290
Fate of Seppius Loesius and others of Capua:
Paulus: ‘Meddix’ is among the Oscans the name of a magistrate. Ennius —
There the chief magistrate was made prisoner, the other was slaughtered.
291
Hymn of Livius Andronicus (?) to Juno, 207 BC?:
A scholiast: Ennius says in the eighth book —
The flute composed a song of music,
292
Juno begins to favour the Romans:
Priscianus: Authors are wont to vary their figures... for example, Ennius —
Saturn’s daughter, mighty among goddesses, dearest of those that dwell in heaven,
293
Servius: ‘She will change her counsels for the better,’ because in the Second Punic War, according to Ennius —
Juno was appeased and began to shew the Romans her good-will.
And Jupiter promises that destruction awaits Carthage:
Servius: In Ennius Jupiter is introduced as promising the Romans that Carthage shall be overthrown.
294
The drunken Gauls at the Battle of the Metaurus, 207 BC:
Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘They rushed on the city, which was buried in sleep and wine.’ Ennius in the eighth book —
And now the enemy, mastered by wine and buried in sleep,
295
Festus: ‘Occasus’... for ‘occasio’... —
But when the occasion or the time smothered their daring,
296
Triumphant return of the two consuls:
Servius (supplemented): ‘Mactus.’ Even the form ‘mactatus’ was used for this; for example, Ennius —
Thence returned Livius magnified with a great triumph.
297–9
New fleet of Scipio Africanus (consul, 205) in training?:
Nonius: ‘Portisculus’ is, in its proper sense, the term for the time-beater of a ship’s oarsmen; that is to say, the man who holds the staff for which the term ‘portisculus’ is used; by means of this he times the rhythm and ‘lay to’... —
that, holding the oar forward, they should obey and watch when the boatswain proceeded to give them the signal.
Book IX. Scipio’s campaigns in Africa; Peace, 201 BC
300–5
M. Cornelius and P. Sempronius consuls, 204 BC
Cicero: The following is a passage in Ennius’ work, in the ninth book, I think, of the Annals —
Then Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, son of Marcus, a spokesman whose mouth spoke winsome speech, is put in as a colleague to Tuditanus.
He calls him an orator and also grants him winsomeness of speech... but the greatest stroke in praise of eloquence is surely this —
... By those fellow-countrymen who were then alive and had their being he was once upon a time called the ‘choice flower’ of the people,
Well said indeed. For, as the glory of a man is his natural talents, so the lustre of those very talents is eloquence; and a man surpassing in eloquence was admirably called by the men of that time ‘flower of the people — and the marrow of Persuasion.’
... This Cethegus was consul with Publius Tuditanus in the Second Punic War, and Marcus Cato was a quaestor in their consulship, in round numbers only one hundred and fifty years before my own consulship; and were this fact not known through the testimony of Ennius alone, antiquity would have buried this very Cethegus, as maybe it has buried many others, in oblivion.
306
Scipio’s campaigns in Africa?:
Festus: ‘Metonymia’... when the meaning of a word contains exactly the contents of its equivalent; for example, Ennius when he says —
Trembled Africa, land rough and rude, with a terrible tumult.
307
Battle of Zama? 202 BC:
Nonius: ‘Luctant’ for ‘luctantur’... —
The soldiers struggled with sturdy strength.
308
Nonius: ‘Pulvis’... of the feminine gender... Brown dust flies aloft
309
Nonius: ‘Debil,’ the same as ‘debilis’... — a feeble fellow
310–11
Priscianus: Verbs ending in geo... —
Just as the Cyclops’ belly once swelled high, stretched tight with human flesh
312
The spoils won after the battle of Zama:
Servius(?): ‘Undantem,’ the same as ‘abundantem.’... Ennius in the ninth book of the Annals — the army billowed in booty.
313–14
Hannibal’s defeat?:
Nonius: ‘Famul,’ the same as ‘famulus’... —
Fortune on a sudden casts down the highest mortal from the height of his sway, to become the lowliest thrall.
315
Scipio to Hannibal?:
Priscianus: Ennius... in the ninth book puts ‘frux,’ which is an adjective, for ‘frugi homo’ —
‘But to what end do I speak so? “No sooner said than done” — so acts your man of worth.
316
Terms of peace imposed on Carthage, 201 BC:
Varro says: ‘Militis stipendia’ (soldier’s pay) is a term used because they weighed it as a ‘stips’ (small coins in piles). This is the derivation of ‘stipendia’ as used by Ennius among others —
The Poeni paid payments of money.
317
Funeral of the slain?:
Macrobius: Virgil inserted into his work even Greek words... following the daring of ancient authors.... Ennius in the ninth book — twice six lighted lamps
318–19
Italy after the war? the soldiers must return to the soil:
Nonius: ‘Politiones,’ diligent cultivations of fields...
‘He will take toothed rakes for to dress the fields.
320–21
Let Rome’s liberty be maintained:
Nonius: ‘Perpetuassit,’ may be perpetual, eternal... —
... ‘and liberty, that it may last for ever and all that I may have done
Book X. Wars with Macedon to the settlement with Philip, 196 BC, after the Battle of Cynoscephalae
322–3
Prologue:
Gellius: ‘Inseque’ has the sense of ‘go on to tell,’ and this therefore is the form used by Ennius in these verses —
Go on, O Muse, to tell what each commander of the Romans wrought with his troops in war with King Philip.
But the other... insisted that we must trust Velius Longus,... who wrote that in Ennius we should read not ‘inseque’ but ‘insece.’...
324
First Macedonian War (214–205 BC); expedition of Valerius Laevinus (214):
Priscianus: The oldest writers used to say also ‘campso, campsas,’ bend. Ennius in the tenth book —
They doubled Leucate.
325
Second Macedonian War, 200–196 BC Consuls of 200:
Isidore: ‘Zeugma’ is a period when more than one idea is completed by one verb... for example... —
Greece was given by lot to Sulpicius, Gaul to Cotta.
326
Sextus Aelius Paetus, consul with Flamininus, 198:
Cicero: —
A man uncommonly well-witted, shrewd Sextus Aelius who was a man of more than common wit and shrewd, and called such by Ennius not because he used to search for things which he could never discover, but because he used to give such answers as freed from anxiety and trouble those who had asked him questions.
327–9
Activities of T. Quinctius Flamininus in 198. A shepherd sent by the Epirote King Charopus to guide the Romans, asks:
Cicero: —
Titus, if it is I can help you in anything and lighten you of the worry which, stubborn in your breast, now sears and haunts you, will there be any reward?
330–1
Flamininus sent to Charopus to ask if the shepherd were trustworthy; the reply:
Cicero continues: for I may be allowed to address to you, Atticus, the same verses as those in whic
h Flamininus is addressed by —
‘That man not blessed with wealth but full of loyalty, although I know for certain it is not, like Flamininus— ‘that you are care-worn, Titus, thus day and night.
332
The night-march of Flamininus, guided by the shepherd:
Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘Atlas on his shoulder turns the heaven dotted with blazing stars’... Ennius in the tenth book —
And then the night went on, dotted with blazing stars.
333–5
The Battle of Cynoscephalae, 197 BC; anxiety of Flamininus:
Servius (supplemented): ‘Mussant’ also means ‘they murmur’... —
He was watching the mettle of his army, waiting to see if they would grumble, saying ‘what rest will there be at last from our fighting, or end to our hard toil?’
336
Speech of Flamininus before the battle:
Diomedes says: Some old writers used the form ‘horitatur’... —
The commander... cheers and cheers them on ‘horitatur’ being as it were in iterative form.
337–8
The battle: special troop of Philip?:
Priscianus: The oldest writers did not always elide m;... —
Then he led some eight thousand warriors, wearing badges, chosen men, strong to bear war well.
339–41
Impatience of Flamininus’ army?:
Festus: ‘Nictit’ is a term used of a dog gently whimpering as he scents the tracks of wild animals... —
And just as sometimes a fleet hunting-dog, tied up by a chain, is wont to do if by chance her keen-scented nostril has caught scent of wild quarry — she lifts her voice in a whimper and straightway loudly gives tongue.
342
Fighting on rough ground:
Diomedes: ‘Pinsit,’ according to the third conjugation... —
They bruise the ground with their knees.
343–4
Demetrius, younger son of Philip, taken by Rome as a hostage; the parting with Philip?:
Nonius: ‘Passum,’ stretched out, spread open: whence Ave also say ‘passus,’ step; because the feet spread open, as they step apart, each from the other... —
Sick at heart and with hands flung wide, the father...
By ‘passis’ as applied to ‘palmis’ he means open wide and outstretched.
345
Lament of Philip on the exile of Demetrius?:
Donatus, on ‘Indeed the “columen” of his household’ in Terence: ‘Columen’ in the sense of summit or ‘columen’ in the sense of pillar?... —
‘They have now overturned and moved away the pillar of the realm.
Book XI. From the Peace made in 196 to the Opening of the War with Antiochus III (192 — 1); Cato in Rome and in Spain
346
Greece after Philip’s defeat:
Festus: That, ‘quippe’ means ‘quidni’ Ennius is a witness in the eleventh book —
Surely are all kings wont in times of good fortune...
347–8
Flamininus proclaims ‘The Freedom of Hellas’; he points to the relation of the Romans to the Greeks:
Festus: ‘Sos’ for ‘eos’... —
‘They maintain that the Greeks — men are wont to speak of them as Grai — ... language through long...
349–50
Brachyllas (?) warns the Greeks against the power of Rome:
Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘When captured, could they be in truth captured? No. And did Troy burning burn her warriors? No.’ Ennius, when he was speaking about Pergama in the eleventh book, wrote —
‘Troy’s citadel, which on the plains of Dardanus could not perish or be captive when captured or when burnt become ashes.’
351
a place in Greece:
Festus: ‘Rocks’; of these there are two kinds, of which one is natural stone jutting out into the sea... —
a cliff deep-falling, covered by mighty crags.
352
Cato on the one-lime modesty of women:
Nonius: ‘Lacte’ in the nominative case... —
‘and she blushed withal like milk and crimson mingled.
353
He contrasts the luxury of his own day.
Nonius: ‘Peniculamentum’; a term which the old Romans use for part of a dress....— ‘skirts hang low down to every little foot.
354–5
He curses the ‘moderns’:
Nonius: ‘Crux’ of the masculine gender... —
Says he, ‘Give them destruction, Jupiter, with titter hell!
356
Cato in Spain, 195 BC; battle with the rebels:
Priscianus: ‘Sono’ goes on both ‘sonas’ and ‘sonis’... —
Then the round shields resounded, and the iron spear-points whizzed;
357
Priscianus: From ‘strido’ some have conjugated... ‘stridi.’ — and the spear, shot into his breast, whizzed as it sped through.
358
A Spanish chief parleys with a Roman embassy?:
Charisius: ‘Hispane’ is a form used by Ennius in a book of the Annals —
‘Report you: it is the Spanish that I speak, and not the Roman tongue.’
359
Unplaced fragment:
Paulus says: ‘Rimari’ means to search thoroughly, as it were in the very ‘rimae’ crannies. Festus says:... Ennius in the eleventh book — both parties pried.
Book XII.
360–62
A reminiscence of Fabius Maximus Cunctalor:
Cicero: How much better was the behaviour of Quintus Maximus of whom Ennius says —
One man by his delays restored the state; Hearsay he would not put before our safety; Hence to this day the warrior’s glory shines — In after time, and more than it shone once.
363–5
Rejoicing after victory?:
Priscianus: ‘Acer’ and ‘alacer’ and ‘saluber’ and ‘celeber’ are found inflected in both -er and -is in both genders... —
Yes, all those victors, every single soul, Contented from the bottom of their hearts — Sleep on a sudden, over all the plain, Most soft thrilled tingling through them, tended well By wine.
Ennius mentions his age:
Gellius: Marcus Varro has recorded that Ennius, in his sixty-seventh year, wrote the twelfth book of the Annals; and that Ennius himself mentions this very fact in the same book.
Book XIII. The War with Antiochus perhaps to the departure of Lucius Scipio and Publius Scipio Africanus for the East in 190 BC
NOTE ON BOOK XIII
Only two extant fragments are definitely assigned to this book, and two others can be with probability added to these. The context of all of them must remain uncertain; but the book probably described the war with Antiochus to the departure of the two Scipios for Asia in 190. The following seems to me to be the most probable arrangement of the fragments. Lines 366–8 give us the only tradition which represents Hannibal as a would-be peacemaker betweens Rome and Antiochus. We cannot connect it very well with Gellius, V, 5, where Hannibal shows a veiled contempt of the army which Antiochus had gathered together before tho battle of Magnesia; the tale looks like a fiction Now in 193 Hannibal had a chance interview with the Roman commissioner P. Villius at Ephesus. Nothing vital was discussed, but the incident caused Antiochus to cast suspicion on all that Hannibal did (Livy, XXXV, 14). In the same year Antiochus held a council of war to which Hannibal was not invited (Livy, XXXV, 17 ff.). Hence lines 386–8 may well belong to a soliloquy of Antiochus, or a speech of his delivered at the council. In Livy, XXXV, 19 we have a warlike counterblast of Hannibal which he gave when he first discovered why he was out of favour with the king. It implies that the king suspected Hannibal of being at least pacific if not pro-Roman. Line 369 seems to belong to a narrative of fears felt at Rome and elsewhere in 192 lest Antiochus should cross into Europe like another Xerxes (V., CXCVIII). Line 370 suggests Antiochus in defeat, and since it is attributed by
Gellius to Book XIII, would allude to the defeat of the king at Thermopylae in 191. Line 371 might well refer to the siege of Pergamum by Seleucus IV in 190 BC.
366–8
Antiochus suspects Hannibal (193 BC):
Gellius: ‘Ennius used “cor,” said Caesellius, as he did many other similar nouns, in the masculine gender; for in the thirteenth book of Annals he wrote “quem cor.”’ He then added two lines of Ennius.’... Antiochus, King of Asia, is the speaker of these words.... But what Ennius meant was something different by far. For there are three lines, not two, which go to complete this utterance of Ennius; of these Caesellius overlooked the third —
‘while Hannibal with bold breast exhorts me not to make war — he whom my heart believed to be a most mighty counsellor, yea one devoted in war’s ruggedness.
369
Reminiscence (192 BC) of Xerxes crossing from Asia to Europe (480 BC):
Collected Fragments of Ennius Page 5