[169] Aristot., _De Poët._, c. 3. [170] Aristoph, _In Pac._, v. 740; Schol., _ibid._; Epicharm., _In Nupt. Heb._ apud Athen., l. iii., p. 85. [171] Plat., _In Argum._; Aristoph. p. xi.; Schol., _De Comœd._; _ibid._, p.xii. [172] Thence arises the epithet of _Eumolpique_ that I give to the verses which form the subject of this work. [173] The proof that Rome was scarcely known in Greece, at the epoch of Alexander, is that the historian Theopompus, accused by all critics of too much prolixity, has said only a single word concerning this city, to announce that she had been taken by the Gauls (Pliny, l. iii., c. 5). Bayle observes with much sagacity, that however little Rome had been known at that time, she would not have failed to furnish the subject of a long digression for this historian, who would have delighted much in it. (_Dict. crit._, art. THEOPOMPUS, rem. E.) [174] Diogen. Laërt., l. i., § 116. Pliny, l. v., c. 29. Suidas, _In_ Φερεκύδης. [175] Degerando, _Hist. des Systêm. de Phil._, t. i., p. 128, à la note. [176] Dionys. Halic., _De Thucid. Judic._ [177] The real founder of the Atomic system such as has been adopted by Lucretius (_De Rerum Natura_, l. i.), was Moschus, Phœnician philosopher whose works threw light upon those of Leucippus (Posidonius cité par Strabon, l. xvi., Sext. Empiric., _Adv. mathem._, p. 367). This system well understood, does not differ from that of the monads, of which Leibnitz was the inventor. [178] Fréret, _Mytholog. ou Religion des Grecs_. [179] Voltaire, who has adopted this error, has founded it upon the signification of the word _Epos_, which he has connected with that of Discourse (_Dictionn. philos._ au mot EPOPÉE). But he is mistaken. The Greek word ἔπος is translated accurately by _versus_. Thence the verb επεῖν, to follow in the tracks, to turn, to go, in the same sense. [180] The Greeks looked upon the Latin authors and artists as paupers enriched by their spoils; also they learned their language only when forced to do so. The most celebrated writers by whom Rome was glorified, were rarely cited by them. Longinus, who took an example of the sublime in Moses, did not seek a single one either in Horace or in Vergil; he did not even mention their names. It was the same with other critics. Plutarch spoke of Cicero as a statesman; he quoted many of his clever sayings, but he refrained from comparing him with Demosthenes as an orator. He excuses himself on account of having so little knowledge of the Latin tongue, he who had lived so long in Rome! Emperor Julian, who has written only in Greek, cites only Greek authors and not one Latin.