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Marcus Aurelius seems to have been about eighteen years of age when
the correspondence begins, Fronto being some thirty years older.(5)
The systematic education of the young prince seems to have been finisht,
and Pronto now acts more as his adviser than his tutor.
He recommends the prince to use simplicity in his public speeches,
and to avoid affectation.(6) Marcus devotes his attention to the old
authors who then had a great vogue at Rome: Ennius, Plautus, Nawius,
and such orators as Cato and Gracchus.(7) Pronto urges on him
the study of Cicero, whose letters, he says, are all worth reading.
1 Ad M. Caes., iii. 19.
2 The writer sometimes uses archaisms such as quom, which I
render 'whenas.
3 Ad M. Caes., ii. 2.
4 The writer parodies the proclamation at the Greek games; the
words also are Greek.
5 From internal evidence: the letters are not arranged in order
of time. See Naher's Prolegomena, p. xx. foil.
6 Ad M. Caes., iii. x.
7 Ad M. Caes ii. 10,; iii. 18,; ii. 4.
When he wishes to compliment Marcus he declares one
or other of his letters has the true Tullian ring.
Marcus gives his nights to reading when he ought to be sleeping.
He exercises himself in verse composition and on rhetorical themes.
'It is very nice of you,' he writes to Fronto,(1) 'to ask for my
hexameters ; I would have sent them at once if I had them by me.
The fact is my secretary, Anicetus-you know who I mean-did not
pack up any of my compositions for me to take away with me.
He knows my weakness; he was afraid that if I got hold of them I might,
as usual, make smoke of them. However, there was no fear for
the hexameters. I must confess the truth to my master: I love them.
I study at night, since the day is taken up with the theatre. I am weary
of an evening, and sleepy in the daylight, and so I don't do much.
Yet I have made extracts from sixty books, five volumes of them,
in these latter days. But when you read remember that the "sixty"
includes plays of Novius, and farces, and some little speeches of Scipio;
don't be too much startled at the number. You remember your Polemon;
but I pray you do not remember Horace, who has died with Pollio as far
as I am concerned.(2) Farewell, my dearest and most affectionate friend,
most distinguished consul and my beloved master, whom I have not
seen these two years. Those who say two months, count the days.
Shall I ever see you again?'
Sometimes Fronto sends him a theme to work up, as thus:
'M. Lucilius tribune of the people violently throws into prison
a free Roman citizen, against the opinion of his colleagues who
demand his release. For this act he is branded by the censor.
Analyse the case, and then take both sides in turn,
attacking and defending.'(3) Or again: 'A Roman consul,
doffing his state robe, dons the gauntlet and kills a lion amongst
the young men at the Quinquatrus in full view of the people of Rome.
Denunciation before the censors.'(4) The prince has a fair
knowledge of Greek, and quotes from 1 Ad M. Caes., ii. 10.
2 He implies, as in i. 6, that he has ceased to study Horace.
3 Pollio was a grammarian, who taught Marcus.
4 Ad M. Caes., v. 27,; V. 22.
Homer, Plato, Euripides, but for some reason Fronto dissuaded
him from this study.(5) His Meditations are written in Greek.
He continued his literary studies throughout his life,
and after he became emperor we still find him asking his
adviser for copies of Cicero's Letters, by which he hopes
to improve his vocabulary.(6) Pronto Helps him with a supply
of similes, which, it seems, he did not think of readily.
It is to be feared that the fount of Marcus's eloquence was
pumped up by artificial means.
1 Ad M. Caes., ii. 10.
2 He implies, as in i. 6, that he has ceased to study Horace.
3 Pollio was a grammarian, who taught Marcus.
4 Ad M. Caes., v. 27,; V. 22.
5 Ep. Gracae, 6.
6 Ad Anton. Imp., 1I. 4.
Some idea of his literary style may he gathered from the letter
which follows:(1) 'I heard Polemo declaim the other day,
to say something of things sublunary. If you ask what I
thought of him, listen. He seems to me an industrious farmer,
endowed with the greatest skill, who has cultivated a large
estate for corn and vines only, and indeed with a rich
return of fine crops. But yet in that land of his there
is no Pompeian fig or Arician vegetable, no Tarentine rose,
or pleasing coppice, or thick grove, or shady plane tree;
all is for use rather than for pleasure, such as one ought
rather to commend, but cares not to love.
A pretty bold idea, is it not, and rash judgment, to pass censure on a man
of such reputation? But whenas I remember that I am writing to you,
I think I am less bold than you would have me.
'In that point I am wholly undecided.
'There's an unpremeditated hendecasyllable for you. So before I begin
to poetize, i'll take an easy with you. Farewell, my heart's desire,
your Verus's best beloved, most distinguisht consul, master most sweet.
Farewell I ever pray, sweetest soul.
What a letter do you think you have written me I could make bold to say,
that never did she who bore me and nurst me, write anything SO delightful,
so honey-sweet. And this does not come of your fine style and eloquence:
otherwise not my mother only, but all who breathe.' 1 Ad M. Caes, ii. 5.
To the pupil, never was anything on earth so fine as his master's
eloquence ; on this theme Marcus fairly bubbles over with enthusiasm.
(1)'Well, if the ancient Greeks ever wrote anything like this,
let those who know decide it: for me, if I dare say so,
I never read any invective of Cato's so fine as your encomtum.
O if my Lord(2) could be sufficiently praised, sufficiently praised
he would have been undoubtedly by you! This kind of thing is not
done nowadays.(3) It were easier to match Pheidias, easier to
match Apelles, easier in a word to match Demosthenes himself,
or Cato himself; than to match this finisht and perfect work.
Never have I read anything more refined, anything more after
the ancient type, anything more delicious, anything more Latin.
0 happy you, to be endowed with eloquence so great! 0 happy I,
to be tinder the charge of such a master! 0 arguments,(4)
O arrangement, 0 elegance, 0 wit, 0 beauty, 0 words,
0 brilliancy, 0 subtilty, 0 grace, 0 treatment, 0 everything!
Mischief take me, if you ought not to have a rod put in your
hand one day, a diadem on your brow, a tribunal raised for you;
then the herald would summon us all-why do I say "us"?
Would summnon all, those scholars and orators: one by one you
would beckon them forward with your rod and admonish them.
Hitherto I have had no fear of this admonition;
many things help me to enter within your school. I write this
in the utmost haste; for whenas I am sending you so kindly
a letter from my Lord, what needs a longer letter of mine?
Farewell then, glory of Roman eloquence, boast of your friends,
magnifico, most delightful man, most distinguished consul,
master most sweet.
'After this you will take care not to tell so many fibs of me,
especially in the Senate. A monstrous fine speech this is! 0 if 1
could kiss your head at every heading of it! You have looked
down on all with a vengeance. This oration once read, in vain
shall we study, in vain shall we toil, in vain strain every nerve.
Farewell always, most sweet master.'
1 Ad M. Caes., ii. 3.
2 The Emperor Antoninus Pius is spoken of as dominus vieus.
3 This sentence is written in Greek.
4 Several of these words are Greek, and the meaning is not quite
clear.
Sometimes Fronto descends from the heights of eloquence
to offer practical advice; as when he suggests how Marcus
should deal with his suite. It is more difficult, he admits,
to keep courtiers in harmony than to tame lions with a lute;
but if it is to be done, it must be by eradicating jealousy.
' Do not let your friends,' says Fronto,'(1) 'envy each other,
or think that what you give to another is filched from them.
Keep away envy from your suite, and you will find your friends
kindly and harmonious.'
Here and there we meet with allusions to his daily life, which we could
wish to be more frequent. He goes to the theatre or the law-courts,(2)
or takes part in court ceremony, but his heart is always with his books.
The vintage season, with its religious rites, was always spent by
Antoninus Pius in the country. The following letters give sonic notion
of a day's occupation at that time:(3) 'MY DEAREST MASTER, -I am well.
To-day I studied from the ninth hour of the night to the second
hour of day, after taking food. I then put on my slippers,
and from time second to the third hour had a most enjoyable walk
up and down before my chamber. Then booted and cloaked-for so we
were commanded to appear-I went to wait upon my lord the emperor.
We went a-hunting, did doughty deeds, heard a rumour that boars
had been caught, but there was nothing to see. However, we climbed
a pretty steep hill, and in the afternoon returned home.
I went straight to my books. Off with the boots, down with the cloak;
I spent a couple of hours in bed. I read Cato's speech on the Property
of Pulchra, and another in which he impeaches a tribune. Ho, ho!
I hear you cry to your man, Off with you as fast as you can,
and bring me these speeches from the library of Apollo.
No use to send: I have those books with me too. You must get round
the Tiberian librarian; you will have to spend something on the matter;
and when I return to town, I shall expect to go shares with him.
Well, after reading these speeches I wrote a wretched trifle,
destined for drowning or burning. No, indeed my attempt at writing did
not come off at all to-day; the composition of a hunter or a vintager,
whose shouts are echoing through my chamber, hateful and wearisome
as the law-courts. What have I said? Yes, it was rightly said,
for my master is an orator. I think I have caught cold,
whether from walking in slippers or from writing badly, I do not know.
I am always annoyed with phlegm, but to-day I seem to snivel more
than usual. Well, I will pour oil on my head and go off to sleep.
I don't mean to put one drop in my lamp to-day, so weary am I from
riding and sneezing. Farewell, dearest and most beloved master,
whom I miss, I may say, more than Rome it~dL'
1 Ad M Caes., iv. 1.
2 ii. 14
3 iv. 5,6.
'MY BELOVED MASTER,-I am well. I slept a little more than
usual for my slight cold, which seems to be well again.
So I spent the time from the eleventh hour of the night to
the third of the day partly in reading in Cato's Agriculture,
partly in writing, not quite so badly as yesterday indeed.
Then, after waiting upon my father, I soothed my throat
with honey-water, ejecting it without swallowing: I might
say gargle, but I won't, though I think the word is found in Novius
and elsewhere. After attending to my throat I went to my father,
and stood by his side as he sacrificed. Then to luncheon.
What do you think I had to eat? A bit of bread so big, while I
watched others gobbling boiled beans, onions, and fish full of roe.
Then we set to work at gathering the grapes, with plenty
of sweat and shouting, and, as the quotation runs, "A few
high-hanging clusters did we leave survivors of the vintage."
After the sixth hour we returned home. I did a little work,
and poor work at that. Then I had a long gossip with my
dear mother sitting on the bed. My conversation was:
What do you think my friend Fronto is doing just now? She said:
And what do you think of my friend Gratia?'(1) My turn now:
And what of our little Gratia,(2) the sparrowkin? After this kind
of talk, and an argument as to which of you loved the other most,
the gong sounded, the signal that my father had gone to the bath.
We supped, after ablutions in the oil-cellar-I mean we supped
after ablutions, not after ablutions in the oil-cellar;
and listened with enjoyment to the rustics gibing.
After returning, before turning on my side to snore, I do my
task and give an account of the day to my delightful master,
whom if I could long for a little more, I should not mind
growing a trifle thinner. Farewell, Fronto, wherever you are,
honey-sweet, my darling, my delight. Why do I want you?
I can love you while far away.'
One anecdote puts Marcus before us in a new light:(3)
1 Fronto's wife.
2 Fronto's daughter
3 Ad M. Caes ii. 12.
'When my father returned home from the vineyards, I mounted
my horse as usual, and rode on ahead some little way.
Well, there on the road was a herd of sheep, standing all
crowded together as though the place were a desert,
with four dogs and two shepherds, but nothing else.
Then one shepherd said to another shepherd, on seeing a number
of horsemen: 'I say,' says he, 'look you at those horsemen;
they do a deal of robbery.' When I heard this, I clap
spurs to my horse, and ride straight for the sheep.
In consternation the sheep scatter; hither and thither they
are fleeting and bleating. A shepherd throws his fork,
and the fork falls on the horseman who came next to me.
We make our escape.' We like Marcus none the worse for this
spice of mischief.
Another letter(1) describes a visit to a country town,
and shows the antiquarian spirit of the writer 'M. CAESAR
to his MASTER M. FRONTO, greeting.
'After I entered the carriage, after I took leave of you,
we made a journey comfortable enough, but we had a few drops
of rain to wet us. But before coming to the country-house,
we broke our journey at Anagnia, a mile or so from the highroad.
Then we inspected that ancient town, a miniature it is, but has in it
many antiquities, temples, and religious ceremonies quite out of the way.
There is not a corner without its shrine, or fane, or temple;
besides, many books written on linen, which belongs to things sacred.
Then on the gate as we came out was written twice, as follows : "Priest
don the fell.'(2) I asked one of the inhabitants what that word was.
He said it was the word in the Hernican dialect for the victim's skin,
which the priest puts over his conical cap when he enters the city.
I found out many other things which I desired to know, but the only
thing I do not desire is that you should he absent from me;
that is my chief anxiety. Now for yourself, when you left that place,
did you go to Aurelia or to Campania? Be sure to write to me,
and say whether you have opened the vintage, or carried a host
of books to the country-house; this also, whether you miss me;
I am foolish to ask it, whenas you tell it me of yourself.
Now if you miss me and if you love me, send me your letters often,
which is a comfort and consolation to me. Indeed I should prefer
ten times to read your letters than all the vines of Gaurus or
the Marsians; for these Signian vines have grapes too rank and fruit
too sharp in the taste, but I prefer wine to must for drinking.
Besides, those grapes are nicer to eat dried than fresh-ripe;
I vow I would rather tread them under foot than put my teeth in them.
But I pray they may be gracious and forgiving, and grant me free
pardon for these jests of mine. Farewell, best friend, dearest,
most l~rned, sweetest master. When you see the must ferment
in the vat, remember that just so in my heart the longing for you
is gushing and flowing and bubbling. Good-bye.' 1 Ad Verum.
Imp ii. 1, s. fin.
2 Santentum
Making all allowances for conventional exaggerations, it is clear
from the correspondence that there was deep love between Marcus and
his preceptor. The letters cover several years in succession, but soon
after the birth of Marcus's daughter, Faustina, there is a large gap.
It does not follow that the letters ceased entirely, because we know
part of the collection is lost; but there was probably less intercourse
between Marcus and Fronto after Marcus took to the study of philosophy
under the guidance of Rusticus.
When Marcus succeeded to the throne in 161, the letters
begin again, with slightly increased formality on Fronto's part,
and they go on for some four years, when Fronto, who has been
continually complaining of ill-health, appears to have died.
One letter of the later period gives some interesting particulars
of the emperor's public life, which are worth quoting.
Fronto speaks of Marcus's victories and eloquence in the usual
strain of high praise, and then continues.(1) 'The army
when you took it in hand was sunk in luxury and revelry,
and corrupted with long inactivity. At Antiochia the soldiers
had been Wont to applaud at the stage plays, knew more of
the gardens at the nearest restaurant than of the battlefield.
Horses were hairy from lack of grooming, horsemen smooth
because their hairs had been pulled out by the roots(2)
a rare thing it was to see a soldier with hair on arm or leg.
Moreover, they were better drest than armed; so much so,
that Laelianus Pontius. a strict man of the old discipline,
broke the cuirasses of some of them with his finger-tips,
and observed cushions on the horses' backs. At his direction
the tufts were cut through, and out of the horsemnen's
saddles came what appeared to be feathers pluckt from geese.
Few of the men could vault on horseback, the rest clambered up
with difficulty by aid of heel and knee and leg not many could
throw a lance hurtling, most did it without force or power,
as though they were things of wool. dicing was common in the camp,
sleep lasted all night, or if they kept watch it was over the winecup.
By what regulations to restrain such soldiers as these,
and to turn them to honesty and industry, did you not learn
from Hannibal's sternness, the discipline of Africanus,
the acts of Metellus recorded in history 1 Ad Verum.
imp., ii. I, s.fin.
2 A common mark of the effeminate at Rome.
After the preceptorial letters cease the others are concerned
with domestic events, health and sickness, visits or introductions,
birth or death. Thus the emp-peror writes to his old friend,
who had shown some diffidence in seeking an interview :(1)
'To MY MASTER.
'I have a serious grievance against you, my dear master, yet indeed
my grief is more than my grievance, because after so long a time I
neither embraced you nor spoke to you, though you visited the palace,
and the moment after I had left the prince my brother. I reproached
my brother severc]y for not recalling me; nor durst he deny the fault.'
Fronto again writes on one occasion: 'I have seen your daughter.
It was like seeing you and Faustina in infancy, so much that is charming
her face has taken from each of yours.' Or again, at a later date:(2)
I have seen your chicks, most delightful sight that ever I saw in my life,
so like you that nothing is more like than the likeness. . . . By
the mercy of Heaven they have a healthy colour and strong lungs.
One held a piece of white bread, like a little prince, the other
a common piece, like a true philosophers son.'
1 Ad Verum. Imp. Aur. Caes., i. 3.
2 Ad Ant. Imp i., 3.
Marcus, we know, was devoted to his children. They were delicate
in health, in spite of Fronto's assurance, and only one son
survived the father. We find echoes of this affection now
and again in the letters. 'We have summer heat here still,'
writes Marcus, 'but since my little girls are pretty well, if I
may say so, it is like the bracing climate of spring to us.'(1)
When little Faustina came back from the valley of the shadow of death,
her father at once writes to inform Fronto.(2) The sympathy he asks
he also gives, and as old age brings more and more infirmity,
Marcus becomes even more solicitous for his beloved teacher.
The poor old man suffered a heavy blow in the death of his grandson,
on which Marcus writes:(3) 'I have just heard of your misfortune.
Feeling grieved as I do when one of your joints gives you pain,
what do you think I feel, dear master, when you have pain of mind?'
The old man's reply, in spite of a certain self-consciousness,
is full of pathos. He recounts with pride the events of a long
and upright life, in which he has wronged no man, and lived
in harmony with his friends and family. His affectations fall
away from him, as the cry of pain is forced from his heart:-
(4)'Many such sorrows has fortune visited me with all my life long.
To pass by my other afflictions, I have lost five children under
the most pitiful conditions possible: for the five I lost one by one
when each was my only child, suffering these blows of bereavement
in such a manner that each child was born to one already bereaved.
Thus I ever lost my children without solace, and got them
amidst fresh grief.....'
The letter continues with reflections on the nature of death,
'more to be rejoiced at than bewailed, the younger one dies,'
and an arraignment of Providence not without dignity,
wrung from him as it were by this last culminating misfortune.
It concludes with a summing-up of his life in protest against
the blow which has fallen on his grey head.
1 Ad M. Caes., v. 19
2 iv. 11
3 De Nepote Amissa
4 De Nepote Amissa 2
'Through my long life I have committed nothing which might
bring dishonour, or disgrace, or shame: no deed of avarice or
treachery have I done in all my day's: nay, but much generosity,
much kindness, much truth and faithfulness have I shown,
often at the risk of my own life. I have lived in amity
with my good brother, whom I rejoice to see in possession
of the highest office by your father's goodness, and by your
friendship at peace and perfect rest. Th~ offices which I
have myself obtained I never strove for by any underhand means.
I have cultivated my mind rather than my body; the pursuit
of learning I have preferred to increasing my wealth.
I preferred to he poor rather than bound by any'
man's obligation, even to want rather than to beg.
I have never been extravagant in spending money, I have earned
it sometimes because I must. I have scrupulously spoken
the truth, and have been glad to hear it spoken to me.
I have thought it better to be neglected than to fawn,
to be dumb than to feign, to be seldom a friend than to be often
a flatterer. 1 have sought little, deserved not little.
So far as I could, I have assisted each according to my means.
I have given help readily to the deserving, fearlessly to
the undeserving. No one by proving to be ungrateful
has made me more slow to bestow promptly all benefits I
could give, nor have I ever been harsh to ingratitude.
(A fragmentary passage follows, in which he appears to speak of
his desire for a peaceful end, and the desolation of his house.)
I have suffered long and painful sickness, my beloved Marcus.
Then I was visited by pitiful misfortunes: my wife I
have lost, my grandson I have lost in Germany:(1) woe is me!
I have lost my Decimanus. If I were made of iron, at this
tine I could write no more.' It is noteworthy that in his
meditations Marcus Aurelius mentions Fronto only once.(2)
All his literary studies, his oratory and criticism
(such as it was) is forgotten; and, says he, 'Fronto taught
me not to expect natural affection from the highly-born.'
Fronto really said more than this: that 'affection'
is not a Roman quality, nor has it a Latin name.(3)
Roman or not Roman, Marcus found affection in Fronto;
and if he outgrew his master's intellectual training,
he never lost touch with the true heart of the man it
is that which Fronto's name brings up to his remembrance,
not dissertations on compound verbs or fatuous criticisms of style.
1 In the war against the Catti.
2 Book I., 8.
3 Ad Verum, ii. 7
NOTES
THIS being neither a critical edition of the text nor an emended
edition of Casaubon's translation, it has not been thought
necessary to add full notes. Casaubon's own notes have
been omitted, because for the most part they are discursive,
and not necessary to an understanding of what is written.
In those which here follow, certain emendations of his are mentioned,
which he proposes in his notes, and follows in the translation.
In addition, one or two corrections are made where he has
mistaken the Greek, and the translation might be misleading.
Those which do not come under these two heads will explain themselves.
The text itself has been prepared by a comparison of the editions
of 1634 and 1635. It should he borne in mind that Casaubon's is often
rather a paraphrase than a close translation; and it did not seem worth
while to notice every variation or amplification of the original.
In the original editions all that Casauhon conceives as understood,
but not expressed, is enclosed in square brackets. These brackets are
here omitted, as they interfere with the comfort of the reader; and so
have some of the alternative renderings suggested by the translator.
In a few cases, Latin words in the text have been replaced by English.
Numbers in brackets refer to the Teubner text of Stich,
but the divisions of the text are left unaltered.
For some of the references identified I am indebted to
Mr. G. H. Rendall's Marcus Aurelius.
BOOK I I "Both to frequent" (4). Gr. to mh, C. conjectures to me.
The text is probably right: "I did not frequent public lectures,
and I was taught at home."
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