49. Tantalus was the father of Pelops, Pelops of Atreus, Atreus of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Agamemnon returning from Troy was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra. She paid the penalty of her wickedness, being slain by her own son Orestes. The Argonauts went with Jason in the ship Argo to the Colchians, to recover the golden fleece; and this was accomplished by the help of Medea daughter of Eetes king of the Colchians.

50. Nothing in all antiquity was more celebrated than the Trojan war, which in the tenth year was destructive to the Trojans. The Greeks waged war to recover Helen, wife of Menelaus king of Sparta, who had been carried off by Paris son of Priam king of Troy. The commander of the Grecks was Agamemnon son of Atreus king of Mycenæ, brother of Menelaus. The other chiefs were Achilles son of Peleus and Thetis, Ajax son of Telamon with his brother Teucer, Diomedes son of Tydeus, Ulysses king of Ithaca, and the aged Nestor king of the Pylians. Among the Trojans Hector son of Priam, Æneas son of Anchises and Venus, and Sarpedon king of the Lycians, were most renowned.

51. Rome, the capital of Latium, founded by Romulus, was built on seven hills: the Capitoline, the Palatine, the Esquiline, the Aventine, the Quirinal, the Viminal, and the Coelian. Six kings succeeded Romulus, the last of whom Tarquin being expelled, two consuls were elected yearly. The Romans enlarged their empire by continual wars, until Rome became mistress of the world. The Latins were conquered by Decius, the Volsci by Coriolanus, the Æqui by Cincinnatus, the Veians by Camillus.

52. L. Sergius Catilina, a noble Roman citizen, of very bad character, having wasted his goods by lust and luxury, entered into a conspiracy with many men of the same mould to lay waste his country with fire and sword. This conspiracy M. Tullius Cicero the consul crushed. The other conspirators were slain in prison. Catilina himself fell bravely fighting in battle against C. Antonius, the other consul. Sallust wrote the history of this conspiracy.

53. Achilles, son of Peleus and Thetis, bravest of all the Greeks in the Trojan war, slew in battle Hector, son of King Priam and Hecuba, who was leader of the Trojans. Afterwards being stricken by the arrow of Paris on his heel, which only could be wounded, he died from that wound. He had for his friend Patroclus, killed by Hector. Achilles and Ajax were acidæ, or descended from Eacus. Neoptolemus was son of Achilles.

54. Athens, the most renowned city of Greece, capital of Attica, was founded by King Cecrops. It had seventeen kings, of whom Theseus was most illustrious. When Codrus, the last of these, had devoted himself to death in war for his country, it was resolved to establish a popular form of government. Therefore Archons were created, who were at first perpetual, afterwards decennial, but at length annual. Pisistratus for some time exercised a tyranny; but when he died. the power of the people was soon restored.

49. Tantalus pater sum Pelops, Pelops Atreus, Atreus Agamemnon et Menelaus. Agamemnon ex Troja regredior ab uxor Clytemnestra trucido. Is scelus poena (pl.) do, a filius suus Orestes occido. Argonauta cum Jason in navis Argo ad Colchus proficisco, ut vellus aureus recupero; isque efficio ops Medea Eetes rex Colchus filia.

50. Nihil in tota antiquitas magis celebro quam bellum Trojanus, qui decimus annus Trojanus exitiosus sum. Græcus bellum infero ad recupero Helena uxor Menelaus rex Spartanus, qui a Paris Priamus rex Trojanus filius rapio. Græcus ductor sum Agamemnon Atreus filius rex Mycenæ, frater Menelaus. Ceterus princeps sum Achilles Peleus et Thetis filius, Ajax Telamon filius cum frater Teucer, Diomedes Tydeus filius Ulysses Ithaca rex, et grandævus Nestor rex Pylius. Inter Trojanus, Hector Priamus filius, Æneas Anchises et Venus filius et Sarpedon rex Lycius, maxime inclaresco.

51. Roma, caput Latium, a Romulus condo, in septem collis exstruo: Capitolinus, Palatinus, Esquilinus, Aventinus, Quirinalis, Viminalis, et Cœlius. Romulus succedo sex rex, qui ultimus Tarquinius expello, duo consul quotannis eligo. Romanus bellum perpetuus imperium amplifico, donec Roma domina terra (pl.) fio. Latinus a Decius, Volscus a Coriolanus, qui a Cincinnatus, Veiens a Camillus devinco.

52. L. Sergius Catilina, civis Romanus nobilis malus mos (pl.), bonus libido et luxuria consumo, conjuratio cum multus idem farina homo ineo ad patria ferrum flammaque vasto. Hic conjuratio M. Tullius Cicero consul opprimo. Ceterus conjuratus in carcer occido. Ipse Catilina fortiter pugno in prælium contra C. Antonius, consul alter, cado. Hic conjuratio historia scribo Sallustius.

53. Achilles, Peleus et Thetis filius, omnis Græcus bellum Troicus fortis, Hector, Priamus rex et Hecuba filius, qui dux sum Trojanus, prælium occido. Postea sagitta Paris ico in calx, qui solus vulnero possum, is vulnus pereo. Amicus habeo Patroclus, ab Hector occido. Achilles et Ajax acides sum, sive Æacus oriundus. Achilles filius sum Neoptolemus.

54. Athenæ, urbs Græcia nobilis, caput Attica, a Cecrops rex condo. Septemdecim rex habeo, qui Theseus illustris. Quum Codrus hic ultimus in bellum pro patria sui mors devoveo, forma regimen popularis instituo placeo. Creo itaque archon, qui primo perpetuus, post decennalis, denique vero annuus sum. Pisistratus aliquam diu tyrannis exerceo; sed is morior, populus potestas mox restituo.

55. Solon enacted good laws for the Athenians. They waged wars vigorously against the Persians, and gained very glorious victories at Marathon, Salamis, Platææ, and Mycale. Afterwards elated by prosperity they turned the arms of the other states of Greece against them. Thence arose the Peloponnesian war, which lasted 28 years, and was only ended with the destruction of Athens. In the time of Philip the Macedonian, Athens again gave proofs of its old valour. Finally the city yielded to the arms of the Romans; but it did not cease to flourish in the pursuits of learning and the arts; wherefore the Roman youth used to be sent thither to study. Writers have emulously celebrated its glory, and called it the right eye of Greece.

56. Of all Greek philosophers the most renowned were Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Pythagoras taught the transmigration of souls. Socrates, unjustly condemned by the Athenians, was compelled to drink poison. Plato was the scholar of Socrates. Aristotle was the instructor of Alexander the Great.

57. Of the Comic poets of the Romans the most illustrious are Plautus and Terence; of the Epic, Virgil and Lucan; of the Didactic, Lucretius; of the Elegiac, Ovid, Tibullus, and Propertius; of the Lyric, Catullus and Horace, the latter also wrote Satires and Epistles. In writing history Livy, Cæsar, Sallust and Tacitus surpassed the rest; in the oratorical and philosophical style Cicero is far first. But in literature the Romans must be held inferior to the Greeks.

55. Solon bonus lex Atheniensis fero. Bellum contra Persa strenue gero, et victoria splendidus apud Marathon, Salamis, Platææ, et Mycale reporto. Mox res prosper superbus ceterus Græcia civitas arma in sui converto. Inde orior bellum Peloponnesiacus, qui octo et viginiti annus duro, nec nisi cum Athenæ excidium finio. Etas Philippus Macedo, Athenæ pristinus virtus documentum iterum do. Tandem Romanus arma urbs succumbo; sed doctrina et ars studium floreo non desisto; quapropter juventus Romanus illuc studeo causa mitto soleo. Gloria is scriptor certatim celebro, isque dexter Græcia oculus appello.

56. Omnis Græcus philosophus nobilis sum Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, et Aristoteles. Pythagoras anima transmigratio (pl.) doceo. Socrates, ut Atheniensis unjuste damno, venenum bibo cogo. Plato discipulus Socrates sum. Aristoteles Alexander magnus præceptor

sum.

57. Ex comicus Romanus poeta nobilis sum Plautus et Terentius; ex didacticus, Lucretius; ex elegiacus, Ovidius, Tibullus, et Propertius; ex lyricus, Catullus et Horatius, hic satira quoque et epistola scribo. In historia conscribo ceterus præsto Livius, Cæsar, Sallustius, et Tacitus; in oratorius et philosophicus genus Cicero facile princeps sum. Sed in res litterarius Romanus Græcus inferior habeo.

Notes.

1. Masculine substantives of the first declension in as, es, and feminine in e, are thus declined:

2. There is no article in Latin; therefore a, an, the, are not to

be translated in general.

3. Que (and), ve (or), are joined to the end of the words which they couple.

4. Curibus, from Cures.

5. To, in English, is often the sign of the dative case; as Loquor tibi, I speak to you: proximus es mihi, you are next to me. After verbs of motion, to is generally rendered by the preposition ad or in: as, Ibo ad patrem, I will go to my father: ibo in Italiam, I will go to Italy: but before the name of a town the preposition is commonly left out: as Ibo Romam, I will go to Rome.

6. At is often rendered by ad or apud; as Ad fores templi, at the door of the temple: apud Cremeram fluvium, at the river Cremera, At, followed by the name of a town, is a sign of the genitive case, if the noun is of the 1st or 2nd declension singular, as Romæ, at Rome: Ephesi, at Ephesus (so domi, at home): but of the ablative case, if the noun is of the plural number, or of the 3rd declension,