OPPIAN 



too for culture and living the life of a philosopher, 

 trained his son on the same lines and educated him 

 in the whole curriculum of education — music and 

 geometry and especially grammar. When Oppian 

 was about thirty years of age, the Roman Emperor 

 Severus" visited Anazarbos. And whereas it was 

 the duty of all public men to meet the Emperor, 

 Agesilaus as a philosopher and one who despised 

 all vain-glory neglected to do so. The Emperor 

 was angered and banished him to the island of 

 Melite in the Adriatic. There the son accompanied 

 his father and there he wrote these very notable 

 poems. Coming to Rome in the time of Antoninus,* 

 son of Severus — -Severus being already dead — he 

 read his poetry and was bidden to ask anything he 

 pleased. He asked and obtained the restoration of 

 his father, and received further for each verse or line 

 of his poetry a golden coin. Returning home with 

 his father and a pestilence coming upon Anazarbos 

 he soon after died. His fellow-citizens gave him a 

 funeral and erected in his honour a splendid monu- 

 ment with the following inscription : 



'' ' I, Oppian, won everlasting fame, but Fate's 

 envious thread carried me off and chilly Hades took 

 me while still young — me the minstrel of sweet 

 song. But had dread Envy allowed me to remain 

 alive long, no man would have won such glory as I.'*' 



" He wrote also certain other poems and he lived 

 for thirty years. He possessed much polish and 



" Emperor 193-211 a.d, 



* i.e. Caracalla, Emperor 211-217. 



* 'OTTTTtafos /cXeos d\ov deidiov' dWd fj.e 'Sloiprjs \ ^dffKauos 

 f^iflpira^e fiiros, Kpvepos r 'AtSas fie | /cat v4ov tvra Kariffx^ tov 

 edetriris viro<pr)T-r)v. | el 8k ttoXijv /xe xP^''°^ i^ubv fiifiveiv <pdbvo<i 

 ali/bs I eia<r', ovk S.v rtj fjioi tcrov y^pas ?XXaxf <f>orrQv. 



xiv 



