New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-18


was neither so comprehensive nor so important
as the holy polemist thought 1t was the men,
tai attitude OF the Romans that did the most
harm. What that attitude was he shows by
his sketches OF Roman society in Italy and
Gaul choosing those circles which revoived
around several famous men whose works sur
vive to tell the story Of their environment as
,veU 40 ~ the movements OF their own minds.
O Aurelius Symmachus was man OF noble
family n Senator who had won honor not only
among his peers but in half dozen conspicu-
ous posts He was also a diettante, fond OF a
good hook willing to write II the godS
wouId be kind The gods gave him wealth,
social erninence leisure. He enjoyed all three
and let the masterpiece go. His letters have the
value to us of any ancient documents when give
authentic glimpses of the time in which they
were written But they give Symmachus no
literary fame He sinks back-and this IS the
conde mnation OF all his educated cohteHpo-
rarics-into q world Of Intellectual epicureahlSth'
where we see important men dong utterly IN
important things. Among the best men OF 'he
pagan or semi-pagan arstocracy OF that une'
saws Professor Dill. the passion for literature
,r orudition was absorbing With many Of
,b,r, Il took the place of interest in public af-
fairs" In their preoccupation, as in the cor
-upiion Of the administrative fabric the death
knell OF the Empire sounded one may see
the boodless life of those old dilettanti bodied
rorth with unconscious prophesy of impending
doom i'm the "Saturnalia" OF MacroDuS. Inc
worst that could be said Of Roman society by
a reader of the Christian and pagan censors
Of St Jerome or of Ammianus, would be that
the people needed to be recalled from their
vices. Macrobus, doing honor to the leaders oil
his day. is unaware that he is making subtle
charge against the very fibre of Roman life
in picturing d group Of men unable to do more
with their education than split hairs verbal
points and forget life itself in their alteration or
letters We call the charge subtle because one
has really to look for it with some care
among the complacent descriptions Of the traits
Of the cultivated Romans. Their existence was
urbane. so were their manners, and what they
wrote and did has a certain charm as per
suasyc as it is repugnant. How can one quar-
rel with Ausonius? He il himself "clubba-
BILE" man and besides his poems enshrine
some invaluable pictures of provincial life in
CiauI. We see him enjoying himself with his
friends at his country seats and at theirs.
These noble dwellings. ION which the accumu-
lating wealth Of generations had been expended
in satisfying luxurious artistic taste rose
everywhere along the banks Of the Garonne.
The cold Of winter the great plague or
country life. But these houses had apartments
arranged to suit the varying temperatures OF
the seasons They were furnished with luxuri-
Gus baths and well-stocked libraries. Their
granaries were stored with ample supplies
against "A stinted harvest. The richer Senator'S
had several such estates" In such luxurious
places the men of a healthier epoch might have
planned the publication Of the Empire from
disease AusOnius in Gaul, like Symmachus in
Italy could only find time. after the conven-
tional discharge of his public duties. for poetry.
visiting good dinners. and what ne and his
friends thought was good talk. 1t good
talk in a way. The echoes Of it in such frag-
ments OF literature have come down To us
have a flavor of lettered leisure which touches
the imagination. But there was TO soul in that
happy life.
Even the best of the company. ApollinarS
Sidonius, who became Bishop of Auvergne, and
died in the odor of sanctity. leaving a lasting
name for good works, aristocrat to his
finger tips and had the specious predictions
Of his class Indeed. he would receive none OF
the members of his own class who could not
meet him in literary discussion. AN aristO-
crat" says our author. however long his ped-
gree however bread his acres would have
hardly found himself at home in the circle Of
Sidonius if he could not turn of pretty vers
DO societ6' letters fashioned in that eu-
phuistic style which centuries Of rhetorical dis
cpne had elaborated. The members of that
class were bound to one another by the tradi-
ton of ancestral friendships by common inter
estS and pursuits. but not least D.. academic
companionship and the pursuit of that ideal Of
culture which more and more came to be re-
garded the truest title to the name of Ro-
man. the real stamp Of rank" The quiet airs