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BOOK XII

I

1arg

A discourse of the philosopher Favorinus, in which he urged a lady of rank to feed with her own milk, and not with that of other nurses, the children whom she had borne.

1 WORD was once brought in my presence to the philosopher Favorinus that the wife of an auditor and disciple of his had been brought to bed a short time before, and that his pupil's family had been increased by the birth of a son.

Let us go,

said he,

both to see the child and to congratulate the father.

The father was of senatorial rank and of a family of high nobility. We who were present at the time went with Favorinus, attended him to the house to which he was bound, and entered it with him. Then the philosopher, having embraced and congratulated the father immediately upon entering, sat down. And when he had asked how long the labour had been and how difficult, and had learned that the young woman, overcome with fatigue and wakefulness, was sleeping, he began to talk at greater length and said:

I have no doubt she will suckle her son herself!

But when the young woman's mother said to him that she must spare her daughter and provide nurses for the child, in order that to the pains which she had suffered in childbirth there might not be added the wearisome and difficult task of nursing, he said:

I beg you, madam, let her be wholly and entirely the mother of her own child. For what kind of unnatural, imperfect and half-motherhood is it to bear a child and at once send it away from her? to have nourished in her womb with her own blood something which she could not see, and not to feed with her own milk what she sees, now alive, now human, now calling for a mother's care? Or do you too perhaps think,

said he, "that nature gave women nipples as a kind of beauty-spot, not for the purpose of nourishing their children, but as an adornment of their breast? For it is for that reason though such a thing is of course far from your thoughts) that many of those unnatural women try to dry up and check that sacred fount of the body, the nourisher of mankind, regardless of the danger of diverting and spoiling the milk, because they think it disfigures the charms of their beauty. In so doing they show the same madness as those who strive by evil devices to cause abortion of the fetus itself which they have conceived, in order that their beauty may not be spoiled by the weight of the burden they bear and by the labour of parturition. But since it is an act worthy of public detestation and general abhorrence to destroy a human being in its inception, while it is being fashioned and given life and is still in the hands of Dame Nature, how far does it differ from this to deprive a child, already perfect, already brought into the world, already a son, of the nourishment of its own familiar and kindred blood?"

"'But it makes no difference,' for so they say, 'provided it be nourished and live, by whose milk that is effected.' Why then does not he who affirms this, if he is so dull in comprehending natural feeling, think that it also makes no difference in whose body and from whose blood a human being is formed and fashioned? Is the blood which is now in the breasts not the same that it was in the womb, merely because it has become white from abundant air and warmth? Is not the wisdom of nature evident also in this, that as soon as the blood, the artificer, has fashioned the whole human body within its secret precincts, when the time for birth comes, it rises into the upper parts, is ready to cherish the first beginnings of life and of light, and supplies the newborn children with the familiar and accustomed food? Therefore it is believed not without reason that, just as the power and nature of the seed are able to form likenesses of body and mind, so the qualities and properties of the milk have the same effect. And this is observed not only in human beings, but in beasts also; for if kids are fed on the milk of ewes, or lambs on that of goats, it is a fact that as a rule the wool is harsher in the former and the hair softer in the latter. In trees too and grain the power and strength of the water and earth which nourish them have more effect in retarding or promoting their growth than have those of the seed itself which is sown; and you often see a strong and flourishing tree, when transplanted to another spot, die from the effect of an inferior soil. What the mischief, then, is the reason for corrupting the nobility of body and mind of a newly born human being, formed from gifted seeds, by the alien and degenerate nourishment of another's milk? Especially if she whom you employ to furnish the milk is either a slave or of servile origin and, as usually happens, of a foreign and barbarous nation, if she is dishonest, ugly, unchaste and a wine-bibber; for as a rule anyone who has milk at the time is employed and no distinction made."

"Shall we then allow this child of ours to be infected with some dangerous contagion and to draw a spirit into its mind and body from a body and mind of the worst character? This, by Heaven! is the very reason for what often excites our surprise, that some children of chaste women turn out to be like their parents neither in body nor in mind. Wisely then and skilfully did our Maro make use of these lines of Homer: ²

The horseman Peleus never was thy sire,

Nor Thetis gave thee birth; but the gray sea

Begat thee, and the hard and flinty rocks;

So savage is thy mind.

For he bases his charge, not upon birth alone, as did his model, but on fierce and savage nurture, for his next verse reads:

And fierce Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck. ³

And there is no doubt that in forming character the disposition of the nurse and the quality of the milk play a great part; for the milk, although imbued from the beginning with the material of the father's seed, forms the infant offspring from the body and mind of the mother as well.

And in addition to all this, who can neglect or despise this consideration also, that those who desert their offspring, drive them from them, and give them to others to nurse, do sever, or at any rate loosen and relax, that bond and cementing of the mind and of affection with which nature attaches parents to their children? For when the child is given to another and removed from its mother's sight, the strength of maternal ardour is gradually and little by little extinguished, every call of impatient anxiety is silenced, and a child which has been given over to another to nurse is almost as completely forgotten as if it had been lost by death. Moreover, the child's own feelings of affection, fondness, and intimacy are centred wholly in the one by whom it is nursed, and therefore, just as happens in the case of those who are exposed at birth, it has no feeling for the mother who bore it and no regret for her loss. Therefore, when the foundations of natural affection have been destroyed and removed, however much children thus reared may seem to love their father and mother, that affection is in a great measure not natural but merely courteous and conventional.

I heard Favorinus make this address in the Greek language. I have reproduced his sentiments, so far as I was able, for the sake of their general utility, but the elegance, copiousness and richness of his words hardly any power of Latin eloquence could equal, least of all my humble attainments.

II

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That the judgment passed by Annaeus Seneca on Quintus Ennius and Marcus Cicero was trifling and futile.

1 SOME think of Annaeus Seneca as a writer of little value, whose works are not worth taking up, since his style seems commonplace and ordinary, while the matter and the thought are characterized, now by a foolish and empty vehemence, now by an empty and affected cleverness; and because his learning is common and plebeian, gaining neither charm nor distinction from familiarity with the earlier writers. ⁴ Others, on the contrary, while not denying that his diction lacks elegance, declare that he is not without learning and a knowledge of the subjects which he treats, and that he censures the vices of the times with a seriousness and dignity which are not wanting in charm. I myself do not feel called upon to criticize and pass judgment upon his talents in general, or upon his writings as a whole; but I shall select for consideration the nature of the opinions which he has expressed about Marcus Cicero, Quintus Ennius and Publius Vergilius.

For in the twenty-second book of his Moral Epistles, which he addressed to Lucilius, he says ⁵ that the following verses which Quintus Ennius wrote ⁶ about Cethegus, a man of the olden time, are absurd:

He by his fellow citizens was called,

By every man who lived and flourished then,

The people's chosen flower, Persuasion's marrow.

He then wrote the following about these lines:

I am surprised that men of great eloquence, devoted to Ennius, have praised those absurd verses as his best. Cicero, at any rate, includes them among examples of his good verses.

⁷ He then goes on to say of Cicero:

I am not surprised that there existed a man who could write such verses, when there existed a man who could praise them; unless haply Cicero, that great orator, was pleading his own cause and wished his own verse to appear excellent.

Later he adds this very stupid remark:

In Cicero himself too you will find, even in his prose writings, some things which will show that he did not lose his labour when he read Ennius.

Then he cites passages from Cicero which he criticizes as taken from Ennius; for example, when Cicero wrote as follows in his Republic:⁸

As Menelaus, the Laconian, had a kind of sweet-speaking charm,

and said in another place:

he cultivates brevity of speech in his oratory.

And then that trifler apologizes for what he considers Cicero's errors, saying:

This was not the fault of Cicero, but of the times; it was necessary to say such things when such verses were read.

Then he adds that Cicero inserted these very things in order to escape the charge of being too diffuse and ornamental in his style.

In the same place Seneca writes the following about Virgil also:

Our Virgil too admitted some verses which are harsh, irregular and somewhat beyond the proper length, with no other motive than that those who were devoted to Ennius might find a flavour of antiquity in the new poem.

But I am already weary of quoting Seneca; yet I shall not pass by these jokes of that foolish and tasteless man:

There are some thoughts in Quintus Ennius,

says he,

that are of such lofty tone that though written among the unwashed, ⁹ they nevertheless can give pleasure among the anointed

; and, after censuring the verses about Cethegus which I have quoted above, he said:

It would be clear to you that those who love verses of this kind admire even the couches of Sotericus.

¹⁰

Worthy indeed would Seneca appear ¹¹ of the reading and study of the young, a man who has compared the dignity and beauty of early Latin with the couches of Sotericus, implying forsooth that they possessed no charm and were already obsolete and despised! Yet listen to the relation and mention of a few things which that same Seneca has well said, for example what he said of a man who was avaricious, covetous and thirsting for money:

Why, what difference does it make how much you have? There is much more which you do not have.

Is not that well put? Excellently well; but the character of the young is not so much benefited by what is well said, as it is injured by what is very badly put; all the more so, if the bad predominates, and if a part of the bad is uttered, not as an argument about some slight and trivial affair, but as advice in a matter requiring decision.

III

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The meaning and origin of the word lictor and the varying opinions of Valgius Rufus and Tullius Tiro on that subject.

1 VALGIUS RUFUS, in the second of the books which he entitled On Matters Investigated by Letter, says ¹² that the lictor was so called from ligando or

binding,

because when the magistrates of the Roman people had given orders that anyone should be beaten with rods, his legs and arms were always fastened and bound by an attendant, and therefore that the member of the college of attendants who had the duty of binding him was called a lictor. And he quotes as evidence on this subject Marcus Tullius, citing these words from the speech entitled In Defence of Gaius Rabirius:¹³

Lictor, bind his hands.

This is what Valgius says.

Now, I for my part agree with him; but Tullius Tiro, the freedman of Marcus Cicero, wrote ¹⁴ that the lictor got his name from limus or licium.

For,

says he,

those men who were in attendance upon the magistrates were girt across with a kind of girdle called limus.

But if there is anyone who thinks that what Tiro said is more probable, because the first syllable ¹⁵ in lictor is long like that of licium, but in the word ligo is short, that has nothing to do with the case. For in lictor from ligando, lector from legendo, vitor from viendo, tutor from tuendo, and structor from struendo, the vowels, which were originally short, are lengthened.

IV

4arg

Lines taken from the seventh book of the Annals of Ennius, in which the courteous bearing of an inferior towards a friend of higher rank is described and defined.

1 QUINTUS ENNIUS in the seventh book of his Annals describes and defines very vividly and skilfully in his sketch of Geminus Servilius, a man of rank, the tact, courtesy, modesty, fidelity, restraint and propriety in speech, knowledge of ancient history and of customs old and new, scrupulousness in keeping and guarding a secret; in short, the various remedies and methods of relief and solace for guarding against the annoyances of life, which the friend of a man who is his superior in rank and fortune ought to have. Those verses in my opinion are no less worthy of frequent, attentive perusal than the rules of the philosophers about duties. Besides this, there is such a venerable flavour of antiquity in these verses, such a sweetness, so unmixed and so removed from all affectation, that in my opinion they ought to be observed, remembered and cherished as old and sacred laws of friendship. Therefore I thought them worthy of quotation, in case there should be anyone who desired to see them at once; ¹⁶

So saying, on a friend he called, with whom

He oft times gladly shared both board and speech

And courteously informed of his affairs,

On coming wearied from the sacred House

Or Forum broad, where he all day had toiled,

Directing great affairs with wisdom; one with whom

He freely spoke of matters great and small,

Confiding to him thoughts approved or not,

If he so wished, and found him trustworthy;

With whom he took much pleasure openly

Or privily; a man to whom no thought

Suggested heedlessness or ill intent,

A cultured, loyal and a winsome man,

Contented, happy, learned, eloquent,

Speaking but little and that fittingly,

Obliging, knowing well all ancient lore,

All customs old and new, the laws of man

And of the gods, who with due prudence told

What he had heard, or kept it to himself:

Him 'mid the strife Servilius thus accosts.

They say that Lucius Aelius Stilo used to declare ¹⁷ that Quintus Ennius wrote these words about none other than himself, and that this was a description of Quintus Ennius' own character and disposition.

V

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A discourse of the philosopher Taurus on the manner and method of enduring pain, according to the principles of the Stoics.

1 WHEN the philosopher Taurus was on his way to Delphi, to see the Pythian games and the throng that gathered there from almost all Greece, I was his companion. And when, in the course of the journey, we had come to Lebadia, which is an ancient town in the land of Boeotia, word was brought to Taurus there that a friend of his, an eminent philosopher of the Stoic sect, had been seized with illness and had taken to his bed. Then interrupting our journey, which otherwise would have called for haste, and leaving the carriages, he hastened to visit his friend, and I followed, as I usually did wherever he went. When we came to the house in which the sick man was, we saw that he was suffering anguish from pains in the stomach, such as the Greeks call ko/los, or

colic,

and at the same time from a high fever. The stifled groans that burst from him, and the heavy sighs that escaped his panting breast, revealed his suffering, and no less his struggle to overcome it.

Later, when Taurus had sent for physicians and discussed with them the means of cure, and had encouraged the patient to keep up his endurance by commending the fortitude which he was showing, we left the house. And as we were returning to the carriages, and our companions, Taurus said:

You were witness of no very pleasant sight, it is true, but one which was, nevertheless, a profitable experience, in beholding the encounter and contest of a philosopher with pain. The violent character of the disorder, for its part, produced anguish and torture of body; reason and the spiritual nature, on the other hand, similarly played their part, supporting and restraining within bounds the violence of well-nigh ungovernable pain. He uttered no shrieks, no complaints, not even any unseemly outcries; yet, as you saw, there were obvious signs of a battle between soul and body for the man's possession.

Then one of the disciples of Taurus, a young man not untrained in philosophy, said:

If the bitterness of pain is such that it struggles against the will and judgment, forcing a man to groan involuntarily and confess the evil of his violent disorder, why is it said among the Stoics that pain is a thing indifferent and not an evil? Furthermore, why can a Stoic be compelled to do anything, or how can pain compel him, when the Stoics say that pain exerts no compulsion, and that a wise man cannot be forced to anything?

¹⁸

To this Taurus, with a face that was now somewhat more cheerful, for he seemed pleased at being lured into a discussion, replied as follows:

If this friend of ours were now in better health, he would have defended such unavoidable groans against reproach and, I dare say, would have answered your question; but you know that I am no great friend of the Stoics, or rather, of the Stoa; for it is often inconsistent with itself and with us, as is shown in the book which I have written on that subject. But to oblige you, I will say 'unlearnedly and clearly,' as the adage has it, what I imagine that any Stoic now present would have said more intricately and cleverly. For you know, I suppose, that old and familiar proverb: ¹⁹

Less eruditely speak and clearer, please.

And with that preamble he discoursed as follows about the pain and groans of the ailing Stoic: ²⁰

Nature,

said he, "who produced us, implanted in us and incorporated in the very elements from which we sprang a love and affection for ourselves, to such a degree that nothing whatever is dearer or of more importance to us than ourselves. And this, she thought, would be the underlying principle for assuring the perpetuation of the human race, if each one of us, as soon as he saw the light, should have a knowledge and understanding first of all of those things which the philosophers of old have called ta\ prw=ta kata\ fu/sin, or 'the first principles of nature'; that is, that he might delight in all that was agreeable to his body and shrink from everything disagreeable. Later, with increasing years, reason developed from its first elements, and reflection in taking counsel, and the consideration of honour and true expediency, and a wiser and more careful choice of advantages as opposed to disadvantages; and in this way the dignity of virtue and honour became so preeminent and so superior, that any disadvantage from without which prevented our holding and retaining this quality was despised. Nothing was considered truly and wholly good unless it was honourable, and nothing evil unless it is dishonourable. All other things which lay between, and were neither honourable nor dishonourable, were decided to be neither good nor evil. ²¹ But productions and relationes, which the philosophers call prohgme/na, or 'things desirable,' and a)poprohgme/na, or 'things undesirable,' are distinguished and set apart each by their own qualities. Therefore pleasure also and pain, so far as the end of living well and happily is concerned, are regarded as indifferent and classed neither with good nor with evil. But since the newly-born child is endowed with these first sensations of pain and pleasure before the appearance of judgment and reason, and is attracted to pleasure by nature, but averted and alienated from pain, as if from some bitter enemy—therefore reason, which is given to him later, is hardly able to uproot and destroy those inclinations which were originally and deeply implanted in him. Yet he constantly struggles with them, checks and tramples them under foot when they are excessive, and compels them to obey and submit to him. Hence you saw the philosopher, relying upon the efficacy of his system, wrestling with the insolent violence of disease and pain, yielding nothing, admitting nothing; not, as sufferers commonly do, shrieking, lamenting and calling himself wretched and unhappy, but giving vent only to panting breathing and deep sighs, which are signs and indications, not that he is overcome or subdued by pain, but that he is struggling to overcome and subdue it.

But very likely,

said he,

because of the mere fact that he struggles and groans, someone may ask, if pain is not an evil, why it is necessary to groan and struggle? It is because all things which are not evil are not also wholly lacking in annoyance, but there are very many things which, though free from any great harm or baneful effect, as not being base, ²² are none the less opposed to the gentleness and mercy of nature through a certain inexplicable and inevitable law of nature herself. These, then, a wise man can endure and put up with, but he cannot exclude them altogether from his consciousness; for a)nalghsi/a, or 'insensibility,' and a)pa/qeia, or 'lack of feeling,' not only in my judgment,

said he, "but also in that of some of the wise men of that same school (such as Panaetius, ²³ a serious and learned man) are disapproved and rejected."

"But why is a Stoic philosopher, upon whom they say no compulsion can be exerted, compelled to utter groans against his will? It is true that no compulsion can be exerted upon a wise man when he has the opportunity of using his reason; but when nature compels, then reason also, the gift of nature, is compelled. Inquire also, if you please, why a man involuntarily winks when someone's hand is suddenly directed against his eyes, why when the sky is lit up by a flash of lightning he involuntarily drops his head and closes his eyes, why as the thunder grows louder he gradually becomes terrified, why he is shaken by sneezing, why he sweats in the heat of the sun or grows cold amid severe frosts. For these and many other things are not under the control of the will, the judgment, or the reason, but are decrees of nature and of necessity.

Moreover, that is not fortitude which, like a giant, struggles against nature and goes beyond her bounds, either through insensibility of spirit, or savage pride, or some unhappy and compulsory practice in bearing pain—such as we heard of in a certain savage gladiator of Caesar's school, who used to laugh when his wounds were probed by the doctors—but that is true and noble fortitude which our forefathers called a knowledge of what is endurable and unendurable. From this it is evident that there are some insupportable trials, from the undergoing or endurance of which brave men may shrink.

When Taurus had said this and seemed to intend to say even more, we reached our carriages and entered them.

VI

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On the Enigma.

1 THE kind of composition which the Greeks call

enigmas,

some of our early writers called scirpi, or

rushes.

²⁴ An example is the enigma composed of three iambic trimeters which I recently found— very old, by Jove! and very neat. I have left it unanswered, in order to excite the ingenuity of my readers in seeking for an answer. The three verses are these:

I know not if he's minus once or twice,

Or both of these, who would not give his place,

As I once heard it said, to Jove himself.

He who does not wish to puzzle himself too long will find the answer ²⁵ in the second book of Varro's Latin Language, addressed to Marcellus.²⁶

VII

7arg

Why Gnaeus Dolabella, the proconsul, referred to the court of the Areopagus the case of a woman charged with poisoning and admitting the fact.

1 WHEN Gnaeus Dolabella was governing the province of Asia with proconsular authority, a woman of Smyrna was brought before him. This woman had killed her husband and her son at the same time by secretly giving them poison. She confessed the crime, and said that she had reason for it, since her husband and son had treacherously done to death another son of hers by a former husband, an excellent and blameless youth; and there was no dispute about the truth of this statement. Dolabella referred the matter to his council. No member of the council ventured to render a decision in so difficult a case, since the confession of the poisoning which had resulted in the death of the husband and son seemed to call for punishment, while at the same time a just penalty had thereby been inflicted upon two wicked men. Dolabella referred the question to the Areopagites ²⁷ at Athens, as judges of greater authority and experience. The Areopagites, after having heard the case, summoned the woman and her accuser to appear after a hundred years. Thus the woman's crime was not condoned, for the laws did not permit that, nor, though guilty, was she condemned and punished for a pardonable offence. The story is told in the ninth book of Valerius Maximus' work on Memorable Occurrences and Sayings.²⁸

VIII

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Noteworthy reconciliations between famous men.

1 PUBLIUS AFRICANUS the elder and Tiberius Gracchus, father of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, men illustrious for their great exploits, the high offices which they held, and the uprightness of their lives, often disagreed about public questions, and for that reason, or some other, were not friends. When this hostility had lasted for a long time, the feast was offered to Jupiter on the appointed day, ²⁹ and on the occasion of that ceremony the senate banqueted in the Capitol. It chanced that the two men were placed side by side at the same table, and immediately, as if the immortal gods, acting as arbiters at the feast of Jupiter, Greatest and Best of Gods, had joined their hands, they became the best of friends. And not only did friendship spring up between them, but at the same time their families were united by a marriage; for Publius Scipio, having a daughter that was unwedded and marriageable at the time, thereupon on the spot betrothed her to Tiberius Gracchus, whom he had chosen and approved at a time when judgment is most strict; that is, while he was his personal enemy.

Aemilius Lepidus, too, and Fulvius Flaccus, men of noble birth, who had held the highest offices, and occupied an exalted place in public life, were opposed to each other in a bitter hatred and enmity of long standing. Later, the people chose them censors at the same time. Then they, as soon as their election was proclaimed by the herald, in the Campus Martius itself, before the assembly was dispersed, both voluntarily and with equal joy, immediately joined hands and embraced each other, and from that day, both during their censorship and afterwards, they lived in continual harmony as loyal and devoted friends.

IX

9arg

What is meant by

ambiguous

words; and that even honos was such a word.

1 ONE may very often see and notice in the early writings many words which at present in ordinary conversation have one fixed meaning, but which then were so indifferent and general, that they could signify and include two opposite things. Some of these are well known, such as tempestas (weather), valitudo (health), facinus (act), dolus (device), gratia (favour), industria (activity). ³⁰ For it is well-nigh a matter of general knowledge that these are ambiguous and can be used either in a good or in a bad sense.

That periculm (trial), too, and venenum (drug) and contagium (contagion) were not used, as they now are, only in a bad sense, you may learn from many examples of that usage. But the use of honor as an indifferent word, so that people even spoke of

bad honour,

signifying

wrong

injury,

is indeed very rare. However, Quintus Metellus Numidicus, in a speech which he delivered On his Triumph, used these words: ³¹

In this affair, by as much as the whole of you are more important than my single self, by so much he inflicts upon you greater insult and injury than on me; and by as much as honest men are more willing to suffer wrong than to do wrong to another, by so much has he shown worse honour ( peiorem honorem) to you than to me; for he wishes me to suffer injustice, Romans, and you to inflict it, so that I may be left with cause for complaint, and you may be open to reproach.

He says,

he has shown worse honour to you than to me,

and the meaning of the expression is the same as when he himself says, just before that,

he has inflicted a greater injury and insult on you than on me.

In addition to the citation of this word, I thought I ought to quote the following saying from the speech of Quintus Metellus, in order to point out that it is a precept of Socrates; the saying in question is:

It is worse to be unjust than to suffer injustice.

³²

X

10arg

That aeditumus is a Latin word.

1 Aeditimus³³ is a Latin word and an old one at that, formed in the same way as finitimus and legilimus. In place of it many to-day say aedituus by a new and false usage, as if it were derived from guarding the temples. ³⁴ This ought to be enough to say as a warning ³⁵ . . . because of certain rude and persistent disputants, who are not to be restrained except by the citation of authorities.

Marcus Varro, in the second book of his Latin Language addressed to Marcellus, thinks ³⁶ that we ought to use aedituus rather than aedituus, because the latter is made up by a late invention, while the former is pure and of ancient origin. Laevius too, in the Protesilaodamia I think, used claustritumum ³⁷ of one who had charge of the fastenings of a door, evidently using the same formation by which he saw that aeditumus, or

one who guards the temples,

is made. In the most reliable copies of Marcus Tullius' Fourth Oration against Verres I find it written: ³⁸

The custodians ( aeditumi) and guards quickly perceive it,

but in the ordinary copies aeditui is read. There is an Atellan farce of Pomponius' entitled Aeditumus. In it is this line: ³⁹

As soon as I attend you and keep your temple-door ( aeditumor).

Titus Lucretius too in his poem ⁴⁰ speaks of aedituentes, instead of aeditui.⁴¹

XI

11arg

That those are deceived who sin in the confident hope of being undetected, since there is no permanent concealment of wrongdoing; and on that subject a discourse of the philosopher Peregrinus and a saying of the poet Sophocles.

1 WHEN I was at Athens, I met a philosopher named Peregrinus, who was later surnamed Proteus, a man of dignity and fortitude, living in a hut outside the city. And visiting him frequently, I heard him say many things that were in truth helpful and noble. Among these I particularly recall the following:

He used to say that a wise man would not commit a sin, even if he knew that neither gods nor men would know it; for he thought that one ought to refrain from sin, not through fear of punishment or disgrace, but from love of justice and honesty and from a sense of duty. If, however, there were any who were neither so endowed by nature nor so well disciplined that they could easily keep themselves from sinning by their own will power, he thought that such men would all be more inclined to sin whenever they thought that their guilt could be concealed and when they had hope of impunity because of such concealment.

But,

said he,

if men know that nothing at all can be hidden for very long, they will sin more reluctantly and more secretly.

Therefore he said that one should have on his lips these verses of Sophocles, the wisest of poets: ⁴²

See to it lest you try aught to conceal;

Time sees and hears all, and will all reveal.

Another one of the old poets, whose name has escaped my memory at present, called Truth the daughter of Time.

XII

12arg

A witty reply of Marcus Cicero, in which he strives to refute the charge of a direct falsehood.

1 THIS also is part of a rhetorical training, cunningly and cleverly to admit charges not attended with danger, so that if something base is thrown up to you which cannot be denied, you may turn it off by a jocular reply, making the thing seem deserving of laughter rather than censure. This we read that Cicero did, when by a witty and clever remark he put aside what could not be denied. For when he wished to buy a house on the Palatine, and did not have the ready money, he received a loan of 2,000,000 sesterces ⁴³ privately from Publius Sulla, who was at the time under accusation. ⁴⁴ But before he bought the house, the transaction became known and reached the ears of the people, and he was charged with having received money from an accused man for the purpose of buying a house. Then Cicero, disturbed by the unexpected reproach, said that he had not received the money and also declared that he had no intention of buying a house, adding:

Therefore, if I buy the house, let it be considered that I did receive the money.

But when later he had bought the house and was twitted in the senate with this falsehood by friends, he laughed heartily, saying as he did so:

You are men devoid of common sense, if you do not know that it is the part of a prudent and careful head of a family to get rid of rival purchasers by declaring that he does not intend to buy something that he wishes to purchase.

XIII

13arg

What is meant by the expression

within the Kalends,

whether it signifies

before the Kalends

on the Kalends,

or both; also the meaning of

within the Ocean

and

within Mount Taurus

in a speech of Marcus Tullius, and of

within the limit

in one of his letters.

1 WHEN I had been named by the consuls a judge extraordinary at Rome, ⁴⁵ and ordered to give judgment

within the Kalends,

I asked Sulpicius Apollinaris, a learned man, whether the phrase

within the Kalends

included the Kalends themselves; and I told him that I had been duly appointed, that the Kalends had been set as the limit, and that I was to give judgment

within

that day.

Why,

said he,

do you make this inquiry of me rather than of some one of those who are students of the law and learned in it, whom you are accustomed to take into your counsel when about to act as judge?

Then I answered him as follows:

If I needed information about some ancient point of law that had been established, one that was contested and ambiguous, or one that was newly ratified, I should naturally have gone to inquire of those whom you mention. But when the meaning, use and nature of Latin words is to be investigated, I should indeed be stupid and mentally blind, if, having the opportunity of consulting you, I had gone to another rather than to you.

Hear then,

said he,

my opinion about the meaning of the word, ⁴⁶ but be it understood that you will not act according to what I shall say about its nature, but according to what you shall learn to be the interpretation agreed upon by all, or by very many, men; for not only are the true and proper significations of common words changed by long usage, but even the provisions of the laws themselves become a dead letter by tacit consent.

Then he proceeded to discourse, in my hearing and that of several others, in about this fashion:

When the time,

said he, "is so defined that the judge is to render a decision 'within the Kalends, everyone at once jumps to the conclusion that there is no doubt that the verdict may lawfully be rendered before the Kalends, and I observe that the only question is the one which you raise, namely, whether the decision may lawfully be rendered also on the Kalends. But undoubtedly the word itself is of such origin and such a nature that when the expression 'within the Kalends' is used, no other day ought to be meant than the Kalends alone. For those three words intra, citra, ultra (within, this side, beyond), by which definite boundaries of places are indicated, among the early writers were expressed by monosyllables, in, cis, uls. Then, since these particles had a somewhat obscure utterance because of their brief and slight sound, the same syllable was added to all three words, and what was formerly cis Tiberim (on this side of the Tiber) and uls Tiberim (beyond the Tiber) began to be called citra Tiberim and ultra Tiberim; and in also became intra by the addition of the same syllable. Therefore all these expressions are, so to speak, related, being united by common terminations: intra oppidum, ultra oppidum, citra oppidum, of which intra, as I have said, is equivalent to in; for one who says intra oppidum, intra cubiculum, intra ferias means nothing else than in oppido (in the town), in cubiculo (in the room), in feriis (during the festival)."

'Within the Kalends,' then, is not 'before the Kalends,' but 'on the Kalends'; that is, on the very day on which the Kalends fall. Therefore, according to the meaning of the word itself, one who is ordered to give judgment 'within the Kalends,' unless he do so on the Kalends, acts contrary to the order contained in the phrase; for if he does so earlier, he renders a decision not ' within' but ' before the Kalends.' But somehow or other the utterly absurd interpretation has been generally adopted, that ' within the Kalends' evidently means also ' on this side of the Kalends' or 'before the Kalends'; for these are nearly the same thing. And, besides, it is doubted whether a decision may be rendered on the Kalends also, since it must be rendered neither beyond nor before that date, but 'within the Kalends,' a time which lies between these; that is to say, ' on the Kalends.' But no doubt usage has gained the victory, the mistress not only of all things, but particularly of language.

After this very learned and clear discussion of the subject by Apollinaris, I then spoke as follows:

It occurred to me,

said I,

before coming to you, to inquire and investigate how our ancestors used the particle in question. Accordingly, I found that Tullius in his Third Oration against Verres wrote thus: ⁴⁷ 'There is no place within the ocean ( intra oceanum) either so distant or so hidden, that the licentiousness and injustice of our countrymen has not penetrated it.' He uses 'within the ocean' contrary to your reasoning; for he does not, I think, wish to say 'in the ocean,' but he indicates all the lands which are surrounded by the ocean and to which our countrymen have access; and these are 'this side the ocean,' not 'in the ocean.' For he cannot be supposed to mean some islands or other, which are spoken of as far within the waters of the ocean itself.

Then with a smile Sulpicius Apollinaris replied:

Keenly and cleverly, by Heaven! have you confronted me with this Ciceronian passage; but Cicero said ' within the ocean,' not, as you interpret it, ' this side ocean.' What pray can be said to be 'on this side of the ocean,' when the ocean surrounds and encircles all lands on every side? ⁴⁸ For that which is 'on this side' of a thing, is outside of that thing; but how can that be said to be ' within' which is without? But if the ocean were only on one side of the world, then the land in that part might be said to be 'this side the ocean,' or 'before the ocean.' But since the ocean surrounds all lands completely and everywhere, nothing is on this side of it, but, all lands being walled in by the embrace of its waters, everything which is included within its shore is in its midst, just as in truth the sun moves, not on this side of the heavens, but within and in them.

At the time, what Sulpicius Apollinaris said seemed to be learned and acute. But later, in a volume of Letters to Servius Sulpicius by Marcus Tullius, I found

within moderation

( intra modum) used in the same sense that those give to

within the Kalends

who mean to say

this side of the Kalends.

These are the words of Cicero, which I quote: ⁴⁹

But yet since I have avoided the displeasure of Caesar, who would perhaps think that I did not regard the present government as constitutional if I kept silence altogether, I shall do this ⁵⁰ moderately, or even less than moderately ( intra modum), so as to consult both his wishes and my own desires.

He first said

I shall do this moderately,

that is, to a fair and temperate degree; then, as if this expression did not please him and he wished to correct it, he added

or even within moderation,

thus indicating that he would do it to a less extent than might be considered moderate; that is, not up to the very limit, but somewhat short of, or

on this side of

the limit.

Also in the speech which he wrote In Defence of Publius Sestius Cicero says

within Mount Taurus

in such a way as to mean, not

on Mount Taurus,

but

as far as the mountain and including the mountain itself.

These are Cicero's own words in the speech which I have mentioned: ⁵¹

Our forbears, having overcome Antiochus the Great after a mighty struggle on land and sea, ordered him to confine his realm 'within Mount Taurus.' Asia, which they had taken from him, they gave to Attalus, to be his kingdom.

Cicero says:

They ordered him to confine his realm within Mount Taurus,

which is not the same as when we say

within the room,

unless

within the mountain

may appear to mean what is within the regions which are separated by the interposition of Mount Taurus. ⁵² For just as one who is

within a room

is not in the walls of the room, but is within the walls by which the room is enclosed, which walls themselves are yet equally in the room, just so one who rules

within Mount Taurus,

not only rules on Mount Taurus but also in those regions which are bounded by Mount Taurus.

According therefore to the analogy of the words of Marcus Tullius may not one who is bidden to make a decision

within the Kalends

lawfully make it before the Kalends and on the Kalends themselves? And this results, not from a sort of privilege conceded to ignorant usage, but from an accurate regard for reason, since all time which is embraced by the day of the Kalends is correctly said to be

within the Kalends.

XIV

14arg

The meaning and origin of the particle saltem.

1 WE were inquiring what the original meaning of the particle saltem (at least) was, and what was the derivation of the word; for it seems to have been so formed from the first that it does not appear, like some aids to expression, to have been adopted inconsiderately and irregularly. And there was one man who said that he had read in the Grammatical Notes of Publius Nigidius ⁵³ that saltem was derived from si aliter, and that this itself was an elliptical expression, since the complete sentence was si aliter non potest,

if otherwise, it cannot be.

But I myself have nowhere come upon that statement in those Notes of Publius Nigidius, although I have read them, I think, with some care.

However, that phrase si aliter non potest does not seem at variance with the meaning of the word under discussion. But yet to condense so many words into a very few letters shows a kind of misplaced subtlety. There was also another man, devoted to books and letters, who said that saltem seemed to him to be formed by the syncope of a medial u, saying that what we call saltem was originally salute.

For when some other things have been requested and refused, then,

said he,

we are accustomed, as if about to make a final request which ought by no means to be denied, to say ' this at least ( saltem) ought to be done or given,' as if at last seeking safety salutem, which it is surely most just to grant and to obtain.

But this also, though ingeniously contrived, seems too far-fetched. I thought therefore that further investigation was necessary. ⁵⁴

XV

15arg

That Sisenna in his Histories has frequently used adverbs of the type of celatim, vellicatim and saltuatim.

1 WHILE diligently reading the History of Sisenna, I observed that he used adverbs of this form: cursim (rapidly), properatim (hastily), celatim, vellicatim, salluatim. Of these the first two, since they are more common, do not require illustration. The rest are to be found in the sixth book of the Histories in these passages:

He arranged his men in ambush as secretly ( celatim) as he could.

⁵⁵ Also in another place: ⁵⁶

I have written of the events of one summer in Asia and Greece in a consecutive form, that I might not by writing piecemeal or in disconnected fashion (vellicatim aut saltuatim) confuse the minds of my readers.

⁵⁷

Noctes Atticae. Aulus Gellius. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, Mass.. 1927.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

Attic Nights (English) (Gellius, Aulus. The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, 1927 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Noctes Atticae Perseus (Gellius, Aulus. The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, 1927 (printing).) — 12.1 focus

I

Argument

Dissertatio Favorini philosophi, qua suasit nobili feminae uti liberos quos peperisset, non nutricum aliarum, sed sibi suo lacte aleret.

[1] NUNTIATUM quondam est Favorino philosopho, nobis praesentibus, uxorem auditoris sectatorisque sui paululum ante enixam auctumque eum esse nato filio.

[2] Eamus, inquit, et puerum visum et patri gratulatum.

[3] Is erat loci senatorii, ex familia nobiliore. Imus una qui tum aderamus prosecutique eum sumus ad domum quo pergebat, et cum eo simul introgressi sumus.

[4] Tum in primis aedibus complexus hominem congratulatusque adsedit. Atque ubi percontatus est quam diutinum puerperium et quam laboriosi nixus fuissent, puellamque defessam labore ac vigilia somnum capere cognovit, fabulari instituit prolixius et: Nihil, inquit, dubito quin filium lacte suo nutritura sit.

[5] Sed cum mater puellae parcendum esse ei diceret adhibendasque puero nutrices, ne ad dolores quos in enitendo tulisset munus quoque nutricationis grave ac difficile accederet, Oro te, inquit, mulier, sine eam totam integram matrem esse filii sui.

[6] Quod est enim hoc contra naturam inperfectum atque dimidiatum matris genus, peperisse ac statim a sese abiecisse? aluisse in utero sanguine suo nescio quid quod non videret, non alere nunc suo lacte quod videat, iam viventem, iam hominem, iam matris officia inplorantem?

[7] An tu quoque, inquit, putas naturam feminis mammarum ubera quasi quosdam venustiores naevulos, non liberum alendorum, sed ornandi pectoris causa dedisse?

[8] Sic enim, quod a vobis scilicet abest, pleraeque istae prodigiosae mulieres fontem illum sanctissimum corporis, generis humani educatorem, arefacere et extinguere cum periculo quoque aversi corruptique lactis laborant, tamquam pulcritudinis sibi insignia devenustet, quod quidem faciunt eadem vecordia, qua quibusdam commenticiis fraudibus nituntur ut fetus quoque ipsi, in corpore suo concepti, aboriantur, ne aequor illud ventris inrugetur ac de gravitate oneris et labore partus fatiscat.

[9] Quod cum sit publica detestatione communique odio dignum, in ipsis hominem primordiis, dum fingitur, dum animatur, inter ipsas artificis naturae manus interfectum ire, quantulum hinc abest, iam perfectum, iam genitum, iam filium proprii atque consueti atque cogniti sanguinis alimonia privare?

[10] Sed nihil interest, hoc enim dicitur, dum alatur et vivat, cuius id lacte fiat.

[11] Cur igitur iste qui hoc dicit, si in capessendis naturae sensibus tam obsurduit, non id quoque nihil interesse putat, cuius in corpore cuiusque ex sanguine concretus homo et coalitus sit?

[12] an quia spiritu multo et calore exalbuit, non idem sanguis est nunc in uberibus, qui in utero fuit?

[13] Nonne hac quoque in re sollertia naturae evidens est, quod, postquam sanguis ille opifex in penetralibus suis omne corpus hominis finxit, adventante iam partus tempore, in supernas se partis perfert, ad fovenda vitae atque lucis rudimenta praesto est et recens natis notum et familiarem victum offert?

[14] Quamobrem non frustra creditum est, sicut valeat ad fingendas corporis atque animi similitudines vis et natura seminis, non secus ad eandem rem lactis quoque ingenia et proprietates valere.

[15] Neque in hominibus id solum, sed in pecudibus quoque animadversum. Nam si ovium lacte haedi aut caprarum agni alantur, constat ferme in his lanam duriorem, in illis capillum gigni teneriorem.

[16] In arboribus etiam et frugibus maior plerumque vis et potestas est ad earum indolem vel detrectandam vel augendam aquarum atque terrarum quae alunt, quam ipsius quod iacitur seminis, ac saepe videas arborem laetam et nitentem, in locum alium transpositam, deterioris terrae suco deperisse.

[17] Quae, malum, igitur ratio est, nobilitatem istam nati modo hominis corpusque et animum, bene ingeniatis primordiis inchoatum, insitivo degenerique alimento lactis alieni corrumpere? praesertim si ista quam ad praebendum lactem adhibebitis, aut serva aut servilis est et, ut plerumque solet, externae et barbarae nationis est, ¹ si inproba, si informis, si inpudica, si temulenta est; nam plerumque sine discrimine, quaecumque id temporis lactans est adhiberi solet.

[18] Patiemurne igitur infantem hunc nostrum pernicioso contagio infici et spiritum ducere in animum atque in corpus suum ex corpore et animo deterrimo?

[19] Id hercle ipsum est quod saepenumero miramur, quosdam pudicarum mulierum liberos parentum suorum neque corporibus neque animis similes existere.

[20] Scite igitur et perite noster Maro, quod, cum versus illos Homeri consectaretur:

οὐκ ἄρα σοί γε πατὴρ ἦν ἱππότα Πηλεύς,

Οὐδὲ Θέτις μήτηρ· γλαυκὴ δέ σε τίκτε θάλασσα

Πέτραι τʼ ἠλίβατοι, ὅτι τοι νόος ἐστὶν ἀπηνής,

non partionem solam, tamquam ille quem sequebatur, sed alituram quoque feram et saevam criminatus est; addidit enim hoc de suo:

Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubera tigres,

quoniam videlicet in moribus inolescendis magnam fere partem ingenium altricis et natura lactis tenet, quae iam a principio imbuta paterni seminis concretione, ex matris etiam corpore et animo recentem indolem configurat.

[21] Et praeter haec autem, quis illud etiam neglegere aspernarique possit, quod quae partus suos deserunt ablegantque a sese et aliis nutriendos dedunt, vinculum illud coagulumque animi atque amoris, quo parentes cum filiis natura consociat, interscindunt aut certe quidem diluunt deteruntque.

[22] Nam ubi infantis aliorsum dati facta ex oculis amolitiost, vigor ille maternae flagrantiae sensim atque paulatim restinguitur omnisque inpatientissimae sollicitudinis strepitus consilescit, neque multo minor amendati ad nutricem aliam filii, quam morte amissi, obliviost.

[23] Ipsius quoque infantis adfectio animi, amoris, consuetudinis ² in ea sola unde alitur occupatur, et proinde, ut in expositis usu venit, matris quae genuit neque sensum ullum neque desiderium capit. Ac propterea, oblitteratis et abolitis nativae pietatis elementis, quicquid ita educati liberi amare patrem atque matrem videntur, magnam fere partem non naturalis ille amor est, sed civilis et opinabilis.

[24] Haec Favorinum dicentem audivi Graeca oratione. Cuius sententias communis utilitatis gratia, quantum meminisse potui, rettuli, amoenitates vero et copias ubertatesque verborum Latina omnis facundia vix quaedam indipisci potuerit, mea tenuitas nequaquam.

II

Argument

Quod Annaeus Seneca, iudicans de Q. Ennio deque M. Tullio, levi futtilique iudicio fuit.

[1] DE Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros adtingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius vulgaria videatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut levi et causidicali argutia, eruditio autem vernacula et plebeia nihilque ex veterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii vero elegantiae quidem in verbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum quas dicat scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in vitiis morum obiurgandis severitatem gravitatemque non invenustam.

[2] Mihi de omni eius ingenio deque omni scripto iudicium censuramque facere non necessum est; sed quod de M. Cicerone et Q. Ennio et P. Vergilio iudicavit, ea res cuimodi cuiusmodi sit, ad considerandum ponemus.

[3] In libro enim vicesimo secundo Epistularum Moralium quas ad Lucilium conposuit, deridiculos versus Q. Ennium de Cetego antiquo viro fecisse hos dicit:

is dictust ollis popularibus olim

Qui tum vivebant homines atque aevum agitabant,

Flos delibatus populi, Suadaeque ⁴ medulla.

[4] Ac deinde scripsit de isdem versibus verba haec: Admiror eloquentissimos viros et deditos Ennio pro optimis ridicula laudasse. Cicero certe inter bonos eius versus et hos refert.

[5] Atque id etiam de Cicerone dicit: Non miror, inquit, fuisse qui hos versus scriberet, cum fuerit qui laudaret; nisi forte Cicero summus orator agebat causam suam et volebat suos ⁵ versus videri bonos.

[6] Postea hoc etiam addidit insulsissime: Aput ipsum quoque, inquit, Ciceronem invenies, etiam in prosa oratione, quaedam ex quibus intellegas ilium non perdidisse operam, quod Ennium legit.

[7] Ponit deinde quae apud Ciceronem reprehendat, quasi Enniana, quod ita scripserit in libris De Republica: Ut Menelao Laconi quaedam fuit suaviloquens iucunditas, et quod alio in loco dixerit: breviloquentiam in dicendo colit. Atque ibi homo nugator Ciceronis errores deprecatur et: Non fuit, inquit, Ciceronis hoc vitium, sed temporis; necesse erat haec dici, cum illa legerentur.

[9] Deinde adscribit Ciceronem haec ipsa interposuisse ad effugiendam infamiam nimis lascivae orationis et nitidae.

[10] De Vergilio quoque eodem in loco verba haec ponit: Vergilius quoque noster non ex alia causa duros quosdam versus et enormes et aliquid supra mensuram trahentis interposuit quam ut Ennianus populus adgnosceret in novo carmine aliquid antiquitatis.

[11] Sed iam verborum Senecae piget; haec tamen inepti et insubidi hominis ioca non praeteribo: Quidam sunt, inquit, tam magni sensus Q. Ennii, ut, licet scripti sint inter hircosos, possint tamen inter unguentatos placere; et, cum reprehendisset versus quos supra de Cetego posuimus: Qui huiuscemodi, inquit, versus amant, liqueat tibi eosdem admirari et Soterici lectos.

[12] Dignus ⁶ sane ⁷ Seneca videatur lectione ac studio adulescentium, qui honorem coloremque veteris orationis Soterici lectis compararit, quasi minimae scilicet gratiae et relictis iam contemptisque. ⁸

[13] Audias tamen commemorari cormmemorari ac referri pauca quaedam quae idem ipse Seneca bene dixerit, quale est illud, quod in hominem avarum et avidum et pecuniae sitientem dixit: Quid enim refert quantum habeas? multo illud plus est quod non habes babes.

[14] Benene hoc? sane bene; sed adulescentium indolem non tam iuvant quae bene dicta sunt quam inficiunt quae pessime, multoque tanto magis, si et plura sunt quae deteriora sunt, et quaedam in his non pro enthymemate aliquo rei parvae ac simplicis, sed in re ancipiti pro consilio dicuntur.

III

Argument

Lictoris vocabulum qua ratione conceptum ortumque sit; et super eo diversae sententiae Valgi Rufi et Tulli Tironis. ⁹

[1] VALGIUS RUFUS in secundo librorum quos inscripsit De Rebus per Epistulam Quaesitis, lictorem dicit a ligando appellatum esse, quod, cum magistratus populi Romani virgis quempiam verberari iussissent, crura eius et manus ligari vincirique a viatore solita sint, et inde is qui ¹⁰ ex conlegio viatorum officium ligandi haberet lictor sit appellatus; utiturque ad eam rem testimonio M. Tulli verbaque eius refert ex oratione quae dicta est Pro C. Rabirio: Lictor, inquit, conliga manus.

[2] Haec ita Valgius.

[3] Et nos sane cum illo sentimus; sed Tiro Tullius M. Ciceronis libertus, lictorem vel a limo vel a licio dictum scripsit: Licio enim transverse, quod limum appellatur, qui magistratibus, inquit, praeministrabant cincti erant.

[4] Si quis autem est qui propterea putat probabilius esse quod Tiro dixit, quoniam prima syllaba in lictore, sicuti in licio, producta est et in eo verbo quod est ligo correpta est, nihil ad rem istud pertinet. Nam sicut a ligando lictor et a legendo lector et a viendo vitor¹¹ et tuendo tutor et struendo structor productis quae corripiebantur vocalibus dicta sunt.

IV

Argument

Versus accepti ex Q. Enni septimo Annalium, quibus depingitur finiturque ingenium comitasque hominis minoris erga amicum superiorem.

[1] DESCRIPTUM definitumque est a Quinto Ennio in Annali septimo graphice admodum sciteque sub historia Gemini Servili, viri nobilis, quo ingenio, qua comitate, qua modestia, qua fide, qua linguae parsimonia, qua loquendi opportunitate, quanta rerum antiquarum morumque veterum ac novorum scientia quantaque servandi tuendique secreti religione, qualibus denique ad muniendas vitae molestias fomentis, levamentis, solacis amicum esse conveniat hominis genere et fortuna superioris.

[2] Eos ego versus non minus frequenti adsiduoque memoratu dignos puto quam philosophorum de officiis decreta.

[3] Ad hoc color quidam vetustatis vestustatis in his versibus tam reverendus est, suavitas tam inpromisca inprolnisca tamque a fuco omni remota est, ut mea quidem sententia pro antiquis sacratisque amicitias legibus observandi, tenendi colendique sint. Quapropter adscribendos eos existimavi,

[4] si quis iam statim desideraret:

Haece locutus vocat quocum bene saepe libenter

Mensam sermonesque suos rerumque suarum

Comiter inpertit, magnam cum lassus diei

Partem fuisset, de summis rebus regundis

Consilio indu foro lato sanctoque senatu;

Cui res audacter magnas parvasque iocumque

Eloqueretur sed cura ¹² malaque et bona dictu

Evomeret, si qui vellet, tutoque locaret,

Quocum multa volup ac ¹³ gaudia clamque palamque;

Ingenium cui nulla malum sententia suadet

Ut faceret facinus levis aut malus; doctus, fidelis,

Suavis homo, facundus, suo contentus, beatus,

Scitus, secunda loquens in tempore, commodus, verbum

Paucum, multa tenens antiqua sepulta, vetustas

Quem facit et mores veteresque novosque tenentem,

Multorum veterum leges divumque hominumque;

Prudenter qui dicta loquive tacereve posset;

Hunc inter pugnas conpellat Servilius sic.

L. Aelium Stilonem dicere solitum ferunt Q. Ennium de semet ipso haec scripsisse picturamque istam morum et ingenii ipsius Q. Ennii factam esse.

V

Argument

Sermo Tauri philosophi de modo atque ratione tolerandi doloris secundum Stoicorum decreta.

[1] CUM Delphos ad Pythia conventumque totius ferme Graeciae visendum philosophus Taurus iret nosque ei comites essemus inque eo itinere Lebadiam venissemus, quod est oppidum anticum in terra Boeotia, adfertur ibi ad Taurum amicum eius quempiam, nobilem in Stoica disciplina philosophum, aegra valitudine oppressum, decumbere.

[2] Tunc omisso itinere, quod alioquin maturandum erat, et relictis vehiculis, pergit eum propere videre, nosque de more, quem in locum cumque iret, secuti sumus. Et ubi ad aedes in quis ille aegrotus erat pervenimus, videmus hominem doloribus cruciatibusque alvi, quod Graeci κόλον dicunt, et febri simul rapida adflictari gemitusque ex eo conpressos erumpere spiritusque et anhelitus e pectore eius evadere, non dolorem magis indicantes quam pugnam adversum dolorem.

[3] Post deinde, cum Taurus et medicos accersisset conlocutusque de facienda medella esset et eum ipsum ad retinendam patientiam, testimonio tolerantiae quam videbat perhibito, stabilisset, egressique inde ad vehicula et ad comites rediremus: Vidistis, inquit Taurus, non sane iucundum spectaculum, sed cognitu tamen utile, congredientes conpugnantesque philosophum et dolorem. Faciebat vis illa et natura morbi, quod erat suum, distractionem cruciatumque membrorum, faciebat contra ratio et natura animi, quod erat aeque suum: perpetiebatur et cohibebat coercebatque infra sese violentias effrenati doloris. Nullos eiulatus, nullas conplorationes, ne ullas quidem voces indecoras edebat, signa tamen quaedam, sicut vidistis, existebant virtutis et corporis, de possessione hominis pugnantium.

[4] Tum e sectatoribus Tauri invenis, in disciplinis philosophiae non ignavus, Si tanta, inquit, doloris acerbitas est, ut contra voluntatem contraque iudicium animi nitatur invitumque hominem cogat ad gemendum confitendumque de malo morbi saevientis, cur dolor aput Stoicos indifferens esse dicitur, non malum? Cur deinde aut Stoicus homo cogi aliquid potest aut dolor cogere, cum et dolorem Stoici nihil cogere et sapientem nihil cogi posse dicant?

[5] Ad ea Taurus vultu iam propemodum laetiore, delectatus enim videbatur inlecebra quaestionis, Si iam amicus, inquit, hic noster melius valeret, gemitus eiusmodi necessarios a calumnia defendisset et hanc, opinor, tibi quaestionem dissolvisset, me autem scis cum Stoicis non bene convenire, vel cum Stoica Stoa¹⁴ potius; est enim pleraque et sibi et nobis incongruens, sicut libro quem supra illa re composuimus declaratur.

[6] Sed ut tibi a me mos geratur, dicam ego indoctius, ut aiunt, et apertius, quae fuisse dicturum puto sinuosius atque sollertius, si quis nunc adesset Stoicorum; nosti enim, credo, verbum illud vetus et pervolgatum:

Ἀμαθέστερόν πως εἰπὲ καὶ σαφέστερον λέγε.¹⁵

Atque hine exorsus de dolore atque de gemitu Stoici aegrotantis ita disseruit:

[7] Natura, inquit, omnium rerum quae nos genuit, induit nobis inolevitque in ipsis statim principiis quibus nati sumus, amorem nostri et caritatem, ita prorsus ut nihil quicquam esset carius pensiusque nobis quam nosmet ipsi, atque hoc esse fundamentum ratast conservandae hominum perpetuitatis, si unusquisque nostrum, simul atque editus in lucem foret, harum prius rerum sensum adfectionemque caperet quae a veteribus philosophis τὰ πρῶτα κατὰ φύσιν appellata sunt; ut omnibus scilicet corporis sui commodis gauderet, ab incommodis omnibus abhorreret. Postea per incrementa aetatis exorta e seminibus suis ratiost et utendi consilii reputatio et honestatis utilitatisque verae contemplatio subtiliorque et exploratior commodorum incommodorumque ¹⁶ dilectus; atque ita prae ceteris omnibus enituit et praefulsit decori et honesti dignitas ac, si ei retinendae obtinendaeve incommodum extrinsecus aliquod obstaret, contemptum est; neque aliud esse vere et simpliciter bonum nisi honestum, aliud quicquam malum nisi quod turpe esset existimatum est. Reliqua omnia, quae in medio forent ac neque honesta essent neque turpia, neque bona esse neque mala decretum est. Productiones tamen et relationes suis quaeque momentis distinctae divisaeque sunt, quae προηγμένα et ἀποπροηγμένα ipsi vocant. Propterea voluptas quoque et dolor, quod ad finem finer ipsum bene beateque vivendi pertinet, et in mediis relicta et neque in bonis neque in malis iudicata sunt.

[8] Sed enim quoniam his primis sensibus doloris voluptatisque ante consilii et rationis exortum recens natus homo inbutus est et voluptati quidem a natura conciliatus, a dolore autem, quasi a gravi quodam inimico, abiunctus alienatusque est—circo adfectiones istas primitus penitusque inditas ratio ipsi post addita convellere ab stirpe atque extinguere vix potest. Pugnat autem cum his semper et exultantis eas opprimit obteritque et parere sibi atque oboedire cogit.

[9] Itaque vidistis philosophum, ratione decreti sui nixum, cum petulantia morbi dolorisque exultantia conluctantem, nihil cedentem, nihil confitentem, neque ut plerique dolentes solent, eiulantem atque lamentantem ac miserum sese et infelicem appellantem, sed acres tantum anhelitus et robustos gemitus edentem, signa atque indicia non victi nec obpressi a dolore, sed vincere eum atque obprimere enitentis.

[10] Sed haut scio, inquit, an dicat aliquis, ipsum illud quod pugnat, quod gemit, si malum dolor non est, cur necesse est gemere et pugnare? Quia enim omnia quae non sunt mala molestia quoque omni non carent, sed sunt pleraque noxa quidem magna et pernicie privata, quia non sunt turpia, contra naturae tamen mansuetudinem lenitatemque opposita sunt et infesta per obscuram quandam et necessariam ipsius naturae consequentiam. Haec ergo vir sapiens tolerare et exanclare ¹⁷ potest, non admittere omnino in sensum sui non potest; ἀναλγησία enim atque ἀπάθεια non meo tantum, inquit, sed quorundam etiam ex eadem porticu prudentiorum hominum, sicuti iudicio Panaetii, gravis atque docti viri, inprobata abiectaque est.

[11] Sed cur contra voluntatem suam gemitus facere cogitur philosophus Stoicus, quem nihil cogi posse dicunt? Nihil sane potest cogi vir sapiens, cum est rationi obtinendae locus; cum vero natura cogit, ratio quoque a natura data cogitur. Quaere etiam, si videtur, cur manu alicuius ob oculos suos repente agitata invitus coniveat, cur fulgente caelo a luminis iactu non sua sponte et caput et oculos declinet, cur tonitru vehementius facto ¹⁸ sensim pavescat, cur sternumentis quatiatur, cur aut in ardoribus solis aestuet aut in pruinis inmanibus obrigescat.

[12] Haec enim et pleraque alia non voluntas nec consilium nec ratio moderatur, set naturae necessitatisque decreta sunt.

[13] Fortitudo autem non east, quae contra naturam monstri vicem nititur ultraque modum eius egreditur aut stupore animi aut inmanitate aut quadam misera et necessaria in perpetiendis doloribus exercitatione— qualemn fuisse accepimus ferum quendam in ludo Caesaris gladiatorem, qui, cum vulnera eius a medicis exsecabantur, ridere solitus fuit—sed ea vera et proba fortitudost, quam maiores nostri scientiam esse dixerunt rerum tolerandarum et non tolerandarum.

[14] Per quod apparet esse quaedam intolerabilia, a quibus fortes viri aut obeundis abhorreant aut sustinendis.

[15] Cum haec Taurus dixisset videreturque in eandem rem plura etiam dicturus, perventum est ad vehicula et conscendimus.

VI

Argument

De aenigmate.

[1] QUAE Graeci dicunt aenigmata, hoc genus quidam ex nostris veteribus scirpos appellaverunt. Quale est quod nuper invenimus per hercle antiquum, perquam lepidum, tribus versibus senariis compositum aenigma, quod reliquimus inenarratum, ut legentium coniecturas in requirendo acueremus. Versus tres hi sunt:

[2]

Semel minusne an bis minus sit, nescio;

An utrumque eorum, ut quondam audivi dicier,

Iovi ipsi regi noluit concedere.

[3] Hoc qui nolit diutius aput sese quaerere, inveniet quid sit in M. Varronis De Sermone Latino ad Marcellum libro secundo.

VII

Argument

Quam ob causam Cn. Dolabella proconsul ream mulierem veneficii confitentemque ad Ariopagitas reiecerit.

[1] AD Cn. Dolabellam, proconsulari imperio provinciam Asiam obtinentem, deducta mulier Smyrnaea est.

[2] Eadem mulier virum et filium eodem tempore venenis clam datis vita interfecerat atque id fecisse se confitebatur dicebatque habuisse se faciendi causam, quoniam idem illi maritus et filius alterum filium mulieris, ex viro priore genitum, adulescentem optimum et innocentissimum, exceptum insidiis occidissent.

[3] Idque ita esse factum, controversia non erat. Dolabella retulit ad consilium.

[4] Nemo quisquam ex consilio sententiam ferre in causa tam ancipiti audebat, quod et confessum veneficium, quo maritus et filius necat forent, non admittendum inpunitum videbatur et digna tamen poena in homines sceleratos vindicatum fuisset. Dolabella eam ear rem Athenas ad Ariopagitas,

[5] ut ad iudices graviores exercitatioresque, reiecit.

[6] Ariopagitae, cognita causa, accusatorem mulieris et ipsam quae accusabatur centesimo anno adesse iusserunt.

[7] Sic neque absolutum mulieris veneficium est, quod per leges non licuit, neque nocens damnata poenitaque quae digna venia fuit.

[8] Scripta haec historiast in libro Valerii Maximi Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium nono.

VIII

Argument

Reditiones in gratiam nobilium virorum memoratu dignae.

[1] P. AFRICANUS superior et Tiberius Gracchus, Tiberii et C. Gracchorum Gracclorum pater, rerum gestarum magnitudine et honorum atque vitae dignitate inlustres viri, dissenserunt saepenumero de republican et ea sive qua alia re non amici fuerunt.

[2] Ea simultas cum diu mansisset et sollemni die epulum Iovi libaretur atque ob id sacrificium senatus in Capitolio epularetur, fors fuit ut aput eandem mensam duo illi iunctim locarentur.

[3] Tum, quasi diis inmortalibus arbitris in convivio Iovis Optimi Maximi dexteras eorum conducentibus, repente amicissimi facti. Neque solum amicitia incepta, sed adfinitas simul instituta;

[4] nam P. Scipio filiam virginem habens iam viro maturam, ibi tunc eodem in loco despondit eam Tiberio Graccho, quem probaverat elegeratque exploratissimo iudicii tempore, dum inimicus esset.

[5] Aemilius quoque Lepidus et Fulvius Flaccus, nobili genere amplissimisque honoribus ac summo loco in civitate praediti, odio inter sese gravi et simultate diutina conflictati sunt.

[6] Postea populus eos simul censores facit. Atque illi, ubi voce praeconis renuntiati sunt, ibidem in campo statim, nondum dimissa contione, ultro uterque et pari voluntate coniuncti complexique sunt, exque eo die et in ipsa censura et postea iugi concordia fidissime amicissimeque vixerunt.

IX

Argument

Quae dicantur vocabula ancipitia; et quod honoris quoque vocabulum ancipiti sententia fuerit.

[1] EST plurifariam videre atque animadvertere in veteribus scriptis pleraque vocabula, quae nunc in sermonibus vulgi unam certamque rem demonstrent, ita fuisse media et communia ut significare et capere possent duas inter se res contrarias. Ex quibus quaedam satis nota sunt, ut tempestas, valitudo, facinus, dolus, gratia, industria. Haec

[2] enim fere iam vulgatum est ancipitia esse et utroqueversus dici posse.

Periculum etiam et venenum et contagium non, uti nunc dicuntur, pro malis tantum dicta esse, multum exemplorum huiusmodi reperias.

[3] Sed honorem quoque mediam vocem fuisse et ita appellatum, ut etiam malus honos diceretur et significaret iniuriam, id profecto rarissimum. Quintus autem Metellus Numidicus,

[4] in oratione quam De Triumpho Suo dixit, his verbis usus est: Qua in re quanto universi me unum antistatis, tanto vobis quam mihi maiorem iniuriam atque contumeliam facit, Quirites, et quanto probi iniuriam facilius accipiunt quam alteri tradunt, tanto ille vobis quam mihi peiorem honorem habuit; nam me iniuriam ferre, vos facere vult, Quirites, ut hic conquestio, istic vituperatio relinquatur. Honorem, inquit, peiorem vobis habuit quam ¹⁹ mihi;

[5] cuius verbi sententia est quam ipse quoque supra dicit: maiore vos adfecit iniuria et contumelia quam me.

[6] Praeter huius autem verbi notionem adscribendam esse hanc sententiam senitentiam ex oratione Quinti Metelli existimavi, ut definiremus Socratis esse decretum: κάκιον εἶναι τὸ ἀδικεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀδικεῖσθαι.

X

Argument

Quod aeditumus verbum Latinum sit.

[1] AEDITIMUS verbum Latinum est et vetus, ea forma dictum qua finitimus et legitimus.

[2] Pro eo a plerisque nunc aedituus dicitur nova et commenticia usurpatione,

[3] quasi a tuendis aedibus appellatus. Satis hoc esse potuit admonendi gratia dixisse propter agrestes quosdam et indomitos certatores, qui nisi auctoritatibus adhibitis non comprimuntur.

[4] M. Varro in libro secundo Ad Marcellum De Latino Sermone aeditumum dici oportere censet magis quam aedituum, quod alterum sit recenti novitate fictum, alterum antiqua origine incorruptum. Laevius quoque,

[5] ut opinor in Protesilaodamia, claustritumum dixit qui claustris ianuae praeesset, eadem scilicet figura qua aeditumum dici videbat qui aedibus praeest.

[6] In IV in²⁰ Verrem M. Tullii in exemplaribus fidelissimis ita inveni scriptum: Aeditumi custodesque mature sentiunt, in libris autem hoc vulgariis aeditui scriptum est.

[7] pomponii Pomponi fabula Atellania est quae ita scripta est: Aeditumus. In qua hic versus est:

Quí postquam tibi appáreo atque aedítumor in

templó tuo.

[8] Titus autem Lucretius in carmine suo pro aedituis aedituentes appellat.

XI

Argument

Errare istos qui spe et fiducia latendi peccent, cum latebra peccati perpetua nulla sit; et super ea re Peregrini philosophi sermo et Sophocli poetae sententia.

[1] PHILOSOPHUM nomine Peregrinum, cui postea cognomentum Proteus factum est, virum gravem atque constantem, vidimus, cum Athenis essemus, deversantem in quodam tugurio extra urbem. Cumque ad eum frequenter ventitaremus, multa hercle dicere eum utiliter et honeste audivimus. In quibus id fuit, quod praecipuum auditu meminimus:

[2] Virum quidem sapientem non peccaturum esse dicebat, etiamsi peccasse eum dii atque homines ignoraturi forent.

[3] Non enim poenae aut infamiae metu non esse peccandum censebat, sed iusti honestique studio et officio.

[4] Si qui tamen non essent tali vel ingenio vel disciplina praediti, uti se vi sua ac sua sponte facile a peccando tenerent, eos omnis tunc peccare proclivius existimabat, cum latere posse id peccatum putarent inpunitatemque ex ea latebra sperarent.

[5] At si sciant, inquit, homines nihil omnium rerum diutius posse celari, repressius pudentiusque peccabitur.

[6] Propterea versus istos Sophocli, prudentissimi poetarum, in ore esse habendos dicebat:

Πρὸς ταῦτα κρύπτε μηδέν, ὡς ἅπανθʼ ὁρῶν

Καὶ πάντʼ ἀκούων πάντʼ ἀναπτύσσει χρόνος.

[7] Alius quidam veterum poetarum, cuius nomen mihi nunc nune memoriae non est, Veritatem Temporis filiam esse dixit.

XII

Argument

Faceta responsio M. Ciceronis, amolientis a se crimen manifesti mendacii.

[1] HAEC quoque disciplina rhetorica ²¹ est, callide et cum astu res criminosas citra periculum confiteri, ut si obiectum sit turpe aliquid quod negari non queat, responsione ioculari eludas et rem facias risu magis dignam quam crimine, sicut fecisse Ciceronem scriptum est, cum id quod infitiari non poterat urbano facetoque dicto diluit.

[2] Nam cum emere vellet in Palatio domum et pecuniam in praesens non haberet, a P. Sulla, qui tum reus erat, mutua sestertium viciens tacita accepit.

[3] Ea res tamen, priusquam emeret, prodita est et in vulgus exivit, obiectumque ei est quod pecuniam domus emendae causa a reo accepisset.

[4] Tum Cicero, inopinata obprobratione permotus, accepisse se negavit ac domum quoque se empturum negavit atque Adeo, inquit, verum sit accepisse me pecuniam, si domum emero. Sed cum postea emisset et hoc mendacium in senatu ei ab amicis obiceretur, risit satis atque inter ridendum: Ἀκοινονόητοι, inquit, homines estis, cum ignoratis prudentis et cauti patrisfamilias esse, quod emere velit empturum sese negare propter competitores emptionis.

XIII

Argument

Intra Kalendas cum dicitur, quid significet, utrum ante Kalendas an Kalendis an utrumque; atque inibi, quid sit in oratione M. Tulli intra oceanum et intra monte Taurum et in quadam epistula intra modum.

[1] CUM Romae a consulibus iudex extra ordinem datus pronuntiare intra Kalendas iussus essem, Sulpicium Apollinarem, doctum hominem, percontatus sum an his verbis intra Kalendas ipsae quoque Kalendae tenerentur, dixique ei me ²² videlicet datum Kalendasque mihi prodictas, ut intra eum diem pronuntiarem. Cur, inquit,

[2] hoc me potius rogas quam ex istis aliquem peritis studiosisque iuris, quos adhibere in consilium iudicaturi soletis? Tum illi ego ita respondi:

[3] Si aut de vetere, inquam, iure et ²³ recepto aut controverso et ambiguo aut novo et constituto discendum esset, issem plane sciscitatum ad istos quos dicis;

[4] sed cum verborum Latinorum sententia, usus, ratio exploranda sit, scaevus profecto et caecus animi forem, si, cum haberem tui copiam, issem magis ad alium quam ad te.

[5] Audi igitur, inquit, de ratione verbi quid existimem, sed eo tamen pacto ut id facias, non quod ego de proprietate vocis disseruero, sed quod in ea re omnium pluriumve consensu observari cognoveris; non enim verborum tantum communium verae atque propriae significationes longiore usu mutantur, sed legum quoque ipsarum iussa consensu tacito oblitterantur.

[6] Tum deinde disseruit, me et plerisque aliis audientibus, in hunc hune ferme modum: Cum dies, inquit, ita praefinita est, ut iudex intra Kalendas pronuntiet, occupavit iam haec omnes opinio, non esse dubium quin ante Kalendas iure pronuntietur, et id tantum ambigi video quod tu quaeris, an Kalendis quoque iure pronuntietur.

[7] Ipsum autem verbum sic procul dubio natum est atque ita sese habet, ut, cum dicitur intra Kalendas, non alius accipi dies debeat quam solae Kalendae. Nam tres istae voces intra, citra, ultra, quibus certi locorum fines demonstrantur, singularibus apud veteres syllabis appellabantur in, cis, uls.

[8] Haec deinde particulae quoniam parvo exiguoque sonitu obscurius promebantur, addita est tribus omnibus eadem syllaba, et quod dicebatur cis Tiberim et uls Tiberim dici coeptum est citra Tiberim et ultra Tiberim; item quod erat in, accedente eadem syllaba, intra factum est.

[9] Sunt ergo haec omnia quasi contermina iunctis inter se finibus cohaerentia: intra oppidum, ultra oppidum, citra oppidum, ex quibus intra, sicuti dixi, in significat;

[10] nam qui dicit intra oppidum, intra cubiculum, intra ferias, non dicit aliud quam in oppido, in cubiculo, in feriis.

[11] Intra Kalendas igitur non ante Kalendas est, sed in Kalendis; id est, eo ipso die quo Kalendae sunt.

[12] Itaque secundum verbi ipsius rationem qui iussus est intra Kalendas pronuntiare, nisi Kalendis pronuntiet, contra iussum vocis facit;

[13] nam, si ante id fiat, non intra pronuntiat, sed citra.

[14] Nescio quo autem pacto recepta vulgo interpretatio est absurdissima, ut intra Kalendas significare videatur etiam citra Kalendas vel ante Kalendas, nihil enim ferme interest.

[15] Atque insuper dubitatur an Kalendis quoque pronuntiari possit, quando neque ultra neque citra, set, quod inter haec medium est, intra Kalendas, id est Kalendis, ²⁴ pronuntiandum sit.

[16] Sed nimirum consuetudo vicit, quae cum omnium domina rerum, tum maxime verborum est.

[17] Ea omnia cum Apollinaris scite perquam atque enucleate disputavisset, tum ego haec dixi: Cordi, inquam, mihi fuit, priusquam ad te irem, quaerere explorareque quonam modo veteres nostri particula ista qua de agitur usi sint, atque ita invenimus Tullium in Tertia in Verrem scripsisse istoc modo: Locus intra oceanum iam nullus est, neque tam longincus neque tam reconditus, quo non per haec tempora nostrorum hominum libido iniquitasque pervaserit.

[18] Intra oceanum dicit contra rationem tuam; non enim vult, opinor, dicere in oceano; terras enim demonstrat omnis quae oceano ambiuntur, ad quas a nostris hominibus adiri potest, quae sunt citra oceanum, non in oceano; neque enim videri potest insulas significare nescio quas, quae penitus esse intra aequora ipsa oceani dicuntur.

[19] Tunc Sulpicius Apollinaris renidens: Non me hercule inargute, inquit, nec incallide opposuisti hoc Tullianum; sed Cicero intra oceanum, non, ut tu interpretare,

[20] citra oceanum dixit. Quid enim potest dici citra oceanum esse, cum undique oceanus circumscribat omnis terras et ambiat? Nam citra quod est, id extra est; qui autem potest intra esse dici, quod extra est? Sed si ex una tantum parte orbis oceanus foret, tum quae terra ad eam partem foret, citra oceanum esse dici posset vel ante oceanum; cum vero omnis terras omnifariam et undiqueversum circumfluat, nihil citra eum est, sed, undarum illius ambitu terris omnibus convallatis, in medio eius sunt omnia, quae intra oras eius inclusa sunt, sicuti hercle sol non citra caelum vertitur, sed in caelo et intra caelum.

Haec tunc Apollinaris scite acuteque dicere visus est.

[21] Set postea in libro M. Tullii Epistularum ad Servium Sulpicium sic dictum esse invenimus intra modum, ut intra Kalendas dicunt qui dicere citra Kalendas volunt.

[22] Verba haec Ciceronis sunt, quae adposui: Sed tamen, quoniam effugi eius offensionem, ²⁵ qui fortasse arbitraretur me hanc rem publicam ²⁶ non putare, si perpetuo tacerem, modice hoc faciam aut etiam intra modum, ut et illius voluntati et meis studiis serviam.

[23] Modice dixerat hoc faciam,²⁷ id est cum modo aequo et pari;

[24] deinde, quasi hoc displiceret et corrigere id vellet, addit: aut etiam intra modum, per quod ostendit minus sese id facturum esse quam quod fieri modice videretur; id est, non ad ipsum modum, sed retro paululum et citra modum.

[25] In oratione etiam, quam Pro P. Sestio scripsit, intra montem Taurum sic dicit, ut non significet in monte Tauro, sed usque ad montem cum ipso monte.

[26] Verba sunt haec ipsius M. Tullii ex ea qua dixi oratione: Antiochum Magnum illum maiores nostri magna belli contentione terra marique superatum intra montem Taurum regnare iusserunt; Asiam, qua illum multarunt, Attalo, ut is in ea regnaret, condonarunt.

[27] Intra montem, inquit, Taurum regnare iusserunt, quod non proinde est, ut intra cubiculum dicimus, nisi videri potest id esse intra montem quod est intra regiones quae Tauri montis obiectu separantur.

[28] Nam sicuti qui intra cubiculum est, is non in cubiculi parietibus, sed intra parietes est quibus cubiculum includitur, qui tamen ipsi quoque parietes in cubiculo sunt, ita, qui regnat intra montem Taurum, non solum in monte Tauro regnat, sed in his etiam regionibus quae Tauro monte clauduntur.

[29] Num igitur secundum istam verborum M. Tullii similitudinem, qui iubetur intra Kalendas pronuntiare, is et ante Kalendas et ipsis Kalendis iure pronuntiare potest? Neque id fit quasi privilegio quodam inscitae consuetudinis, sed certa rationis observatione, quoniam omne tempus, quod Kalendarum die includitur, intra Kalendas esse recte dicitur.

XIV

Argument

Saltem particula quam vim habeat et quam originem.

[1] SALTEM particula quam haberet principem significationem, quaeque vocis istius origo esset, quaerebamus.

[2] Ita enim primitus factam esse apparet, ut non videatur, sicuti quaedam subplementa orationis, temere et incondite adsumpta.

[3] Atque erat qui diceret legisse se in Grammaticis Commentariis P. Nigidii, saltem ex eo dictum quod esset si aliter, idque ipsum dici solitum per defectionem, nam plenam esse sententiam, si aliter non potest. Sed id nos in isdem commentariis P. Nigidii,

[4] cum eos non, opinor, incuriose legissemus, nusquam invenimus.

[5] Videntur autem verba ista si aliter non potest a significatione quidem voculae huius de qua quaerimus non abhorrere. Set tot verba tamen in paucissimas litteras cludere, inprobae cuiusdam subtilitatis est.

[6] Fuit etiam qui diceret, homo in libris atque in litteris adsiduus, saltem sibi dictum videri u littera media extrita; salutem enim enin ante dictum, quod nos saltem diceremus. Nam cum alia quaedam petita et non impetrata sunt, tum solemus, inquit, quasi extremum aliquid petituri quod negari minime debeat, dicere hoc saltem fieri aut dari oportere, tamquam salutem postremo petentes, quam impetrari certe et obtineri sit aequissimum.

[7] Sed hoc itidem non inlepide quidem fictum, nimis tamen esse videtur commenticium. Censuimus igitur amplius quaerendum.

XV

Argument

Quod Sisenna in libris Historiarum adverbis huiuscemodi huinscemodi saepenumero saepenunero usus est: celatim, vellicatim, saltuatim.

[1] CUM lectitaremus Historiam Sisennae adsidue. huiuscemodi figurae adverbia in oratione eius animadvertimus cuimodi sunt haec: cursim, properatim, celatim, vellicatim, saltuatim.

[2] Ex quibus duo prima, quia sunt notiora, exemplis non indigebant, reliqua in Historiarum sexto sic scripta sunt: Quam maxime celatim poterat, in insidiis suos disponit. Item alio in loco: Nos una aestate in Asia et Graecia gesta litteris idcirco continentia mandavimus, ne vellicatim aut saltuatim scribendo lectorum animos impediremus.

Notes on the current edition

Attic Nights

1. The addition of a son to his family gave the father certain privileges.

2. Iliad xvi. 33 ff.

3. Aen. iv. 366f.

4. Besides Caligula, who called Seneca's essays

mere declamation exercises

and his style

sand without lime

(Suet. Calig. liii), there were other critics of Seneca in his own day, as well as in the following Flavian epoch.

5. pp. 610 f. Hense; except for these fragments, only twenty books have come down to us.

6. Ann. 306 ff., Vahlen 2; quoted by Cicero, Brut. 58.

7. Cic. Brut. 58.

8. V. 9, 11.

9. Lit.,

those who smell like a he-goat

; cf. Hor. Serm. i. 2. 27, pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum; Epod. xii. 5.

10. Obviously, an unskilful workman.

11. Ironical, of course.

12. p. 485, Fun.

13. § 13.

14. p. 8, Lion.

15. The vowel is long, not merely the syllable, as Gellius goes on to say.

16. Ann. 234 ff., Vahlen. 2

17. p. 51, Fun.

18. iii. 168, Arn.

19. Aristophanes, Frogs, 1445.

20. iii. 181, Arn.

21. Cf. i. 2. 9.

22. That is, they do not involve any guilt.

23. Fr. 14, Fowler.

24. Apparently so called from the involved pattern of plaited rushes.

25. The answer is Terminus. Once minus and twice minus = thrice ( ter) minus. In the cella of Jupiter on the Capitolium, or possibly in the pronaos, there was a terminal cippus, representing Terminus, who refused to be removed from his original site.

26. Fr. 55. G. & S.

27. A very ancient court at Athens, so called because it held its meetings on the Areopagus, or Hill of Mars.

28. viii. 1 amb. 2, Kempf; Gellius' reference is wrong.

29. On the 13th of September, which was also the anniversary of the founding of the Capitoline Temple. See Fowler, .Roman Festivals, pp. 217 f.

30. Tempestas means good or bad weather; valitudo, good or ill health, etc.

31. O. B. F., p. 275, Meyer. 2

32. Plato, Gorgias, p. 473 A; 489 A; 508 B.

33. So the MSS.; aeditumus is a variant spelling.

34. That is, from aedes and tueor.

35. There is a lacuna in the text.

36. Fr. 56, G. & S.

37. Fr. 16, Bährens.

38. ii. 4. 96.

39. v. 2, Ribbeck. 3

40. vi. 1273.

41. Both aeditumus and aedituus are good Latin words. The former is made like finitumus and originally meant

belonging to a temple

; it derived its meaning

guardian of a temple

from aedituus ( aedes and tueor).

42. Fr. 280 N 2

43. About $100,000 or £20,000.

44. He was charged with participation in the conspiracy of Catiline.

45. From early times the examination of the evidence in cases at law was turned over by the magistrates to private persons, who acted under instruction from the magistrate. Lawsuits consisted of two parts: a preliminary hearing before the magistrate ( in iure) and the proceedings in iudicio before the private judge. Gellius mentions a similar appointment by the praetors in xiv. 2. 1.

46. That is, intra,

47. ii. 3. 207.

48. The Greeks of early times regarded the ocean as a great river encircling the earth.

49. Ad Fam. IV. 4. 4.

50. i.e., take part in politics.

51. § 58

52. This is the usage of the Greek geographers, such as Strabo, who uses e)/sw tou= i)sqmou= and e)/sw tou= Tau/rou in the sense of

south of the isthmus

and

south of Taurus.

53. p. 19, 66, Swoboda.

54. Saltem or saltim is the accusative of a noun (cf. partim, etc.) derived by some from the root of sal-vus and sal-us; by others from that of sal-io; Walde, Lat. Etym. Wörterb. s.v. accepts Warren's derivation from si alitem (formed from item), meaning

if otherwise.

55. Fr. 126, Peter 2.

56. Fr. 127. Peter 2.

57. These adverbs too are accusatives; see note 1 on chapter xiv.

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