was said to have been really the work of his aristocratic friend he speaks of this report as "a weak invention of the enemy," yet in the prologue to a subsequent drama, 'The Brothers,' he evidently treats it as a compliment, and does not care altogether to refute so flattering an accusation.
For as to that which carping tongues report,
That certain noble friends have lent their hand
To this his work, and shared the poet's toil,—
What they would fling at him as a reproach
He counts an honour,—to be thus approved
By those whom universal Rome approves.[1]
Cicero thought it probable that his illustrious friends did help him, though it might have been only by judicious hints and corrections. It is also more than possible that the dramatist may have been indebted for much of the refinement of his dialogue, directly or indirectly, to the accomplished women whose society he enjoyed in the household of Lælius. The ladies of that family were all charming talkers; and Lælia, the eldest daughter of Scipio's friend, is mentioned by her son-in-law Crassus, the famous orator, as reminding him, in the elegance of her language, of the dialogues of Nævius and Plautus.
It is said that when he offered his first play to the Ædiles, who as the regulators of the public games had to choose the pieces which were to enjoy the honour of public representation, he found the officer to whom he brought it to read seated at table. The young author was desired to take a stool at a distance, and begin: but he had scarcely got through the opening passage
- ↑ Prologue to the Adelphi, 15.
