15. A passage from the book of the augur Messala, in which he shows who the minor magistrates are and that the consul and the praetor are colleagues; and certain observations besides on the auspices. IN the edict of the consuls by which they appoint the day for the centuriate assembly it is written in accordance with an old established form: “Let no minor magistrate presume to watch the skies.” Accordingly, the question is often asked who the minor magistrates are. On this subject there is no need for words of mine, since by good fortune the first book of the augur Messala On Auspices is at hand, when I am writing this. Therefore I quote from that book Messala's own words: “The auspices of the patricians are divided into two classes. The greatest are those of the consuls, praetors and censors. Yet the auspices of all these are not the same or of equal rank, for the reason that the censors are not colleagues of the consuls or praetors, while the praetors are colleagues of the consuls. Therefore neither do the consuls or the praetors interrupt or hinder the auspices of the censors, nor the censors those of the praetors and consuls; but the censors may vitiate and hinder each other's auspices and again the praetors and consuls those of one another. The praetor, although he is a colleague of the consul, cannot lawfully elect either a praetor or a consul, as indeed we have learned from our forefathers, or from what has been observed in the past, and as is shown in the thirteenth book of the Commentaries of Gaius Tuditanus; for the praetor has inferior authority and the consul superior, and a higher authority cannot be elected by a lower, or a superior colleague by an inferior. At the present time, when a praetor elects the praetors, I have followed the authority of the men of old and have not taken part in the auspices at such elections. Also the censors are not chosen under the same auspices as the consuls and praetors. The lesser auspices belong to the other magistrates. Therefore these are called 'lesser' and the others 'greater' magistrates. When the lesser magistrates are elected, their office is conferred upon them by the assembly of the tribes, but full powers by a law of the assembly of the curiae; the higher magistrates are chosen by the assembly of the centuries.” From this whole passage of Messala it becomes clear both who the lesser magistrates are and why they are so called. But he also shows that the praetor is a colleague of the consul, because they are chosen under the same auspices. Moreover, they are said to possess the greater auspices, because their auspices are esteemed more highly than those of the others.
15. Verba ex libro Messalae auguris, quibus docet qui sint minores magistratus, et consulem praetoremque conlegas esse; et quaedam alia de auspiciis. IN edicto consulum, quo edicunt quis dies comitiis centuriatis futurus sit, scribitur ex vetere forma perpetua: “Ne quis magistratus minor de caelo servasse velit.” Quaeri igitur solet qui sint magistratus minores. Super hac re meis verbis nil opus fuit, quoniam liber M. Messalae auguris De Auspiciis primus, cum hoc scriberemus, forte adfuit. Propterea ex eo libro verba ipsius Messalae subscripsimus: “Patriciorum auspicia in duas sunt divisa potestates. Maxima sunt consulum, praetorum, censorum. Neque tamen eorum omnium inter se eadem aut eiusdem potestatis, ideo quod conlegae non sunt censores consulum aut praetorum, praetores consulum sunt. Ideo neque consules aut praetores censorious neque censores consulibus aut praetoribus turbant aut retinent auspicia; at censores inter se, rursus praetores consulesque inter se, et vitiant et obtinent. Praetor, etsi conlega consulis est, neque praetorem neque consulem iure rogare potest, ut quidem nos a superioribus accepimus aut ante haec tempora servatum est et ut in Commentario tertio decimo C. Tuditani patet, quia imperium minus praetor, maius habet consul, et a minore imperio maius aut maior a minore conlega rogari iure non potest. Nos his temporibus, praetore praetores creante, veterum auctoritatem sumus secuti neque his comitiis in auspicio fuimus. Censores aeque non eodem rogantur auspicio atque consules et praetores. Reliquorum magistratuum minora sunt auspicia. Ideo illi ‘minores,’ hi ‘maiores’ magistratus appellantur. Minoribus creatis magistratibus, tributis comitiis magistratus, sed iustus curiata datur lege; maiores centuriatis comitiis fiunt.” Ex his omnibus verbis Messalae manifestum fit, et qui sint magistratus minores et quamobrem “minores” appellentur. Sed et conlegam esse praetorem consuli docet, quod eodem auspicio creantur. Maiora autem dicuntur auspicia habere, quia eorum auspicia magis rata sunt quam aliorum.
16. Another passage from the same Messala, in which he argues that to address the people and to treat with the people are two different things; and what magistrates may call away the people when in assembly, and from whom. THE same Messala in the same book has written as follows about the lesser magistrates “A consul may call away the people from all magistrates, when they are assembled for the elections or for another purpose. A praetor may at any time call away the people when assembled for the elections or for another purpose, except from a consul. Lesser magistrates may never call away the people when assembled for the elections or another purpose. Hence, whoever of them first summons the people to an election has the law on his side, because it is unlawful to take the same action twice with the people (bifariam cum populo agi), nor can one minor magistrate call away an assembly from another. But if they wish to address the people (contionem habere) without laying any measure before them, it is lawful for any number of magistrates to hold a meeting (contionem habere) at the same time.” From these words of Messala it is clear that cum populo agere, “to treat with the people,” differs from contionem habere, “to address the people.” For the former means to ask something of the people which they by their votes are to order or forbid; the latter, to speak to the people without laying any measure before them.
16. Item verba eiusdem Messalae, disserentis aliud esse ad populum loqui, aliud cum populo agere; et qui magistratus a quibus avocent comitiatum. IDEM Messala in eodem libro de minoribus magistratibus ita scripsit: “Consul ab omnibus magistratibus et comitiatum et contionem avocare potest. Praetor et comitiatum et contionem usquequaque avocare potest, nisi a consule. Minores magistratus nusquam nec comitiatum nec contionem avocare possunt. Ea re, qui eorum primus vocat ad comitiatum, is recte agit, quia bifariam cum populo agi non potest nec avocare alius alii potest. Set, si contionem habere volunt uti ne cum populo agant, quamvis multi magistratus simul contionem habere possunt.” Ex his verbis Messalae manifestum est, aliud esse “cum populo agere,” aliud “contionem habere.” Nam “cum populo agere” est rogare quid populum, quod suffragiis suis aut iubeat aut vetet; “contionem” autem “habere” est verba facere ad populum sine ulla rogatione.
17. That humanitas does not mean what the common people think, but those who have spoken pure Latin have given the word a more restricted meaning. THOSE who have spoken Latin and have used the language correctly do not give to the word humanitas the meaning which it is commonly thought to have, namely, what the Greeks call filanqrwpi/a, signifying a kind of friendly spirit and good-feeling towards all men without distinction; but they gave to humanitas about the force of the Greek paidei/a; that is, what we call eruditionem institutionemque in bonas artes, or “education and training in the liberal arts.” Those who earnestly desire and seek after these are most highly humanized. For the pursuit of that kind of knowledge, and the training given by it, have been granted to man alone of all the animals, and for that reason it is termed humanitas, or “humanity.” That it is in this sense that our earlier writers have used the word, and in particular Marcus Varro and Marcus Tullius, almost all the literature shows. Therefore I have thought it sufficient for the present to give one single example. I have accordingly quoted the words of Varro from the first book of his Human Antiquities, beginning as follows: “Praxiteles, who, because of his surpassing art, is unknown to no one of any liberal culture (humaniori).” He does not use humanior in its usual sense of “good-natured, amiable, and kindly,” although without knowledge of letters, for this meaning does not at all suit his thought; but in that of a man of “some cultivation and education,” who knew about Praxiteles both from books and from story.
17. “Humanitatem” non significare id quod vulgus putat, sed eo vocabulo qui sinceriter locuti sunt magis proprie esse usos. Qui verba Latina fecerunt quique his probe usi sunt “humanitatem” non id esse voluerunt quod vulgus existimat quodque a Graecis φιλανθρωπία dicitur et significat dexteritatem quandam benivolentiamque erga omnis homines promiscam; sed “humanitatem” appellaverunt id propemodum quod Graeci παιδείαν vocant, nos “eruditionem institutionemque in bonas artes” dicimus. Quas qui sinceriter percupiunt adpetuntque, hi sunt vel maxime humanissimi. Huius enim scientiae cura et disciplina ex universis animantibus uni homini data est idcircoque “humanitas” appellata est. Sic igitur eo verbo veteres esse usos, et cumprimis M. Varronem Marcumque Tullium, omnes ferme libri declarant. Quamobrem satis habui unum interim exemplum promere. Itaque verba posui Varronis e libro Rerum Humanarum primo, cuius principium hoc est: “Praxiteles, qui propter artificium egregium nemini est paulum modo humaniori ignotus.” “Humaniori” inquit non ita ut vulgo dicitur, “facili et tractabili et benivolo,” tametsi rudis litterarum sit, hoc enim cum sententia nequaquam convenit, sed “eruditiori doctiorique,” qui Praxitelem, quid fuerit, et ex libris et ex historia cognoverit.
18. The meaning of Marcus Cato's phrase “betwixt mouth and morsel.” THERE is a speech by Marcus Cato Censorius On the Improper Election of Aediles. In that oration is this passage: “Nowadays they say that the standing-grain, still in the blade, is a good harvest. Do not count too much upon it. I have often heard that many things may come inter os atque offam, or 'between the mouth and the morsel'; but there certainly is a long distance between a morsel and the blade.” Erucius Clarus, who was prefect of the city and twice consul, a man deeply interested in the customs and literature of early days, wrote to Sulpicius Apollinaris, the most learned man within my memory, begging and entreating that he would write him the meaning of those words. Then, in my presence, for at that time I was a young man in Rome and was in attendance upon him for purposes of instruction, Apollinaris replied to Clarus very briefly, as was natural when writing to a man of learning, that “between mouth and morsel” was an old proverb, meaning the same as the poetic Greek adage:'Twixt cup and lip there's many a slip.
18. Quid aput M. Catonem significent verba haec “inter os atque offam.” ORATIO est M. Catonis Censorii De Aedilibus Vitio Creatis. Ex ea oratione verba haec sunt: “Nunc ita aiunt, in segetibus, in herbis bona frumenta esse. Nolite ibi nimiam spem habere. Saepe audivi inter os atque offam multa intervenire posse; verumvero inter offam atque herbam, ibi vero longum intervallum est.” Erucius Clarus, qui praefectus urbi et bis consul fuit, vir morum et litterarum veterum studiosissimus, ad Sulpicium Apollinarem scripsit, hominem memoriae nostrae doctissimum, quaerere sese et petere, uti sibi rescriberet quaenam esset eorum verborum sententia. Tum Apollinaris, nobis praesentibus, nam id temporis ego adulescens Romae sectabar eum discendi gratia, rescripsit Claro ut viro erudito brevissime, vetus esse proverbium “inter os et offam,” idem significans quod Graecus ille παροιμιώδης versus:Πολλὰ μεταξὺ πέλει κύλικος καὶ χείλεος ἄκρου.
19. That Plato attributes a line of Sophocles to Euripides; and some other matters of the same kind. THERE is an iambic trimeter verse of notorious antiquity:By converse with the wise wax tyrants wise.This verse Plato in his Theaetetus attributes to Euripides. I am very much surprised at this; for I have met it in the tragedy of Sophocles entitled Ajax the Locrian and Sophocles was born before Euripides. But the following line is equally well known:I who am old shall lead you, also old.And this is found both in a tragedy of Sophocles, of which the title is Phthiotides, and in the Bacchae of Euripides. I have further observed that in the Fire-bringing Prometheus of Aeschylus and in the tragedy of Euripides entitled Ino an identical verse occurs, except for a few syllables. In Aeschylus it runs thus:When proper, keeping silent, and saying what is fit.In Euripides thus:When proper, keeping silent, speaking when 'tis safe.But Aeschylus was considerably the earlier writer.
19. Platonem tribuere Euripidi Sophocli versum; et similia quaedam alia. VERSUS est notae vetustatis senarius:Σοφοὶ τύραννοι τῶν σοφῶν ξυνουσίᾳ. Eum versum Plato in Theaeteto Euripidi esse dicit. Quod quidem nos admodum miramur; nam scriptum eum legimus in tragoedia Sophocli quae inscripta est Αἴας Λοκρός, prior autem natus fuit Sophocles quam Euripides. Sed etiam ille versus non minus notus:Γέρων γέροντα παιδαγωγήσω σʼ ἐγώ,et in tragoedia Sophocli scriptus est, cui titulus est Φθιώτιδες, et in Bacchis Euripidi. Id quoque animadvertimus, aput Aeschylum ἐν τῷ Πυρφόρῳ Προμηθεῖ et aput Euripidem in tragoedia quae inscripta est Ἰνώ, eundem esse versum absque paucis syllabis. Aeschylus sic:Σιγῶν θʼ ὅπου δεῖ καὶ λέγων τὰ καίρια,Euripides ita:Σιγᾶν θʼ ὅπου δεῖ καὶ λέγειν ἵνʼ ἀσφαλές.Fuit autem Aeschylus non brevi antiquior.
20. Of the lineage and names of the Porcian family. WHEN Sulpicius Apollinaris and I, with some others who were friends of his or mine, were sitting in the library of the Palace of Tiberius, it chanced that a book was brought to us bearing the name of Marcus Cato Nepos. We at once began to inquire who this Marcus Cato Nepos was. And thereupon a young man, not unacquainted with letters, so far as I could judge from his language, said: “This Marcus Cato is called Nepos, not as a surname, but because he was the grandson of Marcus Cato Censorius through his son, and father of Marcus Cato the ex-praetor, who slew himself with his own sword at Utica during the civil war. There is a book of Marcus Cicero's about the life of the last-named, entitled Laus Catonis, or A Eulogy of Cato, in which Cicero says that he was the great-grandson of Marcus Cato Censorius. Therefore the father of the man whom Cicero eulogized was this Marcus Cato, whose orations are circulated under the name of Marcus Cato Nepos.” Then Apollinaris. very quietly and mildly, as was his custom when passing criticism, said: “I congratulate you, my son, that at your age you have been able to favour us with a little lecture on the family of Cato, even though you do not know who this Marcus Cato was, about whom we are now inquiring. For the famous Marcus Cato Censorius had not one, but several grandsons, although not all were sprung from the same father. For the famous Marcus Cato, who was both an orator and a censor, had two sons, born of different mothers and of very different ages; since, when one of them was a young man, his mother died and his father, who was already well on in years, married the maiden daughter of his client Salonius, from whom was born to him Marcus Cato Salonianus, a surname which he derived from Salonius, his mother's father. But from Cato's elder son, who died when praetorelect, while his father was still living, and left some admirable works on The Science of Law, there was born the man about whom we are inquiring, Marcus Cato, son of Marcus, and grandson of Marcus. He was an orator of some power and left many speeches written in the manner of his grandfather; he was consul with Quintus Marcius Rex, and during his consulship went to Africa and died in that province. But he was not, as you said he was, the father of Marcus Cato the ex-praetor, who killed himself at Utica and whom Cicero eulogized; nor because he was the grandson of Cato the censor and Cato of Utica was the censor's great-grandson does it necessarily follow that the former was the father of the latter. For this grandson whose speech was just brought to us did, it is true, have a son called Marcus Cato, but he was not the Cato who died at Utica, but the one who, after being curule aedile and praetor, went to Gallia Narbonensis and there ended his life. But by that other son of Censorius, a far younger man, who, as I said, was surnamed Salonianus, two sons were begotten: Lucius and Marcus Cato. That Marcus Cato was tribune of the commons and died when a candidate for the praetorship; he begot Marcus Cato the ex-praetor, who committed suicide at Utica during the civil war, and when Marcus Tullius wrote the latter's life and panegyric he said that he was the great-grandson of Cato the censor. You see therefore that the branch of the family which is descended from Cato's younger son differs not only in its pedigree, but in its dates as well; for because that Salonianus was born near the end of his father's life, as I said, his descendants also were considerably later than those of his elder brother. This difference in dates you will readily perceive from that speech itself, when you read it.” Thus spoke Sulpicius Apollinaris in my hearing. Later we found that what he had said was so, when we read the Funeral Eulogies and the Genealogy of the Porcian Family.
20. De genere atque nominibus familiae Porciae. CUM in domus Tiberianae bibliotheca sederemus ego et Apollinaris Sulpicius et quidam alii mihi aut illi familiares, prolatus forte liber est ita inscriptus: M. Catonis Nepotis. Tum quaeri coeptum est quisnam is fuisset M. Cato Nepos. Atque ibi adulescens quispiam, quod ex eius sermonibus coniectare potui, non abhorrens a litteris, “Hic,” inquit, “est M. Cato, non cognomento Nepos, sed M. Catonis Censorii ex filio nepos, qui pater fuit M. Catonis, praetorii viri, qui bello civili Uticae necem sibi gladio manu sua conscivit, de cuius vita liber est M. Ciceronis, qui inscribitur Laus Catonis, quem in eodem libro idem Cicero pronepotem fuisse dicit M. Catonis Censorii.” “Eius igitur quem Cicero laudavit pater hic fuit M. Cato, cuius orationes feruntur inscriptae M. Catonis Nepotis.” Tum Apollinaris, ut mos eius in reprehendendo fuit, placide admodum leniterque: “Laudo,” inquit, “te, mi fili, quod in tantula aetate, etiamsi hunc M. Catonem, de quo nunc quaeritur, quis fuerit ignoras, auditiuncula tamen quadam de Catonis familia aspersus es.” “Non unus autem, sed conplures M. illius Catonis Censorii nepotes fuerunt, geniti non eodem patre;” “duos enim M. ille Cato, qui et orator et censor fuit, filios habuit, et matribus diversos et aetatibus longe dispares.” “Nam iam adulescente altero, matre eius amissa, ipse quoque iam multum senex, Saloni clientis sui filiam virginem duxit in matrimonium, ex qua natus est ei M. Cato Salonianus; hoc enim illi cognomentum fuit a Salonio, patre matris, datum.” “Ex maiore autem Catonis filio, qui praetor designatus patre vivo mortuus est, et egregios De luris Disciplina libros reliquit, nascitur hie de quo quaeritur, M. Cato, M. filius, M. nepos.” “Is satis vehemens orator fuit multasque orationes ad exemplum avi scriptas reliquit et consul cum Q. Marcio Rege fuit, inque eo consulatu in Africam profectus, in ea provincia mortem obiit.” “Sed is non, ita ut dixisti, M. Catonis, praetorii viri, qui se Uticae occidit it quem Cicero laudavit, pater fuit; nec, quia hic nepos Catonis Censorii, ille autem pronepos fuit, propterea necessum est patrem hunc ei fuisse.” “Hic enim nepos, cuius haec modo prolata oratio est, filium quidem M. Catonem habuit; sed non eum qui Uticae periit, sed qui, cum aedilis curulis et praetor fuisset, in Galliam Narbonensem profectus, ibi vita functus est.” “Ex altero autem illo Censorii filio, longe natu minore, quem Salonianum esse appellatum dixi, duo nati sunt L. Cato et M. Cato.” “Is M. Cato tribunus plebis fuit et praeturam petens mortem obiit ex eoque natus est M. Cato praetorius, qui se bello civili Uticae interemit, de cuius vita laudibusque cum M. Tullius scriberet, pronepotem eum Catonis Censorii dixit fuisse.” “Videtis igitur banc partem familiae, quae ex minore Catonis filio progenita est, non solum generis ipsius tramitibus, sed temporum quoque spatio differre; nam quia ille Salonianus in extrema patris aetate, sicuti dixi, natus fuit, prognati quoque ab eo aliquanto posteriores fuerunt quam qui a maiore fratre eius geniti erant.” “Hanc temporum differentiam facile animadvertetis ex hac ipsa oratione, cum eam legetis.” Haec Sulpicius Apollinaris audientibus nobis dixit. Quae postea ita esse, uti dixerat, cognovimus, cum et Laudationes Funebres et Librum Commentariun De Familia Porcia legeremus.
21. That the most elegant writers pay more attention to the pleasing sound of words and phrases (what the Greeks call eu)fwni/a, or “euphony”) than to the rules and precepts devised by the grammarians. VALERIUS PROBUS was once asked, as I learned from one of his friends, whether one ought to say has urbis or has urbes and hanc turrem. or hanc turrim. “If,” he replied, “you are either composing verse or writing prose and have to use those words, pay no attention to the musty, fusty rules of the grammarians, but consult your own ear as to what is to be said in any given place. What it favours will surely be the best.” Then the one who had asked the question said: “What do you mean by 'consult my ear'?” and he told me that Probus answered: “Just as Vergil did his, when in different passages he has used urbis and urbes, following the taste and judgment of his ear. For in the first Georgic, which,” said he,I have read in a copy corrected by the poet's own hand, he wrote urbis with an i. These are the words of the verses:O'er cities (urbis) if you choose to watch, and ruleOur lands, O Caesar great.But turn and change it so as to read urbes, and somehow you will make it duller and heavier. On the other hand, in the third Aeneid he wrote urbes with an e:An hundred mighty cities (urbes) they inhabit.Change this too so as to read urbis and the word will be too slender and colourless, so great indeed is the different effect of combination in the harmony of neighbouring sounds. Moreover, Vergil also said turrim, not turrem, and securim, not securem:A turret (turrim) on sheer edge standing,andHas shaken from his neck the ill-aimed axe (securim).These words have, I think, a more agreeable lightness than if you should use the form in e in both places.But the one who had asked the question, a boorish fellow surely and with untrained ear, said: “I don't just understand why you say that one form is better and more correct in one place and the other in the other.” Then Probus, now somewhat impatient, retorted: “Don't trouble then to inquire whether you ought to say urbis or urbes. For since you are the kind of man that I see you are and err without detriment to yourself, you will lose nothing whichever you say.” With these words then and this conclusion Probus dismissed the man, somewhat rudely, as was his way with stupid folk. But I afterwards found another similar instance of double spelling by Vergil. For he has used tres and tris in the same passage with such fineness of taste, that if you should read differently and change one for the other, and have any ear at all, you would perceive that the sweetness of the sound is spoiled. These are the lines, from the tenth book of the Aeneid:Three (tres) Thracians too from Boreas' distant race,And three (iris) whom Idas sent from Ismarus' land.In one place he has tres, in the other tris; weigh and ponder both, and you will find that each sounds most suitable in its own place. But also in this line of Vergil,This end (haec finis) to Priam's fortunes then,if you change haec and say hic finis, it will be hard and unrhythmical and your ears will shrink from the change. Just as, on the contrary, you would make the following verse of Vergil less sweet, if you were to change it:What end (quem finem) of labours, great king, dost thou grant?For if you should say quam das finem, you would somehow make the sound of the words harsh and somewhat weak. Ennius too spoke of rectos cupressos, or “straight cypresses,” contrary to the accepted gender of that word, in the following verse:On cliffs the nodding pine and cypress straight.The sound of the word, I think, seemed to him stronger and more vigorous, if he said rectos cupressos rather than rectas. But, on the other hand, this same Ennius in the eighteenth book of his Annals said aere fulva instead of fulvo, not merely because Homer said h)e/ra baqei=a, but because this sound, I think, seemed more sonorous and agreeable. In the same way Marcus Cicero also thought it smoother and more polished to write, in his fifth Oration against Verres, fretiu rather than freto. He says “divided by a narrow strait (fretu)”; for it would have been heavier and more archaic to say perangusto freto. Also in his second Oration against Verres, making use of a like rhythm, he said “by an evident sin,” using peccatu instead of peccato; for I find this written in one or two of Tiro's copies, of very trustworthy antiquity. These are Cicero's words: “No one lived in such a way that no part of his life was free from extreme disgrace, no one was detected in such manifest sin (peccatu) that while he had been shameless in committing it, he would seem even more shameless if he denied it.” Not only is the sound of this word more elegant in this passage, but the reason for using the word is definite and sound. For hic peccatus, equivalent to peccatio, is correct and good Latin, just as many of the early writers used incestus (criminal), not of the one who committed the crime, but of the crime itself, and tributus, where we say tributum (tribute). Adlegatus (instigation) too and arbitratus (judgment) are used for adlegatio and arbitratio, and preserving these forms we say arbitratu and adlegatu meo. So then Cicero said in manifesto peccatu, as the early writers said in manifesto incestu, not that it was not good Latin to say peccato, but because in that context the use of peccatu was finer and smoother to the ear. With equal regard for our ears Lucretius made funis feminine in these verses:No golden rope (aurea funis), methinks, let down from heavenThe race of mortals to this earth of ours,although with equally good rhythm he might have used the more common aureus funis and written:Aureus e caelo demisit funis in arva. Marcus Cicero calls even priests by a feminine term, antistitae, instead of antislites, which is demanded by the grammarians' rule. For while he usually avoided the obsolete words used by the earlier writers, yet in this passage, pleased with the sound of the word, he said: “The priests of Ceres and the guardians (antistitae) of her shrine.” To such a degree have writers in some cases followed neither reason nor usage in choosing a word, but only the ear, which weighs words according to its own standards. “And as for those who do not feel this,” says Marcus Cicero himself, when speaking about appropriate and rhythmical language, “I know not what ears they have, or what there is in them resembling a man.” But the early grammarians have noted this feature in Homer above all, that when he had said in one place koloiou/s te yhra/s te, “both crows and starlings,” in another place he did not use yhrw=n te, but yarw=n:As lights a cloud of starlings (yarw=n) or of daws,not conforming to general usage, but seeking the pleasing effect peculiar to the word in each of the two positions; for if you change one of these for the other, you will give both a harsh sound.
21. Quod a scriptoribus elegantissimis maior ratio habita sit sonitus vocum atque verborum iucundioris, quae a Graecis εὐφωνία dicitur, quam regulae disciplinaeque quae a grammaticis reperta est. INTERROGATUS est Probus Valerius, quod ex familiari eius quodam conperi, “hasne urbis” an “has urbes” et “hanc turrem” an “hanc turrim” dici oporteret. “Si aut versum,” inquit, “pangis aut orationem solutam struis atque ea tibi verba dicenda sunt, non finitiones illas praerancidas neque fetutinas grammaticas spectaveris, sed aurem tuam interroga quo quid loco conveniat dicere; quod illa suaserit, id profecto erit rectissimum.” Tum is qui quaesierat, “Quonam modo,” inquit, “vis aurem meam interrogem?” Et Probum ait respondisse: “Quo suam Vergilius percontatus est, qui diversis in locis ‘urbis’ et ‘urbes’ dixit arbitrio consilioque usus auris.” “Nam in primo Georgicon, quem ego,” inquit, “librum manu ipsius correctum legi, ‘urbis,’ per i litteram scripsit. Verba e versibus eius haec sunt:urbisne invisere, Caesar,Terrarumque velis curam.Verte enim et muta, ut ‘urbes’ dicas, insubidius nescio quid facies et pinguius.” “Contra in tertio Aeneidis ‘urbes’ dixit per e litteram:Centum urbes habitant magnas.Hic item muta, ut ‘urbis’ dicas, nimis exilis vox erit et exanguis, tanta quippe iuncturae differentia est in consonantia vocum proximarum.” “Praeterea idem Vergilius ‘turrim’ dixit, non ‘turrem,’ et ‘securim,’ non ‘securem’:Turrim in praecipiti stantemet:incertam excussit cervice securim.Quae sunt, opinor, iucundioris gracilitatis quam si suo utrumque loco per e litteram dicas.” At ille qui interrogaverat, rudis profecto et aure agresti homo, “Cur,” inquit, “aliud alio in loco potius rectiusque esse dicas, non sane intellego.” Tum Probus iam commotior, “Noli,” inquit, “igitur laborare, utrum istorum debeas dicere, ‘urbis’ an ‘urbes.’ Nam cum id genus sis quod video, ut sine iactura tua pecces, nihil perdes, utrum dixeris.” His tum verbis Probus et hac fini hominem dimisit, ut mos eius fuit erga indociles, prope inclementer. Nos autem aliud quoque postea consimiliter a Vergilio duplici modo scriptum invenimus. Nam et tres et tris posuit eodem in loco ea iudicii subtilitate, ut si aliter dixeris mutaverisque et aliquid tamen auris habeas, sentias suavitatem sonitus claudere. Versus ex decimo hi sunt:Tres quoque Threicios Boreae de gente supremaEt tris quos Idas pater et patria Ismara mittit.Tres illic, tris hic; pensicula utrumque modulareque, reperies suo quidque in loco sonare aptissime. Sed in illo quoque itidem Vergilii versu:Haec finis Priami fatorum,si mutes “haec” et “hic finis” dicas, durum atque absonum erit respuentque aures quod mutaveris. Sicut illud contra eiusdem Vergilii insuavius facias, si mutes:quem das finem, rex magne, laborum?Nam si ita dicas: “quam das finem,” iniucundum nescio quo pacto et laxiorem vocis sonum feceris. Ennius item rectos cupressos dixit contra receptum vocabuli genus hoc versu:Cautibus nutantis pinos rectosque cupressos.Firmior ei, credo, et viridior sonus esse vocis visus est, “rectos” dicere “cupressos” quam “rectas.” Contra vero idem Ennius in Annali duodevicesimo “aere fulva” dixit, non “fulvo,” non ob id solum, quod Homerus ἠέρα βαθεῖαν dicit, sed quod hic sonus, opinor, vocabilior visus et amoenior. Sicuti Marco etiam Ciceroni mollius teretiusque visum, in Quinta in Verrem “fretu” scribere quam “freto”: “Perangusto,” inquit, “fretu divisa.” Erat enim crassius iam vetustiusque, “perangusto freto” dicere. Itidem in Secunda, simili usus modulamine, “manifesto peccatu,” inquit, non “peccato”; hoc enim scriptum in uno atque in altero antiquissimae fidei libro Tironiano repperi. Verba sunt Ciceronis haec: “Nemo ita vivebat ut nulla eius vitae pars summac turpitudinis esset expers, nemo ita in manifesto peccatu tenebatur ut cum inpudens fuisset in facto, tum inpudentior videretur, si negaret.” Huius autem vocis cum elegantior hoc in loco sonus est, tum ratio certa et probata est. “Hic” enim “peccatus,” quasi “peccatio,” recte Latineque dicitur, sicut “hic incestus,” non qui admisit, sed quod admissum est, et “hic tributus,” quod “tributum” nos dicimus, a plerisque veterum dicta sunt. “Hi” quoque “adlegatus” et “hic arbitratus” pro “adlegatione” proque “arbitratione” dicuntur, qua ratione servata “arbitratu” et “adlegatu meo” dicimus. Sic igitur “in manifesto peccatu” dixit, ut “in manifesto incestu” veteres dixerunt, non quin Latinum esset “peccato” dicere, sed quia in loco isto positum subtilius ad aurem molliusque est. Lucretius aeque auribus inserviens “funem” feminino genere appellavit in hisce versibus:Haut, ut opinor, enim mortalia saecla superneAurea de caelo demisit funis in arva,cum dicere usitatius manente numero posset:Aureus e caelo demisit funis in arva. Sacerdotes quoque feminas M. Cicero “antistitas” dicit, non secundum grammaticam legem “antistites.” Nam cum insolentias verborum a veteribus dictorum plerumque respueret, huius tamen verbi in ea parte sonitu delectatus: “Sacerdotes,” inquit, “Cereris atque illius fani antistitae.” Usque adeo in quibusdam neque rationem verbi neque consuetudinem, sed solam aurem secuti sunt, suis verba modulis pensitantem. “Quod qui non sentiunt,” inquit idem ipse M. Cicero, cum de numerosa et apta oratione dissereret, “quas auris habeant aut quid in his hominis simile sit, nescio.” Illud vero cumprimis apud Homerum veteres grammatici adnotaverunt, quod, cum dixisset quodam in loco κολοιούς τε ψῆράς τε, alio in loco, non ψηρῶν τε, set ψαρῶν dixit:Τῶν δʼ ὥς τε ψαρῶν νέφος ἔρχεται ἠὲ κολοιῶν,secutus non communem, sed propriam in quoque vocis situ iucunditatem; nam si alterum in alterius loco ponas, utrumque feceris sonitu insuave.
22. The words of Titus Castricius to his young pupils on unbecoming clothes and shoes. TITUS CASTRICIUS, a teacher of the art of rhetoric, who held the first rank at Rome as a declaimer and an instructor, a man of the greatest influence and dignity, was highly regarded also by the deified Hadrian for his character and his learning. Once when 1 happened to be with him (for I attended him as my master) and he had seen some pupils of his who were senators wearing tunics and cloaks on a holiday, and with sandals on their feet, he said: “For my part, I should have preferred to see you in your togas, or if that was too much trouble, at least with girdles and mantles. But if this present attire of yours is now pardonable from long custom, yet it is not at all seemly for you, who are senators of the Roman people, to go through the streets of the city in sandals, nor by Jove! is this less criminal in you than it was in one whom Marcus Tullius once reproved for such attire.” This, and some other things to the same purport, Castricius said in my hearing with true Roman austerity. But several of those who had heard him asked why he had said soleatos, or “in sandals,” of those who wore gallicae, or “Gallic slippers,” and not soleae. But Castricius certainly spoke purely and properly; for in general all kinds of foot-gear which cover only the bottom of the soles, leaving the rest almost bare, and are bound on by slender thongs, are called soleae, or sometimes by the Greek word crepidulae. But gallicae, I think, is a new word, which came into use not long before the time of Marcus Cicero. In fact, he himself uses it in his second Oration against Antony: “You ran about,” says lie, “in slippers (gallicis) and cloak.” Nor do I find this word with that meaning in any other writer—a writer of high authority, that is; but, as I have said, they called that kind of shoe crepidae and crepidulae, shortening the first syllable of the Greek word krhpi=des, and the makers of such shoes they termed crepidarii. Sempronius Asellio in the fourteenth book of his Histories says: “He asked for a cobbler's knife from a maker of slippers (crepidarius sutor).”
22. Verba Titi Castricii rhetoris ad discipulos adulescentes de vestitu atque calciatu on decoro. T. CASTRICIUS, rhetoricae disciplinae doctor, qui habuit Romae locum principem declamandi ac docendi, summa vir auctoritate gravitateque et a divo Hadriano in mores atque litteras spectatus, cum me forte praesente, usus enim sum eo magistro, discipulos quosdam suos senatores vidisset die feriato tunicis et lacernis indutos et gallicis calciatos, “Equidem,” inquit, “maluissem vos togatos esse; si pigitum est, cinctos saltem esse et paenulatos. Sed si hic vester huiusmodi vestitus de multo iam usu ignoscibilis est, soleatos tamen vos, populi Romani senatores, per urbis vias ingredi nequaquam decorum est, non hercle vobis minus quam illi tum fuit, cui hoc M. Tullius pro turpi crimine obiectavit.” Haec, me audiente, Castricius et quaedam alia ad eam rem conducentia Romane et severe dixit. Plerique autem ex his qui audierant requirebant cur “soleatos” dixisset, qui gallicas, non soleas, haberent. Sed Castricius profecto scite atque incorrupte locutus est; omnia enim ferme id genus, quibus plantarum calces tantum infimae teguntur, cetera prope nuda et teretibus habenis vincta sunt, “soleas” dixerunt, nonnumquam voce Graeca “crepidulas.” “Gallicas” autem verbum esse opinor novum, non diu ante aetatem M. Ciceronis usurpari coeptum, itaque ab eo ipso positum est in secunda Antonianarum: “Cum gallicis,” inquit, “et lacerna cucurristi.” Neque in ea significatione id apud quemquam alium scriptum lego gravioris dumtaxat auctoritatis scriptorem; sed, ut dixi, “crepidas” et “crepidulas,” prima syllaba correpta, id genus calciamentum appellaverunt, quod Graeci κρηπῖδας vocant, eiusque calciamenti sutores “crepidarios” dixerunt. Sempronius Asellio in libro Rerum Gestarum XIV: “Crepidarium,” inquit, “cultellum rogavit a crepidario sutore.”
23. Of the Nerio of Mars in ancient prayers. PRAYERS to the immortal gods, which are offered according to the Roman ritual, are set forth in the books of the priests of the Roman people, as well as in many early books of prayers. In these we find: “Lua, of Saturn; Salacia, of Neptune; Hora, of Quirinus; the Virites of Quirinus; Maia of Vulcan; Heries of Juno; Moles of Mars, and Nerio of Mars.” Of these I hear most people pronounce the one which I have put last with a long initial syllable, as the Greeks pronounce Nhrei/+des (“Nereids”). But those who have spoken correctly made the first syllable short and lengthened the third. For the nominative case of the word, as it is written in the books of early writers, is Nerio, although Marcus Varro, in his Menippean Satire entitled Skiomaxi/a, or “Battle of the Shadows,” uses in the vocative Nericnes, not Nerio, in the following verses:Thee, Anna and Peranna, Panda Cela, Pales,Nerienes and Minerva, Fortune and likewise Ceres.From which it necessarily follows that the nominative case is the same. But Nerio was declined by our forefathers like Atnio; for, as they said Aniēnem with the third syllable long, so they did Neriēnem. Furthermore, that word, whether it be Nerio or Nerienes, is Sabine and signifies valour and courage. Hence among the Claudii, who we are told sprang from the Sabines, whoever was of eminent and surpassing courage was called Nero. But the Sabines seem to have derived this word from the Greeks, who call the sinews and ligaments of the limbs neu=ra, whence we also in Latin call them nervi. Therefore Nerio designates the strength and power of Mars and a certain majesty of the War-god. Plautus, however, in the Truculentus says that Nerio is the wife of Mars, and puts the statement into the mouth of a soldier, in the following line:Mars, coming home, greets his wife Nerio. About this line I once heard a man of some repute say that Plautus, with too great an eye to comic effect, attributed this strange and false idea, of thinking that Nerio was the wife of Mars, to an ignorant and rude soldier. But whoever will read the third book of the Annals of Gnaeus Gellius will find that this passage shows learning, rather than a comic spirit; for there it is written that Hersilia, when she pleaded before Titus Tatius and begged for peace, prayed in these words: “Neria of Mars, I beseech thee, give us peace; I beseech thee that it be permitted us to enjoy lasting and happy marriages, since it was by thy lord's advice that in like manner they carried off us maidens, that from us they might raise up children for themselves and their people, and descendants for their country.” She says “by thy lord's advice,” of course meaning her husband, Mars; and from this it is plain that Plautus made use of no poetic fiction, but that there was also a tradition according to which Nerio was said by some to be the wife of Mars. But it must be noticed besides that Gellius writes Neria with an a, not Nerio nor Nerienes. In addition to Plautus too, and Gellius, Licinius Imbrex, an early writer of comedies, in the play entitled Neaera, wrote as follows:Neaera I'd not wish to have thee called;Neriene rather, since thou art wife to Mars.Moreover, the metre of this verse is such that the third syllable in that name must be made short, contrary to what was said above. But how greatly the quantity of this syllable varied among the early writers is so well known that I need not waste many words on the subject. Ennius also, in this verse from the first book of his Annals,Neriene of Mars and Here,if, as is not always the case, he has preserved the metre, has lengthened the first syllable and shortened the third. And I do not think that I ought to pass by this either, whatever it amounts to, which I find written in the Commentary of Servius Claudius, that Nerio is equivalent to Neirio, meaning without anger (ne ira) and with calmness, so that in using that name we pray that Mars may become mild and calm; for the particle ne, as it is among the Greeks, is frequently privative in the Latin language also.
23. De Neriene Martis in antiquis conprecationibus. CONPRECATIONES deum inmortalium, quae ritu Romano fiunt, expositae sunt in libris sacerdotum populi Romani et in plerisque antiquis orationibus. In his scriptum est: “Luam Saturni, Salaciam Neptuni, Horam Quirini, Virites Quirini, Maiam Volcani, Heriem lunonis, Moles Martis Nerienemque Martis.” Ex quibus id quod postremum posui sic plerosque dicere audio, ut priimam in eo syllabam producant, quo Graeci modo dicunt Νηρεΐδας. Sed qui proprie locuti sunt primam correptam dixerunt, tertiam produxerunt. Est enim rectus casus vocabuli, sicut in libris veterum scriptum est, “Nerio,” quamquam M. Varro in Satura Menippea, quae inscribitur Σκιομαχία, non “Nerio,” sed “Nerienes” vocative dicit in his versibus:Te Anna á Peranna, Pánda Cela, té Pales,Neriénes et Minérva, Fortuna ác Ceres. Ex quo nominandi quoque casum eundem fieri necessum est. Sed “Nerio” a veteribus sic declinabatur, quasi “Anio”; nam perinde ut “Anienem,” sic “Nerienem” dixerunt, tertia syllaba producta. Id autem, sive “Nerio” sive “Nerienes” est, Sabinum verbum est, eoque significatur virtus et fortitudo. Itaque ex Claudiis, quos a Sabinis oriundos accepimus, qui erat egregia atque praestanti fortitudine “Nero” appellatus est. Sed id Sabini accepisse a Graecis videntur, qui vincula et firmamenta membrorum νεῦρα dicunt, unde nos quoque Latine “nervos” appellamus. “Nerio” igitur Martis vis et potentia et maiestas quaedam esse Martis demonstratur. Plautus autem in Truculento coniugem esse Nerienem Martis dicit, atque id sub persona militis, in hoc versu:Márs peregre adveniéns salutat Nérienem uxorém suam. Super ea re audivi non incelebrem hominem dicere, nimis comice Plautum inperito et incondito militi falsam novamque opinionem tribuisse, ut Nerienem coniugem esse Martis putaret. Sed id perite magis quam comice dictum intelleget, qui leget Cn. Gellii Annalem tertium, in quo scriptum est Hersiliam, cum apud T. Tatium verba faceret pacemque oraret, ita precatam esse: “Neria Martis te obsecro, pacem da, te, uti liceat nuptiis propriis et prosperis uti, quod de tui coniugis consilio contigit uti nos itidem integras raperent, unde liberos sibi et suis, posteros patriae pararent.” “De tui,” inquit, “coniugis consilio,” Martem scilicet significans; per quod apparet, non esse id poetice a Plauto dictum, sed eam quoque traditionem fuisse, ut Nerio a quibusdam uxor esse Martis diceretur. Inibi autem animadvertendum est quod Gellius “Neria” dicit per a litteram, non “Nerio,” neque “Nerienes.” Praeter Plautum etiam praeterque Gellium Licinius Imbrex, vetus comoediarum scriptor, in fabula quae Neaera scripta est, ita scripsit:Nolo égo Neaeram té vocent, set Nérienem,Cum quidém Mavorti es ín conubiúm data. Ita autem se numerus huiusce versus habet, ut tertia in eo nomine syllaba, contra quam supra dictum est, corripienda sit; cuius sonitus quanta aput veteres indifferentia sit, notius est quam ut plura in id verba sumenda sint. Ennius autem in primo Annali in hoc versu:Nerienem Mavortis et Herem,si, quod minime solet, numerum servavit, primam syllabam intendit, tertiam corripuit. Ac ne id quidem praetermittendum puto, cuiusmodi est, quod in Commentario Servii Claudii scriptum invenimus, “Nerio” dictum quasi “Neirio,” hoc est sine ira et cum placiditate, ut eo nomine mitem tranquillumque fieri Martem precemur; “ne” enim particula, ut apud Graecos, ita plerumque in Latina quoque lingua privativa est.