are Laelius, Scipio, the Gracchi, Antonius, Crassus, and the
celebrated Q. Hortensius, early opponent of Cicero.

Satire, that one absolutely native product of Italy, first found
independent expression in C. Lucilius (180-103 B. C.), though the great
Roman inclination toward that form of expression had already found an
outlet in satirical passages in other sorts of writing. There is perhaps
no better weapon for the scourging of vice and folly than this potent
literary embodiment of wit and irony, and certainly no author ever
wielded that weapon more nobly than Lucilius. His aera was characterised
by great degeneracy, due to Greek influences, and the manner in which he
upheld failing Virtue won him the unmeasured regard of his
contemporaries and successors. Horace, Persius, and Juvenal all owe much
to him, and it is melancholy to reflect that all his work, save a
fragment or two, is lost to the world. Lucilius, sometimes called "The
Father of Satire," was a man of equestrian rank, and fought with Scipio
at Numantia.

With the age of M. Tullius Cicero (106-43 B. C.)--the Golden Age--opens
the period of highest perfection in Roman literature. It is hardly
necessary to describe Cicero himself--his luminous talents have made him
synonymous with the height of Attic elegance in wit, forensic art, and
prose composition. Born of equestrian rank, he was educated with care,
and embarked on his career at the age of twenty-five. His orations
against L. Sergius Catilina during his consulship broke up one of the
most dastardly plots in history, and gained for him the title of "Father
of His Country." Philosophy claimed much of his time, and his delightful
treatises "De Amicitia" and "De Senectute" will be read as long as
friendship endures on earth, or men grow old. Near the end of his life
Cicero, opposing the usurpations of M. Antonius, delivered his
masterpieces of oratory, the "Philippics," modelled after the similar
orations of the Greek Demosthenes against Philip of Macedonia. His
murder, demanded by the vengeful Antonius in the proscription of the
second triumvirate, was the direct result of these Philippics.
Contemporary with Cicero was M. Terentius Varro, styled "most learned of
the Romans," though ungraceful in style. Of his works, embracing many
diverse subjects, only one agricultural treatise survives.

In this survey we need allot but little space to Caius Julius Caesar,
probably the greatest human being so far to appea