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The Student's Companion
to Latin Authors
by
George Middleton, M.A.
Lecturer in Latin, Aberdeen University; Late Scholar of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
and
Thomas R. Mills, M.A.
Late Lecturer in Greek, Aberdeen University, and Classical Lecturer, Owens College, Manchester; formerly Scholar of Wadham College, Oxford
with an Introductory Note by
Prof. W. M. Ramsay, D.C.L., LL.D.
Aberdeen University
London Macmillan and Co., Ltd. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1896
All rights reserved
Glasgow: Printed at the University Press by Robert Maclehose and Co.
PREFACE
The object of this book is to give in a convenient form all the facts of importance relating to the lives and works of the principal Latin Authors, with full quotation of original authorities on all the chief points. It appears to us that these facts are not at present readily accessible; for the ordinary histories of literature are compelled to sacrifice much exact information to the demand for a critical appreciation of the authors. The latter aspect does not enter into the plan of this book, which may therefore, with advantage, be used side by side with any work of the kind indicated, the two supplementing one another. The authors have been, as far as possible, illustrated from their own works. Special attention has been paid to the great writers, as the book is meant for use in the upper forms of schools and by students at the Universities. We had collected a considerable amount of matter upon the minor authors, most of which it was thought advisable to omit, so as not to extend the book unduly. An attempt, however, has been made to retain the most important facts about these, whenever they illustrated one of the great authors, or whenever it was thought that they ought to be in the hands of a student. We have attempted no treatment of early Latin as seen in inscriptions and the like, but have started with the first literary author, Livius Andronicus, and have gone down to Tacitus and the younger Pliny, dealing with each author by himself. A section has been added on Suetonius. A sketch of the chief ancient authorities on Roman writers is given at the end of the book, as well as a selected list of editions, which, without being exhaustive, will, we hope, be of service to the average student.
Apart from our own study of the authors, our principal authority has, of course, been the History of Roman Literature by Teuffel and Schwabe (translated by Prof. G. C. W. Warr), and we have made an extensive use of editions and monographs both English and foreign, which are mentioned where necessary. Ennius has been quoted from Vahlen's edition, Plautus from the new edition of Ritschl, the fragments of the tragedians and comedians from Ribbeck, of Lucilius from L. Mueller, and of the minor poets from Baehrens, the minor historians from Peter's Fragmenta, and Suetonius' fragmentary works from Reifferscheid.
Some of our materials were originally prepared for the Humanity classes in Aberdeen University, and the Latin Literary Club in connexion with the Honours class. We have to thank some of our pupils for help and criticism, particularly Mr. A. Souter, of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Mr. A. G. Wright, of St. John's College, Cambridge, the latter of whom prepared the materials for the article on Tibullus, and gave us some useful suggestions. We are specially indebted to Professor W. M. Ramsay, without whom the book would not have been written. Professor Ramsay has read nearly the whole of the work as it has passed through the press, and has all along given us invaluable assistance and advice. For any errors in the following pages we are, of course, solely responsible.
ABERDEEN, September, 1896.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.—EARLY POETS AND PROSE WRITERS, 1
Livius Andronicus, 1; Naevius, 4; Plautus, 7; Ennius, 26; Pacuvius, 34; Caecilius Statius, 37; Terence, 39; Early Minor Authors, 52; Cato, 53; Accius, 55; Lucilius, 58; Atta and Afranius, 64; Minor Poets after Afranius, 65; Authors contemporary with Cicero's youth, 67.
CHAPTER II.—THE CICERONIAN AGE, 69
Cicero, 69; Q. Cicero, 89; Tiro, 90; Atticus, 90; Varro, 91; Laberius, 97; Bibaculus, 99; Caesar and the Corpus Caesarianum, 100; Pollio, 112; Nepos, 112; Lucretius, 119; Sallust, 125; Catullus, 132; Contemporary Poets (Cinna, Calvus, Varro Atacinus, Publilius Syrus, etc.), 140.
CHAPTER III.—THE AUGUSTAN AGE, 147
Virgil, 147; Horace, 163; Contemporary Poets, 180; Tibullus, 185; Propertius, 191; Ovid, 200; Manilius, 213; Livy, 215; Contemporaries of Livy, 223; Vitruvius, 224; Seneca the Elder, 226.
CHAPTER IV.—POST-AUGUSTAN WRITERS, 231
Velleius Paterculus, 231; Valerius Maximus, 234; Celsus, 235; Phaedrus, 237; Seneca the Younger, 240; Curtius Rufus, 256; Columella, 258; Pomponius Mela, 259; Persius, 260; Lucan, 264; Petronius, 272; Calpurnius Siculus, 275; Aetna (Lucilius Iunior), 277; Pliny the Elder, 281; Valerius Flaccus, 286; Silius Italicus, 289; Statius, 291; Martial, 295; Quintilian, 302; Frontinus, 310; Juvenal, 312; Pliny the Younger, 326; Tacitus, 336; Suetonius, 348.
APPENDIX A., 351
APPENDIX B., 356
INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 368
INDEX OF TITLES, 378
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The authors ask me to write a word of introduction to their book; but an introduction is not needed when the book supplies a want and is trustworthy in what it says. As to the second point, the text will speak for itself. On the first, a word may be permitted about my own experience in lecturing. The young student of Latin Literature requires help in two ways. In the first place, he needs guidance in learning to recognize and appreciate the literary merit of the authors. Mr. Cruttwell's, and, still better, Mr. Mackail's book, will serve his purpose well. They are interesting to read, and they tempt him on to study for himself. Mr. Mackail's book, especially, shows delicate literary feeling, and a remarkably catholic and true sense of literary merit. But, secondly, the student wants a clear statement of the facts, certain or probable, about the life of each author, the chronology of his works, and their relation to the circumstances and personages of the time. Neither of the books which I have named is satisfactory in this respect. Both of them omit a large number of facts and theories which the student ought to have before him: Mr. Cruttwell occasionally even sinks to inaccuracy.
About three years ago I suggested to Mr. Middleton that he should try to fill up this gap with a book, in which he should bring together all the information that a student should have ready to his hand in reading the more familiar classical authors, that he should keep down the size of his book by omitting all that the student does not want, and that he should set before his readers the evidence on which each fact rests, so that they might be led to form opinions and judgments of their own. Teuffel-Schwabe's great work contains a vast deal that the ordinary student does not want; and it does not contain a certain amount which will, I believe, be found in the present book, the materials for which have been gathered from a wide range of reading.
I am convinced that much can be done to stimulate and invigorate the young student's feeling for Latin literature by helping him to feel for himself how each author's words spring from his life, and conversely how facts and circumstances of his life can be elicited from his words. There will always remain doubts as to the facts and dates, e.g., in Horace's or in Catullus' life; but any reasoned theory has its interest, and is better for the pupil than no theory. The present book will, as I hope, be found useful as an aid to that method of teaching and of study, provided that both teacher and pupil bear in mind that it is a companion to other books—not a book complete in itself.
W. M. RAMSAY.
COMPANION TO LATIN AUTHORS
CHAPTER I.
EARLY POETS AND PROSE WRITERS.
LIVIUS ANDRONICUS.
(1) LIFE.
L. Livius Andronicus, according to the poet Accius, was taken prisoner at the capture of Tarentum by Q. Fabius Maximus in B.C. 209, and exhibited his first play in B.C. 197.
Cic. Brut. 72-3, 'Accius a Q. Maximo quintum consule captum Tarenti scripsit Livium annis xxx. postquam eum fabulam docuisse et Atticus scribit et nos in antiquis commentariis invenimus: docuisse autem fabulam annis post xi., C. Cornelio Q. Minucio coss. ludis Iuventatis, quos Salinator Senensi proelio voverat.'
But ancient evidence is unanimous that he was the first literary writer of Rome, and this is confirmed by his archaic language. Hence the statement of Cicero ibid., that Livius produced his first play in B.C. 240, must be accepted.
'Atque hic Livius, qui primus fabulam, C. Claudio Caeci filio et M. Tuditano coss., docuit anno ipso antequam natus est Ennius; post Romam conditam autem quarto decimo et quingentesimo ... In quo tantus error Acci fuit, ut his consulibus xl. annos natus Ennius fuerit: cui si aequalis fuerit Livius, minor fuit aliquanto is, qui primus fabulam dedit, quam ei, qui multas docuerant ante hos consules, et Plautus et Naevius.'
Cf. Cic. Tusc. i. 3, and Gell. xvii. 21, 42.
Probably Accius, finding in his authorities that Livius was taken prisoner at the capture of Tarentum (i.e. in B.C. 272), wrongly thought of the second capture by Fabius. In spite of Cicero's correction, the error of Accius was, we may infer, reproduced by Suetonius, and thus penetrated into Jerome, who says, yr. Abr. 1830 = B.C. 187, 'T. [an error] Livius tragoediarum scriptor clarus habetur, qui ob ingenii meritum a Livio Salinatore, cuius liberos erudiebat, libertate donatus est.'
It is probable that Livius was the slave of C. Livius Salinator, the father of the victor of Sena (M. Livius Salinator), and taught the latter; for he must have been set free before B.C. 240, and the victor of Sena could hardly have been born earlier than B.C. 258. This connexion made M. Livius Salinator when consul, B.C. 207, select Livius Andronicus to prepare a hymn of expiation to the Aventine Juno, and, probably in the same year, to compose a hymn of thanksgiving for the success of Rome in the Hannibalic War. For his services the privileges of a guild were assigned to writers and actors.
Livy xxvii. 37, 'Decrevere pontifices ut virgines ter novenae per urbem euntes carmen canerent ... conditum ab Livio poeta ... Carmen in Iunonem reginam canentes ibant illa tempestate forsitan laudabile rudibus ingeniis, nunc abhorrens et inconditum, si referatur.'
Fest. p. 333, 'Cum Livius Andronicus bello Punico secundo scripsisset carmen quod a virginibus est cantatum, quia prosperius res publica populi Romani geri coepta est, publice attributa est ei in Aventino aedis Minervae, in qua liceret scribis histrionibusque consistere ac dona ponere, in honorem Livi, quia is et scribebat fabulas et agebat.'
Livius had a twofold reason for writing, (a) To assist him in his profession as a schoolmaster he published a translation of the Odyssey; (b) as an actor, he wrote the plays he acted, and afterwards published them.
Sueton. Gramm. 1, 'Livium et Ennium ... quos utraque lingua domi forisque docuisse adnotatum est.'
Livy vii. 2, 8, 'Livius ... qui ab saturis ausus est primus argumento fabulam serere, idem scilicet, id quod omnes tum erant, suorum carminum actor.'
(2) WORKS.
1. Tragedies.—From the scanty fragments extant and from the titles (Achilles, Aegisthus, and six others are known) we see that these were close imitations of Greek plays. Thus l. 38 (Ribbeck),
'Quem ego nefrendem alui lacteam immulgens opem,'
is, according to Conington, a rendering of Aesch. Choeph. 883-4,
maston pros ho sy polla de brizon hama ouloisoin ezemexas eutraphes gala.
2. Comedies.—Slight fragments of three of these are extant.
3. A translation of the Odyssey in Saturnians.[1] This, though rough and incorrect, long remained a school-book. So Hor. Ep. ii. I, 69 sqq.,
'Non equidem insector delendave carmina Livi esse reor, memini quae plagosum mihi parvo Orbilium dictare: sed emendata videri pulchraque et exactis minimum distantia miror.'
For examples of translation, of. Gell, xviii. 9, 5, 'Offendi ... librum ... Livi Andronici, qui inscriptus est Odyssea, in quo erat versus primus ...,
"Virum mihi Camena insece versutum,"
factus ex illo Homeri versu,
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, polytropon.'
Fragments 2 and 3,
'Mea puer, quid verbi ex tuo ore supera fugit? neque enim te oblitus Lertie, sum, noster,'
represent Od. i. 64,
teknon emon, poion se epos phygen herkos odonton? pos an epeit' Odyseos ego theioio lathoimen?
NAEVIUS.
(1) LIFE.
Cn. Naevius' dates can only be given approximately as B.C. 269-199. As he served in the First Punic War, he cannot in any case have been born later than B.C. 257. He was a Campanian by birth.
Gell. i. 24, 2, 'Epigramma Naevi plenum superbiae Campanae, quod testimonium esse iustum potuisset, nisi ab ipso dictum esset,
"Inmortales mortales si foret fas flere, flerent divae Camenae Naevium poetam. Itaque postquam est Orci traditus thesauro, obliti sunt Romae loquier lingua Latina."'
Naevius' first play was produced B.C. 235; the fact that he served as a soldier shows that he was not an actor.
Gell. xvii. 21, 45, 'Eodem anno (A.U.C. Dxix.) Cn. Naevius poeta fabulas apud populum dedit, quem M. Varro in libris de poetis primo stipendia fecisse ait bello Poenico primo, idque ipsum Naevium dicere in eo carmine, quod de eodem bello scripsit.'
In his plays he attacked the senatorial party, particularly the Metelli, and was imprisoned, but afterwards released.
Gell. iii. 3, 15, 'Sicuti de Naevio quoque accepimus, fabulas eum in carcere duas scripsisse, Hariolum et Leontem, cum ob assiduam maledicentiam et probra in principes civitatis de Graecorum poetarum more dicta in vincula Romae a triumviris coniectus esset. Unde post a tribunis plebis exemptus est, cum in his, quas supra dixi, fabulis delicta sua et petulantias dictorum, quibus multos ante laeserat, diluisset.'
Pseud.-Asconius on Cic. in Verr. act. prior, 29. 'Dictum facete et contumeliose in Metellos antiquum Naevii est, "Fato Metelli Romai fiunt consules," cui tunc Metellus consul (B.C. 206) iratus versu responderat ..., "Dabunt malum Metelli Naevio poetae."'
Cf. the contemporary reference in Plaut. Mil. 212,
'Nam os columnatum poetae esse indaudivi barbaro,[2] quoi bini custodes semper totis horis occubant.'
For Naevius' freedom of speech cf. his comedies, l. 113 (Ribbeck),
'Libera lingua loquemur ludis Liberalibus';
l. 108 (on Scipio),
'Etiam qui res magnas manu saepe gessit gloriose, cuius facta viva nunc vigent, qui apud gentes solus praestat, eum suus pater cum palliod unod ab amica abduxit.'
Naevius was banished and went to Utica, where he died, probably about B.C. 199. It must have been after peace was concluded (B.C. 202), as otherwise he could have reached Utica only by deserting to the enemy.[3] Jerome gives B.C. 201, Cicero B.C. 204, although he says Varro put the date later. The verses on Scipio quoted above could hardly have been written before the battle of Zama.
Jerome yr. Abr. 1816 = B.C. 201, 'Naevius comicus Uticae moritur, pulsus Roma factione nobilium, ac praecipue Metelli.'
Cic. Brut. 60, 'His consulibus (B.C. 204), ut in veteribus commentariis scriptum est, Naevius est mortuus; quamquam Varro noster, diligentissimus investigator antiquitatis, putat in hoc erratum vitamque Naevi producit longius.'
(2) WORKS.
1. Tragedies.—There are extant seven titles and a very few fragments.
2. Comedies.—There are titles of about thirty-four palliatae,[4] and upwards of one hundred and thirty lines extant.
Naevius seems to have adopted contaminatio[5] in his plays. Ter. Andr. prol. 15,
'Id isti vituperant factum atque in eo disputant contaminari non decere fabulas ... qui quom hunc accusant, Naevium Plautum Ennium accusant.'
3. Praetextae.—Tragedies on Roman subjects, 'Clastidium' and 'Romulus.' The praetexta was invented by Naevius.
4. Bellum Punicum, an epic poem in Saturnians, divided later into seven Books. About seventy-four lines are extant.
Sueton. Gramm. 2, 'C. Octavius Lampadio Naevii Punicum bellum, uno volumine et continenti scriptura expositum, divisit in septem libros.'
Books i. and ii. contained the mythical origin of Rome and Carthage, Aeneas' flight from Troy and his sojourn at the court of Dido in Carthage. In Book iii. the history of the First Punic War commenced. The work was imitated by Ennius and Virgil, sometimes closely by the latter. Cf. Servius on Aen. i. 198-207, 'O socii,' etc. 'Et totus hic locus de Naevio belli Punici libro translatus est.' Ibid. i. 273, 'Naevius et Ennius Aeneae ex filia nepotem Romulum conditorem urbis tradunt.'
Macrob. Saturn. vi. 2, 31, 'In principio Aeneidos tempestas describitur et Venus apud Iovem queritur ... Hic locus totus sumptus a Naevio est ex primo libro belli Punici.'
PLAUTUS
(1) LIFE.
Plautus' full name, T. Maccius Plautus, was discovered by Ritschl in the Ambrosian (Milan) palimpsest, which gives, e.g. after the two plays named: 'T. Macci Plauti Casina explicit': 'Macci Plauti Epidicus explicit.' In Plaut. Merc. l. 6, the MS. reading Mactici was emended by Ritschl to Macci Titi; and in Asin. prol. l. 11, Maccius is the right reading. The MSS. read Maccus, which Buecheler (Rhein. Mus. 41, 12) takes to mean 'buffoon,' or 'writer of comedies,' from which Plautus took his family name, Maccius, on becoming a Roman citizen. 'M. Accius,' formerly supposed to be the name, is found in no MS., but 'Accius' is found in Epitome Festi, p. 239, which gives us the poet's birthplace, Sarsina in Umbria, and suggests another derivation for his name: 'Ploti appellantur, qui sunt planis pedibus, unde et poeta Accius, quia Umber Sarsinas erat, a pedum planitie initio Plotus, postea Plautus est dictus.'
In the corresponding passage of Festus, we have only '...us poeta, quia Umber,' etc. The name of the poet is lost, and the epitomizer has doubtless made a mistake.
Sarsina is mentioned once by Plautus, Mostell. 770,
'Quid? Sarsinatis ecquast, si Umbram non habes?'
The year of his birth can only be conjectured; he died B.C. 184.
Cic. Brut. 60, 'Plautus P. Claudio L. Porcio coss. mortuus est.'
Jerome erroneously assigns Plautus' death to yr. Abr. 1817 = B.C. 200, 'Plautus ex Umbria Sarsinas Romae moritur, qui propter annonae difficultatem ad molas manuarias pistori se locaverat; ibi quotiens ab opere vacaret, scribere fabulas et vendere sollicitius consueverat.'
From this notice, and from the passage of Gellius below, we learn that Plautus lost in foreign trade the money he had made as an assistant to scenic artists, and had to work for his living in a flour mill at Rome, during which time he wrote plays, and continued to do so afterwards.
Gell. iii. 3, 14, 'Saturionem et Addictum et tertiam quamdam, cuius nunc mihi nomen non subpetit, in pistrino eum scripsisse, Varro et plerique alii memoriae tradiderunt cum, pecunia omni, quam in operis artificum scaenicorum pepererat, in mercatibus perdita inops Romam redisset et ob quaerendum victum ad circumagendas molas, quae "trusatiles" appellantur, operam pistori locasset.'
We conclude from these varied employments that Plautus can hardly have been less than thirty years old when he began to write plays. His intimacy with the Scipios (Cic. de Rep. iv., apud Augustin. Civ. D. ii. 9), who fell in Spain B.C. 212, leads to the conclusion that he must have been well established as an author by that date, though none of his plays can be proved to have been written so early. If we suppose that his career as a playwright commenced at thirty, and that his acquaintance with the Scipios lasted ten years, the year of his birth must have been about B.C. 254. This view is supported (1) by the notice in Cic. Brut. 73, that Plautus had produced many plays by B.C. 197; (2) by Cic. Cato maior, 50, 'quam gaudebat ... Truculento Plautus, quam Pseudolo,' where Plautus is said to have written these plays as senex. Now the Pseudolus was written B.C. 191; and therefore, as a man could not be called senex till he was at least sixty, his birth must have been not later than B.C. 251.
Plautus is said to have written his own epitaph.
Gell. i. 24, 3, 'Epigramma Plauti, quod dubitassemus an Plauti foret, nisi a M. Varrone positum esset in libro de poetis primo:
"Postquam est mortem aptus Plautus, Comoedia luget, Scaena est deserta, ac dein Risus, Ludus Iocusque, et Numeri innumeri simul omnes conlacrimarunt."'
(2) WORKS.
Plautus' plays were early criticized as to their genuineness. Gell. iii. 3, 1-3, after mentioning the canons of Aelius Stilo, Sedigitus, etc., says that Varro admitted twenty-one plays which were given by all the canons, and added some more. 'Nam praeter illas unam et viginti, quae Varronianae vocantur, quas idcirco a ceteris segregavit, quoniam dubiosae non erant, set consensu omnium Plauti esse censebantur, quasdam item alias probavit adductus filo atque facetia sermonis Plauto congruentis easque iam nominibus aliorum occupatas Plauto vindicavit.'
About one hundred and thirty plays were current under the name of Plautus; the theory of Varro (Gell. iii. 3, 10) that these were written by a certain Plautius is improbable.
Gell. iii. 3, 11, 'Feruntur sub Plauti nomine comoediae circiter centum atque triginta.'
There is little doubt that the 'fabulae Varronianae' are those which have come down to us with the addition of the Vidularia, which was lost between the sixth and the eleventh centuries. The number of Varro's second class, consisting of those pieces that stood in most of the indices and exhibited Plautine features, Ritschl has fixed at nineteen, from citations in Varro de lingua Latina. Besides the genuine plays the names of thirty-two others are known.
The extant plays[6] are as follows:
1. Amphitruo, a tragicomoedia, the only play of Plautus of the kind. Prol. 59,
'Faciam ut conmixta sit haec tragicomoedia.'
The original and the date are unknown. The play shows the features of the Sicilian Rhinthonica.[7] About three hundred lines have been lost after Act. iv., Scene 2. The scene is Thebes, which, with Roman carelessness or ignorance, is made a harbour; cf. ll. 629 sqq.
2. Asinaria (sc. fabula), from the Onagos of Demophilus, supposed to have been a writer of the New Comedy. Prol. 10-12,
'Huic nomen Graece Onagost fabulae; Demophilus scripsit, Maccius vortit barbare. Asinariam volt esse, si per vos licet.'
Authorities assign the play to about B.C. 194. The scene is Athens.
3. Aulularia (from aulula, 'a little pot.')—Neither the original nor the exact time of composition is known. From Megadorus' tirade against the luxury of women, ll. 478 sqq., it has been inferred that the play was written after the repeal of the Oppian Law in B.C. 195. The end of the play is lost. The scene is Athens.
4. Captivi, a piece without active interest (stataria), without female characters, and claiming a moral purpose; l. 1029,
'Spectatores, ad pudicos mores facta haec fabulast.'
Some authorities think that the parasite (Ergasilus) is an addition to the original play, which may have belonged to the New Comedy. The scene is in Aetolia.
5. Curculio, so called from the name of the parasite. The Greek original is unknown; but ll. 462-86 contain a speech from the Choragus, in the style of the parabasis of the Old Comedy. In l. 509,
'Rogitationes plurumas propter vos populus scivit quas vos rogatas rumpitis,'
there is probably an allusion to the Lex Sempronia de pecunia credita, B.C. 193. The scene is Epidaurus.
6. Casina, so called from a slave-girl introduced. The original was the Kleroumenoi of Diphilus. Prol. 31,
'Clerumenoe vocatur haec comoedia Graece, Latine Sortientes. Deiphilus hanc Graece scripsit.'
The inference from l. 979, 'Nam ecastor nunc Bacchae nullae ludunt,' that the play was written after the S.C. de Bacchanalibus in B.C. 186, is improbable; the words rather show, as Mommsen[8] believes, an anterior date, when it was not yet dangerous to speak of the Bacchanalia. Some authorities find support for the latter date in the words of the prologue, ll. 9-20 (written after the poet's death). The text of the play has suffered greatly. The scene is Athens.
7. Cistellaria.—This play contains a reference to the war against Hannibal then going on; ll. 197 sqq.,
'Bene valete, et vincite virtute vera, quod fecistis antidhac, ... ut vobis victi Poeni poenas sufferant.'
According to Ritschl, about 600 verses have been lost. The scene is Sicyon.
8. Epidicus.—This play is referred to in the Bacchides, ll. 213-5 (spoken by Chrysalus), where the unpopularity of the play is attributed to the acting of Pellio.
'Non res, sed actor mihi cor odio sauciat. Etiam Epidicum, quam ego fabulam aeque ac me ipsum amo, nullam aeque invitus specto, si agit Pellio.'
Epid. 222,
'Sed vestita, aurata, ornata ut lepide! ut concinne! ut nove!' etc.,
shows that the piece was written after the repeal of the Lex Oppia Sumptuaria, B.C. 195. The plot is complicated, and contaminatio is assumed by some authorities. The play contains only seven hundred and thirty-three lines, and some believe it to be a stage edition. The scene is Athens.
9. Bacchides.—The first part of this play, along with the last part of the Aulularia,[9] has been lost, as also the prefaces of the grammarians, so that we do not know what was in the first part. The original was probably Menander's Dis exapaton. Plautus appears to refer to this twice, l. 1090,
'Perii: pudet. Hocine me aetatis ludos bis factum esse indigne';
l. 1128,
'Pol hodie altera iam bis detonsa certost.'
The line, hon hoi theoi philousin, apothneskei neos, which belongs to the same play (Stobaeus, Serm. 120, 8) is translated in ll. 816-7,
'quem di diligunt adulescens moritur.'
The date is pretty well fixed by l. 1073,
'Quod non triumpho: pervolgatumst, nil moror.'
Now, triumphs were not frequent till after the Second Punic War, and were especially frequent from B.C. 197 to 187. The play probably refers to the four triumphs of B.C. 189, and may have been brought out in that or the following year. The scene is Athens.
10. Mostellaria (sc. fabula, 'a play dealing with a ghost,' from mostellum, dim. of monstrum).—The play is quoted by Festus, p. 166, as 'Mostellaria'; pp. 162 and 305, as 'Phasma.' According to Ritschl, the Phasma of Philemon was Plautus' model. The reference to unguenta exotica (l. 42) points to a late date, when Asiatic luxury was growing common. The play is imitated in Ben Jonson's Alchemist. The scene is Athens.
11. Menaechmi.—If ll. 409 sqq., 'Syracusis ... ubi rex ... nunc Hierost,' were written independently by Plautus, the date must be before B.C. 215; but the reference may only mean that the Greek original was composed between 275 and 215 B.C. It has been conjectured that a comedy by Posidippus (possibly called Didymoi) was the original, from Athenaeus, xiv. p. 658, oude gar an heuroi tis hymon doulon tina mageiron en komodia plen para Poseidippo mono. Now, the Menaechmi is the only play of Plautus where a cook is a house-slave, Cylindrus being the slave of Erotium; in his other plays cooks are hired from the Forum. The scene is Epidamnus.
12. Miles Gloriosus.—In ll. 211-2 (the only personal allusion in Plautus),
'Nam os columnatum poetae esse indaudivi barbaro, quoi bini custodes semper totis horis occubant,'
we have a reference to the imprisonment of Naevius, which shows that the play was written before his banishment, probably B.C. 206-5 (see under 'Naevius'). Line 1016, 'Cedo signum, si harum Baccharum es,' shows that the play is anterior to B.C. 186.
The original is the Alazon of some Greek poet. Cf. ll. 86-7,
'Alazon Graece huic nomen est comoediae: id nos Latine gloriosum dicimus.'
The play, however, exhibits contaminatio. Two distinct actions, the cheating of Sceledrus (Act i.) and the cheating of the Miles (Acts ii. and iii.), are united rather loosely; and it has been conjectured that Menander's Kolax, or (according to Ritschl) Diphilus' Hairesiteiches, was the play used. Ritschl's view is perhaps supported by the word urbicape in l. 1055. The play is the longest palliata preserved. The scene is Ephesus.
13. Mercator.—The original is Philemon's Emporos; ll. 5-6,
'Graece haec vocatur Emporos Philemonis; eadem Latine Mercator Macci Titi.'
Some light is thrown on the date by ll. 524-6.
'L. Ovem tibi eccillam dabo, natam annos sexaginta, peculiarem. P. Mei senex, tam vetulam? L. Generis Graeci est. Eam sei curabeis, perbonast; tondetur nimium scite.'
This could not have been written before B.C. 196, the date of the settlement of Greece. The play shows traces of two distinct editions. The scene is Athens.
14. Pseudolus.—The Greek original is unknown. The date of production (B.C. 191) is got from the didascalia, as restored by Ritschl, 'M. Iunio M. fil. pr. urb. acta Megalesiis.' The Megalesian games were held in that year in honour of the dedication of the temple which had been vowed to Cybele, B.C. 204 (Livy, xxxvi. 36). 'Pseudolus' = Pseudylos, but is connected by popular etymology with dolus. Cf. the puns in l. 1205,
'Edepol hominem verberonem Pseudolum, ut docte dolum commentust';
l. 1244,
'Superavit dolum Troianum atque Ulixem Pseudolus.'
Several references to the play are found in Cicero: Cato Maior, 50 (quoted p. 9); Phil. ii. 15; pro Rosc. Com. 20. The scene is Athens.
15. Poenulus.—The original was a Greek play, Karchedonios, the author of which is unknown, as the fragments of Menander's Karchedonios do not fit in with Plautus' play. The play was called by Plautus 'Patruus,' but posterity went back to the older name 'Poenulus.' Prol. 53,
'Carchedonius vocatur haec comoedia Graece, Latine Patruus Pultiphagonidae.'[10]
Authorities assign the play to B.C. 189. The play is considerably interpolated, one ending being at l. 1371, another at l. 1422, whence some authorities have considered ll. 1372-1422 as spurious. Ritschl thinks that the two endings are about the same age, and compares the double ending of the Andria of Terence. The play is noted for the two Carthaginian renderings of the soliloquy of Hanno, ll. 930-9, and ll. 940-9. The scene is Calydon in Aetolia.
16. Persa.—This play, the original of which is unknown, has been variously assigned to 197 and 186 B.C. The play shows traces of two distinct editions. The scene is Athens.
17. Rudens.—This play has been assigned to about B.C. 192. The original is by Diphilus; and the scene is Cyrene. Prol., 1. 32,
'Primumdum huic esse nomen urbi Diphilus Cyrenas voluit.'
18. Stichus, performed B.C. 200 ludis plebeis, as we learn from the didascalia, 'Graeca Adelphoe Menandru acta ludis plebeis Cn. Baebio C. Terentio aed. pl. ... C. Sulpicio C. Aurelio coss.' This cannot be the Adelphi imitated by Terence, the fragments of which do not bear the least resemblance to the Stichus. It may be a second Adelphi by Menander. Others read 'Philadelphoe' in the above didascalia. Part of the play has been lost, and it shows traces of two distinct editions. The scene is Athens.
19. Trinummus.—The original was Philemon's Thesauros, as seen from the didascalia, 'Graeca Thensaurus Philemonis acta ludis Megalensibus.' Some indication of the date is got from l. 990,
'Vapulabis meo arbitratud et novorum aedilium.'
The only festival that would suit the term novi aediles is the ludi Megalenses[11] as from B.C. 266 to 153 the new magistrates entered on office on the Ides of March. This festival was not of a scenic character till B.C. 194, consequently the Trinummus must be after that date. The mention of Syrian slaves in l. 542 also makes it probable that this is one of the latest works of Plautus. The scene is Athens.
20. Truculentus.—The original is unknown. The play was written in Plautus' old age, probably about B.C. 189. The text has suffered greatly. The scene is Athens.
21. Vidularia.—Only fragments are extant. It is thought to have been modelled on a play called Schedia by Menander.
Argumenta.—These are in senarii, and give a summary of each play. Two sets are found. The first set are acrostic, and are extant for all the plays except the Vidularia and the Bacchides. The second series was probably written by Sulpicius Apollinaris in the second century A.D. There are only five of them extant in the MSS., and fragments of other two.
Prologues.—These (which were usual in the Old and the New Comedy) gave the name of the piece and the author, the original and its author, the scene of the play, and a partial list of characters. In the Prologue also the poet often asked the favour of the audience. Prologues to fourteen plays are extant. The part of the prologue Plautus (like the New Comedy) assigned either to a god, as in the Rudens to Arcturus, or to one of the characters, as in the Mercator to a youth (cf. Mil. and Amph.), or to an actor addressing the audience in the name of the poet, as in the Truculentus. All the prologues have suffered from interpolation, but those of Amph., Merc., Rud., and Trin., and the second parts of those of Mil. and Aul., are founded on what Plautus wrote. The prologues in Cas., Poen., and Capt., are due to later hands. That the prologues are interpolated is shown by their diction; the wit is often poor, and the language un-Plautine, or imitated closely from Plautus' genuine works. The prologues in their present form probably date from a period shortly after that in which Terence flourished, when there was a want of new plays, and people went back to Plautus. This is shown by the references to fixed seats for the spectators (Poen. 15, Amph. 65, and Capt. 11), which were forbidden by a S.C. passed in B.C. 154, when Cassius Longinus began to build a theatre of stone—a law that was not repealed till some years later. Cf. Capt. 11,
'Negat hercle ille ultimis accensus. Cedito: si non ubi sedeas locus est, est ubi ambules.'
The Acts.—The plays of Plautus probably went on with few breaks, during which the audience were entertained with music. Cf. Pseud. 573,
'Tibicen vos interea hic delectaverit.'
Diverbium and Canticum.—There was no chorus in Roman comedy, but part of the play was set to music and sung to the flute. Some MSS. denote this by C (Canticum); while DV (usually placed only over iambic senarii) denotes dialogue or soliloquy (Diverbium). Iambic senarii were spoken; other metres were sung; but the scenes in septenarii stood midway between the dialogue and the canticum. Only about a fourth of Plautus' verses are in iambic senarii, while in Terence, who followed Menander in this respect, about half of the verses are in this form.
The Characters.—These, with the occasional exception of slaves, are un-Roman, and exhibit Greek traits belonging to Athens of the time of the New Comedy. Plautus, unlike Terence, usually alters the names used in the original Greek plays, and substitutes 'tell-tale names'; so Parmeno (paramenon), 'the faithful slave'; Polemo, 'the soldier'; Misargyrides, playfully for the tarpessita (banker). The names are often of Latin derivation; thus Saturio, in Pers.; Peniculus, in Menaech.; Curculio, in Curc.
The Language of Plautus, in spite of the Greek dress his plays assume, represents essentially the conversational language of his time. Many Greek features in language are, however, retained. For words kept in the original Greek cf. pausai, oichetai, euge, palin, epitheken (all in the Trin.); for Greek words Latinized cf. gynaeceum, parasitus, opsonium, dapsilis (= dapsiles); for hybrid new formations based on Greek cf. thensaurarius, plagipatidae, opsonari, pultiphagus.
References to manners and customs.—(a) Many references to Greek life are retained from the original, especially in matters relating to dress, art, and money (Plautus has no reference to Roman money). Such are chlamys, petasus, pallium, cyathus, cantharus, thermopolium, cerussa, melinum (pigmentum), gynaeceum, balineae, ambulacrum, porticus, fores Samiae (Menaech. 178), nummus (= drachma or didrachma), nummi Philippei, mina, tarpessita, symbolus, epistula. Cf. also Pseud. 146-7,
'Ut ne peristromata quidem aeque picta sint Campanica, neque Alexandrina beluata tonsilia tappetia.'
(b) There are, however, innumerable references to Roman public life and manners and customs, even in passages manifestly close to the original, although references to public events are rare.
1. Military expressions.—These, many of which are used metaphorically, were well adapted for an audience most of whom had seen service. The following are from the Miles: legiones, imperator, peditastelli, rogare, latrocinari, stipendium, conscribere, contubernales, eques, pedes, machinas parare. Cf. also Pseud. 148,
'Dederamque suas provincias';
Pseud. 572,
'Dum concenturio in corde sycophantias';
Bacch. 709,
'De ducentis nummis primum intendam ballistam in senem: ea ballista si pervortam turrim et propugnacula, recta porta invadam extemplo in oppidum antiquom et vetus.'
All references, however, to the enrolment of mercenaries (latrones) are probably Greek and belong to the original play.
2. Political expressions.—(a) Names of officials, etc. So tresviri, quaestor, aedilis, praetor, senatus. Cf. Trin. 879,
'Census quom sum iuratori recte rationem dedi';
Pseud. 1232,
'Centuriata habuit capitis comitia.'
(b) Law. So advocatus (Mil. 663), festuca (Mil. 961), lege agito (Mil. 453). Cf. Menaech. 571-95 (on patrons and clients); Trin. 500-4, where Roman terms of stipulatio are used.
3. Festivals and localities.—References to these are rarer. Examples are: Mil. 691,
'Da, mi vir, Calendis meam qui matrem moenerem';
Trin. 545,
'Campans genus';
Trin. 609,
'Tam modo, inquit Praenestinus.'
Mil. 359,
'Credo ego istoc exemplo tibi esse pereundum extra portam';
a reference to the Esquiline gate, outside which slaves were executed.
4. Private life.—These references are mostly to the lower classes, especially slaves, with whom Plautus was very familiar. Hence words referring to household duties, as promus, suppromus, cella, cellarius, verna, pulmentum (from Mil.) To their patois also belong phrases for cheating, like emungere, intervortere, sarcinam imponere, ducere, ductare, circumducere, and the very large number of words relating to punishment, as: furcifer, verbero, supplicium virgarum, varius virgis, talos frangere, crux, verberea statua (Pseud. 911); gymnasium flagri (Asin. 297). Cf. also Epid. 17,
'Quid ais? perpetuen valuisti?—Varie.'
From slave life come also terms of abuse like volturius, scelus, odium populi, mers mala, lapis, saxum. Note that cruelty in the treatment of slaves is peculiarly Roman; but their familiarity with their masters and their general situation are from Greek life.
Prosody.[12]—Plautine prosody, which reflected the variation of quantity found in the popular speech, was not properly understood even in Cicero's time.
Cf. Cic. Or. 184, 'Comicorum senarii propter similitudinem sermonis sic saepe sunt abiecti ut non numquam vix in eis numerus et versus intellegi possit.'
The chief points are as follows:
1. Final -s is often lost. Rud. 103,
'Pater, salveto, amboque adeo. Et tu salvos sis';
Most. 1124,
'Quoque modo dominum advenientem servos ludificatus sit.'
2. A mute followed by a liquid does not make the preceding vowel long. Thus agris, libros, duplex, are iambi.
3. Iambic words may become pyrrhics, on account of the stress accent on the first syllable. So domi and cave have the last syllable short.[13] Trin. 868,
'Foris pultabo. Ad nostras aedis hic quidem habet rectam viam';
Stich. 99,
'Bonas ut aequomst facere facitis, quom tamen absentis viros.'
4. The stress accent sometimes causes final syllables to be dropped, and so to have no effect on quantity, as in enim, apud, quidem, parum, soror, caput, amant, habent, etc. Trin. 77,
'Qui in mentem venit tibi istaec dicta dicere?'
Stich. 18 (anapaestic),
'Haec res vitae me, soror, saturant.'
No shortening, however, takes place when the accent goes back to the antepenult (cf. contine), nor in words like aetas, mores, where the first syllable is long, nor even in abi, tene, tace, and the like, when the chief accent is weakened, i.e., where these words are pronounced slowly and emphatically (especially before a pause). Asin. 543,
'Intro abi: nam te quidem edepol nihil est inpudentius.'
5. This influence of the chief accent affects also combinations of two monosyllabic words which make an iambus, and combinations like ego illi, age ergo, in which the second syllable of the second word is elided. Trin. 354,
'Is est inmunis, quoi nihil est qui munus fungatur suom';
Trin. 133,
'Non ego illi argentum redderem? Non redderes';
Stich. 237,
'Adibo ad hominem. Quis haec est quae advorsum venit?'
6. The chief accent could also affect a preceding syllable. In polysyllables or polysyllabic combinations, when the chief accent was on the third syllable, the second syllable, if long, could be shortened, provided the first syllable were short. Trin. 456,
'Ferentarium esse amicum inventum intellego';
Stich. 59,
'Nec voluntate id facere meminit,' etc.;
Stich. 179,
'Per annonam caram dixit me natum pater.'
7. The following common words have to be separately considered, ille, iste, unde, inde, nempe. In the last three the liquid was practically dropped; iste was pronounced as ste; and in ille only one l was heard, cf. ellum, ellam (en-illum = en-ilum = en-lum = ellum). Frustra is a trochee, as in Menaech. 692 (at the end of a line), frustra sis; and the first i of fieri is long. Cf. Trin. 532,
'Si in opserendo possint interfieri.'
8. An original long vowel is sometimes kept when later authors have it short. Examples are, es (from esse), final -or, as exertitor, fateor, ecastor; verbal endings, as eris, eget, sit, det, fuat, velit.
9. Synizesis. Deus, meus, tuos, suos (nom.), eius, ei, eum, quoius, quoi, huius, huic, rei, etc., may be monosyllables; deorum, meorum, duorum, fuisti, etc., may be dissyllables; diutius, exeundum, etc., may be trisyllables. Other examples are proin, proinde, praeoptare, dehortor, aibam, quator.
10. Hiatus. This occurs, though not frequently, (a) at the natural division of the metre. Menaech. 219,
'Sportulam cape atque argentum. eccos treis nummos habes.'
(b) At the natural break in the sense, especially with change of speakers. Trin. 432,
PH. 'Tempust adeundi.' LE. 'Estne hic Philto qui advenit?'
The hiatus is commonest in monosyllabic words, or words ending in a short syllable followed by m, making the first syllable of an arsis resolved into two shorts. Trin. 433,
'Is herclest ipsus. Edepol ne ego istum velim';
Trin. 305,
'Qui homo cum animo inde ab ineunte aetate depugnat suo.'
Views on Plautus.—For Cicero's high opinion of Plautus cf. de Off. i. 104, 'Duplex omnino est iocandi genus: unum inliberale petulans, flagitiosum obscaenum, alterum elegans urbanum, ingeniosum facetum. Quo genere non modo Plautus noster et Atticorum antiqua comoedia, sed etiam philosophorum Socraticorum libri referti sunt.'
Horace's unfavourable judgment is well known.
Ep. ii, 1, 170,
'Adspice Plautus quo pacto partis tutetur amantis ephebi, ut patris attenti, lenonis ut insidiosi, quantus sit Dossenus edacibus in parasitis, quam non adstricto percurrat pulpita socco. Gestit enim nummum in loculos demittere, post hoc securus cadat an recto stet fabula talo.'
Cf. A.P. 270-4. Cf. also Quint. x. 1, 99, 'In comoedia maxime claudicamus, licet Varro Musas, Aelii Stilonis sententia, Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si Latine loqui vellent.'
ENNIUS.[14]
(1) LIFE.
Q. Ennius was born B.C. 239 at Rudiae in Calabria (about nineteen miles south of Brundisium).
Gell. xvii. 21, 43, 'Consoles secuntur Q. Valerius et C. Mamilius, quibus natum esse Q. Ennium poetam M. Varro in primo de poetis libro scripsit eumque, cum septimum et sexagesimum annum haberet, duodecimum annalem scripsisse, idque ipsum Ennium in eodem libro dicere.' (Cf. Cic. Tusc. i. 3.) Enn. Ann. l. 440,
'Nos sumus Romani qui fuimus ante Rudini.'
Servius, in Aen. vii. 691, '(At Messapus equom domitor): Ab hoc Ennius dicit se originem ducere.' (Enn. Ann. xviii. fr. 6.)
Ennius knew Greek, Latin, and Oscan. Latin he may have known as a boy, since the colony of Brundisium was founded B.C. 244; the use of Greek had been widely spread in South Italy through the influence of the Greek colonies.[15]
Gell. xvii. 17, 1, 'Q. Ennius tria corda habere sese dicebat, quod loqui Graece et Osce et Latine sciret.'
Ennius came to Sardinia during the Second Punic War, probably with other Calabrian auxiliaries, but in what year is doubtful. Silius Italicus xii. 387 sqq., says he was centurion B.C. 215, and distinguished himself greatly; but his account is quite untrustworthy. In Sardinia he made the acquaintance of M. Porcius Cato, then quaestor, who induced him to come to Rome B.C. 204.
Nep. Cato, i. 4, 'Praetor (B.C. 198) provinciam obtinuit Sardiniam, ex qua, quaestor superiore tempore ex Africa decedens, Q. Ennium poetam deduxerat.'
The poet's Graecizing influence seems to have led afterwards to hostility between him and his patron, but in spite of this, Ennius appears to have cherished warm feelings towards Cato, and praised his exploits in the Annals.
Cic. Tusc. i. 3, 'Oratio Catonis, in qua obiecit ut probrum M. Nobiliori quod is in provinciam poetas duxisset. Duxerat autem consul ille in Aetoliam, ut scimus, Ennium.'
Cic. pro Arch. 22, 'In caelum huius proavus Cato tollitur: magnus honos populi Romani rebus adiungitur.'
So far as is known, Ennius was at Rome B.C. 204-189. He lived plainly, and supported himself by teaching Latin and Greek.
Jerome yr. Abr. 1777 = B.C. 240, 'Q. Ennius poeta Tarenti [an error] nascitur, qui a Catone quaestore Romam translatus habitavit in monte Aventino, parco admodum sumptu contentus, et unius ancillae ministerio.'
Sueton. Gramm. 1, 'Livium et Ennium, quos utraque lingua domi forisque docuisse adnotatum est.'
At Rome he was on familiar terms with the elder Scipio Africanus and his brother Cornelius Nasica, and their circle.
Cic. pro Arch. 22, 'Carus fuit Africano superiori noster Ennius; itaque etiam in sepulchro Scipionum putatur is esse constitutus ex marmore.'
A pleasant story of his relations with Nasica is given by Cic. de Or. ii. 276. Two epigrams on Scipio (Nos. 2 and 3) are extant.
In B.C. 189 Ennius accepted an invitation from M. Fulvius Nobilior to accompany him in his campaign against the Aetolians, and be a witness of his exploits. Fulvius' victory gave the poet materials for the praetexta Ambracia, and Book xv. of the Annals.
Cic. pro Arch. 27, 'Ille qui cum Aetolis Ennio comite bellavit Fulvius.' Cf. Cic. Tusc. i. 3 (above).
In B.C. 184 the poet received the Roman citizenship through the son of Fulvius, Q. Nobilior. Hence 'nos sumus Romani, qui fuimus ante Rudini' (above). He also received a grant of land at Potentia or Pisaurum from Fulvius, who was then triumvir coloniae deducendae.
Cic. Brut. 79, 'Q. Nobiliorem M. f. ..., qui etiam Q. Ennium, qui cum patre eius in Aetolia militaverat, civitate donavit, cum triumvir coloniam deduxisset.'
Ennius probably spent the greater part of his days, after returning from the Aetolian war, at Rome; and during this period he was on intimate terms with the comic poet Caecilius Statius (see p. 37). He was often in indifferent circumstances, in spite of the grant of land he had received. Ennius died of gout B.C. 169.
Cic. Cato Maior, 14, 'Annos septuaginta natus—tot enim vixit Ennius—ita ferebat duo quae maxima putantur onera, paupertatem et senectutem, ut eis paene delectari videretur.'
Cic. Brut. 78, 'Hoc [C. Sulpicio Gallo] praetore ludos Apollini faciente, cum Thyesten fabulam docuisset, Q. Marcio Cn. Servilio coss. (B.C. 169) mortem obiit Ennius.'
Jerome yr. Abr. 1849 = B.C. 168, 'Ennius poeta septuagenario maior articulari morbo periit, sepultusque est in Scipionis monumento via Appia intra primum ab urbe miliarium. Quidam ossa eius Rudiam ex Ianiculo translata affirmant.'
For his gout cf. Enn. Sat. 1. 8,
'Numquam poetor nisi si podager';
Hor. Ep. i. 19, 7,
'Ennius ipse pater numquam nisi potus ad arma prosiluit dicenda.'
'Ennius "equi fortis et victoris senectuti comparat suam"' (Cic. Cato Maior, 14).
The lines are Ann. xviii. fr. 7,
'Sic ut fortis equus, spatio qui saepe supremo vicit Olimpia, nunc senio confectus quiescit.'
His epitaph (Epigr. i) is quoted by Cic. Tusc. i. 34 and 117,
'Aspicite, o cives, senis Enni imaginis formam! hic vestrum panxit maxima facta patrum; Nemo me dacrumis decoret nec funera fletu faxit. Cur? Volito vivus per ora virum.'
According to Aelius Stilo, Ennius has depicted his own character in Ann. vii. fr. 10, wherein he portrays Servilius Geminus, the trusty companion of a man of position (Gell. xii. 4). For Ennius' self-appreciation cf. also his epitaph (if by himself) quoted above, and Ann. i. fr. 4,
'Latos per populos terrasque poemata nostra clara cluebunt.'
In philosophy Ennius was an eclectic. Cf. Trag. 1. 417,
'Philosophari est mihi necesse, at paucis: nam omnino haut placet. Degustandum ex ea, non in eam ingurgitandum censeo.'
His rationalism is seen in Telamo, fr. 1,
'Ego deum genus esse semper dixi et dicam caelitum, sed eos non curare opinor, quid agat humanum genus: nam si curent, bene bonis sit, male malis, quod nunc abest';
ibid., fr. 2,
'Sed superstitiosi vates inpudentesque arioli, aut inertes aut insani aut quibus egestas imperat, qui sibi semitam non sapiunt, alteri monstrant viam, quibus divitias pollicentur, ab eis drachumam ipsi petunt.'
Traces of Epicureanism are seen in Ann. i. fr. 13,
'Terraque corpus quae dedit ipsa capit neque dispendi facit hilum.'
Ennius also believed in the Pythagorean theory of metempsychosis, and considered that his soul had animated the body of a peacock. Ann. i. fr. 14,
'Memini me fiere pavom.'
Persius 6, 10,
'Cor iubet hoc Enni postquam destertuit esse Maeonides Quintus pavone e Pythagoreo.'
Cf. also Lucr. i. 120-6.
(2) WORKS.
1. Tragedies.—Of those founded on mythology we have fragments of twenty-two, eight at least of which were borrowed from Euripides. The Auct. ad Herenn. ii. 34, quotes nine lines which are a literal translation of the beginning of the Medea. The date of the Thyestes, B.C. 169, is the only one known (Cic. Brut. 78, quoted p. 28). Besides these, Ennius probably wrote a praetexta on 'the Rape of the Sabines'; and his Ambracia is probably a praetexta on the capture of the town by M. Fulvius Nobilior in B.C. 189 (L. Mueller includes it in the Saturae).
2. Comedies.—There are very slight fragments of the Cupuncula and the Pancratiastes.
3. Saturae.—A miscellaneous collection of poems.
Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. i. 10, 47, 'Ennius quattuor libros saturarum reliquit.'
The reference in Hor. Sat. i. 10, 66,
'Quam rudis et Graecis intacti carminis auctor,'
is not to Ennius, as some have supposed, but to the inventor of satura, whoever he may have been.
The Saturae include (a) Scipio, probably a short epic. It was mostly written in trochaic septenarii. (b) Epicharmus (in trochaic tetrameters), dealing with Pythagoreanism in the department of physics. (c) Euhemerus or Sacra Historia, modelled on Euhemerus' hiera anagraphe,[16] the doctrines of which were applied to the religion of Rome.
Cic. N.D. i. 119, 'Euhemerus, quem noster et interpretatus et secutus est praeter ceteros Ennius.'
(d) Protreptica or Praecepta, containing moral maxims. (e) Hedyphagetica, 'On Gastronomy,' modelled on a hexameter poem by Archestratus (about B.C. 310). (f) Sota, so called from Sotades, after whom the Sotadean metre has been named. The book was probably of a lascivious nature. (g) Epigrams; the chief of which are mentioned above.
4. The Annales, an epic poem in hexameters, which dealt with the history of Rome down to the beginning of the Third Macedonian War. It contained eighteen Books; there are about six hundred lines extant. The following is a sketch of the contents:
Book i., from Aeneas to the death of Romulus; ii., reigns of Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius; iii., the last three kings; iv.-v., the republic down to the war with Pyrrhus; vi., the war with Pyrrhus; vii., First Punic War, etc.; viii.-ix., Second Punic War; x.-xii., Second Macedonian War, Cato's consulship; xiii.-xv., War with Antiochus, subjugation of the Aetolians; xvi.-xviii., from Istrian War to beginning of Third Macedonian War.
Ennius' services to Latin literature lay partly in introducing the use of the hexameter and other metres from Greek in place of the old Saturnian metre. His versification is, of course, rough in comparison with that of later writers, the principal points being
(1) Harsh elisions. Ann. l. 199,
'Hos et ego in pugna vici victusque sum ab isdem.'
(2) Quadrisyllable endings; l. 23,
'Est locus Hesperiam quam mortales perhibebant.'
(3) Absence of caesura, or abrupt break, l. 188,
'Bellipotentes sunt magis quam sapientipotentes';
l. 511,
'Cui par imber et ignis, spiritus et gravis terra.'
(4) Omission of -s in scansion, as in the last two examples.
(5) Short vowels sometimes lengthened; l. 86,
'Omnibus cura viris uter esset induperator.'
(6) Prosaic lines (often spondaic); l. 34,
'Olli respondit rex Albai longai';
l. 174,
'Cives Romani tunc facti sunt Campani.'
(7) Harsh instances of tmesis; l. 586,
'Saxo cere comminuit brum':
l. 605,
'Massili portabant iuvenes ad litora tanas.'
(8) Apocope; l. 451
'replet te laetificum gau';
l. 561,
'divom domus altisonum cael';
l. 563,
'endo suam do' (= in suam domum).
(9) Alliteration used freely; l. 113,
'O Tite tute Tati tibi tanta tiranne tulisti';
l. 452,
'At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit.'
(10) Non-elision; l. 275,
'Miscent inter sese inimicitiam agitantes.'
Influence of Ennius.—This is seen in Lucretius, and to a very great extent in Virgil. For Lucretius' appreciation of Ennius see Lucr. i. 117-9. Cf. also Ann. l. 150,
'Postquam lumina sis oculis bonus Ancus reliquit,'
and Lucr. iii. 1025,
'Lumina sis oculis etiam bonus Ancus reliquit.'
Servius on Verg. Aen. viii. 630-4, says 'Sane totus hic locus Ennianus est.' Cf. Servius also on Aen. i. 20; xi. 608, etc. A large number of imitations are quoted by Macrobius, especially in Saturn. Book vi. Virgil modified and refined many of Ennius' rough expressions. Thus Ann. l. 452 (above quoted), becomes, in Verg. Aen. ix. 503,
'At tuba terribilem sonitum procul aere sonoro increpuit';
Ann. l. 464,
'irarumque effunde quadrigas'
becomes in Verg. Aen. xii. 499,
'irarumque omnes effundit habenas.'
Views on Ennius.—A very few of these may be quoted. Lucr. i. 117-9,
'Ennius ut noster cecinit qui primus amoeno detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam, per gentes Italas hominum quae clara clueret.'
Cic. Opt. Gen. Or. 2, 'Licet dicere Ennium summum epicum poetam, si cui ita videtur.' Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 50,
'Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus, ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea.'
Propert. v. 1, 61,
'Ennius hirsuta cingat sua dicta corona.'
Quint. x. 1, 88, 'Ennium sicut sacros vetustate lucos adoremus, in quibus grandia et antiqua robora iam non tantam habent speciem quantam religionem.'
PACUVIUS.
(1) LIFE.
M. Pacuvius, the son (not grandson as Jerome states) of Ennius' sister, was born at Brundisium, B.C. 220, spent most of his life at Rome, and died at Tarentum shortly before B.C. 130. He was a painter as well as a poet.
Jerome yr. Abr. 1863 = B.C. 154, 'Pacuvius Brundusinus tragoediarum scriptor clarus habetur, Ennii poetae ex filia nepos, vixitque Romae quoad picturam exercuit ac fabulas venditavit, deinde Tarentum transgressus prope nonagenarius diem obiit.'
Pliny, N.H. xxxv. 19, 'Celebrata est in foro boario, aede Herculis, Pacuvii poetae pictura. Ennii sorore genitus hic fuit, clarioremque eam artem Romae fecit gloria scaenae.'
Cic. Brut. 229, 'Accius isdem aedilibus ait se et Pacuvium docuisse fabulam, cum ille octoginta, ipse triginta annos natus esset.'
As Accius was born B.C. 170, Cicero's words imply that Pacuvius was born B.C. 220, and produced plays as late as B.C. 140, while from Jerome we may conclude that he died shortly before B.C. 130. That Pacuvius was taught by his uncle Ennius is shown by Varro, Sat. Menipp. 356 (Buecheler),
'Pacvi[17] discipulus dicor, porro is fuit Enni, Ennius Musarum: Pompilius clueor.'
He was a member of the literary circle of Laelius. Cf. Laelius' words in Cic. Lael. 24, 'In hospitis et amici mei M. Pacuvi nova fabula.' In his last years he was intimate with Accius: cf. Gell. xiii. 2, 'Cum Pacuvius, inquiunt, grandi iam aetate et morbo corporis diutino adfectus, Tarentum ex urbe Roma concessisset, Accius tunc, haut parvo iunior, proficiscens in Asiam, cum in oppidum venisset, devertit ad Pacuvium comiterque invitatus plusculisque ab eo diebus retentus, tragoediam suam, cui Atreus nomen est, desideranti legit.'
Gell. i. 24, 4, gives Pacuvius' epitaph, as written by himself, 'Epigramma Pacuvii verecundissimum et purissimum, dignumque eius elegantissima gravitate:
"Adulescens, tam etsi properas, te hoc saxum rogat, ut sese aspicias, deinde quod scriptum est legas. Hic sunt poetae Pacuvi Marci sita ossa. Hoc volebam nescius ne esses. Vale."'
(2) WORKS.
1. Tragedies.—Titles of twelve are known, and over four hundred lines of fragments are extant. The Antiopa, which is the best known, was from Euripides.
Cic. de Fin. i. 4, 'Quis enim tam inimicus paene nomini Romano est, qui Enni Medeam aut Antiopam Pacuvi spernat aut reiciat quod se eisdem Euripidis fabulis delectari dicat?'
The Niptra is from Sophocles. Cic. T.D. ii. 49, speaking of ll. 256-8 (Ribbeck), says, 'Pacuvius melius quam Sophocles.'
Pacuvius also wrote one praetexta, Paulus, doubtless on L. Aemilius Paulus, the victor of Pydna.
2. Saturae (lost).
Sueton. p. 20 R., 'Carmen quod ex variis poematibus constabat satura vocabatur, quale scripserunt Pacuvius et Ennius.'
Pacuvius, like Ennius, shows interest in philosophy, and attacks superstition; l. 93,
'Mater est terra: ea parit corpus, animam aeter adiugat';
ll. 366-75; cf. l. 372,
'Sunt autem alii philosophi, qui contra fortunam negant esse ullam, sed temeritate res regi omnis autumant';
ll. 83-5,
'Nam isti qui linguam avium intellegunt plusque ex alieno iecore sapiunt quam ex suo, magis audiendum quam auscultandum censeo.'
For Pacuvius' stilted expressions, cf. Quint. i. 5, 67, 'Ceterum etiam ex praepositione et duobus vocabulis dure videtur struxisse Pacuvius
"Nerei repandirostrum, incurvicervicum pecus"' (l. 408);
Paulus, l. 5
'Qua vix caprigeno generi gradilis gressio est.'
Some views on Pacuvius may be referred to:
Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. 1, 'Itaque licet dicere et Ennium summum epicum poetam et Pacuvium tragicum et Caecilium fortasse comicum.'
Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 55,
'Ambigitur quotiens uter utro sit prior, aufert Pacuvius docti[18] famam senis, Accius alti';
Mart. xi. 90, 5,
'Attonitusque legis "terrai frugiferai," Accius et quidquid Pacuviusque vomunt.'
Cf. also Gell. vi. 14, 6; Cic. Brut. 258; Or. 36; Quint. x. 1, 97; Persius, 1. 76-8; Tac. Dial. 20.
CAECILIUS STATIUS.
(1) LIFE.
Jerome yr. Abr. 1838 = B.C. 179, 'Statius Caecilius comoediarum scriptor clarus habetur, natione Insuber Gallus et Ennii primum contubernalis. Quidam Mediolanensem ferunt. Mortuus est anno post mortem Ennii [iii.] et iuxta eum in Ianiculo sepultus.'
iii. is an addition by Ritschl, as we know Caecilius to have been alive in B.C. 166, when Terence's Andria was performed. Some read iv. The date of his death will then be B.C. 166 or 165. Caecilius probably came to Rome among the Insubrian prisoners of war at some time between B.C. 200 and 194. The year of his birth is unknown; he is never mentioned, like other old writers, such as Plautus and Ennius, as having lived to a great age. If he died B.C. 166, we might suppose that he was born about B.C. 219, as that would make him of military age when the Insubrian war began in B.C. 200. His name as a slave was Statius. His patron is unknown.
Gell. iv. 20, 13, 'Statius servile nomen fuit ... Caecilius quoque ille comoediarum poeta inclutus servus fuit; et propterea nomen habuit "Statius." Sed postea versum est quasi in cognomentum: appellatusque est Caecilius Statius.'
Elsewhere he is sometimes called merely Caecilius (as Cic. de Or. ii. 40), but never Statius alone.
(2) WORKS.
Caecilius' works were at first unsuccessful; cf. the actor Ambivius' words in Ter. Hec. prol. ii. 6-7,
'In eis quas primum Caecili didici novas, partim sum earum exactus, partim vix steti.'
Later he examined plays before they were acted, as, e.g. Terence's Andria in B.C. 166 (see under 'Terence,' p. 42). This implies that he occupied a responsible and leading position in the guild of poets.
We have two hundred and ninety lines of fragments, and titles of forty-two comedies, sixteen of which correspond with those of plays by Menander. For Caecilius' imitation of Menander see Gell. ii. 23. Cf., e.g., 'Caecilii Plocium legebamus; hautquaquam mihi et qui aderant displicebat... Sed enim postquam in manus Menander venit, a principio statim, di boni, quantum stupere atque frigere quantumque mutare a Menandro Caecilius visus est!'
Among the views on Caecilius are:
Cic. ad Att. vii. 3, 10, '(Caecilius) malus auctor Latinitatis est' (probably because he was an Insubrian).
Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. 1, 'fortasse summus comicus.' Sedigitus ap. Gell. xv. 24,
'Caecilio palmam Statio do mimico.'
Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 59,
'(dicitur) vincere Caecilius gravitate.'
The contemporaries of Caecilius include Trabea, Atilius ('poeta durissimus,' Cic. ad Att. xiv. 20, 3), Aquilius (possibly the author of the Boeotia, attributed by Varro to Plautus, Gell. iii. 3, 4), Licinius Imbrex, Luscius Lanuvinus, all writers of palliatae. Our chief information about Luscius Lanuvinus is got from the prologues to Terence's plays (in all of which, except that of the Hecyra, he is attacked), and from Donatus' commentary on these passages. From Ter. Eun. prol. 9-13, we see that he did not tone down his originals to suit a Roman audience,
'Idem Menandri Phasma nuper perdidit atque in Thensauro scripsit, causam dicere prius unde petitur, aurum qua re sit suom, quam illic qui petit, unde is sit thensaurus sibi aut unde in patrium monumentum pervenerit.'
Donatus ad loc., 'Arguit Terentius quod Luscius contra consuetudinem litigantium defensionem ante accusationem induxerit.'
TERENCE.
(1) LIFE.
Our chief source of information is Suetonius' life of Terence, preserved by Donatus, who also makes a slight addition of his own. Jerome's notice is also based on Suetonius.
P. Terentius Afer was born in Africa, and was brought in early life to Rome, where he was a slave of P. Terentius Lucanus, by whom he was educated and subsequently manumitted.
Sueton. vit. Ter. p. 26 R., 'P. Terentius Afer, Karthagine natus, serviit Romae Terentio Lucano senatori, a quo ob ingenium et formam non institutus modo liberaliter, sed et mature manu missus est. Quidam captum esse existumant: quod fieri nullo modo potuisse Fenestella docet, cum inter finem secundi Punici belli et initium tertii et natus sit et mortuus.'
Terence's cognomen probably shows that he belonged to one of the African peoples subdued by Carthage. It may be taken as certain that he was not of Punic birth, and that he was brought to Rome in the ordinary course of the slave trade.
The date of Terence's birth is not accurately known. Sueton. ibid. p. 32, 'Nondum quintum atque vicesimum ingressus annum ... egressus urbe est neque amplius rediit,' which refers to his voyage to Greece in B.C. 160, would make the year of his birth to be B.C. 185. This, however, is an improbable assumption, which rests on the fact that Roman scholars attributed to him the age of his intimate friend, P. Scipio Africanus the younger. Thus Sueton. ibid. p. 27 (of Terence, Scipio, Laelius), says, 'quamvis et Nepos aequales omnes fuisse tradat'; with which contrast ibid. 'Fenestella ... contendens utroque maiorem natu fuisse.' Terence must have been some years older, as his first piece, the Andria, was produced B.C. 166. A successful piece like it makes it probable that he had then passed his boyhood, and it is likely that he was born about B.C. 190. The reproach of his adversary in Heaut. Tim. prol. 23,
'repente ad studium hunc se adplicasse musicum,'
means only that he had not made himself prominent by previous exercises in play-writing. Further in H.T. prol. 51-2, he describes his opponents as adulescentuli,
'Exemplum statuite in me, ut adulescentuli vobis placere studeant potius quam sibi.'
Terence was on intimate terms with P. Scipio Africanus and C. Laelius, who were supposed to have helped him in the composition of his plays.
Sueton. ibid. p. 30, 'Non obscura fama est adiutum Terentium in scriptis a Laelio et Scipione: eamque ipse auxit, numquam nisi leviter se tutari conatus, ut in prologo Adelphorum (ll. 15-21),
"Nam quod isti dicunt malivoli, homines nobiles hunc adiutare adsidueque una scribere, quod illi maledictum vehemens esse existumant: eam laudem hic ducit maxumam, quom illis placet qui vobis univorsis et populo placent, quorum opera in bello, in otio, in negotio suo quisque tempore usust sine superbia."
... Sciebat Laelio et Scipioni non ingratam esse hanc opinionem, quae tum magis et usque ad posteriora tempora valuit.'
Sueton. p. 31, also repeats a story that C. Laelius was the author of the lines H.T. 723 sqq.
Cf. also Cic. ad Att. vii. 3, 10, 'Terentium, cuius fabellae propter elegantiam sermonis putabantur a C. Laelio scribi.'
Quint. x. 1, 99, 'Licet Terentii scripta ad Scipionem Africanum referantur.'
The remark that ll. 20-1 of the above extract from the Adelph. could not refer to young men like Scipio and Laelius was made even in antiquity.
Sueton. ibid. p. 31, 'Santra (a grammarian of the time of Augustus) Terentium existimat, si modo in scribendo adiutoribus indiguerit, non tam Scipione et Laelio uti potuisse, qui tunc adulescentuli fuerint, quam C. Sulpicio Gallo, homine docto, quo console Megalensibus ludis initium fabularum dandarum fecerit, vel Q. Fabio Labeone et M. Popillio, consulari utroque ac poeta. Ideo ipsum non iuvenes designare qui se adiuvare dicantur, sed viros quorum operam et in bello et in otio et in negotio populus sit expertus.'
In K. Dziatzko's opinion (second edition of Phormio, p. 10, Leipzig, 1885), the expression 'homines nobiles' points to the literary circle of Terence, including old as well as young men, while in what follows he touches upon the general reputation of those noble families among the Roman people. There is nothing to show that Terence got more than general support and advice from his friends. That his diction reflects the conversational language of the better classes is recognized.
In B.C. 166, Terence submitted to Caecilius Statius, the examiner of plays, his first work, the Andria, which was accepted, and performed in that year.
Sueton. ibid. pp. 28-9, 'Scripsit comoedias sex. Ex quibus primam Andriam cum aedilibus daret, iussus ante Caecilio recitare ad cenantem cum venisset, dicitur initium quidem fabulae, quod erat contemptiore vestitu, in subsellio iuxta lectulum residens legisse, post paucos vero versus invitatus ut accumberet cenasse una, dein cetera percucurrisse non sine magna Caecilii admiratione.'
From the fact of Caecilius' not recognizing him we may conclude that Terence had as yet no connexion with the guild of poets. This fits in with H.T. prol. 23-4,
'Repente ad studium hunc se adplicasse musicum, amicum ingenio fretum, haud natura sua.'
Hence probably arose the hatred of other writers, referred to as isti (Andr. 15; 21); iniqui (H.T. 27); cf. also Hec. prol. ii. 38,
'Nolite sinere per vos artem musicam recidere ad paucos.'
As to further connexion between Caecilius and Terence, note (1) that they had a common actor Ambivius; (2) that Terence sometimes imitates Caecilius. Thus, according to Donatus, Andr. 805,
'ut quimus, aiunt, quando ut volumus non licet'
is from Caecilius (l. 177 R.),
'vivas ut possis quando nec quis ut velis.'
Cf. also Adelph. 985,
'Quod prolubium? quae istaec subitast largitas?'
and Caecilius (l. 91 R.),
'Quod prolubium, quae voluptas, quae te lactat largitas?'
Terence died B.C. 159, on his way home from Greece, where he had probably gone the year before. The place of his death is uncertain. Whatever plays he may have written while in Greece are lost.
Sueton. ibid. p. 32, 'Post editas comoedias, nondum quintum atque vicesimum ingressus annum, causa vitandae opinionis qua videbatur aliena pro suis edere, seu percipiendi Graecorum instituta moresque quos non perinde exprimeret in scriptis, egressus urbe est neque amplius rediit ... Q. Cosconius redeuntem e Graecia perisse in mari dicit cum fabulis conversis a Menandro: ceteri mortuum esse in Arcadia sive Leucadiae tradunt, Cn. Cornelio Dolabella M. Fulvio Nobiliore coss., morbo implicatum ex dolore ac taedio amissarum sarcinarum quas in nave praemiserat, ac simul fabularum quas novas fecerat.'
Terence's personal appearance is mentioned by Sueton. p. 33, who also states that he had property, and left a daughter who afterwards married a Roman knight. 'Fuisse dicitur mediocri statura, gracili corpore, colore fusco. Reliquit filiam, quae post equiti Romano nupsit: item hortulos xx. iugerum via Appia ad Martis.'
(2) WORKS.
1. Andria.—The particulars of its production are given above. Of its success, Donatus in his commentary says, 'Successu adspecta prospero hortamento poetae fuit ad alias conscribendas.' The didascalia to the Andria is lost, but we can restore it as follows from Donatus' information, 'Incipit Andria Terenti. Acta ludis Megalensib. M. Fulvio M' Glabrione aedil. curul. Egit L. Ambivius Turpio.[19] Modos fecit Flaccus Claudi. Tibis paribus tota. Graeca Menandru. Facta i. M. Marcello C. Sulpicio cos.'
The meaning of the didascalia is as follows: The piece was produced at the Megalesian games (held at the beginning of April) under the curule aediles mentioned; L. Ambivius Turpio undertook the representation; the music was composed (as in all Terence's comedies) by Flaccus, slave of Claudius, and given throughout tibiis paribus.[20] The Greek original was by Menander; it was the first work of Terence, and the year of production was B.C. 166.
The play is adapted from Menander's Andria with additions from his Perinthia. Andr. prol. 13,
'Quae convenere in Andriam ex Perinthia fatetur transtulisse atque usum pro suis.'
The prologue dates from the first performance, though Wagner and Ribbeck have inferred from l. 5,
'Nam in prologis scribundis operam abutitur,'
that it was written for a second representation, possibly in B.C. 164. There are two endings to the play; the shorter one is genuine, the longer spurious, and omitted in the best MSS.
2. Heauton Timorumenos is from Menander's Heauton timoroumenos, 'self tormentor.' The title is referred to in l. 146,
'hic me exerceo,'
l. 81,
'An quoiquamst usus homini, se ut cruciet?'
and prol. 5,
'Ex integra Graeca integram comoediam hodie sum acturus Heauton timorumenon.'
The play was produced at the Ludi Megalenses in B.C. 163, as is seen from the didascalia, 'Incipit Heauton Timorumenos Terenti. Acta ludis Megalensib. L. Cornelio Lentulo L. Valerio Flacco aedilib. curulib. Egit Ambivius Turpio. Modos fecit Flaccus Claudi. Acta primum tibis inparib., deinde duabus dextris. Graeca Menandru. Facta ii. M' Iuventio Ti. Sempronio cos.'
The play is called 'stataria' in prol. 36,
'Date potestatem mihi statariam agere ut liceat per silentium.'
3. Eunuchus, 'contaminated' from Menander's Eunouchos and his Kolax. Eun. prol. 19,
'Nunc acturi sumus Menandri Eunuchum';
ibid. 30,
'Colax Menandrist: in east parasitus colax et miles gloriosus: eas se non negat personas transtulisse in Eunuchum suam ex Graeca: sed eas ab aliis factas prius Latinas scisse sese, id vero pernegat.'
The didascalia shows that the piece was produced at the Ludi Megalenses in B.C. 161, and from the MSS. we may conclude that it was also acted in B.C. 146. The didascalia is, 'Incipit Eunuchus Terenti. Acta ludis Megalensib. L. Postumio Albino L. Cornelio Merula aedilib. curulib. Egit Ambivius Turpio. Modos fecit Flaccus Claudi. Tibis duabus dextris tota. Graeca Menandru. Facta iii. M. Valerio C. Fannio cos.'
Sueton. vit. Ter. p. 29, speaks of the success of the play, 'Eunuchus quidem his deinceps acta est meruitque pretium quantum nulla antea cuiusquam comoedia, octo milia nummum.'
4. Phormio, the fifth comedy Terence composed, and the fourth completely represented. It was first performed at the Ludi Romani, B.C. 161. The Greek original was the Epidikazomenos of Apollodorus of Carystus. Phorm. prol. 24,
'Adporto novam Epidicazomenon quam vocant comoediam Graeci, Latini Phormionem nominant, quia primas partis qui aget, is erit Phormio parasitus, per quem res geretur maxume,'
The didascalia is, 'Incipit Terenti Phormio. Acta ludis Romanis. L. Postumio Albino L. Cornelio Merula aedilib. curulib. Egit L. Ambivius Turpio. Modos fecit Flaccus Claudi. Tibis imparib. tota. Graeca Apollodoru Epidicazomenos. Facta iiii. C. Fannio M. Valerio cos.
From notices in the MSS. it is probable that a second representation took place in B.C. 141 at the Megalesian games.
5. Hecyra is founded on a play by Apollodorus of Carystus, doubtless called Hekyra; cf. Donatus' preface, 'fabula Apollodori dicitur esse Graeca.' The first attempted representation was in B.C. 165, at the Ludi Megalenses. Hec. prol. i. 1,
'Hecyra quom datast nova, ei novom intervenit vitium et calamitas, ut neque spectari neque cognosci potuerit: ita populus studio stupidus in funambulo animum occuparat.'
The second (unsuccessful) representation was at the ludi funerales of Aemilius Paulus in B.C. 160. Hec. prol. ii. 38,
'Refero denuo. Primo actu placeo. Quom interea rumor venit datum iri gladiatores, populus convolat, tumultuantur clamant pugnant de loco: ego interea meum non potui tutari locum.'
Cf. Phorm. prol. 31,
'Ne simili utamur fortuna, atque usi sumus quom per tumultum noster grex motus locost.'
The first prologue was written for the second performance; the second (spoken by the actor Ambivius) for the third performance, also in B.C. 160. The didascalia is, 'Incipit Terenti Hecyra. Acta ludis Megalensib. S. Iulio Caesare Cn. Cornelio Dolabella aedilib. curulib. Egit L. Ambivius Turpio. Modos fecit Flaccus Claudi. Tibis paribus tota. Graeca Apollodoru. Facta v. Cn. Octavio T. Manlio cos. Relata est L. Aemelio Paulo ludis funeralib. Non est placita. Tertio relata est Q. Fulvio L. Marcio aedilib. curulib.'
6. Adelphoe is founded on Menander's Adelphoi with a scene added from Diphilus' Synapothneskontes. Adelph. prol. 6,
Synapothnescontes Diphili comoediast; eam Commorientis Plautus fecit fabulam. In Graeca adulescens est, qui lenoni eripit meretricem in prima fabula: eum Plautus locum reliquit integrum; eum hic locum sumpsit sibi in Adelphos, verbum de verbo expressum extulit.'
That this was the first performance is shown by novam in l. 12. The part from Diphilus is Act ii., Scene 1. The play was produced in B.C. 160 at the ludi funerales of L. Aemilius Paulus, as shown by the didascalia, 'Incipit Terenti Adelphoe. Acta ludis funeralib. L. Aemelio Paulo. Fecere Q. Fabius Maxumus P. Cornelius Africanus. Egit L. Ambivius Turpio. Modos fecit Flaccus Claudi. Tibis Sarranis tota. Graeca Menandru. Facta vi. M. Cornelio Cethego L. Anicio Gallo cos.'
The order given above agrees essentially with the numbers denoting the order of production, as given in the didascaliae. We must, however, assume that the first representation of the Hecyra remained unnoticed, and must give the second place (instead of the third) to the H.T., with a section of the MSS., and the third place to the Eun. with Donatus against the MSS.
Prologues.—Terence uses these as weapons against his enemies, the chief of whom was Luscius Lanuvinus (see under his name), who attacked Terence for 'contaminatio' and for want of spirit in his plays. Cf. H.T. prol. 17,
'Multas contaminasse Graecas, dum facit paucas Latinas';
Phorm. prol. 5,
'tenui esse oratione et scriptura levi.'
Terence justifies repeatedly his use of 'contaminatio.' H.T. prol. 16,
'Nam quod rumores distulerunt malivoli, multas contaminasse Graecas, dum facit paucas Latinas: id esse factum hic non negat, neque se pigere et deinde facturum autumat. Habet bonorum exemplum, quo exemplo sibi licere id facere quod illi fecerunt putat.'
Cf. Andria, prol. 15-21; Adelph. prol. 1-14; Eun. prol. 31-3. Luscius also attacked him for not adhering more closely to his Greek originals, in spite of the fact that, generally speaking, Terence translated closely from these. Cf. Adelph. prol. 10-11, quoted above. A piece was considered to be new if it had not previously been presented to a Roman audience. So Terence justifies his originality in Adelph. prol. 6-14, or excuses himself on the ground that he did not know that a piece had been previously used: Eun. prol. 19-34.
Representation of the plays.—Ambivius was the chief actor in all the plays. He is the speaker of the prologue of H.T. and of the second prologue of Hec. He calls himself senex, cf. H.T. prol. 1. For his popularity cf. Hec. prol. ii. 55,
'Mea causa causam accipite et date silentium.'
The music was provided by Flaccus, slave of Claudius. The composer himself was probably the instrumentalist. Four kinds of flutes are mentioned as used by him: tibiae pares, impares, sarranae, and duae dextrae (see note p. 45). The scene of all the plays is at Athens. There is no chorus. The form of the plays is modelled closely on Greek. More than half of the verses are iambic senarii, the next commonest being troch. septen. and iamb. octon. These are used in dialogue. Trochaic octonarii are used in lyrical parts, other lyrical metres being rare, and the anapaestic metre not being used. Short lines are also found in the middle of lyrical pieces, or at the end of pieces of dialogue. Andr. 605,
'Sed eccum video ipsum: occidi.'
Single words sometimes stand at the head of a lyrical piece, as Phorm. 485 'Dorio,' which makes a line.
The different kinds of scenes are under the same conditions as in Plautus. We have (1) scenes provided with music, probably represented in MSS. by C (Canticum). (2) Scenes sung as recitative, with musical accompaniment, in MSS. denoted by M.M.C. (perhaps for 'Modi Mutati Cantici'). (3) Scenes in senarii, without music, in MSS. denoted by DV (Diverbium). The division into scenes is very ancient; but the division into acts, though existing in the time of Terence (cf. Hec. prol. 39, 'primo actu placeo,'), is not marked in the MSS.
Names of characters.—Terence uses only Greek names, which often suit the characters of the persons, and many of which are repeated in the different plays. Cf. Pamphilus and Glycerium, of the lovers in the Andr.; Chremes (chremptomai, 'cough'), for an old man, in Andr., H.T., Phorm.; Crito (krino, 'judge'), for an old man, in Andr., Phorm.; Sosia (sozein), for a freedman, in Andr., Hec. So names of slaves as Davus (Daos, 'Dacian'), Dromo, Geta, Syrus, all in several plays.
The arguments, consisting of twelve senarii each, were composed by C. Sulpicius Apollinaris in the second century A.D.
Prosody.—For the variations from later usage, see under 'Plautus.' Terence is, of course, more regular in this respect than Plautus.
Views on Terence.—To those given above the following may be added:
Gell. vi. 14, 6, 'Exempla in Latina lingua M. Varro esse dicit ubertatis Pacuvium, gracilitatis Lucilium, mediocritatis Terentium.'[21]
Sueton. vit. Ter. p. 34, 'Cicero in Limone hactenus laudat,
"Tu quoque, qui solus lecto sermone, Terenti, conversum expressumque Latina voce Menandrum in medium nobis sedatis motibus effers, quiddam come loquens atque omnia dulcia miscens";
item C. Caesar,
"Tu quoque, tu in summis, o dimidiate Menander, poneris, et merito, puri sermonis amator. Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adiuncta foret vis, comica ut aequato virtus polleret honore cum Graecis, neve hac despectus parte iaceres. Unum hoc maceror ac doleo tibi desse, Terenti."'
EARLY MINOR AUTHORS.
(a) POETS:
The poetical contemporaries of Terence were:
1. Titinius, the first writer of togatae; fifteen titles and about one hundred and eighty lines of fragments are extant. He probably began to write after Terence's death.
2. Sextus Turpilius.—We have titles of thirteen of his palliatae, six of which are probably from Menander. He died B.C. 103, probably about eighty.
Jerome yr. Abr. 1914 = B.C. 103, 'Turpilius comicus senex admodum Sinuessae moritur.'
3. Iuventius, Valerius, and Vatronius wrote palliatae; P. Licinius Tegula a hymn to Juno, B.C. 200 (Livy xxxi. 12); Q. Fabius Labeo (cos. B.C. 183) and M. Popillius Laenas (cos. 173) were poets.
(b) PROSE WRITERS:
Fabius Pictor was the earliest Roman historian: Liv. i. 44, 2, 'scriptorum antiquissimus Fabius Pictor.' A relative of Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator (Plut. Fab. Max. 18), he took part in the war with the Cisalpine Gauls, B.C. 225 (Eutropius, iii. 5), and after the battle of Cannae was sent by the Senate on a mission to the oracle of Delphi (Liv. xxii. 57, 5).
Fabius wrote in Greek an account of the Second Punic War, prefixed to which was a sketch of the history of Rome from its foundation: Liv. xxii. 7, 4, 'Fabium aequalem temporibus huiusce belli potissimum auctorem habui.' There was also a Latin version, made either by Fabius Pictor or by a namesake (Gell. v. 4, 3).
The same subject was treated by L. Cincius Alimentus, who was praetor B.C. 210 (Liv. xxvi. 23, i), and took an active part in the war in Sicily during the next two years (Liv. xxvii. 7, 12, and throughout that Book). He was taken prisoner by Hannibal, and conversed with him: Liv. xxi. 38, 3, 'L. Cincius Alimentus, qui captum se ab Hannibale scribit, maxime auctor moveret ...'
Both Fabius and Cincius wrote in Greek, and both gave a cursory view of the earlier history: Dion. Hal. i. 6, Romaion hosoi ta palaia erga tes poleos Hellenike dialekto synegrapsan, hon eisi presbytatoi Kointos te Phabios kai Leukios Kinkios ... touton de ton andron hekateros hois men autos ergois paregeneto, dia ten empeirian akribos anegrapse, ta de archaia to meta ton ktisin tes poleos genomena kephalaiodos epedramen.
CATO.
M. Porcius Cato, the Censor (B.C. 234-149), born at Tusculum, of a yeoman stock, was one of the most prominent figures of his time. For the best account of his military and political career, including his advancement to the Consulship (B.C. 195) and Censorship (B.C. 184), and his economic and social reforms, the reader may be referred to Mommsen, R.H., vol. ii. passim.
Cato was the founder of Latin prose, and the chief opponent of the exaggerated Hellenism that was finding its way into Roman life and literature (cf. his own words quoted by Pliny, N.H. xxix. 14, 'Quandoque ista gens suas litteras dabit, omnia corrumpet'); but even he shows traces of Greek influence. Cato is represented now only by (1) his treatise De Agri Cultura, the earliest extant work in Latin prose, which, besides giving instruction for the husbandman, deals with housekeeping, cookery, and medicine.
(2) His great work was the Origines, the earliest history in Latin prose, the contents of which are enumerated by Nepos, Cato, 3, 3, 'Senex historias scribere instituit. Earum sunt libri vii. Primus continet res gestas regum populi Romani, secundus et tertius unde quaeque civitas orta sit Italica (ob quam rem omnes Origines videtur appellasse); in quarto autem bellum Poenicum est primum, in quinto secundum. Atque haec omnia capitulatim sunt dicta. Reliqua quoque bella pari modo persecutus est usque ad praeturam Ser. Galbae, qui diripuit Lusitanos (B.C. 151). Atque horum bellorum duces non nominavit, sed sine nominibus res notavit.[22] In eisdem exposuit quae in Italia Hispaniisque aut fierent aut viderentur admiranda: in quibus multa industria et diligentia comparet, nulla doctrina.'
An attempt has been made by A. Bormann (M. Porcii Catonis Originum Libri vii., Brandenburg 1858, p. 38) to prove that the principle of division was geographical, and that history only came in incidentally in connexion with the reduction of provinces; but as Nepos was writing to an eminent authority on antiquities, his account is likely to be right. The period between the kings and the Punic Wars was probably omitted by Cato through want of authorities.
The title Origines fails to indicate the scope of the work, which was chiefly occupied with general history; it was probably taken, as Nepos suggests, from the contents of Books ii. and iii., which seem to have been the most novel and valuable part of the undertaking. (Jordan, however, takes 'Origines' as equivalent, not to the Greek ktiseis, but to 'res Romanae ab origine repetitae.')
(3) Praecepta ad Filium was the general title of a didactic work containing rules for medicine, husbandry, and rhetoric (e.g. 'Rem tene, verba sequentur'). Cf. Quint. iii. 1, 19, 'Romanorum primus, quantum ego quidem sciam, condidit aliqua in hanc materiam (rhetoric) M. Cato ille Censorius.'
(4) Speeches.—Fragments of eighty speeches, out of about two hundred and thirty, are collected by Jordan. They are almost equally divided between forensic and deliberative speeches: none is known of earlier date than B.C. 195. Cato incorporated some of them in the Origines, e.g. For the Rhodians (Gell. vi. 3, 7), and Against Galba (Cic. Brut. 89).
Works on civil law are attributed to Cato, and we hear also of apophthegmata (Cic. de Off. i. 104), Liber de re militari (Gell. vi. 4, 5), and Carmen de moribus (Gell. xi. 2, 2).
ACCIUS.
(1) LIFE.
The forms Accius and Attius are both found on inscriptions, e.g. from Pisaurum; but in the MSS. of Nonius Marcellus, who often quotes Accius, and who is careful about his forms, 'Accius' is always found, and generally in MSS. of other authors. |
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