History of Rome, and of the Roman people, from its origin to the invasion of the barbarians . and his recently acquired learning. He quotes Homerand Vergil; he extemporizes poetry and philosophy. In the midstof the orgies he commands a silver skeleton to be brought in, whichinspires him with this fine sentence: Such we shall soon be;therefore let us live while we can live But he is more 1 Juvenal, Sat. ix. 55. 2 Ergo viuamus dum licet esse bene (Satyr. 34). It was the practice to recall the idea ofdeath in the midst of festivities, not to suggest grave thoughts, but by way of contrast,
History of Rome, and of the Roman people, from its origin to the invasion of the barbarians . and his recently acquired learning. He quotes Homerand Vergil; he extemporizes poetry and philosophy. In the midstof the orgies he commands a silver skeleton to be brought in, whichinspires him with this fine sentence: Such we shall soon be;therefore let us live while we can live But he is more 1 Juvenal, Sat. ix. 55. 2 Ergo viuamus dum licet esse bene (Satyr. 34). It was the practice to recall the idea ofdeath in the midst of festivities, not to suggest grave thoughts, but by way of contrast, VOL. vi. 20 306 THE EMPIRE AND ROMAN SOCIETY. ridiculous than wicked even, — in some respects, he is better thanthe men of the preceding age; and I pardon some eccentricitiesin him when I hear from the depths of his dull soul an echo ofsentiments which were beginning to be diffused, and must indeedmake their way, since they have been able to pierce this money-bag : My friends, slaves are also men as we are; they have suckedthe same milk as we, though an ill fortune has borne them SKELETON, WITH THE SOCRATIC MAXIM, KNOW THYSELF. J However, without prejudice to myself, mine shall soon drink thewater of the free; I emancipate them all in my will. Chrysanthus has not reached so high a position, but he too haslived well, as the world understands it. Let us see what this was,according to Petronius and certain of his contemporaries: — He had the lot which he deserved, — he lived well and diedwell: what, therefore, has he to complain of ? He began the worldwith nothing, and to his latest day he would have picked a coppercoin out of the mire with his teeth. But his fortune grew Hercules, I believe he died worth a hundred thousand solidi in to heighten the enjoyment. Cf. Martial, Epigr. v. 64. M. Perrot found at Koutahia, inPhrygia, a mortuary inscription which represents men who lived like Trimalchio. T tell myfriends : Give yourselves up to pleasure, to voluptuous
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