BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. xix 



with other sports. This work seems to have been read 

 and studied by Walton, as he cites from it ; and, though 

 there were works in dialogue about his time, that may 

 have contributed to the plan of his book, it has more 

 marks of havini^ been taken from Plutarch's than from 

 any other ; but of this we shall have occasion to speak 



asrain. 



Unquestionably the greatest work of antiquity on our 

 subject is the 'AXuvtiku of Oppian, who flourished in the 

 time of Severus (A.D. 198). The occasion of his turning 

 author shows the excellence of his disposition, and is a 

 strong proof, among many others, of that amiable and kind 

 temper which belongs to the true lover of the angle. 



His father Agesilaus, a noble and rich citizen of Ana- 

 zarbus, but of secluded, studious habits, failed, as Severus 

 thought, of paying proper respect when that Emperor 

 made his tour in state through Cilicia, and he banished the 

 philosopher to Malta. The pious Oppian accompanied his 

 afflicted father in exile ; and, anxious to obtain a remission 

 of so cruel a sentence, he determined to produce a w^ork 

 of such merit as would propitiate the Emperor, and gain 

 for him his desire. For this purpose, he wrote three poems 

 in hexameter verse — one on Hawking, which is lost, an- 

 other, in four books, on Hunting, Cyiiegetica, and oui 

 work, Halieutica, in five. It is pleasant to add, that his 

 noble purpose, so nobly pursued, was achieved. On pre- 

 senting the poems to Caracalla, that Emperor was so much 

 pleased with their merit that he not only remitted the ba- 

 nishment of Agesilaus, but presented the poet with a gold 

 piece for every line, amounting in all to nearly twelve 

 thousand dollars. The happy son survived his success but 

 a short time, and died at the early age of thirty ; thus 

 being fatally prevented from executing a purpose he had 

 long and fondly cherished, of celebrating his own country 

 in an epic, for which he had abundant genius. 



The Halieutica is the best of his works, showing a riper 



