of the style of this treatise. Cf. Plin., Paneg. 56 ipsum praesentem audientemque consalutabant imperatorem, where 'audientem,' although equally superfluous, has never been objected to. — Vergilium: The repetition of the proper name here in place of a pronoun has the effect of emphasising the significance of such an ovation being accorded to a private individual. For similar repetitions in T. cf. H. V 21 Ann. I 13 II 28 III 30.41 IV 29. 31 VI 15. 39 XII 64 and Ioh. Müller, Beiträge IV 13 note 2. veneratus greet respectfully.' In this sense very rare. E. g. Tib. I 5, 33 Plin. Pan. 54 Suet. Claud. 12 and Tac. Ann. XVI 4. 9 sic quasi: Such emphatic phrases are not so rare in pre-Aug. writers as Wolff seems to think. Cf. e. g. Plaut. Amph. II 2, 51 me sic salutas quasi dudum non videris Cic. de orat. II 11, 47 sic tractare quasi nihil possit dici pro Cluent. 1, 4 ad Att. VI 1, 12 etc. and so analogously with 'tamquam' e. g. Cic. ad fam. XIII 69, 1 sic Ephesi fui tamquam domi meae, less frequent with 'velut.'

10 Secundus Pomponius: A distinguished tragic poet and intimate friend of the elder Pliny who became his biographer (Plin. N. H. XIII 12, 26, 83 Pliny, Ep. III 5, 3). He was a partisan of Sejanus and upon the downfall of this minister (31 A. D.) was thrown into prison, where he is said to have remained for seven years till released by Caligula, who raised him to the consulship, probably in 44 A. D. The emperor Claudius sent him as legatus to Germany, where he defeated the Chatti, obtaining the honor of the triumphal ornaments (50 A. D.). Tacitus repeatedly speaks of him in terms of high praise. Cf. Ann. V 8 multa morum elegantia et ingenio. inlustri XII 28 decretusque Pomponio triumphalis honos, modica. pars famae apud posteros, in quis carminum gloria praecellit. His

great literary reputation is fully confirmed by Quint. X 1, 98 eorum (sc. tragoedorum) quos viderim, longe princeps Pomponius Secundus, quem senes parum tragicum putabant, eruditione ac nitore praestare confitebantur. The title of a praetextata Aeneas' has come down to us. Cp. Teuffel, Röm. Lit. § 284, 7, and esp. L. Brunel, De tragoedia apud Romanos circa principatum Augusti corrupta, ch. 6, 2 Paris 1884. Afro Domitio: A celebrated orator of the reign of Nero, cos. suff. 39 A. D. curator aquarum (Dio LIX, 20 Frontin. Aq. 102) 49-59, in which latter year he died. See Tac. Ann. XIV 19 Sequuntur virorum inlustrium mortes, Domitii Afri et M. Servilii qui summis honoribus et multa eloquentia viguerant. Ille orando causas, Servilius diu foro, mox tradendis rebus Romanis celebris et elegantia vitae ; quam clariorem effecit ut par ingenio, ita morum diversus. On his character and his fame as an orator, cf. Tac. Ann. IV 52 Claudia Pulchra, sobrina eius (sc. Neronis) postulatur accusante Domitio Afro. Is recens praetura, modicus dignationis et quoquo facinore properus clarescere. . . Afer primoribus oratorum additus, divulgato ingenio et secuta adseveratione Caesaris, qua suo iure disertum eum appellavit; mox capessendis accusationibus aut reos tutando prosperiore eloquentiae quam morum fama fuit, nisi quod aetas extrema multum etiam eloquentiae dempsit, dum fessa mente retinet silentii impatientiam Quint. X 1, 118 eorum (sc. oratorum) quos viderim, Domitius Afer et Iulius Africanus longe praestantissimi. Arte ille et toto genere dicendi praeferendus et quem in numero veterum locare non timeas XII 11, 3 Vidi ego longe omnium, quos mihi cognoscere contigit, summum oratorem Domitium Afrum, valde senem cotidie aliquid ex ea quam meruerat auctoritate perdentem, cum agente illo quem principem fuisse quondam fori non erat dubium, alii, quod indignum videatur, riderent, alii erubescerent; quae occasio fuit dicendi malle eum deficere quam desinere. This highly remarkable agreement between Quintilian and a passage in the historical writings of Tacitus is sufficient to show how hazardous it is to argue against the Tacitean authorship of the Dialogus, because of striking parallelisms with. the writer of the Institutio Oratoria. Quintilian also refers to a work of Afer On Testimony' (V 7, 7), to one entitled 'Dicta' (VI 3, 42) and repeatedly to some of his orations, of which those in behalf of Cloatilla and Volusenus Catulus appear to have been the most famous. On the transposition of the cognomen, see note c. 1 1.

12 ad quorum exempla me vocas: Cf. c. 8. For the phrase, cf. Plin. Ep. IX 2, 2 ad cuius (sc. Ciceronis) exemplum nos vocas Paneg. 58 non te ad exemplar eius voco Cic. Acad. Pr. 18, 56 me ad Democritum vocas. - habent concupiscendum: 'What do they possess that one might covet?' Different from the construction of 'habere' with the gerundive, discussed c. 8 12. Concupiscendum' here takes the place of the missing adjective 'concupiscibilis.' 13 quod timent an quod timentur: an 'or perhaps.' Usage in similar interrogative clauses leads us to expect 'aut' (R. V. III p. 313 note 442) butan,' as a disjunctive particle, is, according to Nipperdey's observation (Ann. I 13), more common in Tacitus than in any other writer. Cp. Heraeus ad H. I 7 Gantrelle, Style de Tac. § 134. The same contrast is brought out in Tac. H. IV 42 nihil quod ex te concupisceret, nihil quod timeret and in Sidon. Apoll. Ep. V 7 (a locus classicus on informers) hi sunt quos timent, etiam qui timentur.

14 ii quibus non praestant indignantur: As Marcellus and Crispus are importuned for favors day after day (cotidie), they would naturally find it impossible, even if willing, to grant all requests made to them, and hence they necessarily incurred the hatred of those who remained unnoticed. Cf. the quite similar statement in Plut. Comp. Alc. et Coriol. 235 C: où yàp depaπevovoɩ toùs todλovs ὡς μὴ δεόμενοι τιμῆς, εἶτα χαλεπαίνουσι μὴ τυγχάνοντες ὡς τὸ χαλεπαίνειν μάλιστα μὴ τυγχάνοντα τῆς τιμῆς ἐκ τοῦ σφόδρα γλί χεσθαι φυόμενον.

Lipsius' easy emendation has been uniformly rejected. Of those who defend the MS. reading, some (e. g. Wolff) suppose it possible that the author designedly introduced a paradox as a surprise for the reader, who naturally expects a negative statement; others, like John, contend that the emphasis is on indignantur,' but in that case some such reading as Michaelis suggested would be necessary, which, however, is itself open to palaeographical objections. Andresen, followed by Peter, conjectures 'vel ii quibus praestant indignantur,' a sentiment more epigrammatic than true, as is clear from Andresen's own translation selbst diejenigen, denen sie ihre Bitten gewähren, sich beleidigt fühlen'! In all the passages, moreover, cited by these scholars in support of this view (Tac. Ann. IV 18 Sen. Ep. 8, 32 Florus IV 2, 92 to which might have been added Tac. H. IV 62 Sen. de ben. I 3, 1 IV 40, 1 Ep. 19, 11), it is invariably the expected repayment of an obligation incurred that is said to render the gift irksome to the recipient. But this idea is not expressed in our passage nor do the words of the text lend themselves to such an interpretation.

15 adligati omni adulatione: Marcellus and Crispus, in the eyes of Maternus, have lost all personal independence by their slavish obsequiousness toward the Emperor. Marcellus was dead when these bitter words were written, and Crispus was not likely to have been in favor in the reign of Titus. Cp. Proleg. xxx 'adulatio' is perhaps of more frequent occurrence in Tacitus than in any earlier writer.

The great majority of editors refuse to accept Walther's emendation omni (cũ ABE cum-CDV). It is, however, absolutely certain, as a glance at the variants in c. 214 might have shown : omni eruditione (omni-CEAV cũ-ABD), for here there can be no doubt as to the genuine reading. A similar false solution of a compendium gave rise to an unintelligible 'omne' (C) for commune in c. 26 30.

17 liberti, sc. principis. This statement, as Andresen observes, is a thrust at Aper, who (c. 7) had mentioned the defence of the Emperor's liberti, as among the most honorable occupations of an orator. On the 'liberti' under the Empire see note to c. 7 7. dulces, ut Vergilius ait, Musae: Cited from Georg. II 475 f. Me verum primum dulces ante omnia Musae | quarum sacra fero ingenti percussus amore | accipiant. In the phrase 'ut ait,' the subject usually follows the verb. The inverse order, as here (and again in Tac. but without ut: Ann. XI 3 XV 69), is not rare in the Silver Age. Cf. Liv. XXX 26, 9 sicut Ennius ait Varr. R. R. I 7, 6 Quint. I 5, 72 X 7, 14 (?) XII 3, 11 ut Cicero ait 9, 16 ut Demosthenes ait. Cp. Schmalz, Antib. I p. 124.

18 sollicitudinibus et curis: In inverse order in Cic. ad Att.. XV 14 (cf. note c. 4 3). Quint. XI 1, 44 sollicitudo deceat et cura Plin. Paneg. 41 Ep. V 6, 1 curam et soll. Ps. Quint. Decl. 50, 8.

19 in illa sacra illosque fontes ferant: The preposition does not signify into,' which would involve an absurdity, but it may be taken in the sense of ad, 'towards,' Germ. ' an,' as in Prop. III 16, 17 semper in Oceanum mittit me quaerere gemmas | et iubet ex ipsa tollere dona Tyro, or is in Greek e. g. K 366 peúywv ès vñas 0 420 πῦρ ἐς να φέροντα and esp. analogous to our passage Κ 107 ἡ μέν ἀρ' ἐς κρήνην κατεβήσετο καλλιρέεθρον. Inasmuch, however, as the sanctuaries of the Muses were situated on high places, it seems far preferable to interpret in='up towards' a signification which it also frequently has. E. g. c. 10 19 in ipsam arcem eloquentiae ferat 19 16 in caelum laudibus ferebatur Ann. XII 35 decedere barbari in iuga montium Plaut. Cist. II 3, 78 in cae