Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

Vergilio Varioque? ego cur, adquirere pauca

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^1.6 A TRIBUTE TO AGRIPPA You should be penned as brave, and a conqueror by Varius, winged with his Homeric poetry, whatever fierce soldiers, with vessels or horses, have carried out, at your command. Agrippa, I don’t try to speak of such things, not Achilles’ anger, ever unyielding, nor crafty Ulysses’ long sea-wanderings, nor the cruel house of Pelops, I’m too slight for grandeur, since shame and the Muse, who’s the power of the peaceful lyre, forbids me to lessen the praise of great Caesar and you, by my defective artistry. Who could write worthily of Mars in his armour Meriones the Cretan, dark with Troy’s dust, or Tydides, who with the help of Athene, was the equal of all the gods? I sing of banquets, of girls fierce in battle with closely-trimmed nails, attacking young men: idly, as I’m accustomed to do, whether fancy free or burning with love.
^1.24 A PROPHECY OF AGE Now the young men come less often, violently beating your shutters, with blow after blow, or stealing away your sleep, while the door sits tight, hugging the threshold, yet was once known to move its hinges, more than readily. You’ll hear, less and less often now: ‘Are you sleeping, Lydia, while your lover dies in the long night?’ Old, in your turn, you’ll bemoan coarse adulterers, as you tremble in some deserted alley, while the Thracian wind rages, furiously, through the moonless nights, while flagrant desire, libidinous passion, those powers that will spur on a mare in heat, will storm all around your corrupted heart, ah, and you’ll complain, that the youths, filled with laughter, take more delight in the green ivy, the dark of the myrtle, leaving the withering leaves to this East wind, winter’s accomplice.
^3.1 ODI PROFANUM I hate the vulgar crowd, and keep them away: grant me your silence. A priest of the Muses, I sing a song never heard before, I sing a song for young women and boys. The power of dread kings over their peoples, is the power Jove has over those kings themselves, famed for his defeat of the Giants, controlling all with a nod of his head. It’s true that one man will lay out his vineyards over wider acres than will his neighbour, that one candidate who descends to the Campus, will maintain that he’s nobler, another’s more famous, or has a larger crowd of followers: but Necessity sorts the fates of high and low with equal justice: the roomy urn holds every name. Sicilian feasts won’t supply sweet flavours to the man above whose impious head hangs a naked sword, nor will the singing of birds or the playing of zithers bring back soft sleep. But gentle slumber doesn’t despise the humble house of a rural labourer, or a riverbank deep in the shade, or the vale of Tempe, stirred by the breeze. He who only longs for what is sufficient, is never disturbed by tumultuous seas, nor the savage power of Arcturussetting, nor the strength of the Kids rising, nor his vineyards being lashed by the hailstones, nor his treacherous farmland, rain being blamed for the state of the trees, the dog-star parching the fields, or the cruel winter. The fish can feel that the channel’s narrowing, when piles are driven deep: the builder, his team of workers, the lord who scorns the land pour the rubble down into the waters. But Fear and Menace climb up to the same place where the lord climbs up, and dark Care will not leave the bronze-clad trireme, and even sits behind the horseman when he’s out riding. So if neither Phrygian stone, nor purple, brighter than the constellations, can solace the grieving man, nor Falernianwine, nor the perfumes purchased from Persia, why should I build a regal hall in modern style, with lofty columns to stir up envy? Why should I change my Sabine valley, for the heavier burden of excess wealth?

^2.1.245 But your judgement’s not discredited by your beloved Virgil and Varius, nor by the gifts your poets Receive, that redound to your credit, while features Are expressed no more vividly by a bronze statue, Than the spirit and character of famous heroes By the poet’s work. Rather than my earthbound pieces I’d prefer to compose tales of great deeds, Describe the contours of land and river, forts built On mountains, and barbarous kingdoms, of the end of all war, throughout the world, by your command, of the iron bars that enclose Janus, guardian of peace, of Rome, the terror of the Parthians, ruled by you, If I could do as much as I long to: but your greatness Admits of no lowly song, nor does my modesty Dare to attempt a task my powers cannot sustain. It’s a foolish zealousness that vexes those it loves, Above all when it commits itself to the art of verse: Men remember more quickly, with greater readiness, Things they deride, than those they approve and respect. I don’t want oppressive attention, nor to be shown Somewhere as a face moulded, more badly, in wax, Nor to be praised in ill-made verses, lest I’m forced To blush at the gift’s crudity, and then, deceased, In a closed box, be carried down, next to ‘my’ poet, To the street where they sell incense, perfumes, pepper, And whatever else is wrapped in redundant paper.

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" ⁶ first my Thalia stooped in sportive mood,to Syracusan strains, nor blushed within,the woods to house her. When I sought to tell,of battles and of kings, the Cynthian god,plucked at mine ear and warned me: “Tityrus,beseems a shepherd-wight to feed fat sheep,but sing a slender song.” Now, Varus, I—,for lack there will not who would laud thy deeds,and treat of dolorous wars—will rather tune,to the slim oaten reed my silvan lay.I sing but as vouchsafed me; yet even this,if, if but one with ravished eyes should read,of thee, O Varus, shall our tamarisks,and all the woodland ring; nor can there be,a page more dear to Phoebus, than the page,where, foremost writ, the name of Varus stands.Speed ye, Pierian Maids! Within a cave,young Chromis and Mnasyllos chanced to see,silenus sleeping, flushed, as was his wont,with wine of yesterday. Not far aloof,slipped from his head, the garlands lay, and there,by its worn handle hung a ponderous cup.Approaching—for the old man many a time,had balked them both of a long hoped-for song—,garlands to fetters turned, they bind him fast.Then Aegle, fairest of the Naiad-band,aegle came up to the half-frightened boys,came, and, as now with open eyes he lay,with juice of blood-red mulberries smeared him oer,both brow and temples. Laughing at their guile,and crying, “Why tie the fetters? loose me, boys;enough for you to think you had the power;now list the songs you wish for—songs for you,another meed for her”—forthwith began.Then might you see the wild things of the wood,with Fauns in sportive frolic beat the time,and stubborn oaks their branchy summits bow.Not Phoebus doth the rude Parnassian crag,so ravish, nor Orpheus so entrance the heights,of Rhodope or Ismarus: for he sang,how through the mighty void the seeds were driven,of earth, air, ocean, and of liquid fire,how all that is from these beginnings grew,and the young world itself took solid shape,then gan its crust to harden, and in the deep,shut Nereus off, and mould the forms of things,little by little; and how the earth amazed,beheld the new sun shining, and the showers,fall, as the clouds soared higher, what time the woods,gan first to rise, and living things to roam,scattered among the hills that knew them not.Then sang he of the stones by Pyrrha cast,of Saturns reign, and of Prometheus theft,and the Caucasian birds, and told withal,nigh to what fountain by his comrades left,the mariners cried on Hylas till the shore,then re-echoed “Hylas, Hylas!” soothed,pasiphae with the love of her white bull—,happy if cattle-kind had never been!—,o ill-starred maid, what frenzy caught thy soul,the daughters too of Proetus filled the fields,with their feigned lowings, yet no one of them,of such unhallowed union eer was fain,as with a beast to mate, though many a time,on her smooth forehead she had sought for horns,and for her neck had feared the galling plough.O ill-starred maid! thou roamest now the hills,while on soft hyacinths he, his snowy side,reposing, under some dark ilex now,chews the pale herbage, or some heifer tracks,amid the crowding herd. Now close, ye Nymphs,ye Nymphs of Dicte, close the forest-glades,if haply there may chance upon mine eyes,the white bulls wandering foot-prints: him belike,following the herd, or by green pasture lured,some kine may guide to the Gortynian stalls.Then sings he of the maid so wonder-struck,with the apples of the Hesperids, and then,with moss-bound, bitter bark rings round the forms,of Phaethons fair sisters, from the ground,up-towering into poplars. Next he sings,of Gallus wandering by Permessus stream,and by a sister of the Muses led,to the Aonian mountains, and how all,the choir of Phoebus rose to greet him; how,the shepherd Linus, singer of songs divine,brow-bound with flowers and bitter parsley, spake:“These reeds the Muses give thee, take them thou,erst to the aged bard of Ascra given,wherewith in singing he was wont to draw,time-rooted ash-trees from the mountain heights.With these the birth of the Grynean grove,be voiced by thee, that of no grove beside,apollo more may boast him.” Wherefore speak,of Scylla, child of Nisus, who, tis said,her fair white loins with barking monsters girt,vexed the Dulichian ships, and, in the deep,swift-eddying whirlpool, with her sea-dogs tore,the trembling mariners? or how he told,of the changed limbs of Tereus—what a feast,what gifts, to him by Philomel were given;how swift she sought the desert, with what wings,hovered in anguish oer her ancient home?All that, of old, Eurotas, happy stream,heard, as Apollo mused upon the lyre,and bade his laurels learn, Silenus sang;till from

" ^14.82 Χρόνῳ δ ὕστερον ̓Αλεξάνδρου τὴν ̓Ιουδαίαν κατατρέχοντος τοῦ ̓Αριστοβούλου παιδὸς Γαβίνιος ἐκ ̔Ρώμης στρατηγὸς εἰς Συρίαν ἧκεν, ὃς ἄλλα τε λόγου ἄξια διεπράξατο καὶ ἐπ ̓Αλέξανδρον ἐστράτευσεν, μηκέτι ̔Υρκανοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου ῥώμην ἀντέχειν δυναμένου, ἀλλ ἀνεγείρειν ἤδη καὶ τὸ τῶν ̔Ιεροσολύμων τεῖχος ἐπιχειροῦντος, ὅπερ καθεῖλεν Πομπήιος.", ^14.83 ἀλλὰ τούτου μὲν αὐτὸν ἐπέσχον οἱ ἐνταῦθα ̔Ρωμαῖοι. περιιὼν δὲ ἐν κύκλῳ τὴν χώραν πολλοὺς ὥπλιζεν τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων καὶ συνέλεξεν ταχὺ μυρίους μὲν ὁπλίτας πεντακοσίους δὲ πρὸς τοῖς χιλίοις ἱππεῖς, ̓Αλεξάνδρειόν τε ὠχύρου τὸ πρὸς ταῖς Κορέαις ἔρυμα καὶ Μαχαιροῦντα πρὸς τοῖς ̓Αραβίοις ὄρεσιν. " ^14.91 πέντε δὲ συνέδρια καταστήσας εἰς ἴσας μοίρας διένειμε τὸ ἔθνος, καὶ ἐπολιτεύοντο οἱ μὲν ἐν ̔Ιεροσολύμοις οἱ δὲ ἐν Γαδάροις οἱ δὲ ἐν ̓Αμαθοῦντι, τέταρτοι δ ἦσαν ἐν ̔Ιεριχοῦντι, καὶ τὸ πέμπτον ἐν Σαπφώροις τῆς Γαλιλαίας. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀπηλλαγμένοι δυναστείας ἐν ἀριστοκρατίᾳ διῆγον.", " ^17.271 ̓Ιούδας δὲ ἦν ̓Εζεκίου τοῦ ἀρχιλῃστοῦ υἱὸς ἐπὶ μέγα δυνηθέντος ὑφ ̔Ηρώδου δὲ μεγάλοις ληφθέντος πόνοις. οὗτος οὖν ὁ ̓Ιούδας περὶ Σέπφωριν τῆς Γαλιλαίας συστησάμενος πλῆθος ἀνδρῶν ἀπονενοημένων ἐπιδρομὴν τῷ βασιλείῳ ποιεῖται καὶ ὅπλων κρατήσας ὁπόσα αὐτόθι ἀπέκειτο ὥπλιζε τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ ἀποφέρεται χρήματα ὁπόσα κατελήφθη αὐτόθι,", ^17.272 φοβερός τε ἅπασιν ἦν ἄγων καὶ φέρων τοὺς προστυγχάνοντας ἐπιθυμίᾳ μειζόνων πραγμάτων καὶ ζηλώσει βασιλείου τιμῆς, οὐκ ἀρετῆς ἐμπειρίᾳ τοῦ δὲ ὑβρίζειν περιουσίᾳ κτήσεσθαι προσδοκῶν τὸ ἐντεῦθεν γέρας. " ^17.288 σταθείσης δ ἐν Πτολεμαί̈δι πάσης ἤδη τῆς δυνάμεως μέρος τι ταύτης τῷ υἱῷ παραδοὺς καὶ ἑνὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ φίλων Γαλιλαίους ἐξέπεμπεν πολεμεῖν, οἳ ὑπὲρ τῆς Πτολεμαί̈δος ἐχόμενοι κατοικοῦσιν.", ^17.289 ὃς ἐμβαλὼν τούς τε ἀντικαταστάντας εἰς μάχην τρέπεται καὶ Σέπφωριν ἑλὼν τοὺς μὲν οἰκήτορας ἠνδραποδίσατο, τὴν δὲ πόλιν ἐνέπρησεν. αὐτὸς δὲ Οὔαρος ἐπὶ Σαμαρείας τῷ παντὶ στρατῷ προιὼν τῆς μὲν πόλεως ἀπέσχετο διὰ τὸ ἀνέγκλητον ἐπὶ τοῖς νεωτερισμοῖς εἶναι, στρατοπεδεύεται δὲ ἔν τινι κώμῃ Πτολεμαίου κτήματι, ̓Αροὺς ὄνομα αὐτῇ.

^14.82 2. Some time after this, when Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, made an incursion into Judea, Gabinius came from Rome into Syria, as commander of the Roman forces. He did many considerable actions; and particularly made war with Alexander, since Hyrcanus was not yet able to oppose his power, but was already attempting to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, which Pompey had overthrown, ^14.83 although the Romans which were there restrained him from that his design. However, Alexander went over all the country round about, and armed many of the Jews, and suddenly got together ten thousand armed footmen, and fifteen hundred horsemen, and fortified Alexandrium, a fortress near to Coreae, and Macherus, near the mountains of Arabia.
^14.91 and when he had settled matters with her, he brought Hyrcanus to Jerusalem, and committed the care of the temple to him. And when he had ordained five councils, he distributed the nation into the same number of parts. So these councils governed the people; the first was at Jerusalem, the second at Gadara, the third at Amathus, the fourth at Jericho, and the fifth at Sepphoris in Galilee. So the Jews were now freed from monarchic authority, and were governed by an aristocracy.
^17.271 5. There was also Judas, the son of that Ezekias who had been head of the robbers; which Ezekias was a very strong man, and had with great difficulty been caught by Herod. This Judas, having gotten together a multitude of men of a profligate character about Sepphoris in Galilee, made an assault upon the palace there, and seized upon all the weapons that were laid up in it, and with them armed every one of those that were with him, and carried away what money was left there; ^17.272 and he became terrible to all men, by tearing and rending those that came near him; and all this in order to raise himself, and out of an ambitious desire of the royal dignity; and he hoped to obtain that as the reward not of his virtuous skill in war, but of his extravagance in doing injuries.
^17.288 and when he had now collected all his forces together, he committed part of them to his son, and to a friend of his, and sent them upon an expedition into Galilee, which lies in the neighborhood of Ptolemais; ^17.289 who made an attack upon the enemy, and put them to flight, and took Sepphoris, and made its inhabitants slaves, and burnt the city. But Varus himself pursued his march for Samaria with his whole army; yet did not he meddle with the city of that name, because it had not at all joined with the seditious; but pitched his camp at a certain village that belonged to Ptolemy, whose name was Arus,

" ^2.52 συνελάμβανον δ αὐτοῖς οἱ πλείους τῶν βασιλικῶν αὐτομολήσαντες. τὸ μέντοι πολεμικώτατον μέρος, Σεβαστηνοὶ τρισχίλιοι ̔Ροῦφός τε καὶ Γρᾶτος ἐπὶ τούτοις, ὁ μὲν τοὺς πεζοὺς τῶν βασιλικῶν ὑπ αὐτὸν ἔχων, ̔Ροῦφος δὲ τοὺς ἱππεῖς, ὢν ἑκάτερος καὶ χωρὶς ὑπηκόου δυνάμεως δι ἀλκὴν καὶ σύνεσιν πολέμου ῥοπή, προσέθεντο ̔Ρωμαίοις.", " ^2.56 ἐν δὲ Σεπφώρει τῆς Γαλιλαίας ̓Ιούδας υἱὸς ̓Εζεκία τοῦ κατατρέχοντός ποτε τὴν χώραν ἀρχιλῃστοῦ καὶ χειρωθέντος ὑφ ̔Ηρώδου βασιλέως συστήσας πλῆθος οὐκ ὀλίγον ἀναρρήγνυσιν τὰς βασιλικὰς ὁπλοθήκας καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν ὁπλίσας τοῖς τὴν δυναστείαν ζηλοῦσιν ἐπεχείρει.", " ^2.68 ἐπεὶ δ εἰς τὴν Πτολεμαί̈δα τό τε ἄλλο συμμαχικὸν πλῆθος αὐτῷ παρῆν καὶ κατὰ τὸ πρὸς ̔Ηρώδην ἔχθος ̓Αρέτας ὁ ̓́Αραψ οὐκ ὀλίγην ἄγων δύναμιν ἱππικήν τε καὶ πεζικήν, μέρος τῆς στρατιᾶς εὐθέως ἔπεμπεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν γειτνιῶσαν τῇ Πτολεμαί̈δι καὶ Γάιον ἡγεμόνα τῶν αὐτοῦ φίλων, ὃς τούς τε ὑπαντιάσαντας τρέπεται καὶ Σέπφωριν πόλιν ἑλὼν αὐτὴν μὲν ἐμπίπρησι, τοὺς δ ἐνοικοῦντας ἀνδραποδίζεται.", ^2.503 ἀναλαβὼν δὲ μέρος τῆς δυνάμεως Κέστιος ὥρμησεν ἐπὶ πόλιν καρτερὰν τῆς Γαλιλαίας Χαβουλών, ἣ καλεῖται ἀνδρῶν, διορίζει δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔθνους τὴν Πτολεμαί̈δα. ^2.504 καὶ καταλαβὼν αὐτὴν ἔρημον μὲν ἀνδρῶν, ἀναπεφεύγει γὰρ τὸ πλῆθος εἰς τὰ ὄρη, πλήρη δὲ παντοίων κτημάτων, τὰ μὲν ἐφῆκεν τοῖς στρατιώταις διαρπάζειν, τὸ δὲ ἄστυ καίτοι θαυμάσας τοῦ κάλλους ἔχον τὰς οἰκίας ὁμοίως ταῖς ἐν Τύρῳ καὶ Σιδῶνι καὶ Βηρυτῷ δεδομημένας, ἐνέπρησεν. " ^2.511 τοῦτον ἡ καρτερωτάτη τῆς Γαλιλαίας πόλις Σέπφωρις μετ εὐφημίας δέχεται, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ταύτης εὐβουλίαν αἱ λοιπαὶ πόλεις ἠρέμουν. τὸ δὲ στασιῶδες καὶ λῃστρικὸν πᾶν ἔφυγεν εἰς τὸ μεσαίτατον τῆς Γαλιλαίας ὄρος, ὃ κεῖται μὲν ἀντικρὺ τῆς Σεπφώρεως, καλεῖται δὲ ̓Ασαμών. τούτοις ὁ Γάλλος ἐπῆγε τὴν δύναμιν."

^2.52 There were also a great many of the king’s party who deserted the Romans, and assisted the Jews; yet did the most warlike body of them all, who were three thousand of the men of Sebaste, go over to the Romans. Rufus also, and Gratus, their captains, did the same (Gratus having the foot of the king’s party under him, and Rufus the horse) each of whom, even without the forces under them, were of great weight, on account of their strength and wisdom, which turn the scales in war.
^2.56 In Sepphoris also, a city of Galilee, there was one Judas (the son of that arch-robber Hezekias, who formerly overran the country, and had been subdued by king Herod); this man got no small multitude together, and broke open the place where the royal armor was laid up, and armed those about him, and attacked those that were so earnest to gain the dominion.
^2.68 Now as soon as the other body of auxiliaries were come to Ptolemais, as well as Aretas the Arabian (who, out of the hatred he bore to Herod, brought a great army of horse and foot), Varus sent a part of his army presently to Galilee, which lay near to Ptolemais, and Caius, one of his friends, for their captain. This Caius put those that met him to flight, and took the city Sepphoris, and burnt it, and made slaves of its inhabitants;
^2.503 o Cestius took part of his forces, and marched hastily to Zabulon, a strong city of Galilee, which was called the City of Men, and divides the country of Ptolemais from our nation; ^2.504 this he found deserted by its men, the multitude having fled to the mountains, but full of all sorts of good things; those he gave leave to the soldiers to plunder, and set fire to the city, although it was of admirable beauty, and had its houses built like those in Tyre, and Sidon, and Berytus.
^2.511 He was receivedby the strongest city of Galilee, which was Sepphoris, with acclamations of joy; which wise conduct of that city occasioned the rest of the cities to be in quiet; while the seditious part and the robbers ran away to that mountain which lies in the very middle of Galilee, and is situated over against Sepphoris; it is called Asamon. So Gallus brought his forces against them;

²¹ Gaius Melissus, a native of Spoletium, was freeborn, but was disowned owing to a disagreement between his parents. Nevertheless through the care and devotion of the man who reared him, he received a superior education, and was presented to Maecenas as a grammarian. Finding that Maecenas appreciated him and treated him as a friend, although his mother claimed his freedom, he yet remained in a condition of slavery, since he preferred his present lot to that of his actual origin. In consequence he was soon set free, and even won the favour of Augustus. At the emperors appointment he undertook the task of arranging the library in the Colonnade of Octavia. In his sixtieth year, as he himself writes, he began to compile his volumes of "Trifles," now entitled "Jests," of which he completed a hundred and fifty; and he later added other volumes of a different character. He likewise originated a new kind of togatae, to which he gave the name of trabeatae.

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^7.17 To Celer: Every author has his own reasons for giving recitals; mine, as I have often said before, is that I may discover any slip I may have made, and I certainly do make them. So I am surprised when you say that some people have found fault with me for giving recitals of speeches at all, unless, indeed, they think that speeches are the only kind of composition which requires no emendations. I should be very glad if they were to tell me why they allow - if they do allow it - that history is a proper subject for recitation, seeing that history is written not for display but in the interests of strict truth, or why they should consider a tragedy a fit subject, seeing that it requires not an audience room but a stage and actors, or lyric verses, which need not a reader but the accompaniment of a chorus and a lyre. Perhaps they will say that long established custom sanctions the practice. Then is the originator of it to be blamed? Besides, not only our own countrymen but the Greeks as well have constantly read speeches. But, they say, it is a waste of time to give a reading of a speech which has already been delivered. So it would be if the speech remained identically the same, and you read it to the same audience and immediately after its delivery; but if you make a number of additions, if you recast numerous passages, if you have a new audience, or if the audience be the same and yet a considerable time has elapsed, why should one hesitate more about giving a reading of an already delivered speech than about publishing it? It may be argued that it is difficult to make a speech convincing when it is read. True, but that is a point connected with the difficulty of reciting, and has no bearing on the argument that a speech should not be read at all. For my own part I desire applause, not when I am reciting but when other people are reading my book, and that is why I let no opportunity of emending a passage escape me. In the first place, I go carefully over what I have written again and again; then I read it to two or three friends; subsequently I pass it on to others to make marginal criticisms, and, if I am in doubt, I once more call in a friend or two to help me in weighing their value. Last of all, I read it to a large audience, and it is then, if you can credit the statement, that I make the severest corrections, because the greater my anxiety to please, the more diligent I am in application. But the best judges of all are modesty, respect, and awe. Consider the matter in this light. If you are going to enter into conversation with some one person, however learned he may be, are you not less flurried than you would be if you were entering into conversation with a number of people or with persons who know nothing? Is not your diffidence the greatest just at the moment when you rise to plead, and is it not then that you wish not only a large part of your speech but the whole of it were cast in a different mould? Especially is this the case if the scene of the encounter is a spacious one and there is a dense ring of spectators, for we feel nervous even of the meanest and commonest folk who crowd there. If you think your opening points are badly received, does it not weaken your nerve and make you feel like collapse? I fancy so, the reason being that there exists a considerable weight of sound opinion in mere numbers simply, and though, if you take them individually, their judgment is worth next to nothing, taken collectively, it is worth a great deal. Hence it was that Pomponius Secundus, who used to write tragedies, was in the habit of exclaiming, " I appeal to the people," whenever he thought that a passage should be retained, which some one of his intimate friends considered had better be expunged, and so he either stuck to his own opinion or followed that of his friend, according as the people received the passage in silence or greeted it with applause. Such was the high estimate he formed of the popular judgment; whether rightly or wrongly does not affect me. For my custom is to call in, not the people, but a few carefully selected friends, whose judgment I respect and have confidence in, and whose faces I can watch individually, yet who are numerous enough collectively to put me in some awe. For I think that although Marcus Cicero says, "Composition is the keenest critic in the world," this applies even more to the fear of speaking in public. The very fact that we keep thinking we are going to give a reading sharpens our critical taste, so too does our entry into the audience-hall, so too do our pale looks, anxious tremors, and our glances from side to side. Hence I am far from repenting of my practice, which I find of the greatest value to me, and so far am I from being deterred by the idle talk of my critics that I beg of you to point out to me some additional method of criticism in addition to those I have enumerated. For though I take great pains I never seem to take enough. I keep thinking what a serious matter it is to place anything in the hands of the public for them to read, nor can I persuade myself that any work of mine, which you are always anxious should get a welcome everywhere, does not stand in need of constant revision by myself and a number of my friends. Farewell.

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^2.118 But the Germans, who with their great ferocity combine great craft, to an extent scarcely credible to one who has had no experience with them, and are a race to lying born, by trumping up a series of fictitious lawsuits, now provoking one another to disputes, and now expressing their gratitude that Roman justice was settling these disputes, that their own barbarous nature was being softened down by this new and hitherto unknown method, and that quarrels which were usually settled by arms were now being ended by law, brought Quintilius to such a complete degree of negligence, that he came to look upon himself as a city praetor administering justice in the forum, and not a general in command of an army in the heart of Germany. 2 Thereupon appeared a young man of noble birth, brave in action and alert in mind, possessing an intelligence quite beyond the ordinary barbarian; he was, namely, Arminius, the son of Sigimer, a prince of that nation, and he showed in his countece and in his eyes the fire of the mind within. He had been associated with us constantly on private campaigns, and had even attained the dignity of equestrian rank. This young man made use of the negligence of the general as an opportunity for treachery, sagaciously seeing that no one could be more quickly overpowered than the man who feared nothing, and that the most common beginning of disaster was a sense of security. 3 At first, then, he admitted but a few, later a large number, to a share in his design; he told them, and convinced them too, that the Romans could be crushed, added execution to resolve, and named a day for carrying out the plot. 4 This was disclosed to Varus through Segestes, a loyal man of that race and of illustrious name, who also demanded that the conspirators be put in chains. But fate now dominated the plans of Varus and had blindfolded the eyes of his mind. Indeed, it is usually the case that heaven perverts the judgement of the man whose fortune it means to reverse, and brings it to pass — and this is the wretched part of it — that that which happens by chance seems to be deserved, and accident passes over into culpability. And so Quintilius refused to believe the story, and insisted upon judging the apparent friendship of the Germans toward him by the standard of his merit. And, after this first warning, there was no time left for a second.