Scribblers, Sculptors and Scribes

by Richard A LaFleur

  QUAESTINS: Comment on the emotional tone of the epitaph—where, and in what way, does the mood most dramatically shift?

  PRVERBIA ET DICTA

  Vrits dit mors. (Seneca Oed. 850.)

  Nn erg fortn homins aestimb sed mribus; sibi quisque dat mrs, condicinem csus assignat. (Macrobius Sat. 1.11.10: erg, adv., therefore.—aestim [1], to estimate the worth of; “esteem.”—condici, condicinis, f., contract, agreement; personal circumstances, situation in life; “condition.”—csus, -s, m., accident, chance; “casual,” “casualty.”—assign [1], to distribute, allot, assign as one’s fate; “assignation.”)

  Arbor bona frcts bons facit; mala autem arbor frcts mals facit. (Matthew 7.17: arbor, arboris, f., tree; “Arbor Day,” “arboretum,” “arboriculture.”)

  Aut amat aut dit mulier—nl est tertium. (Publilius Sent.: mulier = fmina; “muliebrity.”—nl = nihil.)

  Ex hominum quest facta Fortna est dea. (Publilius Sent.: questus, -s, m., [expression of] dissatisfaction, regret; complaint; “querulous.”—Like her Greek counterpart Tyche, “Fortuna” was in fact deified and worshiped in temples and shrines in Rome and throughout the empire.)

  Adversus perculum ntrlis rati permittit s dfendere. (Gaius Dig. 9.2.4: adversus, prep. + acc., toward, facing; against; “adverse,” “adversity.”—ntrlis, -e, of nature, natural; innate, inherent.—permitt, permittere, perms, permissum, to permit, allow; “permissible.” A fundamental principle of Roman law, providing the right to use force in self-defense when confronted by an impending threat.)

  Nllum sine exit iter est. (Seneca Ep. 9.77.13: exitus, -s, m., going out, departure, exit; conclusion, end.—iter, itineris, n., journey; route, road; “itinerant,” “itinerary.”)

  Sed quis custdiet ipss custds? (Juvenal Sat. 6.347–48: custdi, custdre, custdv, custdtum, to keep [safe], protect; guard, watch over, observe.—custs, custdis, m., guardian, protector; guard, watchman; “custody,” “custodian.”)

  Victria in man nbs est. (Sallust Cat. 20.4.)

  Levmur superstitine, lbermur mortis met. (Cicero Fin. 1.63: lev [1], to lift, raise up; free; “levitate,” “elevator.”—superstiti, superstitinis, f., irrational religious awe, superstition.)

  Ingrta sunt beneficia quibus comes est metus. (Publilius Sent.: ingrtus, -a, -um, ungrateful, thankless; unwelcome, displeasing; “ingrate,” “ingratitude.”—comes, comitis, m./ f., companion; “concomitant,” “count,” i.e., a nobleman’s title.)

  Caret percl qu, etiam cum est ttus, cavet. (Publilius Sent.: percl = percul, another example of SYNCOPE.—cum, conj., when.—ttus, -a, -um, protected, safe, secure; “tutelage,” “tutor.”—cave, cavre, cv, cautum, to take precautions, be on one’s guard, beware (of); “caveat,” “cautious.”—Positioning caret and cavet as the sentence’s first and last words draws attention to the wordplay; there is a kind of CHIASMUS too in the ABBA arrangement caret percl…ttus caret.)

  Manus manum lavat. (Seneca Apoc. 9.6: lav, lavre, lv, lautum, to clean by washing, wash; “lavatory,” “lavish.” A popular proverb from ancient times to the present, rather like our “I’ll scratch your back, and you scratch mine.”)

  LITTERTRA

  Apophorta: Falx

  Px m certa ducis placids curvvit in uss.

  Agricolae nunc sum, mlitis ante fu.

  Martial Epig. 14.34: This gift note accompanied, and was “spoken by,” a sickle, which had been reforged for agricultural use from an army sword; the biblical expression “swords into ploughshares” (Isaiah 2.4, Micah 4.3) is a METAPHOR similarly connoting a society’s shift from war to peace. Meter: elegiac couplet.

  falx, falcis, f., scythe, sickle, often as a symbol of agriculture; curved sword.—dux, ducis, m., leader, guide; commander, general; here the emperor; “duke,” “duchess,” “conduct.”—placidus, -a, -um, pleasing, kindly; favorable, calm, peaceful; “placid.”—curv (1), to make curved, curve, bend.—sus, -s, m., use, function; utility, advantage.—mles, mlitis, m., soldier; “military,” “militia.”

  QUAESTI: Comment on the word order, and its effect, in the second verse.

  Iron sickle, ca. first century B.C. Musée Denon, Chalon-sur-Saône, France

  Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY

  GRAMMATICA

  Nmina: List all the 4th-declension nouns in the readings, identify their number, gender, and case, and finally convert all singulars to plural, and plurals to singular; consult the Summrium Frmrum appendix, both for review and to check your work. Next list all the nouns used in ablative of place from which and ablative of separation constructions.

  CAPVT XXI

  Friends for Life, the Ideal Wife, and Taking Your Feast to the Grave

  The inscriptions in this chapter include two graffiti, one celebrating the friendship of close comrades and another with a slave boy’s (illustrated!) advice to a fellow beast of burden, and the epitaphs of Claudia, the model Roman wife, and of Martialis, an epicure who believed in eating, drinking, and taking it with you! Another gentleman fond of dining is the target of the chapter’s closing text, an epigram of Martial’s targeted at a pompous glutton who fancied himself a gourmet. Read all these texts aloud and read first for comprehension, before consulting the notes and attempting to translate.

  Grammatica nova: Present system passive voice of 3rd/ 4th-conjugation verbs.

  NSCRPTINS

  Forever Friends

  HIC • FVIMVS • CARI DVO • NOS • SINE FINE SODALES NOMINA • SI • […

  Hc fuimus cr duo ns sine fne sodls; nmina s [quaeris, Caius et Aulus erant.]

  Graffito from a shop on the Via dell’Abbondanza, regio I, insula VII, Pompeii, Italy (CIL 4.8162)

  Kay Stanton (from CIL)

  CIL 4.8162: Graffito from a shop on the Via dell’Abbondanza at Pompeii. The two lines appear to be an incomplete elegiac couplet; the last five words are a conjectured restoration filling out the pentameter verse.

  hc, adv., in this place, here.—sodlis, sodlis, m., fellow member of a (religious or social) club; close companion, comrade.—quaer, quaerere, quaesv, quaestum, to seek, look for, strive for; ask, inquire (into); “query,” “quest,” “inquire.”

  An Ass’ Life

  LABORA ASELLE QVOMODO EGO LABORAVI ET PRODERIT TIBI

  Labr, aselle, qumodo ego labrv, et prderit tibi.

  CLE 1798: Graffito from the paedagogium (a school for training slaves) in the House of Gelotius, on the Palatine Hill at Rome; the donkey in the accompanying sketch, which was probably drawn by a slave boy, is turning a grain mill, a task sometimes assigned to slaves.

  asellus, -, m., little ass, donkey; “asinine” donkeys were commonly employed as work animals by farmers and merchants in ancient Rome, and then, as now, comparisons were often made between men and asses, sometimes pejoratively, sometimes not (the word asellus, DIMINUTIVE of asinus, ass, was occasionally even used as a term of endearment).—qumodo, adv., in what way, the way in which, how, as.—prsum, prdesse, prfu, often + dat., to be of use (to), do good, help; be advantageous (to), be beneficial (to).

  Graffito from slave training school, Rome, Italy (CLE 1798)

  Kay Stanton (from Raffaele Garrucci, Graffiti de Pompéi: Inscriptions et Gravures, Paris FR: Benjamin Duprat, 1856)

  Flavius Martialis Lies Here

  D M

  T • FLAVIVS •

  MARTIALIS • HIC •

  SITVS • EST • QVOD • EDI

  BIBI • MECVM • HABEO

  QVOD • RELIQVI

  PERDIDI •

  V • A • LXXX

  IN • F • P • V • IN A P […

  D(s) m(nibus). T(itus) Flvius Mrtilis hc situs est.

  “Quod d, bib, mcum habe quod relqu, perdid.”

  V(xit) a(nns) LXXX. In f(ronte) p(eds) V; in a(gr) p(eds) […].

  CIL 6.18131: Epitaph for Titus Flavius Martialis, from a marble tablet at Rome; the portion “spoken” by the deceased, a variant of a refrain common in ancient epitaphs (most notably that of the rich Syrian king Sardanapulus), i
s in a common ancient dramatic meter known as trochaic septenarius. The last line of the inscription, which breaks off at the end, gives the measurements of the burial plot.

  ds mnibus: if you do not recall the meaning, see notes to “Ginga,” in the preceding chapter.—situs, -a, -um, stored, deposited; laid in the grave, buried; hc situs (sita) est, which you have also seen before, was a standard formula in epitaphs.—ed, sse, d, sum, to eat; “edible,” “comestibles.”—bib, bibere, bib, to drink; “bibulous,” “imbibe,” “bib.”—perd, perdere, perdid, perditum, to destroy, ruin, lose, waste; “perdition.”—frns, frontis, f., forehead, brow; front; the reference here is to the burial plot’s frontage on the road, i.e., its width.—ps, pedis, m., lower leg, foot; foot (a linear measure); “pedestrian,” “pedal.”—in agr: this phrase refers to the plot’s depth.

  QUAESTI: What essentially is the “advice” of Martialis to those still living?

  The Ideal Woman: Epitaph for Claudia

  HOSPES • QVOD • DEICO • PAVLLVM • EST • ASTA • AC • PELLEGE HEIC • EST • SEPVLCRVM • HAV • PVLCRVM • PVLCRAI • FEMINAE NOMEN • PARENTES • NOMINARVNT • CLAVDIAM SVOM • MAREITVM • CORDE • DEILEXIT • SOVO GNATOS • DVOS • CREAVIT • HORVNC • ALTERVM IN • TERRA • LINQVIT • ALIVM • SVB • TERRA • LOCAT SERMONE • LEPIDO • TVM • AVTEM • INCESSV • COMMODO DOMVM • SERVAVIT • LANAM • FECIT • DIXI • ABEI

  Hospes, quod deic paullum est: ast ac pellege.

  Heic est sepulcrum hau pulcrum pulcrai fminae;

  nmen parents nminrunt “Claudiam.”

  Suom mareitum corde deilxit sou.

  Gnts dus crevit; hrunc alterum

  in terr linquit, alium sub terr locat.

  Sermne lepid, tum autem incess commod.

  Domum servvit; lnam fcit. Dx—abei.

  CIL 12.1211: One of the most famous of early Latin inscriptions, from a monument found at Rome and dated to ca. 135–120 B.C., this poignant epitaph, written in iambic senarii, is evidence of qualities that were revered in women of the period. The inscription contains numerous archaic spellings typical at this time, an important reminder that a language’s sounds and orthography are never static but rather are constantly evolving; the classical equivalents are provided in the notes.

  hospes, hospitis, m., stranger, guest; host; “hospice,” “hospital,” “hospitality.”—deic: = dc ei was often written for long in archaic inscriptions (cf. below heic for hc, deilxit for dlxit, etc.). The tombstone itself “speaks” here (and cf. dx in the closing line), addressing the passerby, a common convention in Roman epitaphs.—paullum: = paulum, from paulus, -a, -um, little, small; slight, brief.—ast (ad + st), astre, astit, to stand by, stand near; stand still, stand waiting.—pellege: = perlege, from perleg, perlegere, perlg, perlctum, to scan, survey; read over, read through, read thoroughly; “legible.”—sepulc(h) rum, -, n., grave, tomb; “sepulchre,” “sepulchral.”—hau: = haud, adv., not, not at all, by no means.—pulcrum pulcrai: = pulchrum pulchrae. With the phrase sepulcrum hau pulcrum the writer is etymologizing, playing on the popular, but false, notion that sepulc(h)rum derives from s-, prefix, apart (from), not + pulc(h)rum, and thus means not beautiful, unlovely. Further wordplay appears in the line below with nmen…nminrunt.—parns, parentis, m./ f., parent.—nmin (1), to provide with a name, name; call, give (someone a name); “nominate,” “nomination” nminrunt, a common perf. tense form contraction, = nminvrunt.—mareitum: = martum, from martus, -, m., husband; “marital.”—cor, cordis, n., heart; soul, spirit; “coronary,” “cordial,” “discord.”—suom…sou: = suum…su.—gnts: = nts, from ntus, -, m., son; “nativity,” “prenatal.”—hrunc: = hrum.—linqu, linquere, lqu, to go away from, leave (behind); “relinquish.”—loc (1), to place, put; “locate,” “locale.”—serm, sermnis, m., speech, talk, conversation; “sermonize.”—lepidus, -a, -um, agreeable, charming, delightful, amusing; with sermne lepid and incess commod following, both ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, sc. erat, she was (a woman) of….—tum: here in addition, also.—incessus, -s, m., walking, gait; bearing, carrying oneself; “procession.”—commodus, -a, -um, convenient, suitable, appropriate; agreeable, pleasant; “commodious,” “accommodating.”—domus, -s (-), m., house, home; household, family; “domicile,” “domestic.”—lna,-ae, f., wool, woolen cloth; “lanolin.”—abei: = ab, from abe, abre, abi, abitum, to go away, depart, leave.

  QUAESTI: What wide range of insights does this epitaph provide into Roman conceptions of the ideal wife?

  PRVERBIA ET DICTA

  Iterum tranquillittem vide. (Erasmus Ad. 2.2.5: tranquillits, tranquillittis, f., calmness, calm, tranquillity.)

  In edem es nv. (Cicero Fam. 2.5.1: nv, a common alternate form of nve.)

  Alta cadunt odis, parva extolluntur amre. (Cato Dist. 21: altus, -a, -um, high, lofty, towering, deep; “altitude,” “altimeter.”—odium, -, n., hatred; “odious.”—extoll, extollere, to lift up, raise; “extol.” The sentence is in dactylic hexameter; and note the parallel ABCABC word order.)

  Paritur px bell. (Nepos Epam. 5.4: pari, parere, peper, partum, to beget, give birth to; produce; “parent,” “postpartum.”)

  Homicidium cum admittunt singul, crmen est; virts voctur cum pblic geritur. (Cyprian Ep. Don. 6: homicidium, -, n., murder, homicide.—cum, conj., when.—singul, -ae, -a, one each, single, individual; “singular.”—crmen, crminis, n., charge, accusation; misdeed, crime; “incriminate,” “recrimination.”—pblic, adv., in the name of the state, officially; “publicly,” “publish.”)

  Nec scre fs est omnia. (Horace Carm. 4.4.22: fs, indecl., n., right by divine law, morally right; fitting, proper; “nefarious.”)

  Nihil rct sine exempl doctur aut discitur. (Columella Rust. 11.1.4: rct, adv., rightly, correctly; “rectitude,” “rectilinear.”—exemplum, -, n., example, model; “exemplary.”)

  Nunc autem multa quidem membra, num autem corpus; nn potest dcere oculus manu, “Oper tu nn indige,” aut iterum caput pedibus, “Nn estis mihi necessri.” (1 Corinthians 12.20–21: membrum, -, n., part of the body, limb, member.—ps, pedis, m., lower leg, foot; “pedestrian,” “millipede.”—necessrius, -a, -um, necessary, essential.)

  Quam miserum est, ubi cnsilium cas vincitur! (Publilius Sent.: casus, -s, m., accident, chance; “case,” “casual,” “casualty.”)

  Tt sunt omns, nus ubi defenditur. (Publilius Sent.: ttus, -a, -um, protected, safe, secure; “tutelary,” “tutor.”)

  Sc est vulgus: ex vritte pauca, ex opnine multa aestimat. (Cicero Rosc. Am. 29: sc, adv., so, thus.—pni, pninis, f., opinion, belief; “opine.”—aestim [1], to estimate, value; assess, judge; “estimation,” “esteem”: derivatives from Lat. words containing diphthongs typically drop the first vowel of the diphthong, as in these examples.)

  Nn est vir fortis ac strnuus qu labrem fugit. (Seneca Ep. 22.7: strnuus, -a, -um, active, vigorous, energetic; “strenuous.”)

  Vrits enim labrre potest; vinc nn potest. (Jerome Adv. Pel. 1.25.)

  Maxim percul custdtur quod mults placet. (Publilius Sent.: maximus, -a, -um, superl. degree of magnus, largest, greatest; “maximize.”—custdi, custdre, custdv, custdtum, to keep [safe], protect; guard, watch over, observe; “custodial,” “custody.”—place, placre, placu, placitum, + dat., to be pleasing (to), please; “placebo,” “complacent.”)

  LITTERTRA

  Gourmet…or Gourmand?

  Nn est, Tucca, satis, quod es gulsus:

  et dc cupis et cupis vidr.

  Martial Epig. 12.41: Gluttony, one of the “seven deadly sins,” was a favorite target of Roman satire; meter: hendecasyllabic.

  Tucca, -ae, m., Tucca, a common Roman cognomen. Tucctum, possibly related to an Umbrian word meaning “salted,” was a savory meat dish; Martial often punned on his characters’ names, perhaps here?—quod, conj., here = (the fact) that.—gulsus, -a, -um, fond of choice foods; gluttonous; as a substantive, gourmet or glutton; “gullet.”

  QUAESTINS: Explain how Martial plays on the two different senses of
gulsus here: which sense does he likely have in mind in the first verse, and which is certainly meant in the second? Comment on the word order in line 2.

  GRAMMATICA

  Verba: List all the 3rd-and 4th-conjugation verbs in this chapter’s readings, then transform each active form to passive, and each passive form to active. Consult the Summrium Frmrum appendix for review and to check your answers.