Page:Tacitus; (IA tacituswilliam00donnrich).pdf/192

180 state," is owing to the character of the times more than to the men living in them. Rarely does a quiet, settled, and uniform government afford an opportunity for eloquence of the highest order. "Great"—that is, passionate "eloquence"—such as pervades the Verrine, Catilinarian, and Philippic speeches of Cicero—"like flame, demands nourishment." Political commotions excite it; and the longer it burns the brighter its light. The spirit of the older speakers was fed by the turbulence of their age. He who could wield to his will a fierce democracy became its idol. Then every grade of society took a deep interest in public events and public men. Then few were content to give a silent vote in the senate, or shrank from the turmoil of the hustings and the Forum. In the conflict of parties, laws were multiplied; and scarcely a bill became law without a fierce opposition to it. The leading chiefs were the favourite demagogues. The magistrates were often engaged entire days in debate; and sometimes it was midnight before the assembly broke up. The people and the senate were generally at war with each ether: the nobles themselves were divided by constant factions: even members of the same house were at variance; and no citizen was so revered as to be exempt from impeachment. Hence that flame of eloquence which blazed continually under the republican government; and hence the fuel that kept it alive.

"And remember," continues Maternus, "the position of the orator at that time." His importance and influence were not confined to the senate or the people. Foreign nations courted his friendship. Prætors and proconsuls going out to their provinces, or returning from them, did him homage. He could not stir from