Hyperides flourished at Athens in the time of Demosthenes, AEschynes, Lycurgus, and other famous orators.  That age, says Cicero, poured forth a torrent of eloquence, of the best and purest kind, without the false glitter of affected ornament, in a style of noble simplicity, which lasted to the end of that period. Huic Hyperides proximus, et AEschynes fuit, et Lycurgus, aliique plures.  Haec enim aetas effudit hanc copiam; et, ut opinio mea fert, succus ille et sanguis incorruptus usque ad hanc aetatem oratorum fuit, in qua naturalis inesset, non fucatus nitor. De Claris Orat. s. 36.  Quintilian allows to Hyperides a keen discernment, and great sweetness of style; but he pronounces him an orator designed by nature to shine in causes of no great moment. Dulcis in primis et acutus Hyperides; sed minoribus causis, ut non dixerim utilior, magis par. Lib. x. cap. 1.  Whatever might be the case when this Dialogue happened, it is certain, at present, that the fame of Sophocles and Euripides has eclipsed the two Greek orators.

[e] For an account of Asinius Pollio and Corvinus Messala, see Annals, b. xi. s. 6.  Quintilian (b. xii. chap. 10) commends the diligence of Pollio, and the dignity of Messala.  In another part of his Institutes, he praises the invention, the judgement, and spirit of Pollio, but at the same time says, he fell so short of the suavity and splendour of Cicero, that he might well pass for an orator of a former age.  He adds, that Messala was natural and elegant:  the grandeur of his style seemed to announce the nobility of his birth; but still he wanted force and energy. Malta in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur; et consilii et animi satis; a nitore et jucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, ut videri possit saeculo prior.  At Messala nitidus et candidus, et quodammodo prae se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor. Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1.  The two great poets of the Augustan age have transmitted the name of Asinius Pollio to the latest posterity.  Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in the Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.

Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi,
Sive oram Illyrici legis aequoris; en erit unquam
Ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta? 
En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem
Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno? 

          
                                              ECLOG. viii. ver. 6.

O Pollio! leading thy victorious bands
O’er deep Timavus, or Illyria’s sands;
O when thy glorious deeds shall I rehearse? 
When tell the world how matchless is thy verse,
Worthy the lofty stage of laurell’d Greece,
Great rival of majestic Sophocles! 

          
                                                  WHARTON’S VIRGIL.

Horace has added the orator and the statesman: