He
was a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, says
Tacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue.
was a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, says
Tacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue.
Tacitus
A crown was given not only to him who earned it, but also to
the father, who gave birth to distinguished merit. _Illa jam
significatio est, laudis ornamenta ad mortuos pertinere, quod coronam
virtute partam, et ei qui peperisset, et ejus parenti, sine fraude lex
impositam esse jubet. _ _De Legibus_, lib. ii. s. 24. This is the
reward to which Maternus aspires; and, that being granted, he desires,
as Horace did before him, to waive the pomp of funeral ceremonies.
Absint inani funere næniæ,
Luctusque turpes et querimoniæ;
Compesce clamorem, ac sepulchri
Mitte supervacuos honores.
Lib. ii. ode 20.
My friends, the funeral sorrow spare,
The plaintive song, and tender tear;
Nor let the voice of grief profane,
With loud laments, the solemn scene;
Nor o'er your poet's empty urn
With useless idle sorrow mourn.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
Section XIV.
[a] Vipstanius Messala commanded a legion, and, at the head of it,
went over to Vespasian's party in the contention with Vitellius.
He
was a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, says
Tacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue. _Legioni
Vipstanius Messala præerat, claris majoribus, egregius ipse, et qui
solus ad id bellum artes bonas attulisset. _ _Hist. _ lib. iii. s. 9. He
was brother to Regulus, the vile informer, who has been mentioned. See
Life of Agricola, section 2. note a, and this tract, s. xii. note [b].
Messala, we are told by Tacitus, before he had attained the senatorian
age, acquired great fame by pleading the cause of his profligate
brother with extraordinary eloquence, and family affection. _Magnam eo
die pietatis eloquentiæque famam Vipstanius Messala adeptus est;
nondum senatoriâ ætate, ausus pro fratre Aquilio Regulo deprecari. _
_Hist. _ lib.
the father, who gave birth to distinguished merit. _Illa jam
significatio est, laudis ornamenta ad mortuos pertinere, quod coronam
virtute partam, et ei qui peperisset, et ejus parenti, sine fraude lex
impositam esse jubet. _ _De Legibus_, lib. ii. s. 24. This is the
reward to which Maternus aspires; and, that being granted, he desires,
as Horace did before him, to waive the pomp of funeral ceremonies.
Absint inani funere næniæ,
Luctusque turpes et querimoniæ;
Compesce clamorem, ac sepulchri
Mitte supervacuos honores.
Lib. ii. ode 20.
My friends, the funeral sorrow spare,
The plaintive song, and tender tear;
Nor let the voice of grief profane,
With loud laments, the solemn scene;
Nor o'er your poet's empty urn
With useless idle sorrow mourn.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
Section XIV.
[a] Vipstanius Messala commanded a legion, and, at the head of it,
went over to Vespasian's party in the contention with Vitellius.
He
was a man of illustrious birth, and equal merit; the only one, says
Tacitus, who entered into that war from motives of virtue. _Legioni
Vipstanius Messala præerat, claris majoribus, egregius ipse, et qui
solus ad id bellum artes bonas attulisset. _ _Hist. _ lib. iii. s. 9. He
was brother to Regulus, the vile informer, who has been mentioned. See
Life of Agricola, section 2. note a, and this tract, s. xii. note [b].
Messala, we are told by Tacitus, before he had attained the senatorian
age, acquired great fame by pleading the cause of his profligate
brother with extraordinary eloquence, and family affection. _Magnam eo
die pietatis eloquentiæque famam Vipstanius Messala adeptus est;
nondum senatoriâ ætate, ausus pro fratre Aquilio Regulo deprecari. _
_Hist. _ lib.
