shorthand;
or whether he and his fifty-one colleagues were allowed some time to
consider the subject and write the composition, as is now the practice
in literary examinations. Ancient writers speak of "improvvisatori"
who manifested their wonderful gift at a premature age;[135] still, it
seems almost impossible that fifty-two such prodigies could have been
brought together at one competition. Sulpicius Maximus was crowned by
the emperor with the Capitoline laurels and awarded the championship
of the world. The verses by which he won the competition are really
very good, and show a thorough knowledge of Greek prosody. The
victory, however, cost him dearly; in fact, he paid for it with his
life. The following inscription was engraved on his tomb:--

"To Q. Sulpicius Maximus, son of Quintus, born in Rome, and lived
eleven years, five months, twelve days. He won the competition, among
fifty-two Greek poets, at the third celebration of the Capitoline
games. His most unhappy parents, Quintus Sulpicius Eugramus and
Licinia Januaria, have caused his extemporized poem to be engraved on
this tomb, to prove that in praising his talents they have not been
inspired solely by their deep love for him (_ne adfectibus suis
indulsisse videantur_)."

Let the fate of this boy be a warning to those parents who,
discovering in their children a precocious inclination for some branch
of human learning, encourage and force this fatal cleverness for the
gratification of their own pride, instead of moderating it in
accordance with the physical power and development of youth.

[Illustration: TOMB OF THE BOY Q. SULPICIUS MAXIMUS]

The world's competition, instituted by Domitian, had a long and
successful career, and we can follow its celebration for many
centuries, to the age of Petrarca and Tasso. An inscription discovered
at Vasto, the ancient Histonium, describes the one which took place A.
D. 107 in these words: "To Lucius Valerius Pudens, son of Lucius.
Being only thirteen years old, he took part in the sixth _certamen
sacrum_, near the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus; and won the
championship among the Latin poets by the unanimous vote of the
judges." These last words show that special jurors were appointed by
the emperor for each section of the competitions. In the year 319
Constantine the Great and Licinius Caesar celebrated with great
solemnity the fifty-eighth _certamen_. Ausonius of Burdigala, the
great poet of the fourth century, s