A Polylingual King
Quntus Ennius tria corda habre ss dcbat, quod loqu Graec et Osc et Latn scret. Mithridts, autem, Pont atque Bithyniae rx inclutus, qu Cn. Pompei bell supertus est, durum et vgint gentium, qus sub dicine habuit, lingus percalluit erumque omnium gentium virs haut umquam per interpretem conloctus est, sed ut quemque ab e appellrsus fuit, proinde lingu et rtine ipsus nn minus sct, quam s gentilis eius esset, loctus est.
Gellius NA 17.17: For Aulus Gellius’ “Attic Nights,” see “King Romulus’ Drinking Habits,” Capvt XXXIII. Gellius here relates that the Latin poet Quintus Ennius (239–169 B.C.), author of the early Roman epic poem, the Annales, was surpassed in his ability to speak three languages by the eastern monarch Mithridates VI, king of Pontus and Bithynia in Asia Minor, who could converse in the nearly two dozen languages and dialects spoken by the subjects of his diverse kingdom. The king’s defeat by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, “Pompey the Great,” mentioned here by Gellius, was followed by his suicide in 63 B.C.
cor, cordis, n., heart; soul, spirit; “coronary,” “courage.”—ss: = s.—Graec, adv., in the Greek language.—Osc, adv., in Oscan, an early Italic language related to Lat. and, until the 1st cent. B.C., spoken widely in southern Italy, where Ennius was born and raised.—Latn: you can guess what this one means!—inclutus, -a, -um, famous, renowned, celebrated.—dici, dicinis, f., dominion, sovereignty, control; “dictator,” “condition.”—percallsc, percallscere, percallu, to be(come) thoroughly conversant with; “callous.”—haud (haut), adv., not, not at all.—interpres, interpretis, m., intermediary, agent; interpreter.—conloquor (colloquor), conloqu, conloctus sum, to speak with, converse; “colloquy,” “colloquium.”—ut: here when(ever).—quemque: subj. of appellr.—sus, -s, m., use; utility, usefulness; need; idiom, sus est, there is a need (to), it is necessary (for), + acc. + infin.—proinde, adv., accordingly; equally, similarly.—rti, rtinis, f., act of speaking, manner of speaking; language, dialect; speech; “oration.”—sct, adv., knowledgeably, expertly; “science,” “conscious.”—gentlis, gentlis, m., member of the same clan (gns); fellow countryman; “gentile,” “gentle.”
GRAMMATICA
Verba: List all the deponent verbs in the chapter’s readings, then identify the tense and mood of each; for those that are subjunctive, specify the type of clause in which they are employed.
Nmina: Identify all the ablative nouns and pronouns that are dependent on deponent verbs.
CAPVT XXXV
Fatality, the Fates, and a Father’s Grief
This chapter’s readings have a more strictly thematic orientation: you will read a graffito and three epitaphs, all in verse, each focused on the transience of things, the brevity of life, and the shock of loss, along with Catullus’ elegy on the death of his brother, and a letter written to a friend by the younger Pliny, lamenting the tragic death of a mutual friend’s twelve-year-old daughter. The chapter’s Prverbia et Dicta include, inter multa alia, observations on the marvelous lies of poets and the preferability of an unequal peace to a just war. And remember: always first read aloud, as the Romans did!
Grammatica nova: The dative case, including dative with adjectives, dative with special verbs, and dative with compounds.
NSCRPTINS
All Things Must Pass
NIHIL DVRARE POTEST TEMPORE PERPETVO CVM BENE SOL NITVIT, REDDITVR OCEANO DECRESCIT PHOEBE QVAE MODO PLENA FVIT VENTORVM FERITAS SAEPE FIT AVRA LEVIS
Nihil drre potest tempore perpetu
cum bene sl nituit, redditur cean
dcrscit Phoeb, quae modo plna fuit;
ventrum ferits saepe fit aura levis.
CIL 4.9123: Graffito found to the left of the entrance to a taberna on Pompeii’s Via dell’Abbondanza in 1913, and destroyed two years later when the building collapsed. The lines are elegiac pentameters, indented to resemble couplets, though in order to scan, one must assume nihil was pronounced nl, as was commonly the case; the last line follows the reading of F. A. Todd (Classical Review 53 [1939] 168–70). The writer’s message is the waxing and waning of nature, but with an allusion, no doubt, to man’s mortality—and renaissance? The text was adapted by Carl Orff into the libretto of his “Catulli Carmina.”
Graffito from a taberna, Via dell’Abbondanza, Pompeii, Italy (CIL 4.9123)
Mathew Olkovikas (from CIL)
dr (1), to harden; last, endure; “durable,” “duration.”—tempore perpetu: ABL. OF DURATION OF TIME, a construction for which the acc. was more common.—nite, nitre, nitu, to be radiant, shine.—redd, reddere, reddid, redditum, to give back, return; “render,” “rendition.”—ceanus, -, m., sea, ocean.—dcrsc, dcrscere, dcrv, dcrtum, to grow smaller, shrink; wane, ebb; “decrease,” “crescent.”—Phoeb, Phoebs, f., Phoebe, a Titan identified with the moon-goddess Diana/ Artemis, and, metaphorically, the moon itself.—modo, adv., now, just now, recently.—ventus, -, m., wind; “vent,” “ventilate” for ventrum some editors read venerum, of love(s), but Todd’s reading seems more likely in view of the rest of the poem’s imagery.—ferits, ferittis, f., wildness, ferocity; “fierceness.”—fit: pres. tense of irreg. verb f, = becomes.—aura, -ae, f., gentle wind, breeze; breath; “aura.”
THREE EPITAPHS
I Was Helvia Prima
TV • QVI SECVRA SPATIARVS MENTE VIATOR ET NOSTRI VOLTVS DERIGIS INFERIEIS SI QVAERIS QVAE SIM CINIS EN ET TOSTA FAVILLA ANTE OBITVS TRISTEIS HELVIA PRIMA FVI CONIVGE SVM CADMO FRVCTA SCRATEIO CONCORDESQVE PARI VIXIMVS INGENIO NVNC DATA SVM DITI LONGVM MANSVRA PER AEVM DEDVCTA ET FATALI IGNE ET AQVA STYGIA
T qu scr spatirus mente, vitor,
et nostr volts drigis nferieis,
s quaeris quae sim: cinis n et tosta favilla,
ante obits trsteis Helvia Prma fu.
Coniuge sum Cadm frcta Scratei,
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concordsque par vximus ingeni.
Nunc data sum Dt, longum mnsra per aevm,
dducta et ftl igne et aqu Stygi.
CIL 12.1732: Verse epitaph, in elegiac couplets, for Helvia Prima, wife of Cadmus Scrateius; the name “Scrateius” is not otherwise attested and may be a misspelling, as the line is metrically corrupt (Bücheler, CLE 960, suggests dlct may have been omitted after Cadm). Datable to the 1st cent. B.C. by its spelling and other stylistic features; inscribed on a tablet found in a heap of stones at Beneventum, in south Italy.
t…mente: a standard formula in epitaphs, addressing the passerby; cf. t qu scr prcdis mente (CIL 6.12652; prcd, prcdere, to go forth, proceed).—scrus, -a, -um, free from care, untroubled, safe; “security.”—spatior, spatir, spatitus sum, to walk about, stroll by; “expatiate” for spatirus as an alternate for spatiris, cf. note on fgrus, “Go Hang Yourself!”, Capvt XXVIII.—vitor, vitris, m., wayfarer, traveler; “via,” “viaduct.”—nostr: gen. of the pron., with nferes, instead of the more usual possessive adj. nostrs.—vultus (voltus), -s, m., facial expression, look; gaze, glance; use of pl. for sg., and vice-versa, was common in poetry.—drig (drig), drigere, drx, drctum, to align, line up; direct (the movement of), steer; “director.”—nferiae, -rum, f. pl., offerings (of wine, flowers, etc., made to the dead); funeral rites; tomb, grave; “infernal” nferieis, archaic form of nferis (on the use of ei for , esp. in early inscriptions, see Capvt XXI and XXIV).—cinis, cineris, m./ f., residue from a fire, ashes; “incinerate.”—n, interj., look, behold!—torre, torrre, torru, tostum, to scorch, burn; “torrid,” “toast.”—favilla, -ae, f., ashes; remains (of a corpse); cinis…favilla: sc. sum.—obitus, -s, m., approach, encounter; death; “obituary.”—trsteis: = trsts, common alternate acc. pl. form.—coninx, coniugis, m./ f., spouse; “conjugal.”—fruor, fru, frctus sum, + abl., to enjoy, delight in; “fruit,” “fructify.”—concors, gen. concordis, concurring in feeling, like-minded, in harmony; “concord.”—par…ingeni: ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, of/ with….—Ds, Dtis, m., Dis, Roman god of the Underworld.—aevum, -, n., period of time, age; (all) future time, eternity; “coeval,” “medieval.”—ddc, ddcere, ddx, dductum, to lead away, ta
ke away; bring down; “deduce.”—ftlis, -e, fateful; deadly; “fatal,” “fatalistic.”—Stygius, -a, -um, of the Styx, river in the Underworld across which were ferried the souls of the dead.
QUAESTINS: What does igne in the final line refer to? Comment on views of the afterlife reflected in the epitaph.
The Thread of Fate
O QVAM DVRA TIBI […]IT FORTVNA FATER[……]VAE TE TAM TENERIS ANNIS SVB TARTARA MISIT DENOS VIX PASSA EST ANNOS TE CERNERE LVCEM…]OD SI LONGA MAGIS DVXISSENT FILA SORORES • AEQVIVS IS[……]APIS COMPLECTERET OSSA PATERNA
quam dra tib [pigu]it, Fortna fatr[],
[q]uae t tam teners anns sub Tartara msit.
Dns vix passa est anns t cernere lcem.
[Qu]od s longa magis dxissent fla sorrs,
aequius is[te l]apis complecteret ossa paterna.
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CIL 3.9259 (compare 3.2628): Opening lines of an epitaph for a child, written in dactylic hexameter; from a tombstone at ancient Salonae in Dalmatia (near modern Split). The text is damaged and cannot be restored with complete confidence (the partial restoration here is essentially that proposed by F. Bücheler, CLE 456), but is interesting for its reference to the Fates or Moirae—Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis—spinning out the thread of the deceased youth’s life; the Parcae, as the Romans called the three sisters, were often evoked in epitaphs as the cause of premature death and are depicted in myth snipping the final thread in the tapestry of a man’s life at the fated moment of his passing.
piget, pigre, piguit, impers. verb + infin., it is displeasing, it is distressing (to); the first hexameter = piguit fatr quam dra tibi Fortna (fuerit).—tener, -nera, -nerum, tender, delicate; immature, young; “tenderness” teners anns, ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, of/ in….—Tartara, -rum, n. pl., Tartarus, the Underworld; sub Tartara msit: an echo, perhaps deliberate, of sub Tartara ms, Vergil Aen. 8.563.—dn, -ae, -a, ten each, ten (al)together; “denarius” dns…anns, ACC. OF DURATION OF TIME, for….—quod, conj., but.—longa magis: = longira.—flum, -, n., single strand of yarn, thread; “filament.”—aequ, adv., equally; equitably, justly, rightly.—lapis, lapidis, m., stone, rock; “lapidary.”—complect, complectere (more often DEPONENT, complector, complect, complexus sum), to hold in the arms, embrace; encircle, cover; “complexion.”—os, ossis, n., bone; “ossuary.”—paternus, -a, -um, of a father, father’s; “paternal,” “paternity.”
QUAESTINS: Who is addressed in the epitaph? What clue does the text contain to who might have set up, and possibly even composed, the inscription? Which verse is marked by the most striking ALLITERATION?
A Christian Burial
EVCHARIS • EST • MATER • PIVS • ET • PATER EST […VOS PRECOR O FRATRES • ORARE HVC • QVANDO • VENI[…ET PRECIBVS • TOTIS • PATREM • NATVMQVE • ROGATIS SIT • VESTRAE • MENTIS • AGAPES • CARAE • MEMINISSE VT DEVS • OMNIPOTENS • AGAPEN IN SAECVLA • SERVET
Eucharis est mter, pius et pater est [mihi Celsus].
Vs precor, frtrs, rre hc quando ven[tis]
et precibus tts Patrem Ntumque rogtis:
sit vestrae mentis Agaps crae meminisse,
ut Deus omnipotns Agapn in saecula servet.
ICUR 2392b: Portion of an epitaph for Agape, in dactylic hexameter, from the 2nd–4th cent. Christian catacomb of Priscilla in Rome (see above, “From the Catacomb of Priscilla,” Capvt XXVI); the remainder of the inscription, which was on a second, more damaged stone and is not included here, gave Agape’s age as 27 and proclaimed her a faithful Christian. To complete the first line Bücheler (CLE 730) supplied mihi and a conjectured name for Agape’s father at the end, balancing the mother’s name, Eucharis, at the beginning; if the suppletion mihi is correct, then the deceased addresses the viewer in the first line, and in the following lines the writer speaks.
pius, -a, -um, dutiful, devoted; “pious,” “piety.”—precor, precr, prectus sum, to ask or pray for (something); + acc. + infin., entreat (someone to do something); “prayer,” “imprecation.”—frtrs: i.e., fellow Christians (“brethren”) who might pass through the catacomb.—r (1), to speak, plead; entreat, pray; “orate,” “oration.”—hc, adv., to this place, hither.—prex, precis, f., prayer; precibus tts: along with frtrs, this may indicate a gathering of worshipers praying collectively for the dead.—ntus, -, m., son; here, Christ; “nativity.”—vestrae mentis: possessive, but in Eng. idiom = in….—Agap, gen. Agaps, acc. Agapn (the forms are Greek), f., Agape, a common early Christian woman’s name, meaning “(spiritual) love.”—memin, meminisse, defective verb with perf. system tenses only, + gen., to be mindful (of), remember; “memento,” “reminiscent.”—omnipotns, gen. omnipotentis, all-powerful, almighty; “omnipotent.”—saeculum, -, n., generation, period of time, age; in saecula, idiom, = semper; “secular.”
Epitaph for Agape, catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, Italy, 2nd–4th cent. A.D.. (ICUR 2392b)
Scala / Art Resource, NY
PRVERBIA ET DICTA
Vir bonus est is qu prdest quibus potest, nocet nmin. (Cicero Off. 3.64: prsum, prdesse, prfu, to be of use [to], do good, provide help [to]; be beneficial, be advantageous; prdest quibus potest strictly speaking = prdest es quibus prdesse potest, but this sort of elliptical phrasing is common in Lat. as it is in English.)
Amre et sapere vix de concditur. (Publilius Sent.: vix, adv., hardly, scarcely, with difficulty.—concd, concdere, concess, concessum, to yield, grant, concede; “concession.”)
Heu—quam est timendus qu mor ttum putat! (Publilius Sent.: ttus, -a, -um, safe, not threatening; “tutor,” “tutelage.”)
Anim imperbit sapins, stultus serviet. (Publilius Sent.)
Vincuntur moll pectora dra prece. (Tibullus El. 3.4.76: mollis, -e, soft; easy, gentle; “emollient.”)
Excelss mult facilius casus nocet. (Publilius Sent.: excelsus, -a, -um, towering, lofty; high in rank; “excel,” “excellent.”—mult, adv., by far, much; “multiple.”—casus, -s, m., falling down, fall; accident, chance; “casualty.”)
Nn placet ille mihi quisquis placuit sibi multum. (Cato Monost. 11.)
Ade familire est hominibus omnia sibi ignscere, nihil alis remittere. (Velleius Paterculus Hist. Rom. 2.30.3: ade, adv., to such a degree, so very, extremely.—familiris, -e, of one’s family; well-known, familiar, customary; “familiarity.”—remitt, remittere, rems, remissum, to send back; let go; forgive; “remit,” “remission.”)
Alius libdin servit, alius avaritiae, alius ambitin, omns spe, omns timr. (Macrobius Sat. 1.11.8, adapted from Seneca Ep. 47.17: libd, libdinis, f., desire, longing; lust; “libido.”—ambiti, ambitinis, f., soliciting votes; seeking popularity; ambition; “ambitious.”)
Inquissimam pcem istissim bell anteferrem. (Cicero Fam. 6.6: inquus, -a, -um, unequal; unfair, unjust; “inequity.”—istus, -a, -um, just, right; “justice.”—antefer, anteferre, antetul, anteltum, to carry in front; place before; prefer; anteferrem, POTENTIAL SUBJUNCT., I would/ might….)
Mranda canunt, sed nn crdenda potae. (Cato Dist. 3.18: can, canere, cecin, cantum, to sing (about); “cantor,” “enchant.”)
Qu culpae ignscit n, sudet plribus. (Publilius Sent.: sude, sudre, sus, susum, + dat., to recommend; encourage; “suasion,” “persuade.”)
LITTER TRA
Catullus Bids His Brother a Last Farewell
Mults per gents et multa per aequora vectus,
adveni hs misers, frter, ad nferis,
ut t postrm dnrem mnere mortis
et mtam nququam alloquerer cinerem.
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Quandoquidem fortna mih tt abstulit ipsum,
heu, miser indign frter admpte mihi,
nunc tamen intere haec, prsc quae mre parentum
trdita sunt trst mnere ad nferis,
accipe, frtern multum mnantia flt,
atque in perpetuum, frter, av atque val.
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Catullus Carm. 101: Catullus composed this elegy on the occasion of his brother’s death in Asia Minor, where the poet had traveled in order to leave offerings at th
e grave and offer his final farewell.
aequor, aequoris, n., level surface; plain; sea; “equal.”—veh, vehere, vex, vectum, to carry, convey; “vehicle.”—adveni, advenre, advn, adventum, to come to, arrive at; “advent,” “adventure.”—postrmus, -a, -um, final, last.—dn (1), to give, present (someone/ acc. with a gift / abl.); “donate,” “donation.”—mnus, mneris, n., service, duty; gift, present, offering; “munificent.”—mtus, -a, -um, saying nothing, silent; “mute.”—nququam, adv., in vain, to no avail.—alloquor, alloqu, alloctus sum, to speak to, address; “allocution,” “circumlocution.”—quandquidem, conj., inasmuch as, since; the -- was routinely shortened in dactylic verse.—mih: the final -i was often lengthened in verse; DAT. OF SEPARATION (here and in the next line).—tt: here intensive for t.—aufer, auferre, abstul, abltum, to bear away, carry off; take away, destroy; “ablation.”—indign, adv., unworthily; unfairly; “indignant.”—adim, adimere, adm, admptum, to remove (by physical force), take away; “exempt.”—intere, adv., meanwhile; “interim.”—haec: obj. of accipe and modified by mnantia (line 9).—prscus, -a, -um, ancient; “pristine.”—trst mnere: in a… or as a….—ad: here for.—frternus, -a, -um, of a brother, a brother’s; “fraternal,” “fraternity.”—mn (1), to flow; be wet; “emanate.”—fltus, -s, m., weeping, lamentation; tears (sg. form with this pl. sense).—in perpetuum: idiom, = semper.—av, interj., greetings, hail!
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