113. Consule Pompeio primum duo, Cinna, solebant Maeciliam facto consule nunc iterum Manserunt duo, sed creuerunt milia in unum Singula. Fecundum semen adulterio. Men. 316 hominem multum et odiosum; Cic. N. D. II. 46. 119 nolo in stellarum ratione multus uobis uideri. neque multus: the apparent contradiction (cf. 64. 83) involves an untranslatable play upon the word multus, which is, perhaps, as has been suggested, a colloquial form for molitus, from molere (sensu obscoeno); cf. colere cultus, adolere adultus, etc. tecum qui descendit, your competitor; sc. in campum, perhaps omitted colloquially; but cf. Hor. Carm. III. 1. 10 hic generosior descendat in campum petitor; Ep. I. 20. 5 fuge quo descendere gestis. 2. multus et pathicus: contrasted with multus neque multus, the emphasis lying especially upon the conjunctions, while the ambiguous second multus of v. I is unveiled by the substitution for it of the brutally plain pathicus; i.e. your competitor is multus (wordy') and yet not multus (sens. obsc.); but you, Naso, are multus (wordy') and multus, for you are pathicus; in other words, your competitor is foul-mouthed but not foul-lived, while you, Naso, are foul-mouthed and foul-lived. 113. On the profligacy of a Maecilia. Pleitner emends in v. 2 to Mucillam, as a diminutive of Mucia, understanding the reference to be to the daughter of Q. Mucius Scaevola, married to Pompey soon after the death of Aemilia, his second wife, and divorced by him upon his return from the conquest of Mithradates, on the charge of adultery, especially with Julius Caesar. The mention of Pompey's consulships gives some color to this view, but as Maecilia is a well-known Roman name, and this epigram was written in 55 B.C. (cf. v. 2), seven years after the divorce of Mucia and several years after her marriage to M. Aemilius Scaurus, it is needless to emend the MSS. in order to bring in a special reason for the reference to Pompey. I. consule Pompeio: in the year 70 B.C., with M. Licinius Crassus.- Cinna: doubtless the poet C. Helvius Cinna mentioned in 10. 29 and 95. 1; cf. Intr. 63. 2. Maeciliam: dependent upon an infinitive euphemistically omitted with solebant; cf. such constructions as Plaut. Cist. 37 uiris cum suis praedicant nos solere; Mart. III. 76. 4 cum possis Hecuben, non potes Andromachen. -consule iterum: in the year 55 B.C., with the same colleague as before. 3. manserunt, etc.: i.e. there are still two, but it is two thousand. If the reading be correct, the numeral unum, which is not infrequently joined with distributive pronouns, is here used instead of the distributive utrumque, because of the contrast with the numeral milia; 'to each one has accrued a thousand.' But the expression of such an idea by crescere with an accusative with in is unprecedented, the meaning apparently demanding increscere with the dative. 114. Firmanus saltu non falso Mentula diues Fertur, qui tot res in se habet egregias, Aucupium omne genus, piscis, prata, arua, ferasque. Nequiquam fructus sumptibus exsuperat. 5 Quare concedo sit diues, dum omnia desint; Saltum laudemus, dum domo ipse egeat. 115. Mentula habet iuxta triginta iugera prati, 114. On Mentula as a 'landpoor' property owner. On the identity of Mentula with Mamurra see Intr. 73. The next poem speaks of the same estate as this. 1. Firmanus : Firmum, now Fermo, was a town in Picenum, about forty miles south of Ancona. - saltu: the word denoted first uncultivated land (cf. Fest. p. 302 saltus est ubi siluae et pastiones sunt, quarum causa casae quoque), and then a measure of 800 iugera as a single grant of such land by the land-commissions (Varr. R. R. I. 10. 2), and then the grant in general, an estate,' even though comprising, as here, some arable land (cf. Fest. l.c. si qua particula in eo saltu pastorum aut custodum causa aratur, ea res non peremit nomen saltui). 2. tot res egregias spoken ironically, like non falso in v. 1, for c. 115 shows that the fine things specified in 114. 3 are but supposed attractions of the estate, which is really a small and worthless affair. 3. omne genus: accusative of specification. 4. exsuperat sc. probably saltus as subject; the estate is good for nothing, and its necessary expenses more than eat up the income from it. 5. concedo, etc.: i.e. I grant, then, that he is rich, if a man can be rich who hasn't a cent to his name. 6. laudemus, etc.: i.e. let us praise the estate, if praise can mean anything when the owner hasn't a roof over his head. - domo: with hiatus; see Intr. 86 d. ipse, the owner; cf. 64. 43 n. - 115. On Mentula, reputed great in riches, but great only in profligacy. 1, 2. These verses give the plain facts about the size of Mentula's estate, while in vv. 3-6 are ironically rehearsed the exaggerated rumors about it. 1. iuxta, all in one lot (ironically); with iuxta of the proximity of several objects to one another cf. Plin. N. H. XXXVI. 117. 2. maria: i.e. swamps; cf. v. 5. 3. Croesum: cf. 24. 4 n. Midae. Vno qui in saltu tot bona possideat, 5 Prata, arua, ingentis siluas saltusque paludesque Vsque ad Hyperboreos et mare ad Oceanum? Omnia magna haec sunt, tamen ipse est maximus ultro, 116. Saepe tibi studioso animo uenante requirens Tela infesta mihi mittere in usque caput, 5 Hunc uideo mihi nunc frustra sumptum esse laborem, Gelli, nec nostras hic ualuisse preces. 5. paludes: apparently common report had bestowed extensive and well stocked fish-ponds upon Mentula, but it is only marsh-land that he owns (cf. v. 2 maria). — -que : hypermetric: see Intr. 76. 6. Hyperboreos: the fabulous dwellers in the extreme north by the streams of ocean. - mare ad Oceanum: cf. Caes. B. G. III. 7. 2 proximus mare Oceanum; Tac. Ann. I. 9 mari Oceano aut amnibus longinquis saeptum imperium. 7. ultro: emphasizing ipse; cf. Plaut. Men. 831 hei mihi, insanire me aiunt, ultro quom ipsi insaniunt; Varr. R. R. III. 17. 6 nisi etiam ipse eos pasceret ultro. 8. mentula: a similar play to that in c. 94. The triple alliteration is noteworthy. 116. On his rejected advances toward a reconciliation with Gellius, concerning whom see Intr. 72. 1. studioso: the adjective probably modifies tibi, indicating that Gellius was a man of literary tastes, and perhaps an especial admirer of Contra nos tela ista tua euitamus amictu: At fixus nostris tu dabis supplicium. 7. contra, instead of this; i.e. instead of my former policy of deprecating your anger, I am now armed for defense (v. 7) and offense (v. 8). -amictu: i.e. the toga is wrapped about the left arm to serve as a shield; cf. Pacuvius 186 R. chlamyde contorta astu clipeat bracchium; Sen. De Const. 7. 4 non minus latro est cuius telum opposita ueste elusum est; Petron. 80 intorto circa bracchium pallio composui ad proeliandum gradum. 8. dabis: the elision of final s occurs only here in Catullus, though often found in Cicero's juvenile verses and in Lucretius, as well as in the earlier writers (see Cic. Or. 161). CRITICAL APPENDIX. THE sources chiefly used in constituting the text of this edition (cf. Intr. 53, 54) are as follows: Codex Oxoniensis (O), preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, numbered 30 in the official catalogue of Latin MSS. formerly in the possession of the abbot Canonici of Venice. It is without date, but was apparently written in the latter part of the 14th century, and is therefore of about equal age with codex G. The book, which is in a beautiful state of preservation, contains only the poems of Catullus. It consists of 37 leaves of parchment, each 27 centimeters long and 19.5 centimeters wide. The rectangular space on each page reserved for writing is carefully indicated by ruling, and averages 20 centimeters long and 10.5 centimeters wide. Each page of the first four fascicles (of 8 leaves each) is ruled to contain 31 lines of writing, from 5.5 to 6.5 millimeters apart. Beginning with fol. 33 r., each page is ruled to contain 32 lines. The initial letter of each verse is a capital, and is somewhat separated from the rest of the text, being placed to the left of the vertical boundary line. Illuminated initials are found at the beginning of cc. 1 (very elaborate), 2 (with considerable tracery), 65, 68, 69, 72, 77, 80, and 89. In some other instances space was left in the text at the beginning of a poem for a large illuminated letter, and the proper letter indicated in the margin by the scribe, but never filled in. In other instances yet, the initial letter of a poem was omitted from the text and indicated in the margin as a guide to the illuminator, but no space was left for it in the text. Poems are occasionally separated by an interval of one verse, but often are written continuously (cf. also c. 60 fin. n.). In many instances the beginning of a poem (whether divided from the preceding poem by an interval, or not) is indicated by a paragraph mark consisting of two slight, inclined, parallel strokes of the scribe's pen just before the initial letter; but this mark, too, is often lacking. In a single instance (before c. 31) it is accompanied by a paragraph mark of more formal shape, illuminated in greenish blue. A few scholia are found on |