Noctes Atticae
Gellius, Aulus
Gellius, Aulus. The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, 1927 (printing).
The meaning of proletarii and capite censi; also of adsiduus in the Twelve Tables, and the origin of the word.
ONE day there was a cessation of business in the Forum at Rome, and as the holiday was being joyfully celebrated, it chanced that one of the books of the Annals of Ennius was read in an assembly of very many persons. In this book the following lines occurred: [*](Ann. 183 ff.)
Then the question was raised there, what proletarius meant. And seeing in that company a man who was skilled in the civil law, a friend of mine, I asked him to explain the word to us; and when he rejoined that he was an expert in civil law and not in grammatical matters, I said: " You in particular ought to explain this, since, as you declare, you are skilled in civil law. For Quintus Ennius took this word from your Twelve Tables, in which, if I remember aright, we have the following: [*](i. 4.) 'For a freeholder let the protector [*](The vindex is here one who voluntarily agrees to go before the magistrate as the representative of the defendant, and thereby takes upon himself the action in the stead of the latter (Allen, Remnants of Early Latin, p. 85).) be a freeholder. For a proletariate citizen [*](The proletarii (cf. proles) were child-producers, who made no other contribution to the State; see § 13.) let whoso will be protector.
- With shield and savage sword is Proletarius armed
- At public cost; they guard our walls, our mart and town.
We therefore ask you to consider that not one of the books of Quintus Ennius' Annals, but the Twelvev3.p.169Tables are being read, and interpret the meaning of 'proletariate citizen' in that law.
It is true,said he,
that if I had learned the law of the Fauns and Aborigines, I ought to explain and interpret this. But since proletarii, adsidui, sanates, vades, subvades, 'twenty-five asses,' 'retaliation,' and trials for theft 'by plate and girdle' [*](XII Tab. i. 4, 5, 10; viii. 2, 4, 15. For proletarii see note, p. 167. The adsidui were permanent settlers, or taxpayers, belonging to one of the five upper Servian classes. The sanates seem to have been clients or dependents of the wealthy Roman citizens. Vades were sureties, who gave bail; subvades, sub-sureties, who gave security for the bail. On viginti quinque asses, the penalty for an assault, see xx. 1. 12; for taliones, xx. 1. 14; and for cum lance et licio, note on xi. 18. 9.) have disappeared, and since all the ancient lore of the Twelve Tables, except for legal questions before the court of the centumviri, was put to sleep by the Aebutian law, [*](The date is unknown,) I ought only to exhibit interest in, and knowledge of, the law and statutes and legal terms which we now actually use."
Just then, by some chance, we caught sight of Julius Paulus passing by, the most learned poet within my recollection. We greeted him, and when he was asked to enlighten us as to the meaning and derivation of that word, he said: "Those of the Roman commons who were humblest and of smallest means, and who reported no more than fifteen hundred asses at the census, were called proletarii, but those who were rated as having no property at all, or next to none, were termed capite censi, or 'counted by head.' And the lowest rating of the capite censi was three hundred and seventy-five asses. But since property and money were regarded as a hostage and pledge of loyalty to the State, and since there was in them a kind of guarantee and assurance of patriotism, neither the proletarii nor the capite censi were enrolled as soldiers except in some time of extraordinary disorder, because they had
Now the words of Sallust in the Iugurthine War about Gaius Marius and the capite censi are these: [*](Jug. lxxxvi. 2.)
He himself in the meantime enrolled soldiers, not according to the classes, or in the manner of our forefathers, but allowing anyone to volunteer, for the most part the lowest class (capite censos). Some say that he did this through lack of good men,v3.p.173others because of a desire to curry favour, since that class had given him honour and rank, and as a matter of fact, to one who aspires to power the poorest man is the most helpful.
A story taken from the books of Herodotus about the destruction of the Psylli, who dwelt in the African Syrtes.
THE race of the Marsians in Italy is said to have sprung from the son of Circe. 'Therefore it was given to the Marsic men, provided their families were not stained through the admixture of foreign alliances, by an inborn hereditary power to be the subduers of poisonous serpents and to perform wonderful cures by incantations and the juices of plants.
We see certain persons called Psylli endowed with this same power. And when I had sought in ancient records for information about their name and race, I found at last in the fourth book of Herodotus [*](iv. 173.) this story about them: that the Psylli had once been neighbours in the land of Africa of the Nasamones, and that the South Wind at a certain season in their territories blew very long and hard; that because of that gale all the water in the regions which they inhabited dried up; that the Psylli, deprived of their water supply, were grievously incensed at the South Wind because of that injury and voted to take up arms and march against the South Wind as against an enemy, and demand restitution according to the laws of war. And when they had thus set out, the South Wind
Of those words which Cloatius Verus referred to a Greek origin, either quite fittingly or too absurdly and tastelessly.
CLOATIUS VERUS, in the books which he entitled Words taken from the Greek, says not a few things indeed which show careful and keen investigation, but also some which are foolish and trifling.
Errare (to err),he says, [*](Fr. 3, Fun.)
is derived from the Greek e)/rrein,and he quotes a line of Homer in which that word occurs: [*](Odyss. x. 72.) Swift wander (e)/rrei) from the isle, most wretched man. Cloatius also wrote that alucinari, or
dream,is derived from the Greek a)lu/ein, or
be distraught,and from this he thinks that the word elucus also is taken, with a change of a to e, meaning a certain sluggishness and stupidity of mind, which commonly comes to dreamy folk. He also derives fascinum, or
charm,as if it were bascanum, [*](Gk. baska/nion.) and fascinare, as if it were bascinare, [*](Gk. baskai/nw.) or
bewitch.All these are fitting and proper enough. But in his fourth book he says: [*](Fr. I, Fun.)
Faenerator is equivalent to; and he declared that this was stated by Hypsicrates, a grammarian whose books on Words Borrowed from the Greeks are very well known. But whether Cloatius himself or some other blockhead gave vent to this nonsense, nothing can be more silly. For faenerator, as Marcus Varro wrote in the third book of his Latin Diction, [*](Frag. 57. G. and S.)v3.p.177fainera/twr, meaning 'to appear at one's best,' since that class of men present an appearance of kindliness and pretend to be accommodating to poor men who are in need of money
is so called from feanus, or 'interest,' but faenus,he says,
is derived from fetus, [*](Thurneysen, T.L.L. s. v. fenus, thinks this derivation is perhaps correct; we may compare Greek to/kos, which means both offspring and interest.) or 'offspring,' and from a birth, as it were, from money, producing and giving increase.Therefore he says that Marcus Cato [*](Frag. inc. 62, Jordan.) and others of his time pronounced generator without the letter a, just as fetus itself and fecunditas were pronounced.
The meaning of municipium and how it differs from colonia; and what municipes are and the derivation and proper use of that word; and also what the deified Hadrian said in the senate about the name and rights of municipes.
MUNICIPES and municipia are words which are readily spoken and in common use, and you would never find a man who uses them who does not think that he understands perfectly what he is saying. But in fact it is something different, and the meaning is different. For how rarely is one of us found who, coming from a colony of the Roman people, does not say what is far removed from reason and from truth,
colony,as well as the belief that coloniae are better off than municipia. With regard to the errors in this opinion which is so general the deified Hadrian, in the speech which he delivered in the senate In Behalf of the Italicenses, [*](O.R.F.2 p. 608. Italics was a city of Spain on the river Baetis, opposite Hispalis (Seville). It was founded by Scipio Africanus the Elder and peopled by his veterans; whence the name the Italian city. It was the birthplace of Trajan and Hadrian.) from whom he himself came, discoursed most learnedly, showing his surprise that the Italicenses themselves and also some other ancient municipia, among whom he names the citizens of Utica, when they might enjoy their own customs and laws, desired instead to have the rights of colonies. Moreover, he asserts that the citizens of Praeneste earnestly begged and prayed the emperor Tiberius that they might be changed from a colony into the condition of a municipium, and that Tiberius granted their request by way of conferring a favour, because in their territory, and near their town itself, he had recovered from a dangerous illness.
Municipes, then, are Roman citizens from free towns, using their own laws and enjoying their own rights, merely sharing with the Roman people an honorary munus, or
privilege[*](Such as serving in the legions and not among the auxiliaries.) (from the enjoyment of which privilege they appear to derive their name), and bound by no other compulsion and no other law of the Roman people, except such as their own citizens have officially ratified. [*](For fundus cf. xix. 8. 12.) We learn besides that the people of Caere were the first municipes without the right of suffrage, and that it was allowed them to assume the honour of Roman citizenship, but yet to be free from service and burdens, in return for receiving and guarding sacred
But the relationship of the
coloniesis a different one; for they do not come into citizenship from without, nor grow from roots of their own, but they are as it were transplanted from the State and have all the laws and institutions of the Roman people, not those of their own choice. This condition, although it is more exposed to control and less free, is nevertheless thought preferable and superior because of the greatness and majesty of the Roman people, of which those colonies seem to be miniatures, as it were, and in a way copies; [*](Their government was modelled on that of Rome, with a senate (decuriones), two chief magistrates (Ilviri iure dicundo), elected annually, etc.) and at the same time because the rights of the municipal towns become obscure and invalid, and from ignorance of their existence the townsmen are no longer able to make use of them.
That Marcus Cato said there was a difference between properare and festinare, and how inappropriately Verrius Flaccus explained the origin of the latter word.
FESTINARE and properare seem to indicate the same thing and to be used of the same thing. But Marcus Cato thinks that there is a difference, and that the difference is this—I quote his own words from the speech which he pronounced On his Own Merits: [*](p. 44. 4, Jordan.)
It is one thing to hasten (properare), another to hurry (festinare). He who finishes some one thing in good season, hastens (properat); one who begins many things at the same time but does not finish them, hurries (festinat).Verrius Flaccus, wishing to explain the nature of this difference, says [*](p. xv, Müller.)
Festinat is derived from for (to speak), since those idle folk who can accomplish nothing talk more than they act.But that seems too forced and absurd, nor can the first letter of the two words be of such weight that because of it such different words as festino and for should appear to be the same. But it seems more fitting and closer to explain festinare as equivalent to fessum esse or
be wearied.For one who tires himself out by hastily attacking many things at once no longer hastens, but hurries. [*](Both derivations are fanciful. Festino is related to confestim, but its origin is uncertain.)
The strange thing recorded of partridges by Theophrastus and of hares by Theopompus.
THEOPHRASTUS, most expert of philosophers, declares [*](Frag. 182, Wimmer.) that in Paphlagonia all the partridges have two hearts; Theopompus, [*](F.H.G. i. 301.) that in Bisaltia the hares have two livers each.
That the name Agrippa was given to those whose birth was difficult and unnatural; and of the goddesses called Prorsa and Postverta.
THOSE at whose birth the feet appeared first, instead of the head, which is considered the most difficult and dangerous form of parturition, are called Agrippae, a word formed from aegritudo, or
difficulty,and pedes (feet). But Varro says [*](Ant. Rer. Div. xiv, frag. 17 b, Agahd.) that the position of children in the womb is with the head lowest and the feet raised up, not according to the nature of a man, but of a tree. For he likens the branches of a tree to the feet and legs, and the stock and trunk to the head.
Accordingly,says he,
when they chanced to be turned upon their feet in an unnatural position, since their arms are usually extended they are wont to be held back, and then women give birth with greater difficulty. For the purpose of averting this danger altars were set up at Rome to the two Carmentes, [*](Carmenta was a birth-goddess, whose festival, the Carmentalia (or Karmentalia) occurred on Jan. 11 and 15. The Carmentes may originally have been wise women who assisted at births and were later deified (Fowler, Roman Festivals, pp 290 ff.).) of whom one was called Postverta, [*](That is, head foremost.) the other Prorsa, [*](That is, feet foremost.) named from natural and unnatural births, and their power over them.
Of the origin of the term ager Vaticanus.
WE had been told that the ager Vaticanus, or
Vatican region,and the presiding deity of the same place, took their names from the vaticinia, or
prophecies,which were wont to be made in that region through the power and inspiration of that god. But in addition to that reason Marcus Varro, in his Antiquities of the Gods, states [*](Frag. 20b, Agahd.) that there is another explanation of the name: For,
says he, just as Aius was called a god and the altar was erected in his honour which stands at the bottom of the Nova Via, because in that place a voice from heaven was heard, so that god was called Vaticanus who controls the beginnings of human speech, since children, as soon as they are born, first utter the sound which forms the first syllable of Vaticanus; hence the word vagire ('cry'), which represents the sound of a new-born infant's voice.
Some interesting and instructive remarks about that part of Geometry which is called
Optics; of another part called
Harmony,and also of a third called
Metric.
A PART of Geometry which relates to the sight is called o)ptikh/ or
Optics,another part, relating to the ears, is known as kanonikh/ or
Harmony,which musicians make use of as the foundation of their art. These are concerned respectively with the spaces and the intervals between lines and with the theory of musical numbers.
Optics effect many surprising things, such as the appearance in one mirror of several images of the same thing; also that a mirror placed in a certain position shows no image, but when moved to another spot gives reflections; also that if you look straight into a mirror, your reflection is such that your head
Harmony, on the other hand, measures the length and pitch of sounds. The measure of the length of a tone is called r(uqmo/s, or rhythm of its pitch, me/los, or
melody.There is also another variety of Harmony which is called metrikh/, or
Metric,by which the combination of long and short syllables, and those which are neither long nor short, and the verse measure according to the principles of geometry are examined with the aid of the ears.
But these things,says Marcus Varro, [*](p. 337, Bipont.)
we either do not learn at all, or we leave off before we know why they ought to be learned. But the pleasure,he says,
and the advantage of such sciences appear in their later study, when they have been completely mastered; but in their mere elements they seem foolish and unattractive.[*](Cf. xvi. 8. 15 ff.)
A story about the lyre-player Arion, taken from the work of Herodotus.
HERODOTUS has written [*](i. 23.) of the famous lyre-player Arion in terse and vigorous language and in simple and elegant style.
Arion,says he,
in days of old was a celebrated player upon the lyre. TheBut Herodotus says that those Corinthians, having received Arion on board and put to sea, formed the plan of murdering him for the sake of his money. Then he, realizing that death was at hand, gave them possession of his money and other goods, but begged that they should at least spare his life. The sailors were moved by his prayers only so far as to refrain from putting him to death with their own hands, but they bade him at once, before their eyes, leap headlong into the sea.v3.p.191town in which he was born was Methyma, but from the name of his country and the island as a whole he was a Lesbian. This Arion for the sake of his art was held in friendship and affection by Periander, king of Corinth. [*](625–585 B.C.) Later, he left the king, to visit the famous lands of Sicily and Italy. On his arrival there he charmed the ears and minds of all in the cities of both countries, and there he was enriched as well as being generally admired and beloved. Then later, laden with money and with wealth of all kinds, he determined to return to Corinth, choosing a Corinthian vessel and crew, as better known to him and more friendly.
Then,says Herodotus,
the poor man, in terror and utterly hopeless of life, finally made the one request that before meeting his end he might be allowed to put on all his costume, take his lyre, and sing a song in consolation of his fate. The sailors, though savage and cruel, nevertheless had a desire to hear him; his request was granted. Then afterwards, crowned in the usual way, robed and adorned, he stood upon the extreme stern and lifting up his voice on high sang the song called 'orthian.' [*](This was a song in such a high key that it could be reached by few voices. In Aristophanes, Knights, 1279 (L.C.L. i, p. 247) the o)/rqios no/mos is played by a prince of harpers.) Finally, having finished his song, with his lyre and all his equipment, just as he stood and sang, heHerodotus asserts that a dolphin suddenly swam up amid the waves, dove under the floating man, and lifting his back above the flood, carried him and landed him at Taenarum in the Laconian land, with his person and adornment uninjured. Then Arion went from there straight to Corinth and, just as he was when the dolphin carried him, presented himself unexpectedly to king Periander and told him exactly what had occurred. The king did not believe the story but ordered that Arion be imprisoned as an impostor. He hunted up the sailors, and in the absence of Arion craftily questioned them, asking whether they had heard anything of Arion in the places from which they had come. They replied that the man had been in the land of Italy when they left it, that he was doing well there, enjoying the devotion and the pleasures of the cities, and that both in prestige and in money he was rich and fortunate. Then, in the midst of their story, Arion suddenly appeared with his lyre, clad in the garments in which he had thrown himself into the sea; the sailors were amazed and proved guilty, and could not deny their crime. This story is told by the Lesbians and the Corinthians, and in testimony to its truth two brazen images are to be seen near Taenarum, the dolphin carrying the man, who is seated on his back.v3.p.193threw himself far out into the deep. The sailors, not doubting in the least that he had perished, held on the course which they had begun. But an unheard of, strange and miraculous thing happened.
That Asinius Gallus and Largius Licinus criticized a saying of Cicero's in the speech which he delivered For Marcus Caelius; and what may be said with truth and propriety in defence of that saying, in reply to those most foolish critics.
JUST as there have been monsters of men who expressed impious and false opinions about the immortal gods, so there have been some so extravagant and so ignorant that they have dared to say that Marcus Cicero spoke without correctness, propriety, or consideration; among these are Asinius Gallus and Largius Licinus, and the latter's book even bears the outrageous title of The Scourge of Cicero. Now the other things that they have censured are certainly not worth hearing or mentioning; but let us consider the value of this stricture of theirs, in which particularly they are, in their own opinion, very keen critics of language.
Marcus Cicero in his speech For Marcus Caelius [*](§6.) writes as follows:
As to the charge made against his chastity and published by all his accusers, not in the form of actual charges, but of gossip and calumnies, Marcus Caelius will never take that so much to heart, as to repent that he was not born ugly.They think that Cicero has not used the proper word in saying paeniteat, or
repent,and they go so far as to add that it is almost absurd;
for,they say,
we regularly use paenitere when things which we ourselves have done, or which have been done in accordance with our wish and design, later begin to displease us and we change our opinion about them.But that no one correctly says that he
repents being bornor
repents being mortal,or
because he feels pain from any chance injury or wound inflicted upon his body; for in such cases there is no design or choice on our part, but such things happen to us against our will by some necessity or force of nature.
In the same way,they continue,
it was not a matter of choice with Marcus Caelius with what person he was born; yet he says that ' he did not repent this,' as if there were in that circumstance ground for a feeling of repentance.
This is in fact, as they say, the force of that word, and paenitere is strictly used of none but voluntary acts, although our forefathers used that same word also in a different sense and connected paenitere with the words paene (almost) and paenuria (want). But that is another question, and will be spoken of in another place. [*](This promise is not fulfilled.) But with regard to the point at issue, giving to paenitere this same meaning which is commonly recognized, what Marcus Cicero said is not only not foolish, but in the highest degree elegant and witty. For since the adversaries and detractors of Marcus Caelius, inasmuch as he was of handsome person, made use of his appearance and figure to throw doubt upon his chastity, therefore Cicero, making sport of such an absurd charge as to impute to him as a fault the good looks which nature had given him, has deliberately adopted that very same false charge of which he is making fun, saying:
Marcus Caelius is not sorry; so that by the very fact of speaking thus he might reproach his accusers and wittily show that they were doing an absurd thing in making Caelius' handsome person an accusation against him, just as if the person with which he was born depended upon his own volition.v3.p.201for not having been born ugly
Certain words from the first book of the Annals of Quintus Claudius, noted in a hasty reading.
WHENEVER I read the book of an early writer, I tried afterwards, for the purpose of quickening my memory, to recall and review any passages in the book which were worthy of note, in the way either of praise or censure; and I found it an exceedingly helpful exercise for ensuring my recollection of elegant words and phrases, whenever need of them should arise. For example, in the first book of the Annals of Quintus Claudius, which I had read on the preceding two days, I noted these passages:
The greater number,says he, [*](Frag. 22, Peter2.)
threw away their arms and hid themselves unarmed.The verb inhatebrant, for
hid themselves,seemed poetic, but neither improper nor harsh.
While these things were going on,he says, [*](Frag. 13, Peter2.)
the Latins, their spirits raised because of their easy victory, form a plan.Subnixo animo is. significant and carefully chosen expression with the force of
raised and elevated in spirit; and it indicates loftiness and confidence of spirit, since we are, as it were, raised and lifted up by that upon which we depend.
He bids each one,he says, [*](Frag. 23, Peter2.)
go to his own house and enjoy his possessions.Frunisci, meaning
enjoy,was somewhat rare in the days of Marcus Tullius and became still rarer after that time, and its Latinity was questioned by those who were unacquainted with our early literature. However, fruniscor is not only good Latin, but it is more elegant and pleasing than fruor, from which it is formed in the same way as fatiscor from fateor. Quintus Metellus Numidicus, who is known to have used the Latin tongue with purity and simplicity, in the letter which he sent when in exile To the Domitii, wrote as follows:
They indeed were cut off from every right and honour, I lack neither water nor fire and I enjoy (fruiscor) the greatest glory.Novius, in his Atellan farce entitled The Miser, uses this word: [*](v. 77, Ribbeck3.)
- What eagerly they sought they can't enjoy (frunisci);
- Who does not spare, enjoys the goods he has.
And the Romans,says Quadrigarius, [*](rag. 24, Peter2.)
get possession of (copiantur) many arms and a great supply of provisions, and enormous booty.Copiantur is a soldier's word, and you will not readily find it in the pleaders of civil suits; it is formed in the same way as lignantur, or
gather wood,pabulantur, or
forage,and aquantur, or
get water.
Quadrigarius uses sole occaso for
at sunset.[*](Id. 3.) This expression has a flavour of antiquity which is not without charm, if one possesses an ear that is not dull and commonplace; furthermore the phrase occurs in the Twelve Tables in the following passage: [*](i. 7, 8, 9.)
Before midday let them hear the case, with both parties making their pleas in person. After midday, decide the ease in favour of the one who is present. If both are present, let sunset be the limit of the proceedings.
We,says he, [*](Frag. 25, Peter2.)
will leave it undecided (in medium).The common people say in medio; for they think that in medium is an error, and if you should say in medium ponere (to make known), [*](The phrase in medium has various meanings, according to the context and the verb with which it is used; cf. Cic. ad Fam. xv. 2. 6, se . . . eam rem numquam in medium propter periculi metum protulisse; Cluent. 77; Virg. Aen. v. 401. If the lexicons are to be trusted, in medium ponere is rare, and the usual expression is in medio ponere, e.g. Cic. Nat. Deor. i. 13, ponam in medio sententias philosophorum.) they consider that also a solecism; but if anyone examines these words with some care, that expression will seem to him the more correct and the more expressive; moreover in Greek qei=nai ei)s me/son, is not an error. "After it was announced," he says, [*](Frag. 1, Peter2.)
that a battle had been fought against the Gauls (in Gallos), the State was troubled.In Gallos is nester and finer than cum Gallis or contra Gallos; for these are somewhat awkward and out of date.
At the same time,he says, [*](Id. 8.)
he excelled in person, in exploits, in eloquence, in position, in energy, and confidence alike, so that it was easily seen that he possessed from himself and in himself a great equipment (magnum viaticum) for overthrowing the republic.Magnum viaticum is a novel expression for great ability and great resources, and Claudius seems to have followed the Greeks, who transferred e)fo/dion from the meaning of
money for a journeyto preparation for other things, and often say e)fodi/ason for
prepareand
make ready.
For Marcus Manlius,said he, [*](Frag. 7, Peter2.)
who, as I have shown above, saved the Capitol from the Gauls, and whose service, along with that of Marcus Furius the dictator, the State found especially (cumprime) valiant and irresistible against the Gauls, yielded to no one in race, in strength and in warlike valour.Adprime is more frequent for
especially; cumprime is rarer and is derived from the expression cumprimis with the force of inprimis. Quadrigarius says [*](Id. 26.) that
he has no need for riches (divitias).We use the ablative divitiis with opus. But this usage of his is not a mistake in grammar, nor is it even what is termed a figure; for it is correct Latin and the early writers quite frequently used that case; moreover, no reason can be given why divis opus esse is more correct than divitias, except by those who look upon the innovations of grammarians as oracular responses.
For herein especially,says he, [*](Id. 9.)
lies the injustice of the gods, that the worst men are the least subject to injury, and that they do not allow the best men to remain long (diurnare) with us.His use of diurnare for diu vivere is unusual, but it is justified by the figure by which we use perennare (to last for years). He says: [*](Id. 6.)
He conversed (consermonabatur) with them.Semocinari seems somewhat rustic, but is more correct; sermocinari is more common, but is not such pure Latin.
That he would not do even that,says he, [*](Id. 17.)
which he then advised.He has used ne id quoque for ne id quidem; the former is not common now in conversation, but is very frequent in the books of the earlier writers.
Such is the sanctity (sanctitudo) of the fane,says he, [*](Id. 2.)
that no one ever ventured to violate it.Sanctitas and sanctimonia are equally good Latin, but the word sanctitudo somehow has greater dignity, just as Marcus Cato, in his speech Against Lucius Veturius, thought it more forcible to use duritudo than duritia, saying, [*](xviii. 8, Jordan.)
Who knew his impudence and hardihood (duritudinem).
Since the Roman people,says Quadrigarius, [*](Frag. 20, Peter2.)
had given such a pledge (arrabo) to the Samites.He applied the term arrabo to the six hundred hostages and preferred to use that word rather than pignus, since the force of arrabo in that connection is weightier and more pointed; but nowadays arrabo is beginning to be numbered among vulgar words, and arra seems even more so, although the early writers often used arra, and Laberius [*](v. 152, Ribbeck3.) has it several times.
They have spent most wretched lives (vitas),says Quadrigarius, [*](Frag. 27, Peter2.) and, [*](Id. 28.)
This man is worn out by too much leisure (otiis).In both cases elegance is sought by the use of the plural number.
Cominius,says he, [*](Frag. 4, Peter2.)
came down the same way he had gone up and so deceived the Gauls.He says that Cominius
gave words to the Gauls,meaning
deceived them,although he had said nothing to anybody; and the Gauls who were besieging the Capitol had seen him neither going up nor coming down. But
he gave wordsis used with the meaning of
he escaped the notice of, and circumvented.
Again he says: [*](Id. 29.)
There were valleys and great woods (arboreta).Arboreta is a less familiar word, arbusta [*](From earlier arbos and -etum.) the more usual one.
They thought,says he, [*](Frag. 5, Peter2.)
that those who were without and those that were within the citadel were exchanging communications (commutationes) and plansCommutationes, meaning
conferences and communications,is not usual, but, by Heaven! is neither erroneous nor inelegant.
These few notes on that book, such things as I remembered after reading it, I have now jotted down for my own use.
The words of Marcus Varro in the twenty fifth book of his Humran Antiquities, in which he has interpreted a line of Homer contrary to the general opinion.
IT happened in the course of conversations which we carried on about the dates of various inventions for human use, that a young man not without learning observed that the use of spartum or
Spanish broomalso was for a long time unknown in the land of Greece and that it was imported from Spain many years after the taking of Ilium. One or two half-educated fellows who were present there, of the class that the Greeks call a)gorai=oi, or
haunters of the market-place,laughed in derision of this statement, and declared that the man who had made it had read a copy of Homer which happened to lack the following verse: [*](Iliad ii. 135.)
- And rotted the ship's timbers, loosed the ropes (spa/rta).
Then the youth, in great vexation, replied:
It was not my book that lacked that line, but you who badly lacked a teacher, if you believe that spa/rta in that verse means what we call spartum, or 'aThey only laughed the louder, and would have continued to do so, had he not produced the twenty-fifth book of Varro's Human Antiquities, in which Varro writes as follows of that Homeric word: [*](Frag. 4, Mirsch.)v3.p.213rope of Spanish broom'
I believe that spa/rta in Homer does not mean sparta, or 'Spanish broom,' but rather spa/rtoi, a kind of broom which is said to grow in the Theban territory. In Greece there has only recently been a supply of spartum, imported from Spain. The Liburnians did not make use of that material either, but as a rule fastened their ships together with thongs, [*](See sutiles naves, Plin. N. H. xxiv. 65.) while the Greeks made more use of hemp, tow, and other cultivated plants (sativis), from which ropes got their name of sparta.Since Varro says this, I have grave doubts whether the last syllable in the Homeric word ought not to have an acute accent; unless it be because words of this kind, when they pass from their general meaning to the designation of a particular thing, are distinguished by a difference in accent.
What the poet Menander said to Philemon, by whom he was often undeservedly defeated in contests in comedy; and that Euripides was very often vanquished in tragedy by obscure poets.
IN contests in comedy Menander was often defeated by Philemon, a writer by no means his equal, owing to intrigue, favour, and partisanship. When Menander once happened to meet his rival, he said:
Pray pardon me, Philemon, but really, don't you blush when you defeat me?
Marcus Varro says [*](p. 351, Bipont.) that Euripides also, although he wrote seventy-five tragedies, was victor with only five, [*](Some MSS. of the Greek Life of Euripides give fifteen, which seems a more probable number for so popular a poet. Sophocles won eighteen at the City Dionysia alone.) and was often vanquished by some very poor poets.
Some say that Menander left one hundred and eight comedies, others that the number was a hundred and nine. But we find these words of Apollodorus, a very famous writer, about Menander in his work entitled Chronica: [*](Frag. 77, p. 358, Jacoby.)
Yet Apollodorus also writes in the same book that out of all those hundred and five dramas Menander gained the victory only with eight.
- Cephissia's child, by Diopeithes sired,
- An hundred plays he left and five besides;
- At fifty-two he died.
That it is by no mears true, as some meticulous artists in rhetoric affirm, that Marcus Cicero, in his book On Friendship, made use of a faulty argument and postulated
the disputed for the admitted; with a careful discussion and examination of this whole question.
MARCUS CICERO, in the dialogue entitled Laelius, or On Friendship, wishes to teach us that friendship ought not to be cultivated in the hope and expectation of advantage, profit, or gain, but that it should be sought and cherished because in itself it is rich in virtue and honour, even though no aid and no advantage can be gained from it. This thought he has expressed in the following words, put into the mouth of Gaius Laelius, a wise man and a very
well, then, does Africanus need my help? No more do I need his. But I love him because of a certain admiration for his virtues; he in turn has affection for me perhaps because of some opinion which he has formed of my character; and intimacy has increased our attachment. But although many great advantages have resulted, yet the motives for our friendship did not arise from the hope of those advantages. For just as we are kindly and generous, not in order to compel a return—for we do not put favours out at interest, but we are naturally inclined to generosity —just so we think that friendship is to be desired, not because we are led by hope of gain, but because all its fruit is in the affection itself.
When it chanced that these words were read in a company of cultured men, a sophistical rhetorician, skilled in both tongues, a man of some note among those clever and meticulous teachers known as texnikoi,/ or
connoisseurs,who was at the same time not without ability in disputation, expressed the opinion that Marcus Tullius had used an argument which was neither sound nor clear, but one which was of the same uncertainty as the question at issue itself; and he described that fault by Greek words, saying that Cicero had postulated a)ufisbhtou/menon a)nti\ o(mologoume/nou, that is,
what was disputed rather than what was admitted.
For,said he,
he took benefci, 'the kindly,' and liberales, 'the generous,' to confirm what he said about friendship, although that very question is commonly asked and ought to be asked, with what thought and purpose one who acts liberally and kindly is kind and generous. Whether it isFurthermore, he thought that arguments ought to be either convincing, or clear and not open to controversy, and he said that the term apodixis, [*](That is, a)po/deicis.) orv3.p.219because he hopes for a return of the favour, and tries to arouse in the one to whom he is kind a like feeling towards himself, as almost all seem to do; or because he is by nature kindly, and kindness and generosity gratify him for their own sakes without any thought of a return of the favour, which is as a rule the rarest of all.
demonstration,was properly used only when things that are doubtful or obscure are made plain through things about which there is no doubt. And in order that he might show that the kind and generous ought not to be taken as an argument or example for the question about friendship, he said:
By the same comparison and the same appearance of reason, friendship in its turn may be taken as an argument, if one should declare that men ought to be kindly and generous, not from the hope of a return, but from the desire and love of honourable conduct. For he will be able to argue in a very similar manner as follows: ' Now just as we do not embrace friendship through hope of advantage, so we ought not to be generous and kindly with the desire of having the favour returned.' He will indeed,said he,
be able to say this, but friendship cannot furnish an argument for generosity, nor generosity for friendship, since in the case of each there is equally an open question.
It seemed to some that this artist in rhetoric argued cleverly and learnedly, but that as a matter of fact he was ignorant of the true meaning of terms. For Cicero calls a man
kind and generousin the
For as we do some kind and generous action, not in order to compel a return.For it might seem that anyone who was not kindly might happen to do a kind action, if it was done because of some accidental circumstance and not through a fixed habit of constant kindliness. But since Cicero spoke of
kindly and generous people,and meant no other sort than that which we have mentioned before, it is
with unwashed feet,[*](Cf. i. 9. 8 (vol. i, p. 49) with the note, and Plautus, Poen. 316, illotis manibus. The reference is to washing before handling sacred objects or performing religious rites. Et verbis is an addition by Gellius, in the sense of hasty, inconsiderate language.) as the proverb says, and unwashed words that our critic assails the argument of that most learned man.
That what Verrius Flaccus wrote about servus recepticius, in his second book On the Obscurities of Marcus Cato, is false.
MARCUS CATO, when recommending the Voconian law, [*](His recommendation of this law is also mentioned by Cicero, Cato Mai. 14, who discusses some features of the law in Verr. ii. 1. 101 ff.; see also xx. 1. 23, below. The law, which in general had to do with inheritances, has been the subject of much discussion; one of its provisions was that no one should make a woman his heir.) spoke as follows: [*](p. 54, 5, Jordan.)
In the beginning the woman brought you a great dowry; then she holds back a large sum of money, which she does not entrust to the control of her husband, but lends it to her husband. Later, becoming angry with him, she orders a servus recepticius, or ' slave of her own,' to hound him and demand the money.
The question was asked what was meant by servus recepticius. At once the books of Verrius Flaccus On the Obscurities of Cato were asked for and produced. In the second book was found the statement [*](p. xvi, Müller.) that servus recepticius was the name applied to a slave that was worthless and of no value, who, after being sold, was returned because of some fault and taken back.
Therefore,says Flaccus, "a slave of that kind was bidden to hound her husband and demand the money, in order that the man's vexation might be greater, and the insult put upon him still more bitter, for the very reason that a worthless slave dunned him for the payment of money."
But with the indulgence and pardon of those, if such there be, who are influenced by the authority of Verrius Flaccus, this must be said. That recepticius servus in the case of which Cato is speaking is something very different from what Verrius wrote. And this is easy for anyone to understand; for the situation is undoubtedly this: when the woman
hold back(recipere), just as now also at sales those things are said to be
held backwhich are set aside and not sold. This word Plautus also used in the Trinumnus in this line: [*](v. 194.)
That is, when he sold the house, he did not sell a small part which was behind the house, but held it back. Cato himself too, wishing to describe the woman as rich, says:
- But when he sold the house, this little place
- Behind it he held back (recepit).
The woman brings a great dowry and holds back a large sum of money; that is, she gives a great dowry and retains possession of a large sum of money. From that property then which she kept for herself after giving her dowry, she lent money to her husband. When she happened to be vexed with her husband and determined to demand the money back, she appoints to demand it from him a seruves recepticius, that is, a slave of her very own, whom she had held back with the rest of the money and had not given as part of her dowry, but had retained; for it was not right for the woman to give such an order to a slave of her husband, but only to one of her very own.
I forbear to say more in defence of this view of mine; for the opinion of Verrius and mine are before you, each by itself; anyone therefore may adopt whichever of the two seems to him the truer.
These words from the Atinian law,
the claim on whatever shall be stolen shall be everlasting,seemed to Publius Nigidius and Quintus Scaevola to have reference not less to a past theft than to a future one.
THE words of the ancient Atinian law [*](Different from the plebiscitum of xiv. 8. 2. The date is uncertain.) are as follows: [*](Fontes Iur. Rom., p. 45, 6.)
Whatever shall have been stolen, let the right to claim the thing be everlasting.Who would suppose that in these words the law referred to anything else than to future time? But Quintus Scaevola says [*](Fr. 3, Huschke; Iur. Civ. xvi. 5, Bremer.) that his father [*](Resp. 4, Bremer.) and Brutus [*](Resp. 5, Bremer.) and Manilius, [*](Resp. 5, Bremer.) exceedingly learned men, inquired and were in doubt whether the law was valid in cases of future theft only or also in those already committed in the past; since subruptum erit seems to indicate both times, past as well as future.
Therefore Publius Nigidius, the most learned man of the Roman State, discussed this uncertainty of theirs in the twenty-third book of his Grammatical Notes. [*](Fr. 34, Swoboda.) And he himself too has the same opinion, that the indication of the time is indefinite, but he speaks very concisely and obscurely, so that you may see that he is rather making notes to aid his own memory than trying to instruct his readers. [*](Cf. xvi. 8. 3.) However, his meaning seems to be that est and erit are independent words; when they are used alone, they have and retain their own tense, but when they are joined with a past participle, they lose the force of their own tense, and are transferred to the past. For when I say in campo est, or
he is in the field,and in comitio est, or
he is in the comitium,I refer to the present time; also when I
Similarly then,he says,
with regard also to the wording of the law; if you divide and separate these two words subruptum and erit, so that you understand subruptum erit as you would certamen erit, that is, 'there will be a contest,' or sacrificium erit (there will be a sacrifice), then the law will seem to have reference to an act completed in future time; but if you understand the two words to be united and mingled, so that subruptum erit is not two words, but one, and is a single form of the passive inflection, then that word indicates past time no less than future.
In conversation at the table of the philosopher Taurus questions of this kind were proposed and discussed:
why oil congeals often and readily, wine seldom, vinegar hardly ever,and
that the waters of rivers and springs freeze, while the sea does not.
THE philosopher Taurus at Athens usually entertained us at dinner at the time of day when evening had already come on; for there that is the time for dining. [*](In Rome the dinner-hour was considerably earlier, usually the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the afternoon; see Hor. Epist. 1. 7. 71; Mart. iv. 8. 6. To-day, too, the dinner-hour is later in Athens than in Rome, although the difference is not so great as in ancient times.) The entire basis and foundation of the meal usually consisted of one pot of Egyptian beans, to which were added gourds cut in small pieces.
One day when this dish had been brought and placed upon the table, and we were ready and awaiting the meal, Taurus ordered a slave-boy to pour some oil into the pot. The slave was a boy of Attic birth, at most eight years old, overflowing with the merry wit characteristic of his race and his time of life. He brought an empty Samian flask, from oversight, as he said, supposing there was oil in it, turned it up and, as he usually did, passed it with his hand over all parts of the pot; but no oil came out. The boy, in anger, looked savagely at the flask, shook it violently, and again turned it over the pot; and when we were all quietly and furtively laughing at his actions, he said in Greek, and excellent Attic Greek at that:
Don't laugh; there's oil in it; but don't you know how cold it was this morning; it's congealed.
You rascal,said Taurus with a laugh,
run and fetch some oil.
But when the boy had gone out to buy oil, Taurus, not at all put out by the delay, said:
The pot needs oil, and, as I see, is intolerably hot; let us withhold our hands and meanwhile, since the slave has just told us that oil is in the habit of congealing, let us consider why oil congeals often and readily, but wine rarely.And he looked at me and bade me give my opinion. Then I replied that I inferred that wine congealed less quickly because it had in it certain seeds of heat and was naturally more fiery, and that was why Homer called [*](Iliad i. 462, etc.) it ai)/qoy, [*](In Homer this word, from ai)qo/s, fire and o)/y, eye, means fiery-looking or sparkling, rather than fiery. Gellius seems to be wrong so far as Homer is concerned, although some other writers used ai)/qoy in the sense of fiery, as applied to persons.) and not, as some supposed, on account of its colour.
It is indeed,says Taurus,
as you say. For it is well known that wine, when we drink it, warms the body. But oil is equally calorific and has no less power of warming the body. Besides, if those things which are warmer are frozen with greater difficulty, it follows that those which are colder freeze more readily. But vinegar is the most cooling of all things and yet it never freezes. Is the reason then for the quicker freezing of oil to be found in its lightness? For those things seem to congeal more readily which are lighter and smoother.
Taurus says besides that it is also worth inquiring why the waters of rivers and streams freeze, while all the sea is incapable of freezing.
Although Herodotus,said he,
the writer of history, contrary to the opinion of almost all who have investigated these matters, writes [*](iv. 28 (ii., p. 226, L.C.L.).) that the Bosphoric sea, which is called Cimmerian, [*](The Cimmerian Bosphorus, the present Strait of Yenikale, connecting the Palus Maeotis (Sea of Azov) with the Pontus Euxinus or Black Sea.) and all that part of the sea which is termed Scythian, [*](Herodotus does not use the term Scythian Sea, but says the sea, referring to the Palus Maeotis and the Euxine. See the map, Herod., L.C.L., vol. ii.) is bound fast by the cold and brought to a standstill.While Taurus was thus speaking, the boy had returned, the pot had cooled off, and the time had come to eat and hold our peace.
Of the cypher letters which are found in the epistles of Gains Caesar, and of other secret forms of writing taken from ancient history; and what the Laconian skuta/lh is.
THERE are volumes of letters of Gaius Caesar addressed to Gaius Oppius and Cornelius Balbus,
But the ancient Lacedaemonians, when they wanted to conceal and disguise the public dispatches sent to their generals, in order that, in case they were intercepted by the enemy, their plans might not be known, used to send letters written in the following manner. There were two thin, cylindrical wands of the same thickness and length, smoothed and prepared so as to be exactly alike. One of these was given to the general when he went to war, the other the magistrates kept at home under their control and seal. When the need of more secret communication arose, they bound about the staff a thong of moderate thickness, but long enough for the purpose, in a simple spiral, in such a way that the edges of the thong which was twined around the stick met and were joined throughout. Then they wrote the dispatch on that thong across
There is also in the records of Grecian history another profound and difficult method of concealment, devised by a barbarian's cunning. He was called Histiaeus and was born in the land of Asia in no mean station. At that time king Darius held
When you come to him, say that I told him to shave your head, as I did a little while ago.The slave, as he was bidden, came to Aristagoras and delivered his master's order. Aristagoras, thinking that the command must have some reason, did as he was directed. And thus the letter reached its destination.
What Favorinus thought of the verses of Virgil in which he imitated the poet Pindar in his description of an eruption of Mount Aetna; his comparison and evaluation of the verses of the two poets on the same theme.
I REMEMBER that the philosopher Favorinus, when he had gone during the hot season to the villa of a friend of his at Antium, and I had come from Rome to see him, discoursed in about the following manner about the poets Pindar and Virgil.
The friends and intimates of Publius Vergilius,said he,
in the accounts which they have left us of his talents and his character, say that he used to declare that he produced verses after the manner and fashion of asaid he, "is shown by the result. For the parts that he left perfected and polished, to which his judgment and approval had applied the final hand, enjoy the highest praise for poetical beauty; but those parts which he postponed, with the intention of revising them later, but was unable to finish because he was overtaken by death, are in no way worthy of the fame and taste of the most elegant of poets. It was for that reason, when he was laid low by disease and saw that death was near, that he begged and earnestly besought his best friends to burn the Aeneid, which he had not yet sufficiently revised.v3.p.241bear. For he said that as that beast brought forth her young formless and misshapen, and afterwards by licking the young cub gave it form and shape, just so the fresh products of his mind were rude in form and imperfect, but afterwards by working over them and polishing them he gave them a definite form and expression. [*](Cf. Suet. Vita Verg. 22 (ii. p. 470, L.C.L.).) That this was honestly and truly said by that man of fine taste,
Now among the passages,said Favorinus,
which particularly seem to have needed revision and correction is the one which was composed about Mount Aetna. For wishing to rival the poem which the earlier poet Pindar composed about the nature and eruption of that mountain, he has heaped up such words and expressions that in this passage at least he is more extravagant and bombastic even than Pindar himself, who was thought to have too rich and luxuriant a style. And in order that you yourselves,said he, "may be judges of what I say, I will repeat Pindar's poem about Mount Aetna, so far as I can remember it: [*](Pyth. i. 21 ff.)
Now hear the verses of Virgil, which I may more truly say that he began than finished: [*](Aen. iii. 570 ff.)
- Mount Aetna, from whose inmost caves burst forth
- The purest fount of unapproachable fire.
- By day her rivers roll a lurid stream
- Of smoke, while 'mid the gloom of night red flame,
- On sweeping, whirleth rocks with crashing din
- Far down to the deep sea. And high aloft
- That monster [*](The monster was the giant Typhoeus, or Typhon, who was struck by Zeus' thunder-bolt and buried under Aetna.) flingeth fearful founts of fire,
- A marvel to behold or e'en to hear
- From close at hand.
- There lies a port, safe from the winds' approach,
- Spacious itself, but Aetna close at hand
- Thunders with crashes dire, and now hurls forth
- Skyward a dusky cloud with eddies black
- And glowing ash, and uplifts balls of flame
- And licks the stars; now spews forth rocks,
- The mountain's entrails torn, hurls molten crags
- Groaning to heaven, and seethes from depths profound.
Now in the first place,said Favorinus,
Pindar has more closely followed the truth and has given a realistic description of what actually happened there, and what he saw with his own eyes; namely, that Aetna in the daytime sends forth smoke and at night fire; but Virgil, labouring to find grand and sonorous words, confuses the two periods of time and makes no distinction between them. Then the Greek has vividly pictured the streams of fire belched from the depths and the flowing rivers of smoke, andhe says,v3.p.245the rushing of lurid and spiral volumes of flame into the waters of the sea, like so many fiery serpents; but our poet, attempting to render r(o/on kapnou= ai)/qwna, 'a lurid stream of smoke,' has clumsily and diffusely piled up the words atram nubem turbine piceo et favilla fomented, 'a dusky cloud smoking with eddies black and glowing ash,' and what Pindar called krounoi/, or 'founts,' he has harshly and inaccurately rendered by 'balls of flame.' Likewise when he says sidearm lamb it, 'it licks the stars,' this also,
is a useless and foolish elaboration. And this too is inexplicable and almost incomprehensible, when he speaks of a 'black cloud smoking with eddies black and glowing ash.' For things which glow,said Favorinus,
do not usually smoke nor are they black; unless candenti ('glowing') is used vulgarly and inaccurately for hot ashes, instead of those which are fiery and gleaming. For candens, of course, is connected with candor, or 'whiteness,' not with calor ('heat'). But when he says saxa et scopulos eructari et erigi, 'that rocks and crags are spewed forth and whirled skyward,' and that these same crags at once liquefieri et gemere atque glomerari ad auras, 'are molten and groan and are whirled to heaven,' this,he said,
is what Pindar never wrote and what was never spoken by anyone; and it is the most monstrous of all monstrous descriptions.[*](Not all modern critics would agree with Favorinus as to Virgil's last two lines, with their elaborate accommodation of sound to sense.)