Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 103

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[103] Why do they call children of unknown fathers spurii?¹

Now the reason is not, as the Greeks believe and lawyers in court are wont to assert, that these children are begotten of some promiscuous and common seed: but Spurius is a first name like Sextus and Decimus and Gaius. They do not write first names in full, but by one letter, as Titus (T.) and Lucius (L.) and Marcus (M.): or by two, as Tiberius (Ti.) and Gnaeus (Cn.): or by three, as Sextus (Sex.) and Servius (Ser.). Spurius, then, is one of those written by two letters: Sp. And by these two letters they also denote children of unknown fathers, sine patre,² that is without a father: by the s they indicate sine and by the p patre. This, then, caused the error, the writing of the same abbreviation for sine patre and for Spurius.

I must state the other explanation also, but it is somewhat absurd: They assert that the Sabines use the word spurius for the pudenda muliebria, and it later came about that they called the child born of an unmarried, unespoused woman by this name, as if in mockery.

Quaestiones Romanae. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Current edition Perseus

The Roman Questions (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 103 focus

[103] διὰ τί τοὺς ἀπάτορας σπορίους υἱοὺς καλοῦσιν;

οὐ γάρ, ὡς Ἕλληνες νομίζουσι, καὶ λέγουσιν οἱ ῥήτορες ἐν ταῖς δίκαις, συμφορητοῦ τινος καὶ κοινοῦ σπέρματος γεγόνασιν, ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ὁ Σπόριος τῶν πρώτων ὀνομάτων, ὡς ὁ Σέξτος καὶ ὁ Δέκιμος καὶ ὁ Γάιος. τὰ δὲ πρῶτα τῶν ὀνομάτων οὐχ ὁλογραφοῦσιν ἀλλʼ ἢ διʼ ἑνὸς γράμματος, ὡς τὸν Τίτον καὶ τὸν Λούκιον καὶ τὸν Μᾶρκον, ἢ διὰ δυοῖν, ὡς τὸν Τιβέριον καὶ τὸν Γναῖον, ἢ διὰ τριῶν, ὡς τὸν Σέξτον καὶ τὸν Σερούιον. ἔστιν οὖν καὶ ὁ Σπόριος τῶν διὰ δυοῖν γραφομένων, τοῦ ς 288f καὶ τοῦ π. γράφουσι δὲ διὰ τούτων καὶ τοὺς ἀπάτορας σίνε πάτρε ¹ οἷον ἄνευ πατρός, τῷ μὲν ς τὸ σίνε τῷ δὲ π τὸ πάτρε² σημαίνοντες. τοῦτʼ οὖν τὴν πλάνην ἐποίησε, τὸ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν γραμμάτων τὸ σίνε πάτρε³ καὶ τὸν Σπόριον γράφεσθαι.

λεκτέον δὲ καὶ τὸν ἕτερον λόγον, ἔστι δʼ ἀτοπώτερος· τοὺς γὰρ Σαβίνους φασὶ τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς αἰδοῖον ὀνομάζειν σπόριον, εἶθʼ οἷον ἐφυβρίζοντας οὕτω προσαγορεύειν τὸν ἐκ γυναικὸς ἀγάμου καὶ ἀνεγγύου γεγενημένον.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 103 focus

[103] διὰ τί τοὺς ἀπάτορας σπορίους υἱοὺς καλοῦσιν; οὐ γάρ, ὡς Ἕλληνες νομίζουσι καὶ λέγουσιν οἱ ῥήτορες ἐν ταῖς δίκαις, συμφορητοῦ τινος καὶ κοινοῦ σπέρματος γεγόνασιν, ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ὁ Σπόριος 10 τῶν πρώτων ὀνομάτων, ὡς ὁ Σέξτος καὶ ὁ Δέκιμος καὶ ὁ Γάιος. τὰ δὲ πρῶτα τῶν ὀνομάτων οὐχ ὁλογραφοῦσιν ἀλλʼ ἢ διʼ ἑνὸς γράμματος, ὡς τὸν Τίτον καὶ τὸν Λούκιον καὶ τὸν Μάρκον· ἢ διὰ δυεῖν, ὡς τὸν Τιβέριον ¹ καὶ τὸν Γναῖον· ἢ διὰ τριῶν, ὡς τὸν 15 Σέξτον καὶ τὸν Σερούιον. ἔστιν οὖν καὶ ὁ Σπόριος 288f τῶν διὰ δυεῖν γραφομένων, τοῦ σ καὶ τοῦ π. γράφουσι δὲ διὰ τούτων καὶ τοὺς ἀπάτορας σίνε πάτρις οἷον ἄνευ πατρός, τῷ μὲν σ τὸ σίνε τῷ δὲ π τό πάτρις σημαίνοντες. τοῦτʼ οὖν τὴν πλάνην ἐποίησε, 20 τὸ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν γραμμάτων τὸ σίνε πάτρις καὶ τὸν Σπόριον γράφεσθαι. λεκτέον δὲ καὶ τὸν ἕτερον λόγον, ἔστι δʼ ἀτοπώτερος τοὺς γὰρ Σαβίνους φασὶ τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς αἰδοῖον ὀνομάζειν σπόριον, εἶθʼ οἷον ἐφυβρίζοντας οὕτω προσαγορεύειν τὸν ἐκ γυναικὸς 25 ἀγάμου καὶ ἀνεγγύου γεγεννημένον. ²

Translations (1)

Roman Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Chauncy, Isaac translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 103 focus

[103]

Question 103.

Why do they call those whose fathers are not known Spurius?

Solution. It is not verily—as the Grecians suppose and as the rhetoricians say in their determinations—because they are begot of some promiscuous and common seed (as the Greeks say σπόρος). But Spurius is found among first names, as Sextus, Decimus, Caius. But the Romans do not write all the letters of the first name; but either one letter, as T. for Titus, L. for Lucius, M. for Marcus; or two letters, as Ti. for Tiberius, Cn. for Cnaeus; or three, as Sex. for Sextus, and Ser. for Servius. Now Spurius is of those that are written with two letters, Sp. But with these same letters they write without father, S. for sine, and P. for patre, which truly hath caused the mistake. Moreover, we may meet with another reason, but it is more absurd. They say, that the Sabines called the privities of a woman spurious; and therefore they call him so, by way of reproach, who is born of a woman unmarried and unespoused.

Notes on the current edition

The Roman Questions

1. Cf. Gaius, Institutiones, i. 64; Valerius Maximus, De Praenominibus, 6 (p. 590 of Kempf’s ed.).

2. The mss. have sine patris; did Plutarch, or some Greek copyist, confuse the Latin genitive and ablative, since they are one in Greek?

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 103

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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