But now this vain passion for learning useless things has assailed the Romans also. In the last few days I heard someone saying who was the first Roman general to do this or that; Duilius was the first who won a naval battle, Curius Dentatus was the first who had elephants lead in his triumph. Still, these matters, even if they add nothing to real glory, are nevertheless concerned with services to the state; there will be no profit in such knowledge, nevertheless it wins our attention by reason of the attractiveness of an empty subject.
