Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger
THE LIVES OF THE TWELVE CAESARS
By
C. Suetonius Tranquillus;
To which are added,
HIS LIVES OF THE GRAMMARIANS, RHETORICIANS, AND POETS.
The Translation of
Alexander Thomson, M.D.
revised and corrected by
T.Forester, Esq., A.M.
LIVES OF EMINENT GRAMMARIANS
(506)
I. The science of grammar [842] was in ancient times far from being invogue at Rome; indeed, it was of little use in a rude state of society,when the people were engaged in constant wars, and had not much time tobestow on the cultivation of the liberal arts [843]. At the outset, itspretensions were very slender, for the earliest men of learning, who wereboth poets and orators, may be considered as half-Greek: I speak ofLivius [844] and Ennius [845], who are acknowledged to have taught bothlanguages as well at Rome as in foreign parts [846]. But they (507) onlytranslated from the Greek, and if they composed anything of their own inLatin, it was only from what they had before read. For although thereare those who say that this Ennius published two books, one on "Lettersand Syllables," and the other on "Metres," Lucius Cotta hassatisfactorily proved that they are not the works of the poet Ennius, butof another writer of the same name, to whom also the treatise on the"Rules of Augury" is attributed.
II. Crates of Mallos [847], then, was, in our opinion, the first whointroduced the study of grammar at Rome. He was cotemporary withAristarchus [848], and having been sent by king Attalus as envoy to thesenate in the interval between the second and third Punic wars [849],soon after the death of Ennius [850], he had the misfortune to fall intoan open sewer in the Palatine quarter of the city, and broke his leg.After which, during the whole period of his embassy and convalescence, hegave frequent lectures, taking much pains to instruct his hearers, and hehas left us an example well worthy of imitation. It was so far followed,that poems hitherto little known, the works either of deceased friends orother approved writers, were brought to light, and being read andcommented on, were explained to others. Thus, Caius Octavius Lampadioedited the Punic War of Naevius [851], which having been written in onevolume without any break in the manuscript, he divided into seven books.After that, Quintus Vargonteius undertook the Annals of Ennius, which heread on certain fixed days to crowded audiences. So Laelius Archelaus,and Vectius Philocomus, read and commented on the Satires of their friendLucilius [852], which Lenaeus Pompeius, a freedman, tells us he studiedunder Archelaus; and Valerius Cato, under Philocomus. Two others alsotaught and promoted (508) grammar in various branches, namely, LuciusAelius Lanuvinus, the son-in-law of Quintus Aelius, and Servius Claudius,both of whom were Roman knights, and men who rendered great services bothto learning and the republic.
III. Lucius Aelius had a double cognomen, for he was called Praeconius,because his father was a herald; Stilo, because he was in the habit ofcomposing orations for most of the speakers of highest rank; indeed, hewas so strong a partisan of the nobles, that he accompanied QuintusMetellus Numidicus [853] in his exile. Servius [854] havin