[255] Rollin.
[256] Lempriere.
[257] Lempriere; Rollin; Swinburne; Eustace.
[258] Wilkinson; Malte-Brun.
[259] He was, according to most historians, the son of a potter, but all allow him to have worked at the trade. From the obscurity of his birth and condition, Polybius raises an argument to prove his capacity and talents, in opposition to the slanders of Timæus. But his greatest eulogium was the praise of Scipio. That illustrious Roman being asked, who, in his opinion, were the most prudent in the conduct of their affairs, and most judiciously bold in the execution of their designs, answered, Agathocles and Dionysius. (Polyb. 1. xv. p. 1003, edit. Gronov.) However, let his capacity have been ever so great, it was exceeded by his cruelties.—Rollin.
[260] Swinburne.
[261] This account Mr. Swinburne suspected of exaggeration; but after spending two days in tracing the ruins, and making reasonable allowances for the encroachments of the sea, he was convinced of the exactness of Strabo’s measurement.
[262] Brydone.
[263] Plutarch relates, that Marcellus took the spoils of Sicily, consisting, in part, of the most valuable statues and paintings of Syracuse, purposely to adorn his triumph, and ornament the city of Rome, which, before his time, had never known any curiosity of that kind; and he adds, that Marcellus took merit to himself for being the first, who taught the Romans to admire the exquisite performances of Greece.
[264] Swinburne.