[a] Cassius Severus lived in the latter end of the reign of Augustus, and through a considerable part of that of Tiberius. He was an orator, according to Quintilian, who, if read with due caution, might serve as a model worthy of imitation. It is to be regretted, that to the many excellent qualities of his style he did not add more weight, more strength and dignity, and thereby give colour and a body to his sentiments. With those requisites, he would have ranked with the most eminent orators. To his excellent genius he united keen reflection, great energy, and a peculiar urbanity, which gave a secret charm to his speeches. But the warmth of his temper hurried him on; he listened more to his passions than to his judgement; he possessed a vein of wit, but he mingled with it too much acrimony; and wit, when it misses its aim, feels the mortification and the ridicule which usually attend disappointed malice. _Multa, si cum judicio legatur, dabit imitatione digna CASSIUS SEVERUS, qui, si cæteris virtutibus colorem et gravitatem orationis adjecisset, ponendus inter præcipuos foret, Nam et ingenii plurimum est in eo, et acerbitas mira, et urbanitas, et vis summa; sed plus stomacho quàm consilio dedit; præterea ut amari sales, ita frequenter amaritudo ipsa ridicula est._ Lib. x. cap. 1. We read in Suetonius (_Life of Octavius_, s. 56), that Cassius had the hardiness to institute a prosecution for the crime of poisoning against Asprenas Nonius, who was, at the time, linked in the closest friendship with Augustus. Not content with accusations against the first men in Rome, he chose to vent his malevolence in lampoons and defamatory libels, against the most distinguished of both sexes. It was this that provoked Horace to declare war against Cassius, in an ode (lib, v. ode 6), which begins, _Quid immerentes hospites vexas, canis_. See an account of his malevolent spirit, _Annals_, b, i. s. 72. He was at length condemned for his indiscriminate abuse, and banished by Augustus to the isle of Crete. But his satirical rage was not to be controlled. He continued in exile to discharge his malignity, till, at last, at the end of ten years, the senate took cognizance of his guilt, and Tiberius ordered him to be removed from Crete to the Rock of Seriphos, where he languished in old age and misery. See _Annals_, b. iv. s. 21. The period of ancient oratory ended about the time when Cassius began his career. He was the first of the new school.