Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in the
Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.
Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.
Tacitus
s.
6.
Quintilian (b.
xii.
chap.
10) commends the
diligence of Pollio, and the dignity of Messala. In another part of
his Institutes, he praises the invention, the judgement, and spirit of
Pollio, but at the same time says, he fell so short of the suavity and
splendour of Cicero, that he might well pass for an orator of a former
age. He adds, that Messala was natural and elegant: the grandeur of
his style seemed to announce the nobility of his birth; but still he
wanted force and energy. _Malta in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa
diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur; et consilii et
animi satis; a nitore et jucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, ut
videri possit sæculo prior. At Messala nitidus et candidus, et
quodammodo præ se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor. _
Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1. The two great poets of the Augustan age
have transmitted the name of Asinius Pollio to the latest posterity.
Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in the
Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.
Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi,
Sive oram Illyrici legis æquoris; en erit unquam
Ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta?
En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem
Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno?
ECLOG. viii. ver. 6.
O Pollio! leading thy victorious bands
O'er deep Timavus, or Illyria's sands;
O when thy glorious deeds shall I rehearse?
When tell the world how matchless is thy verse,
Worthy the lofty stage of laurell'd Greece,
Great rival of majestic Sophocles!
WHARTON'S VIRGIL.
Horace has added the orator and the statesman:
Paulum severæ musa tragediæ
Desit theatris; mox, ubi publicas
Res ordinaris, grande munus
Cecropio repetes cothurno,
Insigne mœstis præsidium reis,
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiæ,
Cui laurus æternos honores
Dalmatico peperit triumpho.
Lib. ii. ode 1.
Retard a while thy glowing vein,
Nor swell the solemn tragic scene;
And when thy sage, thy patriot cares
Have form'd the train of Rome's affairs,
With lofty rapture reinflam'd, diffuse
Heroic thoughts, and wake the buskin'd muse.
diligence of Pollio, and the dignity of Messala. In another part of
his Institutes, he praises the invention, the judgement, and spirit of
Pollio, but at the same time says, he fell so short of the suavity and
splendour of Cicero, that he might well pass for an orator of a former
age. He adds, that Messala was natural and elegant: the grandeur of
his style seemed to announce the nobility of his birth; but still he
wanted force and energy. _Malta in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa
diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur; et consilii et
animi satis; a nitore et jucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, ut
videri possit sæculo prior. At Messala nitidus et candidus, et
quodammodo præ se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor. _
Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1. The two great poets of the Augustan age
have transmitted the name of Asinius Pollio to the latest posterity.
Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in the
Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.
Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi,
Sive oram Illyrici legis æquoris; en erit unquam
Ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta?
En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem
Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno?
ECLOG. viii. ver. 6.
O Pollio! leading thy victorious bands
O'er deep Timavus, or Illyria's sands;
O when thy glorious deeds shall I rehearse?
When tell the world how matchless is thy verse,
Worthy the lofty stage of laurell'd Greece,
Great rival of majestic Sophocles!
WHARTON'S VIRGIL.
Horace has added the orator and the statesman:
Paulum severæ musa tragediæ
Desit theatris; mox, ubi publicas
Res ordinaris, grande munus
Cecropio repetes cothurno,
Insigne mœstis præsidium reis,
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiæ,
Cui laurus æternos honores
Dalmatico peperit triumpho.
Lib. ii. ode 1.
Retard a while thy glowing vein,
Nor swell the solemn tragic scene;
And when thy sage, thy patriot cares
Have form'd the train of Rome's affairs,
With lofty rapture reinflam'd, diffuse
Heroic thoughts, and wake the buskin'd muse.
