Cicero\'s Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker.

M >> Marcus Tullius Cicero >> Cicero\'s Brutus or History of Famous Orators; also His Orator, or Accomplished Speaker.

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"But a particular attention to the art, and a greater ability in the
practice of it, may be observed in Pisistratus. He was succeeded in the
following century by Themistocles, who, according to the Roman date, was a
person of the remotest antiquity; but, according to that of the Athenians,
he was almost a modern. For he lived when Greece was in the height of her
power, but when the city of Rome had but lately freed herself from the
shackles of regal tyranny;--for the dangerous war with the Volsci, who
were headed by Coriolanus (then a voluntary exile) happened nearly at the
same time as the Persian war; and we may add, that the fate of both
commanders was remarkably similar. Each of them, after distinguishing
himself as an excellent citizen, being driven from his country by the
wrongs of an ungrateful people, went over to the enemy: and each of them
repressed the efforts of his resentment by a voluntary death. For though
you, my Atticus, have represented the exit of Coriolanus in a different
manner, you must give me leave to dispatch him in the way I have
mentioned."--"You may use your pleasure," replied Atticus with a smile:
"for it is the privilege of rhetoricians to exceed the truth of history,
that they may have an opportunity of embellishing the fate of their
heroes: and accordingly, Clitarchus and Stratocles have entertained us
with the same pretty fiction about the death of Themistocles, which you
have invented for Coriolanus. Thucydides, indeed, who was himself an
Athenian of the highest rank and merit, and lived nearly at the same time,
has only informed us that he died, and was privately buried in Attica,
adding, that it was suspected by some that he had poisoned himself. But
these ingenious writers have assured us, that, having slain a bull at the
altar, he caught the blood in a large bowl, and, drinking it off, fell
suddenly dead upon the ground. For this species of death had a tragical
air, and might be described with all the pomp of rhetoric; whereas the
ordinary way of dying afforded no opportunity for ornament. As it will,
therefore, suit your purpose, that Coriolanus should resemble Themistocles
in every thing, I give you leave to introduce the fatal bowl; and you may
still farther heighten the catastrophe by a solemn sacrifice, that
Coriolanus may appear in all respects to have been a second Themistocles."

"I am much obliged to you," said I, "for your courtesy: but, for the
future, I shall be more cautious in meddling with History when you are
present; whom I may justly commend as a most exact and scrupulous relator
of the Roman History; but nearly at the time we are speaking of (though
somewhat later) lived the above-mentioned Pericles, the illustrious son of
Xantippus, who first improved his eloquence by the friendly aids of
literature;--not that kind of literature which treats professedly of the
art of Speaking, of which there was then no regular system; but after he
had studied under Anaxagoras the Naturalist, he easily transferred his
capacity from abstruse and intricate speculations to forensic and popular
debates.

"All Athens was charmed with the sweetness of his language; and not only
admired him for his fluency, but was awed by the superior force and the
_terrors_ of his eloquence. This age, therefore, which may be considered
as the infancy of the Art, furnished Athens with an Orator who almost
reached the summit of his profession: for an emulation to shine in the
Forum is not usually found among a people who are either employed in
settling the form of their government, or engaged in war, or struggling
with difficulties, or subjected to the arbitrary power of Kings. Eloquence
is the attendant of peace, the companion of ease and prosperity, and the
tender offspring of a free and a well established constitution. Aristotle,
therefore, informs us, that when the Tyrants were expelled from Sicily,
and private property (after a long interval of servitude) was determined
by public trials, the Sicilians Corax and Tisias (for this people, in
general, were very quick and acute, and had a natural turn for
controversy) first attempted to write precepts on the art of Speaking.
Before them, he says, there was no one who spoke by method, and rules of
art, though there were many who discoursed very sensibly, and generally
from written notes: but Protagoras took the pains to compose a number of
dissertations, on such leading and general topics as are now called common
places. Gorgias, he adds, did the same, and wrote panegyrics and
invectives on every subject: for he thought it was the province of an
Orator to be able either to exaggerate, or extenuate, as occasion might
require. Antiphon the Rhamnusian composed several essays of the same
species; and (according to Thucydides, a very respectable writer, who was
present to hear him) pleaded a capital cause in his own defence, with as
much eloquence as had ever yet been displayed by any man. But Lysias was
the first who openly professed the _Art_; and, after him, Theodorus, being
better versed in the theory than the practice of it, begun to compose
orations for others to pronounce; but reserved the method of doing it to
himself. In the same manner, Isocrates at first disclaimed the Art, but
wrote speeches for other people to deliver; on which account, being often
prosecuted for assisting, contrary to law, to circumvent one or another of
the parties in judgment, he left off composing orations for other people,
and wholly applied himself to writing rules and systems.

"Thus then we have traced the birth and origin of the Orators of Greece,
who were, indeed, very ancient, as I have before observed, if we compute
by the Roman Annals; but of a much later date, if we reckon by their own:
for the Athenian State had signalized itself by a variety of great
exploits, both at home and abroad, a considerable time before she was
ravished with the charms of Eloquence. But this noble Art was not common
to Greece in general, but almost peculiar to Athens. For who has ever
heard of an Argive, a Corinthian, or a Theban Orator at the times we are
speaking of? unless, perhaps, some merit of the kind may be allowed to
Epaminondas, who was a man of uncommon erudition. But I have never read of
a Lacedemonian Orator, from the earliest period of time to the present.
For Menelaus himself, though said by Homer to have possessed a sweet
elocution, is likewise described as a man of few words. Brevity, indeed,
upon some occasions, is a real excellence; but it is very far from being
compatible with the general character of Eloquence.

"The Art of Speaking was likewise studied, and admired, beyond the limits
of Greece; and the extraordinary honours which were paid to Oratory have
perpetuated the names of many foreigners who had the happiness to excel in
it. For no sooner had Eloquence ventured to sail from the Pireaeus, but
she traversed all the isles, and visited every part of Asia; till at last
she infected herself with their manners, and lost all the purity and the
healthy complexion of the Attic style, and indeed had almost forgot her
native language. The Asiatic Orators, therefore, though not to be
undervalued for the rapidity and the copious variety of their elocution,
were certainly too loose and luxuriant. But the Rhodians were of a sounder
constitution, and more resembled the Athenians. So much, then, for the
Greeks; for, perhaps, what I have already said of them, is more than was
necessary."

"As to the necessity of it," answered Brutus, "there is no occasion to
speak of it: but what you have said of them has entertained me so
agreeably, that instead of being longer, it has been much shorter than I
could have wished."--"A very handsome compliment," said I;--"but it is
time to begin with our own countrymen, of whom it is difficult to give any
further account than what we are able to conjecture from our Annals.--For
who can question the address, and the capacity of Brutus, the illustrious
founder of your family? That Brutus, who so readily discovered the meaning
of the Oracle, which promised the supremacy to him who should first salute
his mother? That Brutus, who concealed the most consummate abilities under
the appearance of a natural defect of understanding? Who dethroned and
banished a powerful monarch, the son of an illustrious sovereign? Who
settled the State, which he had rescued from arbitrary power, by the
appointment of an annual magistracy, a regular system of laws, and a free
and open course of justice? And who abrogated the authority of his
colleague, that he might rid the city of the smallest vestige of the
_regal_ name?--Events, which could never have been produced without
exerting the powers of Persuasion!--We are likewise informed that a few
years after the expulsion of the Kings, when the Plebeians retired to the
banks of the Anio, about three miles from the city, and had possessed
themselves of what is called The _sacred_ Mount, M. Valerius the dictator
appeased their fury by a public harangue; for which he was afterwards
rewarded with the highest posts of honour, and was the first Roman who was
distinguished by the surname of _Maximus_. Nor can L. Valerius Potitus be
supposed to have been destitute of the powers of utterance, who, after the
odium which had been excited against the Patricians by the tyrannical
government of the _Decemviri_, reconciled the people to the Senate, by his
prudent laws and conciliatory speeches. We may likewise suppose, that
Appius Claudius was a man of some eloquence; since he dissuaded the Senate
from consenting to a peace with King Pyrrhus, though they were much
inclined to it. The same might be said of Caius Fabricius, who was
dispatched to Pyrrhus to treat for the ransom of his captive fellow-
citizens; and of Titus Coruncanius, who appears by the memoirs of the
pontifical college, to have been a person of no contemptible genius: and
likewise of M. Curius (then a tribune of the people) who, when the
Interrex Appius _the Blind_, an artful Speaker, held the _Comitia_
contrary to law, by refusing to admit any consuls of plebeian rank,
prevailed upon the Senate to protest against the conduct: of his
antagonist; which, if we consider that the Moenian law was not then in
being, was a very bold attempt. We may also conjecture, that M. Popilius
was a man of abilities, who, in the time of his consulship, when he was
solemnizing a public sacrifice in the proper habit of his office, (for he
was also a Flamen Carmentalis) hearing of the mutiny and insurrection of
the people against the Senate, rushed immediately into the midst of the
assembly, covered as he was with his sacerdotal robes, and quelled the
sedition by his authority and the force of his elocution. I do not pretend
to have read that the persons I have mentioned were then reckoned Orators,
or that any fort of reward or encouragement was given to Eloquence: I only
conjecture what appears very probable. It is also recorded, that C.
Flaminius, who, when tribune of the people proposed the law for dividing
the conquered territories of the Gauls and Piceni among the citizens, and
who, after his promotion to the consulship, was slain near the lake
Thrasimenus, became very popular by the mere force of his address, Quintus
Maximus Verrucosus was likewise reckoned a good Speaker by his
cotemporaries; as was also Quintus Metellus, who, in the second Punic war,
was joint consul with L. Veturius Philo. But the first person we have any
certain account of, who was publicly distinguished as an _Orator_, and who
really appears to have been such, was M. Cornelius Cethegus; whose
eloquence is attested by Q. Ennius, a voucher of the highest credibility;
since he actually heard him speak, and gave him this character after his
death; so that there is no reason to suspect that he was prompted by the
warmth of his friendship to exceed the bounds of truth. In his ninth book
of Annals, he has mentioned him in the following terms:

"_Additur Orator Corneliu' suaviloquenti
Ore Cethegus Marcu', Tuditano collega,
Marci Filius._"

"_Add the_ Orator _M. Cornelius Cethegus, so much admired for his
mellifluent tongue; who was the colleague of Tuditanus, and the son of
Marcus_."

"He expressly calls him an _Orator_, you see, and attributes to him a
remarkable sweetness of elocution; which, even now a-days, is an
excellence of which few are possessed: for some of our modern Orators are
so insufferably harsh, that they may rather be said to bark than to speak.
But what the Poet so much admires in his friend, may certainly be
considered as one of the principal ornaments of Eloquence. He adds;

" ----_is dictus, ollis popularibus olim,
Qui tum vivebant homines, atque aevum agitabant,
Flos delibatus populi_."

"_He was called by his cotemporaries, the choicest Flower of the State_."

"A very elegant compliment! for as the glory of a man is the strength of
his mental capacity, so the brightest ornament of that is Eloquence; in
which, whoever had the happiness to excel, was beautifully styled, by the
Ancients, the _Flower_ of the State; and, as the Poet immediately
subjoins,

"'--_Suadaeque medulla:'

"the very marrow and quintessence of Persuasion_."

"That which the Greeks call [Greek: Peitho], _(i.e. Persuasion)_ and which
it is the chief business of an Orator to effect, is here called _Suada_ by
Ennius; and of this he commends Cethegus as the _quintessence_; so that he
makes the Roman Orator to be himself the very substance of that amiable
Goddess, who is said by Eupolis to have dwelt on the lips of Pericles.
This Cethegus was joint-consul with P. Tuditanus in the second Punic war;
at which time also M. Cato was Quaestor, about one hundred and forty years
before I myself was promoted to the consulship; which circumstance would
have been absolutely lost, if it had not been recorded by Ennius; and the
memory of that illustrious citizen, as has probably been the case of many
others, would have been obliterated by the rust of antiquity. The manner
of speaking which was then in vogue, may easily be collected from the
writings of _Naevius_: for Naevius died, as we learn from the memoirs of
the times, when the persons above-mentioned were consuls; though Varro, a
most accurate investigator of historical truth, thinks there is a mistake
in this, and fixes the death of Naevius something later. For Plautus died
in the consulship of P. Claudius and L. Porcius, twenty years after the
consulship of the persons we have been speaking of, and when Cato was
Censor. Cato, therefore, must have been younger than Cethegus, for he was
consul nine years after him: but we always consider him as a person of the
remotest antiquity, though he died in the consulship of Lucius Marcius and
M. Manilius, and but eighty-three years before my own promotion to the
same office. He is certainly, however, the most ancient Orator we have,
whose writings may claim our attention; unless any one is pleased with the
above-mentioned speech of Appius, on the peace with Pyrrhus, or with a set
of panegyrics on the dead, which, I own, are still extant. For it was
customary in most families of note to preserve their images, their
trophies of honour, and their memoirs, either to adorn a funeral when any
of the family deceased, or to perpetuate the fame of their ancestors, or
prove their own nobility. But the truth of History has been much corrupted
by these laudatory essays; for many circumstances were recorded in them
which never existed; such as false triumphs, a pretended succession of
consulships, and false alliances and elevations, when men of inferior rank
were confounded with a noble family of the same name: as if I myself
should pretend that I am descended from M. Tullius, who was a Patrician,
and shared the consulship with Servius Sulpicius, about ten years after
the expulsion of the kings.

"But the real speeches of Cato are almost as numerous as those of Lysias
the Athenian; a great number of whose are still extant. For Lysias was
certainly an Athenian; because he not only died but received his birth at
Athens, and served all the offices of the city; though Timaesus, as if he
acted by the Licinian or the Mucian law, remands him back to Syracuse.
There is, however, a manifest resemblance between _his_ character and that
of _Cato_: for they are both of them distinguished by their acuteness,
their elegance, their agreeable humour, and their brevity. But the Greek
has the happiness to be most admired: for there are some who are so
extravagantly fond of him, as to prefer a graceful air to a vigorous
constitution, and who are perfectly satisfied with a slender and an easy
shape, if it is only attended with a moderate share of health. It must,
however, be acknowledged, that even Lysias often displays a strength of
arm, than which nothing can be more strenuous and forcible; though he is
certainly, in all respects, of a more thin and feeble habit than Cato,
notwithstanding he has so many admirers, who are charmed with his very
slenderness. But as to Cato, where will you find a modern Orator who
condescends to read him?--nay, I might have said, who has the least
knowledge of him?--And yet, good Gods! what a wonderful man! I say nothing
of his merit as a Citizen, a Senator, and a General; we must confine our
attention to the Orator. Who, then, has displayed more dignity as a
panegyrist?--more severity as an accuser?--more ingenuity in the turn of
his sentiments?--or more neatness and address in his narratives and
explanations? Though he composed above a hundred and fifty orations,
(which I have seen and read) they are crowded with all the beauties of
language and sentiment. Let us select from these what deserves our notice
and applause: they will supply us with all the graces of Oratory. Not to
omit his _Antiquities_, who will deny that these also are adorned with
every flower, and with all the lustre of Eloquence? and yet he has
scarcely any admirers; which some ages ago was the case of Philistus the
Syracusan, and even of Thucydides himself. For as the lofty and elevated
style of Theopompus soon diminished the reputation of their pithy and
laconic harangues, which were sometimes scarcely intelligible through
their excessive brevity and quaintness; and as Demosthenes eclipsed the
glory of Lysias, so the pompous and stately elocution of the moderns has
obscured the lustre of Cato. But many of us are shamefully ignorant and
inattentive; for we admire the Greeks for their antiquity, and what is
called their Attic neatness, and yet have never noticed the same quality
in Cato. It was the distinguishing character, say they, of Lysias and
Hyperides. I own it, and I admire them for it: but why not allow a share
of it to Cato? They are fond, they tell us, of the _Attic_ style of
Eloquence: and their choice is certainly judicious, provided they borrow
the blood and the healthy juices, as well as the bones and membranes. What
they recommend, however, is, to do it justice, an agreeable quality. But
why must Lysias and Hyperides be so fondly courted, while Cato is entirely
overlooked? His language indeed has an antiquated air, and some of his
expressions are rather too harsh and crabbed. But let us remember that
this was the language of the time: only change and modernize it, which it
was not in his power to do;--add the improvements of number and cadence,
give an easier turn to his sentences, and regulate the structure and
connection of his words, (which was as little practised even by the older
Greeks as by him) and you will discover no one who can claim the
preference to Cato. The Greeks themselves acknowledge that the chief
beauty of composition results from the frequent use of those
_translatitious_ forms of expression which they call _Tropes_, and of
those various attitudes of language and sentiment which they call
_Figures_: but it is almost incredible in what numbers, and with what
amazing variety, they are all employed by Cato. I know, indeed, that he is
not sufficiently polished, and that recourse must be had to a more perfect
model for imitation: for he is an author of such antiquity, that he is the
oldest now extant, whose writings can be read with patience; and the
ancients in general acquired a much greater reputation in every other art,
than in that of Speaking. But who that has seen the statues of the
moderns, will not perceive in a moment, that the figures of Canachus are
too stiff and formal, to resemble life? Those of Calamis, though evidently
harsh, are somewhat softer. Even the statues of Myron are not sufficiently
alive; and yet you would not hesitate to pronounce them beautiful. But
those of Polycletes are much finer, and, in my mind, completely finished.
The case is the same in Painting; for in the works of Zeuxis, Polygnotus,
Timanthes, and several other masters who confined themselves to the use of
four colours, we commend the air and the symmetry of their figures; but in
Aetion, Nicomachus, Protogenes, and Apelles, every thing is finished to
perfection. This, I believe, will hold equally true in all the other arts;
for there is not one of them which was invented and completed at the same
time. I cannot doubt, for instance, that there were many Poets before
Homer: we may infer it from those very songs which he himself informs us
were sung at the feasts of the Phaeacians, and of the profligate suitors
of Penelope. Nay, to go no farther, what is become of the ancient poems of
our own countrymen?"

"Such as the Fauns and rustic Bards compos'd,
When none the rocks of poetry had cross'd,
Nor wish'd to form his style by rules of art,
Before this vent'rous man: &c.

"Old Ennius here speaks of himself; nor does he carry his boast beyond the
bounds of truth: the case being really as he describes it. For we had only
an Odyssey in Latin, which resembled one of the rough and unfinished
statues of Daedalus; and some dramatic pieces of Livius, which will
scarcely bear a second reading. This Livius exhibited his first
performance at Rome in the Consulship of M. Tuditanus, and C. Clodius the
son of Caecus, the year before Ennius was born, and, according to the
account of my friend Atticus, (whom I choose to follow) the five hundred
and fourteenth from the building of the city. But historians are not
agreed about the date of the year. Attius informs us that Livius was taken
prisoner at Tarentum by Quintus Maximus in his fifth Consulship, about
thirty years after he is said by Atticus, and our ancient annals, to have
introduced the drama. He adds that he exhibited his first dramatic piece
about eleven years after, in the Consulship of C. Cornelius and Q.
Minucius, at the public games which Salinator had vowed to the Goddess of
Youth for his victory over the Senones. But in this, Attius was so far
mistaken, that Ennius, when the persons above-mentioned were Consuls, was
forty years old: so that if Livius was of the same age, as in this case he
would have been, the first dramatic author we had must have been younger
than Plautus and Naevius, who had exhibited a great number of plays before
the time he specifies. If these remarks, my Brutus, appear unsuitable to
the subject before us, you must throw the whole blame upon Atticus, who
has inspired me with a strange curiosity to enquire into the age of
illustrious men, and the respective times of their appearance."--"On the
contrary," said Brutus, "I am highly pleased that you have carried your
attention so far; and I think your remarks well adapted to the curious
task you have undertaken, the giving us a history of the different classes
of Orators in their proper order."--"You understand me right," said I;
"and I heartily wish those venerable Odes were still extant, which Cato
informs us in his Antiquities, used to be sung by every guest in his turn
at the homely feasts of our ancestors, many ages before, to commemorate
the feats of their heroes. But the _Punic war_ of that antiquated Poet,
whom Ennius so proudly ranks among the _Fauns and rustic Bards_, affords
me as exquisite a pleasure as the finest statue that was ever formed by
Myron. Ennius, I allow, was a more finished writer: but if he had really
undervalued the other, as he pretends to do, he would scarcely have
omitted such a bloody war as the first _Punic_, when he attempted
professedly to describe all the wars of the Republic. Nay he himself
assigns the reason.

"Others" (said he) "that cruel war have sung:"

Very true, and they have sung it with great order and precision, though
not, indeed, in such elegant strains as yourself. This you ought to have
acknowledged, as you must certainly be conscious that you have borrowed
many ornaments from Naevius; or if you refuse to own it, I shall tell you
plainly that you have _pilfered_ them.

"Cotemporary with the Cato above-mentioned (though somewhat older) were C.
Flaminius, C. Varro, Q. Maximus, Q. Metellus, P. Lentulus, and P. Crassus
who was joint Consul with the elder Africanus. This Scipio, we are told,
was not destitute of the powers of Elocution: but his son, who adopted the
younger Scipio (the son of Paulus Aemilius) would have stood foremost in
the list of Orators, if he had possessed a firmer constitution. This is
evident from a few Speeches, and a Greek History of his, which are very
agreeably written. In the same class we may place Sextus Aelius, who was
the best lawyer of his time, and a ready speaker. A little after these,
was C. Sulpicius Gallus, who was better acquainted with the Grecian
literature than all the rest of the nobility, and was reckoned a graceful
Orator, being equally distinguished, in every other respect, by the
superior elegance of his taste; for a more copious and splendid way of
speaking began now to prevail. When this Sulpicius, in quality of Praetor,
was celebrating the public shews in honour of Apollo, died the Poet
Ennius, in the Consulship of Q. Marcius and Cn. Servilius, after
exhibiting his Tragedy of _Thyestes_. At the same time lived Tiberius
Gracchus, the son of Publius, who was twice Consul and Censor: a Greek
Oration of his to the Rhodians is still extant, and he bore the character
of a worthy citizen, and an eloquent Speaker. We are likewise told that P.
Scipio Nasica, surnamed The Darling of the People, and who also had the
honor to be twice chosen Consul and Censor, was esteemed an able Orator:
To him we may add L. Lentulus, who was joint Consul with C. Figulus;--Q.
Nobilior, the son of Marcus, who was inclined to the study of literature
by his father's example, and presented Ennius (who had served under his
father in Aetolia) with the freedom of the City, when he founded a colony
in quality of Triumvir: and his colleague, T. Annius Luscus, who is said
to have been tolerably eloquent. We are likewise informed that L. Paulus,
the father of Africanus, defended the character of an eminent citizen in a
public speech; and that Cato, who died in the 83d year of his age, was
then living, and actually pleaded, that very year, against the defendant
Servius Galba, in the open Forum, with great energy and spirit:--he has
left a copy of this Oration behind him. But when Cato was in the decline
of life, a crowd of Orators, all younger than himself, made their
appearance at the same time: For A. Albinus, who wrote a History in Greek,
and shared the Consulship with L. Lucullus, was greatly admired for his
learning and Elocution: and almost equal to him were Servius Fulvius, and
Servius Fabius Pictor, the latter of whom was well acquainted with the
laws of his country, the Belles Lettres, and the History of Antiquity.
Quintus Fabius Labeo was likewise adorned with the same accomplishments.
But Q. Metellus whose four sons attained the consular dignity, was admired
for his Eloquence beyond the rest;--he undertook the defence of L. Cotta,
when he was accused by Africanus,--and composed many other Speeches,
particularly that against Tiberius Gracchus, which we have a full account
of in the Annals of C. Fannius. L. Cotta himself was likewise reckoned a
_veteran_; but C. Laelius, and P. Africanus were allowed by all to be more
finished Speakers: their Orations are still extant, and may serve as
specimens of their respective abilities. But Servius Galba, who was
something older than any of them, was indisputably the best speaker of the
age. He was the first among the Romans who displayed the proper and
distinguishing talents of an Orator, such as, digressing from his subject
to embellish and diversify it,--soothing or alarming the passions,
exhibiting every circumstance in the strongest light,--imploring the
compassion of his audience, and artfully enlarging on those topics, or
general principles of Prudence or Morality, on which the stress of his
argument depended: and yet, I know not how, though he is allowed to have
been the greatest Orator of his time, the Orations he has left are more
lifeless, and have a more antiquated air, than those of Laelius, or
Scipio, or even of Cato himself: in short, the strength and substance of
them has so far evaporated, that we have scarcely any thing of them
remaining but the bare skeletons. In the same manner, though both Laelius
and Scipio are greatly extolled for their abilities; the preference was
given to Laelius as a speaker; and yet his Oration, in defence of the
privileges of the Sacerdotal College, has no greater merit than any one
you may please to fix upon of the numerous speeches of Scipio. Nothing,
indeed, can be sweeter and milder than that of Laelius, nor could any
thing have been urged with greater dignity to support the honour of
religion: but, of the two, Laelius appears to me to be rougher, and more
old-fashioned than Scipio; and, as different Speakers have different
tastes, he had in my mind too strong a relish for antiquity, and was too
fond of using obsolete expressions. But such is the jealousy of mankind,
that they will not allow the same person to be possessed of too many
perfections. For as in military prowess they thought it impossible that
any man could vie with Scipio, though Laelius had not a little
distinguished himself in the war with Viriathus; so for learning,
Eloquence, and wisdom, though each was allowed to be above the reach of
any other competitor, they adjudged the preference to Laelius. Nor was
this only the opinion of the world, but it seems to have been allowed by
mutual consent between themselves: for it was then a general custom, as
candid in this respect as it was fair and just in every other, to give his
due to each. I accordingly remember that P. Rutilius Rufus once told me at
Smyrna, that when he was a young man, the two Consuls P. Scipio and D.
Brutus, by order of the Senate, tried a capital cause of great
consequence. For several persons of note having been murdered in the Silan
Forest, and the domestics, and some of the sons, of a company of gentlemen
who farmed the taxes of the pitch-manufactory, being charged with the
fact, the Consuls were ordered to try the cause in person. Laelius, he
said, spoke very sensibly and elegantly, as indeed he always did, on the
side of the farmers of the customs. But the Consuls, after hearing both
sides, judging it necessary to refer the matter to a second trial, the
same Laelius, a few days after, pleaded their cause again with more
accuracy, and much better than at first. The affair, however, was once
more put off for a further hearing. Upon this, when his clients attended
Laelius to his own house, and, after thanking him for what he had already
done, earnestly begged him not to be disheartened by the fatigue he had
suffered;--he assured them he had exerted his utmost to defend their
reputation; but frankly added, that he thought their cause would be more
effectually supported by Servius Galba, whose manner of speaking was more
embellished and more spirited than his own. They, accordingly, by the
advice of Laelius, requested Galba to undertake it. To this he consented;
but with the greatest modesty and reluctance, out of respect to the
illustrious advocate he was going to succeed:--and as he had only the next
day to prepare himself, he spent the whole of it in considering and
digesting his cause. When the day of trial was come, Rutilius himself, at
the request of the defendants, went early in the morning to Galba, to give
him notice of it, and conduct him to the court in proper time. But till
word was brought that the Consuls were going to the bench, he confined
himself in his study, where he suffered no one to be admitted; and
continued very busy in dictating to his Amanuenses, several of whom (as
indeed he often used to do) he kept fully employed at once. While he was
thus engaged, being informed that it was high time for him to appear in
court, he left his house with so much life in his eyes, and such an ardent
glow upon his countenance, that you would have thought he had not only
_prepared_ his cause, but actually _carried_ it. Rutilius added, as
another circumstance worth noticing, that his scribes, who attended him to
the bar, appeared excessively fatigued: from whence he thought it probable
that he was equally warm and vigorous in the composition, as in the
delivery of his speeches. But to conclude the story, Galba pleaded his
cause before Laelius himself, and a very numerous and attentive audience,
with such uncommon force and dignity, that every part of his Oration
received the applause of his hearers: and so powerfully did he move the
feelings, and affect the pity of the judges, that his clients were
immediately acquitted of the charge, to the satisfaction of the whole
court.

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