Contra defensorem hominum morumque bonorum,
Hos magnifacere, his bene velle, his vivere amicum;
Commoda praeterea patriae sibi prima putare,
Deinde parentum, tertia jam postremaque nostra[326].
If there is no great originality of thought nor rhetorical grace of expression in this passage, it proves that Lucilius judged of questions of right and wrong from his own point of view. To him, as to Ennius, common sense and a just estimate of life were large ingredients in virtue. To be a good hater as well as a staunch friend, and to choose one's friends and enemies according to their characters, is another quality of his virtuous man. With him, as with the best Romans of every age, love of country, family, and friends, were the primary motives to right action. The next passage, written in language equally plain and forcible, gives a graphic picture of the growing taste for forensic oratory—
Nunc vero a mane ad noctem, festo atque profesto,
Toto itidem pariterque die, populusque patresque
Iactare indu foro se omnes, decedere nusquam,
Uni se atque eidem studio omnes dedere et arti,
Verba dare ut caute possint, pugnare dolose,