AEmilius Paullus asked from all the booty taken by
him from Macedon only the library of King Perseus; he had his children
taught by Greek preceptors. It was then the fashion in Rome to speak,
and even to write in Greek.[137] The nobles desired to appear
connoisseurs in painting and in sculpture; they imported statues by
the thousand, the famous bronzes of Corinth, and they heaped these up
in their houses. Thus Verres possessed a whole gallery of objects of
art which he had stolen in Sicily. Gradually the Romans assumed a
gloss of Greek art and literature. This new culture was called
"humanity," as opposed to the "rusticity" of the old Roman peasants.
It was little else than gloss; the Romans had realized but slightly
that beauty and truth were to be sought for their own sakes; art and
science always remained objects of luxury and parade. Even in the time
of Cicero the soldier, the peasant, the politician, the man of
affairs, the advocate were alone regarded as truly occupied. Writing,
composing, contributing to science, philosophy, or criticism--all this
was called "being at leisure."[138] Artists and scholars were never
regarded at Rome as the equals of the rich merchant.
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