TO THE MOST AUGUST EMPERORS

CHARLES AND FERDINAND, THE ONE EM-

PEROR AND THE OTHER KING OF THE ROMANS, BRO-

THERS MOST INVINCIBLE, ETC. TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRIN-

CES, ARCHDUKES OF AUSTRIA, ETC. HIS

MOST CLEMENT LORDS, PETER APIAN

Large ornamental drop cap 'M' featuring a figure (possibly a scholar or saint) within the letter's structure.IT IS THE CUSTOM, MOST INVINCIBLE EMPERORS, for those about to publish something to describe most laboriously the names, praises, and distinguished virtues of those they establish as their patrons. This is done so that the patrons (the MaecenatesA reference to Gaius Maecenas, the famous counselor to Augustus and patron of Virgil and Horace; his name became a synonym for a generous patron of the arts. of writers) may become more illustrious through the heraldry of the authors, and the authors themselves may become more celebrated through the excellence of such protection. I rejoice that both of these goals have turned out so happily for me while I prepare this dedication for your Majesties. For since you are greater than one might even hope to describe, and I am both unworthier than those who dare lesser things and less learned than those who are capable of such a task, I believe I have surely obtained the favor of this custom—unless someone would rather look for "a knot in a reed" A Latin proverb (nodum in scyrpo quaerere) meaning to find a difficulty where none exists. than do nothing at all!

But if that most eloquent and wise poet, Horace Flaccus, refused a poem to Agrippa, fearing that he would diminish Agrippa's praises through a lack of talent, what trembling should one think hangs over me—a man foreign to every art and eloquence—when I dare something here? Especially when there is no lack of innumerable "trumpeters" leaning into this work day and night, who proclaim your eulogies, lives, and deeds to the world with all their strength and every variety of speech, spreading them into the distant future. Indeed, if after so many and such distinguished men I were to attempt anything in the present, I might deservedly be accused (as the proverb goes) of "not even knowing the Caesars on a painted wall" original: ne pictos quidem adhuc nouisse Cæsares; a metaphor for profound ignorance.. Therefore, lest I be accused of such shameful ignorance and act as if I do not see the mathematical heaven, I will refrain from adding more now.

Instead, I prefer to pursue this: why I rejoice to have your Majesties—both as Emperors and as Archdukes of Austria—as my foremost champions. Considering a little more deeply the zeal and labors of the Roman Caesars and Emperors in cultivating, promoting, and even perpetuating human talent, I find no equal glory for a single name anywhere else in the world. Nor is there anything here that Greece, Phoenicia, or Egypt can boast of, however much they claim the beginnings of letters and arts for themselves. For he seems to have contributed no less who pours a discovery into proper human use than he who first showed the thing. The inventor thinks to be useful; the other is useful in actual practice. Just as an architect does not embrace the teacher of the gnomonThe part of a sundial that casts a shadow; used here as a metaphor for theoretical versus practical tools. more than the one who provides the building materials, so I think no one, when the works of art are required, seeks the inventor more than the current transmitter of the art.

And who transmits these things better into the hands of men than those who see to it that all the best authors are published to the world? Those who, as Pliny says, "make the talents of men a public matter!" Now, in this regard, there are none who have contributed more to the Roman people and to Europe—that most populous part of the world—for many centuries now than the Roman Caesars. For to begin with the first: did not Augustus, almost the first of this race and name (if you set aside Julius), most magnificently furnish his Palatine Apollo The Library of the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill in Rome. with both Greek and Latin volumes for perpetual use? And there, being most learned himself, did he not buy at his own great expense the most select authors of all languages and ages, and dedicate them freely to the welfare of men? From there, countless men, most accomplished in every kind of discipline, came forth diligently. If I remain silent about the rest, the poet Celsus alone can be the most certain proof; however great he was, he was returned to us from the Library of Augustus. For while he surveyed whatever the Palatine Apollo stores away, how much knowledge (good gods!) did he drink in?

And here I would wish for such power of speech as neither the Greek nor the Latin orator possessed, so that I might bring this holy piety of the Imperial family to worthy admiration and teach mortals that it is truly to be revered. Since that is not permitted to me, I meanwhile uniquely admire and kiss it, praying for an equal devotion from all in honoring the virtues of the Emperors.

But to return to the matter: Augustus, the second Emperor of the Romans, was the first to study how to consecrate books to eternity. And certainly he was the first, for there is no one who would dare to compare the work of Asinius Pollio (although he displayed Marcus Varro's library in Rome earlier) with the treasures of the Emperor. For who would believe that a private citizen excelled a consul, or a consul excelled the Emperor and Lord of nations? What kinds of sources of knowledge he prepared for the world can easily be gathered from the judgment of such a great prince. For what a selection of talents he possessed! Our Virgil, who even today is called the "Father of Erudition" by the consensus of all, is a witness to this. Likewise, the same Maro Virgil's cognomen (family name). teaches us how much favor and love for learning existed in Augustus, whom he rescued from the midst of the flames (when the Emperor forbade his works to be burned, contrary to the modesty of Virgil's will). Others teach us more: he allowed a statue to be erected to his physician, Antonius Musa, next to the statue of Aesculapius. He promoted the excellent poet Cornelius Gallus to the rank of prefect. He gave the philosopher Fronto the Consular dignity on account of his distinguished knowledge. Nor is it obscure that he spared the Alexandrians for no other reason than his love for the philosopher Arrius. Indeed, six hundred such examples would be available (lest I be too long in an obvious matter) by which I could make it clear that Augustus adorned, increased, and enriched both letters and the learned.

But why should I dwell on one? As if almost all who followed did not continue this venerable and praiseworthy custom with equal zeal, similar passion, and no less expense. To prove the point with only a few examples (for it would be infinite to recount the individual patronage of each): Did not the Emperors Tiberius, Claudius Nero, both Vespasians, both Antonines, Trajan, and Tacitus give to the world authors like Valerius, Seneca, Andromachus (the inventor of theriacA famous ancient medical concoction used as an antidote to poison.), Josephus, both Plinys, Plutarch, and Cornelius Tacitus? Regarding the last of these, it was provided by edict not only that he be placed in all libraries, but that he be transcribed ten times every year for public use. Have we not read that Julius the Dictator himself granted citizenship to all professors of medicine and liberal arts so that they might more freely inhabit the city? That Vespasian paid a hundred thousand sesterces annually to Latin and Greek rhetoricians? That Antoninus Pius decreed not only salaries but honors and provinces to rhetoricians and philosophers? Finally, that Gordian brought sixty-two thousand volumes into his library?

The Emperor Antoninus, son of Severus Caracalla., gave the poet Oppian as many gold pieces as he had written verses for his work on fish dedicated to him. Domitian honored the poets Statius and Silius—the latter with a third consulship, the former with a distinguished crown. The poet Martial celebrates the memory of the latter in these verses: "Give holy incense and victims to Augustus for our Silius, O Muses. Behold, he orders the twelve fascesSymbols of high Roman magisterial power. to return; with a famous consul and a noble rod, let the Castalian home of the poet resound. Caesar is the first and only safety of the state..." Theodosius raised Aurelius Prudentius to the prefecture of the military. Ausonius was made Consul by the Emperor Gratian, whose son he educated. Quintilian earned a stipend from the public treasury under Domitian. Hadrian and Antoninus raised the historian Arrian to Consular dignity because of his history of Alexander. Trajan more than once deigned to have the philosopher Dion of Prusa in his own chariot. Cyrus of Panopolis, a poet, was made a Bishop by the favor of Theodosius the Younger. Constantine made the philosopher Ablabius a governor of the Empire along with his son. Arcadius and Honorius erected a statue to Claudian and ordered it to be placed in the Forum of Trajan. The Emperor Marcus Antoninus Marcus Aurelius. shared all his counsels with the philosopher Junius Rusticus, and honored him with a consulship while living and a statue when dead.

Daylight and paper would fail me before I could pursue individually all the praises of all the Emperors who have thus far deserved them for fostering letters and their cultivators. Briefly, all others born before us surely by divine will benefited studies—all, I say, with few exceptions whom either an early death or poor health prevented—never failing to watch over the advantage of mortals and to lift up the best talents. They were, of course, following the perpetual footsteps of their ancestors. Indeed, the Kings of Pergamum (from whom the Roman origin stems) were the first of all to cultivate this institution most zealously; libraries were always established with the greatest rivalry, as Pliny testifies—indeed, as the most serious author Plutarch relates, they were amassed with two hundred thousand books. So plainly natural and inherited from their forefathers was it for the Caesars to be present for, to consult for, and to look out for the honorable arts and the studies of men.

Let us come closer to our own times, and indeed to your Austrian lineage, which for a hundred continuous years now (a praise shared by no other house but yours) has been happy and august for the Roman Empire. In the span of those years, how much have good letters and all arts received from the Emperors...