"Nereus less fair, Achilles was less strong,

  Less was Ulysses famed for daring feat;

  Nestor, that knew so much and lived so long,

  Less prudent; nimble Ladas was less fleet;

  Less liberal and less prompt to pardon wrong,

  Caesar, whose praises ancient tales repeat.

  So that, compared with him, in Ischia born,

  Each might appear of vaunted virtues shorn;