16 EDUCATION AND ACQUIBEJIENTS OF CICEBO.
inclinations were of a poetical nature, and Iiis earliest poetical
productions were composed in the old Eoman form. Γlιe poem
“ Pontius Glaucus,” in versibus Iongis, was written when Cicero
was a mere boy. In poetry he adhered throughout his life to
the ancient Boman forms, while in his prose he was entirely
the child of his own age. Wc can hardly form a notion of
the nature of the education which such a distinguished Eoman
received in a municipium; we can only say that the Greek
language and literature were among the earliest subjects in
which he was instructed, as in my youth a knowledge of
French was the first thing that was imparted to the boys in
Germany. A short time before the outbreak of the Italian
war, Cicero, then about fourteen or fifteen years old, was taken
to Eome by his father, perhaps because Arpinum, which lay
on the frontier of the Italicans was not thought safe enough.
Here he associated with Greek philosophers and rhetoricians,
and throughout his life he considered it as his greatest hap-
piness to have been introduced, at so early a period, to the
two Scacvolas, by whom he was treated like one of their
family, and to have been connected with Crassus and others.
That time was one of great excitement, and this was one of
the fortunate circumstances of his life. It is very doubtful
(for Cicero nowhere mentions it) whether ho was with Sulla
during the Italian war4; it can, at any rate, have been only
for a short time, and had no lasting influence upon him; he
was naturally in fact not a military character. In his inter-
course with the great Scaevola, he occupied himself with the
study of the civil law. This method of studying the law, as
an apprentice, under a man distinguished in his profession,
resembles the method which was formerly Γolloλvcd in France,
and which is still customary in England. It afforded immense
advantages to young men of talent, as they became acquainted
with the law in concrete. They assembled early in the morning
in the atrium, and listened to the advice which was given to
those who came to consult the lawyer. This mode of education
is the best in all cases where it is practicable. Although it is a
very just remark that Cicero had no scientific knowledge of the
law, still it was not without an important meaning, that he
said, “ If I wished to acquire a scientific knowledge of the
law, it would not take me more than two months.” He may
4 Plutarch, Cice o, 3.
M. TULLIUS CICERO.
17
not have had a systematic and general view of the law, but he
had a good practical knowledge of it, and knew an immense
number of cases.
As I am relating to you the history of the greatest man of
his kind, I am anxious to make the causes of the embarrass-
ments which he met with during his life as clear as possible.
If we consider Iiis attachment to his friends among the opti-
males, and, on the other hand, the favour he bestowed upon
their opponent, P. Sulpicius, we cannot deny that he was in
contradiction with himself; but he followed truth in every
way, and here we recognise the discord of his mind. Sulpicius
was the man of his choice, and of a more congenial mind and
talents than those old gentlemen, who were men of very great
respectability indeed but narrow-minded. Sulpicius moreover
belonged to the party of Marius; and that Cicero too was
favourably disposed towards Marius is clear from the fact that
Cicero, when a young man, wrote a poem in his praise.
When the revolutions broke out, Cicero remained at Eome,
and during the strife of the parties he was protected by that of
Marius, while the paτtizans of Sulla were not against him, for
he was true and favourable to both. In the meantime he con-
tinued to work, though his heart was torn, and seeing the
wrongs on both sides, he maintained himself in a kind of
neutrality. In the second consulship of Sulla, Cicero attained
his twenty-seventh year. He had already spoken in public
several times, in causis privatis ; his first speeches indeed belong
to an unusually early period of his life.5 His defence of
Roscius of Ameria, whom Chrysogonus, a freedman of Sulla,
wanted to get rid of, excited still greater admiration of his
talents, together with the highest esteem for his own personal
character. It was an act of true heroism for a young man like
Cicero, not to fear that dangerous favourite of Sulla, and still
more so if we consider his family-connexion with Marius.
Cicero saved his client, but his friends advised him to quit
Rome, that Chrysogonus might forget him. He accordingly
went to Rhodes and Asia, where, in the midst of Greeks, he
s The speech for Roscius, the comedian, is the earliest of his orations. Gara-
toni and Gronovius have proved that it must have been, spoken several years
previously to the oration for Quinctins, in the year 677. The latter caused a
great sensation, on account of the boldness with wɪiieh he protected the perse-
cuted Quinctius —N.
VOL III. C