My own motive in mentioning and refuting the rumour has been to illustrate by one conspicuous instance the falsity of hearsay gossip, and to urge those who read this book not to prefer incredible tales — however widely current and readily accepted — to the truth unblemished by marvels.
mihi tradendi arguendique rumoris causa fuit, ut claro sub exemplo falsas auditiones depellerem peteremque ab iis, quorum in manus cura nostra venerit, <ne> divulgata atque incredibilia avide accepta veris neque in miraculum corruptis antehabeant.
ne suppl. Rhenanus
"A peculiar anthologic maze, an amusing literary chaos, a farrago of quotations, a mere olla podrida of quaintness, a pot pourri of pleasant delites, a florilegium of elegant extracts, a tangled fardel of old-world flowers of thought, a faggot of odd fancies, quips, facetiae, loosely tied" (Holbrook Jackson, Anatomy of Bibliomania) by a "laudator temporis acti," a "praiser of time past" (Horace, Ars Poetica 173).
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Wednesday, May 12, 2021
A Rumor Debunked
Tacitus, Annals 4.11.3 (on the rumor that Tiberius killed Drusus; tr. Michael Grant):