Imatges de pągina
PDF
EPUB

ple of freedom built on the site of his house at Rome. Cicero's wife and chiliren were exposed to ill treatment.— Whilst the accounts of these occurrences drove the unhappy man almost to despair, a change favorable to him was preparing in Rome. The audacity of Clodius became equally insupportable to all. Pompey encouraged Cicero's friends to get him recalled to Rome. The senate declared that it would not attend to any business until the decree which ordered his banishment was revoked. Through the zeal of the consul Lentulus, and at the proposition of several tribunes, the decree of recall passed the assembly of the people, in the following year, in spite of a bloody tumult, in which Cicero's brother Quintus was dangerously wounded. In this honorable manner Cicero returned, after an absence of ten months. The assembled senate received him at the gates of the city, and his entry resembled a triumph. The republic undertook the charge of rebuilding his houses. From this period, a new epoch commences in Cicero's life. His republican zeal diminished in proportion as his attachment to Pompey increased, whom he declared his benefactor. Clodius opposed with arms the rebuil'ng of Cicero's houses, and often attacked him personally. Milo repelled his attacks, and accused him, at the same time, before the tribunal. Rome became frequently a field of battle. Cicero, meanwhile, passed several years with little public employment, occupied with his rhetorical works. To oblige Pompey, he defended Vatinius and Gabinius, two citizens of bad character, who had shown themselves his implacable enemies. At the age of 54, he entered the college of the augurs. The death of the turbulent Clodius, who was slain by Milo, delivered him from his most dangerous opponent. He defended the perpetrator of this act, who was his friend and avenger, in a beautiful speech; but the presence of Pompey's soldiers, and the tumult of the friends of Clodius, confused him whilst delivering it. At this period, the senate appointed him governor of Cilicia. Cicero conducted a war, while in this office, with good success, repulsed the Parthians, and was greeted by the soldiers with the title of imperator. But he was not allowed the honor of a triumph. As soon as his term of office had expired, he returned to Rome, which was threatened with serious disturbances, owing to the rupture between Cæsar and Pompey. Dreading the horrors of a civil war, he endeavored

in vain to reconcile the rivals. Cæsar advanced towards Rome, and Pompey was forced to fly with the consuls and the senate. Cicero, not anticipating this sudden approach of Cæsar, was still in Italy. Cæsar saw him at Formiæ, but was not able to gain him over; for, although convinced that the party of Cæsar was likely to prevail, and although his son-in-law, Dolabella, was one of Cæsar's confidants, he was prompted by his sense of honor to return to Pompey. After the battle of Pharsalia and the flight of Pompey, he refused to take the command of some troops who had remained at Dyrrhachium, but returned to Italy, which was governed by Cæsar's representative, Antony. This return was attended with several unpleasant circumstances, until the conqueror wrote to him, and soon after received him graciously. Cicero now devoted himself entirely to literature and philosophy. He was divorced from his wife Terentia, to enable him to marry a beautiful and rich heiress, whose guardian he was. But the pecuniary considerations which induced him to take this step could never prevail on him to flatter power: on the contrary, he purposely kept aloof, and ridiculed the flatterers of Cæsar, priding himself on his panegyric of Cato. But his disaffection was overcome by the liberality of Cæsar, when he pardoned Marcellus. Enraptured by this act of favor, which restored his friend to him, Cicero broke silence, and delivered a famous oration, which contained as much instruction as panegyric for the dictator. Soon after, he spoke in defence of Ligarius, and Cæsar, relenting, gave up his purpose of condemning the accused to death. Cicero now regained a part of his former consideration, when the death of his daughter Tullia occurred, and affected him very painfully. The assassination of Cæsar opened a new career to the orator. He hoped to regain great political influence. The conspirators shared with him the honor of an enterprise in which no part had been assigned him; and the less he had contributed to it himself, the more anxious was he to justify the deed, and pursue the advantages which it offered. But Antony took Cæsar's place. Even in this turbulent year, Cicero found leisure for literary occupations, and, among other labors, completed his work De Gloria, which was lost as late as in the 14th century. He determined on going to Greece, where he could live in safety; but he soon returned to Rome, and composed those admirable orations against Antony, which are known to us by

the name of Philippics, and which are equally distinguished for eloquence and patriotism. His implacable enmity towards Antony induced him to favor young Octavius, although the pretended moderation of the latter did not deceive him. With him originated all the energetic resolutions of the senate in favor of the war which the consuls and the young Cæsar were conducting, in the name of the republic, against Antony. Octavius having possessed himself of the consulate, and formed an alliance with Antony and Lepidus, after the death of the two consuls, the power of the senate and of the orator yielded to the arms of the triumvirs. Cicero, who had always spared Octavius, and even proposed to Brutus to be reconciled with him, was at last convinced that liberty was at an end. At Tusculum, whither he had retired with his brother and nephew, he learnt that his name, at Antony's demand, had been added to the list of the proscribed. He repaired, in a state of indecision, to the sea-coast, and embarked. Contrary winds drove him back to the shore. At the request of his slaves, he embarked a second time, but soon returned again to await his fate at his country-seat near Formiæ. "I will die,” exclaimed he," in my country, which I have more than once saved." His slaves, seeing the neighborhood already disturbed by the soldiers of the triumvirs, endeavored to convey him away in a litter, but soon discovered the murderers at their heels. They prepared for combat; but Cicero, who felt that death was unavoidable, ordered them to make no resistance, bent his head before Popilius, the commander of the murderers, who had once been saved by his eloquence, and suffered death more courageously than he had borne misfortune. He died in his 64th year, A. U. C. 711 (B. C. 43). His head and hands were, by the orders of Antony, affixed to the same rostrum from which the orator, as Livy says, had poured forth eloquence unequalled by any human voice. Cicero merited the character which Augustus gave him in these words: "He was a good citizen, who loved his country sincerely." He was (particularly consider ing the spirit of his times) a virtuous man, for his faults were only weaknesses of character, not vices, and he always pursued good for its own sake, or (what, if a fault, is easily forgiven) for the sake of fame. His heart was open to all noble impressions, to all great and fine feelings, to patriotism, friendship, gratitude, and love of science. Cicero's eloquence has

VOL. III.

17

always remained a model. After the revival of learning, he was the most admired of the ancient writers; and the purity and elegance of his style will always place him in the first rank of Roman classics. The style of his philosophical writings, without oratorical ostentation, breathes that pure Attic elegance which some of his contemporaries wished also to see in his orations. The orator is seen, however, in his prolix and comparatively unanimated dialogues. His philosophical works, the principal part of the contents of which is taken from the Greek, and which combine academic and Stoic doctrines and principles, possess very unequal interest for us. Thus, for example, his work De Natura Deorum is, for us, only a collection of errors: the Tusculana Quæstiones are full of the subtilties of the Athenian school: his work De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum likewise belongs to this somewhat dry, dogmatic philosophy. On the other hand, his works on practical morals have maintained their full value. The book De Officiis is to this day the finest treatise on virtue, inspired by pure human wisdom. The pleasures of friendship and old age have likewise been excellently set forth in Cicero's De Amicitia and De Senectute. Of his political work De Republica, a considerable part was brought to light by Maio, and published in Rome in 1822. Cicero wrote the six books De Rep. in his 54th year. In these he endeavored to show by what policy, what resources and what morals Rome had obtained the dominion of the world. Steinacker published these fragments at Leipsic, in 1823. Villemain translated and explained them (Paris, 1823). The work has also been translated in the United States (New York, 1829). Professor Gust. Münnich, in Cracow, gives an account of the Sarmatian copy of Cicero De Rep., which, in 1581, was in the possession of a Volhynian nobleman, and has since disappeared, in his work, M. Tull. Ciceronis Libri De Republica notit. Codicis Sarmat. (Göttingen, 1825). According to him, Goslicki used this copy in his work De perfecto Senatore. Cicero's works De Divinatione and De Legibus are instructive monuments of antiquity. The same philosophical spirit is evident in all his oratorical treatises, particularly in the most important of them, De Oratore, although this contains as little of utility for us as the Claris Oratoribus, Topicis, De Partitione Oratoria, &c. The most interesting of all Cicero's works, for posterity, are his Epistola familiares and

Ad Atticum, which give a more exact and lively idea of the state of the republic than any of his other works, and display most strongly the characteristic traits of the author. They are translated, in a masterly style, by Wieland. The life of Cicero was written, of old, by Plutarch, and has been also, in modern times, by Middleton and Morabin. In the publication and explanation of his works, Paulus and Aldus Manutius, Lambinus, the two Gruters, the two Gronovii, &c., have distinguished themselves. We possess late editions of his entire works, by J. A. Ernesti, Beck and Schütz. Cicero's life, interesting on many accounts, is particularly so to the historical politician, as showing the consequences of the deplorable state of the Roman republic, in the case of so distinguished an individual, as well as the impossibility of preserving its liberty. Cato, Cicero, and some others, were worthy of having lived in a better age of the republic, to the corruption of which they fell martyrs.-In 1828 appeared a highly important work, edited by Maio (q. v.), Classicorum Auctorum e Vaticanis Codicibus Editorum: Tomus I et II, curante Angelo Majo, Vaticana Bibliotheca Prafecto. Roma, Typis Vaticanis, 1828, 8vo. The second volume contains all the fragments of Cicero's orations which have been discovered by Maio, Niebuhr and Peyron.

CICERONE; the title of the person who, in Italy, and particularly in Rome, shows and explains to strangers curiosities and antiquities. The talkativeness of such persons has procured them the name of cicerone, in jocular allusion to Cicero. A good cicerone must possess extensive and accurate information; and several distinguished archaeologists have pursued this business, as it gives them an opportunity, while serving others, to make repeated examinations of the works of art, and thus to become continually more familiar with them. Signore Nibbi is the most distinguished cicerone. He explains antiquities on the spot, in Rome, in a very interesting manner.

CICISBEO; a name given, since the 17th century, in Italy, to the professed gallant of a married lady. It is the fashion, among the higher ranks in Italy, for the husband, from the day of marriage, to associate with his wife in his own house only. In society, or places of public amusement, she is accompanied by the cicisbeo, who even attends at her toilet, to receive her commands for the day. This custom is the more extraordinary,

from the natural jealousy of the Italian, who seems to change his character completely after marriage. Father Barri has made the Cicisbeatura the subject of a moral work, and divides it into larga and stretta; the first kind he thinks pardonable, but the latter he regards with repugnance. This custom is much on the decline in Italy.

CICOGNARA, Leopold, count of, born at Ferrara, about 1780. He early showed a great taste for the fine arts. His first work was Memorie Storiche dei Letterati ed Artisti Ferraresi (Ferrara, 1811). Napoleon made him president of the academy of fine arts at Venice, where his house became a central point for the lovers of the fine arts. The French emperor also assisted him in his enterprises, and made him knight of the iron crown. After the emperor's fall, the Austrian government allowed Cicognara to retain his place as president of the academy of fine arts. In 1818, he accompanied the works of art sent by the government of Venice to Vienna as a present for the empress Caroline of Austria. At the same time, he presented her 100 copies of his Omaggio delle Provincie Venete alla Maestà di Carolina Augusta (Venice, 1818, fol.), with 18 engravings. The work is splendidly executed. Besides the 100 copies presented to the empress, only 500 were struck off, which never came into the book trade. This Omaggio, therefore, belongs to the great bibliographical rarities. (See the count's Lettera sulla Statua rappresentante Polimnia di Canova, Venice, 1817, p. 101.) Cicognara, having long entertained the idea of continuing Winckelmann's History of Art to the latest times, and having collected copious materials for this purpose, at length produced a work which has been violently attacked, both on account of its prolixity and its deficiencies. It is, however, one which cannot be dispensed with. Its title is, Storia della Scultura dal suo Risorgimento in Italia sino al Secolo di Canova, of which vol. 1, fol., with 43 copperplates, was published in Venice, at the expense of the author. It was followed, in 1816, by vol. 2, containing 90 engravings. This volume had on its title, Sino al Secolo XIX. Vol. 3 was published in 1818, with 48 plates. Of the 2d edition, the 5th vol. appeared at Prato in 1824. When the first volume was completed, Cicognara presented it himself to Napoleon, to whom it is dedicated. On his visit to Paris for this purpose, he was elected a member of the institute. He had received assistance from the French government

in the execution of his work; but this was withdrawn on the restoration of the Bourbons, and the author became much embarrassed, as he had spent a great part of his private fortune in the undertaking. In consequence of having been confounded with another Cicognara, who was imprisoned in Italy as a member of the Carbonari, he published a letter, while at Paris, on the subject of the political persecutions in his country, and expressed his opinion very freely. On his return from Paris, he was received at Venice very coolly, and, in consequence, went to Rome. Having spent his fortune in his literary enterprises, he was obliged to sell his library, which he had been 30 years in collecting. For this purpose he published a Catalogo ragionato dei Libri d'Arti e d'Antichità posseduti dal Conte Cicognara (Pisa, 2 vols.). This catalogue is a work of value, as the titles are accompanied with bibliographical notices. Among the smaller works of the count, of which there are many, is Le Fabbriche più cospicue di Venezia, misurate, illustrate ed intagliate dei Membri della Veneta R. Accademia delle belle Arti (Venice, 1820, 2 vols. fol.) The work contains 250 engravings, and the greater part of the critical observations are by Cicognara himself.

CICUTA. The cicuta, or common American hemlock (conium maculatum), is one of the most valuable and important of medicinal vegetables. It is a plant indigenous in most temperate climates, and is found commonly along walls and fences, and about old ruins and buildings. It is an annual plant, of four or five feet in height, having very fine double pinnate leaves, of a pale-green color, and bearing flowers of a greenish-white, in large, flat heads. It was first introduced to general notice, together with other vegetables of the same kind, by baron Storck of Vienna. The most common form in which it is administered, is the extract, which is given in pills. Of this, from 12 to 60 grains per day may be taken for a long time. It is invaluable in all chronic inflammations, and enlargements of glandular parts, as the liver, the womb, &c., tumors of which it will sometimes remove in a space of time surprisingly short. Its use may be continued, if necessary, for a long time, and it is not found to debilitate or injure the system in the manner that mercury always does when long used. Its green leaves, stirred into a soft poultice, form an excellent application for painful sores and ulcers; and the same leaves, dried and rubbed fine, make, when mixed with ce

rate or lard, a capital ointment for irritable sores, with which a poultice does not agree.

CID. Don Rodrigo (Ruy) Diaz, count of Bivar, surnamed the Cid, born in 1026, the model of the heroic virtues of his age, and the flower of Spanish chivalry, styled by his enemies (the ambassadors of the Moorish kings) el mio Cid (my lord), and by his king and countrymen Campeador (hero without an equal), continues to live in the poetry of his country. We were made acquainted with the history of his life by the play of the great Corneille. Rodrigo loved and was beloved by Ximene, daughter of Lozano, count of Gormaz, who, with Diego, the father of Rodrigo, excelled all the knights at the court of Ferdinand I of Castile. The envy of Gormaz at Diego's superior estimation at court produced a dispute between the two, which led to a duel. Gormaz vanquished the old Diego, and, insult being added to this disgrace, Diego demanded from his son the blood of the offender. In the contest between honor and love, the former prevailed in the breast of the youth, and Gormaz fell. Ximene, unfortunate as a daughter and a mistress, could no longer listen to the voice of love: it became necessary for her to demand vengeance on the object of her affections, and Rodrigo would willingly have rushed to the combat, if by so doing he could have alleviated the torments of a lacerated heart. But no champion was found to meet the young hero; and nothing but the discharge of the important duties which devolved upon him could preserve him from sinking under his despair. Five Moorish kings appeared in Castile: devastation and death accompanied their progress. Rodrigo, who was not yet 20 years of age, threw himself upon his noble horse Babieca, and, at the head of his vassals, went to meet the enemy, who soon ceased to be the terror of the country. The young hero sent the five captive kings to Ferdinand, who, as a reward for his bravery, gave him Ximene, and united those whom the decrees of fate seemed to have separated forever. They were married in Valencia. Ferdinand afterwards added Galicia, Leon and Oviedo to Castile, and posterity calls him the Great; but it was Rodrigo who gained him the name. A quarrel having arisen between Ferdinand and king Ramiro of Arragon concerning the possession of Calahorra, the latter challenged him to a single combat, and appointed for his substitute the knight Martin Gonzalez. Ferdinand

chose the Cid for his champion, and, by his means, obtained Calahorra. Ferdinand, in his will, divided his dominions among his sons: to Sancho he gave Castile, to Alfonso he gave Leon and Oviedo, and to Garcia, Galicia, together with the conquered part of Portugal. This division caused a war between the brothers, in which Sancho was victorious: this success was owing to the Cid, to whom he had given the command of his forces. Alfonso was taken prisoner, Garcia brought ruin upon himself by his own imprudence, and it remained only to overcome the obstinate resistance of Zamora, where Sancho's sister Urraca ruled. Before the walls of this city Sancho was assassinated, and Alfonso, who, eight months before, was vanquished by the Cid, was called to the throne. It is related, in the ballads, that the Cid read the oath of purification, in the name of the states of Castile, before the new king, on account of the murder of Sancho, with such impressive solemnity, that Alfonso shuddered, but was also offended. It is certain that he spared nothing to gain over the Cid. The story of this warrior requires a critical examination, especially what relates to his marriage. According to history, Alfonso married him to donna Ximene, his niece (in, 1074); and consequently it seems we must consider him twice married. John von Müller, the German historian, supposes that the daughter of the proud Gormaz may have been his first Ximene. However that may be, it is certain that the Cid, notwithstanding the important services which he rendered to his king, often experienced the inconstancy of royal favor. A man like him, of strict integrity and virtue, of an inflexible and lofty spirit, who despised an effeminate life, was not fitted for courts. His true friend and brother in arms, Alvaro Hanez Minaya, his wife and child, were his world. The gravity of his countenance excited respect and reverence; his retired life afforded room for the slanders of the courtiers; and he was exposed to frequent reproaches. But, in times of necessity, his assistance was again sought, and he was too generous to remember past offences. The king finally took from him all that he had given him, wife and treasures; but, from shame or fear, he afterwards restored Ximene. Disgraced, plundered, forced to depend on himself alone, Rodrigo was now happier and greater than before. Ever true to his country and his religion, he raised an army by the reputation of his name alone, to subdue the Moors in Va

lencia. In the midst of his career of conquest, he hastened to the assistance of his king, who was hard pressed by Joseph, the founder of Morocco; but the only return for this generosity was new ingratitude. He therefore departed by night, with his most trusty followers, and, forsaken and ill provided, fled from the king. He, however, remained true to himself, and fortune to him. His magnanimity again overcame the king. Permission was given to all to join the forces of the Cid, who still maintained the cause of Spain, and always with distinguished success. Alfonso declared aloud, in the presence of the envious courtiers, "This Cid serves me much better than you," and could no longer be prevented from visiting him. From this time, he was never estranged from him, although he unintentionally promoted the machinations of his enemies. Two brothers, counts of Carrion, had resolved, by a marriage with the daughters of the Cid, to obtain possession of his wealth. The king himself promoted their suit, and the Cid yielded to his wishes. With donna Elvira and donna Sol, they received likewise the great treasures which the arms of the Cid had won. But scarcely had they dismissed their attendants, when, in a wild, mountainous desert, they stripped the garments from the persons of the ladies, bound and beat them till pain choked their cries, and departed with the money. A trusty servant, whom the Cid had sent after them, delivered the ladies from their wretched situation, and the vile deed was brought to light. The Cid demanded justice. Alfonso summoned all the vassals of Leon and Castile to a high court of justice at the city of Toledo. The Cid demanded the restoration of his treasures, and opportunity to take vengeance for the insult, by a combat between the counts of Carrion and the champions whom he should name. They sought to avoid the combat, but the king insisted on it. With ill-concealed fear, they rode to the lists; the knights of the Cid overcame both them and their uncle; their dishonored lives were spared. The last exploit of the Cid was the capture of Saguntum (Murviedro), after which he died at Valencia, in the 74th year of his age (1099). What this hero won, and for many years defended, the united power of Leon and Castile was scarcely able to preserve against the encroachments of the infidels. His widow, therefore, went with the dead body of the hero to Castile. He was buried at the convent of St. Peter of Cardena, in a

« AnteriorContinua »