A passage from his writings was sung at games in honour of Caesar, in order to rouse a feeling of indignation against the conspirators. The prominent words of the passage were,-- Men' servasse ut essent qui me perderent.[145] Other passages again appear to be fragments of spirited dialogue, and well adapted to show the art and the elocution of the actor. Cicero[146] quotes from the Teucer of Pacuvius the reproach of Telamon, couched in much the same terms as those which Teucer himself anticipates in the Ajax of Sophocles:-- Segregare abs te ausu's aut sine illo Salamina ingredi, Neque paternum aspectum es veritus, quom aetate exacta indigem Liberum lacerasti orbasti extinxti, neque fratris necis Neque ejus gnati parvi, qui tibi in tutelam est traditus--?[147] In commenting on these lines, Cicero speaks of the passion displayed by the actor ('so that even out of his mask the eyes of the actor appeared to me to burn'), and of the sudden change to pathos in his voice as he proceeded. He adds the further comment, 'Do we suppose that Pacuvius, in writing this passage, was in a calm and passionless mood?'--one of many proofs that the 'gravity' of the old tragedians was that of strong and ardent, not of phlegmatic natures, and that their strength was tempered by a pathos and humanity of feeling which were gradually gaining ascendency over the old Roman austerity. The language in such passages has not only the straightforward directness which is the general characteristic of the early literature, but a force and impetuosity added to its gravity, recalling the style of some fragments of the older orators[148]. The fragments of Accius afford the first hint of that enjoyment of natural beauty which enters largely into the poetry of a later age; but one or two fragments of Pacuvius, like several passages in Ennius, show the power of observing and describing the sublime and terrible aspects of Nature. The description of the storm which overtook the Greek army after sailing from Troy is perhaps the best specimen in this style:-- Profectione laeti piscium lasciviam Intuentur, nec tuendi capere satietas potest. Interea prope jam occidente sole inhorrescit mare, Tenebrae conduplicantur, noctisque et nimbum occaecat nigror, Flamma inter nubes coruscat, caelum tonitru contremit, Grando mista imbri largifico subita praecipitans cadit, Undique omnes venti erumpunt, saevi existunt turbines, Fervit aestu pelagus[149]. There are also, in the same style, these rough and graphic lines, exemplifying the impetuous force which the older Roman poets impart to their descriptions by the figure of speech called 'asyndeton,'-- Armamentum stridor, flictus navium, Strepitus fremitus clamor tonitruum et rudentum sibilus.[150] Virgil must have had this passage in his mind when he wrote the line-- Insequitur clamorque virum, stridorque rudentum.