14. That Marcus Cato, in the speech entitled Against the Exile Tiberius, says stitisses vadimonium with an i, and not stetisses; and the explanation of that word. IN an old copy of the speech of Marcus Cato, which is entitled, Against the Exile Tiberius, we find the following words: “What if with veiled head you had kept your recognizance?” Cato indeed wrote stitisses, correctly; but revisers have boldly and falsely written an e and put stelisses in all the editions, on the ground that stitisses is an unmeaning and worthless reading. Nay, it is rather they themselves that are ignorant and worthless, in not knowing that Cato wrote stitisses because sisteretur is used of recognizance, not staretur.
14. Quod M. Cato, in libro qui inscriptus est Contra Tiberium Exulem, “stitisses vadimonium” per i litteram dicit, non “stetisses”; eiusque verbi ratio reddita. IN libro vetere M. Catonis, qui inscribitur Contra TiberiumTiberiunm Exulem, scriptum sic erat: “Quid si vadimonium capite obvoluto stitisses?” Recte quidem ille “stitisses” scripsit; sed falsa et audaci emendatione editores “e” scripto per libros “stetisses” fecerunt, tamquam “stitisses” vanum et nihili verbum esset. Quin potius ipsi nequam et nihili sunt, qui ignorant “stitisses” dictum a Catone, quoniam “sisteretur” vadimonium, non “staretur.”
15. To what extent in ancient days it was to old age in particular that high honours were paid; and why it was that later those same honours were extended to husbands and fathers; and in that connection some provisions of the seventh section of the Julian law. AMONG the earliest Romans, as a rule, neither birth nor wealth was more highly honoured than age, but older men were reverenced by their juniors almost like gods and like their own parents, and everywhere and in every kind of honour they were regarded as first and of prior right. From a dinner-party, too, older men were escorted home by younger men, as we read in the records of the past, a custom which, as tradition has it, the Romans took over from the Lacedaemonians, by whom, in accordance with the laws of Lycurgus, greater honour on all occasions was paid to greater age. But after it came to be realised that progeny were a necessity for the State, and there was occasion to add to the productivity of the people by premiums and other inducements, then in certain respects greater deference was shown to men who had a wife, and to those who had children, than to older men who had neither wives nor children. Thus in chapter seven of the Julian law priority in assuming the emblems of power is given, not to the elder of the consuls, but to him who either has more children tinder his control than his colleague, or has lost them in war. But if both have an equal number of children, the one who has a wife, or is eligible for marriage, is preferred. If, however, both are married and are fathers of the same number of children, then the standard of honour of early times is restored, and the elder is first to assume the rods. But when both consuls are without wives and have the same number of sons, or are husbands but have no children, there is no provision in that law as to age. However, I hear that it was usual for those who had legal priority to yield the rods for the first month to colleagues who were either considerably older than they, or of much higher rank, or who were entering upon a second consulship.
15. Quod antiquitus aetati senectae potissimum habiti sint ampli honores; et cur postea ad maritos et ad patres idem isti honores delati sint; atque ibi de capite quaedam legis Iuliae septimo. APUD antiquissimos Romanorum neque generi neque pecuniae praestantior honos tribui quam aetati solitus, maioresque natu a minoribus colebantur ad deum prope et parentum vicem atque omni in loco inque omni specie honoris priores potioresque habiti. A convivio quoque, ut scriptum in antiquitatibus est, seniores a iunioribus domum deducebantur, eumque morem accepisse Romanos a Lacedaemoniis traditum est, apud quos Lycurgi legibus maior omnium rerum honos aetati maiori habebatur. Sed postquam suboles civitati necessaria visa est et ad prolem populi frequentandam praemiis atque invitamentis usus fuit, tum antelati quibusdam in rebus qui uxorem quique liberos haberent senioribus neque liberos neque uxores habentibus. Sicuti kapite VII. legis Iuliaeluliae priori ex consulibus fasces sumendi potestas fit, non qui pluris annos natus est, sed qui pluris liberos quam collega aut in sua potestate habet aut bello amisit. Sed si par utrique numerus liberorum est, maritus aut qui in numero maritorum est praefertur; si vero ambo et mariti et patres totidem liberorum sunt, tum ille pristinus honos instauratur et qui maior natu est prior fasces sumit. Super his autem, qui aut caelibes ambo sunt et parem numerum filiorum habent aut mariti sunt et liberos non habent, nihil scriptum in ea lege de aetate est. Solitos tamen audio, qui lege potiores essent fasces primi mensis collegis concedere aut longe aetate prioribus aut nobilioribus multo aut secundum consulatum ineuntibus.
16. Sulpicius Apollinaris' criticism of Caesellius Vindex for his explanation of a passage in Virgil. VIRGIL has the following lines in the sixth book:Yon princeling, thou beholdest leaning thereUpon a bloodless lance, shall next emergeInto the realms of day. He is the firstOf half-Italian strain, thy last-born heir,To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,Called Silvius, a royal Alban name(Of sylvan birth and sylvan nurture he),A king himself and sire of kings to come,By whom our race in Alba Longa reign. It appeared to Caesellius that there was utter inconsistency betweenthy last-born heirandTo thine old age by fair Lavinia given,Of sylvan birth.For if, as is shown by the testimony of almost all the annals, this Silvius was born after the death of Aeneas, and for that reason was given the forename Postumus, with what propriety does Virgil add:To thine old age by fair Lavinia given,Of sylvan birth?For these words would seem to imply that while Aeneas was still living, but was already an old man, a son Silvius was born to him and was reared. Therefore Caesellius, in his Notes on Early Readings, expressed the opinion that the meaning of the words was as follows: “Postuma proles,” said he, “does not mean a child born after the death of his father, but the one who was born last; this applies to Silvius, who was born late and after the usual time, when Aeneas was already an old man.” But Caesellius names no adequate authority for this version, while that Silvius was born, as I have said, after Aeneas' death, has ample testimony. Therefore Sulpicius Apollinaris, among other criticisms of Caesellius, notes this statement of his as an error, and says that the cause of the error is the phrase quem tibi longaevo. “Longaevo,” he says, “does not mean 'when old,' for that is contrary to historical truth, but rather ' admitted into a life that is now long and unending, and made immortal.' For Anchises, who says this to his son, knew that after Aeneas had ended his life among men he would be immortal and a local deity, and enjoy a long and everlasting existence.” Thus Apollinaris, ingeniously enough. But yet a “long life” is one thing, and an “unending life” another, and the gods are not called “of great age,” but “immortal.”
16. Quod Caesellius Vindex a Sulpicio Apollinari reprehensus est in sensus Vergiliani enarratione. Vergilii versus sunt e libro sexto:Ille, vides, pura iuvenis qui nititur hasta,Proxima sorte tenet lucis loca. Primus ad aurasAetherias Italo commixtus sanguine surget,Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles,Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunxEducet silvis regem regumque parentem,Unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba, Videbantur haec nequaquam convenire:tua postuma proles,et:Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunxEducet silvis. Nam si hic Silvius, ita ut in omnium ferme annalium monumentis scriptum est, post mortem Aeneae natus est ob eamque causam praenomen ei Postumo fuit, qua ratione subiectum est:Quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunxEducet silvis? Haec enim verba significare videri possunt, Aenea vivo ac iam sene, natum ei Silvium et educatum. Itaque hanc sententiam esse verborum istorum Caesellius opinatus in Commentario Lectionum Antiquarum: “Postuma,” inquit, “proles non eum significat qui patre mortuo, sed qui postremo loco natus est, sicuti Silvius, qui Aenea iam sene tardo seroque partu est editus.” Sed huius historiae auctorem idoneum nullum nominat; Silvium autem post Aeneae mortem, sicuti diximus, natum esse multi tradiderunt. Idcirco Apollinaris Sulpicius, inter cetera in quis Caesellium reprehenditrepreliendit, hoc quoque eius quasi erratum animadvertit errorisque istius hanc esse causam dixit, quod scriptum ita sit “quem tibi longaevo.” “‘Longaevo’” inquit, “non seni significat, hoc enim est contra historiae fidem, sed in longum iam aevum et perpetuum recepto immortalique facto.” “Anchises enim, qui haec ad filium dicit, sciebat eum, cum hominum vita discessisset, immortalem atque indigetem futurum et longo perpetuoque aevo potiturum.” Hoc sane Apollinaris argute. Sed aliud tamen est “longum aevum,” aliud “perpetuum,” neque dii “longaevi” appellantur, sed “inmortales.”
17. Marcus Cicero's observations on the nature of certain prepositions; to which is added a discussion of the particular matter which Cicero had observed. AFTER careful observation Marcus Tullius noted that the prepositions in and con, when prefixed to nouns and verbs, are lengthened and prolonged when they are followed by the initial letters of sapiens and felix; but that in all other instances they are pronounced short. Cicero's words are: “Indeed, what can be more elegant than this, which does not come about from a natural law, but in accordance with a kind of usage? we pronounce the first vowel in indoctus short, in insanus long; in immanis short, in infelix long; in brief, in compound words in which the first letters are those which begin sapiens and felix the prefix is pronounced long, in all others short; thus we have conposuit but cōnsuevit, cŏncrepuit but cōnficit. Consult the rules of grammar and they will censure your usage; refer the matter to your ears and they will approve. Ask why it is so; they will say that it pleases them. And language ought to gratify the pleasure of the ear.” In these words of which Cicero spoke it is clear that the principle is one of euphony, but what are we to say of the preposition pro? For although it is often shortened or lengthened, yet it does not conform to this rule of Marcus Tullius. For it is not always lengthened when it is followed by the first letter of the word fecit, which Cicero says has the effect of lengthening the prepositions in and con. For we pronounce prŏficisci, prŏfugere, prŏfundere, prŏfannu and prŏfestumn with the first vowel short, but prōferre, prōfligare and prōficere with that syllable long. Why is it then that this letter, which, according to Cicero's observation, has the effect of lengthening, does not have the same effect by reason of rule or of euphony in all words of the same kind, but lengthens the vowel in one word and shortens it in another. Nor, as a matter of fact, is the particle con lengthened only when followed by that letter which Cicero mentioned: for both Cato and Sallust say “faenoribus copertus est.” Moreover cōligatus and cōnexus are pronounced long. But after all, in these cases which I have cited one can see that this particle is lengthened because the letter n is dropped; for the loss of a letter is compensated by the lengthening of the syllable. This principle is observed also in the word cōgo; and it is no contradiction that we pronounce cŏegi short; for this form cannot be derived from cōgo without violation of the principle of analogy.
17. CuiusmodiCuiusnlodi esse naturamnaturaim quarundam praepositionum M. Cicero animadverterit; disceptatumque ibi super eo ipso quod Cicero observaverat. OBSERVATE curioseque animadvertit M. Tullius “in” et “con” praepositiones verbis aut vocabulis praepositas tunc produci atque protendi, cum litterae sequerentur quae primae sunt in “sapiente” atque “felice,” in alis autem omnibus correpte pronuntiari. Verba Ciceronis haec sunt: “Quid vero hoc elegantius, quod non fit natura, sed quodam instituto? ‘Indoctus’ dicimus brevi prima littera, ‘insanu.’ producta, ‘immanis’ brevi, ‘infelix’ longa et, ne multis, quibus in verbis hae primae litterae sunt quae in ‘sapiente’ atque ‘felice,’ producte dicuntur, in ceteris omnibus breviter; itemque ‘conposuit,’ ‘consuevit,’ ‘concrepuit,’ ‘confecit.’ Consule veritatem, reprehendet; refer ad auris, probabunt; quaere cur ita sit? dicent iuvare. Voluptati autem aurium morigerari debet oratio.” Manifesta quidem ratio suavitatis est in his vocibus de quibus Cicero locutus est. Sed quid dicemus de praepositione “pro,” quae, cum produci et corripi soleat, observationem hanc tamen M. Tullii aspernata est? Non enim semper producitur, cum sequitur ea littera quae prima est in verbo “fecit,” quam Cicero hanc habere vim significat ut propter eam rem “in” et “con” praepositiones producantur. Nam “proficisci” et “profugere” et “profundere” et “profanum” et “profestumprofesturn” correpte dicimus, “proferre” “autem et profligareprofligatee” et “proficere” producte. Cur igitur ea littera, quam Cicero productionis causam facere observavit, non in omnibus consimilibus eandem vim aut rationis aut suavitatis tenet, sed aliam vocem produci facit, aliam corripi? Neque vero “con” particula tum solum producitur, cum ea littera, de qua Cicero dixit, insequitur. Nam et Cato et Sallustius: “faenoribus,” inquiunt, “copertus est.” Praeterea “coligatus” et “conexus” producte dicitur. Sed tamen videri potest in his quae posui, ob eamearn causam particula haec produci, quoniam eliditur ex ea n littera; nam detrimentum litterae productione syllabae compensatur. Quod quidem etiam in eo servatur, quod est “cogo”; neque repugnat quod “coegi” correpte dicimus; non enim salva id ἀναλογίᾳ dicitur a verbo, quod est “cogo.”
18. That Phaedo the Socratic was a slave; and that several others also were of that condition. PHAEDO of Elis belonged to that famous Socratic band and was on terms of close intimacy with Socrates and Plato. His name was given by Plato to that inspired dialogue of his on the immortality of the soul. This Phaedo, though a slave, was of noble person and intellect, and according to some writers, in his boyhood was driven to prostitution by his master, who was a pander. We are told that Cebes the Socratic, at Socrates' earnest request, bought Phaedo and gave him the opportunity of studying philosophy. And he afterwards became a distinguished philosopher, whose very tasteful discourses on Socrates are in circulation. There were not a few other slaves too who afterwards became famous philosophers, among them that Menippus whose works Marcus Varro emulated in those satires which others call “Cynic,” but he himself, “Menippean.” Besides these, Pompylus, the slave of the Peripatetic Theophrastus, and the slave of the Stoic Zeno who was called Persaeus, and the slave of Epicurus whose name was Mys, were philosophers of repute. Diogenes the Cynic also served as a slave, but he was a freeborn man, who was sold into slavery. When Xeniades of Corinth wished to buy him and asked whether he knew any trade, Diogenes replied: “I know how to govern free men.” Then Xeniades, in admiration of his answer, bought him, set him free, and entrusting to him his own children, said: “Take my children to govern.” But as to the well-known philosopher Epictetus, the fact that he too was a slave is too fresh in our memory to need to be committed to writing, as if it had been forgotten.
18. Quod Phaedon Socraticus servus fuit; quodque item alii complusculi servitutem servierunt. PHAEDON Elidensis ex cohorte illa Socratica fuit Socratique et Platoni per fuit familiaris. Eius nomini Plato librum illum divinum de immortalitate animae dedit. Is Phaedon servus fuit forma atque ingenio liberali et, ut quidam scripserunt, a lenone domino puer ad merendum coactus. Eum Cebes Socraticus hortante Socrate emisse dicitur habuisseque in philosophiae disciplinis. Atque is postea philosophus inlustris fuit sermonesque eius de Socrate admodum elegantes leguntur. Alii quoque non pauci servi fuerunt qui post philosophi clari extiterunt. Ex quibus ille Menippus fuit cuius libros M. Varro in saturissatiris aemulatus est, quas alii “Cynicas,” ipse appellat “Menippeas.” Sed et Theophrasti Peripatetici servus Pompylus et Zenonis Stoici servus, qui Persaeus vocatus est, et Epicuri, cui Mys nomen fuit, philosophi non incelebres vixerunt. Diogenes etiam Cynicus servitutem servivit. Sed is ex libertate in servitutem venum ierat. Quem cum emere vellet Ξενιάδης Κορίνθιος et ecquid artificii novisset esset percontatus: “Novi,” inquit Diogenes, “hominibus liberis imperare.” Tum Ξενιάδης responsum eius demiratus emit et manu emisit filiosque suos ei tradens: “Accipe,” inquit, “liberos meos quibus imperes.” De Epicteto autem philosopho nobili, quod is quoque servus fuit recentior est memoria quam ut scribi quasi oblitteratum debuerit.
19. On the nature of the verb rescire; and its true and distinctive meaning. I HAVE observed that the verb rescire has a peculiar force, which is not in accord with the general meaning of other words compounded with that same preposition; for we do not use rescire in the same way that we do rescribere (write in reply), relegere (reread), restituere (restore),... and substituere (put in the place of); but rescire is properly said of one who learns of something that is hidden, or unlooked for and unexpected. But why the particle re has this special force in this one word alone, I for my part am still inquiring. For I have never yet found that rescivi or rescire was used by those who were careful in their diction, otherwise than of things which were purposely concealed, or happened contrary to anticipation and expectation; although scire itself is used of everything alike, whether favourable or unfavourable, unexpected or expected. Thus Naevius in the Triphallus wrote:If ever I discover (rescivero) that my sonHas borrowed money for a love affair,Straightway I'll put you where you'll spit no more.Claudius Quadrigarius in the first book of his Annals says: “When the Lucanians discovered (resciverunt ) that they had been deceived and tricked.” And again in the same book Quadrigarius uses that word of something sad and unexpected: “When this became known to the relatives (rescierunt provinqui) of the hostages, who, as I have pointed out above, had been delivered to Pontius, their parents and relatives rushed into the street with hair in disarray.” Marcus Cato writes in the fourth book of the Origins: “Then next day the dictator orders the master of the horse to be summoned: I will send you, if you wish, with the cavalry.' It is too late,' said the master of the horse, 'they have found it out already (rescicere).'”
19. “Rescire” verbum quid sit; et quam habeat veram atque propriam significationem. VERBUM “rescire” observavimus vim habere propriam quandam, non ex communi significatione ceterorum verborum quibus eadem praepositio imponitur; neque ut “rescribere,” “relegere,” “restituere” … substituere dicimus, itidem dicimus “rescire”; nam qui factum aliquod occultius aut inopinatum insperatumque cognoscit, is dicitur proprie “rescire.” Cur autem in hoc uno verbo “re” particula huius sententiae vim habeat, equidem adhuc quaero. Aliter enim dictum esse “rescivi” aut “rescire” apud eos qui diligenter locuti sunt, nondum invenimus quam super is rebus quae aut consulto consilio latuerint aut contra spem opinionemve usu venerint; quamquam ipsum “scire” de omnibus communiter rebus dicatur vel adversis vel prosperis vel insperatis vel expectatis. Naevius in Triphallo ita scripsit:Sive únquam quicquam filium rescívero,Argéntum amoris caúsa sumpse mútuum,Extémplo illo te dúcam ubi non déspuas. Claudius Quadrigarius in primo Annali: “Ea Lucani ubi resciverunt, sibi per fallacias verba data esse.” Item Quadrigarius in eodem libro in re tristi et inopinata verbo isto ita utitur: “Id ubi rescierunt propinqui obsidum, quos Pontio traditos supra demonstravimus, eorum parentes cumcunl propinquis capillo passo in viam provolarunt.” M. Cato in quarto originumOriginun:“Deinde dictator iubet postridie magistrum equitum arcessi: ‘mittam te, si vis, cum equitibus.’ ‘Sero est,’ inquit magister equitum, ‘iam rescivere.’”
20. That for what we commonly call virvaria the earlier writers did not use that term; and what Publius Scipio used for this word in his speech to the people, and afterwards Marcus Varro in his work On Farming. IN the third book of his treatise On Farming, Marcus Varro says that the name leporaria is given to certain enclosures, now called vivaria, in which wild animals are kept alive and fed. I have appended Varro's own words: “There are three means of keeping animals on the farm—bird houses, leporaria (warrens), and fish-ponds. I am now using the term ornithones of all kinds of birds that are ordinarily kept within the walls of the farmhouse. Leporaria I wish you to understand, not in the sense in which our remote ancestors used the word, of places in which only hares are kept, but of all enclosures which are connected with a farm-house and contain live animals that are fed.” Farther on in the same book Varro writes: “When you bought the farm at Tusculum from Marcus Piso, there were many wild boars in the leporarium.” But the word vivaria, which the common people now use—the Greek para\de/isoi and Varro's leporaria—I do not recall meeting anywhere in the older literature. But as to the word roboraria, which we find in the writings of Scipio, who used the purest diction of any man of his time, I have heard several learned men at Rome assert that this means what we call vivaria and that the name came from the “oaken” planks of which the enclosures were made, a kind of enclosure which we see in many places in Italy. This is the passage from Scipio's fifth oration Against Claudius Asellus: “When he had seen the highly-cultivated fields and well-kept farmhouses, he ordered them to set up a measuring rod on the highest spot in that district; and from there to build a straight road, in some places through the midst of vineyards, in others through the roborarium and the fish-pond, in still others through the farm buildings.” Thus we see that to pools or ponds of water in which live fish are kept in confinement, they gave their own appropriate name of piscinae, or “fishponds.” Apiaria too is the word commonly used of places in which bee-hives are set; but I recall almost no one of those who have spoken correctly who has used that word either in writing or speaking. But Marcus Varro, in the third book of his treatise On Farming, remarks: “This is the way to make melissw=nes, which some call mellaria, or 'places for storing honey.'” But this word which Varro used is Greek; for they say melissw=nes, just as they do a)mpelw=nes (vineyards) and dafnw=nes (laurel groves).
20. Quae volgo dicuntur “vivaria,” id vocabulum veteres non dixisse; et quid pro eo P. Scipio in oratione ad populum, quid postea M. Varro in librislilbris De Re Rustica dixerit. “VIVARIA,” quae nunc dicuntur saepta quaedam loca, in quibus ferae vivae pascuntur, M. Varro in libro De Re Rustica III. dicit “leporaria” appellari. Verba Varronis subieci: “Villaticae pastionis genera sunt tria, ornithones, leporaria, piscinae. Nunc ornithonas dico omnium alitum quae intra parietes villaevillage solent pasci. Leporaria te accipere volo, non ea quae tritavi nostri dicebant, ubi soli lepores sint, sed omnia saepta adficta villae quae sunt et habent inclusa animalia quae pascuntur.” Is item infra eodem in libro ita scribit: “Cum emisti fundum Tusculanum a M. Pisone, in leporario apri multi fuere.” “Vivaria” autem quae nunc vulgus dicit—quos παραδείσους Graeci appellant, quae “leporaria” Varro dicit—haut usquam memini apud vetustiores scriptum. Sed quod apud Scipionem, omnium aetatis suae purissime locutum, legimuslegimuns “roboraria,” aliquot Romae doctosdoctorss viros dicere audivi id significare, quod nos “vivaria” dicimus, appellataqueapplellataque esse a tabulistabulia roboreis, quibus saepta essent; quod genus saeptorumsaeptorun vidimus in Italia locis plerisque. Verba ex oration eius Contra Claudium Asellum quinta haechace sunt: “Ubi agros optime cultos atque villas expolitissimas vidisset, in his regionibus excelsissimo loco grumam statuere aiebat; inde corrigere viam, aliis per vineas medias, aliis per roborariumroborariuni atque piscinam, aliis per villamvillaim.” Lacus vero aut stagna quae piscibus vivis coercentur clausa, suo atque proprio nomine “piscinas” nominaverunt. “Apiaria” quoque vulgus dicit loca in quibus siti sunt alvei apum; sed neminem ferme qui incorrupte locuti sunt aut scripsisse memini aut dixisse. M. autem Varro in libro De Re Rustica tertio: “Μελις- σῶνας,” inquit, “ita facere oportet, quae quidam ‘mellaria’ appellant.” Sed hoc verbum quo Varro usus est Graecum est; nam μελισσῶνες ita dicuntur, ut ἀμπελῶνες et δαφνῶνες.
21. About the constellation which the Greeks call a(/maca and the Romans septentriones; and as to the origin and meaning of both those words. SEVERAL of us, Greeks and Romans, who were pursuing the same studies, were crossing in the same boat from Aegina to the Piraeus. It was night, the sea was calm, the time summer, and the sky bright and clear. So we all sat together in the stern and watched the brilliant stars. Then those of our company who were acquainted with Grecian lore discussed with learning and acumen such questions as these: what the a(/maca, or “Wain,” was, and what Boötes, which was the Great, and which the Little Bear and why they were so called; in what direction that constellation moved in the course of the advancing night, and why Homer says that this is the only constellation that does not set, in view of the fact that there are some other stars that do not set. Thereupon I turned to our compatriots and said: “Why don't you barbarians tell me why we give the name of septentriones to what the Greeks call a(/maca. Now ' because we see seven stars' is not a sufficient answer, but I desire to be informed at some length,” said I, “of the meaning of the whole idea which we express by the word septentriones.” Then one of them, who had devoted himself to ancient literature and antiquities, replied: "The common run of grammarians think that the word septentriones is derived solely from the number of stars. For they declare that triones of itself has no meaning, but is a mere addition to the word; just as in our word quinquatrus, so called because five is the number of days after the Ides, atrus means nothing. But for my part, I agree with Lucius Aelius and Marcus Varro, who wrote that oxen were called triones, a rustic term it is true, as if they were terriones, that is to say, adapted to nominibus regionibusque docere nos ipse vellet, ploughing and cultivating the earth. Therefore this constellation, which the early Greeks called a(/maca merely from its form and position, because it seemed to resemble a wagon, the early men also of our country called septentriones, from oxen yoked together, that is, seven stars by which yoked oxen (triones) seem to be represented. After giving this opinion, Varro further added," said he, “that he suspected that these seven stars were called triones rather for the reason that they are so situated that every group of three neighbouring stars forms a triangle, that is to say, a three-sided figure.” Of these two reasons which he gave, the latter seemed the neater and the more ingenious; for as we looked at that constellation, it actually appeared to consist of triangles.
21. Super eo sidere quod Graeci ἅμαξαν, nos “septentriones” vocamus; ac de utriusque vocabulivocaluli ratione et origine. AB Aegina in Piraeum complusculi earundem disciplinarum sectatores Graeci Romanique homines eadem in navi transmittebamus. Nox fuit et clemens mare et anni aestas caelumque liquide serenum. Sedebamus ergo in puppi simul universi et lucentia sidera considerabamus. Tum, qui eodem in numero Graecas res eruditi erant, quid ἅμαξα esset, quid βοώτης et quaenam maior et quae minor, cur ita appellata et quam in partem procedentis noctis spatio moveretur et quamobrem Homerus solam eam non occidere dicat, cum et quaedam alia non occidant astra, scite ista omnia ac perite disserebant. Hic ego ad nostros iuvenes convertor et “quin,” inquam, “vos opici dicitis mihi quare quod ἅμαξαν Graeci vocant nos ‘septentriones’ vocamus?” “Non enimn satis est quod septem stellas videmus, sed quid hoc totum quod ‘septentriones’ dicimus significet scire,” inquam, “id prolixius volo.” Tum quispiam ex his, qui se ad litteras memoriasque veteres dediderat: “Vulgus,” inquit, “grammaticorum ‘septentriones’ a solo numero stellarum dictum putat.” “‘Triones’ enim per sese nihil significare aiunt, sed vocabuli esse supplementum; sicut in eo, quod ‘quinquatrus’ dicamus, quod quinque ab Idibus dierum numerus sit, ‘atrus’ nihil.” “Sed ego quidem cum L. Aelio et M. Varrone sentio, qui ‘triones’ rustico cetera vocabulo boves appellatos scribunt, quasi quosdam ‘terriones,’ hoc est arandae colendaequecolendacque terrae idoneos.” “Itaque hoc sidus, quod a figura posituraque ipsa, quia simile plaustri videtur, antiqui Graecorum ἕμαξαν dixerunt, nostri quoque veteres a bubus iunctis ‘septentriones’ appellaruntalppellarunt, id est septem stellas, ex quibus quasi iuncti ‘triones’ figurantur.” “Praeter hanc,” inquit, “opinionem id quoque Varro addit, dubitare sese an propterea magis hae septem stellae ‘triones’ appellatae sint, quia ita sunt sitae ut ternae stellae proximae quaeque inter sese faciant ‘trigona,’ id est triquetras figuras.” Ex his duabus rationibus quas ille dixit, quod posterius est subtilius elegantiusque est visum. Intuentibus enim nobis in illud, ita propemodum res erat, ut forma esse triquetra viderentur.
22. Information about the wind called Iapyx and about the names and quarters of other winds, derived from the discourses of Favorinus. AT Favorinus' table, when he dined with friends, there was usually read either an old song of one of the lyric poets, or something from history, now in Greek and now in Latin. Thus one day there was read there, in a Latin poem, the word Iapyx, the name of a wind, and the question was asked what wind this was, from what quarter it blew, and what was the origin of so rare a term; and we also asked Favorinus to be so good as to inform us about the names and quarters of the other winds, since there was no general agreement as to their designations, positions or number. Then Favorinus ran on as follows: “It is well known,” said he, " that there are four quarters and regions of the heavens—east, west, south and north. East and west are movable and variable points; south and north are permanently fixed and unalterable. For the sun does not always rise in exactly the same place, but its rising is called either equinoctial when it runs the course which is called i)shmerino/s (with equal days and nights), or solsticial, which is equivalent to qerinai\ tropai/ (summer turnings), or brumal, which is the same as xeimerinai\ tropai/, or 'winter turnings.' So too the sun does not always set in the same place; for in the same way its setting is called equinoctial, solstitial, or brumal. Therefore the wind which blows from the sun's spring, or equinoctial, rising is called eurus, a word derived, as your etymologists say, from the Greek which means ' that which flows from the east.' This wind is called by the Greeks by still another name, a)fhliw/ths, or 'in the direction of the sun'; and by the Roman sailors, subsolanus (lying beneath the sun). But the wind that comes from the summer and solstitial point of rising is called in Latin aquilo, in Greek bore/as, and some say it was for that reason that Homer called it ai)qrhgene/ths, or 'ether-born'; but boreas, they think, is so named a)po\ th=s boh=s, 'from the loud shout,' since its blast is violent and noisy. To the third wind, which blows from the point of the winter rising—the Romans call it volturnus—many of the Greeks give a compound name, eu)ro/notos, because it is between eurus and notus. These then are the three east winds: aquilo, volturnus and curus, and eurus lies between the other two. Opposite to and facing these are three other winds from the west: caurus, which the Greeks commonly call a)rgesth/s or 'clearing'; this blows from the quarter opposite aquilo. There is a second, favonius, which in Greek is called ze/furos, blowing from the point opposite to eurus; and a third, Africus, which in Greek is li/y, or 'wet-bringing,' blows in opposition to volturnus. These two opposite quarters of the sky, east and west, have, as we see, six winds opposite to one another. But the south, since it is a fixed and invariable point, has but one single south wind; this in Latin is termed auster, in Greek no/tos, because it is cloudy and wet, for noti/s is the Greek for 'moisture." The north too, for the same reason, has but one wind. This, called in Latin septentrionarius, in Greek a)parkti/as, or 'from the region of the Bear,' is directly opposite to auster. From this list of eight winds some subtract four, and they declare that they do so on the authority of Homer, who knows only four winds: eurus, auster, aquilo and favonius, blowing from the four quarters of the heaven which we have named primary, so to speak; for they regard the east and west as broader, to be sure, but nevertheless single and not divided into three parts. There are others, on the contrary, who make twelve winds instead of eight, by inserting a third group of four in the intervening space about the south and north, in the same way that the second four are placed between the original two at east and west. "There are also some other names of what might be called special winds, which the natives have coined each in their own districts, either from the designations of the places in which they live or from some other reason which has led to the formation of the word. Thus our Gauls call the wind which blows from their land, the most violent wind to which they are exposed, circius, doubtless from its whirling and stormy character; the Apulians give the name Iapyx—the name by which they themselves are known (Iapzyges)—to the wind that blows from the mouth of )Iapugi/a itself, from its inmost recesses, as it were. This is, I think, about the same as caurus; for it is a west wind and seems to blow from the quarter opposite eurus. Therefore Virgil says that Cleopatra, when fleeing to Egypt after the sea-fight, was borne onward by Iapyx, and he called an Apulian horse by the same name as the wind, that is, Iapyx. There is also a wind named caecias, which, according to Aristotle blows in such a way as not to drive away clouds, but to attract them. This, he says, is the origin of the proverbial line:Attracting to oneself, as caecias does the clouds. Moreover, besides these which I have mentioned there are in various places other names of winds, of new coinage and each peculiar to its own region, for example the Atabulus of Horace; these too I intended to discuss; I would also have added those which are called etesiae and prodromi, which at a fixed time of year, namely when the dog-star rises, blow from one or another quarter of the heavens; and since I have drunk a good bit, I would have rated on about the meaning of all these terms, had I not already done a deal of talking while all of you have been silent, as if I were delivering 'an exhibition speech.' But for one to do all the talking at a large dinner-party," said he, “is neither decent nor becoming.” This is what Favorinus recounted to us at his own table at the time I mentioned, with extreme elegance of diction and in a delightful and graceful style throughout. But as to his statement that the wind which blows from the land of Gaul is called circius, Marcus Cato in his Origins calls that wind, not circius, but cercius. For writing about the Spaniards who dwell on this side the Ebro, he set down these words: “But in this district are the finest iron and silver mines, also a great mountain of pure salt; the more you take from it, the more it grows. The cercius wind, when you speak, fills your mouth; it overturns an armed man or a loaded wagon.” In saying above that the e)thsi/ai blow from one or another quarter of the heavens, although following the opinion of many, I rather think I spoke hastily. For in the second book of Publius Nigidius' treatise On Wind are these words: “Both the e)thsi/ai and the annual south winds follow the sun.” We ought therefore to inquire into the meaning of “follow the sun.”
22. De vento “Iapyge” deque aliorum ventorum vocabulis regionibusque accepta ex Favorini sermonibus. APUD mensam Favorini in convivio familiarifamilari legi solitum erat aut vetus carmen melici poetae aut historia partim Graecae linguae, alias Latinae. legebaturLegebabur ergo ibi tunc in carmine Latino “Iapyx” ventus quaesitumque est quis hic ventus et quibus ex locis spiraret et quae tamtarn infrequentis vocabuli ratio esset; atque etiam petebamus, ut super ceterorum nominibus regionibusque docere nos ipse vellet, quia vulgo neque de appellationibus eorum neque de finibus neque de numero conveniret. TumTurn Favorinus ita fabulatus est: “Satis,” inquit, “notum est, limites regionesque esse caeli quattuor: ‘exortum,’ ‘occasum,’ ‘meridiem,’ ‘septentriones.’” “Exortus et occasus mobilia et varia sunt, meridies septentrionesque statu perpetuo stant et manent.” “Oritur enim sol non indidem semper, sed aut ‘aequinoctialis’ oriens dicitur, cum in circulo currit qui appellatur ἰσημερινός, aut ‘solstitialis,’ quae sunt θεριναὶ τροπαί, aut ‘brumalis,’ quae sunt χειμεριναὶ τροπαί.” “Item cadit sol non in eundem semper locum. Fit enim similiter occasus eius aut ‘aequinoctialis’ aut ‘solstitialis’ aut ‘brumalis.’” “Qui ventus igitur ab oriente verno, id est aequinoctiali, venit, nominatur ‘eurus,’ ficto vocabulo, ut isti ἐτυμολογικοὶ aiunt, ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς ἠοῦς ῥέων.” “Is alio quoque a Graecis nomine ἀφηλιώτης, Romanis nauticis ‘subsolanus’ cognominatur.” “Sed qui ab aestiva et solstitiali orientis meta venit, Latine ‘aquilo,’ βορέας Graece dicitur, eumque propterea quidam dicunt ab Homero αἰθρηγενέτην appellatum; boream autem putant dictum ἀπὸ τῆς βοῆς, quoniam sit violenti flatus et sonori.” “Tertius ventus, qui ab oriente hiberno spirat—‘volturnum’ Romani vocant—,eum plerique Graeci mixto nominenominee, quod inter notum et eurum sit, εὐρόνοτον appellant. Hi sunt igitur tres venti orientales:” “‘aquilo,’ ‘volturnus,’ ‘eurus,’ quorum medius eurus est.” “His oppositi et contrarii sunt alii tres occidui: ‘caurus,’ quem solent Graeci appellare ἀργεστήν: is adversus aquilonemaquilonein flat; item alter ‘favonius,’ qui Graece ζέφυρος vocatur: is adversus eurum flat; tertius ‘Africus,’ qui Graece λίψ: is adversus volturnum facit.” “Hae duae regiones caeli orientis occidentisque inter sese adversae sex habere ventos videntur.” “Meridies autem, quoniam certo atque fixo limite est, unum meridialem ventum habet: is Latine ‘auster,’ Graece νότος nominatur, quoniam est nebulosus atque umectus; νοτίς enim Graece umor nominatur.” “Septentriones autem habent ob eandem causam unum. Is obiectus derectusque in austrum, Latine ‘septentrionarius,’ Graece ἀπαρκτίας appellatus.” “Ex his octo ventis alii quattuor ventos detrahunt atque id facere se dicunt Homero auctore, qui solos quattuor ventos noverit: eurum, austrum,” “aquilonem, favonium, a quattuor caeli partibus, quas quasi primas nominavimus, oriente scilicet atque occidente latioribus atque simplicibus, non tripertitis.” “Partim autem sunt qui pro octo duodecim faciant, tertios quattuor in media loca inserentes circum meridiem et septentriones eadem ratione qua secundi quattuor intersiti sunt inter primores duos apud orientem occidentemqueoccidentenique.” “Sunt porro alia quaedem nomina quasi peculiariumpeculiarum ventorum, quae incolae in suis quisque regionibus fecerunt aut ex locorum vocabulis in quibus colunt, aut ex alia qua causa quae ad faciendum vocabulum acciderat.” “Nostri namque Galli venture ex sua terra flantem, quem saevissimum patiuntur, ‘circium’ appellant a turbine, opinor, eius ac vertigine;” “ex Ἰαπυγίας ipsius ore proficiscentem, quasi sinibus, Apuli eodem quo ipsi sunt nomine ‘iapygemlapygem’ dicunt. Eum esse propemodum caurum existimo;” “nam et est occidentalis et videtur exadversum eurum flare.” “Itaque Vergilius Cleopatram e navali proelio in Aegyptum fugientem vento iapyge ferri ait, ecum quoque Apulum eodem quo ventum vocabulo ‘iapygem’ appellavit.” “Est etiam ventus nomine ‘caecias.’ quem AristotelesAristotoles ita flare dicit, ut nubes non procul propellat, sed ut ad sese vocet, ex quo versum istumistun proverbialemproverbialer factum ait:Ἕλκων ἐφʼ αὑτὸν ὥστε καικίας νέφος.” “Praeter hos autem, quos dixi, sunt alii plurifariam venti commenticii et suae quisque regionis indigenae, ut est Horatianus quoque ille ‘atabulus,’ quos ipsos quoque exsecuturus fui; addidissemque eos qui ‘etesiae’ et ‘prodromi’ appellitantur, qui certo tempore anni, cum canis oritur, ex alia atque alia parte caeli spirant; rationesque omnium vocabulorum, quoniam plus paulo adbibi, effutissem, nisi multa iam prosus omnibus vobis reticentibus verba fecissem, quasi fieret a me ἀκρόασις ἐπιδεικτική.” “In convivio autem frequenti loqui solum unum neque honestum est,” inquit, “neque commodum.” Haec nobis Favorinus in eo, quod dixi, tempore apud mensam suam summa cum elegantia verborum totiusque sermonis comitate atque gratia denarravit. Sed, quod ait ventum qui ex terra Gallia flaret “circium” appellari, M. Cato in libris Originum eum ventum “cercium” dicit, non “circium.” Nam cum de Hispanis scriberet, qui citra Hiberum colunt, verba haec posuit: “Set in his regionibus ferrareae, argentifodinae pulcherrimaepulcherriinae, mons ex sale mero magnus; quantum demas,tantum adcrescitaderescit. Ventus cercius, cum loquare, buccam implet, armatum hominem, plaustrum oneratum percellit.” Quod supra autem dixi, ἐτησίας ex alia atque alia caeli parte flare, haut scio an secutus opinionem multorum temere dixerim. P. enim Nigidii, in secundo libroruin quos De Vento composuitcoinposuit, verba haec sunt: “Et ἐτησίαι et austri anniversarii secundo sole flant.” Considerandum igitur est, quid sit secundo sole.
23. A discussion and comparison of passages taken from the comedy of Menander and that of Caecilius, entitled Plocium. I OFTEN read comedies which our poets have adapted and translated from the Greeks—Menander or Posidippus, Apollodorus or Alexis, and also some other comic writers. And while I am reading them, they do not seem at all bad; on the contrary, they appear to be written with a wit and charm which you would say absolutely could not be surpassed. But if you compare and place beside them the Greek originals from which they came, and if you match individual passages, reading them together alternately with care and attention, the Latin versions at once begin to appear exceedingly commonplace and mean; so dimmed are they by the wit and brilliance of the Greek comedies, which they were unable to rival. Only recently I had an experience of this kind. I was reading the Plocium or Necklace of Caecilius, much to the delight of myself and those who were present. The fancy took us to read also the Plocium of Menander, from which Caecilius had translated the said comedy. But after we took Menander in hand, good Heavens! how dull and lifeless, and how different from Menander did Caecilius appear! Upon my word, the armour of Diomedes and of Glaucus were not more different in value. Our reading had reached the passage where the aged husband was complaining of his rich and ugly wife, because he had been forced to sell his maid-servant, a girl skilled at her work and very good looking, since his wife suspected her of being his mistress. I shall say nothing of the great difference; but I have had the lines of both poets copied and submitted to others for their decision. This is Menander:Now may our heiress fair on both ears sleep.A great and memorable feat is hers;For she has driven forth, as she had planned,The wench that worried her, that all henceforthOf Crobyle alone the face may see,And that the famous woman, she my wife,May also be my tyrant. From the faceDame Nature gave her, she's an ass 'mong apes,As says the adage. I would silent beAbout that night, the first of many woes.Alas that I took Crobyle to wife,With sixteen talents and a foot of nose.Then too can one her haughtiness endure?By Zeus Olympius and Athena, no 'She has dismissed a maid who did her workMore quickly than the word was given her,More quickly far than one will bring her back!But Caecilius renders it thus:In very truth is he a wretched man,Who cannot hide his woe away from home;And that my wife makes me by looks and acts:If I kept still, I should betray myselfNo less. And she has all that you would wishShe had not, save the dowry that she brought.Let him who's wise a lesson take from me,Who, like a free man captive to the foe,Am slave, though town and citadel are safe.What! wish her safe who steals whate'er I prize?While longing for her death, a living corpse am I.She says I've secret converse with our maid—That's what she said, and so be laboured meWith tears, with prayers, with importunities,That I did sell the wench. Now, I suppose,She blabs like this to neighbours and to friends:" Which one of you, when in the bloom of youth,Could from her husband win what I from mineHave gained, who've robbed him of his concubine."Thus they, while I, poor wretch, am torn to shreds. Now, not to mention the charm of subject matter and diction, which is by no means the same in the two books, I notice this general fact—that some of Menander's lines, brilliant, apt and witty, Caecilius has not attempted to reproduce, even where lie might have done so; but he has passed them by as if they were of no value, and has dragged in some other farcical stuff; and what Menander took from actual life, simple, realistic and delightful, this for some reason or other Caecilius has missed. For example, that same old husband, talking with another old man, a neighbour of his, and cursing the arrogance of his rich wife, says:I have to wife an heiress ogress, man!I did not tell you that? What, really? no?She is the mistress of my house and lands,Of all that's hereabout. And in returnI have by Zeus! the hardest of hard things.She scolds not only me, but her son too,Her daughter most of all.—You tell a thingThere's no contending with.—I know it well.But in this passage Caecilius chose rather to play the buffoon than to be appropriate and suitable to the character that he was representing. For this is the way he spoiled the passage:But tell me, sir; is your wife captious, pray?—How can you ask?—But in what manner, then?—I am ashamed to tell. When I come homeAnd sit beside her, she with fasting breathStraight kisses me.—There's no mistake in that.She'd have you spew up what you've drunk abroad. It is clear what your judgment ought to be about that scene also, found in both comedies, which is about of the following purport: The daughter of a poor man was violated during a religious vigil. This was unknown to her father, and she was looked upon as a virgin. Being with child as the result of that assault, at the proper time she is in labour. An honest slave, standing before the door of the house, knowing nothing of the approaching delivery of his master's daughter, and quite unaware that violence had been offered her, hears the groans and prayers of the girl labouring in childbirth; he gives expression to his fear, anger, suspicion, pity and grief. In the Greek comedy all these emotions and feelings of his are wonderfully vivid and clear, but in Caecilius they are all dull and without any grace and dignity of expression. Afterwards, when the same slave by questioning has found out what has happened, in Menander he utters this lament:Alas! thrice wretched he who weds, though poor,And children gets. How foolish is the manWho keeps no watch o'er his necessities,And if he luckless be in life's routine,Can't use his wealth as cloak, but buffetedBy ev'ry storm, lives helpless and in grief.All wretchedness he shares, of blessings none,Thus sorrowing for one I'd all men warn.Let us consider whether Caecilius was sufficiently inspired to approach the sincerity and realism of these words. These are the lines of Caecilius, in which he gives some mangled fragments from Menander, patching them with the language of tragic bombast:Unfortunate in truth the man, who poor,Yet children gets, to share his poverty.His fortune and his state at once are clear;The ill fame of the rich their set conceals. Accordingly, as I said above, when I read these passages of Caecilius by themselves, they seem by no means lacking in grace and spirit, but when I compare and match them with the Greek version, I feel that Caecilius should not have followed a guide with whom he could not keep pace.
23. Consultatio diiudicatioque locorum facta ex comoedia Menandri et Caecilii, quae Plocium inscripta est. Comoedias lectitamus nostrorum poetarum sumptas ac versas de Graecis Menandro aut Posidippo aut Apollodoro aut Alexide et quibusdam item aliis comicis. Neque, cum legimus eas, nimium sane displicent, quin lepide quoque et venuste scriptae videntur, prorsus ut melius posse fieri nihil censeas. Set enim si conferas et componascomnponas Graeca ipsa, unde illa venerunt, ac singula considerate atque apte iunctis et alternis lectionibus committas, oppido quam iacere atque sordere incipiunt quae Latina sunt; ita Graecarum, quas aemulari nequiverunt, facetiis atque luminibus obsolescunt. Nuper adeo usus huius rei nobis venit. Caecili Plocium legebamus; hautquaquam mihi et qui aderant displicebat. Libitum et Menandri quoque PlociumPlociitm legere, a quo istam comoediam verterat. Sed enim postquam in manus Menander venit, a principio statimstating, di boni, quantum stupere atque frigere quantumque mutare a Menandro Caecilius visus est! Diomedis hercle arma et Glauci non dispari magis pretio existimata sunt. Accesserat dehinc lectio ad eum locum, in quo maritus senex super uxore divite atque deformi querebatur, quod ancillam suam, non inscito puellam ministerio et facie haut inliberali, coactus erat venundare, suspectam uxori quasi paelicem. Nihil dicam ego, quantum differat; versus utrimque eximi iussi et aliis ad iudicium faciundum exponi. Menander sic:Ἐπʼ ἀμφότερα νῦν ἡπίκληρος ἡ καλήΜέλλει καθευδῄσειν. Κατείργασται μέγαΚαὶ περιβόητον ἔργον· ἐκ τῆς οἰκίαςἘξέβαλε τὴν λυποῦσαν, ἣν ἐβούλετο,Ἵνʼ ἀποβλέπωσι πάντες εἰς τὸ ΚρωβύληςΠρόσωπον ᾖ τʼ εὔγνωστος οὖσʼ ἐμὴ γυνήΔέσποινα. Καὶ τὴν ὄψιν, ἣν ἐκτήσατο,Ὄνος ἐν πιθήκοις, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ λεγόμενονἜστιν. Σιωπᾶν βούλομαι τὴν νύκτα τήνΠολλῶν κακῶν ἀρχηγόν. Οἴμοι ΚροωβύληνΛαβεῖν ἔμʼ, ἑκκαίδεκα τάλαντα προῖκα καίΤὴν ῥῖνʼ ἔχουσαν πηχέως· εἶτʼ ἐστὶ τόΦρύαγμά πως ὑπόστατον; μὰ τὸν ΔιαΤὸν Ὀλύμπιον καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν, οὐδαμῶς.Παιδισκάριον θεραπευτικὸν δὲ καὶ λόγου†Τάχιον ἀπαγέσθω δέτις ἄρʼ ἀντεεσαγάγοι. Caecilius autem sic:Is démum miser est, qui aérumnam suám néscit Occultáre.Foris: íta me uxor forma ét factís facit, sí taceam, tamen íudicium.Quae nísi dotem, ómnia quaé nolis habet; quí sapiet, de mé discet,Qui quási ad hostis captús liber servío salva urbe atque árce.Quaen míhi quidquid placet éo privatum id me servatam velim?Dum ego éius mortem inhio, égomet vivo mórtuus inter vivos.Éa me clam se cúm mea ancilla aít consuetum, id me árguit;Íta plorando, orándo, instando atque óbiurgando me óbtuditEam utí venderém; nunc credo ínter suásAequális et cognátas sermoném serit:“Quís vestrarúm fuit íntegra aetátula,Quae hóc idem a viroÍmpetrarit suo, quód ego anus modoEfféci, paelice út meum privarém virum?Haéc erunt concília hodie, dífferor sermóne miser.” Praeter venustatem autem rerum atque verborum, in duobus libris nequaquam parem, in hoc equidem soleo animum attendere, quod quae Menander praeclare et apposite et facete scripsit, ea Caecilius, ne qua potuit quidem, conatus est enarrare, sed quasi minime probanda praetermisit et alia nescio quae mimica inculcavit et illud Menandri de vita hominum media sumptum, simplex et verum et delectabile, nescio quo pacto omisit. Idem enim ille maritus senex cum altero sene vicino colloquens et uxoris locupletis superbiam deprecans, haec ait:Ἔχω δʼ ἐπίκληρον Λάμιαν· οὐκ εἴρηκά σοιΤοῦτʼ; εἶτʼ ἄρʼ οὐχί; κυρίαν τῆς οἰκίαςΚαὶ τῶν ἀγρῶν καὶ† πάντων ἀντʼ ἐκείνηςἜχομεν, Ἄπολλον, ὡς χαλεπῶν χαλεπώτατον·Ἅπασι δʼ ἀργαλέα ᾽στίν, οὐκ ἐμοὶ μόνῳ,Υἱῷ πολὺ μᾶλλον θυγατρι—Πρᾶγμʼ ἄμαχον λέγεις.—Εὖ οἷδα. Caecilius vero hoc in loco ridiculus magis quam personae isti quam tractabat aptus atque conveniens videri maluit. Sic enim haec corrupit:Sed túa morosane úxor, quaeso, est?-Quám rogas?Qui tándem?—Taedet méntionis, quáe mihi,Ubí domum adveni, adsedí, extemplo sáviumDat iéiuna anima.—Níl peccat de sávio.Ut dévomas vult, quod forisioris potáveris. Quid de illo quoque loco, in utraque comoedia posito, existimari debeatdefeat, manifestum est, cuius loci haec ferme sententia: Filia hominis pauperis in pervigilio vitiata est. Ea res clam patrem fuit, et habebatur pro virgine. Ex eo vitio gravida mensibus exactis parturit. Servus bonae frugi, cum pro foribus domus staretstart et propinquare partum erili filiae atque omnino vitium esse oblatum ignoraret, gemitum et ploratum audit puellae in puerperio enitentis; timet, irascitur, suspicatur, miseretur, dolet. Hi omnes motus eius affectionesque animi in Graeca quidem comoedia mirabiliter acres et illustres, apud Caecilium autem pigra istaec omnia et a rerum dignitate atque gratia vacua sunt. Post, ubi idem servus percontando quod acciderat repperit, has apud Menandrum voces facit:Ὢ τρὶς κακοδαίμων, ὅστις ὢν πένης γαμεῖΚαὶ παιδοποιεῖ. Ὡς ἀλόγιστός ἐστʼ ἀνήρ,Ὃς μήτε φυλακὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἔχει,Μήτʼ, ἂν ἀτυχήσῃ εἰς τὰ κοινὰ τοῦ βίου,Ἐπαμφιέσαι δύνατο τοῦτο χρήμασιν,Ἀλλʼ ἐν ἀκαλύπτῳ καὶ ταλαιπώρῳ βίῳΧειμαζόμενος ζῇ, τῶν μὲν ἀνιαρῶν ἔχωνΤὸ μέρος ἁπάντων, τῶν δʼ ἀγαθῶν αὐδὲν μέρος.Ὑπὲρ γὰρ ἑνὸς ἀλγῶν ἅπαντας νουθετῶ. Ad horum autem sinceritatem veritatemque verborum an adspiraverit Caecilius, consideremus. Versus sunt hi Caecili trunca quaedam ex Menandro dicentis et consarcinantis verba tragici tumoris:Is demum infórtunatus ést homo,Paupér qui educit ín egestatem liberos,Cuí fortuna et rés ut est continuó patet.Nam opulénto famam fácile occultat fáctio: Itaque, ut supra dixi, cum haec Caecilii seorsum lego, neutiquam videntur ingrata ignavaque, cum autem Graeca comparo et contendo, non puto Caecilium sequi debuisse quod assequi nequiret.