﻿THE AGE OF PETRONIUS ARBITER. 109 



foi-merly in the temple of iEsculapius at Agrigentum, which was likewise taken away 

 by Verres.* 



30. C. 89. 2 : " Jam decimo," etc. A very indifferent poetical description of the Tro- 

 jan War, the fate of Laococin and his children, and of the taking of Troy, in iambic 

 trimeters. Poems like this, or like the longer one on the Civil War occupying chap- 

 ters 119-124:, were probably made in the schools by hundreds, and while most of them 

 were imitations, generally very unsuccessful ones, of Virgil and other poets of acknowl- 

 edged worth, it appears absurd to look upon them as satires of the Avorks of known 

 poets. A few expressions are clever, such as (in v. 10) "in voto latent"; many are 

 remarkable for that affected pointedness characterizing many poets of the Augustan 

 age, and the period immediately succeeding it, such as (v. 27) " Ibat juventus capta, 

 dum Trojam capit." 



31. C. 118. 6: "Ecce, belli civilis ingens opus quisquis attigerit, nisi plenus Uteris, 

 sub onere labetur." It is quite natural that the reader should, at the mention of the 

 " Bellum Civile," at once be reminded of Lucan, the only Roman poet whose work 

 has come down to us among those — probably not a few — who selected this theme. 

 Many scholars, both of earlier and later times, yielded to this first impression; and 

 some, as I shall show in the case of Dousa, expressed their conviction, with more zeal 

 than discretion, that Petronius in this passage alludes to Lucan. This impression is 

 apparently strengthened by a comparison of the words immediately following, — " Non 

 enim res gestae versibus comprehendendae sunt, quod longe melius historic! faciunt ; sed 

 per ambages deorumque ministeria et fabulosum sententiarum tormentum praecipitan- 

 dus est liber spiritus, ut potius furentis animi vaticinatio ajjpareat quam religiosae 

 orationis sub testibus fides," — with the opinion which QuintiHan expresses of Lucan 

 (10. 1. 90) : " Lucanus ardens et concitatus et sententiis clarissunus et, ut dicam, 

 quod sentio, magis oratoribus quam poetis annumcrandus." But this corroboration of 

 the opinion of Eumolpus by that of Quintilian is apparent only ; for it will at once be 

 perceived, that while Eumolpus calls the poets whom he censures historians rather 

 than poets, Quintilian is tempted to class Lucan among the orators rather than the 

 poets. 



Among the older scholars who adopted the view that Petronius referred in this pas- 

 sage to Lucan, one of the ablest, as well as most extravagant, is Dousa. He says, in 

 his Praecidanea (lib. 2. c. 12): "Aut frustra sum ego, aut ad Lucanum poetam, notissi- 



* Cf. Cic. in Verr. 4. 43 : " Agrigenti nonne ejusdem P. Scipionis monumcntum, signum Apollinis pul- 

 cherrimum, cujus in femore literulis minutis argenteis nomen Myronis erat inscriptum, ex Aesculapii religio- 

 sissimo fano sustulisti ? " 



VOL. VI. ^EW SERIES. 15 



