PORTRAITURES OF JULIUS CAESAR.
Portraitures of Julius Caesar. By Frank J. Scott. (Longmans and Co. 21s. net.)—Mr. Scott has searched the civilised world- st. eh part of it at least as seemed likely to offer any hope of a find —for likenesses of the great Dictator. He has been able to collect a vast amount of material. Much had to be rejected; but there was a substantial residuum, and, as an outcome, a quite probable conception of what the countenance really was. The most authentic representations are, of course, the coins. They are contemporaneous ; in some of them an effort was made to repro- duce the features. When we come to busts the task that lies before the critic becomes very difficult. There is a general agree- ment about the type of face; where the best presentment of the individual is to be found is another matter. And here the personal equation of the critic comes in. Mr. Scott gives us a "brief of Caesar's life." In this he seems to us to idealise him. He holds, to put the matter briefly, that Caesar thought of Rome first and of himself second. Some, and they have much to say for themselves, would reverse the order. But this is not the place for the discussion. What practically concerns the subject is this. The nobler, the mord heroic, the more expressive of goodness the portraiture, the more likely, according to Mr. Scott's theory, it is to be authentic. It is here, then, that the estimate of character affects the critic's judgment. However this may be, we have nothing but praise for the zeal and industry which Mr. Scott has brought to his work.
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