This full bloom of poetry fades away at the time of Cæsar and Cicero’s death, and a new generation takes the place of the old one. Few eloquent men of that period survive; Asinius Pollio, for example, who when Cæsar died, was about thirty-four years of age, and therefore had already formed his mind. As a writer, however, he belongs to a somewhat later date, after the war of Brundusium; for it was not till then that he had completely retired from public life. From the fragments of him in Seneca the father, we may gather that his style was very unequal, but that he sometimes could write very well, especially when impelled by passion; as he did with justice against the Pompeians, and with great injustice against Cicero. His was a soured and embittered nature, without any kindly feelings. Another skilful orator was Munatius Plancus. Hirtius indeed still belongs to the former age, but is not the less excellent: he is a most elegant writer, although his whole life was spent in the midst of arms. Asinius Pollio is the connecting link between the two generations (which might be called _proventus_,[33] φορά); just as Lessing is between Klopstock, Winkelmann, Kant, Kästner, Gellert, Cramer, on the one side, and Göthe, Voss, Friederich Leopold von Stolberg on the other, not reacting upon those who were older than himself, but paving the way for the rising generation. Thus Asinius stands between the time of Cicero and Virgil; for the latter may indeed be mentioned as his contemporary. It is a very just remark, that it is incorrect to speak, as we do in Germany, of the Augustean age; we ought only to call it the Augustan age, Αὐγούστειοι being met with in Greek authors[34] only. Except in the case of Livy, prose had entirely fallen off: besides him, there was only Messalla, of whom, however, nothing is left to us. And the cause of this lay in the state of things at that time, as is shown by Tacitus in his excellent _Dialogus de Oratoribus_. Prose was in times of old always developed by oratory; it was poor as soon as people ceased to speak in public. For this, however, there was no more a free opportunity: the _rostra_ were dumb, the _curia_ was hushed, and if there were still any speeches, they were only λόγοι ἐπιδεικτικοί,—dismal signs of the times! The only field therefore for prose was history, which was written by Asinius Pollio and Livy: Valerius Messalla alone, who was much older than Asinius, and about the same standing as Virgil, was of any importance as an orator. It may also be that he was more remarkable for his nobleness of mind and his personal excellence, than for extraordinary talent.