Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator), 98

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[98] Why do the censors, when they take office, do nothing else before they contract for the food of the sacred geese¹ and the polishing of the statue?²

Is it that they begin with the most trivial things, matters that require little expense or trouble?

Or is this a commemoration of an old debt of gratitude owed to these creatures for their services in the Gallic wars?³ For when in the night the barbarians were already climbing over the rampart of the Capitol, the gee se perceived the invaders, although the dogs were asleep, and waked the guards by their clamour.

Or is it because the censors are guardians of the most important matters, and, since it is their duty to oversee and to busy themselves with sacred and State affairs and with the lives, morals, and conduct of the people, they immediately take into account the most vigilant of creatures, and at the same time by their care of the geese they urge the citizens not to be careless or indifferent about sacred matters?

But the polishing⁴ of the statue is absolutely necessary: for the red pigment, with which they used to tint ancient statues, rapidly loses its freshness.

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).) — 98 focus

[98] διὰ τί οἱ τιμηταὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν παραλαβόντες οὐδὲν ἄλλο πράττουσι πρότερον ¹ ἢ τὴν τροφὴν ἀπομισθοῦσι 287c τῶν ἱερῶν χηνῶν καὶ τὴν γάνωσιν τοῦ ἀγάλματος;

πότερον ἀπὸ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων ἀρχόμενοι καὶ μὴ πολλῆς δεομένων δαπάνης μηδὲ πραγματείας;

ἢ παλαιά τις αὕτη χάρις ἀπομνημονεύεται τοῖς ζῴοις ἀπὸ τῶν Κελτικῶν, ὅτι τοὺς βαρβάρους ὑπερβαίνοντας ἤδη τὸ περιτείχισμα τοῦ Καπετωλίου νύκτωρ οἱ χῆνες ᾔσθοντο τῶν κυνῶν καθευδόντων καὶ βοῇ τοὺς φύλακας ἐπήγειραν;

ἢ φύλακες ὄντες οἱ τιμηταὶ τῶν μεγίστων, καὶ προσῆκον ² ἐπισκοπεῖν καὶ πολυπραγμονεῖν αὐτοῖς ἱερὰ καὶ δημόσια καὶ βίους καὶ ἤθη καὶ διαίτας, τὸ φυλακτικώτατον ζῷον εὐθὺς ἐν λόγῳ τίθενται, καὶ ἅμα τῇ τούτων ἐπιμελείᾳ προτρέπονται τοὺς πολίτας 287d μὴ ἀμελεῖν μηδὲ ῥᾳθυμεῖν τῶν ἱερῶν;

ἡ δὲ γάνωσις τοῦ ἀγάλματος ἀναγκαία· ταχὺ γὰρ ἐξανθεῖ τὸ μίλτινον, ᾧ τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἔχρωζον.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 98 focus

[98] διὰ τί οἱ τιμηταὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν παραλαβόντες οὐδὲν ἄλλο πράττουσι πρότερον ¹ ἢ τὴν τροφὴν ἀπομισθοῦσι 20 287c τῶν ἱερῶν χηνῶν καὶ τὴν γάνωσιν τοῦ ἀγάλματος; πότερον ἀπὸ τῶν εὐτελεστάτων ἀρχόμενοι καὶ μὴ πολλῆς δεομένων δαπάνης μηδὲ πραγματείας, ἢ παλαιά τις αὕτη χάρις ἀπομνημονεύεται τοῖς ζῴοις ἀπὸ τῶν Κελτικῶν, ὅτι τοὺς βαρβάρους 25 ὑπερβαίνοντας ἤδη τὸ περιτείχισμα τοῦ Καπετωλίου νύκτωρ οἱ χῆνες ᾔσθοντο τῶν κυνῶν καθευδόντων καὶ βοῇ τοὺς φύλακας ἐπήγειραν; ἢ φύλακες ὄντες οἱ τιμηταὶ τῶν μεγίστων, καὶ προσῆκον ἐπισκοπεῖν καὶ πολυπραγμονεῖν αὐτοῖς ἱερὰ καὶ δημόσια καὶ βίους καὶ ἤθη καὶ διαίτας, τὸ φυλακτικώτατον ζῷον 5 εὐθὺς ἐν λόγῳ τίθενται, καὶ ἅμα τῇ τούτων ἐπιμελείᾳ προτρέπονται τοὺς πολίτας μὴ ἀμελεῖν μηδὲ 287d ῥᾳθυμεῖν τῶν ἱερῶν; ἡ δὲ γάνωσις τοῦ ἀγάλματος ἀναγκαία· ταχὺ γὰρ ἐξανθεῖ τὸ μίλτινον, ᾧ τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἔχρωζον. 10

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.) — 98 focus

[98]

Question 98.

What is the reason that the censors entering upon their office do nothing before they have contracted for providing meat for the sacred geese, and for polishing the statue?

Solution. Is this the reason, that they begin with those things that savor of most frugality, and such things as want not much charge and trouble? Or is it in grateful commemoration of what these creatures did of old, when the Gauls invaded Rome and the barbarians scaled the walls of the Capitol by night? For the geese were sensible of it when the dogs were asleep, and they with their gaggling awaked the watch? Or, seeing the censors are the con servers of such things as are of greatest and most necessary concern,—to oversee and narrowly inspect the public sacrifices, and the lives, manners, and diet of men,—do they presently set before their consideration the most vigilant creature, and by the watchfulness of these instruct the citizens not to disregard or neglect sacred things? As for the polishing of the statue, it is necessary, for the minium (wherewith they of old colored the statues) soon fades.

Notes on the current edition

The Roman Questions

1. Cf. Pliny, Natural History, x. 22 (51).

2. The statue of Jupiter Capitolinus: Pliny, Natural History, xxxiii. 7 (112).

3. Cf. 325 c-d, infra; Life of Camillus, xxvii. (142 d ff.): Livy, v. 47; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, xiii. 7-8; Diodorus, xiv. 116.

4. The high polish of the Roman statues is very noticeable in contrast with the duller surface of Greek statues. This is one of the factors in the controversy over the genuineness of the Hermes of Praxiteles at Olympia.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 98

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

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Question 98.

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