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Book II

I

1arg

How Socrates used to train himself in physical endurance; and of the temperate habits of that philosopher.

1 Among voluntary tasks and exercises for strengthening his body for any chance demands upon its endurance we are told that Socrates habitually practised this one: he would stand, so the story goes, in one fixed position, all day and all night, from early dawn until the next sunrise, open-eyed, motionless, in his very tracks and with face and eyes riveted to the same spot in deep meditation, as if his mind and soul had been, as it were, withdrawn from his body. When Favorinus in his discussion of the man's fortitude and his many other virtues had reached this point, he said:

He often stood from sun to sun, more rigid than the tree trunks.

His temperance also is said to have been so great, that he lived almost the whole period of his life with health unimpaired. Even amid the havoc of that plague which, at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, devastated Athens with a deadly species of disease, by temperate and abstemious habits he is said to have avoided the ill-effects of indulgence and retained his physical vigour so completely, that he was not at all affected by the calamity common to all.

II

2arg

What rules of courtesy should be observed by fathers and sons in taking their places at able, keeping their seats, and similar matters at home and elsewhere, when the sons are magistrates and the fathers private citizens; and a discourse of the philosopher Taurus on this subject, with an illustration taken from Roman history.

1 THE governor of the province of Crete, a man of senatorial rank, had come to Athens for the purpose of visiting and becoming acquainted with the philosopher Taurus, and in company with this same governor was his father. Taurus, having just dismissed his pupils, was sitting before the door of his room, and we stood by his side conversing with him. In came the governor of the province and with him his father. Taurus arose quietly, and after salutations had been exchanged, sat down again. Presently the single chair that was at hand was brought and placed near them, while others were being fetched. Taurus invited the governor's father to be seated; to which he replied:

Rather let this man take the seat, since he is a magistrate of the Roman people.

Without prejudicing the case,

said Taurus,

do you meanwhile sit down, while we look into the matter and inquire whether it is more proper for you, who are the father, to sit, or your son, who is a magistrate.

And when the father had seated himself, and another chair had been placed near by for his son also, Taurus discussed the question with what, by the gods! was a most excellent valuation of honours and duties.

The substance of the discussions was this: In public places, functions and acts the rights of fathers, compared with tile authority of sons who are magistrates, give way somewhat and are eclipsed; but when they are sitting together unofficially in the intimacy of home life, or walking about, or even reclining at a dinner-party of intimate friends, then the official distinctions between a son who is a magistrate and a father who is a private citizen are at an end, while those that are natural and inherent come into play.

Now, your visit to me,

said he,

our present conversation, and this discussion of duties are private actions. Therefore enjoy the same priority of honours at my house which it is proper for you to enjoy in your own home as the older man.

These remarks and others to the same purport were made by Taurus at once seriously and pleasantly. Moreover, it has seemed not out of place to add what I have read in Claudius about the etiquette of father and son under such circumstances. I therefore quote Quadrigarius' actual words, transcribed from the sixth book of his Annals² "The consuls then elected were Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus for the second time and Quintus Fabius Maximus, son of the Maximus who had been consul the year before. The father, at the time proconsul, mounted upon a horse met his son the consul, and because lie was his father, would not dismount, nor did the lictors, who knew that the two men lived in the most perfect harmony, presume to order him to do so. As the father drew near, the consul said:

What next?

The lictor in attendance quickly understood and ordered Maximus the proconsul to dismount. Fabius obeyed the order and warmly commended his son for asserting the authority which he had as the gift of the people."

III

3arg

For what reason our forefathers inserted the aspirate h in certain verbs and nouns.

1 THE letter h (or perhaps it should be called a breathing rather than a letter) was added by our forefathers to give strength and vigour to the pronunciation of many words, in order that they might have a fresher and livelier sound; and this they seem to have done from their devotion to the Attic language, and under its influence. It is well known that the people of Attica, contrary to the usage of the other Greek races, pronounced i(xqu/s (fish), i(/ppos (horse), and many other words besides, with a rough breathing on the first letter. ³ In the same way our ancestors said lachrumae (tears), sepulchrum (burial-place), ahenum (of bronze), vehemens (violent), incohare (begin), helluari (gormandize), hallucinari (dream), honera (burdens), honustum (burdened). For in all these words there seems to be no reason for that letter, or breathing, except to increase the force and vigour of the sound by adding certain sinews, so to speak.

But apropos of the inclusion of ahenum among my examples, I recall that Fidus Optatus, a grammarian of considerable repute in Rome, showed me a remarkably old copy of the second book of the Aeneid, bought in the Sigillaria ⁴ for twenty pieces of gold, which was believed to have belonged to Virgil himself. In that book, although the following two lines were written thus: ⁵

Before the entrance-court, hard by the gate,

With sheen of brazen ( aena) arms proud Pyrrhus gleams,

we observed that the letter h had been added above the line, changing aena to ahena. So too in the best manuscripts we find this verse of Virgil's written as follows: ⁶

Or skims with leaves the bubbling brass's ( aleni) wave.

IV

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The reason given by Gavius Bassus for calling a certain kind of judicial inquiry divitiatio; and the explanation that others have given of the same term.

1 WHEN inquiry is made about the choice of a prosecutor, and judgment is rendered on the question to which of two or more persons the prosecution of a defendant, or a share in the prosecution, is to be entrusted, this process and examination by jurors is called divinatio.⁷ The reason for the use of this term is a matter of frequent inquiry.

Gavius Bassus, in the third book of his work On the Origin of Terms, says: ⁸

This kind of trial is called divinatio because the juror ought in a sense to divine what verdict it is proper for him to give.

The explanation offered in these words of Gavius Bassus is far from complete, or rather, it is inadequate and meagre. But at least he seems to be trying to show that divinatio is used because in other trials it is the habit of the juror to be influenced by what he has heard and by what has been shown by evidence or by witnesses; but in this instance, when a prosecutor is to be selected, the considerations which can influence a juror are very few and slight, and therefore he must, so to speak,

divine

what man is the better fitted to make the accusation.

Thus Bassus. But some others think that the divinatio is so called because, while prosecutor and defendant are two things that are, as it were, related and connected, so that neither can exist without the other, yet in this form of trial, while there is already a defendant, there is as yet no prosecutor, and therefore the factor which is still lacking and unknown—namely, what man is to be the prosecutor—must be supplied by divination.

V

5arg

How elegantly and clearly the philosopher Favorinus described the difference between the style of Plato and that of Lysias.

1 FAVORINUS used to say of Plato and Lysias:

If you take a single word from a discourse of Plato or change it, and do it with the utmost skill, you will nevertheless mar the elegance of his style; if you do the same to Lysias, you will obscure his meaning.

VI

6arg

On some words which Virgil is asserted to have used carelessly and negligently; and the answer to be made to those who bring this false charge.

1 SOME grammarians of an earlier time, men by no means without learning and repute, who wrote commentaries on Virgil, and among them Annaeus Cornutus, criticize the poet's use of a word in the following verses ⁹ as careless and negligent:

That, her white waist with howling monsters girt,

Dread Scylla knocked about ( vexasse) Ulysses' ships

Amid the swirling depths, and, piteous sight!

The trembling sailors with her sea-dogs rent.

They think, namely, that vexasse is a weak word, indicating a slight and trivial annoyance, and not adapted to such a horror as the sudden seizing and rending of human beings by a ruthless monster.

They also criticize another word in the following: ¹⁰

Who has not heard

Of king Eurystheus' pitiless commands

And altars of Busiris, the unpraised ( inlaudati)?

Inlaudati, they say, is not at all a suitable world, but is quite inadequate to express abhorrence of a wretch who, because he used to sacrifice guests from all over the world, was not merely

undeserving of praise,

but rather deserving of the abhorrence and execration of the whole human race.

They have criticized still another word in the verse: ¹¹

Through tunic rough ( squalentem) with gold the sword drank from his pierced side,

on the ground that it is out of place to say auro squalentem, since the filth of squalor is quite opposed to the brilliance and splendour of gold.

Now as to the word vexasse, I believe the following answer may be made: vexasse is an intensive verb, and is obviously derived from ve- here, in which there is already some notion of compulsion by another; for a man who is carried is not his own master. But vexare, which is derived from vehere, unquestionably implies greater force and impulse. For vexare is properly used of one who is seized and carried away, and dragged about hither and yon; just as taxare denotes more forcible and repeated action than tangere, from which it is undoubtedly derived; and iactare a much fuller and more vigorous action than iacere, from which it comes; and quassare something severer and more violent than quatere. Therefore, merely because vexare is commonly used of the annoyance of smoke or wind or dust is no reason why the original force and meaning of the word should be lost; and that meaning was preserved by the earlier writers who, as became them, spoke correctly and clearly.

Marcus Cato, in the speech which he wrote On the Achaeans,¹² has these words:

And when Hannibal was rending and harrying ( vexaret) the land of Italy.

'hat is to say, Cato used vexare of the effect on Italy of Hannibal's conduct, at a time when no species of disaster, cruelty or savagery could be imagined which Italy did not suffer from his hands. Marcus Tullius, in his fourth Oration against Verres, wrote:

This ¹³ was so pillaged and ravaged by that wretch, that it did not seem to have been laid waste ( vexata) by an enemy who in the heat of war still felt some religious scruple and some respect for customary law, but by barbarous pirates.

But concerning inlaudatus it seems possible to give two answers. One is of this kind: There is absolutely no one who is of so perverted a character as not sometimes to do or say something that can be commended ( laudari.) And therefore this very ancient line has become a familiar proverb:

Oft-times even a fool expresses himself to the purpose.

But one who, on the contrary, in his every act and at all times, deserves no praise ( laude) at all is inlaudatus, and such a man is the very worst and most despicable of all mortals, just as freedom from all reproach makes one inculpatus (blameless). Now inculpatus is the synonym for perfect goodness; therefore conversely inlaudatus represents the limit of extreme wickedness. It is for that reason that Homer usually bestows high praise, not by enumerating virtues, but by denying faults; for example: ¹⁴

And not unwillingly they charged,

and again: ¹⁵

Not then would you divine Atrides see

Confused, inactive, nor yet loath to fight.

Epicurus too in a similar way defined the greatest pleasure as the removal and absence of all pain, in these words: ¹⁶

The utmost height of pleasure is the removal of all that pains.

Again Virgil on the same principle called the Stygian pool

unlovely.

¹⁷ For just as he expressed abhorrence of the

unpraised

man by the denial of praise, so he abhorred the

unlovable

by the denial of love. Another defence of inlaudatus is this: laudare in early Latin means

to name

and

cite.

Thus in civil actions they use laudare of an authority, when he is cited. Conversely, the inlaudatus is the same as the inlaudabilis, namely, one who is worthy neither of mention nor remembrance, and is never to be named; as, for example, in days gone by the common council of Asia decreed that no one should ever mention the name of the man who had burned the temple of Diana at Ephesus. ¹⁸

There remains the third criticism, his use of the expression

a tunic rough with gold.

But squalentem signifies a quantity or thick layer of gold, laid on so as to resemble scales. For squalere is used of the thick, rough scales ( squamae) which are to be seen on the skins of fish or snakes. This is made clear both by others and indeed by this same poet in several passages; thus: ¹⁹

A skin his covering was, plumed with brazen scales ( squamis)

And clasped with gold.

and again: ²⁰

And now has he his flashing breastplate donned,

Bristling with brazen scales ( squamis).

Accius too in the Pelopidae writes thus: ²¹

This serpent's scales ( squamae) rough gold and purple wrought.

Thus we see that squalere was applied to whatever was overloaded and excessively crowded with anything, in order that its strange appearance might strike terror into those who looked upon it. So too on neglected and scaly bodies the deep layer of dirt was called squalor, and by long and continued use in that sense the entire word has become so corrupted, that finally squalor has come to be used of nothing but filth.

VII

7arg

Of the obedience of children to their parents; and quotations on this subject from the writings of the philosophers, in which it is inquired whether all a father's commands should be obeyed.

1 IT is a frequent subject of discussion with philosophers, whether a father should always be obeyed, whatever the nature of his commands. As to this question writers On Duty, both Greeks and our own countrymen, have stated that there are three opinions to be noticed and considered, and these they have differentiated with great acuteness The first is, that all a father's commands must be obeyed; the second, that in some he is to be obeyed, in others not; the third, that it is not necessary to yield to and obey one's father in anything.

Since at first sight this last opinion is altogether shameful, I shall begin by stating what has been said on that point.

A father's command,

they say,

is either right or wrong. If it is right, it is not to be obeyed because it is his order, but the thing must be done because it is right that it be done. If his command is wrong, surely that should on no account be done which ought not to be done.

Thus they arrive at the conclusion that a father's command should never be obeyed. But I have neither heard that this view has met with approval —for it is a mere quibble, both silly and foolish, as I shall presently show—nor can the opinion which we stated first, that all a father's commands are to be obeyed, be regarded as true and acceptable. For what if he shall command treason to one's country, a mother's murder, or some other base or impious deed? The intermediate view, therefore, has seemed best and safest, that some commands are to be obeyed and others not. But yet they say that commands which ought not to be obeyed must nevertheless be declined gently and respectfully, without excessive aversion or bitter recrimination, and rather left undone than spurned.

But that conclusion from which it is inferred, as has been said above, that a father is never to be obeyed, is faulty, and may be refuted and disposed of as follows: All human actions are, as learned men have decided, either honourable or base. Whatever is inherently right or honourable, such as keeping faith, defending one's country, loving one's friend's, ought to be done whether a father commands it or not; but whatever is of the opposite nature, and is base and altogether evil, should not be done even at a father's order. Actions, however, which lie between these, and are called by the Greeks now me/sa, or

neutral,

and now a)dia/fora, or

indifferent,

such as going to war, tilling the fields, seeking office, pleading causes, marrying a wife, going when ordered, coming when called; since these and similar actions are in themselves neither honourable nor base, but are to be approved or disapproved exactly according to the manner in which we perform them: for this reason they believe that in every kind of action of this description a father should be obeyed; as for instance, if he should order his son to marry a wife or to plead for the accused. For since each of these acts, in its actual nature and of itself, is neither honourable nor base, if a father should command it, he ought to be obeyed. But if he should order his son to marry a woman of ill repute, infamous and criminal, or to speak in defence of a Catiline, a Tubulus, ²² or a Publius Clodius, of course he ought not to be obeyed, since by the addition of a certain degree of evil these acts cease to be inherently neutral and indifferent. Hence the premise of those who say that

the commands of a father are either honourable or base

is incomplete, and it cannot be considered what the Greeks call

sound and regular disjunctive proposition.

For that disjunctive premise lacks the third member,

or are neither honourable nor base.

If this be added, the conclusion cannot be drawn that a father's command must never be obeyed.

VIII

8arg

The unfairness of Plutarch's criticism of Epicurus' knowledge of the syllogism.

1 PLUTARCH, in the second book of his essay On Homer,²³ asserts that Epicurus made use of an incomplete, perverted and faulty syllogism, and he quotes Epicurus' own words: ²⁴

Death is nothing to us, for what is dissolved is without perception, and what is without perception is nothing to us.

Now Epicurus,

says Plutarch, "omitted what he ought to have stated as his major premise, that death is a dissolution of body and soul, and then, to prove something else, he goes on to use the very premise that he had omitted, as if it had been stated and conceded. But this syllogism," says Plutarch,

cannot advance, unless that premise be first presented.

What Plutarch wrote as to the form and sequence of a syllogism is true enough; for if you wish to argue and reason according to the teaching of the schools, you ought to say:

Death is the dissolution of soul and body; but what is dissolved is without perception; and what is without perception is nothing to us.

But we cannot suppose that Epicurus, being the man he was, omitted that part of the syllogism through ignorance, or that it was his intention to state a syllogism complete in all its members and limitations, as is done in the schools of the logicians; but since the separation of body and soul by death is self-evident, he of course did not think it necessary to call attention to what was perfectly obvious to everyone. For the same reason, too, he put the conclusion of the syllogism, not at the end, but at the beginning; for who does not see that this also was not due to inadvertence?

In Plato too you will often find syllogisms in which the order prescribed in the schools is disregarded and inverted, with a kind of lofty disdain of criticism.

IX

9arg

How the same Plutarch, with obvious captiousness, criticized the use of a word by Epicurus.

1 IN the same book, ²⁵ Plutarch also finds fault a second time with Epicurus for using an inappropriate word and giving it an incorrect meaning. Now Epicurus wrote as follows: ²⁶

The utmost height of pleasure is the removal of everything that pains.

Plutarch declares that he ought not to have said

of everything that pains,

but

of everything that is painful

; for it is the removal of pain, he explains, that should be indicated, not of that which causes pain.

In bringing this charge against Epicurus Plutarch is

word-chasing

with excessive minuteness and almost with frigidity; for far from hunting up such verbal meticulousness and such refinements of diction, Epicurus hunts them down. ²⁷

X

10arg

The meaning of favisae Capitolinae; and what Marcus Varro replied to Servius Sulpicius, who asked him about that term.

1 SERVIUS SULPICIUS, an authority on civil law and a man well versed in letters, wrote ²⁸ to Marcus Varro and asked him to explain the meaning of a term which was used in the records of the censors; the term in question was favisae Capitolinae. Varro wrote in reply ²⁹ that he recalled that Quintus Catulus, when in charge of the restoration of the Capitol, ³⁰ had said that it had been his desire to lower the area Capitolina, ³¹ in order that the ascent to the temple might have more steps and that the podium might be higher, to correspond with the elevation and size of the pediment ³² ; but that he had been unable to carry out his plan because the favisae had prevented. These, he said, were certain underground chambers and cisterns in the area, in which it was the custom to store ancient statues that had fallen from the temple, and some other consecrated objects from among the votive offerings. And then Varro goes on to say in the same letter, that he had never found any explanation of the term favisae in literature, but that Quintus Valerius Soranus used to assert that what we called by their Greek name thesauri (treasuries) the early Latins termed favisae, their reason being that there was deposited in them, not uncoined copper and silver, but stamped and minted money. His theory therefore was, he said, that the second letter had dropped out of the word flavisae, and that certain chambers and pits, which the attendants of the Capitol used for the preservation of old and sacred objects, were called favisae.³³

XI

11arg

Numerous important details about Sicinius Dentatus, the distinguished warrior.

1 WE read in the annals that Lucius Sicinius Dentatus, who was tribune of the commons in the consulship of Spurius Tarpeius and Aulus Aternius, ³⁴ was a warrior of incredible energy; that he won a name for his exceeding great valour, and was called the Roman Achilles. It is said that he fought with the enemy in one hundred and twenty battles, and had not a scar on his back, but forty-five in front; that golden crowns were given him eight times, the siege crown once, mural crowns three times, and civic crowns fourteen times; that eighty-three neck-chains were awarded him, more than one hundred and sixty armlets, and eighteen spears; he was presented besides with twenty-five decorations ³⁵ ; he had a number of spoils of war, ³⁶ many of which were won in single combat; he took part with his generals in nine triumphal processions.

XII

12arg

A law of Solon, the result of careful thought and consideration, which at first sight seems unfair and unjust, but on close examination is found to be altogether helpful and salutary.

1 AMONG those very early laws of Solon which were inscribed upon wooden tablets at Athens, and which, promulgated by him, the Athenians ratified by penalties and oaths, to ensure their permanence, Aristotle says ³⁷ that there was one to this effect:

If because of strife and disagreement civil dissension shall ensue and a division of the people into two parties, and if for that reason each side, led by their angry feelings, shall take up arms and fight, then if anyone at that time, and in such a condition of civil discord, shall not ally himself with one or the other faction, but by himself and apart shall hold aloof from the common calamity of the State, let hint be deprived of his home, his country, and all his property, and be an exile and an outlaw.

When I read this law of Solon, who was a man of extraordinary wisdom, I was at first filled with something like great amazement, and I asked myself why it was that those who had held themselves aloof from dissension and civil strife were thought to be deserving of punishment. Then those who had profoundly and thoroughly studied the purpose and meaning of the law declared that it was designed, not to increase, but to terminate, dissension. And that is exactly so. For if all good men, who have been unequal to checking the dissension at the outset, do not abandon the aroused and frenzied people, but divide and ally themselves with one or the other faction, then the result will be, that when they have become members of the two opposing parties, and, being men of more than ordinary influence, have begun to guide and direct those parties, harmony can best be restored and established through the efforts of such men, controlling and soothing as they will the members of their respective factions, and desiring to reconcile rather than destroy their opponents.

The philosopher Favorinus thought that this same course ought to be adopted also with brothers, or with friends, who are at odds; that is, that those who are neutral and kindly disposed towards both parties, if they have had little influence in bringing about a reconciliation because they have not made their friendly feelings evident, should then take sides, some one and some the other, and through this manifestation of devotion pave the way for restoring harmony.

But as it is,

said he,

most of the friends of both parties make a merit of abandoning the two disputants, leaving them to the tender mercies of ill-disposed or greedy advisers, who, animated by hatred or by avarice, add fuel to their strife and inflame their passions.

XIII

13arg

That the early writers used liberi in the plural number even of a single son or daughter.

1 The early orators and writers of history or of poetry called even one son or daughter liberi, using the plural. And I have not only noticed this usage at various times in the works of several other of the older writers, but I just now ran across it in the fifth book of Sempronius Asellio's History.³⁸ This Asellio was military tribune under Publius Scipio Africanus at Numantia and wrote a detailed account of the events in whose action he himself took part.

His words about Tiberius Gracchus, tribune of the commons, at the time when he was killed on the Capitol, are as follows:

For whenever Gracchus left home, he was never accompanied by less than three or four thousand men.

And farther on he wrote thus of the same Gracchus:

He began to beg that they would at least defend him and his children ( liberi); and then he ordered that the one male child which he had at that time should be brought out, and almost in tears commended him to the protection of the people.

XIV

14arg

That Marcus Cato, in the speech entitled Against the Exile Tiberius, says stitisses vadimonium with an i, and not stetisses; and the explanation of that word.

1 IN an old copy of the speech of Marcus Cato, which is entitled ,Against the Exile Tiberius,³⁹ we find the following words:

What if with veiled head you had kept your recognizance?

Cato indeed wrote stitisses, correctly; but revisers have boldly and falsely written an e and put stelisses in all the editions, on the ground that stitisses is an unmeaning and worthless reading. Nay, it is rather they themselves that are ignorant and worthless, in not knowing that Cato wrote stitisses because sisteretur is used of recognizance, not staretur.

XV

15arg

To what extent in ancient days it was to old age in particular that high honours were paid; and why it was that later those same honours were extended to husbands and fathers; and in that connection some provisions of the seventh section of the Julian law.

1 AMONG the earliest Romans, as a rule, neither birth nor wealth was more highly honoured than age, but older men were reverenced by their juniors almost like gods and like their own parents, and everywhere and in every kind of honour they were regarded as first and of prior right. From a dinner-party, too, older men were escorted home by younger men, as we read in the records of the past, a custom which, as tradition has it, the Romans took over from the Lacedaemonians, by whom, in accordance with the laws of Lycurgus, greater honour on all occasions was paid to greater age.

But after it came to be realised that progeny were a necessity for the State, and there was occasion to add to the productivity of the people by premiums and other inducements, then in certain respects greater deference was shown to men who had a wife, and to those who had children, than to older men who had neither wives nor children. Thus in chapter seven of the Julian law ⁴⁰ priority in assuming the emblems of power is given, not to the elder of the consuls, but to him who either has more children tinder his control than his colleague, or has lost them in war. But if both have an equal number of children, the one who has a wife, or is eligible for marriage, is preferred. If, however, both are married and are fathers of the same number of children, then the standard of honour of early times is restored, and the elder is first to assume the rods. But when both consuls are without wives and have the same number of sons, or are husbands but have no children, there is no provision in that law as to age. However, I hear that it was usual for those who had legal priority to yield the rods for the first month to colleagues who were either considerably older than they, or of much higher rank, or who were entering upon a second consulship.

XVI

16arg

Sulpicius Apollinaris' criticism of Caesellius Vindex for his explanation of a passage in Virgil.

1 VIRGIL has the following lines in the sixth book: ⁴¹

Yon princeling, thou beholdest leaning there

Upon a bloodless ⁴² lance, shall next emerge

Into the realms of day. He is the first

Of half-Italian strain, thy last-born heir,

To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,

Called Silvius, a royal Alban name

(Of sylvan birth and sylvan nurture he),

A king himself and sire of kings to come,

By whom our race in Alba Longa reign.

It appeared to Caesellius that there was utter inconsistency between

thy last-born heir

and

To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,

Of sylvan birth.

For if, as is shown by the testimony of almost all the annals, this Silvius was born after the death of Aeneas, and for that reason was given the forename Postumus, with what propriety does Virgil add:

To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,

Of sylvan birth?

For these words would seem to imply that while Aeneas was still living, but was already an old man, a son Silvius was born to him and was reared. Therefore Caesellius, in his Notes on Early Readings, expressed the opinion that the meaning of the words was as follows:

Postuma proles,

said he,

does not mean a child born after the death of his father, but the one who was born last; this applies to Silvius, who was born late and after the usual time, when Aeneas was already an old man.

But Caesellius names no adequate authority for this version, while that Silvius was born, as I have said, after Aeneas' death, has ample testimony.

Therefore Sulpicius Apollinaris, among other criticisms of Caesellius, notes this statement of his as an error, and says that the cause of the error is the phrase quem tibi longaevo.

Longaevo,

he says,

does not mean 'when old,' for that is contrary to historical truth, but rather ' admitted into a life that is now long and unending, and made immortal.' For Anchises, who says this to his son, knew that after Aeneas had ended his life among men he would be immortal and a local deity, and enjoy a long and everlasting existence.

Thus Apollinaris, ingeniously enough. But yet a

long life

is one thing, and an

unending life

another, and the gods are not called

of great age,

but

immortal.

XVII

17arg

Marcus Cicero's observations on the nature of certain prepositions; to which is added a discussion of the particular matter which Cicero had observed.

1 AFTER careful observation Marcus Tullius noted that the prepositions in and con, when prefixed to nouns and verbs, are lengthened and prolonged when they are followed by the initial letters of sapiens and felix; but that in all other instances they are pronounced short.

Cicero's words are: ⁴³

Indeed, what can be more elegant than this, which does not come about from a natural law, but in accordance with a kind of usage? we pronounce the first vowel in indoctus short, in insanus long; in immanis short, in infelix long; in brief, in compound words in which the first letters are those which begin sapiens and felix the prefix is pronounced long, in all others short; thus we have conposuit but cōnsuevit, cŏncrepuit but cōnficit. Consult the rules of grammar and they will censure your usage; refer the matter to your ears and they will approve. Ask why it is so; they will say that it pleases them. And language ought to gratify the pleasure of the ear.

In these words of which Cicero spoke it is clear that the principle is one of euphony, but what are we to say of the preposition pro? For although it is often shortened or lengthened, yet it does not conform to this rule of Marcus Tullius. For it is not always lengthened when it is followed by the first letter of the word fecit, which Cicero says has the effect of lengthening the prepositions in and con. For we pronounce prŏficisci, prŏfugere, prŏfundere, prŏfannu and prŏfestumn with the first vowel short, but prōferre, prōfligare and prōficere with that syllable long. Why is it then that this letter, which, according to Cicero's observation, has the effect of lengthening, does not have the same effect by reason of rule or of euphony in all words of the same kind, ⁴⁴ but lengthens the vowel in one word and shortens it in another.

Nor, as a matter of fact, is the particle con lengthened only when followed by that letter which Cicero mentioned: for both Cato and Sallust say

faenoribus copertus est.

⁴⁵ Moreover cōligatus and cōnexus are pronounced long.

But after all, in these cases which I have cited one can see that this particle is lengthened because the letter n is dropped; for the loss of a letter is compensated by the lengthening of the syllable. This principle is observed also in the word cōgo; and it is no contradiction that we pronounce cŏegi short; for this form cannot be derived from cōgo without violation of the principle of analogy. ⁴⁶

XVIII

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That Phaedo the Socratic was a slave; and that several others also were of that condition.

1 PHAEDO of Elis belonged to that famous Socratic band and was on terms of close intimacy with Socrates and Plato. His name was given by Plato to that inspired dialogue of his on the immortality of the soul. This Phaedo, though a slave, was of noble person and intellect, ⁴⁷ and according to some writers, in his boyhood was driven to prostitution by his master, who was a pander. We are told that Cebes the Socratic, at Socrates' earnest request, bought Phaedo and gave him the opportunity of studying philosophy. And he afterwards became a distinguished philosopher, whose very tasteful discourses on Socrates are in circulation.

There were not a few other slaves too who afterwards became famous philosophers, among them that Menippus whose works Marcus Varro emulated ⁴⁸ in those satires which others call

Cynic,

but he himself,

Menippean.

⁴⁹

Besides these, Pompylus, the slave of the Peripatetic Theophrastus, and the slave of the Stoic Zeno who was called Persaeus, and the slave of Epicurus whose name was Mys, were philosophers of repute. ⁵⁰

Diogenes the Cynic also served as a slave, but he was a freeborn man, who was sold into slavery. When Xeniades of Corinth wished to buy him and asked whether he knew any trade, Diogenes replied:

I know how to govern free men.

⁵¹ Then Xeniades, in admiration of his answer, bought him, set him free, and entrusting to him his own children, said:

Take my children to govern.

But as to the well-known philosopher Epictetus, the fact that he too was a slave is too fresh in our memory to need to be committed to writing, as if it had been forgotten.

XIX

19arg

On the nature of the verb rescire; and its true and distinctive meaning.

1 I HAVE observed that the verb rescire has a peculiar force, which is not in accord with the general meaning of other words compounded with that same preposition; for we do not use rescire in the same way that we do rescribere (write in reply), relegere (reread), restituere (restore), . . . and substituere (put in the place of); ⁵² but rescire is properly said of one who learns of something that is hidden, or unlooked for and unexpected.

But why the particle re has this special force in this one word alone, I for my part am still inquiring. For I have never yet found that rescivi or rescire was used by those who were careful in their diction, otherwise than of things which were purposely concealed, or happened contrary to anticipation and expectation; although scire itself is used of everything alike, whether favourable or unfavourable, unexpected or expected. Thus Naevius in the Triphallus wrote: ⁵³

If ever I discover ( rescivero) that my son

Has borrowed money for a love affair,

Straightway I'll put you where you'll spit no more. ⁵⁴

Claudius Quadrigarius in the first book of his Annals says: ⁵⁵

When the Lucanians discovered ( resciverunt ) that they had been deceived and tricked.

And again in the same book Quadrigarius uses that word of something sad and unexpected: ⁵⁶

When this became known to the relatives ( rescierunt provinqui) of the hostages, who, as I have pointed out above, had been delivered to Pontius, their parents and relatives rushed into the street with hair in disarray.

Marcus Cato writes in the fourth book of the Origins:⁵⁷

Then next day the dictator orders the master of the horse to be summoned: I will send you, if you wish, with the cavalry.' It is too late,' said the master of the horse, 'they have found it out already ( rescicere).'

XX

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That for what we commonly call virvaria the earlier writers did not use that term; and what Publius Scipio used for this word in his speech to the people, and afterwards Marcus Varro in his work On Farming.

1 IN the third book of his treatise On Farming,⁵⁸ Marcus Varro says that the name leporaria is given to certain enclosures, now called vivaria, in which wild animals are kept alive and fed. I have appended Varro's own words:

There are three means of keeping animals on the farm—bird houses, leporaria (warrens), and fish-ponds. I am now using the term ornithones of all kinds of birds that are ordinarily kept within the walls of the farmhouse. Leporaria I wish you to understand, not in the sense in which our remote ancestors used the word, of places in which only hares are kept, but of all enclosures which are connected with a farm-house and contain live animals that are fed.

Farther on in the same book Varro writes: ⁵⁹

When you bought the farm at Tusculum from Marcus Piso, there were many wild boars in the leporarium.

But the word vivaria, which the common people now use—the Greek para\de/isoi⁶⁰ and Varro's leporaria—I do not recall meeting anywhere in the older literature. But as to the word roboraria, which we find in the writings of Scipio, who used the purest diction of any man of his time, I have heard several learned men at Rome assert that this means what we call vivaria and that the name came from the

oaken

planks of which the enclosures were made, a kind of enclosure which we see in many places in Italy. This is the passage from Scipio's fifth oration Against Claudius Asellus:⁶¹

When he had seen the highly-cultivated fields and well-kept farmhouses, he ordered them to set up a measuring rod on the highest spot in that district; and from there to build a straight road, in some places through the midst of vineyards, in others through the roborarium and the fish-pond, in still others through the farm buildings.

Thus we see that to pools or ponds of water in which live fish are kept in confinement, they gave their own appropriate name of piscinae, or

fishponds.

Apiaria too is the word commonly used of places in which bee-hives are set; but I recall almost no one of those who have spoken correctly who has used that word either in writing or speaking. But Marcus Varro, in the third book of his treatise On Farming, remarks: ⁶²

This is the way to make melissw=nes, which some call mellaria, or 'places for storing honey.'

But this word which Varro used is Greek; for they say melissw=nes, just as they do a)mpelw=nes (vineyards) and dafnw=nes (laurel groves).

XXI

21arg

About the constellation which the Greeks call a(/maca and the Romans septentriones; and as to the origin and meaning of both those words.

1 SEVERAL of us, Greeks and Romans, who were pursuing the same studies, were crossing in the same boat from Aegina to the Piraeus. It was night, the sea was calm, the time summer, and the sky bright and clear. So we all sat together in the stern and watched the brilliant stars. Then those of our company who were acquainted with Grecian lore discussed with learning and acumen such questions as these: what the a(/maca, or

Wain,

was, and what Boötes, which was the Great, and which the Little Bear and why they were so called; in what direction that constellation moved in the course of the advancing night, and why Homer says ⁶³ that this is the only constellation that does not set, in view of the fact that there are some other stars that do not set.

Thereupon I turned to our compatriots and said:

Why don't you barbarians tell me why we give the name of septentriones to what the Greeks call a(/maca. Now ' because we see seven stars' is not a sufficient answer, but I desire to be informed at some length,

said I,

of the meaning of the whole idea which we express by the word septentriones.

Then one of them, who had devoted himself to ancient literature and antiquities, replied: "The common run of grammarians think that the word septentriones is derived solely from the number of stars. For they declare that triones of itself has no meaning, but is a mere addition to the word; just as in our word quinquatrus, so called because five is the number of days after the Ides, ⁶⁴ atrus means nothing. But for my part, I agree with Lucius Aelius ⁶⁵ and Marcus Varro, ⁶⁶ who wrote that oxen were called triones, a rustic term it is true, as if they were terriones,⁶⁷ that is to say, adapted to nominibus regionibusque docere nos ipse vellet, ploughing and cultivating the earth. Therefore this constellation, which the early Greeks called a(/maca merely from its form and position, because it seemed to resemble a wagon, the early men also of our country called septentriones, from oxen yoked together, that is, seven stars by which yoked oxen ( triones) seem to be represented. After giving this opinion, Varro further added," said he,

that he suspected that these seven stars were called triones rather for the reason that they are so situated that every group of three neighbouring stars forms a triangle, that is to say, a three-sided figure.

Of these two reasons which he gave, the latter seemed the neater and the more ingenious; for as we looked at that constellation, it actually appeared to consist of triangles. ⁶⁸

XXII

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Information about the wind called Iapyx and about the names and quarters of other winds, derived from the discourses of Favorinus.

1 AT Favorinus' table, when he dined with friends, there was usually read either an old song of one of the lyric poets, or something from history, now in Greek and now in Latin. Thus one day there was read there, in a Latin poem, ⁶⁹ the word Iapyx, the name of a wind, and the question was asked what wind this was, from what quarter it blew, and what was the origin of so rare a term; and we also asked Favorinus to be so good as to inform us about the names and quarters of the other winds, since there was no general agreement as to their designations, positions or number.

Then Favorinus ran on as follows:

It is well known,

said he, " that there are four quarters and regions of the heavens—east, west, south and north. East and west are movable and variable points; ⁷⁰ south and north are permanently fixed and unalterable. For the sun does not always rise in exactly the same place, but its rising is called either equinoctial when it runs the course which is called i)shmerino/s (with equal days and nights), or solsticial, which is equivalent to qerinai\ tropai/ (summer turnings), or brumal, which is the same as xeimerinai\ tropai/, or 'winter turnings.' So too the sun does not always set in the same place; for in the same way its setting is called equinoctial, solstitial, or brumal. Therefore the wind which blows from the sun's spring, or equinoctial, rising is called eurus, a word derived, as your etymologists say, from the Greek which means ' that which flows from the east.' This wind is called by the Greeks by still another name, a)fhliw/ths, or 'in the direction of the sun'; and by the Roman sailors, subsolanus (lying beneath the sun). But the wind that comes from the summer and solstitial point of rising ⁷¹ is called in Latin aquilo, in Greek bore/as, and some say it was for that reason that Homer called ⁷² it ai)qrhgene/ths, or 'ether-born' ⁷³ ; but boreas, they think, is so named a)po\ th=s boh=s, 'from the loud shout,' since its blast is violent and noisy. To the third wind, which blows from the point of the winter rising—the Romans call it volturnus—many of the Greeks give a compound name, eu)ro/notos, because it is between eurus and notus. These then are the three east winds: aquilo, volturnus and curus, and eurus lies between the other two. Opposite to and facing these are three other winds from the west: caurus, which the Greeks commonly call a)rgesth/s⁷⁴ or 'clearing'; this blows from the quarter opposite aquilo. There is a second, favonius,⁷⁵ which in Greek is called ze/furos, blowing from the point opposite to eurus; and a third, Africus, which in Greek is li/y,⁷⁶ or 'wet-bringing,' blows in opposition to volturnus. These two opposite quarters of the sky, east and west, have, as we see, six winds opposite to one another. But the south, since it is a fixed and invariable point, has but one single south wind; this in Latin is termed auster, in Greek no/tos, because it is cloudy and wet, for noti/s is the Greek for 'moisture." ⁷⁷ The north too, for the same reason, has but one wind. This, called in Latin septentrionarius, in Greek a)parkti/as, or 'from the region of the Bear,' is directly opposite to auster. From this list of eight winds some subtract four, and they declare that they do so on the authority of Homer, ⁷⁸ who knows only four winds: eurus, auster, aquilo and favonius, blowing from the four quarters of the heaven which we have named primary, so to speak; for they regard the east and west as broader, to be sure, but nevertheless single and not divided into three parts. There are others, on the contrary, who make twelve winds instead of eight, by inserting a third group of four in the intervening space about the south and north, in the same way that the second four are placed between the original two at east and west.

"There are also some other names of what might be called special winds, which the natives have coined each in their own districts, either from the designations of the places in which they live or from some other reason which has led to the formation of the word. Thus our Gauls ⁷⁹ call the wind which blows from their land, the most violent wind to which they are exposed, circius, doubtless from its whirling and stormy character; the Apulians give the name Iapyx—the name by which they themselves are known ( Iapzyges)—to the wind that blows from the mouth of )Iapugi/a itself, from its inmost recesses, as it were. ⁸⁰ This is, I think, about the same as caurus; for it is a west wind and seems to blow from the quarter opposite eurus. Therefore Virgil says ⁸¹ that Cleopatra, when fleeing to Egypt after the sea-fight, was borne onward by Iapyx, and he called ⁸² an Apulian horse by the same name as the wind, that is, Iapyx. There is also a wind named caecias, which, according to Aristotle ⁸³ blows in such a way as not to drive away clouds, but to attract them. This, he says, is the origin of the proverbial line: ⁸⁴

Attracting to oneself, as caecias does the clouds.

Moreover, besides these which I have mentioned there are in various places other names of winds, of new coinage and each peculiar to its own region, for example the Atabulus of Horace; ⁸⁵ these too I intended to discuss; I would also have added those which are called etesiae⁸⁶ and prodromi,⁸⁷ which at a fixed time of year, namely when the dog-star rises, blow from one or another quarter of the heavens; and since I have drunk a good bit, I would have rated on about the meaning of all these terms, had I not already done a deal of talking while all of you have been silent, as if I were delivering 'an exhibition speech.' But for one to do all the talking at a large dinner-party," said he,

is neither decent nor becoming.

This is what Favorinus recounted to us at his own table at the time I mentioned, with extreme elegance of diction and in a delightful and graceful style throughout. But as to his statement that the wind which blows from the land of Gaul is called circius, Marcus Cato in his Origins⁸⁸ calls that wind, not circius, but cercius. For writing about the Spaniards who dwell on this side the Ebro, he set down these words:

But in this district are the finest iron and silver mines, also a great mountain of pure salt; the more you take from it, the more it grows. The cercius wind, when you speak, fills your mouth; it overturns an armed man or a loaded wagon.

In saying above that the e)thsi/ai blow from one or another quarter of the heavens, although following the opinion of many, I rather think I spoke hastily. ⁸⁹ For in the second book of Publius Nigidius' treatise On Wind are these words: ⁹⁰

Both the e)thsi/ai and the annual south winds follow the sun.

We ought therefore to inquire into the meaning of

follow the sun.

XXIII

23arg

A discussion and comparison of passages taken from the comedy of Menander and that of Caecilius, entitled Plocium.

1 I OFTEN read comedies which our poets have adapted and translated from the Greeks—Menander or Posidippus, Apollodorus or Alexis, and also some other comic writers. And while I am reading them, they do not seem at all bad; on the contrary, they appear to be written with a wit and charm which you would say absolutely could not be surpassed. But if you compare and place beside them the Greek originals from which they came, and if you match individual passages, reading them together alternately with care and attention, the Latin versions at once begin to appear exceedingly commonplace and mean; so dimmed are they by the wit and brilliance of the Greek comedies, which they were unable to rival.

Only recently I had an experience of this kind. I was reading the Plocium or Necklace of Caecilius, much to the delight of myself and those who were present. The fancy took us to read also the Plocium of Menander, from which Caecilius had translated the said comedy. But after we took Menander in hand, good Heavens! how dull and lifeless, and how different from Menander did Caecilius appear! Upon my word, the armour of Diomedes and of Glaucus were not more different in value. ⁹¹ Our reading had reached the passage where the aged husband was complaining of his rich and ugly wife, because he had been forced to sell his maid-servant, a girl skilled at her work and very good looking, since his wife suspected her of being his mistress. I shall say nothing of the great difference; but I have had the lines of both poets copied and submitted to others for their decision. This is Menander: ⁹²

Now may our heiress fair on both ears sleep.

A great and memorable feat is hers;

For she has driven forth, as she had planned,

The wench that worried her, that all henceforth

Of Crobyle alone the face may see,

And that the famous woman, she my wife,

May also be my tyrant. From the face

Dame Nature gave her, she's an ass 'mong apes,

As says the adage. I would silent be

About that night, the first of many woes.

Alas that I took Crobyle to wife,

With sixteen talents and a foot of nose.

Then too can one her haughtiness endure?

By Zeus Olympius and Athena, no '

She has dismissed a maid who did her work

More quickly than the word was given her,

More quickly far than one will bring her back!

But Caecilius renders it thus: ⁹³

In very truth is he a wretched man,

Who cannot hide his woe away from home;

And that my wife makes me by looks and acts:

If I kept still, I should betray myself

No less. And she has all that you would wish

She had not, save the dowry that she brought.

Let him who's wise a lesson take from me,

Who, like a free man captive to the foe,

Am slave, though town and citadel are safe.

What! wish her safe who steals whate'er I prize?

While longing for her death, a living corpse am I.

She says I've secret converse with our maid—

That's what she said, and so be laboured me

With tears, with prayers, with importunities,

That I did sell the wench. Now, I suppose,

She blabs like this to neighbours and to friends:

" Which one of you, when in the bloom of youth,

Could from her husband win what I from mine

Have gained, who've robbed him of his concubine."

Thus they, while I, poor wretch, am torn to shreds.

Now, not to mention the charm of subject matter and diction, which is by no means the same in the two books, I notice this general fact—that some of Menander's lines, brilliant, apt and witty, Caecilius has not attempted to reproduce, even where lie might have done so; but he has passed them by as if they were of no value, and has dragged in some other farcical stuff; and what Menander took from actual life, simple, realistic and delightful, this for some reason or other Caecilius has missed. For example, that same old husband, talking with another old man, a neighbour of his, and cursing the arrogance of his rich wife, says: ⁹⁴

I have to wife an heiress ogress, man!

I did not tell you that? What, really? no?

She is the mistress of my house and lands,

Of all that's hereabout. And in return

I have by Zeus! the hardest of hard things.

She scolds not only me, but her son too,

Her daughter most of all.—You tell a thing

There's no contending with.—I know it well.

But in this passage Caecilius chose rather to play the buffoon than to be appropriate and suitable to the character that he was representing. For this is the way he spoiled the passage: ⁹⁵

But tell me, sir; is your wife captious, pray?—

How can you ask?—But in what manner, then?—

I am ashamed to tell. When I come home

And sit beside her, she with fasting ⁹⁶ breath

Straight kisses me.—There's no mistake in that.

She'd have you spew up what you've drunk abroad.

It is clear what your judgment ought to be about that scene also, found in both comedies, which is about of the following purport: The daughter of a poor man was violated during a religious vigil. This was unknown to her father, and she was looked upon as a virgin. Being with child as the result of that assault, at the proper time she is in labour. An honest slave, standing before the door of the house, knowing nothing of the approaching delivery of his master's daughter, and quite unaware that violence had been offered her, hears the groans and prayers of the girl labouring in childbirth; he gives expression to his fear, anger, suspicion, pity and grief. In the Greek comedy all these emotions and feelings of his are wonderfully vivid and clear, but in Caecilius they are all dull and without any grace and dignity of expression. Afterwards, when the same slave by questioning has found out what has happened, in Menander he utters this lament: ⁹⁷

Alas! thrice wretched he who weds, though poor,

And children gets. How foolish is the man

Who keeps no watch o'er his necessities,

And if he luckless be in life's routine,

Can't use his wealth as cloak, but buffeted

By ev'ry storm, lives helpless and in grief.

All wretchedness he shares, of blessings none,

Thus sorrowing for one I'd all men warn.

Let us consider whether Caecilius was sufficiently inspired to approach the sincerity and realism of these words. These are the lines of Caecilius, in which he gives some mangled fragments from Menander, patching them with the language of tragic bombast: ⁹⁸

Unfortunate in truth the man, who poor,

Yet children gets, to share his poverty.

His fortune and his state at once are clear;

The ill fame of the rich their set conceals.

Accordingly, as I said above, when I read these passages of Caecilius by themselves, they seem by no means lacking in grace and spirit, but when I compare and match them with the Greek version, I feel that Caecilius should not have followed a guide with whom he could not keep pace.

XXIV

24arg

On the ancient frugality; and on early sumptuary laws.

1 FRUGALITY among the early Romans, and moderation in food and entertainments were secured not only by observance and training at home, but also by public penalties and the inviolable provisions of numerous laws. Only recently I read in the Miscellanies⁹⁹ of Ateius Capito an old decree of the senate, passed in the consulship of Gaius Fannius and Marcus Valerius Messala, ¹⁰⁰ which provides that the leading citizens, who according to ancient usage

interchanged

at the Melagesian games ¹⁰¹ (that is, acted as host to one another in rotation), should take oath before the consuls in set terms, that they would not spend on each dinner more than one hundred and twenty asses in addition to vegetables, bread and wine; that they would not serve foreign, but only native, wine, nor use at table more than one hundred pounds' weight of silverware.

But subsequent to that decree of the senate the law of Fannius was passed, which allowed the expenditure of one hundred asses a day at the Roman and the plebeian games, ¹⁰² at the Saturnalia, ¹⁰³ and on certain other days; of thirty asses on ten additional days each month; but on all other days of only ten. This is the law to which the poet Lucilius alludes when he says: ¹⁰⁴

The paltry hundred pence of Fannius.

In regard to this some of the commentators on Lucilius have been mistaken in thinking that Fannius' law authorized a regular expenditure of a hundred asses on every kind of day. For, as I have stated above, Fannius authorized one hundred asses on certain holidays which he expressly named, but for all other days he limited the daily outlay to thirty asses for some days and to ten for others.

Next the Licinian law was passed ¹⁰⁵ which, while allowing the outlay of one hundred asses on designated days, as did the law of Fannius, conceded two hundred asses for weddings and set a limit of thirty for other days; however, after naming a fixed weight of dried meat and salted provisions for each day, it granted the indiscriminate and unlimited use of the products of the earth, vine and orchard. This law the poet Laevius mentions in his Erotopaegnia.¹⁰⁶ These are the words of Laevius, by which he means that a kid that had been brought for a feast was sent away and the dinner served with fruit and vegetables, as the Licinian law had provided:

The Licinian law is introduced,

The liquid light to the kid restored.

Lucilius also has the said law in mind in these words:

Let us evade the law of Licinius. ¹⁰⁷

Afterwards, when these laws were illegible from the rust of age and forgotten, when many men of abundant means were gormandizing, and recklessly pouring their family and fortune into an abyss of dinners and banquets, Lucius Sulla in his dictatorship proposed a law to the people, which provided that on the Kalends, Ides and Nones, on days of games, and on certain regular festivals, it should be proper and lawful to spend three hundred sesterces on a dinner, but on all other days no more than thirty.

Besides these laws we find also an Aemilian law, ¹⁰⁸ setting a limit not on the expense of dinners, but on the kind and quantity of food.

Then the law of Antius, ¹⁰⁹ besides curtailing outlay, contained the additional provision, that no magistrate or magistrate elect should dine out anywhere, except at the house of stipulated persons.

Lastly, the Julian law came before the people during the principate of Caesar Augustus, ¹¹⁰ by which on working days two hundred sesterces is the limit, on the Kalends, Ides and Nones and some other holidays, three hundred, but at weddings and the banquets following them, a thousand.

Ateius Capito says ¹¹¹ that there is still another Edict—but whether of the deified Augustus or of Tiberius Caesar I do not exactly remember—by which the outlay for dinners on various festal days was increased from three hundred sesterces to two thousand, to the end that the rising tide of luxury night be restrained at least within those limits.

XXV

25arg

What the Greeks understand by a)nalogi/a, and, on the contrary, by a)nwmali/a.

1 IN the Latin language, just as in Greek, some have thought that the principle of a)nalogi/a should be followed, others that of a)nwmali/a. is the similar inflection of similar words, which some call in Latin proportio, or

regularity.

)Anwmali/a is irregularity in inflection, following usage. Now two distinguished Greek grammarians, Aristarchus and Crates, defended with the utmost vigour, the one analogy, the other anomaly. The eighth book of Marcus Varro's treatise On the Latin Language, dedicated to Cicero, maintains ¹¹² that no regard is paid to regularity, and points out that in almost all words usage rules.

As when we decline,

says he,

lpus lupi, probus probi, but lepus leporis; again, paro paravi and lavo lavi, pungo pupugi, tundo tutudi and pingo pinxi. And although,

he continues, "from ceno and prandeo and poto we form cenatus sum, pransus sum and potus sum,¹¹³ yet from destringor and extergeor and lavor we make destrinxi and extersi and lavi. Furthermore, although from Oscus, Tuscus and Graecus we derive the adverbs Osce, Tusce and Graece, yet from Gallus and Maurus we have Gallice and Maurice; also from probus probe, from doctus docte, but from rarus there is no adverb rare, but some say raro, others rarenter." ¹¹⁴ In the same book Varro goes on to say:

No one uses senior and that form by itself is naught, but almost everyone says adsentior. Sisenna alone used to say adsentio (I agree) in the senate, but later many followed his example, yet could not prevail over usage.

But Varro himself in other books wrote a good deal in defence of analogy. Therefore his utterances on the subject are, as it were, common-places, ¹¹⁵ to cite now against analogy and again also in its favour.

XXVI

26arg

Discourses of Marcus Fronto and the philosopher Favorinus on the varieties of colours and their Greek and Latin names: and incidentally, the nature of the colour spadix.

1 WHEN the philosopher Favorinus was on his way to visit the exconsul Marcus Fronto, who was ill with the gout, he wished me also to go with him. And when there at Fronto's, where a number of learned men were present, a discussion took place about colours and their names, to the effect that the shades of colours are manifold, but the names for them are few and indefinite, Favorinus said: "More distinctions of colour are detected by the eye than are expressed by words and terms. For leaving out of account other incongruities, your simple colours, red ( rufus) and green viridiss), have single names, but many different shades. And that poverty in names I find more pronounced in Latin than in Greek. For the colour red Rufuss) does in fact get its name from redness, but although fire is one kind of red, blood another, purple another, saffron another, and gold still another, yet the Latin tongue does not indicate these special varieties of red by separate and individual words, but includes them all under the one term rubor, except in so far as it borrows names from the things themselves, and calls anything ' fiery,' ' flaming,' 'blood-red,' 'saffron' 'purple' and 'golden.' For russus and rubber are no doubt derived from rufus, and do not indicate all its special varieties, but canqo/s and e)ruqro/s and purro/s and kirro/s¹¹⁶ and foi=nic seem to mark certain differences in the colour red, either intensifying it or making it lighter, or qualifying it by the admixture of some shade."

Then Fronto, replying to Favorinus, said: "I do not deny that the Greek language, which you seem to prefer, is richer and more copious than ours; but nevertheless in naming these colours of which you have just spoken we are not quite so badly off as you think. For russus and ruber, which you have just mentioned, are not the only words that denote the colour red, but we have others also, more numerous than those which you have quoted from the Greek. For fihlvus, flavus, rubidus, poeniceus, rutilus, luteus and spadix are names of the colour red, which either brighten it (making it fiery, as it were), or combine it with green, or darken it with black, or make it luminous by a slight addition of gleaming white. For poeniceus, which you call foi=nic in Greek, belongs to our language, and rutilus and spadix, a synonym of poeniceus which is taken over into Latin from the Greek, indicate a rich, gleaming shade of red like that of the fruit of the palm-tree when it is not fully ripened by the sun. And from this spadix and poeniceus get their name; for spadix in Doric is applied to a branch torn from a palm-tree along with its fruit. But the colour fulvus seems to be a mixture of red and green, in which sometimes green predominates, sometimes red. Thus the poet who was most careful in his choice of words applies fulvus to an eagle, ¹¹⁷ to jasper, ¹¹⁸ to fur caps, ¹¹⁹ to gold, ¹²⁰ to sand, ¹²¹ and to a lion; ¹²² and so Ennius in his Annals uses fulvus of air. ¹²³ Flavus on the other hand seems to be compounded of green and red and white; thus Virgil speaks of golden hair as flava¹²⁴ and applies that adjective also to the leaves of the olive, ¹²⁵ which I see surprises some; and thus, much earlier, Pacuvius called water flava and dust fulvus.¹²⁶ I am glad to quote his verses, for they are most charming:

Give me thy foot, that with the same soft hands

With which oft times I did Ulysses soothe

I may with golden ( flavis) waters wash away

The tawny ( fulvum) dust and heal thy weariness.

Now, rubidus is a darker red and with a larger admixture of black; luteus, on the other hand, is a more diluted red, and from this dilution its name too seems to be derived. Therefore, my dear Favorinus,

said he, "the shades of red have no more names in Greek than with us. But neither is the colour green expressed by more terms in your language, and Virgil, when he wished to indicate the green colour of a horse, could perfectly well have called the horse caerulus rather than glaucus, but he preferred to use a familiar Greek word, rather than one which was unusual in Latin. ¹²⁷ Moreover, our earlier writers used caesia as the equivalent of the Greek glaukw=pis, as Nigidius says, ¹²⁸ from the colour of the sky, as if it were originally caelia."

After Fronto had said this, Favorinus, enchanted with his exhaustive knowledge of the subject and his elegant diction, said:

Were it not for you, and perhaps for you alone, the Greek language would surely have come out far ahead; but you, my deal Fronto, exemplify Homer's line: ¹²⁹

Thou would'st either have won or made the result indecisive.

But not only have I listened with pleasure to all your learned remarks, but in particular in describing the diversity of the colour flavus you have made me understand these beautiful lines from the fourteenth book of Ennius' Annalns¹³⁰ which before I did not in the least comprehend:

The calm sea's golden marble now they skim;

Ploughed by the thronging craft, the green seas foam;

for 'the green seas' did not seem to correspond with 'golden marble.' But since, as you have said, flavus is a colour containing an admixture of green and white, Ennius with the utmost elegance called the foam of the green sea 'golden marble.'

XXVII

27arg

The criticism of Titus Castricius passed upon passages from Sallust and Demosthenes, in which the one described Philip, the other Sertorius.

1 THIS is Demosthenes' striking and brilliant description of king Philip: ¹³¹

I saw that Philip himself, with whom we were struggling, had in his desire for empire and absolute power had one eye knocked out, his collar-bone broken, his hand and leg maimed, and was ready to resign any part of his body that fortune chose to take from him, provided that with what remained he might live in honour and glory.

Sallust, desiring to rival this description, in his Histories thus wrote of the leader Sertorius ¹³² :

He won great glory in Spain, while military tribune under the command of Titus Didius, rendered valuable service in the Marsic war in providing troops and arms; but he got no credit for much that was then done under his direction and orders, at first because of his low birth and afterwards through unfriendly historians; but during his lifetime his appearance bore testimony to these deeds, in many scars on his breast, and in the loss of an eye. Indeed, he rejoiced greatly in his bodily disfigurement, caring nothing for what he had lost, because he kept the rest with greater glory.

In his estimate of these words of the two writers Titus Castricius said:

Is it not beyond the range of human capability to rejoice in bodily disfigurement? For rejoicing is a certain exaltation of spirit, delighting in the realization of something greatly desired. How much truer, more natural, and more in accordance with human limitations is this: ' Giving up whatever part of his body fortune chose to take.' In these words,

said he,

Philip is shown, not like Sertorius, rejoicing in bodily disfigurement, which,

he said,

is unheard of and extravagant, but as a scorner of bodily losses and injuries in his thirst for honour and glory, who in exchange for the fame which he coveted would sacrifice his limbs one by one to the attacks of fortune.

XXVIII

28arg

That it is uncertain to which deity sacrifices ought to be offered when there is an earthquake.

1 WHAT is to be regarded as the cause of earthquakes is not only not obvious to the ordinary understanding and thought of mankind, but it is not agreed even among the natural philosophers whether they are due to the mighty winds that gather in the caverns and hollow places of the earth, or to the ebb and flow of subterranean waters in its hollows, as seems to have been the view of the earliest Greeks, who called Neptune

the Earth Shaker

; or whether they are the result of something else or due to the divine power of some other god—all this, I say, is not yet a matter of certain knowledge. For that reason the Romans of old, who were not only exceedingly scrupulous and careful in discharging all the other obligations of life, but also in fulfilling religious duties and venerating the immortal gods, whenever they felt an earthquake or received report of one, decreed a holy day on that account, but forbore to declare and specify in the decree, as is commonly done, the name of the god in whose honour the holy day was to be observed; for fear that by naming one god instead of another they might involve the people in a false observance. If anyone had desecrated that festival, and expiation was therefore necessary, they used to offer a victim

to either the god or goddess,

and Marcus Varro tells us ¹³³ that this usage was established by a decree of the pontiffs, since it was uncertain what force, and which of the gods or goddesses, had caused the earthquake.

But in the case of eclipses of the sun or moon they concerned themselves no less with trying to discover the causes of that phenomenon. However, Marcus Cato, although a man with a great interest in investigation, nevertheless on this point expressed himself indecisively and superficially. His words in the fourth book of his Origins are as follows: ¹³⁴

I do not care to write what appears on the tablet of the high priest: how often grain was dear, how often darkness, or something else, obscured the light ¹³⁵ of sun or moon.

Of so little importance did he consider it either to know or to tell the true causes of eclipses of the sun and moon.

XXIX

29arg

A fable of the Phrygian Aesop, which is well worth telling.

1 AESOP, the well-known fabulist from Phrygia, has justly been regarded as a wise man, since he taught what it was salutary to call to mind and to recommend, not in an austere and dictatorial manner, as is the way of philosophers, but by inventing witty and entertaining fables he put into men's minds and hearts ideas that were wholesome and carefully considered, while at the same time he enticed their attention. For example, this fable of his ¹³⁶ about the little nest of a birdlet with delightful humour warns us that in the case of things which one can do, hope and confidence should never be placed in another, but in one's own self.

There is a little bird,

he says,

it is called the lark. It lives in the grain-fields, and generally builds its nest at such a time that the harvest is at hand exactly when the young birds are ready to be fledged. Such a lark chanced to have built her nest in a field which had been sown rather early in the year; therefore when the grain was turning yellow, the fledglings were still unable to fly. Accordingly, when the mother went off in search of food for her young, she warned them to notice whether anything unusual was said or done there, and to tell it to her on her return. A little later the owner of that grain-field calls his young son and says: ' Do you not see that this is ripe and already calls for hands? To-morrow then, as soon as it is light, see that you go to our friends and ask them to come and exchange work with us, and help us with this harvest.' So saying, he at once went away. And when the lark returned, the chicks, frightened and trembling, twittered about their mother and implored her to make haste and at once carry them off to some other place; 'for,' said they, 'the master has sent to ask his friends to come at daybreak and reap.' The mother bids them be easy in mind. ' For if the master,' said she, ' has turned the harvesting over to his friends, the field will not be reaped to-morrow, and I need not take you away to-day.' On the following day the mother flies off to get food. The master waits for those whom he had summoned. The sun grows hot and nothing is done. The day advances and no friends come. Then he says again to his son: 'Those friends of ours are a lot of slackers. why not rather go and ask our relatives and kinsfolk to come to reap early tomorrow?' This, too, the frightened chicks tell their mother. She urges them once again to be without fear and without worry, saying that hardly any relatives and kinsfolk are so obliging as to undertake labour without any delay and to obey a summons at once. 'But do you,' she said, 'observe whether anything more is said.' Next day at dawn the bird left to forage. The relatives and kinsfolk neglected the work which they were asked to do. So finally the owner said to his son: ' Enough of friends and relatives. Bring two scythes at daybreak; I myself will take one and you yourself the other, and tomorrow we ourselves will reap the grain with our own hands.' When the mother heard from her brood that the farmer had said this, she cried: ' It is time to get out and be off; for this time what he said surely will be done. For now it depends on the very man whose business it is, not on another who is asked to do it.' And so the lark moved her nest, the owner harvested his crop.

This then is Aesop's fable, showing that trust in friends and relatives is usually idle and vain. But what different warning do the more highly revered books of the philosophers give us, than that we should rely on ourselves alone, and regard everything else that is outside us and beyond our control as helpful neither to our affairs nor to ourselves? This parable of Aesop has been rendered in tetrameter verse by Quintus Ennius in his Saturae most cleverly and gracefully. ¹³⁷ The following are the last two lines of that version, and I surely think it is worth while to remember them and take them to heart:

This adage ever have in readiness;

Ask not of friends what you yourself can do.

XXX

30arg

An observation on the waves of the sea, which take one form when the wind is from the south, and another when it is from the north.

1 IT has often been observed in the motion of the waves caused by the north winds or by any current of air from that quarter of the heaven [that it is different from that caused by] the south and southwest winds. For the waves raised by the blowing of the north wind are very high and follow hard upon one another, but as soon as the wind has ceased, they flatten out and subside, and soon there are no waves at all. But it is not the same when the wind blows from the south or southwest; for although these have wholly ceased to blow, still the waves that they have caused continue to swell, and though they have long been undisturbed by wind, yet the sea keeps continually surging. The reason of this is inferred to be, that the winds from the north, falling upon the sea from a higher part of the sky, are borne straight down, as it were headlong, into the depths of ocean, making waves that are not driven forward, but are set in motion from within; and these, being turned up from beneath, roll only so long as the force of that wind which blows in from above continues. The south and southwest winds, on the contrary, forced down to the southern zone and the lowest part of the heavens, are lower and flatter, and as they blow over the surface of the sea, they push forward ¹³⁸ the waves rather than raise them up. Therefore the waters are not struck from above but are forced forward, and even after the wind has fallen they retain for some time the motion given by the original impulse. Moreover, this very suggestion of mine may be supported by the following lines of Homer, if one reads them carefully. For he wrote thus of the blasts of the south wind: ¹³⁹

Then Notus drives huge waves against the western cliff,

but on the other hand he speaks in a different way of boreas, which we call aquilo: ¹⁴⁰

And Boreas aetherborn, uprolling a great wave.

For he means that the waves stirred up by the north winds, which are high and blow from above, are so to speak rolled downward, but that by the south winds, which are lower than these, they are driven forward in an upward direction by a somewhat greater force and pushed up. For that is the meaning of the verb w)qei=, as also in another passage: ¹⁴¹

The stone toward the hilltop pushed he up.

This also has been observed by the most learned investigators of nature, that when the south winds blow, the sea becomes blue and bright, but, under the north winds, darker and more gloomy. I noted the cause of this when I was making excerpts from the Problems of Aristotle. ¹⁴²

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).) — 2.1 focus

I

Argument

Quo genere solitus sit philosophus Socrates exercere patientiam corporis; deque eiusdem viri temperantia. ¹

[1] INTER labores voluntarios et exercitia corporis ad fortuitas patientiae vices firmandi id quoque accepimus Socraten facere insuevisse:

[2] stare solitus Socrates dicitur pertinaci statu perdius atque pernox a summo lucis ortu ad solem alterum alteum orientem inconivens, immobilis, isdem in vestigiis et ore atque oculis eundem in locum directis cogitabundus, tamquam quodam secessu mentis atque animi facto a corpore.

[3] Quam rem cum Favorinus de fortitudine eius viri ut pleraque disserens attigisset, πολλάκις, inquit, ἐξ ἡλίου εἰς ἥλιον εἱστήκει ἀστραβέστερος τῶν πρέμνων.

[4] Temperantia quoque fuisse eum tanta traditum est, ut omnia fere vitae suae tempora valitudine inoffensa vixerit.

[5] In illius etiam pestilentiae vastitate quae in belli Peloponnensiaci principis Atheniensium civitatem internecivo genere morbi depopulata est, is parcendi moderandique rationibus dicitur et a voluptatum labe cavisse et salubritates corporis retinuisse, ut nequaquam fuerit communi omnium cladi obnoxius.

II

Argument

Quae ratio observatioque officiorum esse debeat inter patres filiosque in discumbendo sedendoque atque id genus rebus domi donii forisque, si filii magistratus sunt et patres privati; superque ea re Tauri philosophi dissertatio et exemplum ex historia Romana petitum.

[1] AD philosophum Taurum Athenas visendi cognoscendique eius gratia venerat V. C., praeses Cretae provinciae, et cum eo simul eiusdem praesidis pater.

[2] Taurus, sectatoribus commodum dimissis, sedebat pro cubiculi sui foribus et cum assistentibus nobis sermocinabatur.

[3] Introivit provinciae praeses et cum eo pater;

[4] assurrexit placide Taurus et post mutuam salutationem resedit.

[5] Allata mox mnox una sella est, quae in promptu prompt erat, atque dum aliae promebantur promrebantur, apposita est. Invitavit Taurus patrem praesidis pralesidis uti sederet.

[6] Ad quae ² ille ait: Sedeat hic potius qui populi Romani magistratus est.

[7] Absque praeiudicio, inquit Taurus, tu interea sede, dum ³ inspicimus quaerimusque quaerimlusque utrum conveniat, tene potius sedere, qui pater es, an filium, qui magistratus est.

[8] Et cum pater assedisset appositumque esset aliud filio quoque eius sedile, verba super ea re Taurus facit cum summa, dii boni, honorum atque officiorum perpensatione perpenlsatione.

[9] Eorum verborum sententia haec fuit: In publicis locis atque muneribus atque actionibus patrum iura, cum filiorum qui in magistratu sunt potestatibus collata, interquiescere paululum et conivere; sed cum extra rempublicam in domestica domestic re atque vita sedeatur, ambuletur, in convivio quoque familiari familiar discumbatur, tum inter filium magistratum et patrem privatum publicos honores cessare, naturales et genuinos exoriri.

[10] Hoc igitur, inquit, quod ad me venistis, quod colloquimur nunc, quod de officiis disceptamus, privata actio est. Itaque utere apud me his honoribus prius, quibus domi quoque vestrae te uti priorem decet.

[11] Haec atque alia in eandem sententiam Taurus graviter simul et comiter disseruit.

[12] Quid autem super huiuscemodi huiuscemlodi patris atque filii officio apud Claudium legerimus, non esse ab re visum est ut adscriberemus.

[13] Posuimus igitur verba ipsa Quadrigarii ex Annali eius sexto transscripta: Deinde facti consules Ti. ⁴ Sempronius Gracchus iterum, ⁵ Q. Fabius Maximus, filius eius qui priore anno erat consul. Ei consuli cosuli pater proconsul obviam in equo vehens venit neque descendere voluit, quod pater erat, et quod inter eos sciebant maxima concordia convenire, lictores non ausi sunt descendere iubere. Ubi iuxta venit, tum consul ait: Quid postea? ; lictor ille qui apparebat cito intellexit, Maximum proconsulem descendere iussit. Fabius imperio paret et filium collaudavit, cum imperium, quod populi esset, retineret.

III

Argument

Qua ratione verbis quibusdam vocabulisque veteres immiserint immiseurint h litterae spiritum.

[1] H LITTERAM, sive illam spiritum magis quam litteram dici oportet, inserebant eam earn veteres nostri plerisque vocibus verborum verborLum firmandis roborandisque, ut sonus earum esset viridior vegetiorque; atque id videntur fecisse studio et exemplo linguae Atticae.

[2] Satis notum est Atticos ἱχθὺν et ἵππον⁶ et multa itidem alia contra morem gentium Graeciae ceterarum inspirantis prime litterae dixisse.

[3] Sic lachrumas, sic sepulcrum, sic ahenum, sic vehemens, sic incohare, sic helluari, sic halucinari, sic honera, sic honustum dixerunt.

[4] In his enim verbis omnibus litterae seu spiritus istius nulla ratio visa est, nisi ut firmitas et vigor vocis quasi quibusdam nervis additis intenderetur.

[5] Sed quoniam aheni quoque exemplo usi sumus, venit nobis in memoriam Fidum Optatum, multi nominis Romae grammaticum, ostendisse mihi librum Aeneidos secundum mirandae vetustatis, emptum in Sigillariis viginti aureis, quem quern ipsius Vergili fuisse credebatur. In quo duo isti versus cum ita scripti forent:

Vestibulum ante ipsum primoque in limine Pyrrus

Exultat, telis et luce coruscus aena,

additam supra vidimus h litteram et ahena factum.

[6] Sic in illo quoque Vergili versu in optimis libris scriptum scriptumr invenimus:

Aut ⁷ foliis undam trepidi despumat aheni.

IV

Argument

Quam ob causam Gavius Bassus genus quoddam iudicii divinationem appellari scripserit; et quam alii causam esse eiusdem vocabuli dixerint. ⁸

[1] CUM de constituendo accusatore quaeritur iudiciumque super ea re redditur cuinam potissimum ex duobus pluribusque accusatio subscriptiove in reum permittatur, ea res atque iudicum cognitio divinatio appellatur.

[2] Id vocabulum quam ob causam ita factum sit, quaeri solet.

[3] Gavius Bassus in tertio librorum, quos De Origine vocabulorum Vocabilorum composuit, Divinatio, inquit, iudicium appellatur, quoniam divinet quodammodo iudex oportet quam sententiam sese ferre par sit.

[4] Nimis quidem est in verbis Gavi Bassi ratio inperfecta vel magis inops et ieiuna.

[5] Sed videtur tamen significare velle idcirco dici divinationem, quod in aliis quidem causis iudex ea quae ⁹ didicit quaeque argumentis vel testibus demonstrata sunt sequi solet, in hac autem re, cum eligendus accusator est, parva admodum et exilia sunt quibus moveri iudex possit, et propterea quinam magis ad accusandum idoneus sit quasi divinandum est.

[6] Haec Bassus. Sed alii quidam divinationem esse appellatam putant quoniam, cum accusator et reus duae res quasi cognatae ¹⁰ coniunctaeque sint neque utra sine altera constare possit, in hoc tamen genere causae reus quidem iam est, sed accusator nondum est, et idcirco quod adhuc usque deest et latet divinatione supplendum est, quisnam sit accusator futurus.

V

Argument

Quam lepide signateque ¹¹ dixerit Favorinus philosophus quid intersit inter Platonis et Lysiae orationem.

[1] FAVORINUS de Lysia et Platone solitus dicere est: Si ex Platonis, inquit, oratione verbum aliquod demas mutesve atque id commodatissime commnodatissime facias, de elegantia clegantia tamen detraxeris; si ex Lysiae, de sententia.

VI

Argument

Quibus verbis ignaviter et abiecte Vergilius usus esse dicatur; et quid his qui improbe id ¹² dicunt respondeatur.

[1] NONNULLI grammatici aetatis superioris, in quibus est Cornutus Annaeus, haut sane indocti neque ignobiles, qui commentaria in Vergilium composuerunt, reprehendunt quasi incuriose et abiecte verbum positum in his versibus:

Candida succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris

Dulichias vexasse rates et gurgite in alto

A! timidos nautas canibus lacerasse marinis;

[2] vexasse enim putant verbum esse leve et tenuis ac parvi incommodi, nec tantae atrocitati congruere, cum homines repente a belua immanissima rapti laniatique sint.

[3] Item aliud huiuscemodi reprehendunt:

Quis aut Eurysthea durum

Aut inlaudati nescit Busiridis aras?

Inlaudati parum idoneum verbum esse dicunt, neque id satis esse ad faciendam scelerati hominis detestationem, qui, quod hospites omnium gentium immolare solitus fuit, non laude indignus, sed detestatione ¹³ execrationeque totius generis humani dignus esset.

[4] Item aliud verbum culpaverunt:

Per tunicam squalentem auro latus haurit apertum,

tamquam si non convenerit dicere auro squalentem, quoniam nitoribus splendoribusque auri squaloris inluvies sit contraria.

[5] Sed de verbo vexasse ita responderi posse credo: Vexasse grave verbum est factumque ab eo videtur, quod est vehere, in quo inest vis iam quaedam alieni arbitrii; non enim sui potens est, qui vehitur. Vexare autem, quod ex eo inclinatum est, vi atque motu procul dubio vastiorest. Nam qui fertur et rapsatur atque huc atque illuc distrahitur, is vexari proprie dicitur, sicuti taxare pressius crebriusque est quam tangere, unde id procul dubio inclinatum est, et iactare multo fusius largiusque est quam iacere, unde id verbum traductum est, et quassare quam quatere gravius violentiusque est.

[6] Non igitur, quia vulgo dici solet (vexatum esse quem fumo aut vento aut pulvere, propterea debet vis vera atque natura verbi deperire, quae a veteribus, qui proprie atque signate locuti sunt, ita ut decuit, conservata est.

[7] M. Catonis verba sunt ex oratione quam De Achaeis scripsit: Cumque Hannibal terram Italiam laceraret atque vexaret; vexatam Italiam dixit Cato ab Hannibale, quando nullum calamitatis aut saevitiae aut immanitatis genus reperiri queat quod in eo tempore Italia non perpessa sit; M. Tullius IV.

[8] In Verrem: Quae ab isto sic spoliata atque direpta est, non ut ab hoste aliquo, qui tamen in bello religionem et consuetudinis iura retineret, sed ut a barbaris praedonibus vexata esse videatur.

[9] De inlaudato autem duo videntur responderi posse. Unum est eiusmodi: Nemo quisquam tam tan efflictis ¹⁴ est moribus quin faciat aut dicat nonnumquam aliquid quod laudari queat. Unde hic antiquissimus versus vice proverbii celebratus est:

Πολλάκι τοι¹⁵

[10] Sed enim qui omni in re atque omni tempore laude omni vacat, is inlaudatus est isque omnium pessimus deterrimusque est, sicuti omnis culpae privatio inculpatum facit. Inculpatus autem instar est absolutae virtutis; inlaudatus quoque igitur 11 finis est extremae malitiae. Itaque Homerus non virtutibus appellandis, sed vitiis detrahendis laudare ampliter solet. Hoc enim est: τὼ δʼ οὐκ ἄκοντε πετέσθην, et item illud:

Ἔνθʼ οὐκ ἂν βρίζοντα ἴδοις Ἀγαμέμνονα δῖον

Οὐδὲ καταπτώσσοντʼ, οὐδʼ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα μάχεσθαι.

[12] Epicurus quoque simili modo maximam voluptatem privationem detractionemque omnis doloris definivit his verbis: Ὅρος τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν ἡδονῶν ἡ παντὸς¹⁶ τοῦ ἀλγοῦντος ὑπεξαίρεσις.

[13] Eadem ratione idem Vergilius inamabilem dixit Stygiam paludem.

[14] Nam sicut inlaudatum κατὰ στέρησιν laudis, ita inamabilem

[15] κατὰ amoris στέρησιν detestatus est. Altero modo inlaudatus ita defenditur:

[16] Laudare significat prisca lingua nominare appellareque. Sic in actionibus civilibus auctor, ¹⁷ laudari dicitur, quod est nominari.

[17] Is inlaudatus autem ¹⁸ est, quasi inlaudabilis, qui neque mentione aut memoria ulla dignus neque umquam nominandus est,

[18] sicuti quondam a communi consilio Asiae decretum est uti nomen eius qui templum Dianae Ephesi incenderat ne quis ullo in tempore nominaret.

[19] Tertium restat ex is quae reprehensa sunt, quod tunicam squalentem auro dixit.

[20] Id autem significat copiam densitatemque auri in squamarum speciem intexti. Squalere enim dictum a squamarum crebritate asperitateque, quae in serpentium pisciumve coriis visuntur.

[21] Quam rem et alii et hic quidem poeta locis aliquot demonstrat:

Quem pellis (inquit) ahenis

In plumam squamis auro conserta tegebat,

[22] et alio loco:

Iamque adeo rutilum thoraca indutus ahenis

Horrebat squamis.

[23] Accius in Pelopidis ita scribit:

Éius serpentis squámae squalido aúro et purpurá pertextae.

[24] Quicquid igitur nimis inculcatum obsitumque aliqua re erat, ut ¹⁹ incuteret visentibus facie nova horrorem, id squalere dicebatur.

[25] Sic in corporibus incultis squamosisque alta congeries sordium squalor appellabatur. Cuius significationis multo assiduoque usu totum id verbum ita contaminatum est, ut iam squalor de re alia nulla quam de solis inquinamentis dici coeperit.

VII

Argument

De officio erga patres liberorum; deque ea re ex philosophiae philosophies libris, in quibus scriptum quaesitumque quaesitnumque est an omnibus patris iussis obsequendum sit.

[1] QUAERI solitum est in philosophorum disceptatio nibus, an semper inque omnibus iussis patri parendum sit.

[2] Super ea re Graeci nostrique, qui De Officiis scripserunt, tres sententias esse quae spectandae considerandaeque sint tradiderunt easque subtilissime diiudicarunt.

[3] Earum una est: omnia quae pater imperat parendum;

[4] altera est: in ²⁰ quibusdam parendum,

[5] quibusdam non obsequendum; tertia est: nihil necesse esse patri obsequi et parere.

[6] Haec sententia quoniam primore aspectu nimis infamis est, super ea prius quae dicta sunt dicemus. Aut recte, inquiunt, imperat pater aut perperam.

[7] Si recte imperat, non quia imperat parendum, sed quoniam id fieri ius est; si perperam, nequaquam scilicet faciendum quod fieri non oportet.

[8] Deinde ita concludunt: Numquam igitur est patri parendum quae imperat.

[9] Set neque istam sententiam probari accepimus—argutiola quippe haec, sicuti mox

[10] ostendemus, frivola et inanis est—neque autem illa quam primo in loco diximus vera et proba videri potest, omnia esse quae pater iusserit parendum. Quid enim?

[11] si proditionem patriae, si matris necem, si alia quaedam imperabit ²¹ turpia aut impia?

[12] Media igitur sententia optima atque tutissima visa est, quaedam esse parendum, quaedam non obsequendum.

[13] Sed ea tamen, quae obsequi non oportet, leniter et verecunde ac sine detestatione nimia sineque obprobratione acerba reprehensionis declinanda sensim et relinquenda esse dicunt quam respuenda.

[14] Conclusio vero illa qua colligitur, sicuti supra dictum est, nihil patri parendum, inperfecta est refutarique ac dilui sic potest:

[15] Omnia, quae in rebus humanis fiunt, ita ut docti censuerunt, aut honesta sunt aut turpia.

[16] Quae sua vi recta aut honesta sunt, ut fidem colere, patriam defendere, ut amicos diligere, ea fieri oportet, sive imperet pater sive non imperet;

[17] sed quae his contraria quaeque turpia, omnino iniqua sunt, ea ne si imperet quidem.

[18] Quae vero in medio sunt et a Graecis tum, μέσα tum ἀδιάφορα appellantur, ut in militiam ire, rus colere, honores capessere, causas defendere, uxorem ducere, ut iussum proficisci, ut accersitum venire, quoniam et haec et his similia per sese ipsa neque honesta sunt neque turpia, sed proinde ut a nobis aguntur, ita ipsis actionibus aut probanda fiunt aut reprehendenda: propterea in eiusmodi omnium rerum generibus patri parendum esse censent, veluti si uxorem ducere imperet aut causas pro reis dicere.

[19] Quod enim utrumque in genere ipso per sese neque honestum neque turpe est, idcirco, si pater iubeat, obsequendum est.

[20] Sed enim si imperet uxorem ducere infamem, propudiosam, criminosam, aut pro reo Catilina aliquo aut Tubulo aut P. Clodio causam dicere, non scilicet parendum, quoniam accedente aliquo turpitudinis numero desinunt esse per sese haec media atque indifferentia.

[21] Non ergo integra est propositio dicentium aut honesta sunt, quae imperat pater, aut turpia, neque ὑγιὲς et νόμιμον διεζευγμένον videri potest. Deest enim diiunctioni isti tertium: aut neque honesta sunt neque turpia. Quod si additur, non potest ita concludi: numquam est igitur patri parendum.

VIII

Argument

Quod parum aequa reprehensio Epicuri a Plutarcho facta ²² sit in synlogismi disciplina.

[1] Plutarchus PLUTARCIIUS, secundo librorum quos De Homero composuit, inperfecte atque praepostere atque inscite synlogismo esse usum Epicurum dicit verbaque ipsa Epicuri ponit: Ὁ θάνατος οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶ· τὸ γὰρ διαλυθὲν²³ ἡμᾶς.

[2] Nam praetermisit, inquit, quod in prima parte sumere debuit, τὸν θάνατον εἶναι ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος διάλυσιν, tum deinde eodem ipso,

[3] quod omiserat, quasi posito concessoque ad confirmandum aliud utitur.

[4] Progredi autem hic, inquit, synlogismus, nisi illo prius posito, non potest.

[5] Vere hoc quidem Plutarchus de forma atque ordine synlogismi scripsit. Nam si, ut ²⁴ in disciplinis traditur, ita colligere et ratiocinari velis, sic dici oportet: Ὁ θάνατος ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος διάλυσις· τὸ δὲ διαλυθὲν ἀναισθητεῖ· τὸ δὲ ἀναισθητοῦ οὑδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς.

[6] Sed Epicurus, cuiusmodi homost, non inscitia

[7] videtur partem istam synlogismi praetermisisse, neque id ei negotium fuit, synlogismum tamquam in scholis philosophorum cum suis numeris omnibus et cum suis finibus dicere, sed profecto, quia separatio animi et corporis in morte evidens est, non est ratus necessariam esse eius admonitionem,

[8] quod omnibus prosus erat ²⁵ obvium. Sicuti etiam, quod coniunctionem synlogismi non in fine posuit, set in principio; nam id quoque non inperite factum, quis non videt?

[9] Aput Platonem quoque multis in locis reperias synlogismos, repudiate conversoque ordine isto qui in docendo traditur, cum eleganti quadam reprehensionis contemptione positos esse.

IX

Argument

Quod idem Plutarchus evidenti calumnia verbum ab Epicuro dictum insectatus sit.

[1] IN eodem libro idem Plutarchus eundem Epicurum reprehendit, quod verbo usus sit parum proprio et alienae significationis.

[2] Ita enim scripsit Epicurus: Ὅρος τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν ἡδονῶν ἡ παντὸς τοῦ ἀλγοῦντος ὑπεξαίρεσις. Non, inquit, παντὸς τοῦ ἀλγοῦντος, sed παντὸς τοῦ ἀλγεινοῦ dicere oportuit;

[3] detractio enim significandi est doloris, non, inquit, dolentis.

[4] Nimis minute ac prope etiam subfrigide Plutarchus

[5] in Epicuro accusando λεξιθηρεῖ Has enim curas vocum verborumque verborurmque elegantias non modo non sectatur Epicurus, sed etiam insectatur.

X

Argument

Quid sint favisae Capitolinae; et quid super eo verbo M. Varro Servio Sulpicio quaerenti rescripserit.

[1] SERVIUS SULPICIUS, iuris iunis civilis auctor, vir bene litteratus, scripsit ad M. Varronem rogavitque ut rescriberet quid significaret verbum quod in censoriis libris scriptum esset. Id erat verbum favisae Capitolinae.

[2] Varro rescripsit in memoria memorial sibi esse quod Q. Catulus curator restituendi Capitolii dixisset, voluisse se aream Capitolinam deprimere, ut pluribus gradibus in aedem ²⁶ conscenderetur suggestusque pro fastigii magnitudine altior fieret, sed facere id non quisse, quoniam favisae impedissent.

[3] Id esse cellas quasdam et cisternas quae in area sub terra essent, ubi reponi solerent signa vetera quae ex eo templo collapsa essent, et alia ²⁷ quaedam religiosa e donis consecratis. Ac deinde eadem epistula negat quidem se in litteris invenisse cur favisae dictae sint, sed Q. Valerium Soranum solitum dicere ait, quos thesauros Graeco nomine appellaremus, priscos Latinos flavisas dixisse, quod in eos non rude aes argentumque, sed flata signataque pecunia conderetur.

[4] Coniectare igitur se detractam esse ex eo verbo secundam litteram et favisas esse dictas cellas quasdam et specus, quibus aeditui Capitolii uterentur ad custodiendas res veteres religiosas.

XI

Argument

De Sicinio Dentato egregio bellatore multa memoratu digna.

[1] L. SICINIUM DENTATUM, qui tribunus plebi fuit Sp. Tarpeio, A. Aternio consulibus, scriptum est in libris annalibus plus quam credi debeat defeat strenuum bellatorem fuisse nomenque ei factum ob ingentem fortitudinem appellatumque esse Achillem Romanum.

[2] Is pugnasse in hostem dicitur centum et viginti proeliis, cicatricem aversam nullam, adversas quinque et quadraginta tulisse, coronis donatus esse aureis octo, obsidionali una, muralibus tribus, civicis quattuordecim, torquibus tribus et octoginta, armillis plus centum sexaginta, hastis duodeviginti; phaleris item donatus est quinquies viciesque;

[3] spolia ²⁸ militaria habuit multiiuga,

[4] in his provocatoria pleraque; triumphavit cum imperatoribus suis triumphos novem.

XII

Argument

Considerata perpensaque lex quaedam Solonis, species habens primorem priniorem iniquae iniustaeque legis, sed ad usum et emolumentum salubritatis penitus reperta.

[1] IN legibus Solonis illis antiquissimis quae Athenis axibus ligneis incisae sunt quasque latas ab eo Athenienses, ut sempiternae manerent, poenis et religionibus sanxerunt, legem esse Aristoteles refert scriptam ad hanc sententiam: Si ob discordiam dissensionemque seditio atque discessio populi in duas partes fiet et ob eam earn causam irritatis animis utrimque arma capientur pugnabiturque, tum qui in eo tempore in eoque casu civilis discordiae non alterutrae parti sese adiunxerit, sed solitarius separatusque a communi malo civitatis secesserit, is domo donio, patria fortunisque omnibus careto, exul extorrisque esto.

[2] Cum hanc legem Solonis, singulari sapientia praediti, legissemus, tenuit nos gravis quaedam in principio admiratio, requirens quam ob causam dignos esse poena existimaverit, qui se procul a seditione et civili pugna removissent.

[3] Tum, qui penitus atque alte usum ac sententiam legis introspexerant, non ad augendam, sed ad desinendam seditionem legem hanc hanec esse dicebant.

[4] Et res prorsum se sic habent. Nam si boni omnes, qui in principio coercendae seditioni impares fuerint, populum percitum et amentem non deseruerint, ad alterutram partem dividi ²⁹ sese adiunxerint, tum eveniet, ut cum socii partis seorsum utriusque fuerint eaeque partes ab his, ut maioris auctoritatis viris, temperari ac regi coeperint, concordia per eos potissimum restitui conciliarique possit, dum et suos, apud quos sunt, regunt atque mitificant et aduersarios adversaries sanatos magis cupiunt quam perditos.

[5] Hoc idem Favorinus philosophus inter fratres quoque aut amicos dissidentis oportere fieri censebat, ut qui in medio sunt utriusque partis benivoli, si in concordia adnitenda parum auctoritatis quasi ambigui amici habuerint, tum alteri in alteram partem discedant ac per id meritum viam sibi ad utriusque concordiam muniant.

[6] Nunc autem plerique, inquit, partis utriusque amici, quasi probe faciant, duos litigantes destituunt et relinquunt deduntque eos advocatis malivolis aut avaris, qui lites animasque eorum inflamment aut odii studio aut lucri.

XIII

Argument

Liberos in multitudinis numero etiam unum filium filiamve veteres dixisse.

[1] ANTIQUI oratores historiaeque aut carminum scriptores etiam unum filium filiamve liberos multitudinis numero appellarunt.

[2] Idque nos, cum in complurium veterum libris scriptum aliquotiens aduerterimus adverterimnus, nunc quoque in libro Sempronii Asellionis Rerum Gestarum quinto ita esse positum offendimus.

[3] Is Asellio sub P. Scipione Africano tribunus militum ad Numantiam fuit resque eas quibus gerendis ipse interfuit conscripsit.

[4] Eius verba de Tiberio Graccho, tribuno pl., quo in tempore interfectus in Capitolio est, haec sunt: Nam Gracchus domo cum proficiscebatur, numquam minus terna aut quaterna milia hominum sequebantur.

[5] Atque inde infra de eodem Graccho ita scripsit: Orare coepit id quidem, ut se defenderent liberosque suos, eumque ³⁰ quem virile secus tum ³¹ in eo tempore habebat produci iussit populoque commendavit prope flens.

XIV

Argument

Quod M. Cato, in libro qui inscriptus est Contra Tiberium Exulem, stitisses vadimonium per i litteram dicit, non stetisses ; eiusque verbi ratio reddita.

[1] IN libro vetere M. Catonis, qui inscribitur Contra Tiberium Tiberiunm Exulem, scriptum sic ³² erat: Quid si vadimonium capite obvoluto stitisses?

[2] Recte quidem ille stitisses scripsit; sed falsa et audaci emendatione editores ³³ e scripto per ³⁴ libros stetisses fecerunt, tamquam stitisses vanum et nihili verbum esset.

[3] Quin potius ipsi nequam et nihili sunt, qui ignorant stitisses dictum a Catone, quoniam sisteretur vadimonium, non staretur.

XV

Argument

Quod antiquitus aetati senectae potissimum habiti sint ampli honores; et cur postea ad maritos et ad patres idem isti honores delati sint; atque ibi de capite quaedam legis Iuliae septimo.

[1] APUD antiquissimos Romanorum neque generi neque pecuniae praestantior honos tribui quam aetati solitus, maioresque natu a minoribus colebantur ad deum prope et parentum vicem atque omni in loco inque omni specie honoris priores potioresque habiti.

[2] A convivio quoque, ut scriptum in antiquitatibus est, seniores a iunioribus domum deducebantur, eumque morem accepisse Romanos a Lacedaemoniis traditum est, apud quos Lycurgi legibus maior omnium rerum honos aetati maiori habebatur.

[3] Sed postquam suboles civitati necessaria visa est et ad prolem populi frequentandam praemiis atque invitamentis usus fuit, tum antelati quibusdam in rebus qui uxorem quique liberos haberent senioribus neque liberos neque uxores habentibus.

[4] Sicuti kapite VII. legis Iuliae luliae priori ex consulibus fasces sumendi potestas fit, non qui pluris annos natus est, sed qui pluris liberos quam collega aut in sua potestate habet aut bello amisit.

[5] Sed si par utrique numerus liberorum est, maritus aut qui in numero maritorum est praefertur;

[6] si vero ambo et mariti et patres totidem liberorum sunt, tum ille pristinus honos instauratur et qui maior natu est prior fasces sumit.

[7] Super his autem, qui aut caelibes ambo sunt et parem numerum filiorum habent aut mariti sunt et liberos non habent, nihil scriptum in ea lege de ³⁵ aetate est.

[8] Solitos tamen audio, qui lege potiores essent fasces primi mensis collegis concedere aut longe aetate prioribus aut nobilioribus multo aut secundum consulatum ineuntibus.

XVI

Argument

Quod Caesellius Vindex a Sulpicio Apollinari reprehensus est in sensus Vergiliani enarratione.

[1] Vergilii versus sunt e libro sexto:

Ille, vides, pura iuvenis qui nititur hasta,

Proxima sorte tenet lucis loca. Primus ad auras

Aetherias Italo commixtus sanguine surget,

Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles,

Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunx

Educet silvis regem regumque parentem,

Unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba,

[2] Videbantur haec nequaquam convenire:

tua postuma proles,

et:

Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunx

Educet silvis.

[3] Nam si hic Silvius, ita ut in omnium ferme annalium monumentis scriptum est, post mortem Aeneae ³⁶ natus est ob eamque causam praenomen ei Postumo fuit, qua ratione subiectum est:

Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunx

Educet silvis?

[4] Haec enim verba significare videri possunt, Aenea vivo ac iam sene, natum ei Silvium et educatum.

[5] Itaque hanc sententiam esse verborum istorum Caesellius opinatus in Commentario Lectionum Antiquarum: Postuma, inquit, proles non eum significat qui patre mortuo, sed qui postremo loco natus est, sicuti Silvius, qui Aenea iam sene tardo seroque partu est editus.

[6] Sed huius historiae auctorem idoneum nullum nominat;

[7] Silvium autem post Aeneae mortem, sicuti diximus, natum esse multi tradiderunt.

[8] Idcirco Apollinaris Sulpicius, inter cetera in quis Caesellium reprehendit repreliendit, hoc quoque eius quasi erratum animadvertit errorisque istius hanc esse causam dixit, quod scriptum ita sit quem tibi longaevo. Longaevo³⁷ inquit, non seni significat, hoc enim ³⁸ est contra historiae fidem, sed in longum iam aevum et perpetuum recepto immortalique facto.

[9] Anchises enim, qui haec ad filium dicit, sciebat eum, cum hominum vita discessisset, immortalem atque indigetem futurum et longo perpetuoque aevo potiturum.

[10] Hoc sane Apollinaris argute. Sed aliud tamen est longum aevum, aliud perpetuum, neque dii longaevi appellantur, sed inmortales.

XVII

Argument

Cuiusmodi Cuiusnlodi esse naturam naturaim quarundam praepositionum M. Cicero animadverterit; disceptatumque ibi super eo ipso quod Cicero observaverat.

[1] OBSERVATE curioseque animadvertit M. Tullius in et con praepositiones verbis aut vocabulis praepositas tunc produci atque protendi, cum litterae sequerentur quae primae sunt in sapiente atque felice, in alis autem omnibus correpte pronuntiari.

[2] Verba Ciceronis haec sunt: Quid vero hoc elegantius, quod non fit natura, sed quodam instituto? Indoctus dicimus brevi prima littera, insanu. producta, immanis³⁹ brevi, infelix longa et, ne multis, quibus in verbis hae primae litterae sunt quae in sapiente atque felice, producte dicuntur, in ceteris omnibus breviter; itemque conposuit, consuevit, concrepuit, confecit. Consule veritatem, reprehendet; refer ad auris, probabunt; quaere cur ita sit? dicent iuvare. ⁴⁰ Voluptati autem aurium morigerari debet oratio.

[3] Manifesta quidem ratio suavitatis est in his vocibus de quibus Cicero locutus est. Sed quid dicemus de praepositione pro, quae, cum produci et corripi soleat, observationem hanc tamen M. Tullii aspernata est?

[4] Non enim semper producitur, cum sequitur ea littera quae prima est in verbo fecit, quam Cicero hanc habere vim significat ut propter eam rem in et con praepositiones producantur.

[5] Nam proficisci et profugere et profundere et profanum et profestum profesturn correpte dicimus, proferre autem et profligare profligatee et proficere producte.

[6] Cur igitur ea littera, quam Cicero productionis causam facere observavit, non in omnibus consimilibus eandem vim aut rationis aut suavitatis tenet, sed aliam vocem produci facit, aliam corripi?

Neque vero con particula tum solum producitur, cum ea littera, de qua Cicero dixit, insequitur. Nam et Cato et Sallustius:

[7] faenoribus, inquiunt, copertus est.

[8] Praeterea coligatus et conexus producte dicitur.

[9] Sed tamen videri potest in his quae posui, ob eam earn causam particula haec produci, quoniam eliditur ex ea n littera; nam detrimentum litterae productione syllabae compensatur.

[10] Quod quidem etiam in eo servatur, quod est cogo ;

[11] neque repugnat quod coegi correpte dicimus; non enim salva id ἀναλογίᾳ dicitur a verbo, quod est cogo.

XVIII

Argument

Quod Phaedon Socraticus servus fuit; quodque item alii ⁴¹ complusculi servitutem servierunt.

[1] PHAEDON Elidensis ex cohorte illa Socratica fuit Socratique et Platoni per fuit familiaris.

[2] Eius nomini Plato librum illum divinum de immortalitate animae dedit.

[3] Is Phaedon servus fuit forma atque ingenio liberali et, ut quidam scripserunt, a lenone domino puer ad merendum coactus.

[4] Eum Cebes Socraticus hortante Socrate emisse dicitur habuisseque in philosophiae disciplinis.

[5] Atque is postea philosophus inlustris fuit sermonesque eius de Socrate admodum elegantes leguntur.

[6] Alii quoque non pauci servi fuerunt qui post philosophi clari extiterunt.

[7] Ex quibus ille Menippus fuit cuius libros M. Varro in saturis satiris aemulatus est, quas alii Cynicas, ipse appellat Menippeas.

[8] Sed et Theophrasti Peripatetici servus Pompylus et Zenonis Stoici servus, qui Persaeus vocatus est, et Epicuri, cui Mys nomen fuit, philosophi non incelebres vixerunt.

[9] Diogenes etiam Cynicus servitutem servivit. Sed is ex libertate in servitutem venum ierat. Quem cum emere vellet Ξενιάδης Κορίνθιος et ecquid artificii novisset esset ⁴² percontatus: Novi, inquit Diogenes, hominibus liberis imperare.

[10] Tum Ξενιάδης responsum eius demiratus emit et manu emisit filiosque suos ei tradens: Accipe, inquit, liberos meos quibus imperes.

De Epicteto autem philosopho nobili, quod is quoque servus fuit recentior est memoria quam ut scribi quasi oblitteratum debuerit.

XIX

Argument

Rescire verbum quid sit; et quam habeat veram atque propriam significationem.

[1] VERBUM rescire observavimus vim habere propriam quandam, non ex communi significatione ceterorum verborum quibus eadem praepositio imponitur; neque ut rescribere, relegere, restituere substituere dicimus, itidem dicimus rescire ;

[2] nam qui factum aliquod occultius aut inopinatum insperatumque cognoscit, is dicitur proprie rescire.

[3] Cur autem in hoc uno verbo re particula huius sententiae vim habeat, equidem ⁴³ adhuc quaero.

[4] Aliter enim dictum esse rescivi aut rescire apud eos qui diligenter locuti sunt, nondum invenimus quam super is rebus quae aut consulto consilio latuerint aut contra spem opinionemve usu venerint;

[5] quamquam ipsum scire de omnibus communiter rebus dicatur vel adversis vel prosperis vel insperatis vel expectatis. Naevius in Triphallo ita scripsit:

Sive ⁴⁴ únquam quicquam filium rescívero,

Argéntum amoris caúsa sumpse mútuum,

Extémplo illo te dúcam ubi non déspuas.

[7] Claudius Quadrigarius in primo Annali: Ea Lucani ubi resciverunt, sibi per fallacias verba data esse.

[8] Item Quadrigarius in eodem libro in re tristi et inopinata verbo isto ita utitur: Id ubi rescierunt propinqui obsidum, quos Pontio traditos supra demonstravimus, eorum parentes cum cunl propinquis capillo passo in viam provolarunt.

[9] M. Cato in quarto originum Originun: Deinde dictator iubet postridie magistrum equitum arcessi: mittam te, si vis, cum equitibus. Sero est, inquit magister equitum, iam rescivere.

XX

Argument

Quae volgo dicuntur vivaria, id vocabulum veteres non dixisse; et quid pro eo P. Scipio in oratione ad populum, quid postea M. Varro in libris lilbris De Re Rustica dixerit.

[1] VIVARIA, quae nunc dicuntur saepta quaedam loca, in quibus ferae vivae pascuntur, M. Varro in libro De Re Rustica III. dicit leporaria appellari. Verba Varronis subieci:

[2] Villaticae pastionis genera sunt tria, ornithones, leporaria, piscinae. ⁴⁵ Nunc ornithonas dico omnium alitum quae intra parietes villae village solent pasci. Leporaria te accipere volo, non ea quae tritavi nostri dicebant, ubi soli ⁴⁶ lepores sint, sed omnia saepta adficta ⁴⁷ villae quae sunt et habent inclusa animalia quae pascuntur.

[3] Is item infra eodem in libro ita scribit: Cum emisti fundum Tusculanum a M. Pisone, in leporario apri multi fuere.

[4] Vivaria autem quae nunc vulgus dicit—quos παραδείσους Graeci appellant, quae leporaria Varro dicit—haut usquam memini apud vetustiores scriptum.

[5] Sed quod apud Scipionem, omnium aetatis suae purissime locutum, legimus legimuns roboraria, aliquot Romae doctos doctorss viros dicere audivi id significare, quod nos vivaria dicimus, appellataque applellataque esse a tabulis tabulia roboreis, quibus saepta essent; quod genus saeptorum saeptorun vidimus in Italia locis plerisque.

[6] Verba ex oration eius Contra Claudium Asellum quinta haec hace sunt: Ubi agros optime cultos atque villas expolitissimas vidisset, in his regionibus excelsissimo loco grumam ⁴⁸ statuere aiebat; inde corrigere viam, aliis per vineas medias, aliis per roborarium roborariuni atque piscinam, aliis per villam villaim.

[7] Lacus vero aut stagna quae ⁴⁹ piscibus vivis coercentur clausa, suo atque proprio nomine piscinas nominaverunt.

[8] Apiaria quoque vulgus dicit loca in quibus siti sunt alvei apum; sed neminem ferme qui incorrupte locuti sunt aut scripsisse memini aut dixisse.

[9] M. autem Varro in libro De Re Rustica tertio: Μελις- σῶνας, inquit, ita facere oportet, quae quidam mellaria appellant. Sed hoc verbum quo Varro usus est Graecum est; nam μελισσῶνες ita dicuntur, ut ἀμπελῶνες et δαφνῶνες.

XXI

Argument

Super eo sidere quod Graeci ἅμαξαν, nos septentriones vocamus; ac de utriusque vocabuli vocaluli ratione et origine.

[1] AB Aegina in Piraeum complusculi earundem disciplinarum sectatores Graeci Romanique homines eadem in navi transmittebamus.

[2] Nox fuit et clemens mare et anni aestas caelumque liquide serenum. Sedebamus ergo in puppi simul universi et lucentia sidera considerabamus.

[3] Tum, qui eodem in numero Graecas res eruditi erant, quid ἅμαξα esset, quid βοώτης et quaenam maior ⁵⁰ et quae minor, cur ita appellata et quam in partem procedentis noctis spatio moveretur et quamobrem Homerus solam eam non occidere dicat, cum et quaedam alia non occidant ⁵¹ astra, ⁵² scite ista omnia ac perite disserebant.

[4] Hic ego ad nostros iuvenes convertor et quin,⁵³ inquam, vos opici dicitis mihi quare quod ἅμαξαν Graeci vocant nos septentriones vocamus?

[5] Non enimn satis est quod septem stellas videmus, sed quid hoc totum quod septentriones dicimus significet scire, inquam, id prolixius volo.

[6] Tum quispiam ex his, qui se ad litteras memoriasque veteres dediderat: Vulgus, inquit, grammaticorum septentriones a solo numero stellarum dictum putat.

[7] Triones enim per sese nihil significare aiunt, sed vocabuli esse supplementum; sicut in eo, quod quinquatrus dicamus, quod quinque ab Idibus dierum numerus sit, atrus nihil.

[8] Sed ego quidem cum L. Aelio et M. Varrone sentio, qui triones rustico cetera ⁵⁴ vocabulo boves appellatos scribunt, quasi quosdam terriones, hoc est arandae colendaeque colendacque terrae idoneos.

[9] Itaque hoc sidus, quod a figura posituraque ipsa, quia simile plaustri videtur, antiqui Graecorum ἕμαξαν dixerunt, nostri quoque veteres a bubus iunctis septentriones appellarunt alppellarunt, id est septem stellas, ⁵⁵ ex quibus quasi iuncti triones figurantur.

[10] Praeter hanc, inquit, opinionem id quoque Varro addit, dubitare sese an propterea magis hae septem stellae triones appellatae sint, quia ita sunt sitae ut ternae stellae proximae quaeque inter sese faciant trigona, id est triquetras figuras.

[11] Ex his duabus rationibus quas ille dixit, quod posterius est subtilius elegantiusque est ⁵⁶ visum. Intuentibus enim nobis in illud, ita propemodum res erat, ut forma esse ⁵⁷ triquetra viderentur.

XXII

Argument

De vento Iapyge deque aliorum ventorum vocabulis regionibusque accepta ex Favorini sermonibus.

[1] APUD mensam Favorini in convivio familiari familari legi solitum erat aut vetus carmen melici poetae aut historia partim Graecae linguae, alias Latinae.

[2] legebatur Legebabur ergo ibi tunc in carmine Latino Iapyx ventus quaesitumque est quis hic ventus et quibus ex locis spiraret et quae tam tarn infrequentis vocabuli ratio esset; atque etiam petebamus, ut super ceterorum nominibus regionibusque docere nos ipse vellet, quia vulgo neque de appellationibus eorum neque de finibus neque de numero conveniret.

[3] Tum Turn Favorinus ita fabulatus est: Satis, inquit, notum est, limites regionesque esse caeli quattuor: exortum, occasum, meridiem, septentriones.

[4] Exortus et occasus mobilia et varia sunt, meridies septentrionesque statu perpetuo stant et manent.

[5] Oritur enim sol non indidem semper, sed aut aequinoctialis oriens dicitur, cum in circulo currit qui appellatur ἰσημερινός, aut solstitialis, quae sunt θεριναὶ τροπαί, aut brumalis, quae sunt χειμεριναὶ τροπαί.

[6] Item cadit sol non in eundem semper locum. Fit enim similiter occasus eius aut aequinoctialis aut solstitialis aut brumalis.

[7] Qui ventus igitur ab oriente verno, id est aequinoctiali, venit, nominatur eurus, ficto vocabulo, ut isti ἐτυμολογικοὶ aiunt, ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς ἠοῦς ῥέων.

[8] Is alio quoque a Graecis nomine ἀφηλιώτης, Romanis nauticis subsolanus cognominatur.

[9] Sed qui ab aestiva et solstitiali orientis meta venit, Latine aquilo, βορέας Graece dicitur, eumque propterea quidam dicunt ab Homero αἰθρηγενέτην appellatum; boream autem putant dictum ἀπὸ τῆς βοῆς, quoniam sit violenti flatus et sonori.

[10] Tertius ventus, qui ab oriente hiberno spirat— volturnum Romani vocant—,eum plerique Graeci mixto nomine nominee, quod inter notum et eurum sit, εὐρόνοτον appellant. Hi sunt igitur tres venti orientales:

[11] aquilo, volturnus, eurus, quorum medius eurus est.

[12] His oppositi et contrarii sunt alii tres occidui: caurus, quem solent Graeci appellare ⁵⁸ ἀργεστήν: is adversus aquilonem aquilonein flat; item alter favonius, qui Graece ζέφυρος vocatur: is adversus eurum flat; tertius Africus, qui Graece λίψ: is ⁵⁹ adversus volturnum facit.

[13] Hae duae regiones caeli orientis occidentisque inter sese adversae sex habere ventos videntur.

[14] Meridies autem, quoniam certo atque fixo limite est, unum meridialem ventum habet: is Latine auster, Graece νότος nominatur, quoniam est nebulosus atque umectus; νοτίς enim Graece umor nominatur.

[15] Septentriones autem habent ob eandem causam unum. Is obiectus derectusque in austrum, Latine septentrionarius, Graece ἀπαρκτίας appellatus.

[16] Ex his octo ventis alii quattuor ventos detrahunt atque id facere se dicunt Homero auctore, qui solos quattuor ventos noverit: eurum, austrum,

[17] aquilonem, favonium, a quattuor caeli partibus, quas quasi primas nominavimus, oriente scilicet atque occidente latioribus atque simplicibus, non tripertitis.

[18] Partim autem sunt qui pro octo duodecim faciant, tertios quattuor in media loca inserentes circum meridiem et septentriones eadem ratione qua secundi quattuor intersiti sunt inter primores duos apud orientem occidentemque occidentenique.

[19] Sunt porro alia quaedem nomina quasi peculiarium peculiarum ventorum, quae incolae in suis quisque regionibus fecerunt aut ex locorum vocabulis in quibus colunt, aut ⁶⁰ ex alia qua causa quae ad faciendum vocabulum acciderat.

[20] Nostri namque Galli venture ex sua terra flantem, quem saevissimum patiuntur, circium appellant a turbine, opinor, eius ac vertigine;

[21] ex Ἰαπυγίας ipsius ore proficiscentem, quasi sinibus, Apuli eodem quo ipsi sunt nomine iapygem lapygem dicunt. Eum esse propemodum caurum existimo;

[22] nam et est occidentalis et videtur exadversum eurum flare.

[23] Itaque Vergilius Cleopatram e navali proelio in Aegyptum fugientem vento iapyge ferri ait, ecum quoque Apulum eodem quo ventum vocabulo iapygem appellavit.

[24] Est etiam ventus nomine caecias. quem Aristoteles Aristotoles ita flare dicit, ut nubes non procul propellat, sed ut ad sese vocet, ex quo versum istum istun proverbialem proverbialer factum ait:

Ἕλκων ἐφʼ αὑτὸν ὥστε καικίας νέφος.

[25] Praeter hos autem, quos dixi, sunt alii plurifariam venti commenticii et suae quisque regionis indigenae, ut est Horatianus quoque ille atabulus, quos ipsos quoque exsecuturus fui; addidissemque eos qui etesiae et prodromi appellitantur, qui certo tempore anni, cum canis oritur, ex alia atque alia parte caeli spirant; rationesque omnium vocabulorum, quoniam plus paulo adbibi, effutissem, nisi multa iam prosus omnibus vobis reticentibus verba fecissem, quasi fieret a me ἀκρόασις ἐπιδεικτική.

[26] In convivio autem frequenti loqui solum unum neque honestum est, inquit, neque commodum.

[27] Haec nobis Favorinus in eo, quod dixi, tempore apud mensam suam summa cum elegantia verborum totiusque sermonis comitate atque gratia denarravit.

[28] Sed, quod ait ventum qui ex terra Gallia flaret circium appellari, M. Cato in libris Originum eum ventum cercium dicit, non circium.

[29] Nam cum de Hispanis scriberet, qui citra Hiberum colunt, verba haec posuit: Set in his regionibus ferrareae, argentifodinae pulcherrimae pulcherriinae, mons ex sale mero magnus; quantum demas,tantum adcrescit aderescit. Ventus cercius, cum loquare, buccam implet, armatum hominem, plaustrum oneratum percellit.

[30] Quod supra autem dixi, ἐτησίας ex alia atque alia caeli parte flare, haut scio an secutus opinionem multorum temere dixerim.

[31] P. enim Nigidii, in secundo libroruin quos De Vento composuit coinposuit, verba haec sunt: Et ἐτησίαι et austri anniversarii secundo sole flant. Considerandum igitur est, quid sit secundo sole.

XXIII

Argument

Consultatio diiudicatioque locorum facta ex comoedia Menandri et Caecilii, quae Plocium inscripta est.

[1] Comoedias lectitamus nostrorum poetarum sumptas ac versas de Graecis Menandro aut Posidippo aut Apollodoro aut Alexide et quibusdam item aliis comicis.

[2] Neque, cum legimus eas, nimium sane displicent, quin lepide quoque et venuste scriptae videntur, ⁶¹ prorsus ut melius posse fieri nihil censeas.

[3] Set enim ⁶² si conferas et componas comnponas Graeca ipsa, unde illa venerunt, ac singula considerate atque apte iunctis et alternis lectionibus committas, oppido quam iacere atque sordere incipiunt quae Latina sunt; ita Graecarum, quas aemulari nequiverunt, facetiis atque luminibus obsolescunt.

[4] 4.5

[5] Nuper adeo usus huius rei nobis venit. Caecili Plocium legebamus; hautquaquam mihi et qui aderant displicebat.

[6] Libitum et Menandri quoque Plocium Plociitm legere, a quo istam comoediam verterat.

[7] Sed enim postquam in manus Menander venit, a principio statim stating, di boni, quantum stupere atque frigere quantumque mutare a Menandro Caecilius visus est! Diomedis hercle arma ⁶³ et Glauci non dispari magis pretio existimata sunt.

[8] Accesserat dehinc lectio ad eum locum, in quo maritus senex super uxore divite atque deformi querebatur, quod ancillam suam, non inscito puellam ministerio et facie haut inliberali, coactus erat venundare, suspectam uxori quasi paelicem. Nihil dicam ego, quantum differat; versus utrimque eximi iussi et aliis ad iudicium faciundum exponi.

[9] Menander sic:

Ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα νῦν ἡπίκληρος ἡ καλή

Μέλλει καθευδῄσειν. Κατείργασται μέγα

Καὶ περιβόητον ἔργον· ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας

Ἐξέβαλε τὴν λυποῦσαν, ἣν ἐβούλετο,

Ἵνʼ ἀποβλέπωσι πάντες εἰς τὸ Κρωβύλης

Πρόσωπον ᾖ τʼ εὔγνωστος οὖσʼ ἐμὴ γυνή

Δέσποινα. Καὶ τὴν ὄψιν, ἣν ἐκτήσατο,

Ὄνος ἐν πιθήκοις, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λεγόμενον

Ἔστιν. Σιωπᾶν βούλομαι τὴν νύκτα τήν

Πολλῶν κακῶν ἀρχηγόν. Οἴμοι Κροωβύλην

Λαβεῖν ἔμʼ, ἑκκαίδεκα τάλαντα προῖκα καί

⁶⁴

Τὴν ῥῖνʼ ἔχουσαν πηχέως· εἶτʼ ἐστὶ τό

Φρύαγμά πως ὑπόστατον; μὰ τὸν Δια

Τὸν Ὀλύμπιον καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν, οὐδαμῶς.

Παιδισκάριον θεραπευτικὸν δὲ καὶ λόγου

† Τάχιον ἀπαγέσθω δέτις ἄρʼ ἀντεεσαγάγοι.

[10] Caecilius autem sic:

Is démum miser est, qui aérumnam suám néscit Occultáre.

Foris:⁶⁵ íta me uxor forma ét factís facit, sí taceam, tamen íudicium.

Quae nísi dotem, ómnia quaé nolis habet; quí sapiet, de mé discet,

Qui quási ad hostis captús liber servío salva urbe atque árce.

Quaen⁶⁶ míhi quidquid placet éo privatum id me servatam velim?

Dum ego éius mortem inhio, égomet vivo mórtuus inter vivos.

Éa me clam se cúm mea ancilla aít consuetum, id me árguit;

Íta plorando, orándo, instando atque óbiurgando me óbtudit

Eam utí venderém; nunc credo ínter suás

Aequális et cognátas sermoném serit:

Quís vestrarúm fuit íntegra aetátula,

Quae hóc idem a viro

Ímpetrarit suo, quód ego anus modo

Efféci, paelice út meum privarém virum?

Haéc erunt concília hodie, dífferor sermóne miser.

[11] Praeter venustatem autem rerum atque verborum, in duobus libris nequaquam parem, in hoc equidem soleo animum attendere, quod quae Menander praeclare et apposite et facete scripsit, ea Caecilius, ne qua potuit quidem,

[12] conatus est enarrare, sed quasi minime probanda praetermisit et alia nescio quae mimica inculcavit et illud Menandri de vita hominum media sumptum, simplex et verum et delectabile, nescio quo pacto omisit. Idem enim ille maritus senex cum altero sene vicino colloquens et uxoris locupletis superbiam deprecans, haec ait:

Ἔχω δʼ ἐπίκληρον Λάμιαν· οὐκ εἴρηκά σοι

Τοῦτʼ; εἶτʼ ἄρʼ οὐχί; κυρίαν τῆς οἰκίας

Καὶ τῶν ἀγρῶν καὶ† πάντων ἀντʼ ἐκείνης

Ἔχομεν, Ἄπολλον, ὡς χαλεπῶν χαλεπώτατον·

Ἅπασι δʼ ἀργαλέα ᾽στίν, οὐκ ἐμοὶ μόνῳ,

Υἱῷ πολὺ μᾶλλον θυγατρι—Πρᾶγμʼ ἄμαχον λέγεις.

— Εὖ οἷδα.

[13] Caecilius vero hoc in loco ridiculus magis quam personae isti quam tractabat aptus atque conveniens videri maluit. Sic enim haec corrupit:

Sed túa morosane úxor, quaeso, est?-Quám rogas?

Qui tándem?—Taedet méntionis, quáe mihi,

Ubí domum adveni, adsedí, extemplo sávium

Dat iéiuna anima.—Níl peccat de sávio.

Ut dévomas vult, quod foris ioris potáveris.

[14] Quid de illo quoque loco, in utraque comoedia posito, existimari debeat defeat, manifestum est, cuius loci haec ferme sententia:

[15] Filia hominis pauperis in pervigilio vitiata est.

[16] Ea res clam patrem fuit, et habebatur pro virgine.

[17] Ex eo vitio gravida mensibus exactis parturit.

[18] Servus bonae frugi, cum pro foribus domus staret start et propinquare partum erili filiae atque omnino vitium esse oblatum ignoraret, gemitum et ploratum audit puellae in puerperio enitentis; timet, irascitur, suspicatur, miseretur, dolet.

[19] Hi omnes motus eius affectionesque animi in Graeca quidem comoedia mirabiliter acres et illustres, apud Caecilium autem pigra istaec omnia et a rerum dignitate atque gratia vacua sunt.

[20] Post, ubi idem servus percontando quod acciderat repperit, has apud Menandrum voces facit:

Ὢ τρὶς κακοδαίμων, ὅστις ὢν πένης γαμεῖ

Καὶ παιδοποιεῖ. Ὡς ἀλόγιστός ἐστʼ ἀνήρ,

Ὃς μήτε φυλακὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἔχει,

Μήτʼ, ἂν ἀτυχήσῃ εἰς τὰ κοινὰ τοῦ βίου,

Ἐπαμφιέσαι δύνατο τοῦτο χρήμασιν,

Ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀκαλύπτῳ καὶ ταλαιπώρῳ βίῳ

Χειμαζόμενος ζῇ, τῶν μὲν ἀνιαρῶν ἔχων

Τὸ μέρος ἁπάντων, τῶν δʼ ἀγαθῶν αὐδὲν μέρος.

Ὑπὲρ γὰρ ἑνὸς ἀλγῶν ἅπαντας νουθετῶ.

[21] Ad horum autem sinceritatem veritatemque verborum an adspiraverit Caecilius, consideremus. Versus sunt hi Caecili trunca quaedam ex Menandro dicentis et consarcinantis verba tragici tumoris:

Is demum infórtunatus ést homo,

Paupér qui educit ín egestatem liberos,

Cuí fortuna et rés ut est continuó patet.

Nam opulénto famam fácile occultat fáctio:

[22] Itaque, ut supra dixi, cum haec Caecilii seorsum lego, neutiquam videntur ingrata ignavaque, cum autem Graeca comparo et contendo, non puto Caecilium sequi debuisse quod assequi nequiret. ⁶⁷

XXIV

Argument

De vetere parsimonia; deque antiquis legibus sumptuariis.

[1] Parsimonia apud veteres Romanos et victus atque cenarum tenuitas non domestica solum observatione ac disciplina, sed publica public quoque animadversione legumque complurium sanctionibus custodita est.

[2] Legi adeo nuper in Capitonis Atei Coniectaneis senatus decretum vetus C. Fannio et M. Valerio Messalla consulibus consulilus factum, in quo iubentur principes civitatis, qui ludis Megalensibus antiquo ritu mutitarent, id est mutua inter sese dominia agitarent, iurare apud consules verbis conceptis, non amplius in singulas cenas sumptus se ⁶⁸ esse facturos quam centenos vicenosque aeris praeter olus et far et vinum, neque vino alienigena, sed patriae usuros, neque argenti in convivio plus pondo quam ⁶⁹ libras centum inlaturos.

[3] Sed post id senatus consultum lex Fannia lata est, quae ludis Romanis, item ludis plebeis et Saturnalibus et aliis quibusdam diebus, in singulos dies centenos aeris insumi concessit decemque aliis diebus in singulis mensibus tricenos, ceteris autem diebus omnibus denos.

[4] Hanc Lucilius poeta legem significat, cum dicit:

Fanni centussis misellus.

[5] In quo erraverunt quidam commentariorum in Lucilium scriptores, quod putaverunt Fannia lege perpetuos in omne dierum genus centenos aeris statutos.

[6] Centum enim aeris Fannius constituit, sicuti supra dixi, festis quibusdam diebus eosque ipsos dies nominavit, aliorum autem dierum omnium in singulos dies sumptum inclusit intra aeris alias tricenos, alias denos.

[7] Lex deinde Licinia rogata est, quae cum certis diebus, sicuti Fannia, centenos aeris inpendi permisisset, nuptiis ducenos indulsit ceterisque diebus statuit aeris tricenos; cum et carnis aridae ⁷⁰ et salsamenti certa pondera in singulos dies constituisset, quidquid esset natum ⁷¹ e terra, vite, arbore, promisce promise atque indefinite largita est.

[8] Huius legis Laevius poeta meminit in Erotopaegniis.

[9] Verba Laevii haec sunt, quibus significat haedum, qui ad epulas fuerat adlatus, dimissum cenamque ita ut lex Licinia sanxisset, pomis oleribusque instructam;

Lex Licinia (inquit) introducitur,

Lux liquida haedo redditur.

[10] Lucilius quoque legis istius meminit in his verbis:

Legem vitemus Licini.

[11] Postea L. Sulla dictator, cum, legibus istis situ atque senio oblitteratis, plerique in patrimoniis amplis elluarentur et familiam pecuniamque suam prandiorum conviviorumque ⁷² gurgitibus proluissent, legem ad populum tulit qua cautum est ut Kalendis, Idibus, Nonis diebusque ludorum et feriis quibusdam sollemnibus sestertios trecenos in cenam insumere ius potestasque esset, ceteris autem diebus omnibus non amplius tricenos.

[12] Praeter has leges Aemiliam quoque legem invenimus, qua lege non sumptus cenarum, sed ciborum genus et modus praefinitus est.

[13] Lex deinde Antia praeter sumptum aeris id etiam sanxit, ut qui magistratus esset magistratumve capturus esset, ne quo ad cenam, nisi ad certas personas, itaret.

[14] Postrema lex Iulia lulia ad populum pervenit Caesare Augusto imperante, qua profestis quidem diebus ducenti finiuntur, Kalendis, Idibus, Nonis et aliis quibusdam festis trecenti, nuptiis autem et repotiis sestertii mille.

[15] Esse etiam dicit Capito Ateius edictum—divine vero ⁷³ Augusti an Tiberii Caesaris non satis commemini—quo edicto per dierum varias sollemnitates a trecentis sestertiis adusque duo sestertia sumptus cenarum propagatus est, ut his saltem salter finibus luxuriae effervescentis aestus coerceretur.

XXV

Argument

Quid Graeci ἀναλογίαν quid contra ἀνωμαλίαν vocent.

[1] In Latino sermone, sicut in Graeco, alii ἀνα- λογίαν sequendam putaverunt, alii ἀνωμαλίαν.

[2] Ἀναλογία est similium similis declinatio, quam quidam Latine proportionem vocant.

[3] Ἀνωμαλία est inaequalitas declinationum, consuetudinem sequens.

[4] Duo autem Graeci grammatici illustres, Aristarchus et Crates, summa ope ille ἀναλογίαν, hic ἀνωμαλίαν defensitavit.

[5] M. Varronis liber ad Ciceronem De Lingua Latina octavus nullam esse observationem similium docet inque omnibus paene verbis consuetudinem dominari ostendit:

[6] Sicuti cum dicimus, inquit, lupus lupi, probus probi et lepus leporis, item paro paravi et lavo lavi, pungo pupugi, tundo tutudi et pingo pinxi.

[7] Cumque, inquit, a ceno et prandeo et poto, et cenatus sum et pransus sum et potus sum dicamus, a destringor tamen et extergeor et lavor, destrinxi et extersi et lavi dicimus.

[8] Item cum dicamus ab Osco, Tusco, Graeco, Osce, Tusce, Graece, a Gallo tamen et Mauro Gallice et Maurice dicimus; item a probus. probe, a⁷⁴ doctus docte, sed a⁷⁵ rarus non dicitur rare, sed alii raro dicunt, alii rarenter.

[9] Idem M. Varro ⁷⁶ in eodem libro: Sentior, inquit, nemo dicit et id per se nihil est, adsentior tamen fere omnes dicunt. Sisenna unus adsentio in senatu dicebat et eum postea multi secuti, neque tamen vincere consuetudinem potuerunt.

[10] Sed idem Varro in aliis libris multa pro ἀναλογίᾳ tuenda scribit.

[11] Sunt igitur ii tamquam loci quidam communes, contra ἀναλογίαν dicere et item rursum pro ἀναλογίᾳ.

XXVI

Argument

Sermones ⁷⁷ M. Frontonis et Favorini philosophi de generibus colorum vocabulisque eorum eorurn Graecis et Latinis; atque atquc inibi color spadix cuiusmodi sit.

[1] Favorinus philosophus cum ad M. Frontonem consularem pedibus aegrum visum iret, voluit me quoque ad eum secum ire.

[2] Ac deinde, cum ibi aput Frontonem plerisque viris doctis praesentibus sermones de coloribus vocabulisque eorum agitarentur, quod multiplex colorum facies, appellationes autem incertae et exiguae forent,

[3] plura, inquit sunt Favorinus, in sensibus oculorum quam in verbis vocibusque colorum discrimina.

[4] Nam, ut alias eorum inconcinnitates ⁷⁸ omittamus, simplices isti rufus et viridis colores singula quidem vocabula, multas autem species differentis habent.

[5] Atque eam earn vocum inopiam in lingua magis Latina video quam in Graeca. Quippe qui rufus color a rubore quidem appellatus est, sed cum aliter rubeat ignis, aliter sanguis, aliter ostrum, aliter crocum, aliter aurum, ⁷⁹ has singulas rufi varietates Latina oratio singulis propriisque vocabulis non demonstrat omniaque ista significat una ruboris appellatione, nisi ⁸⁰ cum ex ipsis rebus vocabula colorum mutuatur et igneum aliquid dicit et flammeum et sanguineum et croceum et ostrinum et aureum.

[6] Russus⁸¹ enim color et ruber nimirum ⁸² a vocabulo rufi dicuntur neque proprietates eius omnes declarant, ξανθός autem et ἐρυθρός et πυρρός et κιρρός et φοῖνιξ habere quasdam distantias coloris rufi videntur, vel augentes eum vel remittentes vel mixta quadam specie temperantes.

[7] Tum Fronto ad Favorinum, Non infitias, inquit, imus quin lingua Graeca, quam tu videre elegisse, prolixior fusiorque sit quam nostra; sed in his tamen coloribus quibus modo dixisti denominandis, non proinde inopes sumus ut tibi videmur.

[8] Non enim haec sunt sola vocabula rufum colorem demonstrantia, quae tu modo dixisti, russus et ruber, sed alia quoque habemus plura quam quae dicta abs te Graeca sunt; fulvus enim et flavus et rubidus et poeniceus et rutilus et luteus et spadix appellationes sunt rufi coloris, aut acuentes eum, quasi incendentes, aut cum colore viridi miscentes aut nigro infuscantes aut virenti sensim albo illuminantes.

[9] Nam poeniceus, quem tu Graece Graecc φοίνικα dixisti, noster est et rutilus et spadix, poenicei συνώνυμος, qui factus e Graeco ⁸³ noster est, exuberantiam splendoremque significant ruboris, quales sunt fructus palmae arboris non admodum sole incocti, unde spadici et poeniceo nomen est;

[10] enim Dorice ⁸⁴ vocant avulsum e palma termitem cum fructu.

[11] Fulvus autem videtur de rufo atque viridi mixtus in aliis plus viridis, in aliis plus rufi habere. Sic poeta verborum diligentissimus fuluam fulvarm aquilam dicit et iaspidem, fulvos galeros et fulvum aurum et arenam fulvam et fulvum leonem, sicque Ennius in Annalibus aere fulvo⁸⁵ dixit.

[12] Flavus contra videtur e viridi et rufo et albo concretus; sic flaventes comae et, quod mirari quosdam video,

[13] frondes olearum a Vergilio flavae dicuntur, sic multo ante Pacuvius aquam flavam dixit et fulvum pulverem. Cuius versus, quoniam sunt iucundissimi, libens commemini:

Cédo tuum ⁸⁶ pedém mi, ⁸⁷ lymphis flávis fulvum ut Púlverem

Mánibus isdem, quíbus Ulixi sáepe permulsi, ⁸⁸ ábluam,

Lássitudinémque minuam mánuum ⁸⁹ mollitúdine.

[14] Rubidus autem est rufus atrior et nigrore multo inustus, luteus contra rufus color est dilutior;

[15] inde ei nomen quoque esse factum videtur.

[16] Non igitur, inquit, mi Favorine, species rufi coloris colors plures aput Graecos quam aput nos nominantur.

[17] Sed ne viridis quidem color pluribus a vobis vocabulis dicitur,

[18] neque non potuit Vergilius, colorem equi significare viridem volens, caerulum magis dicere ecum quam glaucum, sed maluit verbo uti notiore Graeco quam inusitato Latino.

[19] Nostris autem veteribus caesia dicta est, quae a Graecis γλαυκ- ῶπις, ut Nigidius ait, de colore caeli, quasi caelia.

[20] Postquam haec Fronto dixit, tum Favorinus scientiam rerum uberem verborumque eius elegantiam exosculatus, Absque te, inquit, uno forsitan lingua profecto Graeca longe anteisset, sed tu, mi Fronto, quod in versu Homerico est, id facis:

Καί νύ κεν ἢ παρέλασσας ἢ ἀμφήριστον ἔθηκας.

[21] Sed cum omnia libens audivi quae peritissime dixisti, tum maxime quod varietatem flavi coloris colors enarrasti fecistique ut intellegerem verba illa ex Annali quarto decimo decino Ennii amoenissima, quae minime intellegebam:

Verrunt extemplo placide ⁹⁰ mare marmore flavo

Caeruleum, spumat sale ⁹¹ conferta rate pulsum;

[22] non enim videbatur caeruleum mare cum marmore flavo convenire.

[23] Sed cum sit, ita ut dixisti, flavus color ⁹² e viridi et albo mixtus, pulcherrime prorsus spumas virentis maris flavom marmor appellavit.

XXVII

Argument

Quid T. Castricius existimarit super Sallustii verbis et Demosthenis, quibus alter Philippum descripsit, alter Sertorium.

[1] VERBA sunt haec gravia atque illustria de rege Philippo Demosthenis: Ἑώρων δʼ αὐτὸν τὸν Φίλιππον, πρὸς ὃν ἦν ἡμῖν ὁ ἀγών , ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς καὶ δυναστείας τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκκεκομμένον, τὴν κλεῖν κατεαγότα, τὴν χεῖρα, τὸ σκέλος πεπηρωμένον, πᾶν ὅτι βουληθείη μέρος ἡ τύχη τοῦ σώματος παρελέσθαι, τοῦτο προϊέμενον, ὥστε τῷ λοιπῷ μετὰ τιμῆς καὶ δόξης ζῆν.

[2] Haec aemulari volens Sallustius de Sertorio duce in Historiis ita scripsit: Magna gloria tribunus militum in Hispania T. Didio imperante, magno usui bello Marsico paratu militum et armorum fuit, multaque tum ductu eius iussuque ⁹³ patrata ⁹⁴ primo per ignobilitatem, deinde per invidiam scriptorum incelebrata ⁹⁵ sunt, quae vivus facie sua ostentabat aliquot adversis cicatricibus et effosso oculo. Quin ille dehonestamento corporis maxime laetabatur, neque illis anxius, ⁹⁶ quia reliqua gloriosius retinebat.

[3] De utriusque his verbis T. Castricius cum iudicaret, Nonne, inquit, ultra naturae humanae modum est, dehonestamento corporis laetari? Siquidem laetitia dicitur exultatio quaedam animi gaudio efferventior eventu rerum expetitarum.

[4] Quanto illud sincerius veriusque ⁹⁷ et humanis magis condicionibus ⁹⁸ conveniens: πᾶν ὅτι ἂν βουληθείη μέρος ἡ τύχη τοῦ σώματος παρελέσθαι, τοῦτο ποϊέμε- νον.

[5] Quibus verbis, inquit, ostenditur Philippus, non, ut Sertorius, corporis dehonestamento laetus, quod est, inquit, insolens et inmodicum, sed prae studio laudis et honoris iacturarum damnorumque corporis contemptor, qui singulos artus suos fortunae prodigendos daret quaestu atque compendio gloriarum.

XXVIII

Argument

Non esse compertum compertnm cui deo rem divinam fieri oporteat, cum terra movet.

[1] QUAENAM esse causa videatur quamobrem terrae tremores fiant, non modo his communibus hominum sensibus opinionibusque incompertum, ⁹⁹ sed ne inter physicas quidem philosophias satis constitit ventorumne vi accidant specus hiatusque terrae subeuntium an aquarum subter in terrarum cavis undantium pulsibus fluctibusque, ita uti videntur existimasse antiquissimi Graecorum, qui Neptunum σεισίχθονα appellaverunt, an cuius aliae rei causa alteriusve dei vi ac numine, nondum etiam, sicuti diximus, pro certo creditum.

[2] Propterea veteres Romani, cum in omnibus aliis vitae officiis oficiis, tum in constituendis religionibus atque in dis inmortalibus animadvertendis castissimi cautissimique cautissirnique, ubi terrain movisse senserant nuntiatumve erat, ferias eius rei causa edicto imperabant, sed dei nomen, ita uti solet, cui servari ferias oporteret, statuere et edicere quiescebant, ne alium pro alio nominando falsa religione populum alligarent.

[3] Eas ferias si quis polluisset piaculoque ob hanc rem opus esset, hostiam si deo, si deae immolabant, idque ita ex decreto pontificum observatum esse M. Varro dicit, quoniam et qua vi et per quem deorum dearumve terra tremeret incertum esset.

[4] Sed de lunae solisque defectionibus, non minus in eius rei causa reperienda sese exercuerunt.

[5] Quippe M. Cato, vir in cognoscendis rebus multi studii, incerta tamen et incuriose super ea re opinatus est. Verba Catonis ex Originum quarto haec sunt:

[6] Non lubet scribere quod in tabula apud pontificem maximum est, quotiens annona cara, quotiens lunae aut solis lumine caligo aut quid obstiterit.

[7] Usque adeo parvi fecit rationes veras solis et lunae deficientium vel scire vel dicere.

XXIX

Argument

Apologus Aesopi Phrygis memoratu non inutilis

[1] AESOPUS ille e Phrygia fabulator haut immerito sapiens existimatus est, cum quae utilia monitu suasuque erant, non severe neque imperiose praecepit et censuit, ut philosophis mos est, sed festivos delectabilesque apologos commentus, res salubriter ac prospicienter animadversas in mentes animosque hominum cum audiendi quadam inlecebra induit.

[2] Velut haec eius fabula de aviculae nidulo lepide atque iucunde promonet, spem fiduciamque rerum quas efficere quis possit haut umquam in alio, sed in semetipso habendam.

[3] Avicula, inquit, est parva, nomen est cassita.

[4] Habitat nidulaturque in segetibus, id ferme temporis, ut appetat messis pullis iam iam plumantibus.

[5] Ea cassita in sementes forte congesserat tempestiviores; propterea frumentis flavescentibus pulli etiam tunc involucres erant.

[6] Dum igitur ipsa iret cibum pullis quaesitum, monet eos ut, si quid ibi rei novae fieret dicereturve, animadverterent idque uti sibi, ubi redisset, nuntiarent.

[7] Dominus postea segetum illarum filium adulescentem vocat et Videsne, inquit, haec ematuruisse et manus iam postulare? Idcirco die crastini, ubi primum diluculabit, fac amicos eas et roges veniant operamque mutuam dent et messim hanc nobis adiuvent.

[8] Haec ubi ille dixit, et discessit. Atque ubi redit cassita, pulli tremibundi, trepiduli circumstrepere orareque matrem ut iam statim properet inque alium locum sese asportet; nam dominus, inquiunt, misit qui amicos roget uti luce oriente veniant et metant.

[9] Mater iubet eos otioso animo esse: Si enim dominus, inquit, messim ad amicos reicit, crastino seges non metetur neque necessum est hodie uti vos auferam.

[10] Die, inquit, postero mater in pabulum volat. Dominus quos rogaverat opperitur. Sol fervit, et fit nihil; it ¹⁰⁰ dies, et amici nulli eunt.

[11] tum Turn ille rursum ad filium amici isti magnam partem, inquit, cessatores sunt. Quin potius imus et cognatos adfinesque ¹⁰¹ nostros oramus ut assint eras tempori ad metendum?

[12] Itidem hoc pulli pavefacti matri nuntiant. Mater hortatur ut tum quoque sine metu ac sine cura sint, cognatos cognates adfinesque nullos ferme tam esse obsequibiles ait, ut ad laborem capessendum nihil cunctentur et statim static dicto oboediant: Vos modo, inquit, advertite, si modo quid denuo dicetur.

[13] Alia luce orta avis in pastum profecta est. Cognati et adfines opera, ¹⁰² quam dare rogati sunt supersederunt.

[14] Ad postremum igitur dominus filio: Valeant, inquit, amici cum propinquis. Afferes primo luci ¹⁰³ falces duas; unam egomet mihi et tu tibi capies alteram et frumentum nosmetipsi manibus nostris eras metemus.

[15] Id ubi ex pullis dixisse dominum mater audivit, Tempus, inquit, est cedendi et abeundi; fiet nunc dubio procul quod futurum dixit. In ipso enim iam vertitur cuia res est, non in alio, unde petitur.

[16] Atque ita cassita nidum migravit, seges a domino demessa est.

[17] Haec quidem est Aesopi fabula de amicorum et propinquorum levi plerumque et inani fiducia.

[18] Sed quid aliud sanctiores libri philosophorum monent quam ut in nobis tantum ipsis nitamur,

[19] alia autem omnia quae extra nos extraque nostrum animum sunt neque pro nostris neque pro nobis ducamus?

[20] Hunc Aesopi apologum Q. Ennius in Satiris scite admodum et venuste versibus quadratis composuit. Quorum duo postremi isti sunt, quos habere cordi et memoriae operae pretium esse hercle puto:

Hóc erit tibi árgumentum sémper in promptú ¹⁰⁴ situm:

Né quid expectés amicos, quód tute agere póssies.

XXX

Argument

Quid observatum sit in undarum motibus, quae in mari alio atque alio modo fiunt austris flantibus aquilonibusque.

[1] Hoc saepenumero in undarum motu, quas aquilones venti quique ex eadem caeli regione aer fluit, faciunt ¹⁰⁵ in mari austri atque Africi.

[2] Nam fluctus, qui flante aquilone maximi et creberrimi excitantur, simul ac ventus posuit, sternuntur et conflaccescunt et mox fluctus esse desinunt.

[3] At non idem fit flante austro vel Africo; quibus iam nihil spirantibus undae tamen factae diutius tument et a vento quidem iamdudum tranquillae ¹⁰⁶ sunt, sed mare est etiam atque etiam undabundum.

[4] Eius rei causa esse haec coniectatur, quod venti a septentrionibus, ex altiore caeli parte in mare incidentes, deorsum in aquarum profunda quasi praecipites deferuntur undasque faciunt non prorsus inpulsas, sed imitus commotas, quae tantisper erutae volvuntur, dum illius infusi desuper spiritus vis manet.

[5] Austri vero et Africi, ad meridianum orbis circulum et ad partem axis infimam depressi, inferiores et humiles, per supreme aequoris euntes protrudunt magis fluctus quam eruunt, et idcirco non desuper laesae, sed propulsae in adversum aquae, etiam desistente flatu, retinent aliquantisper de pristino pulsu impetum.

[6] Id autem ipsum quod dicimus ex illis quoque Homericis versibus, si quis non incuriose legat, adminiculari potest.

[7] Nam de austri flatibus ita scripsit:

Ἔνθα νότος μέγα κῦμα ποτὶ σκαιὸν ῥίον ὠθεῖ,

contra autem de borea borca,

[8] quem aquilonem nos appellamus, alio dicit modo:

Καὶ βορέης αἰθρηγενέτης μέγα κῦμα κυλίνδων.

[9] Ab aquilonibus enim, qui alti supernique sunt, fluctus excitatos quasi per prona volvi dicit, ab austris autem, his qui humiliores sunt, maiore vi ¹⁰⁷ quadam propelli sursum ¹⁰⁸ atque subici. Id enim significat verbum ὠθεῖ,, sicut alio in loco:

Λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον.

[11] Id quoque a peritissimis rerum philosophis observatum est, austris spirantibus mare fieri glaucum et caeruleum, aquilonibus obscurius atriusque. Cuius rei causam, cum Aristotelis libros Problematorum praecerperemus, notavi.

Notes on the current edition

Attic Nights

1. Fr. 66. Marres.

2. Fr. 57. Peter.

3. I find no authority for this. Brugmann in Müller's Handbuch, II, 61 (end) cites i(/ppos as a word which originally had a smooth breathing and acquired the rough from the combination o( i)/ppos. Since the i in i)xqu/s is prosthetic, i(xqu/s, if it existed must have had the same origin, but Brugmann does not cite it. See also Indoger. Forsch. xxii, p. 197 (gives some additional information).

4. A street or quarter in Rome where the little images were sold which were given as presents at the festival of the Sigillaria; this was on Dec. 21 and 22, an extension of the Saturnalia, although not a religious holiday. The aureus was the standard gold coin of the Romans, of the value of 100 sesterces; its weight varied at different periods.

5. ii. 469 f.

6. Georg. i. 296.

7. Cf. Cicero's Divinatio in Caecilium, preliminary to the prosecution of Verres.

8. Fr. I. Fun.

9. Eel. vi. 75. ff.

10. Georg. iii. 4

11. Aen. x. 314.

12. xxxv. Jordan.

13. The temple of Artemis at Syracuse; § 122.

14. Iliad iv. 366, 768, etc.

15. Iliad iv. 223.

16. Sent. iii. p. 72, Ussing.

17. Georg. iv. 479; Aen. vi. 438.

18. He is said to have set fire to the temple in order to make himself notorious for all time; see Val. Max. viii. 14. Exb. 5. His name, Herostratus, was preserved by Theopompus.

19. Aen. xi. 770.

20. Aen. xi. 487.

21. v. 517, Ribbeck 3.

22. Catiline and Clodius are too notorious to require comment. L. Hostilius Tubulus, praetor in 142 B. C., accepted bribes when presiding at a trial for murder. Cic., De Nal. Deorum i. 63 and elsewhere, cites him as an example of iniquity.

23. vii, p. 100, Bern.

24. Sent. II, p. 71, Ussing.

25. vii, p. 101, Bern.

26. Sect. iii, p. 72, Ussing.

27. There is an obvious word-play on sectatur and insectatur.

28. p. 140, Bremer.

29. p. 199, Bipont.

30. After the destruction of the temple by fire in 83 B.C. In spite of Caesar's opposition (Suet. Jul. xv), Catulus dedicated the new temple in 69 B. C.

31. The open space in front of and around the temple of Jupiter.

32. Sulla and Catulus in their restorations of the Capitoline temple used columns that were taller than those of the earlier building. Catulus wished to make the podium (or elevated platform) higher, to correspond with the greater elevation and size of the pediment (or gable). This he could have done most easily by lowering the area about the temple.

33. For original flavisae, from flare. Minted or coined money had to be softened or melted before being cast or struck, and for this process the word isflare; hence the directors of the mint were called Triumviri Auro Argento Aere Flando Feriundo, where aere is of course an old dative. Favisa is apparently for *fovisa and cognate with forea,

pit.

34. 454 B.C.

35. The Romans awarded a great variety of military prizes, which are here enumerated, for the most part, in descending order of importance. Phalerae were discs of metal worn on the breast like medals, or sometimes on the harness of horses; the spears were hastae purae, unused (hence

bloodless

) and perhaps sometimes headless weapons, although they are represented with heads on two tombstones (Cagnat et Chapot, Arch. Rom. ii, p. 359, and Bonner Jahrbücher, 114 (1905), Plate 1, Fig. 4). Besides golden crowns without a particular designation, there were others which are enunerated and described in v. 6.

36. The armour of the defeated antagonist; cf. Livy xxii. 6. 5. etc.

37. Cf. Pol. )Aqhn. 8.

38. Fr. 6, Peter.

39. xliii. Jordan.

40. In 18 B.C. Augustus proposed a law de maritandis ordinibus,imposing liabilities on the unmarried and offering rewards to those who married and reared children. It was violently opposed, but was finally passed in a modified form. See Suet. Aug. xxxiv. In A.D. 9 the lex Papia Poppaea, called from the consules suffecti of the year, was added. The combined Lex Iulia et Papia Poppaea contained at least 35 chapters ( Dig. 23. 2. 19).

41. 760 ff.

42. See note 1, p. 155.

43. Orator, § 159.

44. That is beginning with f.

45. He is loaded with debt; Fr. 50, Jordan; Sail Hist. iv. 52, Maurenbrecher.

46. For

analogy

in this sense of

regularity,

see ii. 25. Gellius thought that coegi was an irregular form because oē did not contract, as oi did in cogo; but contraction of unlike vowels did not take place when the second was long; cf. coāctus. Cicero's rule is correct, because a vowel is naturally long before ns and nf. The case of pro is quite different. The ō in cōpertus is due to contraction from co-opertus. Cōligatus is a very rare form; Skutsch, quoted by Hosius, thought it might come from co-alligatus. The ō in cogo is also due to contraction ( co-ago, co-igo), which does not apply to the perfect coegi. Compensatory lengthening takes place usually when an s is lost, as in cōnecto for co-snecto, or n before s and f; less commonly when nc is lost before n.

47. It must be remembered that the slaves of the Greeks and Romans were often freeborn children, who had been cast off by their parents, or free men, who had been taken prisoner in war. Phaedo belonged to the latter class, and the details of his life are very uncertain.

48. The word implies, not merely imitation, but rivalry, a recognized principle in classic literature; see Revue des Études Latines, II. (1924), pp. 46ff.

49. See note 1, p. 85.

50. I. 438, Arn.

51. The word for free men and children is the same ( liberi), but it seems impossible to reproduce the word play in English.

52. As substituere does not contain re-, it seems clear that there is a lacuna before that word, but it seems impossible to fill the gap.

53. v. 96, Ribbeck 3

54. Literally,

spit down

into one's bosom, referring to he wooden fork about the slave's neck which would prevent his, and to spitting as a charm for averting evil.

55. Fr. 16, Peter.

56. Fr. 19, Peter.

57. Fr. 87, Peter.

58. iii. 3. 1.

59. iii. 3. 8.

60. The word means an enclosed park, handsomely laid ou and stocked with game; also, a garden, and in Septuagint Gen. 2. 8, the garden of Eden, Paradise.

61. Orato. Rom. Frag. p. 184, Myer 2.

62. iii. 16. 12.

63. Iliad, xviii. 489; Odyss. v. 275 )/Arkton . . . oi)/h d' a)/mmoro/s e)sti loetrw=n )Wkeanoi=o.

64. The quinquatrtus, or festival of Minerva, was so called because it came on the fifth day after the Ides (fifteenth) of March.

65. Fr. 42, Fun.

66. De Ling. Lat. vii. 4. 74.

67. A word made up from terra,

earth

; the derivation is a fanciful one. Triones is connected with tero,

rub, tread,

etc.

68. This is true, whatever the origin of the name.

69. Perhaps Horace, Odes, i. 3. 4 or iii. 27. 20. Gellius mentions Horace by name only once, in § 25, below.

70. Since the Latin terms for

east

and

west

mean the sun's

rising

and

setting.

71. This at the summer solstice would be far to the north.

72. Odyss. v. 296.

73. That is, from the clear, bright sky, often attending the sunrise.

74. From a)rgh/s,

white, brilliant.

The Latin equivalent was argestis, which, according to Isidor ( Orig. xiii. 11. 10), the common people corrupted into agrestis.

75. Perhaps connected with foveo, as a mild, pleasant wind; see Thes. Ling. Lat., s. v. Or with faveo, Faunus, Walde, Etym. Lat. Dict.

76. From lei/bw, Lat. libo,

pour, pour out.

77. 'The derivation of auster is uncertain; see Thes. Ling. Lat., s. v. Walde connects it with words meaning

east

and

eastern,

adding

Merkwiirdig ist die Bedeutung 'Sudwind,' nicht 'Ostwind'; doch ist auch in der Vogelschau die Richtung gegen Osten teilweise durch die Richtung nach Sūden abgelost.

But Thurneysen ( T. L. L.) remarks:

Sed ab his Latini nominis significatus nimium distat.

78. Odyss. v. 295, 331.

79. That is, the Gauls of Gallia Narbonensis. Favorinus was a native of Arelate, the modern Aries.

80. Text and meaning are very uncertain. No satisfactory explanation of ore or sinibus has been offered, so far as I know. Apuleius, De Mundo 14, says: Apuli

Iapagem

eum venture ) ex Iapygae sinu, id est ex ipso Gargano venientem (appellant).

81. Aen. viii. 709.

82. Aen. xi. 678.

83. Meteor. ii. 6; Prob. xxvi. 29.

84. Trag. fr. adesp. 75, Nauck. 2

85. Serm. i. 5. 78. The wind corresponds to the sirocco. Porphyrio, ad loc. gives the fanciful derivation, a)po\ tou= e)s th\n a)/thn ba/llein pa/nta. The Thes. Ling. Lat. connects it with Atabuli, the name of an Aethiopian tribe.

86.

Periodic,

trade

winds, referring especially to the Egyptian monsoon, which blow from the north-west during the whole summer (Herodotus, ii, 20); used also of winds which blow from the north in the Aegean for forty days after the rising of the Dog-star.

87.

Preceding

the etesiae, and blowing north-north-east for eight days before the rising of the Dog-star.

88. Fr. 93, Peter.

89. Gellius, as he sometimes does elsewhere, refers to Favorinus' statement as if it were his own. Gronovius' proposed change to dixit and dixerit is unnecessary.

90. Fr. 104, Swoboda.

91. Homer ( Iliad vi. 234 ff) tells us that Diomedes proposed to exchange armour with Glaucus in token of friendship. Diomedes' arms of bronze cost nine oxen; those of Glaucus, inlaid with gold, a hundred. Hence

gold for bronze

became proverbial.

92. Fr. 402, Kock; p. 428, L.C.L.

93. vv. 142ff., Ribbeck 3.

94. Fr. 403, Kock; p. 428, L. C. L.

95. vv. 158 ff., Ribbeck 3.

96. That is,

nauseous.

97. Fr. 404, Kock; p. 430, L. C. L.

98. vv. 169 ff., Ribbeck. 2

99. Fr. 5, Huschke; 6, Bremer.

100. 161 B.C.

101. The Megalensian or Megalesian festival, on April 4. The games eventually extended from the 4th to the 10th inclusive. Only the nobles gave dinner parties on the 4th; the plebeians celebrated at the Cerealia, April 19.

102. The ludi Romani in Cicero's time extended from Sept. 5 to 19; the ludi plebei, at first probably held on one day, finally lasted from Nov. 4 to 17.

103. Originally on Dec. 17; extended to seven days, of which five (under Augustus, three) were legal holidays.

104. 1172, Marx.

105. Probably in 103 B.C.

106. Fr. 23, Bährens, Fray. Poet. Rom., p. 292. Erotopaegnia means

Playful Verses about Love

; a sixth book is cited by Charisius (i. 204 K). One fragment indicates that Laevius was a contemporary of Varro. His brief and scanty fragments show great variety in metre (cf. Prisc. ii. 258 K), and innovations in diction (Gell. xix. 7.)

107. 1200, Marx.

108. 78 B. C. Another Aemilian sumptuary law was passed in 115 B.C.

109. Passed a few years after the Aemilian law.

110. Cf. Suet. Aug. xxxiv, 1.

111. Fr, 6, Huschke; 7, Bremer.

112. viii, p. 146, G. & S.

113. That is, pransus, potus and cenatus are used in an active sense; see Cic. pro Mil. 56, adde inscitiam pransi, poti, oscitantis ducis, and Priscian (ii. 665. 17, Keil) ut

cenatus sum

. . pro

cenavi.

114. Charisius (i. 217. 8, Keil), cites rare from Cicero, Cato and Plautus, but the modern texts do not admit the form.

115. Haec argumenta quae transferri in multas causas possunt locos communes noininamus. Cic. De Inv. ii. 48; cf. Brut. 46. and Quintilian passim.

116. kirro/s

tawny, orange-tawny

designates a shade between canqo/s,

yellow,

and purro/s,

flame-coloured.

117. Virg. Aen. xi. 751.

118. id. iv. 261.

119. id. vii. 688.

120. id. vii. 279, etc.

121. id. v. 374, etc.

122. ii. 722, etc.

123. 454 Vahlen. 2 Ennius has fulva; and is so quoted by Gellius in xiii. 21. 14.

124. Aen. iv. 590.

125. Aen. v. 309.

126. v. 244, Ribbeck. 2

127. Georg. iii. 82, honest spadices glaucique. We should use

grey,

rather than

green.

Glaucus was a greyish green or a greenish grey. Since caerulus and caeruleus are not unusual words, Gellius probably means

unusual

as applied to a horse. Ovid, Fasti iv. 446, uses caeruleus of the horses of Pluto, but in the sense of

dark, dusky.

128. Fr. 72, Swoboda.

129. Iiad, xxiii. 382.

130. v. 384 f., Vahlen 2, who reads placide and sale.

131. De Cor. 67.

132. i. 88, Maurenbrecher.

133. Fr. 1, p. cliii, Merkel.

134. Fr. 77, Peter.

135. Lumine is the old dat., cf. II viri iure dicundo and note 1, p. 153.

136. A shorter version, of 19 choliambic lines, is given by Babrius, 88; cf. Fabulae Aesopiae, 210 Halm, and Avianus, 21, (14 elegiac verses).

137. vv. 57–58,Vahlen, who reads in promptum in the first verse.

138. That is, away from, or before, the wind, so that they are flattened and do not rise in surges.

139. Odyss. iii. 295.

140. Odyss. v. 296.

141. Odyss. xi. 596.

142. xxvi. 37.