Noctes Atticae

The story of king Tarquin the Proud and the Sibylline Books.

IN ancient annals we find this tradition about the Sibylline Books. 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. Tarquin inquired the price; the woman demanded an

immense and exorbitant sum: the king laughed her to scorn, believing her to be in her dotage. 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. But at this Tarquin laughed all the more and said that there was now no doubt that the old woman was crazy. 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. 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. Now it is a fact that after then leaving Tarquin, that woman was never seen again anywhere. The three books were deposited in a shrine [*](In the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. Augustus transferred them to the temple of Apollo on the Palatine; see Suet. Aug. xxxi. 1.) and called

Sibylline

; [*](Because the old woman was regarded as a Sibyl. Although the books came to Tarquin by way of Cumae, the origin of the Sibylline books was probably Asia Minor. There were several Sibyls (Varro enumerates ten), of whom the Erythraean, from whom the books apparently came, was the most important; see Marquardt, Stautsverew. 1112. 350 ff.) to them the Fifteen [*](See note 4, page 61.) resort whenever tile immortal gods are to be consulted as to the welfare of the State.

On what the geometers call e)pi/pedos, stereo/s, ku/bos and grammh/, with the Latin equivalents for all these terms.

OF the figures which the geometers call sxh/mata there are two kinds,

plane

and

solid.

These the Greeks themselves call respectively e)pi/pedos and stereo/s. 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. 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 ku/boi, [*](See Euclid, Elementa I, Definitions, 20, cubs autem est aequaliter aequalis aequaliter, sive qui tribus aequalibus numeris comprehenditur.) and we quadrantalia. For the ku/bos is a figure which is square on all its sides,

like the dice,

says Marcus Varro, [*](Fr. p. 350, Bipont.)

with which we play on a gaming-board, for which reason the dice themselves are called ku/boi

Similarly in numbers too the term ku/bos is used, when every factor [*](Euclid, l. c., 17, "ubi autem tres numeri inter se multiplicantes numerum aliquem efficiunt, numerus inde ortus soliduss" (= ku/bos) est, latera autem eius numeri inter se multiplicantes.) consisting of the same number is equally resolved into the cube number itself, [*](That is, is an equal factor in the cube number.) as is the case when three is taken three times and the resulting number itself is then trebled.

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 tria/s, when cubed makes twenty-seven.

Furthermore, our geometers apply the term linea, or

line,

to what the Greeks call grammh/. This is defined by Marcus Varro as follows: [*](Fr. p. 337, Bipont.)

A line,

says he,

is length without breadth or height.

But Euclid says more tersely, omitting

height

: [*](l.c. 2, grammh\ de\ mh=kos a)plate/s.)

A line is mh=kos a)plate/s, or 'breadthless length.'

)Aplate/s cannot be expressed in Latin by a single word, unless you should venture to coin the term inlatabile.

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.

NEARLY everyone reads these lines from the Georgics of Virgi [*](ii. 246 f.) in this way:

1. At sapor indicium faciet manifestus et ora
2. Tristia temptantum sensu torquebit amaro. [*](But the taste will tell its tale full plainly, and with its bitter flavour will distort the testers' poured mouths.)

Hyginus, however, on my word no obscure grammarian, in the Commentaries [*](Fr. 4, p. 528, Fun.) 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:

1. et ora
2. Tristia temptantum sensus torquebit amaror, [*](But the bitterness of the sensation will distort the testers' soured mouths.)

and this reading has commended itself, not to Hyginus alone, but also to some 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.'

Moreover, when I had read Hyginus' note to Favorinus, and the strangeness and harshness of the phrase

sensu torquebit amaro

at once had displeased him, he said with a laugh:

I am ready to swear by Jupiter and the stone, [*](This much discussed oath is best taken as equivalent to per lovem et lapidem; see Fowler, Roman Festivals, p. 231; Nettleship, Essays, p. 35, and others. The locus classicus on the process is Polybius, iii. 25; of. Plutarch, Sulla, 10.) which is considered the most sacred of oaths, that Virgil never wrote that, but I believe that Hyginus is right. 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.

The passage, from the fourth book of Lucretius, reads as follows: [*](iv. 221 f.)

1. dilutaque contra
2. Cum tuimur misceri absinthia, tangit amaror. [*](When we look on at the mixing of a decoction of wormwood in our presence, its bitterness affects us.)

And in fact we see that Virgil imitated, not only single words of Lucretius, but often almost whole lines and passages.

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.

AN incorrect and improper meaning of a word has been established by long usage, in that we use the expression hic illi superest when we wish to say that anyone appears as another's advocate and pleads his cause. 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. 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.

Thus Marcus Varro, in the satire entitled

You know not what evening may bring,

[*](Fr. 340, Bücheler.) uses superfuisse in the sense of having exceeded the amount proper for the occasion. 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.

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.

[*](It is difficult to reproduce the word-play on superesse, be present for and be superfluous. There is a pun also on adesse, be present and help, assist.)

Marcus Cicero, too, in his book entitled On Reducing the Civil Law to a System [*](Fr. 2, p. 980, Orelli2; Fr. 1, Huschke, and Bremer.) 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

; [*](It was superfluous in being more than he needed for the practice of his profession.) for Tubero was thoroughly versed in Stoic dialectics. Cicero's use of the word in the second book [*](An error of Gellius; the reference is iii. 32.) 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).

Now Julius Paulus, the most learned man within my recollection, used to say witll keenness and understanding that superesse and its Greek equivalent had more than one meaning: for he declared that the Greeks used perisso/n both ways, either of what was superfluous and unnecessary or of what was too abundant, overflowing and excessive; that in the same way our earlier writers also employed superesse sometimes of what was superfluous, idle and not wholly necessary, a sense which we have just cited from Varro, and sometimes, 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. 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. And he will not be able to appeal even to the authority of Virgil, who in his Georgics wrote as follows: [*](iii. 10.)

1. I will be first to bear, so but my life still last (supersit),
2. 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,

but on the contrary his use of the word in the following line is more nearly the accepted one: [*](iii. 126.)

1. They cut him tender grass,
2. Give corn and much fresh water, that his strength
3. Be more than equal to (superesse) the pleasing toil.

for here superesse means to be more than equal to the task and not to be crushed by it.

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.

For to express that idea Sallust says, not superesse, but superare. These are his words in the Jugurtha: [*](lxx. 2.)

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.

But we find in the third book of Ennius' Annals: [*](v. 158, Vahlen2.)

1. Then he declares one task'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. Cicero, however, in his second Oration against Antony [*](Phil. ii. 71, cum praescrtim belli pars tanta restaret.) expresses

what is left

by restare, not by superesse.

Besides these uses we find superesse with the meaning

survive.

For it is so employed in the book of letters of Marcus Cicero to Lucius Plancus, [*](The tenth book of the Epist. ad Fam. contains numerous letters of Cicero to Plancus and of Plancus to Cicero.) as well as in a letter of Marcus Asinius Pollio to Cicero, [*](Ad Fam. x. 33.5. It should be Gaius Asinius Pollio.) 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. Again in the Asinaria of Plautus that same force is still more evident in these, the first verses of that comedy: [*](v. 16.)

1. As you would hope to have your only son
2. Survive (superesse) you and be ever sound and hale.

Thus we have to avoid, not merely an improper use of the word, but also the evil omene, in case an older man, acting as advocate for a youth, should say that he

survives

him.

Who Papirius Praetextatus was; the reason for that surname; and the whole of the entertaining story about that same Papirius.

THE story of Papirius Praetextatus was told and committed to writing in the speech which Marcus Cato made To the soldiers against Galba,[*](xxxix, Jordan.) with great charm, brilliance and elegance of diction. 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. But if you would like to hear the bare tale, without the noble and dignified language, the incident was about as follows: It was formerly the custom at Rome for senators to enter the House with their sons under age. [*](The toga praetexta, with a purple border, was worn by senators and also by boys of free birth until they assumed the toga virlis.) In those days, when a matter of considerable importance

had 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. The boy replied that it was a secret and that he could not tell. The woman became all the more eager to hear about it; the secrecy of the matter and the boy's silence piqued her curiosity; she therefore questioned him more pressingly and urgently. 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. On hearing this, she is panic-stricken, rushes excitedly from the house, 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. The senators, as they entered the House, were wondering at this strange madness of the women and the meaning of such a demand, 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. 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 surname Praetextatus, because of his discretion in keeping silent and in speaking, while he was still young enough to wear the purple-bordered gown.

Three epitaphs of three early poets, Naevius, Plautus and Pacuvius, composed by themselves and inscribed upon their tombs.

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.

The epitaph of Naevius, although full of Campanian [*](This has been regarded as evidence that Naevius was a native of Campania; but Campanian arrogance was proverbial.) arrogance, might have been regarded as a just estimate, if he had not written it himself: [*](The authorship of all these epitaphs is questioned: Gudeman thought they came from Varro's Imagines; see Trans. Amer Phil. Assoc. xxv, 150 ff.; cf p. 296. 3, Bährens.)

1. If that immortals might for mortals weep,
2. Then would divine Camenae [*](The Latin equivalent of the Greek Muses.) weep for Naevius.
3. For after he to Orcus as treasure was consigned,
4. The Romans straight forgot to speak the Latin tongue.

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: [*](p. 296. 4, Bährens.)

1. Since Plautus has met death, Comedy mourns,
2. Deserted is the stage; then Laughter, Sport and Wit,
3. And Music's countless numbers [*](Numeri innumeri was formerly rendered unrhythmic measures and applied to Plautus' supposed irregularities in scansion; it rather refers to the variety of his metres.) all together wept. [*](The metre of the Latin is dactylic hexameter; final a in deserta is lengthened, and s in ludus is suppressed.)

Pacuvius' epitaph is the most modest and simple, worthy of his dignity and good taste: [*](p. 296, 5, Bährens.)

1. Young man, although you haste, this little stone
2. Entreats thee to regard it, then to read its tale.
3. Here lie the bones of Marcus, hight Pacuvius.
4. Of this I would not have you unaware. Good-bye.