﻿THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 69 



for while it must be conceded that the author of the Dialogus says only that most cases 

 (" plurimae causae "), not all, were conducted in halls, he clearly states that the inno- 

 vation, the injurious effects of which upon eloquence he mentions, had gained so much 

 ground that most cases were managed iu halls. And it must be borne in mind, that the 

 author of the Dialogus, whether Tacitus or somebody else, is, by almost common con- 

 sent, x^laced in the reign of Domitian (81-96 A. D.). In the above passage of Petro- 

 nius (c. 1), and in another, c. 4. 2, " Primiun enim, sicut omnia, spes quoque suas 

 ambitioni donant ; deinde cum ad ^•ota properant, cruda adhuc studia in forum im- 

 pellunt," — there is not even a mention of such halls, but the author speaks of the im- 

 perfect training of young orators, the fault either of their teachers or parents, which 

 does not fit them to act with efficiency when they appear iu public, that is, iu the 

 Forum. It is true, Eucolpius speaks of the imfitness of the teachers of eloquence for 

 preparmg thek pupils for the practice of theii- profession, and his opponent, Agamem- 

 non, of the impatience of the parents, which impels then- children, half educated, to 

 appear in public ; yet they avouM not have passed over in silence this other cause of 

 the decline of eloquence, the use of halls instead of the Forum, to which the author 

 of the Dialogus ascribes so injurious an influence, if it had existed at the time either 

 at all or to a considerable extent. It would be au iutcrestuig inquiry when the use of 

 halls superseded that of the Forum in judicial proceedings. It was probably one of 

 those changes which originate in an accident, such as a sudden storm, or the indispo- 

 sition or weakness of an advocate ; and which, being readily imitated without such an 

 occasion, become the rule. One of the earliest instances that I can find is related b} 

 M. Seneca — the father of the philosopher, L. Annceus Seneca — (Controv. 4, praef) : 

 "... declamatoriae virtutis Latronem Porcium unicum exemplum, cum pro reo in 

 Hispania Rustico Porcio propiuquo suo diceret, usqiie eo esse confusum, ut a soloecismo 

 inciperet, uec ante potuisse confiiTuari, tectum ac parietes desiderantem, quam impe- 

 traAit, ut judicium ex foro in basilicam transferretur. Usque eo ingenia in scholasticis 

 exercitationibus delicate nutriuntur, ut clamorem sUentium risum coelum denique pati 

 nesciant." QuintUian alludes to the same incident (10. 5, 18): "Quod (vera discri- 

 mina, velut quondam solem, reformidare) accidisse etiam Porcio Latroni, qui primus clari 

 nominis professor fuit, traditur, ut, cum ei summam in scholis opuiionem obtinenti causa 

 in foro esset oranda, impense petierit, ut subsellia in basilicam transferrentur." Porcius 

 Latro was a friend of the elder Seneca (M. Anna^us), and cUed T50 U. C. (4 B. C). 

 It may indeed be said, that Petronius speaks of the difference between speakmg 

 before the court (whether in the Forum or in a hall) and in tlie school. But, on the 

 other hand, it may reasonably be doubted whether he would not have used an expres- 



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