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His devotion to literature, however, was not so great as to detain him from indulgence in pleasure; for he became, if we allow any credit to the old declaimer, infamous, ætatis tirocinio, for debauchery and extravagance. He took possession of his father's house in his father's lifetime, and sold it; an act by which he brought his father to the grave; and he was twice, for some misconduct, arraigned before the magistrates, and escaped on both occasions only through the perjury of his judges.Pseudo-Cic. in Sall., c. 5.
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When we cite this rhetorician, we must not forget that we cite an anonymous reviler, yet we must suppose with Gerlach, and with Meisner, the German translator of Sallust, that we quote a writer who grounded his invectives on reports and opinions current at the time in which he lived.
intro
Sallust next thought of aspiring to political distinction;Cat., c. 3. but "the usual method of attaining notice," says De Brosses,Vie de Sal., c. 3. "which was to secure friends and clients by pleading the causes of individuals at the bar, he seems not to have adopted;" since, as is known, no orations spoken' by him are in existence, and, as is thought, no mention is made of such orations in any other author.