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are inftances even of his writing with some dignity on higher occafions.

Of the Introduction, Improvemen and Fall of the Arts at Rome,

Spence.

60. Of JUVENAL. Juvenal began to write after all I have mentioned; and, I do not know by what good fortune, writes with a greater fpirit of poetry than any of them. He has fcarce any thing of the gentility of Horace: yet he is not without humour, and exceeds all the fatirifts in feverity. To fay the truth, he flashes too much like an angry executioner; but the depravity of the times, and the vices then in fashion, may often excufe fome degree of rage in him. It is faid he did not write till he was elderly; and after he had been too much used to declaiming. However, his fatires have a great deal of fpirit in them; and fhew a ftrong hatred of vice, with fome very fine and high fentiments of virtue. They are indeed fo animated, that I do not know any pcem of this age, which one can read with near fo much pleasure as his fatires.

Juvenal may very well be called the laft of the Roman poets. After his time, poetry continued decaying more and more, quite down to the time of Conftantine; when all the arts were fo far loft and extinguished among the Romans, that from that time they themselves may very well be called by the name they used to give to all the world, except the Greeks; for the Romans then had fcarce any thing to diftinguish them from the Barbarians.

There are, therefore, but three ages of the Roman poetry, that can carry any weight with them in an enquiry of this nature. The firft age, from the firft Punic war to the time of Auguftus, is more remarkable for ftrength, than any great degree of beauty in writing. The fecond age, or the Auguftan, is the time when they wrote with a due mixture of beauty and ftrength. And the third, from the beginning of Nero's reign to the end of Adrian's, when they endeavoured after beauty more than ftrength: when they loft much of their vigour, and run too much into affectation. Their poetry, in its youth, was ftrong and nervous: in its middle age, it was manly and polite; in its latter days, it grew tawdry and feeble; and endeavoured to hide the decays of its former beauty and ftrength, in falfe ornaments of drefs, and a borrowed flush on the face; which did not fo much render it pleafing, as it fhewed that its natural complexion was faded and loft.

X

Ibid.

$61.

The city of Rome, as well as its inhabitants, was in the beginning rude and u adorned. Thofe old rough foldiers locked on the effects of the politer arts as thing. fit only for an effeminate people; as to apt to foften and unnerve men; and w take from that martial temper and ferecity, which they encouraged fo much and fo univerfally in the infancy of their fate. Their houfes were (what the name they gave them fignified) only a covering for them, and a defence against bad weather Thefe fheds of theirs were more like th caves of wild beafts, than the habitations of men; and were rather flung together as chance led them, than formed into t gular ftreets and openings: their wa were half mud, and their roofs, pieces ot wood ftuck together; nay, even this was an after-improvement; for in Romul time, their houfes were only covered with ftraw. If they had any thing that wa finer than ordinary, that was chiefly taken up in fetting off the temples of their god and when thefe began to be furnished wa ftatues (for they had none till long after Numa's time) they were probably more t to give terror than delight; and feemed rather formed fo as to be horrible enough to ftrike an awe into those who worshipped them, than handfome enough to invite any one to look upon them for pleasure. Th defign, I fuppofe, was anfwerable to the materials they were made of; and if ther gods were of earthen ware, they were rekoned better than ordinary; for many ef them were chopt out of wood. One of the chief ornaments in thofe times, both of the temples and private houses, confi in their ancient trophies: which were trunks of trees cleared of their branches. and fo formed into a rough kind of po Thefe were loaded with the arms they had taken in war, and you may easily con ceive what fort of ornaments thefe pe muft make, when half decayed by time, and hung about with old ruffy arms, befmeared with the blood of their enemies. Rome was not then that beautiful Rome, whofe very ruins at this day are fought after with fo much pleasure: it was a town, which carried an air of terror in its appearance; and which made people fhudder, whenever they first entered within its gates.

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§ 62.

62. The Condition of the ROMANS in the Second PUNIC War.

with the reft? "Yes," replied Fabius, "leave their angry gods to the Taren"tines; we will have nothing to do with them." Spence.

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$63. MARCELLUS attacks SYRACUSE, and fends all its Pictures and Statues to ROME.

Marcellus had indeed behaved himself very differently in Sicily, a year or two before this happened. As he was to carry on the war in that province, he bent the whole force of it against Syracufe. There was at that time no one city which belonged to the Greeks, more elegant, or better adorned, than the city of Syracufe; it abounded in the works of the best mafters. Marcellus, when he took the city, cleared it entirely, and fent all their ftatues and pictures to Rome. When I fay all, I ufe the language of the people of Syracufe; who foon after laid a complaint against Marcellus before the Roman fenate, in which they charged him with ftripping all their houfes and temples, and leaving nothing but bare walls throughout the city. Marcellus himfelf did not at all difown it, but fairly confeffed what he had done: and ufed to declare, that he had done fo, in order to adorn Rome, and to introduce a tafte for the fine arts among his countrymen.

Such was the fate of this imperial city, when its citizens had made so great a progrefs in arms as to have conquered the better part of Italy, and to be able to engage in a war with the Carthaginians; the trongest power then by land, and the ab.. folate mailers by fea. The Romans, in the firit Punic war, added Sicily to their do. minions. In the fecond, they greatly increafed their ftrength, both by fea and lind; and acquired a taste of the arts and elegancies of life, with which till then they had been totally unacquainted. For tho before this they were masters of Sicily (which in the old Roman geography made a part of Greece) and of feveral cities in the eastern parts of Italy, which were inhabited by colonies from Greece, and were adorned with the pictures, and ftatues and other works, in which that nation delight ed, and excelled the rest of the world fo much; they had hitherto looked upon them with fo careless an eye, that they had telt little or nothing of their beauty, This enfibility they preferved fo long, either from the groffnefs of their minds, or per haps from their fuperftition, and a dread of reverencing foreign deities as much as their own; or (which is the most likely of 1) out of mere politics, and the defire of keeping up their martial spirit and natural oughness, which they thought the arts and elegancies of the Grecians would be but too apt to deftroy. However that was, they gener. ily preferved them'elves from even the leaft fufpicion of tafte for the po ite arts, pretty fur into the fecond unic r; as appears by the behaviour of Fau Maximus in that war, even after the les were turned on their fide. When that genera! took Tarentum, he found it fall of riches, and extremely adorned with ptures and statues. Among others, there were fome very fine coloffe il igures of the , reprefented as fighting against the bel giants. Thefe were made by fome of the most eminent maiters in Greece; and the Jupiter, not improbably, by Lyfiprs. When Fabius was difpofing of the oil, he ordered the money and plate to Le fent to the treafury at Rome, but the Latues and pictures to be left behind. The fecretary who attended him in his furvey," was fomewhat ftruck with the largenefs and noble air of the figures juft mentioned; and afted, Whether they too must be left

Such a difference of behaviour in their two greatest leaders, foon occafioned two different parties in Rome. The old people in general joined in crying up Fabius.

Fabius was not rapacious, as fome others were; but temperate in his conquefts. In what he had done, he had a&ed, not only with that moderation which becomes a Roman general, but with much prudence and foreight. "Thele fineries," they cried, are a pretty diverfion for an idle "effeminate people: let us leave them to "the Greeks. The Romans defire no "other ornaments of life, than a fimpli"city of manners at home, and fortitude "against our enemies abroad. It is by

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thefe arts that we have raifed our name "fo high, and fpread our dominions fo far: "and fhall we fuffer them now to be ex

changed for a fine tafte, and what they "call elegance of living? No, great Ju"piter, who prefideft over the capitol! let "the Greeks keep their arts to themselves,

and let the Romans learn only how to conquer and to govern mankind."— Another fet, and particularly the younger peopie, who were extremely delighted with

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the noble works of the Grecian artists that had been fet up for fome time in the temples and porticos, and all the most public places of the city, and who ufed frequently to spend the greateft part of the day in contemplating the beauties of them, extolled Marcellus as much for the pleafure he had given them. We fhall now," faid they," no longer be reckoned among the Barbarians. That ruft, which we "have been fo long contracting, will foon "be worn off. Other generals have con"quered our enemies, but Marcellus has "conquered our ignorance. We begin to "fee with new eyes, and have a new world of beauties opening before us. Let the "Romans be polite, as well as victorious; "and let us learn to excel the nations in "tafte, as well as to conquer them with our "arms."

Whichever fide was in the right, the party for Marcellus was the fuccefsful one; for, from this point of time we may date the introduction of the arts into Rome. The Romans by this means began to be fond of them; and the love of the arts is a paffion, which grows very faft in any breast, wherever it is once entertained.

number of ftatues and pictures, to fet of their triumphs, and to adorn the city of Rome. It is furprifing what acceffions of this kind were made in the compass of a little more than half a century after Mar cellus had fet the example. The elder Scipio Africanus brought in a great num ber of wrought vafes from Spain and Africa, toward the end of the fecond Punic war; and the very year after that was finished, the Romans entered into a war with Greece, the great fchool of all the arts, and the chief repository of most of the finest works that ever were produced by them. It would be endless to mention all their acquifitions from hence; I fhall only put you in mind of fome of the most confiderable. Flaminius made a great fhew both of ftatues and vafes in his triumph over Philip king of Macedon; but he was much exceeded by Emilius, who reduced that kingdom into a province. Emilie's triumph lafted three days; the first of which was wholly taken up in bringing in the fine ftatues he had felected in his expedi tion; as the chief ornament of the fecond confifted of vafes and sculptured veffels of all forts, by the moft eminent hands. Thefe were all the moft chofen things, culled from the collection of that fucceffor of Alexander the Great; for as to the inferior fpoils of no lefs than feventy Grecian cities, Æmilius had left them all to hi foldiery, as not worthy to appear among the ornaments of his triumph. Not many years after this, the young Scipio Africanus (the perfon who is moft celebrated for his polite tafte of all the Romans hitherto, and who was fcarce exceeded by any one of them in all the fucceeding ages) ftroyed Carthage, and transferied many e the chief ornaments of that city, whic had fo long bid fair for being the feat empire, to Rome, which foon became un doubtedly fo. This must have been a vat acceffion: though that great man, wha was as juft in his actions as he was elegant in his tafte, did not bring all the fineft o his fpoils to Rome, but left a great part of merly been taken by the Carthaginians them in Sicily, from whence they had forThe very fame year that Scipio freed Rome from its most dangerous rival, Carthage, Mummius (who was as remarkable for his rufticity, as Scipio was for elegarce and tafte) added Achaia to the Roman ftate; and facked, among feveral others. the famous city of Corinth, which had been long looked upon as one of the principa!

We may fee how faft and how greatly it prevailed at Rome, by a fpeech which old Cato the cenfor made in the fenate, not above feventeen years after the taking of Syracufe. He complains in it, that their people began to run into Greece and Afia; and to be infected with a defire of playing with their fine things: that as to fuch fpoils, there was lefs honour in taking them, than there was danger of their being taken by them: that the gods brought frem Syracufe, had revenged the caufe of its citizens, in fpreading this tafle among the Romans: that he heard but too many daily crying up the ornaments of Corinth and Athens; and ridiculing the poor old Roman gods; who had hitherto been propitious to them; and who, he hoped, would ftill continue fo, if they would but let their ftatues remain in peace upon their pedef

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$64. The FOMAN Generals, in their feveral Conquests, convey great Numbers of Pictures and Statues to ROME.

It was in vain too that Cato fpoke again it; for the love of the arts prevailed every day more and more; and from henceforward the Roman generals, in their feveral conquefts, feem to have ftrove who should bring away the greatest

refervoirs

refervoirs of the finest works of art.

He cleared it of all its beauties, without knowing any thing of them: even without knowing, that an old Grecian ftatue was better than a new Roman one. He ufed, how ever, the fureft method of not being miftaken; for he took all indifferently as they came in his way; and brought them off in fuch quantities, that he alone is faid to have filled Rome with ftatues and pictures. Thus, partly from the tafte, and partly from the vanity of their generals, in lefs than feventy years time (reckoning from Martellus's taking of Syracufe to the year in which Carthage was deftroyed) Italy was furnished with the nobleft productions of the ancient artists, that before lay fcattered all over Spain, Africa, Sicily, and the reft of Greece. Sylla, befide many others, added vaftly to them afterwards; particularly by his taking of Athens, and by his conquefts in Afia; where, by his too great indulgence to his armies, he made tafte and rapine a general thing, even among the common foldiers, as it had been, for a long time, among their leaders.

In this manner, the first considerable acquifitions were made by their conquering armies; and they were carried on by the perfons fent out to govern their provinces, when conquered. As the behaviour of thefe in their governments, in general, was one of the greatest blots on the Roman nation, we must not expect a full account of their tranfactions in the old historians, who treat particularly of the Roman affairs: for fuch of thefe that remain to us, are either Romans themselves, or elfe Greeks who were too much attached to the Roman intereft, to fpeak out the whole truth in this affair. But what we cannot have fully from their own hiftorians, may be pretty well fupplied from other hands. A poet of their own, who feems to have been a very honeft man, has fet the rapacioufnefs of their governors in general in a very strong light; as Cicero has fet forth that of Verres in particular, as ftrongly. If we may judge of their general behaviour by that of this governor of Sicily, they were more like monfters and harpies, than men. For that public robber (as Cicero calls him, more than once) hunted over every corner of his ifland, with a couple of finders (one a Greek painter, and the other a statuary of the fame nation) to get together his collec tion; and was fo curious and fo rapacious in that fearch, that Cicero fays, there was not a gem, or ftatue, or relievo, or picture,

in all Sicily, which he did not fee; nor any one he liked, which he did not take away from its owner. What he thus got, he fent into Italy. Rome was the centre both of their fpoils in war, and of their rapines in peace and if many of their prætors and proconfuls acted but in half fo abandoned a manner as this Verres appears to have done, it is very probable that Rome was more enriched in all thefe fort of things fecretly by their governors, than it had been openly by their generals. Spence.

$65. The Methods made ufe of in drawing the Works of the best ancient Artifts into ITALY.

There was another method of augmenting thefe treasures at Rome, not fo infamous as this, and not fo glorious as the former. What I mean, was the cullom of the Ediles, when they exhibited their public games, of adorning the theatres and other places where they were performed, with great numbers of flatues and pictures: which they bought up or borrowed, for that purpose, all over Greece, and fometimes even from Afia. Scaurus, in particular, in his ædilefhip, had no less than three thoufand ftatues and relievos for the mere ornamenting of the ftage, in a theatre built only for four or five days. This was the fame Scaurus who (whilst he was in the fame office too) brought to Rome all the pictures of Sicyon, which had been fo long one of the most eminent schools in Greece for painting; in lieu of debts owing, or pretended to be owed, from that city to the Roman people.

From these public methods of drawing the works of the best ancient artifts into Italy, it grew at length to be a part of private luxury, affected by almost every body that could afford it, to adorn their houses, their porticos, and their gardens, with the beft ftatues and pictures they could procure out of Greece or Afia. None went earlier into this tafte, than the family of the Luculli, and particularly Lucius Lucullus, who carried on the war against Mithridates. He was remarkable for his love of the arts and polite learning even from a child; and in the latter part of his life gave himfelf up fo much to collections of this kind, that Plutarch reckons it among his follies. "As I am speaking of his faults (fays that hiftorian in his life) I fhould not omit his vaft baths, and piazzas for walking; or his gardens, which were much more magnificent than any in his time

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at Rome, and equal to any in the luxurious ages that followed; nor his exceffive fondnefs for ftatues and pictures, which he got from all parts, to adorn his works and gardens, at an immenfe expence; and with the vast riches he had heaped together in the Mithridatic war." There were feveral other families which fell about that time into the fame fort of excefs; and, among the reft, the Julian. The firft emperor, who was of that family, was a great collector; and, in particular, was as fond. of old gens, as his fucceffor, Auguftus, was of Corinthian vafes.

This may be called the first age of the flourishing of the politer arts at Kome; or rather the age in which they were introduced there: for the people in this period were chiefly taken up in getting fine things, and bringing them together. There were perhaps fome particular perfons in it of a very good tafte: but in general one may fay, there was rather a love, than any great knowledge of their beauties, during this age, among the Romans. They were brought to Rome in the first part of it, in greater numbers than can be easily conceived; and in fome time, every body began to look upon them with pleasure. The collection was continually augmenting afterwards, from the feveral methods I have mentioned; and I doubt not but a good tafle would have been a general thing among them much earlier than it was, had it not been for the frequent convulfions in their ftate, and the perpetual struggles of fome great man or other to get the reins of government into his hand. There continued quite from Sylla's time to the eftablishment of the ftate under Auguftus. The peaceful times that then fucceeded, and the encouragement which was given by that emperor to all the arts, afforded the Romans full leifure to contemplate the fine works that were got together at Rome in the age before, and to perfect their taste in all the elegancies of life. The artifts, who were then much invited to Rome, worked in a ftyle greatly fuperior to what they had done even in Julius Cæfar's time: fo that it is under Auguftus that we may begin the fecond, and moft perfect age of fculpture and painting, as well as of poetry. Auguftus changed the whole appearance of Rome itself; he found it ill built, and left it a city of marble. He adorned it with buildings, extremely finer than any it could boaft before his time, and fet off all thofe buildings, and even the common

ftreets, with an addition of fome of the fine ftatues in the world. Spence.

§ 66. On the Decline of the Arts, El. quence, and Poetry, upon the Death of Auguftus.

On the death of Auguftus, though the arts, and the tafte for them, did not suffer fo great a change, as appeared immedi ately in the tafte of eloquence and poetry, yet they must have fuffered a good deal. There is a fecret union, a certain kind of fympathy between all the polite arts, which makes them languish and flourish together. The fame circumstances are either kind or unfriendly to all of them." The fivour of Auguftus, and the tranquillity of his reign, was as a gentle dew from heaven, in a fa vourable feafon, that made them bud forth and flourish: and the four reign of Tiberius, was as a fudden froft that checked their growth, and at last killed all their beauties. The vanity, and tyranny, and disturbances of the times that followed, gave the finishing ftroke to sculpture as well as eloquence, and to painting as well as poetry. The Greek artifts at Rome were not fo foon or fo much infected by the bad tafte of the court, as the Roman writers were; but it reached them too, though by flower and more imperceptible degrees. Indeed what elfe could be expeced from fuch a run of monfters as Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero? For thefe were the emperors under whofe reigns the arts began to languifh; and they fuffered fo much from their baleful influence, that the Roman writers foon after them speak of all the arts as being brought to a very low ebb. They talk of their being extremely fallen in general; and as to painting, in particular, they reprefent it as in a moft feeble and dying condition. The feries of fo many good emperors, which happened after Domitian, gave fome fpirit again to the arts; but foon after the Antonines, they all declined apace, and, by the time of the thirty tyrants, were quite fallen, fo as never to rife again under any future Roman emperor.

You may fee by thefe two accounts I have given you of the Roman poetry, and of the other arts, that the great periods of their rife, their flourishing, and their de cline, agree very well; and, as it were, tally with one another. Their flyle was prepared, and a vaft collection of fine works laid in, under the first period, or in the times of the republic: In the second,

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