Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 30

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[30]

Question 30.

Why do the bridemen that bring in the bride require her to say, Where thou Caius art, there am I Caia?

Solution. What if the reason be that by mutual agreement she enters presently upon participation of all things, even to share in the government, and that this is the meaning of it, Where thou art lord and master of the family, there am I also dame and mistress of the family; while these common names they use promiscuously, as the lawyers do Caius, Seius, Lucius, Titius, and the philosophers use the names of Dion and Theon? Or is it from Caia Secilia, an honest and good woman, married to one of Tarquinius’s sons, who had her statue of brass erected in the temple of Sancus? On this statue were anciently hanged sandals and spindles, as significant memorials of her housewifery and industry.

Quaestiones Romanae. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.

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Current edition Perseus

Roman Questions (English) (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.)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 30 focus

[30] διὰ τί τὴν νύμφην εἰσάγοντες λέγειν κελεύουσιν, 271e ὅπου σὺ Γάιος, ¹ ἐγὼ Γαΐα. ʼ;

πότερον ὥσπερ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς εὐθὺς εἴσεισι τῷ κοινωνεῖν ἁπάντων καὶ συνάρχειν, καὶ τὸ μὲν δηλούμενόν ἐστιν ὅπου σὺ κύριος καὶ οἰκοδεσπότης, καὶ ἐγὼ κυρία καὶ οἰκοδέσποινα; τοῖς δʼ ὀνόμασι τούτοις ἄλλως ² κέχρηνται κοινοῖς οὖσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ νομικοὶ Γάιον Σήιον καὶ Λούκιον Τίτιον, καὶ οἱ φιλόσοφοι Δίωνα καὶ Θέωνα παραλαμβάνουσιν.

ἢ διὰ Γαΐαν Καικιλίαν καλὴν καὶ ἀγαθὴν γυναῖκα, τῶν Ταρκυνίου παίδων ἑνὶ συνοικήσασαν, ἧς ἐν τῷ τοῦ Σάγκτου ἱερῷ χαλκοῦς ἀνδριὰς ἕστηκεν; ἔκειτο δὲ πάλαι καὶ σανδάλια καὶ ἄτρακτος, τὸ μὲν οἰκουρίας αὐτῆς, τὸ δʼ ἐνεργείας σύμβολον.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 30 focus

[30] διὰ τί τὴν νύμφην εἰσάγοντες λέγειν κελεύουσιν 271e ὅπου σὺ Γάιος, ἐγὼ Γαΐα; πότερον ὥσπερ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς εὐθὺς εἴσεισι τῷ κοινωνεῖν ἁπάντων καὶ συνάρχειν (καὶ τὸ μὲν δηλούμενόν ἐστιν ὅπου σὺ κύριος καὶ οἰκοδεσπότης, καὶ ἐγὼ κυρία καὶ οἰκοδέσποινα· τοῖς δʼ ὀνόμασι τούτοις ἄλλως κέχρηνται κοινοῖς οὖσιν, ὥσπερ οἱ νομικοὶ Γάιον Σήιον καὶ Λούκιον Τίτιον, καὶ οἱ φιλόσοφοι Δίωνα καὶ Θέωνα 5 παραλαμβάνουσιν)· ἢ διὰ Γαΐαν Καικιλίαν καλὴν καὶ ἀγαθὴν γυναῖκα, τῶν Ταρκυνίου παίδων ἑνὶ συνοικήσασαν, ἧς ἐν τῷ τοῦ Σάγκτου ¹ ἱερῷ χαλκοῦς ἀνδριὰς ἕστηκεν; ἔκειτο δὲ πάλαι καὶ σανδάλια καὶ ἄτρακτοι, τὸ μὲν οἰκουρίας αὐτῆς, τὸ δʼ ἐνεργείας 10 σύμβολον. 271f

Translations (1)

The Roman Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 30 focus

[30] Why do they, as they conduct the bride to her home, bid her say, Where you are Gaius, there am I Gaia¹?

Is her entrance into the house upon fixed terms, as it were, at once to share everything and to control jointly the household, and is the meaning, then, Wherever you are lord and master, there am I lady and mistress? These names are in common use also in other connexions, just as jurists speak of Gaius Seius and Lucius Titius,² and philosophers of Dion and Theon.³

Or do they use these names because of Gaia Caecilia,⁴ consort of one of Tarquini sons, a fair and virtuous woman, whose statue in bronze stands in the temple of Sanctus?⁵ And both her sandals and her spindle were, in ancient days, dedicated there as tokens of her love of home and of her industry respectively.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 30

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 30.

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