It was common to Romans to have three names, and our Cicero had three. Marcus, which was similar in its use to the Christian11 name of one of us, had been that of his grandfather and father, and was handed on to his son. This, called the pr?nomen, was conferred on the child when a babe with a ceremony not unlike that of our baptism. There was but a limited choice of such names among the Romans, so that an initial letter will generally declare to those accustomed to the literature that intended. A. stands for Aulus, P. for Publius, M. generally for Marcus, C. for Caius, though there was a Cneus also. The nomen, Tullius, was that of the family. Of this family of Tullius to which Cicero belonged we know no details. Plutarch tells us that of his father nothing was said but in extremes, some declaring that he had been a fuller, and others that he had been descended12 from a prince who had governed the Volsci. We do not see why he may not have sprung from the prince, and also have been a fuller. There can, however, be no doubt that he was a gentleman, not uneducated himself, with means and the desire to give his children the best education which Rome or Greece afforded. The third name or cognomen13, that of Cicero, belonged to a branch of the family of Tullius. This third name had generally its origin, as do so many of our surnames, in some specialty14 of place, or trade, or chance circumstance. It was said that an ancestor had been called Cicero from "cicer," a vetch, because his nose was marked with the figure of that vegetable. It is 42more probable that the family prospered16 by the growing and sale of vetches. Be that as it may, the name had been well established before the orator17's time. Cicero's mother was one Helvia, of whom we are told that she was well-born and rich. Cicero himself never alludes19 to her—as neither, if I remember rightly, did Horace to his mother, though he speaks so frequently of his father. Helvia's younger son, Quintus, tells a story of his mother in a letter, which has been, by chance, preserved among those written by our Cicero. She was in the habit of sealing up the empty wine-jars, as well as those which were full, so that a jar emptied on the sly by a guzzling20 slave might be at once known. This is told in a letter to Tiro, a favorite slave belonging to Marcus, of whom we shall hear often in the course of our work. As the old lady sealed up the jars, though they contained no wine, so must Tiro write letters, though he has nothing to say in them. This kind of argument, taken from the old familiar stories of one's childhood and one's parents, could be only used to a dear and familiar friend. Such was Tiro, though still a slave, to the two brothers. Roman life admitted of such friendships, though the slave was so completely the creature of the master that his life and death were at the master's disposal. This is nearly all that is known of Cicero's father and mother, or of his old home.
There is, however, sufficient evidence that the father paid great attention to the education of his sons—if, in the case of Marcus, any evidence were wanting where the result is so manifest by the work of his life. At a very early age, probably when he was eight—in the year which produced Julius C?sar—he was sent to Rome, and there was devoted21 to studies which from the first were intended to fit him for public life. Middleton says that the father lived in Rome with his son, and argues from this that he was a man of large means. But Cicero gives no authority for this. It is more probable that he lived at the house of one Aculeo, who had married his 43mother's sister, and had sons with whom Cicero was educated. Stories are told of his precocious22 talents and performances such as we are accustomed to hear of many remarkable23 men—not unfrequently from their own mouths. It is said of him that he was intimate with the two great advocates of the time, Lucius Crassus and Marcus Antonius the orator, the grandfather of Cicero's future enemy, whom we know as Marc Antony. Cicero speaks of them both as though he had seen them and talked much of them in his youth. He tells us anecdotes24 of them;33 how they were both accustomed to conceal25 their knowledge of Greek, fancying that the people in whose eyes they were anxious to shine would think more of them if they seemed to have contented26 themselves simply with Roman words and Roman thoughts. But the intimacy27 was probably that which a lad now is apt to feel that he has enjoyed with a great man, if he has seen and heard him, and perhaps been taken by the hand. He himself gives in very plain language an account of his own studies when he was seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. He speaks of the orators28 of that day34: "When I was above all things anxious to listen to these men, the banishment29 of Cotta was a great sorrow to me. I was passionately30 intent on hearing those who were left, daily writing, reading, and making notes. Nor was I content only with practice in the art of speaking. In the following year Varius had to go, condemned31 by his own enactment32; and at this time, in working at the civil law, I gave much of my time to Quintus Sc?vola, the son of Publius, who, though he took no pupils, by explaining points to those who consulted him, gave great assistance to students. The year after, when Sulla and Pompey were Consuls33, I learned what oratory34 really means by listening to Publius Sulpicius, who as tribune was daily making harangues35. It was then that Philo, the Chief of the Academy, with other leading philosophers of Athens, had been put to 44flight by the war with Mithridates, and had come to Rome. To him I devoted myself entirely36, stirred up by a wonderful appetite for acquiring the Greek philosophy. But in that, though the variety of the pursuit and its greatness charmed me altogether, yet it seemed to me that the very essence of judicial37 conclusion was altogether suppressed. In that year Sulpicius perished, and in the next, three of our greatest orators, Quintus Catulus, Marcus Antonius, and Caius Julius, were cruelly killed." This was the time of the civil war between Marius and Sulla. "In the same year I took lessons from Molo the Rhodian, a great pleader and master of the art." In the next chapter he tells us that he passed his time also with Diodatus the Stoic38, who afterward39 lived with him, and died in his house. Here we have an authentic40 description of the manner in which Cicero passed his time as a youth at Rome, and one we can reduce probably to absolute truth by lessening41 the superlatives. Nothing in it, however, is more remarkable than the confession42 that, while his young intellect rejoiced in the subtle argumentation of the Greek philosophers, his clear common sense quarrelled with their inability to reach any positive conclusion.
But before these days of real study had come upon him he had given himself up to juvenile43 poetry. He is said to have written a poem called Pontius Glaucus when he was fourteen years old. This was no doubt a translation from the Greek, as were most of the poems that he wrote, and many portions of his prose treatises45.35 Plutarch tells us that the poem was 45extant in his time, and declares that, "in process of time, when he had studied this art with greater application, he was looked upon as the best poet, as well as the greatest orator in Rome." The English translators of Plutarch tell us that their author was an indifferent judge of Latin poetry, and allege46 as proof of this that he praised Cicero as a poet, a praise which he gave "contrary to the opinion of Juvenal." But Juvenal has given no opinion of Cicero's poetry, having simply quoted one unfortunate line noted for its egotism, and declared that Cicero would never have had his head cut off had his philippics been of the same nature.36 The evidence of Quintus Mucius Sc?vola as to Cicero's poetry was perhaps better, as he had the means, at any rate, of reading it. He believed that the Marius, a poem written by Cicero in praise of his great fellow-townsman, would live to posterity47 forever. The story of the old man's prophecy comes to us, no doubt, from Cicero himself, and is put into the mouth of his brother;37 but had it been untrue it would have been contradicted.
The Glaucus was a translation from the Greek done by a boy, probably as a boy's lesson It is not uncommon48 that such exercises should be treasured by parents, or perhaps by the performer himself, and not impossible that they should be made to reappear afterward as original compositions. Lord Brougham tells us in his autobiography49 that in his early youth he tried his hand at writing English essays, and even tales of fiction.38 "I find one of these," he says, "has survived the waste-paper 46basket, and it may amuse my readers to see the sort of composition I was guilty of at the age of thirteen. My tale was entitled 'Memnon, or Human Wisdom,' and is as follows." Then we have a fair translation of Voltaire's romance, "Memnon," or "La Sagesse Humaine." The old lord, when he was collecting his papers for his autobiography, had altogether forgotten his Voltaire, and thought that he had composed the story! Nothing so absurd as that is told of Cicero by himself or on his behalf.
It may be as well to say here what there may be to be said as to Cicero's poetry generally. But little of it remains50 to us, and by that little it has been admitted that he has not achieved the name of a great poet; but what he did was too great in extent and too good in its nature to be passed over altogether without notice. It has been his fate to be rather ridiculed52 than read as a maker53 of verses, and that ridicule51 has come from two lines which I have already quoted. The longest piece which we have is from the Ph?nomena of Aratus, which he translated from the Greek when he was eighteen years old, and which describes the heavenly bodies. It is known to us best by the extracts from it given by the author himself in his treatise44, De Natura Deorum. It must be owned that it is not pleasant reading. But translated poetry seldom is pleasant, and could hardly be made so on such a subject by a boy of eighteen. The Marius was written two years after this, and we have a passage from it, quoted by the author in his De Divinatione, containing some fine lines. It tells the story of the battle of the eagle and the serpent. Cicero took it, no doubt (not translated it, however), from the passage in the Iliad, lib, xii, 200, which has been rendered by Pope with less than his usual fire, and by Lord Derby with no peculiar54 charm. Virgil has reproduced the picture with his own peculiar grace of words. His version has been translated by Dryden, but better, perhaps, by Christopher Pitt. Voltaire has translated Cicero's lines with great power, and Shelley has reproduced the 47same idea at much greater length in the first canto55 of the Revolt of Islam, taking it probably from Cicero, but, if not, from Voltaire.39 I venture to think that, of the nine versions, Cicero's is the best, and that it is the most melodious56 piece of Latin poetry we have up to that date. Twenty-seven years afterward, when Lucretius was probably at work on his great poem, Cicero wrote an account of his consulship57 in verse. Of this we have fifty or sixty lines, in which the author describes the heavenly warnings which were given as to the affairs of his own consular58 year. The story is not a happy one, but the lines are harmonious59. It is often worth our while to inquire how poetry has become such as it is, and how the altered and improved phases of versification have arisen. To trace our melody from Chaucer to Tennyson is matter of interest to us all. Of Cicero as a poet we may say that he found Latin versification rough, and left it smooth and musical. Now, as we go on with the orator's life and prose works, we need not return to his poetry.
The names of many masters have been given to us as those under whom Cicero's education was carried on. Among others he is supposed, at a very early age, to have been confided60 to Archias. Archias was a Greek, born at Antioch, who devoted himself to letters, and, if we are to believe what Cicero says, when speaking as an advocate, excelled all his rivals of the day. Like many other educated Greeks, he made his way to Rome, and was received as one of the household of Lucullus, with whom he travelled, accompanying him even to the wars. He became a citizen of Rome—so Cicero assures us—and Cicero's tutor. What Cicero owed to him we do not know, but to Cicero Archias owed immortality61. His claim to citizenship was disputed; and Cicero, pleading on his behalf, 48made one of those shorter speeches which are perfect in melody, in taste, and in language. There is a passage in which speaking on behalf of so excellent a professor in the art, he sings the praises of literature generally. I know no words written in praise of books more persuasive62 or more valuable. "Other recreations," he says, "do not belong to all seasons nor to all ages, nor to all places. These pursuits nourish our youth and delight our old age. They adorn63 our prosperity and give a refuge and a solace64 to our troubles. They charm us at home, and they are not in our way when we are abroad. They go to bed with us. They travel about with us. They accompany us as we escape into the country."40 Archias probably did something for him in directing his taste, and has been rewarded thus richly. As to other lessons, we know that he was instructed in law by Sc?vola, and he has told us that he listened to Crassus and Antony. At sixteen he went through the ceremony of putting off his boy's dress, the toga pr?texta, and appearing in the toga virilis before the Pr?tor, thus assuming his right to go about a man's business. At sixteen the work of education was not finished—no more than it is with us when a lad at Oxford65 becomes "of age" at twenty-one; nor was he put beyond his father's power, the "patria potestas," from which no age availed to liberate66 a son; but, nevertheless, it was a very joyful67 ceremony, and was duly performed by Cicero in the midst of his studies with Sc?vola.
At eighteen he joined the army. That doctrine68 of the division of labor69 which now, with us, runs through and dominates all pursuits, had not as yet been made plain to the minds of men at Rome by the political economists70 of the day. It was well that a man should know something of many things—that he should especially, if he intended to be a leader of men, be both soldier and orator. To rise to be Consul, having first been Qu?stor, ?dile, and Pr?tor, was the path of 49glory. It had been the special duty of the Consuls of Rome, since the establishment of consular government, to lead the armies of the Republic. A portion of the duty devolved upon the Pr?tors, as wars became more numerous; and latterly the commanders were attended by Qu?stors. The Governors of the provinces, Proconsuls, or Propr?tors with proconsular authority, always combined military with civil authority. The art of war was, therefore, a necessary part of the education of a man intended to rise in the service of the State. Cicero, though, in his endeavor to follow his own tastes, he made a strong effort to keep himself free from such work, and to remain at Rome instead of being sent abroad as a Governor, had at last to go where fighting was in some degree necessary, and, in the saddest phase of his life, appeared in Italy with his lictors, demanding the honors of a triumph. In anticipation71 of such a career, no doubt under the advice of his friends, he now went out to see, if not a battle, something, at any rate, of war. It has already been said how the citizenship of Rome was conferred on some of the small Italian States around, and not on others. Hence, of course, arose jealousy72, which was increased by the feeling on the part of those excluded that they were called to furnish soldiers to Rome, as well as those who were included. Then there was formed a combination of Italian cities, sworn to remedy the injury thus inflicted73 on them. Their purpose was to fight Rome in order that they might achieve Roman citizenship; and hence arose the first civil war which distracted the Empire. Pompeius Strabo, father of Pompey the Great, was then Consul (b.c. 89), and Cicero was sent out to see the campaign under him. Marius and Sulla, the two Romans who were destined74 soon to bathe Rome in blood, had not yet quarrelled, though they had been brought to hate each other—Marius by jealousy, and Sulla by rivalry75. In this war they both served under the Consuls, and Cicero served with Sulla. We know nothing of his doings in that campaign. There are no tidings even of a misfortune such as 50that which happened to Horace when he went out to fight, and came home from the battle-field "relicta non bene parmula."
Rome trampled76 on the rebellious77 cities, and in the end admitted them to citizenship. But probably the most important, certainly the most notorious, result of the Italian war, was the deep antagonism78 of Marius and Sulla. Sulla had made himself conspicuous79 by his fortune on the occasion, whereas Marius, who had become the great soldier of the Republic, and had been six times Consul, failed to gather fresh laurels80. Rome was falling into that state of anarchy81 which was the cause of all the glory and all the disgrace of Cicero's life, and was open to the dominion82 of any soldier whose grasp might be the least scrupulous83 and the strongest. Marius, after a series of romantic adventures with which we must not connect ourselves here, was triumphant84 only just before his death, while Sulla went off with his army, pillaged85 Athens, plundered86 Asia Minor87 generally, and made terms with Mithridates, though he did not conquer him. With the purport88, no doubt, of conquering Mithridates, but perhaps with the stronger object of getting him out of Rome, the army had been intrusted to him, with the consent of the Marian faction89.
Then came those three years, when Sulla was in the East and Marius dead, of which Cicero speaks as a period of peace, in which a student was able to study in Rome. "Triennium fere fuit urbs sine armis."41 These must have been the years 86, 85, and 84 before Christ, when Cicero was twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three years old; and it was this period, in truth, of which he speaks, and not of earlier years, when he tells us of his studies with Philo, and Molo, and Diodatus. Precocious as he was in literature, writing one poem—or translating it—when he was fourteen, and another when he was eighteen, he was by no means in a hurry to commence the work of his life. He is said also to have written a treatise on 51military tactics when he was nineteen; which again, no doubt, means that he had exercised himself by translating such an essay from the Greek. This, happily, does not remain. But we have four books, Rhetoricorum ad C. Herennium, and two books De Inventione, attributed to his twentieth and twenty-first years, which are published with his works, and commence the series. Of all that we have from him, they are perhaps the least worth reading; but as they are, or were, among his recognized writings, a word shall be said of them in their proper place.
The success of the education of Cicero probably became a commonplace among Latin school-masters and Latin writers. In the dialogue De Oratoribus, attributed to Tacitus, the story of it is given by Messala when he is praising the orators of the earlier age. "We know well," says Messala, "that book of Cicero which is called Brutus, in the latter part of which he describes to us the beginning and the progress of his own eloquence91, and, as it were, the bringing up on which it was founded. He tells us that he had learned civil law under Q. Mutius Sc?vola; that he had exhausted92 the realm of philosophy—learning that of the Academy under Philo, and that of the Stoics93 under Diodatus; that, not content with these treatises, he had travelled through Greece and Asia, so as to embrace the whole world of art. And thus it had come about that in the works of Cicero no knowledge is wanting—neither of music, nor of grammar, nor any other liberal accomplishment94. He understood the subtilty of logic95, the purpose of ethics96, the effects and causes of things." Then the speaker goes on to explain what may be expected from study such as that. "Thus it is, my good friends—thus, that from the acquirement of many arts, and from a general knowledge of all things, eloquence that is truly admirable is created in its full force; for the power and capacity of an orator need not be hemmed97 in, as are those of other callings, by certain narrow bounds; but that man is the true orator who is able to speak 52on all subjects with dignity and grace, so as to persuade those who listen, and to delight them, in a manner suited to the nature of the subject in hand and the convenience of the time."42
We might fancy that we were reading words from Cicero himself! Then the speaker in this imaginary conversation goes on to tell us how far matters had derogated in his time, pointing out at the same time that the evils which he deplores98 had shown themselves even before Cicero, but had been put down, as far as the law could put them down, by its interference. He is speaking of those schools of rhetoric90 in which Greek professors of the art gave lessons for money, which were evil in their nature, and not, as it appears, efficacious even for the purpose in hand. "But now," continues Messala, "our very boys are brought into the schools of those lecturers who are called 'rhetores,' who had sprung up before Cicero, to the displeasure of our ancestors, as is evident from the fact that when Crassus and Domitius were Censors99 they were ordered to shut up their school of impudence100, as Cicero calls it. Our boys, as I was going to say, are taken to these lecture-rooms, in which it is hard to say whether the atmosphere of the place, or the lads they are thrown among, or the nature of the lessons taught, are the most injurious. In the place itself there is neither discipline nor respect. All who go there are equally ignorant. The boys among the boys, the lads among the lads, utter and listen to just what words they please. Their very exercises are, for the most part, useless. Two kinds are in vogue101 with these 'rhetores,' called 'suasori?' and 'controversi?,'" tending, we may perhaps say, to persuade or to refute. "Of these, the 'suasori?,' as being the lighter102 and requiring less of experience, are given to the little boys, the 'controversi?' to the bigger lads. But—oh heavens, what they are—what miserable103 compositions!" Then he tells us the subjects 53selected. Rape104, incest, and other horrors are subjected to the lads for their declamation105, in order that they may learn to be orators.
Messala then explains that in those latter days—his days, that is—under the rule of despotic princes, truly large subjects are not allowed to be discussed in public—confessing, however, that those large subjects, though they afford fine opportunities to orators, are not beneficial to the State at large. But it was thus, he says, that Cicero became what he was, who would not have grown into favor had he defended only P. Quintius and Archias, and had had nothing to do with Catiline, or Milo, or Verres, or Antony—showing, by-the-way, how great was the reputation of that speech, Pro15 Milone, with which we shall have to deal farther on.
The treatise becomes somewhat confused, a portion of it having probably been lost. From whose mouth the last words are supposed to come is not apparent. It ends with a rhapsody in favor of imperial government—suitable, indeed, to the time of Domitian, but very unlike Tacitus. While, however, it praises despotism, it declares that only by the evils which despotism had quelled106 could eloquence be maintained. "Our country, indeed, while it was astray in its government; while it tore itself to pieces by parties and quarrels and discord107; while there was no peace in the Forum108, no agreement in the Senate, no moderation on the judgment109-seat, no reverence110 for letters, no control among the magistrates, boasted, no doubt, a stronger eloquence."
From what we are thus told of Cicero, not what we hear from himself, we are able to form an idea of the nature of his education. With his mind fixed from his early days on the ambition of doing something noble with himself, he gave himself up to all kinds of learning. It was Macaulay, I think, who said of him that the idea of conquering the "omne scibile,"—the understanding of all things within the reach of human intellect—was before his eyes as it was before those 54of Bacon. The special preparation which was, in Cicero's time, employed for students at the bar is also described in the treatise from which I have quoted—the preparation which is supposed to have been the very opposite of that afforded by the "rhetores." "Among ourselves, the youth who was intended to achieve eloquence in the Forum, when already trained at home and exercised in classical knowledge, was brought by his father or his friends to that orator who might then be considered to be the leading man in the city. It became his daily work to follow that man, to accompany him, to be conversant111 with all his speeches, whether in the courts of law or at public meetings, so that he might learn, if I might say so, to fight in the very thick of the throng112." It was thus that Cicero studied his art. A few lines farther down, the pseudo-Tacitus tells us that Crassus, in his nineteenth year, held a brief against Carbo; that C?sar did so in his twenty-first against Dolabella; and Pollio, in his twenty-second year, against Cato.43 In this precocity113 Cicero did not imitate Crassus, or show an example to the Romans who followed him. He was twenty-six when he pleaded his first cause. Sulla had then succeeded in crushing the Marian faction, and the Sullan proscriptions had taken place, and were nominally115 over. Sulla had been declared Dictator, and had proclaimed that there should be no more selections for death. The Republic was supposed to be restored. "Recuperata republica * * * tum primum nos ad causas et privatas et publicas adire c?pimus,"44 "The Republic having been restored, I then first applied116 myself to pleadings, both private and public."
Of Cicero's politics at that time we are enabled to form a 55fair judgment. Marius had been his townsman; Sulla had been his captain. But the one thing dear to him was the Republic—what he thought to be the Republic. He was neither Marian nor Sullan. The turbulence117 in which so much noble blood had flowed—the "crudelis interitus oratorum," the crushing out of the old legalized form of government—was abominable118 to him. It was his hope, no doubt his expectation, that these old forms should be restored in all their power. There seemed to be more probability of this—there was more probability of it—on the side of Sulla than the other. On Sulla's side was Pompey, the then rising man, who, being of the same age with Cicero, had already pushed himself into prominence119, who was surnamed the Great, and who "triumphed" during these very two years in which Cicero began his career; who through Cicero's whole life was his bugbear, his stumbling-block, and his mistake. But on that side were the "optimates," the men who, if they did not lead, ought to lead the Republic; those who, if they were not respectable, ought to be so; those who, if they did not love their country, ought to love it. If there was a hope, it was with them. The old state of things—that oligarchy120 which has been called a Republic—had made Rome what it was; had produced power, civilization, art, and literature. It had enabled such a one as Cicero was himself to aspire121 to lead, though he had been humbly122 born, and had come to Rome from an untried provincial123 family. To him the Republic—as he fancied that it had been, as he fancied that it might be—was all that was good, all that was gracious, all that was beneficent. On Sulla's side lay what chance there was of returning to the old ways. When Sulla was declared Dictator, it was presumed that the Republic was restored. But not on this account should it be supposed that Cicero regarded the proscriptions of Sulla with favor, or that he was otherwise than shocked by the wholesale124 robberies for which the proscription114 paved the way. This is a matter with which it will be necessary to deal more fully125 when we come 56in our next chapter to the first speeches made by Cicero; in the very first of which, as I place them, he attacks the Sullan robberies with an audacity126 which, when we remember that Sulla was still in power, rescues, at any rate, in regard to this period of his life, the character of the orator from that charge of cowardice127 which has been imputed128 to him.
It is necessary here, in this chapter devoted to the education of Cicero, to allude18 to his two first speeches, because that education was not completed till afterward—so that they may be regarded as experiments, or trials, as it were, of his force and sufficiency. "Not content with these teachers"—teachers who had come to Rome from Greece and Asia—"he had travelled through Greece and Asia, so as to embrace the whole world of art." These words, quoted a few pages back from the treatise attributed to Tacitus, refer to a passage in the Brutus in which Cicero makes a statement to that effect. "When I reached Athens,45 I passed six months with Antiochus, by far the best known and most erudite of the teachers of the old Academy, and with him, as my great authority and master, I renewed that study of philosophy which I had never abandoned—which from my boyhood I had followed with always increasing success. At the same time I practised oratory laboriously129 with Demetrius Syrus, also at Athens, a well-known and by no means incapable130 master of the art of speaking. After that I wandered over all Asia, and came across the best orators there, with whom I practised, enjoying their willing assistance." There is more of it, which need not be repeated verbatim, giving the names of those who aided him in Asia: Menippus of Stratonice—who, he says, was sweet enough to have belonged himself to Athens—with Dionysius of Magnesia, with ?schilus of Cnidos, and with Xenocles of Adramyttium. Then at Rhodes he came across his old friend Molo, and applied himself again to the teaching of his former master. 57Quintilian explains to us how this was done with a purpose, so that the young orator, when he had made a first attempt with his half-fledged wings in the courts, might go back to his masters for awhile46.
He was twenty-eight when he started on this tour. It has been suggested that he did so in fear of the resentment131 of Sulla, with whose favorites and with whose practices he had dealt very plainly. There is no reason for alleging132 this, except that Sulla was powerful, that Sulla was blood-thirsty, and that Sulla must have been offended. This kind of argument is often used. It is supposed to be natural, or at least probable, that in a certain position a man should have been a coward or a knave133, ungrateful or cruel; and in the presumption134 thus raised the accusation135 is brought against him. "Fearing Sulla's resentment," Plutarch says, "he travelled into Greece, and gave out that the recovery of his health was the motive136." There is no evidence that such was his reason for travelling; and, as Middleton says in his behalf, it is certain that he "continued for a year after this in Rome without any apprehension137 of danger." It is best to take a man's own account of his own doings and their causes, unless there be ground for doubting the statement made. It is thus that Cicero himself speaks of his journey: "Now," he says, still in his Brutus47, "as you wish to know what I am—not simply what mark I may have on my body from my birth, or with what surroundings of childhood I was brought up—I will include some details which might perhaps seem hardly necessary. At this time I was thin and weak, my neck being long and narrow—a habit and form of body which is supposed to be adverse138 to long life; 58and those who loved me thought the more of this, because I had taken to speaking without relaxation139, without recreation with all the powers of my voice, and with much muscular action. When my friends and the doctors desired me to give up speaking, I resolved that, rather than abandon my career as an orator, I would face any danger. But when it occurred to me that by lowering my voice, by changing my method of speaking, I might avoid the danger, and at the same time learn to speak with more elegance140, I accepted that as a reason for going into Asia, so that I might study how to change my mode of elocution. Thus, when I had been two years at work upon causes, and when my name was already well known in the Forum, I took my departure, and left Rome."
During the six months that he was at Athens he renewed an early acquaintance with one who was destined to become the most faithful, and certainly the best known, of his friends. This was Titus Pomponius, known to the world as that Atticus to whom were addressed something more than half the large body of letters which were written by Cicero, and which have remained for our use.48 He seems to have lived much with Atticus, who was occupied with similar studies, though with altogether different results. Atticus applied himself to the practices of the Epicurean school, and did in truth become "Epicuri de grege porcus." To enjoy life, to amass141 a fortune, to keep himself free from all turmoils142 of war or state, to make the best of the times, whether they were bad or good, without any attempt on his part to mend them—this was the philosophy of Titus Pomponius, who was called Atticus because Athens, full of art and literature, easy, unenergetic, and luxurious143, was dear to him. To this philosophy, or rather to this theory of life, Cicero was altogether opposed. He studied 59in all the schools—among the Platonists, the Stoics, even with the Epicureans enough to know their dogmas so that he might criticise144 them—proclaiming himself to belong to the new Academy, or younger school of Platonists, but in truth drawing no system of morals or rule of life from any of them. To him, and also to Atticus, no doubt, these pursuits afforded an intellectual pastime. Atticus found himself able to justify145 to himself the bent146 of his disposition147 by the name of a philosopher, and therefore became an Epicurean. Cicero could in no way justify to himself any deviation148 from the energy of public life, from its utility, from its ambition, from its loves, or from its hatred149; and from the Greek philosophers whom he named of this or the other school, received only some assistance in that handling of so-called philosophy which became the chief amusement of his future life. This was well understood by the Latin authors who wrote of Cicero after his own time. Quintilian, speaking of Cicero and Brutus as writers of philosophy, says of the latter, "Suffecit ponderi rerum; seias enim sentire qu? dicit."49—"He was equal to the weight of the subject, for you feel that he believes what he writes." He leaves the inference, of course, that Cicero wrote on such matters only for the exercise of his ingenuity150, as a school-boy writes.
When at Athens, Cicero was initiated151 into the Eleusinian mysteries—as to which Mr. Collins, in his little volume on Cicero, in the Ancient Classics for English Readers, says that they "contained under this veil whatever faith in the Invisible and Eternal rested in the mind of an enlightened pagan." In this Mr. Collins is fully justified152 by what Cicero himself has said although the character thus given to these mysteries is very different from that which was attributed to them by early Christian writers. They were to those pious153 but somewhat prejudiced theologists mysterious and pagan, and therefore 60horrible.50 But Cicero declares in his dialogue with Atticus, De Legibus, written when he was fifty-five years old, in the prime of his intellect, that "of all the glories and divine gifts which your Athens has produced for the improvement of men nothing surpasses these mysteries, by which the harshness of our uncivilized life has been softened154, and we have been lifted up to humanity; and as they are called 'initia,'" by which aspirants155 were initiated, "so we have in truth found in them the seeds of a new life. Nor have we received from them only the means of living with satisfaction, but also of dying with a better hope as to the future."51
Of what took place with Cicero and Atticus at their introduction to the Eleusinian mysteries we know nothing. But it can hardly be that, with such memories running in his mind after thirty years, expressed in such language to the very friend who had then been his companion, they should not have been accepted by him as indicating the commencement of some great line of thought. The two doctrines156 which seem to mark most clearly the difference between the men whom we regard, the one as a pagan and the other as a Christian, are the belief in a future life and the duty of doing well by our neighbors. Here they are both indicated, the former in plain language, and the latter in that assurance of the softening157 of the barbarity of uncivilized life, "Quibus ex agresti immanique vita exculti ad humanitatem et mitigati sumus."
Of the inner life of Cicero at this moment—how he ate, how he drank, with what accompaniment of slaves he lived, how he was dressed, and how lodged—we know very little; 61but we are told enough to be aware that he could not have travelled, as he did in Greece and Asia, without great expense. His brother Quintus was with him, so that cost, if not double, was greatly increased. Antiochus, Demetrius Syrus, Molo, Menippus, and the others did not give him their services for nothing. These were gentlemen of whom we know that they were anxious to carry their wares158 to the best market. And then he seems to have been welcomed wherever he went, as though travelling in some sort "en prince." No doubt he had brought with him the best introductions which Rome could afford; but even with them a generous allowance must have been necessary, and this must have come from his father's pocket.
As we go on, a question will arise as to Cicero's income and the sources whence it came. He asserts of himself that he was never paid for his services at the bar. To receive such payment was illegal, but was usual. He claims to have kept himself exempt159 from whatever meanness there may have been in so receiving such fees—exempt, at any rate, from the fault of having broken the law. He has not been believed. There is no evidence to convict him of falsehood, but he has not been believed, because there have not been found palpable sources of income sufficient for an expenditure160 so great as that which we know to have been incident to the life he led. But we do not know what were his father's means. Seeing the nature of the education given to the lad, of the manner in which his future life was prepared for him from his earliest days, of the promise made to him from his boyhood of a career in the metropolis161 if he could make himself fit for it, of the advantages which costly162 travel afforded him, I think we have reason to suppose that the old Cicero was an opulent man, and that the house at Arpinum was no humble163 farm, or fuller's poor establishment.
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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equestrian
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| adj.骑马的；n.马术 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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cognomen
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| n.姓；绰号 | |
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specialty
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| n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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alludes
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| 提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 ) | |
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guzzling
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| v.狂吃暴饮，大吃大喝( guzzle的现在分词 ) | |
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devoted
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precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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anecdotes
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conceal
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contented
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intimacy
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orators
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| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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enactment
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| n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过 | |
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consuls
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| 领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次） | |
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oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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harangues
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| n.高谈阔论的长篇演讲( harangue的名词复数 )v.高谈阔论( harangue的第三人称单数 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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stoic
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| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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treatises
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| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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allege
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| vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言 | |
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posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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autobiography
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remains
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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canto
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| n.长篇诗的章 | |
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melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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consulship
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| 领事的职位或任期 | |
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consular
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| a.领事的 | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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solace
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Oxford
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liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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economists
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| n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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stoics
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| 禁欲主义者，恬淡寡欲的人，不以苦乐为意的人( stoic的名词复数 ) | |
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94
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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95
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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96
ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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97
hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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deplores
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的第三人称单数 ) | |
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99
censors
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| 删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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100
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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101
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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102
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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103
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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104
rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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105
declamation
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| n. 雄辩，高调 | |
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106
quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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108
forum
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| n.论坛，讨论会 | |
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109
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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110
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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111
conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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112
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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113
precocity
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| n.早熟，早成 | |
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114
proscription
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| n.禁止，剥夺权利 | |
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115
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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116
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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117
turbulence
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| n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流 | |
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118
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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119
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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120
oligarchy
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| n.寡头政治 | |
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121
aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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122
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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123
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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124
wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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125
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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126
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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127
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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128
imputed
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| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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130
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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131
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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132
alleging
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| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
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133
knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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134
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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135
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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136
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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137
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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138
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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139
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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140
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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141
amass
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| vt.积累，积聚 | |
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142
turmoils
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| n.混乱( turmoil的名词复数 )；焦虑 | |
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143
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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144
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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145
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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146
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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147
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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148
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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149
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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150
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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151
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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152
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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153
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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154
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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155
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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156
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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157
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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158
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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159
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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160
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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161
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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162
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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163
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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