Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 38

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[38]

Question 38.

Why did Q. Metellus, being a high priest and otherwise reputed a wise man and a statesman, prohibit the use of divination from birds after the Sextile month, now called August?

Solution. Is it not that—as we make such observations about noon or early in the day, and also in the beginning or middle of the month (when the moon is new or increasing), but beware of the times of the days or month’s decline as unlucky—so he also was of opinion that the time of year after eight months was, as it were, the evening of the year, when it declined and hastened towards an end? Or is it because they must use thriving and full-grown birds? For such are in summer; but towards autumn some are moulting and sickly, others chickens and unfledged, others altogether vanished and fled out of the country by reason of the season of the year.

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).) — 38 focus

[38] διὰ τί Κόιντος Μέτελλος ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος καὶ τἄλλα δοκῶν φρόνιμος εἶναι καὶ πολιτικὸς ἀνὴρ ἐκώλυεν οἰωνίζεσθαι μετὰ τὸν Σεξτίλιον μῆνα τὸν νῦν Αὔγουστον προσαγορευόμενον;

πότερον ὅτι καθάπερ ἡμέρας ἀκμαζούσης ἢ ἀρχομένης πράττομεν τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ μηνὸς ἱσταμένου καὶ αὐξομένου, τὰς δʼ ἀποκλίτους ὡς 273e ἀχρηματίστους φυλαττόμεθα, παραπλησίως τὸν μετὰ μῆνας ὀκτὼ χρόνον ὥσπερ ἑσπέραν τινὰ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ καὶ δείλην ἀποκλίνοντος ἤδη καὶ φθίνοντος ἐνόμιζεν;

ἢ καὶ τοῖς ὄρνισι χρηστέον ἀκμαίοις καὶ τελείοις; εἰσὶ δὲ πρὸ τοῦ θέρους τοιοῦτοι· περὶ δὲ τὸ φθινόπωρον οἱ μὲν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ νοσώδεις, οἱ δὲ νεοττοὶ καὶ ἀτελεῖς, οἱ δὲ παντάπασι φροῦδοι διὰ τὴν ὥραν ἐκτοπίζοντες.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 38 focus

[38] διὰ τί Κόιντος Μέτελλος ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος καὶ τἄλλα δοκῶν φρόνιμος εἶναι καὶ πολιτικὸς ἀνὴρ ἐκώλυεν οἰωνίζεσθαι μετὰ τὸν Σεξτίλιον μῆνα 20 τὸν νῦν Αὔγουστον προσαγορευόμενον; πότερον ὅτι καθάπερ ἡμέρας ἀκμαζούσης ἢ ἀρχομένης πράττομεν τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ μηνὸς ἱσταμένου καὶ αὐξομένου, τὰς 273e δʼ ἀποκλίτους ὡς ἀχρηματίστους φυλαττόμεθα· παραπλησίως τὸν μετὰ μῆνας ὀκτὼ χρόνον ὥσπερ ἑσπέραν 25 τινὰ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ καὶ δείλην ἀποκλίνοντος ἤδη καὶ φθίνοντος νομίζειν· ¹ ἢ καὶ τοῖς ὄρνισι χρηστέον ἀκμαίοις καὶ τελείοις; εἰσὶ δὲ πρὸ τοῦ θέρους τοιοῦτοι· περὶ δὲ τὸ φθινόπωρον οἱ μὲν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ νοσώδεις, οἱ δὲ νεοσσοὶ καὶ ἀτελεῖς, οἱ δὲ παντάπασι φροῦδοι διὰ τὴν ὥραν ἐκτοπίζοντες. 5

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).) — 38 focus

[38] Why did Quintus Metellus,¹ when he became pontifex maximus, with his reputation for good sense in all other matters as well as in his statesmanship, prevent divination from birds after the month Sextius, which is now called August?

Is it that, even as we attend to such matters in the middle of the day or at dawn, or in the beginning of the month when the moon is waxing, and avoid the declining days and hours as unsuitable for business, so likewise did Metellus regard the period of time after the first eight months as the evening or late afternoon, so to speak, of the year, since then it is declining and waning?

Or is it because we should observe birds when they are in their prime and in perfect condition? And this they are before the summer-time: but towards autumn some are weak and sickly, others but nestlings and not full-grown, and still others have vanished completely, migrating because of the time of year.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 38

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 38.

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