Oratory.Throughout the period from the third Punic war to the dictatorship of Sulla—and, in fact, until the death of Cicero—nearly every public man at Rome was an orator, and many of them published their speeches. In the times of the Gracchi, Rome contained, perhaps, more excellent speakers than at any other period, among whom none equalled in force, brilliancy and oratorical power the great, though unsuccessful, statesman and patriot Gaius Gracchus, (154-121 B. C.), who far surpassed his elder brother Tiberius (163-133 B. C.) in eloquence, though he, too, was an orator of distinction. After the Gracchi the most distinguished orators were Marcus Antonius (143-87 B. C.) and Lucius Licinius (140-91 B. C.), the first of whom excelled in vigor and liveliness of delivery, the second in wit, elegance and variety of composition. These orators were not merely men with natural ability to speak, but were carefully trained in accordance with the precepts of Greek rhetoric.
Of all the works mentioned so far in this chapter, only one—Cato’s treatise On Agriculture—has come down to us entire, and only the satires of Lucilius are known to us by numerous fragments. These works lost. The other works and their authors have left little more than their names. There is, however, one work, now usually ascribed to Cornificius, an author of whom nothing is known, which is preserved entire. Rhetorica ad Herennium. This is the Rhetoric Addressed to Herennius, which was preserved because it was falsely included among Cicero’s works. The treatise goes over much the same ground as Cicero’s youthful essay On Invention, which is evidently intended to be little more than a new and improved edition of the earlier work.
The importance of the period immediately preceding the time of Cicero can not be judged by the extant literature, but must be estimated by the number of works and authors mentioned by later writers and the qualities assigned to them. It is at once evident that poetry made little progress, while prose writing of all kinds advanced with rapid strides. Great progress of prose. It is only natural, therefore, that the age of Cicero should be the most brilliant period of Latin prose, and that the highest general development of poetry should be reserved for the Augustan age. Yet, even the Augustan age can only equal, not surpass, the immortal poems of two of Cicero’s contemporaries, Lucretius and Catullus.
CHAPTER IV
LUCRETIUS
The Ciceronian period—Lucretius, 99(?)-55(?) B. C.—Philosophy at Rome—The poem of Lucretius—Its purpose, contents, and style.
It was in the dictatorship of Sulla, 81 B. C., that Cicero made his first appearance as an orator, and almost from that time until his death, in 43 B. C., he was the most prominent orator and man of letters in Rome. The age of Cicero a time of unrest. It is but right that in the history of literature this period of nearly forty years is called the age of Cicero. In political and external matters this was a time of great unrest. Sulla’s dictatorship, which seemed to put an end to strife, served only to strengthen the power of the senate, not to diminish its abuses; the increase of the slave population of Italy still continued to drive the freeborn farmers to Rome to swell the number of the city rabble; the slaves themselves broke out into open war; the provinces were discontented on account of the extortions of their governors; the Cilician pirates became so powerful that their suppression was a matter of some difficulty; Mithridates aroused a war in the east, and was overcome only by great exertion; while in Rome itself the conspiracy of Catiline and the struggle between Pompey and Cæsar clearly foreshadowed the end of the republic.
This period was at the same time one of great material prosperity at Rome. In spite of disturbing influences, wealth increased, interest in art and literature was wide-spread, and there was, alongside of much vulgar extravagance and display, a steady growth in culture and refinement. Wealth and culture. Progress of literature. By the beginning of this period the Latin language had become a proper medium of expression in prose and verse, though its natural qualities of rigidity and precision made it always better adapted to the needs of the commander, orator, jurist, and historian than to the lighter and more varied uses of the poet. Among the poets of the time, some followed in the footsteps of Ennius, while others imitated the poems of the Alexandrian Greeks, characterized by mythological learning, elegance of execution, and emptiness of contents. Of this latter school Catullus was the only one who rose to greatness, breathing into his verse the fire of poetic genius, while Lucretius stands out as the one great and commanding figure among the poets who continued the technical traditions of Ennius.