Posts
LIBRO I.
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AD-1-Plutarco's account of
the method of comparison and the calculations which the philosopher Pythagoras
used in determining the great height of ERCOLE, while the hero was living among
men.
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1. In the treatise which
Plutarco wrote on the mental and physical endowment and achievements of ERCOLE
while he was among men, PLUTARCO says that the PITAGORA reasoned sagaciously
and acutely in determining and measuring the ERCOLE's superiority in size and
stature.
2. For since it was generally agreed that ERCOLE paced off the race-course of the stadium at Pisae, near the temple of Olympian Zeus, and made it 600 feet long, and since the other courses in the land of Greece, constructed later by other men, were indeed 600 feet in length, but yet were somewhat shorter than that at Olympia, he readily concluded by a process of comparison that the measured length of Hercules' foot was greater than that of other men in the same proportion as the course at Olympia was longer than the other stadia.
3. Then, having ascertained the size of ERCOLE's foot, he made a calculation of the bodily height suited to that measure, based upon the natural proportion of all parts of the body, and thus arrived at the logical conclusion that Hercules was as much taller than other men as the course at Olympia exceeded the others that had been constructed with the same number of feet.
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AD--2. The apt use made by Erodes Attico, the ex-consul, in reply to an arrogant and boastful young fellow, a student of philosophy in appearance only, of the passage in which Epitteto the Stoic humorously set apart the true Stoic from the mob of prating triflers who called themselves Stoics.
AD--2. The apt use made by Erodes Attico, the ex-consul, in reply to an arrogant and boastful young fellow, a student of philosophy in appearance only, of the passage in which Epitteto the Stoic humorously set apart the true Stoic from the mob of prating triflers who called themselves Stoics.
1. While we were
students at Athens, Erode Attico, a man of consular rank and of true Grecian
eloquence, often invited me to his country houses near that city, in company
with the honourable Serviliano and several others of our countrymen who had
withdrawn from Rome to Greece in quest of culture.
2 And there at that
time, while we were with him at the villa called Cephisia, both in the heat of
summer and under the burning autumnal sun, we protected ourselves against the
trying temperature by the shade of its spacious groves, its long, soft promenades,
the cool location of the house, its elegant baths with their abundance of
sparkling water, and the charm of the villa as a while, which was everywhere
melodious with plashing waters and tuneful birds.
3. There was with us
there at the time a young student of philosophy, of the Stoic school according
to his own account, but intolerably loquacious and presuming.
4. In the course of the
conversations which are commonly carried on at table after dinner, this fellow
often used to prate unseasonably, absurdly, and at immoderate length, on the
principles of philosophy, maintaining that compared with himself all the
Greek-speaking authorities, all wearers of the toga, and the Latin race in
general were ignorant boors.
As he spoke, he rattled off unfamiliar terms, the catchwords of syllogisms and dialectic tricks, declaring that no one but he could unravel the "master," the "resting," and the "heap" arguments,and other riddles of the kind. Furthermore, as to ethics, the nature of the human intellect, and the origin of the virtues with their duties and limits, or on the other hand the ills caused by disease and sin, and the wasting and destruction of the soul, he stoutly maintained that absolutely no one else had investigated, understood and mastered all these more thoroughly than himself.
As he spoke, he rattled off unfamiliar terms, the catchwords of syllogisms and dialectic tricks, declaring that no one but he could unravel the "master," the "resting," and the "heap" arguments,and other riddles of the kind. Furthermore, as to ethics, the nature of the human intellect, and the origin of the virtues with their duties and limits, or on the other hand the ills caused by disease and sin, and the wasting and destruction of the soul, he stoutly maintained that absolutely no one else had investigated, understood and mastered all these more thoroughly than himself.
5. Further, he believed
that torture, bodily pain and deadly peril could neither injure nor detract
from the happy state and condition of life which, in his opinion, he had
attained, and that no sorrow could even cloud the serenity of the Stoic's face
and expression.
6. Once when he was puffing
out these empty boasts, and already all, weary of his prating, were thoroughly
disgusted and longing for an end, Herodes, speaking in Greek as was his general
custom, said:
"Allow me,
mightiest of philosophers, since we, whom you call laymen, cannot answer you,
to read from a book of Epictetus, greatest of Stoics, what he thought and said
about such big talk as that of yours."
And he bade them bring
the first volume of the "Discourses" of Epitteto, arranged by Arrian, in which
that venerable old man with just severity rebukes those young men who, though
calling themselves Stoics, showed neither virtue nor honest industry, but
merely babbled of trifling propositions and of the fruits of their study of
such elements as are taught to children.
'Speak to me of good and evil.'
Listen: The wind, bearing me from Ilium, drove me to the Cicones.
9.
Of all existing things some are good, some evil, and some indifferent.
Now the good things are virtues and what partakes of them, the evil are vice and what partakes of vice, and the indifferent lie between these: wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, pain.
Of all existing things some are good, some evil, and some indifferent.
Now the good things are virtues and what partakes of them, the evil are vice and what partakes of vice, and the indifferent lie between these: wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, pain.
10. 'How do you know
this?', Hellanicus says so in his Egyptian History.
For what difference does it make whether you say that, or that it was Diogenes in his Ethics or Chrysippus or Cleanthes?
Have you then investigated any of these matters and formed an opinion of your own?
For what difference does it make whether you say that, or that it was Diogenes in his Ethics or Chrysippus or Cleanthes?
Have you then investigated any of these matters and formed an opinion of your own?
11. Let me see how you
are accustomed to act in a storm at sea.
Do you recall this classification when the sail cracks and you cry aloud? If some idle fellow should stand beside you and say: 'Tell me, for Heaven's sake, what you told me before.
It isn't a vice to suffer shipwreck, is it?
It doesn't partake of vice, does it?'
Would you not hurl a stick of wood at him and cry:
'What have we to do with you, fellow? We perish and you come and crack jokes.'
12. But if Caesar should summon you to answer an accusation . . ."
Do you recall this classification when the sail cracks and you cry aloud? If some idle fellow should stand beside you and say: 'Tell me, for Heaven's sake, what you told me before.
It isn't a vice to suffer shipwreck, is it?
It doesn't partake of vice, does it?'
Would you not hurl a stick of wood at him and cry:
'What have we to do with you, fellow? We perish and you come and crack jokes.'
12. But if Caesar should summon you to answer an accusation . . ."
13 On hearing these
words, that most arrogant of youths was mute, just as if the whole diatribe had
been pronounced, not by Epictetus against others, but against himself by
Herodes.
AD 3---The difficult decision which the Lacedaemonian Chilo made to save a friend; and that one should consider scrupulously and anxiously whether one ought ever to do wrong in the interest of friends, with notes and quotations on that subject from the writings of Theophrasto and Marco Cicerone.
1. Of Chilo the
Lacedaemonian, one of that famous group of sages, it is written in the books
of those p13who have recorded the lives and deeds of distinguished men, that
he, Chilo, at the close of his life, when death was already close upon him,
thus addressed the friends about his bedside:
2 "That very little
of what I have said and done in the course of a long life calls for repentance,
you yourselves may perhaps know.
I, at any rate, at such a time as this do not deceive myself in believing that I have done nothing that it troubles me to remember, except for just one thing; and as to that it is not even now perfectly clear to me whether I did right or wrong.
I, at any rate, at such a time as this do not deceive myself in believing that I have done nothing that it troubles me to remember, except for just one thing; and as to that it is not even now perfectly clear to me whether I did right or wrong.
4. "I was judge with
two others, and a friend's life was at stake. Therefore, either my friend must
suffer capital punishment or violence must be done to the law.
5. I considered for a long time how to remedy so difficult a situation. The course which I adopted seemed, in comparison with the alternative, the less objectionable.
6. I myself secretly voted for conviction, but I persuaded my fellow judges to vote for acquittal.
7. Thus I myself in a matter of such moment did my duty both as a judge and as a friend.
But my action torments me with the fear that there may be something of treachery and guilt in having recommended to others, in the same case, at the same time, and in a common duty, a course for them contrary to what I thought best for myself."
8. This Chilo, then, though a man of surpassing wisdom, was in doubt how far he ought to have gone counter to law and counter to equity for the sake of a friend, and that question distressed him even at the very end of his life.
9. So too many subsequent students of philosophy, as appears in their works, have inquired very carefully and very anxiously, to use their own language,
εἰ δεῖ βοηθεῖν τῷ φίλῳ παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον καὶ μέχρι πόσου καὶ ποῖα.
That is to say, they inquired
whether one may sometimes act contrary to law or contrary to precedent in a friend's behalf, and under what circumstances and to what extent.
5. I considered for a long time how to remedy so difficult a situation. The course which I adopted seemed, in comparison with the alternative, the less objectionable.
6. I myself secretly voted for conviction, but I persuaded my fellow judges to vote for acquittal.
7. Thus I myself in a matter of such moment did my duty both as a judge and as a friend.
But my action torments me with the fear that there may be something of treachery and guilt in having recommended to others, in the same case, at the same time, and in a common duty, a course for them contrary to what I thought best for myself."
8. This Chilo, then, though a man of surpassing wisdom, was in doubt how far he ought to have gone counter to law and counter to equity for the sake of a friend, and that question distressed him even at the very end of his life.
9. So too many subsequent students of philosophy, as appears in their works, have inquired very carefully and very anxiously, to use their own language,
εἰ δεῖ βοηθεῖν τῷ φίλῳ παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον καὶ μέχρι πόσου καὶ ποῖα.
That is to say, they inquired
whether one may sometimes act contrary to law or contrary to precedent in a friend's behalf, and under what circumstances and to what extent.
10. This problem has been discussed, as I have said, not only by many others, but also with extreme thoroughness by Theophrastus, the most conscientious and learned of the Peripatetic school; the discussion is found, if I remember correctly, in the first book of his treatise "On Friendship".
11. That work Cicero evidently read when he too was composing a work "On Friendship".
Now, the other material that Cicero thought proper to borrow from Theophrastus his talent and command of language enabled him to take and to translate with great taste and pertinence
12. But this particular topic which, as I have said, has been the object of much inquiry, and is the most difficult one of all, he passed over briefly and hurriedly, not reproducing the thoughtful and detailed argument of Theophrastus, but omitting his involved and as it were over-scrupulous discussion and merely calling attention in a few words to the nature of the problem.
13 I have added Cicero's words, in case anyone should wish to verify my statement:
12 "Therefore these are the limits which I think ought to be observed, namely: when the characters of friends are blameless, then there should be complete harmony of opinions and inclinations in everything without any exception; and, even if by some chance the wishes of a friend are not altogether honourable and require to be forwarded in matters which involve his life or reputation, we should turn aside from the straight path, provided, however, utter disgrace does not follow. For there are limits to the indulgence which can be allowed to friendship."
13
"When it is a question," he says, "either of a friend's life or good name, we must turn aside from the straight path, to further even his dishonourable desire."
14 But he does not tell us what the nature of that deviation ought to be, how far we may go to help him, and how dishonourable the nature of the friend's desire may be.
15 But what does it avail me to know that I must turn aside from the straight path in the event of such dangers to my friends, provided I commit no act of utter disgrace, unless he also informs me what he regards as utter disgrace and, once having turned from the path of rectitude, how far I ought to go? "For," he says, "there are limits to the indulgence which can be allowed to friendship."
16 But that is the very point on which we most need instruction, but which the teachers make least clear, namely, how far and to what degree indulgence must be allowed to friendship.
17. The sage Chilo whom I mentioned before, turned from the path to save a friend. But I can see how far he went; for he gave unsound advice to save his friend.
18 Yet even as to that he was in doubt up to his last hour whether he deserved criticism and censure.
"Against one's fatherland," says Cicero, "one must not take up arms for a friend."
19 That of course everybody knew, and "before Theognis was born," as Lucilius says.
But what I ask and wish to know is this: when it is that one must act contrary to law and contrary to equity in a friend's behalf, albeit without doing violence to the public liberty and peace; and when it is necessary to turn aside from the path, as he himself put it, in what way and how much, under what circumstances, and to what extent that ought to be done.
20. Pericles, the great Athenian, a man of noble character and endowed with all honourable achievements, declared his opinion — in a single instance, it is true, but yet very clearly. For when a friend asked him to perjure himself in court for his sake, he replied in these words: "One ought to aid one's friends, but only so far as the gods allow."
21. Theophrastus, however, in the book that I have mentioned, discusses this very question more exhaustively and with more care and precision than Cicero.
22. But even he in his exposition does not express an opinion about separate and individual action, nor with the corroborative evidence of examples, but treats classes of actions briefly and generally, in about the following terms:
23 "A small and trifling amount of disgrace or infamy," he says, "should be incurred, if thereby great advantage may be gained for a friend; for the insignificant loss from impairment of honour is repaid and made good by the greater and more substantial honour gained by aiding a friend, and that slight break or rift, so to speak, in one's reputation is repaired by the buttress formed by the advantages gained for one's friend.
24 "Nor ought we," says he, "to be influenced by mere terms, because my fair fame and the advantage of a friend under accusation are not of the same class. For such things must be estimated by their immediate weight and importance, not by verbal terms and the merits of the classes to which they belong.
25 For when the interests of a friend are put into the balance with our own honour in matters of equal importance, or nearly so, our own honour unquestionably turns the scale; but when the advantage of a friend is far greater, but our sacrifice of reputation in a matter of no great moment is insignificant, then what is advantageous to a friend gains in importance in comparison with what is honourable for us, exactly as a great weight of bronze is more valuable than a tiny shred of gold."
On this point I append
Theophrastus' own words:
26 "If such and such a thing belongs to a more valuable class, yet it is not true that some part of it, compared with a corresponding part of something else, will be preferable. This is not the case, for example, if gold is more valuable than bronze, and a portion of gold, compared with a portion of bronze of corresponding size, is obviously of more worth; but the number and size of the portions will have some influence on our decision."
27 The philosopher Favorinus too, somewhat loosening and inclining the delicate balance of justice to suit the occasion, thus defined such an indulgence in favour:18 "That which among men is called favour is the relaxing of strictness in time of need."
28 Later on Theophrastus again expressed himself to about this effect: "The relative importance and insignificance of things, and all these considerations of duty, are sometimes directed, controlled, and as it were steered by other external influences and other additional factors, so to say, arising from individuals, conditions and exigencies, as well as by the requirements of existing circumstances; and these influences, which it is difficult to reduce to rules, make them appear now justifiable and now unjustifiable."
29. On these and similar topics Theophrastus wrote very discreetly, scrupulously and conscientiously, yet with more attention to analysis and discussion than with the intention or whether of arriving at a decision, since undoubtedly the variations in circumstances and exigencies, and the minute distinctions and differences, do not admit of a definite and universal rule that can be applied to individual cases; and it is such a rule, as I said at the beginning of this essay, of which we are in search.
30. Now this Chilo, with whom I began this little discussion, is the author not only of some other wise and salutary precepts, but also of the following, which has been found particularly helpful, since it confines within due limits those two most ungovernable passions, love and hatred. "So love," said he, "as if you were possibly destined to hate; and in the same way, hate as if you might perhaps afterwards love."
31. Of this same Chilo the philosopher Plutarch, in the first book of his treatise On the Soul, wrote as follows:20 "Chilo of old, having heard a man say that he had no enemy, asked him if he had no friend, believing that enmities necessarily followed and were involved in friendships."
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AD-4. The care and fine taste with which Antonio Giuliano examined the artful substitution of one word for another by Marco Cicerone in one of his orations.
26 "If such and such a thing belongs to a more valuable class, yet it is not true that some part of it, compared with a corresponding part of something else, will be preferable. This is not the case, for example, if gold is more valuable than bronze, and a portion of gold, compared with a portion of bronze of corresponding size, is obviously of more worth; but the number and size of the portions will have some influence on our decision."
27 The philosopher Favorinus too, somewhat loosening and inclining the delicate balance of justice to suit the occasion, thus defined such an indulgence in favour:18 "That which among men is called favour is the relaxing of strictness in time of need."
28 Later on Theophrastus again expressed himself to about this effect: "The relative importance and insignificance of things, and all these considerations of duty, are sometimes directed, controlled, and as it were steered by other external influences and other additional factors, so to say, arising from individuals, conditions and exigencies, as well as by the requirements of existing circumstances; and these influences, which it is difficult to reduce to rules, make them appear now justifiable and now unjustifiable."
29. On these and similar topics Theophrastus wrote very discreetly, scrupulously and conscientiously, yet with more attention to analysis and discussion than with the intention or whether of arriving at a decision, since undoubtedly the variations in circumstances and exigencies, and the minute distinctions and differences, do not admit of a definite and universal rule that can be applied to individual cases; and it is such a rule, as I said at the beginning of this essay, of which we are in search.
30. Now this Chilo, with whom I began this little discussion, is the author not only of some other wise and salutary precepts, but also of the following, which has been found particularly helpful, since it confines within due limits those two most ungovernable passions, love and hatred. "So love," said he, "as if you were possibly destined to hate; and in the same way, hate as if you might perhaps afterwards love."
31. Of this same Chilo the philosopher Plutarch, in the first book of his treatise On the Soul, wrote as follows:20 "Chilo of old, having heard a man say that he had no enemy, asked him if he had no friend, believing that enmities necessarily followed and were involved in friendships."
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AD-4. The care and fine taste with which Antonio Giuliano examined the artful substitution of one word for another by Marco Cicerone in one of his orations.
1. The rhetorician
Antonius Julianus had an exceedingly noble and winning personality.
He also possessed
learning of a delightful and helpful sort, devoting great attention to the
refinements of the writers of old and readily recalling them.
Moreover, he inspected
all the earlier literature with such care, weighing its merits and ferreting
out its defects, that you might say that his judgment was perfect.
2, This Julianus
expressed the following opinion of the syllogism which is found in the speech
of Marcus Tullius spoken "In Defence of Gnaeus Plancius”.
"And yet, a debt of
money is a different thing from a debt of gratitude. For he who discharges a
debt in money ceases forthwith to have that which he has paid, while one who
continues in debts keeps what belongs to another. But in the case of a debt of
gratitude, he who returns it has it; and he who has it returns it by the mere
fact of having it.23 In the present instance I shall not cease to be Plancius'
debtor if I pay this debt, nor should I be paying him any the less simply by
feeling goodwill, if the present unfortunate situation had not
occurred."
4 "Here," said Julianus, "is to be sure a fine artistry in the way the words are marshalled, something well-rounded that charms the ear by its mere music; but it must be read with the privilege of a slight change in the meaning of one word in order to p27preserve the truth of the proposition.
5 Now the comparison of a debt of gratitude with a pecuniary debt demands the use of the word 'debt' in both instances. For a debt of money and a debt of gratitude will seem to be properly compared, if we may say that both money and gratitude are owed; but let us consider what happens in the owing or paying of money, and on the other hand in the owing and paying of a debt of gratitude, if we retain the word 'debt' in both instances.
6 Now Cicero," continued Julianus, "having said that a debt of money was a different thing from a debt of gratitude, in giving his reason for that statement applies the word 'owe' to money, but in the case of gratitude substitutes 'has' (i.e. 'feels') for 'owes'; for this is what he says: 'But in the case of a debt of gratitude, he who returns it has it; and he who has it returns it by the mere fact of having it.'
7 But that word 'has' does not exactly fit the proposed comparison. For it is the owing, and not the having, of gratitude that is compared with money, and therefore it would have been more consistent to say: 'He who owes pays by the mere fact of owing.' But it would be absurd and quite too forced if a debt of gratitude that was not yet paid should be said to be paid by the mere fact that it was owed.
8 Therefore," said Julianus, "Cicero made a change and substituted a similar word for one which he had dropped, in order to seem to have kept the idea of a comparison of debts, and at the same time retained the careful balance of his period." Thus it was that Julianus elucidated and criticized passages in the earlier literature, which a select group of young men read under his guidance.
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4 "Here," said Julianus, "is to be sure a fine artistry in the way the words are marshalled, something well-rounded that charms the ear by its mere music; but it must be read with the privilege of a slight change in the meaning of one word in order to p27preserve the truth of the proposition.
5 Now the comparison of a debt of gratitude with a pecuniary debt demands the use of the word 'debt' in both instances. For a debt of money and a debt of gratitude will seem to be properly compared, if we may say that both money and gratitude are owed; but let us consider what happens in the owing or paying of money, and on the other hand in the owing and paying of a debt of gratitude, if we retain the word 'debt' in both instances.
6 Now Cicero," continued Julianus, "having said that a debt of money was a different thing from a debt of gratitude, in giving his reason for that statement applies the word 'owe' to money, but in the case of gratitude substitutes 'has' (i.e. 'feels') for 'owes'; for this is what he says: 'But in the case of a debt of gratitude, he who returns it has it; and he who has it returns it by the mere fact of having it.'
7 But that word 'has' does not exactly fit the proposed comparison. For it is the owing, and not the having, of gratitude that is compared with money, and therefore it would have been more consistent to say: 'He who owes pays by the mere fact of owing.' But it would be absurd and quite too forced if a debt of gratitude that was not yet paid should be said to be paid by the mere fact that it was owed.
8 Therefore," said Julianus, "Cicero made a change and substituted a similar word for one which he had dropped, in order to seem to have kept the idea of a comparison of debts, and at the same time retained the careful balance of his period." Thus it was that Julianus elucidated and criticized passages in the earlier literature, which a select group of young men read under his guidance.
AD--5. That the orator
Demostene was criticized because of his care for his person and attire, and
taunted with foppishness; and that the orator Hortensius also, because of
similar foppishness and the use of theatrical gestures when he spoke, was
nicknamed Dionysia the dancing-girl.
1. It is said that Demosthenes in his dress and other personal habits was excessively spruce, elegant and studied. It was for that reason that he was taunted by his rivals and opponents with his "exquisite, pretty mantles" and "soft, pretty tunics";25 for that reason, too, that they did not refrain from applying to him foul and shameful epithets, alleging that he was no man and was even guilty of unnatural vice.
2. In like manner Quintus
Hortensius, quite the most renowned orator of his time with the exception of
Marcus Tullius, because he dressed with extreme foppishness, arranged the folds
of his toga with great care and exactness, and in speaking used his hands to
excess in lively gestures, was assailed with gibes and shameful charges; and
many taunts were hurled at him, even while he was pleading in court, for
appearing like an actor. 3 But when Sulla was on trial, and Lucius Torquatus, a
man of somewhat boorish and uncouth nature, with great violence and bitterness
did not stop with calling Hortensius an actor in the presence of the assembled
jurors, but should that he was a posturer and a Dionysia — which was the name
of a notorious dancing-girl — then Hortensius round in a soft and gentle tone:
"I would rather be a Dionysia, Torquatus, yes, a Dionysia, than like you, a stranger to the Muses, to Venus and to Dionysus."
"I would rather be a Dionysia, Torquatus, yes, a Dionysia, than like you, a stranger to the Muses, to Venus and to Dionysus."
1. A number of learned men were listening to the reading of the speech which Metellus Numidicus, an earnest and eloquent man, delivered to the people when he was censor, "On Marriage", urging them to be ready to undertake its obligations.
2. In that speech these
words were written: "If we could get on without a wife, Romans, we would
all avoid that annoyance; but since nature has ordained that we can neither
live very comfortably with them nor at all without them, we must take thought
for our lasting well-being rather than for the pleasure of the moment."
3. It seemed to some of
the company that Quintus Metellus, whose purpose as censor was to encourage the
people to take wives, ought not to have admitted the annoyance and constant
inconveniences of the married state; that to do this was not so much to
encourage, as to dissuade and deter them. But they said that his speech ought
rather to have taken just the opposite tone, insisting that as a rule there
were no annoyances in matrimony, and if after all they seemed sometimes to
arise, they were slight, insignificant and easily endured, and whether
completely forgotten in its greater pleasures and p33advantages; furthermore,
that even these annoyances did not fall to the lot of all or from any fault
natural to matrimony, but as the result of the misconduct and injustice of some
husbands and wives.
4 Titus Castricius, however, thought that Metellus had spoken properly and as was altogether worthy of his position. "A censor," said he, "ought to speak in one way, an advocate in another. It is the orator's privilege to make statements that are untrue, daring, crafty, deceptive and sophistical, provided they have some semblance of truth and can by any artifice be made to insinuate themselves into the minds of the persons who are to be influenced. Furthermore," he said, "it is disgraceful for an advocate, even though his case be a bad one, to leave anything unnoticed or undefended.
5 But for a Metellus, a blameless man, with a reputation for dignity and sense of honour, addressing the Roman people with the prestige of such a life and course of honours, it was not becoming to say anything which was not accepted as true by himself and by all men, especially when speaking on a subject which was a matter of everyday knowledge and formed a part of the common and habitual experience of life.
6 Accordingly, having admitted the existence of annoyances notorious with all men, and having thus established confidence in his sincerity and truthfulness, he then found it no difficult or uphill work of convince them of what was the soundest and truest of principles, that the State cannot survive without numerous marriages."
7 This other passage also from the same address of Metellus in my opinion deserves constant reading, not less by Heaven! than the writings of the p35greatest philosophers.
8 His words are these: "The immortal gods have mighty power, but they are not expected to be more indulgent than our parents. But parents, if their children persist in wrong-doing, disinherit them. What different application of justice then are we to look for from the immortal gods, unless we put an end to our evil ways? Those alone may fairly claim the favour of the gods who are not their own worst enemies. The immortal gods ought to support, not supply, virtue."
AD---7: In these words of Cicerone, from his fifth oration Against Verres, "hanc sibi rem praesidio sperant futurum," there is no error in writing or grammar but those are wrong who do violence to good copies by writing futuram. And in connection mention is also made of another word of Cicerone's which, though correct, is wrongly changed. With a few incidental remarks on the melody and cadence of periods for which Cicero earnestly strove.
1. In the fifth oration of Cicero Against Verres, in a copy of unimpeachable fidelity, since it was the result of Tiro's careful scholarship, is this passage:
2 "Men of low degree and humble birth sail the seas; they come to places which they had never before visited. They are neither known to those to whom they have come nor can they always find acquaintances to vouch for them, yet because of this mere faith in their citizenship they believe that they will be safe, not only before our magistrates, who are constrained by fear of the p37laws and public opinion, and not only among Roman citizens, who are united by the common bond of language, rights, and many interests, but wherever they may come, they hope that this possession will protect them."
3 It seemed to many that there was an error in the last word. For they thought that futuram should be written instead of futurum, and they were sure that the book ought to be corrected, lest like the adulterer in the comedy of Plautus31 — for so they jested about the error which they thought they had found — this solecism in an oration of Cicero's should be "caught in the act."
4 There chanced to be present there a friend of mine, who had become an expert from wide reading and to whom almost all the older literature had been the object of study, meditation and wakeful nights.
5 He, on examining the book, declared that there was no mistake in writing or grammar in that word, but that Cicero had written correctly and in accordance with early usage.
6 "For futurum is not," said he, "to be taken with rem, as hasty and careless readers think, nor is it used as a participle. It is an infinitive, the kind of word which the Greeks call ἀπαρέμφατος or 'indeterminate,' affected neither by number nor gender,
7 but altogether free and independent, such a word as Gaius Gracchus used in the speech entitled On Publius Popilius, delivered in the places of assembly, in which we read: 'I suppose that my enemies will say this.' He said dicturum, not dicturos; and is it not clear that dicturum in Gracchus is used
8 according to the same principle as futurum in Cicero?
Just as in the Greek language, without any suspicion of error, words such as ἐρεῖν, ποιήσειν, ἔσεσθαι, and the like, are used in all genders and all numbers without distinction."
9 He added that in the third book of the Annals of Claudius Quadrigarius are these words:33 "While they were being cut to pieces, the forces of the enemy would be busy there (copias . . . futurum)"; and at the beginning of the eighteenth book of the same Quadrigarius:34 "If you enjoy health proportionate to your own merit and our good-will, we have reason to hope that the gods will bless the good (deos . . . facturum)"; 1
0 that similarly Valerius Antias also in his twenty-fourth book wrote: "If those religious rites should be performed, and the omens should be wholly favourable, the soothsayers declared that everything would proceed as they desired (omnia . . . processurum esse).
11 "Plautus also in the Casina,36 speaking of a girl, used occisurum, not occisuram in the following passage:
Has Casina a sword? — Yes, two of them. —
Why two? — With one she'd fain the bailiff slay,
With t'other you.
12 So too Laberius in The Twins wrote:37
I thought not she would do (facturum) it.
13 Now, all those men were not unaware of the nature of a solecism, but Gracchus used dicturum, Quadrigarius futurum and facturum, Antias processurum, Plautus occisurum and Laberius facturum, in the infinitive mood,
14 a mood which is not inflected for mood or number or person or tense or gender, but expresses them all by one and the same form, 15 just as Marcus Cicero did not use futurum in the masculine or neuter gender — for that would clearly be a solecism — but employed a form which is independent of any influence of gender."
16. Furthermore, that same friend of mine used to say that in the oration of that same Marcus Tullius On Pompey's Military Command Cicero wrote the following, and so my friend always read it: "Since you know that your harbours, and those harbours from which you draw the breath of life, were in the power of the pirates."
17 And he declared that in potestatem fuisse40 was not a solecism, as the half-educated vulgar think, but he maintained that it was used in accordance with a definite and correct principle, one which the Greeks also followed; and Plautus, who is most choice in his Latinity, said in the Amphitruo:41
Número mihi in mentém fuit, not in mente, as we commonly say.
18. But besides Plautus, whom my friend used as an example in this instance, I myself have come upon a great abundance of such expressions in the early writers, and I have jotted them down here and there in these notes of mine.
19 But quite apart from that rule and those authorities, the very sound and order of the words make it quite clear that it is more in accordance with the careful attention to diction and the rhythmical style of Marcus Tullius that, either being good Latin, he should prefer to say potestatem rather than potestate.
20. For the former construction is more agreeable to the ear and better rounded, the latter harsher and less finished, provided always that a man has an ear attuned to such distinctions, not one that is dull and sluggish; it is for the same reason indeed that he preferred to say explicavit rather than explicuit, which was already coming to be the commoner form.
These are his own words from the speech which he delivered On Pompey's Military Command:42 "Sicily is a witness, which, begirt on all sides by many dangers, he freed (explicavit), not by the threat of war, but by his promptness in decision." But if he had said explicuit, the sentence would halt with weak and imperfect rhythm.43
AD--8. An anecdote found in the works of the philosopher Sotion about the courtesan Lais and the orator Demosthenes.
1. Sotion was a man of the Peripatetic school, far from unknown. He wrote a book filled with wide and varied information and called it Κέρας Ἀμαλθείας,
2 which is about equivalent to The Horn of Plenty.
3. In that book is found the following anecdote about the orator Demosthenes and the courtesan Lais: "Lais of Corinth," he says, "used to gain a great deal of money by the grace and charm of her beauty, and was frequently visited by wealthy men from all over Greece; but no one was received who did not give what she demanded, and her demands were extravagant enough."
4 He says that this was the origin of the proverb common among the Greeks:
Not every man may fare to Corinth town, for in vain would any man go to Corinth to visit Lais who could not pay her price.
5 "The great Demosthenes approached her secretly and asked for her favours. But Lais demanded ten thousand drachmas" — a sum equivalent in our money to ten thousand denarii.
6 "Amazed and shocked at the woman's great impudence and the vast sum of money demanded, Demosthenes turned away, remarking as he left her:
'I will not buy regret at such a price.' "
But the Greek words which he is said to have used are neater; he said:
Ούκ ὠνοῦμαι μυρίων δραχμῶν μεταμέλειαν.
AD--9: what the method and what the order of the Pythagorean training was, and the amount of time which was prescribed and accepted as the period for learning and at the same time keeping silence.
1. It is said that the order and method followed by Pythagoras, and afterwards by his school and his successors, in admitting and training their pupils were as follows.
2. At the very outset he "physiognomized" the young men who presented themselves for instruction. That word means to inquire into the character and dispositions of men by an inference drawn from their facial appearance and expression, and from the form and bearing of their whole body.
3 Then, when he had thus examined a man and found him suitable, he at once gave orders that he should be admitted to the school and should keep silence for a fixed period of time; this was not the same for all, but differed according to his estimate of the man's capacity for learning quickly.
4 But the one who kept silent listened to what was said by others; he was, however, religiously forbidden to ask questions, if he had not fully understood, or to remark upon what he had heard. Now, no one kept silence for less than two years, and during the entire period of silent listening they were called ἀκουστικοί or "auditors."
5 But when they had learned what is of all things the most difficult, to keep quiet and listen, and had finally begun to be adepts in that silence which is called ἐχεμυθία or "continence in words," they were then allowed to speak, to ask questions, and to write down what they had heard,
6 and to express their own opinions.
During this stage they were called μαθηματικοί or "students of science," evidently from those branches of knowledge which they had now begun to learn and practise; for the ancient Greeks called geometry, gnomonics,48 music and other higher studies μαθήματα or "sciences"; but the common people apply the term mathematici to those who ought to be called by their ethnic name, Chaldaeans.
7 Finally, equipped with this scientific training, they advanced to the investigation of the phenomena of the universe and the laws of nature, and then, and not till then, they were called φυσικοί or "natural philosophers."
8 Having thus expressed himself about Pythagoras, my friend Taurus continued: "But nowadays these fellows who turn to philosophy on a sudden with unwashed feet, not content with being wholly 'without purpose, without learning, and without scientific training,' even lay down the law as to how they are to be taught philosophy.
9 One says, 'first teach me this,' another chimes in, "I want to learn this, I don't want to learn that'; one is eager to begin with the Symposium of Plato because of the revel of Alcibiades, another with the Phaedrus on account of the speech of Lysias.
10 By Jupiter!" said he, "one man actually asks to read Plato, not in order to better his life, but to deck out his diction and style, not to gain in discretion, but in prettiness."
11 That is what Taurus used to say, in comparing the modern students of philosophy with the Pythagoreans of old.
12 But I must not omit this fact either — that all of them, as soon as they had been admitted by Pythagoras into that band of disciples, at once devoted to the common use whatever estate and property they had, and an inseparable fellowship was formed, like the old-time association which in Roman legal parlance was termed an "undivided inheritance."53
4 Titus Castricius, however, thought that Metellus had spoken properly and as was altogether worthy of his position. "A censor," said he, "ought to speak in one way, an advocate in another. It is the orator's privilege to make statements that are untrue, daring, crafty, deceptive and sophistical, provided they have some semblance of truth and can by any artifice be made to insinuate themselves into the minds of the persons who are to be influenced. Furthermore," he said, "it is disgraceful for an advocate, even though his case be a bad one, to leave anything unnoticed or undefended.
5 But for a Metellus, a blameless man, with a reputation for dignity and sense of honour, addressing the Roman people with the prestige of such a life and course of honours, it was not becoming to say anything which was not accepted as true by himself and by all men, especially when speaking on a subject which was a matter of everyday knowledge and formed a part of the common and habitual experience of life.
6 Accordingly, having admitted the existence of annoyances notorious with all men, and having thus established confidence in his sincerity and truthfulness, he then found it no difficult or uphill work of convince them of what was the soundest and truest of principles, that the State cannot survive without numerous marriages."
7 This other passage also from the same address of Metellus in my opinion deserves constant reading, not less by Heaven! than the writings of the p35greatest philosophers.
8 His words are these: "The immortal gods have mighty power, but they are not expected to be more indulgent than our parents. But parents, if their children persist in wrong-doing, disinherit them. What different application of justice then are we to look for from the immortal gods, unless we put an end to our evil ways? Those alone may fairly claim the favour of the gods who are not their own worst enemies. The immortal gods ought to support, not supply, virtue."
AD---7: In these words of Cicerone, from his fifth oration Against Verres, "hanc sibi rem praesidio sperant futurum," there is no error in writing or grammar but those are wrong who do violence to good copies by writing futuram. And in connection mention is also made of another word of Cicerone's which, though correct, is wrongly changed. With a few incidental remarks on the melody and cadence of periods for which Cicero earnestly strove.
1. In the fifth oration of Cicero Against Verres, in a copy of unimpeachable fidelity, since it was the result of Tiro's careful scholarship, is this passage:
2 "Men of low degree and humble birth sail the seas; they come to places which they had never before visited. They are neither known to those to whom they have come nor can they always find acquaintances to vouch for them, yet because of this mere faith in their citizenship they believe that they will be safe, not only before our magistrates, who are constrained by fear of the p37laws and public opinion, and not only among Roman citizens, who are united by the common bond of language, rights, and many interests, but wherever they may come, they hope that this possession will protect them."
3 It seemed to many that there was an error in the last word. For they thought that futuram should be written instead of futurum, and they were sure that the book ought to be corrected, lest like the adulterer in the comedy of Plautus31 — for so they jested about the error which they thought they had found — this solecism in an oration of Cicero's should be "caught in the act."
4 There chanced to be present there a friend of mine, who had become an expert from wide reading and to whom almost all the older literature had been the object of study, meditation and wakeful nights.
5 He, on examining the book, declared that there was no mistake in writing or grammar in that word, but that Cicero had written correctly and in accordance with early usage.
6 "For futurum is not," said he, "to be taken with rem, as hasty and careless readers think, nor is it used as a participle. It is an infinitive, the kind of word which the Greeks call ἀπαρέμφατος or 'indeterminate,' affected neither by number nor gender,
7 but altogether free and independent, such a word as Gaius Gracchus used in the speech entitled On Publius Popilius, delivered in the places of assembly, in which we read: 'I suppose that my enemies will say this.' He said dicturum, not dicturos; and is it not clear that dicturum in Gracchus is used
8 according to the same principle as futurum in Cicero?
Just as in the Greek language, without any suspicion of error, words such as ἐρεῖν, ποιήσειν, ἔσεσθαι, and the like, are used in all genders and all numbers without distinction."
9 He added that in the third book of the Annals of Claudius Quadrigarius are these words:33 "While they were being cut to pieces, the forces of the enemy would be busy there (copias . . . futurum)"; and at the beginning of the eighteenth book of the same Quadrigarius:34 "If you enjoy health proportionate to your own merit and our good-will, we have reason to hope that the gods will bless the good (deos . . . facturum)"; 1
0 that similarly Valerius Antias also in his twenty-fourth book wrote: "If those religious rites should be performed, and the omens should be wholly favourable, the soothsayers declared that everything would proceed as they desired (omnia . . . processurum esse).
11 "Plautus also in the Casina,36 speaking of a girl, used occisurum, not occisuram in the following passage:
Has Casina a sword? — Yes, two of them. —
Why two? — With one she'd fain the bailiff slay,
With t'other you.
12 So too Laberius in The Twins wrote:37
I thought not she would do (facturum) it.
13 Now, all those men were not unaware of the nature of a solecism, but Gracchus used dicturum, Quadrigarius futurum and facturum, Antias processurum, Plautus occisurum and Laberius facturum, in the infinitive mood,
14 a mood which is not inflected for mood or number or person or tense or gender, but expresses them all by one and the same form, 15 just as Marcus Cicero did not use futurum in the masculine or neuter gender — for that would clearly be a solecism — but employed a form which is independent of any influence of gender."
16. Furthermore, that same friend of mine used to say that in the oration of that same Marcus Tullius On Pompey's Military Command Cicero wrote the following, and so my friend always read it: "Since you know that your harbours, and those harbours from which you draw the breath of life, were in the power of the pirates."
17 And he declared that in potestatem fuisse40 was not a solecism, as the half-educated vulgar think, but he maintained that it was used in accordance with a definite and correct principle, one which the Greeks also followed; and Plautus, who is most choice in his Latinity, said in the Amphitruo:41
Número mihi in mentém fuit, not in mente, as we commonly say.
18. But besides Plautus, whom my friend used as an example in this instance, I myself have come upon a great abundance of such expressions in the early writers, and I have jotted them down here and there in these notes of mine.
19 But quite apart from that rule and those authorities, the very sound and order of the words make it quite clear that it is more in accordance with the careful attention to diction and the rhythmical style of Marcus Tullius that, either being good Latin, he should prefer to say potestatem rather than potestate.
20. For the former construction is more agreeable to the ear and better rounded, the latter harsher and less finished, provided always that a man has an ear attuned to such distinctions, not one that is dull and sluggish; it is for the same reason indeed that he preferred to say explicavit rather than explicuit, which was already coming to be the commoner form.
These are his own words from the speech which he delivered On Pompey's Military Command:42 "Sicily is a witness, which, begirt on all sides by many dangers, he freed (explicavit), not by the threat of war, but by his promptness in decision." But if he had said explicuit, the sentence would halt with weak and imperfect rhythm.43
AD--8. An anecdote found in the works of the philosopher Sotion about the courtesan Lais and the orator Demosthenes.
1. Sotion was a man of the Peripatetic school, far from unknown. He wrote a book filled with wide and varied information and called it Κέρας Ἀμαλθείας,
2 which is about equivalent to The Horn of Plenty.
3. In that book is found the following anecdote about the orator Demosthenes and the courtesan Lais: "Lais of Corinth," he says, "used to gain a great deal of money by the grace and charm of her beauty, and was frequently visited by wealthy men from all over Greece; but no one was received who did not give what she demanded, and her demands were extravagant enough."
4 He says that this was the origin of the proverb common among the Greeks:
Not every man may fare to Corinth town, for in vain would any man go to Corinth to visit Lais who could not pay her price.
5 "The great Demosthenes approached her secretly and asked for her favours. But Lais demanded ten thousand drachmas" — a sum equivalent in our money to ten thousand denarii.
6 "Amazed and shocked at the woman's great impudence and the vast sum of money demanded, Demosthenes turned away, remarking as he left her:
'I will not buy regret at such a price.' "
But the Greek words which he is said to have used are neater; he said:
Ούκ ὠνοῦμαι μυρίων δραχμῶν μεταμέλειαν.
AD--9: what the method and what the order of the Pythagorean training was, and the amount of time which was prescribed and accepted as the period for learning and at the same time keeping silence.
1. It is said that the order and method followed by Pythagoras, and afterwards by his school and his successors, in admitting and training their pupils were as follows.
2. At the very outset he "physiognomized" the young men who presented themselves for instruction. That word means to inquire into the character and dispositions of men by an inference drawn from their facial appearance and expression, and from the form and bearing of their whole body.
3 Then, when he had thus examined a man and found him suitable, he at once gave orders that he should be admitted to the school and should keep silence for a fixed period of time; this was not the same for all, but differed according to his estimate of the man's capacity for learning quickly.
4 But the one who kept silent listened to what was said by others; he was, however, religiously forbidden to ask questions, if he had not fully understood, or to remark upon what he had heard. Now, no one kept silence for less than two years, and during the entire period of silent listening they were called ἀκουστικοί or "auditors."
5 But when they had learned what is of all things the most difficult, to keep quiet and listen, and had finally begun to be adepts in that silence which is called ἐχεμυθία or "continence in words," they were then allowed to speak, to ask questions, and to write down what they had heard,
6 and to express their own opinions.
During this stage they were called μαθηματικοί or "students of science," evidently from those branches of knowledge which they had now begun to learn and practise; for the ancient Greeks called geometry, gnomonics,48 music and other higher studies μαθήματα or "sciences"; but the common people apply the term mathematici to those who ought to be called by their ethnic name, Chaldaeans.
7 Finally, equipped with this scientific training, they advanced to the investigation of the phenomena of the universe and the laws of nature, and then, and not till then, they were called φυσικοί or "natural philosophers."
8 Having thus expressed himself about Pythagoras, my friend Taurus continued: "But nowadays these fellows who turn to philosophy on a sudden with unwashed feet, not content with being wholly 'without purpose, without learning, and without scientific training,' even lay down the law as to how they are to be taught philosophy.
9 One says, 'first teach me this,' another chimes in, "I want to learn this, I don't want to learn that'; one is eager to begin with the Symposium of Plato because of the revel of Alcibiades, another with the Phaedrus on account of the speech of Lysias.
10 By Jupiter!" said he, "one man actually asks to read Plato, not in order to better his life, but to deck out his diction and style, not to gain in discretion, but in prettiness."
11 That is what Taurus used to say, in comparing the modern students of philosophy with the Pythagoreans of old.
12 But I must not omit this fact either — that all of them, as soon as they had been admitted by Pythagoras into that band of disciples, at once devoted to the common use whatever estate and property they had, and an inseparable fellowship was formed, like the old-time association which in Roman legal parlance was termed an "undivided inheritance."53
AD-10: In what terms the philosopher Favorino rebuked a young man who
used language that was too old-fashioned and archaic.
1. The philosopher Favorinus thus addressed a young man who was very fond of old
words and made a display in his ordinary, everyday conversation of many
expressions that were quite too unfamiliar and archaic: "Curius,"
said he, "and Fabricius and Coruncanius, men of the olden days, and of a
still earlier time than these famous triplets, the Horatii, talked clearly and
intelligibly with their fellows, using the language of their own day, not that
of the Aurunci, the Sicani, or the Pelasgi, who are said to have been the
earliest inhabitants of Italy.
2 You, on the contrary, just as if you were
talking to day with Evander's mother, use words that have already been
obsolete for many years, because you want no one to know and comprehend what
you are saying. Why not accomplish your purpose more fully, foolish fellow, and
say nothing at all?
3 But you assert that you love the olden time, because it
is honest, sterling, sober and temperate.
4 Live by all means according to the
manners of the past, but speak in the language of the present, and always
remember and take to heart what Gaius Caesar, a man of surpassing talent and
wisdom, wrote in the first book of his treatise On Analogy:
'Avoid, as you
would a rock, a strange and unfamiliar word.' "
AD--11
1 The statement of the celebrated writer Thucydides, that
the Lacedaemonians in battle used pipes and not trumpets, with a citation of
his words on that subject; and the remark of Herodotus that king Alyattes had
female lyre-players as part of his military equipment; and finally, some notes
on the pipe used by Gracchus when addressing assemblies.
1. Thucydides, the most authoritative of Greek historians, tells us56 that the Lacedaemonians, greatest of warriors, made use in battle, not of signals by horns or trumpets, but of the music of pipes, certainly not in conformity with any religious usage or from any ceremonial reason, nor yet that their courage might be roused and stimulated, which is the purpose of horns and trumpets; but on the contrary that they might be calmer and advance in better order,
2 because
the effect of the flute-player's notes is to restrain impetuosity. So firmly
were they convinced that in meeting the enemy and beginning battle nothing
contributedº more to valour and confidence than to be soothed by gentler sounds
and keep their feelings under control.
3 Accordingly, when the army was drawn
up, and began to advance in battle-array against the foe, pipers stationed in
the ranks began to play.
4 Thereupon, by this quiet, pleasant, and even solemn
prelude the fierce impetuosity of the soldiers was checked, in conformity with
a kind of discipline of military music, so to speak, so that they might not
rush forth in straggling disorder.
5 But I should like to quote the very words of that outstanding writer, which have greater distinction and credibility than my own: "And after this the attack began.
The Argives and their allies rushed forward eagerly and in a
rage, but the Lacedaemonians advanced slowly to the music of many flute-players
stationed at regular intervals; this not for any religious reason, but in order
that they might make the attack while marching together rhythmically, and that
their ranks might not be broken, which commonly happens to great armies when
they advance to the attack."
6 Tradition has it that the Cretans also commonly entered battle with the lyre playing before them and regulating their step.
7 Furthermore, Alyattes, king of
the land of Lydia, a man of barbaric manners and luxury, when he made war on
the Milesians, as Herodotus tells us in his History,57 had in his army and his
battle-array orchestras of pipe- and lyre-players, and even female
flute-players, such as are the delight of wanton banqueters.
8 Homer, however,
says58 that the Achaeans entered battle, relying, not on the music of lyres and
pipes, but on silent harmony and unanimity of spirit: In silence came the Achaeans, breathing rage, resolved in mind on one another's aid.
9 What then is the meaning of that soul-stirring shout of the Roman soldiers which, as the annalists have told us, was regularly used when charging the foe? Was that done contrary to so generally accepted a rule of old-time discipline? Or are a quiet advance and silence needful when an army is marching against an enemy that is far off and visible from a distance, but when you have almost come to blows, then must the foe, already at close quarters, be driven back by a violent assault and terrified by shouting?
9 What then is the meaning of that soul-stirring shout of the Roman soldiers which, as the annalists have told us, was regularly used when charging the foe? Was that done contrary to so generally accepted a rule of old-time discipline? Or are a quiet advance and silence needful when an army is marching against an enemy that is far off and visible from a distance, but when you have almost come to blows, then must the foe, already at close quarters, be driven back by a violent assault and terrified by shouting?
10 But, look you, the Laconian pipe-playing reminds me also of that
oratorical pipe, which they say was played for Gaius Gracchus when he addressed
the people, and gave him the proper pitch.
11 But it is not at all true, as is
commonly stated, that a musician always stood behind him as he spoke, playing
the pipe, and by varying the pitch now restrained and now animated his feelings
and his delivery.
12 For what could be more absurd than that a piper should
play measures, notes, and a kind of series of changing melodies for Gracchus
when addressing an assembly, as if for a dancing mountebank?
13 But more
reliable authorities declare that the musician took his place unobserved in the
audience and at intervals sounded on a short pipe a deeper note, to restrain
and calm the exuberant energy of the orator's delivery.
14 And that in my
opinion is the correct view, for it is unthinkable that Gracchus' well-known
natural vehemence needed any incitement or impulse from without.
15 Yet Marcus
Cicero thinks that the piper was employed by Gracchus for both purposes, in
order that with notes now soft, now shrill, he might animate his oratory when
it was becoming weak and feeble, or check it when too violent and passionate. I
quote Cicero's own words:
16 "And so this same Gracchus, Catulus, as you
may hear from your client Licinius, an educated man, who was at that time
Gracchus' slave and amanuensis, used to have a skilful musician stand behind
him in concealment when he addressed an audience, who could quickly breathe a
note to arouse the speaker if languid, or recall him from undue
vehemence."
17 Finally, Aristotle wrote in his volume of Problems that the custom of the Lacedaemonians which I have mentioned, of entering battle to the music of pipers, was adopted in order to make the fearlessness and ardour of the soldiers more evident and indubitable. 18 "For," said he, "distrust and fear are not at all consistent with an advance of that kind, and such an intrepid and rhythmical advance cannot be made by the faint-hearted and despondent."
19 I have added a few of Aristotle's own words on the
subject: "Why, when on the point of encountering danger, did they advance
to music of the pipe? In order to detect the cowards by their failure to keep
time."
AD--12: At what age, from what kind of family, by what rites, ceremonies and observances, and under what town a Vestal virgin is "taken" by the chief pontiff; what legal privileges she has immediately upon being chosen; also that, according to Labeo, she is lawfully neither heir of an intestate person, nor is anyone her heir, in case she dies without a will.
1. Those who have written about "taking" a Vestal virgin, of whom the most painstaking is Antistius Labeo,65 have stated that it is unlawful for a girl to be chosen who is less than six, or more than ten, years old; 2 she must also have both father and mother living; 3 she must be free too from any impediment in her speech, must not have impaired hearing, or be marked by any other bodily defect; p614 she must not herself have been freed from paternal control,66 nor her father before her, even if her father is still living and she is under the control of her grandfather;67 5 neither one nor both of her parents may have been slaves or engaged in mean occupations.68 6 But they say that one whose sister has been chosen to that priesthood acquires exemption, as well as one whose father is a flamen or an augur, one of the Fifteen in charge of the Sibylline Books,69 one of the Seven who oversee the banquets of the gods, or a dancing priest of Mars. 7 Exemption from that priesthood is regularly allowed also to the betrothed of a pontiff and to the daughter of a priest of the tubilustrium.70 8 Furthermore the writings of Ateius Capito inform us71 that the daughter of a man without residence in Italy must not be chosen, and that the daughter of one who has three children must be excused.
9 Now, as soon as the Vestal virgin is chosen, escorted to the House of Vesta and delivered to the pontiffs, she immediately passes from the control of her father without the ceremony of emancipation or loss of civil rights, and acquires the right to make a will.
10 But as to the method and ritual for choosing a Vestal, there are, it is true, no ancient written records, p63except that the first to be appointed was chosen by Numa. 11 There is, however, a Papian law,72 which provides that twenty maidens be selected from the people at the discretion of the chief pontiff, that a choice by lot be made from that number in the assembly,73 and that the girl whose lot is drawn be "taken" by the chief pontiff and become Vesta's. 12 But that allotment in accordance with the Papian law is usually unnecessary at present. For if any man of respectable birth goes to the chief pontiff and offers his daughter for the priesthood, provided consideration may be given to her candidacy without violating any religious requirement, the senate grants him exemption from the Papian law.
13 Now the Vestal is said to be "taken," it appears, because she is grasped by the hand of the chief pontiff and led away from the parent under whose control she is, as if she had been taken in war. 14 In the first book of Fabius Pictor's History74 the formula is given which the chief pontiff should use in choosing a Vestal. It is this: "I take thee, Amata, as one who has fulfilled all the legal requirements, to be priestess of Vesta, to perform the rites which it is lawful for a Vestal to perform for the Roman people, the Quirites."
15 Now, many think that the term "taken" ought to be used only of a Vestal. But, as a matter of fact, the flamens of Jupiter also, as well as the augurs, were said to be "taken." 16 Lucius Sulla, in the second book of his Autobiography,75 wrote as follows: "Publius Cornelius, the first to receive the surname Sulla, was taken to be flamen of Jupiter." 17 Marcus p65Cato, in his accusation of Servius Galba, says of the Lusitanians:76 "Yet they say that they wished to revolt. I myself at the present moment wish a thorough knowledge of the pontifical law; shall I therefore be taken as chief pontiff? If I wish to understand the science of augury thoroughly, shall anyone for that reason take me as augur?"
18 Furthermore, in the Commentaries on the Twelve Tables compiled by Labeo we find this passage: "A Vestal virgin is not heir to any intestate person, nor is anyone her heir, should she die without making a will, but her property, they say, reverts to the public treasury. The legal principle involved is an unsettled question."
19 The Vestal is called "Amata" when taken by the chief pontiff, because there is a tradition that the first one who was chosen bore that name.78
AD--13: on the philosophical question, what would be more proper on receipt of an order — to do scrupulously what was commanded, or sometimes even to disobey, in the hope that it would be more advantageous to the giver of the order; and an exposition of varying views on that subject.
1. In interpreting, evaluating and weighing the obligations which the philosophers call καθήκοντα, or "duties," the question is often asked, when some task has been assigned to you and exactly what was to be done has been defined, whether you ought to do anything contrary to instructions, if by so doing p67it might seem that the outcome would be more successful and more advantageous to the one who imposed the task upon you.
2 It is a difficult question which has been answered both ways by wise men. 3 For several have taken a position on the one side and expressed the decided belief that when a matter has once for all been determined, after due deliberation, by the one whose business and right are concerned, nothing should be done contrary to his order, even if some unlooked for occurrence should promise a better way of accomplishing the end in view; for fear that, if the expectation were not realized, the offender would be liable to blame and inexorable punishment for his insubordination. 4 If, on the other hand, the affair chanced to result more favourably, thanks would indeed be due the gods, but nevertheless a precedent would seem to have been established, which might ruin well-laid plans by weakening the binding force of a command. 5 Others have thought that the disadvantages to be feared, in case the order was not strictly obeyed, should carefully be weighed in advance against the advantage hoped for, and if the former were comparatively light and trivial, while on the contrary a greater and more substantial advantage was confidently to be expected, then they judged that one might go counter to instructions, to avoid losing a providential opportunity for successful action; 6 and they did not believe that a precedent for disobedience was to be feared, provided always that considerations of such a kind could be urged. 7 But they thought that particular regard should be paid to the temperament and disposition of the person whose business and command were involved: he must not be stern, p69hard, autocratic and implacable, as in the case of the orders of a Postumius and a Manlius.79 8 For if an account must be rendered to such a commander, they recommended that nothing be done contrary to the letter of his order.
9 I think that this
question of obedience to commands of such a nature will be more clearly
defined, if I add the example set by Publius Crassus Mucianus, a distinguished
and eminent man.
10 This Crassus is said
by Sempronius Asellio and several other writers of Roman history to have had
the five greatest and chiefest of blessings; for he was very rich, of the
highest birth, exceedingly eloquent, most learned in the law, and chief
pontiff. 11 When he, in his consulship, was in command in81 the province of
Asia, and was making preparations to beset and assault Leucae, he needed a
long, stout beam from which to make a battering-ram, to breach the walls of
that city. Accordingly, he wrote to the chief engineer of the people of
Mylatta,82 allies and friends of the Romans, to have the larger of two masts
which he had seen in their city sent him. 12 Then the chief engineer on
learning the purpose for which Crassus wanted the mast, did not send him the
larger, as had been ordered, but the smaller, which he thought was more
suitable, and better adapted for p71making a ram, besides being easier to
transport. 13 Crassus ordered him to be summoned, asked why he had not sent the
mast which had been ordered, and ignoring the excuses and reasons which the man
urged, caused him to be stripped and soundly beaten with rods; for he thought
that all the authority of a commander was weakened and made of no effect, if
one might reply to orders which he received, not with due obedience, but with
an unsolicited plan of his own.
AD--14: what was said and done by Gaius Fabricius, a man of great renown and great deeds, but of simple establishment and little money, when the Samnites offered him a great amount of gold, in the belief that he was a poor man.
1. Julius Hyginus, in the sixth book of his work "On the Lives and Deeds of Famous Men", says that a deputation from the Samnites came to Gaius Fabricius, the Roman general, and after mentioning his many important acts of kindness and generosity to the Samnites since peace was restored, offered him a present of a large sum of money, begging that he would accept and use it.
And they said that they did this because they saw that his house and mode of life were far from magnificent, and that he was not so well provided for as his high rank demanded. 2 Thereupon Fabricius passed his open hands from his ears to his eyes, then down to his nose, his mouth, his throat, and finally to the lower part of his belly; then he replied to the envoys: "So long as I can restrain and control all those members which I have touched, I shall never lack p73anything; therefore I cannot accept money, for which I have no use, from those who, I am sure, do have use for it."
AD--15: what a tiresome and utterly hateful fault is vain and empty loquacity, and how often it has been censured in deservedly strong language by the greatest Greek and Latin writers.
1. The talk of empty-headed, vain and tiresome babblers, who with no foundation of solid matter let out a stream of tipsy, tottering words, has justly been thought to come from the lips and not from the heart. Moreover, men say that the tongue ought not to be unrestrained and rambling, but guided and, so to speak, steered by cords connected with the heart and inmost breast.
2. Yet you may see some men spouting forth words with no exercise of judgment, but with such great and profound assurance that many of them in the very act of speaking are evidently unaware that they are talking.
3. Ulysses, on the contrary, a man gifted with sagacious eloquence, spoke, not from his lips but from his heart, as Homer says — a remark which applies less to the sound and quality of his utterance than to the depth of the thoughts inwardly conceived; and the poet went on to say, with great aptness, that the teeth form a rampart to check wanton words, in order that reckless speech may not only be restrained by that watchful sentry the heart, but also hedged in by a kind of outpost, so to speak, stationed at the lips.
4. The words of Homer which I mentioned above are these:
When from his breast his mighty voice went forth
and:
What a word has passed the barrier of your teeth.
5. I have added also a passage from Marcus Tullius, in which he expresses his strong and just hatred of silly and unmeaning volubility.
He says:
6 "Provided this fact be recognized, that neither should one commend the dumbness of a man who knows a subject, but is unable to give it expression in speech, nor the ignorance of one who lacks knowledge of his subject, but abounds in words; yet if one must choose one or the other alternative, I for my part would prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity."
7 Also in the first book of the De Oratore he wrote as follows:
"For what is so insane as the empty sound of words, however well-chosen and elegant, if there be no foundation of sense or sagacity?"
8 But Marcus Cato in particular is a relentless assailant of this fault.
9 For in the speech entitled If Caelius, tribune of the commons, should have summoned him, he says:
"That man is never silent who is afflicted with the disease of talking, as one in a lethargy is afflicted with that of drinking and sleeping.
For if you should not come together when he calls an assembly, so eager is he to talk that he would hire someone to listen.
And so you hear him, but you do not listen, just as if he were a quack.
For a quack's words are heard, but no one trusts himself to him when he is sick."
10 Again Cato, in the same speech,89 upbraiding the same Marcus Caelius, tribune of the commons, for the cheapness at which not only his speech but also his silence could be bought, says: "For a crust of bread he can be hired either to keep silence or to speak." 11 Most deservedly too does Homer call Thersites alone of all the Greeks ἀμετροεπής, "of measureless speech," and ἀκριτόμυθος,90 "a reckless babbler," declaring that his words are many and ἄκοσμα, or "disordered," like the endless chatter of daws;91 for what else does ἐκολώα ("he chattered") mean? 12 There is also a line of Eupolis most pointedly aimed at men of that kind:
In chatter excellent, unable quite to speak,
13 and our countryman Sallust, wishing to imitate this, writes:93 "Talkative rather than eloquent."
14 It is for the same reason that Hesiod, wisest of poets, says that the tongue should not be vulgarly exposed but hidden like a treasure, and that it is exhibited with best effect when it is modest, restrained and musical. His own words are:
The greatest of man's treasures is the tongue,
Which wins most favour when it spares its words
And measured is of movement.
15. The following verse of Epicharmus is also to the point:
T
hou art not skilled in speech, yet silence cannot keep,
16 and it is from this line surely that the saying arose: "Who, though he could not speak, could not be silent."
17. I once heard Favorinus say that the familiar lines of Euripides:
Of unrestrained mouth And of lawless folly is disaster the end,
ought not to be understood as directed only at those who spoke impiously or lawlessly, but might even with special propriety be used also of men who prate foolishly and immoderately, whose tongues are so extravagant and unbridled that they ceaselessly flow and seethe with the foulest dregs of language, the sort of persons to whom the Greeks apply the highly significant term κατάγλωσσοι, or "given to talk."
18 I learned from a friend of his, a man of learning, that the famous grammarian Valerius Probus, shortly before his death, began to read Sallust's well-known saying,97 "a certain amount of eloquence but little discretion", as "abundant talkativeness, too little discretion," and that he insisted that Sallust left it in that form, since the word loquentia was very characteristic of Sallust, an innovator in diction,98 while eloquentia was not at all consistent with lack of discretion.
19 Finally, loquacity of this kind and a disorderly mass of empty grandiloquence is scored with striking epithets by Aristophanes, wittiest of poets, in the following lines:99
A stubborn-creating, stubborn-pulling fellow,
Uncurbed, unfettered, uncontrolled of speech,
Unperiphrastic, bombastiloquent.
20 And no less pointedly did our forefathers also call men of that kind, who were drowned in words, "babblers, gabblers and chatterboxes."
AD---16: That those words of Quadrigarius in the third book of his Annals, "there a thousand of men is killed," are not used arbitrarily or by a poetic figure, but in accordance with a definite and approved rule of the science of grammar.
1 Quadrigarius in the third book of his Annals100 wrote the following: "There a thousand of men is killed," using occiditur, near occiduntur.
2. So too Lucilius in the third book of his Satires,
From gate to gate a thousand of paces is.
Thence to Salernum six,101
3 has mille est, not mille sunt.
3 Varro in the seventeenth book of his Antiquities of Man writes: "To the beginning of Romulus' reign is more than a thousand and one hundred years,"
4 Marcus Cato in the first book of his Origins, "From there it is nearly a thousand of paces."
5 Marcus Cicero has in his sixth Oration against Antony, "is the middle Janus so subject to the patronage of Lucius Antonius?
Who has ever been found in that Janus who would lend Lucius Antonius a thousand of sesterces?"
6 In these and many other passages mille is used in the singular number, 7 and that is not, as some think, a concession to early usage or admitted as a neat figure of speech, but it is obviously demanded p83by rule. 8 For the word mille does not stand for the Greek χίλιοι, "thousand," but for χιλιάς, "a thousand"; and just as they say one χιλιάς, or two χιλιάδες, so we say one thousand and two thousands according to a definite and regular rule. 9 Therefore these common expressions are correct and good usage, "There is a thousand of denarii in the chest," and "There is a thousand of horsemen in the army." 10 Furthermore Lucilius, in addition the example cited above, makes the point still clearer in another place also: 11 for in his fifteenth book he says:106
This horse no jolting fine Campanian steed, Though he has passed him by one thousand, aye And twain, of paces, can in a longer course Compete with, but he will in fact appear To run the other way.
12 So too in the ninth book:107
With sesterces a thousand you can gain
A hundred thousand.
13 Lucilius wrote milli passum instead of mille passibus and uno milli nummum for unis mille nummis, thus showing clearly that mille is a noun, and that it also forms an ablative case. 14 Nor ought we to expect the rest of these cases; for there are many other words which are declined only in single cases, and even some which are not declined at all. 15 Therefore we can no longer doubt that Cicero, in the speech which he wrote In Defence of Milo,108 used these words: "Before the estate of Clodius, where fully a thousand of able-bodied p85men was employed on those crazy substructures," not "were employed," as we find it in less accurate copies; for one rule requires us to say "a thousand men," but another, "a thousand of men."
AD---17: the patience with which Socrates endured his wife's shrewish disposition; and in that connection what Marcus Varro says in one of his satires about the duty of a husband.
1. Xanthippe, the wife of the philosopher Socrates, is said to have been ill-tempered and quarrelsome to a degree, with a constant flood of feminine tantrums and annoyances day and night.
2 Alcibiades, amazed at this outrageous conduct of hers towards her husband, asked Socrates what earthly reason he had for not showing so shrewish a woman the door.
3 "Because," replied Socrates, "it is by enduring such a person at home that I accustom and train myself to bear more easily away from home the impudence and injustice of other persons."a
4 In the same vein Varro also said in the Menippean Satire109 which he entitled On the Duty of a Husband:110 "A wife's faults must be either put down or put up with. He who puts down her faults, makes his wife more agreeable; he who puts up with them, improves himself." 5 Varro contrasted the two words tollere and ferre very cleverly,111 to be sure, p87but he obviously uses tollere in the sense of "correct." 6 It is evident that Varro thought that if a fault of that kind in a wife cannot be corrected, it should be tolerated, in so far of course as a man may endure it honourably; for faults are less serious than crimes.
AD---18: How Marcus Varro, in the fourteenth book of his Antiquities of Man,112a criticizes his master Lucius Aelius for a false etymology; and how Varro in his turn, in the same book, gives a false origin for fur.
1. In the fourteenth book of his "Divine Antiquities" Marco Varrone shows that Lucio Elio, the most learned Roman of his time, went astray and followed a false etymological principle in separating an old Greek word which had been taken over into the Roman language into two Latin words, just as if it were of Latin origin.
2. I quote Varro's own words on the subject:
"In this regard our countryman Lucius Aelius, the most gifted man of letters within my memory, was sometimes misled. For he gave false derivations of several early Greek words, under the impression that they were native to our tongue.
We do not use the word lepus ('hare') because the animal is levipes ('light-footed'), as he asserts, but because it is an old Greek word.
Many of the early words of that people are unfamiliar, because to day the Greeks use other words in their place; and it may not be generally known that among these are Graecus, for which they now use Ἕλλην, puteus ('well') which they call φρέαπ, and lepus, which they call λαγωός.
But as to this, far from disparaging Aelius' ability, I commend his diligence; for it is good fortune that brings success, endeavour that deserves praise."
3. This is what Varro wrote in the first part of his book, with great skill in the explanation of words, with wide knowledge of the usage of both languages, and marked kindliness towards Aelius himself.
4. But in the latter part of the same book he says that fur is so called because the early Romans used furvus for ater ('black'), and thieves steal most easily in the night, which is black.
5 Is it not clear that Varro made the same mistake about fur that Aelius made about lepus.
For what the Greeks now call κλέπτης, or "thief," in the earlier Greek language was called φώρ. Hence, owing to the similarity in sound, he who in Greek is φώρ, in Latin is fur.
But whether that fact escaped Varro's memory at the time, or on the other hand he thought that fur was more appropriately and consistently named from furvus, that is, "black," as to that question it is not for me to pass judgment on a man of such surpassing learning.
AD--19: the story of king Tarquin the Proud and the Sibylline Books.
1. In ancient annals we find this tradition about the Sibylline Books.
2 An old woman, a perfect stranger, came to king Tarquin the Proud, bringing nine books; she declared that they were oracles of the gods and that she wished to sell them. 3 Tarquin inquired the price; 4 the woman demanded an immense p91and exorbitant sum: the king laughed her to scorn, believing her to be in her dotage. 5 Then she placed a lighted brazier before him, burned three of the books to ashes, and asked whether he would buy the remaining six at the same price. 6 But at this Tarquin laughed all the more and said that there was now no doubt that the old woman was crazy. 7 Upon that the woman at once burned up three more books and again calmly made the same request, that he would buy the remaining three at the original figure. 8 Tarquin now became serious and more thoughtful, and realising that such persistence and confidence were not to be treated lightly, he bought the three books that were left at as high a price as had been asked for all nine. 9 Now it is a fact that after then leaving Tarquin, that woman was never seen again anywhere. 10 The three books were deposited in a shrine113 and called "Sibylline";114 11 to them the Fifteen115 resort whenever the immortal gods are to be consulted as to the welfare of the State.
AD--20: on what the geometers call "ἐπίπεδος", "στερεός", "κύβος" and "γραμμή", with the Latin equivalents for all these terms.
1. Of the figures which the geometers call σχήματα there are two kinds, "plane" and "solid."
2 These the Greeks themselves call respectively ἐπίπεδος and στερεός.
A "plane" figure is one that has all its lines in two dimensions only, breadth and length; for example, triangles and squares, which are drawn on a flat surface without height.
3 We have a "solid" figure, when its several lines do not produce merely length and breadth in a plane, but are raised so as to produce height also; such are in general the triangular columns which they call "pyramids," or those which are bounded on all sides by squares, such as the Greeks call κύβοι,116 and we quadrantalia.
4 For the κύβος is a figure which is square on all its sides, "like the dice," says Marcus Varro,117 "with which we play on a gaming-board, for which reason the dice themselves are called κύβοι."
5 Similarly in numbers too the term κύβος is used, when every factor118 consisting of the same number is equally resolved into the cube number itself,119 as is the case when three is taken three times and the resulting number itself is then trebled.
6 Pythagoras declared that the cube of the number three controls the course of the moon, since the moon passes through its orbit in twenty-seven days, and the ternio, or "triad," which the Greeks call τριάς, when cubed makes twenty-seven.
7 Furthermore, our geometers apply the term linea, or "line," to what the Greeks call γραμμή.
8 This is defined by Marcus Varro as follows:120 "A line," says he, "is length without breadth or height."
9 But Euclid says more tersely, omitting "height":121 "A line is μῆκος ἀπλατές, or 'breadthless length.' " Ἀπλατές cannot be expressed in Latin by a single word, unless you should venture to coin the term inlatabile.
AD--14: what was said and done by Gaius Fabricius, a man of great renown and great deeds, but of simple establishment and little money, when the Samnites offered him a great amount of gold, in the belief that he was a poor man.
1. Julius Hyginus, in the sixth book of his work "On the Lives and Deeds of Famous Men", says that a deputation from the Samnites came to Gaius Fabricius, the Roman general, and after mentioning his many important acts of kindness and generosity to the Samnites since peace was restored, offered him a present of a large sum of money, begging that he would accept and use it.
And they said that they did this because they saw that his house and mode of life were far from magnificent, and that he was not so well provided for as his high rank demanded. 2 Thereupon Fabricius passed his open hands from his ears to his eyes, then down to his nose, his mouth, his throat, and finally to the lower part of his belly; then he replied to the envoys: "So long as I can restrain and control all those members which I have touched, I shall never lack p73anything; therefore I cannot accept money, for which I have no use, from those who, I am sure, do have use for it."
AD--15: what a tiresome and utterly hateful fault is vain and empty loquacity, and how often it has been censured in deservedly strong language by the greatest Greek and Latin writers.
1. The talk of empty-headed, vain and tiresome babblers, who with no foundation of solid matter let out a stream of tipsy, tottering words, has justly been thought to come from the lips and not from the heart. Moreover, men say that the tongue ought not to be unrestrained and rambling, but guided and, so to speak, steered by cords connected with the heart and inmost breast.
2. Yet you may see some men spouting forth words with no exercise of judgment, but with such great and profound assurance that many of them in the very act of speaking are evidently unaware that they are talking.
3. Ulysses, on the contrary, a man gifted with sagacious eloquence, spoke, not from his lips but from his heart, as Homer says — a remark which applies less to the sound and quality of his utterance than to the depth of the thoughts inwardly conceived; and the poet went on to say, with great aptness, that the teeth form a rampart to check wanton words, in order that reckless speech may not only be restrained by that watchful sentry the heart, but also hedged in by a kind of outpost, so to speak, stationed at the lips.
4. The words of Homer which I mentioned above are these:
When from his breast his mighty voice went forth
and:
What a word has passed the barrier of your teeth.
5. I have added also a passage from Marcus Tullius, in which he expresses his strong and just hatred of silly and unmeaning volubility.
He says:
6 "Provided this fact be recognized, that neither should one commend the dumbness of a man who knows a subject, but is unable to give it expression in speech, nor the ignorance of one who lacks knowledge of his subject, but abounds in words; yet if one must choose one or the other alternative, I for my part would prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity."
7 Also in the first book of the De Oratore he wrote as follows:
"For what is so insane as the empty sound of words, however well-chosen and elegant, if there be no foundation of sense or sagacity?"
8 But Marcus Cato in particular is a relentless assailant of this fault.
9 For in the speech entitled If Caelius, tribune of the commons, should have summoned him, he says:
"That man is never silent who is afflicted with the disease of talking, as one in a lethargy is afflicted with that of drinking and sleeping.
For if you should not come together when he calls an assembly, so eager is he to talk that he would hire someone to listen.
And so you hear him, but you do not listen, just as if he were a quack.
For a quack's words are heard, but no one trusts himself to him when he is sick."
10 Again Cato, in the same speech,89 upbraiding the same Marcus Caelius, tribune of the commons, for the cheapness at which not only his speech but also his silence could be bought, says: "For a crust of bread he can be hired either to keep silence or to speak." 11 Most deservedly too does Homer call Thersites alone of all the Greeks ἀμετροεπής, "of measureless speech," and ἀκριτόμυθος,90 "a reckless babbler," declaring that his words are many and ἄκοσμα, or "disordered," like the endless chatter of daws;91 for what else does ἐκολώα ("he chattered") mean? 12 There is also a line of Eupolis most pointedly aimed at men of that kind:
In chatter excellent, unable quite to speak,
13 and our countryman Sallust, wishing to imitate this, writes:93 "Talkative rather than eloquent."
14 It is for the same reason that Hesiod, wisest of poets, says that the tongue should not be vulgarly exposed but hidden like a treasure, and that it is exhibited with best effect when it is modest, restrained and musical. His own words are:
The greatest of man's treasures is the tongue,
Which wins most favour when it spares its words
And measured is of movement.
15. The following verse of Epicharmus is also to the point:
T
hou art not skilled in speech, yet silence cannot keep,
16 and it is from this line surely that the saying arose: "Who, though he could not speak, could not be silent."
17. I once heard Favorinus say that the familiar lines of Euripides:
Of unrestrained mouth And of lawless folly is disaster the end,
ought not to be understood as directed only at those who spoke impiously or lawlessly, but might even with special propriety be used also of men who prate foolishly and immoderately, whose tongues are so extravagant and unbridled that they ceaselessly flow and seethe with the foulest dregs of language, the sort of persons to whom the Greeks apply the highly significant term κατάγλωσσοι, or "given to talk."
18 I learned from a friend of his, a man of learning, that the famous grammarian Valerius Probus, shortly before his death, began to read Sallust's well-known saying,97 "a certain amount of eloquence but little discretion", as "abundant talkativeness, too little discretion," and that he insisted that Sallust left it in that form, since the word loquentia was very characteristic of Sallust, an innovator in diction,98 while eloquentia was not at all consistent with lack of discretion.
19 Finally, loquacity of this kind and a disorderly mass of empty grandiloquence is scored with striking epithets by Aristophanes, wittiest of poets, in the following lines:99
A stubborn-creating, stubborn-pulling fellow,
Uncurbed, unfettered, uncontrolled of speech,
Unperiphrastic, bombastiloquent.
20 And no less pointedly did our forefathers also call men of that kind, who were drowned in words, "babblers, gabblers and chatterboxes."
AD---16: That those words of Quadrigarius in the third book of his Annals, "there a thousand of men is killed," are not used arbitrarily or by a poetic figure, but in accordance with a definite and approved rule of the science of grammar.
1 Quadrigarius in the third book of his Annals100 wrote the following: "There a thousand of men is killed," using occiditur, near occiduntur.
2. So too Lucilius in the third book of his Satires,
From gate to gate a thousand of paces is.
Thence to Salernum six,101
3 has mille est, not mille sunt.
3 Varro in the seventeenth book of his Antiquities of Man writes: "To the beginning of Romulus' reign is more than a thousand and one hundred years,"
4 Marcus Cato in the first book of his Origins, "From there it is nearly a thousand of paces."
5 Marcus Cicero has in his sixth Oration against Antony, "is the middle Janus so subject to the patronage of Lucius Antonius?
Who has ever been found in that Janus who would lend Lucius Antonius a thousand of sesterces?"
6 In these and many other passages mille is used in the singular number, 7 and that is not, as some think, a concession to early usage or admitted as a neat figure of speech, but it is obviously demanded p83by rule. 8 For the word mille does not stand for the Greek χίλιοι, "thousand," but for χιλιάς, "a thousand"; and just as they say one χιλιάς, or two χιλιάδες, so we say one thousand and two thousands according to a definite and regular rule. 9 Therefore these common expressions are correct and good usage, "There is a thousand of denarii in the chest," and "There is a thousand of horsemen in the army." 10 Furthermore Lucilius, in addition the example cited above, makes the point still clearer in another place also: 11 for in his fifteenth book he says:106
This horse no jolting fine Campanian steed, Though he has passed him by one thousand, aye And twain, of paces, can in a longer course Compete with, but he will in fact appear To run the other way.
12 So too in the ninth book:107
With sesterces a thousand you can gain
A hundred thousand.
13 Lucilius wrote milli passum instead of mille passibus and uno milli nummum for unis mille nummis, thus showing clearly that mille is a noun, and that it also forms an ablative case. 14 Nor ought we to expect the rest of these cases; for there are many other words which are declined only in single cases, and even some which are not declined at all. 15 Therefore we can no longer doubt that Cicero, in the speech which he wrote In Defence of Milo,108 used these words: "Before the estate of Clodius, where fully a thousand of able-bodied p85men was employed on those crazy substructures," not "were employed," as we find it in less accurate copies; for one rule requires us to say "a thousand men," but another, "a thousand of men."
AD---17: the patience with which Socrates endured his wife's shrewish disposition; and in that connection what Marcus Varro says in one of his satires about the duty of a husband.
1. Xanthippe, the wife of the philosopher Socrates, is said to have been ill-tempered and quarrelsome to a degree, with a constant flood of feminine tantrums and annoyances day and night.
2 Alcibiades, amazed at this outrageous conduct of hers towards her husband, asked Socrates what earthly reason he had for not showing so shrewish a woman the door.
3 "Because," replied Socrates, "it is by enduring such a person at home that I accustom and train myself to bear more easily away from home the impudence and injustice of other persons."a
4 In the same vein Varro also said in the Menippean Satire109 which he entitled On the Duty of a Husband:110 "A wife's faults must be either put down or put up with. He who puts down her faults, makes his wife more agreeable; he who puts up with them, improves himself." 5 Varro contrasted the two words tollere and ferre very cleverly,111 to be sure, p87but he obviously uses tollere in the sense of "correct." 6 It is evident that Varro thought that if a fault of that kind in a wife cannot be corrected, it should be tolerated, in so far of course as a man may endure it honourably; for faults are less serious than crimes.
AD---18: How Marcus Varro, in the fourteenth book of his Antiquities of Man,112a criticizes his master Lucius Aelius for a false etymology; and how Varro in his turn, in the same book, gives a false origin for fur.
1. In the fourteenth book of his "Divine Antiquities" Marco Varrone shows that Lucio Elio, the most learned Roman of his time, went astray and followed a false etymological principle in separating an old Greek word which had been taken over into the Roman language into two Latin words, just as if it were of Latin origin.
2. I quote Varro's own words on the subject:
"In this regard our countryman Lucius Aelius, the most gifted man of letters within my memory, was sometimes misled. For he gave false derivations of several early Greek words, under the impression that they were native to our tongue.
We do not use the word lepus ('hare') because the animal is levipes ('light-footed'), as he asserts, but because it is an old Greek word.
Many of the early words of that people are unfamiliar, because to day the Greeks use other words in their place; and it may not be generally known that among these are Graecus, for which they now use Ἕλλην, puteus ('well') which they call φρέαπ, and lepus, which they call λαγωός.
But as to this, far from disparaging Aelius' ability, I commend his diligence; for it is good fortune that brings success, endeavour that deserves praise."
3. This is what Varro wrote in the first part of his book, with great skill in the explanation of words, with wide knowledge of the usage of both languages, and marked kindliness towards Aelius himself.
4. But in the latter part of the same book he says that fur is so called because the early Romans used furvus for ater ('black'), and thieves steal most easily in the night, which is black.
5 Is it not clear that Varro made the same mistake about fur that Aelius made about lepus.
For what the Greeks now call κλέπτης, or "thief," in the earlier Greek language was called φώρ. Hence, owing to the similarity in sound, he who in Greek is φώρ, in Latin is fur.
But whether that fact escaped Varro's memory at the time, or on the other hand he thought that fur was more appropriately and consistently named from furvus, that is, "black," as to that question it is not for me to pass judgment on a man of such surpassing learning.
AD--19: the story of king Tarquin the Proud and the Sibylline Books.
1. In ancient annals we find this tradition about the Sibylline Books.
2 An old woman, a perfect stranger, came to king Tarquin the Proud, bringing nine books; she declared that they were oracles of the gods and that she wished to sell them. 3 Tarquin inquired the price; 4 the woman demanded an immense p91and exorbitant sum: the king laughed her to scorn, believing her to be in her dotage. 5 Then she placed a lighted brazier before him, burned three of the books to ashes, and asked whether he would buy the remaining six at the same price. 6 But at this Tarquin laughed all the more and said that there was now no doubt that the old woman was crazy. 7 Upon that the woman at once burned up three more books and again calmly made the same request, that he would buy the remaining three at the original figure. 8 Tarquin now became serious and more thoughtful, and realising that such persistence and confidence were not to be treated lightly, he bought the three books that were left at as high a price as had been asked for all nine. 9 Now it is a fact that after then leaving Tarquin, that woman was never seen again anywhere. 10 The three books were deposited in a shrine113 and called "Sibylline";114 11 to them the Fifteen115 resort whenever the immortal gods are to be consulted as to the welfare of the State.
AD--20: on what the geometers call "ἐπίπεδος", "στερεός", "κύβος" and "γραμμή", with the Latin equivalents for all these terms.
1. Of the figures which the geometers call σχήματα there are two kinds, "plane" and "solid."
2 These the Greeks themselves call respectively ἐπίπεδος and στερεός.
A "plane" figure is one that has all its lines in two dimensions only, breadth and length; for example, triangles and squares, which are drawn on a flat surface without height.
3 We have a "solid" figure, when its several lines do not produce merely length and breadth in a plane, but are raised so as to produce height also; such are in general the triangular columns which they call "pyramids," or those which are bounded on all sides by squares, such as the Greeks call κύβοι,116 and we quadrantalia.
4 For the κύβος is a figure which is square on all its sides, "like the dice," says Marcus Varro,117 "with which we play on a gaming-board, for which reason the dice themselves are called κύβοι."
5 Similarly in numbers too the term κύβος is used, when every factor118 consisting of the same number is equally resolved into the cube number itself,119 as is the case when three is taken three times and the resulting number itself is then trebled.
6 Pythagoras declared that the cube of the number three controls the course of the moon, since the moon passes through its orbit in twenty-seven days, and the ternio, or "triad," which the Greeks call τριάς, when cubed makes twenty-seven.
7 Furthermore, our geometers apply the term linea, or "line," to what the Greeks call γραμμή.
8 This is defined by Marcus Varro as follows:120 "A line," says he, "is length without breadth or height."
9 But Euclid says more tersely, omitting "height":121 "A line is μῆκος ἀπλατές, or 'breadthless length.' " Ἀπλατές cannot be expressed in Latin by a single word, unless you should venture to coin the term inlatabile.
AD--21: The positive assertion of Julius Hyginus that he had read a
manuscript of Virgil from the poet's own household, in which there was written
"et ora tristia temptantum sensus torquebit amaror"
and not the usual reading,
"sensu torquebit amaro".
1. Nearly everyone reads these lines from the Georgics of Virgil in this way:
At sapor indicium faciet manifestus et ora Tristia temptantum sensu torquebit amaro.123
2. Hyginus, however, on my word no obscure grammarian, in the Commentaries which he wrote on Virgil, declares and insists that it was not this that Virgil left, but what he himself found in a copy which had come from the home and family of the poet:
et ora Tristia temptantum sensus torquebit amaror,125
3. And this reading has commended itself, not to Hyginus alone, but also to many other learned men, because it seems absurd to say "the taste will distort with its bitter sensation." "Since," they say, "taste itself is a sensation, it cannot have another sensation in itself, but it is exactly as if one should say, 'the sensation will distort with a bitter sensation.' " 4 Moreover, when I had read Hyginus' note to Favorinus, and the strangeness and harshness of the phrase "sensu torquebit amaro" at once displeased him, p97he said with a laugh, "I am ready to swear by Jupiter and the stone,126 which is considered the most sacred of oaths, that Virgil never wrote that, but I believe that Hyginus is right. 5 For Virgil was not the first to coin that word arbitrarily, but he found it in the poems of Lucretius and made use of it, not disdaining to follow the authority of a poet who excelled in talent and power of expression." 6 The passage, from the fourth book of Lucretius, reads as follows:127
dilutaque contra
Cum tuimur misceri absinthia, tangit amaror.128
7 And in fact we see that Virgil imitated, not only single words of Lucretius, but often almost whole lines and passages.
At sapor indicium faciet manifestus et ora Tristia temptantum sensu torquebit amaro.123
2. Hyginus, however, on my word no obscure grammarian, in the Commentaries which he wrote on Virgil, declares and insists that it was not this that Virgil left, but what he himself found in a copy which had come from the home and family of the poet:
et ora Tristia temptantum sensus torquebit amaror,125
3. And this reading has commended itself, not to Hyginus alone, but also to many other learned men, because it seems absurd to say "the taste will distort with its bitter sensation." "Since," they say, "taste itself is a sensation, it cannot have another sensation in itself, but it is exactly as if one should say, 'the sensation will distort with a bitter sensation.' " 4 Moreover, when I had read Hyginus' note to Favorinus, and the strangeness and harshness of the phrase "sensu torquebit amaro" at once displeased him, p97he said with a laugh, "I am ready to swear by Jupiter and the stone,126 which is considered the most sacred of oaths, that Virgil never wrote that, but I believe that Hyginus is right. 5 For Virgil was not the first to coin that word arbitrarily, but he found it in the poems of Lucretius and made use of it, not disdaining to follow the authority of a poet who excelled in talent and power of expression." 6 The passage, from the fourth book of Lucretius, reads as follows:127
dilutaque contra
Cum tuimur misceri absinthia, tangit amaror.128
7 And in fact we see that Virgil imitated, not only single words of Lucretius, but often almost whole lines and passages.
AD--22: whether it is correct Latin for counsel for the defence to say
"superesse se", "that he is appearing for" those whom he is defending;
and the proper meaning of superesse.
1. An incorrect and improper meaning of a word has been established by long usage, in that we use the expression h"ic illi superest" when we wish to say that anyone appears as another's advocate and pleads his cause.
2. And this is not
merely the language of the streets and of the common people, but is used in the
forum, the comitium and the courts.
3 Those, however, who have spoken language
undefiled have for the most part used superesse in the sense of "to
overflow, be superfluous, or exceed the required amount."
4 Thus Marcus
Varro, in the satire entitled "You know not what evening may
bring,"129 uses superfuisse in the sense of having exceeded the amount
proper for the occasion. 5 These are his words: "Not everything should be
read at a dinner party, but preferably such works as are at the same time
improving and diverting, so that this feature of the entertainment also may
seem not to have been neglected, rather than overdone."
6 I remember happening to be present in the court of a praetor who was a man of learning, and that on that occasion an advocate of some repute pleaded in such fashion that he wandered from the subject and did not touch upon the point at issue. Thereupon the praetor said to the man whose case was before him: "You have no counsel." And when the pleader protested, saying "I am present (supersum) for the honourable gentleman," the praetor wittily retorted: "You surely present too much, but you do not represent your client."
7 Marcus Cicero, too, in his book entitled On Reducing the Civil Law to a System wrote these words: "Indeed Quintus Aelius Tubero did not fall short of his predecessors in knowledge of the law, in learning he even outstripped them." In this passage superfuit seems to mean "he went beyond, surpassed and excelled his predecessors in his learning, which, however, was excessive and overabundant";132 for Tubero was thoroughly versed in Stoic dialectics. p1018 Cicero's use of the word in the second book133 of the Republic also deserves attention. This is the passage in question:
"I should not object, Laelius, if I did not think that these
friends wished, and if I myself did not desire, that you should take some part
in this discussion of ours, especially since you yourself said yesterday that
you would give us even more than enough (te superfuturum). But that indeed is
impossible: we all ask you not to give us less than enough (ne desis)."
9 Now Julius Paulus, the most learned man within my recollection, used to say
with keenness and understanding that superesse and its Greek equivalent had
more than one meaning: for he declared that the Greeks used περισσόν both ways,
either of what was superfluous and unnecessary 10 or of what was too abundant,
overflowing and excessive; that in the same way our earliest writers also
employed superesse sometimes of what was superfluous, idle and not wholly
necessary, a sense which we have just cited from Varro, and some, as in Cicero,
of that which indeed surpassed other things in copiousness and plentifulness,
yet was immoderate and too extensive, and gushed forth more abundantly than was
sufficient. 11 Therefore one who says superesse se with reference to a man whom
he is defending tries to convey none of these meanings, but uses superesse in a
sense that is unknown and not in use. 12 And he will not be able to appeal even
of that authority of Virgil, who in his Georgics wrote as follows:
I will be first to bear, so but my life still last (supersit),
Home to my native land . . .
For in this place Virgil seems to have used that word somewhat irregularly in giving supersit the sense of "be present for a longer or more extended period," 13 but on the contrary his use of the word in the following line is more nearly the accepted one:135
They cut him tender grass,
Give corn and much fresh water, that his strengthen
Be more than equal to (superesse) the pleasing toil.
for here superesse means to be more than equal to the task and not be crushed by it.
14 I also used to raise the question whether the ancients used superesse in the
sense of "to be left and be lacking for the completion of an act." 15
For to express that idea Sallust says, not superesse, but superare. These are
his words in the Jugurtha:136 "This man was in the habit of exercising a
command independently of the king, and of attending to all business which had
been left undone (superaverant) by Jugurtha when he was weary or engaged in
more important affairs." 16 But we find in the third book of Ennius'
Annals:137
Then he declares one tasks's left over (super esse) for him,
that is, is left and remains undone; but there superesse must be divided and read as if it were not one part of speech, but two, as in fact it is. 17 Cicero, however, in his second Oration against Antony138 expresses "what is left" by restare, not by superesse.
18 Besides these uses we find superesse with the meaning "survive." 19 For it is so employed in the book of letters of Marcus Cicero to Lucius Plancus,139 as p105well as in a letter of Marcus Asinius Pollio to Cicero,140 as follows: "For I wish neither to fail the commonwealth nor to survive it (superesse)," meaning that if the commonwealth should be destroyed and perish, he does not wish to live. 20 Again in the Asinaria of Plautus that same force is still more evident in these, the first verses of that comedy:141
As you would hope to have your only son
Survive (superesse) you and be ever sound and hale.
21 Thus we have to avoid, not merely an improper use of the word, but also the evil omen, in case an older man, acting as advocate for a youth, should say that he "survives" him.
AD---23: who Papirio Pretestato was; the reason for that surname; and the whole of the entertaining story about that same Papirius.
Then he declares one tasks's left over (super esse) for him,
that is, is left and remains undone; but there superesse must be divided and read as if it were not one part of speech, but two, as in fact it is. 17 Cicero, however, in his second Oration against Antony138 expresses "what is left" by restare, not by superesse.
18 Besides these uses we find superesse with the meaning "survive." 19 For it is so employed in the book of letters of Marcus Cicero to Lucius Plancus,139 as p105well as in a letter of Marcus Asinius Pollio to Cicero,140 as follows: "For I wish neither to fail the commonwealth nor to survive it (superesse)," meaning that if the commonwealth should be destroyed and perish, he does not wish to live. 20 Again in the Asinaria of Plautus that same force is still more evident in these, the first verses of that comedy:141
As you would hope to have your only son
Survive (superesse) you and be ever sound and hale.
21 Thus we have to avoid, not merely an improper use of the word, but also the evil omen, in case an older man, acting as advocate for a youth, should say that he "survives" him.
AD---23: who Papirio Pretestato was; the reason for that surname; and the whole of the entertaining story about that same Papirius.
1. The story of Papirius Praetextatus was told and committed to writing in the speech which Marcus Cato made To the soldiers against Galba,142 with great charm, brilliance and elegance of diction. 2 I should have included Cato's own words in this very commentary, if I had had access to the book at the time when I dictated this extract.
3 But if you would like to hear the bare tale, without
the noble and dignified language, the incident was about as follows: 4 It was
formerly the custom at Rome for senators to enter the House with their sons
under age.143 5 In those days, when a matter of considerable importance p107had
been discussed and was postponed to the following day, it was voted that no one
should mention the subject of the debate until the matter was decided. The
mother of the young Papirius, who had been in the House with his father, asked
her son what the Fathers had taken up in the senate. 6 The boy replied that it
was a secret and that he could not tell. 7 The woman became all the more eager
to hear about it; the secrecy of the matter and the boys' silence piqued her
curiosity; she therefore questioned him more pressingly and urgently. 8 Then
the boy, because of his mother's insistence, resorted to a witty and amusing
falsehood. He said that the senate had discussed the question whether it seemed
more expedient, and to the advantage of the State, for one man to have two
wives or one woman to have two husbands. 9 On hearing this, she is
panic-stricken, rushed excitedly from the house, 10 and carries the news to the
other matrons. Next day a crowd of matrons came to the senate, imploring with
tears and entreaties that one woman might have two husbands rather than one man
two wives. 11 The senators, as they entered the House, were wondering at this
strange madness of the women and the meaning of such a demand, 12 when young
Papirius, stepping forward to the middle of the House, told in detail what his
mother had insisted on hearing, what he himself had said to her, in fact, the
whole story exactly as it had happened. 13 The senate paid homage to the boy's
cleverness and loyalty, but voted that thereafter boys should not enter the
House with their fathers, save only this Papirius; and the boy was henceforth
honoured with the p109surname Praetextatus, because of his discretion in
keeping silent and in speaking, while he was still young enough to wear the
purple-bordered gown.
Ad--24: three epitaphs of three early poets, Naevius, Plautus and Pacuvius,
composed by themselves and inscribed upon their tombs.
1. There are three epitaphs of famous poets, Gnaeus Naevius, Plautus and Marcus Pacuvius, composed by themselves and left to be inscribed upon their tombs, which I have thought ought to be included among these notes, because of their distinction and charm.
2 The epitaph of Naevius, although full of Campanian144 arrogance, might have been regarded as a just estimate, if he had not written it himself:145
If that immortals might for mortals weep,
Then would divine Camenae146 weep for Naevius.
For after he to Orcus as treasure was consigned,
The Romans straight forgot to speak the Latin tongue.
3 We should be inclined to doubt whether the epitaph of Plautus was really by his own hand, if it had not been quoted by Marcus Varro in the first book of his work On Poets:147
p111 Since Plautus has met death, Comedy mourns,
Deserted is the stage; then Laughter, Sport and Wit,
And Music's countless numbers148 all together wept.149
4 Pacuvius' epitaph is the most modest and simple, worthy of his dignity and good taste:150
Young man, although you haste, this little stone
Entreats thee to regard it, then to read its tale.
Here lie the bones of Marcus, hight Pacuvius.
Of this I would not have you unaware. Good-bye.
AD---25: Marcus Varro's definition of the word "indutiae"; to which is added a somewhat careful investigation of the derivation of that word.
1. Marcus Varro, in that book of his Antiquities of Man which treats Of War and Peace, defines indutiae (a truce) in two ways.
"A truce," he says,
"is peace for a few days in camp;" 2 and again in another place,
"A truce is a holiday in war." 3 But each of these definitions seems
to be wittily and happily concise rather than clear or satisfactory. 4 For a
truce is not a peace — since war continues, although fighting ceases — nor is
it restricted to a camp or to a few days only. 5 For what are we to say if a
truce is made for some months, and the p113troops withdraw from camp into the
towns? Have we not then also a truce? 6 Again, if a truce is to be defined as
only lasting for a few days, what are we to say of the fact, recorded by Quadrigarius
in the first book of his Annals, that Gaius Pontius the Samnite asked the Roman
dictator for a truce of six hours?152 7 The definition "a holiday in
war," too, is rather happy than clear or precise.
8 Now the Greeks, more significantly and more pointedly, have called such an agreement to cease from fighting ἐκεχειρία, or "a staying of hands," substituting for one letter of harsher sound a smoother one.153 9 For since there is no fighting at such a time and their hands are withheld, they called it ἐκεχειρία. 10 But it surely was not Varro's task to define a truce too scrupulously, and to observe all the laws and canons of definition; 11 for he thought it sufficient to give an explanation of the kind which the Greeks call τύποι ("typical") and ὑπογραφαί ("outline"), rather than ὁρισμοί ("exact definition").
12 I have for a long time been inquiring into the derivation of indutiae, 13 but of the many explanations which I have either heard or read this which I am going to mention seems most reasonable. 14 I believe that indutiae is made up of inde uti iam ("that from then on"). 15 The stipulation of a truce is to this effect, that there shall be no fighting and no trouble up to a fixed time, but that after that time all the laws of war shall again be in force. 16 Therefore, since a definite date is set and an agreement is p115made that before that date there shall be no fighting but when that time comes, "that from then on," fighting shall be resumed: by uniting (as it were) and combining those words which I have mentioned the term indutiae is formed.154
17 But Aurelius Opilius, in the first book of his work entitled The Muses, says:155 "It is called a truce when enemies pass back and forth from one side to another safely and without strife; from this the name seems to be formed, as if it were initiae,156 that is, an approach and entrance." 18 I have not omitted this note of Aurelius, for fear that it might appear to some rival of these Nights a more elegant etymology, merely because he thought that it had escaped my notice when I was investigating the origin of the word.
8 Now the Greeks, more significantly and more pointedly, have called such an agreement to cease from fighting ἐκεχειρία, or "a staying of hands," substituting for one letter of harsher sound a smoother one.153 9 For since there is no fighting at such a time and their hands are withheld, they called it ἐκεχειρία. 10 But it surely was not Varro's task to define a truce too scrupulously, and to observe all the laws and canons of definition; 11 for he thought it sufficient to give an explanation of the kind which the Greeks call τύποι ("typical") and ὑπογραφαί ("outline"), rather than ὁρισμοί ("exact definition").
12 I have for a long time been inquiring into the derivation of indutiae, 13 but of the many explanations which I have either heard or read this which I am going to mention seems most reasonable. 14 I believe that indutiae is made up of inde uti iam ("that from then on"). 15 The stipulation of a truce is to this effect, that there shall be no fighting and no trouble up to a fixed time, but that after that time all the laws of war shall again be in force. 16 Therefore, since a definite date is set and an agreement is p115made that before that date there shall be no fighting but when that time comes, "that from then on," fighting shall be resumed: by uniting (as it were) and combining those words which I have mentioned the term indutiae is formed.154
17 But Aurelius Opilius, in the first book of his work entitled The Muses, says:155 "It is called a truce when enemies pass back and forth from one side to another safely and without strife; from this the name seems to be formed, as if it were initiae,156 that is, an approach and entrance." 18 I have not omitted this note of Aurelius, for fear that it might appear to some rival of these Nights a more elegant etymology, merely because he thought that it had escaped my notice when I was investigating the origin of the word.
Ad--26: the answer of the philosopher Taurus, when I asked him whether a wise man ever got angry.
1. I once asked Taurus in his lecture-room whether a wise man got angry.
2. For
after his daily discourses he often gave everyone the opportunity of asking
whatever questions he wished.
3 On this occasion he first discussed the disease
or passion of anger at length, setting forth what is to be found in the books
of the ancients and in his own commentaries; then, turning to me who had asked
the question, he said:
"This is what I think about getting angry,
4
but it will not be out of place for you to hear also the opinion of my master
Plutarch, a man of great learning and wisdom.
5 Plutarch," said he,
"once gave orders that one of his slaves, a worthless and insolent fellow,
but one whose ears had been filled with the teachings and arguments of
philosophy, should be stripped of his tunic for some offence or other and
flogged.
6 They had begun to beat him, and the slave kept protesting that he
did not deserve the flogging; that he was guilty of no wrong, no crime.
7
Finally, while the lashing still went on, he began to shout, no longer uttering
complaints or shrieks and groans, but serious reproaches. Plutarch's conduct,
he said, was unworthy of a philosopher; to be angry was shameful: his master
had often descanted on the evil of anger and had even written an excellent
treatise Περὶ Ἀοργησίας; it was in no way consistent with all that was written
in that book that its author should fall into a fit of violent rage and punish
his slave with many stripes.
8 Then Plutarch calmly and mildly made answer:
'What makes you think, scoundrel, that I am now angry with you. Is it from my
expression, my voice, my colour, or even my words, that you believe me to be in
the grasp of anger?
In my opinion my eyes are not fierce, my expression is not
disturbed, I am neither shouting madly nor foaming at the mouth nor getting red
in the face; I am saying nothing to cause me shame or regret; I am not
trembling at all from anger or making violent gestures. 9 For all these
actions, if you did but know it, are the usual signs of angry passions.' And
with these words, turning to the man who was plying the lash, p119he said: 'In
the meantime, while this fellow and I are arguing, do you keep at it.' "
10 Now the sum and substance of Taurus' whole disquisition was this.
He did not
believe that "ἀοργησία" or "freedom from anger," and "ἀναλγησία", or
"lack of sensibility," were identical; but that a mind not prone to
anger was one thing, a spirit ἀνάλγητος and ἀναίσθητος, that is, callous and
unfeeling, quite another.
11. For as of all the rest of the emotions which the
Latin philosophers call affectus or affectiones, and the Greeks πάθη, so of the
one which, when it becomes a cruel desire for vengeance, is called
"anger," he did not recommend as expedient a total lack, στέρησις as
the Greeks say, but a moderate amount, which they call μετριότης.
****************************************************************************
Book II
AD--1 How Socrates used to train himself in physical endurance; and of the temperate habits of that philosopher.
1 Among voluntary tasks and exercises for strengthening his body for any chance demands upon its endurance we are told that Socrates habitually practised this one: 2 he would stand, so the story goes, in one fixed position, all day and all night, from early dawn until the next sunrise, open-eyed, motionless, in his very tracks and with face and eyes riveted to the same spot in deep meditation, as if his mind and soul had been, as it were, withdrawn from his body. 3 When Favorinus in his discussion of the man's fortitude and his many other virtues had reached this point, he said: "He often stood from sun to sun, more rigid than the tree trunks."1
4 His temperance also is said to have been so great, that he lived almost the whole period of his life with health unimpaired. 5 Even amid the havoc of that plague which, at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, devastated Athens with a deadly species of disease, by temperate and abstemious habits he is said to have avoided the ill-effects of indulgence and retained his physical vigour so completely, that he was not at all affected by the calamity common to all.
p125 2 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] What rules of courtesy should be observed by fathers and sons in taking their places at table, keeping their seats, and similar matters at home and elsewhere, when the sons are magistrates and the fathers private citizens; and a discourse of the philosopher Taurus on the subject, with an illustration taken from Roman history.
1 The governor of the province of Crete, a man of senatorial rank, had come to Athens for the purpose of visiting and becoming acquainted with the philosopher Taurus, and in company with this same governor was his father. 2 Taurus, having just dismissed his pupils, was sitting before the door of his room, and we stood by his side conversing with him. 3 In came the governor of the province and with him his father. 4 Taurus arose quietly, and after salutations had been exchanged, sat down again. 5 Presently the single chair that was at hand was brought and placed near them, while others were being fetched. Taurus invited the governor's father to be seated; 6 to which he replied: 7 "Rather let this man take the seat, since he is a magistrate of the Roman people." "Without prejudicing the case," said Taurus, "do you meanwhile sit down, while we look into the matter and inquire whether it is more proper for you, who are the father, to sit, or your son, who is a magistrate." 8 And when the father had seated himself, and another chair had been placed near by for his son also, Taurus discussed the question with what, by the gods! was a most excellent valuation of honours and duties.
9 The substance of the discussions was this: In public places, functions and acts the rights of fathers, p127compared with the authority of sons who are magistrates, give way somewhat and are eclipsed: but when they are sitting together unofficially in the intimacy of home life, or walking about, or even reclining at a dinner party of intimate friends, then the official distinctions between a son who is a magistrate and a father who is a private citizen are at an end, while those that are natural and inherent come into play. 10 "Now, your visit to me," said he, "our present conversation, and this discussion of duties are private actions. Therefore enjoy the same priority of honours at my house which it is proper for you to enjoy in your own home as the older man."
11 These remarks and others to the same purport were made by Taurus at once seriously and pleasantly. 12 Moreover, it has seemed not out of place to add what I have read in Claudius about the etiquette of father and son under such circumstances. 13 I therefore quote Quadrigarius' actual words, transcribed from the sixth book of his Annals:2 "The consuls then elected were Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus for the second time and Quintus Fabius Maximus, son of the Maximus who had been consul the year before. The father, at the time proconsul, mounted upon a horse met his son the consul, and because he was his father, would not dismount, nor did the lictors, who knew that the men lived in the most perfect harmony, presume to order him to do so. As the father drew near, the consul said: "What next?" The lictor in attendance quickly understood and ordered Maximus the proconsul to dismount. Fabius obeyed the order and warmly commended his son for asserting the authority which he had as the gift of the people.
p129 3 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] For what reason our forefathers inserted the aspirate h in certain verbs and nouns.
1 The letter h (or perhaps it should be called a breathing rather than a letter) was added by our forefathers to give strength and vigour to the pronunciation of many words, in order that they might have a fresher and livelier sound; and this they seem to have done from their devotion to the Attic language, and under its influence. 2 It is well known that the people of Attica, contrary to the usage of the other Greek races, pronounced ἱχθύς (fish), ἵππος (horse), and many other words besides, with a rough breathing on the first letter.3 3 In the same way our ancestors said lachrumae (tears), sepulchrum (burial-place), ahenum (of bronze), vehemens (violent), incohare (begin), helluari (gormandize), hallucinari (dream), honera (burdens), honustum (burdened). 4 For in all these words there seems to be no reason for that letter, or breathing, except to increase the force and vigour of the sound by adding certain sinews, so to speak.
5 But apropos of the inclusion of ahenum among my examples, I recall that Fidus Optatus, a grammarian of considerable repute in Rome, showed me a remarkably old copy of the second book of the Aeneid, bought in the Sigillaria4 for twenty pieces of gold, which was believed to have belonged to p131Virgil himself. In that book, although the following two lines were written thus:5
Before the entrance-court, hard by the gate,
With sheen of brazen (aena) arms proud Pyrrhus gleams,
we observed that the letter h had been added above the line, changing aena to ahena. 6 So too in the best manuscripts we find this verse of Virgil's written as follows:6
Or skims with leaves the bubbling brass's (aheni) wave.
4 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] The reason given by Gavius Bassus for calling a certain kind of judicial inquiry divinatio; and the explanation that others have given of the same term.
1 When inquiry is made about the choice of a prosecutor, and judgment is rendered on the question to which of two or more persons the prosecution of a defendant, or a share in the prosecution, is to be entrusted, this process and examination by jurors is called divinatio.7 2 The reason for the use of this term is a matter of frequent inquiry.
3 Gavius Bassus, in the third book of his work On the Origin of Terms, says:8 "This kind of trial is called divinatio because the juror ought in a sense to divine what verdict it is proper for him to give." 4 The explanation offered in these words of Gavius Bassus is far from complete, or rather, it is inadequate and meagre. 5 But at least he seems to be trying to show that divinatio is used because in p133other trials it was the habit of the juror to be influenced by what he has heard and by what has been shown by evidence or by witnesses; but in this instance, when a prosecutor is to be selected, the considerations which can influence a juror are very few and slight, and therefore he must, so to speak, "divine" what man is the better fitted to make the accusation.
6 Thus Bassus. But some others think that the divinatio is so called because, while prosecutor and defendant are two things that are, as it were, related and connected, so that neither can exist without the other, yet in this form of trial, while there is already a defendant, there is as yet no prosecutor, and therefore the factor which is still lacking and unknown — namely, what man is to be the prosecutor — must be supplied by divination.
5 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] How elegantly and clearly the philosopher Favorinus described the difference between the style of Plato and that of Lysias.
1 Favorinus used to say of Plato and Lysias: "If you take a single word from a discourse of Plato or change it, and do it with the utmost skill, you will nevertheless mar the elegance of his style; if you do the same to Lysias, you will obscure his meaning."
6 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] On some words which Virgil is asserted to have used carelessly and negligently; and the answer to be made to those who bring this false charge.
1 Some grammarians of an earlier time, men by no means without learning and repute, who wrote commentaries p135on Virgil, and among them Annaeus Cornutus, criticize the poet's use of a word in the following verses9 as careless and negligent:
That, her white waist with howling monsters girt,
Dread Scylla knocked about (vexasse) Ulysses' ships
Amid the swirling depths, and, piteous sight!
The trembling sailors with her sea-dogs rent.
2 They think, namely, that vexasse is a weak word, indicating a slight and trivial annoyance, and not adapted to such a horror as the sudden seizing and rending of human beings by a ruthless monster.
3 They also criticize another word in the following:10
Who has not heard
Of king Eurystheus' pitiless commands
And altars of Busiris, the unpraised (inlaudati)?
Inlaudati, they say, is not at all a suitable word, but is quite inadequate to express abhorrence of a wretch who, because he used to sacrifice guests from all over the world, was not merely "undeserving of praise," but rather deserving of the abhorrence and execration of the whole human race.
4 They have criticized still another word in the verse:11
Through tunic rough (squalentem) with gold the sword drank from his pierced side,
on the ground that it is out of place to say auro squalentem, since the filth of squalor is quite opposed to the brilliance and splendour of gold.
5 Now as to the word vexasse, I believe the following answer may be made: vexasse is an intensive verb, and is obviously derived from vehere, p137in which there is already some notion of compulsion by another; for a man who is carried is not his own master. But vexare, which is derived from vehere, unquestionably implies greater force and impulse. For vexare is properly used of one who is seized and carried away, and dragged about hither and yon; just as taxare denotes more forcible and repeated action than tangere, from which it is undoubtedly derived; and iactare a much fuller and more vigorous action than iacere, from which it comes; and quassare something severer and more violent than quatere. 6 Therefore, merely because vexare is commonly used of the annoyance of smoke or wind or dust is no reason why the original force and meaning of the word should be lost; and that meaning was preserved by the earlier writers who, as became them, spoke correctly and clearly.
7 Marcus Cato, in the speech which he wrote On the Achaeans,12 has these words: "And when Hannibal was rending and harrying (vexaret) the land of Italy." That is to say, Cato used vexare of the effect on Italy of Hannibal's conduct, at a time when no species of disaster, cruelty or savagery could be imagined which Italy did not suffer from his hands. 8 Marcus Tullius, in his fourth Oration against Verres, wrote: "This13 was so pillaged and ravaged by that wretch, that it did not seem to have been laid waste (vexata) by an enemy who in the heat of war still felt some religious scruple and some respect for customary law, but by barbarous pirates."
9 But concerning inlaudatus it seems possible to give two answers. One is of this kind: There is absolutely no one who is of so perverted a character p139as not sometimes to do or say something that can be commended (laudari). And therefore this very ancient line has become a familiar proverb:
Oft-times even a fool expresses himself to the purpose.
10 But one who, on the contrary, in his every act and at all times, deserves no praise (laude) at all is inlaudatus, and such a man is the very worst and most despicable of all mortals, just as freedom from all reproach makes one inculpatus (blameless). Now inculpatus is the synonym for perfect goodness; therefore conversely inlaudatus represents the limit of extreme wickedness. 11 It is for that reason that Homer usually bestows high praise, not by enumerating virtues, but by denying faults; for example:14 "And not unwillingly they charged," and again:15
Not then would you divine Atrides see
Confused, inactive, nor yet loath to fight.
12 Epicurus too in a similar way defined the greatest pleasure as the removal and absence of all pain, in these words:16 "The utmost height of pleasure is the removal of all that pains." 13 Again Virgil on the same principle called the Stygian pool "unlovely."17 14 For just as he expressed abhorrence of the "unpraised" man by the denial of praise, 15 so he abhorred the "unlovable" by the denial of love. 16 Another defence of inlaudatus is this: laudare in early Latin means "to name" and "cite." Thus in civil actions they use laudare of an authority, when he is cited. 17 Conversely, the inlaudatus is the same as p141the inlaudabilis, namely, one who is worthy neither of mention nor remembrance, and is never to be named; 18 as, for example, in days gone by the common council of Asia decreed that no one should ever mention the name of the man who had burned the temple of Diana at Ephesus.18
19 There remains the third criticism, his use of the expression "a tunic rough with gold." 20 But squalentem signifies a quantity or thick layer of gold, laid on so as to resemble scales. For squalere is used of the thick, rough scales (squamae) which are to be seen on the skins of fish or snakes. 21 This is made clear both by others and indeed by this same poet in several passages; thus:19
A skin his covering was, plumed with brazen scales (squamis)
And clasped with gold.
22 and again:20
And now has he his flashing breastplate donned,
Bristling with brazen scales (squamis).
23 Accius too in the Pelopidae writes thus:21
This serpent's scales (squamae) rough gold and purple wrought.
24 Thus we see that squalere was applied to whatever was overloaded and excessively crowded with anything, in order that its strange appearance might strike terror into those who looked upon it. 25 So too on neglected and scaly bodies the deep layer of dirt was called squalor, and by long and continued use in that sense the entire word has become so corrupted, that finally squalor has come to be used of nothing but filth.
p143 7 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] Of the obedience of children to their parents; and quotations on this subject from the writings of the philosophers, in which it is inquired whether all a father's commands should be obeyed.
1 It is a frequent subject of discussion with philosophers, whether a father should always be obeyed, whatever the nature of his commands. 2 As to this question writers On Duty, both Greeks and our own countrymen, have stated that there are three opinions to be noticed and considered, and these they have differentiated with great acuteness. 3 The first is, that all a father's commands must be obeyed; 4 the second, that in some he is to be obeyed, in others not; 6 the third, that it is not necessary to yield to and obey one's father in anything.
6 Since at first sight this last opinion is altogether shameful, I shall begin by stating what has been said on that point. 7 "A father's command," they say, "is either right or wrong. If it is right, it is not to be obeyed because it is his order, but the thing must be done because it is right that it be done. If his command is wrong, surely that should on no account be done which ought not to be done." 8 Thus they arrive at the conclusion that a father's command should never be obeyed. 9 But I have neither heard that this view has met with approval — for it is a mere quibble, both silly and foolish, as I shall presently show — 10 nor can the opinion which we stated first, that all a father's commands are to be obeyed, be regarded as true and acceptable. 11 For what if he shall command treason to one's country, a mother's murder, or some other base or impious p145deed? 12 The intermediate view, therefore, has seemed best and safest, that some commands are to be obeyed and others not. 13 But yet they say that commands which ought not to be obeyed must nevertheless be declined gently and respectfully, without excessive aversion or bitter recrimination, and rather left undone than spurned.
14 But that conclusion from which it is inferred, as has been said above, that a father is never to be obeyed, is faulty, and may be refuted and disposed of as follows: 15 All human actions are, as learned men have decided, either honourable or base. 16 Whatever is inherently right or honourable, such as keeping faith, defending one's country, loving one's friends,º ought to be done whether a father commands it or not; 17 but whatever is of the opposite nature, and is base and altogether evil, should not be done even at a father's order. 18 Actions, however, which lie between these, and are called by the Greeks now μέσα, or "neutral," and now ἀδιάφορα, or "indifferent," such as going to war, tilling the fields, seeking office, pleading causes, marrying a wife, going when ordered, coming when called; since these and similar actions are in themselves neither honourable nor base, but are to be approved or disapproved exactly according to the manner in which we perform them: for this reason they believe that in every kind of action of this description a father should be obeyed; as for instance, if he should order his son to marry a wife or to plead for the accused. 19 For since each of these acts, in its actual nature and of itself, is neither honourable nor base, if a father should command it, he ought to be obeyed. 20 But if he should order his son to p147marry a woman of ill repute, infamous and criminal, or to speak in defence of a Catiline, a Tubulus,22 or a Publius Clodius, of course he ought not to be obeyed, since by the addition of a certain degree of evil these acts cease to be inherently neutral and indifferent. 21 Hence the premise of those who say that "the commands of a father are either honourable or base" is incomplete, and it cannot be considered what the Greeks call "a sound and regular disjunctive proposition." For that disjunctive premise lacks the third member, "or are neither honourable nor base." If this be added, the conclusion cannot be drawn that a father's command must never be obeyed.
8 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] The unfairness of Plutarch's criticism of Epicurus' knowledge of the syllogism.
1 Plutarch, in the second book of his essay On Homer,23 asserts that Epicurus made use of an incomplete, perverted and faulty syllogism, and he quotes Epicurus's own words:24 "Death is nothing to us, for what is dissolved is without perception, and what is without perception is nothing to us." 2 "Now Epicurus," says Plutarch, "omitted what he ought to have stated as his major premise, that death is a dissolution of body and soul, 3 and then, to prove something else, he goes on to use the very premise that he had omitted, as if it had been stated and conceded. 4 But this syllogism," says Plutarch, "cannot advance, unless that premise be first presented."
p149 5 What Plutarch wrote as to the form and sequence of a syllogism is true enough; for if you wish to argue and reason according to the teaching of the schools, you ought to say: "Death is the dissolution of soul and body; but what is dissolved is without perception; and what is without perception is nothing to us." 6 But we cannot suppose that Epicurus, being the man he was, omitted that part of the syllogism through ignorance, 7 or that it was his intention to state a syllogism complete in all its members and limitations, as is done in the schools of the logicians; but since the separation of body and soul by death is self-evident, he of course did not think it necessary to call attention to what was perfectly obvious to everyone. 8 For the same reason, too, he put the conclusion of the syllogism, not at the end, but at the beginning; for who does not see that this also was not due to inadvertence??
9 In Plato too you will often find syllogisms in which the order prescribed in the schools is disregarded and inverted, with a kind of lofty disdain of criticism.
9 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] How the same Plutarch, with obvious captiousness, criticized the use of a word by Epicurus.
1 In the same book,25 Plutarch also finds fault a second time with Epicurus for using an inappropriate word and giving it an incorrect meaning. 2 Now Epicurus wrote as follows:26 "The utmost height of pleasure is the removal of everything that pains." Plutarch declares that he ought not to have said p151"of everything that pains," but "of everything that is painful"; 3 for it is the removal of pain, he explains, that should be indicated, not of that which causes pain.
4 In bringing this charge against Epicurus Plutarch is "word-chasing" with excessive minuteness and almost with frigidity; 5 for far from hunting up such verbal meticulousness and such refinements of diction, Epicurus hunts them down.27
10 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] The meaning of favisae Capitolinae; and what Marcus Varro replied to Servius Sulpicius, who asked him about the term.
1 Servius Sulpicius, an authority on civil law and a man well versed in letters, wrote28 to Marcus Varro and asked him to explain the meaning of a term which was used in the records of the censors; the term in question was favisae Capitolinae. 2 Varro wrote in reply29 that he recalled that Quintus Catulus, when in charge of the restoration of the Capitol,30 had said that it had been his desire to lower the area Capitolina,31 in order that the ascent to the temple might have more steps and that the podium might be higher, to correspond with the elevation and size of the pediment;32 but that he had been unable to carry out his plan because the favisae had prevented. 3 These, he said, were certain underground chambers and cisterns in the area, in which p153it was the custom to store ancient statues that had fallen from the temple, and some other consecrated objects from among the votive offerings. And then Varro goes on to say in the same letter, that he had never found any explanation of the term favisae in literature, but that Quintus Valerius Sorianus used to assert that what we called by their Greek name thesauri (treasuries) the early Latins termed flavisae, their reason being that there was deposited in them, not uncoined copper and silver, but stamped and minted money. 4 His theory therefore was, he said, that the second letter had dropped out of the word flavisae, and that certain chambers and pits, which the attendants of the Capitol used for the preservation of old and sacred objects, were called favisae.33
11 1 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] Numerous important details about Sicinius Dentatus, the distinguished warrior.
1 We read in the annals that Lucius Sicinius Dentatus, who was tribune of the commons in the consulship of Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius,34 was a warrior of incredible energy; that he won a name for his exceeding great valour, and was called the Roman Achilles. 2 It is said that he fought with the enemy in one hundred and twenty battles, and had not a scar on his back, but forty-five in front; that golden crowns were given him eight p155times, the siege crown once, mural crowns three times, and civic crowns fourteen times; that eighty-three neck chains were awarded him, more than one hundred and sixty armlets, and eighteen spears; he was presented besides with twenty-five decorations;35 3 he had a number of spoils of war,36 many of which were won in single combat; 4 he took part with his generals in nine triumphal processions.
12 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] A law of Solon, the result of careful thought and consideration, which at first sight seems unfair and unjust, but on close examination is found to be altogether helpful and salutary.a
1 Among those very early laws of Solon which were inscribed upon wooden tablets at Athens, and which, promulgated by him, the Athenians ratified by penalties and oaths, to ensure their permanence, Aristotle says37 that there was one to this effect: "If because of strife and disagreement civil dissension shall ensue and a division of the people into two parties, and if for that reason each side, led by their angry feelings, shall take up arms and fight, then if anyone at that time, and in such a condition of civil discord, shall not ally himself with one or the other faction, but by himself and apart shall hold aloof from the common calamity of the State, let him be deprived of his home, his country, and all his property, and be an exile and an outlaw."
p157 2 When I read this law of Solon, who was a man of extraordinary wisdom, I was at first filled with something like great amazement, and I asked myself why it was that those who had held themselves aloof from dissension and civil strife were thought to be deserving of punishment. 3 Then those who had profoundly and thoroughly studied the purpose and meaning of the law declared that it was designed, not to increase, but to terminate, dissension. 4 And that is exactly so. For if all good men, who have been unequal to checking the dissension at the outset, do not abandon the aroused and frenzied people, but divide and ally themselves with one or the other faction, then the result will be, that when they have become members of the two opposing parties, and, being men of more than ordinary influence, have begun to guide and direct those parties, harmony can best be restored and established through the efforts of such men, controlling and soothing as they will the members of their respective factions, and desiring to reconcile rather than destroy their opponents.
5 The philosopher Favorinus thought that this same course ought to be adopted also with brothers, or with friends, who are at odds; that is, that those who are neutral and kindly disposed towards both parties, if they have had little influence in bringing about a reconciliation because they have not made their friendly feelings evident, should then take sides, some one and some the other, and through this manifestation of devotion pave the way for restoring harmony. 6 "But as it is," said he, "most of the friends of both parties make a merit of abandoning the two disputants, leaving them to the tender p159mercies of ill-disposed or greedy advisers, who, animated by hatred or by avarice, add fuel to their strife and inflame their passions."
13 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] That the early writers used liberi in the plural number even of a single son or daughter.
1 The early orators and writers of history or of poetry called even one son or daughter liberi, using the plural. 2 And I have not only noticed this usage at various times in the works of several other of the older writers, but I just now ran across it in the fifth book of Sempronius Asellio's History.38 3 This Asellio was military tribune under Publius Scipio Africanus at Numantia and wrote a detailed account of the events in whose action he himself took part.
4 His words about Tiberius Gracchus, tribune of the commons, at the time when he was killed on the Capitol, are as follows: "For whenever Gracchus left home, he was never accompanied by less than three or four thousand men." 5 And farther on he wrote thus of the same Gracchus: "He began to beg that they would at least defend him and his children (liberi); and then he ordered that the one male child which he had at that time should be brought out, and almost in tears commended him to the protection of the people."
14 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] That Marcus Cato, in the speech entitled Against the Exile Tiberius, says stitisses vadimonium with an i, and not stetisses; and the explanation of that word.
1 In an old copy of the speech of Marcus Cato, which is entitled Against the Exile Tiberius,39 we find p161the following words: "What if with veiled head you had kept your recognizance?" 2 Cato indeed wrote stitisses, correctly; but revisers have boldly and falsely written an e and put stetisses in all the editions, on the ground that stitisses is an unmeaning and worthless reading. 3 Nay, it is rather they themselves that are ignorant and worthless, in not knowing that Cato wrote stitisses because sisteretur is used of recognizance, not staretur.
15 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] To what extent in ancient days it was to old age in particular that high honours were paid; and why it was that later those same honours were extended to husbands and fathers; and in that connection some provisions of the seventh section of the Julian law.
1 Among the earliest Romans, as a rule, neither birth nor wealth was more highly honoured than age, but older men were reverenced by their juniors almost like gods and like their own parents, and everywhere and in every kind of honour they were regarded as first and of prior right. 2 From a dinner-party, too, older men were escorted home by younger men, as we read in the records of the past, a custom which, as tradition has it, the Romans took over from the Lacedaemonians, by whom, in accordance with the laws of Lycurgus, greater honour on all occasions was paid to greater age.
3 But after it came to be realised that progeny were a necessity for the State, and there was occasion to add to the productivity of the people by premiums and other inducements, then in certain respects greater deference was shown to men who had a wife, and to those who had children, than to older p163men who had neither wives nor children. 4 Thus in chapter seven of the Julian law40 priority in assuming the emblems of power is given, not to the elder of the consuls, but to him who either has more children under his control than his colleague, or has lost them in war. 5 But if both have an equal number of children, the one who has a wife, or is eligible for marriage, is preferred. 6 If, however, both are married and are fathers of the same number of children, then the standard of honour of early times is restored, and the elder is first to assume the rods. 7 But when both consuls are without wives and have the same number of sons, or are husbands but have no children, there is no provision in that law as to age. 8 However, I hear that it was usual for those who had legal priority to yield the rods for the first month to colleagues who were either considerably older than they, or of much higher rank, or who were entering upon a second consulship.
16 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] Sulpicius Apollinaris' criticism of Caesellius Vindex for his explanation of a passage in Virgil.
1 Virgil has the following lines in the sixth book:41
Yon princeling, thou beholdest leaning there
Upon a bloodless42 lance, shall next emerge
Into the realms of day. He is the first
Of half-Italian strain, thy last-born heir,
To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,
p165 Called Silvius, a royal Alban name
(Of sylvan birth and sylvan nurture he),
A king himself and sire of kings to come,
By whom our race in Alba Longa reign.
2 It appeared to Caesellius that there was utter inconsistency between
thy last-born heir
and
To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,
Of sylvan birth.
3 For if, as is shown by the testimony of almost all the annals, this Silvius was born after the death of Aeneas, and for that reason was given the forename Postumus, with what propriety does Virgil add:
To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,
Of sylvan birth?
4 For these words would seem to imply that while Aeneas was still living, but was already an old man, a son Silvius was born to him and was reared. 5 Therefore Caesellius, in his Notes on Early Readings, expressed the opinion that the meaning of the words was as follows: "Postuma proles," said he, "does not mean a child born after the death of his father, but the one who was born last; this applies to Silvius, who was born late and after the usual time, when Aeneas was already an old man." 6 But Caesellius names no adequate authority for this version, 7 while that Silvius was born, as I have said, after Aeneas' death, has ample testimony.
8 Therefore Sulpicius Apollinaris, among other criticisms of Caesellius, notes this statement of his as p167an error, and says that the cause of the error is the phrase quem tibi longaevo. "Longaevo," he says, "does not mean 'when old,' for that is contrary to historical truth, but rather 'admitted into a life that is now long and unending, and made immortal.' 9 For Anchises, who says this to his son, knew that after Aeneas had ended his life among men he would be immortal and a local deity, and enjoy a long and everlasting existence." Thus Apollinaris, ingeniously enough. 10 But yet a "long life" is one thing, and an "unending life" another, and the gods are not called "of great age," but "immortal."
17 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] Marcus Cicero's observations on the nature of certain prepositions; to which is added a discussion of the particular matter which Cicero had observed.
1 After careful observation Marcus Tullius noted that the prepositions in and con, when prefixed to nouns and verbs, are lengthened and prolonged when they are followed by the initial letters of sapiens and felix; but that in all other instances they are pronounced short.
2 Cicero's words are:43 "Indeed, what can be more elegant than this, which does not come about from a natural law, but in accordance with a kind of usage? We pronounce the first vowel in indoctus short, in insanus long; in immanis short, in infelix long; in brief, in compound words in which the first letters are those which begin sapiens and felix the prefix is pronounced long, in all others short; thus we have cŏnposuit but cōnsuevit, cŏncrepuit p169but cōnficit. Consult the rules of grammar and they will censor your usage; refer the matter to your ears and they will approve. Ask why it is so; they will say that it pleases them. And language ought to gratify the pleasure of the ear."
3 In these words of which Cicero spoke it is clear that the principle is one of euphony, but what are we to say of the preposition pro? For although it is often shortened or lengthened, yet it does not conform to this rule of Marcus Tullius. 4 For it is not always lengthened when it is followed by the first letter of the word fecit, which Cicero says has the effect of lengthening the prepositions in and con. 5 For we pronounce prŏficisci, prŏfugere, prŏfundere, prŏfanum and prŏfestum with the first vowel short, but prōferre, prōfligare and prōficere with that syllable long. 6 Why is it then that this letter, which, according to Cicero's observation, has the effect of lengthening, does not have the same effect by reason of rule or of euphony in all words of the same kind,44 but lengthens the vowel in one word and shortens it in another.
Nor, as a matter of fact, is the particle con lengthened only when followed by that letter which Cicero mentioned: 7 for both Cato and Sallust said "faenoribus copertus est."45 8 Moreover cōligatus and cōnexus are pronounced long.
9 But after all, in these cases which I have cited one can see that this particle is lengthened because the letter n is dropped; for the loss of a letter is compensated by the lengthening of the syllable. 10 This principle is observed also in the word cōgo; 11 and it is no contradiction that we pronounce cŏegi p171short; for this form cannot be derived from cōgo without violation of the principle of analogy.46
18 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] That Phaedo the Socratic was a slave; and that several others also were of that condition.
1 Phaedo of Elis belonged to that famous Socratic band and was on terms of close intimacy with Socrates and Plato. 2 His name was given by Plato to that inspired dialogue of his on the immortality of the soul. 3 This Phaedo, though a slave, was of noble person and intellect,47 and according to some writers, in his boyhood was driven to prostitution by his master, who was a pander. 4 We are told that Cebes the Socratic, at Socrates' earnest request, bought Phaedo and gave him the opportunity of studying philosophy. 5 And he afterwards became a distinguished philosopher, whose very tasteful discourses on Socrates are in circulation.
6 There were not a few other slaves too afterwards who became famous philosophers, 7 among them that Menippus whose works Marcus Varro emulated48 in those satires which others call "Cynic," but he himself, "Menippean."49
p173 8 Besides these, Pompylus, the slave of the Peripatetic Theophrastus, and the slave of the Stoic Zeno who was called Persaeus, and the slave of Epicurus whose name was Mys, were philosophers of repute.50
9 Diogenes the Cynic also served as a slave, but he was a freeborn man, who was sold into slavery. When Xeniades of Corinth wished to buy him and asked whether he knew any trade, Diogenes replied: "I know how to govern free men."51 10 Then Xeniades, in admiration of his answer, bought him, set him free, and entrusting to him his own children, said: "Take my children to govern."
But as to the well-known philosopher Epictetus, the fact that he too was a slave is too fresh in our memory to need to be committed to writing, as if it had been forgotten.
19 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] On the nature of the verb rescire; and its true and distinctive meaning.
1 I have observed that the verb rescire has a peculiar force, which is not in accord with the general meaning of other words compounded with that same preposition; for we do not use rescire in the same way that we do rescribere (write in reply), relegere (reread), restituere (restore), . . . and substituere (put in the place of);52 2 but rescire is properly said of one who learns of something that is hidden, or unlooked for and unexpected.
p175 3 But why the particle re has this special force in this one word alone, I for my part am still inquiring. 4 For I have never yet found that rescivi or rescire was used by those who were careful in their diction, otherwise than of things which were purposely concealed, or happened contrary to anticipation and expectation; 5 although scire itself is used of everything alike, whether favourable or unfavourable, unexpected or expected. 6 Thus Naevius in the Triphallus wrote:53
If ever I discover (rescivero) that my son
Has borrowed money for a love affair,
Straightway I'll put you where you'll spit no more.54
7 Claudius Quadrigarius in the first book of his Annals says:55 "When the Lucanians discovered (resciverunt) that they had been deceived and tricked." 8 And again in the same book Quadrigarius uses that word of something sad and unexpected:56 "When this became known to the relatives (rescierunt propinqui) of the hostages, who, as I have pointed out above, had been delivered to Pontus, their parents and relatives rushed into the street with hair in disarray." 9 Marcus Cato writes in the fourth book of the Origins:57 "Then next day the dictator orders the master of the horse to be summoned: 'I will send you, if you wish, with the cavalry.' 'It is too late,' said the master of the horse, 'they have found it out already (rescivere).' "
p177 20 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] That for what we commonly call vivaria the earlier writers did not use that term; and when Publius Scipio used for this word in his speech to the people, and afterwards Marcus Varro in his work On Farming.
1 In the third book of his treatise On Farming,58 Marcus Varro says that the name leporaria is given to certain enclosures, in which wild animals are kept alive and fed. 2 I have appended Varro's own words: "There are three means of keeping animals on the farm — bird houses, leporaria (warrens), and fish-ponds. I am now using the term ornithones of all kinds of birds that are ordinarily kept within the walls of the farmhouse. Leporaria I wish you to understand, not in the sense in which our remote ancestors used the word, of places in which only hares are kept, but of all enclosures which are connected with a farmhouse and contain live animals that are fed." 3 Farther on in the same book Varro writes:59 "When you bought the farm at Tusculum from Marcus Piso, there were many wild boars in the leporarium."
4 But the word vivaria, which the common people now use — the Greek παράδεισοι60º and Varro's leporaria — I do not recall meeting anywhere in the older literature. 5 But as to the word roboraria, which we find in the writings of Scipio, who used the purest diction of any man of his time, I have heard several learned men at Rome assert that this means what we call vivaria and that the name came from the "oaken" planks of which the enclosures were made, a kind of enclosure which we see in many places in Italy. 6 This is the passage p179from Scipio's fifth oration Against Claudius Asellus:61 "When he had seen the highly-cultivated fields and well-kept farmhouses, he ordered them to set up a measuring rod on the highest point in that district; and from there to build a straight road, in some places through the midst of vineyards, in others through the roborarium and the fish-pond, in still others through the farm buildings."
7 Thus we see that to pools or ponds of water in which live fish are kept in confinement, they gave their own appropriate name of piscinae, or "fish-ponds."
8 Apiaria too is the word commonly used of places in which bee-hives are set; but I recall almost no one of those who have spoken correctly who has used that word either in writing or speaking. 9 But Marcus Varro, in the third book of his treatise On Farming, remarks:62 "This is the way to make μελισσῶνες, which some call mellaria, or 'places for storing honey.' " But this word which Varro used is Greek; for they say μελισσῶνες, just as they do ἀμπελῶνες (vineyards) and δαφνῶνες (laurel groves).
21 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] About the constellation which the Greeks call ἅμαξα and the Romans septentriones; and as to the origin and meaning of both those words.
1 Several of us, Greeks and Romans, who were pursuing the same studies, were crossing in the same boat from Aegina to the Piraeus. 2 It was night, the sea was calm, the time summer, and the sky p181bright and clear. So we all sat together in the stern and watched the brilliant stars. 3 Then those of our company who were acquainted with Grecian lore discussed with learning and acumen such questions as these: what the ἅμαξα, or "Wain," was, and what Boötes, which was the Great, and which the Little Bear and why they were so called; in what direction that constellation moved in the course of the advancing night, and why Homer says63 that this is the only constellation that does not set, in view of the fact that there are some other stars that do not set.
4 Thereupon I turned to our compatriots and said: "Why don't you barbarians tell me why we give the name of septentriones to what the Greeks call ἅμαξα. 5 Now 'because we see seven stars' is not a sufficient answer, but I desire to be informed at some length," said I, "of the meaning of the whole idea which we express by the word septentriones."
6 Then one of them, who had devoted himself to ancient literature and antiquities, replied: "The common run of grammarians think that the word septentriones is derived solely from the number of stars. 7 For they declare that triones of itself has no meaning, but is a mere addition to the word; just as in our word quinquatrus, so called because five is the number of days after the Ides,64 atrus means nothing. 8 But for my part, I agree with Lucius Aelius65 and Marcus Varro,66 who wrote that oxen were called triones, a rustic term it is true, as if they were terriones,67 that is to say, adapted to p183ploughing and cultivating the earth. 9 Therefore this constellation, which the early Greeks called ἅμαξα merely from its form and position, because it seemed to resemble a wagon, the early men also of our country called septentriones, from oxen yoked together, that is, seven stars by which yoked oxen (triones) seem to be represented. 10 After giving this opinion, Varro further added," said he, "that he suspected that these seven stars were called triones rather for the reason that they are so situated that every group of three neighbouring stars forms a triangle, that is to say, a three-sided figure."
11 Of these two reasons which he gave, the latter seemed the neater and the more ingenious; for as we looked at that constellation, it actually appeared to consist of triangles.68
22 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] Information about the wind called Iapyx and about the names and quarters of other winds, derived from the discourses of Favorinus.
1 At Favorinus' table, when he dined with friends, there was usually read either an old song of one of the lyric poets, or something from history, now in Greek and now in Latin. 2 Thus one day there was read there, in a Latin poem,69 the word Iapyx, the name of a wind, and the question was asked what wind this was, from what quarter it blew, and what was the origin of so rare a term; and we also asked Favorinus to be so good as to inform us about the names and quarters of the other winds, p185since there was no general agreement as to their designations, positions or number.
3 Then Favorinus ran on as follows: "It is well known," said he, "that there are four quarters and regions of the heavens — east, west, south and north. 4 East and west are movable and variable points;70 south and north are permanently fixed and unalterable. 5 For the sun does not always rise in exactly the same place, but its rising is called either equinoctial when it runs the course which is called ἰσημερινός (with equal days and nights), or solstitial,º which is equivalent to θεριναὶ τροπαί (summer turnings), or brumal, which is the same as χειμεριναὶ τροπαί, or 'winter turnings." 6 So too the sun does not always set in the same place; for in the same way its setting is called equinoctial, solstitial, or brumal. 7 Therefore the wind which blows from the sun's spring, or equinoctial, rising is called eurus, a word derived, as your etymologists say, from the Greek which means 'that which flows from the east.' 8 This wind is called by the Greeks by still another name, ἀφηλιώτες, or 'in the direction of the sun'; and by the Roman sailors, subsolanus (lying beneath the sun). 9 But the wind that comes from the summer and solstitial point of rising71 is called in Latin aquilo, in Greek βορέας, and some say it was for that reason that Homer called72 it αἰθρηγενέτης, or 'ether-born';73 but boreas, they think, is so named ἀπὸ τῆς βοῆς, 'from the loud shout,' since its blast is violent and noisy. 10 To the third wind, which blows from the point of the winter rising — the Romans call it volturnus — many of the Greeks give a compound name, εὐρόνοτος because it is between eurus and notus. 11 These p187then are the three east winds: aquilo, volturnus and eurus, and eurus lies between the other two. 12 Opposite to and facing these are three other winds from the west: caurus, which the Greeks commonly call ἀργεστής74 or 'clearing'; this blows from the quarter opposite aquilo. There is a second, favonius,75 which in Greek is called ζέφυρος, blowing from the point opposite to eurus; and a third, Africus, which in Greek is λίψ,76 or 'wet-bringing,' blows in opposition to volturnus. 13 These two opposite quarters of the sky, east and west, have, as we see, six winds opposite to one another. 14 But the south, whence it is a fixed and invariable point, has but one single south wind; this in Latin is termed auster, in Greek νότος, because it is cloudy and wet, for νοτίς is the Greek for 'moisture.'77 15 The north too, for the same reason, has but one wind. This, called in Latin septentrionarius, in Greek ἀπαρκτίας, or 'from the region of the Bear,' is directly opposite to auster. 16 From this list of eight winds some subtract four, and they declare that they do so on the authority of Homer,78 who knows only four winds: eurus, auster, aquilo and favonius, 17 blowing from the four quarters of the heaven which we have named primary, so to speak; for they regard the east and west as broader, to be sure, but nevertheless single and not divided into three parts. 18 There are others, on the contrary, who make twelve winds instead of eight, by inserting a third group p189of four in the intervening space about the south and north, in the same way that the second four are placed between the original two at east and west.
19 "There are also some other names of what might be called special winds, which the natives have coined each in their own districts, either from the designations of the places in which they live or from some other reason which has led to the formation of the word. 20 Thus our Gauls79 call the wind which blows from their land, the most violent wind to which they are exposed, circius, doubtless from its whirling and stormy character; 21 the Apulians give the name Iapyx — the name by which they themselves are known (Iapyges) — to the wind that blows from the mouth of Ἰαπυγία itself, from its inmost recesses, as it were.80 22 This is, I think, about the same as caurus; for it is a west wind and seems to blow from the quarter opposite eurus. 23 Therefore Virgil says81 that Cleopatra, when fleeing to Egypt after the sea-fight, was borne onward by Iapyx, and he called82 an Apulian horse by the same name as the wind, that is, Iapyx. 24 There is also a wind named caecias, which, according to Aristotle83 blows in such a way as not to drive away clouds, but to attract them. This, he says, is the origin of the proverbial line:84
Attracting to oneself, as caecias does the clouds.
25 Moreover, besides these which I have mentioned there are in various places other names of winds, of new coinage and each peculiar to its own region, p191for example the Atabulus of Horace;85 these too I intended to discuss; I would also have added those which are called etesiae86 and prodromi,87 which at a fixed time of year, namely when the dog-star rises, blow from one or another quarter of the heavens; and since I have drunk a good bit, I would have prated on about the meaning of all these terms, had I not already done a deal of talking while all of you have been silent, as if I were delivering 'an exhibition speech.' 26 But for one to do all the talking at a large dinner-party," said he, "is neither decent nor becoming."
27 This is what Favorinus recounted to us at his own table at the time I mentioned, with extreme elegance of diction and in a delightful and graceful style throughout. 28 But as to his statement that the wind which blows from the land of Gaul is called circius, Marcus Cato in his Origins88 calls that wind, not circius, but cercius. 29 For writing about the Spaniards who dwell on this side the Ebro, he set down these words: "But in this district are the finest iron and silver mines, also a great mountain of pure salt; the more you take from it, the more it grows. The cercius wind, when you speak, fills your mouth; it overturns an armed man or a loaded wagon."
30 In saying above that the ἐτησίαι blow from one or another quarter of the heavens, although following the opinion of many, I rather think I spoke hastily.89 p19331 For in the second book of Publius Nigidius' treatise On Wind are these words:90 "Both the ἐτησίαι and the annual south winds follow the sun." We ought therefore to inquire into the meaning of "follow the sun."
23 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] A discussion and comparison of passages taken from the comedy of Menander and that of Caecilius, entitled Plocium.
1 I often read comedies which our poets have adapted and translated from the Greeks — Menander or Posidippus, Apollodorus or Alexis, and also some other comic writers. 2 And while I am reading them, they do not seem at all bad; on the contrary, they appear to be written with a wit and charm which you would say absolutely could not be surpassed. 3 But if you compare and place beside them the Greek originals from which they came, and if you match individual passages, reading them together alternately with care and attention, the Latin versions at once begin to appear exceedingly commonplace and mean; so dimmed are they by the wit and brilliance of the Greek comedies, which they were unable to rival.
4 Only recently I had an experience of this kind. 5 I was reading the Plocium or Necklace of Caecilius, much to the delight of myself and those who were present. 6 The fancy took us to read also the Plocium of Menander, from which Caecilius had translated the said comedy. 7 But after we took Menander in hand, good Heavens! how dull and lifeless, and how different from Menander did Caecilius appear! p195Upon my word, the armour of Diomedes and of Glaucus were not more different in value.91 8 Our reading had reached the passage where the aged husband was complaining of his rich and ugly wife, because he had been forced to sell his maid-servant, a girl skilled at her work and very good looking, since his wife suspected her of being his mistress. I shall say nothing of the great difference; but I have had the lines of both poets copied and submitted to others for their decision. 9 This is Menander:92
Now may our heiress fair on both ears sleep.
A great and memorable feat is hers;
For she has driven forth, as she had planned,
The wench that worried her, that all henceforth
Of Crobyle alone the face may see,
And that the famous woman, she my wife,
May also be my tyrant. From the face
Dam Nature gave her, she's an ass 'mong apes,
As says the adage. I would silent be
About that night, the first of many woes.
Alas that I took Crobyle to wife,
With sixteen talents and a foot of nose.
Then too can one her haughtiness endure?
By Zeus Olympius and Athena, no!
She has dismissed a maid who did her work
More quickly than the word was given her,
More quickly far than one will bring her back!
10 But Caecilius renders it thus:93
In very truth is he a wretched man,
Who cannot hide his woe away from home;
p197 And that my wife makes me by looks and acts:
If I kept still, I should betray myself
No less. And she has all that you would wish
She had not, save the dowry that she brought.
Let him who's wise a lesson take from me,
Who, like a free man captive to the foe,
Am slave, though town and citadel are safe.
What! wish her safe who steals whate'er I prize?
While longing for her death, a living corpse am I.
She says I've secret converse with our maid —
That's what she said, and so belaboured me
With tears, with prayers, with importunities,
That I did sell the wench. Now, I suppose,
She blabs like this to neighbours and friends:
"Which one of you, when in the bloom of youth,
Could from her husband win what I from mine
Have gained, who've robbed him of his concubine."
Thus they, while I, poor wretch, am torn to shreds.
11 Now, not to mention the charm of subject matter and diction, which is by no means the same in the two books, I notice this general fact — that some of Menander's lines, brilliant, apt and witty, Caecilius has not attempted to reproduce, even where he might have done so; 12 but he has passed them by as if they were of no value, and has dragged in some other farcical stuff; and what Menander took from actual life, simple, realistic and delightful, this for some reason or other Caecilius has missed. For example, that same old husband, talking with another old man, a neighbour of his, and cursing the arrogance of his rich wife, says:94
p199 I have to wife an heiress ogress, man!
I did not tell you that? What, really? no?
She is the mistress of my house and lands,
Of all that's hereabout. And in return
I have by Zeus! the hardest of hard things.
She scolds not only me, but her son too,
Her daughter most of all. — You tell a thing
There's no contending with. — I know it well.
13 But in this passage Caecilius chose rather to play the buffoon than to be appropriate and suitable to the character that he was representing. For this is the way he spoiled the passage:95
But tell me sir; is your wife captious, pray? —
How can you ask? — But in what manner, then? —
I am ashamed to tell. When I come home
And sit beside her, she with fasting96 breath
Straight kisses me. — there's no mistake in that.
She'd have you spew up what you've drunk abroad.
14 It is clear what your judgment ought to be about that scene also, found in both comedies, which is about of the following purport: 15 The daughter of a poor man was violated during a religious vigil. 16 This was unknown to her father, and she was looked upon as a virgin. 17 Being with child as the result of that assault, at the proper time she is in labour. 18 An honest slave, standing before the door of the house, knowing nothing of the approaching delivery of his master's daughter, and quite unaware that violence had been offered her, hears the groans and prayers of the girl labouring in childbirth; he gives expression to his fear, anger, suspicion, pity and grief. 19 In the Greek comedy all these emotions and p201feelings of his are wonderfully vivid and clear, but in Caecilius they are all dull and without any grace and dignity of expression. 20 Afterwards, when the same slave by questioning has found out what has happened, in Menander he utters this lament:97
Alas! thrice wretched he who weds, though poor,
And children gets. How foolish is the man
Who keeps no watch o'er his necessities,
And if he luckless be in life's routine,
Can't use his wealth as cloak, but buffeted
By ev'ry storm, lives helpless and in grief.
All wretchedness he shares, of blessings none,
Thus sorrowing for one I'd all men warn.
21 Let us consider whether Caecilius was sufficiently inspired to approach the sincerity and realism of these words. These are the lines of Caecilius, in which he gives some mangled fragments from Menander, patching them with the language of tragic bombast:98
Unfortunate in truth the man, who poor,
Yet children gets, to share his poverty.
His fortune and his state at once are clear;
The ill fame of the rich their set conceals.
22 Accordingly, as I said above, when I read these passages of Caecilius by themselves, they seem by no means lacking in grace and spirit, but when I compare and match them with the Greek version, I feel that Caecilius should not have followed a guide with whom he could not keep pace.
p203 24 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] On the ancient frugality and on early sumptuary laws.
1 Frugality among the early Romans, and moderation in food and entertainments were secured not only by observance and training at home, but also by public penalties and the inviolable provisions of numerous laws. 2 Only recently I read in the Miscellanies99 of Ateius Capito an old decree of the senate, passed in the consulship of Gaius Fannius and Marcus Valerius Messala,100 which provides that the leading citizens, who according to ancient usage "interchanged" at the Megalensianº games101 that is, acted as host to one another in rotation), should take oath before the consuls in set terms, that they would not spend on each dinner more than one hundred and twenty asses in addition to vegetables, bread and wine; that they would not serve foreign, but only native, wine, nor use at table more than one hundred pounds' weight of silverware.
3 But subsequent to that decree of the senate the law of Fannius was passed, which allowed the expenditure of one hundred asses a day at the Roman and the plebeian games,102 at the Saturnalia,103 and on certain other days; of thirty asses on ten additional days each month; but on all other days of only ten. 4 This is the law to which the poet Lucilius alludes when he says:104
The paltry hundred pence of Fannius.
p205 5 In regard to this some of the commentators on Lucilius have been mistaken in thinking that Fannius' law authorized a regular expenditure of a hundred asses on every kind of day. 6 For, as I have stated above, Fannius authorized one hundred asses on certain holidays which he expressly named, but for all other days he limited the daily outlay to thirty asses for some days and to ten for others.
7 Next the Licinian law was passed105 which, while allowing the outlay of one hundred asses on designated days, as did the law of Fannius, conceded two hundred asses for weddings and set a limit of thirty for other days; however, after naming a fixed weight of dried meat and salted provisions for each day, it granted the indiscriminate and unlimited use of the products of earth, vine and orchard. 8 This law the poet Laevius mentions in his Erotopaegnia.106 9 These are the words of Laevius, by which he means that a kid that had been brought for a feature was sent away and the dinner served with fruit and vegetables, as the Licinian law had provided:
The Licinian law is introduced,
The liquid light to the kid restored.
10 Lucilius also has the said law in mind in these words:
Let us evade the law of Licinius.107
11 Afterwards, when these laws were illegible from the rust of age and forgotten, when many men of abundant means were gormandizing, and recklessly p207pouring their family and fortune into an abyss of dinners and banquets, Lucius Sulla in his dictatorship proposed a law to the people, which provided that on the Kalends, Ides and Nones, on days of games, and on certain regular festivals, it should be proper and lawful to spend three hundred sesterces on a dinner, but on all other days no more than thirty.
12 Besides these laws we find also an Aemilian law,108 setting a limit not on the expense of dinners, but on the kind and quantity of food.
13 Then the law of Antius,109 besides curtailing outlay, contained the additional provision, that no magistrate or magistrate elect should dine out anywhere, except at the house of stipulated persons.
14 Lastly, the Julian law came before the people during the principate of Caesar Augustus,110 by which on working days two hundred sesterces is the limit, on the Kalends, Ides and Nones and some other holidays, three hundred, but at weddings and the banquets following them, a thousand.
15 Ateius Capito says111 that there is still another edict — but whether of the deified Augustus or of Tiberius Caesar I do not exactly remember — by which the outlay for dinners on various festal days was increased from three hundred sesterces to two thousand, to the end that the rising tide of luxury might be restrained at least within those limits.
p209 25 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] What the Greeks understand by ἀναλογία, and, on the contrary, by ἀνωμαλία.
1 In the Latin language, just as in Greek, some have thought that the principle of ἀναλογία should be followed, others that of ἀνωμαλία. 2 Ἀναλογία is the similar inflection of similar words, which some call in Latin proportio, or "regularity." 3 Ἀνωμαλία is irregularity in inflection, following usage. 4 Now two distinguished Greek grammarians, Aristarchus and Crates, defended with the utmost vigour, the one analogy, the other anomaly. 5 The eighth book of Marcus Varro's treatise On the Latin Language, dedicated to Cicero, maintains112 that no regard is paid to regularity, and points out that in almost all words usage rules. 6 "As when we decline," says he, "lupus lupi, probus probi, but lepus leporis; again, paro paravi and lavo lavi, pungo pupugi, tundo tutudi and pingo pinxi. 7 And although," he continues, "from ceno and prandeo and poto we form cenatus sum, pransus sum and potus sum,113 yet from destringor and extergeor and lavor we make destrinxi and extersi and lavi. 8 Furthermore, although from Oscus, Tuscus and Graecus we derive the adverbs Osce, Tusce and Graece, yet from Gallus and Maurus we have Gallice and Maurice; as from probus probe, from doctus docte, but from rarus there is no adverb rare, but some say raro, others rarenter."114 9 In the same book Varro goes on to say: "No one uses p211sentior and that form by itself is naught, but almost everyone says adsentior. Sisenna alone used to say adsentio (I agree) in the senate, but later many followed his example, yet could not prevail over usage." 10 But Varro himself in other books wrote a good deal in defence of analogy. 11 Therefore his utterances on the subject are, as it were, commonplaces,115 to cite now against analogy and again also in its favour.
26 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] Discourses of Marcus Fronto and the philosopher Favorinus on the varieties of colours and their Greek and Latin names: and incidentally, the nature of the colour spadix.
1 When the philosopher Favorinus was on his way to visit the exconsul Marcus Fronto, who was ill with the gout, he wished me also to go with him. 2 And when there at Fronto's, where a number of learned men were present, a discussion took place about colours and their names, to the effect that the shades of colours are manifold, but the names for them are few and indefinite, 3 Favorinus said: "More distinctions of colour are detected by the eye than are expressed by words and terms. 4 For leaving out of account other incongruities, your simple colours, red (rufus) and green (viridis), have single names, but many different shades. 5 And that poverty in names I find more pronounced in Latin than in Greek. For the colour red (rufus) does in fact get its name from redness, but although fire is one kind of red, blood p213another, purple another, saffron another, and gold still another, yet the Latin tongue does not indicate these special varieties of red by separate and individual words, but includes them all under the one term rubor, except in so far as it borrows names from the things themselves, and calls anything 'fiery,' 'flaming,' 'blood-red,' 'saffron', 'purple' and 'golden.' 6 For russus and ruber are no doubt derived from rufus, and do not indicate all its special varieties, but ξανθός and ἐρυθρός and πυρρός and κιρρός116 and φοῖνιξ seem to mark certain differences in the colour red, either intensifying it or making it lighter, or qualifying it by the admixture of some shade."
7 Then Fronto, replying to Favorinus, said: "I do not deny that the Greek language, which you seem to prefer, is richer and more copious than ours; but nevertheless in naming these colours of which you have just spoken we are not quite so badly off as you think. 8 For russus and ruber, which you have just mentioned, are not the only words that denote the colour red, but we have others also, more numerous than those which you have quoted from the Greek. For fulvus, flavus, rubidus, poeniceus, rutilus, luteus and spadix are names of the colour red, which either brighten it (making it fiery, as it were), or combine it with green, or darken it with black, or make it luminous by a slight addition of gleaming white. 9 For poeniceus, which you call φοῖνιξ in Greek, belongs to our language, and rutilus and spadix, a synonym of poeniceus which is taken over into Latin from the Greek, indicate p215a rich, gleaming shade of red like that of the fruit of the palm-tree when it is not fully ripened by the sun. And from this spadix and poeniceus get their name; 10 for spadix in Doric is applied to a branch torn from a palm-tree along with its fruit. 11 But the colour fulvus seems to be a mixture of red and green, in which sometimes green predominates, sometimes red. Thus the poet who was most careful in his choice of words applies fulvus to an eagle,117 to jasper,118 to fur caps,119 to gold,120 to sand,121 and to a lion;122 and so Ennius in his Annals uses fulvus of air.123 12 Flavus on the other hand seems to be compounded of green and red and white; thus Virgil speaks of golden hair as flava124 and applies that adjective also to the leaves of the olive,125 which I see surprises some; 13 and thus, much earlier, Pacuvius called water flava and dust fulvus.126 I am glad to quote his verses, for they are most charming:
Give me thy foot, that with the same soft hands
With which oft times I did Ulysses soothe
I may with golden (flavis) waters wash away
The tawny (fulvum) dust and heal thy weariness.
14 "Now, rubidus is a darker red and with a larger admixture of black; 15 luteus, on the other hand, is a more diluted red, and from this dilution its name too seems to be derived. 16 Therefore, my dear Favorinus," said he, "the shades of red have no more names in Greek than with us. 17 But neither p217is the colour green expressed by more terms in your language, 18 and Virgil, when he wished to indicate the green colour of a horse, could perfectly well have called the horse caeruleus rather than glaucus, but he preferred to use a familiar Greek word, rather than one which was unusual in Latin.127 19 Moreover, our earlier writers used caesia as the equivalent of the Greek γλαυκῶπις, as Nigidius says,128 from the colour of the sky, as if it were originally caelia."
20 After Fronto had said this, Favorinus, enchanted with his exhaustive knowledge of the subject and his elegant diction, said: "Were it not for you, and perhaps for you alone, the Greek language would surely have come out far ahead; but you, my dear Fronto, exemplify Homer's line:129
Thou would'st either have won or made the result indecisive.
21 But not only have I listened with pleasure to all your learned remarks, but in particular in describing the diversity of the colour flavus you have made me understand these beautiful lines from the fourteenth book of Ennius' Annals,130 which before I did not in the least comprehend:
The calm sea's golden marble now they skim;
Ploughed by the thronging craft, the green seas foam;
22 for 'the green seas' did not seem to correspond with 'golden marble.' 23 But since, as you have said, flavus is a colour containing an admixture of green and white, Ennius with the utmost elegance called the foam of the green sea 'golden marble.' "
p219 27 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] The criticism of Titus Castricius passed upon passages from Sallust and Demosthenes, in which the one described Philip, the other Sertorius.
1 This is Demosthenes' striking and brilliant description of king Philip:131 "I saw that Philip himself, with whom we were struggling, had in his desire for empire and absolute power had one eye knocked out, his collar-bone broken, his hand and leg maimed, and was ready to resign any part of his body that fortune chose to take from him, provided that with what remained he might live in honour and glory." 2 Sallust, desiring to rival this description, in his Histories thus wrote of the leader Sertorius:132 "He won great glory in Spain, while military tribune under the command of Titus Didius, rendered valuable service in the Marsic war in providing troops and arms; but he got no credit for much that was then done under his direction and orders, at first because of his low birth and afterwards through unfriendly historians; but during his lifetime his appearance bore testimony to these deeds, in many scars on his breast, and in the loss of an eye. Indeed, he rejoiced greatly in his bodily disfigurement, caring nothing for what he had lost, because he kept the rest with greater glory."
3 In his estimate of these words of the two writers Titus Castricius said: "Is it not beyond the range of human capability to rejoice in bodily disfigurement? For rejoicing is a certain exaltation of spirit, delighting in the realization of something greatly desired. 4 How much truer, more natural, and more p221in accordance with human limitations is this: 'Giving up whatever part of his body fortune chose to take.' 5 In these words," said he, "Philip is shown, not like Sertorius, rejoicing in bodily disfigurement, which," he said, "is unheard of and extravagant, but as a scorner of bodily losses and injuries in his thirst for honour and glory, who in exchange for the fame which he coveted would sacrifice his limbs one by one to the attacks of fortune."
28 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] That it is uncertain to which deity sacrifices ought to be offered when there is an earthquake.
1 What is to be regarded as the cause of earthquakes is not only not obvious to the ordinary understanding and thought of mankind, but it is not agreed even among the natural philosophers whether they are due to the mighty winds that gather in the caverns and hollow places of the earth, or to the ebb and flow of subterranean waters in its hollows, as seems to have been the view of the earliest Greeks, who called Neptune "the Earth Shaker"; or whether they are the result of something else or due to the divine power of some other god — all this, I say, is not yet a matter of certain knowledge. 2 For that reason the Romans of old, who were not only exceedingly scrupulous and careful in discharging all the other obligations of life, but also in fulfilling religious duties and venerating the immortal gods, whenever they felt an earthquake or received report of one, decreed a holy day on that account, but forbore to declare and specify in the decree, as is commonly p223done, the name of the god in whose honour the holy day was to be observed; for fear that by naming one god instead of another they might involve the people in a false observance. 3 If anyone had desecrated that festival, and expiation was therefore necessary, they used to offer a victim "to either the god or goddess," and Marcus Varro tells us133 that this usage was established by a decree of the pontiffs, since it was uncertain what force, and which of the gods or goddesses, had caused the earthquake.
4 But in the case of eclipses of the sun or moon they concerned themselves no less with trying to discover the causes of that phenomenon. 5 However, Marcus Cato, although a man with a great interest in investigation, nevertheless on this point expressed himself indecisively and superficially. 6 His words in the fourth book of his Origins are as follows:134 "I do not care to write what appears on the tablet of the high priest: how often grain was dear, how often darkness, or something else, obscured the light135 of sun or moon." 7 Of so little importance did he consider it either to know or to tell the true causes of eclipses of the sun and moon.
29 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] A fable of the Phrygian Aesop, which is well worth telling.
1 Aesop, the well-known fabulist from Phrygia, has justly been regarded as a wise man, since he taught what it was salutary to call to mind and to recommend, not in an austere and dictatorial manner, as is the way of philosophers, but by inventing witty and p225entertaining fables he put into men's minds and hearts ideas that were wholesome and carefully considered, while at the same time he enticed their attention. 2 For example, this fable of his136 about the little nest of a birdlet with delightful humour warns us that in the case of things which one can do, hope and confidence should never be placed in another, but in one's own self. 3 "There is a little bird," he says, "it is called the lark. 4 It lives in the grainfields, and generally builds its nest at such a time that the harvest is at hand exactly when the young birds are ready to be fledged. 5 Such a lark chanced to have built her nest in a field which had been sown rather early in the year; therefore when the grain was turning yellow, the fledglings were still unable to fly. 6 Accordingly, when the mother went off in search of food for her young, she warned them to notice whether anything unusual was said or done there, and to tell it to her on her return. 7 A little later the owner of that grainfield calls his young son and says: 'Do you not see that this is ripe and already calls for hands? To morrow then, as soon as it is light, see that you go to our friends and ask them to come and exchange work with us, and help us with this harvest.' 8 So saying, he at once went away. And when the lark returned, the chicks, frightened and trembling, twittered about their mother and implored her to make haste and at once carry them off to some other place; 'for,' said they, 'the master has sent to ask his friends to come at daybreak and reap.' 9 The mother bids them be easy in mind. 'For if the master,' said she, 'has turned the harvesting over to his friends, the field will not be reaped to morrow, and I need not take you away p227to day. 10 On the following day the mother flies off to get food. The master waits for those whom he had summoned. The sun grows hot and nothing is done. The day advances and no friends come. 11 Then he says again to his son: 'Those friends of ours are a lot of slackers. Why not rather go and ask our relatives and kinsfolk to come to reap early to morrow?' 12 This, too, the frightened chicks tell their mother. She urges them once again to be without fear and without worry, saying that hardly any relatives and kinsfolk are so obliging as to undertake labour without any delay and to obey a summons at once. 'But do you," she said, 'observe whether anything more is said.' 13 Next day at dawn the bird left to forage. The relatives and kinsfolk neglected the work which they were asked to do. 14 So finally the owner said to his son. 'Enough of friends and relatives. Bring two scythes at daybreak; I myself will take one and you yourself the other, and to morrow we ourselves will reap the grain with our own hands.' 15 When the mother heard from her brood that the farmer had said this, she cried: 'It is time to get out and be off; for this time what he said surely will be done. For now it depends on the very man whose business it is, not on another who is asked to do it.' 16 And so the lark moved her nest, the owner harvested his crop."
17 This then is Aesop's fable, showing that trust in friends and relatives is usually idle and vain. 18 But what different warning do the more highly revered books of the philosophers give us, than that we should rely on ourselves alone, 19 and regard everything else that is outside and beyond our control as helpful neither to our affairs nor to ourselves? 20 This parable p229of Aesop has been rendered in tetrameter verse by Quintus Ennius in his Saturae most cleverly and gracefully.137 The following are the last two lines of that version, and I surely think it is worth while to remember them and take them to heart:
This adage ever have in readiness;
Ask not of friends what you yourself can do.
30 [Legamen ad versionem Latinam] An observation on the waves of the sea, which take one form when the wind is from the south, and another when it is from the north.
1 It has often been observed in the motion of the waves caused by the north winds or by any current of air from that quarter of the heaven that it is different from that caused by the south and southwest winds. 2 For the waves raised by the blowing of the north wind are very high and follow hard upon each, but as soon as the wind has ceased, they flatten out and subside, and soon there are no waves at all. 3 But it is not the same when the wind blows from the south or southwest; for although these have wholly ceased to blow, still the waves that they have caused continue to swell, and though they have long been undisturbed by wind, yet the sea keeps continually surging. 4 The reason of this is inferred to be, that the winds from the north, falling upon the sea from a higher part of the sky, are borne straight down, as it were headlong, into the depths of ocean, making waves that are not driven forward, but are set in motion from within; and these, being turned up from beneath, roll only so long as the force of that wind which blows in p231from above continues. 5 The south and southwest winds, on the contrary, forced down to the southern zone and the lowest part of the heavens, are lower and flatter, and as they blow over the surface of the sea, they push forward138 the waves rather than raise them up. Therefore the waters are not struck from above but are forced forward, and even after the wind has fallen they retain for some time the motion given by the original impulse. 6 Moreover, this very suggestion of mine may be supported by the following lines of Homer, if one reads them carefully. 7 For he wrote thus of the blasts of the west wind:139
Then Notus drives huge waves against the western cliff,
8 but on the other hand he speaks in a different way of boreas, which we call aquilo:140
And Boreas aetherborn, uprolling a great wave.
9 For he means that the waves stirred up by the north winds, which are high and blow from above, are so to speak rolled downward, but that by the south winds, which are lower than these, they are driven forward in an upward direction by a somewhat greater force and pushed up. 10 For that is the meaning of the verb ὠθεῖ, as also in another passage:
The stone toward the hilltop pushed he up.
11 This also has been observed by the most learned investigators of nature, that when the south winds blow, the sea becomes blue and bright, but, under the north winds, darker and more gloomy. I noted the cause of this when I was making excerpts from the Problems of Aristotle.142
Book III
AD---1: a discussion of
the question why Sallusto said that avarice rendered effeminate, not only a
manly soul, but also the very body itself.
1 When winter was already waning, we were walking with the philosopher Favorinus in the court of the Titian baths,1 enjoying the mild warmth of the sun; and there, as we walked, Sallust's Catiline was being read, a book which Favorinus had seen in the hands of a friend and had asked him to read. 2 The following passage from that book had been recited:2 "Avarice implies a desire for money, which no wise man covets; steeped as it were with noxious poisons, it renders the most manly body and soul effeminate; it is ever unbounded, nor can either plenty or want make it less." 3 Then Favorinus looked at me and said: "How does avarice make a man's body effeminate? For I seem to grasp in general the meaning of his statement that it has that effect on a manly soul, but how also it makes his body effeminate I do not yet comprehend." 4 "I too," said I, "have for a long time been putting myself that question, and if you had not anticipated me, I should of my own accord have asked you to answer it."
5 Scarcely had I said this with some hesitation, when one of the disciples of Favorinus, who seemed p237to be an old hand in the study of literature, broke in: "I once heard Valerius Probus say that Sallust here used a kind of poetic circumlocution, and meaning to say that a man was corrupted by avarice, spoke of his body and soul, the two factors which indicate a man; for man is made up of body and soul." 6 "Never," replied Favorinus, "at least, so far as I know, was our Probus guilty of such impertinent and bold subtlety as to say that Sallust, a most skilful artist in conciseness, used poetic paraphrases."
7 There was with us at the time in the same promenade a man of considerable learning. 8 He too, on being asked by Favorinus whether he had anything to say on the subject, answered to this effect: 9 "We observe that almost all those whose minds are possessed and corrupted by avarice and who have devoted themselves to the acquisition of money from any and every source, so regulate their lives, that compared with money they neglect manly toil and attention to bodily exercise, as they do everything else. 10 For they are commonly intent upon indoor and sedentary pursuits, in which all their vigour of mind and body is enfeebled and, as Sallust says, 'rendered effeminate.'
11 Then Favorinus again asked to have the same words of Sallust read again, and when they had been read, he said: "How then are we to explain the fact, that it is possible to find many men who are greedy for money, but nevertheless have strong and active bodies?" 12 To this the man replied thus: "Your answer is certainly to the point. Whoever," said he, "is greedy for money, but nevertheless has a body that is strong and in good condition, must necessarily be possessed either by an interest in, or devotion to, p239other things as well, and cannot be equally niggardly in his care of himself. 13 For if extreme avarice, to the exclusion of everything else, lay hold upon all a man's actions and desires, and if it extend even to neglect of his body, so that because of that one passion he has regard neither for virtue nor physical strength, nor body, nor soul — then, and then only, can that vice truly be said to cause effeminacy both of body and soul, since such men care neither for themselves nor for anything else except money." 14 Then said Favorinus: "Either what you have said is reasonable, or Sallust, through hatred of avarice, brought against it a heavier charge than he could justify."3
AD--2: which was the birthday, according to Marcus Varro, of those born before the sixth hour of the night, or after it; and in that connection, concerning the duration and limits of the days that are termed "civil" and are reckoned differently all over the world; and in addition, what Quintus Mucius wrote about that woman who claimed freedom from her husband's control illegally, because she had not taken account of the civil year.
1. It is often inquired which day should be considered and called the birthday of those who are born in the third, the fourth, or any other hour of the night; that is, whether it is the day that preceded, or the day that followed, that night. 2 Marcus Varro, in that book of his Human Antiquities which he wrote On Days, says:4 "Persons who are born during the p241twenty-four hours between one midnight and the next midnight are considered to have been born on one and the same day." 3 From these words it appears that he so apportioned the reckoning of the days, that the birthday of one who is born after sunset, but before midnight, is the day after which that night began; but that, on the other hand, one who is born during the last six hours of the night is considered to have been born on the day which dawned after that night.
4 However, Varro also wrote in that same book5 that the Athenians reckon differently, and that they regard all the intervening time from one sunset to the next as one single day. 5 That the Babylonians counted still differently; for they called by the name of one day the whole space of time between sunrise and the beginning of the next sunrise; 6 but that in the land of Umbria many said that from midday to the following midday was one and the same day. "But this," he said, "is too absurd. For the birthday of one who is born among the Umbrians at midday on the first of the month will have to be considered as both half of the first day of the month and that part of the second day which comes before midday."6
7 But it is shown by abundant evidence that the Roman people, as Varro said, reckoned each day from midnight to the next midnight. 8 The religious ceremonies of the Romans are performed in part by day, others by night; but those which take place by night are appointed for certain days, not for nights; 9 accordingly, those that take place during the last six hours of the night are said to take place on the day which dawns immediately after that night. 10 Moreover, p243the ceremony and method of taking the auspices point to the same way of reckoning; for the magistrates, whenever they must take the auspices, and transact the business for which they have taken the auspices, on the same day, take the auspices after midnight and transact the business after midday, when the sun is high, and they are then said to have taken the auspices and acted on the same day. 11 Again, when the tribunes of the commons, who are not allowed to be away from Rome for a whole day, leave the city after midnight and return after the first lighting of the lamps on the following day, but before midnight, they are not considered to have been absent for a whole day, since they returned before the completion of the sixth jour of the night, and were in the city of Rome for some part of that day.
12 I have read that Quintus Mucius, the jurist, also used to say7 that a woman did not become her own mistress who, after entering upon marriage relations with a man on the day called the Kalends of January, left him, for the purpose of emancipating herself, on the fourth day before the Kalends of the following January;8 for the period of three nights, during which the Twelve Tables9 provided that a woman must be separated from her husband for the purpose of gaining her independence, 13 could not be completed since the last10 six hours of the third night belonged to the next year, which began on the first of January.
14 Now since I found all the above details about the duration and limits of days, pertaining to the observance and the system of ancient law, in the works of our early writers, I did not doubt that Virgil also p245indicated the same thing, not directly and openly, but, as became one treating poetic themes, by an indirect and as it were veiled allusion to ancient observance. He said:11
15 For dewy Night has wheeled her way
Far past her middle course; the panting steeds
Of orient Morn breathe pitiless on me.
16 For in these lines he wished to remind us covertly, as I have said, that the day which the Romans have called "civil" begins after the completion of the sixth hour of the night.
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AD--3: on investigating and identifying the comedies of Plautus, since the genuine and the spurious without distinction are said to have been inscribed with his name; and further as to the report that Plautus wrote plays in a bakery and Naevius in prison.
1. I am convinced of the truth of the statement which I have heard made by men well trained in literature, who have read a great many plays of Plautus with care and attention: namely, that with regard to the so called "doubtful" plays they would12 trust, not the lists of Aelius or Sedigitus or Claudius or Aurelius or Accius or Manilius, but Plautus himself and the characteristic features of his manner and diction. 2 Indeed, this is the criterion which we find Varro using. 3 For in addition to those one and twenty known as "Varronian," which he set apart from the rest because they were not questioned but by common consent were attributed to Plautus, he accepted also some others, influenced by the style and humour of their language, which was p247characteristic of Plautus; and although these had already been listed under the names of other poets, he claimed them for Plautus: for example, one that I was recently reading, called The Boeotian Woman. 4 For although it is not among those one and twenty and is attributed to Aquilius, still Varro had not the least doubt that it was Plautine, nor will any other habitual reader of Plautus doubt it, even if he knows only the following verses from that play, which, since they are, to speak in the manner of that famous poet, most Plautine, I recall and have noted down. 5 There a hungry parasite speaks as follows:13
The gods confound the man who first found out
How to distinguish hours! Confound him, too,
Who in this place set up a sundial
To cut and hack my days so wretchedly
Into small portions! When I was a boy,
My belly was my only sun-dial, one more sure,
Truer, and more exact than any of them.
This dial told me when 'twas proper time
To go to dinner, when I had aught to eat;
But nowadays, why even when I have,
I can't fall to unless the sun gives leave.
The town's so full of these confounded dials
The greatest part of the inhabitants,
Shrunk up with hunger, crawl along the streets.
6 My master Favorinus too, when I was reading the Nervularia of Plautus, and he had heard this line of the comedy:14
Old, wheezing, physicky, mere foundered hags
With dry, parched, painted hides, shrivell'd and shrunk,
delighted with the wit of the archaic words that describe the ugly defects of harlots, cried: "By heaven! just this one verse is enough to convince one that the play is Plautine."
7 I myself too a little while ago, when reading the Fretum — that is the name of a comedy which some think is not Plautine — had no manner of doubt that it was by Plautus and in fact of all his plays the most authentic. 8 From it I copied these two lines,15 with the intention of looking up the story of the Arretine oracle:16
Now here we have at the great games17 the Arretine response:
I perish if I don't, and if I do, I'm flogged.
9 Now Marcus Varro, in the first book of his Comedies of Plautus,18 quotes these words of Accius:19 "For not the Twin Panders nor the Slave-ring nor the Old Woman were the work of Plautus, nor were ever the Twice Violated or the Boeotian Woman, nor were the Clownish Rustic or the Partners in Death the work of Titus Maccius."20
10 In that same book of Varro's we are told also that there was another writer of comedies called Plautius. Since his plays bore the title "Plauti,"21 they were accepted as Plautine, although in fact they were not Plautine by Plautus, but Plautinian by Plautius.
p251 11 Now there are in circulation under the name of Plautus about one hundred and thirty comedies; 12 but that most learned of men Lucius Aelius thought that only twenty-five of them were his.22 13 However, there is no doubt that those which do not appear to have been written by Plautus but are attached to his name, were the work of poets of old but were revised and touched up by him, and that is why they savour of the Plautine style. 14 Now Varro and several others have recorded that the Saturio, the Addictus, and a third comedy, the name of which I do not now recall, were written by Plautus in a bakery, when, after losing in trade all the money which he had earned in employments connected with the stage, he had returned penniless to Rome, and to earn a livelihood had hired himself out to a baker, to turn a mill, of the kind which is called a "push-mill."23
15 So too we are told of Naevius that he wrote two plays in prison, the Soothsayer and the Leon, when by reason of his constant abuse and insults aimed at the leading men of the city, after the manner of the Greek poets, he had been imprisoned at Rome by the triumvirs.24 And afterwards he was set free by the tribunes of the commons, when he had apologized for his offences and the saucy language with which he had previously assailed many men.
4 That it was an inherited custom of Publius Africanus and other distinguished men of his time to shave their beard and cheeks.
1 I found it stated in books which I read dealing with the life of Publius Scipio Africanus, that Publius Scipio, the son of Paulus, after he had celebrated a triumph because of his victory over the Carthaginians and had been censor, was accused before the people by Claudius Asellius, tribune of the commons, whom he had degraded from knighthood during his censorship; and that Scipio, although he was under accusation, neither ceased to shave his beard and to wear white raiment nor appeared in the usual garb of those under accusation. 2 But since it is certain that at that time Scipio was less than forty years old, I was surprised at the statement about shaving his beard. 3 I have learned, however, that in those same times the other nobles shaved their beards at that time of life, and that is why we see many busts of early men represented in that way, men who were not very old, but in middle life.25
5 How the philosopher Arcesilaus severely yet humorously taunted a man with the vice of voluptuousness and with unmanliness of expression and conduct.
1 Plutarch tells us26 that Arcesilaus the philosopher used strong language about a certain rich man, who was too pleasure-loving, but nevertheless had a p255reputation for uprightness and freedom from sensuality. 2 For when he observed the man's affected speech, his artfully arranged hair, and his wanton glances, teeming with seduction and voluptuousness, he said: "It makes no difference with what parts of your body you debauch yourself, front or rear."
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AD--6: on the natural strength of the palm-tree; for when weights are placed upon its wood, it resists their pressure.
1. A truly wonderful fact is stated by Aristotle in the seventh book of his Problems,27 and by Plutarch in the eighth of his Symposiaca.28 2 "If," say they, "you place heavy weights on the wood of the palm-tree, and load it so heavily and press it down so hard that the burden is too great to bear, the wood does not give way downward, nor is it made concave, but it rises against the weight and struggles upward and assumes a convex form.29 3 It is for that reason," says Plutarch, "that the palm has been chosen as the symbol of victory in contests, since the nature of its wood is such that it does not yield to what presses hard upon it and tries to crush it."
7 A tale from the annals about Quintus Caedicius, tribune of the soldiers; and a passage from the Origins of Marcus Cato, in which he likens the valour of Caedicius to that of the Spartan Leonidas.
1 A glorious deed, by the gods! and well worthy of the noble strains of Greek eloquence, is that of p257the military tribune Quintus Caedicius, recorded by Marcus Cato in his Origins.30
2 The actual account runs about as follows: 3 In the first Punic war the Carthaginian general in Sicily advanced to meet the Roman army and was first to take possession of the hills and strategic points. As the result of this, the Roman soldiers made their way 4 into a place exposed to surprise and extreme danger. 5 The tribune went to the consul and pointed out that destruction was imminent from their unfavourable position and from the fact that the enemy had surrounded them. 6 "My advice is," said he, "if you want to save the day, that you order some four hundred soldiers to advance to yonder wart" — for that is Cato's term for a high and rough bit of ground — "and command and conjure them to hold it. When the enemy see that, undoubtedly all their bravest and most active men will be intent upon attacking and fighting with them; they will devote themselves to that one task, and beyond a doubt all those four hundred will be slaughtered. 7 Then in the meantime, while the enemy is engaged in killing them, you will have time to get the army out of this position. 8 There is no other way of safety but this." The consul replied to the tribune that the plan seemed to him equally wise; "but who, pray," said he, "will there be to lead those four hundred men of yours to that place in the midst of the enemy's troops?" 9 "If you find no one else," answered the tribune, "you may use me for that dangerous enterprise. I offer this life of mine to you and to my country." 10 The consul thanked and commended the tribune. 11 The tribune and his four hundred marched forth to death. 12 The enemy marvelled at their boldness; they were on tiptoe of expectation to see where they would go. 13 But when it appeared that they were on their way to occupy that hill, the Carthaginian commander sent against them the strongest men in his army, horse and foot. 14 The Roman soldiers were surrounded; though surrounded, they resisted; 15 the battle was long and doubtful. 16 At last numbers triumphed. Every man of the four hundred fell, including the tribune, either run through with swords or overwhelmed with missiles. 17 Meanwhile the consul, while the battle was raging there, withdrew to a safe position on high ground.
18 But what, by Heaven's help, befell that tribune, the leader of the four hundred soldiers, in the battle, I have added, no longer using my own words, but giving those of Cato himself, who says: 19 "The immortal gods gave the tribune good fortune equal to his valour; for this is what happened. Although he had been wounded in many places during the battle, yet his head was uninjured, and they recognized him among the dead, unconscious from wounds and loss of blood. They bore him off the field, he recovered, and often after that rendered brave and vigorous service to his country; and by that act of leading that forlorn hope he saved the rest of the army. But what a difference it makes where you do the same service!31 The Laconian Leonidas, who performed a like exploit at Thermopylae, because of his valour won unexampled glory and gratitude from all Greece, and was honoured with memorials of the highest distinction; they showed their appreciation of that deed of his by pictures, statues and honorary inscriptions, in their histories, and in other ways; but the tribune of the soldiers, who had done the same thing and saved an army, gained small glory for his deeds."
20 With such high personal testimony did Marcus Cato honour this valorous deed of Quintus Caedicius the tribune. 21 But Claudius Quadrigarius, in the third book of his Annals,32 says that the man's name was not Caedicius, but Laberius.
8 A fine letter of the consuls Gaius Fabricius and Quintus Aemilius to king Pyrrhus, recorded by the historian Quintus Claudius.
1 At the time when king Pyrrhus was on Italian soil and had won one or two battles, when the Romans were getting anxious, and the greater part of Italy had gone over to the king, a certain Timochares, an Ambracian and a friend of king Pyrrhus, came stealthily to the consul Gaius Fabricius and asked a reward, promising that if they could come to terms, he would poison the king. This, he said, could easily be done, since his son was the monarch's cup-bearer. 2 Fabricius transmitted this offer to the senate. 3 The senate sent envoys to the king, instructing them not to reveal anything about Timochares, but to warn the king to act with more caution, and be on his guard against the treachery of those nearest to his own person. 4 This, as I have told it, is the version found in the History of Valerius Antias.33 5 But Quadrigarius, in his third book,34 says that it was not Timochares, but Nicias, that approached the consul; that the embassy was not sent by the senate, but by the consuls; and that Pyrrhus thanked and complimented the Roman people in a p263letter, besides clothing and returning all the prisoners that were then in his hands.
6 The consuls at that time were Gaius Fabricius and Quintus Aemilius.35 7 The letter which they sent to king Pyrrhus about that matter, according to Claudius Quadrigarius, ran as follows:
8 "The Roman consuls greet king Pyrrhus.
We, being greatly disturbed in spirit because of your continued acts of injustice, desire to war with you as an enemy. But as a matter of general precedent and honour, it has seemed to us that we should desire your personal safety, in order that we may have the opportunity of vanquishing you in the field. Your friend Nicias came to us, to ask for a reward if he should secretly slay you. We replied that we had no such wish, and that he could look for no advantage from such an action; at the same time it seemed proper to inform you, for fear that if anything of the kind should happen, the nations might think that it was done with our connivance, and also because we have no desire to make war by means of bribes or rewards or trickery. As for you, if you do not take heed, you will have a fall."
9 The characteristics of the horse of Seius, which is mentioned in the proverb; and as to the colour of the horses which are called spadices; and the explanation of that term.
1 Gavius Bassus in his Commentaries,36 and Julius Modestus in the second book of his Miscellaneous Questions,37 tell the history of the horse of Seius, a p265tale wonderful and worthy of record. 2 They say that there was a clerk called Gnaeus Seius, and that he had a horse foaled at Argos, in the land of Greece, about which there was a persistent tradition that it was sprung from the breed of horses that had belonged to the Thracian Diomedes, those which Hercules, after slaying Diomedes, had taken from Thrace to Argos. 3 They say that this horse was of extraordinary size, with a lofty neck, bay in colour, with a thick, glossy mane, and that it was far superior to all horses in other points of excellence; but that same horse, they go on to say, was of such a fate or fortune, that whoever owned and possessed it came to utter ruin, as well as his whole house, his family and all his possessions. 4 Thus, to begin with, that Gnaeus Seius who owned him was condemned and suffered a cruel death at the hands of Marcus Antonius, afterwards one of the triumvirs for setting the State in order.38 At that same time Cornelius Dolabella, the consul, on his way to Syria, attracted by the renown of this horse, turned aside to Argos, was fired with a desire to own the animal, and bought it for a hundred thousand sesterces; but Dolabella in his turn was besieged in Syria during the civil war, and slain. And soon afterwards Gaius Cassius, who had besieged Dolabella, carried off this same horse, which had been Dolabella's. 5 It is notorious too that this Cassius, after his party had been vanquished and his army routed, met a wretched end. Then later, after the death of Cassius, Antonius, who had defeated him, sought for this famous horse of Cassius, and after getting possession of it was himself afterwards defeated and deserted in his turn, and died an ignominious death. 6 Hence the proverb, p267applied to unfortunate men, arose and is current: "That man has the horse of Seius."
7 The meaning is the same of that other old proverb, which I have heard quoted thus: "the gold of Tolosa." For when the town of Tolosa in the land of Gaul was pillaged by the consul Quintus Caepio, and a quantity of gold was found in the temples of that town, whoever touched a piece of gold from that sack died a wretched and agonizing death.
8 Gavius Bassus reports that he saw this horse at Argos; that it was of incredible beauty and strength and of the richest possible colouring.
9 This colour, as I have said, we call poeniceus; the Greeks sometimes name it φοῖνιξ, at others σπάδιξ, since the branch of the palm (φοῖνιξ), torn from the tree with its fruit, is called spadix.39
10 That in many natural phenomena a certain power and efficiency of the number seven has been observed, concerning which Marcus Varro discourses at length in his Hebdomades.40
1 Marcus Varro, in the first book of his work entitled Hebdomades or On Portraits, speaks of many varied excellencies and powers of the number seven, which the Greeks call ἑβδομάς. 2 "For that number," he says, "forms the Greater and the Lesser Bear in the heavens; also the vergiliae,41 which p269the Greeks call πλειάδες; and it is likewise the number of those stars which some call 'wandering,' but Publius Nigidius 'wanderers.' "42 3 Varro also says that there are seven circles in the heavens, perpendicular to its axis. The two smallest of these, which touch the ends of the axis, he says are called πόλοι, or "poles"; but that because of their small diameter they cannot be represented on what is termed an armillary sphere.43 4 And the zodiac itself it is not uninfluenced by the number seven; for the summer solstice occurs in the seventh sign from the winter solstice, and the winter solstice in the seventh after the summer, and one equinox in the seventh sign after the other. 5 Then too those winter days during which the kingfishers nest on the water he says are seven in number.44 6 Besides this, he writes that the course of the moon is completed in four time seven complete days; "for on the twenty-eighth day," he says, "the moon returns to the same point from which it started," and he quotes Aristides45 of Samos as his authority for this opinion. In this case he says that one should not only take note of the fact that the moon finishes its journey in four times seven, that is eight and twenty, days, but also that this number seven, if, beginning with one and going on until it reaches itself, it includes the sum of all the numbers through which it has passed and then adds itself, makes the number of eight and twenty, which is the number of days of the revolution of the moon.46 7 He says that the influence of that number p271extends to and affects also the birth of human beings. "For," says he, "when the life-giving seed has been introduced into the female womb, in the first seven days it is compacted and coagulated and rendered fit to take shape. Then afterwards in the fourth hebdomad the rudimentary male organ, the head, and the spine which is in the back, are formed. But in the seventh hebdomad, as a rule, that is, by the forty-ninth day," says he, "the entire embryo is formed in the womb." 8 He says that this power also has been observed in that number, that before the seventh month neither male nor female child can be born in health and naturally, and that those which are in the womb the most regular time are born two hundred and seventy-three days after conception, that is, not until the beginning of the fortieth hebdomad. 9 Of the periods dangerous to the lives and fortunes of all men, which the Chaldaeans call "climacterics," all the gravest are combinations of the number seven. 10 Besides this, he says that extreme limit of growth of the human body is seven feet. 11 That, in my opinion, is truer than the statement of Herodotus, the story-teller, in the first book of his History,47 that the body of Orestes was found under ground, and that it was seven cubits in height, that is, twelve and a quarter feet; unless, as Homer thought,48 the men of old were larger and taller of stature, but now, because the world is ageing, as it were, men and things are diminishing in size. 12 The teeth too, he says, appear p273in the first seven months seven at a time in each jaw, and fall out within seven years, and the back teeth are added, as a rule, within twice seven years. 13 He says that the physicians who use music as a remedy declare that the veins of men, or rather their arteries, are set in motion according to the number seven,49 and this treatment they call τὴν διὰ τεσσάρων συμφωνίαν,50 because it results from the harmony of four tones. 14 He also believes that the periods of danger in diseases have greater violence on the days which are made up of the number seven, and that those days in particular seem to be, as the physicians call them, κρισίμοι or "critical"; namely, the first, second and third hebdomad. 15 And Varro does not fail to mention a fact which adds to the power and influence of the number seven, namely, that those who resolve to die of starvation do not meet their end until the seventh day.
16 These remarks of Varro about the number seven show painstaking investigation. But he has also brought together in the same place others which are rather trifling: for example, that there are seven wonderful works in the world, that the sages of old were seven, that the usual number of rounds in the races in the circus is seven, and that seven champions were chosen to attack Thebes. 17 Then he adds in that book the further information that he had entered upon the twelfth hebdomad of his age, and that up to that day he has completed seventy hebdomads of books,51 of which a considerable number were destroyed when his library was plundered, at the time of his proscription.52
1 When winter was already waning, we were walking with the philosopher Favorinus in the court of the Titian baths,1 enjoying the mild warmth of the sun; and there, as we walked, Sallust's Catiline was being read, a book which Favorinus had seen in the hands of a friend and had asked him to read. 2 The following passage from that book had been recited:2 "Avarice implies a desire for money, which no wise man covets; steeped as it were with noxious poisons, it renders the most manly body and soul effeminate; it is ever unbounded, nor can either plenty or want make it less." 3 Then Favorinus looked at me and said: "How does avarice make a man's body effeminate? For I seem to grasp in general the meaning of his statement that it has that effect on a manly soul, but how also it makes his body effeminate I do not yet comprehend." 4 "I too," said I, "have for a long time been putting myself that question, and if you had not anticipated me, I should of my own accord have asked you to answer it."
5 Scarcely had I said this with some hesitation, when one of the disciples of Favorinus, who seemed p237to be an old hand in the study of literature, broke in: "I once heard Valerius Probus say that Sallust here used a kind of poetic circumlocution, and meaning to say that a man was corrupted by avarice, spoke of his body and soul, the two factors which indicate a man; for man is made up of body and soul." 6 "Never," replied Favorinus, "at least, so far as I know, was our Probus guilty of such impertinent and bold subtlety as to say that Sallust, a most skilful artist in conciseness, used poetic paraphrases."
7 There was with us at the time in the same promenade a man of considerable learning. 8 He too, on being asked by Favorinus whether he had anything to say on the subject, answered to this effect: 9 "We observe that almost all those whose minds are possessed and corrupted by avarice and who have devoted themselves to the acquisition of money from any and every source, so regulate their lives, that compared with money they neglect manly toil and attention to bodily exercise, as they do everything else. 10 For they are commonly intent upon indoor and sedentary pursuits, in which all their vigour of mind and body is enfeebled and, as Sallust says, 'rendered effeminate.'
11 Then Favorinus again asked to have the same words of Sallust read again, and when they had been read, he said: "How then are we to explain the fact, that it is possible to find many men who are greedy for money, but nevertheless have strong and active bodies?" 12 To this the man replied thus: "Your answer is certainly to the point. Whoever," said he, "is greedy for money, but nevertheless has a body that is strong and in good condition, must necessarily be possessed either by an interest in, or devotion to, p239other things as well, and cannot be equally niggardly in his care of himself. 13 For if extreme avarice, to the exclusion of everything else, lay hold upon all a man's actions and desires, and if it extend even to neglect of his body, so that because of that one passion he has regard neither for virtue nor physical strength, nor body, nor soul — then, and then only, can that vice truly be said to cause effeminacy both of body and soul, since such men care neither for themselves nor for anything else except money." 14 Then said Favorinus: "Either what you have said is reasonable, or Sallust, through hatred of avarice, brought against it a heavier charge than he could justify."3
AD--2: which was the birthday, according to Marcus Varro, of those born before the sixth hour of the night, or after it; and in that connection, concerning the duration and limits of the days that are termed "civil" and are reckoned differently all over the world; and in addition, what Quintus Mucius wrote about that woman who claimed freedom from her husband's control illegally, because she had not taken account of the civil year.
1. It is often inquired which day should be considered and called the birthday of those who are born in the third, the fourth, or any other hour of the night; that is, whether it is the day that preceded, or the day that followed, that night. 2 Marcus Varro, in that book of his Human Antiquities which he wrote On Days, says:4 "Persons who are born during the p241twenty-four hours between one midnight and the next midnight are considered to have been born on one and the same day." 3 From these words it appears that he so apportioned the reckoning of the days, that the birthday of one who is born after sunset, but before midnight, is the day after which that night began; but that, on the other hand, one who is born during the last six hours of the night is considered to have been born on the day which dawned after that night.
4 However, Varro also wrote in that same book5 that the Athenians reckon differently, and that they regard all the intervening time from one sunset to the next as one single day. 5 That the Babylonians counted still differently; for they called by the name of one day the whole space of time between sunrise and the beginning of the next sunrise; 6 but that in the land of Umbria many said that from midday to the following midday was one and the same day. "But this," he said, "is too absurd. For the birthday of one who is born among the Umbrians at midday on the first of the month will have to be considered as both half of the first day of the month and that part of the second day which comes before midday."6
7 But it is shown by abundant evidence that the Roman people, as Varro said, reckoned each day from midnight to the next midnight. 8 The religious ceremonies of the Romans are performed in part by day, others by night; but those which take place by night are appointed for certain days, not for nights; 9 accordingly, those that take place during the last six hours of the night are said to take place on the day which dawns immediately after that night. 10 Moreover, p243the ceremony and method of taking the auspices point to the same way of reckoning; for the magistrates, whenever they must take the auspices, and transact the business for which they have taken the auspices, on the same day, take the auspices after midnight and transact the business after midday, when the sun is high, and they are then said to have taken the auspices and acted on the same day. 11 Again, when the tribunes of the commons, who are not allowed to be away from Rome for a whole day, leave the city after midnight and return after the first lighting of the lamps on the following day, but before midnight, they are not considered to have been absent for a whole day, since they returned before the completion of the sixth jour of the night, and were in the city of Rome for some part of that day.
12 I have read that Quintus Mucius, the jurist, also used to say7 that a woman did not become her own mistress who, after entering upon marriage relations with a man on the day called the Kalends of January, left him, for the purpose of emancipating herself, on the fourth day before the Kalends of the following January;8 for the period of three nights, during which the Twelve Tables9 provided that a woman must be separated from her husband for the purpose of gaining her independence, 13 could not be completed since the last10 six hours of the third night belonged to the next year, which began on the first of January.
14 Now since I found all the above details about the duration and limits of days, pertaining to the observance and the system of ancient law, in the works of our early writers, I did not doubt that Virgil also p245indicated the same thing, not directly and openly, but, as became one treating poetic themes, by an indirect and as it were veiled allusion to ancient observance. He said:11
15 For dewy Night has wheeled her way
Far past her middle course; the panting steeds
Of orient Morn breathe pitiless on me.
16 For in these lines he wished to remind us covertly, as I have said, that the day which the Romans have called "civil" begins after the completion of the sixth hour of the night.
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AD--3: on investigating and identifying the comedies of Plautus, since the genuine and the spurious without distinction are said to have been inscribed with his name; and further as to the report that Plautus wrote plays in a bakery and Naevius in prison.
1. I am convinced of the truth of the statement which I have heard made by men well trained in literature, who have read a great many plays of Plautus with care and attention: namely, that with regard to the so called "doubtful" plays they would12 trust, not the lists of Aelius or Sedigitus or Claudius or Aurelius or Accius or Manilius, but Plautus himself and the characteristic features of his manner and diction. 2 Indeed, this is the criterion which we find Varro using. 3 For in addition to those one and twenty known as "Varronian," which he set apart from the rest because they were not questioned but by common consent were attributed to Plautus, he accepted also some others, influenced by the style and humour of their language, which was p247characteristic of Plautus; and although these had already been listed under the names of other poets, he claimed them for Plautus: for example, one that I was recently reading, called The Boeotian Woman. 4 For although it is not among those one and twenty and is attributed to Aquilius, still Varro had not the least doubt that it was Plautine, nor will any other habitual reader of Plautus doubt it, even if he knows only the following verses from that play, which, since they are, to speak in the manner of that famous poet, most Plautine, I recall and have noted down. 5 There a hungry parasite speaks as follows:13
The gods confound the man who first found out
How to distinguish hours! Confound him, too,
Who in this place set up a sundial
To cut and hack my days so wretchedly
Into small portions! When I was a boy,
My belly was my only sun-dial, one more sure,
Truer, and more exact than any of them.
This dial told me when 'twas proper time
To go to dinner, when I had aught to eat;
But nowadays, why even when I have,
I can't fall to unless the sun gives leave.
The town's so full of these confounded dials
The greatest part of the inhabitants,
Shrunk up with hunger, crawl along the streets.
6 My master Favorinus too, when I was reading the Nervularia of Plautus, and he had heard this line of the comedy:14
Old, wheezing, physicky, mere foundered hags
With dry, parched, painted hides, shrivell'd and shrunk,
delighted with the wit of the archaic words that describe the ugly defects of harlots, cried: "By heaven! just this one verse is enough to convince one that the play is Plautine."
7 I myself too a little while ago, when reading the Fretum — that is the name of a comedy which some think is not Plautine — had no manner of doubt that it was by Plautus and in fact of all his plays the most authentic. 8 From it I copied these two lines,15 with the intention of looking up the story of the Arretine oracle:16
Now here we have at the great games17 the Arretine response:
I perish if I don't, and if I do, I'm flogged.
9 Now Marcus Varro, in the first book of his Comedies of Plautus,18 quotes these words of Accius:19 "For not the Twin Panders nor the Slave-ring nor the Old Woman were the work of Plautus, nor were ever the Twice Violated or the Boeotian Woman, nor were the Clownish Rustic or the Partners in Death the work of Titus Maccius."20
10 In that same book of Varro's we are told also that there was another writer of comedies called Plautius. Since his plays bore the title "Plauti,"21 they were accepted as Plautine, although in fact they were not Plautine by Plautus, but Plautinian by Plautius.
p251 11 Now there are in circulation under the name of Plautus about one hundred and thirty comedies; 12 but that most learned of men Lucius Aelius thought that only twenty-five of them were his.22 13 However, there is no doubt that those which do not appear to have been written by Plautus but are attached to his name, were the work of poets of old but were revised and touched up by him, and that is why they savour of the Plautine style. 14 Now Varro and several others have recorded that the Saturio, the Addictus, and a third comedy, the name of which I do not now recall, were written by Plautus in a bakery, when, after losing in trade all the money which he had earned in employments connected with the stage, he had returned penniless to Rome, and to earn a livelihood had hired himself out to a baker, to turn a mill, of the kind which is called a "push-mill."23
15 So too we are told of Naevius that he wrote two plays in prison, the Soothsayer and the Leon, when by reason of his constant abuse and insults aimed at the leading men of the city, after the manner of the Greek poets, he had been imprisoned at Rome by the triumvirs.24 And afterwards he was set free by the tribunes of the commons, when he had apologized for his offences and the saucy language with which he had previously assailed many men.
4 That it was an inherited custom of Publius Africanus and other distinguished men of his time to shave their beard and cheeks.
1 I found it stated in books which I read dealing with the life of Publius Scipio Africanus, that Publius Scipio, the son of Paulus, after he had celebrated a triumph because of his victory over the Carthaginians and had been censor, was accused before the people by Claudius Asellius, tribune of the commons, whom he had degraded from knighthood during his censorship; and that Scipio, although he was under accusation, neither ceased to shave his beard and to wear white raiment nor appeared in the usual garb of those under accusation. 2 But since it is certain that at that time Scipio was less than forty years old, I was surprised at the statement about shaving his beard. 3 I have learned, however, that in those same times the other nobles shaved their beards at that time of life, and that is why we see many busts of early men represented in that way, men who were not very old, but in middle life.25
5 How the philosopher Arcesilaus severely yet humorously taunted a man with the vice of voluptuousness and with unmanliness of expression and conduct.
1 Plutarch tells us26 that Arcesilaus the philosopher used strong language about a certain rich man, who was too pleasure-loving, but nevertheless had a p255reputation for uprightness and freedom from sensuality. 2 For when he observed the man's affected speech, his artfully arranged hair, and his wanton glances, teeming with seduction and voluptuousness, he said: "It makes no difference with what parts of your body you debauch yourself, front or rear."
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AD--6: on the natural strength of the palm-tree; for when weights are placed upon its wood, it resists their pressure.
1. A truly wonderful fact is stated by Aristotle in the seventh book of his Problems,27 and by Plutarch in the eighth of his Symposiaca.28 2 "If," say they, "you place heavy weights on the wood of the palm-tree, and load it so heavily and press it down so hard that the burden is too great to bear, the wood does not give way downward, nor is it made concave, but it rises against the weight and struggles upward and assumes a convex form.29 3 It is for that reason," says Plutarch, "that the palm has been chosen as the symbol of victory in contests, since the nature of its wood is such that it does not yield to what presses hard upon it and tries to crush it."
7 A tale from the annals about Quintus Caedicius, tribune of the soldiers; and a passage from the Origins of Marcus Cato, in which he likens the valour of Caedicius to that of the Spartan Leonidas.
1 A glorious deed, by the gods! and well worthy of the noble strains of Greek eloquence, is that of p257the military tribune Quintus Caedicius, recorded by Marcus Cato in his Origins.30
2 The actual account runs about as follows: 3 In the first Punic war the Carthaginian general in Sicily advanced to meet the Roman army and was first to take possession of the hills and strategic points. As the result of this, the Roman soldiers made their way 4 into a place exposed to surprise and extreme danger. 5 The tribune went to the consul and pointed out that destruction was imminent from their unfavourable position and from the fact that the enemy had surrounded them. 6 "My advice is," said he, "if you want to save the day, that you order some four hundred soldiers to advance to yonder wart" — for that is Cato's term for a high and rough bit of ground — "and command and conjure them to hold it. When the enemy see that, undoubtedly all their bravest and most active men will be intent upon attacking and fighting with them; they will devote themselves to that one task, and beyond a doubt all those four hundred will be slaughtered. 7 Then in the meantime, while the enemy is engaged in killing them, you will have time to get the army out of this position. 8 There is no other way of safety but this." The consul replied to the tribune that the plan seemed to him equally wise; "but who, pray," said he, "will there be to lead those four hundred men of yours to that place in the midst of the enemy's troops?" 9 "If you find no one else," answered the tribune, "you may use me for that dangerous enterprise. I offer this life of mine to you and to my country." 10 The consul thanked and commended the tribune. 11 The tribune and his four hundred marched forth to death. 12 The enemy marvelled at their boldness; they were on tiptoe of expectation to see where they would go. 13 But when it appeared that they were on their way to occupy that hill, the Carthaginian commander sent against them the strongest men in his army, horse and foot. 14 The Roman soldiers were surrounded; though surrounded, they resisted; 15 the battle was long and doubtful. 16 At last numbers triumphed. Every man of the four hundred fell, including the tribune, either run through with swords or overwhelmed with missiles. 17 Meanwhile the consul, while the battle was raging there, withdrew to a safe position on high ground.
18 But what, by Heaven's help, befell that tribune, the leader of the four hundred soldiers, in the battle, I have added, no longer using my own words, but giving those of Cato himself, who says: 19 "The immortal gods gave the tribune good fortune equal to his valour; for this is what happened. Although he had been wounded in many places during the battle, yet his head was uninjured, and they recognized him among the dead, unconscious from wounds and loss of blood. They bore him off the field, he recovered, and often after that rendered brave and vigorous service to his country; and by that act of leading that forlorn hope he saved the rest of the army. But what a difference it makes where you do the same service!31 The Laconian Leonidas, who performed a like exploit at Thermopylae, because of his valour won unexampled glory and gratitude from all Greece, and was honoured with memorials of the highest distinction; they showed their appreciation of that deed of his by pictures, statues and honorary inscriptions, in their histories, and in other ways; but the tribune of the soldiers, who had done the same thing and saved an army, gained small glory for his deeds."
20 With such high personal testimony did Marcus Cato honour this valorous deed of Quintus Caedicius the tribune. 21 But Claudius Quadrigarius, in the third book of his Annals,32 says that the man's name was not Caedicius, but Laberius.
8 A fine letter of the consuls Gaius Fabricius and Quintus Aemilius to king Pyrrhus, recorded by the historian Quintus Claudius.
1 At the time when king Pyrrhus was on Italian soil and had won one or two battles, when the Romans were getting anxious, and the greater part of Italy had gone over to the king, a certain Timochares, an Ambracian and a friend of king Pyrrhus, came stealthily to the consul Gaius Fabricius and asked a reward, promising that if they could come to terms, he would poison the king. This, he said, could easily be done, since his son was the monarch's cup-bearer. 2 Fabricius transmitted this offer to the senate. 3 The senate sent envoys to the king, instructing them not to reveal anything about Timochares, but to warn the king to act with more caution, and be on his guard against the treachery of those nearest to his own person. 4 This, as I have told it, is the version found in the History of Valerius Antias.33 5 But Quadrigarius, in his third book,34 says that it was not Timochares, but Nicias, that approached the consul; that the embassy was not sent by the senate, but by the consuls; and that Pyrrhus thanked and complimented the Roman people in a p263letter, besides clothing and returning all the prisoners that were then in his hands.
6 The consuls at that time were Gaius Fabricius and Quintus Aemilius.35 7 The letter which they sent to king Pyrrhus about that matter, according to Claudius Quadrigarius, ran as follows:
8 "The Roman consuls greet king Pyrrhus.
We, being greatly disturbed in spirit because of your continued acts of injustice, desire to war with you as an enemy. But as a matter of general precedent and honour, it has seemed to us that we should desire your personal safety, in order that we may have the opportunity of vanquishing you in the field. Your friend Nicias came to us, to ask for a reward if he should secretly slay you. We replied that we had no such wish, and that he could look for no advantage from such an action; at the same time it seemed proper to inform you, for fear that if anything of the kind should happen, the nations might think that it was done with our connivance, and also because we have no desire to make war by means of bribes or rewards or trickery. As for you, if you do not take heed, you will have a fall."
9 The characteristics of the horse of Seius, which is mentioned in the proverb; and as to the colour of the horses which are called spadices; and the explanation of that term.
1 Gavius Bassus in his Commentaries,36 and Julius Modestus in the second book of his Miscellaneous Questions,37 tell the history of the horse of Seius, a p265tale wonderful and worthy of record. 2 They say that there was a clerk called Gnaeus Seius, and that he had a horse foaled at Argos, in the land of Greece, about which there was a persistent tradition that it was sprung from the breed of horses that had belonged to the Thracian Diomedes, those which Hercules, after slaying Diomedes, had taken from Thrace to Argos. 3 They say that this horse was of extraordinary size, with a lofty neck, bay in colour, with a thick, glossy mane, and that it was far superior to all horses in other points of excellence; but that same horse, they go on to say, was of such a fate or fortune, that whoever owned and possessed it came to utter ruin, as well as his whole house, his family and all his possessions. 4 Thus, to begin with, that Gnaeus Seius who owned him was condemned and suffered a cruel death at the hands of Marcus Antonius, afterwards one of the triumvirs for setting the State in order.38 At that same time Cornelius Dolabella, the consul, on his way to Syria, attracted by the renown of this horse, turned aside to Argos, was fired with a desire to own the animal, and bought it for a hundred thousand sesterces; but Dolabella in his turn was besieged in Syria during the civil war, and slain. And soon afterwards Gaius Cassius, who had besieged Dolabella, carried off this same horse, which had been Dolabella's. 5 It is notorious too that this Cassius, after his party had been vanquished and his army routed, met a wretched end. Then later, after the death of Cassius, Antonius, who had defeated him, sought for this famous horse of Cassius, and after getting possession of it was himself afterwards defeated and deserted in his turn, and died an ignominious death. 6 Hence the proverb, p267applied to unfortunate men, arose and is current: "That man has the horse of Seius."
7 The meaning is the same of that other old proverb, which I have heard quoted thus: "the gold of Tolosa." For when the town of Tolosa in the land of Gaul was pillaged by the consul Quintus Caepio, and a quantity of gold was found in the temples of that town, whoever touched a piece of gold from that sack died a wretched and agonizing death.
8 Gavius Bassus reports that he saw this horse at Argos; that it was of incredible beauty and strength and of the richest possible colouring.
9 This colour, as I have said, we call poeniceus; the Greeks sometimes name it φοῖνιξ, at others σπάδιξ, since the branch of the palm (φοῖνιξ), torn from the tree with its fruit, is called spadix.39
10 That in many natural phenomena a certain power and efficiency of the number seven has been observed, concerning which Marcus Varro discourses at length in his Hebdomades.40
1 Marcus Varro, in the first book of his work entitled Hebdomades or On Portraits, speaks of many varied excellencies and powers of the number seven, which the Greeks call ἑβδομάς. 2 "For that number," he says, "forms the Greater and the Lesser Bear in the heavens; also the vergiliae,41 which p269the Greeks call πλειάδες; and it is likewise the number of those stars which some call 'wandering,' but Publius Nigidius 'wanderers.' "42 3 Varro also says that there are seven circles in the heavens, perpendicular to its axis. The two smallest of these, which touch the ends of the axis, he says are called πόλοι, or "poles"; but that because of their small diameter they cannot be represented on what is termed an armillary sphere.43 4 And the zodiac itself it is not uninfluenced by the number seven; for the summer solstice occurs in the seventh sign from the winter solstice, and the winter solstice in the seventh after the summer, and one equinox in the seventh sign after the other. 5 Then too those winter days during which the kingfishers nest on the water he says are seven in number.44 6 Besides this, he writes that the course of the moon is completed in four time seven complete days; "for on the twenty-eighth day," he says, "the moon returns to the same point from which it started," and he quotes Aristides45 of Samos as his authority for this opinion. In this case he says that one should not only take note of the fact that the moon finishes its journey in four times seven, that is eight and twenty, days, but also that this number seven, if, beginning with one and going on until it reaches itself, it includes the sum of all the numbers through which it has passed and then adds itself, makes the number of eight and twenty, which is the number of days of the revolution of the moon.46 7 He says that the influence of that number p271extends to and affects also the birth of human beings. "For," says he, "when the life-giving seed has been introduced into the female womb, in the first seven days it is compacted and coagulated and rendered fit to take shape. Then afterwards in the fourth hebdomad the rudimentary male organ, the head, and the spine which is in the back, are formed. But in the seventh hebdomad, as a rule, that is, by the forty-ninth day," says he, "the entire embryo is formed in the womb." 8 He says that this power also has been observed in that number, that before the seventh month neither male nor female child can be born in health and naturally, and that those which are in the womb the most regular time are born two hundred and seventy-three days after conception, that is, not until the beginning of the fortieth hebdomad. 9 Of the periods dangerous to the lives and fortunes of all men, which the Chaldaeans call "climacterics," all the gravest are combinations of the number seven. 10 Besides this, he says that extreme limit of growth of the human body is seven feet. 11 That, in my opinion, is truer than the statement of Herodotus, the story-teller, in the first book of his History,47 that the body of Orestes was found under ground, and that it was seven cubits in height, that is, twelve and a quarter feet; unless, as Homer thought,48 the men of old were larger and taller of stature, but now, because the world is ageing, as it were, men and things are diminishing in size. 12 The teeth too, he says, appear p273in the first seven months seven at a time in each jaw, and fall out within seven years, and the back teeth are added, as a rule, within twice seven years. 13 He says that the physicians who use music as a remedy declare that the veins of men, or rather their arteries, are set in motion according to the number seven,49 and this treatment they call τὴν διὰ τεσσάρων συμφωνίαν,50 because it results from the harmony of four tones. 14 He also believes that the periods of danger in diseases have greater violence on the days which are made up of the number seven, and that those days in particular seem to be, as the physicians call them, κρισίμοι or "critical"; namely, the first, second and third hebdomad. 15 And Varro does not fail to mention a fact which adds to the power and influence of the number seven, namely, that those who resolve to die of starvation do not meet their end until the seventh day.
16 These remarks of Varro about the number seven show painstaking investigation. But he has also brought together in the same place others which are rather trifling: for example, that there are seven wonderful works in the world, that the sages of old were seven, that the usual number of rounds in the races in the circus is seven, and that seven champions were chosen to attack Thebes. 17 Then he adds in that book the further information that he had entered upon the twelfth hebdomad of his age, and that up to that day he has completed seventy hebdomads of books,51 of which a considerable number were destroyed when his library was plundered, at the time of his proscription.52
*****************************************
AD---11: The weak arguments by which Accius in his Didascalica attempts to prove that Hesiod was earlier than Homer.
1 As to the age of Homer and Hesiod opinions differ. 2 Some, among whom are Philochorus53 and Xenophanes,54 have written that Homer was older than Hesiod; others that he was younger, among them Lucius Accius the poet and Euphorus the historian.55 3 But Marcus Varro, in the first book of his Portraits,56 says57 that it is not at all certain which of the two was born first, but that there is no doubt that they lived partly in the same period of time, and that this is proved by the inscription58 engraved upon a tripod which Hesiod is said to have set up on Mount Helicon. 4 Accius, on the contrary, in the first book of his Didascalica,59 makes use of very weak arguments in his attempt to show that Hesiod was the elder: 5 "Because Homer," he writes, "when he says at the beginning of his poem60 that Achilles was the son of Peleus, does not inform us who Peleus was; and this he unquestionably would have done, if he did not know that the information had already been given by Hesiod.61 Again, in the case of Cyclops," says Accius, "he would not have failed to note such a striking characteristic and to make particular mention of the fact that he was one-eyed, were it not that this was equally well known from the poems of his predecessor Hesiod."62
6 Also as to Homer's native city there is the very greatest divergence of opinion. Some say that he was from Colophon, some from Smyrna; others p277assert that he was an Athenian, still others, an Egyptian; and Aristotle declares63 that he was from the island of Ios. 7 Marcus Varro, in the first book of his Portraits, placed this couplet under the portrait of Homer:64
This snow-white kid the tomb of Homer marks;
For such the Ietae offer to the dead.
********
AD--12: that Publius Nigidius, a man of great learning, applied bibosus to one who was given to drinking heavily and greedily, using a new, but hardly rational, word-formation.
1 Publius Nigidius, in his Grammatical Notes,66 calls one who is found of drinking bibax and bibosus. 2 Bibax, like edax, I find used by many others; but as yet I have nowhere found an example of bibosus, except in Laberius, and there is no other word similarly derived. 3 For vinosus, or vitiosus, and other formations of the kind, are not parallel, since they are derived from nouns, not from verbs. 4 Laberius, in the mime entitled Salinator, uses this word thus:67
Not big of breast, not old, not bibulous, not pert.
13 How Demosthenes, while still young and a pupil of the philosopher Plato, happening to hear the orator Callistratus addressing the people, deserted Plato and became a follower of Callistratus.
1 Hermippus has written68 that Demosthenes, when quite young, used to frequent the Academy and p279listen to Plato. 2 "And this Demosthenes," says he, "when he had left home and, as usual, was on his way to Plato, saw great throngs of people running to the same place; he inquired the reason of this, and learned that they were hurrying to hear Callistratus. 3 This Callistratus was one of those orators in the Athenian republic that they call δημαγωγοί, or 'demagogues.'69 4 Demosthenes thought it best to turn aside for a moment and find out whether the discourse justified such eager haste. 5 He came," says Hermippus, "and heard Callistratus delivering that famous speech of his, ἡ περὶ Ὠρωποῦ δίκη.70 He was so moved, so charmed, so captivated, that he became a follower of Callistratus from that moment, deserting Plato and the Academy."
14 That whoever says dimidium librum legi, or dimidiam fabulam audivi, and uses other expressions of that kind, speaks incorrectly; and that Marcus Varro gives the explanation of that error; and that no early writer has used such phraseology.
1 Varro believes the dimidium librum legi ("I have read half the book"), or dimidiam fabulam audivi ("I have read half the play"), or any other expression of that kind, is incorrect and faulty usage. 2 "For," says he,71 "one ought to say dimidiatum librum ('the halved book'), not dimidium, and dimidiatam fabulam, not dimidiam. But, on the contrary, if from a pint a half-pint has been poured, one should not say that 'a halved pint' has been poured, but a 'half-pint,' and when one has received five hundred sesterces out of a thousand that were owing him, we must say that he has received a half sestertium,72 not a halved one. 3 But if a silver bowl," he says, "which I own in common with another person, has been divided into two parts, I ought to speak of it as 'halved,' not as 'a half'; but my share of the silver of which the bowl is made is a 'half,' not 'halved.' " 4 Thus Varro discusses and analyzes very acutely the difference between dimidium and dimidiatum, 5 and he declares that Quintus Ennius spoke, in his Annals, with understanding in the line:73
As if one brought a halvéd cup of wine,
and similarly the part that is missing from the cup should be spoken of as "half," not "halved."
6 Now the point of all this argument, which Varro sets forth acutely, it is true, but somewhat obscurely, is this: dimidiatum is equivalent to dismediatum, and means "divided into two parts," 7 and therefore dimidiatum cannot properly be used except of the thing itself that is divided; 8 dimidium, however, is not that which is itself divided, but is one of the parts of what has been divided. 9 Accordingly, when we wish to say that we have read the half part of a book or heard the half part of a play, if we say dimidiam fabulam or dimidium librum, we make a mistake; for in that case you are using dimidium of the whole thing which has been halved and divided. 10 Therefore Lucilius, following this same rule, says:74
With one enemy and two feet, like halvéd pig,
and in another place:
Why not? To sell his trash the huckster lauds
(The rascal!) half a shoe, a strigil split.
11 Again in his twentieth book it is clearer still that Lucilius carefully avoids saying dimidiam horam, but puts dimidium in the place of dimidiam in the following lines:76
At its own season and the self-same time,
The half an hour and three at least elapsed,
At the fourth hour again.
12 For while it was natural and easy to say "three and a half elapsed," he watchfully and carefully shunned an improper term. 13 From this it is quite clear that not even "half an hour" can properly be said, but we must say either "a halved hour" or "the half part of an hour." 14 And so Plautus as well, in the Bacchides,78 writes "half of the gold," not "the halved gold," 15 and in the Aulularia,79 "half of the provisions," not "the halved provisions," in this verse:
He bade them give him half of all the meats;
16 But in the Menaechmi he has "the halved day," not "half," as follows:80
Down to the navel now the halvéd day is dead.
17 Marcus Cato, too, in his work On Farming, writes:81 "Sow cypress seed thick, just as flax is commonly sown. Over it sift earth from a sieve to the depth of a halved finger. Then smooth it well with a board, with the feet, or with the hands." 18 He says "a halved finger," not "a half." For we ought to say "half of a finger," but the finger itself should be said to be "halved." 19 Marcus Cato also wrote of the Carthaginians:82 "They buried the men half-way down (dimidiatos) in the ground and built a fire around them; thus they destroyed them." 20 In fact, no one of all those who have spoken correctly has used these words otherwise than in the way I have described.
*****
AD-15: That it is recorded in literature and handed down by tradition, that great and unexpected joy has brought sudden death to many, since the breath of life was stifled and could not endure the effects of an unusual and strong emotion.
1 Aristotle the philosopher relates83 that Polycrita, a woman of high rank in the island of Naxos, on suddenly and unexpectedly hearing joyful news, breathed her last. 2 Philippides too, a comic poet of no little repute, when he had unexpectedly won the prize in a contest of poets at an advanced age, and was rejoicing exceedingly, died suddenly in the midst of his joy. 3 The story also of Diogoras of Rhodes is widely known. This Diogoras had three young sons, a boxer, the second a pancratist,84 and the third a wrestler. He saw them all victors p287and crowned at Olympia on the same day, and when the three young men were embracing him there, and having placed their crowns on their father's head were kissing him, and the people were congratulating him and pelting him from all sides with flowers, there in the very stadium, before the eyes of the people, amid the kisses and embraces of his sons, he passed away.
4 Moreover, I have read in our annals that at the time when the army of the Roman people was cut to pieces at Cannae,85 an aged mother was overwhelmed with grief and sorrow by a message announcing the death of her son; but that report was false, and when not long afterwards the young man returned from that battle to the city, the aged mother, upon suddenly seeing her son, was overpowered by the flood, the shock, and the crash, so to speak, of unlooked-for joy descending upon her, and gave up the ghost.
AD--12: that Publius Nigidius, a man of great learning, applied bibosus to one who was given to drinking heavily and greedily, using a new, but hardly rational, word-formation.
1 Publius Nigidius, in his Grammatical Notes,66 calls one who is found of drinking bibax and bibosus. 2 Bibax, like edax, I find used by many others; but as yet I have nowhere found an example of bibosus, except in Laberius, and there is no other word similarly derived. 3 For vinosus, or vitiosus, and other formations of the kind, are not parallel, since they are derived from nouns, not from verbs. 4 Laberius, in the mime entitled Salinator, uses this word thus:67
Not big of breast, not old, not bibulous, not pert.
13 How Demosthenes, while still young and a pupil of the philosopher Plato, happening to hear the orator Callistratus addressing the people, deserted Plato and became a follower of Callistratus.
1 Hermippus has written68 that Demosthenes, when quite young, used to frequent the Academy and p279listen to Plato. 2 "And this Demosthenes," says he, "when he had left home and, as usual, was on his way to Plato, saw great throngs of people running to the same place; he inquired the reason of this, and learned that they were hurrying to hear Callistratus. 3 This Callistratus was one of those orators in the Athenian republic that they call δημαγωγοί, or 'demagogues.'69 4 Demosthenes thought it best to turn aside for a moment and find out whether the discourse justified such eager haste. 5 He came," says Hermippus, "and heard Callistratus delivering that famous speech of his, ἡ περὶ Ὠρωποῦ δίκη.70 He was so moved, so charmed, so captivated, that he became a follower of Callistratus from that moment, deserting Plato and the Academy."
14 That whoever says dimidium librum legi, or dimidiam fabulam audivi, and uses other expressions of that kind, speaks incorrectly; and that Marcus Varro gives the explanation of that error; and that no early writer has used such phraseology.
1 Varro believes the dimidium librum legi ("I have read half the book"), or dimidiam fabulam audivi ("I have read half the play"), or any other expression of that kind, is incorrect and faulty usage. 2 "For," says he,71 "one ought to say dimidiatum librum ('the halved book'), not dimidium, and dimidiatam fabulam, not dimidiam. But, on the contrary, if from a pint a half-pint has been poured, one should not say that 'a halved pint' has been poured, but a 'half-pint,' and when one has received five hundred sesterces out of a thousand that were owing him, we must say that he has received a half sestertium,72 not a halved one. 3 But if a silver bowl," he says, "which I own in common with another person, has been divided into two parts, I ought to speak of it as 'halved,' not as 'a half'; but my share of the silver of which the bowl is made is a 'half,' not 'halved.' " 4 Thus Varro discusses and analyzes very acutely the difference between dimidium and dimidiatum, 5 and he declares that Quintus Ennius spoke, in his Annals, with understanding in the line:73
As if one brought a halvéd cup of wine,
and similarly the part that is missing from the cup should be spoken of as "half," not "halved."
6 Now the point of all this argument, which Varro sets forth acutely, it is true, but somewhat obscurely, is this: dimidiatum is equivalent to dismediatum, and means "divided into two parts," 7 and therefore dimidiatum cannot properly be used except of the thing itself that is divided; 8 dimidium, however, is not that which is itself divided, but is one of the parts of what has been divided. 9 Accordingly, when we wish to say that we have read the half part of a book or heard the half part of a play, if we say dimidiam fabulam or dimidium librum, we make a mistake; for in that case you are using dimidium of the whole thing which has been halved and divided. 10 Therefore Lucilius, following this same rule, says:74
With one enemy and two feet, like halvéd pig,
and in another place:
Why not? To sell his trash the huckster lauds
(The rascal!) half a shoe, a strigil split.
11 Again in his twentieth book it is clearer still that Lucilius carefully avoids saying dimidiam horam, but puts dimidium in the place of dimidiam in the following lines:76
At its own season and the self-same time,
The half an hour and three at least elapsed,
At the fourth hour again.
12 For while it was natural and easy to say "three and a half elapsed," he watchfully and carefully shunned an improper term. 13 From this it is quite clear that not even "half an hour" can properly be said, but we must say either "a halved hour" or "the half part of an hour." 14 And so Plautus as well, in the Bacchides,78 writes "half of the gold," not "the halved gold," 15 and in the Aulularia,79 "half of the provisions," not "the halved provisions," in this verse:
He bade them give him half of all the meats;
16 But in the Menaechmi he has "the halved day," not "half," as follows:80
Down to the navel now the halvéd day is dead.
17 Marcus Cato, too, in his work On Farming, writes:81 "Sow cypress seed thick, just as flax is commonly sown. Over it sift earth from a sieve to the depth of a halved finger. Then smooth it well with a board, with the feet, or with the hands." 18 He says "a halved finger," not "a half." For we ought to say "half of a finger," but the finger itself should be said to be "halved." 19 Marcus Cato also wrote of the Carthaginians:82 "They buried the men half-way down (dimidiatos) in the ground and built a fire around them; thus they destroyed them." 20 In fact, no one of all those who have spoken correctly has used these words otherwise than in the way I have described.
*****
AD-15: That it is recorded in literature and handed down by tradition, that great and unexpected joy has brought sudden death to many, since the breath of life was stifled and could not endure the effects of an unusual and strong emotion.
1 Aristotle the philosopher relates83 that Polycrita, a woman of high rank in the island of Naxos, on suddenly and unexpectedly hearing joyful news, breathed her last. 2 Philippides too, a comic poet of no little repute, when he had unexpectedly won the prize in a contest of poets at an advanced age, and was rejoicing exceedingly, died suddenly in the midst of his joy. 3 The story also of Diogoras of Rhodes is widely known. This Diogoras had three young sons, a boxer, the second a pancratist,84 and the third a wrestler. He saw them all victors p287and crowned at Olympia on the same day, and when the three young men were embracing him there, and having placed their crowns on their father's head were kissing him, and the people were congratulating him and pelting him from all sides with flowers, there in the very stadium, before the eyes of the people, amid the kisses and embraces of his sons, he passed away.
4 Moreover, I have read in our annals that at the time when the army of the Roman people was cut to pieces at Cannae,85 an aged mother was overwhelmed with grief and sorrow by a message announcing the death of her son; but that report was false, and when not long afterwards the young man returned from that battle to the city, the aged mother, upon suddenly seeing her son, was overpowered by the flood, the shock, and the crash, so to speak, of unlooked-for joy descending upon her, and gave up the ghost.
*****
AD--16: the variations in the period of gestation reported by physicians and
philosophers; and incidentally the views also of the ancient poets on that
subject and many other noteworthy and interesting particulars; and the words of
the physician Hippocrates, quoted verbatim from his book entitled Περὶ
Τροφῆς.86
1 Both physicians and philosophers of distinction have investigated the duration of the period of gestation in man. The general opinion, now accepted as correct, is that after the womb of a woman has conceived the seed, the child is born rarely in the seventh month, never in the eighth, often in ninth, more often in the tenth in number; and that the end of the tenth month, not its beginning, is the extreme limit of human gestation. 2 And this we find the ancient poet Plautus saying in his comedy the Cistellaria, in these words:87
And then the girl whom he did violate
Brought forth a daughter when ten months had sped.
3 That same thing is stated by Menander also, a still older poet and exceedingly well informed as to current opinion; I quote his words on that subject from the play called Plocium or The Necklace:88
The woman is ten months with child . . .
4 But although our countryman Caecilius wrote a play with the same name and of the same plot, and borrowed extensively from Meander, yet in naming the months of delivery he did not omit the eighth, which Menander had passed by. These are the lines from Caecilius:89
And may a child in the tenth month be born? —
By Pollux! in the ninth, and seventh, and eighth.
5 Marcus Varro leads us to believe that Caecilius did not make this statement thoughtlessly or differ without reason from Menander and from the opinions of many men. 6 For in the fourteenth book of his Divine Antiquities he has left the statement on record that parturition sometimes takes place in the eighth month.90 In this book he also says that sometimes a child may be born even in the eleventh month, and he cites Aristotle91 as authority for his statement in regard both to the eighth and the eleventh month. 7 Now, the reason for this disagreement as p291to the eighth month may be found in Hippocrates' work entitled Περὶ Τροφῆς, or On Nurture, from which these words are taken:92 "Eighth-month's children exist and do not exist." 8 This statement, so obscure, abrupt, and apparently contradictory, is thus explained by the physician Sabinus, who wrote a very helpful commentary on Hippocrates: "They exist, since they appear to live after the miscarriage; but they do not exist, since they die afterwards; they exist and do not exist therefore, since they live for the moment in appearance, but not in reality."
9 But Varro says93 that the early Romans did not regard such births as unnatural rarities, but they did believe that a woman was delivered according to nature in the ninth or tenth month, and in no others, and that for this reason they gave to the three Fates names derived from bringing forth, and from the ninth and tenth months. 10 "For Parca," says he, "is derived from partus with the change of one letter, and likewise Nona and Decima from the period of timely delivery."94 11 But Caesellius Vindex in his Ancient Readings says: "The names of the Fates are three: Nona, Decuma, Morta; and he quotes this verse from the Odyssey of Livius, the earliest of our poets,95
When will the day be present that Morta has predicted?
But Caesellius, though a man not without learning, took Morta as a name, when he ought to have taken it as equivalent to Moera.96
12 Furthermore, besides what I have read in books about human gestation, I also heard of the following case, which occurred in Rome: A woman of good and honourable character, of undoubted chastity, gave birth to a child in the eleventh month after her husband's death, and because of the reckoning of the time the accusation was made that she had conceived after the death of her husband, since the decemvirs had written97 that a child is born in ten months and not in the eleventh month. The deified Hadrian, however, having heard the case, decided that birth might also occur in the eleventh month, and I myself have read the actual decree with regard to the matter. In that decree Hadrian declares that he makes his decision after looking up the views of the ancient philosophers and physicians.
13 This very day I chanced to read these words in a satire of Marcus Varro's entitled The Will:98 'If one or more sons shall be born to me in ten months, let them be disinherited, if they are asses in music;99 but if one be born to me in the eleventh month, according to Aristotle,100 let Attius have the same rights under my will as Tettius." Just as it used commonly to be said of things that did not differ from each other, "let Attius be as Tettius," 14 so Varro means by this old proverb that children born in ten months and in eleven are to have the same and equal rights.101
15 But if it is a fact that gestation cannot be prolonged beyond the tenth month, it is pertinent to ask why Homer wrote that Neptune said to a girl whom he had just violated:102
Rejoice, O woman, in this act of love;
A year gone by, fair offspring shall be thine,
For not unfruitful is a god's embrace.
16 When I had brought this matter to the attention of several scholars, some of them argued that in Homer's time, as in that of Romulus, the year consisted, not of twelve months, but of ten; others, that it was in accord with Neptune and his majesty that a child by him should develop through a longer period than usual; and others gave other nonsensical reasons. 17 But Favorinus tells me that περιπλομένου ἐνιαυτοῦ does not mean "when the year is ended" (confectus), but "when it is nearing its end" (adfectus).
18 In this instance Favorinus did not use the word adfectus in its popular signification (but yet correctly); 19 for as it was used by Marcus Cicero and the most polished of the early writers, it was properly applied to things which had advanced, or been carried, not to the very end, but nearly to the end. Cicero gives the word that meaning in the speech On the Consular Provinces.103
20 Moreover, Hippocrates, in that book of which I wrote above, when he mentioned the number of days within which the embryo conceived in the womb is given form, and had limited the time of gestation itself to the ninth or tenth month, but had said that this nevertheless was not always of the same duration, but that delivery occurred sometimes more quickly, sometimes later, finally used these words: "In these cases there are longer and shorter periods, both wholly and in part; but the longer are not much longer or the shorter much shorter."104 By this he means that whereas a birth sometimes takes place more quickly, yet it occurs not much more quickly, and when later, not much later.
21 I recall that this question was carefully and thoroughly investigated at Rome, an inquiry demanded by a suit at law of no small moment at the time, whether, namely, a child that had been born alive in the eighth month but had died immediately, satisfied the conditions of the ius trium liberorum,105 since it seemed to some that the untimely period of the eighth month made it an abortion and not a birth.
22 But since I have told what I have learned about a birth after a year in Homer and about the eleventh month, I think I ought not to omit what I read in the seventh book of the Natural History of Plinius Secundus. 23 But because that story might seem to be beyond belief, I have quoted Pliny's own words:106 "Masurius makes the statement107 that the praetor Lucius Papirius, when an heir in the second degree108 brought suit the possession of an inheritance, decided against him, although the mother109 said that she had been pregnant for thirteen months; and the reason for his decision was that it seemed to him that no definite period of gestation had been fixed by law." 24 In the same book of Plinius Secundus are these words:110 "Yawning during childbirth is fatal, just as to sneeze after coition produces abortion."
p299 17 The statement of men of the highest authority that Plato bought three books of Philolaus the Pythagorean, and that Aristotle purchased a few books of the philosopher Speusippus, at prices beyond belief.
1 The story goes that the philosopher Plato was a man of very slender means, but that nevertheless he bought three books of Philolaus the Pythagorean for ten thousand denarii.111a 2 That sum, according to some writers, was given him by his friend Dion of Syracuse.
3 Aristotle too, according to report, bought a very few books of the philosopher Speusippus, after the latter's death, for three Attic talents, a sum equivalent in our money to seventy-two thousand sesterces.111b
4 The bitter satirist Timon wrote a highly abusive work, which he entitled Σίλλος.112 5 In that book he addresses the philosopher Plato in opprobrious terms, alleging that he had bought a treatise on the Pythagorean philosophy at an extravagant figure, and that from it he had compiled that celebrated dialogue the Timaeus. 6 Here are Timon's lines on the subject:113
Thou, Plato, since for learning thou didst yearn,
A tiny book for a vast sum did'st buy,
Which taught thee a Timaeus to compose.
1 Both physicians and philosophers of distinction have investigated the duration of the period of gestation in man. The general opinion, now accepted as correct, is that after the womb of a woman has conceived the seed, the child is born rarely in the seventh month, never in the eighth, often in ninth, more often in the tenth in number; and that the end of the tenth month, not its beginning, is the extreme limit of human gestation. 2 And this we find the ancient poet Plautus saying in his comedy the Cistellaria, in these words:87
And then the girl whom he did violate
Brought forth a daughter when ten months had sped.
3 That same thing is stated by Menander also, a still older poet and exceedingly well informed as to current opinion; I quote his words on that subject from the play called Plocium or The Necklace:88
The woman is ten months with child . . .
4 But although our countryman Caecilius wrote a play with the same name and of the same plot, and borrowed extensively from Meander, yet in naming the months of delivery he did not omit the eighth, which Menander had passed by. These are the lines from Caecilius:89
And may a child in the tenth month be born? —
By Pollux! in the ninth, and seventh, and eighth.
5 Marcus Varro leads us to believe that Caecilius did not make this statement thoughtlessly or differ without reason from Menander and from the opinions of many men. 6 For in the fourteenth book of his Divine Antiquities he has left the statement on record that parturition sometimes takes place in the eighth month.90 In this book he also says that sometimes a child may be born even in the eleventh month, and he cites Aristotle91 as authority for his statement in regard both to the eighth and the eleventh month. 7 Now, the reason for this disagreement as p291to the eighth month may be found in Hippocrates' work entitled Περὶ Τροφῆς, or On Nurture, from which these words are taken:92 "Eighth-month's children exist and do not exist." 8 This statement, so obscure, abrupt, and apparently contradictory, is thus explained by the physician Sabinus, who wrote a very helpful commentary on Hippocrates: "They exist, since they appear to live after the miscarriage; but they do not exist, since they die afterwards; they exist and do not exist therefore, since they live for the moment in appearance, but not in reality."
9 But Varro says93 that the early Romans did not regard such births as unnatural rarities, but they did believe that a woman was delivered according to nature in the ninth or tenth month, and in no others, and that for this reason they gave to the three Fates names derived from bringing forth, and from the ninth and tenth months. 10 "For Parca," says he, "is derived from partus with the change of one letter, and likewise Nona and Decima from the period of timely delivery."94 11 But Caesellius Vindex in his Ancient Readings says: "The names of the Fates are three: Nona, Decuma, Morta; and he quotes this verse from the Odyssey of Livius, the earliest of our poets,95
When will the day be present that Morta has predicted?
But Caesellius, though a man not without learning, took Morta as a name, when he ought to have taken it as equivalent to Moera.96
12 Furthermore, besides what I have read in books about human gestation, I also heard of the following case, which occurred in Rome: A woman of good and honourable character, of undoubted chastity, gave birth to a child in the eleventh month after her husband's death, and because of the reckoning of the time the accusation was made that she had conceived after the death of her husband, since the decemvirs had written97 that a child is born in ten months and not in the eleventh month. The deified Hadrian, however, having heard the case, decided that birth might also occur in the eleventh month, and I myself have read the actual decree with regard to the matter. In that decree Hadrian declares that he makes his decision after looking up the views of the ancient philosophers and physicians.
13 This very day I chanced to read these words in a satire of Marcus Varro's entitled The Will:98 'If one or more sons shall be born to me in ten months, let them be disinherited, if they are asses in music;99 but if one be born to me in the eleventh month, according to Aristotle,100 let Attius have the same rights under my will as Tettius." Just as it used commonly to be said of things that did not differ from each other, "let Attius be as Tettius," 14 so Varro means by this old proverb that children born in ten months and in eleven are to have the same and equal rights.101
15 But if it is a fact that gestation cannot be prolonged beyond the tenth month, it is pertinent to ask why Homer wrote that Neptune said to a girl whom he had just violated:102
Rejoice, O woman, in this act of love;
A year gone by, fair offspring shall be thine,
For not unfruitful is a god's embrace.
16 When I had brought this matter to the attention of several scholars, some of them argued that in Homer's time, as in that of Romulus, the year consisted, not of twelve months, but of ten; others, that it was in accord with Neptune and his majesty that a child by him should develop through a longer period than usual; and others gave other nonsensical reasons. 17 But Favorinus tells me that περιπλομένου ἐνιαυτοῦ does not mean "when the year is ended" (confectus), but "when it is nearing its end" (adfectus).
18 In this instance Favorinus did not use the word adfectus in its popular signification (but yet correctly); 19 for as it was used by Marcus Cicero and the most polished of the early writers, it was properly applied to things which had advanced, or been carried, not to the very end, but nearly to the end. Cicero gives the word that meaning in the speech On the Consular Provinces.103
20 Moreover, Hippocrates, in that book of which I wrote above, when he mentioned the number of days within which the embryo conceived in the womb is given form, and had limited the time of gestation itself to the ninth or tenth month, but had said that this nevertheless was not always of the same duration, but that delivery occurred sometimes more quickly, sometimes later, finally used these words: "In these cases there are longer and shorter periods, both wholly and in part; but the longer are not much longer or the shorter much shorter."104 By this he means that whereas a birth sometimes takes place more quickly, yet it occurs not much more quickly, and when later, not much later.
21 I recall that this question was carefully and thoroughly investigated at Rome, an inquiry demanded by a suit at law of no small moment at the time, whether, namely, a child that had been born alive in the eighth month but had died immediately, satisfied the conditions of the ius trium liberorum,105 since it seemed to some that the untimely period of the eighth month made it an abortion and not a birth.
22 But since I have told what I have learned about a birth after a year in Homer and about the eleventh month, I think I ought not to omit what I read in the seventh book of the Natural History of Plinius Secundus. 23 But because that story might seem to be beyond belief, I have quoted Pliny's own words:106 "Masurius makes the statement107 that the praetor Lucius Papirius, when an heir in the second degree108 brought suit the possession of an inheritance, decided against him, although the mother109 said that she had been pregnant for thirteen months; and the reason for his decision was that it seemed to him that no definite period of gestation had been fixed by law." 24 In the same book of Plinius Secundus are these words:110 "Yawning during childbirth is fatal, just as to sneeze after coition produces abortion."
p299 17 The statement of men of the highest authority that Plato bought three books of Philolaus the Pythagorean, and that Aristotle purchased a few books of the philosopher Speusippus, at prices beyond belief.
1 The story goes that the philosopher Plato was a man of very slender means, but that nevertheless he bought three books of Philolaus the Pythagorean for ten thousand denarii.111a 2 That sum, according to some writers, was given him by his friend Dion of Syracuse.
3 Aristotle too, according to report, bought a very few books of the philosopher Speusippus, after the latter's death, for three Attic talents, a sum equivalent in our money to seventy-two thousand sesterces.111b
4 The bitter satirist Timon wrote a highly abusive work, which he entitled Σίλλος.112 5 In that book he addresses the philosopher Plato in opprobrious terms, alleging that he had bought a treatise on the Pythagorean philosophy at an extravagant figure, and that from it he had compiled that celebrated dialogue the Timaeus. 6 Here are Timon's lines on the subject:113
Thou, Plato, since for learning thou didst yearn,
A tiny book for a vast sum did'st buy,
Which taught thee a Timaeus to compose.
AD--18: what is meant by pedariº senatores, and why they are so called;
also the origin of these words in the customary edict of the consuls:
"senators and those who are allowed to speak in the senate."
1 There are many who think that those senators were called pedariiº who did not express their opinion in words, but agreed with the opinion of others by stepping to their side of the House. 2 How then? Whenever a decree of the senate was passed by division, did not all the senators vote in that manner? 3 Also the following explanation of that word is given, in which Gavius Bassus has left recorded in his Commentaries. 4 For he says114 that in the time of our forefathers senators who had held a curule magistracy used to ride to the House in a chariot, as a mark of honour; that in that chariot there was a seat on which they sat, which for that reason was called curulis;115 but that those senators who had not yet held a curule magistracy went on foot to the House: and that therefore the senators who had not yet held the higher magistracies were called pedarii. 5 Marcus Varro, however, in the Menippean Satire entitled Ἱπποκύων, says116 that some knights were called pedarii, and he seems to mean those who, since they had not yet been enrolled in the senate by the censors, were not indeed senators, but because they had held offices by vote of the people, used to come into the senate and had the right of voting. 6 In fact, even those who had filled curule magistracies, if they had not p303yet been added by the censors to the list of senators, were not senators, and as their names came among the last, they were not asked their opinions, but went to a division on the views given by the leading members. 7 That was the meaning of the traditional proclamation, which even to day the consuls, for the sake of following precedent, use in summoning the senators to the House. 8 The words of the edict are these: "Senators and those who have the right to express their opinion in the senate."
9 I have had a line of Laberius copied also, in which that word is used; I read it in a mime entitled Stricturae:117
The aye-man's vote is but a tongueless head.
10 I have observed that some use a barbarous form of this word; for instead of pedarii they say pedanii.
1 There are many who think that those senators were called pedariiº who did not express their opinion in words, but agreed with the opinion of others by stepping to their side of the House. 2 How then? Whenever a decree of the senate was passed by division, did not all the senators vote in that manner? 3 Also the following explanation of that word is given, in which Gavius Bassus has left recorded in his Commentaries. 4 For he says114 that in the time of our forefathers senators who had held a curule magistracy used to ride to the House in a chariot, as a mark of honour; that in that chariot there was a seat on which they sat, which for that reason was called curulis;115 but that those senators who had not yet held a curule magistracy went on foot to the House: and that therefore the senators who had not yet held the higher magistracies were called pedarii. 5 Marcus Varro, however, in the Menippean Satire entitled Ἱπποκύων, says116 that some knights were called pedarii, and he seems to mean those who, since they had not yet been enrolled in the senate by the censors, were not indeed senators, but because they had held offices by vote of the people, used to come into the senate and had the right of voting. 6 In fact, even those who had filled curule magistracies, if they had not p303yet been added by the censors to the list of senators, were not senators, and as their names came among the last, they were not asked their opinions, but went to a division on the views given by the leading members. 7 That was the meaning of the traditional proclamation, which even to day the consuls, for the sake of following precedent, use in summoning the senators to the House. 8 The words of the edict are these: "Senators and those who have the right to express their opinion in the senate."
9 I have had a line of Laberius copied also, in which that word is used; I read it in a mime entitled Stricturae:117
The aye-man's vote is but a tongueless head.
10 I have observed that some use a barbarous form of this word; for instead of pedarii they say pedanii.
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Ad--19: why, according to Gavius Bassus, a man is called parcus and what he thought to be the explanation of that word; and how, on the contrary, Favorinus made fun of that explanation of his.
1 At the dinners of the philosopher Favorinus, after the guests had taken their places and the serving of the viands began, a slave commonly stood by his table and began to read something, either from Grecian literature or from our own. For example, one day when I was present the reading was from the treatise of the learned Gavius Bassus On the Origin of Verbs and Substantives. 2 In it this passage occurred:118 "Parcus is a compound word, made up p305of par arcae, that is 'like a strong-box;' for just as all valuables are put away in a strong-box and preserved and kept under its protection, just so a man who is close and content to spend little keeps all his property guarded and hidden away, as in a strong-box. For that reason he is called parcus, as if it were par arcus."119
3 Then Favorinus, on hearing these words, said: "That fellow Gavius Bassus has made up and contrived an origin for that word in an unnatural, altogether laboured and repellent manner, rather than explained it. 4 For if it is permissible to draw on one's imagination, why would it not seem more reasonable to believe that a man is called parcus for the reason that he forbids and prevents the spending of money, as if he were pecuniarcus. 5 Why not rather," he continued, "adopt an explanation which is simpler and nearer the truth? For parcus is derived neither from arca nor from arceo, but from parum and parvum."120
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Book IV
AD--1: a discourse of the philosopher Favorinus carried on in the Socratic manner with an over-boastful grammarian; and in that discourse we are told how Quintus Scaevola defined "penus" and that this same definition has been criticized and rejected.
1 In the entrance hall of the palace on the Palatine a large number of men of almost all ranks had gathered together, waiting an opportunity to pay their respects to Caesar.2 And there in a group of scholars, in the presence of the philosopher Favorinus, a man who thought himself unusually rich in grammatical lore was airing trifles worthy of the schoolroom, discoursing on the genders and cases of nouns with raised eyebrows and an exaggerated gravity of voice and expression, as if he were the interpreter and sovereign lord of the Sibyl's oracle. 2 Then, looking at Favorinus, although as yet he was hardly acquainted with him, he said: "Penus too is used in different genders and is variously declined. For the early writers used to say hoc penus and haec penus, and in the genitive peni and penoris; 3 Lucilius in his sixteenth satire also used the word mundus, with describes women's ornaments, not in the masculine gender, as other writers do, but in the neuter, in these words:3
A man once willed his wife all ornaments (mundum omne) and stores.
But what are ornaments? Who will determine that?
4 And he kept bawling out illustrations and examples of all these usages; but while he was prating quite too tiresomely, Favorinus interrupted and quietly said: "Well and good, master, whatever your name is, you have taught us more than enough about many things of which we were indeed ignorant and certainly did not ask to know. 5 For what difference does it make to me and the one with whom I am speaking in what gender I use penus, or with what endings I inflect it, provided no one of us does this too barbarously? 6 But this is clearly what I need to know, what penus is, and how far that word may be employed, so that I may not call a thing in everyday use by the wrong name, as those do who begin to speak their Latin in the slave-market."
7 "Your question is not at all difficult," replied the man. "Who indeed does not know that penus is wine, wheat, oil, lentils, beans, and the other things of that kind?" 8 "Is not penus also," said Favorinus, "millet, panic-grass,4 acorns and barley? for these too are almost of the same sort;" and when the man hesitated and did not answer, he continued: 9 "I do not want you to trouble yourself further about the question whether those things which I have mentioned are called penus. But can you not, instead of telling me some essential part of penus, rather define the meaning of the word by stating its genus and adding its species?" "Good Heavens!" said he, "I don't understand p313what you mean by genus and species." 10 "You ask," replied Favorinus, "to have a matter which has been stated clearly stated still more clearly, which is very difficult; for it is surely a matter of common knowledge that every definition consists of genus and species. 11 But if you ask me to pre-digest it for you, as they say, I will certainly do that too, for the sake of showing you honour."
12 And then Favorinus began in this wise: "If," said he, "I should now ask you to tell me, and as it were to define in words, what a man is, you would not, I suppose, reply that you and I are men. For that is to show who is a man, not to tell what a man is. But if, I say, I should ask you to define exactly what a man is, you would undoubtedly tell me that a man is a mortal living being, endowed with reason and knowledge, or you would define him in some other manner which would differentiate him from all other animals. Similarly, then, I now ask you to tell what penus is, not to name some example of penus." 13 Then that boaster, now in humble and subdued tones, said: "I have never learned philosophy, nor desired to learn it, and if I do not know whether barley is included under penus, or in what words penus is defined, I am not on that account ignorant also of other branches of learning."
14 "To know what penus is," said Favorinus, who was now laughing, "is not more a part of my philosophy than of your grammar. 15 For you remember, I suppose, that it is often inquired whether Virgil said penum struere longam or longo ordine;5 for you surely know that both readings are current. 16 But to make you feel easier in mind, let me say that not even those old masters of the law who p315were called 'wise men' are thought to have defined penus with sufficient accuracy. 17 For I hear that Quintus Scaevola used the following words to explain penus:6 'Penus,' said he, 'is what is to be eaten or drunk, which is prepared for the use of the father of the family himself, or the mother of the family, or the children of the father, or the household which he has about him or his children and which is not engaged in work7 . . . as8 Mucius says ought to be regarded as penus. For articles which are prepared for eating and drinking day by day, for luncheon or dinner, are not penus; but rather the articles of that kind which are collected and stored up for use during a long period are called penus, because they are not ready at hand, but are kept in the innermost part of the house.'9 18 This information," said Favorinus, "although I had devoted myself to philosophy, I yet did not neglect to acquire; since for Roman citizens speaking Latin it is no less disgraceful not to designate a thing by its proper word than it is to call a man out of his own name."
19 Thus Favorinus used to lead ordinary conversations of this kind from insignificant and trivial topics to those which were better worth hearing and knowing, topics not lugged in irrelevantly, nor by way of display, but springing from and suggested by the conversations themselves.
20 Besides what Favorinus said, I think this too ought to be added to our consideration of penus, p317that Servius Sulpicius, in his Criticism of the Chapters of Scaevola, wrote10 that Aelius Catus believed11 that not only articles for eating and drinking, but also incense and wax tapers were included under the head of penus, since they were provided for practically the same purpose. 21 But Masurius Sabinus, in the second book of his Civil Law, declares12 that whatever was prepared for the beasts of burden which the owner of a house used was also penus. 22 He adds that some13 have thought that the term likewise included wood, faggots and charcoal, by means of which the penus was made ready for use. 23 But of articles kept in the same place, for use or for purposes of trade, he thinks that only the amount which was sufficient for a year's needs was to be regarded as penus.
2 On the difference between a disease and a defect, and the force of those terms in the aediles' edict; also whether eunuchs and barren women can be returned, and the various views as to that question.
1 The edict of the curule aediles,14 in the section containing stipulations about the purchase of slaves, reads as follows:15 "See to it that the sale ticket of each slave be so written that it can be known p319exactly what disease or defect each one has, which one is a runaway or a vagabond, or is still under condemnation for some offence."
2 Therefore the jurists of old raised the question16 of the proper meaning of a "diseased slave" and one that was "defective," and to what degree a disease differed from a defect. 3 Caelius Sabinus, in the book which he wrote17 On the Edict of the Curule Aediles, quotes Labeo,18 as defining a disease in these terms: "Disease is an unnatural condition of any body, which impairs its usefulness." 4 But he adds that disease affects sometimes the whole body and at other times a part of the body. That a disease of the whole body is, for example, consumption or fever, but of a part of the body anything like blindness or lameness. 5 "But," he continues, "one who stutters or stammers is defective rather than diseased, and a horse which bites or kicks has faults rather than a disease. But one who has a disease is also at the same time defective. However, the converse is not also true; for one may have defects and yet not be diseased. Therefore in the case of a man who is diseased," says he, "it will be just and fair to state to what extent 'the price will be less on account of that defect.' "
6 With regard to a eunuch in particular it has been inquired whether he would seem to have been sold contrary to the aediles' edict, if the purchaser did not know that he was a eunuch. 7 They say that Labeo ruled19 that he could be returned as diseased; 8 and that Labeo also wrote that if sows were sterile and had been sold, action could be brought on the basis of the edict of the aediles. 9 But in the case of a barren woman, if the barrenness were p321congenital they say that Trebatius gave a ruling opposed to that of Labeo. 10 For while Labeo thought20 that she could be returned as unsound, they quote Trebatius as declaring21 that no action could be taken on the basis of the edict, if the woman had been born barren. But if her health had failed, and in consequence such a defect had resulted that she could not conceive, in that case she appeared to be unsound and there was ground for returning her. 11 With regard to a short-sighted person too, one whom we call in Latin luscitiosus, there is disagreement; for some maintain that such a person should be returned in all cases, while others on the contrary hold that he can be returned only if that defect was the result of disease. 12 Servius indeed ruled22 that one who lacked a tooth could be returned, but Labeo said23 that such a defect was not sufficient ground for a return: "For," says he, "many men lack some one tooth, and most of them are no more diseased on that account, and it would be altogether absurd to say that men are not born sound, because infants come into the world unprovided with teeth."
13 I must not omit to say that this also is stated in the works of the early jurists,24 that the difference between a disease and a defect is that the latter is lasting, while the former comes and goes. 14 But if this be so, contrary to the opinion of Labeo, which I quoted above, neither a blind man nor a eunuch is diseased.
15 I have added a passage from the second book of Masurius Sabinus On Civil Law:25 "A madman or a mute, or one who has a broken or crippled limb, or any defect which impairs his usefulness, is diseased. But one who is by nature near-sighted is as sound as one who runs more slowly than others."
3 That before the divorce of Carvilius there were no lawsuits about a wife's dowry in the city of Rome; further, the proper meaning of the word paelex and its derivation.
1 It is on record that for nearly five hundred years after the founding of Rome there were no lawsuits and no warranties26 in connection with a wife's dowry in the city of Rome or in Latium, since of course nothing of that kind was called for, inasmuch as no marriages were annulled during that period. 2 Servius Sulpicius too, in the book which he compiled On Dowries, wrote27 that security for a wife's dower seemed to have become necessary for the first time when Spurius Carvilius, who was surnamed Ruga, a man of rank, put away his wife because, owing to the some physical defect, no children were born from her; and that this happened in the five hundred and twenty-third year after the founding of the city, in the consulship of Marcus Atilius and Publius Valerius.28 And it is reported that this Carvilius dearly loved the wife whom he divorced, and held her in strong affection because of her character, but that above his devotion and his love he set his regard for the oath which the censors had compelled him to take,29 that he would marry a wife for the purpose of begetting children.
3 Moreover, a woman was called paelex, or "concubine," and regarded as infamous, if she lived on terms of intimacy with a man who had another woman under his legal control in a state of matrimony, as is evident from this very ancient law, which we are told was one of king Numa's:30 "Let no concubine touch the temple of Juno; if she touch it, let her, with hair unbound, offer up a ewe lamb to Juno."
Now paelex is the equivalent of πάλλαξ, that is to say, of παλλακίς.31 Like many other words of ours, this one too is derived from the Greek.
4 What Servius Sulpicius wrote in his work On Dowries about the law and usage of betrothals in early times.
1 In the book to which he gave the title On Dowries Servius Sulpicius wrote32 that in the part of Italy known as Latium betrothals were regularly contracted according to the following customary and legal practice. 2 "One who wished to take a wife," says he, "demanded of him from whom she was to be received a formal promise that she would be given in marriage. The man who was to take the woman to wife made a corresponding promise. That contract, based upon pledges given and received, was called sponsalia, or 'betrothal.' Thereafter, she who had been promised was called sponsa, and he who had asked her in marriage, sponsus. But if, after such p327an interchange of pledges, the bride to be was not given in marriage, or was not received, then he who had asked for her hand, or he who had promised her, brought suit on the ground of breach of contract. The court took cognizance of the case. The judge inquired why the woman was not given in marriage, or why she was not accepted. If no good and sufficient reason appeared, the judge then assigned a money value to the advantage to be derived from receiving or giving the woman in marriage, and condemned the one who had made the promise, or the one who had asked for it, to pay a fine of that amount."
3 Servius Sulpicius says that this law of betrothal was observed up to the time when citizenship was given to all Latium by the Julian law.33 4 The same account as the above was given also by Neratius in the book which he wrote On Marriage.34
5 A story which is told of the treachery of Etruscan diviners; and how because of that circumstance the boys at Rome chanted this verse all over the city: "Bad counsel to the giver is most ruinous."
1 The statue of that bravest of men, Horatius Cocles, which stood in the Comitium35 at Rome, was struck by lightning. 2 To make expiatory offerings because of that thunderbolt, diviners were summoned from Etruria. These, through personal and national hatred of the Romans, had made up their minds to give false directions for the performance of that rite. p3293 They accordingly gave the misleading advice that the statue in question should be moved to a lower position, on which the sun never shone, being cut off by the high buildings which surrounded the place on every side. 4 When they had induced the Romans to take that course, they were betrayed and brought to trial before the people, and having confessed their duplicity, were put to death. And it became evident, in exact accord with what were later found to be the proper directions, that the statue ought to be taken to an elevated place and set up in a more commanding position in the area of Vulcan;36 and after that was done, the matter turned out happily and successfully for the Romans. 5 At that time, then, because the evil counsel of the Etruscan diviners had been detected and punished, this clever line is said to have been composed, and chanted by the boys all over the city:37
Bad counsel to the giver is most ruinous.
6 This story about the diviners and that senarius38 is found in the Annales Maximi, in the eleventh book,39 and in Verrius Flaccus' first book of Things Worth Remembering.40 7 But the verse appears to be a translation of the Greek poet Hesiod's familiar line:41
And evil counsel aye most evil is
To him who gives it.
AD--1: a discourse of the philosopher Favorinus carried on in the Socratic manner with an over-boastful grammarian; and in that discourse we are told how Quintus Scaevola defined "penus" and that this same definition has been criticized and rejected.
1 In the entrance hall of the palace on the Palatine a large number of men of almost all ranks had gathered together, waiting an opportunity to pay their respects to Caesar.2 And there in a group of scholars, in the presence of the philosopher Favorinus, a man who thought himself unusually rich in grammatical lore was airing trifles worthy of the schoolroom, discoursing on the genders and cases of nouns with raised eyebrows and an exaggerated gravity of voice and expression, as if he were the interpreter and sovereign lord of the Sibyl's oracle. 2 Then, looking at Favorinus, although as yet he was hardly acquainted with him, he said: "Penus too is used in different genders and is variously declined. For the early writers used to say hoc penus and haec penus, and in the genitive peni and penoris; 3 Lucilius in his sixteenth satire also used the word mundus, with describes women's ornaments, not in the masculine gender, as other writers do, but in the neuter, in these words:3
A man once willed his wife all ornaments (mundum omne) and stores.
But what are ornaments? Who will determine that?
4 And he kept bawling out illustrations and examples of all these usages; but while he was prating quite too tiresomely, Favorinus interrupted and quietly said: "Well and good, master, whatever your name is, you have taught us more than enough about many things of which we were indeed ignorant and certainly did not ask to know. 5 For what difference does it make to me and the one with whom I am speaking in what gender I use penus, or with what endings I inflect it, provided no one of us does this too barbarously? 6 But this is clearly what I need to know, what penus is, and how far that word may be employed, so that I may not call a thing in everyday use by the wrong name, as those do who begin to speak their Latin in the slave-market."
7 "Your question is not at all difficult," replied the man. "Who indeed does not know that penus is wine, wheat, oil, lentils, beans, and the other things of that kind?" 8 "Is not penus also," said Favorinus, "millet, panic-grass,4 acorns and barley? for these too are almost of the same sort;" and when the man hesitated and did not answer, he continued: 9 "I do not want you to trouble yourself further about the question whether those things which I have mentioned are called penus. But can you not, instead of telling me some essential part of penus, rather define the meaning of the word by stating its genus and adding its species?" "Good Heavens!" said he, "I don't understand p313what you mean by genus and species." 10 "You ask," replied Favorinus, "to have a matter which has been stated clearly stated still more clearly, which is very difficult; for it is surely a matter of common knowledge that every definition consists of genus and species. 11 But if you ask me to pre-digest it for you, as they say, I will certainly do that too, for the sake of showing you honour."
12 And then Favorinus began in this wise: "If," said he, "I should now ask you to tell me, and as it were to define in words, what a man is, you would not, I suppose, reply that you and I are men. For that is to show who is a man, not to tell what a man is. But if, I say, I should ask you to define exactly what a man is, you would undoubtedly tell me that a man is a mortal living being, endowed with reason and knowledge, or you would define him in some other manner which would differentiate him from all other animals. Similarly, then, I now ask you to tell what penus is, not to name some example of penus." 13 Then that boaster, now in humble and subdued tones, said: "I have never learned philosophy, nor desired to learn it, and if I do not know whether barley is included under penus, or in what words penus is defined, I am not on that account ignorant also of other branches of learning."
14 "To know what penus is," said Favorinus, who was now laughing, "is not more a part of my philosophy than of your grammar. 15 For you remember, I suppose, that it is often inquired whether Virgil said penum struere longam or longo ordine;5 for you surely know that both readings are current. 16 But to make you feel easier in mind, let me say that not even those old masters of the law who p315were called 'wise men' are thought to have defined penus with sufficient accuracy. 17 For I hear that Quintus Scaevola used the following words to explain penus:6 'Penus,' said he, 'is what is to be eaten or drunk, which is prepared for the use of the father of the family himself, or the mother of the family, or the children of the father, or the household which he has about him or his children and which is not engaged in work7 . . . as8 Mucius says ought to be regarded as penus. For articles which are prepared for eating and drinking day by day, for luncheon or dinner, are not penus; but rather the articles of that kind which are collected and stored up for use during a long period are called penus, because they are not ready at hand, but are kept in the innermost part of the house.'9 18 This information," said Favorinus, "although I had devoted myself to philosophy, I yet did not neglect to acquire; since for Roman citizens speaking Latin it is no less disgraceful not to designate a thing by its proper word than it is to call a man out of his own name."
19 Thus Favorinus used to lead ordinary conversations of this kind from insignificant and trivial topics to those which were better worth hearing and knowing, topics not lugged in irrelevantly, nor by way of display, but springing from and suggested by the conversations themselves.
20 Besides what Favorinus said, I think this too ought to be added to our consideration of penus, p317that Servius Sulpicius, in his Criticism of the Chapters of Scaevola, wrote10 that Aelius Catus believed11 that not only articles for eating and drinking, but also incense and wax tapers were included under the head of penus, since they were provided for practically the same purpose. 21 But Masurius Sabinus, in the second book of his Civil Law, declares12 that whatever was prepared for the beasts of burden which the owner of a house used was also penus. 22 He adds that some13 have thought that the term likewise included wood, faggots and charcoal, by means of which the penus was made ready for use. 23 But of articles kept in the same place, for use or for purposes of trade, he thinks that only the amount which was sufficient for a year's needs was to be regarded as penus.
2 On the difference between a disease and a defect, and the force of those terms in the aediles' edict; also whether eunuchs and barren women can be returned, and the various views as to that question.
1 The edict of the curule aediles,14 in the section containing stipulations about the purchase of slaves, reads as follows:15 "See to it that the sale ticket of each slave be so written that it can be known p319exactly what disease or defect each one has, which one is a runaway or a vagabond, or is still under condemnation for some offence."
2 Therefore the jurists of old raised the question16 of the proper meaning of a "diseased slave" and one that was "defective," and to what degree a disease differed from a defect. 3 Caelius Sabinus, in the book which he wrote17 On the Edict of the Curule Aediles, quotes Labeo,18 as defining a disease in these terms: "Disease is an unnatural condition of any body, which impairs its usefulness." 4 But he adds that disease affects sometimes the whole body and at other times a part of the body. That a disease of the whole body is, for example, consumption or fever, but of a part of the body anything like blindness or lameness. 5 "But," he continues, "one who stutters or stammers is defective rather than diseased, and a horse which bites or kicks has faults rather than a disease. But one who has a disease is also at the same time defective. However, the converse is not also true; for one may have defects and yet not be diseased. Therefore in the case of a man who is diseased," says he, "it will be just and fair to state to what extent 'the price will be less on account of that defect.' "
6 With regard to a eunuch in particular it has been inquired whether he would seem to have been sold contrary to the aediles' edict, if the purchaser did not know that he was a eunuch. 7 They say that Labeo ruled19 that he could be returned as diseased; 8 and that Labeo also wrote that if sows were sterile and had been sold, action could be brought on the basis of the edict of the aediles. 9 But in the case of a barren woman, if the barrenness were p321congenital they say that Trebatius gave a ruling opposed to that of Labeo. 10 For while Labeo thought20 that she could be returned as unsound, they quote Trebatius as declaring21 that no action could be taken on the basis of the edict, if the woman had been born barren. But if her health had failed, and in consequence such a defect had resulted that she could not conceive, in that case she appeared to be unsound and there was ground for returning her. 11 With regard to a short-sighted person too, one whom we call in Latin luscitiosus, there is disagreement; for some maintain that such a person should be returned in all cases, while others on the contrary hold that he can be returned only if that defect was the result of disease. 12 Servius indeed ruled22 that one who lacked a tooth could be returned, but Labeo said23 that such a defect was not sufficient ground for a return: "For," says he, "many men lack some one tooth, and most of them are no more diseased on that account, and it would be altogether absurd to say that men are not born sound, because infants come into the world unprovided with teeth."
13 I must not omit to say that this also is stated in the works of the early jurists,24 that the difference between a disease and a defect is that the latter is lasting, while the former comes and goes. 14 But if this be so, contrary to the opinion of Labeo, which I quoted above, neither a blind man nor a eunuch is diseased.
15 I have added a passage from the second book of Masurius Sabinus On Civil Law:25 "A madman or a mute, or one who has a broken or crippled limb, or any defect which impairs his usefulness, is diseased. But one who is by nature near-sighted is as sound as one who runs more slowly than others."
3 That before the divorce of Carvilius there were no lawsuits about a wife's dowry in the city of Rome; further, the proper meaning of the word paelex and its derivation.
1 It is on record that for nearly five hundred years after the founding of Rome there were no lawsuits and no warranties26 in connection with a wife's dowry in the city of Rome or in Latium, since of course nothing of that kind was called for, inasmuch as no marriages were annulled during that period. 2 Servius Sulpicius too, in the book which he compiled On Dowries, wrote27 that security for a wife's dower seemed to have become necessary for the first time when Spurius Carvilius, who was surnamed Ruga, a man of rank, put away his wife because, owing to the some physical defect, no children were born from her; and that this happened in the five hundred and twenty-third year after the founding of the city, in the consulship of Marcus Atilius and Publius Valerius.28 And it is reported that this Carvilius dearly loved the wife whom he divorced, and held her in strong affection because of her character, but that above his devotion and his love he set his regard for the oath which the censors had compelled him to take,29 that he would marry a wife for the purpose of begetting children.
3 Moreover, a woman was called paelex, or "concubine," and regarded as infamous, if she lived on terms of intimacy with a man who had another woman under his legal control in a state of matrimony, as is evident from this very ancient law, which we are told was one of king Numa's:30 "Let no concubine touch the temple of Juno; if she touch it, let her, with hair unbound, offer up a ewe lamb to Juno."
Now paelex is the equivalent of πάλλαξ, that is to say, of παλλακίς.31 Like many other words of ours, this one too is derived from the Greek.
4 What Servius Sulpicius wrote in his work On Dowries about the law and usage of betrothals in early times.
1 In the book to which he gave the title On Dowries Servius Sulpicius wrote32 that in the part of Italy known as Latium betrothals were regularly contracted according to the following customary and legal practice. 2 "One who wished to take a wife," says he, "demanded of him from whom she was to be received a formal promise that she would be given in marriage. The man who was to take the woman to wife made a corresponding promise. That contract, based upon pledges given and received, was called sponsalia, or 'betrothal.' Thereafter, she who had been promised was called sponsa, and he who had asked her in marriage, sponsus. But if, after such p327an interchange of pledges, the bride to be was not given in marriage, or was not received, then he who had asked for her hand, or he who had promised her, brought suit on the ground of breach of contract. The court took cognizance of the case. The judge inquired why the woman was not given in marriage, or why she was not accepted. If no good and sufficient reason appeared, the judge then assigned a money value to the advantage to be derived from receiving or giving the woman in marriage, and condemned the one who had made the promise, or the one who had asked for it, to pay a fine of that amount."
3 Servius Sulpicius says that this law of betrothal was observed up to the time when citizenship was given to all Latium by the Julian law.33 4 The same account as the above was given also by Neratius in the book which he wrote On Marriage.34
5 A story which is told of the treachery of Etruscan diviners; and how because of that circumstance the boys at Rome chanted this verse all over the city: "Bad counsel to the giver is most ruinous."
1 The statue of that bravest of men, Horatius Cocles, which stood in the Comitium35 at Rome, was struck by lightning. 2 To make expiatory offerings because of that thunderbolt, diviners were summoned from Etruria. These, through personal and national hatred of the Romans, had made up their minds to give false directions for the performance of that rite. p3293 They accordingly gave the misleading advice that the statue in question should be moved to a lower position, on which the sun never shone, being cut off by the high buildings which surrounded the place on every side. 4 When they had induced the Romans to take that course, they were betrayed and brought to trial before the people, and having confessed their duplicity, were put to death. And it became evident, in exact accord with what were later found to be the proper directions, that the statue ought to be taken to an elevated place and set up in a more commanding position in the area of Vulcan;36 and after that was done, the matter turned out happily and successfully for the Romans. 5 At that time, then, because the evil counsel of the Etruscan diviners had been detected and punished, this clever line is said to have been composed, and chanted by the boys all over the city:37
Bad counsel to the giver is most ruinous.
6 This story about the diviners and that senarius38 is found in the Annales Maximi, in the eleventh book,39 and in Verrius Flaccus' first book of Things Worth Remembering.40 7 But the verse appears to be a translation of the Greek poet Hesiod's familiar line:41
And evil counsel aye most evil is
To him who gives it.
6 A quotation from an early decree of the senate, which provided
that sacrifice should be made with full-grown victims because the spears of
Mars had moved in the sanctuary; also an explanation of the meaning of hostiae
succidaneae and likewise of porca praecidanea; and further, that Ateius Capito
called certain holidays praecidaneae.
1 Not only was an earthquake regularly reported, and expiatory offerings made on that account, but I also find it mentioned in early records, that report was made to the senate when the spears of Mars42 had moved in the sanctuary in the Regia.43 2 Because of such an occurrence, a decree of the senate was passed in the consulship of Marcus Antonius and Aulus Postumius,44 of which this is a copy: "Whereas Gaius Julius, son of Lucius, the pontifex, has reported that the spears of Mars have moved in the sanctuary in the Regia, the senate has therefore decreed with reference to that matter, that Marcus Antonius the consul should make expiation to Jupiter and Mars with full-grown victims, and with unweaned victims to such of the other gods as he thought proper. They decided that it should be regarded as sufficient for him to have sacrificed with these. If there should be any need of additional victims, the additional offerings should be made with red victims."
3 Inasmuch as the senate called some victims succidaneae, it is often inquired what the word means.
Also in the comedy of Plautus which is entitled Epidicus I hear that inquiry is made about that same word, which occurs in these verses:45
Should I the victim of your folly be
And let you sacrifice my back to it,
As substitute for yours?
5 Now it is said that the victims were called succidaneae — which is equivalent to succaedaneae, the diphthong ae, according to the custom in compound words, being changed to i — 6 because if the expiation was not effected by the first victims, other victims were brought and killed after them; and since these, after the first had already been offered, were substituted for the sake of making atonement and were "slain in succession to" the others, they were called succidaneae,46 the letter i, of course, being pronounced long; for I hear that some barbarously shorten that letter in this word.
7 Moreover, it is on the same linguistic principle that praecidanea is applied to those victims which are offered on the day before the regular sacrifices. 8 Also the sow is called praecidanea47 which it was usual to offer up to Ceres before the harvesting of the new crops, for the sake of expiation in case any had failed to purify a defiled household, or had performed that rite in an improper manner.
9 But that a sow and certain victims are called praecidanea, as I have said, is a matter of common knowledge; 10 that some festivals are called praecidanea is a fact I think that is not known to the general public. Therefore I have quoted a passage from the fifth book of the treatise which Ateius Capito compiled On Pontifical Law:48 'Tiberius p335Coruncanius, the pontifex maximus, appointed feriae praecidaneae, or "a preparatory festival," for a day of ill-omen. The college of pontiffs voted that there need be no religious scruple against celebrating the feriae praecidaneae on that day."49
******
AD--7: on a letter of the grammarian Valerius Probus, written to Marcellus, regarding the accent of certain Punic names.
1 Valerius Probus the grammarian was conspicuous among the men of his time for his learning. 2 He pronounced Hannibalem and Hasdrubalem and Hamilcarem with a circumflex accent on the penult, and there is a letter addressed To Marcellus, in which he asserts that Plautus,50 and Ennius and many other early writers pronounced in that way; 3 but he quotes a single line of Ennius alone, from the book entitled Scipio.
4 That verse, composed in octonarii,51 I have appended; in it, unless the third syllable of Hannibal's name is circumflexed,52 the metre will halt. 5 The verse of Ennius to which I referred reads thus:53
And where near Hannibal's forces he had camped.54
8 What Gaius Fabricius said of Cornelius Rufinus, an avaricious man, whose election to the consulship he supported, although he hated him and was his personal enemy.
1 Fabricius Luscinus was a man of great renown and great achievements. 2 Publius Cornelius Rufinus was, to be sure, a man energetic in action, a good warrior, and a master of military tactics, but thievish and keen for money. 3 This man Fabricius neither respected nor treated as a friend, but hated him because of his character. 4 Yet when consuls were to be chosen at a highly critical period for the State, and that Rufinus was a candidate while his competitors were without military experience and untrustworthy, Fabricius used every effort to have the office given to Rufinus.55 5 When many men expressed surprise at his attitude, in wishing an avaricious man, towards whom he felt bitter personal enmity, to be elected consul, he said: 6 "I would rather be robbed by a fellow-citizen than sold56 by the enemy."
7 This Rufinus afterwards, when he had been dictator and twice consul, Fabricius in his censorship expelled from the senate57 on the charge of extravagance, because he possessed ten pounds weight of silver plate. 8 That remark of Fabricius about Rufinus I gave above in the form in which it appears in most historians; but Marcus Cicero, in the second book of the De Oratore, says58 that it was not made by Fabricius to others, but to Rufinus himself, when he was thanking Fabricius because he had been elected consul through his help.
***********************************
AD---9: on the proper meaning of religiosus; and what changes the meaning of that word has undergone; and remarks of Nigidius Figulus on that subject, drawn from his Commentaries.
1 Nigidius Figulus, in my opinion the most learned of men next to Marcus Varro, in the eleventh book of his Grammatical Commentaries, quotes59 a truly remarkable line from an early poet:60
Best it is to be religious, lest one superstitious be;
2 but he does not name the author of the poem. And in the same connection Nigidius adds: "The suffix -osus in words of this kind, such as vinosus, mulierosus, religiosus, always indicates an excessive amount of the quality in question. Therefore religiosus is applied to one who has involved himself in an extreme and superstitious devotion, which was regarded as a fault."
3 But in addition to what Nigidius says, by another shift in meaning religiosus began to be used of an upright and conscientious man, who regulates his conduct by definite laws and limits. 4 Similarly too the following terms, which have the same origin, appear to have acquired different meanings; namely, religiosus dies and religiosa delubra. 5 For those days are called religiosi which are of ill-fame and are hampered by an evil omen, so that on them one must refrain from offering sacrifice or beginning any new business whatever; they are, namely, the days that the ignorant multitude falsely and improperly call nefasti.61 6 Thus Marcus Cicero, in the ninth p341book of his Letters to Atticus, writes:62 "Our forefathers maintained that the day of the battle at the Allia was more calamitous than that on which the city was taken; because the latter disaster was the result of the former. Therefore the one day is even now religiosus, while the other is unknown to the general public." 7 Yet the same Marcus Tullius, in his speech On Appointing a Prosecutor,63 uses the term religiosa delubra of shrines which are not ill-omened and gloomy, but full of majesty and sacredness. 8 Masurius Sabinus too, in his Notes on Native Words, says:64 "Religiosus is that which because of some sacred quality is removed and withdrawn from us; the word is derived from relinquo, as is caerimonia from careo."65 9 According to this explanation of Sabinus, temples indeed and shrines — since an accumulation of these does not give rise to censure, as in case of things which are praised for their moderate use — since they are to be approached, not unceremoniously and thoughtlessly, but after purification and in due form, must be both revered and feared, rather than profaned; 10 but those days are called religiosi which for the opposite reason, because they are of dire omen, we avoid.66 11 And Terence says:67
Then too I give her nothing, except to say "All right;"
For I avoid confessing my impecunious plight.
12 But if, as Nigidius says, all derivatives of that kind indicate an excessive and immoderate degree, and therefore have a bad sense, as do vinosus ("fond of wine"), mulierosus ("fond of women"), morosus ("whimsical"), verbosus ("wordy"), famosus ("notorious"),68 why are ingeniosus ("talented"), formosus ("beautiful"), officiosus ("dutiful"), and speciosus ("showy"),69 which are formed in the same way from ingenium, forma, officium, and species, why too are disciplinosus ("well-trained"), consiliosus ("full of wisdom"), victoriosus ("victorious"), words coined by Marcus Cato,70 why too facundiosus — for Sempronius Asellio in the thirteenth book of his History wrote,71 "one should regard his deeds, not his words if they are less eloquent (facundiosa)" — why, I say, are all these adjectives used, not in a bad, but in a good sense, although they too indicate an excessive amount of the quality which they signify? Is it because a certain necessary limit must be set for the qualities indicated by those words which I first cited? 13 For favour if it is excessive and without limit,72 and habits if they are too many and varied, and words if they are unceasing, endless and deafening, and fame if it should be great and restless and begetting envy; all these are neither praiseworthy nor useful; 14 but talent, duty, beauty, training, wisdom, victory and eloquence, being in themselves p345great virtues, are confined within no limits, but the greater and more extensive they are, the more are they deserving of praise.
1 Not only was an earthquake regularly reported, and expiatory offerings made on that account, but I also find it mentioned in early records, that report was made to the senate when the spears of Mars42 had moved in the sanctuary in the Regia.43 2 Because of such an occurrence, a decree of the senate was passed in the consulship of Marcus Antonius and Aulus Postumius,44 of which this is a copy: "Whereas Gaius Julius, son of Lucius, the pontifex, has reported that the spears of Mars have moved in the sanctuary in the Regia, the senate has therefore decreed with reference to that matter, that Marcus Antonius the consul should make expiation to Jupiter and Mars with full-grown victims, and with unweaned victims to such of the other gods as he thought proper. They decided that it should be regarded as sufficient for him to have sacrificed with these. If there should be any need of additional victims, the additional offerings should be made with red victims."
3 Inasmuch as the senate called some victims succidaneae, it is often inquired what the word means.
Also in the comedy of Plautus which is entitled Epidicus I hear that inquiry is made about that same word, which occurs in these verses:45
Should I the victim of your folly be
And let you sacrifice my back to it,
As substitute for yours?
5 Now it is said that the victims were called succidaneae — which is equivalent to succaedaneae, the diphthong ae, according to the custom in compound words, being changed to i — 6 because if the expiation was not effected by the first victims, other victims were brought and killed after them; and since these, after the first had already been offered, were substituted for the sake of making atonement and were "slain in succession to" the others, they were called succidaneae,46 the letter i, of course, being pronounced long; for I hear that some barbarously shorten that letter in this word.
7 Moreover, it is on the same linguistic principle that praecidanea is applied to those victims which are offered on the day before the regular sacrifices. 8 Also the sow is called praecidanea47 which it was usual to offer up to Ceres before the harvesting of the new crops, for the sake of expiation in case any had failed to purify a defiled household, or had performed that rite in an improper manner.
9 But that a sow and certain victims are called praecidanea, as I have said, is a matter of common knowledge; 10 that some festivals are called praecidanea is a fact I think that is not known to the general public. Therefore I have quoted a passage from the fifth book of the treatise which Ateius Capito compiled On Pontifical Law:48 'Tiberius p335Coruncanius, the pontifex maximus, appointed feriae praecidaneae, or "a preparatory festival," for a day of ill-omen. The college of pontiffs voted that there need be no religious scruple against celebrating the feriae praecidaneae on that day."49
******
AD--7: on a letter of the grammarian Valerius Probus, written to Marcellus, regarding the accent of certain Punic names.
1 Valerius Probus the grammarian was conspicuous among the men of his time for his learning. 2 He pronounced Hannibalem and Hasdrubalem and Hamilcarem with a circumflex accent on the penult, and there is a letter addressed To Marcellus, in which he asserts that Plautus,50 and Ennius and many other early writers pronounced in that way; 3 but he quotes a single line of Ennius alone, from the book entitled Scipio.
4 That verse, composed in octonarii,51 I have appended; in it, unless the third syllable of Hannibal's name is circumflexed,52 the metre will halt. 5 The verse of Ennius to which I referred reads thus:53
And where near Hannibal's forces he had camped.54
8 What Gaius Fabricius said of Cornelius Rufinus, an avaricious man, whose election to the consulship he supported, although he hated him and was his personal enemy.
1 Fabricius Luscinus was a man of great renown and great achievements. 2 Publius Cornelius Rufinus was, to be sure, a man energetic in action, a good warrior, and a master of military tactics, but thievish and keen for money. 3 This man Fabricius neither respected nor treated as a friend, but hated him because of his character. 4 Yet when consuls were to be chosen at a highly critical period for the State, and that Rufinus was a candidate while his competitors were without military experience and untrustworthy, Fabricius used every effort to have the office given to Rufinus.55 5 When many men expressed surprise at his attitude, in wishing an avaricious man, towards whom he felt bitter personal enmity, to be elected consul, he said: 6 "I would rather be robbed by a fellow-citizen than sold56 by the enemy."
7 This Rufinus afterwards, when he had been dictator and twice consul, Fabricius in his censorship expelled from the senate57 on the charge of extravagance, because he possessed ten pounds weight of silver plate. 8 That remark of Fabricius about Rufinus I gave above in the form in which it appears in most historians; but Marcus Cicero, in the second book of the De Oratore, says58 that it was not made by Fabricius to others, but to Rufinus himself, when he was thanking Fabricius because he had been elected consul through his help.
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AD---9: on the proper meaning of religiosus; and what changes the meaning of that word has undergone; and remarks of Nigidius Figulus on that subject, drawn from his Commentaries.
1 Nigidius Figulus, in my opinion the most learned of men next to Marcus Varro, in the eleventh book of his Grammatical Commentaries, quotes59 a truly remarkable line from an early poet:60
Best it is to be religious, lest one superstitious be;
2 but he does not name the author of the poem. And in the same connection Nigidius adds: "The suffix -osus in words of this kind, such as vinosus, mulierosus, religiosus, always indicates an excessive amount of the quality in question. Therefore religiosus is applied to one who has involved himself in an extreme and superstitious devotion, which was regarded as a fault."
3 But in addition to what Nigidius says, by another shift in meaning religiosus began to be used of an upright and conscientious man, who regulates his conduct by definite laws and limits. 4 Similarly too the following terms, which have the same origin, appear to have acquired different meanings; namely, religiosus dies and religiosa delubra. 5 For those days are called religiosi which are of ill-fame and are hampered by an evil omen, so that on them one must refrain from offering sacrifice or beginning any new business whatever; they are, namely, the days that the ignorant multitude falsely and improperly call nefasti.61 6 Thus Marcus Cicero, in the ninth p341book of his Letters to Atticus, writes:62 "Our forefathers maintained that the day of the battle at the Allia was more calamitous than that on which the city was taken; because the latter disaster was the result of the former. Therefore the one day is even now religiosus, while the other is unknown to the general public." 7 Yet the same Marcus Tullius, in his speech On Appointing a Prosecutor,63 uses the term religiosa delubra of shrines which are not ill-omened and gloomy, but full of majesty and sacredness. 8 Masurius Sabinus too, in his Notes on Native Words, says:64 "Religiosus is that which because of some sacred quality is removed and withdrawn from us; the word is derived from relinquo, as is caerimonia from careo."65 9 According to this explanation of Sabinus, temples indeed and shrines — since an accumulation of these does not give rise to censure, as in case of things which are praised for their moderate use — since they are to be approached, not unceremoniously and thoughtlessly, but after purification and in due form, must be both revered and feared, rather than profaned; 10 but those days are called religiosi which for the opposite reason, because they are of dire omen, we avoid.66 11 And Terence says:67
Then too I give her nothing, except to say "All right;"
For I avoid confessing my impecunious plight.
12 But if, as Nigidius says, all derivatives of that kind indicate an excessive and immoderate degree, and therefore have a bad sense, as do vinosus ("fond of wine"), mulierosus ("fond of women"), morosus ("whimsical"), verbosus ("wordy"), famosus ("notorious"),68 why are ingeniosus ("talented"), formosus ("beautiful"), officiosus ("dutiful"), and speciosus ("showy"),69 which are formed in the same way from ingenium, forma, officium, and species, why too are disciplinosus ("well-trained"), consiliosus ("full of wisdom"), victoriosus ("victorious"), words coined by Marcus Cato,70 why too facundiosus — for Sempronius Asellio in the thirteenth book of his History wrote,71 "one should regard his deeds, not his words if they are less eloquent (facundiosa)" — why, I say, are all these adjectives used, not in a bad, but in a good sense, although they too indicate an excessive amount of the quality which they signify? Is it because a certain necessary limit must be set for the qualities indicated by those words which I first cited? 13 For favour if it is excessive and without limit,72 and habits if they are too many and varied, and words if they are unceasing, endless and deafening, and fame if it should be great and restless and begetting envy; all these are neither praiseworthy nor useful; 14 but talent, duty, beauty, training, wisdom, victory and eloquence, being in themselves p345great virtues, are confined within no limits, but the greater and more extensive they are, the more are they deserving of praise.
*******
AD--10.
AD--10.
The order observed in calling upon senators for their opinions; and
the altercation in the senate between Gaius Caesar, when consul, and Marcus
Cato, who tried to use up the whole day in talk.
1 Before the passage of the law which is now observed in the proceedings of the senate, the order in calling for opinions varied. 2 Sometimes the man was first called upon whom the censors had first enrolled in the senate, sometimes the consuls elect; 3 some of the consuls, influenced by friendship or some personal relationship, used to call first upon anyone they pleased, as a compliment, contrary to the regular order. 4 However, when the usual order was not followed, the rule was observed of not calling first upon any but a man of consular rank. 5 It is said that Gaius Caesar, when he was consul with Marcus Bibulus,73 called upon only four senators out of order. The first of these was Marcus Crassus, but after Caesar had betrothed his daughter to Gnaeus Pompeius, he began to call upon Pompeius first.74
6 Caesar gave the senate his reason for this procedure, according to the testimony of Tullius Tiro, Cicero's freedman, who writes75 that he had the information from his patron. 7 Ateius Capito has made the same statement in his work On Senatorial Conduct.76
p347 8 In the same treatise of Capito is this passage:77 "The consul Gaius Caesar called upon Marcus Cato for his opinion. Cato did not wish to have the motion before the house carried, since he did not think it for the public good. For the purpose of delaying action, he made a long speech and tried to use up the whole day in talking. For it was a senator's right, when asked his opinion, to speak beforehand on any other subject he wished, and as long as he wished. Caesar, in his capacity as consul, summoned an attendant,78 and since Cato would not stop, ordered him to be arrested in the full tide of his speech and taken to prison. The senate arose in a body and attended Cato to the prison. But this," he says, "aroused such indignation, that Caesar yielded and ordered Cato's release."
11 1 The nature of the information which Aristoxenus has handed down about Pythagoras on the ground that it was more authoritative; and also what Plutarch wrote in the same vein about that same Pythagoras.
1 An erroneous belief of long standing has established itself and become current, that the philosopher Pythagoras did not eat of animals: also that he abstained from the bean, which the Greeks call κύαμος. 2 In accordance with that belief the poet Callimachus wrote:79
I tell you too, as did Pythagoras,
Withhold your hands from beans, a hurtful food.
3 Also, as the result of the same belief, Marcus Cicero wrote these words in the first book of his work On Divination:80 "Plato therefore bids us go to our p349sleep in such bodily condition that there may be nothing to cause delusion and disturbance in our minds. It is thought to be for that reason too that the Pythagoreans were forbidden to eat beans, a food that produces great flatulency, which is disturbing to those who seek mental calm."
4 So then Cicero. But Aristoxenus the musician, a man thoroughly versed in early literature, a pupil of the philosopher Aristotle, in the book On Pythagoras which he has left us, says that Pythagoras used no vegetable more often than beans, since that food gently loosened the bowels and relieved them. 5 I add Aristoxenus' own words:81 "Pythagoras among vegetables especially recommended the bean, saying that it was both digestible and loosening; and therefore he most frequently made use of it."
6 Aristoxenus also relates that Pythagoras ate very young pigs and tender kids. 7 This fact he seems to have learned from his intimate friend Xenophilus the Pythagorean and from some other older men, who lived not long after the time of Pythagoras.
1 Before the passage of the law which is now observed in the proceedings of the senate, the order in calling for opinions varied. 2 Sometimes the man was first called upon whom the censors had first enrolled in the senate, sometimes the consuls elect; 3 some of the consuls, influenced by friendship or some personal relationship, used to call first upon anyone they pleased, as a compliment, contrary to the regular order. 4 However, when the usual order was not followed, the rule was observed of not calling first upon any but a man of consular rank. 5 It is said that Gaius Caesar, when he was consul with Marcus Bibulus,73 called upon only four senators out of order. The first of these was Marcus Crassus, but after Caesar had betrothed his daughter to Gnaeus Pompeius, he began to call upon Pompeius first.74
6 Caesar gave the senate his reason for this procedure, according to the testimony of Tullius Tiro, Cicero's freedman, who writes75 that he had the information from his patron. 7 Ateius Capito has made the same statement in his work On Senatorial Conduct.76
p347 8 In the same treatise of Capito is this passage:77 "The consul Gaius Caesar called upon Marcus Cato for his opinion. Cato did not wish to have the motion before the house carried, since he did not think it for the public good. For the purpose of delaying action, he made a long speech and tried to use up the whole day in talking. For it was a senator's right, when asked his opinion, to speak beforehand on any other subject he wished, and as long as he wished. Caesar, in his capacity as consul, summoned an attendant,78 and since Cato would not stop, ordered him to be arrested in the full tide of his speech and taken to prison. The senate arose in a body and attended Cato to the prison. But this," he says, "aroused such indignation, that Caesar yielded and ordered Cato's release."
11 1 The nature of the information which Aristoxenus has handed down about Pythagoras on the ground that it was more authoritative; and also what Plutarch wrote in the same vein about that same Pythagoras.
1 An erroneous belief of long standing has established itself and become current, that the philosopher Pythagoras did not eat of animals: also that he abstained from the bean, which the Greeks call κύαμος. 2 In accordance with that belief the poet Callimachus wrote:79
I tell you too, as did Pythagoras,
Withhold your hands from beans, a hurtful food.
3 Also, as the result of the same belief, Marcus Cicero wrote these words in the first book of his work On Divination:80 "Plato therefore bids us go to our p349sleep in such bodily condition that there may be nothing to cause delusion and disturbance in our minds. It is thought to be for that reason too that the Pythagoreans were forbidden to eat beans, a food that produces great flatulency, which is disturbing to those who seek mental calm."
4 So then Cicero. But Aristoxenus the musician, a man thoroughly versed in early literature, a pupil of the philosopher Aristotle, in the book On Pythagoras which he has left us, says that Pythagoras used no vegetable more often than beans, since that food gently loosened the bowels and relieved them. 5 I add Aristoxenus' own words:81 "Pythagoras among vegetables especially recommended the bean, saying that it was both digestible and loosening; and therefore he most frequently made use of it."
6 Aristoxenus also relates that Pythagoras ate very young pigs and tender kids. 7 This fact he seems to have learned from his intimate friend Xenophilus the Pythagorean and from some other older men, who lived not long after the time of Pythagoras.
8 And the same information about animal food is given by the poet
Alexis, in the comedy entitled "The Pythagorean Bluestocking."82 9
Furthermore, the reason for the mistaken idea about abstaining from beans seems
to be, that in a poem of Empedocles, who was a follower of Pythagoras, this
line is found:
O wretches, utter wretches, from beans withhold your hands.
10 For most men thought that κυάμους meant the vegetable, according to the common use of the word. But those who have studied the poems of Empedocles with greater care and knowledge say that here κυάμους refers to the testicles, and that after the Pythagorean manner they were called in a covert and symbolic way κύαμοι, because they are the cause of pregnancy and furnish the power for human generation:84 and that therefore Empedocles in that verse desired to keep men, not from eating beans, but from excess in venery.
11 Plutarch too, a man of weight in scientific matters, in the first book of his work On Homer wrote that Aristotle gave the same account of the Pythagoreans: namely, that except for a few parts of the flesh they did not abstain from eating animals. 12 Since the statement is contrary to the general belief, I have appended Plutarch's own words:86 "Aristotle says that the Pythagoreans abstained from the matrix, the heart, the ἀκαλήφη and some other such things, but used all other animal food." 13 Now the ἀκαλήφη is a marine creature which is called the sea-nettle. But Plutarch in his Table Talk says87 that the Pythagoreans also abstained from mullets.
14 But as to Pythagoras himself, while it is well known that he declared that he had come into the world as Euphorbus, what Cleanthes88 and Dicaearchus89 have recorded is less familiar — that he was afterwards Pyrrhus Pyranthius, then Aethalides, and then a beautiful courtesan, whose name was Alco.
12 Instances of disgrace and punishment inflicted by the censors, found in ancient records and worthy of notice.
1 If anyone had allowed his land to run to waste and was not giving it sufficient attention, if he had neither ploughed nor weeded it, or if anyone had neglected his orchard or vineyard, such conduct did not go unpunished, but it was taken up by the censors, who reduced such a man to the lowest class of citizens.90 2 So too, any Roman knight, if his horse seemed to be skinny or not well groomed, was charged with inpolitiae, a word which means the same thing as negligence.91 3 There are authorities for both these punishments, and Marcus Cato has cited frequent instances.92
13 On the possibility of curing gout by certain melodies played in a special way on the flute.
2 º I ran across the statement very recently in the book of Theophrastus On Inspiration93 1 that many men have believed and put their belief on record, that when gouty pains in the hips are most severe, they are relieved if a flute-player plays soothing measures. 3 That snake-bites are cured by the music of the flute, when played skilfully and melodiously, is also stated in a book of Democritus, entitled On Deadly Infections, in which he shows that the music of the flute is medicine for many ills that flesh is heir to. 4 So very close is the connection between the bodies and the minds of men, and therefore between physical and mental ailments and their remedies.
14 A story told of Hostilius Mancinus, a curule aedile, and the courtesan Manilia; and the words of the decree of the tribunes to whom Manilia appealed.
1 As I was reading the ninth book of the Miscellany of Ateius Capito, entitled On Public Decisions,94 one decree of the tribunes seemed to me full of old-time dignity. 2 For that reason I remember it, and it was rendered for this reason and to this purport. Aulus Hostilius Mancinus was a curule aedile. 3 He brought suit before the people against a courtesan called Manilia, because he said that he had been struck with a stone thrown from her apartment by night, and he exhibited the wound made by the stone. 4 Manilia appealed to the tribunes of the commons. 5 Before them she declared that Mancinus had come to her house in the garb of a reveller; that it would not have been to her advantage to admit him, and that when he tried to break in by force, he had been driven off with stones. 6 The tribunes decided that the aedile had rightly been refused admission to a place to which it had not been seemly for him to go with a garland on his head;therefore they forbade the aedile to bring an action before the people.a
15 The defence of a passage in the historical works of Sallust, which his enemies attacked in a spirit of malicious criticism.
1 The elegance of Sallust's style and his passion for coining and introducing new words was met with exceeding great hostility, and many men of no mean ability tried to criticize and decry much in his writings. Many of the attacks on him were ignorant or malicious. Yet there are some things that may be regarded as deserving of censure, as for example the following passage in the History of Catiline,97 which has the appearance of being written somewhat carelessly. Sallust's words are these: 2 "And for myself, although I am well aware that by no means equal repute attends the narrator and the doer of deeds, yet I regard the writing of history as one of the hardest of tasks; first because the style and diction must be equal to the deeds recorded; and in the second place, because such criticisms as you make of others' shortcomings are thought by most men to be due of the malice and envy. Furthermore, when you commemorate the distinguished merit and fame of good men, while everyone is quite ready to believe you when you tell of things which he thinks he could easily do himself, everything beyond that he regards as fictitious, if not false." 3 The critics say: "He declared that he would give the reasons why it appears to be 'hard' 'to write history'; and then, after mentioning the first reason, he does not give a second, but gives utterance to complaints. 4 For it ought not to be regarded as a reason why the work of history is 'hard,' that the reader either misinterprets what is written or does not believe it to be true." 5 They maintain that he ought to say that such work is exposed and subject to misjudgments, rather than "hard"; for that which is "hard" is hard because of the difficulty of its accomplishment, not because of the mistaken opinions of other men.
6 That is what those ill-natured critics say. But Sallust does not use arduus merely in the sense of "hard," but as the equivalent of the Greek word χαλεπός, that is, both difficult and also troublesome, disagreeable and intractable. And the meaning of these words is not inconsistent with that of the passage which was just quoted from Sallust.
O wretches, utter wretches, from beans withhold your hands.
10 For most men thought that κυάμους meant the vegetable, according to the common use of the word. But those who have studied the poems of Empedocles with greater care and knowledge say that here κυάμους refers to the testicles, and that after the Pythagorean manner they were called in a covert and symbolic way κύαμοι, because they are the cause of pregnancy and furnish the power for human generation:84 and that therefore Empedocles in that verse desired to keep men, not from eating beans, but from excess in venery.
11 Plutarch too, a man of weight in scientific matters, in the first book of his work On Homer wrote that Aristotle gave the same account of the Pythagoreans: namely, that except for a few parts of the flesh they did not abstain from eating animals. 12 Since the statement is contrary to the general belief, I have appended Plutarch's own words:86 "Aristotle says that the Pythagoreans abstained from the matrix, the heart, the ἀκαλήφη and some other such things, but used all other animal food." 13 Now the ἀκαλήφη is a marine creature which is called the sea-nettle. But Plutarch in his Table Talk says87 that the Pythagoreans also abstained from mullets.
14 But as to Pythagoras himself, while it is well known that he declared that he had come into the world as Euphorbus, what Cleanthes88 and Dicaearchus89 have recorded is less familiar — that he was afterwards Pyrrhus Pyranthius, then Aethalides, and then a beautiful courtesan, whose name was Alco.
12 Instances of disgrace and punishment inflicted by the censors, found in ancient records and worthy of notice.
1 If anyone had allowed his land to run to waste and was not giving it sufficient attention, if he had neither ploughed nor weeded it, or if anyone had neglected his orchard or vineyard, such conduct did not go unpunished, but it was taken up by the censors, who reduced such a man to the lowest class of citizens.90 2 So too, any Roman knight, if his horse seemed to be skinny or not well groomed, was charged with inpolitiae, a word which means the same thing as negligence.91 3 There are authorities for both these punishments, and Marcus Cato has cited frequent instances.92
13 On the possibility of curing gout by certain melodies played in a special way on the flute.
2 º I ran across the statement very recently in the book of Theophrastus On Inspiration93 1 that many men have believed and put their belief on record, that when gouty pains in the hips are most severe, they are relieved if a flute-player plays soothing measures. 3 That snake-bites are cured by the music of the flute, when played skilfully and melodiously, is also stated in a book of Democritus, entitled On Deadly Infections, in which he shows that the music of the flute is medicine for many ills that flesh is heir to. 4 So very close is the connection between the bodies and the minds of men, and therefore between physical and mental ailments and their remedies.
14 A story told of Hostilius Mancinus, a curule aedile, and the courtesan Manilia; and the words of the decree of the tribunes to whom Manilia appealed.
1 As I was reading the ninth book of the Miscellany of Ateius Capito, entitled On Public Decisions,94 one decree of the tribunes seemed to me full of old-time dignity. 2 For that reason I remember it, and it was rendered for this reason and to this purport. Aulus Hostilius Mancinus was a curule aedile. 3 He brought suit before the people against a courtesan called Manilia, because he said that he had been struck with a stone thrown from her apartment by night, and he exhibited the wound made by the stone. 4 Manilia appealed to the tribunes of the commons. 5 Before them she declared that Mancinus had come to her house in the garb of a reveller; that it would not have been to her advantage to admit him, and that when he tried to break in by force, he had been driven off with stones. 6 The tribunes decided that the aedile had rightly been refused admission to a place to which it had not been seemly for him to go with a garland on his head;therefore they forbade the aedile to bring an action before the people.a
15 The defence of a passage in the historical works of Sallust, which his enemies attacked in a spirit of malicious criticism.
1 The elegance of Sallust's style and his passion for coining and introducing new words was met with exceeding great hostility, and many men of no mean ability tried to criticize and decry much in his writings. Many of the attacks on him were ignorant or malicious. Yet there are some things that may be regarded as deserving of censure, as for example the following passage in the History of Catiline,97 which has the appearance of being written somewhat carelessly. Sallust's words are these: 2 "And for myself, although I am well aware that by no means equal repute attends the narrator and the doer of deeds, yet I regard the writing of history as one of the hardest of tasks; first because the style and diction must be equal to the deeds recorded; and in the second place, because such criticisms as you make of others' shortcomings are thought by most men to be due of the malice and envy. Furthermore, when you commemorate the distinguished merit and fame of good men, while everyone is quite ready to believe you when you tell of things which he thinks he could easily do himself, everything beyond that he regards as fictitious, if not false." 3 The critics say: "He declared that he would give the reasons why it appears to be 'hard' 'to write history'; and then, after mentioning the first reason, he does not give a second, but gives utterance to complaints. 4 For it ought not to be regarded as a reason why the work of history is 'hard,' that the reader either misinterprets what is written or does not believe it to be true." 5 They maintain that he ought to say that such work is exposed and subject to misjudgments, rather than "hard"; for that which is "hard" is hard because of the difficulty of its accomplishment, not because of the mistaken opinions of other men.
6 That is what those ill-natured critics say. But Sallust does not use arduus merely in the sense of "hard," but as the equivalent of the Greek word χαλεπός, that is, both difficult and also troublesome, disagreeable and intractable. And the meaning of these words is not inconsistent with that of the passage which was just quoted from Sallust.
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AD---16: on the inflection of certain words by Varro and Nigidius contrary to everyday usage; and also a quotation of some instances of the same kind from the early writers, with examples.
1. I learn that Marcus Varro and Publius Nigidius,98 the most learned of all the Romans, always said and wrote "senatuis", "domuis" and "fluctuis" as the genitive case of the words senatus, domus and fluctus, and used senatui, domui, and fluctui, and other similar words, with the corresponding dative ending.
2 There
is also a line of the comic poet Terence, which in the old manuscripts is
written as follows:99
Because, I think, of that old dame (anuis) who died.
Because, I think, of that old dame (anuis) who died.
3 Some of the early grammarians wished to give this authority of theirs the sanction of a rule; namely, p361that every dative singular ending in i, if it has not the same form as the genitive singular,101 makes the genitive singular by adding s, as patri patris, duci ducis, caedi caedis. 4 "Therefore," they say, "since we use senatuis as the dative case, the genitive singular of that word is senatuis, not senatus."
5 But all are not agreed that we should use senatui in the dative case rather than senatu. 6 For example, Lucilius in that same case uses victu and anu, and not victui and anui, in these verses:Since you to honest fare (victu) do waste and feasts prefer,
and in another place:I'm doing harm to the old girl (anu).
7 Vergil also in the dative case writes aspectu and not aspectui:104
Withdraw not from our view (aspectu)
and in the Georgics:
Nor give themselves to love's embrace (concubitu).
8 Gaius Caesar too, a high authority on the Latin language, says in his Speech against Cato:106 "owing to the arrogance, haughtiness and tyranny (dominatu) of one man." Also in the First Action against Dolabella, Book I:107 "Those in whose temples and shrines they had been placed for an honour and an adornment (ornatu)."108 9 Also, in his books on analogy he decides that i should be omitted in all such forms.
17 A discussion of the natural quantity of certain particles, the long pronunciation of which, when prefixed to verbs, seems to be barbarous and ignorant; with several examples and explanations.
1 In the eleventh book of Lucilius are these lines:109
Thus base Asellus did great Scipio taunt:
Unlucky was his censorship and bad.
I hear that many read obiciebat with a long o, 2 and they say that they do this in order to preserve the metre.110 Again farther on he says:111
I'd versify the words the herald Granius spoke.
In this passage also they lengthen the prefix of the first word for the same reason. 3 Again in the fifteenth book:112
Subicit huic humilem et suffercitus posteriorem,113
they read subicit with a long u, because it is not proper for the first syllable to be short in heroic verse. 4 Likewise in the Epidicus of Plautus114 they lengthen the syllable con in
Haste now, Epidicus, prepare yourself,
And throw (conice) your mantle round about your neck.
5 In Virgil too I hear that some lengthen the verb subicit in:115
p365
Parnassian laurel too
Lifts (subicit) 'neath large mother-shade its infant stem.
6 But neither the preposition ob nor sub is long by nature, nor is con long either, except when it is followed by the letters which come directly after it in constituit and confecit,116 or when its n is lost, as in Sallust's faenoribus copertus.117 7 But in those instances which I have mentioned above the metre may be preserved without barbarously lengthening the prefixes; for the following letter in those words should be written with two i's, not with one. 8 For the simple verb to which the above-mentioned particles are prefixed, is not icio, but iacio, and the perfect is not icit, but iecit. When that word is used in compounds, the letter a is changed into i, as happens in the verbs insilio and incipio, and thus the first i acquires consonantal force.118 Accordingly, that syllable, being pronounced a little longer and fuller, does not allow the first syllable to be short, but makes it long by position, and thus the rhythm of the verse and the correct pronunciation are preserved.
9 What I have said leads also to a knowledge of this, that in the line which we find in the sixth book of Virgil:119
Unconquered chieftain, save me from these ills;
Or do thou earth cast on (inice) me,
p367 inice is to be written and pronounced as I have indicated above, unless anyone is so ignorant as to lengthen the preposition in in this word too for the sake of the metre.
10 We ask then for what reason the letter o in obicibus is lengthened, since this word is derived from the verb obiicio, and is not at all analogous to motus, which is from moveo and is pronounced with a long o. 11 I myself recall that Sulpicius Apollinaris, a man eminent for his knowledge of literature, pronounced obices and obicibus with a short o, and that in Virgil too he read in the same way the lines:120
And by what force the oceans fathomless
Rise, bursting all their bounds (obicibus);
12 but as I have indicated, he gave the letter i, which in that word also should be doubled, a somewhat fuller and longer sound.
13 It is consistent therefore that subices also, which is formed exactly like obices, should be pronounced with the letter u short. 14 Ennius, in his tragedy which is entitled Achilles, uses subices for the upper air which is directly below the heavens, in these lines:121
By lofty, humid regions (subices) of the gods I swear,
Whence comes the storm with savage roaring wind;
yet, in spite of what I have said, you may hear almost everyone read subices with a long u. 15 But Marcus Cato uses that very verb with another prefix in the speech which he delivered On his Consulship:122 "So the wind bears them to the beginning of the p369Pyrenees' range, where it extends (proicit) into the deep." And so too Pacuvius in the Chryses:123
High Ida's cape, whose tongue into the deep extends (proicit).
*****
AD--18: some stories of the elder Publio Africano, taken from the annals and well worth relating.
1. How greatly the earlier Scipio Africanus excelled in the splendour of his
merits, how lofty and noble of spirit he was, and to what an extent he was
upheld by consciousness of his own rectitude, is evident from many of his words
and acts. 2 Among these are the following two instances of his extreme self-confidence
and sense of superiority.
3 When Marcus Naevius, tribune of the commons, accused him before the people124 and declared that he had received money from king Antiochus to make peace with him in the name of the Roman people on favourable and easy terms, and when the tribune added sundry other charges which were unworthy of so great a man, then Scipio, after a few preliminary remarks such as were called for by the dignity and renown of his life, said: "I recall, fellow citizens, that this is the day on which in Africa in a mighty battle I conquered Hannibal the Carthaginian, the most bitter enemy of your power, and won for you a splendid peace and a glorious victory. Let us then not be ungrateful to the gods, but, I suggest, let us leave this worthless fellow, and go at once to render thanks to Jupiter, greatest and best of gods." 4 So saying, he turned away and set out for the Capitol. 5 Thereupon the whole assembly, which p371had gathered to pass judgment on Scipio, left the tribune, accompanied Scipio to the Capitol, and then escorted him to his home with the joy and expressions of gratitude suited to a festal occasion. 6 The very speech is in circulation which is believed to have been delivered that day by Scipio,125 and those who deny its authenticity at least admit that these words which I have quoted were spoken by Scipio.
3 When Marcus Naevius, tribune of the commons, accused him before the people124 and declared that he had received money from king Antiochus to make peace with him in the name of the Roman people on favourable and easy terms, and when the tribune added sundry other charges which were unworthy of so great a man, then Scipio, after a few preliminary remarks such as were called for by the dignity and renown of his life, said: "I recall, fellow citizens, that this is the day on which in Africa in a mighty battle I conquered Hannibal the Carthaginian, the most bitter enemy of your power, and won for you a splendid peace and a glorious victory. Let us then not be ungrateful to the gods, but, I suggest, let us leave this worthless fellow, and go at once to render thanks to Jupiter, greatest and best of gods." 4 So saying, he turned away and set out for the Capitol. 5 Thereupon the whole assembly, which p371had gathered to pass judgment on Scipio, left the tribune, accompanied Scipio to the Capitol, and then escorted him to his home with the joy and expressions of gratitude suited to a festal occasion. 6 The very speech is in circulation which is believed to have been delivered that day by Scipio,125 and those who deny its authenticity at least admit that these words which I have quoted were spoken by Scipio.
7 There is also another celebrated act of his. Certain Petilii, tribunes of the commons, influenced they say by Marcus Cato, Scipio's personal enemy, and instigated to appear against him, insisted most vigorously in the senate126 on his rendering an account of the money of Antiochus and of the booty taken in that war; 8 for he had been deputy to his brother Lucius Scipio Asiaticus, the commander in that campaign. 9 Thereupon Scipio arose, and taking a roll from the fold of his toga, said that it contained an account of all the money and all the booty; 10 that he had brought it to be publicly read and deposited in the treasury. 11 "But that," said he, "I shall not do now, nor will I so degrade myself." 12 And at once, before them all, he tore the roll across with his own hands and rent it into bits, indignant that an account of money taken in war should be required of him, to whose account the salvation of the Roman State and its power ought to be credited.127
AD--19: what Marcus Varro wrote in his Philosophical-historical Treatise
on restricting the diet of immature children.
1 It has been found that if immature children eat a great deal and sleep too much, they become so sluggish as to have the dulness of a sufferer from insomnia or lethargy; and their bodies are stunted and under-developed. 2 This is stated by numerous other physicians and philosophers and also by Marcus Varro in that section of his Philosophical-historical Treatise which is entitled Catus, or On Bringing up Children.128
********
AD--20: on the punishment by the censors of men who had made untimely jokes in their hearing; also a deliberation as to the punishment of a man who had happened to yawn when standing before them.
AD--20: on the punishment by the censors of men who had made untimely jokes in their hearing; also a deliberation as to the punishment of a man who had happened to yawn when standing before them.
1. Among the severities of the censors these three examples of the extreme
strictness of their discipline are recorded in literature. 2 The first is of
this sort: 3 The censor was administering the usual oath regarding wives, which
was worded as follows: "Have you, to the best of your knowledge and
belief, a wife?" The man who was to take the oath was a jester, a
sarcastic dog,129 and too much given to buffoonery. 4 Thinking that he had a
chance to crack a joke, when the censor asked him, as was customary, "Have
you, to the best of your knowledge and belief, a wife?" 5 he replied:
"I indeed have a wife, p375but not, by Heaven! such a one as I could
desire."130 6 Then the censor reduced him to a commoner for his untimely
quip,131 and added that the reason for his action was a scurrilous joke made in
his presence.
7 Here is another instance of the sternness of the same officials. 8 The censors deliberated about the punishment of a man who had been brought before them by a friend as his advocate, and who had yawned in court very clearly and loudly. He was on the point of being condemned for his lapse, on the ground that it was an indication of a wandering and trifling mind and of wanton and undisguised indifference. 9 But when the man had sworn that the yawn had overcome him much against his will and in spite of his resistance, and that he was afflicted with the disorder known as oscedo, or a tendency to yawning, he was excused from the penalty which had already been determined upon. 10 Publius Scipio Africanus, son of Paulus, included both these stories in a speech which he made when censor, urging the people to follow the customs of their forefathers.132
11 Sabinus Masurius too in the seventh book of his Memoirs relates a third instance of severity. He says: "When the censors Publius Scipio Nasica and Marcus Popilius were holding a review of the knights, they saw a horse that was very thin and ill-kept, while its rider was plump and in the best of condition. 'Why is it,' said they, 'that you are better cared for than your mount?' 'Because,' he replied, 'I take care of myself, but Statius, a worthless slave, takes care of the horse.' This answer did not seem sufficiently respectful, and the man was reduced to a commoner, according to custom."
p377 12 Now Statius was a slave-name. In old times there were many slaves of that name. 13 Caecilius too, the famous comic poet, was a slave and as such called Statius. But afterwards this was made into a kind of surname and he was called Caecilius Statius.133
Book V
AD--1: that the
philosopher Musonio criticised and rebuked those who expressed approval of a
philosopher's discourse by loud shouts and extravagant demonstrations of
praise.
1. I have heard that the philosopher Musonius was accustomed. . . .
2 "When a philosopher," he says, "is uttering words of encouragement, of warning, of persuasion, or of rebuke, or is discussing any other philosophical theme, then if his hearers utter trite and commonplace expressions of praise without reflection or restraint, if they shout too, if they gesticulate, if they are stirred and swayed and impassioned by the charm of his utterance, by the rhythm of his words, and by certain musical notes,
3 as it were, then you may know that speaker and hearers are wasting their time, and that they are not hearing a philosopher's lecture, but a fluteplayer's recital. 2 The mind," said he, "of one who is listening to a philosopher, so long as what is said is helpful and salutary, and furnishes a cure for faults and vices, has no time or leisure for continued and extravagant applause. Whoever the hearer may be, unless he is wholly lost, 3 during the course of the philosopher's address he must necessarily shudder and feel secret shame and p383repentance, or rejoice and wonder, 4 and even show changes of countenance and betray varying emotions, according as the philosopher's discourse has affected him and his consciousness of the different tendencies of his mind, whether noble or base."
5 He added that great applause is not inconsistent with admiration, but that the greatest admiration gives rise, not to words, but to silence. 6 "Therefore," said he, "the wisest of all poets does not represent those who heard Ulysses' splendid account of his hardships as leaping up, when he ceased speaking, with shouts and noisy demonstrations, but he says they were one and all silent, as if amazed and confounded, since the gratification of their ears even affected their power of utterance.
Thus he; but they in silence all were hushed
And held in rapture through the shadowy hall.4
1. I have heard that the philosopher Musonius was accustomed. . . .
2 "When a philosopher," he says, "is uttering words of encouragement, of warning, of persuasion, or of rebuke, or is discussing any other philosophical theme, then if his hearers utter trite and commonplace expressions of praise without reflection or restraint, if they shout too, if they gesticulate, if they are stirred and swayed and impassioned by the charm of his utterance, by the rhythm of his words, and by certain musical notes,
3 as it were, then you may know that speaker and hearers are wasting their time, and that they are not hearing a philosopher's lecture, but a fluteplayer's recital. 2 The mind," said he, "of one who is listening to a philosopher, so long as what is said is helpful and salutary, and furnishes a cure for faults and vices, has no time or leisure for continued and extravagant applause. Whoever the hearer may be, unless he is wholly lost, 3 during the course of the philosopher's address he must necessarily shudder and feel secret shame and p383repentance, or rejoice and wonder, 4 and even show changes of countenance and betray varying emotions, according as the philosopher's discourse has affected him and his consciousness of the different tendencies of his mind, whether noble or base."
5 He added that great applause is not inconsistent with admiration, but that the greatest admiration gives rise, not to words, but to silence. 6 "Therefore," said he, "the wisest of all poets does not represent those who heard Ulysses' splendid account of his hardships as leaping up, when he ceased speaking, with shouts and noisy demonstrations, but he says they were one and all silent, as if amazed and confounded, since the gratification of their ears even affected their power of utterance.
Thus he; but they in silence all were hushed
And held in rapture through the shadowy hall.4
*********
AD--2: about the horse of king Alexander, called Bucephalas.
1. The horse of king Alexander was called Bucephalas because of the shape of his head.
2 Chares wrote that he was bought for thirteen talents and given to king Philip; that amount in Roman money is three hundred and twelve thousand sesterces.
3 It seemed a noteworthy characteristic of this horse that when he was armed and equipped for battle, he would never allow himself to be mounted by any other than the king.7 4 It is also related that Alexander in the war against India, mounted upon that horse and doing p385valorous deeds, had driven him, with disregard of his own safety, too far into the enemies' ranks. The horse had suffered deep wounds in his neck and side from the weapons hurled from every hand at Alexander, but though dying and almost exhausted from loss of blood, he yet in swiftest course bore the king from the midst of the foe; but when he had taken him out of range of the weapons, the horse at once fell, and satisfied with having saved his master breathed his last, with indications of relief that were almost human. 5 Then king Alexander, after winning the victory in that war, founded a city in that region and in honour of his horse called it Bucephalon.
**************************************
AD--3: the reason and the occasion which are said to have introduced Protagoras to the study of philosophical literature.
1. They say that Protagoras, a man eminent in the pursuit of learning, whose name Platone gave to that famous dialogue of his, in his youth earned his living as a hired labourer and often carried heavy burdens on his back, being one of that class of men
2 whom the Greeks call ἀχθοφόροι and we Latins baiuli, or porters.
3 He was once carrying a great number of blocks of wood, bound together with a short rope, from the neighbouring countryside into his native town of Abdera.
4 It chanced at the time that Democrito, a citizen of that same city, a man esteemed before all others for his fine character and his knowledge of philosophy, as he was going out of the city, saw Protagoras walking along easily and rapidly with that burden, of a kind so awkward and so difficult to hold together. Democritus drew near, and noticing with what skill and judgment the wood was arranged and tied, asked the man to stop and rest awhile.
5. When Protagoras did as he was asked, and Democritus again observed that the almost circular heap of blocks was bound with a short rope, and was balanced and held together with all but geometrical accuracy, he asked who had put the wood together in that way. When Protagoras replied that he had done it himself, Democritus asked him to untie the bundle and arrange it again in the same way.
6 But after he had done so, then Democritus, astonished at the keen intellect and cleverness of this uneducated man, said:
"My dear young man, since you have a talent for doing things well, there are greater and better employments which you can follow with me".
And he at once took him away, kept him at his own house, supplied him with money, taught him philosophy, and made him the great man that he afterwards became.
7. Yet this Protagoras was not a true philosopher, but the cleverest of sophists.
For in consideration of the payment of a huge annual fee, he used to promise his pupils that he would teach them by what verbal dexterity the weaker cause could be made the stronger, a process which he called in Greek:
τὸν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν, or
"making the word appear the better reason."
**************************************
AD-- 4 On the word "duovicesimus", which is unknown to the general public, but occurs frequently in the writings of the learned.
1 I chanced to be sitting in a bookshop in the Sigillaria8 with the poet Julius Paulus, the most p389learned man within my memory; and there was on sale there the Annals of Fabius9 in a copy of good and undoubted age, which the dealer maintained was without errors. 2 But one of the better known grammarians, who had been called in by a purchaser to inspect the book, said that he had found in it one error; but the bookseller for his part offered to wager any amount whatever that there was not a mistake even in a single letter. 3 The grammarian pointed out the following passage in the fourth book:10 "Therefore it was then that for the first time one of the two consuls was chosen from the plebeians, in the twenty-second (duovicesimo) year after the Gauls captured Rome." 4 "It ought," to read, not duovicesimo, but duo et vicesimoº or twenty-second; 5 for what is the meaning of duovicesimo?" . . . Varro11 in the sixteenth book of his Antiquities of Man; there he wrote as follows:12 "He died in the twenty-second year13 (duovicesimo); he was king for twenty-one years." .
1. The horse of king Alexander was called Bucephalas because of the shape of his head.
2 Chares wrote that he was bought for thirteen talents and given to king Philip; that amount in Roman money is three hundred and twelve thousand sesterces.
3 It seemed a noteworthy characteristic of this horse that when he was armed and equipped for battle, he would never allow himself to be mounted by any other than the king.7 4 It is also related that Alexander in the war against India, mounted upon that horse and doing p385valorous deeds, had driven him, with disregard of his own safety, too far into the enemies' ranks. The horse had suffered deep wounds in his neck and side from the weapons hurled from every hand at Alexander, but though dying and almost exhausted from loss of blood, he yet in swiftest course bore the king from the midst of the foe; but when he had taken him out of range of the weapons, the horse at once fell, and satisfied with having saved his master breathed his last, with indications of relief that were almost human. 5 Then king Alexander, after winning the victory in that war, founded a city in that region and in honour of his horse called it Bucephalon.
**************************************
AD--3: the reason and the occasion which are said to have introduced Protagoras to the study of philosophical literature.
1. They say that Protagoras, a man eminent in the pursuit of learning, whose name Platone gave to that famous dialogue of his, in his youth earned his living as a hired labourer and often carried heavy burdens on his back, being one of that class of men
2 whom the Greeks call ἀχθοφόροι and we Latins baiuli, or porters.
3 He was once carrying a great number of blocks of wood, bound together with a short rope, from the neighbouring countryside into his native town of Abdera.
4 It chanced at the time that Democrito, a citizen of that same city, a man esteemed before all others for his fine character and his knowledge of philosophy, as he was going out of the city, saw Protagoras walking along easily and rapidly with that burden, of a kind so awkward and so difficult to hold together. Democritus drew near, and noticing with what skill and judgment the wood was arranged and tied, asked the man to stop and rest awhile.
5. When Protagoras did as he was asked, and Democritus again observed that the almost circular heap of blocks was bound with a short rope, and was balanced and held together with all but geometrical accuracy, he asked who had put the wood together in that way. When Protagoras replied that he had done it himself, Democritus asked him to untie the bundle and arrange it again in the same way.
6 But after he had done so, then Democritus, astonished at the keen intellect and cleverness of this uneducated man, said:
"My dear young man, since you have a talent for doing things well, there are greater and better employments which you can follow with me".
And he at once took him away, kept him at his own house, supplied him with money, taught him philosophy, and made him the great man that he afterwards became.
7. Yet this Protagoras was not a true philosopher, but the cleverest of sophists.
For in consideration of the payment of a huge annual fee, he used to promise his pupils that he would teach them by what verbal dexterity the weaker cause could be made the stronger, a process which he called in Greek:
τὸν ἥττω λόγον κρείττω ποιεῖν, or
"making the word appear the better reason."
**************************************
AD-- 4 On the word "duovicesimus", which is unknown to the general public, but occurs frequently in the writings of the learned.
1 I chanced to be sitting in a bookshop in the Sigillaria8 with the poet Julius Paulus, the most p389learned man within my memory; and there was on sale there the Annals of Fabius9 in a copy of good and undoubted age, which the dealer maintained was without errors. 2 But one of the better known grammarians, who had been called in by a purchaser to inspect the book, said that he had found in it one error; but the bookseller for his part offered to wager any amount whatever that there was not a mistake even in a single letter. 3 The grammarian pointed out the following passage in the fourth book:10 "Therefore it was then that for the first time one of the two consuls was chosen from the plebeians, in the twenty-second (duovicesimo) year after the Gauls captured Rome." 4 "It ought," to read, not duovicesimo, but duo et vicesimoº or twenty-second; 5 for what is the meaning of duovicesimo?" . . . Varro11 in the sixteenth book of his Antiquities of Man; there he wrote as follows:12 "He died in the twenty-second year13 (duovicesimo); he was king for twenty-one years." .
*********************
AD--5: how the Carthaginian Hannibal jested at the expense of king Antiochus.
1 In collections of old tales it is recorded that Hannibal the Carthaginian
made a highly witty jest when at the court of king Antiochus. The jest was
p391this: 2 Antiochus was displaying to him on the plain the gigantic forces
which he had mustered to make war on the Roman people, and was manoeuvring his
army glittering with gold and silver ornaments. 3 He also brought up chariots
with scythes, elephants with turrets, and horsemen with brilliant bridles,
saddle-cloths, neck-chains and trappings. 4 And then the king, filled with
vainglory at the sight of an army so great and so well-equipped, turned to
Hannibal and said: "Do you think that all this can be equalled and that it
is enough for the Romans?" 5 Then the Carthaginian, deriding the
worthlessness and inefficiency of the king's troops in their costly armour,
replied: "I think all this will be enough, yes, quite enough for the
Romans, even though they are most avaricious." 6 Absolutely nothing could
equal this remark for wit and sarcasm; 7 the king had inquired about the size
of his army and asked for a comparative estimate; Hannibal in his reply
referred to it as booty.
*******************************
AD--6: omilitary crowns, with a description of the triumphal, siege, civic,
mural, camp, naval, ovation, and olive crowns.
1 Military crowns are many and varied. 2 Of these the most highly esteemed I find to be in general the following: the "triumphal, siege, civic, mural, camp and naval crowns." 3 There is besides the so called "ovation" crown, and lastly also the "olive" crown, 4 which is regularly worn by those who have not taken part in a battle, but nevertheless are awarded a triumph.
p393 5 "Triumphal" crowns are of gold and are presented to a commander in recognition of the honour of a triumph. 6 This in common parlance is "gold for a crown." 7 This crown in ancient times was of laurel, but later they began to make them of gold.
8 The "siege" crown is the one which those who have been delivered from a state of siege presented to the general who delivered them. 9 That crown is of grass, and custom requires that it be made of grass which grew in the place within which the besieged were confined. 10 This crown of grass the Roman senate and people presented to Quintus Fabius Maximus in the second Punic war, because he had freed the city of Rome from siege by the enemy.
11 The crown is called "civic" which one citizen gives to another who has saved his life in battle, in recognition of the preservation of his life and safety. 12 It is made of the leaves of the esculent oak, because the earliest food and means of supporting life were furnished by that oak; it was formerly made also from the holm oak, because that is the species which is most nearly related to the esculent; this we learn from a comedy of Caecilius, who says:14
They pass with cloaks and crowns of holm; ye Gods!
13 But Masurius Sabinus,15 in the eleventh book of his Memoirs, says that it was the custom to award the civic crown only when the man who had saved the life of a fellow citizen had at the same time slain the enemy who threatened him, and had not given ground in that battle; under other conditions he says that the honour of the civic crown was not granted. 14 He adds, however, that Tiberius Caesar p395was once asked to decide whether a soldier might receive the civic crown who had saved a citizen in battle and killed two of the enemy, yet had not held the position in which he was fighting, but the enemy had occupied it. The emperor ruled that the soldier seemed to be among those who deserved the civic crown, since it was clear that he had rescued a fellow citizen from a place so perilous that it could not be held even by valiant warriors. 15 It was this civic crown that Lucius Gellius, an ex-censor, proposed in the senate that his country should award to Cicero in his consulship, because it was through his efforts that the frightful conspiracy of Catiline had been detected and punished.
16 The "mural" crown is that which is awarded by a commander to the man who is first to mount the wall and force his way into an enemy's town; therefore it is ornamented with representations of the battlements of a wall. 17 A "camp" crown is presented by a general to the soldier who is first to fight his way into a hostile camp; that crown represents a palisade. 18 The "naval" crown is commonly awarded to the armed man who has been the first to board an enemy ship in a sea-fight; it is decorated with representations of the beaks of ships. 19 Now the "mural," "camp," and "naval" crowns are regularly made of gold.
21 The "ovation" crown is of myrtle; 21 it was worn by generals who entered the city in an ovation.
The occasion for awarding an ovation, and not a triumph, is that wars have not been declared in due form and so have not been waged with a legitimate enemy, or that the adversaries' character is low or unworthy, as in the case of slaves or pirates, or that, p397because of a quick surrender, a victory was won which was "dustless," as the saying is,16 and bloodless. 22 For such an easy victory they believed that the leaves sacred to Venus were appropriate, on the ground that it was a triumph, not of Mars, but as it were of Venus. 23 And Marcus Crassus, when he returned after ending the Servile war and entered the city in an ovation, disdainfully rejected the myrtle crown and used his influence to have a decree passed by the senate, that he should be crowned with laurel, not with myrtle.
24 Marcus Cato charges Marcus Fulvius Nobilior17 with having awarded crowns to his soldiers for the most trifling reasons possible, for the sake of popularity. 25 On that subject I give you Cato's own words:18 "Now to begin with, who ever saw anyone presented with a crown, when a town had not been taken nor an enemy's camp burned?" 26 But Fulvius, against whom Cato brought that charge, had bestowed crowns on his soldiers for industry in building a rampart or in digging a well.
27 I must not pass over a point relating to ovations, about which I learn that the ancient writers disagreed. For some of them have stated that the man who celebrated an ovation was accustomed to enter the city on horseback: but Masurius Sabinus says19 that they entered on foot, followed, not by their soldiers, but by the senate in a body.
******
AD--7: how cleverly Gavius Bassus explained the word "persona", and what he said to be the origin of that word.
AD--7: how cleverly Gavius Bassus explained the word "persona", and what he said to be the origin of that word.
1. Cleverly, by Heaven! and wittily, in my opinion, does Gavius Bassus explain
the derivation of the word persona, in the work that he composed On the Origin
of Words; for he suggests that that word is formed from personare.
2
"For," he says,20 "the head and the face are shut in on all
sides by the covering of the persona, or mask, and only one passage is left for
the issue of the voice; and since this opening is neither free nor broad, but
sends forth the voice after it has been concentrated and forced into one single
means of egress, it makes the sound clearer and more resonant. Since then that
covering of the face gives clearness and resonance to the voice, it is for that
reason called persona, the o being lengthened because of the formation of the
word."
******
AD-8: A defence of some lines of Virgil, in which the grammarian Julius Hyginus alleged that there was a mistake; and also the meaning of "lituus", and on the etymology of that word.
1.
"Here, wielding his Quirinal augur-staff,
Girt with scant shift and bearing on his left
The sacred shield, Picus appeared enthroned."
In these verses Hyginus wrote that Virgil was in error, alleging that he did not notice that the words "ipse Quirinali lituo" lacked something.
"For," said he, "if we have not observed that something is lacking, the sentence seems to read 'girt with staff and scant shift,' which," says he, "is utterly absurd; for since the lituus is a short wand, curved at its thicker end, such as the augurs use, how on earth can one be looked upon as 'girt with a lituus?' "
3. As a matter of fact, it was Hyginus himself who failed to notice that this expression, like very many others, contains an ellipsis.
4 For example, when we say,
"Marcus Cicero, a man of great eloquence" and
"Quintus Roscius, an actor of consummate grace,"
neither of these phrases is full and complete, but to the hearer they seem full and complete.
5 As Vergil wrote in another place:
Victorious Butes of huge bulk,
that is, having huge bulk, and also in another passage:
Into the ring he hurled gauntlets of giant weight,
and similarly:
A house of gore and cruel feasts, dark, huge within,
6. So then it would seem that the phrase in question ought to be interpreted as
"Picus was with the Quirinal staff,"
just as we say
"the statue was with a large head,"
7 and in fact "est", "erat" and "fuit" are often omitted, with elegant effect and without any loss of meaning.
8 And since mention has been made of the "lituus", I must not pass over a question which obviously may be asked, whether the augurs' lituus is called after the trumpet of the same name, or whether the p403trumpet derived its name lituus from the augurs' staff; 9 for both have the same form and both alike are curved.27 10 But if, as some think, the trumpet was called lituus from its sound, because of the Homeric expression λίγξε βιός,28
The bow twanged,
it must be concluded that the augural staff was called lituus from its resemblance to the trumpet. 11 And Virgil uses that word also as synonymous with tuba:29
He even faced the fray
Conspicuous both with clarion (lituo) and with spear.
AD-8: A defence of some lines of Virgil, in which the grammarian Julius Hyginus alleged that there was a mistake; and also the meaning of "lituus", and on the etymology of that word.
1.
"Here, wielding his Quirinal augur-staff,
Girt with scant shift and bearing on his left
The sacred shield, Picus appeared enthroned."
In these verses Hyginus wrote that Virgil was in error, alleging that he did not notice that the words "ipse Quirinali lituo" lacked something.
"For," said he, "if we have not observed that something is lacking, the sentence seems to read 'girt with staff and scant shift,' which," says he, "is utterly absurd; for since the lituus is a short wand, curved at its thicker end, such as the augurs use, how on earth can one be looked upon as 'girt with a lituus?' "
3. As a matter of fact, it was Hyginus himself who failed to notice that this expression, like very many others, contains an ellipsis.
4 For example, when we say,
"Marcus Cicero, a man of great eloquence" and
"Quintus Roscius, an actor of consummate grace,"
neither of these phrases is full and complete, but to the hearer they seem full and complete.
5 As Vergil wrote in another place:
Victorious Butes of huge bulk,
that is, having huge bulk, and also in another passage:
Into the ring he hurled gauntlets of giant weight,
and similarly:
A house of gore and cruel feasts, dark, huge within,
6. So then it would seem that the phrase in question ought to be interpreted as
"Picus was with the Quirinal staff,"
just as we say
"the statue was with a large head,"
7 and in fact "est", "erat" and "fuit" are often omitted, with elegant effect and without any loss of meaning.
8 And since mention has been made of the "lituus", I must not pass over a question which obviously may be asked, whether the augurs' lituus is called after the trumpet of the same name, or whether the p403trumpet derived its name lituus from the augurs' staff; 9 for both have the same form and both alike are curved.27 10 But if, as some think, the trumpet was called lituus from its sound, because of the Homeric expression λίγξε βιός,28
The bow twanged,
it must be concluded that the augural staff was called lituus from its resemblance to the trumpet. 11 And Virgil uses that word also as synonymous with tuba:29
He even faced the fray
Conspicuous both with clarion (lituo) and with spear.
********************************
AD--9: The story of Croesus' dumb son, from the books of Herodotus.
1. The son of king Croesus, when he was already old enough to speak, was dumb,
and after he had become a well-grown youth, he was still unable to utter a
word.
Hence he was for a long time regarded as mute and tongue-tied.
2. When Creso had been vanquished in a great war, the city in which he lived had been
taken, and one of the enemy was rushing upon him with drawn sword, unaware that
he was the king, then the young man opened his mouth in an attempt to cry out.
And by that effort and the force of his breath he broke the impediment and the
bond upon his tongue, and spoke plainly and clearly, shouting to the enemy NOT to kill king Creso.
3. Then the foeman withheld his sword, the Creso's life was
saved, and from that time on the youth began to speak.
4. Herodotus in his
Histories is the chronicler of that event, and the words which he says the
son of Croesus first spoke are:
"Man, do NOT kill Creso!"
5. But also an athlete of Samos — his name was Echeklous — although he had previously been speechless, is said to have begun to speak for a similar reason.
6. For when in a sacred contest the casting of lots between the Samians
and their opponents was not being done fairly, and he had noticed that a lot
with a false name was being slipped in, he suddenly shouted in a loud voice to
the man who was doing it that he saw what he was up to.
And he too was freed
from the check upon his speech and for all the remaining time of his life spoke
without stammering or lack of clearness.
AD--10: on the arguments which by the Greeks are called ἀντιστρέφοντα, and in
Latin may be termed reciproca.
1. Among fallacious arguments the one which the Greeks call "ἀντιστρέφων" seems to be by far the most fallacious.
2. Such arguments some of our own philosophers
have rather appropriately termed reciproca, or "convertible."
3. The
fallacy arises from the fact that the argument that is presented may be turned
in the opposite direction and used against the one who has offered it, and is
equally strong for both sides of the question.
An example is the well-known
argument which Protagoras, the keenest of all sophists, is said to have used
against his pupil Euathlus.
4. For a dispute arose between them and an altercation as to the fee which had been agreed upon, as follows:
5. Euathlus, a wealthy young man, was desirous
of instruction in oratory and the pleading of causes.
6. He became a pupil of
Protagoras and promised to pay him a large sum of money, as much as Protagoras
had demanded. He paid half of the amount at once, before beginning his lessons,
and agreed to pay the remaining half on the day when he first pleaded before
jurors and won his case.
7 Afterwards, when he had been for some little time a
pupil and follower of Protagoras, and had in fact made considerable progress in
the study of oratory, he nevertheless did not undertake any causes. And when
the time was already getting long, and he seemed to be acting thus in order not
to pay the rest of the fee, 8 Protagoras formed what seemed to him at the time
a wily scheme; he determined to demand his pay according to the contract, and
brought suit against Euathlus.
9 And when they had appeared before the jurors to bring forward and to contest the case, Protagoras began as follows: "Let me tell you, most foolish of youths, that in either event you will have to pay what I am demanding, whether judgment be pronounced for or against you. 10 For if the case goes against you, the money will be due me in accordance with the verdict, because I have won; but if the decision be in your favour, the money will be due me according to our contract, since you will have won a case."
11 To this Euathlus replied: "I might have met this sophism of yours, tricky as it is, by not pleading my own cause but employing another as my advocate. 12 But I take greater satisfaction in a victory in which p409I defeat you, not only in the suit, but also in this argument of yours. 13 So let me tell you in turn, wisest of masters, that in either event I shall not have to pay what you demand, whether judgment be pronounced for or against me. 14 For if the jurors decide in my favour, according to their verdict nothing will be due you, because I have won; but if they give judgment against me, by the terms of our contract I shall owe you nothing, because I have not won a case."
15 Then the jurors, thinking that the plea on both sides was uncertain and insoluble, for fear that their decision, for whichever side it was rendered, might annul itself, left the matter undecided and postponed the case to a distant day. 16 Thus a celebrated master of oratory was refuted by his youthful pupil with his own argument, and his cleverly devised sophism failed.
9 And when they had appeared before the jurors to bring forward and to contest the case, Protagoras began as follows: "Let me tell you, most foolish of youths, that in either event you will have to pay what I am demanding, whether judgment be pronounced for or against you. 10 For if the case goes against you, the money will be due me in accordance with the verdict, because I have won; but if the decision be in your favour, the money will be due me according to our contract, since you will have won a case."
11 To this Euathlus replied: "I might have met this sophism of yours, tricky as it is, by not pleading my own cause but employing another as my advocate. 12 But I take greater satisfaction in a victory in which p409I defeat you, not only in the suit, but also in this argument of yours. 13 So let me tell you in turn, wisest of masters, that in either event I shall not have to pay what you demand, whether judgment be pronounced for or against me. 14 For if the jurors decide in my favour, according to their verdict nothing will be due you, because I have won; but if they give judgment against me, by the terms of our contract I shall owe you nothing, because I have not won a case."
15 Then the jurors, thinking that the plea on both sides was uncertain and insoluble, for fear that their decision, for whichever side it was rendered, might annul itself, left the matter undecided and postponed the case to a distant day. 16 Thus a celebrated master of oratory was refuted by his youthful pupil with his own argument, and his cleverly devised sophism failed.
AD--11: the impossibility of regarding Bias's syllogism on marriage as
an example of ἀντιστρέφων.
1 Some think that the famous answer of the wise and noble Bias, like that of
Protagoras of which I have just spoken, was ἀντιστρέφων.
2 For Bias, being
asked by a certain man whether he should marry or lead a single life, said:
"You are sure to marry a woman either beautiful or ugly; and if beautiful,
you will share her with others, but if ugly, she will be a punishment.33 But
neither of these things is desirable; therefore do not marry."
p411 3 Now, they turn this argument about in this way. "If I marry a beautiful woman, she will not be a punishment; but if an ugly one, I shall be her sole possessor; therefore marry." 4 But this syllogism does not seem to be in the least convertible, since it appears somewhat weaker and less convincing when turned into the second form. 5 For Bias maintained that one should not marry because of one of two disadvantages which must necessarily be suffered by one who took a wife. 6 But he who converts the proposition does not defend himself against the inconvenience which is mentioned, but says that he is free from another which is not mentioned. 7 But to maintain the opinion that Bias expressed, it is enough that a man who has taken a wife must necessarily suffer one or the other of two disadvantages, of having a wife that is unfaithful, or a punishment.
8 But our countryman Favorinus, when that syllogism which Bias had employed happened to be mentioned, of which the first premise is: "You will marry either a beautiful or an ugly woman," declared that this was not a fact, and that it was not a fair antithesis, since it was not inevitable that one of the two opposites be true, 9 which must be the case in a disjunctive proposition. For obviously certain outstanding extremes of appearance are postulated, ugliness and beauty.34 10 "But there is," said he, "a third possibility also, lying between those two opposites, and that possibility Bias did not observe or regard. 11 For between a very beautiful and a very ugly woman there is a mean in appearance, which is free from the danger to which an excess of beauty is exposed, and also from the feeling of repulsion p413inspired by extreme ugliness. 12 A woman of that kind is called by Quintus Ennius in the Melanippa35 by the very elegant term 'normal,' 13 and such a woman will be neither unfaithful nor a punishment." 14 This moderate and modest beauty Favorinus, to my mind most sagaciously, called "conjugal." Moreover Ennius, in the tragedy which I mentioned, says that those women as a rule are of unblemished chastity who possess normal beauty.
p411 3 Now, they turn this argument about in this way. "If I marry a beautiful woman, she will not be a punishment; but if an ugly one, I shall be her sole possessor; therefore marry." 4 But this syllogism does not seem to be in the least convertible, since it appears somewhat weaker and less convincing when turned into the second form. 5 For Bias maintained that one should not marry because of one of two disadvantages which must necessarily be suffered by one who took a wife. 6 But he who converts the proposition does not defend himself against the inconvenience which is mentioned, but says that he is free from another which is not mentioned. 7 But to maintain the opinion that Bias expressed, it is enough that a man who has taken a wife must necessarily suffer one or the other of two disadvantages, of having a wife that is unfaithful, or a punishment.
8 But our countryman Favorinus, when that syllogism which Bias had employed happened to be mentioned, of which the first premise is: "You will marry either a beautiful or an ugly woman," declared that this was not a fact, and that it was not a fair antithesis, since it was not inevitable that one of the two opposites be true, 9 which must be the case in a disjunctive proposition. For obviously certain outstanding extremes of appearance are postulated, ugliness and beauty.34 10 "But there is," said he, "a third possibility also, lying between those two opposites, and that possibility Bias did not observe or regard. 11 For between a very beautiful and a very ugly woman there is a mean in appearance, which is free from the danger to which an excess of beauty is exposed, and also from the feeling of repulsion p413inspired by extreme ugliness. 12 A woman of that kind is called by Quintus Ennius in the Melanippa35 by the very elegant term 'normal,' 13 and such a woman will be neither unfaithful nor a punishment." 14 This moderate and modest beauty Favorinus, to my mind most sagaciously, called "conjugal." Moreover Ennius, in the tragedy which I mentioned, says that those women as a rule are of unblemished chastity who possess normal beauty.
***********************
AD--12: on the names of the gods of the Roman people called Diovis and
Vediovis.
1. In ancient prayers we have observed that these names of deities appear:
Diovis and Vediovis; 2 furthermore, there is also a temple of Vediovis at Rome,
between the Citadel and the Capitolium.36 3 The explanation of these names I
have found to be this: 4 the ancient Latins derived Iovis from iuvare (help),
and called that same god "father," thus adding a second word. 5 For
Iovispater is the full and complete form, which becomes Iupiter37 by the
syncope or change of some of the letters. So also Neptunuspater is used as a
compound, and Saturnuspater and Ianuspater and Marspater — for that is the
original form of Marspiter — and Jove also was called Diespiter, that is, the
father of day and of light. 6 And therefore by a name of similar origin Jove is
called Diovis and also Lucetius, because he blesses us and helps us by means of
the day and the light, which are equivalent to life itself. 7 And Lucetius is
applied to Jove by Gnaeus Naevius in his poem On the Punic War.38
p415 8 Accordingly, when they had given the names Iovis and Diovis from iuvare (help), they applied a name of the contrary meaning to that god who had, not the power to help, but the force to do harm — for some gods they worshipped in order to gain their favour, others they propitiated in order to avert their hostility; and they called him Vediovis, thus taking away and denying his power to give help. 9 For the particle ve which appears in different forms in different words, now being spelled with these two letters and now with an a inserted between the two,a has two meanings which also differ from each other. 10 For ve, like very many other particles, has the effect either of weakening or of strengthening the force of a word; and it therefore happens that some words to which that particle is prefixed are ambiguous39 and may be used with either force, such as vescus (small), vemens (mighty), and vegrandis (very small),40 a point which I have discussed elsewhere41 in greater detail. But vesanus and vecordes are used with only one of the meanings of ve, namely, the privative or negative force, which the Greeks call κατὰ στέρησιν.
11 It is for this reason that the statue of the god Vediovis, which is in the temple of which I spoke above, holds arrows, which, as everyone knows, are devised to inflict harm. 12 For that reason it has often been said that that god is Apollo; and a she-goat is sacrificed to him in the customary fashion,42 p417and a representation of that animal stands near his statue.
13 It was for this reason, they say, that Virgil,º a man deeply versed in antiquarian lore, but never making a display of his knowledge, prays to the unpropitious gods in the Georgics, thus intimating that in gods of that kind there is a power capable of injuring rather than aiding. The verses of Vergilº are these:43
A task of narrow span, but no small praise,
If unpropitious powers bar not my way
And favouring Phoebus grant a poet's prayer.
14 And among those gods which ought to be placated in order to avert evil influences from ourselves or our harvests are reckoned Auruncus44 and Robigus.45
p415 8 Accordingly, when they had given the names Iovis and Diovis from iuvare (help), they applied a name of the contrary meaning to that god who had, not the power to help, but the force to do harm — for some gods they worshipped in order to gain their favour, others they propitiated in order to avert their hostility; and they called him Vediovis, thus taking away and denying his power to give help. 9 For the particle ve which appears in different forms in different words, now being spelled with these two letters and now with an a inserted between the two,a has two meanings which also differ from each other. 10 For ve, like very many other particles, has the effect either of weakening or of strengthening the force of a word; and it therefore happens that some words to which that particle is prefixed are ambiguous39 and may be used with either force, such as vescus (small), vemens (mighty), and vegrandis (very small),40 a point which I have discussed elsewhere41 in greater detail. But vesanus and vecordes are used with only one of the meanings of ve, namely, the privative or negative force, which the Greeks call κατὰ στέρησιν.
11 It is for this reason that the statue of the god Vediovis, which is in the temple of which I spoke above, holds arrows, which, as everyone knows, are devised to inflict harm. 12 For that reason it has often been said that that god is Apollo; and a she-goat is sacrificed to him in the customary fashion,42 p417and a representation of that animal stands near his statue.
13 It was for this reason, they say, that Virgil,º a man deeply versed in antiquarian lore, but never making a display of his knowledge, prays to the unpropitious gods in the Georgics, thus intimating that in gods of that kind there is a power capable of injuring rather than aiding. The verses of Vergilº are these:43
A task of narrow span, but no small praise,
If unpropitious powers bar not my way
And favouring Phoebus grant a poet's prayer.
14 And among those gods which ought to be placated in order to avert evil influences from ourselves or our harvests are reckoned Auruncus44 and Robigus.45
************************
AD--13: on the rank and order of obligations established by the usage of the Roman people.
1. There was once a discussion, in my presence and hearing, of the rank and order of obligations, carried on by a company of men of advanced age and high position at Rome, who were also eminent for their knowledge and command of ancient usage and conduct. And when the question was asked to whom we ought first and foremost to discharge those obligations, in case it should be necessary to prefer some to others in giving assistance or showing attention, there was a difference of opinion. 2 But it p419was readily agreed and accepted, that in accordance with the usage of the Roman people the place next after parents should be held by wards entrusted to our honour and protection; that second to them came clients, who also had committed themselves to our honour and guardianship; that then in the third place were guests; and finally relations by blood and by marriage.
3 Of this custom and practice there are numerous proofs and illustrations in the ancient records, of which, because it is now at hand, I will cite only this one at present, relating to clients and kindred. 4 Marcus Cato in the speech which he delivered before the censors Against Lentulus wrote thus:46 "Our forefathers regarded it as a more sacred obligation to defend their wards than not to deceive a client. One testifies in a client's behalf against one's relatives; testimony against a client is given by no one. A father held the first position of honour; next after him a patron."
5 Masurius Sabinus, however, in the third book of his Civil Law assigns a higher place to a guest than to a client. The passage from that book is this:47 "In the matter of obligations our forefathers observed the following order: first to a ward, then to a guest, then to a client, next to a blood relation, finally to a relation by marriage. Other things being equal, women were given preference to men, but a ward who was under age took precedence of one who was a grown woman. Also those who were appointed by will to be guardians of the sons of a man against whom they had appeared in court, appeared for the ward in the same case."
6 Very clear and strong testimony on this subject p421is furnished by the authority of Gaius Caesar, when he was high priest; for in the speech which he delivered In Defence of the Bithynians he made use of this preamble:48 "In consideration either of my guest-friendship with king Nicomedes or my relationship to those whose case is on trial, O Marcus Iuncus, I could not refuse this duty. For the remembrance of men ought not to be so obliterated by their death as not to be retained by those nearest to them, and without the height of disgrace we cannot forsake clients to whom we are bound to render aid even against our kinsfolk."
AD--13: on the rank and order of obligations established by the usage of the Roman people.
1. There was once a discussion, in my presence and hearing, of the rank and order of obligations, carried on by a company of men of advanced age and high position at Rome, who were also eminent for their knowledge and command of ancient usage and conduct. And when the question was asked to whom we ought first and foremost to discharge those obligations, in case it should be necessary to prefer some to others in giving assistance or showing attention, there was a difference of opinion. 2 But it p419was readily agreed and accepted, that in accordance with the usage of the Roman people the place next after parents should be held by wards entrusted to our honour and protection; that second to them came clients, who also had committed themselves to our honour and guardianship; that then in the third place were guests; and finally relations by blood and by marriage.
3 Of this custom and practice there are numerous proofs and illustrations in the ancient records, of which, because it is now at hand, I will cite only this one at present, relating to clients and kindred. 4 Marcus Cato in the speech which he delivered before the censors Against Lentulus wrote thus:46 "Our forefathers regarded it as a more sacred obligation to defend their wards than not to deceive a client. One testifies in a client's behalf against one's relatives; testimony against a client is given by no one. A father held the first position of honour; next after him a patron."
5 Masurius Sabinus, however, in the third book of his Civil Law assigns a higher place to a guest than to a client. The passage from that book is this:47 "In the matter of obligations our forefathers observed the following order: first to a ward, then to a guest, then to a client, next to a blood relation, finally to a relation by marriage. Other things being equal, women were given preference to men, but a ward who was under age took precedence of one who was a grown woman. Also those who were appointed by will to be guardians of the sons of a man against whom they had appeared in court, appeared for the ward in the same case."
6 Very clear and strong testimony on this subject p421is furnished by the authority of Gaius Caesar, when he was high priest; for in the speech which he delivered In Defence of the Bithynians he made use of this preamble:48 "In consideration either of my guest-friendship with king Nicomedes or my relationship to those whose case is on trial, O Marcus Iuncus, I could not refuse this duty. For the remembrance of men ought not to be so obliterated by their death as not to be retained by those nearest to them, and without the height of disgrace we cannot forsake clients to whom we are bound to render aid even against our kinsfolk."
*********
AD--14: the account of Apion, a learned man who was surnamed Plistonices, of the mutual recognition, due to old acquaintance, that he had seen at Rome between a man and a lion.
1 Apion, who was called Plistonices, was a man widely versed in letters, and possessing an extensive and varied knowledge of things Greek. 2 In his works, which are recognized as of no little repute, is contained an account of almost all the remarkable things which are to be seen and heard in Egypt. 3 Now, in his account of what he professes either to have heard or read he is perhaps too verbose through a reprehensible love of display — for he is a great self-advertiser in parading his learning; 4 but this incident, which he describes in the fifth book of his Wonders of Egypt,49 he declares that he neither heard nor read, but saw himself with his own eyes in the city of Rome.
p423 5 "In the Great Circus," he says, "a battle with wild beasts on a grand scale was being exhibited to the people. 6 Of that spectacle, since I chanced to be in Rome, I was," he says, "an eye-witness. 7 There were there many savage wild beasts, brutes remarkable for their huge size, and all of uncommon appearance or unusual ferocity. 8 But beyond all others," says he, "did the vast size of the lions excite the rest. 9 This one lion had drawn to himself the attention and eyes of all because of the activity and huge size of his body, his terrific and deep roar, the development of his muscles, and the mane streaming over his shoulders. 10 There was brought in, among many others who had been condemned to fight with the wild beasts, the slave of an ex-consul; the slave's name was Androclus. 11 When that lion saw him from a distance," says Apion, "he stopped short as if in amazement, and then approached the man slowly and quietly, as if he recognized him. 12 Then, wagging his tail in a mild and caressing way, after the manner and fashion of fawning dogs, he came close to the man, who was now half dead from fright, and gently licked his feet and hands. 13 The man Androclus, while submitting to the caresses of so fierce a beast, regained his lost courage and gradually turned his eyes to look at the lion. 14 Then," says Apion, "you might have seen man and lion exchange joyful greetings, as if they had recognized each other."
15 He says that at this sight, so truly astonishing, the people broke out into mighty shouts; and Gaius Caesar called Androclus to him and inquired the reason why that fiercest of lions had spared him alone. 16 Then Androclus related a strange and p425surprising story. 17 "My master," said he, "was governing Africa with proconsular authority. While there, I was forced by his undeserved and daily floggings to run away, and that my hiding-places might be safer from my master, the ruler of that country, I took refuge in lonely plains and deserts, intending, if food should fail me, to seek death in some form. 18 Then," said he, "when the midday sun was fierce and scorching, finding a remote and secluded cavern, I entered it, and hid myself. 19 Not long afterwards this lion came to the same cave with one paw lame and bleeding, making known by groans and moans the torturing pain of his wound." 20 And then, at the first sight of the approaching lion, Androclus said that his mind was overwhelmed with fear and dread. 21 "But when the lion," said he, "had entered what was evidently his own lair, and saw me cowering at a distance, he approached me mildly and gently, and lifting up his foot, was evidently showing it to me and holding it out as if to ask for help. 22 Then," said he, "I drew out a huge splinter that was embedded in the sole of the foot, squeezed out the pus that had formed in the interior of the wound, wiped away the blood, and dried it thoroughly, being now free from any great feeling of fear. 23 Then, relieved by that attention and treatment of mine, the lion, putting his paw in my hand, lay down and went to sleep, 24 and for three whole years from that day the lion and I lived in the same cave, and on the same food as well. 25 For he used to bring for me to the cave the choicest parts of the game which he took in hunting, which I, having no means of making a fire, dried in the noonday sun and ate. 26 But," said he, "after I had finally grown tired of that wild p427life, I left the cave when the lion had gone off to hunt, and after travelling nearly three days, I was seen and caught by some soldiers and taken from Africa to Rome to my master. 27 He at once had me condemned to death by being thrown to the wild beasts. 28 But," said he, "I perceive that this lion was also captured, after I left him, and that he is now requiting me for my kindness and my cure of him."
29 Apion records that Androclus told this story, and that when it had been made known to the people by being written out in full on a tablet and carried about the Circus, at the request of all Androclus was freed, acquitted and presented with the lion by vote of the people. 30 "Afterwards," said he, "we used to see Androclus with the lion, attached to a slender leash, making the rounds of the shops throughout the city; Androclus was given money, the lion was sprinkled with flowers, and everyone who met them anywhere exclaimed: 'This is the lion that was a man's friend, this is the man who was physician to a lion.' "
******
AD--15: that it is a disputed question among philosophers whether voice is
corporeal or incorporeal.
1 A question that has been argued long and continuously by the most famous
philosophers is whether voice has body or is incorporeal; 2 for the word
incorporeus has been coined by some of them, corresponding exactly to the Greek
ἀσώματος. 3 Now a body is that which is either active or passive: this in Greek
is defined as τὸ ἤτοι ποιοῦν ἢ πάσχον, or "that which either acts or is
acted upon." 4 Wishing p429to reproduce this definition the poet Lucretius
wrote:50
Naught save a body can be touched or touch.
5 The Greeks also define body in another way, as τὸ τριχῆ διάστατον, or "that which has three dimensions." 6 But the Stoics maintain51 that voice is a body, and say that it is air which has been struck; 7 Plato, however, thinks that voice is not corporeal: "for," says he,52 "not the air which is struck, but the stroke and the blow themselves are voice." 8 Democritus, and following him Epicurus, declare that voice consists of individual particles, and they call it, to use their own words, ῥευμα ἀτόμων,53 or "a stream of atoms." 9 When I heard of these and other sophistries, the result of a self-satisfied cleverness combined with lack of employment, and saw in these subtleties no real advantage affecting the conduct of life,b and no end to the inquiry, I agreed with Ennius' Neoptolemus, who rightly says:54
Philosophizing there must be, but by the few;
Since for all men it's not to be desired.
Naught save a body can be touched or touch.
5 The Greeks also define body in another way, as τὸ τριχῆ διάστατον, or "that which has three dimensions." 6 But the Stoics maintain51 that voice is a body, and say that it is air which has been struck; 7 Plato, however, thinks that voice is not corporeal: "for," says he,52 "not the air which is struck, but the stroke and the blow themselves are voice." 8 Democritus, and following him Epicurus, declare that voice consists of individual particles, and they call it, to use their own words, ῥευμα ἀτόμων,53 or "a stream of atoms." 9 When I heard of these and other sophistries, the result of a self-satisfied cleverness combined with lack of employment, and saw in these subtleties no real advantage affecting the conduct of life,b and no end to the inquiry, I agreed with Ennius' Neoptolemus, who rightly says:54
Philosophizing there must be, but by the few;
Since for all men it's not to be desired.
*************************************
AD--16: on the function of the eye and the process of vision. Cfr. Grice, "Some remarks about the senses".
1. I have observed that the philosophers have varying opinions about the method of seeing and the nature of vision.
2. The Stoics say that the causes of sight are the emission of rays from the eyes to those objects which can be seen, and the simultaneous expansion of the air.
3 Epicurusbelieves that there is a constant flow from all bodies of images of those bodies themselves, and that these impinge upon the eyes and hence the sensation of seeing arises.
4. Plato is of the opinion that a kind of fire or light issues from the eyes, and that this, being united and joined either with the light of the sun or with that of some other fire, by means of its own and the external force makes us see whatever it has struck and illumined.
5. But here too we must not dally longer, but follow the advice of that Neoptolemus in Ennius, of whom I have just written, who advises having a "taste" of philosophy, but not "gorging oneself with it."
AD--16: on the function of the eye and the process of vision. Cfr. Grice, "Some remarks about the senses".
1. I have observed that the philosophers have varying opinions about the method of seeing and the nature of vision.
2. The Stoics say that the causes of sight are the emission of rays from the eyes to those objects which can be seen, and the simultaneous expansion of the air.
3 Epicurusbelieves that there is a constant flow from all bodies of images of those bodies themselves, and that these impinge upon the eyes and hence the sensation of seeing arises.
4. Plato is of the opinion that a kind of fire or light issues from the eyes, and that this, being united and joined either with the light of the sun or with that of some other fire, by means of its own and the external force makes us see whatever it has struck and illumined.
5. But here too we must not dally longer, but follow the advice of that Neoptolemus in Ennius, of whom I have just written, who advises having a "taste" of philosophy, but not "gorging oneself with it."
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AD--17: why the first days after the Kalends, Nones and Ides are considered unlucky; and why many avoid also the fourth day before the Kalends, Nones or Ides, on the ground that it is ill-omened.
1 Verrius Flaccus, in the fourth book of his work On the Meaning of Words, writes59 that the days immediately following the Kalends, Nones and Ides, which the common people ignorantly call "holidays," are properly called, and considered, "ill-omened," for this reason:— 2 "When the city," he says, "had been recovered from the Senonian Gauls, Lucius Atilius stated in the senate that Quintus Sulpicius, tribune of the soldiers, when on the eve of fighting against the Gauls at the Allia,60 offered sacrifice in anticipation of that battle on the day after the Ides; that the army of the Roman people was thereupon cut to pieces, and three days later the whole p433city, except the Capitol, was taken. Also many other senators said that they remembered that whenever with a view to waging war a magistrate of the Roman people had sacrificed on the day after the Kalends, Nones or Ides, in the very next battle of that war the State had suffered disaster. Then the senate referred the matter to the pontiffs, that they might take what action they saw fit. The pontiffs decreed that no offering would properly be made on those days."
3 Many also avoid the fourth day before the Kalends, Nones and Ides, as ill-omened. 4 It is often inquired whether any religious reason for that observance is recorded. 5 I myself have found nothing in literature pertaining to that matter, except that Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius, in the fifth book of his Annals, says that the prodigious slaughter of the battle of Cannae occurred on the fourth day before the Nones of August.
AD--17: why the first days after the Kalends, Nones and Ides are considered unlucky; and why many avoid also the fourth day before the Kalends, Nones or Ides, on the ground that it is ill-omened.
1 Verrius Flaccus, in the fourth book of his work On the Meaning of Words, writes59 that the days immediately following the Kalends, Nones and Ides, which the common people ignorantly call "holidays," are properly called, and considered, "ill-omened," for this reason:— 2 "When the city," he says, "had been recovered from the Senonian Gauls, Lucius Atilius stated in the senate that Quintus Sulpicius, tribune of the soldiers, when on the eve of fighting against the Gauls at the Allia,60 offered sacrifice in anticipation of that battle on the day after the Ides; that the army of the Roman people was thereupon cut to pieces, and three days later the whole p433city, except the Capitol, was taken. Also many other senators said that they remembered that whenever with a view to waging war a magistrate of the Roman people had sacrificed on the day after the Kalends, Nones or Ides, in the very next battle of that war the State had suffered disaster. Then the senate referred the matter to the pontiffs, that they might take what action they saw fit. The pontiffs decreed that no offering would properly be made on those days."
3 Many also avoid the fourth day before the Kalends, Nones and Ides, as ill-omened. 4 It is often inquired whether any religious reason for that observance is recorded. 5 I myself have found nothing in literature pertaining to that matter, except that Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius, in the fifth book of his Annals, says that the prodigious slaughter of the battle of Cannae occurred on the fourth day before the Nones of August.
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AD---18: in what respect, and how far, "history" differs from "annals"; and a quotation on that subject from the first book of the Histories of Sempronius Asellio.
1 Some think that history differs from annals in this particular, that while each is a narrative of events, yet history is properly an account of events in which the narrator took part; 2 and that this is the opinion of some men is stated by Verrius Flaccus in the fourth book of his treatise On the Meaning of Words.62 He adds that he for his part has doubts about the matter, but he thinks that the view may have some appearance of reason, since ἱστορία in Greek means a p435knowledge of current events. 3 But we often hear it said that annals are exactly the same as histories, 4 but that histories are not exactly the same as annals; 5 just as a man is necessarily an animal, but an animal is not necessarily a man.
6 Thus they say that history is the setting forth of events or their description, or whatever term may be used; but that annals set down the events of many years successively, with observance of the chronological order. 7 When, however, events are recorded, not year by year, but day by day, such a history is called in Greek ἐφημερίς, or "a diary," a term of which the Latin interpretation is found in the first book of Sempronius Asellio. I have quoted a passage of some length from that book, in order at the same time to show what his opinion is of the difference between history and chronicle.
8 "But between those," he says,63 "who have desired to leave us annals, and those who have tried to write the history of the Roman people, there was this essential difference. The books of annals merely made known what happened and in what year it happened, which is like writing a diary, which the Greeks call ἐφημερίς. For my part, I realize that it is not enough to make known what has been done, but that one should also show with what purpose and for what reason things were done." 9 A little later in the same book Asellio writes:64 "For annals cannot in any way make men more eager to defend their country, or more reluctant to do wrong. Furthermore, to write over and over again in whose consulship a war was begun and ended, and who in consequence entered the city in a triumph, and in that p437book not to state what happened in the course of the war, what decrees the senate made during that time, or what law or bill was passed, and with what motives these things were done — that is to tell stories to children, not to write history."
AD---18: in what respect, and how far, "history" differs from "annals"; and a quotation on that subject from the first book of the Histories of Sempronius Asellio.
1 Some think that history differs from annals in this particular, that while each is a narrative of events, yet history is properly an account of events in which the narrator took part; 2 and that this is the opinion of some men is stated by Verrius Flaccus in the fourth book of his treatise On the Meaning of Words.62 He adds that he for his part has doubts about the matter, but he thinks that the view may have some appearance of reason, since ἱστορία in Greek means a p435knowledge of current events. 3 But we often hear it said that annals are exactly the same as histories, 4 but that histories are not exactly the same as annals; 5 just as a man is necessarily an animal, but an animal is not necessarily a man.
6 Thus they say that history is the setting forth of events or their description, or whatever term may be used; but that annals set down the events of many years successively, with observance of the chronological order. 7 When, however, events are recorded, not year by year, but day by day, such a history is called in Greek ἐφημερίς, or "a diary," a term of which the Latin interpretation is found in the first book of Sempronius Asellio. I have quoted a passage of some length from that book, in order at the same time to show what his opinion is of the difference between history and chronicle.
8 "But between those," he says,63 "who have desired to leave us annals, and those who have tried to write the history of the Roman people, there was this essential difference. The books of annals merely made known what happened and in what year it happened, which is like writing a diary, which the Greeks call ἐφημερίς. For my part, I realize that it is not enough to make known what has been done, but that one should also show with what purpose and for what reason things were done." 9 A little later in the same book Asellio writes:64 "For annals cannot in any way make men more eager to defend their country, or more reluctant to do wrong. Furthermore, to write over and over again in whose consulship a war was begun and ended, and who in consequence entered the city in a triumph, and in that p437book not to state what happened in the course of the war, what decrees the senate made during that time, or what law or bill was passed, and with what motives these things were done — that is to tell stories to children, not to write history."
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AD--19: the meaning of "adoptatio" and also of "adrogatio", and how they differ;
and the formula used by the official who, when children are adopted, brings the
business before the people.
1 When outsiders are taken into another's family and given the relationship of children, it is done either through a praetor or through the people. 2 If done by a praetor, the process is called adoptatio; if through the people, arrogatio.º 3 Now, we have adoptatio, when those who are adopted are surrendered in court through a thrice repeated sale65 by the father under whose control they are, and are claimed by the one who adopts them in the presence of the official before whom the legal action takes place. 4 The process is called adrogatio, when persons who are their own masters deliver themselves into the control of another, and are themselves responsible for the act. 5 But arrogations are not made without due consideration and investigation; 6 for the so called comitia curiata66 are summoned under the authority of the pontiffs, and it is inquired whether the age of the one who wishes to adopt is not rather suited to begetting children of his own; precaution is taken that the property of the one who is being adopted is not being sought under false pretences; and an oath is administered which is said p439to have been formulated for use in that ceremony by Quintus Mucius,67 when he was pontifex maximus. 7 But no one may be adopted by adrogatio who is not yet ready to assume the gown of manhood. 8 The name adrogatio is due to the fact that this kind of transfer to another's family is accomplished through a rogatio or "request," put to the people.
9 The language of this request is as follows: "Express your desire and ordain that Lucius Valerius be the son of Lucius Titius as justly and lawfully as if he had been born of that father and the mother of his family, and that Titius have the power of life and death over Valerius which a father has over a son. This, just as I have stated it, I thus ask of you, fellow Romans."
10 Neither a ward nor a woman who is not under the control of her father may be adopted by adrogatio; since women have no part in the comitia, and it is not right that guardians should have so much authority and power over their wards as to be able to subject to the control of another a free person who has been committed to their protection. 11 Freedmen, however, may legally be adopted in that way by freeborn citizens, according to Masurius Sabinus.68 12 But he adds that it is not allowed, that men of the condition of freedmen should by process of adoption usurp the privileges of the freeborn. 13 "Furthermore," says he, if that ancient law be maintained, even a slave may be surrendered by his master for adoption through the agency of a praetor." 14 And he declares that several authorities69 on ancient law have written that this can be done.
15 I have observed in a speech of Publius Scipio On p441Morals, which he made to the people in his censorship, that among the things that he criticized, on the ground that they were done contrary to the usage of our forefathers, he also found fault with this, that an adopted son was of profit to his adoptive father in gaining the rewards for paternity.70 16 The passage in that speech is as follows:71 "A father votes in one tribe, the son in another,72 an adopted son is of as much advantage as if one had a son of his own; orders are given to take the census of absentees, and hence it is not necessary for anyone to appear in person at the census."
1 When outsiders are taken into another's family and given the relationship of children, it is done either through a praetor or through the people. 2 If done by a praetor, the process is called adoptatio; if through the people, arrogatio.º 3 Now, we have adoptatio, when those who are adopted are surrendered in court through a thrice repeated sale65 by the father under whose control they are, and are claimed by the one who adopts them in the presence of the official before whom the legal action takes place. 4 The process is called adrogatio, when persons who are their own masters deliver themselves into the control of another, and are themselves responsible for the act. 5 But arrogations are not made without due consideration and investigation; 6 for the so called comitia curiata66 are summoned under the authority of the pontiffs, and it is inquired whether the age of the one who wishes to adopt is not rather suited to begetting children of his own; precaution is taken that the property of the one who is being adopted is not being sought under false pretences; and an oath is administered which is said p439to have been formulated for use in that ceremony by Quintus Mucius,67 when he was pontifex maximus. 7 But no one may be adopted by adrogatio who is not yet ready to assume the gown of manhood. 8 The name adrogatio is due to the fact that this kind of transfer to another's family is accomplished through a rogatio or "request," put to the people.
9 The language of this request is as follows: "Express your desire and ordain that Lucius Valerius be the son of Lucius Titius as justly and lawfully as if he had been born of that father and the mother of his family, and that Titius have the power of life and death over Valerius which a father has over a son. This, just as I have stated it, I thus ask of you, fellow Romans."
10 Neither a ward nor a woman who is not under the control of her father may be adopted by adrogatio; since women have no part in the comitia, and it is not right that guardians should have so much authority and power over their wards as to be able to subject to the control of another a free person who has been committed to their protection. 11 Freedmen, however, may legally be adopted in that way by freeborn citizens, according to Masurius Sabinus.68 12 But he adds that it is not allowed, that men of the condition of freedmen should by process of adoption usurp the privileges of the freeborn. 13 "Furthermore," says he, if that ancient law be maintained, even a slave may be surrendered by his master for adoption through the agency of a praetor." 14 And he declares that several authorities69 on ancient law have written that this can be done.
15 I have observed in a speech of Publius Scipio On p441Morals, which he made to the people in his censorship, that among the things that he criticized, on the ground that they were done contrary to the usage of our forefathers, he also found fault with this, that an adopted son was of profit to his adoptive father in gaining the rewards for paternity.70 16 The passage in that speech is as follows:71 "A father votes in one tribe, the son in another,72 an adopted son is of as much advantage as if one had a son of his own; orders are given to take the census of absentees, and hence it is not necessary for anyone to appear in person at the census."
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AD---20: the Latin word coined by Sinnio Capito for "solecism," and what the early writers of Latin called that same fault; and also Sinnius Capito's definition of a solecism.
1. A solecism, which by Sinnius Capito and other men of his time was called in Latin "inparilitas", or "inequality," the earlier Latin writers termed "stribiligo", evidently meaning the improper use of an inverted form of expression, a sort of twist as it were.
2. This kind of fault is thus defined by Sinnius Capito, in a letter which he wrote to Clodio Tusco:
"A solecism," he says, "is an irregular and incongruous joining together of the parts of speech."
3. Since "soloecismus" is a Greek word, the question is often asked, whether it was used by the men of Attica who spoke most elegantly.
4. But I have as yet found neither "soloecismus" nor "barbarismus" in good Greek writers.
5. For just as they used "βάρβαρος", so they used "σόλοικος".
6. So too our earlier writers used "soloecus" regularly, "soloecismus" never, I think.
7. But if that be so, soloecismus is proper usage neither in Greek nor in Latin.
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AD--21: one who says "pluria", "compluria" and "compluriens" speaks good Latin, and not incorrectly.
1 An extremely learned man, a friend of mine, chanced in the course of conversation to use the word pluria, not at all with a desire to show off, or because he thought that plura ought not to be used. 2 For he is a man of serious scholarship and devoted to the duties of life, and not at all meticulous in the use of words. 3 But, I think, from constant perusal of the early writers a word which he had often met in books had become second nature to his tongue.
4 There was present when he said this a very audacious critic of language, who had read very little and that of the most ordinary sort; this fellow had some trifling instruction in the art of grammar, which was partly ill-digested and confused and partly false, and this he used to cast like dust into the eyes of any with whom he had entered into discussion.
5 Thus on that occasion he said to my friend: "You were incorrect in saying plura; for that form has p445neither justification nor authorities." 6 Thereupon that friend of mine rejoiced with a smile: "My good sir, since I now have leisure from more serious affairs, I wish you would please explain to me why pluria and compluria — for they do not differ — are used barbarously and incorrectly by Marcus Cato,77 Quintus Claudius,78 Valerius Antias,79 Lucius Aelius,80 Publius Nigidius,81 and Marcus Varro, whom we have as endorsers and sanctioners of this form, to say nothing of a great number of the early poets and orators." 7 And the fellow answered with excessive arrogance: "You are welcome to those authorities of yours, dug up from the age of the Fauns and Aborigines, but what is your answer to this rule? 8 No neuter comparative in the nominative plural has an i before its final a; for example, meliora, maiora, graviora. Accordingly, then, it is proper to say plura, not pluria, in order that there be no i before final a in a comparative, contrary to the invariable rule."
9 Then that friend of mine, thinking that the self-confident fellow deserved a few words, said: "There are numerous letters of Sinnius Capito, a very learned man, collected in a single volume and deposited, I think, in the Temple of Peace.
10 The first letter is addressed to Pacuvius Labeo, and it is prefixed by the title, 'Pluria, not plura, should be used.'
11 In that letter he has collected the grammatical rules to show that pluria, and not plura, is good Latin. Therefore I refer you to Capito.
12 From him you will learn at the same time, provided you can comprehend what is written in that letter,
13 that pluria, or plura, is the positive and simple form, not, as it seems to you, a comparative."
14. It also confirms that view of Sinnius, that when p447we say complures or "several," we are not using a comparative.
15 Moreover, from the word "compluria" is derived the adverb "compluriens", "often."
16. Since this is not a common word, I have added a verse of Plauto, from the comedy entitled "The Persian":
What do you fear? — By Heaven! I am afraid;
I've had the feeling many a time and oft (compluriens).
17. Marco Catone too, in the fourth book of his "Origins", has used this word three times in the same passage:
Often (compluriens) did their mercenary soldiers kill one another in large numbers in the camp.
Often (compluriens) did many together desert to the enemy.
Often (compluriens) did they attack their general."
AD---20: the Latin word coined by Sinnio Capito for "solecism," and what the early writers of Latin called that same fault; and also Sinnius Capito's definition of a solecism.
1. A solecism, which by Sinnius Capito and other men of his time was called in Latin "inparilitas", or "inequality," the earlier Latin writers termed "stribiligo", evidently meaning the improper use of an inverted form of expression, a sort of twist as it were.
2. This kind of fault is thus defined by Sinnius Capito, in a letter which he wrote to Clodio Tusco:
"A solecism," he says, "is an irregular and incongruous joining together of the parts of speech."
3. Since "soloecismus" is a Greek word, the question is often asked, whether it was used by the men of Attica who spoke most elegantly.
4. But I have as yet found neither "soloecismus" nor "barbarismus" in good Greek writers.
5. For just as they used "βάρβαρος", so they used "σόλοικος".
6. So too our earlier writers used "soloecus" regularly, "soloecismus" never, I think.
7. But if that be so, soloecismus is proper usage neither in Greek nor in Latin.
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AD--21: one who says "pluria", "compluria" and "compluriens" speaks good Latin, and not incorrectly.
1 An extremely learned man, a friend of mine, chanced in the course of conversation to use the word pluria, not at all with a desire to show off, or because he thought that plura ought not to be used. 2 For he is a man of serious scholarship and devoted to the duties of life, and not at all meticulous in the use of words. 3 But, I think, from constant perusal of the early writers a word which he had often met in books had become second nature to his tongue.
4 There was present when he said this a very audacious critic of language, who had read very little and that of the most ordinary sort; this fellow had some trifling instruction in the art of grammar, which was partly ill-digested and confused and partly false, and this he used to cast like dust into the eyes of any with whom he had entered into discussion.
5 Thus on that occasion he said to my friend: "You were incorrect in saying plura; for that form has p445neither justification nor authorities." 6 Thereupon that friend of mine rejoiced with a smile: "My good sir, since I now have leisure from more serious affairs, I wish you would please explain to me why pluria and compluria — for they do not differ — are used barbarously and incorrectly by Marcus Cato,77 Quintus Claudius,78 Valerius Antias,79 Lucius Aelius,80 Publius Nigidius,81 and Marcus Varro, whom we have as endorsers and sanctioners of this form, to say nothing of a great number of the early poets and orators." 7 And the fellow answered with excessive arrogance: "You are welcome to those authorities of yours, dug up from the age of the Fauns and Aborigines, but what is your answer to this rule? 8 No neuter comparative in the nominative plural has an i before its final a; for example, meliora, maiora, graviora. Accordingly, then, it is proper to say plura, not pluria, in order that there be no i before final a in a comparative, contrary to the invariable rule."
9 Then that friend of mine, thinking that the self-confident fellow deserved a few words, said: "There are numerous letters of Sinnius Capito, a very learned man, collected in a single volume and deposited, I think, in the Temple of Peace.
10 The first letter is addressed to Pacuvius Labeo, and it is prefixed by the title, 'Pluria, not plura, should be used.'
11 In that letter he has collected the grammatical rules to show that pluria, and not plura, is good Latin. Therefore I refer you to Capito.
12 From him you will learn at the same time, provided you can comprehend what is written in that letter,
13 that pluria, or plura, is the positive and simple form, not, as it seems to you, a comparative."
14. It also confirms that view of Sinnius, that when p447we say complures or "several," we are not using a comparative.
15 Moreover, from the word "compluria" is derived the adverb "compluriens", "often."
16. Since this is not a common word, I have added a verse of Plauto, from the comedy entitled "The Persian":
What do you fear? — By Heaven! I am afraid;
I've had the feeling many a time and oft (compluriens).
17. Marco Catone too, in the fourth book of his "Origins", has used this word three times in the same passage:
Often (compluriens) did their mercenary soldiers kill one another in large numbers in the camp.
Often (compluriens) did many together desert to the enemy.
Often (compluriens) did they attack their general."
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