Roman Empresses Vol. 01-Calpurnia

8/14/2019 Roman Empresses Vol. 01-Calpurnia

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THE ROMAN EMPRESSESCALPURNIA

WIFE OF JULIUS CAESAR

JULIUS C^SAR had four wives. The first wasCossutia, daughter of a Roman knight, and extremelynch. He was very young when he married her, and as is inclinations were not much consulted in this match,

3 put her away before he had cohabited with her, inor to espouse Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, who wasjnguished by having been four times consul. Thisnee drew upon him the jealousy of Sulla, whose

Tvas very formidable at Rome, where everythingoverned according to his will and pleasure.

.dictator, who was Cinna s mortal enemy, used aLiesvors to induce Caesar to put away Cornelia

at in vain; Caesar was not a man capable of yieldingeasily to another, and, having been brought up by his

VOL. I 1


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2 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESaunt Julia (Marius s wife), was, from his infancy,taught that invincible aversion that all Marius s relationshad to Sulla, for they had opposed themselves as a bar-rier against the tyrannical power of this dictator. Onthe other hand, CaBsar loved Cornelia; but if he couldhave prevailed upon himself to put her away, especiallyto please Sulla, his father-in-law Cinna was powerfulenough to make him repent it.

Sulla was then possessed of a power little less thanabsolute, and, imagining that everything ought to giveway to him, was extremely exasperated at the resistancewhich he met with from Caasar; and, to punish him,stripped him of the priesthood, seized everything belong-ing to him and his wife, deprived him of all right ofsuccession, and would probably have carried his resent-ment further, if he had not been taken up with gettingrid of some other enemies whom he thought more consid-erable, and if the vestal virgins, 1 and many other per-sons of importance, had not interested themselves forCaesar.

1 Numa Pompilius, second King of Rome, caused a temple to bebuilt in honor of the goddess Vesta, in which was preserved thefire called sacred and eternal, because it was never suffered to goout; and he instituted religious women (a sort of nuns) whosebusiness it was to take care of it, and who were named vestals


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CALPURNIA 3Sulla, who was extremely penetrating and well ac-

quainted with the enterprising genius of that ambitiousRoman, foresaw the misfortunes that he would one day

from the goddess Vesta, to whom they were dedicated. Theoldest of these virgins was styled the great vestal, and she hada supreme authority over the rest. They vowed to preserve theirvirginity for thirty years, after which they were permitted to quitthat state, and to marry, or pass the remainder of their lives asthey thought proper; but few made use of this liberty, for it wasobserved that, as many of them as had quitted their professionto marry or live in the world, were afflicted in the latter end oftheir lives with perpetual sickness, disorders, and a thousand mis-fortunes, which were looked upon as a just punishment for their de-sertion. This had possessed people s minds with superstition andfear, so that there were scarce any of the vestals who had courageenough to quit their condition. As for those who broke theirvows before the expiration of the thirty years, and were guilty ofany breach of chastity, they were condemned to death in thefollowing manner: They were buried alive in a deep dungeon,which was dug on purpose in a place called the accursed field. Theywere let down with their faces covered, as being unworthy to seethe light, and nothing allowed them but a lighted lamp, a littlebread and water, some milk, and some oil. And the day whereonthey were thus interred, all the town was in mourning, the shopsshut up, and nothing to be seen on every side but the deepestmelancholy. Her sacrilegious accomplice had also his share inthe punishment as he had in the crime, for he was whipped todeath. As the most essential part of the vestals duty consistedin their maintaining the sacred fire day and night, they were con-tinually upon the watch; but if any of them were so negligent asto let it go out (which was reckoned the forerunner of some dread-ful calamity) the offender was chastised very rigorously, forshe was scourged quite naked by the chief priest in a dark placebehind a curtain. This severity was the reason that nobody caredto make their daughters vestals; on the contrary, everyone sought


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4 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESbring upon the Republic; he, therefore, not only opposedCaesar s friends by all the reasons he was master of, butdisguising his private resentment under the mask of the

pretences to avoid it, whence it happened that they were after-wards obliged to take them by force. The Emperors sometimesrecompensed the generosity of those who offered their daughterswith a good grace. And we read that Tiberius, after the deathof Occia, the chief vestal, being under some difficulties aboutfilling up her place, and Fonteius Agrippa, having presented hisdaughter (who, nevertheless, was not received), rewarded the goodintention of that Senator, by making the young lady a present ofa sum amounting to fifty thousand livres. It is to be observed,that it was not every girl that could be admitted into this order,for she was not to be less than six years old, nor more than ten;she was to have no defect in her speech or limbs, nor subject toany disorder. Her parents were to have been exempt from astate of servitude, and such as had never followed any low occu-pation. They even gave the preference to the daughters of suchwomen as had been but once married. When none offered them-selves voluntarily, the great Pontiff singled out twenty girls, whodrew lots, and he selected her on whom the lot fell. She wascarried immediately to the temple of Vesta, shaved, and clad inthe proper habit, for it would have been a very immodest andscandalous thing if one of these virgins had made use of any dressor ornaments that were not suitable to the sanctity of her pro-fession; and Titus Livius tells us, that the vestal Minucia wasextremely blamed for having dressed in a manner not conformableto her condition. The accusation was not without grounds, asthe event proved; for soon after, Minucia was condemned toundergo the punishment appointed for those who lost their vir-ginity. The vestals had a right to several privileges, and hadrevenues assigned them by the public. When they walkedabroad, they were preceded by lictors, like the magistrates; andif they met any criminal going to execution, he was pardoned,provided the vestal made oath that her meeting him was mere


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CALPURNIA 5public interest, endeavored to persuade them that theyought to be so far from interceding for Caesar, that theyshould contribute all they could to his destruction, since,if he were suffered to live, he would, some time or other,ruin the party of the nobility, which they themselveshad defended with so much zeal and courage. Fortune,however, rescued Caesar from the hatred of Sulla. TheDictator, being at last overcome by the importunity ofthose whom he could not well refuse, was obliged to par-don him; but, to show them how unwillingly he compliedwith their request, I grant you, said he, what youask, but remember that more than one Marius is con-cealed in the person of Caesar.

Caesar was quaestor 1 when he lost his wife Cornelia;

chance, and that there was no design in it. Their persons weresacred; and at public assemblies they were entitled to the chiefplaces. In short, the Romans had the greatest respect for them.They reconciled the nobles when they had any quarrel amongthem, and nobody durst refuse them anything they asked, somuch were they esteemed. This was the reason that Caesar sfriends, in order to obtain his pardon from Sulla, had recourse tothe vestals. Their number was limited to six by King Servius,but afterwards they were increased to twenty.We must not forget to take notice that, if the holy fire happenedto go out, it was not to be rekindled but by lightning or the raysof the sun.

1 The office of quaestor was one of the most ancient posts inRome, and was reckoned an introduction into the affairs of the


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6 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESand, as he loved her beyond measure, he was excessivelyafflicted at her death. He gave public tokens of his griefin the pompous eulogy which he pronounced upon thatoccasion from the Tribunal of Harangues; 1 and, cer-tainly, he had all the reason in the world to lament his

greatest importance. Nobody could enjoy it who was not twenty-seven years of age. At the beginning there were but two of them,who had the charge of the public treasure and ensigns of war;but Italy having all been made tributary, and the revenues of theRepublic being considerably increased, six more were added, andSulla augmented them to twenty; but Caesar made them still morenumerous. Of all these quaestors no more than two residedat Rome, who kept registers of all the receipts and payments ofthe Republic, and the rest were sent into the provinces to keepan account of the revenues ordinary, extraordinary, and casual;as, for example, the spoils taken in war, or at the surrender oftowns, the sale of prisoners, and other like occasions. The em-ployment of quaestor became more honorable under the Emperors,for when the Prince could not, or would not, go to the Senate,he sent thither his orders by the quaestors. They took cognizanceof all causes relating to the public debts, a power which Nerodeprived them of, to give it to the intendant or commissary ofthe city. The Emperor Claudius added several new honors tothis employ; but on the other hand he disgraced it by renderingit venal, by Dolabella s advice.

1 Or, orators tribunal. In the middle of the square calledForum Romanum was a temple dedicated to Fortune, adorned withthe iron and copper belonging to the ships of Antium which weretaken by the Romans. Of the beaks of those ships was made asort of tribunal or pulpit raised very high, upon which the magi-strates mounted when they were disposed to harangue the people.Round this tribunal were ranged the statues of many great menof the Republic. It was also from this place that funeral orationswere pronounced; and it was there that Cicero so frequently


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CALPURNIA 7loss, for Pompeia, whom he married soon after, causedhim a great deal of vexation.She was daughter of Pompeius Rufus, and neice to

Sulla. This lady was young, handsome, lively, and of soamorous a disposition, that she did not value herselfupon an over-strict fidelity to her husband, whom shemarried, perhaps, much more through policy 1 thaninclination. She carried her complaisance very far forPublius Clodius. 2 This person was of an illustriousfamily, whose antiquity surpassed that of Rome itself.He 3 was then in the flower of his age, very handsome inhis person, and possessed of vast riches, which he did

thundered out his eloquence. It was afterwards disgraced, byfixing upon it the heads of the greatest men of the Republic.Marius caused to be put there the head of Mark Antony theorator (who formerly had adorned it with triumphal spoils). Healso placed young Marius s head there; and Mark Antony thetriumvir exposed in that place the head and right hand of Cicero.

1 Sueton. vit. Jul. Caes.1 Publius Clodius was descended from the noble house of the

Clodians, who always maintained the interests of the Senate andpatricians against the people; and Clodius, of whom we are nowspeaking, was the first of his name who took part with the peopleagainst the Senate. He caused himself to be adopted by aplebeian, that he might be capable of being chosen Tribune ofthe people; and we shall see what use he made of the authoritywhich that employment furnished him with. Clodius s wife wasnamed Fulvia, by whom he had his daughter Clodia, who wasmarried to Augustus, and divorced soon after.

Plutar. vit. Caes. vit. Cicer.


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8 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESnot always make the best use of. He had a great dealof very agreeable wit, and a cheerful humor, alwaysdisposed to mirth and pleasure; but he was rash in hisenterprises, irregular in his desires, furious in his hatred,impudent in his manners, neither respecting laws normagistrates; showing in his countenance that air of as-surance which independence is apt to give; inclined tothe most infamous actions, witness his abominationswith his own sisters; in short, ready to hazard every-thing to gratify those appetites which are generally theunfortunate attendants of giddy youth, and in which hewas encouraged by the bad example of many of themost illustrious citizens of Rome, now grown weary ofbeing virtuous.

Clodius, being the person I have described him, in-sinuated himself into the good graces of Caesar s wife,and presently discovered that he was not indifferent toher. Aurelia, Caesar s mother, 1 a lady of great penetra-tion, and of the strictest virtue, was not the last whoperceived it. She therefore narrowly watched the con-duct of her daughter-in-law, whose behavior seemedvery suspicious: Aurelia was an Argus not easily to belulled asleep.

1 Plutar. vit. OSES, and in Regum Apophthegm.


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CALPURNIA 9Clodius put in practice all his cunning and stratagems

to see Caesar s wife, but to no purpose; for Pompeiacould not move a step without being guarded by hermother-in-law. Wherever she went, she was still ac-companied by this severe spy, who saw into her verythoughts, and watched her so closely, that it was impos-sible for her to steal one favorable glance.

Aurelia was, however, imposed upon at last by the twolovers, in spite of all her vigilance. Love took a pleasurein deceiving her, by inspiring Clodius with a secret wayof seeing his mistress. Every year a solemn sacrificewas performed at Rome in honor of the Good Goddess 1in one of the consuls houses, and, in their absence, in

1 The Good Goddess had many names, but Fauna was the trueone. She was the wife of one Faunus, and was so prudent,modest, and chaste, that it is reported no man but her husbandso much as knew her name, and that none else had ever seen herface. A misfortune that happened to this rare woman occasionedher being made a goddess. Her husband being one day absent,she found, by chance, a bottle of wine, which she tasted, andfinding it good, made so free of it as to be drunk, being quiteignorant of its nature, and never having met with it before.Faunus happened to come in just then, and finding her in thiscondition, in the heat of his passion seized some twigs of myrtle,of which he made a whip, and gave her so many strokes that shedied of it. This cruel correction was followed by a bitter repent-ance; he was ashamed of this violence, and the merit of his wife,whom he had treated with so much injustice and inhumanity,greatly added to his grief. The evil being however past remedy,


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10 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESone of the praetors. 1 Amongst other very odd cere-monies essentially necessary upon this occasion, that ofnever celebrating them but by night was most scrupu-lously observed, and no man whatsoever was to be ad-mitted, not even the consul or praetor at whose housethey were solemnized. The wife or mother of the con-sul or praetor presided, and was assisted by the vestal

and not having it in his power to restore her to life, he was re-solved to make her a goddess by procuring her immortality.1 After the Kings of Rome were banished, two consuls were

created, who had the administration of affairs. But when ithappened that the consuls were obliged to quit the town to com-mand the armies, they created a prsetor to administer justice inRome, and he was to supply the place of the consuls, for whenthey were absent, his power was very considerable; he had thenauthority to assemble the Senate, in which he presided; to abolishsome laws, and to make new ones. It was also at his house thatthe sacrifice to the Good Goddess was celebrated. In short,all the power of the consuls was then vested in him. At firstthe prater was chosen out of the order of patricians, but after-wards the plebeians were also admitted to that office. Andbecause one praetor was not sufficient for the town, on account ofthe great number of strangers who flocked thither upon business,they created another, whose duty it was to dispatch the affairs ofthese strangers, called Prsetor Peregrinus. Afterwards they wereincreased to six; two of whom were to decide the differences anddisputes of private persons, and the others took cognizance of suchcrimes as were of a public nature. At last all the provinces beingbecome tributary, and fallen under the yoke and government of theRomans, other praetors were ordained and sent into the provinces.They had a right to wear the robe called Prsetexta, and to be pre-ceded by lictors, and even to command the troops that were intheir respective provinces. The town praetor lodged in the


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CALPURNIA 11virgins. Nothing could gain admittance that had theleast appearance of the male sex. The ladies took somuch care to be exempt from all suspicion of gallantry, 1that they were not permitted to have so much as thesprig of myrtle in their nosegays, because that shrub wasdedicated to Venus.

In spite of the danger the transgression of these lawswas attended with, and against which nobody till thenhad ever dared to offend,Clodius, hurried on by the im-petuosity of his headstrong, unthinking youth, wasincapable of making reflections; and, therefore, withoutthe least scruple, he resolved to profane these solemn-ities, and lay hold on that opportunity of seeing Caesar swife. The sacrifice was to be celebrated that year at herhouse, and that night was intended to be for her a nightof triumph; she was to appear in the assembly with allher graces and charms. Much would have been want-ing to her satisfaction, if her lover was not to have seen

palace that formerly belonged to the Kings. His tribunal wascalled the Praetorium, and from thence came the name of theguards called the Praetorian Cohorts, because they were appointedto attend the praetor, and waited upon him in the hall of justiceduring his stay there. The praetors were not to be absent fromRome above ten days. When the praetor condemned any person todeath, he quitted his purple robe and appeared in deep mourning.

1 Plutar. Quaest. Rer. Rom.


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12 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESher in her beauty, and Clodius could never have sur-vived the grief of such a disappointment.They agreed, then, to see each other in the very place

of the sacrifice, without troubling themselves about thedanger to which they were exposed, nor the difficultiesthat lay in their way. The enterprise was hazardous,but love is more than ever desirous to triumph upon suchoccasions; so the design was thus concerted. It wasdetermined that Clodius should be dressed in woman sclothes, that he should enter Caesar s house in the crowd,and that Abra, one of Pompeia s women who was in thesecret, should introduce the disguised lover into herchamber, where Pompeia was to meet him. This girlwas mistress of all the address that was necessary to con-duct an intrigue, and Clodius had made her entirelyhis friend. He knew that in affairs of gallantry, it wasimpossible not to have some confidant, and a chamber-maid has a natural right to a trust of that nature.

These measures being taken, and the hour of sacrificecome, Clodius, without fear or foresight, gives himself upto his fortune; takes a woman s habit, and, being young,his countenance did not betray him; he joins those whowere going into Cassar s house, and, being favored bythe darkness of the night and his disguise, goes in with


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CALPURNIA 13them to assist at the sacrifice. Abra took care to bepunctually at the door to receive him, and, having verycunningly conducted him into her chamber, ran to givePompeia notice that her lover waited for her.

Time, which seems very tedious upon these occasions,appeared much so to Clodius, and the more so, sinceAbra (by some of those unlucky accidents which oftenhappen in adventures of this kind) was employed aboutother matters (probably by order of Aurelia), and couldnot, for a long time, carry an answer to the metamor-phosed lover, who was all this while very uneasy, and,being naturally of a restless temper, was extremely fret-ted by these delays, which he accounted for by a thou-sand reasons, without hitting upon the true one; and,his uneasiness increasing every moment, he foolishlyquitted the chamber, and wandered about the house.This impatience quite spoiled all the measures he hadsettled with Pompeia; for, not knowing what to do, andaffecting to hide his face by avoiding the light and thecompany, he gave room for suspicion. A servant maidof the house, taking him for a woman, asked him who hewas and what he looked for? This abrupt questiondisconcerted him; he seemed in confusion, but at lastanswered that he wanted Abra. The concern he showed


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14 THE ROMAN EMPRESSEStogether with the sound of his voice, which did notagree with his dress, discovered the mystery; the maidfound out the cheat, and began to cry out as loud as shecould, that there was in the house a man in woman sclothes.

This uproar ruined the two lovers and their schemes,and struck all the assembly with astonishment. Thelady rambled about the house without knowing whither,and had trouble enough to find Clodius, whom she hidagain in the same chamber, after rating him severely forhis imprudence. This unfortunate accident, which wasenough to put to a nonplus the greatest presence of mindand quickest invention, embarrassed her beyond descrip-tion. In the meantime, the sacrifice and all the cere-monies are interrupted, Aurelia commands all the doorsto be shut and lighted torches to be brought, and, after adiligent search in every corner, finds Clodius in the con-fidant s chamber, and turns him out.

This scandalous affair happening among a company ofwomen, it cannot be supposed it could remain a secret.The ladies longed to be at home to communicate it totheir husbands, and, consequently, it was all over thetown the next morning. Pompeia and Clodius becamethe subjects of all the conversation; and nothing was


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CALPURNIA 15spoken of but this rash undertaking. Csesar, beingthoroughly persuaded that Clodius did not proceed inthis affair unknown to Pompeia, put her away.One of the tribunes, 1 in the meantime, takes cogni-

zance of this sacrilegious affair, and Clodius is cited tohis trial; but, finding that the best thing he could do wasto deny the whole charge, he protested that he was

1 The people being quite wearied out with the tyranny of usurersand the oppressions they suffered under the great men of Rome,retired into one quarter of the town and mutinied. Agrippa, amost prudent and much esteemed senator, was deputed to quellthis sedition, and knew so well how to manage them, that he wasso lucky as to succeed upon certain conditions, the principal ofwhich was, that the people should have their own magistrates,that they should be chosen from their own community, and thattheir persons should be safe and inviolable. They were calledTribunes of the People. At first only two were created, butafterwards they were increased to twenty, and were designed, atthe beginning, only to defend the people against the power of thenobility, but in time became so formidable as to counterbalancethe authority of the consuls; for the tribunes had a right to con-voke the people as often as they thought proper, without inter-ruption from any person whatsoever. They had power to estab-lish laws which should bind the three orders, and took undertheir protection all such as had recourse to them, and by thosemeans sheltered them against the proceedings of all other magi-strates, excepting the dictator. They had also a right to op-pose the decrees of the Senate, which they examined into. Theycould even imprison the consuls; for as their persons were in amanner sacred, nobody had courage enough to oppose them. Sullaindeed lessened their power considerably, and the Emperors after-wards abolished entirely this dignity, as being opposite to thetyranny they assumed.


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16 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESfalsely accused, and that he was absent from Rome thenight of this sacrifice, which he offered to prove. Theexamination was not favorable to him. A great manywitnesses deposed against him, and, among the rest,Cicero declared that Clodius had consulted him at Romethat very day. 1 This evidence was of so much weightas to leave no room for doubt, and amounted to ademonstration, in a place where the honesty and up-rightness of Cicero were held in the highest veneration. 7

i Valer. Max. lib. 8. c. 5.J It is well known that Cicero was one of the greatest men that

ever Rome produced. His name is derived from the Latin wordCicer or vetch, because the first man that gave some reputationto the family had on his nose a wart which resembled a pea.Cicero, however, would never change his name; and when hisfriends attempted to persuade him to it, he answered, that hewould make his name so famous that few should surpass it. Hismerit raised him to the highest dignities of the Republic, of whoseliberties he was always a most generous and zealous defender. Hediscovered Catiline s conspiracy, and caused the authors andaccomplices to be punished as they deserved, which procured himthe love and esteem of all the Romans. Cicero was the greatestorator that ever was born; and it may be affirmed, that his con-clusions were a sort of law to the Senate. He had frequentquarrels with Clodius and Mark Antony. It is reported that hewas one of those who conspired against Julius Csesar, and thatBrutus, after that prince had been assassinated in the SenateHouse, looking about for Cicero, showed him his sword yet smok-ing with the blood of Caesar, and cried out to him, that Romehad at last recovered its liberty. Cicero was reproached withbeing of a very timid and cowardly disposition. He had also alarge share of vanity, and never spoke a quarter of an hour with-


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CALPURNIA 17Clodius little expected that Cicero, upon whom he had

conferred great obligations, would have appearedagainst him; he had sheltered and protected Cicero fromCatiline s resentment, who, many a time, would haveattempted to kill him, if Clodius had not perpetuallystood between him and danger, and he was not a manto see his friend insulted. So considerable a piece ofservice added to the intimate friendship that had always

out running into praises of himself, and putting the Senate inmind of the public services he had done. He married Terentia, bywhom he had a daughter, who was married to Piso, and afterwardsto Lentulus; also another who survived him, and a son calledMarcus Cicero. Towards the latter end of his life he put awayTerentia, because he imagined she despised him, and that duringhis absence she had dissipated his substance and contracted debts.But when he married a young girl soon after, whom he was muchin love with, people were apt to attribute that divorce to otherreasons. He also put away his second after the deathof his daughter, who died in child-bed, because he fancied sherejoiced at his loss, which was very great, for he loved her withthe utmost tenderness. Terentia lived one hundred and seven-teen years. It is said that Cicero s mother at his birth felt nopain. He was called Marcus Tullius Cicero. In the beginningof the sixteenth century, a tomb was discovered in the high-roadnear Terracina, which was called by the Romans, Via Appia,and in it was found the body of a young girl swimming in a certainunknown liquor. The corpse had fair hair turned up with a goldbuckle, and as fresh as if alive. At the feet of the body was alamp burning, which went out as soon as the air came to it. Bythe inscriptions it appeared that it had been buried in that placefifteen hundred years, and it was supposed to be the body of Tullia,

Vol. I 2


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15 THE ROMAN EMPRESSESsubsisted between them was the reason that Clodiuscould never forgive this deposition of Cicero, which hethought the highest ingratitude, and felt ever after animplacable hatred of him.

Ckero*s daughter. It was earned to Rome, and exposed in theCapitol, where great crowds of people came to view it; but asthe credulous multitude would needs have it to be the body of asaint, because it was not corrupted, the Pope ordered it to bethrown by night into the Tiber.

being fufl of resentment against Cicero, got himselftribune of the people, on purpose to be revenged. In

tact, he Kinrihid aim from the city, set his country house on fire asweH as that which he had at Rome, caused aU his goods to be soldby aurtiotu awl vexed him by all possibte nwans. Cicero retiredto Dynaehram. whose inhabitants received him with the


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CALPURNTA 19It is certain that Cicero was more to be pitied than

blamed. He did not give his evidence willingly, norappear against Clodius till he was compelled to it by anauthority more to be feared than the tribune. Terentia,his wife, a most obstinate and furious woman, obligedhim to act thus. She was provoked against Clodius,because his sister Claudia had attempted to steal fromher her husband s affections. This lady, being verybeautiful, was much taken with the merit of Cicero (whohad exalted himself to the consulship through all thedegrees of honor, and was hi the highest esteem atRome), and would have been very well pleased to havemarried him. As this could not be brought about butby Cicero divorcing his wife, Claudia secretly employedone named Tullus in the affair, an intimate friend ofCicero, who visited him every day, and who was veryfamiliar with Clodius, to whose house he had also freeaccess.

created Pompey consul, and ordered him to enquire into themurder. Pompey named commissaries out of every order of thetown; and Milo recommended his cause to Cicero, whom heprayed to defend him. The orator, who was under great obligationsto Milo, exerted the whole force of his eloquence, and composedthat admirable speech (Orat. pro Milone) which anybody whopleases may see; but his manner of uttering it was not of a piecewith the composition; for Pompey having posted some soldiers

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Roman Empresses Vol. 01-Calpurnia