ht, by the observation of certain stars. Geography was
cultivated during the present period by Strabo and Mela. In natural
philosophy little progress was made; but a strong desire of its
improvement was entertained, particularly by Virgil. Human anatomy being
not yet introduced, physiology was imperfect. Chemistry, as a science,
was utterly unknown. In medicine, the writings of Hippocrates, and other
Greek physicians, were in general the standard of practice; but the
Materia Medica contained few remedies of approved quality, and abounded
with useless substances, as well as with many which stood upon no other
foundation than the whimsical notions of those who first introduced them.
Architecture flourished, through the elegant taste of Vitruvius, and the
patronage of the emperor. Painting, statuary, and music, were
cultivated, but not with that degree of perfection which they had
obtained in the Grecian states. The musical instruments of this period
were the flute and the lyre, to which may be added the sistrum, lately
imported from Egypt. But the chief glory of the period is its
literature, of which we proceed to give some account.

At the head of the writers of this age, stands the emperor himself, with
his minister Mecaenas; but the works of both have almost totally
perished. It appears from the historian now translated, that Augustus
was the author of several productions in prose, besides some in verse.
He wrote Answers to Brutus in relation to Cato, Exhortations to
Philosophy, and the History of his own Life, which he continued, in
thirteen books, down to the war of Cantabria. A book of his, written in
hexameter verse, under the title of Sicily, was extant in the time of
Suetonius, as was likewise a book of Epigrams. He began a tragedy on the
subject of Ajax, but, being dissatisfied with the composition, destroyed
it. Whatever the merits of Augustus may have been as an author, of which
no judgment can be formed, his attachment to learning and eminent writers
affords a strong presumption that he was not destitute of taste.
Mecaenas is said to have written two tragedies, Octavia and Prometheus; a
History of (159) Animals; a Treatise on Precious Stones; a Journal of the
Life of Augustus; and other productions. Curiosity is strongly
interested to discover the literary talents of a man so much
distinguished for the esteem and patronage of them in others; but while
we regret the impossibility of such a developm