One of these is natural history; give him but the occasion, and he gossips of beasts, birds, and fishes, in a flow of the most genial impertinence.

Certain bronze elephants on the Via Sacra are falling to pieces and must be repaired: in giving the order, Theodoric's minister pens a little treatise on the habits and characteristics of the elephant.

His erudition is often displayed: having to convey some direction about the Circus at Rome, he begins with a pleasant sketch of the history of chariot racing.

One marvels at the man who, in such a period, preserved this mood of liberal leisure.

His style is perfectly suited to the matter; diffuse, ornate, amusingly affected; altogether a _precious_ mode of writing, characteristic of literary decadence.