bellum continuo gerat : 20 25 30 NOTES THE rules of the Saturnian metre, in which are written the following pre-Hellenic carmina as well as the translation of the Odyssey by Livius and the Punic War of Naevius, are thus given by Wordsworth Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin p. 397 (abridged) : : The most regular scheme is a double set of three trochees preceded by an anacrusis or base པ|4u]4u]4]╚|4པ「2པ, but the following seem to be the special rules which are drawn from a comparison of the more regular specimens. They are substantially the same as those adopted by Spengel: (1) The anacrusis at the beginning of a line and the thesis at the end of each half of it cannot be suppressed. (2) With this exception, one thesis (or syllable without an ictus) may be suppressed. (3) The thesis most commonly suppressed is the last but one in the last half. (4) Two short syllables may stand for one long. (5) A long syllable may be substituted for a short in thesis. (6) The caesura generally, but not always, divides the two halves. (7) Elision is observed or neglected at pleasure. With these licences the full scheme is as follows: ()()()に(笑)に I 1. The meaning is 'When thou dost thunder, Lord of light, men tremble before thee-when thy bolts thunder on the right.' prae tet tremontite praetremunt. The version given is that of Bergk. Merry, keeping nearer to the MS. of Terentianus Scaurus, gives for the second verse quot ibi te viri audeïsunt tonare, where audeïsunt = audierunt, the change of s to r between vowels not having yet established itself in Latin. So in 1. 1 Leucesie = Lucerie. In fragments of the same hymn we have foedesum, plusima, meliosem, asenam (=harenam); and Lases Lares in the Carmen Fratrum Arvalium. = 2. enos nos; cp. the e in equidem, ecastor, edepol. lue=luem; rue= ruem=ruinam; sins=sine (sines) from sinere, as in 1. 4 advocapit= advocabitis; pleores = plures; fuesto; berber verbera; semunis = sehomones'superhuman powers'; triumpe triumpha. Literally rendered the chant runs: 'Help us, Lares, and thou, Marmar, suffer not plague and ruin to come on the folk. Be satiate, fierce Mars-[To the priests] Leap each o'er the threshold of the temple. Halt. Beat the ground. Call ye in turn on all the powers above. Help us, Marmor. -Tramp!' For limen sali Havet reads nive ensali neve insili, and supposes the words to be addressed to Mars. Preller also makes the words an appeal to the god, and supposes the meaning to be return o'er the threshold of thy temple, cease to lash thy steeds.' But sta verbere 'halt with thy lash seems impossible even in the most archaic Latin. The superstition of not touching the threshold with the foot appears in the carrying of the Roman bride into the house. Cp. Catull. LXI. 159 Transfer omine cum bono limen aureolos pedes See also Plaut. Cas. IV. 1 (815). Triumphare means to march in solemn measure, and is probably connected etymologically with tramp. The song Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching' offers a curious literary coincidence. II 2. frudis fraudis='harm.' ferocia is 'crime,' 'violence;' stupri= turpitudinis. 4. This is the oracle brought by commissioners from Delphi during the siege of Veii 395 B.C. In 1. 9 endostaurata instaurata. III These epitaphs on the Scipios are taken from a monument near the Appian Way, beyond the Porta Capena. 1-4 are in Saturnian verse, the 5th being the earliest example of elegiac verse except the Epigrammata of Ennius. 1. Gnaivod=Gnaeo; parisuma parissima, 'quite equal to '; T. C. Taurasiam, Cisaunam; Samnio, 'in Samnium.' 2. Hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romani consul censor aedilis hic fuit apud vos. hic cepit Corsicam Aleriamque urbem pugnando, For duonorum=bonorum, cp. duellum=bellum. 3. 1. 1 apicem insignem ; 1. 6=gremium. The words Publi Corneli Scipio go together as vocatives. 4. quom=cum, prep. 1. 3 'Whom (the shortness of his) life, not (the want of) merit deprived of office.' 1.6 Ask not for his office, seeing that none was bestowed on him' owing to his early death. 5. 1. 1 mieismeis monosyll. 1. 2 Lachmann regarded progenie as a dactyl; so oriundi (trisyllable) in Lucr. II. 991 is --. 1. 4 honos office.' IV The verse of the Odyssey (given in a bracket) should be referred to in each case. The metre is Saturnian. = 1. insece inseque=insequere, from inseco insequor, ' treat of,' évvete. 2. ommantans = obmantans, manto being frequentative of maneo often found in Plautus. 3. escas escae, gen. 5. donicum=donec; vehentem, intrans. 'driving'; en=in. 6. puerarum: puera=puella; pulcerimě, as beně, malě, and in Plaut. probě. 7. dacrumas = lacrimas; noegeo, derived from naucus 'the rind of an apple' according to Festus, who explains the word as amiculi genus praetextum purpura. 8. topper: usually derived from toto opere. This is now the accepted reading for utrius fuerunt of the MSS. Scal. conjectured veris (= verres) vel sueris (= sues), supposing the verse adapted to be ǹ σûs nè Xúkous ποιήσεται ἠὲ λέοντας. 9. duona = bona, as duellum = bellum; induserinuntur = inseruntur, cp. induperator = imperator, and endostaurata = instaurata above II. 4. 10. carnis, nom. sing.; anclabatur ministrabatur; cp. Anculi, Anculae, 'ministrants,' ancilla, and Cup-encus. = V 2. procat=poscit: Aegisthus orders Electra to be dragged away from the altar at which she had taken refuge. 3. Cp. φεῦ· τοῦ θανόντος ὡς ταχεῖά τις βροτοῖς χάρις διαρρεῖ καὶ προδοῦσ ̓ ἁλίσκεται. Soph. Aj. 1266. 5. anculabant: anclare haurire, Paul. Fest. See n. on IV. 10. 6. Cp. οὔλοισιν ἐξήμελξας εὐτραφες γάλα, Aesch. Cho. 897. VI 1. Probably refers to Aeneas and Anchises leaving Troy with their wives. 2. creterras = crateras; lepistas trosam = θυώδεα εἵματα. 4. puer puella. 6 = Xeπaσтás 'goblets'; vestem ci 5. scopas, a broom'; verbenas, gen. sing. The reference is probably to the sacred ceremonies of the Fetiales in proclaiming war. 6. flustra='ground-swell'; motus maris sine tempestate fluctuantis (Isidore). |