Save whatsoe'er the infatuate work out from hearts of evil.
But Thou by wisdom knowest well to render odd things even;
Thou orderest disorder, and th' unlovely lovely makest.
For so hast Thou in one combined the noble with the baser,
That of the whole a single scheme arises, everlasting,
Which men neglect and overlook, as many as are evil:
Unhappy! who good things to get are evermore designing,
While to the common law of God nor eyes nor ears they open;
Obedient to which they might good life enjoy with wisdom.
But they, in guise unseemly, rush this way and that, at random ;
One part, in glory's chase engaged with its ill-contending passion,
Some searching every path of gain, of comeliness forgetful,
Others on soft indulgence bent and on the body's pleasure,
While things right contrary to these their proper action hastens,
But Zeus all bounteous! who, in clouds enwrapt, the lightning
wieldest;

Mayest Thou from baneful ignorance the race of men deliver!
This, Father! scatter from the soul, and grant that we the wisdom
May reach, in confidence of which Thou justly guidest all things;
That we, by Thee in honor set, with honor may repay Thee,
Raising to all Thy works a hymn, as beseemeth

A mortal soul: since neither man nor god has higher glory,
Than rightfully to celebrate Eternal Law all-ruling.

*

F the Silver Age the principal writers have already been considered, except the satirist Juvenal and the rhetorician Quintilian. Juvenal condemned the Romans of his time as degenerate almost beyond the possibility of reform, yet his protest was not altogether in vain. There was a social improvement under the Stoic emperors, which is less manifest in Latin literature, because the leaders in the movement cultivated the Greek language. In the same way the labors of Quintilian to purify the taste and style of orators were in some measure lost for a time, but the value of his instruction was felt when Latin became the universai language of the learned in Europe.

It is noteworthy that Seneca, Quintilian and other leading writers of the Silver Age were born in Spain, and a few, as for instance Apuleius, in Northern Africa. The Græco-Roman civilization, having thoroughly permeated these outlying provinces, aroused the dormant genius of their people, just when the enslaved and enervated citizens of the capital had lost all interest in public affairs and cared only for sensual enjoyment. Yet such was the force of training, that the new writers fell in with prevailing taste for shov y rhetoric and elegant trifling. They had no regard for the traditions of the Roman republic, but turned to personal and philosophical themes when they did not yield to the public demand for amusement.

*See Volume V., pp. 193-178.

JUVENAL is not only the last great Roman satirist, but the last glowing ember of national life. The nature of his

subject and the method of treating it make him a type for the world. Roman society had reached the stage of utter decay. The popular religion had become a thing of contempt and scorn, and there was nothing to take its place. Government was conducted by a system of corruption and bribery. Iniquity was established by law and maintained by the example of the great and powerful. People in high places, and of both sexes, were guilty of crimes for which the code of laws could find no name. Emperors in their abandon did not disdain to play the roles of buffoons and pantomimists. Moralists and Stoics were a sham, "counterfeiting the Curii, but living like bacchanals." Women were unsexed, and aping the manners of men, were equally unnatural and profligate. Such was the mass of moral pollution revealed under the search-light of the Roman satirist. He looked, and what he saw made him a pessimist of the severest type. Righteous indignation drove him to declamatory verse. He became the scourger of gross and open vices, encouraged by the example of a hateful tyrant.

Of Decimus Junius Juvenalis little is known except his writings. He is said to have been the son or ward of a wealthy freedman of Aquinum, a town noted also as the birthplace of St. Thomas Aquinas. It was not until he was advanced in life that he assumed the roll of public satirist. Up to that time he had been an orator and rhetorician. Some verses written on Paris, a favorite actor of Domitian's, obtained for him a wider hearing. His first satire was written

F the Silver Age the principal writers have already been considered,* except the satirist Juvenal and the rhetorician Quintilian. Juvenal condemned the Romans of his time as degenerate almost beyond the possibility of reform, yet his protest was not altogether in vain. There was a social improvement under the Stoic emperors, which is less manifest in Latin literature, because the leaders in the movement cultivated the Greek language. In the same way the labors of Quintilian to purify the taste and style of orators were in some measure lost for a time, but the value of his instruction was felt when Latin became the universai language of the learned in Europe.

It is noteworthy that Seneca, Quintilian and other leading writers of the Silver Age were born in Spain, and a few, as for instance Apuleius, in Northern Africa. The Græco-Roman civilization, having thoroughly permeated these outlying provinces, aroused the dormant genius of their people, just when the enslaved and enervated citizens of the capital had lost all interest in public affairs and cared only for sensual enjoyment. Yet such was the force of training, that the new writers fell in with prevailing taste for shov y rhetoric and elegant trifling. They had no regard for the traditions of the Roman republic, but turned to personal and philosophical themes when they did not yield to the public demand for amusement.

*See Volume V., pp. 193-178.

JUVENAL is not only the last great Roman satirist, but the last glowing ember of national life. The nature of his

subject and the method of treating it make him a type for the world. Roman society had reached the stage of utter decay. The popular religion had become a thing of contempt and scorn, and there was nothing to take its place. Government was conducted by a system of corruption and bribery. Iniquity was established by law and maintained by the example of the great and powerful. People in high places, and of both sexes, were guilty of crimes for which the code of laws could find no name. Emperors in their abandon did not disdain to play the roles of buffoons and pantomimists. Moralists and Stoics were a sham, "counterfeiting the Curii, but living like bacchanals." Women were unsexed, and aping the manners of men, were equally unnatural and profligate. Such was the mass of moral pollution revealed under the search-light of the Roman satirist. He looked, and what he saw made him a pessimist of the severest type. Righteous indignation drove him to declamatory verse. He became the scourger of gross and open vices, encouraged by the example of a hateful tyrant.

Of Decimus Junius Juvenalis little is known except his writings. He is said to have been the son or ward of a wealthy freedman of Aquinum, a town noted also as the birthplace of St. Thomas Aquinas. It was not until he was advanced in life that he assumed the roll of public satirist. Up to that time he had been an orator and rhetorician. Some verses written on Paris, a favorite actor of Domitian's, obtained for him a wider hearing. His first satire was written