DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0105
ca under Trajan
63
imitate the horse,' said the Persian prince Hormisdas, who
accompanied him, ' but how about the stable ?' It is also
stated that when the Persian was asked on a subsequent occa-
sion what he thought of Rome, he replied, ' I am trying to
forget that men are but mortal.' In his epitome of the history
of Rome Eutropius speaks of Trajan as orbem terrarum csdifi-
cans, but he might have coupled his name with that of Hadrian,
his successor, as his equal in the encouragement given to the
building of public monuments worthy of a great Empire. To
the honour of Trajan it may be said that he raised these costly
edifices for the people and not for himself, and that during the
twenty years he sat on the throne of the Caesars not one single
gallery or room of state was added to the imperial palace on
the Palatine hill. But his name, inscribed on marble or stone,
was so much in evidence everywhere that Constantine, two
centuries later, humorously compared it to the pellitory on the
wall. Yet with all this magnificence Art in Trajan's time was
not the Art of the Augustan age. It had lost its vitality, and
the high ideal inherited from the Greeks had departed.
Human thought, said Plutarch, had descended from its throne
and had wings no longer. ' Poetry did not hold the same place
in the Roman mind,' says an intelligent French author. ' Elo-
quent prose was heard where song was once triumphant. The
gods had departed, and mortals only remained. In art as in
policy the era of Trajan was one of truth, but not of the ideal ;
of good sense, but not of genius.'1
There were several cities and towns in Roman Africa which
became associated with Trajan's name on account of some
public work or act of watchful benevolence. Leptis Magna, for
instance, was favoured by his notice, and coins were struck in
his honour bearing the words Colonia Ulpia Traiana Leptis.
Mention should also be made of Hippo Diarrhytus or Hippo
Zarytus (Bizerta), which was founded by some Phoenician colo-
nists from Tyre at an early date, and subsequently became a
commercial port under the rule of Carthage. Its importance
for strategic purposes attracted the attention of Agathocles,
who invaded Africa B.C. 309. He remained there long enough
to fortify the town and construct a harbour, of which the lines
1 Le Comte de Champagny, Les Antonins, Paris, 1875, vol. i. p. 387.
63
imitate the horse,' said the Persian prince Hormisdas, who
accompanied him, ' but how about the stable ?' It is also
stated that when the Persian was asked on a subsequent occa-
sion what he thought of Rome, he replied, ' I am trying to
forget that men are but mortal.' In his epitome of the history
of Rome Eutropius speaks of Trajan as orbem terrarum csdifi-
cans, but he might have coupled his name with that of Hadrian,
his successor, as his equal in the encouragement given to the
building of public monuments worthy of a great Empire. To
the honour of Trajan it may be said that he raised these costly
edifices for the people and not for himself, and that during the
twenty years he sat on the throne of the Caesars not one single
gallery or room of state was added to the imperial palace on
the Palatine hill. But his name, inscribed on marble or stone,
was so much in evidence everywhere that Constantine, two
centuries later, humorously compared it to the pellitory on the
wall. Yet with all this magnificence Art in Trajan's time was
not the Art of the Augustan age. It had lost its vitality, and
the high ideal inherited from the Greeks had departed.
Human thought, said Plutarch, had descended from its throne
and had wings no longer. ' Poetry did not hold the same place
in the Roman mind,' says an intelligent French author. ' Elo-
quent prose was heard where song was once triumphant. The
gods had departed, and mortals only remained. In art as in
policy the era of Trajan was one of truth, but not of the ideal ;
of good sense, but not of genius.'1
There were several cities and towns in Roman Africa which
became associated with Trajan's name on account of some
public work or act of watchful benevolence. Leptis Magna, for
instance, was favoured by his notice, and coins were struck in
his honour bearing the words Colonia Ulpia Traiana Leptis.
Mention should also be made of Hippo Diarrhytus or Hippo
Zarytus (Bizerta), which was founded by some Phoenician colo-
nists from Tyre at an early date, and subsequently became a
commercial port under the rule of Carthage. Its importance
for strategic purposes attracted the attention of Agathocles,
who invaded Africa B.C. 309. He remained there long enough
to fortify the town and construct a harbour, of which the lines
1 Le Comte de Champagny, Les Antonins, Paris, 1875, vol. i. p. 387.