[1753] This Fragment is most
probably
connected with Fr.
Satires
" Cf.
Pacuvium in Medo, "accessi eam et tonsillam pegi læto in
littore. " (Fr. 17, ed. Fr. H. Bothe, Lips. , 1834. ) The MS. reading is
_Consellæ_, "double seats," stretched on ropes, as the beds (grabati).
Lucil. , vi. , Fr. 13; xi. , 13. Nonius explains _aptare_ by "connectere"
and "colligare. "
[1745] Cf. Donat. in Terent. , Andr. , II. , i. , 24.
BOOK XI.
ARGUMENT.
Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign. Petermann coincides in the same
opinion. Corpet supposes that the principal object of the book
was an elaborate defense of the character of Scipio Africanus;
especially with regard to the salutary and strict discipline
which he restored to the Roman army during the Numantine war.
Gerlach admits the probability of these conjectures, though he
scarcely thinks that the Fragments which have come down to us
of this book are of sufficient length to enable us to pronounce
definitively on the question. It is quite clear that the mention
of Opimius the father, or of the elder Lucius Cotta, can bear
no relation to the Numantine war, since they both lived before
it began; still it is possible that their names might have
been introduced, to render the morals of their sons still more
conspicuous. How the Fragment (2) respecting the plebeian Caius
Cassius Cephalo was connected with the main subject is not
clear, unless he was introduced for the purpose of incidentally
mentioning the bribery of the unjust judge, Tullius.
The fourth and ninth Fragments may clearly refer to the Numantine
war; as may perhaps the seventh; as we learn from Cicero, that
while Scipio Africanus was before Numantia, he received some
munificent presents, which were sent to him from Asia by King
Attalus, and which he accepted in the presence of his army. (Cic.
pro Dei. , 7. ) This happened probably only a few months before the
death of Attalus; and Lucilius was most likely an eye-witness
of the fact. The thirteenth Fragment also may refer to the same
campaign; though Duentzer supposes it to be an allusion to the
miserable penuriousness of Ælius Tubero. The fifth and sixth
Fragments apparently refer rather to civil than military matters.
1 Quintus Opimius, the famous father of this Jugurthinus, was
both a handsome man and an infamous, both in his early youth;
latterly he conducted himself more uprightly. [1746]
2 This Caius Cassius, a laborer, whom we call Cefalo--a cut-purse
and thief--him, one Tullius, a judge, made his heir; while all
the rest were disinherited. [1747]
3 Lucius Cotta the elder, the father of this Crassus, "the
all-blazing," was a close-fisted fellow in money-matters; very
slow in paying any body--[1748]
4
5 Asellus cast it in the teeth of the great Scipio, that during
his censorship, the lustrum had been unfortunate and
inauspicious. [1749]
6 . . . and now I wished to throw into verse a saying of Granius,
the præco. [1750]
7 . . . a noble meeting; there glittered the drawers, the cloaks,
the twisted chains of the great Datis. [1751]
8 . . . and a road must be made, and a rampart thrown up here, and
that kind of groundwork--[1752]
9 . . . he is a wanderer now these many years; he is now a soldier
in winter quarters, serving with us
10 . . . thence, while still of tender age and a mere boy, comes to
Rome.
11 Nor have I need of him as a lover, nor a mean fellow to bail
me--
12 . . . he is a jibber, a shuffler, a hard-mouthed, obstinate
brute. [1753]
13 When they had taken their seats here, and the skins were
extended in due order. . . . [1754]
14 . . . who in the wash-house and the pool. . . .
FOOTNOTES:
[1746] _Jugurthinus_ is properly the proud title of Marius. (Ov. ,
Pont. , IV. , iii. , 45, "Ille Jugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho. ")
It is here applied ironically to Lucius Opimius, who so notoriously
received bribes from Jugurtha, when he went over, as chief of the ten
commissioners, to arrange the division of the kingdom between Jugurtha
and Adherbal, B. C. 117. (Sall. , Bell. Jug. , xvi. ) He had been before
honorably distinguished by the taking of Fregellæ, when in rebellion
against Rome, while he was prætor. The safety of the Roman state had
also been committed to him when consul (B. C. 121) during the riots of
Caius Gracchus, which by his prompt measures he was the main instrument
in quelling. (Hence Cicero styles him "civis præstantissimus. "
Brut. , 34. ) For this he was accused by the democratic party, but was
acquitted; his defense being conducted by the same Papirius Carbo who
had assailed Scipio Africanus after the death of Tiberius Gracchus
("aliâ tum mente Rempublicam capessens. " Cic. , de Or. , ii. , 25). The
partisans of Gracchus, however, afterward crushed him by means of the
Mamilian law, along with many other excellent men. Cic. , Brut. , _u.
s. _ Sall. , Bell. Jug. , 40. He was consul with Q. Fabius Maximus, who
that year overthrew the Allobroges and Arverni. His consulship was
long remembered as having been a splendid year for wine, hence called
Opimianum. Cic. , Brut. , 83. Of his father Quintus, Cicero speaks in
nearly the same terms as Lucilius does here: "Q. Opimius, consularis,
qui adolescentulus malè audisset. " De Orat. , ii. , 68.
[1747] _Cephalo_, like Capito, was probably a nickname from the
size of his head. _Sector_ is used by Plautus exactly in the sense
of the English "cut-purse. " Sector Zonarius, i. e. , Crumeniseca,
βαλαντιοτόμος. Trinum. , IV. , ii. , 20. It is applied by Cicero to a mean
fellow, who buys at auction the confiscated goods of proscribed persons
to retail again. Cic. , Rosc. Am. , 29. Ascon. in Verr. , II. , i. , 20. Cf.
Nonius, _s. v. _ Secare. _Damnare_, i. e. , "exhæredare. " Non.
[1748] παναίθου (cf. Horn. , Il. xiv. , 372) is an epithet applied to a
helmet. Why it was given to this Cotta is not known. Gerlach supposes
him to be the L. Cotta mentioned by Cicero (de Orat. , iii. , 11) as
affecting a coarse and rustic style of speaking, "gaudere videtur
gravitate linguæ, sonoque vocis agresti," and that this name was given
him by way of irony. He would be most justly entitled to the epithet of
Crassus, "the coarse," which was probably given for the same reason.
(Crassus not being the regular cognomen of the Aurelian gens, to which
Cotta belonged, but of the Licinian. ) Valerius Maximus gives a story of
the sordid avarice of the father, which illustrates what Lucilius says,
that when tribune of the Plebs he took advantage of the "sacrosanct"
character of his office to refuse paying his creditors their just
claims, but was compelled to do so by his colleagues. (Pighius assigns
this event to B. C. 155. ) He was afterward accused by P. Corn. Scipio
Africanus minor; but being defended by Q. Metellus Macedonicus,
was acquitted. Cf. Cic. , Brut. , 21, where he gives him the epithet
"veterator. " He was one of the partisans of the Gracchi.
[1749] _Asellus_ is probably the same whom Cicero mentions (de Orat. ,
ii. , 64), about whom Scipio made the pun, which is, of course, as
Cicero says, untranslatable: "Cum Asellus omnes provincias stipendia
merentem se peragrâsse gloriaretur, '_Agas Asellum_,'" etc.
[1750] _Granius_, a præco, though a great favorite with the plebeians,
who used to retail his witticisms with great zest, was on terms of
intimate friendship with Crassus, Catulus, T. Tinca Placentinus, and
other men of high rank, whom he used to criticise with the greatest
severity and freedom, and hold, especially with the latter, contests in
sharp repartee. (Vid. Cic. , Brut. , 43, 46: de Orat. , ii. , 60, 70, where
some of his witticisms are quoted. )
[1751] Gerlach refers this Fragment to the presents sent by Attalus.
"Datis" he takes to mean any common name, but would suggest "ducis. "
[1752] _Rudus_ is applied to a mixture of stones, gravel, and rubble,
cemented together with lime, used by the Romans as a substratum for a
path or pavement. Cat. , R. R. , 18. Plin. , xxxvi. , 25. Cf. Liv. , xli. ,
27, "Vias sternendas silice in Urbe glareâ extra Urbem locaverunt. "
Tibull. , I. , viii. , 59.
[1753] This Fragment is most probably connected with Fr. 3, as both
strigosus and bovinator are applied to beasts who refuse to move; and
hence to persons who use all kinds of artifices to avoid the payment of
their just debts.
[1754] Cf. vi. , 13; x. , 4.
BOOK XII.
ARGUMENT.
The extant Fragments of this book are too few and too varied in
their matter to enable us to form any definite idea of the
general subject. From a passage in Diomedes (lib. iii, p. 483),
which contains the seventh Fragment, Schoenbeck supposes it must
have referred to scenic matters; which conjecture he considers
farther strengthened by the first Fragment. (Cf. Plaut. , Pers. ,
I. , iii, 78. ) But, as Gerlach observes, "Chorage" in this passage
can hardly be understood in its primitive sense, since it is
coupled with the word "Quæstore;" and as the quæstors had nothing
to do with the Ludi Scenici, except when it fell to them to take
the place of the prætors or ædiles, this office could hardly be
reckoned among their positive or regular duties.
1 . . . that this man stands in need of some quæstor and choragus
to furnish gold at the public expense, and from the treasury.
2 . . . a hundred yoke of mules, with one strong pull, could not
drag him. [1755]
3 Let this be fixed firmly and equally in your breast. . . .
4 . . . he is remarkable for bandy-legged and shriveled
shanks. [1756]
5 . . . of what advantages I deprived myself. [1757]
6 I agreed with the man.
7 At the Liberalia, among the Athenians on the festal day[1758]
of father Liber, wine used to be given to the singers instead
of a crown--
8 . . . whatever had happened while I and my brother were boys.
9 . . . wrinkled and full of famine.
FOOTNOTES:
[1755] Cf. vi. , 2.
[1756] _Petilis_ is derived by Dacier from πέταλον: i. e. , withered and
shriveled up like a dead leaf.
[1757] _Decollare_, in its primitive sense, is "to decapitate;" then
simply "to deprive. "
[1758] This Fragment is given just as it stands in Diomedes (see
Arg. ), without any attempt on the part of editors or commentators to
reduce it to the form of a verse. The whole passage stands thus in
the original: "Alii a vino tragœdiam dictam arbitrantur: proptereà
quod olim dictabatur τρύξ, à quo τρύγητος hodieque vindemia est, quia
'Liberalibus, apud Atticos, die festo Liberi patris vinum cantoribus
pro Corollario dabatur' cujus rei testis est Lucilius in duodecimo. "
"Others think that Tragedy is so called from wine, because the
ancient term was τρύξ; whence even at the present day the vintage is
called τρυγητός. " For the Attic Dionysia see the second vol. of the
Philological Museum. «Probably, like the Sigillaria in lib. vii. , Fr.
4, the festival was described by some circumlocution, the whole word
being inadmissible into a verse. »
BOOK XIII.
ARGUMENT.
The Fragments of this book, as well as of the twelfth, are too few
to admit of any opinion being satisfactorily arrived at with
respect to its subject. Schoenbeck supposes it was directed
against sumptuous extravagance and luxurious banquets. Petermann
adopts the same view. Gerlach, though he considers the Fragments
so vague that they might support any hypothesis, allows that this
conjecture is tenable, as the third, fifth, ninth, tenth, and
eleventh appear to "savor of the kitchen. "
1 Or to conquer in war altogether by chance and fortune; if it is
entirely by chance and at random, that any one arrives at the
highest distinction. [1759]
2 . . . to whom fortune has assigned an equal position, and chance
their destiny.
3 The same thing occurs at supper. You will give oysters bought
for a thousand sesterces.
4 . . . sets them to engage with one another in fierce
conflict. [1760]
5 In the first place, let all banquetings and company be done
away with. [1761]
6 Add shoes from Syracuse, a bag of leather. . . . [1762]
7 . . . one only, out of many, who has intellect. . . .
8 . . . as he is styled skilless in whom there is no skill. [1763]
9 and not so poor as . . . a chipped dish of Samian pottery. [1764]
10 . . . for as soon as we recline at a table munificently heaped up
at great expense. . . .
11 . . . the same food at the feast, as the banquet of almighty
Jove. . . . [1765]
FOOTNOTES:
[1759] Nonius draws this distinction between Fors and Fortuna: _fors_
simply expresses "the accidents of temporal affairs, as opposed to
providence or design. " _Fortuna_ is "the personification of these in
the form of the goddess. " In the text Gerlach's conjecture is followed
instead of the reading of the MSS. , which is quite unintelligible: "Si
forte ac temerè omnino quis summum ad honorem perveniat. " Cf. Pacuv. in
Hermiona, "Quo impulerit fors eò cadere Fortunam autumant. "
[1760] _Cernit_, i. e. , "disponit. " Nonius. Cf. v. , Fr. 29, "Postquam
præsidium castris educere crevit. "
[1761] _Dominia. _ As dominus is put for the "master of the feast,"
so dominium is used for the banquet itself (lib. vi. , Fr. 7; Sall. ,
Hist. , iii. , "In imo medius inter Tarquinium et _dominum_ Perpenna;"
Cic. , Vatin. , xiii. , "Epuli dominus Q. Arrius"), or for the office of
the giver of the banquet. Cicero uses Magisteria in the same sense.
Senect. , c. 14. It is also put for "the _place_ where a banquet is
held. " Cic. , Ver. , II. , iii. , 4. _Sodalitium_ is properly a banquet
celebrated by "Sodales," i. e. , persons associated in the same
religious cultus.
[1762] _Pasceolum_, "a leathern bag or purse," marsupium, from
φάσκωλον. Suid. Plaut, Rud. , V. , ii. , 27, "prætereà centum Denaria
Philippea in pasceolo seorsum. " _Aluta. _ Vid. ad Juv. , xiv. , 282.
[1763] _Iners. _ Cf. Cic. , de Fin. , "Lustremus animo has maximas
_artes_, quibus qui carebant _inertes_ à majoribus nominabantur. "
[1764] Cf. ad lib. vii. , Fr. 1.
[1765] _Epulum_ (i. e. , edipulum) and _epulæ_ seem to be interchanged;
but epulum is probably the older form of the word.
BOOK XIV.
ARGUMENT.
The fourteenth book contained, according to Schoenbeck's idea, the
praises of a placid and easy life. Duentzer, on the other hand,
says the subject was ambition. The two notions are not so much
opposed, says Gerlach, as at first sight they seem: the object
of the poet being to contrast the frugal simplicity and tranquil
leisure of a rustic life, with the empty vanities and arrogant
assumption of the ambitious man. Thus the Fragments 2, 4, 5, 12,
15, 16, and perhaps 1, contain the praises of frugal parsimony
and an honorable leisure: 3, 6, 7, 8, and perhaps others,
describe the heart-burnings and disappointments of a life devoted
to ambition.
1 Is that rather the sign of a sick man that I live on bread and
tripe? * * *[1766]
2 . . . but you rather lead in peace a tranquil life, which you
seem to hold more important than doing this.
3 Publius Pavus Tuditanus, my quæstor in the Iberian land, was a
skulker, a mean fellow, one of that class, clearly. [1767]
4 . . . these, I say, we may consider a sham sea-fight, and a game
of backgammon . . . but though you amuse yourself, you will not
live one whit the better. [1768]
5 . . .
littore. " (Fr. 17, ed. Fr. H. Bothe, Lips. , 1834. ) The MS. reading is
_Consellæ_, "double seats," stretched on ropes, as the beds (grabati).
Lucil. , vi. , Fr. 13; xi. , 13. Nonius explains _aptare_ by "connectere"
and "colligare. "
[1745] Cf. Donat. in Terent. , Andr. , II. , i. , 24.
BOOK XI.
ARGUMENT.
Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign. Petermann coincides in the same
opinion. Corpet supposes that the principal object of the book
was an elaborate defense of the character of Scipio Africanus;
especially with regard to the salutary and strict discipline
which he restored to the Roman army during the Numantine war.
Gerlach admits the probability of these conjectures, though he
scarcely thinks that the Fragments which have come down to us
of this book are of sufficient length to enable us to pronounce
definitively on the question. It is quite clear that the mention
of Opimius the father, or of the elder Lucius Cotta, can bear
no relation to the Numantine war, since they both lived before
it began; still it is possible that their names might have
been introduced, to render the morals of their sons still more
conspicuous. How the Fragment (2) respecting the plebeian Caius
Cassius Cephalo was connected with the main subject is not
clear, unless he was introduced for the purpose of incidentally
mentioning the bribery of the unjust judge, Tullius.
The fourth and ninth Fragments may clearly refer to the Numantine
war; as may perhaps the seventh; as we learn from Cicero, that
while Scipio Africanus was before Numantia, he received some
munificent presents, which were sent to him from Asia by King
Attalus, and which he accepted in the presence of his army. (Cic.
pro Dei. , 7. ) This happened probably only a few months before the
death of Attalus; and Lucilius was most likely an eye-witness
of the fact. The thirteenth Fragment also may refer to the same
campaign; though Duentzer supposes it to be an allusion to the
miserable penuriousness of Ælius Tubero. The fifth and sixth
Fragments apparently refer rather to civil than military matters.
1 Quintus Opimius, the famous father of this Jugurthinus, was
both a handsome man and an infamous, both in his early youth;
latterly he conducted himself more uprightly. [1746]
2 This Caius Cassius, a laborer, whom we call Cefalo--a cut-purse
and thief--him, one Tullius, a judge, made his heir; while all
the rest were disinherited. [1747]
3 Lucius Cotta the elder, the father of this Crassus, "the
all-blazing," was a close-fisted fellow in money-matters; very
slow in paying any body--[1748]
4
5 Asellus cast it in the teeth of the great Scipio, that during
his censorship, the lustrum had been unfortunate and
inauspicious. [1749]
6 . . . and now I wished to throw into verse a saying of Granius,
the præco. [1750]
7 . . . a noble meeting; there glittered the drawers, the cloaks,
the twisted chains of the great Datis. [1751]
8 . . . and a road must be made, and a rampart thrown up here, and
that kind of groundwork--[1752]
9 . . . he is a wanderer now these many years; he is now a soldier
in winter quarters, serving with us
10 . . . thence, while still of tender age and a mere boy, comes to
Rome.
11 Nor have I need of him as a lover, nor a mean fellow to bail
me--
12 . . . he is a jibber, a shuffler, a hard-mouthed, obstinate
brute. [1753]
13 When they had taken their seats here, and the skins were
extended in due order. . . . [1754]
14 . . . who in the wash-house and the pool. . . .
FOOTNOTES:
[1746] _Jugurthinus_ is properly the proud title of Marius. (Ov. ,
Pont. , IV. , iii. , 45, "Ille Jugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho. ")
It is here applied ironically to Lucius Opimius, who so notoriously
received bribes from Jugurtha, when he went over, as chief of the ten
commissioners, to arrange the division of the kingdom between Jugurtha
and Adherbal, B. C. 117. (Sall. , Bell. Jug. , xvi. ) He had been before
honorably distinguished by the taking of Fregellæ, when in rebellion
against Rome, while he was prætor. The safety of the Roman state had
also been committed to him when consul (B. C. 121) during the riots of
Caius Gracchus, which by his prompt measures he was the main instrument
in quelling. (Hence Cicero styles him "civis præstantissimus. "
Brut. , 34. ) For this he was accused by the democratic party, but was
acquitted; his defense being conducted by the same Papirius Carbo who
had assailed Scipio Africanus after the death of Tiberius Gracchus
("aliâ tum mente Rempublicam capessens. " Cic. , de Or. , ii. , 25). The
partisans of Gracchus, however, afterward crushed him by means of the
Mamilian law, along with many other excellent men. Cic. , Brut. , _u.
s. _ Sall. , Bell. Jug. , 40. He was consul with Q. Fabius Maximus, who
that year overthrew the Allobroges and Arverni. His consulship was
long remembered as having been a splendid year for wine, hence called
Opimianum. Cic. , Brut. , 83. Of his father Quintus, Cicero speaks in
nearly the same terms as Lucilius does here: "Q. Opimius, consularis,
qui adolescentulus malè audisset. " De Orat. , ii. , 68.
[1747] _Cephalo_, like Capito, was probably a nickname from the
size of his head. _Sector_ is used by Plautus exactly in the sense
of the English "cut-purse. " Sector Zonarius, i. e. , Crumeniseca,
βαλαντιοτόμος. Trinum. , IV. , ii. , 20. It is applied by Cicero to a mean
fellow, who buys at auction the confiscated goods of proscribed persons
to retail again. Cic. , Rosc. Am. , 29. Ascon. in Verr. , II. , i. , 20. Cf.
Nonius, _s. v. _ Secare. _Damnare_, i. e. , "exhæredare. " Non.
[1748] παναίθου (cf. Horn. , Il. xiv. , 372) is an epithet applied to a
helmet. Why it was given to this Cotta is not known. Gerlach supposes
him to be the L. Cotta mentioned by Cicero (de Orat. , iii. , 11) as
affecting a coarse and rustic style of speaking, "gaudere videtur
gravitate linguæ, sonoque vocis agresti," and that this name was given
him by way of irony. He would be most justly entitled to the epithet of
Crassus, "the coarse," which was probably given for the same reason.
(Crassus not being the regular cognomen of the Aurelian gens, to which
Cotta belonged, but of the Licinian. ) Valerius Maximus gives a story of
the sordid avarice of the father, which illustrates what Lucilius says,
that when tribune of the Plebs he took advantage of the "sacrosanct"
character of his office to refuse paying his creditors their just
claims, but was compelled to do so by his colleagues. (Pighius assigns
this event to B. C. 155. ) He was afterward accused by P. Corn. Scipio
Africanus minor; but being defended by Q. Metellus Macedonicus,
was acquitted. Cf. Cic. , Brut. , 21, where he gives him the epithet
"veterator. " He was one of the partisans of the Gracchi.
[1749] _Asellus_ is probably the same whom Cicero mentions (de Orat. ,
ii. , 64), about whom Scipio made the pun, which is, of course, as
Cicero says, untranslatable: "Cum Asellus omnes provincias stipendia
merentem se peragrâsse gloriaretur, '_Agas Asellum_,'" etc.
[1750] _Granius_, a præco, though a great favorite with the plebeians,
who used to retail his witticisms with great zest, was on terms of
intimate friendship with Crassus, Catulus, T. Tinca Placentinus, and
other men of high rank, whom he used to criticise with the greatest
severity and freedom, and hold, especially with the latter, contests in
sharp repartee. (Vid. Cic. , Brut. , 43, 46: de Orat. , ii. , 60, 70, where
some of his witticisms are quoted. )
[1751] Gerlach refers this Fragment to the presents sent by Attalus.
"Datis" he takes to mean any common name, but would suggest "ducis. "
[1752] _Rudus_ is applied to a mixture of stones, gravel, and rubble,
cemented together with lime, used by the Romans as a substratum for a
path or pavement. Cat. , R. R. , 18. Plin. , xxxvi. , 25. Cf. Liv. , xli. ,
27, "Vias sternendas silice in Urbe glareâ extra Urbem locaverunt. "
Tibull. , I. , viii. , 59.
[1753] This Fragment is most probably connected with Fr. 3, as both
strigosus and bovinator are applied to beasts who refuse to move; and
hence to persons who use all kinds of artifices to avoid the payment of
their just debts.
[1754] Cf. vi. , 13; x. , 4.
BOOK XII.
ARGUMENT.
The extant Fragments of this book are too few and too varied in
their matter to enable us to form any definite idea of the
general subject. From a passage in Diomedes (lib. iii, p. 483),
which contains the seventh Fragment, Schoenbeck supposes it must
have referred to scenic matters; which conjecture he considers
farther strengthened by the first Fragment. (Cf. Plaut. , Pers. ,
I. , iii, 78. ) But, as Gerlach observes, "Chorage" in this passage
can hardly be understood in its primitive sense, since it is
coupled with the word "Quæstore;" and as the quæstors had nothing
to do with the Ludi Scenici, except when it fell to them to take
the place of the prætors or ædiles, this office could hardly be
reckoned among their positive or regular duties.
1 . . . that this man stands in need of some quæstor and choragus
to furnish gold at the public expense, and from the treasury.
2 . . . a hundred yoke of mules, with one strong pull, could not
drag him. [1755]
3 Let this be fixed firmly and equally in your breast. . . .
4 . . . he is remarkable for bandy-legged and shriveled
shanks. [1756]
5 . . . of what advantages I deprived myself. [1757]
6 I agreed with the man.
7 At the Liberalia, among the Athenians on the festal day[1758]
of father Liber, wine used to be given to the singers instead
of a crown--
8 . . . whatever had happened while I and my brother were boys.
9 . . . wrinkled and full of famine.
FOOTNOTES:
[1755] Cf. vi. , 2.
[1756] _Petilis_ is derived by Dacier from πέταλον: i. e. , withered and
shriveled up like a dead leaf.
[1757] _Decollare_, in its primitive sense, is "to decapitate;" then
simply "to deprive. "
[1758] This Fragment is given just as it stands in Diomedes (see
Arg. ), without any attempt on the part of editors or commentators to
reduce it to the form of a verse. The whole passage stands thus in
the original: "Alii a vino tragœdiam dictam arbitrantur: proptereà
quod olim dictabatur τρύξ, à quo τρύγητος hodieque vindemia est, quia
'Liberalibus, apud Atticos, die festo Liberi patris vinum cantoribus
pro Corollario dabatur' cujus rei testis est Lucilius in duodecimo. "
"Others think that Tragedy is so called from wine, because the
ancient term was τρύξ; whence even at the present day the vintage is
called τρυγητός. " For the Attic Dionysia see the second vol. of the
Philological Museum. «Probably, like the Sigillaria in lib. vii. , Fr.
4, the festival was described by some circumlocution, the whole word
being inadmissible into a verse. »
BOOK XIII.
ARGUMENT.
The Fragments of this book, as well as of the twelfth, are too few
to admit of any opinion being satisfactorily arrived at with
respect to its subject. Schoenbeck supposes it was directed
against sumptuous extravagance and luxurious banquets. Petermann
adopts the same view. Gerlach, though he considers the Fragments
so vague that they might support any hypothesis, allows that this
conjecture is tenable, as the third, fifth, ninth, tenth, and
eleventh appear to "savor of the kitchen. "
1 Or to conquer in war altogether by chance and fortune; if it is
entirely by chance and at random, that any one arrives at the
highest distinction. [1759]
2 . . . to whom fortune has assigned an equal position, and chance
their destiny.
3 The same thing occurs at supper. You will give oysters bought
for a thousand sesterces.
4 . . . sets them to engage with one another in fierce
conflict. [1760]
5 In the first place, let all banquetings and company be done
away with. [1761]
6 Add shoes from Syracuse, a bag of leather. . . . [1762]
7 . . . one only, out of many, who has intellect. . . .
8 . . . as he is styled skilless in whom there is no skill. [1763]
9 and not so poor as . . . a chipped dish of Samian pottery. [1764]
10 . . . for as soon as we recline at a table munificently heaped up
at great expense. . . .
11 . . . the same food at the feast, as the banquet of almighty
Jove. . . . [1765]
FOOTNOTES:
[1759] Nonius draws this distinction between Fors and Fortuna: _fors_
simply expresses "the accidents of temporal affairs, as opposed to
providence or design. " _Fortuna_ is "the personification of these in
the form of the goddess. " In the text Gerlach's conjecture is followed
instead of the reading of the MSS. , which is quite unintelligible: "Si
forte ac temerè omnino quis summum ad honorem perveniat. " Cf. Pacuv. in
Hermiona, "Quo impulerit fors eò cadere Fortunam autumant. "
[1760] _Cernit_, i. e. , "disponit. " Nonius. Cf. v. , Fr. 29, "Postquam
præsidium castris educere crevit. "
[1761] _Dominia. _ As dominus is put for the "master of the feast,"
so dominium is used for the banquet itself (lib. vi. , Fr. 7; Sall. ,
Hist. , iii. , "In imo medius inter Tarquinium et _dominum_ Perpenna;"
Cic. , Vatin. , xiii. , "Epuli dominus Q. Arrius"), or for the office of
the giver of the banquet. Cicero uses Magisteria in the same sense.
Senect. , c. 14. It is also put for "the _place_ where a banquet is
held. " Cic. , Ver. , II. , iii. , 4. _Sodalitium_ is properly a banquet
celebrated by "Sodales," i. e. , persons associated in the same
religious cultus.
[1762] _Pasceolum_, "a leathern bag or purse," marsupium, from
φάσκωλον. Suid. Plaut, Rud. , V. , ii. , 27, "prætereà centum Denaria
Philippea in pasceolo seorsum. " _Aluta. _ Vid. ad Juv. , xiv. , 282.
[1763] _Iners. _ Cf. Cic. , de Fin. , "Lustremus animo has maximas
_artes_, quibus qui carebant _inertes_ à majoribus nominabantur. "
[1764] Cf. ad lib. vii. , Fr. 1.
[1765] _Epulum_ (i. e. , edipulum) and _epulæ_ seem to be interchanged;
but epulum is probably the older form of the word.
BOOK XIV.
ARGUMENT.
The fourteenth book contained, according to Schoenbeck's idea, the
praises of a placid and easy life. Duentzer, on the other hand,
says the subject was ambition. The two notions are not so much
opposed, says Gerlach, as at first sight they seem: the object
of the poet being to contrast the frugal simplicity and tranquil
leisure of a rustic life, with the empty vanities and arrogant
assumption of the ambitious man. Thus the Fragments 2, 4, 5, 12,
15, 16, and perhaps 1, contain the praises of frugal parsimony
and an honorable leisure: 3, 6, 7, 8, and perhaps others,
describe the heart-burnings and disappointments of a life devoted
to ambition.
1 Is that rather the sign of a sick man that I live on bread and
tripe? * * *[1766]
2 . . . but you rather lead in peace a tranquil life, which you
seem to hold more important than doing this.
3 Publius Pavus Tuditanus, my quæstor in the Iberian land, was a
skulker, a mean fellow, one of that class, clearly. [1767]
4 . . . these, I say, we may consider a sham sea-fight, and a game
of backgammon . . . but though you amuse yourself, you will not
live one whit the better. [1768]
5 . . .
