THE GARDENS OF EPICURUS 17 



what himself designed ; for though his ambition was 

 vast, yet it seems to have been raised to those heights, 

 rather by the insolence of his enemies than by his own 

 temper ; and that what was natural to him was only a 

 desire of true glory, and to acquire it by good actions 

 as well as great, by conquests of barbarous nations, 

 extent of the Roman Empire ; defending at first the 

 liberties of the plebeians, opposing the faction that 

 had begun in Sylla, and ended in Pompey : and in the 

 whole course of his victories and successes, seeking all 

 occasions of bounty to his friends, and clemency to his 

 enemies. 



Atticus appears to have been one of the wisest 

 and best of the Romans ; learned without pretending, 

 good without affectation, bountiful without design, a 

 friend to all men in misfortune, a flatterer to no man 

 in greatness or power, a lover of mankind, and beloved 

 by them all ; and by these virtues and dispositions, he 

 passed safe and untouched through all the flames of 

 civil dissensions that ravaged his country the greatest 

 part of his life ; and though he never entered into any 

 public affairs, or particular factions of his State, yet he 

 was favoured, honoured, and courted by them all, from 

 Sylla to Augustus. 



Maecenas was the wisest counsellor, the truest 



c 



