QUAESTINS: Martial’s use here of internal rhyme and asyndeton has been mentioned in the above notes; let’s think some more about matters of style: in what way does Martial’s choice of verbs in line 3 contribute to the epigram’s humor? What do you see as the effect of the ANAPHORA (repetition) of sc in the closing verse? With what words in the first two verses are frmsa and puella in line 5 meant to contrast?
Hating Pays Dividends
Genus, Aucte, lucr dvits habent ram:
disse quam dnre vlius cnstat.
Martial Epig. 12.13: The fictitious addressee’s name, Auctus = Enriched/ Mr. Rich, is a SIGNIFICANT NAME, punning on his role as a wealthy man; such etymologizing name-play was a common feature of Roman satire. Meter: choliamb (“limping iambic”).
lucrum: remember the salv, lucrum and lucrum gaudium mosaics in Capita I and IV?—dves, gen. dvitis or dtis, rich, wealthy.—dn (1), to present, reward (with a gift ); give; “donate,” “donor.”—vlius, compar. adv., (costing) less, cheaper; “vile,” “revile.”—cnst, cnstre, cnstit, to stand together; cost; “cost,” “constant.”
The Fox and the Grapes: D Vulpe et v
Fame cocta vulps alt in vne
vam adpetbat, summs salins vribus.
Quam tangere ut nn potuit, discdns ait,
“Nndum mtra es; nl acerbam smere.”
Qu, facere quae nn possunt, verbs levant,
adscrbere hoc dbbunt exemplum sibi.
Phaedrus Fab. 4.3: For Phaedrus’ Fables, many of them based on Aesop, see Capvt XXII; the fable of the fox and the grapes is one of the best known. The meter is Phaedrus’ usual iambic trimeter.
fams, famis, f., desire for food, hunger; “famine.”—cg, cgere, cog, coctum, to drive together; force, compel; “cogent.”—vulps, vulpis, f., fox; “vulpine.”—altus, -a, -um, high, lofty, towering, deep; “altimeter,” “exalt.”—vnea, -ae, f., vine, vineyard.—va, -ae, f., bunch of grapes; “uvula.”—adpet, adpetere, adpetv, adpettum, to try to reach, stretch out for; “appetite.”—summus, -a, -um, highest, greatest, utmost; “summit.”—sali, salre, salv, saltum, to jump, leap; “saltation,” “sally.”—quam: = eam; Lat. often uses a so-called CONJUNCTIVE REL. PRON. at the beginning of a sentence, referring to an ANTECEDENT in the preceding sentence, where Eng. would employ a pers. pronoun.—ait: the a-, normally long, is shortened here for metrical purposes.—mtrus, -a, -um, ripe, full-grown; adult, mature, old; “immature.”—nl, nolle, nolu, to not wish, be unwilling; “nolo contendere.”—sm, smere, smps, smptum, to take (up), assume; “presume,” “consume.”—lev (1), to lift up, raise; lessen, diminish; treat as unimportant, make light of; “elevate.”—adscrb, adscrbere, adscrps, adscrptum, to write in addition, insert, add; assign, ascribe.
Depiction of Aesop and the wolf, on an Attic cup from Vulci, Italy; Painter of Bologna, fifth century B.C. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome, Italy
Alinari / Art Resource, NY
GRAMMATICA
Adiectva: List all the comparative and superlative degree adjectives in the chapter’s readings, then, without changing number, gender, or case, transform each comparative to superlative, and each superlative to comparative. Consult the Summrium Frmrum, if necessary.
Nmina: Identify each noun employed as an alative of comparison.
CAPVT XXVII
On the Gods, Blind Love, and French Toast
The chapter’s reading selections include an epitaph to a husband and wife from a first century B.C. tomb at Rome, another for a Jewish man who lived near Naples five centuries later, and two dedicatory inscriptions set up in France to the supreme Italic deity, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, one by a provincial magistrate, the other by a cohort of sailors. You’ll read also an epigram addressed by Martial to an unfortunate Roman for whom love truly was blind, and a dessert recipe from Apicius’ cookbook that you can try for yourself! The chapter’s Prverbia et Dicta again off er several insights into ancient views on living well, and not so well, including the observation that the young too often acquire bad habits from their elders.
Grammatica nova: Special and irregular comparison of adjectives.
NSCRPTINS
A Jewish Burial
HIC POSITVS EST FLAES EBR EVS Hc positus est Flaes Ebrus.
The Jewish Museum (New York, NY), JM3–50: Epitaph for Flaes (a form of the name “Flavius”?), on a marble grave marker, about one foot square, from Naples; 4th–5th cent. A.D.. Above the Latin text, which is inscribed on a tabula ansta (a tablet with handles), are Jewish symbols, including a shofar (a trumpet made from a ram’s horn, and here configured to resemble a cornucopia), a menorah, and a lulab (a palm branch), followed by the Hebrew word “shalom” (“peace”); one of numerous inscriptions in Italy combining Latin and Hebrew texts.
Ebrus, -a, -um: = Hebraeus, -a, -um, Hebrew, Jewish.
Epitaph for Flaes, Naples, Italy, fourth–fifth century A.D.. The Jewish Museum, New York
The Jewish Museum, NY / Art Resource, NY; gift of Mr. Samuel Friedenberg; photo: Richard Goodbody, Inc.
Aurelia Philematium and Lucius Aurelius Hermia: Forever Faithful
…]RELIVS • L • L
…]ERMIA
…]NIVS • DE COLLE
VIMINALE
…]AEC • QVAE • ME • FAATO
PRAECESSIT • CORPORE
CASTO
…]ONIVNXS • VNA • MEO
PRAEDITA • AMANS
ANIMO
…]DO • FIDA • VIRO • VEIXSI[…
STVDIO • PARILI QVM
…]VLLA • IN • AVARITIE
CESSIT • AB • OFFICIO
…]VRELIA • L • L
[Lcius Au]rlius L(ci) l(bertus) [H]ermia, [la]nius d Colle Vminle.
[H]aec, quae m faat praecessit, corpore cast,
[c]oninxs na, me praedita amns anim,
[f]d fda vir veixsi[t]; studi paril qum,
[n]lla in avriti cessit ab offici.
[A]urlia L(ci) l(berta).
CIL I2.1221 (= 6.9499): Epitaphs for Lucius Aurelius Hermia and (transcribed below) his wife Aurelia Philematium, both Greek freedmen of a Lucius Aurelius; from an early 1st-cent. B.C. marble monument, ca. 2’ x 3’, found in a tomb on the Via Nomentana northeast of Rome and now in the British Museum. The relief carving depicts the couple with their right hands joined and the wife clasping and raising her husband’s right hand to her lips in a gesture of aff ection. Each of the epitaphs contains an epigram, in elegiac meter, in which the deceased speaks and describes the spouse’s virtues; the relief is among our earliest evidence for the marriage of freedmen, and one of the most emotional of all Roman funerary monuments. The monument itself would have been quite costly, which suggests that Hermia and his wife had become quite wealthy.
lbertus, -, m., freedman, i.e., a former slave; “liberty,” “libertine.”—Hermia: the cognomen derives from the name of the Greek messenger god Hermes, the Roman Mercury.—lanius, -, m., slaughterer, butcher.—collis, collis, m., hill, hilltop.—vminlis, -e, (made) of wicker; Collis Vminlis, Viminal Hill, one of the hills in the city of Rome. The abl. ending -e seen here in Vminle was commonly employed instead of the usual - for 3rd-decl. adjectives, when they were used as, or were modifying, proper nouns.—faat: from ftum, -, n., fate, death; in early Lat. inscriptions, writing a vowel twice (or writing it larger than other letters), in order to show that it was pronounced long, was a common convention, reminding us of the importance of vowel quantity in the language (and the importance of beginning students learning macrons as part of a word’s spelling and, thus, of its pronunciation).—praecd, praecdere, praecess, praecessum, to go before, precede; “precedent.”—castus, -a, -um, untouched; pure, chaste; “chastity.” Corpore cast is ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, (a woman) of….—coninx, coniugis, m./ f., spouse, husband, wife; “conjugal” coninxs is a sporadic spelling of the nom., with the added s representing the scribe’s attempt to reflect accurately the sound of the letter x, a “double consonant” with the sound ks.—na: i.e., na et sla.—prae
ditus, -a, -um, + abl., endowed (with), possessed (of); in charge (of), caring (for).—amns: a loving woman.—fdus, -a, -um, faithful, loyal (to); “fidelity” (and your trusty dog “Fido”!).—veixsit: = vxit; ei, as often, = , and for the xs, see note above on coninxs.—parilis, -e, equal, similar; “par,” “parity” the point here is that Philematium’s devotion to Hermia was as profound as his devotion to her.—qum: variant spelling for cum, here prep. with studi paril.—nlla: here, as often, this adj. has adverbial force, = not at all, not a bit, never.—avritia, -ae, f., greed, avarice; avriti = avriti. Some scholars take this as an error for amriti, bitterness or bitter/ difficult times.—cd, cdere, cess, cessum, to go, withdraw; yield to, submit, grant; “cede,” “cession,” “access.”—lberta, -ae, f., freedwoman; “liberate.”
AVRELIA • L • L
PHILEMATIO
VIVA • PHILEMATIVM • SVM
AVRELIA • NOMINITATA
CASTA • PVDENS • VOLGEI
NESCIA • FEIDA • VIRO
VIR • CONLEIBERTVS • FVIT
EIDEM • QVO • CAREO
EHEV
REE • FVIT • EE VERO • PLVS
SVPERAQVE • PARENS
SEPTEM • ME • NAATAM
ANNORVM • GREMIO
IPSE • RECEPIT • XXXX
ANNOS • NATA • NECIS • POTI
ILLE • MEO • OFFICIO ∑O […
ADSIDVO • FLOREBAT• AD • O […
[…]
Aurlia L(ci) l(berta) Philmatio.
Vva Philmatium sum Aurlia nminitta,
casta, pudns, volgei nescia, feida vir.
Vir conleibertus fuit; eidem, qu careheu,
ree fuit ee vr pls superque parns.
Septem m naatam annrum gremi ipse recpit;
XXXX anns nta necis potio[r].
Ille me offici adsidu flrbat ad o[mns].
Funerary monument for Hermia and Philematium, Rome, Italy, early first century B.C. (CIL I2.1221 = 6.9499). British Museum, London, Great Britain
© The Trustees of the British Museum
Philmatio: = Philmation, variant for Philmatium, a common Greek cognomen meaning “little kiss” the sculptor of the relief perhaps deliberately plays on the woman’s name in depicting her poised to kiss her husband’s hand.—vvus, -a, -um, alive, living; “vivid,” “vivacious,” “revive.”—nminit (1), to call, name, term; “nominate,” “nominal.”—pudns, gen. pudentis, decent, modest; “impudent.”—volgus (vulgus), -, m., common people, general public; mob, rabble; “vulgar,” “divulge” volgei = volg.—nescius, -a, -um, not knowing, ignorant (of); “nescience,” “nescient.”—feida: = fda.—conlbertus, -, m., fellow freedman, i.e., having the same patron (patrnus); “liberated.”—eidem: = dem, not to be confused with dat. edem.—heu, interj., oh, alas, expressing sadness or dismay.—ree: = r, in fact.—vrum, -, n., truth; ee vr = vr, idiom, in truth; “verify,” “very.”—pls, adv., more; furthermore, in addition; “plural.”—super: = supr, adv., over, above, beyond; “supraliminal.”—parns, parentis, m./ f., parent, here in the sense of a protector.—naatam: = ntam, born (cf. nta, with the single long instead of the double aa, in the next line) + gen. or acc. = at the age (of); perf. pass. partic. with m.—gremium, -, n., lap, bosom; heart.—XXXX: a common variant, especially in early inscriptions, for the Roman numeral XL; in reading the inscription, a Roman would say aloud “quadrgint” (40), a 4-syllable word that fills out the metrical pattern of the verse.—nex, necis, f., killing, murder; death; “internecine.”—poti, potre, potv, pottum, + gen., to put (someone) under the power (of); “potent,” “potential.”—∑: the engraver (sculptor) used this symbol, seen in the accompanying photo and transcription, to indicate that o(r) on this line was a continuation of poti in the preceding line; cf. our use of the caret (^) to indicate omission of a letter or word in a manuscript.—adsiduus, -a, -um, persistent, steadfast, constant; “assiduous.”—flre, flrre, flru, to put forth flowers, blossom, bloom; prosper, flourish; “florid,” “floruit.”—ad: with omns (= acc. omns) here, before, in the eyes of; other editors have different conjectures for what is missing here, and at least one line following has been lost.
QUAESTINS: Which of the two decedents died first? On which of the two do both epitaphs chiefly focus? What can be learned from these inscriptions about Roman views of spousal virtue?
To Jupiter Optimus Maximus
IOVI • O • M CETERISQ • DIIS DEABVSQ • IMMORT TIB • CL • DEMETRIVS DOM • NICOMED V • E • PROC • AVGG • NN ITEM • CC • EPISCEPSEOS CHORAE • INFERIORIS Iov O(ptim) M(axim) ctersq(ue) dis debusq(ue) immort(libus) Tib(erius) Cl(audius) Dmtrius, dom() Ncomd(i), v(ir) (gregius), prc(rtor) Aug(ustrum) n(ostrrum) item ((ducnrius)) episcepses chrae nferiris.
CIL 5.7870: Religious dedication set up by Tiberius Claudius Demetrius, a provincial magistrate in France, probably procurator of the Maritime Alps; from Nice, France; 3rd cent. A.D..
Iuppiter, Iovis, m., Jupiter, Jove; Optimus and Maximus were two of the god’s standard epithets; “jovial.”—cter, -ae, -a, the remaining, the rest, the other; “etc.” = “et cetera.”—dis: alternate form of des.—domus, -s, f., house, home; the noun has some 2nd-decl. forms, including the abl. dom used here; “domestic,” “domicile.”—gregius, -a, -um (from ex + grex = “out of the herd/ flock”), outstanding, excellent; “egregious.”—prcrtor, prcrtris, m., caretaker, manager; procurator, title of various posts in the imperial government, including financial and other administrators in the provinces, as here.—AVGG: = Augustrum, i.e., Valerian and his son Gallienus, who ruled Rome as co-emperors between A.D.. 254 and 260; double-letter abbreviations in Lat. inscriptions, like GG, NN, and CC here, typically indicate pl. words.—item, adv., similarly; likewise, in addition.—ducnrius, -, m., ducenarius, a high-ranking procurator, paid an annual salary of 200,000 sesterces for his services; the word comes from the adj. ducnrius, -a, -um, of or concerning 200, hence the abbreviation CC, from centum.—episcepses: gen. of a Greek loan word, = of/ for the oversight.—chra, -ae, f., a Greek term = country district, outside a city.—nferus, -a, -um, situated below, lower; southerly; near the sea; “infernal” the reference here is to the area around Nice, where the monument was found, in the vicinity of the Maritime Alps.
Dedicatory inscription to Jupiter, Nice, France, third century A.D.. (CIL 5.7870)
© DeA Picture Library / Art Resource, NY; photo: C. Sappa
The Pillar of Nautes
TIB • CAESARE AVG • IOVI • OPTVM MAXSVMO • O NAVTAE • PARISIAC[…PVBLICE • POSIERV N[… Tib(eri) Caesare Aug(ust), Iov Optum Maxsum nautae Parisiac[] pblic posirun[t].
CIL 13.3026: Inscription from one segment of a four-sided altar unearthed in 1710–1711 during excavations beneath the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, and dated to A.D.. 14–37 by its reference to the emperor Tiberius; the monument, consisting originally of eight limestone blocks, was dedicated to several deities, both Roman (among them Vulcan, Mars, Castor, and Pollux) and Gallic/ Celtic (including Cernunnos, Esus, Tarvos Trigaranus, and Smertios), evidence of the religious syncretism of the period.
Optum Maxsum: = Optim Maxim, common epithet of Jupiter, as noted in the comments on the preceding inscription; the spelling variants reflect local pronunciation. When occasionally a sculptor ran out of room to finish engraving a word at the end of a line, he would add the final letter(s) just beneath that word on the following line, as here with the O of OPTVMO and below with the N[T] of POSIERVNT: ever had a similar problem when lettering a sign for your annual garage sale?—nautae: likely a cohort responsible for traffic and transport on the river Seine (Lat. Squana).—Parisiacus, -a, -um, of the Parisii, a Gallic tribe in the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunenis whose chief city was Lutetia Parisiorum on the Seine, ultimately the modern Paris.—pblic, adv., in the name of the state, officially; at public expense.—posirunt: = posurunt.
Inscription to Jupiter, Paris, France, A.D.. 14–37 (CIL 13.3026). Musée National du Moyen Age—Thermes de Cluny, Paris, Fr
ance
Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY
PRVERBIA ET DICTA
Plrs amcs mnsa quam mns concipit. (Publilius Sent.: concipi, concipere, concp, conceptum, to receive, take in; conceive, produce; “conception” note the wordplay in mnsa/ mns.)
Scribblers, Sculptors and Scribes Page 18