his father, that though this was a professed work of panegyric, Varro was
very sparing and niggardly of his praise even to the greatest characters:
“Ille Pythagoram qui animas in æternitatem primus asseruit; ille Platonem
qui deos esse persuasit; ille Aristotelem qui naturam bene loquendi in
artem redegit; ille pauperem Curium sed divitibus imperantem; ille severos
Catones, gentem Fabiam, decora Scipionum, totumque illum triumphalem
Senatum parca laude perstrinxit.” Varro also wrote an eulogy on Porcia,
the wife of Brutus, which is alluded to by Cicero in one of his letters to
Atticus. Among his notices of celebrated characters, it is much to be
regretted that the _Liber de Vita Sua_, cited by Charisius, has shared the
same fate as most of the other valuable works of Varro. The treatise
entitled, _Sisenna, sive de Historia_, was a tract on the composition of
history, inscribed to Sisenna, the Roman historian, who wrote an account
of the civil wars of Marius and Sylla. It contained, it is said, many
excellent precepts with regard to the appropriate style of history, and
the accurate investigation of facts. But the greatest service rendered by
Varro to history was his attempt to fix the chronology of the world.
Censorinus informs us that he was the first who regulated chronology by
eclipses. That learned grammarian has also mentioned the division of three
great periods established by Varro. He did not determine whether the
earliest of them had any beginning, but he fixed the end of it at the
Ogygian deluge. To this period of absolute historical darkness, he
supposed that a kind of twilight succeeded, which continued from that
flood till the institution of the Olympic games, and this he called the
fabulous age. From that date the Greeks pretend to digest their history
with some degree of order and clearness. Varro, therefore, looked on it as
the break of day, or commencement of the historical age. The chronology,
however, of those events which occurred at the beginning of this second
period, is as uncertain and confused as of those which immediately
preceded it. Thus, the historical æra is evidently placed too high by
Varro. The earliest writers of history did not live till long after the
Olympian epoch, and they again long preceded the earliest chronologers.
Timæus, about the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, was the first who digested
the events recorded by these ancient historians, according to a
computation of the Olympiads(75). Preceding writers, indeed, mention these
celebrated epochs, but the mode of reckoning by them was not brought into
established use for many centuries after the Olympic æra. Arnobius farther
informs us, that Varro calculated that not quite 2000 years had elapsed
from the Ogygian flood to the consulship of Hirtius and Pansa. The
building of Rome he placed two years higher than Cato had done in his
_Origines_, founding his computation on the eclipse which had a short
while preceded the birth of Romulus; but unfortunately this eclipse is not
attested by contemporary authors, nor by any historian who could vouch for
it with certainty. It was calculated a long time after the phænomenon was
supposed to have appeared, by Tarrutius Firmanus, the judicial astrologer,
who amused himself with drawing horoscopes. Varro requested him to
discover the date of Romulus’s birth, by divining it from the known events
of his life, as geometrical problems are solved by analysis; for Tarrutius
considered it as belonging to the same art, (and doubtless the conclusions
are equally certain,) when a child’s nativity is given to predict its
future life, and when the incidents of life are given to cast up the
nativity. Tarrutius, accordingly, having considered the actions of
Romulus, and the manner of his death, and having combined all the
incidents, pronounced that he was conceived in the first year of the
second Olympiad, on the 23d of the Egyptian month Choiok, on which day
there had been a total eclipse of the sun.
Pompey, when about to enter for the first time on the office of Consul,
being ignorant of city manners and senatorial forms, requested Varro to
frame for him a written commentary or manual, from which he might learn
the duties to be discharged by him when he convened the Senate. This book,
which was entitled _Isagogicum de Officio Senatus habendi_, Varro says, in
the letters which he wrote to Oppianus, had been lost. But in these
letters he repeated many things on the subject, as what he had written
before had perished(76).
The _philosophical_ writings of Varro are not numerous; but his chief work
of that description, entitled _De Philosophia Liber_, appears to have been
very comprehensive. St Augustine informs us that Varro examined in it all
the various sects of philosophers, of which he enumerated upwards of 280.
The sect of the old Academy was that which he himself followed, and its
tenets he maintained in opposition to all others. He classed these
numerous sects in the following curious manner: All men chiefly desire, or
place their happiness in, four things—pleasure—rest—these two united,
(which Epicurus, however, termed pleasure,) or soundness of body and mind.
Now, philosophers have contended that virtue is to be sought after for the
sake of obtaining one or other of these four; or, that some one of these
four is to be sought after for the sake of virtue; or, that they and
virtue also are to be sought after for their own sake, and from these
different opinions each of the four great objects of human desire being
sought after with three different views, there are formed twelve sects of
philosophers. These twelve sects are doubled, in consequence of the
different opinions created by the considerations of social
intercourse—some maintaining that the four great desires should be
gratified for our own sake, and others, that they should be indulged only
for the sake of our neighbours. The above twenty-four sects become
forty-eight, from each system being defended as certain truth, or as
merely the nearest approximation to probability—twenty-four sects
maintaining each hypothesis as certain, and twenty-four as only probable.
These again were doubled, from the difference of opinion with regard to
the suitable garb and external habit and demeanour of philosophers.
We have now got ninety-six sects by a very strange sort of computation,
and all these are to be tripled, according to the different opinions
entertained concerning the best mode of spending life—in literary leisure,
in business, or in both(77).
Varro having followed the sect of the old Academy, in preference to all
others, proceeded to refute the principles of the sects he had enumerated.
He cleared the way, by dismissing, as unworthy the name of philosophical,
all those sects whose differences did not turn on what is the supreme
final good; for there is no use in philosophizing, unless it be to make us
happy, and that which makes us happy is the final good. But those who
dispute, for example, whether a wise man should follow virtue,
tranquillity, &c. partly for the sake of others, or solely for his own, do
not dispute concerning what is the final good, but whether that good
should be shared. In like manner, the Cynic does not dispute with regard
to the supreme good, but in what dress or habit he who follows the supreme
good should be clad. So also as to the controversy concerning the
uncertainty of knowledge. The number of sects were thus reduced to the
twelve with which our author set out, and in which the whole question
relates to what is the final good. From these, however, he abstracted the
sects which place the final good in pleasure, rest, or the union of
both—not that he altogether disdained these, but he thought they might be
included in soundness of body and mind, or what he called the _prima
Naturæ_. There are thus only three questions which merit full discussion.
Whether these _prima Naturæ_ should be desired for the sake of virtue, or
virtue for their sake, or if they and virtue also should be desired for
their own sake.
Now, since in philosophy we seek the supreme felicity of man, we must
inquire what man is. His nature is compounded of soul and body. Hence the
_summum bonum_ necessarily consists in the _prima Naturæ_ or perfect
soundness of mind and body. These, therefore, must be sought on their own
account; and under them may be included virtue, which is part of soundness
of mind, being the great director and prime former of the felicity of
life.
Such were the doctrines of the old Academy, which Varro was also
introduced as supporting in Cicero’s _Academica_.—“I have comprehended,”
says that illustrious orator and philosopher, in a letter to Atticus, “the
whole Academic system in four books, instead of two, in the course of
which Varro is made to defend the doctrines of Antiochus(78). I have put
into his mouth all the arguments which were so accurately collected by
Antiochus against the opinion of those who contend that there is no
certainty to be attained in human knowledge. These I have answered myself.
But the part assigned to Varro in the debate is so good, that I do not
think the cause which I support appears the better.”
I am not certain under what class Varro’s _Novem libri Disciplinarum_
should be ranked, as it probably comprehended instructive lessons in the
whole range of arts and sciences. One of the chapters, according to
Vitruvius, was on the subject of architecture. Varro was particularly full
and judicious in his remarks on the construction and situation of Roman
villas, and seems to have laid the foundation for what Palladius and
Columella subsequently compiled on that interesting topic. Another chapter
was on arithmetic; and Fabricius mentions, that Vetranius Maurus has
declared, in his _Life of Varro_, that he saw this part of the work, _De
Disciplinis_, at Rome, in the library of the Cardinal Lorenzo Strozzi.
Varro derived much notoriety from his _satirical_ compositions. His
_Tricarenus_, or _Tricipitina_, was a satiric history of the triumvirate
of Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus. Much pleasantry and sarcasm were also
interspersed in his books entitled _Logistorici_; but his most celebrated
production in that line was the satire which he himself entitled
_Menippean_. It was so called from the cynic Menippus of Gadara, a city in
Syria, who, like his countryman Meleager, was in the habit of expressing
himself jocularly on the most grave and important subjects. He was the
author of a _Symposium_, in the manner of Xenophon. His writings were
interspersed with verses, parodied from Homer and the tragic poets, or
ludicrously applied, for the purpose of burlesque. It is not known,
however, that he wrote any professed satire. The appellation, then, of
_Menippean_, was given to his satire by Varro, not from any production of
the same kind by Menippus, but because he imitated his general style of
humour. In its external form it appears to have been a sort of literary
anomaly. Greek words and phrases were interspersed with Latin; prose was
mingled with verses of various measures; and pleasantry with serious
remark. As to its object and design, Cicero introduces Varro himself
explaining this in the _Academica_. After giving his reasons for not
writing professedly on philosophical subjects, he continues,—“In those
ancient writings of ours, we, imitating Menippus, without translating him,
have infused a degree of mirth and gaiety along with a portion of our most
secret philosophy and logic, so that even our unlearned readers might more
easily understand them, being, as it were, invited to read them with some
pleasure. Besides, in the discourses we have composed in praise of the
dead, and in the introductions to our antiquities, it was our wish to
write in a manner worthy of philosophers, provided we have attained the
desired object.” From what Cicero afterwards says in this dialogue, while
addressing himself to Varro, it would appear, that he had indeed touched
on philosophical subjects in his _Menippean_ satire, but that, learned as
he was, his object was more to amuse his readers than instruct them: “You
have entered on topics of philosophy in a manner sufficient to allure
readers to its study, but inadequate to convey full instruction, or to
advance its progress.”
Many fragments of this _Menippean_ satire still remain, but they are much
broken and corrupted. The heads of the different subjects, or chapters,
contained in it, amounting to near one hundred and fifty, have been given
by Fabricius in alphabetical order. Some of them are in Latin, others in
Greek. A few chapters have double titles; and, though little remains of
them but the titles, these show what an infinite variety of subjects was
treated by the author. As a specimen, I subjoin those ranged under the
letter A. Aborigines,—Περι Ανθρωπων φυσεως,—De Admirandis, vel Gallus
Fundanius,—Agatho,—Age modo,—Αιει διβυη, vel περι Αἱρεσεων,—Ajax
Stramentitius,—Αλλος ὁυτος Ἡρακλης,—Andabatæ,—Anthropopolis,—περι Αρχης,
seu Marcopolis,—περι Αρχαιρεσιων, seu Serranus,—περι Αρετης κτησεως,—περι
Αφροδισιων, seu vinalia,—Armorum judicium,—περι Αρρενοτητος, seu
Triphallus,—Autumedus,—Mæonius,—Baiæ, &c.(79)
There is a chapter concerning the duty of a husband, (De officio Mariti,)
in which the author observes, that the errors of a wife are either to be
cured or endured: He who extirpates them makes his wife better, but he who
bears with them improves himself. Another is inscribed, “You know not what
a late evening, or supper, may bring with it,” (Nescis quid vesper serus
vehat.) In this chapter he remarks, that the number of guests should not
be less than that of the Graces, or more than that of the Muses. To render
an entertainment perfect, four things must concur—agreeable company,
suitable place, convenient time, and careful preparation. The guests
should not be loquacious or taciturn. Silence is for the bed-chamber, and
eloquence for the Forum, but neither for a feast. The conversation ought
not to turn on anxious or difficult subjects, but should be cheerful and
inviting, so that utility may be combined with a certain degree of
pleasure and allurement. This will be best managed, by discoursing of
those things which relate to the ordinary occurrences or affairs of life,
concerning which one has not leisure to talk in the Forum, or while
transacting business. The master of the feast should rather be neat and
clean than splendidly attired; and if he introduce reading into the
entertainment, it should be so selected as to amuse, and to be neither
troublesome nor tedious(80). A third chapter is entitled, περι ἐδεσματων;
and treats of the rarer delicacies of an entertainment, especially foreign
luxuries. Au. Gellius has given us the import of some verses, in which
Varro mentioned the different countries which supplied the most exquisite
articles of food. Peacocks came from Samos; cranes from Melos; kids from
Ambracia; and the best oysters from Tarentum(81). Part of the chapter
γνωθι σεαυτον was directed against the Latin tragic poets.
What remains of the verses interspersed in the _Menippean_ satire, is too
trifling to enable us to form any accurate judgment of the poetical
talents of Varro.
The style of satire introduced by Varro was imitated by Lucius Annæus
Seneca, in his satire on the deification of Claudius Cæsar, who was called
on earth Divus Claudius. The _Satyricon_ of Petronius Arbiter, in which
that writer lashed the luxury, and avarice, and other vices of his age, is
a satire of the Varronian species, prose being mingled with verse, and
jest with serious remark. Such, too, are the Emperor Julian’s _Symposium
of the Cæsars_, in which he characterizes his predecessors; and his
Μισοπωγων, directed against the luxurious manners of the citizens of
Antioch.
Besides the works of Varro above mentioned, there is a miscellaneous
collection of sentences or maxims which have been attributed to him,
though it is not known in what part of his numerous writings they were
originally introduced. Barthius found seventeen of these sentences in a
MS. of the middle age, and printed them in his _Adversaria_. Schneider
afterwards discovered, in the _Speculum Historiale_ of Vincent de
Beauvais, a monk of the thirteenth century, a much more ample collection
of them, which he has inserted in his edition of the _Scriptores rei
Rusticæ_(82). They consist of moral maxims, in the style of those
preserved from the Mimes of Publius Syrus, and had doubtless been culled
as flowers from the works of Varro, at a time when the immense garden of
taste and learning which he planted, had not yet been laid waste by the
hand of time, or the spoiler(83).
Though the above list of the works of Varro is far from complete, a
sufficient number has been mentioned to justify the exclamation of
Quintilian,—“Quam multa, immo pene omnia tradidit Varro!” and the more
full panegyric of Cicero,—“His works brought us home, as it were, while we
were foreigners in our own city, and wandering like strangers, so that we
might know who and where we were; for in them are laid open the chronology
of his country,—a description of the seasons,—the laws of religion,—the
ordinances of the priests,—domestic and military occurrences,—the
situations of countries and places,—the names of all things divine and
human,—the breed of animals,—moral duties,—and the origin of things(84).”
Nor did Varro merely delight and instruct his fellow-citizens by his
writings. By his careful attention, in procuring the most valuable books,
and establishing libraries, he provided, perhaps, still more effectually
than by his own learned compositions, for the progressive improvement and
civilization of his countrymen. The formation of either private or public
libraries was late of taking place at Rome, for the Romans were late in
attending to literary studies. Tiraboschi quotes a number of writers who
have discovered a library in the public records preserved at Rome(85), and
in the books of the Sibyls(86). But these, he observes, may be classed
with the library which Madero found to have existed before the flood, and
that belonging to Adam, of which Hilscherus has made out an exact
catalogue(87). From Syracuse and Corinth the Romans brought away the
statues and pictures, and other monuments of the fine arts; but we do not
learn that they carried to the capital any works of literature or science.
Some agricultural books found their way to Rome from Africa, on the
destruction of Carthage; but the other treasures of its libraries, though
they fell under the power of a conqueror not without pretensions to taste
and erudition, were bestowed on the African princes in alliance with the
Romans(88).
Paulus Emilius is said by Plutarch to have allowed his sons to choose some
volumes from the library of Perseus, King of Macedon(89), whom he led
captive to Rome in 585. But the honour of first possessing a library in
Rome is justly due to Sylla; who, on the occupation of Athens, in 667,
acquired the library of Apellicon, which he discovered in the temple of
Apollo. This collection, which contained, among various other books, the
works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, was reserved to himself by Sylla from
the plunder; and, having been brought to Rome, was arranged by the
grammarian Tyrannio, who also supplied and corrected the mutilated text of
Aristotle(90). Engaged, as he constantly was, in domestic strife or
foreign warfare, Sylla could have made little use of this library, and he
did not communicate the benefit of it to scholars, by opening it to the
public; but the example of the Dictator prompted other commanders not to
overlook the libraries, in the plunder of captured cities, and books thus
became a fashionable acquisition. Sometimes, indeed, these collections
were rather proofs of the power and opulence of the Roman generals, than
of their literary taste or talents. A certain value was now affixed to
manuscripts; and these were, in consequence, amassed by them, from a
spirit of rapacity, and the principle of leaving nothing behind which
could be carried off by force or stratagem. In one remarkable instance,
however, the learning of the proprietor fully corresponded to the literary
treasures which he had collected. Lucullus, a man of severe study, and
wonderfully skilled in all the fine arts, after having employed many years
in the cultivation of literature, and the civil administration of the
republic, was unexpectedly called, in consequence of a political intrigue,
to lead on the Roman army in the perilous contest with Mithridates; and,
though previously unacquainted with military affairs, he became the first
captain of the age, with little farther experience, than his study of the
art of war, during the voyage from Rome to Asia. His attempts to introduce
a reform in the corrupt administration of the Asiatic provinces, procured
him enemies, through whose means he was superseded in the command of the
army, by one who was not superior to him in talents, and was far inferior
in virtue. After his recall from Pontus, and retreat to a private station,
he offered a new spectacle to his countrymen. He did not retire, like
Fabricius and Cincinnatus, to plough his farm, and eat turnips in a
cottage—he did not, like Africanus, quit his country in disgust, because
it had unworthily treated him; nor did he spend his wealth and leisure,
like Sylla, in midnight debauchery with buffoons and parasites. He
employed the riches he had acquired during his campaigns in the
construction of delightful villas, situated on the shore of the sea, or
hanging on the declivities of hills. Gardens and spacious porticos, which
he adorned with all the elegance of painting and sculpture, made the
Romans ashamed of their ancient rustic simplicity. These would doubtless
be the objects of admiration to his contemporaries; but it was his
library, in which so many copies of valuable works were multiplied or
preserved, and his distinguished patronage of learning, that claim the
gratitude of posterity. “His library,” says Plutarch, “had walks,
galleries, and cabinets belonging to it, which were open to all visitors;
and the ingenious Greeks resorted to this abode of the muses to hold
literary converse, in which Lucullus delighted to join them(91).” Other
Roman patricians had patronized literature, by extending their protection
to a favoured few, as the elder Scipio Africanus to Ennius, and the
younger to Terence; but Lucullus was the first who encouraged all the arts
and sciences, and promoted learning with princely munificence.
But the slave Tyrannio vied with the most splendid of the Romans in the
literary treasures he had amassed. A native of Pontus, he was taken
prisoner by Lucullus, in the course of the war with Mithridates; and,
having been brought to Rome, he was given to Muræna, from whom he received
freedom(92). He spent the remainder of his life in teaching rhetoric and
grammar. He also arranged the library of Cicero at Antium(93), and taught
his nephew, Quintus, in the house of the orator(94). These various
employments proved so profitable, that they enabled him to acquire a
library of 30,000 volumes(95). Libraries of considerable extent were also
formed by Atticus and Cicero; and _Varro_ was not inferior to any of his
learned contemporaries, in the industry of collecting and transcribing
manuscripts, both in the Greek and Latin language.