No More Learning

writer had found
any trace of more than one poet | to be a spurious interpolation. It is also confirmed
of the name of Oppian. But the weight of this by Eusebius (Chron. ap. S. Hieron. vol. viii.
antecedent difficulty is probably more than counter. p. 722, ed. Veron. 1736) and Syncellus (Chronogr.
balanced by the internal evidence in favour of pp. 352, 353, ed. Paris. 1652), who place Oppian
Schneider's Lypothesis ; and with respect to the in the year 171 (or 173), and by Suidas, who
ancient testimonies to be adduced on either side, says he lived in the reign of “Marcus Antoninus,"
it will be seen that he pays at least as much i. e. not Caracalla, as Kuster and others suppose,
deference to them as do those who embrace the but M. Aurelius Antoninus, A. D. 161-180. If
opposite opinion. The chief reason in favour of the date here assigned to Oppian be correct, the
his opinion is the fact that the author of the emperor to whom the “ Halieutica " are dedicated,
* Halieutica was not born at the same place as and who is called (i. 3) galns ÜHATOV Kpátus,
the author of the “Cynegetica," an argument 'Avrwvive, will be M. Aurelius; the allusions to
which some persons have vainly attempted to his son (i. 66, 78, ii. 683, iv. 5, v. 45) will refer
overthrow by altering the text of the latter poem. to Commodus ; and the poem may be supposed to
The other, which is scarcely less convincing, have been written after a. D. 177, which is the year
though not so evident to everybody's compre. when the latter was admitted to a participation of
hension, arises from the difference of style and the imperial dignity. If the writer of the “ Halieu-
language observable in the two poems, which is so tica” be supposed to have lived under Caracalla,
great as to render it morally impossible that they the name * Antoninus " will certainly suit that
could have been written by the same person : for, emperor perfectly well, as the appellation “ Au-
though it may be said that this difference only relius Antoninus" was conferred upon him when
shows that the author improved in writing by he was appointed Caesar by his father, A. D. 196.
practice, this answer will not bear examination, as (Clinton's Fasti Rom. ) But if we examine the
in the first place the inferior poem (viz. the other passages abore referred to, the difficulty of
" Cynegetica ") was written after, not before, the applying them to Caracalla will be at once ap-
other ; and secondly, the author is commonly said parent, as that emperor (as far as we learn from
to have died at the early age of thirty, which history) bad no son, - though some persons have
scarcely affords sufficient time for so great an even gone so far as to conjecture that he must
alteration and improvement to have taken place. I have had one, because Oppian alludes to him!
The points relating to each poem separately will | (Schneider's first ed. p. 346. )
therefore be first mentioned, and afterwards some The “ Halieutica " consist of about 3500 hex-
historical facts commonly related concerning one of ameter lines, divided into five books, of which the
the authors, though it is difficult to determine which. first two treat of the natural history of fishes, and
1. The writer of the “ Halieutica," 'AMEUTIKÁ, the other three of the art of fishing. The author
is said by (probably) all authorities to have been displays in parts considerable zoological know-
born in Cilicia, though they are not so well agreed ledge, but inserts also several fables and absur-
as to the name of his native city. The author of dities, — and that not merely as so much poetical
an anonymous Greek Life of Oppian says it was ornament, but as grave matter of fact. In this
either Corycus or Anazarba, Suidas says Corycus, respect, however, he was not more credulous than
and this is probably confirmed by Oppian himself, most of his contemporaries, and many of his
in the following passage :
stories are copied by Aelian and later writers.
The following zoological points in the poem are
'Ανθιέων δε πρώτα περίφρονα πεύθεο θήρων,
perhaps the most worthy of notice. He mentions
Οίην ημετέρης έρικυδέος εντύνονται
(i. 217, &c. ) the story of the remora, or sucker
Πάτρης ένναετήρες υπέρ Σαρπηδόνος άκρης,
(exeunts) being able to stop a ship when under
“Οσσοι 9' Ερμείαο πόλιν, ναυσίκλυτον άστυ
full sail by sticking to the keel, and reproves the
Κωρύκιον, ναίoυσι και αμφιρύτην Ελεούσαν.
incredulity of those who doubt its truth (cf. Plut.
(iii. 205, &c. )
Sympos. ii. 7); he was aware of the peculiarity of
This passage, however, can hardly be fairly said to the cancellus, or hermit crab (napkivás), which is
determine the point, for (as if to show the uncer- provided with no shell of its own, but seizes upon
tainty of almost everything relating to Oppian) the first empty one that it can find (i. 320, &c. );
while Schneider considers that it proves that the he gives a beautiful and correct description of the
poet was born at Corycus, Fabricius and others nautilus (i. 338, &c. ); he says that the murena,
have adduced it as evidence to show that he was or lamprey, copulates with land-serpents, which,
not. Respecting his date there has been equal for the time, lay aside their venom (i. 554, &c. );
difference of opinion. Athenaeus says (i. p. 13) | he notices (ii. 56, &c. and iii. 149, &c. ) the numb-
he lived shortly before his own time, and Athe- ness caused by the touch of the torpedo (vápkn);
naeus flourished, according to Mr. Clinton (Fasti and the black fluid emitted by the sepia, or cuttle-
Rom. A. D. 191), about the end of the second fish, by means of which it escapes its pursuers (iii.
century. This testimony may be considered as 156, &c. ); he says that a fish called " sargus
almost conclusive with respect to Oppian's date, copulates with goats, and that it is caught by the
though it has been attempted to evade it, either fisherman's dressing himself up in a goat's skin, and
by placing Athenaeus more than thirty years so enticing it on shore (iv. 308, &c. ); he several
later, or by considering the passage in question times mentions the dolphin, calls it, for its swift-
ness and beauty, the king among fishes, as the
Fabricius, Schweighaeuser, and others, have eagle among birds, the lion among beasts, and the
first confounded the author of the “ Halieutica" serpent among reptiles (ii. 533, &c. ), and relates
with the author of the Cynegetica," and (v. 448, &c. ) anº anecdote, somewhat similar to
have then made use of the date of the second those mentioned by Pliny (H. N. ix. 8), and
Oppian in order to determine the date of Athen which he says happened about his own time, of a
naeus. (ATHENAEUS).
dolphin that was so fond of a little boy that it
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36
OPPIANUS.
OPPIANUS.
used to come to him whenever he called it by its four. There is probably an allusion in this poem
name, and suffered him to ride upon its back, and to the “ Halieutica" (i: 77-80), which has been
at last was supposed to have pined away with thought to imply that both poems were written by
grief on account of his death. (Penny Cyclop. s. v. ) the same person ; but this is not the necessary ex-
In point of style and language, as well as poctical planation of the passage in question, which may
embellishment, the “ Halieutica" are so much su- merely mean (as Schneider suggests) that the
perior to the “ Cynegetica,” that Schneider (as we writer of the “ Cynegetica" was acquainted with
have seen) considers this fact to furnish one of the the other poem, and meant his own to be a sort of
strongest proofs in favour of his hypothesis ; and it continuation of it. It has also been supposed that
is probable that the greater part of the praise that in two other passages (i. 27,31) the author alludes
has been bestowed upon Oppian in a poetical point to some of his own earlier poems. There are cer
of view should be considered as referring to this tainly several points of similitude between this
poem only. A paraphrase of the “Halieutica” in poem and the “ Halieutica" ; for here, too, the
Greek probe, bearing the name of Eutecnius, is still author's knowledge of natural history appears to
in existence in several European libraries, but has have been quite equal to that of his contemporaries
never been published. (See Lambec. Bibl. Vindob. (though not without numerous fables), while the
vol. ii. p. 260, &c. vii. 488, &c. ed. Kollar. ) The accuracy of some of his descriptions has been often
two poems attributed to Oppian have generally been noticed. The following zoological points are
published together. The only separate edition of perhaps the most interesting. He says expressly
the Greek text of the “ Halieutica” is the “ editio that the tusks of the elephant are not teeth, but
princeps,” by Phil. Junta, Florent. 1515, 8vo. , a horns (ii. 491, &c. ), and mentions a report that
book that is valuable not only for its rarity, but these animals are able to speak (ii. 540); he states
also for the correctness of the text. A Latin trans- that there is no such thing as a female rhinoceros,
lation in hexameter verse by Laur. Lippius was but that all these animals are of the male sex (ii.
published in 1478, 4to. Florent. (of which not un- 560); that the lioness when pregnant for the first
common volume a particular account is given by time brings forth five whelps at a birth, the second
Dibdin in his Biblioth. Spencer, vol. ii. p. 183), and time four, the next three, then two, and lastly only
several times reprinted. It was translated into one (iii, 58); that the bear brings forth her cubs
English verse by Diaper and J. Jones, Oxford, half-formed and licks them into shape (iii. 159);
8vo. 1722 ; into French by J. M. Limes, Paris, that so great is the enmity between the wolf and
8vo. 1817, and into Italian by A. M. Salvini, the lamb, that even after death if iwo drums be
Firenze, 8vo. 1728.
made of their hides, the wolf's hide will put to
II. The author of the “ Cynegetica,” Kurnyetird, silence the lamb's (iii. 282); that the hyaenas an-
was a native of Apameia or Pella in Syria, as he nually change their sex (ii. 288); that the boar's
himself plainly tells us in the following passage, teeth contain fire inside them (iii. 379); that the
where, speaking of the river Orontes, he says: ichneumon leaps down the throat of the crocodile,
Αυτός δ' εν μεσάτοισιν έπαιγίζων πεδίοισιν,
while lying asleep with its mouth wide open, and
Αιέν αεξόμενος και τείχεος εγγύς οδεύων,
devours its viscera (iii. 407). He thinks it neces-
Χέρσον όμου και νήσον, έμήν πόλιν, ύδατι χεύων. | sary to state expressly that it is not true that there
(ii. 125, &c. )
are no male tigers (m. 357). He gives a very
spirited description of the giraffe (iii. 461), " the
And again, after speaking of the temple of Mem- exactness of which," says Mr. Holme (Trans. of
non in the neighbourhood of A pameia, he pro- the Ashmolean Society, vol. ii. ), “is in some points
ceeds:-
remarkable ; particularly in the observation that
'Αλλά τα μεν κατά κόσμον αείσομεν ευρέα | the so-called horns do not consist of horny sub-
κάλλη,
stance (ούτι κέρας κερόεν), and in the allusion to the
Πάτρης ημετέρης έρατή Πιμπληΐδι μολπη. pencils of hair (dban xpai kepalai) with which they
(ii. 156. ) are tipped. ” He adds, “ That the animal must hare
In order to avoid the conclusion to which these mark on the brilliancy of the eyes and the halting
been seen alive by Oppian is evident from his re-
passages lead respecting the birth-place of their motion of the hinder limbs” (Penny Cyclop. ). In
author, it has been proposed to alter in the former,
durv into čen, and, in the latter, riuetépns into style, language, and poetical merit, the "Cynege-
juetépns ; but these emendations, which are purely indeed, calls the poem “ durum, inconcinnum, forma
tica" are far inferior to the “ Halieutica. ” Schneider,
conjectural, have not been received into the text
tota incompositum, et saepissime ab ingenio, usu,
by any one but the proposer. The anthor ad-
et analogia Graeci sermonis abhorrens" (Pref. to
dresses his poem to the emperor Caracalla, whom second ed. p. xiv. ), and thinks that when Dan.
he calls (i. 3)
'Artwvive,
Heinsins spoke of the Latinisms that deformed
Τον μεγάλη μεγάλη φιτύσατο Δόμνα Σεβήρω:
Oppian's style (Dissert. de Nonni " Dionys. " ap.
P. Cunaei Animadvers. p. 196), he was alluding
and the tenth and eleventh lines have been brought especially to the “ Cynegetica. " The earliest edition
forward as a presumptive evidence that he wrote of the Greek text of this poem, apart from the
it after Caracalla had been associated with his “ Halieutica," appeared in 1549, 4to. Paris, ap.
father in the empire, A. D. 198, and before the Vascosanum. Ii was also published by Belin de
death of the latter, A. D. 211.
Ballu, Argentor. 1786, large 8vo, Gr. et Lat. , with
The “ Cynegetica” consist of about 2100 hexa- learned notes, too often deformed by personal con-
meter lines, divided into four books. The last of troversy with Schneider. The editor intended to
these is imperfect, and perhaps a fifth book may publish the ** Halieutica" in a second volume, but
also have been lost, as the anonymous author of of this only forty pages were printed, which are
the Life of Oppian says the poem consisted of that rarely to be met with. It was translated into
number of books, though Suidas mentions only | Latin verse by Joannes Bodinus, Paris, 1555, 4ta


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OPPIANUS.
37
OPPIUS.
and also by David Peifer, whose translation was was then about thirty years of age.
llere Oppian
made in 1555, but first published in Schneider's wrote (or perhaps rather finished) his poems, whicb
second edition, Lips. 1813. There is a French he took to Rome after the death of Severus, A. D.
translation by Florent Chrestien, Paris, 1575, 4to. , 211, and presented to his son “ Antoninus” (i. e.
and by Belin de Ballı, Strasb. 1787, 8vo. ; an Caracalla), or, according to Sozomen (Hist. Eccles.
English version of the first book by J. Mawer, Lond. praef. ), to Severus himself. The emperor is said
1736, 8vo. ; and a German one by S. H. Lieber- to have been so much pleased with the poems, that
kühn, Leipz. 1755, 8vo. An anonymous Greek he not only repealed, at his request, the sentence of
prose paraphrase of part of the poem was published his father's banishment, but also presented him with
by Andr. Mustoxydes and Dem. Schinas, in their a piece of gold (otaTdp Xpvooûs, or vúuloua xpu
Συλλογή Αποσπασμάτων Ανεκδοτών Ελληνικών, σουν, probably about fifteen Shillings and sixpence)
Venet. 1817, 8vo. , which is probably the same for each verse they contained. Shortly after his
as that which is commonly attributed to Eutecnius return to his native country he died of some pes-
(see Lambec. Biblioth. Vindob. l. c. ). The earliest tilential discase, at the early age of thirty. His
edition of both poems is the Aldine, Venet. 1517, countrymen raised a monument in his honour, and
8vo. , containing the Greek text, with the Latin inscribed on it five verses (which are preserved),
translation of the “ Halieutica," by Laur. Lippius. which lament his early death, and allude to his
The most complete edition that has hitherto been poems, but not in such definite terms as to enable
published is that by J. G. Schneider, Argent. 1776, us to decide which are the poems intended. The
8vo. Gr. et Lat. , with copious and learned notes, anonymous biographer does not mention the
containing also a Greek paraphrase of the “ Ix- “ Halieutica," but only the *Cynegetica" and
eutica” that will be mentioned below. The editor “ Ixeutica. "
published some additional notes and observations It is quite clear (if the hypothesis adopted in
in his “ Analecta Critica,” Francof. 1777, 8vo. this article be correct) that the whole of these par-
fasc. i. p. 31, &c. This edition was executed when ticulars cannot apply to either of the poets of the
Schneider was a young man, in conjunction with name of Oppian, nor, perhaps, is it possible to
Brunck, who assisted him in the “Cynegetica;" decide for certain how they are to be apportioned
and accordingly it exhibits many bold corrections to each. Probably the epitaph and the early death
of the text, which he withdrew in his second belong to the Cilician, that is, to the author of
edition, published in 1813, Lips. 8vo. This edition the “ Halieutica”; and the anecdote respecting the
is unfinished, and contains only the Greek text of "golden verses” may relate to the other poet.
the two poems, Peifer's Latin translation of the 2. With respect to the poem on hawking, 'lfen.
“ Cynegetica," mentioned above, some short notes Tike, if it is to be attributed to either of the Oppians,
relating to the text, and a preface, in which it probably belongs to the younger ; but Schneider
Schneider repeats his conviction that the “ Halieu- considers that it is more probably the work of
tica" and "Cynegetica” were written by two dif- Dionysius. The poem itself
, which is said to have
ferent persons, and replies to the objections of consisted of five books, is no longer extant, but
Belin de Ballu. The last edition of the two poems there is a Greek prose paraphrase of three books
is that published by F. Didot, together with Ni- by Eutecnius. This was first published with a
cander and Marcellus Sidetes, in his collection of Latin translation by Eras. Windingius, Hafniae,
Greek classical authors, Paris, large 8vo. 1846, 1702, 8vo. , and is inserted in Schneider's former
edited by F. S. Lehrs. It contains a Latin prose edition, and in Didot's. The first book treats of
translation and the Greek paraphrase of the “ Ir tame birds and birds of prey ; the second of water-
eutica," but (it is believed) is at present unfinished. fowls ; and the third of the various modes of
A Latin translation of both poems was published in catching birds. Of the poetical merits of the work,
1555, Paris, 4to. , that of the “ Halieutica" in verse as it no longer exists in the form of a poem, it is
by Laur. Lippius, and that of the “ Cynegetica" in scarcely possible to judge. (See Fabric. Bibl. Gr.
prose, by Adr. Turnebus ; and an Italian trang vol. v. p. 590, &c. ed. Harles ; J. G. Schneider's
lation of both poems by A. M. Salvini was published preface and notes to his first edition, and the pre-
in 1728, Firenze, 8vo.
face to the second ; Hoffmann's Lex. Bibliograph.
III. If we assume that there were two poets art. “ Oppianus,” by F. Ritter, in Ersch and
of the name of Oppian, there are two other ques- Gruber's Encyclopädie. )
(W. A. G. )
tions relating to them that require to be examined OPPI'DIUS, SERVIUS, a wealthy Roman
into: 1. To which are we to refer the biographical of Canusium, whose dying advice to his two sons,
particulars contained in the anonymous Greek Life Aulus and Tiberius, is related by Horace. (Sat. ii.
of Oppian ? and 2. Which, if either, was the 1. 168, &c. )
author of the poem on hawking, 'l{eutiká.
O'PPIUS. 1. M. Oppius, was elected, with
1. The Greek Life states that Oppian was a Sext. Manilius, as the commander of the soldiers,
native of Cilicia, and that his father's name was in their secession to the Arentine during the second
Agesilaus, and his mother's Zenodota. He received decem virate, B. C. 449 (Liv. iii. 51 ; Dionys. xi.
an excellent education in all the liberal sciences, 43, 44).
especially music, geometry, and grammar, under 2. C. Oppius, was elected one of the tribunes
the personal superintendence of his father, who was of the plebs on the overthrow of the second decem-
one of the principal persons in his native city, and virate, B. C. 449 (Liv. iii. 54).
who suffered bimself to be so engrossed by his 3. C. OPPIUS, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 213, in
philosophical studies, that, when on one occasion the middle of the second Punic war, carried a law
ihe emperor Severus visited his city, he neglected to curtail the expenses and luxuries of Roman
to pay his respects to him along with the other women. It enacted that no woman should bave
chief magistrates of the place. For this offence more than half an ounce of gold, nor wear a dress
Agesilaus was banished to the island of Melita, of different colours, nor ride in a carriage in the
and was accompanied in his exile by his son, who city, or in any town, or within a nile of it, unless ou
3
!
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38
OPPIUS.
OPPIUS.
nonen,
nccount of public sacrifices. This law was repealed with his retinue was on one occasion overtaken by
in B. c. 195, notwithstanding the vehement opposi- a storm and compelled to take refuge in a poor
tion of the elder Cato (Liv. xxxiv. 1-8 ; Val. man's hut, which contained only a single chamber,
Max. ix. 1. $ 3; Tac. Ann. iii. 33, 34).
and that hardly large enough for one person, he
4. C. Oppius, a praefect of the allies, was sent made Oppius, who was in delicate health, sleep in
by the consul P. Aelius Paetus, in B. 6. 201, with the hut, while he and the rest of his friends slept
some raw levies to attack the territories of the Boii, in the porch. On the breaking out of the civil
but was cut off by the enemy with a large number war in B. C. 49, the name of Oppius often occurs
of his men (Liv. xxxi. 2).
in Cicero's letters. Oppius and Balbus had
5. L. Oprius, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 197 frequent correspondence with Cicero, in which
(Liv. xxxii. 28), is probably the same as L. Oppius they endeavoured to quiet his apprehensions as to
Salinator [No. 6], though Livy omits his prae- ( Caesar's designs, and used all their efforts to per-
suade him to espouse the cause of the latter. There
6. L. Oppius SALINATOR, plebeian aedile, is in the collection of Cicero's letters a letter written
B. c. 193, was sent in the following year to convey to him in the joint names of Oppius and Balbus,
a fleet of twenty ships to Sicily. He was praetor accompanied by a letter of Caesar's to them, in
in B. c. 191, and obtained Sardinia as his province. which the great Roman at the very commencement
(Liv. xxxv, 23, 24, xxxvi. 2).
of the civil war promises to use his victory with
7. Q. Oprius, one of the Roman generals in the moderation, and says that he will try to overcome
Mithridatic war, B. C. 88. He is called proconsul his enemies by mercy and kindness, a promise
in the Epitome of Livy, from which we may infer which he faithfully kept to the end of his life.
that he had been praetor, and was afterwards sent, (Cic. ad Att. ix. 7; comp. ad Att. ix. 13, ad Fam.
as was frequently the case, with the title of pro- ii. 16, ad Att. xi. 17, 18, xii. 19. ) To the death of
consul to take the command of an army. He had Caesar, Oppius continued to hold the same place
possession of the city of Laodiceia in Phrygia, near in his favour and esteem, and in the year before his
the river Lycus ; but when Mithridates had con- death we read that Oppius and Balbus had the man-
quered the whole of the surrounding country, the agement and control of all affairs at Rome during
inhabitants of Laodiceia gave up Oppius to the the absence of the dictator in Spain, though the
king on the promise of their receiving pardon by government of the city was nominally in the hands
80 doing. Mithridates did no injury to Oppius, of M.