206 
plint's natural history. 
[Book YII. 
one hundred years of age, fourteen of one hundred and ten, two 
of one hundred and twenty-five, four of one hundred and 
thirty, the same number of one hundred and thirty-five to one 
hundred and thirty- seven, and three of one hundred and forty. 
Again, we have another illustration of the uncertain tenure 
of human life. Homer informs us that Hector and Poly- 
damas'^ were born on the same night,'* and yet how diff'erent 
was their fate ! M. Cselius Eufus and C. Licinius Calvus 
were born on the sanfe day, the fifth before the calends of June, 
in the consulship of C. Marius and Cn. Carbo ; they both of 
them lived to be orators, it is true, but how difierent their 
destiny ! The same thing, too, happens every day, and in every 
part of the world, with respect to men that are born in the 
self- same hour ; masters and slaves, kings and beggars, come 
into the world at the same moment. 
CHAP. 51. (50.) VARIOUS INSTANCES OF DISEASES. 
P. Cornelius Eufus,'^^ who was consul w^ith M. Curio, lost his 
sight while he was asleep and dreaming that that accident had 
befallen him. On the other hand, Jason, of Plierse, when he 
was labouring under an abscess and had been given up by the 
physicians, determined to end his life in battle, where he re- 
ceived a wound in the chest, and found, at the hands of the 
enemy, a remedy for his disease.'''^ Q. Eabius Maximus,"^^ the 
The son of Panthous, and friend of Hector. He was famous for his 
wisdom and prudence in giving counsel. See Iliad, B. xviii. 1. 249 — 52. 
''^ The passage referred to is in the Iliad, B. xviii. 1. 249 — 51. — B. 
Respecting Cselius [formerly called Caecili us in most editions] Hardouin 
informs us that he was the accuser of Calpurnius, that he was prsetor during 
the consulship of P. Lentulus Spinther and L. Metellus Nepos, and was 
oppressed by Clodius. Pliny refers to CseUus, and his accusation of Cal- 
purnius, in a subsequent passage, B. xxvii. c. 2. — B. Licinius Calvus 
Macer was by some considered, as an orator, to rival even Cicero himself; 
and as a poet, is generally mentioned by the side of Catullus. He exhausted 
his constitution by his severe application, and died in his thirty-fifth 
or thirty-sixth year. He was remarkable for the extreme shortness of his 
stature. Caelius was a partisan of Pompey, and was eventually put to 
death at Thurii. 
''6 Consul A.u.c. 463 ; he is generally called Rufinus. — B. 
This anecdote is mentioned by Cicero, De Nat. Deor. B. iii. c. 28, 
and by Valerius Maximus, B. i. c. 8. — B. He was tyrant of Pherse and 
Tagus in Thessaly, and was finally assassinated. 
78 He was consul a.u.c. 633 ; in consequence of the victories which he 
