The Lives of the Twelve Caesars

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LIVES OF THE POETS. THE LIFE OF TERENCE. Publius Tebentjus Afeb, a native of Carthage, was a slave, at Rome, of the senator Terentius Lucanus, who, struck by hia abilities and handsome person, gave him not only a liberal education in his youth, but his freedom when he arrived at years of maturity. Some say...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LIVES OF THE POETS. THE LIFE OF TERENCE. Publius Tebentjus Afeb, a native of Carthage, was a slave, at Rome, of the senator Terentius Lucanus, who, struck by hia abilities and handsome person, gave him not only a liberal education in his youth, but his freedom when he arrived at years of maturity. Some say that he was a captive taken in war, hut this, as Fenestella1 informs us, could by no means have been the case, since both his birth and death took place in the interval between the termination of the second Punic war and the commencement of the third;2 nor, even supposing that he had been taken prisoner by the Numidian or Gretulian tribes, could he have fallen into the hands of a Roman general, as there was no commercial intercourse between the Italians and Africans until after the fall of Carthage.2 Terence lived in great familiarity with many persons of high station, and especially with Scipio Africanus, and Caius Laeiius, whose favour he is even supposed to have purchased by the foulest means. But Fenestella reverses the charge, contending that Terence was older than either of them. Cornelius Nepos, however, 1 Lucius Fenestella, an historical writer, is mentioned by Lactantius, Seneca, and Pliny, who says, that he died towards the close of the reign of Tiberius. 1 The second Punic war ended A.u.c. 532, and the third began A.u.c. 605. Terence was probably born about 5GO. l Carthage was laid in ruins A.u.c. 606 or C07, six hundred and sixty- leven years after its toundntion. informs us that they were all of nearly equal age; and Forcins intimates a suspicion of this criminal commerce in the following passage: ? While Terence plays the wanton with the great, and recommends himself to them by the meretricious ornaments of his person; while, with greedy ear...