"Qualis erat populi facies, clamorque faventum
Olim cum juvenis—"
and something unspeakably solemn in the sudden turn which follows
"Crastina dira quies—"
There are two passages in Lucan which surpass in eloquence anything that I know in the Latin language. One is the enumeration of Pompey's exploits
"Quod si tam sacro dignaris nomine saxum—"
The other is the character which Cato gives of Pompey,
"Civis obit, inquit—"
a pure gem of rhetoric, without one flaw, and, in my opinion, not very far from historical truth. When I consider that Lucan died at twenty-six, I cannot help ranking him among the most extraordinary men that ever lived.
[The following remarks occur at the end of Macaulay's copy of the Pharsalia
August 30, 1835.