N° III. The beginning of the VIIIth Book of the ILIAD. Tranflated by T. HOBBES. THE morning now was quite difplay'd, and Jove Upon Olympus' highest top was fet; You Gods all, and you Goddeffes, d'ye hear! I cannot do my work for you: forbear! For whomfoever I affifting fee The Argives or the Trojans, be it known, Shut in with gates of brafs, as much below And let one end thereof lie on the plain, At At th' other end, if I my ftrength put to 't, I'll pull you Gods and Goddeffes to me, And to fuch mighty words durst not reply, &c. N° IV. A Very learned and ingenious friend *, to whom I am indebted for fome very just remarks, of which I have availed myself in the preceding Effay, has furnished me with the following acute, and, as I think, fatisfactory explanation of a paffage in Tacitus, extremely obscure in itself, and concerning the meaning of which the commentators are not agreed. • Tacitus meaning to fay, " That Domitian, wishing to be the great, and indeed the only object in the empire, and that no body should appear with any fort of luftre in it but himfelf, was exceedingly jealous of the great reputation which Agricola had acquired by his skill in war," expreffes himself thus: In Vit. Agr. cap. 39. Id fibi maxime formidolofum, privati hominis nomen fuprà principis attolli. Fruftra ftudia fori, et civilium artium decus in filentium acta, fi militarem gloriam alius occuparet et cætera utcunque facilius diffimulari, ducis boni imperatoriam virtutem effe. Which Gor don * James Edgar, Efq; Commiffioner of the Customs, Edinburgh. 3 E 2 404 don tranflates thus: "Terrible above all things it "was to him, that the name of a private man "fhould be exalted above that of the Prince. In "vain had he driven from the public tribunals all purfuits of popular eloquence and fame, in vain "repreffed the renown of every civil accomplish«ment, if any other than himself poffeffed the glo<ry of excelling in war: Nay, however he might "diffemble every other diftafte, yet to the person of "Emperor properly appertained the virtue and "praife of being a great general." This tranflation is very good, as far as the words "civil accomplishment," but what follows is not, in my opinion, the meaning of Tacitus's words, which I would tranflate thus: "If any other than himself should become a "great object in the empire, as that man must ne ceffarily be who poffeffes military glory. For however he might conceal a value for excellence " of every other kind, and even affect a contempt "of it, yet he could not but allow, that skill in "war, and the talents of a great General, were "an ornament to the Imperial dignity itself.” ‹ Domitian did not pretend to any skill in war; and therefore the word "alius" could never be intended to exprefs a competitor with him in it.' Parevagli da tomer pine che d'altro che un privato authe maggior rinome del Principe: in vans aver e allo INDEX. porto silenzio agli study del for splender dell'arti civiti; se s'altri s'usurpa poi la gloria dell'arme : tutte l'altre cose potersi pin agevolmente in qualche modo passares, Capitano. ma L'eser à wirte proprie dill Imperatore. Davansati. INDE X. A. ABLANCOURT, his translations excellent, 216 ibid Adrian, his addrefs to his foul, 225 Alembert, D' quoted, 22 bis tranflations from Tacitus, 24 et feq. 60 Alis et Alexis, romance, 230 Aldrich, Dr, his tranflation of a humorous fong, 359 Ancient tranflation, few fpecimens of, exifting at present, 3, 4 Anguillara, beautiful paffage from his tranflation of O- Anthologia, tranflation of an epigram from, by Webb, 155 Aratus, phenomena of, tranflated by Cicero, 4 Arias Montanus, his verfion of the Scriptures, 119 dia, 150 B. ardenta verba 314- |