——­Neve plausor in scena
     Sedeat redemptus, histrioniae addictus.

It is well known, that theatrical parties distracted the Roman citizens, and rose almost to phrensy.  They were distinguished by the green and the blue, Caligula, as we read in Suetonius, attached himself to the former, and was so fond of the charioteers, who wore green liveries, that he lived for a considerable time in the stables, where their horses were kept. Prasinae factioni ita addictus et deditus, ut coenaret in stabulo assidue et maneret.  Life of Caligula, s. 55.  Montesquieu reckons such party-divisions among the causes that wrought the downfall of the empire.  Constantinople, he says, was split into two factions, the green and the blue, which owed their origin to the inclination of the people to favour one set of charioteers in the circus rather than another.  These two parties raged in every city throughout the empire, and their fury rose in proportion to the number of inhabitants.  Justinian favoured the blues, who became so elate with pride, that they trampled on the laws.  All ties of friendship, all natural affection, and all relative duties, were extinguished.  Whole families were destroyed; and the empire was a scene of anarchy and wild contention.  He, who felt himself capable of the most atrocious deeds, declared himself a BLUE, and the GREENS were massacred with impunity. Montesquieu, Grandeur et Decadence des Romains, chap. xx.

[d] Quintilian, in his tenth book, chap. 1. has given a full account of the best Greek and Roman poets, orators, and historians; and in b. ii. ch. 6, he draws up a regular scheme for the young student to pursue in his course of reading.  There are, he says, two rocks, on which they may split.  The first, by being led by some fond admirer of antiquity to set too high a value on the manner of Cato and the Gracchi; for, in that commerce, they will be in danger of growing dry, harsh, and rugged.  The strong conception of those men will be beyond the reach of tender minds.  Their style, indeed, may be copied; and the youth may flatter himself, when he has contracted the rust of antiquity, that he resembles the illustrious orators of a former age.  On the other hand, the florid decorations and false glitter of the moderns may have a secret charm, the more dangerous, and seductive, as the petty flourishes of our new way of writing may prove acceptable to the youthful mind. Duo autem genera maxime cavenda pueris puto:  unum, ne quis eos antiquitatis nimius admirator in Gracchorum, Catonisque, et aliorum similium lectione durescere velit.  Erunt enim horridi atque jejuni.  Nam neque vim eorum adhuc intellectu consequentur; et elocutione, quae tum sine dubio erat optima, sed nostris temporibus aliena, contenti, quod est pessimum, similes sibi magnis viris videbuntur.  Alterum, quod huic diversum est, ne recentis hujus lasciviae flosculis capti, voluptate quadam prava deliniantur,