[a] There were at Rome several eminent men of the name of Bassus.
With regard to the person here called Saleius Bassus, the commentators
have not been able to glean much information. Some have contended that
it was to him Persius addressed his sixth satire:
Admovit jam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino.
But if we may believe the old scholiast, his name was CÆSIUS BASSUS, a
much admired lyric poet, who was living on his own farm, at the time
when Mount Vesuvius discharged its torrents of fire, and made the
country round a scene of desolation. The poet and his house were
overwhelmed by the eruption of the lava, which happened A.U. 832, in
the reign of Titus. Quintilian says of him (b. x. chap. 1.), that if
after Horace any poet deserves to be mentioned, Cæsius Bassus was the
man. _Si quem adjicere velis, is erit Cæsius Bassus._ Saleius Bassus
is mentioned by Juvenal as an eminent poet in distress:
----At Serrano tenuique Saleio
Gloria quantalibet quid erit, si gloria tantum est?
SAT. vii. ver. 80.
But to poor Bassus what avails a name,
To starve on compliments and empty fame!
DRYDEN'S JUVENAL.
Quintilian says, he possessed a poetic genius, but so warm and
vehement, that, even in an advanced age, his spirit was not under the
control of sober judgement. _Vehemens et poeticum ingenium SALEII
BASSI fuit; nec ipsum senectute maturum._ This passage affords an
insuperable argument against Lipsius, and the rest of the critics who
named Quintilian as a candidate for the honour of this elegant
composition. Can it be imagined that a writer of fair integrity, would
in his great work speak of Bassus as he deserved, and in the Dialogue
overrate him beyond all proportion? Duplicity was not a part of
Quintilian's character.
[b] Tacitus, it may be presumed with good reason, was a diligent
reader of Cicero, Livy, Sallust, and Seneca. He has, in various parts
of his works, coincidences of sentiment and diction, that plainly shew
the source from which they sprung. In the present case, when he calls
eloquence a buckler to protect yourself, and a weapon to annoy your
adversary, can anyone doubt but he had his eye on the following
sentence in _Cicero de Oratore_? _Quid autem tam necessarium, quam
tenere semper arma, quibus vel tectus ipse esse possis, vel provocare
integros, et te ulcisci lacessitus?_
[c] Eprius Marcellus is often a conspicuous figure in the Annals and
the History of Tacitus. To a bad heart he united the gift of
eloquence. In the Annals, b. xvi. s. 28, he makes a vehement speech
against Pætus Thrasea, and afterwards wrought the destruction of that
excellent man. For that exploit, he was attacked, in the beginning of
Vespasian's reign, by Helvidius Priscus. In the History (book iv. s. 7
and 8) we see them both engaged in a violent contention. In the
following year (823), Helvidius in the senate opened an accusation in
form; but Marcellus, by using his eloquence as his buckler and his
offensive weapon, was able to ward off the blow. He rose from his
seat, and, "I leave you," he said, "I leave you to give the law to the
senate: reign, if you will, even in the presence of the prince." See
Hist. iv. s. 43. See also, Life of Agricola, s. 11. notes a and b.