T8 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



pounds the principles of grammatical philosophy, and en 

 deavors to fashion mere conventional forms to congraity 

 of expression, taking, as it were, the picture of words from 

 the life of reason. We also perceive another monument of 

 his genius and learning in the reformation of the Calendar, 

 in accomplishing which he is reported to have said that he 

 esteemed it as great a glory to himself to observe and know 

 the law of the heavens, as to give laws to men upon earth. 

 In his Anti-Cato, 107 he contended as much for the palm of 

 wit as he strove in his battles for victory, and did not shrink 

 from confronting the greatest champion of the pen in those 

 times, Cicero the orator. Again, in his book of apo 

 thegms, he deemed it more honorable to note the wise say 

 ings of others, than to record every word of his own as an 

 oracle or apothegm, as many vain princes are by flattery 

 urged to do. 108 And yet, should I enumerate any of them, 

 as I did before those of Alexander, we should find them 

 to be such as Solomon points to in the saying, &quot;Verba 

 sapientum tanquam aculei, et tanquam clavi in altum de- 

 fixi.&quot; 109 Of these, however, I shall only relate three, not 

 so remarkable for elegance as for vigor and efficacy. He 

 who could appease a mutiny in his army by a word, must 

 certainly be regarded as a master of language. This Caesar 

 performed under the following circumstances. The gen 

 erals always addressed the army as milites; the magistrates, 

 on the other hand, in their charges to the people, used the 

 word Quirites. Now the soldiers being in tumult, and 

 feignedly praying to be disbanded, with a view to draw 

 Caesar to other conditions, the latter resolved not to suc 

 cumb, and after a short pause, began his speech with &quot;Ego, 

 Quirites,&quot; 110 which implied they were at once cashiered: 

 upon which, the soldiers were so astonished and confused 

 that they relinquished their demands, and begged to be 

 addressed by the old appellation of milites. The second 



107 Vid. Cic. ad Att. xii. 40, 41 ; xiii. 50 ; and Top. xxv. 



108 Cic. ad Fam. ix. 16. 109 Eccl. xii. 11. 

 Suet. Life Jul. Cses. e. 70. 



