16 OF THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. 



Bomans the art of empire, and leaving to others the arts 

 of subjects ; yet so much is manifest, that the Komans 

 never ascended to that height of empire, till the time they 

 had ascended to the height of other arts. For in the time 

 of the two first Caesars, which had the art of government 

 in greatest perfection, there lived the best poet, Virgilius 

 Maro ; the best historiographer, Titus Livius ; the best 

 antiquary, Marcus Varro ; and the best, or second orator, 

 Marcus Cicero, that to the memory of man are known. 



10 As for the accusation of Socrates, the time must be remem 

 bered when it was prosecuted ; which was under the Thirty 

 Tyrants, the most base, bloody, and envious persons that 

 have governed ; which revolution of state was no sooner 

 over, but Socrates, whom they had made a person criminal, 

 was made a person heroical, and his memory accumulate 

 with honours divine and human ; and those discourses of 

 his which were then termed corrupting of manners, were 

 after acknowledged for sovereign medicines of the mind 

 and manners, and so have been received ever since till 



20 this day. Let this, therefore, serve for answer to politicians, 

 which in their humorous severity, or in their feigned 

 gravity, have presumed to throw imputations upon learning ; 

 which redargution nevertheless (save that we know not 

 whether our labours may extend to other ages) were not 

 needful for the present, in regard of the love and reverence 

 towards learning, which the example and countenance of 

 two so learned princes, Queen Elizabeth and your Majesty, 

 being as Castor and Pollux, lucida sidera, [bright stars,] 

 stars of excellent light and most benign influence, hath 



30 wrought in all men of place and authority in our nation. 



Now therefore we come to that third sort of discredit 

 or diminution of credit, that groweth unto learning 

 from learned men themselves, which commonly cleaveth 

 fastest : it is either from their fortune ; or from their 

 manners ; or from the nature of their studies. For the first, 



