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Book XVI

I

1arg

A saying of Musonius, the Greek philosopher, which is of practical value and worth hearing and bearing in mind; and a remark of equal value made by Marcus Cato many years before to the knights at Numantia.

WHEN I was still young and a schoolboy, I heard that this Greek sentiment which I have subjoined was uttered by the philosopher Musonius, and since it is a true and brilliant saying, expressed briefly and roundly, I very willingly committed it to memory: ¹ "If you accomplish anything noble with toil, the toil passes, but the noble deed endures. If you do anything shameful with pleasure, the pleasure passes, but the shame endures."

Later, I read that same sentiment in the speech of Marcus Cato which he delivered At Numantia to the Knights. Although it is expressed somewhat loosely and diffusely compared with the Greek which I have given, yet, since it is prior in time and more ancient, it ought to seem worthy of greater respect. The words in the speech are as follows: ²

Bear in mind, that if through toil you accomplish a good deed, that toil will quickly pass from you, the good deed will not leave you so long as you live; but if through pleasure you do anything dishonourable, the pleasure will quickly pass away, that dishonourable act will remain with you for ever.

II

2arg

The nature of the rule of the logicians in disputation and declamation, and the defect of that rule.

THEY say that it is a rule of the dialectic art, that if there is inquiry and discussion of any subject, and you are called upon to answer a question which is asked, you should answer the question by a simple

yes

no.

And those who do not observe that rule, but answer more than they were asked, or differently, are thought to be both uneducated and unobservant of the customs and laws of debate. As a matter of fact this dictum undoubtedly ought to be followed in very many debates. For a discussion will become endless and hopelessly involved, unless it is confined to simple questions and answers. But there seem to be some discussions in which, if you answer what you are asked briefly and directly, you are caught in a trap. For if anyone should put a question in these words:

I ask you to tell me whether you have given up committing adultery or not,

whichever way you answer according to this rule of debate, whether you say

yes

no,

you will be caught in a dilemma, equally if you should say that you are an adulterer, or should deny it; for one who has not given up a thing has not of necessity ever done it. That then is a deceptive kind of catch-question, and can by no means lead to the inference and conclusion that he commits adultery who says that he has not given up doing it. But what will the defenders of that rule do in that dilemma, in which they must necessarily be caught, if they give a simple answer to the question? For if I should ask any one of them:

Do you, or do you not, have what you have not lost? I demand the answer 'yes' or no,'

whichever way he replies briefly, he will be caught. For if he says that he does not have what he has not lost, the conclusion will be drawn that he has no eyes, since he has not lost them; but if he says that he has it, it will be concluded that he has horns, because he has not lost them. Therefore it will be more cautious and more correct to reply as follows:

I have whatever I had, if I have not lost it.

But an answer of that kind is not made in accordance with the rule which we have mentioned; for more is answered than was asked. Therefore this proviso also is commonly added to the rule, that one need not answer catchquestions.

III

3arg

By what means Erasistratus, the physician, said that one could do for a time without eating, if food chanced to be lacking, and endure hunger; and his own words on that subject.

I OFTEN spent whole days in Rome with Favorinus. His delightful conversation held my mind enthralled, and I attended him wherever he went, as if actually taken prisoner by his eloquence; to such a degree did he constantly delight me with his most agreeable discourse. Once when he had gone to visit a sick man, and I had entered with him, having conversed for some time in Greek about the man's illness with the physicians who chanced to be there at the time, he said:

This ought not to seem surprising either, that although previously he was always eager for food, now after an enforced fast of three days all his former appetite is lost. For what Erasistratus has written is pretty nearly true,

said he,

that the empty and open fibres of the intestines, the hollowness of the belly within and the empty and yawning cavity of the stomach, cause hunger; but when these are either filled with food or are contracted and brought together by continued fasting, then, since the place into which the food is received is either filled or made smaller, the impulse to take food, or to crave it, is destroyed.

He declared that Erasistratus also said that the Scythians too, when it was necessary for them to endure protracted hunger, bound a very tight bandage around their bellies. That by such compression of the belly it was believed that hunger could be prevented.

These things and many others of the kind Favorinus said most entertainingly on that occasion; but later, when I chanced to be reading the first book of Erasistratus' Distinctions, I found in that book the very passage which 1 had heard Favorinus quote. ³ The words of Erasistratus on the subject are as follows:

I reasoned therefore that the ability to fast for a long time is caused by strong compression of the belly; for with those who voluntarily fast for a long time, at first hunger ensues, but later it passes away.

Then a little later:

And the Scythians also are accustomed, when on any occasion it is necessary to fast, to bind up the belly with broad belts, in the belief that the hunger thus troubles them less; and one may almost say too that when the stomach is full, men feel no hunger for the reason that there is no vacuity in it, and likewise when it is greatly compressed there is no vacuity.

In the same book Erasistratus declares that a kind of irresistibly violent hunger, which the Greeks call bou/limos, or

ox-hunger,

is much more apt to be felt on very cold days than when tile weather is calm and pleasant, and that the reasons why this disorder prevails especially at such times have not yet become clear to him. The words which he uses are these:

It is unknown and requires investigation, both in reference to the case in question and in that of others who suffer from 'ox-hunger,' why this symptom appears rather on cold days than in warm weather.

IV

4arg

In what fashion and in what language the war-herald of the Roman people was accustomed to declare war upon those against whom the people had voted that war should be made; also in what words the oath relating to the prohibition and punishment of theft by the soldiers was couched; and how the soldiers that were enrolled were to appear at an appointed time and place, with some exceptional cases in which they might properly be freed from that oath.

CINCIUS writes in his third book On Military Science⁴ that the war-herald of the Roman people, when he declared war on the enemy and hurled a spear into their territory, used the following words:

Whereas the Hermundulan people and the men of the Hermundulam people have made war against the Roman people and have transgressed against them, and whereas the Roman people has ordered war with the Hermundulan people and the men of the Hermundulans, therefore I and the Roman people declare and make war with the Hermundulan people and with the men of the Hermundulans.

Also in the fifth book of the same Cincius On Military Science we read the following: ⁵ "When a levy was made in ancient times and soldiers were enrolled, the tribune of the soldiers compelled them to take an oath in the following words dictated by the magistrate: 'In the army of the consuls Gaius Laelius, son of Gaius, and Lucius Cornelius, son of Publius, and for ten miles around it, you will not with malice aforethought commit a theft, either alone or with others, of more than the value of a silver sesterce in any one day. And except for one spear, a spear shaft, wood, fruit, fodder, a bladder, a purse and a torch, if you find or carry off anything there which is not your own and is worth more than one silver sesterce, you will bring it to the consul Gaius Laelius, son of Gaius, or to the consul Lucius Cornelius, son of Publius, or to whomsoever either of them shall appoint, or you will make known within the next three days whatever you have found or wrongfully carried off, or you will restore it to him whom you suppose to be its rightful owner, as you wish to do what is right."

Moreover, when soldiers had been enrolled, a day was appointed on which they should appear and should answer to the consul's summons; then an oath was taken, binding them to appear, with the addition of the following exceptions: 'Unless there be any of the following excuses: a funeral in his family or purification from a dead body ⁶ (provided these were not appointed for that day in order that he might not appear on that day), a dangerous disease, ⁷ or an omen which could not be passed by without expiatory rites, or an anniversary sacrifice which could not be properly celebrated unless he himself were present on that day, violence or the attack of enemies, a stated and appointed day with a foreigners; ⁸ if anyone shall have any of these excuses, then on the day following that on which he is excused for these reasons he shall come and render service to the one who held the levy in that district, village or town.'

Also in the same book are these words: ⁹

'When a soldier was absent on the appointed day and had not been excused, he was branded as a deserter.

Also in the sixth book we find this: ¹⁰

The columns of cavalry were called the wings of the army, because they were placed around the legions on the right and on the left, as wings are on tile bodies of birds. In a legion there are sixty centuries, thirty maniples, and ten cohorts.

V

5arg

The meaning of vestibulum and the various derivations proposed for the word.

THERE are numerous words which we use commonly, without however clearly knowing what their proper and exact meaning is; but following an uncertain and vulgar tradition without investigating the matter, we seem to say what we mean rather than say it; an example is vestibulum or

vestibule,

a word frequently met in conversation, yet not wholly clear to all who readily make use of it. For I have observed that some men who are by no means without learning think that the vestibule is the front part of the house, which is commonly known as the atrium. Gaius Aelius Gallus, in the second book of his work On the Meaning of Words relating to the Civil Law, says ¹¹ that the vestibule is not in the house itself, nor is it a part of the house, but is an open place before the door of the house, through which there is approach and access to the house from the street, while on the right and left the door is hemmed in by buildings extended to the street and the door itself is at a distance from the street, separated from it by this vacant space. Furthermore, it is often inquired what the derivation of this word is; but nearly everything that I have read on the subject has seemed awkward and absurd. But what I recall hearing from Sulpicius Apollinaris, a man of choice learning, is as follows:

The particle ve, like some others, is now intensive and now the reverse; for of vetis and vehenens, the former is made by intensifying the idea of age, with elision, ¹² and the latter from the power and force of the mind. But vescus, which is formed from the particle ve and esca, assumes the force of both opposite meanings. For Lucretius ¹³ uses vescum salem, or ' devouring salt,' in one sense, indicating a strong propensity to eat, Lucilius ¹⁴ in the other sense, of fastidiousness in eating. ¹⁵ Those then in early times who made spacious houses left a vacant place before the entrance, midway between the door of the house and the street. There those who had come to pay their respects to the master of the house took their places before they were admitted, standing neither in the street nor within the house. Therefore from that standing in a large space, and as it were from a kind of 'standing place,' the name vestibule was given to the great places left, as I have said, before the doors of houses, in which those who had come to call stood, before they were admitted to the house. ¹⁶ But we shall have to bear in mind that this word was not always used literally by the early writers, but in various figurative senses, which however are so formed as not to differ widely from that proper meaning which we have mentioned, as for example in the sixth book of Vergil: ¹⁷

Before the vestibule, e'en in Hell's very jaws,

Avenging Cares and Grief have made their beds.

For he does not call the front part of the infernal dwelling the 'vestibule,' although one might be misled into thinking it so called, but he designates two places outside the doors of Orcus, the ' vestibule' and the fauces, of which 'vestibule' is applied to the part as it were before the house itself and before the private rooms of Orcus, while fauces designates the narrow passage through which the vestibule was approached.

¹⁸

VI

6arg

What the victims are which are called bidentes, and why they were so called; and the opinions of Publius Nigidius and Julius Hyginus on that subject.

ON my return from Greece I put in at Brundisium. There a dabbler in the Latin language, who had been called from Rome by the people of Brundisium, was offering himself generally to be tested. I also went to him for the sake of amusement, for my mind was weary and languid ¹⁹ from the tossing of the sea. He was reading in a barbarous and ignorant manner from the seventh book of Vergil, in which this verse occurs: ²⁰

An hundred woolly sheep ( bidentes) he duly slew,

and he invited anyone to ask him anything whatever which one wished to learn. Then I, marvelling at the assurance of the ignorant fellow, said:

Will you tell us, master, why bidentes are so called?

Bidentes,

said he,

means sheep, and he called them 'woolly,' to show more clearly that they are sheep.

I replied:

We will see later whether only sheep are called bidentes, as you say, and whether Pomponius, the writer of Atellanae,²¹ was in error in his Transalpine Gauls, when he wrote this: ²²

O Mars, if ever I return, I vow

To sacrifice to thee with two-toothed ( bidenti) boar.

But now I asked you whether you know the reason for this name.

And he, without a moment's hesitation, but with the greatest possible assurance, said:

Sheep are called bidentes, because they have only two teeth.

Where on earth, pray,

said I,

have you seen a sheep that by nature had only two teeth? For that is a portent and ought to be met with expiatory offerings.

Then he, greatly disturbed and angry with me, cried:

Ask rather such questions as ought to be put to a grammarian; for one inquires of shepherds about the teeth of sheep.

I laughed at the wit of the blockhead and left him.

Now Publius Nigidius, in the book which he wrote On Sacrificial Meats, says ²³ that not sheep alone are called bidentes, but all victims that are two years old; yet he has not explained clearly why they are called bidentes. But I find written in some Notes on the Pontifical Law²⁴ what I had myself thought, that they were first called bidennes, that is biennes with the insertion of the letter d; then by long use in speech the word became changed and from bidennes was formed bidentes, because the latter seemed easier and less harsh to pronounce.

However, Julius Hyginus, who seems not to have been ignorant of pontifical law, in the fourth book of his work On Virgil, wrote ²⁵ that those victims were called bidentes which were of such an age that they had two prominent teeth. I quote his own words:

The victim called bidens should have eight teeth, but of these two should be more prominent than the rest, to make it plain that they have passed from infancy to a less tender age.

Whether this opinion of Hyginus is true or not may be determined by observation without resort to argument. ²⁶

VII

7arg

That Laberius formed many words freely and boldly, and that he even uses numerous words whose Latinity is often questioned.

LABERIUS, in the mimes which he wrote, coined words with the greatest possible freedom. For he said ²⁷ mendicimonium for

beggary,

moechimonium, adulterio or adulteritas for

adultery,

depudicavit for

dishonoured,

and abluvium for diluvium, or

deluge

; in the farce which he entitled The Basket²⁸ he uses manuatus est for

he stole,

and in The Fuller²⁹ he calls a thief manuarius,³⁰ saying: Thief ( manuari), you have lost your shame, and he makes many other innovations of the same kind. He also used obsolete and obscene words, such as are spoken only by the dregs of the people, as in the Spinners' Shop:³¹

Orcus, in truth, will bear you on his shoulders (catomum) ³² nude.

He uses ³³ elutriare for

washing out

linen, and lavandaria, or

wash,

of those things which are sent to be washed. He says: ³⁴

Into the fulling business I am hurled ( coicior), ³⁵

and ³⁶

O heater ( Calidoniam caldonia), what's your haste? Would'st aught outstrip?

Also in the Ropemaker³⁷ he applies the term talabarriunculi to those whom the general public call talabarriones.³⁸ He writes in the Compitlia:³⁹

My jaws I've tamed ( malaxavi),

and in The Forgetful Man,⁴⁰

This is that dolt ( gurdus) who, when two months ago

From Africa I came, did meet me here,

As I did say.

Also in the farce entitled Natalicius he uses ⁴¹ cippus for a small column, obba for a cup, camella for a bowl, ⁴² pittacim for a flap ⁴³ and capitium for a breast band; the last-named passage reads:

A breast-band ( capitium) you put on, the tunic's flap ( pittacium).

Further, in his Anna Peranna he uses ⁴⁴ gubernius for pilot, and plans⁴⁵ for sycophant, and nanus for dwarf; but Marcus Cicero also wrote planus for sycophant in the speech which he delivered In Defence of Cluentius.⁴⁶ Moreover Laberius in the farce entitled The Saturnalia⁴⁷ calls a sausage bolulus and says homo levanna instead of levis or

slight.

In the Necyomantia too he uses the very vulgar expression cocio for what our forefathers called arillator or

haggler.

His words are these: ⁴⁸

Two wives? More trouble this, the haggler ( cocio) says;

Six aediles he had seen. ⁴⁹

However, in the farce which he called Alexandrea, he used ⁵⁰ the same Greek word which is in common use, but correctly and in good Latin form; for he put emplastrum in the neuter, not in the feminine gender, as those half-educated innovators of ours do. I quote the words of that farce:

What is an oath? A plaster ( emplastrum) for a debt.

VIII

8arg

The meaning of what the logicians call

an axiom,

and what it is called by our countrymen; and some other things which belong to the elements of the dialectic art.

WHEN I wished to be introduced to the science of logic and instructed in it, it was necessary to take up and learn what the dialecticians call ei)sagwgai/ or

introductory exercises.

⁵¹ Then because at first I had to learn about axioms, which Marcus Varro calls, ⁵² now proposita, or

propositions,

and now proloquia, or

preliminary statements,

I sought diligently for the Commentary on Proloquia of Lucius Aelius, a learned man, who was the teacher of Varro; and finding it in the library of Peace, ⁵³ I read it. But I found in it nothing that was written to instruct or to make the matter clear, but Aelius ⁵⁴ seems to have made that book rather as suggestions for his own use than for the purpose of teaching others.

I therefore of necessity returned to my Greek books. From these I obtained this definition of an axiom: lekto\n au)totele\s a)po/fanton o(/son a)f' au(tw=|.⁵⁵ This I forbore to turn into Latin, since it would have been necessary to use new and as yet uncoined words, such as, from their strangeness, the ear could hardly endure. But Marcus Varro in the twenty-fourth book of his Latin Language, dedicated to Cicero, thus defines the word very briefly: ⁵⁶

A proloquium is a statement in which nothing is lacking.

But his definition will be clearer if I give an example. An axiom, then, or a preliminary proposition, if you prefer, is of this kind:

Hannibal was a Carthaginian

;

Scipio destroyed Numantia

;

Milo was found guilty of murder

;

pleasure is neither a good nor an evil

; and in general any saying which is a full and perfect thought, so expressed in words that it is necessarily either true or false, is called by the logicians an

axiom,

by Marcus Varro, as I have said, a

proposition,

but by Marcus Cicero ⁵⁷ a pronuntiatum, or

pronouncement,

a word however which he declared that he used

only until I can find a better one.

But what the Greeks call sunhmme/non a)ci/wma, or

a hypothetical syllogism,

⁵⁸ some of our countrymen ⁵⁹ call adiunctum, others conexum.⁶⁰ The following are examples of this:

If Plato is walking, Plato is moving

;

if it is day, the sun is above the earth.

Also what they call sumpeplegme/non, or

a compound proposition,

we call coniunctum or copulatum; for example:

Publius Scipio, son of Paulus, was twice consul and celebrated a triumph, and held the censorship, and was the colleague of Lucius Mummius in his censorship.

But in the whole of a proposition of this kind, if one member is false, even if the rest are true, the whole is said to be false. For if to all those true statements which I have made about that Scipio I add

and he worsted Hannibal in Africa,

which is false, all those other statements which are made in conjunction will not be true, because of this one false statement which is made with them.

There is also another form, which the Greeks call diezeugme/non a)ci/wma, or

a disjunctive proposition,

and we call disiunctum. For example:

Pleasure is either good or evil, or it is neither good nor evil.

⁶¹ Now all statements which are contrasted ought to be opposed to each other, and their opposites, which the Greeks call a)ntikei/mena, ought also to be opposed. Of all statements which are contrasted, one ought to be true and the rest false. But if none at all of them is true, or if all, or more than one, are true, or if the contrasted things are not at odds, or if those which are opposed to each other are not contrary, then that is a false contrast and is called paradiezeugme/non. For instance, this case, in which the things which are opposed are not contraries:

Either you run or you walk or you stand.

These acts are indeed contrasted, but when opposed they are not contrary; for

not to walk

and

not to stand

and

not to run

are not contrary to one another, since those things are called

contraries

which cannot be true at the same time. But you may at once and at the same time neither walk, stand, nor run.

But for the present it will be enough to have given this little taste of logic, and I need only add by way of advice, that the study and knowledge of this science in its rudiments does indeed, as a rule, seem forbidding and contemptible, as well as disagreeable and useless. But when you have made some progress, then finally its advantages will become clear to you, and a kind of insatiable desire for acquiring it will arise; so much so, that if you do not set bounds to it, there will be great danger lest, as many others have done, you should reach a second childhood amid those mazes and meanders of logic, as if among the rocks of the Sirens.

IX

9arg

The meaning of the expression susque deque, which occurs frequently in the books of early writers.

SUSQUE dequefero, susque deque sum, or susque deque habeo⁶² —for all these forms occur, meaning

it's all one to me

—is an expression used in the everyday language of cultivated men. It occurs frequently in poems too and in the letters of the early writers; but you will more readily find persons who flaunt the phrase than who understand it. So true is it that many of us hasten to use out-of-the-way words that we have stumbled upon, but not to learn their meaning. Now susque deque ferre means to be indifferent and not to lay much stress upon anything that happens; sometimes it means to neglect and despise, having about the force of the Greek word a)diaforei=n. Laberius says in his Compitalia:⁶³

Now you are dull, now 'tis all one to you ( susque deque fers);

Your wife sits by you on the marriage bed, ⁶⁴

A penny slave unseemly language dares.

Marcus Varro in his Sisenna, or On History says: ⁶⁵

But if all these things did not have similar beginnings and sequels, it would be all one ( susque deque esset).

So Lucilius in his third book writes: ⁶⁶

All this was sport, to us it was all one ( susque deque fierunt),

All one it was, I say, all sport and play;

That was hard toil, when we gained Setia's bourne:

Goat-traversed heights, Aetnas, rough Athoses.

X

10arg

The meaning of proletarii and capite censi; also of adsiduus in the Twelve Tables, and the origin of the word.

ONE day there was a cessation of business in the Forum at Rome, and as the holiday was being joyfully celebrated, it chanced that one of the books of the Annals of Ennius was read in an assembly of very many persons. In this book the following lines occurred: ⁶⁷

With shield and savage sword is Proletarius armed

At public cost; they guard our walls, our mart and town.

Then the question was raised there, what proletarius meant. And seeing in that company a man who was skilled in the civil law, a friend of mine, I asked him to explain the word to us; and when he rejoined that he was an expert in civil law and not in grammatical matters, I said: " You in particular ought to explain this, since, as you declare, you are skilled in civil law. For Quintus Ennius took this word from your Twelve Tables, in which, if I remember aright, we have the following: ⁶⁸ 'For a freeholder let the protector ⁶⁹ be a freeholder. For a proletariate citizen ⁷⁰ let whoso will be protector.

We therefore ask you to consider that not one of the books of Quintus Ennius' Annals, but the Twelve Tables are being read, and interpret the meaning of 'proletariate citizen' in that law.

It is true,

said he,

that if I had learned the law of the Fauns and Aborigines, I ought to explain and interpret this. But since proletarii, adsidui, sanates, vades, subvades, 'twenty-five asses,' 'retaliation,' and trials for theft 'by plate and girdle' ⁷¹ have disappeared, and since all the ancient lore of the Twelve Tables, except for legal questions before the court of the centumviri, was put to sleep by the Aebutian law, ⁷² I ought only to exhibit interest in, and knowledge of, the law and statutes and legal terms which we now actually use.

Just then, by some chance, we caught sight of Julius Paulus passing by, the most learned poet within my recollection. We greeted him, and when he was asked to enlighten us as to the meaning and derivation of that word, he said: "Those of the Roman commons who were humblest and of smallest means, and who reported no more than fifteen hundred asses at the census, were called proletarii, but those who were rated as having no property at all, or next to none, were termed capite censi, or 'counted by head.' And the lowest rating of the capite censi was three hundred and seventy-five asses. But since property and money were regarded as a hostage and pledge of loyalty to the State, and since there was in them a kind of guarantee and assurance of patriotism, neither the proletarii nor the capite censi were enrolled as soldiers except in some time of extraordinary disorder, because they had little or no property and money. However, the class of proletarii was somewhat more honourable in fact and in name than that of the capite censi; for in times of danger to the State, when there was a scarcity of men of military age, they were enrolled for hasty service, ⁷³ and arms were furnished them at public expense. And they were called, not capite censi, but by a more auspicious name derived from their duty and function of producing offspring, for although they could not greatly aid the State with what small property they had, yet they added to the population of their country by their power of begetting children. Gaius Marius is said to have been the first, according to some in the war with the Cimbri in a most critical period for our country, or more probably, as Sallust says, in the Jugurthine war, to have enrolled soldiers from the capite censi, since such an act was unheard of before that time. Adsidaus in the Twelve Tables⁷⁴ is used of one who is rich and well to do, ⁷⁵ either because he contributed 'asses' (that is, money) when the exigencies of the State required it, or from his 'assiduity' in making contributions according to the amount of his property." ⁷⁶

Now the words of Sallust in the Iugurthine War about Gaius Marius and the capite censi are these: ⁷⁷

He himself in the meantime enrolled soldiers, not according to the classes, or in the manner of our forefathers, but allowing anyone to volunteer, for the most part the lowest class ( capite censos). Some say that he did this through lack of good men, others because of a desire to curry favour, since that class had given him honour and rank, and as a matter of fact, to one who aspires to power the poorest man is the most helpful.

XI

11arg

A story taken from the books of Herodotus about the destruction of the Psylli, who dwelt in the African Syrtes.

THE race of the Marsians in Italy is said to have sprung from the son of Circe. 'Therefore it was given to the Marsic men, provided their families were not stained through the admixture of foreign alliances, by an inborn hereditary power to be the subduers of poisonous serpents and to perform wonderful cures by incantations and the juices of plants.

We see certain persons called Psylli endowed with this same power. And when I had sought in ancient records for information about their name and race, I found at last in the fourth book of Herodotus ⁷⁸ this story about them: that the Psylli had once been neighbours in the land of Africa of the Nasamones, and that the South Wind at a certain season in their territories blew very long and hard; that because of that gale all the water in the regions which they inhabited dried up; that the Psylli, deprived of their water supply, were grievously incensed at the South Wind because of that injury and voted to take up arms and march against the South Wind as against an enemy, and demand restitution according to the laws of war. And when they had thus set out, the South Wind came to meet them with a great blast of air, and piling upon them mountainous heaps of sand, buried them all with their entire forces and arms. Through this act the Psylli all perished to a man, and accordingly their territories were occupied by the Nasamones.

XII

12arg

Of those words which Cloatius Verus referred to a Greek origin, either quite fittingly or too absurdly and tastelessly.

CLOATIUS VERUS, in the books which he entitled Words taken from the Greek, says not a few things indeed which show careful and keen investigation, but also some which are foolish and trifling.

Errare (to err),

he says, ⁷⁹

is derived from the Greek e)/rrein,

and he quotes a line of Homer in which that word occurs: ⁸⁰ Swift wander ( e)/rrei) from the isle, most wretched man. Cloatius also wrote that alucinari, or

dream,

is derived from the Greek a)lu/ein, or

be distraught,

and from this he thinks that the word elucus also is taken, with a change of a to e, meaning a certain sluggishness and stupidity of mind, which commonly comes to dreamy folk. He also derives fascinum, or

charm,

as if it were bascanum,⁸¹ and fascinare, as if it were bascinare,⁸² or

bewitch.

All these are fitting and proper enough. But in his fourth book he says: ⁸³

Faenerator is equivalent to fainera/twr, meaning 'to appear at one's best,' since that class of men present an appearance of kindliness and pretend to be accommodating to poor men who are in need of money

; and he declared that this was stated by Hypsicrates, a grammarian whose books on Words Borrowed from the Greeks are very well known. But whether Cloatius himself or some other blockhead gave vent to this nonsense, nothing can be more silly. For faenerator, as Marcus Varro wrote in the third book of his Latin Diction,⁸⁴

is so called from feanus, or 'interest,' but faenus,

he says,

is derived from fetus,⁸⁵ or 'offspring,' and from a birth, as it were, from money, producing and giving increase.

Therefore he says that Marcus Cato ⁸⁶ and others of his time pronounced generator without the letter a, just as fetus itself and fecunditas were pronounced.

XIII

13arg

The meaning of municipium and how it differs from colonia; and what municipes are and the derivation and proper use of that word; and also what the deified Hadrian said in the senate about the name and rights of municipes.

MUNICIPES and municipia are words which are readily spoken and in common use, and you would never find a man who uses them who does not think that he understands perfectly what he is saying. But in fact it is something different, and the meaning is different. For how rarely is one of us found who, coming from a colony of the Roman people, does not say what is far removed from reason and from truth, namely, that he is municeps and that his fellow citizens are municipes? So general is the ignorance of what municipia are and what rights they have, and how far they differ from a

colony,

as well as the belief that coloniae are better off than municipia. With regard to the errors in this opinion which is so general the deified Hadrian, in the speech which he delivered in the senate In Behalf of the Italicenses,⁸⁷ from whom he himself came, discoursed most learnedly, showing his surprise that the Italicenses themselves and also some other ancient municipia, among whom he names the citizens of Utica, when they might enjoy their own customs and laws, desired instead to have the rights of colonies. Moreover, he asserts that the citizens of Praeneste earnestly begged and prayed the emperor Tiberius that they might be changed from a colony into the condition of a municipium, and that Tiberius granted their request by way of conferring a favour, because in their territory, and near their town itself, he had recovered from a dangerous illness.

Municipes, then, are Roman citizens from free towns, using their own laws and enjoying their own rights, merely sharing with the Roman people an honorary munus, or

privilege

⁸⁸ (from the enjoyment of which privilege they appear to derive their name), and bound by no other compulsion and no other law of the Roman people, except such as their own citizens have officially ratified. ⁸⁹ We learn besides that the people of Caere were the first municipes without the right of suffrage, and that it was allowed them to assume the honour of Roman citizenship, but yet to be free from service and burdens, in return for receiving and guarding sacred objects during the war with the Gauls. Hence by contraries those tablets were called Caerites on which the censors ordered those to be enrolled whom they deprived of their votes by way of disgrace.

But the relationship of the

colonies

is a different one; for they do not come into citizenship from without, nor grow from roots of their own, but they are as it were transplanted from the State and have all the laws and institutions of the Roman people, not those of their own choice. This condition, although it is more exposed to control and less free, is nevertheless thought preferable and superior because of the greatness and majesty of the Roman people, of which those colonies seem to be miniatures, as it were, and in a way copies; ⁹⁰ and at the same time because the rights of the municipal towns become obscure and invalid, and from ignorance of their existence the townsmen are no longer able to make use of them.

XIV

14arg

That Marcus Cato said there was a difference between properare and festinare, and how inappropriately Verrius Flaccus explained the origin of the latter word.

FESTINARE and properare seem to indicate the same thing and to be used of the same thing. But Marcus Cato thinks that there is a difference, and that the difference is this—I quote his own words from the speech which he pronounced On his Own Merits:⁹¹

It is one thing to hasten ( properare), another to hurry ( festinare). He who finishes some one thing in good season, hastens ( properat); one who begins many things at the same time but does not finish them, hurries ( festinat).

Verrius Flaccus, wishing to explain the nature of this difference, says ⁹²

Festinat is derived from for (to speak), since those idle folk who can accomplish nothing talk more than they act.

But that seems too forced and absurd, nor can the first letter of the two words be of such weight that because of it such different words as festino and for should appear to be the same. But it seems more fitting and closer to explain festinare as equivalent to fessum esse or

be wearied.

For one who tires himself out by hastily attacking many things at once no longer hastens, but hurries. ⁹³

XV

15arg

The strange thing recorded of partridges by Theophrastus and of hares by Theopompus.

THEOPHRASTUS, most expert of philosophers, declares ⁹⁴ that in Paphlagonia all the partridges have two hearts; Theopompus, ⁹⁵ that in Bisaltia the hares have two livers each.

XVI

16arg

That the name Agrippa was given to those whose birth was difficult and unnatural; and of the goddesses called Prorsa and Postverta.

THOSE at whose birth the feet appeared first, instead of the head, which is considered the most difficult and dangerous form of parturition, are called Agrippae, a word formed from aegritudo, or

difficulty,

and pedes (feet). But Varro says ⁹⁶ that the position of children in the womb is with the head lowest and the feet raised up, not according to the nature of a man, but of a tree. For he likens the branches of a tree to the feet and legs, and the stock and trunk to the head.

Accordingly,

says he,

when they chanced to be turned upon their feet in an unnatural position, since their arms are usually extended they are wont to be held back, and then women give birth with greater difficulty. For the purpose of averting this danger altars were set up at Rome to the two Carmentes, ⁹⁷ of whom one was called Postverta,⁹⁸ the other Prorsa,⁹⁹ named from natural and unnatural births, and their power over them.

XVII

17arg

Of the origin of the term ager Vaticanus.

WE had been told that the ager Vaticanus, or

Vatican region,

and the presiding deity of the same place, took their names from the vaticinia, or

prophecies,

which were wont to be made in that region through the power and inspiration of that god. But in addition to that reason Marcus Varro, in his Antiquities of the Gods, states ¹⁰⁰ that there is another explanation of the name: For,

says he, just as Aius was called a god and the altar was erected in his honour which stands at the bottom of the Nova Via, because in that place a voice from heaven was heard, so that god was called Vaticanus who controls the beginnings of human speech, since children, as soon as they are born, first utter the sound which forms the first syllable of Vaticanus; hence the word vagire ('cry'), which represents the sound of a new-born infant's voice.

XVIII

18arg

Some interesting and instructive remarks about that part of Geometry which is called

Optics

; of another part called

Harmony,

and also of a third called

Metric.

A PART of Geometry which relates to the sight is called o)ptikh/ or

Optics,

another part, relating to the ears, is known as kanonikh/ or

Harmony,

which musicians make use of as the foundation of their art. These are concerned respectively with the spaces and the intervals between lines and with the theory of musical numbers.

Optics effect many surprising things, such as the appearance in one mirror of several images of the same thing; also that a mirror placed in a certain position shows no image, but when moved to another spot gives reflections; also that if you look straight into a mirror, your reflection is such that your head appears below and your feet uppermost. ¹⁰¹ This science also gives the reasons for optical illusions, such as the magnifying of objects seen in the water, and the small size of those that are remote from the eye.

Harmony, on the other hand, measures the length and pitch of sounds. The measure of the length of a tone is called r(uqmo/s, or rhythm of its pitch, me/los, or

melody.

There is also another variety of Harmony which is called metrikh/, or

Metric,

by which the combination of long and short syllables, and those which are neither long nor short, and the verse measure according to the principles of geometry are examined with the aid of the ears.

But these things,

says Marcus Varro, ¹⁰²

we either do not learn at all, or we leave off before we know why they ought to be learned. But the pleasure,

he says,

and the advantage of such sciences appear in their later study, when they have been completely mastered; but in their mere elements they seem foolish and unattractive.

¹⁰³

XIX

19arg

A story about the lyre-player Arion, taken from the work of Herodotus.

HERODOTUS has written ¹⁰⁴ of the famous lyre-player Arion in terse and vigorous language and in simple and elegant style.

Arion,

says he,

in days of old was a celebrated player upon the lyre. The town in which he was born was Methyma, but from the name of his country and the island as a whole he was a Lesbian. This Arion for the sake of his art was held in friendship and affection by Periander, king of Corinth. ¹⁰⁵ Later, he left the king, to visit the famous lands of Sicily and Italy. On his arrival there he charmed the ears and minds of all in the cities of both countries, and there he was enriched as well as being generally admired and beloved. Then later, laden with money and with wealth of all kinds, he determined to return to Corinth, choosing a Corinthian vessel and crew, as better known to him and more friendly.

But Herodotus says that those Corinthians, having received Arion on board and put to sea, formed the plan of murdering him for the sake of his money. Then he, realizing that death was at hand, gave them possession of his money and other goods, but begged that they should at least spare his life. The sailors were moved by his prayers only so far as to refrain from putting him to death with their own hands, but they bade him at once, before their eyes, leap headlong into the sea.

Then,

says Herodotus,

the poor man, in terror and utterly hopeless of life, finally made the one request that before meeting his end he might be allowed to put on all his costume, take his lyre, and sing a song in consolation of his fate. The sailors, though savage and cruel, nevertheless had a desire to hear him; his request was granted. Then afterwards, crowned in the usual way, robed and adorned, he stood upon the extreme stern and lifting up his voice on high sang the song called 'orthian.' ¹⁰⁶ Finally, having finished his song, with his lyre and all his equipment, just as he stood and sang, he threw himself far out into the deep. The sailors, not doubting in the least that he had perished, held on the course which they had begun. But an unheard of, strange and miraculous thing happened.

Herodotus asserts that a dolphin suddenly swam up amid the waves, dove under the floating man, and lifting his back above the flood, carried him and landed him at Taenarum in the Laconian land, with his person and adornment uninjured. Then Arion went from there straight to Corinth and, just as he was when the dolphin carried him, presented himself unexpectedly to king Periander and told him exactly what had occurred. The king did not believe the story but ordered that Arion be imprisoned as an impostor. He hunted up the sailors, and in the absence of Arion craftily questioned them, asking whether they had heard anything of Arion in the places from which they had come. They replied that the man had been in the land of Italy when they left it, that he was doing well there, enjoying the devotion and the pleasures of the cities, and that both in prestige and in money he was rich and fortunate. Then, in the midst of their story, Arion suddenly appeared with his lyre, clad in the garments in which he had thrown himself into the sea; the sailors were amazed and proved guilty, and could not deny their crime. This story is told by the Lesbians and the Corinthians, and in testimony to its truth two brazen images are to be seen near Taenarum, the dolphin carrying the man, who is seated on his back.

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).) — 16.1 focus

I

Argument

Verba Musoni philosophi Graeca, digna atque utilia audiri observarique; eiusdemque utilitatis sententia a M. Catone multis ante annis Numantiae ad equites dicta.

[1] ADULESCENTULI cum etiamtum in scholis essemus, ἐνθυμημάτιον hoc Graecum quod adposui dictum esse a Musonio philosopho audiebamus et, quoniam vere atque luculente dictum verbisque est brevibus et rotundis vinctum, perquam libenter memineramus:

[2] Ἄν τι πράξῃς καλὸν μετὰ πόνου, ὁ μὲν πόνος οἴχεται, τὸ δὲ καλὸν μένει· ἄν τι ποιήσῃς αἰσχρὸν μετὰ ἡδονῆς, τὸ μὲν ἡδὺ οἴχεται, τὸ δὲ αἰσχρὸν μένει.

[3] Postea istam ipsam sententiam in Catonis oratione, quam dixit Numantiae apud Equites, positam legimus. Quae etsi laxioribus paulo longioribusque verbis comprehensa est praequam illud Graecum quod diximus, quoniam tamen prior tempore antiquiorque est, venerabilior videri debet.

[4] Verba ex oratione haec sunt: Cogitate cum animis vestris, si quid vos per laborem recte feceritis, labor ille a vobis cito recedet, bene factum a vobis, dum vivitis, non abscedet; sed si qua per voluptatem nequiter feceritis, voluptas cito abibit, nequiter factum illud apud vos semper selmper manebit.

II

Argument

Cuiusmodi sit lex apud dialecticos percontandi disserendique; et quae sit eius legis reprehensio.

[1] LEGEM esse aiunt disciplinae dialecticae, si de quapiam re quaeratur disputeturque atque ibi quid rogere ut respondeas, tum ne amplius quid dicas quam id solum quod es rogatus aut aias aut neges;

[2] eamque legem qui non servent, et aut plus aut aliter quam sunt rogati respondeant, existumantur existumnantur indoctique ¹ esse disputandique morem atque rationem non tenere. Hoc quidem quod dicunt in plerisque disputationibus procul dubio fieri oportet.

[3] Indefinitus namque inexplicabilisque sermo fiet, nisi interrogationibus responsionibusque simplicibus fuerit determinatus.

[4] Sed enim esse quaedam videntur, in quibus si breviter et ad id quod rogatus fueris respondeas, capiare.

[5] Nam si quis his verbis interroget: Postulo uti respondeas desierisne facere adulterium an non, utrumcumque dialectica lege responderis, sive aias seu neges, haerebis in captione, tamquam si te dicas adulterum quam si neges; ²

[6] nam qui facere non desinit, non id necessario etiam fecit.

[7] Falsa igitur est species istius captionis et nequaquam procedere ad id potest, ut conligi concludique possit eum facere adulterium qui se negaverit facere desisse.

[8] Quid autem legis istius propugnatores in illa captiuncula facient, in qua haerere eos necessum est, si nihil amplius quam quod interrogati erunt responderint? Nam, si ita ego istorum aliquem rogem:

[9] Quicquid non perdidisti habeasne an non habeas postulo ut aias aut neges, utrumcumque breviter respondent, capietur.

[10] Nam si habere ³ se negaverit quod non perdidit, colligetur oculos eum non habere, quos non perdidit; sin vero habere se dixerit, colligetur habere eum cornua, quae non perdidit.

[11] Rectius igitur cautiusque ita respondebitur: Quicquid habui, id habeo, si id non perdidi.

[12] Sed huiuscemodi responsio non fit ex ea lege quam diximus; plus enim, quam quod rogatus est, respondet.

[13] Propterea id quoque ad eam legem addi solet, non esse captiosis interrogationibus respondendum.

III

Argument

Quanam ratione effici dixerit Erasistratus medicus, si cibus forte deerit, ut tolerari aliquantisper inedia possit et tolerari fames; verbaque ipsa Erasistrati super ea re scripta.

[1] Cum Favorino Romae dies plerumque totos eramus tenebatque animos nostros homo ille fandi dulcissimus atque eum, quoquo iret, quasi ex lingua prorsum eius capti⁴ prosequebamur; ita sermonibus usquequaque amoenissimis demulcebat.

[2] Tum ad quendam aegrum cum isset visere nosque cum eo una introissemus multaque ad medicos, qui tum turn forte istic erant, valitudinis eius gratia oratione Graeca dixisset, Ac ne hoc quidem mirum, inquit, videri debet, quod, cum antehac semper edundi fuerit adpetens, nunc post imperatam inediam tridui omnis eius adpetitio pristina elanguerit.

[3] Nam quod Erasistratus scriptum, inquit, reliquit propemodum verum est: esuritionem faciunt inanes patentesque intestinorum fibrae et cava intus ventris ac stomachi vacua et hiantia; quae ubi aut cibo conplentur aut inanitate diutina contrahuntur et conivent, tunc loco, in quem cibus capitur, vel stipato vel adducto, voluntas capiendi eius desiderandique restinguitur.

[4] Scythas quoque ait eundem Erasistratum dicere, cum sit usus ut famem longius tolerent, fasceis ventrem strictissime circumligare. Ea ventris conpressione esuritionem posse depelli creditum est.

[5] Haec tum Favorinus multaque istiusmodi alia adfabilissime dicebat,

[6] nos autem postea, cum librum forte Erasistrati legeremus Διαιρέσεων primum, id ipsum in eo libro, quod Favorinum audiebamus audiebanus dicere, scripture offendimus.

[7] Verba Erasistrati ad eam rem pertinentia haec sunt: Ἐλογιζόμεθα οὖν παρὰ τὴν ἰσχυρὰν σύμπτωσιν τῆς κοιλίας εἶναι τὴν σφόδρα ἀσιτίαν· καὶ γὰρ τοῖς ἐπίπλεον ἀσιτοῦσιν κατὰ προαίρεσιν ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις χρόνοις ἡ πεῖνα παρακολουθεῖ, ὕστερον δὲ οὐκέτι. Deinde paululum infra:

[8] Εἰθισμένοι δέ εἰσιν καὶ οἱ Σκύθαι, ὅταν διά τινα καιρὸν ἀναγκάζωνται ἀσιτεῖν, ζώναις πλατείαις τὴν κοιλίαν διασφίγγειν, ὡς τῆς πείνης αὐτοὺς ἧττον ἐνοχλούσης· σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ ὅταν πλήρης κοιλία ᾖ, διὰ τὸ κένωμα ἐν αὐτῇ μηδὲν εἶναι, διὰ τοῦτο οὐ πεινῶσιν, ὅταν δὲ σφόδρα συμπεπτωκυῖα ᾖ, κένωμα οὐκ ἔχει.

[9] In eodem libro Erasistratus vim quandam famis non tolerabilem, quam Graeci βούλιμον appellant, in diebus frigidissimis multo facilius accidere ait quam cum serenum atque placidum est, atque eius rei causas, cur is morbus in eo plerumque tempore oriatur, nondum sibi esse compertas dicit.

[10] Verba quibus id dicit, haec sunt: Ἄπορον δὲ καὶ δεόμενον ἐπισκέψεως καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν βουλιμιώντων, διὰ τί ἐν τοῖς ψύχεσιν μᾶλλον τὸ σύμπτωμα τοῦτο γίνεται ἢ ἐν ταῖς εὐδίαις;

IV

Argument

Quo ritu quibusque verbis fetialis populi Romani bellum indicere solitus sit his quibus populus bellum fieri iusserat; et item in quae verba conceptum fuerit iusiurandum de furtis militaribus sanciendis; et uti milites scripti intra praedictum diem in loco certo frequentarent frequentitarent, causis quibusdam exceptis, propter quas id iusiurandum remitti aecum aecui esset.

[1] CINCIUS in libro tertio De Re Militari, fetialem populi Romani bellum indicentem hostibus telumque in agrum eorum iacientem, hisce verbis uti scripsit: Quod populus Hermundulus hominesque populi Hermunduli adversus populum Romanum bellum ⁵ fecere deliqueruntque, quodque populus Romanus cum populo Hermundulo hominibusque Hermundulis bellum iussit, ob eam rem ego populusque Romanus populo Hermundulo hominibusque Hermundulis bellum dico facioque.

[2] Item in libro eiusdem Cincii De Re Militari quinto ita scriptum est: Cum dilectus antiquitus fieret et milites scriberentur, iusiurandum eos tribunus militaris adigebat in verba haec (magistratus verba): ⁶ C. Laelii C. fili consulis, L. Cornelii P. fili consulis in exercitu, decemque milia passuum prope, furtum non facies dolo malo solus neque cum pluribus pluris nummi argentei in dies singulos; extraque hastam, hastile, ligna, poma, pabulum, utrem, follem, faculam si quid ibi inveneris sustulerisve quod tuum non erit, quod pluris nummi argentei erit, uti tu ad C. Laelium C. filium consulem Luciumve Cornelium P. filium sive quem ad tuter eorum iusserit proferes, aut profitebere in triduo tridiuo proximo quidquid inveneris sustulerisve dolo ⁷ malo, aut domino suo, cuium id censebis esse, reddes, uti quod rectum factum esse voles.

[3] Militibus autem scriptis, dies praefinibatur quo die adessent et citanti consuli responderent; deinde concipiebatur iusiurandum,

[4] ut adessent, his additis exceptionibus: Nisi harunce quae causa erit: funus familiare feriaeve denicales, quae non eius rei causa in eum diem conlatae sint, quo is eo die minus ibi esset, morbus sonticus auspiciumve quod sine piaculo praeterire non liceat, sacrificiumve anniversarium quod recte fieri non possit nisi ipsus eo die ibi sit, vis hostesve, status condictusve dies cum hoste; si cui eorum harunce quae causa erit, tum se postridie quam per eas causas licebit, eo die venturum adiuturumque eum qui eum pagum, vicum, oppidumve delegerit.

[5] Item in eodem libro verba haec sunt: Miles cum die, qui prodictus est, aberat neque excusatus erat, infrequens notabatur.⁸

[6] Item in libro sexto hoc scriptum est: Alae dictae exercitus equitum ordines, quod circum legiones dextra sinistraque tamquam alae in avium corporibus locabantur. In legione sunt centuriae sexaginta, manipuli triginta, cohortes decem.

V

Argument

Vestibulum quid significet; deque eius vocabuli rationibus.

[1] PLERAQUE sunt vocabula quibus vulgo utimur, neque tamen liquido scimus quid ea proprie atque vere significent; sed incompertam et vulgariam traditionem rei non exploratae secuti, videmur magis dicere quod volumus, quam dicimus; sicuti est vestibulum, verbum in sermonibus celebre atque obvium, non omnibus tamen qui illo facile utuntur satis spectatum.

[2] Animadverti enim quosdam hautquaquam indoctos viros opinari vestibulum esse partem domus primorei, quam vulgus atrium vocat.

[3] C. Aelius Gallus, in libro De Significatione verborum Verhorunm Quae ad Ius Civile pertinent Pertilent secundo, vestibulum esse dicit non in ipsis aedibus neque partem aedium, sed locum ante ianuam ianuaim domus vacuum, per quem a via aditus accessusque ad aedis est, cum dextra sinistraque ianuam tecta saepiunt ⁹ viae iuncta atque ipsa ianua procul a via est, area vacanti intersita.

[4] Quae porro huic vocabulo ratio sit, quaeri multum solet; sed quae scripta legi, ea ferme omnia inconcinna atque absurda visa sunt.

[5] Quod Sulpicium autem Apollinarem memini dicere, virum elegant scientia ornatum, huiuscemodi est: Ve particula, sicuti quaedam alia, tum intentionem significat, tum minutionem.

[6] Nam vetus et vehemens, alterum ab aetatis magnitudine mnagnitudine compositum coimlpositum elisumque est, alterum a mentis vi atque impetu dicitur. Vescum autem, quod ex ve particula et esca copulatum est, utriusque diversae significationis vim capit.

[7] Aliter enim Lucretius vescum salem dicit ex edendi intentione, aliter Lucilius vescum appellat cum edendi fastidio.

[8] Qui domos igitur amplas antiquitus faciebant, locum ante ianuam vacuum relinquebant, qui inter fores domus et viam medius esset.

[9] In eo loco, qui dominum eius domus salutatum venerant, priusquam admitterentur, consistebant et neque in via stabant, neque intra aedis erant.

[10] Ab illa ergo grandis loci consistione et quasi quadam stabulatione vestibula appellate sunt spatia, sicuti diximus, grandia ante fores aedium relicta, in quibus starent qui venissent, priusquam in domum doinum intromitterentur.

[11] Meminisse autem debebimus id vocabulum non semper senmper a veteribus scriptoribus proprie, sed per quasdam translationes esse dictum, quae tamen ita sunt factae, ut ab ista de qua diximus proprietate non longe desciverint, sicut illud in sexto Vergilii:

Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci

Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae:

[12] non enim vestibulum priorem¹⁰ partem domus infernae esse dicit, quod obrepere potest tamquam si ita dicatur, sed loca duo demonstrat extra Orci fores, vestibulum et fauces, ex quibus vestibulum appellate ante ipsam quasi domum et ante ipsa Orci penetralia, fauces autem vocat iter angustum, per quod ad vestibulum adiretur.

VI

Argument

Hostiae quae dicuntur bidentes, quid sint et quam ob causam ita appellatae sint; superque ea re P. Nigidii et Iulii Hygini sententiae.

[1] REDEUNTES ex ¹¹ Graecia, Brundisium navem advertimus. Ibi quispiam linguae Latinae litterator, Roma a Brundisinis accersitus, experiundum sese vulgo dabat.

[2] Imus ad eum nos quoque oblectamenti gratia, erat enim fessus atque languens animus de aestu maris.

[3] Legebat barbare insciteque Vergilii septimum, in quo libro hic versus est: Centum lanigeras mactabat rite bidentis,

[4] et iubebat rogare se si quis quid omnium rerum vellet discere.

[5] Tum ego, indocti hominis confidentiam demiratus: Docesne, inquam, nos, magister, cur bidentes dicantur?

[6] Bidentes, inquit, oves appellatae, idcircoque lanigeras dixit, ut oves planius demonstraret.

[7] Posthac, inquam, videbimus an oves solae, ut tu ais, bidentes dicantur et an Pomponius, Atellanarum poeta, in Gallis Transalpinis erraverit, cum hoc scripsit:

Mars, tíbi factúrum voveo, si umquam rédierit,

Bidénti verre,

[8] sed nunc ego a te rogavi ecquam scias esse huiusce vocabuli rationem.

[9] Atque ille nihil cunctatus, sed nimium quantum audacter: Oves, inquit, bidentes dictae, quod duos tantum dentes habeant.

[10] Ubi terrarum, quaeso te, inquam, duos solos per naturam dentes habere ovem vidisti? Ostentum enim est et piaculis factis procurandum.

[11] Tum ille permotus mili et inritatus: Quaere, inquit, ea potius quae e grammatico quaerenda sunt; nam de ovium dentibus opiliones percontantur.

[12] Facetias nebulonis hominis risi et reliqui.

P. autem Nigidius, in libro quem De extis Ertis composuit, bidentes appellari ait non oves solas, sed omnes bimas hostias, neque tamen dixit apertius, cur bidentes;

[13] sed, quod ultro existumabamus, id scriptum invenimus in commentariis quibusdam quisbusdam ad ius pontificum pertinentibus, bidennes primo dictas, d littera inmissa, quasi biennes, tum longo usu loquendi corruptam vocem esse et ex bidennibus bidentes factum,.quoniam id videbatur esse dictu facilius leniusque.

[14] Hyginus tamen Iulius, qui ius pontificum non videtur ignorasse, in quarto librorum quos De Vergilio fecit, bidentes appellari scripsit hostias quae per aetatem duos dentes altiores haberent.

[15] Verba illius ipsa posui: Quae bidens est, inquit, hostia, oportet habeat dentes octo, sed ex his duo ceteris altiores, per quos appareat ex minore aetate in maiorem transcendisse. Haec Hygini opinio an vera sit, non argui ¹² argumentis, sed oculis videri ¹³ potest.

VII

Argument

Quod Laberius verba pleraque licentius petulantiusque finxit; et quod multis item verbis utitur de quibus an sint Latina quaeri solet.

[1] LABERIUS, in mimis quos scriptitavit, oppido quam verba finxit praelicenter.

[2] Nam et mendicimonium dicit et moechimonium mechimonium et adulterionem adulteritatemque pro adulterio et depudicavit pro stupravit et abluvium pro diluvio et, quod in mimo ponit quem Cophinum inscripsit, ¹⁴

[3] manuatus est pro furatus est et item in Fullone furem manuarium appellat:

manuari (inquit) pudorem perdidisti,

multaque alia huiuscemodi novat.

[4] Neque non obsoleta quoque et maculantia ex sordidiore vulgi usu ponit, quale est in Staminariis:

Tóllet bona fide vos Orcus nudas nuidas in catómum.

[5] Et elutriare lintea et lavandaria dicit, quae ad lavandum sint data, et:

coicior (inquit) in fullónicam,

et:

Quid próperas? ecquid praecurris, caldónia? ¹⁵

[6] Item in Restione talabarriunculos dicit, quos vulgus talabarriones,

[7] item in Compitalibus:

malas malaxavi,

[8] item in Cacomnemone:

Hic est (inquit)

Í ille lle gurdus, quem ego me abhinc menses duos ex África

Vénientem excepísse tibi narrávi,

item in mimo,

[9] qui inscribitur Natalicius Natalicilus,¹⁶ cippum dicit et obbam et camellam et pittacium et capitium:

Induis (inquit) cápitium tunicaé pittacium.

[10] Praeterea in Anna Peranna gubernium pro gubernatore et planum pro sycophanta et nanum pro pumilione dicit; quamquam planum pro sycophanta M. quoque Cicero in oratione scriptum reliquit, quam Pro Cluentio dixit.

[11] Atque item, in mimo qui Saturnalia inscriptus est, botulum pro farcimine appellat et hominem levennam pro levi.

[12] Item in Necyomantia Necyomnantia cocionem pervulgate dicit, quem veteres arillatorem dixerunt. Verba Laberi haec sunt:

Duas uxores? hercle hoc plus negóti est, inquit cócio;

Séx aediles viderat.

[13] Sed enim, in mimo quem inscripsit Alexandream, eodem quidem quo vulgus, sed probe Latineque usus est Graeco vocabulo; emplastrum enim dixit οὐθετέρως, non genere feminino, ut isti novicii semidocti.

[14] Verba ex eo mimo adposui:

Quíd est ius iurandum? emplastrum aeris álieni.

VIII

Argument

Quid significet et quid a nostris appellatum sit quod axioma dialectici dicunt; et quaedam alia quae prima in disciplina dialectica traduntur.

[1] CUM in disciplinas dialecticas induci atque imbui vellemus, necessus fuit adire atque cognoscere quas vocant dialectici εἰσαγωγάς.

[2] Tum, quia in primo περὶ ἀξιωμάτων discendum, quae M. Varro alias profata, alias proloquia appellat, commentarium Commeniarium De Proloquiis L. Aelii, docti hominis, qui magister Varronis fuit, studiose quaesivimus eumque in Pacis bibliotheca repertun legimus.

[3] Sed in eo nihil edocenter neque ad instituendum explanate scriptum est, fecisseque videtur eum librum Aelius sui magis admonendi quam aliorum docendi gratia.

[4] Redimus igitur necessario ad Graecos libros. Ex quibus accepimus ἀξίωμα esse his verbis definitum: ¹⁷ λεκτὸν αὐτοτελὲς ἀπόφαντον ὅσον ἐφʼ αὑτῷ. Hoc ego supersedi vertere, quia novis et inconditis vocibus utendum fuit, quas pati aures per insolentiam vix possent.

[6] Sed M. Varro in libro De Lingua Latina ad Ciceronem quarto vicesimo expeditissime ita finit: Proloquium est sententia in qua nihil desideratur.

[7] Erit autem planius quid istud sit, si exemplum eius dixerimus. Ἀξίωμα igitur, sive id proloquium dicere placet, huiusmodi huiuscemodi est: Hannibal Poenus fuit; Scipio Numantiam delevit; Milo caedis damnatus est;

[8] neque bonum est voluptas neque malum; et omnino quicquid ita dicitur plena atque perfecta verborum sententia, ut id necesse sit aut verum aut falsum esse, id a dialecticis ἀξίωμα appellatum est, a M. Varrone, sicuti dixi, proloquium, a M. autem Cicerone pronuntiatum, quo ille tamen vocabulo tantisper uti se adtestatus est, quoad melius, inquit, invenero.

[9] Sed quod Graeci συνημμένον ἀξίωμα dicunt, id alii nostrorum adiunctum, alii conexum dixerunt. Id conexum tale est: si Plato ambulat, Plato movetur; si dies est, sol super terras est.

[10] Item quod illi συμπεπλεγμένον, nos vel coniunctum vel copulatum dicimus, quod est huiuscemodi eiusdemmodi: P. Scipio, Pauli filius, et bis consul fuit et triumphavit et censura functus est et collega in censura L. Mummi fuit.

[11] In omni autem coniuncto si unum est mendacium, etiamsi cetera vera sunt, totum esse mendacium dicitur. Nam si ad ea omnia quae de Scipione illo vera dixi, addidero et Hannibalem in Africa superavit, quod est falsum, universa quoque illa quae coniuncte dicta sunt, propter hoc unum quod falsum accesserit, quia simul dicentur, vera non erunt.

[12] Est item aliud quod Graeci διεζευγμένον ἀξίωμα, nos disiunctum dicimus. Id huiusmodi huiuscemodi est: Aut malum est voluptas aut bonum, aut neque bonum neque malum est.

[13] Omnia autem quae disiunguntur pugnantia esse inter sese oportet, eorumque opposita, quae ἀντικείμενα Graeci dicunt, ea quoque ipsa inter se adversa esse. Ex omnibus quae disiunguntur unum esse verum debet, falsa cetera.

[14] Quod si aut nihil omnium verum aut omnia plurave quam unum vera erunt, aut quae disiuncta sunt non pugnabunt, aut quae opposita eorum sunt contraria inter sese non erunt, tunc id disiunctum mendacium est et appellatur παραδιεζευγμένον, sicuti hoc est, in quo quae opposita non sunt contraria: Aut curris aut ambulas aut stas. Nam ipsa quidem inter se adversa sunt, sed opposita eorum non pugnant: non ambulare enim et non stare et non currere contraria inter sese non sunt, quoniam contraria ea dicuntur quae simul vera esse non queunt; possis enim simul eodemque tempore neque ambulare neque stare neque currere.

[15] Sed hoc iam breve ex dialectica libamentum dedisse.

[16] nunc satis erit atque id solum addendum admonendumque est, quod huius disciplinae studium atque cognitio in principiis quidem taetra et aspernabilis insuavisque esse et inutilis videri solet, sed, ubi aliquantum processeris, tum denique et emolumentum eius in animo tuo dilucebit et sequitur quaedam discendi voluptas insatiabilis,

[17] cui sane nisi modum feceris, periculum non mediocre erit ne, ut plerique alii, tu quoque in illis dialecticae gyris atque maeandris meandris, tamquam apud Sirenios scopulos, consenescas.

IX

Argument

Quid significet verbum in libris veterum creberrime positum susque deque.

[1] SUSQUE deque fero aut susque deque sum¹⁸ aut susque deque habeo—his enim omnibus modis dicitur—verbum est ex hominum doctorum sermonibus. In poematis quoque et in epistulis veterum scriptum est plurifariam; sed facilius reperias qui verbum ostentent quam qui intellegant.

[2] Ita plerique nostrum quae remotiora verba invenimus dicere ea properamus, non discere.

[3] Significat autem susque deque ferre animo aequo esse et quod accidit non magni pendere atque interdum neglegere et contemnere, et propemodum id valet quod dicitur Graece ἀδιαφορεῖν.

[4] Laberius in Compitalibus:

Núnc tu lentu’s, núnc tu susque déque fers;

Matér familias túa in lecto adversó sedet,

Servós sextantis útitur nefáriis

Verbís.

M. Varro in Sisenna vel De Historia:

[5] Quod si non horum omnium similia essent principia ac postprincipia, susque deque esset.

[6] Lucilius in tertio:

Verum haec ludus ibi susque omnia deque fuerunt,

Susque et deque fuere, inquam, omnia, ludus iocusque;

Illud opus durum, ut Setinum accessimus finem: Αἰγίλιποι¹⁹ montes, Aetnae omnes, asperi Athones.

X

Argument

Quid sint proletarii, quid capite censi; quid item sit in XII. Tabulis adsiduus; et quae eius vocabuli ratio sit.

[1] OTIUM erat quodam die Romae in foro a negotiis et laeta quaedam celebritas feriarum legebaturque in consessu forte conplurium Enni liber ex Annalibus. In eo libro versus hi fuerunt:

Proletarius publicitus scutisque feroque

Ornatur ferro; muros urbemque forumque

Excubiis curant.

Tum ibi quaeri coeptum est, quid esset proletarius.

[2]

[3] Atque ego, aspiciens quempiam in eo circulo ius civile callentem, familiarem meum, rogabam ut id verbum nobis enarraret,

[4] et cum illic se iuris, non rei grammaticae peritum esse respondisset, Eo maxime, inquam, te dicere hoc oportet, quando, ut praedicas, peritus iuris es.

[5] Nam Q. Ennius verbum hoc ex Duodecim Tabulis vestris accepit, in quibus, si recte commemini, ita scriptum est: Adsiduo vindex adsiduus esto. Proletario iam civi ²⁰ quis volet vindex esto.

[6] Petimus igitur ne Annalem nunc Q. Ennii, sed Duodecim Tabulas legi arbitrere et quid sit in ea lege proletarius civis interpretere.

[7] Ego vero, inquit ille, dicere atque interpretari hoc deberem, si ius Faunorum et Aboriginum didicissem.

[8] Sed enim cum proletarii et adsidui et sanates et vades et subvades et viginti quinque asses et taliones. furtorumque quaestio cum lance et licio evanuerint omnisque illa Duodecim Tabularum antiquitas, nisi in legis actionibus centumviralium causarum lege Aebutia lata consopita sit, studium scientiamque ego praestare debeo iuris et legum vocumque earum quibus utimur.

[9] Tum forte quadam Iulium Paulum Paulurn, poetam memoriae nostrae doctissimum, praetereuntem conspeximus.

[10] Is a nobis salutatur, rogatusque uti de sententia deque ratione istius vocabuli nos doceret, Qui in plebe, inquit, Romana omana tenuissimi pauperrimique erant neque amplius quam mille quingentum aeris in censum deferebant, proletarii appellati sunt, qui vero nullo aut perquam parvo aere censebantur, capite censi vocabantur, extremus autem census capite censorum aeris fuit trecentis septuaginta quinque.

[11] Sed quoniam res pecuniaque familiaris obsidis vicem pignerisque esse apud rempublicam videbatur amorisque in patriam fides quaedam in ea firmamentumque erat, neque proletarii neque capite censi milites, nisi in tumultu maximo, scribebantur, quia familia pecuniaque his aut tenuis aut nulla esset.

[12] Proletariorum tamen ordo honestior aliquanto et re et nomine quam capite censorum fuit;

[13] nam et asperis reipublicae temporibus, cum iuventutis inopia esset, in militiam tumultuariam legebantur armaque is sumptu publico praebebantur, et non capitis censione, sed prosperiore vocabulo a munere officioque prolis edendae appellati sunt, quod, cum re familiari parva minus possent rempublicam iuvare, subolis tamen gignendae copia civitatem frequentarent.

[14] Capite censos autem primus C. Marius, ut quidam ferunt bello Cimbrico, difficillimis reipublicae temporibus, vel potius, ut Sallustius ait, bello Iugurthino, milites scripsisse traditur, cum id factum ante in nulla memoria extaret.

[15] Adsiduus in XII. Tabulis pro locuplete et facile facienti dictus aut ab assibus, ²¹ id est, aere dando, cum id tempora reipublicae postularent, aut a muneris pro familiari copia faciendi adsiduitate.

[16] Verba autem Sallusti in Historia Iugurthina de C. Mario consule et de capite censis haec sunt: Ipse interea milites scribere, non more maiorum nec ex classibus, sed ut libido cuiusque erat, capite censos plerosque. Id factum alii inopia bonorum, alii per ambitionem consulis memorabant, quod ab eo genere celebratus auctusque erat, et homini potentiam potential quaerenti egentissimus quisque oportunissimus.

XI

Argument

Historia ex Herodoti libris sumpta de Psyllorum interitu, qui in Syrtibus Africanis colebant.

[1] GENS in Italia Marsorum orta fertur a Circae filio.

[2] Propterea Marsis hominibus, quorum dumtaxat familiae cum externis cognationibus nondum etiam permixtae corruptaeque sunt, vi quadam genitali datum ut et serpentium virulentorum virulentoruni domitores domnitores sint et incentionibus herbarumque sucis faciant medellarum miracula.

[3] Hac eadem vi praeditos esse quosdam videmus, qui Psylli vocantur. Quorum super nomine et genere cum in veteribus litteris quaesissem, ²² in quarto denique Herodoti libro fabulam de Psyllis hanc invenimus:

[4] Psyllos quondam fuisse in terra Africa conterminos Nasamonibus Austrumque in finibus eorum quodam in tempore perquam validum ac diutinum flavisse;

[5] eo flatu aquam omnem in locis in quibus colebant exaruisse;

[6] Psyllos, re aquaria defectos, eam iniuriam graviter Austro suscensuisse decretumque fecisse, uti armis sumptis ad Austrum, proinde quasi ad hostem, iure belli res petitum proficiscerentur.

[7] Atque ita profectis ventum Austrum magno spiritus agmine venisse obviam eosque universos cum omnibus copiis armisque, cumulis montibusque harenarum supervectis, operuisse.

[8] Eo facto Psyllos ad unum omnis interisse, itaque eorum fines a Nasamonibus occupatos.

XII

Argument

De his vocabulis quae Cloatius Verus aut satis commode aut nimis absurde et inlepide ad origines linguae Graecae redigit.

[1] CLOATIUS VERUS in libris quos inscripsit Verborum a Graecis Tractorum, non pauca hercle dicit curiose et sagaciter conquisita, neque non tamen quaedam futtilia et frivola.

[2] Errare, inquit, dictum est ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔρρειν, versumque infert Homeri, in quo id verbum est:

Ἕρρʼ ἐκ νήσου θᾶσσον, ἐλέγχιστε ζωόντων.

[3] Item alucinari factum scripsit ex eo, quod dicitur Graece ἀλύειν, unde elucum quoque esse dictum putat, a littera in e versa, tarditatem quandam animi et stuporem, qui alucinantibus plerumque usu venit.

[4] Item fascinum appellatum ²³ quasi bascanum et fascinare esse quasi bascinare.

[5] Commode haec sane omnia et conducenter. Sed in libro quarto: Faenerator, inquit, appellatus est quasi φαινεράτωρ, ἀπὸ τοῦ φαίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστότερον, quoniam id genus hominum ²⁴ speciem ostentent humanitatis hurnanitatis et commodi esse videantur inopibus nummos desiderantibus,

[6] idque dixisse ait Hypsicraten quempiam grammaticum, cuius libri sane nobiles sunt super his, quae a Graecis accepta sunt. Sive hoc autem ipse Cloatius sive nescio quis alius nebulo effutivit, nihil potest dici insulsius.

[7] Faenerator enim, sicuti M. Varro in libro tertio De sermone Sernmone Latino scripsit scrisit, a faenore est nominatus; faenus autem dictum ait a fetu et quasi a fetura quadam pecuniae parientis atque increscentis.

[8] Idcirco et M. Catonem et ceteros aetatis eius feneratorem sine a littera pronuntiasse tradit, sicuti fetus ipse et fecunditas appellata.

XIII

Argument

Quid sit municipium et quid a colonia differat; et quid sint municipes quaeque sit eius vocabuli ratio ac proprietas; atque inibi, quod divus Hadrianus in senatu de iure atque vocabulo municipum verba fecit.

[1] MUNICIPES et municipia verba sunt dictu facilia et usu obvia, et neutiquam reperias qui haec dicit, quin scire se plane putet quid dicat. Sed profecto aliud est, atque aliter dicitur.

[2] Quotus enim fere nostrum est, qui, cum ex colonia populi Romani sit, non se municipem esse et populares populates suos municipes esse dicat, quod est a ratione et a veritate longe aversum?

[3] Sic adeo et municipia quid et quo iure sint quantumque a colonia differant ignoramus, existimamusque meliore condicione esse colonias quam municipia.

[4] De cuius opinationis tam promiscae erroribus divus Hadrianus in oratione, quam De Italicensibus, unde ipse ortus fuit, in senatu habuit, peritissime disseruit mirarique se ostendit quod et ipsi Italicenses et quaedam item alia municipia antiqua, in quibus Uticenses nominat, cum suis moribus legibusque uti possent, in ius coloniarum mutari gestiverint.

[5] Praenestinos autem refert maximo opere a Tiberio imperatore petisse orasseque ut ex colonia in municipii statum redigerentur, idque illis Tiberium pro ferenda gratia tribuisse, quod in eorum finibus sub ipso oppido ex capitali morbo revaluisset.

[6] Municipes ergo sunt cives Romani ex municipiis, legibus suis et suo iure utentes, muneris tantum cum populo Romano honorari participes, a quo munere capessendo appellati videntur, nullis aliis necessitatibus neque ulla populi Romani lege adstricti, nisi in quam populus eorum fundus factus est.

[7] Primos autem municipes sine suffragii iure Caerites esse factos accepimus concessumque illis ut civitatis Romanae honorem quidem caperent, sed negotiis tamen atque oneribus vacarent, pro sacris bello Gallico receptis custoditisque. Hinc tabulae Caerites appellatae versa vice, in quas censores referri iubebant quos notae causa suffragiis privabant.

[8] Sed coloniarum alia necessitudo est; non enim veniunt extrinsecus in civitatem nec suis radicibus nituntur, sed ex civitate quasi propagatae sunt et iura institutaque omnia populi Romani, non sui arbitrii, habent.

[9] Quae tamen condicio, cum sit magis obnoxia et minus libera, potior tamen et praestabilior existimatur propter amplitudinem maiestatemque populi Romani, cuius istae coloniae quasi effigies parvae simulacraque esse quaedam videntur, et simul quia obscura oblitterataque sunt municipiorum iura, quibus uti iam per ignotitiam innotitiam non queunt.

XIV

Argument

Quod M. Cato differre dixit properare et festinare; et quam incommode Verrius Flaccus verbi quod est festinat ἔτυμον interpretatus est.

[1] FESTINARE et properare idem significare atque in eandem rem dici videntur.

[2] Sed M. Cato id differre existimat eaque hoc modo divisa—verba sunt ipsius ex oratione, quam De Suis Virtutibus habuit—: Aliud est properare, aliud festinare. Qui unum quid mature transigit, is properat; qui multa simul incipit neque perficit, is festinat.

[3] Verrius Flaccus rationem dicere volens differentiae huius: Festinat, inquit, a fando dicitur, quoniam isti ignaviores, qui nihil perficere possunt, plus verborum quam operae habent.

[4] Sed id nimis coactum atque absurdum videtur neque tanti esse momenti potest prima in utroque verbo littera, ut propter eam unam tam diversa verba festinare et fari eadem videri debeant.

[5] Commodius autem propiusque visum est, festinare esse quasi fessum esse. Nam qui multis simul rebus properandis defessus est, is iam non properat, set festinat.

XV

Argument

Quid Theophrastus mirum de perdicibus scriptum reliquerit et quid Theopompus de leporibus.

[1] THEOPHRASTUS, philosophorum peritissimus, omnes in Paphlagonia perdices bina corda habere dicit, Theopompus in Bisaltia lepores bina iecora.

XVI

Argument

Agrippas a partus aegri et inprosperi vitio appellatos; deque his deabus quae vocantur Prorsa et Postverta.

[1] QUORUM in nascendo non caput, sed pedes primi extiterant, qui partus difficillimus aegerrimusque aegerrinusque habetur, Agrippae appellati, vocabulo ab aegritudine et pedibus conficto.

[2] Esse autem pueros in utero Varro dicit capite infimo nixos, sursum pedibus elatis, non ut hominis natura est, sed ut arboris.

[3] Nam pedes cruraque arboris ramos appellat, caput stirpem atque caudicem.

[4] Quando igitur, inquit, contra naturam forte conversi in pedes, brachiis plerumque diductis, retineri solent, aegriusque tunc mulieres enituntur, huius periculi deprecandi gratia arae statutae sunt Romae duabus Carmentibus, quarum altera Postverta cognominatast cognonminatast, Prorsa altera, a recti perversique partus et potestate et nomine.

XVII

Argument

Quae ratio vocabuli sit agri Vaticani.

[1] ET agrum Vaticanum et eiusdem agri deum praesidem appellatum acceperamus a vaticiniis quae vi atque instinctu eius dei in eo agro fieri solita essent.

[2] Sed praeter hanc causam M. Varro in libris divinarum Divinarurm aliam esse tradit istius nominis rationem: Nam sicut Aius, inquit, deus appellatus araque ei statuta est quae est infima nova via, quod eo in loco divinitus vox edita erat, ita Vaticanus deus nominatus penes quem essent vocis humanae initia, quoniam pueri, simul atque parti sunt, eam primam vocem edunt quae prima in Vaticano syllabast idcircoque vagire. dicitur, exprimente verbo sonum vocis recentis.

XVIII

Argument

Lepida quaedam et memoratu et cognitu de parte geometriae quae ὀπτική appellatur, et item alia quae κανονική, et tertia itidem quae dicitur μετρική.

[1] PARS quaedam geometriae ὀπτική appellatur quae ad oculos pertinet, pars altera, quae ad auris, κανονική vocatur, qua musici ut fundamento artis suae utuntur.

[2] Utraque harum spatiis et intervallis linearum et ratione numerorum constat.

[3] Ὀπτική facit multa demiranda id genus, ut in speculo uno imagines unius rei plures appareant; item ut speculum in loco certo positum nihil imaginet, aliorsum translatum faciat imagines; item si rectus speculum spectes, imago fiat tua eiusmodi, ut caput deorsum videatur, pedes sursum. Reddit etiam causas ea disciplina cur istae quoque visiones fallant, ut quae in aqua conspiciuntur maiora ad oculos fiant, quae procul ab oculis sunt, minora.

[4] Κανονική autem longitudines et altitudines vocis emetitur. Longior mensura vocis ῥυθμός dicitur, μέλος.

[5] Est et alia species κανονικῆς, quae appellatur μετρική, per quam syllabarum longarum et brevium et mediocrium iunctura et modus congruens cum principiis geometriae aurium mensura examinatum.

[6] Sed haec, inquit M. Varro, aut omnino non discimus aut prius desistimus quam intellegamus cur discenda sint. Voluptas autem, inquit, vel utilitas talium disciplinarum in postprincipiis existit, cum perfectae absolutaeque sunt; in principiis vero ipsis ineptae et insuaves videntur.

XIX

Argument

Sumpta historia ex Herodoti libro super fidicine Arione.

[1] CELERI admodum et cohibili oratione vocumque filo tereti et candido fabulam scripsit Herodotus super fidicine illo Arione.

[2] Vetus, inquit, et nobilis Arion cantator fidibus fuit.

[3] Is loco et oppido Methymnaeus, terra atque insula omni Lesbius fuit.

[4] Eum Arionem rex Corinthi Periander amicum amatumque habuit artis gratia.

[5] Is inde a rege proficiscitur,

[6] terras inclutas Siciliam atque Italiam visere. Ubi eo venit auresque omnium mentesque in utriusque terrae urbibus demulsit, in quaestibus istic et voluptatibus amoribusque hominum fuit.

[7] Is tum postea grandi pecunia et re bona multa copiosus Corinthum instituit redire,

[8] vnavem igitur et navitas, ut notiores amicioresque sibi, Corinthios delegit.

[9] Sed eos Corinthios, homine accepto navique in altum provecta, praedae pecuniaeque cupidos cepisse consilium de necando Arione.

[10] Tum ilium ibi, pernicie intellecta, pecuniam ceteraque sua, ut haberent, dedisse, vitam modo sibi ut parcerent oravisse.

[11] Navitas precum eius harum commiseritum esse illactenus ut ei necem adferre per vim suis manibus temperarent, sed imperavisse ut iam statim coram desiliret praeceps in mare.

[12] Homo, inquit, ibi territus, spe omni vitae perdita, id unum postea oravit, ut priusquam mortem obpeteret, induere permitterent sua sibi omnia indumenta et fides capere et canere carmen casus illius sui consolabile.

[13] Feros et inmanes navitas prolubium tamen audiendi subit; quod oraverat impetrat.

[14] Atque ibi mox de more cinctus, amictus, ornatus stansque in summae puppis foro, carmen quod orthium dicitur voce sublatissima cantavit.

[15] Ad postrema cantus cum fidibus ornatuque omni, sicut stabat canebatque, iecit sese procul in profundum. Navitae, hautquaquam dubitantes quin perisset, cursum quem facere coeperant tenuerunt.

[16] Sed novum et mirum et pium facinus contigit. Delphinum repente inter undas adnavisse fluitantique sese homini subdidisse et dorso super fluctus edito vectavisse incolumique eum corpore et ornatu Taenarum in terram Laconicam devexisse.

[17] Tum Arionem prorsus ex eo loco Corinthum petivisse talemque Periandro regi, qualis delphino vectus fuerat, inopinanti sese optulisse eique rem, sicuti acciderat, narravisse.

[18] Regem istaec parum credidisse, Arionem, quasi falleret, custodiri iussisse, navitas inquisitos,

[19] ablegato Arione, dissimulanter interrogasse ecquid audissent in his locis unde venissent super Arione?

[20] Eos dixisse, hominem, cum inde irent, in terra Italia fuisse eumque illic bene agitare et studiis delectationibusque urbium florere atque in gratia pecuniaque magna opulentum fortunatumque esse.

[21] Tum inter haec eorum verba Arionem cum fidibus et indumentis cum quibus se in salum eiaculaverat extitisse,

[22] navitas stupefactos convictosque ire infitias non quisse.

[23] Eam fabulam dicere Lesbios et Corinthios atque esse fabulae argumentum, quod simulacra duo aenea ad Taenarum viserentur, delphinus vehens et homo insidens.

Notes on the current edition

Attic Nights

1. p. 273, Peerlkamp.

2. p. 38, 11, Jordan.

3. p. 193, Fuchs.

4. Frag. 12, Huschke; 2, Bermer.

5. Frag. 13, Huschke; 2, Bremer.

6. feriae denicales (from de and nex) are thus described by Paul. Fest. p. 61, Linds.: colebantur cum hominis mortui causa familia purgatur. Graeci enim ne/kun mortuum dicunt.

7. See xx. 1. 27. It refers especially to epilepsy, also called morbus comitialis, or

election disease,

because if anyone present was attacked by it, elections, or other public business, might be postponed; cf. Suetonius, Jul. xlv. 1.

8. Stranger or foreigner was the original meaning of hostis.

9. Frag. 14, Huschke; 3, Bremer.

10. Id. 15 and 4.

11. Frag. 5, Huschke; 23, Bremer.

12. Properly syncope; from ve + actas! On vehemens see note on v. 12. 10 (i, p. 414).

13. i. 326; see v. 12. 10 and note.

14. v. 602, Marx.

15. Munro, on Lucr. i. 326, takes vescus in the sense of

slowly eating away

which would correspond with Lucilius' use of the word.

16. This derivation is correct, but re- is used in the sense of

apart.

17. Aen. vi. 273.

18. In the Roman house the term faces was applied to the passageway leading from the front door into the atrium. The fauces and the vestibulum formed one continuous passageway, separated by the door, the fauces being inside and the vesti. bulum outside; see Harv. Stud. Class. Phil. i. 1 ff. and most modern handbooks. In § 10 vestibulum is correctly defined; in § 12 the relative positions of fauces and vestibulum are inverted, and both are put

outside the door.

The vestibulum can properly be said to be

approached

by the fauces only from within. Virgil probably used fauces in its ordinary sense of

jaws.

19. The result of seasickness; cf. Plaut. Rud. 510, animo male fit. Contine, quaeso, caput.

20. vii. 93.

21. An early farce, of Oscan origin, named from the town of Atella. The Atellanae were first given literary form by L. Pomponius of Bononia (Bologna) and Novius, in the time of Sulla.

22. v. 51, Ribbeck 3.

23. Frag. 81, Swoboda.

24. iii, p. 566, Bremer.

25. Fr. 3, Fun.

26. Hyginus' explanation is the accepted one.

27. v. 150, Ribbeck 3.

28. Id. v. 39.

29. Id. v. 46.

30. manuarius, an adj. from manus,

hand

( e.g. manuaria mola,

a hand-mill

). The transition, in the substantive, to the meaning

thief

is made easier by manuarium aes,

money won at dice,

Gell. xviii. 13. 4.

31. v. 87, Ribbeck 3.

32. catomum = kat' w)=mon, Thes. Ling. Lat. s.v.

33. v. 151, Ribbeck 3.

34. Id. v. 147. With fullonicam, sc. artem and see Archiv für lat. Lex. u. Gram. x, p. 240.

35. There is nothing unusual in the word fullonica; hence the unusual word must be conicior (in this connection).

36. Id. v. 148. Ribbeck's Calidoniam,

would'st outstrip the Calidonian maid?

i.e. Atalanta, makes excellent sense; but with that reading we have no odd or unusual word at all. caldonia, as a common noun, might mean

heater,

or bath attendant (so Weiss), or it might be derived from calidus in the sense of

quick, hasty.

There is nothing to indicate that it is a proper name, as Hosius takes it to be.

37. Id. v. 79.

38. The meaning is not known.

39. Id. v. 37; malaxavi, from the Greek malaki/zw. It is clear that the choice of the word is due to the assonance, or jingle, of mala malaxavi.

40. Id. v. 13.

41. Id. vv. 60 and 61.

42. Literally,

a little room,

a diminutive of camera.

43. The T.L.L. defines capitium as foramen tunicae capiti aptum, which seems meaningless with induis. The Forcellini-De Vit makes capitium a breast-band (= strophium?) and pittacium,

plagula, segmentum, quod vesti assuitur,

with the explanation:

quod, tamquam pittacium, tunicae adsutum et adfixum est.

44. v. 3, Ribbeck 3.

45. Greek pla/nos.

46. § 72.

47. v. 80, Ribbeck 3.

48. Id. v. 63.

49. Referring to the addition by Caesar of two aediles cereales to the two plebei and two curules; see note on x. 6. 3.

50. Id. v. 1.

51. II. 194, Arn.

52. Fr. 29, G. and S.

53. Vespasian's Temple of Peace in the Forum Pacis.

54. p. 54. 19. Fun.

55. An absolute and self-evident proposition.

56. Fr. 29, G. and S.

57. Tusc. Disp. i. 14.

58. Literally,

a connected axiom.

See II. 213. Arn.

59. Aelius Stilo, Fr. 74, p. 75 Fun.

60. Two connected sentences of which the second follows as the result of the first. 4 II. 218. Arn.

61. aut s.d. sum, added by Hertz; aut s.d. est, Skutsch.

62. Susque deque,

both up and down,

is an expression denoting indifference. It occurs without a verb in Cic. ad Att. xiv. 6. 1, de Octavio susque deque. See Paul. Fest. p. 271 Linds., susque deque significat plus minusve.

63. v. 29, Ribbeck 3.

64. The marriage bed in the early Roman house stood in the atrium, opposite the door, whence it was called lectus adversus; in later times a symbolic bed stood in the sane place.

65. 256, Riese.

66. 110 ff., Marx.

67. Ann. 183 ff.

68. i. 4.

69. The vindex is here one who voluntarily agrees to go before the magistrate as the representative of the defendant, and thereby takes upon himself the action in the stead of the latter (Allen, Remnants of Early Latin, p. 85).

70. The proletarii (cf. proles) were

child-producers,

who made no other contribution to the State; see § 13.

71. XII Tab. i. 4, 5, 10; viii. 2, 4, 15. For proletarii see note, p. 167. The adsidui were

permanent settlers,

or taxpayers, belonging to one of the five upper Servian classes. The sanates seem to have been clients or dependents of the wealthy Roman citizens. Vades were sureties, who gave bail; subvades, sub-sureties, who gave security for the bail. On viginti quinque asses, the penalty for an assault, see xx. 1. 12; for taliones, xx. 1. 14; and for cum lance et licio, note on xi. 18. 9.

72. The date is unknown,

73. That is, to meet a tumultus,

a rebellion

or irregular warfare. At first used as a military term, tumultuarius later acquired a general sense; cf. tumultuario rogo,

on a hastily erected pyre,

Suet. Calig. lix.

74. i. 4, 10.

75. locuples seems to be derived from locus, in the sense of

land,

and the root ple- of pleo and plenus.

76. Both these derivations are fanciful; adsiduus is connected with adsideo, as the grammarian Caper knew ( Gram. Lat. vii. 108. 5, Keil), and means

a permanent settler.

77. Jug. lxxxvi. 2.

78. iv. 173.

79. Fr. 3, Fun.

80. Odyss. x. 72.

81. Gk. baska/nion.

82. Gk. baskai/nw.

83. Fr. I, Fun.

84. Frag. 57. G. and S.

85. Thurneysen, T.L.L. s. v. fenus, thinks this derivation is perhaps correct; we may compare Greek to/kos, which means both

offspring

and

interest.

86. Frag. inc. 62, Jordan.

87. O.R.F. 2 p. 608. Italics was a city of Spain on the river Baetis, opposite Hispalis (Seville). It was founded by Scipio Africanus the Elder and peopled by his veterans; whence the name

the Italian city.

It was the birthplace of Trajan and Hadrian.

88. Such as serving in the legions and not among the auxiliaries.

89. For fundus cf. xix. 8. 12.

90. Their government was modelled on that of Rome, with a senate ( decuriones), two chief magistrates ( Ilviri iure dicundo), elected annually, etc.

91. p. 44. 4, Jordan.

92. p. xv, Müller.

93. Both derivations are fanciful. Festino is related to confestim, but its origin is uncertain.

94. Frag. 182, Wimmer.

95. F.H.G. i. 301.

96. Ant. Rer. Div. xiv, frag. 17 b, Agahd.

97. Carmenta was a birth-goddess, whose festival, the Carmentalia (or Karmentalia) occurred on Jan. 11 and 15. The Carmentes may originally have been wise women who assisted at births and were later deified (Fowler, Roman Festivals, pp 290 ff.).

98. That is, head foremost.

99. That is, feet foremost.

100. Frag. 20 b, Agahd.

101. The first effect is produced when the surface of a mirror is divided into numerous smaller mirrors. Pliny, N. H. xxxiii. 129, describes cups, the interior of which was so fashioned as to give numerous reflections. The second is described ( e.g.) in Pausanias viii. 37. 7. The third is produced when one looks into a concave mirror from a certain distance. Magic mirrors of various kinds and properties were known in antiquity, as well as divination by means of mirrors. See Trans. Numais. and Ant. Soc. of Phila., 1910, pp. 187 ff.

102. p. 337, Bipont.

103. Cf. xvi. 8. 15 ff.

104. i. 23.

105. 625–585 B.C.

106. This was a song in such a high key that it could be reached by few voices. In Aristophanes, Knights, 1279 ( L.C.L. i, p. 247) the o)/rqios no/mos is played by a

prince of harpers.

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