ATTICUS. 



rouse the Athenians from that lethargy of genius in- 

 to which they were now fallen. Some orations of 

 his were still extant in the days of Suidas. 



The encouragement which Herodes extended to 

 men of literary pretensions exposed him occasionally 

 to the arts of the designing. Aulus Gellius, who 

 was one of his disciples and companions, relates one 

 instance of this kind, which is much to the credit of 

 his humanity. A man dressed in the style of a phi- 

 losopher, wearing a cloak and a very long beard, pre- 

 sented himself to Hero'les, and demanded some pe- 

 cuniary assistance. On being asked who he was, the 

 man replied, with indignant surprise, that he was a 

 philosopher. " I see," observed Herodes, " the 

 cloak and the beard ; but I do not see the philoso- 

 pher." When informed by one of the company 

 that this was an impudent beggar, who was con- 

 stantly teazing people for alms ; " Well then," said 

 Herodes, " let us give as men, though not as to a 

 man." 



The fame of Herodes chiefly rests now on his ar- 

 chitectural works. His stadium, or race-course, on 

 the banks of the Ilissus, which was four years in 

 building, was the noblest work of the kind ever be- 

 held. It was 630 feet long, 120 broad, and was con- 

 structed entirely of white marble. Mount Penteli- 

 cus was nearly consumed to supply materials for this 

 magnificent pile, which itself, according to Pausa- 

 nias, seemed at a distance to be a white mountain. 

 Upon the death of his wife Regilla, to which his ene- 

 mies had the cruelty to accuse him of being accessory, 

 he was thrown into the deepest sorrow ; and to per- 

 petuate her memory, he built a noble theatre at 

 Athens, called after her name. Tills structure, ac- 

 cording to Philostratus, exceeded in magnificence all 

 the theatres in the Roman empire, being roofed with 

 cedar, and adorned with all manner of statuary. He- 

 rodes, besides, adorned Corinth with a costly temple, 

 dedicated to Apollo a grand stadium at Delphi, built 

 an aqueduct at Olympia in honour of Jupiter, repair- 

 ed the Odeum of Pericles at Athens, erected baths at 

 Thermopylae for the use of the infirm, and, in short, 

 decorated many cities in Italy, Greece, and Asia, with 

 the most splendid and useful edifices. But the great- 

 est of all his designs he unfortunately did not think it 

 safe to execute. This was no less, than by cutting 

 through the Isthmus, to unite the Corinthian and Sa- 

 romc gulfs, and thus shorten the navigation on these 

 coasts by 800 miles. He was heard to say, that this 

 would be a monument which would discover to pos- 

 terity the existence of a Man, and that while it re- 

 mained unfinished, he had done nothing for his coun- 

 try. The magnitude, however, of the undertaking, 

 to which the power of a Nero had not been adequate, 

 deterred him from proposing it to the emperor, whose 

 jealousy of his wealth and popularity might be pro- 

 ductive of fatal consequences. 



In his person Herodes was of a gigantic stature, 

 being, it is said, eight feet high, and strong and 

 brawny in proportion. He wore but a small quan- 

 tity of hair ; his nose was aquiline ; his eye brows 

 were thick, and joined into one ; his eye, which was 

 remarkably lively, was at tiie same time full of sweet- 

 ness and complacency. He bad a son, who, like the 

 sons of many other great men, was distinguished for 



71 



nothing but idleness and vice. When a boy, he was 

 exceedingly dull : and to make him learn, Herodes 

 was obliged to keep in the house a living alphabet, 

 consisting of four-and-twenty boys, each of whom 

 went by the name of a particular letter. The philo- 

 sopher had too much principle to entrust the whole 

 of his wealth to such a fool. 



The celebrity of Herodes Atticus, it is true, is 

 owing chiefly to the accidental circumstance of being 

 possessed of a great fortune. But if we reflect on the 

 purposes to which he devoted that wealth ; -the libe- 

 rality with which he relieved want ; the encourage- 

 ment which he gave to learning by example and mu- 

 nificence ; the edifices which he reared in various parts 

 of the empire for the important purposes of public 

 splendour and convenience ; he is fully entitled to a 

 station in the temple of immortality. His example is 

 an eternal 3atire on the conduct of all those men of 

 rank and opulence, who, instead of consecrating a part 

 of their superabundant aifluence to the same elegant 

 and useful pursuits, lay it out in the purchase of a few 

 selfish sensations. He died at his family residence in 

 Marathon at the age of 76, and was buried with great 

 pomp at Athens. His funeral oration was pronoun- 

 ced, in a most feeling manner, by the philosopher 

 Adrian, his disciple and friend, who, in recounting 

 the eminent services of the deceased to his country, 

 drew tears from the eyes of all the Athenians. See 

 Philostratus, SophLiarum vita, i. ii. c. 1. Suid. 

 Lexic. Au/us Gellius, 1. i. c. 2 ; 1. ix. c. 2 ; 1. xix. 

 c. 12. (e) 



ATTICUS, Titus Pompoxius Cscilius, was 

 descended of one of the most ancient families in Rome. 

 He was of the equestrian order ; and whether we 

 consider him as an intimate associate of the great, a 

 prudent politician, or a dignified man of letters, he is 

 one of the most honourable men that his country ever 

 produced. He was born during the, letter period of 

 the republic : a time when the convulsie^ of a mighty 

 state, now on the verge of dissolution, necessarily dis- 

 closed the real characters of men, and compelled the 

 mind to exert to the utmost all the faculties bestowed 

 upon it by nature. Hence it was that, at this me- 

 morable period, there arose such a constellation of 

 geniuses, both in arts and in arms, as the world in all 

 probability will never again witness. 



His father being distinguished for his attention 

 both to his domestic affairs and to the study of let- 

 ters ; two of the greatest of human advantages, for- 

 tune and education, were thus secured to young At- 

 ticus. When yet a child, he is said to have discover- 

 ed undoubted signs of natural talent. He is descri- 

 bed as possessing, at that tender age, a most engaging 

 manner, a quick apprehension, and a peculiar grace- 

 fulness of cadence and elocution ; qualities which, 

 while they commanded the respect of his companions, 

 inspired them not a little with secret jealousy. It 

 will give the reader a higher idea of the excellence of 

 his parts than any description could produce, to be 

 informed, that those youths, who were thus mortified 

 at the superiority of Atticus, were L. Torquatus, the 

 younger Marius, and the great orator Cicero. Such, 

 however, were his gentleness and conciliating manner, 

 that while he excited the juvenile emulation of hia 

 companions, he, at the same time, was their chief fa- 



Atticus 

 Titus. 



