[a] Concerning
Maternus
nothing is known with any kind of certainty.
Tacitus
U.
C.
864, A.
D.
111.
But as he did not
begin the year, his name does not appear in the FASTI CONSULARES.
There are two letters to him from his friend Pliny; the first, lib. i.
epist. 11; the other, lib. vii. ep. 2. it is remarkable, that in the
last, the author talks of sending some of his writings for his
friend's perusal; _quæram quid potissimum ex nugis meis tibi
exhibeam_; but not a word is said about the decline of eloquence.
Section II.
[a] Concerning Maternus nothing is known with any kind of certainty.
Dio relates that a sophist, of that name, was put to death by
Domitian, for a school declamation against tyrants: but not one of the
commentators ventures to assert that he was the _Curiatius Maternus_,
who makes so conspicuous a figure in the Dialogue before us.
[b] No mention is made of Marcus Aper, either by Quintilian or Pliny.
It is supposed that he was father of Marcus Flavius Aper, who was
substituted consul A. U. C. 883, A. D. 130. His oratorical character, and
that of Secundus, as we find them drawn in this section, are not
unlike what we are told by Cicero of Crassus and Antonius. Crassus, he
says, was not willing to be thought destitute of literature, but he
wished to have it said of him, that he despised it, and preferred the
good sense of the Romans to the refinements of Greece. Antonius, on
the other hand, was of opinion that his fame would rise to greater
magnitude, if he was considered as a man wholly illiterate, and void
of education. In this manner they both expected to increase their
popularity; the former by despising the Greeks, and the latter by not
knowing them. _Fuit hoc in utroque eorum, ut Crassus non tam
existimari vellet non didicisse, quam illa despicere, et nostrorum
hominum in omni genere prudentiam Græcis anteferre. Antonius autem
probabiliorem populo orationem fore censebat suam, si omninò didicisse
nunquam putaretur; atque ita se uterque graviorem fore, si alter
contemnere, alter ne nosse quidem Græcos videretur. _ Cicero _De Orat.
begin the year, his name does not appear in the FASTI CONSULARES.
There are two letters to him from his friend Pliny; the first, lib. i.
epist. 11; the other, lib. vii. ep. 2. it is remarkable, that in the
last, the author talks of sending some of his writings for his
friend's perusal; _quæram quid potissimum ex nugis meis tibi
exhibeam_; but not a word is said about the decline of eloquence.
Section II.
[a] Concerning Maternus nothing is known with any kind of certainty.
Dio relates that a sophist, of that name, was put to death by
Domitian, for a school declamation against tyrants: but not one of the
commentators ventures to assert that he was the _Curiatius Maternus_,
who makes so conspicuous a figure in the Dialogue before us.
[b] No mention is made of Marcus Aper, either by Quintilian or Pliny.
It is supposed that he was father of Marcus Flavius Aper, who was
substituted consul A. U. C. 883, A. D. 130. His oratorical character, and
that of Secundus, as we find them drawn in this section, are not
unlike what we are told by Cicero of Crassus and Antonius. Crassus, he
says, was not willing to be thought destitute of literature, but he
wished to have it said of him, that he despised it, and preferred the
good sense of the Romans to the refinements of Greece. Antonius, on
the other hand, was of opinion that his fame would rise to greater
magnitude, if he was considered as a man wholly illiterate, and void
of education. In this manner they both expected to increase their
popularity; the former by despising the Greeks, and the latter by not
knowing them. _Fuit hoc in utroque eorum, ut Crassus non tam
existimari vellet non didicisse, quam illa despicere, et nostrorum
hominum in omni genere prudentiam Græcis anteferre. Antonius autem
probabiliorem populo orationem fore censebat suam, si omninò didicisse
nunquam putaretur; atque ita se uterque graviorem fore, si alter
contemnere, alter ne nosse quidem Græcos videretur. _ Cicero _De Orat.
