Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

and endeavoured toCAIUS MAECENAS 205check them by precept andexample.And his minister, Maecenas, found ready tohis hand a theory of Ufe which exactly accordedwith his own inclinations and habits of mind.Cultured, luxurious, and good-natured, he disUkedstiffness, whether in manners, literature, or dress.He was himself of noble birth, but believed thedistinctions of rank to be the creations of anempty convention. His enjoyment of the pleasuresof life has seldom been rivalled, and hismain departure from the principles of his schoollay in his consequent horror of death. He wasa man of great intellect, of an exquisite taste inliterature, and there was probably no affectationin his laughing disregardof all the old Romanconventions. Such was Maecenas ;and greatindeed must have been the change which hadpassed over the genius of the Roman Commonwealthwhen such a man could appear at itshead.