Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern . er of dispute, is now definitely assured) was born about 55A. D. The place of his birth is quite uncertain: by some scholars this honor has been assigned to the Umbrian town Inter- amna, by others to Rome; but neither of these views rests upon any adequate foundation. Of the details of his life we are but scantily informed. In his *? Dialogus de Oratoribus ^ he tells us that when a youth he attached himself to Mar-cus Aper and Julius Secundus, the foren-sic leaders of his day. Whether he also enjoyed the instruction of Quintilian, th
Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern . er of dispute, is now definitely assured) was born about 55A. D. The place of his birth is quite uncertain: by some scholars this honor has been assigned to the Umbrian town Inter- amna, by others to Rome; but neither of these views rests upon any adequate foundation. Of the details of his life we are but scantily informed. In his *? Dialogus de Oratoribus ^ he tells us that when a youth he attached himself to Mar-cus Aper and Julius Secundus, the foren-sic leaders of his day. Whether he also enjoyed the instruction of Quintilian, the famous rhetorician, is a matter of doubt. In the year 78 he married the daughter of Agricola, governor of Britain. Subsequently he filled the offices of quaestor under Titus, of praetor under Domitian, and of consul (year 97) under Nerva. From the year 100 on, he appears to have held no public trust, but to have devoted himself exclusively to his literary labors. His death probably occurred shortly after the publication of the ^Annals* (115-117 A. D.).. Tacitus Works I. The ^Dialogus de Oratoribus.* Tacituss earliest work was prob-ably published about 81 A. D., and gives an account of a discussionat which the writer represents himself as having been present someseven years previously. The chief disputants are Aper and Messalla;the theme is the quality of contemporary eloquence. Aper maintainsthat the new oratory really marks a great advance upon that of pre-ceding epochs: it is brilliant and attractive, where the earlier oratorywas dull and tedious. An audience of to-day, Aper declares, wouldnot tolerate such speakers. Even Cicero, with all his fame, was notfree from the faults of his day; and was worthy of admiration onlyin his later —8qq I4370 TACITUS In reply to Aper, Messalla vigorously defends the oratory of theCiceronian era, and arraigns contemporary eloquence as disfigured bymeretricious embellishment. To Messallas mind the prime cause ofthis decadence
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