Collected Fragments of Ennius

by Quintus Ennius

  ‘Hac noctu filo pendebit Etruria tota.

  159

  The reign of Servius Tullius; wars with Etruria. Speech of an Etruscan (?) general before battle?:

  Macrobius: We must notice that he used even ‘qua noctu.’ And this he put in the seventh book of the Annals, in the third book of which he wrote the same sort of thing more clearly —

  ‘On this night all Etruria’s fate will hang by a thread.

  160–61

  Macrobius, S., VI, 1, 16: Concurrunt undique telis | indomiti agricolae’ (Aen., VII, 520–1). Ennius in III —

  Postquam defessi sunt stare et spargere sese hastis ansatis, concurrunt undique telis.

  160–61

  A battle in Servius’ Etruscan wars:

  Macrobius: ‘The unruly husbandmen engage with javelins on all sides.’ Ennius in the third book —

  After they were tired out from standing and spattering each other with loop-handled lances, they engaged with javelins on all sides.

  162

  Macrobius, S., VI, 1,9: ‘Axem humero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum’ (Aen. IV, 482; VI, 797).. . —

  Caelum prospexit stellis fulgentibus aptum.

  162

  Tarquinius Superbus. Lucretia outraged:

  Macrobius: (Atlas) ‘whirls on his shoulder the sky dotted with blazing stars’... —

  She looked up at the sky dotted with shining stars.

  163

  Gellius, I, 22, 14: An ‘superesse’ dixerint veteres pro ‘restare et perficiendae rei deesse’ quaerebamus.. . invenimus in tertio Enni Annalium in hoc versu —

  Inde sibi memorat unum superesse laborem:

  id est reliquum esse et restare, quod quia id est, divise pronuntiandum est.

  163

  Lucretia prepares for death:

  Gellius: We used to investigate the question whether ‘superesse’ in the archaic writers was a term used for ‘remain and be lacking for the completion of a thing’... we find in the third book of Ennius’ Annals this line —

  Then she says that for herself one labour still waits over:

  ‘superesse,’ ’is left’ and ‘remains’ undone; this being the meaning, it must be spoken as two words.

  stare et V stando Pontanus stantes Scriver. stant et cdd.

  prospexit Macrob. suspexit V

  BOOK IV. The Early Republic, probably to the Gallic Invasion of 390 or 387 BC

  164

  Macrobius, S., VI, 1, 17: ‘Summa nituntur opum vi’ (Aen., XII, 552). Ennius in quarto —

  Romani scalis summa nituntur opum vi.

  Cp. Serv., ad Aen., XII, 552.

  164

  The siege of Anxur by the Romans:

  Macrobius: ‘They strain with all their might and main’ (Virgil). Ennius in the fourth book —

  The Romans on their ladders strain with all their might and main

  165

  Paulus, ex F., 16, 22: Anxur vocabatur quae nunc Tarracina dicitur Vulscae gentis, sicut ait Ennius —

  Vulsculus perdidit Anxur.

  165

  Anxur is stormed, 406 b. c.:

  Paulus: The town which is now spoken of as Tarracina, belonging to the Volscian tribe, used to be called Anxur, as Ennius’ words show —

  The wretched Volscians lost Anxur.

  166

  Cicero, de Re Pub., I, 16, 25: Id.. . postea ne nostrum quidem Ennium fugit, qui ut scribit, anno trecentesimo quinquagesimo fere post Romam conditam —

  — nonis Iunis soli luna obstitit et nox.

  166

  Eclipse of the sun, 21st of June, 400 BC:

  Cicero, on the true cause of solar eclipses:

  In later times this did not escape the notice even of our Ennius, who writes that, about three hundred and fifty years after the foundation of Rome —

  On June’s fifth day the moon blocked out the sun in darkness.

  BOOK V. Samnite Wars and the Rise of Pyrrhus, to BC 295

  167

  Festus, 194, 12: ‘Occasus’.. . E. pro occasione est usus.. . in lib. V —

  Inicit inritatus, tenet occasus, iuvat res.

  167

  A single combat; Manlius and a Gaul?:

  Festus: ‘Occasus.’... E. used it for ‘occasio’... in the fifth book —

  Vexation drives him on, the chance holds him to it, the fact helps him.

  168

  Nonius, 556, 19: ‘Ansatae’ iaculamenta cum ansis.. . —

  ansatas mittunt de turribus

  168

  Defence of Fregellae against the Romans?:

  Nonius: ‘Ansatae,’ missiles with loop-handles... —

  They send down loop-handled lances from the towers.

  169

  Priscianus, ap. G.L., II, 428, 14 K: ‘Misereo’.. . vetustissimi sunt usi.. . —

  Cogebant hostes lacrumantes ut misererent.

  169

  Appeal of women at Fregellae at its capture, 313 BC:

  Priscianus: ‘Misereo’... was used by the oldest writers... —

  They caused even the enemy to have pity on them shedding tears.

  170

  Acro, ad Hor., Ep., II, 2, 98:.. . Romani quondam pugnaverunt cum hostibus Samnitibus usque ad noctem; unde et Ennius inquit —

  Bellum aequis manibus nox intempesta diremit.

  170

  A battle between the Romans and the Samnites?:

  Aero: At one time the Romans fought with Samnite enemies until nightfall; whence Ennius also says —

  The dead of night wrested from them a drawn battle.

  171

  Macrobius, S., VI, 4, 4: ‘Agmen’ pro actu et ductu quodam ponere non inelegans est, ut ‘leni fluit agmine Thybris’ (Aen., II, 782). Immo et antiquum est. Ennius enim in quinto ait —

  quod per amoenam urbem leni fluit agmine flumen.

  171

  The River Liris at Interamna Lirenas, where the fields were laid waste in 294 BC:

  Macrobius: It is not inelegant to put ‘agmen’ in the sense of a certain ‘actus’ and ‘ductus’; for example, ‘Thybris flows with gentle train.’ Indeed it is also an antique usage; for Ennius in the fifth book says —

  because the river flows with gentle train through the pleasant town.

  172

  Nonius, 226, 29: ‘Stirpem’.. . masculino E. Annalium lib. V —

  nomine Burrus uti memorant a stirpe supremo.

  Cp. Fest., 454, 28: 402, 16.

  172

  Rise of Pyrrhus:

  Nonius: ‘Stirps’... Ennius has it in the masculine in the fifth book of the Annals —

  by name Burrus, a man they say of highest stock.

  VI and VII

  BOOK VI. The War with Pyrrhus, 281–271 BC

  NOTE ON BOOKS VI and VII

  There can be no doubt that Ennius did not include the First Punic War in the detailed narrative of his Annals; the statement of Cicero (see pp. 82–83) is explicit, and it is unreasonable to believe that we know better than he did. He tells us that Ennius did not desire to rival Naevius, who had already written a poem about this war (see Remains of Old Latin, Vol. II); it is further probable (see St., pp. 163–4) that Ennius had before him other poems covering the same ground. It is quite possible that in Book VII Ennius gave a mere sketch, or enumerated only the chief events of this war; but I have no hesitation in following Miss Steuart in her refusal to attribute to it a number of fragments on which she offers attractive suggestions (St., pp. 149 ff.). Cf. also Norden, Enn. u. Verg., 63 ff., 143 ff., 170. For the old view, which goes back to Merula, see V., CLXXIX ff.; Müller. Q. Enn., 166 and C. Q. XIII, 113 ff.; Skutsch, Pauly, s.v. Ennius, 2607, etc.

  On the other hand, I cannot believe that Ennius allowed his history of Pyrrhus to extend into the seventh book so that at the beginning of that book it was interrupted by three things: (i) the elaborate prologue to the book; (ii) an account of the origin of Carthage; (iii) an apology for not describing the First Punic War. I suggest that the war with Pyrrhus was contained wholl
y in Book VI, which was thus devoted to a man whom Ennius, it is clear, admired; and that Book VII, after a prologue and an apology, sketched the origins of Carthage, brushed aside, as it were, the First Punic War with a short outline, and narrated the winning of Sardinia and Corsica by Rome, her reduction of the piratic Illyrians to submission (here we may put some of the disputed fragments), and the conquest of Cisalpine Gaul. It is possible that the achievements of Hamilcar, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal in Spain were also sketched. Thus Book VIII began with the outbreak of the Second Punic War and carried events down to the departure of Scipio Africanus for Africa in 204 BC This left Ennius free to devote all Book IX to the crowning achievement of his friend Scipio.

  173

  Servius, ad Aen., IX, 526 (528): (‘ingentis) oras evolvite belli.’ Hoc est.. . ‘narrate non tantum initia sed etiam extrema bellorum’; nam orae sunt extremitates. Servius auctus: Est autem Ennianum —

  Quis potis ingentis oras evolvere belli?

  Cp. Quintil., VI, 3, 36 (... annali sexto’ quis e.q.s.); Macrob., S., VI, 1, 18; Diomed., ap. G.L., I, 386, 1 K.

  173

  Prologue:

  Servius, on ‘Unroll ye this great war from end to end,’ in Virgil: that is... Tell ye not only the beginnings, but also the conclusions of these wars; for by ‘orae’ is meant ‘extremities.’ An augmenter of Servius adds: It is further an expression of Ennius —

  Who can unroll this great war from end to end?

  174–6

  Cicero, de Div., II, 56, 116: Herodotum cur veraciorem ducam Ennio? Num minus ille potuit de Croeso quam de Pyrrho fingere Ennius? Quis enim est qui credat Apollinis ex oraculo Pyrrho esse responsum? —

  ‘Aio te Aiacida Romanos vincere posse.’

  Primum Latine Apollo numquam locutus est; deinde ista sors inaudita Graecis est; praeterea Pyrrhi temporibus iam Apollo versus facere desierat; postremo, quamquam semper fuit, ut apud Ennium est, —

  ‘stolidum genus Aeacidarum bellipotentes sunt magis quam sapientipotentes;

  tamen hanc amphiboliam versus intellegere potuisset ‘vincere te Romanos’ nihilo magis in se quam in Romanos valere.

  Cp. (vers. 174): Quintil., VII, 9, 6: ‘Aurel. Vict.,’ de vir. illustr., 35, 1; Ammian. Marcell., XXIII, 5, 9; Porphyr. ad Hor., A.P., 403; Charisius, ap. G.L., I, 271, 28 K: et alibi.

  174–6

  Pyrrhus receives an oracle of Apollo:

  Cicero: Why should I take Herodotus to be more truthful than Ennius? Surely he was quite as capable of inventing stories about Croesus as Ennius was about Pyrrhus. For who is there who could believe that Apollo’s oracle gave this answer to Pyrrhus? —

  ‘I say that you, O man sprung from Aeacus, The Romans can defeat.’

  In the first place, Latin is a tongue in which Apollo never spoke; again, that particular reply is not known among the Greeks; and, moreover, in the time of Pyrrhus Apollo had already ceased to make verses; and lastly, although it has always held good, as we find in Ennius, that— ‘That tribe of blockheads, stock of Aeacus Are war-strong more than wisdom-strong’;

  still, Pyrrhus would have had the sense to see that the double meaning of the line ‘you the Romans... defeat’ applied equally to himself and to the Romans.

  177

  Valla, ad Iuv., VII, 134: ‘Stlataria.’ Probus exponit illecebrosa. Ennius —

  et melior navis quam quae stlataria portat.

  177

  Pyrrhus’ stormy crossing to Italy; his ship:

  Valla: ‘Stlataria.’ Probus expounds: ‘alluring:’ Ennius —

  and a better ship than such as carries foreign fripperies.

  178

  Festus, 170, fin.: ‘Navus’ celer ac strenuus... . Ennius lib. VI —

  Navus repertus homo, Graio patre Graius homo, rex.

  178

  Pyrrhus was at first welcomed in Tarentum, 281 BC:

  Festus: ‘Navus,’ swift and active.... E. in the sixth book —

  A man of deeds was found, a Greek son of a Greek father, a king.

  179

  Festus, 424, 27: ussi dicebantur .... Ennius in sexto.. . —

  Intus in occulto mussabat.

  Cp. Paul., ex F., 425, 5: 127, 6.

  179

  but he shewed himself a stern master:

  Festus: ‘Summussi’ is a term which was applied to murmurers.... Ennius in the sixth book... —

  Within (the people?) grumbled in secret.

  180

  Macrobius, S., VI, 1, 54: ‘Pulverulentus eques furit; omnes arma requirunt’ (Aen., VII, 625).. . —

  Balantum pecudes quatit; omnes arma requirunt.

  180

  A sudden raid near Tarentum by Lucius Aemilius Barbula?:

  Macrobius, quoting Virgil: ‘Through the dust the horsemen raged; all cried for weapons.’... —

  He harried the bleating sheep; all cried for weapons.

  181–5

  Macrobius, S., VI, 2, 27:

  Itur in antiquam silvam stabula alta ferarum. Procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus ilex fraxineaeque trabes cuneis, et fissile robur scinditur; advolvunt ingentes montibus ornos. (Aen., VI, 179 ff.; cp. Aen., XI, 134 ff.)

  Ennius in VI —

  Incedunt arbusta per alta, securibus caedunt. Percellunt magnas quercus, exciditur ilex, fraxinus frangitur atque abies consternitur alta, pinus proceras pervortunt; omne sonabat arbustum fremitu silvai frondosai.

  Homerus, Il., XXIII, 114:

  οἱ δ᾿ ἴσαν ὑλοτόμους πελέκεας ἐν χερσὶν ἔχοντες σειράς τ᾿ εὐπλέκτους· πρὸ δ᾿ ἄρ᾿ οὐρῆες κίον αὐτῶν· πολλὰ δ᾿ ἄναντα κάταντα πάραντά τε δόχμιά τ᾿ ἦλθον. ἀλλ᾿ ὅτε δὴ κνημοὺς προσέβαν πολυπίδακος Ἴδης, αὐτίκ᾿ ἄρα δρῦς ὑψικόμους ταναήκεϊ χαλκῷ τάμνον ἐπειγόμενοι· ταὶ δὲ μεγάλα κτυπέουσαι πῖπτον. τὰς μὲν ἔπειτα διαπλήσσοντες Ἀχαιοὶ ἔκδεον ἡμιόνων· ταὶ δὲ χθόνα ποσσὶ δατεῦντο ἐλδόμεναι πεδίοιο διὰ ῥωπήϊα πυκνά.

  181–5

  Preparations for burning the dead after the battle of Heraclea, 280 BC:

  Macrobius, quoting Virgil:

  They went into an old forest, deep dens of the wild; forward fell pitch-pines, clattered holms under hatchet-blows, clattered beams of ash-trees against wedges; splitting oakwood too they cleft, and rolled along lofty rowans of the mountains.

  Ennius in the sixth book —

  Then strode they through tall timber-trees and hewed With hatchets; mighty oaks they overset; Down crashed the holm and shivered ash outhacked; Felled was the lofty fir; they wrenched right down Tall towering pines; and every woody tree In frondent forest rang and roared and rustled.

  Homer has:

  And they went holding in their hands hatchets for cutting wood, and ropes well twisted, while mules walked on in front of them. And oft strode they uphill and downhill and sideways and crossing. But when they came nigh unto the shoulders of Ida which is full of fountains, then straightway they hewed leafy-topped oaks, pressing on with the long edge of bronze; and the trees crashing mightily fell; whereon these the Achaeans split up and hung from the mules, and these tore up the ground with their feet through thick underwood, eager for the plain.

  186–93

  Cicero, de Off., I, 12, 38: Pyrrhi quidem de captivis reddendis illa praeclara —

  ‘Nec mi aurum posco nec mi pretium dederitis nec cauponantes bellum sed belligerantes

  ferro non auro vitam cernamus utrique; vosne velit an me regnare era, quidve ferat Fors, 190virtute experiamur. Et hoc simul accipe dictum: quorum virtuti belli fortuna pepercit, eorundem libertati me parcere certum est. Dono, ducite, doque volentibus cum magnis dis.’

  Cp. Serv. ad Aen., X, 532; XII, 709; Verg., Aen., V, 385: Ducere dona iube. III, 12 cum sociis nato
que Penatibus et magnis dis. VIII, 679 cum.. . magnis dis.

  186–93

  Pyrrhus replies to Fabricius, who came to ransom prisoners taken at Heraclea:

  Cicero: And of Pyrrhus too there is that illustrious speech on the restoration of prisoners —

  ‘Gold for myself I ask not; no, to me ye shall not pay a price. Not chaffering war but waging war,

  not with gold but with iron — thus let us of both sides make trial for our lives. To see what Mistress Chance may bring, whether it be you or I she wishes to be king — let it be by bravery that we make the test. And withal hear this word of mine: of those warriors to whose bravery war’s fortune has been kind, to the freedom of those same have I too planned to be kind. I give them to you, take them home — and with them I give you the blessing of the great gods.’

  194–5

  Cicero, de Senect., 6, 16: Ad Appii Claudii senectutem accedebat etiam ut caecus esset; tamen is cum sententia senatus inclinaret ad pacem cum Pyrrho foedusque faciendum, non dubitavit dicere illa quae versibus persecutus est Ennius —

  ‘Quo vobis mentes rectae quae stare solebant ante hac, dementes sese flexere viai?

  Hom., Il., XXIV, 201: ὤ μοι, πῇ δή τοι φρένες οἴχονθ᾿ ᾗς τὸ πάρος περ | ἔκλε᾿ ἐπ᾿ ἀνθρώπους;

  194–5

  Fruitless embassy of Cineas to Rome. Appius Claudius Caecus protests against any acceptance of Cineas’ offers (cf. B. Luiselli,in Annali d. Facolta di lettere. Cagliari Univ. XXVIII. 1960):

  Cicero: To Appius Claudius’ old age was added the infirmity of blindness; nevertheless, when the opinion of the Senate was inclined towards peace and alliance with Pyrrhus he did not hesitate to utter those famous thoughts which Ennius set forth in poetry —

  ‘Whither on your road have senseless turned your senses which hitherto were wont to stand upright?

  196

  Donatus, ad Ter., Phorm., V, 4, 2: ‘Parare animo’; et venuste additum animo. Ennius sexto —

  ‘Sed, quid ego hic animo lamentor?

  Od., XI, 418: ὀλοφύραο θυμῷ.

  196

  Donatus on ‘in animo parare’ in Terence: the addition of ‘animo’ is graceful. Ennius in the sixth book —