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of its kind, excellent; no passage has been included that presents any serious difficulty in language or matter. In the arrangement of the passages, variety has been sought; yet, where the subject of two passages was akin, they have been placed together. In general, the earlier passages are somewhat easier than the later.

After choosing the extracts, I have tried in various ways to make them more accessible and attractive to the inexperienced reader. (1) A prefatory note has been prefixed to each passage; this should be read before translation is attempted. (2) Though the original text has in no case been re-written, whole sentences or clauses have been omitted where this seemed desirable. For obvious reasons this was done more often in prose extracts than in verse. (3) The punctuation has been completely revised, and a large number of commas added. To a novice, a comma is often as good as an explanatory note. (4) The long vowels have been marked. This device often makes it easier to discover the meaning; and it is of importance for a further reason. For Latin literature depends in a peculiar degree upon the appeal it makes to the ear, so that anyone, who reads either Virgil or Cicero without constant regard to the quantities, cannot really appreciate their excellence. Each one of these passages should be read aloud both

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(5) As there

before and after it is translated. still remained a few points in each extract, which seemed likely to puzzle those for whom the book was intended, these have been explained as briefly as possible in explanatory notes at the end of the text.

If the right passages have been chosen and suitable methods of simplification have been adopted, I may hope that the book will, in some measure, do what it is meant to do.

J. D. D.

March 20, 1912.

ل

SILVA LATINA

1. The Mission of Rome

Aeneas visited his father Anchises in the world below, where Anchises prophesied the future glory of Rome and showed him the heroes, yet unborn, who were to make Rome famous.

'The Greeks will be unrivalled in sculpture, eloquence, and astronomy, the Romans in law and government.'

Excudent alii spīrantia mollius aera,
Crēdō equidem, vīvōs dūcent de marmore
vultūs,

Ōrābunt causās melius, caelique meātūs
Describent radiō et surgentia sīdera dīcent;
Tū regere imperio populōs, Rōmāne, me-
mento;

Hae tibi erunt artēs, pacisque imponere

mōrem,

Parcere subiectis et debellare superbōs.

D. S. L.

VIRGIL, Aeneid vi 846-853.

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5

2

Military Glory

2. Military Glory

Murena was elected consul in 63 B.C. He was then

prosecuted for bribery at the election. Cicero defended him; he tells Servius, one of the prosecutors, that Murena's military distinction is a stronger claim to the consulship than Servius's knowledge of law.

Sed, ut ad studiōrum artiumque contentionem revertāmur, quî potest dubitārī, quin ad consulātum adipiscendum multō plūs adferat dignitātis rei militāris quam iūris cīvīlis glōria? Vigilās tū 5 dē nocte, ut tuis consultōribus respondeas, ille, ut eō, quo intendit, mātūrē cum exercitu perveniat ; tē gallōrum, illum būcinārum cantus exsuscitat; tū actiōnem instruis, ille aciem instruit. Tū cavēs, nē tui consultōrēs, ille, nē urbēs aut castra capianIo tur; ille tenet ac scit, ut hostium copiae, tū, ut aquae pluviae arceantur; ille exercitātus est in propagandis finibus, tū in regendīs. Ac nīmīrum, dicendum est enim quod sentiō, reī mīlitāris virtūs praestat cēteris omnibus. Haec nomen populō 15 Rōmānō, haec huic urbi aeternam glōriam peperit; haec orbem terrārum pārēre huic imperio coēgit. Omnes urbānae res, omnia haec nostra praeclara studia, et haec forensis laus et industria, latent in tūtēlā ac praesidio bellicae virtutis. Simul atque 20 increpuit suspiciō tumultus, artēs ilico nostrae conticescunt.

CICERO, Pro Murena 22.

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