9. The meaning of the expression susque deque, which occurs frequently in the books of early writers. SUSQUE dequefero, susque deque sum, or susque deque habeo —for all these forms occur, meaning “it's all one to me”—is an expression used in the everyday language of cultivated men. It occurs frequently in poems too and in the letters of the early writers; but you will more readily find persons who flaunt the phrase than who understand it. So true is it that many of us hasten to use out-of-the-way words that we have stumbled upon, but not to learn their meaning. Now susque deque ferre means to be indifferent and not to lay much stress upon anything that happens; sometimes it means to neglect and despise, having about the force of the Greek word a)diaforei=n. Laberius says in his Compitalia:Now you are dull, now 'tis all one to you (susque deque fers);Your wife sits by you on the marriage bed,A penny slave unseemly language dares.Marcus Varro in his Sisenna, or On History says: “But if all these things did not have similar beginnings and sequels, it would be all one (susque deque esset).” So Lucilius in his third book writes:All this was sport, to us it was all one (susque deque fierunt),All one it was, I say, all sport and play;That was hard toil, when we gained Setia's bourne:Goat-traversed heights, Aetnas, rough Athoses.
9. Quid significet verbum in libris veterum creberrime positum “susque deque.” “SUSQUE deque fero” aut “susque deque sum” aut “susque deque habeo”—his enim omnibus modis dicitur—verbum est ex hominum doctorum sermonibus. In poematis quoque et in epistulis veterum scriptum est plurifariam; sed facilius reperias qui verbum ostentent quam qui intellegant. Ita plerique nostrum quae remotiora verba invenimus dicere ea properamus, non discere. Significat autem “susque deque ferre” animo aequo esse et quod accidit non magni pendere atque interdum neglegere et contemnere, et propemodum id valet quod dicitur Graece ἀδιαφορεῖν. Laberius in Compitalibus:Núnc tu lentu’s, núnc tu susque déque fers;Matér familias túa in lecto adversó sedet,Servós sextantis útitur nefáriisVerbís.M. Varro in Sisenna vel De Historia: “Quod si non horum omnium similia essent principia ac postprincipia, susque deque esset.” Lucilius in tertio:Verum haec ludus ibi susque omnia deque fuerunt,Susque et deque fuere, inquam, omnia, ludus iocusque;Illud opus durum, ut Setinum accessimus finem: Αἰγίλιποι montes, Aetnae omnes, asperi Athones.
10. The meaning of proletarii and capite censi; also of adsiduus in the Twelve Tables, and the origin of the word. ONE day there was a cessation of business in the Forum at Rome, and as the holiday was being joyfully celebrated, it chanced that one of the books of the Annals of Ennius was read in an assembly of very many persons. In this book the following lines occurred:With shield and savage sword is Proletarius armedAt public cost; they guard our walls, our mart and town.Then the question was raised there, what proletarius meant. And seeing in that company a man who was skilled in the civil law, a friend of mine, I asked him to explain the word to us; and when he rejoined that he was an expert in civil law and not in grammatical matters, I said: " You in particular ought to explain this, since, as you declare, you are skilled in civil law. For Quintus Ennius took this word from your Twelve Tables, in which, if I remember aright, we have the following: 'For a freeholder let the protector be a freeholder. For a proletariate citizen let whoso will be protector. “We therefore ask you to consider that not one of the books of Quintus Ennius' Annals, but the Twelve Tables are being read, and interpret the meaning of 'proletariate citizen' in that law.” “It is true,” said he, that if I had learned the law of the Fauns and Aborigines, I ought to explain and interpret this. But since proletarii, adsidui, sanates, vades, subvades, 'twenty-five asses,' 'retaliation,' and trials for theft 'by plate and girdle' have disappeared, and since all the ancient lore of the Twelve Tables, except for legal questions before the court of the centumviri, was put to sleep by the Aebutian law, I ought only to exhibit interest in, and knowledge of, the law and statutes and legal terms which we now actually use. " Just then, by some chance, we caught sight of Julius Paulus passing by, the most learned poet within my recollection. We greeted him, and when he was asked to enlighten us as to the meaning and derivation of that word, he said: "Those of the Roman commons who were humblest and of smallest means, and who reported no more than fifteen hundred asses at the census, were called proletarii, but those who were rated as having no property at all, or next to none, were termed capite censi, or 'counted by head.' And the lowest rating of the capite censi was three hundred and seventy-five asses. But since property and money were regarded as a hostage and pledge of loyalty to the State, and since there was in them a kind of guarantee and assurance of patriotism, neither the proletarii nor the capite censi were enrolled as soldiers except in some time of extraordinary disorder, because they had little or no property and money. However, the class of proletarii was somewhat more honourable in fact and in name than that of the capite censi; for in times of danger to the State, when there was a scarcity of men of military age, they were enrolled for hasty service, and arms were furnished them at public expense. And they were called, not capite censi, but by a more auspicious name derived from their duty and function of producing offspring, for although they could not greatly aid the State with what small property they had, yet they added to the population of their country by their power of begetting children. Gaius Marius is said to have been the first, according to some in the war with the Cimbri in a most critical period for our country, or more probably, as Sallust says, in the Jugurthine war, to have enrolled soldiers from the capite censi, since such an act was unheard of before that time. Adsidaus in the Twelve Tables is used of one who is rich and well to do, either because he contributed 'asses' (that is, money) when the exigencies of the State required it, or from his 'assiduity' in making contributions according to the amount of his property." Now the words of Sallust in the Iugurthine War about Gaius Marius and the capite censi are these: “He himself in the meantime enrolled soldiers, not according to the classes, or in the manner of our forefathers, but allowing anyone to volunteer, for the most part the lowest class (capite censos). Some say that he did this through lack of good men, others because of a desire to curry favour, since that class had given him honour and rank, and as a matter of fact, to one who aspires to power the poorest man is the most helpful.”
10. Quid sint “proletarii,” quid “capite censi”; quid item sit in XII. Tabulis “adsiduus”; et quae eius vocabuli ratio sit. OTIUM erat quodam die Romae in foro a negotiis et laeta quaedam celebritas feriarum legebaturque in consessu forte conplurium Enni liber ex Annalibus. In eo libro versus hi fuerunt:Proletarius publicitus scutisque feroqueOrnatur ferro; muros urbemque forumqueExcubiis curant.Tum ibi quaeri coeptum est, quid esset “proletarius.” Atque ego, aspiciens quempiam in eo circulo ius civile callentem, familiarem meum, rogabam ut id verbum nobis enarraret, et cum illic se iuris, non rei grammaticae peritum esse respondisset, “Eo maxime,” inquam, “te dicere hoc oportet, quando, ut praedicas, peritus iuris es.” “Nam Q. Ennius verbum hoc ex Duodecim Tabulis vestris accepit, in quibus, si recte commemini, ita scriptum est: ‘Adsiduo vindex adsiduus esto. Proletario iam civi quis volet vindex esto.’” “Petimus igitur ne Annalem nunc Q. Ennii, sed Duodecim Tabulas legi arbitrere et quid sit in ea lege ‘proletarius civis’ interpretere.” “Ego vero,” inquit ille, “dicere atque interpretari hoc deberem, si ius Faunorum et Aboriginum didicissem.” “Sed enim cum ‘proletarii’ et ‘adsidui’ et ‘sanates’ et ‘vades’ et ‘subvades’ et ‘viginti quinque asses’ et ‘taliones.’ furtorumque quaestio ‘cum lance et licio’ evanuerint omnisque illa Duodecim Tabularum antiquitas, nisi in legis actionibus centumviralium causarum lege Aebutia lata consopita sit, studium scientiamque ego praestare debeo iuris et legum vocumque earum quibus utimur.” Tum forte quadam Iulium PaulumPaulurn, poetam memoriae nostrae doctissimum, praetereuntem conspeximus. Is a nobis salutatur, rogatusque uti de sententia deque ratione istius vocabuli nos doceret, “Qui in plebe,” inquit, “Romanaomana tenuissimi pauperrimique erant neque amplius quam mille quingentum aeris in censum deferebant, ‘proletarii’ appellati sunt, qui vero nullo aut perquam parvo aere censebantur, ‘capite censi’ vocabantur, extremus autem census capite censorum aeris fuit trecentis septuaginta quinque.” “Sed quoniam res pecuniaque familiaris obsidis vicem pignerisque esse apud rempublicam videbatur amorisque in patriam fides quaedam in ea firmamentumque erat, neque proletarii neque capite censi milites, nisi in tumultu maximo, scribebantur, quia familia pecuniaque his aut tenuis aut nulla esset.” “Proletariorum tamen ordo honestior aliquanto et re et nomine quam capite censorum fuit;” “nam et asperis reipublicae temporibus, cum iuventutis inopia esset, in militiam tumultuariam legebantur armaque is sumptu publico praebebantur, et non capitis censione, sed prosperiore vocabulo a munere officioque prolis edendae appellati sunt, quod, cum re familiari parva minus possent rempublicam iuvare, subolis tamen gignendae copia civitatem frequentarent.” “Capite censos autem primus C. Marius, ut quidam ferunt bello Cimbrico, difficillimis reipublicae temporibus, vel potius, ut Sallustius ait, bello Iugurthino, milites scripsisse traditur, cum id factum ante in nulla memoria extaret.” “‘Adsiduus’ in XII. Tabulis pro locuplete et facile facienti dictus aut ab assibus, id est, aere dando, cum id tempora reipublicae postularent, aut a muneris pro familiari copia faciendi adsiduitate.” Verba autem Sallusti in Historia Iugurthina de C. Mario consule et de capite censis haec sunt: “Ipse interea milites scribere, non more maiorum nec ex classibus, sed ut libido cuiusque erat, capite censos plerosque. Id factum alii inopia bonorum, alii per ambitionem consulis memorabant, quod ab eo genere celebratus auctusque erat, et homini potentiampotential quaerenti egentissimus quisque oportunissimus.”
11. A story taken from the books of Herodotus about the destruction of the Psylli, who dwelt in the African Syrtes. THE race of the Marsians in Italy is said to have sprung from the son of Circe. 'Therefore it was given to the Marsic men, provided their families were not stained through the admixture of foreign alliances, by an inborn hereditary power to be the subduers of poisonous serpents and to perform wonderful cures by incantations and the juices of plants. We see certain persons called Psylli endowed with this same power. And when I had sought in ancient records for information about their name and race, I found at last in the fourth book of Herodotus this story about them: that the Psylli had once been neighbours in the land of Africa of the Nasamones, and that the South Wind at a certain season in their territories blew very long and hard; that because of that gale all the water in the regions which they inhabited dried up; that the Psylli, deprived of their water supply, were grievously incensed at the South Wind because of that injury and voted to take up arms and march against the South Wind as against an enemy, and demand restitution according to the laws of war. And when they had thus set out, the South Wind came to meet them with a great blast of air, and piling upon them mountainous heaps of sand, buried them all with their entire forces and arms. Through this act the Psylli all perished to a man, and accordingly their territories were occupied by the Nasamones.
11. Historia ex Herodoti libris sumpta de Psyllorum interitu, qui in Syrtibus Africanis colebant. GENS in Italia Marsorum orta fertur a Circae filio. Propterea Marsis hominibus, quorum dumtaxat familiae cum externis cognationibus nondum etiam permixtae corruptaeque sunt, vi quadam genitali datum ut et serpentium virulentorumvirulentoruni domitoresdomnitores sint et incentionibus herbarumque sucis faciant medellarum miracula. Hac eadem vi praeditos esse quosdam videmus, qui “Psylli” vocantur. Quorum super nomine et genere cum in veteribus litteris quaesissem, in quarto denique Herodoti libro fabulam de Psyllis hanc invenimus: Psyllos quondam fuisse in terra Africa conterminos Nasamonibus Austrumque in finibus eorum quodam in tempore perquam validum ac diutinum flavisse; eo flatu aquam omnem in locis in quibus colebant exaruisse; Psyllos, re aquaria defectos, eam iniuriam graviter Austro suscensuisse decretumque fecisse, uti armis sumptis ad Austrum, proinde quasi ad hostem, iure belli res petitum proficiscerentur. Atque ita profectis ventum Austrum magno spiritus agmine venisse obviam eosque universos cum omnibus copiis armisque, cumulis montibusque harenarum supervectis, operuisse. Eo facto Psyllos ad unum omnis interisse, itaque eorum fines a Nasamonibus occupatos.
12. Of those words which Cloatius Verus referred to a Greek origin, either quite fittingly or too absurdly and tastelessly. CLOATIUS VERUS, in the books which he entitled Words taken from the Greek, says not a few things indeed which show careful and keen investigation, but also some which are foolish and trifling. “Errare (to err),” he says, “is derived from the Greek e)/rrein,” and he quotes a line of Homer in which that word occurs: Swift wander (e)/rrei) from the isle, most wretched man. Cloatius also wrote that alucinari, or “dream,” is derived from the Greek a)lu/ein, or “be distraught,” and from this he thinks that the word elucus also is taken, with a change of a to e, meaning a certain sluggishness and stupidity of mind, which commonly comes to dreamy folk. He also derives fascinum, or “charm,” as if it were bascanum, and fascinare, as if it were bascinare, or “bewitch.” All these are fitting and proper enough. But in his fourth book he says: “Faenerator is equivalent to fainera/twr, meaning 'to appear at one's best,' since that class of men present an appearance of kindliness and pretend to be accommodating to poor men who are in need of money”; and he declared that this was stated by Hypsicrates, a grammarian whose books on Words Borrowed from the Greeks are very well known. But whether Cloatius himself or some other blockhead gave vent to this nonsense, nothing can be more silly. For faenerator, as Marcus Varro wrote in the third book of his Latin Diction, “is so called from feanus, or 'interest,' but faenus,” he says, “is derived from fetus, or 'offspring,' and from a birth, as it were, from money, producing and giving increase.” Therefore he says that Marcus Cato and others of his time pronounced generator without the letter a, just as fetus itself and fecunditas were pronounced.
12. De his vocabulis quae Cloatius Verus aut satis commode aut nimis absurde et inlepide ad origines linguae Graecae redigit. CLOATIUS VERUS in libris quos inscripsit Verborum a Graecis Tractorum, non pauca hercle dicit curiose et sagaciter conquisita, neque non tamen quaedam futtilia et frivola. “Errare,” inquit, “dictum est ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔρρειν,” versumque infert Homeri, in quo id verbum est:Ἕρρʼ ἐκ νήσου θᾶσσον, ἐλέγχιστε ζωόντων. Item “alucinari” factum scripsit ex eo, quod dicitur Graece ἀλύειν, unde “elucum” quoque esse dictum putat, a littera in e versa, tarditatem quandam animi et stuporem, qui alucinantibus plerumque usu venit. Item “fascinum” appellatum quasi “bascanum” et “fascinare” esse quasi “bascinare.” Commode haec sane omnia et conducenter. Sed in libro quarto: “Faenerator,” inquit, “appellatus est quasi φαινεράτωρ, ἀπὸ τοῦ φαίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστότερον, quoniam id genus hominum speciem ostentent humanitatishurnanitatis et commodi esse videantur inopibus nummos desiderantibus,” idque dixisse ait Hypsicraten quempiam grammaticum, cuius libri sane nobiles sunt super his, quae a Graecis accepta sunt. Sive hoc autem ipse Cloatius sive nescio quis alius nebulo effutivit, nihil potest dici insulsius. “Faenerator” enim, sicuti M. Varro in libro tertio De sermoneSernmone Latino scripsitscrisit, a faenore est nominatus; “faenus” autem dictum ait a fetu et quasi a fetura quadam pecuniae parientis atque increscentis. Idcirco et M. Catonem et ceteros aetatis eius “feneratorem” sine a littera pronuntiasse tradit, sicuti “fetus” ipse et “fecunditas” appellata.
13. The meaning of municipium and how it differs from colonia; and what municipes are and the derivation and proper use of that word; and also what the deified Hadrian said in the senate about the name and rights of municipes. MUNICIPES and municipia are words which are readily spoken and in common use, and you would never find a man who uses them who does not think that he understands perfectly what he is saying. But in fact it is something different, and the meaning is different. For how rarely is one of us found who, coming from a colony of the Roman people, does not say what is far removed from reason and from truth, namely, that he is municeps and that his fellow citizens are municipes? So general is the ignorance of what municipia are and what rights they have, and how far they differ from a “colony,” as well as the belief that coloniae are better off than municipia. With regard to the errors in this opinion which is so general the deified Hadrian, in the speech which he delivered in the senate In Behalf of the Italicenses, from whom he himself came, discoursed most learnedly, showing his surprise that the Italicenses themselves and also some other ancient municipia, among whom he names the citizens of Utica, when they might enjoy their own customs and laws, desired instead to have the rights of colonies. Moreover, he asserts that the citizens of Praeneste earnestly begged and prayed the emperor Tiberius that they might be changed from a colony into the condition of a municipium, and that Tiberius granted their request by way of conferring a favour, because in their territory, and near their town itself, he had recovered from a dangerous illness. Municipes, then, are Roman citizens from free towns, using their own laws and enjoying their own rights, merely sharing with the Roman people an honorary munus, or “privilege” (from the enjoyment of which privilege they appear to derive their name), and bound by no other compulsion and no other law of the Roman people, except such as their own citizens have officially ratified. We learn besides that the people of Caere were the first municipes without the right of suffrage, and that it was allowed them to assume the honour of Roman citizenship, but yet to be free from service and burdens, in return for receiving and guarding sacred objects during the war with the Gauls. Hence by contraries those tablets were called Caerites on which the censors ordered those to be enrolled whom they deprived of their votes by way of disgrace. But the relationship of the “colonies” is a different one; for they do not come into citizenship from without, nor grow from roots of their own, but they are as it were transplanted from the State and have all the laws and institutions of the Roman people, not those of their own choice. This condition, although it is more exposed to control and less free, is nevertheless thought preferable and superior because of the greatness and majesty of the Roman people, of which those colonies seem to be miniatures, as it were, and in a way copies; and at the same time because the rights of the municipal towns become obscure and invalid, and from ignorance of their existence the townsmen are no longer able to make use of them.
13. Quid sit “municipium” et quid a “colonia” differat; et quid sint “municipes” quaeque sit eius vocabuli ratio ac proprietas; atque inibi, quod divus Hadrianus in senatu de iure atque vocabulo municipum verba fecit. “MUNICIPES” et “municipia” verba sunt dictu facilia et usu obvia, et neutiquam reperias qui haec dicit, quin scire se plane putet quid dicat. Sed profecto aliud est, atque aliter dicitur. Quotus enim fere nostrum est, qui, cum ex colonia populi Romani sit, non se “municipem” esse et popularespopulates suos “municipes” esse dicat, quod est a ratione et a veritate longe aversum? Sic adeo et “municipia” quid et quo iure sint quantumque a “colonia” differant ignoramus, existimamusque meliore condicione esse “colonias” quam “municipia.” De cuius opinationis tam promiscae erroribus divus Hadrianus in oratione, quam De Italicensibus, unde ipse ortus fuit, in senatu habuit, peritissime disseruit mirarique se ostendit quod et ipsi Italicenses et quaedam item alia municipia antiqua, in quibus Uticenses nominat, cum suis moribus legibusque uti possent, in ius coloniarum mutari gestiverint. Praenestinos autem refert maximo opere a Tiberio imperatore petisse orasseque ut ex colonia in municipii statum redigerentur, idque illis Tiberium pro ferenda gratia tribuisse, quod in eorum finibus sub ipso oppido ex capitali morbo revaluisset. “Municipes” ergo sunt cives Romani ex municipiis, legibus suis et suo iure utentes, muneris tantum cum populo Romano honorari participes, a quo munere capessendo appellati videntur, nullis aliis necessitatibus neque ulla populi Romani lege adstricti, nisi in quam populus eorum fundus factus est. Primos autem municipes sine suffragii iure Caerites esse factos accepimus concessumque illis ut civitatis Romanae honorem quidem caperent, sed negotiis tamen atque oneribus vacarent, pro sacris bello Gallico receptis custoditisque. Hinc “tabulae Caerites” appellatae versa vice, in quas censores referri iubebant quos notae causa suffragiis privabant. Sed “coloniarum” alia necessitudo est; non enim veniunt extrinsecus in civitatem nec suis radicibus nituntur, sed ex civitate quasi propagatae sunt et iura institutaque omnia populi Romani, non sui arbitrii, habent. Quae tamen condicio, cum sit magis obnoxia et minus libera, potior tamen et praestabilior existimatur propter amplitudinem maiestatemque populi Romani, cuius istae coloniae quasi effigies parvae simulacraque esse quaedam videntur, et simul quia obscura oblitterataque sunt municipiorum iura, quibus uti iam per ignotitiaminnotitiam non queunt.
14. That Marcus Cato said there was a difference between properare and festinare, and how inappropriately Verrius Flaccus explained the origin of the latter word. FESTINARE and properare seem to indicate the same thing and to be used of the same thing. But Marcus Cato thinks that there is a difference, and that the difference is this—I quote his own words from the speech which he pronounced On his Own Merits: “It is one thing to hasten (properare), another to hurry (festinare). He who finishes some one thing in good season, hastens (properat); one who begins many things at the same time but does not finish them, hurries (festinat).” Verrius Flaccus, wishing to explain the nature of this difference, says “Festinat is derived from for (to speak), since those idle folk who can accomplish nothing talk more than they act.” But that seems too forced and absurd, nor can the first letter of the two words be of such weight that because of it such different words as festino and for should appear to be the same. But it seems more fitting and closer to explain festinare as equivalent to fessum esse or “be wearied.” For one who tires himself out by hastily attacking many things at once no longer hastens, but hurries.
14. Quod M. Cato differre dixit “properare” et “festinare”; et quam incommode Verrius Flaccus verbi quod est “festinat” ἔτυμον interpretatus est. “FESTINARE” et “properare” idem significare atque in eandem rem dici videntur. Sed M. Cato id differre existimat eaque hoc modo divisa—verba sunt ipsius ex oratione, quam De Suis Virtutibus habuit—: “Aliud est ‘properare,’ aliud ‘festinare.’ Qui unum quid mature transigit, is properat; qui multa simul incipit neque perficit, is festinat.” Verrius Flaccus rationem dicere volens differentiae huius: “‘Festinat,’” inquit, “a fando dicitur, quoniam isti ignaviores, qui nihil perficere possunt, plus verborum quam operae habent.” Sed id nimis coactum atque absurdum videtur neque tanti esse momenti potest prima in utroque verbo littera, ut propter eam unam tam diversa verba “festinare” et “fari” eadem videri debeant. Commodius autem propiusque visum est, “festinare” esse quasi “fessum esse.” Nam qui multis simul rebus properandis defessus est, is iam non properat, set festinat.
15. The strange thing recorded of partridges by Theophrastus and of hares by Theopompus. THEOPHRASTUS, most expert of philosophers, declares that in Paphlagonia all the partridges have two hearts; Theopompus, that in Bisaltia the hares have two livers each.
15. Quid Theophrastus mirum de perdicibus scriptum reliquerit et quid Theopompus de leporibus. THEOPHRASTUS, philosophorum peritissimus, omnes in Paphlagonia perdices bina corda habere dicit, Theopompus in Bisaltia lepores bina iecora.
16. That the name Agrippa was given to those whose birth was difficult and unnatural; and of the goddesses called Prorsa and Postverta. THOSE at whose birth the feet appeared first, instead of the head, which is considered the most difficult and dangerous form of parturition, are called Agrippae, a word formed from aegritudo, or “difficulty,” and pedes (feet). But Varro says that the position of children in the womb is with the head lowest and the feet raised up, not according to the nature of a man, but of a tree. For he likens the branches of a tree to the feet and legs, and the stock and trunk to the head. “Accordingly,” says he, “when they chanced to be turned upon their feet in an unnatural position, since their arms are usually extended they are wont to be held back, and then women give birth with greater difficulty. For the purpose of averting this danger altars were set up at Rome to the two Carmentes, of whom one was called Postverta, the other Prorsa, named from natural and unnatural births, and their power over them.”
16. “Agrippas” a partus aegri et inprosperi vitio appellatos; deque his deabus quae vocantur “Prorsa” et “Postverta.” QUORUM in nascendo non caput, sed pedes primi extiterant, qui partus difficillimus aegerrimusqueaegerrinusque habetur, “Agrippae” appellati, vocabulo ab aegritudine et pedibus conficto. Esse autem pueros in utero Varro dicit capite infimo nixos, sursum pedibus elatis, non ut hominis natura est, sed ut arboris. Nam pedes cruraque arboris ramos appellat, caput stirpem atque caudicem. “Quando igitur,” inquit, “contra naturam forte conversi in pedes, brachiis plerumque diductis, retineri solent, aegriusque tunc mulieres enituntur, huius periculi deprecandi gratia arae statutae sunt Romae duabus Carmentibus, quarum altera ‘Postverta’ cognominatastcognonminatast, ‘Prorsa’ altera, a recti perversique partus et potestate et nomine.”
17. Of the origin of the term ager Vaticanus. WE had been told that the ager Vaticanus, or “Vatican region,” and the presiding deity of the same place, took their names from the vaticinia, or “prophecies,” which were wont to be made in that region through the power and inspiration of that god. But in addition to that reason Marcus Varro, in his Antiquities of the Gods, states that there is another explanation of the name: For, “says he, just as Aius was called a god and the altar was erected in his honour which stands at the bottom of the Nova Via, because in that place a voice from heaven was heard, so that god was called Vaticanus who controls the beginnings of human speech, since children, as soon as they are born, first utter the sound which forms the first syllable of Vaticanus; hence the word vagire ('cry'), which represents the sound of a new-born infant's voice.”
17. Quae ratio vocabuli sit agri Vaticani. ET agrum Vaticanum et eiusdem agri deum praesidem appellatum acceperamus a vaticiniis quae vi atque instinctu eius dei in eo agro fieri solita essent. Sed praeter hanc causam M. Varro in libris divinarumDivinarurm aliam esse tradit istius nominis rationem: “Nam sicut Aius,” inquit, “deus appellatus araque ei statuta est quae est infima nova via, quod eo in loco divinitus vox edita erat, ita Vaticanus deus nominatus penes quem essent vocis humanae initia, quoniam pueri, simul atque parti sunt, eam primam vocem edunt quae prima in Vaticano syllabast idcircoque ‘vagire.’ dicitur, exprimente verbo sonum vocis recentis.”
18. Some interesting and instructive remarks about that part of Geometry which is called “Optics”; of another part called “Harmony,” and also of a third called “Metric.” A PART of Geometry which relates to the sight is called o)ptikh/ or “Optics,” another part, relating to the ears, is known as kanonikh/ or “Harmony,” which musicians make use of as the foundation of their art. These are concerned respectively with the spaces and the intervals between lines and with the theory of musical numbers. Optics effect many surprising things, such as the appearance in one mirror of several images of the same thing; also that a mirror placed in a certain position shows no image, but when moved to another spot gives reflections; also that if you look straight into a mirror, your reflection is such that your head appears below and your feet uppermost. This science also gives the reasons for optical illusions, such as the magnifying of objects seen in the water, and the small size of those that are remote from the eye. Harmony, on the other hand, measures the length and pitch of sounds. The measure of the length of a tone is called r(uqmo/s, or rhythm of its pitch, me/los, or “melody.” There is also another variety of Harmony which is called metrikh/, or “Metric,” by which the combination of long and short syllables, and those which are neither long nor short, and the verse measure according to the principles of geometry are examined with the aid of the ears. “But these things,” says Marcus Varro, “we either do not learn at all, or we leave off before we know why they ought to be learned. But the pleasure,” he says, “and the advantage of such sciences appear in their later study, when they have been completely mastered; but in their mere elements they seem foolish and unattractive.”
18. Lepida quaedam et memoratu et cognitu de parte geometriae quae ὀπτική appellatur, et item alia quae κανονική, et tertia itidem quae dicitur μετρική. PARS quaedam geometriae ὀπτική appellatur quae ad oculos pertinet, pars altera, quae ad auris, κανονική vocatur, qua musici ut fundamento artis suae utuntur. Utraque harum spatiis et intervallis linearum et ratione numerorum constat. Ὀπτική facit multa demiranda id genus, ut in speculo uno imagines unius rei plures appareant; item ut speculum in loco certo positum nihil imaginet, aliorsum translatum faciat imagines; item si rectus speculum spectes, imago fiat tua eiusmodi, ut caput deorsum videatur, pedes sursum. Reddit etiam causas ea disciplina cur istae quoque visiones fallant, ut quae in aqua conspiciuntur maiora ad oculos fiant, quae procul ab oculis sunt, minora. Κανονική autem longitudines et altitudines vocis emetitur. Longior mensura vocis ῥυθμός dicitur, μέλος. Est et alia species κανονικῆς, quae appellatur μετρική, per quam syllabarum longarum et brevium et mediocrium iunctura et modus congruens cum principiis geometriae aurium mensura examinatum. “Sed haec,” inquit M. Varro, “aut omnino non discimus aut prius desistimus quam intellegamus cur discenda sint. Voluptas autem,” inquit, “vel utilitas talium disciplinarum in postprincipiis existit, cum perfectae absolutaeque sunt; in principiis vero ipsis ineptae et insuaves videntur.”
19. A story about the lyre-player Arion, taken from the work of Herodotus. HERODOTUS has written of the famous lyre-player Arion in terse and vigorous language and in simple and elegant style. “Arion,” says he, “in days of old was a celebrated player upon the lyre. The town in which he was born was Methyma, but from the name of his country and the island as a whole he was a Lesbian. This Arion for the sake of his art was held in friendship and affection by Periander, king of Corinth. Later, he left the king, to visit the famous lands of Sicily and Italy. On his arrival there he charmed the ears and minds of all in the cities of both countries, and there he was enriched as well as being generally admired and beloved. Then later, laden with money and with wealth of all kinds, he determined to return to Corinth, choosing a Corinthian vessel and crew, as better known to him and more friendly.” But Herodotus says that those Corinthians, having received Arion on board and put to sea, formed the plan of murdering him for the sake of his money. Then he, realizing that death was at hand, gave them possession of his money and other goods, but begged that they should at least spare his life. The sailors were moved by his prayers only so far as to refrain from putting him to death with their own hands, but they bade him at once, before their eyes, leap headlong into the sea. “Then,” says Herodotus, “the poor man, in terror and utterly hopeless of life, finally made the one request that before meeting his end he might be allowed to put on all his costume, take his lyre, and sing a song in consolation of his fate. The sailors, though savage and cruel, nevertheless had a desire to hear him; his request was granted. Then afterwards, crowned in the usual way, robed and adorned, he stood upon the extreme stern and lifting up his voice on high sang the song called 'orthian.' Finally, having finished his song, with his lyre and all his equipment, just as he stood and sang, he threw himself far out into the deep. The sailors, not doubting in the least that he had perished, held on the course which they had begun. But an unheard of, strange and miraculous thing happened.” Herodotus asserts that a dolphin suddenly swam up amid the waves, dove under the floating man, and lifting his back above the flood, carried him and landed him at Taenarum in the Laconian land, with his person and adornment uninjured. Then Arion went from there straight to Corinth and, just as he was when the dolphin carried him, presented himself unexpectedly to king Periander and told him exactly what had occurred. The king did not believe the story but ordered that Arion be imprisoned as an impostor. He hunted up the sailors, and in the absence of Arion craftily questioned them, asking whether they had heard anything of Arion in the places from which they had come. They replied that the man had been in the land of Italy when they left it, that he was doing well there, enjoying the devotion and the pleasures of the cities, and that both in prestige and in money he was rich and fortunate. Then, in the midst of their story, Arion suddenly appeared with his lyre, clad in the garments in which he had thrown himself into the sea; the sailors were amazed and proved guilty, and could not deny their crime. This story is told by the Lesbians and the Corinthians, and in testimony to its truth two brazen images are to be seen near Taenarum, the dolphin carrying the man, who is seated on his back.
19. Sumpta historia ex Herodoti libro super fidicine Arione. CELERI admodum et cohibili oratione vocumque filo tereti et candido fabulam scripsit Herodotus super fidicine illo Arione. “Vetus,” inquit, “et nobilis Arion cantator fidibus fuit.” “Is loco et oppido Methymnaeus, terra atque insula omni Lesbius fuit.” “Eum Arionem rex Corinthi Periander amicum amatumque habuit artis gratia.” “Is inde a rege proficiscitur,” “terras inclutas Siciliam atque Italiam visere. Ubi eo venit auresque omnium mentesque in utriusque terrae urbibus demulsit, in quaestibus istic et voluptatibus amoribusque hominum fuit.” “Is tum postea grandi pecunia et re bona multa copiosus Corinthum instituit redire,” “vnavem igitur et navitas, ut notiores amicioresque sibi, Corinthios delegit.” Sed eos Corinthios, homine accepto navique in altum provecta, praedae pecuniaeque cupidos cepisse consilium de necando Arione. Tum ilium ibi, pernicie intellecta, pecuniam ceteraque sua, ut haberent, dedisse, vitam modo sibi ut parcerent oravisse. Navitas precum eius harum commiseritum esse illactenus ut ei necem adferre per vim suis manibus temperarent, sed imperavisse ut iam statim coram desiliret praeceps in mare. “Homo,” inquit, “ibi territus, spe omni vitae perdita, id unum postea oravit, ut priusquam mortem obpeteret, induere permitterent sua sibi omnia indumenta et fides capere et canere carmen casus illius sui consolabile.” “Feros et inmanes navitas prolubium tamen audiendi subit; quod oraverat impetrat.” “Atque ibi mox de more cinctus, amictus, ornatus stansque in summae puppis foro, carmen quod ‘orthium’ dicitur voce sublatissima cantavit.” “Ad postrema cantus cum fidibus ornatuque omni, sicut stabat canebatque, iecit sese procul in profundum. Navitae, hautquaquam dubitantes quin perisset, cursum quem facere coeperant tenuerunt.” “Sed novum et mirum et pium facinus contigit.” Delphinum repente inter undas adnavisse fluitantique sese homini subdidisse et dorso super fluctus edito vectavisse incolumique eum corpore et ornatu Taenarum in terram Laconicam devexisse. Tum Arionem prorsus ex eo loco Corinthum petivisse talemque Periandro regi, qualis delphino vectus fuerat, inopinanti sese optulisse eique rem, sicuti acciderat, narravisse. Regem istaec parum credidisse, Arionem, quasi falleret, custodiri iussisse, navitas inquisitos, ablegato Arione, dissimulanter interrogasse ecquid audissent in his locis unde venissent super Arione? Eos dixisse, hominem, cum inde irent, in terra Italia fuisse eumque illic bene agitare et studiis delectationibusque urbium florere atque in gratia pecuniaque magna opulentum fortunatumque esse. Tum inter haec eorum verba Arionem cum fidibus et indumentis cum quibus se in salum eiaculaverat extitisse, navitas stupefactos convictosque ire infitias non quisse. Eam fabulam dicere Lesbios et Corinthios atque esse fabulae argumentum, quod simulacra duo aenea ad Taenarum viserentur, delphinus vehens et homo insidens.