Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 71

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[71]

Question 71.

Why do they bind hay about the horns of oxen that are wont to push, that they may be shunned by him that meets them?

Solution. It is that by reason of gormandizing and stuffing their guts oxen, asses, horses, and men become mischievous, as Sophocles somewhere saith,

full-fed colt thou kickest up heels,

From stuffed paunch, cheeks, and full meals?

Therefore the Romans say that M. Crassus had hay about his horns, for they that were turbulent men in the commonwealth were wont to stand in awe of him as a revengeful man and one scarce to be meddled with; although afterwards it was said again, that Caesar had taken away Crassus’s hay, being the first man of the republic that withstood and affronted him.

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).) — 71 focus

[71] διὰ τί τῶν κυριττόντων βοῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ φυλάττεσθαι τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα χόρτον τῷ κέρατι προσδοῦσιν,

ἢ διὰ κόρον καὶ πλησμονὴν ἐξυβρίζουσι καὶ βόες καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὄνοι καὶ ἄνθρωποι; ὥς που καὶ Σοφοκλῆς πεποίηκε

σὺ δὲ σφαδᾴζεις πῶλος ὣς εὐφορβίᾳ,

γαστήρ τε γάρ σου καὶ γνάθος πλήρης πέλει. ¹

διὸ καὶ Μᾶρκον Κράσσον οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι χόρτον ἔχειν ἔφασαν ἐφυλάττοντο γάρ αὐτὸν οἱ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐν 281a τῇ πολιτείᾳ σπαράττοντες ὡς ἀμυντικὸν καὶ δυσεπιχείρητον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὕστερον ἐλέχθη πάλιν, ὅτι Κράσσου Καῖσαρ ἀφῃρήκει τὸν χόρτον ἀντέστη γὰρ αὐτῷ πρῶτος ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ καὶ κατεφρόνησε.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 71 focus

[71] διὰ τί τῶν κυριττόντων βοῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ φυλάττεσθαι τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα χόρτον τῷ κέρατι 10 προσδέουσιν; ἦ διὰ κόρον καὶ πλησμονὴν ἐξυβρίζουσι καὶ βόες καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὄνοι καὶ ἄνθρωποι; ὥς που καὶ Σοφοκλῆς ¹ πεποίηκε

σὺ δὲ σφαδᾴζεις πῶλος ὣς εὐφορβίᾳ,

γαστήρ τε γάρ σου καὶ γνάθος πλήρης.

15 διὸ καὶ Μάρκον Κράσσον οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι χόρτον ἔχειν ἔφασαν· ἐφυλάττοντο γὰρ αὐτὸν οἱ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐν 281a τῇ πολιτείᾳ σπαράττοντες ὡς ἀμυντικὸν καὶ δυσεπιχείρητον. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ὕστερον ἐλέχθη πάλιν, ὅτι Κράσσου Καῖσαρ ἀφῃρήκει τὸν χόρτον· ἀντέστη γὰρ 20 αὐτῷ πρῶτος ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ καὶ κατεφρόνησε.

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).) — 71 focus

[71] Why do they tie hay to one horn of vicious bulls to warn anyone who meets them to be on guard?

Is it because bulls, horses, asses, men, all wax wanton through stuffing and gorging? So Sophocles¹ has somewhere written,

You prance, as does a colt, from glut of food,

For both your belly and your cheeks are full.

Wherefore also the Romans used to say that Marcus Crassus² had hay on his horn: for those who heckled the other chief men in the State were on their guard against assailing him, since they knew that he was vindictive and hard to cope with. Later, however, another saying was bandied about, that Caesar had pulled the hay from Crassus: for Caesar was the first to oppose Crassus in public policy and to treat him with contumely.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 71

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 71.

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