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periods, in which men transcending the herd of mankind 

 both in practical and intellectual virtue abounded on the 

 earth. And a barren period may be considered as having 

 commenced somewhat prior to the Augustan age, the de- 

 struction of all the great ancient cities, with all their rites, 

 philosophy, &c. being the natural consequence of such a 

 period. It appears to me that this period commenced in 

 the time of Sylla, and I found this opinion on the following 

 passage in Plutarch's Life of that great commander: 

 To e TTCIVTWV fjieyicrTov, e% avctyeXov KO.L diaidpov TOV 

 ae 0wVr/ tra\7riyyoSj ovi> air ore LVOV a a. KO.L 

 <f)doyyov, wore Trarras entypovas yeveadat, KO.I 

 cara7rn?eu TO fieyedos. Tvpprji'Uiv e ol Xoytot )uera/3oX?/v 

 erepov yevovs a7re<j)aivovTo f KO.I yweraKooyjr/o'iy cnroffrip.a.ivciv 

 TO repas. eiveu per yap avra> OKTW ra av^iravTa yevrj ^ia- 

 TOIS /3tots /cat rots r)de<Ti 2' aXXr^Xw^, e/caor^ ^e 

 v apidfjLoi'j VTTO TOV deov crvyuTrepatvo/xevov 

 Ov peyaXov irepioda)' icat orav avTrj a^ri TeXos, erepas 

 Kiveiadai TI arip.LOV CK yr\s ij ovpavov davfjia- 

 <Tiov. i. e. " But the greatest of all [the signs prior to the 

 civil wars] was the following : On a cloudless and clear day, 

 the sound of a trumpet was heard, so acute and mournful as 

 to astonish and terrify by its loudness all that heard it. The 

 Tuscan wise men and soothsayers, therefore, declared that 

 this prodigy signified the mutation into and commencement 

 of another age. For according to them there are eight 

 ages, differing from each other in lives and manners, each 

 of which is limited by divinity to a certain time of duration, 

 and the number of years of which this time consists is 

 bounded by the period of the great year. Hence, when one 

 age is^nishedj and another is about to commence, a cer- 

 tain wonderful sign will present itself, either from the earth 

 or the heavens." The mournfulness of this sound of the 



