A History of Roman Literature by Charles Thomas Cruttwell
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Charles Thomas Cruttwell >> A History of Roman Literature
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In fact Varro was no stylist. He was a master of facts, as Cicero of
words. _Studiosum rerum_, says Augustine, _tantum docet, quantum studiosum
verborum Cicero delectat_. Hence Cicero, with all his proneness to
exaggerate the excellences of his friends, never speaks of him as
eloquent. He calls him _omnium facile acutissimus, et sine ulla
dubitatione doctissimus_. [21] The qualities that shone out conspicuously
in his works were, besides learning, a genial though somewhat caustic
humour, and a thorough contempt for effeminacy of all kinds. The fop, the
epicure, the warbling poet who gargled his throat before murmuring his
recondite ditty, the purist, and above all the mock-philosopher with his
nostrum for purifying the world, these are all caricatured by Varro in his
pithy, good-humoured way; the spirit of the Menippean satires remained,
though the form was changed to one more befitting the grave old teacher of
wisdom. The fragments of his works as well as the notices of his friends
present him to us the very picture of a healthy-minded and healthy-bodied
man.
To return to the consideration of his treatise on Antiquities, from which
we have digressed. The great interest of the subject will be our excuse
for dwelling longer upon it. There is no Latin book the recovery of which
the present century would hail with so much pleasure as this. When
antiquarianism is leading to such fruitful results, and the study of
ancient religion is so earnestly pursued, the aid of Varro's research
would be invaluable. And it is the more disappointing to lose it, since we
have reason for believing that it was in existence during the lifetime of
Petrarch. He declares that he saw it when a boy, and afterwards, when he
knew its value, tried all means, but without success, to obtain it. This
story has been doubted, chiefly on the ground that direct quotations from
the work are not made after the sixth century. But this by itself is
scarcely a sufficient reason, since the Church gathered all the knowledge
of it she required from the writings of St Augustine. From him we learn
that Varro feared the entire collapse of the old faith; that he attributed
its decline in some measure to the outward representations of divine
objects; and, observing that Rome had existed 170 years without any image
in her temples, instanced Judea to prove "_eos qui primi simulacra deorum
populis posuerunt, eos civitatibus suis et metum dempsisse, et errorem
addidisse_." [22] Other fragments of deep interest are preserved by
Augustine. One, showing the conception of the state religion as a purely
human institution, explains why human antiquities are placed before
divine, "_Sicut prior est pictor quam tabula picta, prior faber quam
aedificium; ita priores sunt civitates, quam ea quae a civitatibus
instituta sunt._" Another describes the different classes of theology,
according to a division first made by the Pontifex Scaevola, [23] as
poetical, philosophical, and political, or as mythical, physical, and
civil. [24] Against the first of these Varro fulminated forth all the
shafts of his satire: _In eo multa sunt contra dignitatem et naturam
immortalium ficta ... quae non modo in hominem, sed etiam quae in
contemptissimum hominem cadere possunt_. About the second he did not say
much, except guardedly to imply that it was not fitted for a popular
ceremonial. The third, which it was his strong desire to keep alive, as it
was afterwards that of Virgil, seemed to him the chief glory of Rome. He
did not scruple to say (and Polybius had said it before him) that the
grandeur of the Republic was due to the piety of the Republic. It was
reserved for the philosopher of a later age [25] to asperse with bitter
ridicule ceremonies to which all before him had conformed while they
disbelieved, and had respected while seeing through their object.
Varro dedicated his work to Caesar, who was then Pontifex Maximus, and
well able to appreciate the chain of reasoning it contained. The acute
mind of Varro had doubtless seen in Caesar a disposition to rehabilitate
the fallen ceremonial, and foreseeing his supremacy in the state, had laid
before him this great manual for his guidance. Caesar evinced the deepest
respect for Varro, and must have carefully studied his views. At least it
can be no mere coincidence that Augustus, in carrying out his
predecessor's plans for the restoration of public worship, should have
followed so closely on the lines which we see from Augustine Varro struck
out. To consider Varro's labours as undirected to any practical object
would be to misinterpret them altogether. No man was less of the mere
_savant_ or the mere _litterateur_ than he.
Besides this larger work Varro seems to have written smaller ones, as
introductions or pendants to it. Among these were the _Aitia_, or
_rationale_ of Roman manners and customs, and a work _de gente populi
Romani_, the most noticeable feature of which was its chronological
calculation, which fixed the building of Rome to the date now generally
received, and called the Varronian Era (753 B.C.). It contained also
computations and theories with regard to the early history of many other
states with which Rome came in contact, _e.g._ Athens, Argos, etc., and is
referred to more than once by St Augustine. [26] The names of many other
treatises on this subject are preserved; and this is not surprising, when
we learn that no less than 620 books belonging to 74 different works can
be traced to his indefatigable pen, so that, as an ancient critic says,
"so much has he written that it seems impossible he could have read
anything, so much has he read that it seems incredible he could have
written anything."
In the domain of history and biography he was somewhat less active. He
wrote, however, memoirs of his campaigns, and a short biography of Pompey.
A work of his, first mentioned by Cicero, to which peculiar interest
attaches, is the _Imagines_ or _Hebdomades_, called by Cicero
"_Peplographia_ Varronis." [27] It was a series of portraits--700 in all--
of Greek and Roman celebrities, [28] with a short biography attached to
each, and a metrical epigram as well. This was intended to be, and soon
became, a popular work. An abridged edition was issued shortly after the
first, 39 B.C. no doubt to meet the increased demand. This work is
mentioned by Pliny as embodying a new and most acceptable process, [29]
whereby the impressions of the portraits were multiplied, and the reading
public could acquaint themselves with the physiognomy and features of
great men. [30] What this process was has been the subject of much doubt.
Some think it was merely an improved method of miniature drawing, others,
dwelling on the general acceptableness of the invention, strongly contend
that it was some method of multiplying the portraits like that of copper
or wood engraving, and this seems by far the most probable view; but what
the method was the notices are much too vague for us to determine.
The next works to be noticed are those on practical science. As far as we
can judge he seems to have imitated Cato in bringing out a kind of
encyclopaedia, adapted for general readers. Augustine speaks of him as
having exhaustively treated the whole circle of the liberal, or as he
prefers to call it, the secular arts. [31] Those to which most weight were
attached would seem to have been grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, medicine,
and geometry. From one or two passages that are preserved, we should be
inclined to fancy that Varro attached a superstitious (almost a
Pythagorean) importance to numbers. [32] He himself was not an adherent of
any system, but as Mommsen quaintly expresses it, he led a blind dance
between them all, veering now to one now to another, as he wished to avoid
any unpleasant conclusion or to catch at some attractive idea. Not
strictly connected with the _Encyclopaedia_, but going to some extent over
the same ground though in a far more thorough and systematic way, was the
great treatise _De Lingua Latina_, in twenty-five books, of which the
first four were dedicated to Septimius, the last twenty-one (to the
orator's infinite delight) to Cicero. Few things gave Cicero greater
pleasure than this testimony of Varro's regard. With his insatiable
appetite for praise, he could not but observe with regret that Varro,
trusted by Pompey, courted by Caesar, and reverenced by all alike, had
never made any confidential advances to him. Probably the deeply-read
student and simple-natured man failed to appreciate the more brilliant, if
less profound, scholarship of the orator, and the vacillation and
complexity of his character. While Cicero loaded him with praises and
protestations of friendship, Varro appears to have maintained a somewhat
cool or distant attitude. At last, however, this reserve was broken
through. In 47 B.C. he seems to have promised Cicero to dedicate a work to
him, which by its magnitude and interest required careful labour. In the
letter prefixed to the posterior _Academica_, 45 B.C., Cicero evinces much
impatience at having been kept two years waiting for his promised boon,
and inscribes his own treatise with Varro's name as a polite reminder
which he hopes his friend will not think immodest. In the opening chapters
Cicero extols Varro's learning with that warmth of heart and total absence
of jealousy which form so pleasing a trait in his character. Their
diffuseness amusingly contrasts with Varro's brevity in his dedication.
When it appeared, there occurred not a word of compliment, nothing beyond
the bare announcement _In his ad te scribam_. [33] Truly Varro was no
"mutual admirationist."
C. O. Muller, who has edited this treatise with great care, is of opinion
that it was never completely finished. He argues partly from the words
_politius a me limantur_, put into Varro's mouth by Cicero, partly from
the civil troubles and the perils into which Varro's life was placed,
partly from the loose unpolished character of the work, that it represents
a first draught intended, but not ready for, publication. For example, the
same thing is treated more than once; _Jubar_ is twice illustrated by the
same quotation, [34] _Canis_ is twice derived from _canere_; [35] _merces_
is differently explained in two places; [36] _Lympha_ is derived both from
_lapsus aquae_, and from _Nympha_; [37] _valicinari_ from _vesanus_ and
_versibus viendis_. [38] Again marginal additions or corrections, which
have been the means of destroying the syntactical connection, seemed to
have been placed in the text by the author. [39] Other insertions of a
more important character though they illustrate the point, yet break the
thread of thought; and in one book, the seventh, the want of order is so
apparent that its finished character could hardly be maintained. These
facts lead him to conclude that the book was published without his
knowledge, and perhaps against his will, by those who pillaged his
library. It is obvious that this is a theory which can neither be proved
nor disproved. It is an ingenious excuse for Varro's negligence in not
putting his excellent materials together with more care. The plan of the
work is as follows:--
Book I.--On the origin of the Latin language.
Books II.-VII. First Part.--On the imposition of names.
Thus subdivided--
_a_ ii-iv. On etymology. ii. What can be said against it.
iii. What can be said for it.
iv. About its form and character.
_b_ v.-vii. Origin of words. v. Names of places and all that is in them.
vi. Names of time, things that happen in time, &c.
vii. Poetical words.
Books VIII.-XIII. Second Part.--On declension and inflection.
Again subdivided--
_a_ viii.-x. The general method (_disciplina_) of declension.
viii. Against a universal analogy obtaining.
ix. In favour of it.
x. On the theory of declension.
_b_ xi.-xiii. On the special declensions.
Books XIV.-XXV. Third Part.--On syntax (_Quemadmodum verba inter se
coniungantur_).
Of this elaborate treatise only books V.-X. remain, and those in a
mutilated and unsatisfactory condition, so that we are unable to form a
clear idea of the value of the whole. Moreover, much of what we have is
rendered useless, except for antiquarian purposes, by the extremely crude
notions of etymology displayed. _Caelum_ is from _cavus_, or from _chaos_;
_terra_ from _teri, quia teritur_; _Sol_ from _solus_; _lepus_ from
_levipes_, &c. The seventh book must always be a repertory of interesting
quotations, many of which are not found elsewhere; and the essay on
_Analogia_ in books IX. and X. is well worthy of study, as showing on what
sort of premises the ancients formed their grammatical reasonings. The
work on grammar was followed or preceded by another on philosophy on a
precisely similar plan. This was studied, like so many of his other works,
by Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine. Its store of facts was no doubt
remarkable, but as a popular exposition of philosophical ideas, it must
have been very inferior to the treatises of Cicero.
The last or nearly the last book he wrote was the treatise on agriculture,
_De Re Rustica_, which has fortunately come down to us entire; and with
the kindred works of Cato and Columella, forms one of the most deeply
interesting products of the Roman mind. It is in three books: the first
dedicated to his wife Fundania, the second to Turanius Niger, the third to
Pinnius. Varro was in his 81st year when he drew upon his memory and
experience for this congenial work, 36 B.C. The destruction of his library
had thrown him on his own resources to a great extent; nevertheless, the
amount of book-lore which he displays in this dialogue is enormous. The
design is mapped out, as in his other treatises, with stately precision.
He meets some friends at the temple of Tellus by appointment with the
sacristan, "_ab_ aeditimo, _ut dicere didicimus a patribus nostris; ut
corrigimur ab recentibus urbanis, ab_ aedituo." These friends' names,
Fundanius, Agrius, and Agrasius, suggest the nature of the conversation,
which turns mainly on the purchase and cultivation of land and stock. They
are soon joined by Licinius Stolo and Tremellius Scrofa, the last-
mentioned being the highest living authority on agricultural matters. The
conversation is carried on with zest, and somewhat more naturally than in
Cicero's dialogues. A warm eulogy is passed on the soil, climate, and
cultivation of Italy, the whole party agreeing that it exceeds in natural
blessings all other lands. The first book contains directions for raising
crops of all kinds as well as vegetables and flowers, and is brought to an
abrupt termination by the arrival of the priest's freedman who narrates
the murder of his master. The party promise to attend the funeral, and
with the sarcastic reflection _de casu humano magis querentes quam
admirantes id Romae factum_, the book ends. The next treats of stock (_de
re pecuaria_), and one or two new personages are introduced, as Mennas,
Murius, and Vaccius (the last, of course, taking on himself to speak of
kine), and ends with an account of the dairy and sheep-shearing. The third
is devoted to an account of the preserves (_de villicis pastionibus_)
which includes aviaries, whether for pleasure or profit, fish-tanks, deer-
forests, rabbit-warrens, and all such luxuries of a country house as are
independent of tillage or pasturage--and a most brilliant catalogue it is.
As Varro and his friends, most of whom are called by the names of birds
(Merula, Pavo, Pica, and Passer), discourse to one another of their
various country seats, and as they mention those of other senators, more
or less splendid than their own, we recognise the pride and grandeur of
those few Roman families who at this time parcelled out between them the
riches of the world. Varro, whose life had been peaceful and unambitious,
had realized enough to possess three princely villas, in one of which
there was a marble aviary, with a duck-pond, bosquet, rosary, and two
spacious colonnades attached, in which were kept, solely for the master's
pleasure, 3000 of the choicest songsters of the wood. That grosser taste
which fattened these beautiful beings for the table or the market was
foreign to him; as also was the affectation which had made Hortensius
sacrifice his career to the enjoyment of his pets. There is something
almost terrible in the thought that the costly luxuries of which these
haughty nobles talk with so much urbanity, were wrung from the wretched
provincials by every kind of extortion and excess; that bribes of untold
value passed from the hands of cringing monarchs into those of violent
proconsuls, to minister to the lust and greed, or at best to the wanton
luxury, of a small governing class. In Varro's pleasant dialogue we see
the bright side of the picture; in the speeches of Cicero the dark side.
Doubtless there is a charm about the lofty pride that brooks no superior
on earth, and almost without knowing it, treats other nations as mere
ministers to its comfort: but the nemesis was close at hand; those who
could not stoop to assist as seconds in the work of government must lie as
victims beneath the assassin's knife or the heel of the upstart freedman.
The style of this work is much more pleasing than that of the _Latin
Language_. It is brisk and pointed, and shows none of the signs of old
age. It abounds with proverbs, [40] patriotic reflections, and ancient
lore, [41] but is nevertheless disfigured with occasional faults,
especially the uncritical acceptance of marvels, such as the impregnation
of mares by the wind [42] ("_an incredible thing but nevertheless true_");
the production of bees from dead meat (both of which puerilities are
repeated unquestioningly by Virgil), the custom of wolves plunging swine
into cold water to cool their flesh which is so hot as to be otherwise
quite uneatable, and of shrew mice occasionally gnawing a nest for
themselves and rearing their young in the hide of a fat sow, &c. [43] He
also attempts one or two etymologies; the best is _via_ which he tells us
is for _veha_, and _villa_ for _vehula_; _capra_ from _capere_ is less
plausible. Altogether this must be placed at the head of the Roman
treatises on husbandry as being at once the work of a man of practical
experience, which Cato was, and Columella was not, and of elegant and
varied learning, to which Columella might, but Cato could not, pretend.
There is, indeed, rather too great a parade of erudition, so much so as
occasionally to encumber the work; but the general effect is very
pleasing, and more particularly the third book, which shows us the calm
and innocent life of one, who, during the turbulent and bloody climax of
political strife, sought in the great recollections of the past a solace
for evils which he was powerless to cure, and whose end he could not
foresee.
APPENDIX.
NOTE I.--_The Menippean Satires of Varro._
The reader will find all the information on this subject in Riese's
edition of the _Menippean Satires_, Leipsic, 1865. We append a few
fragments showing their style, language, and metrical treatment.
(1) From the _ammon metreis_.
"Quem secuntur eum rutundis velitis leves parmis
Ante signani quadratis multisignibus tecti."
We observe here the rare rhythm, analogous to the iambic scazon, of a
trochaic tetrameter with a long penultimate syllable.
(2) From the _Anthropopolis_.
"Non fit thesauris non auro pectu' solutum;
Non demunt animis curas et religiones
Persarum montes, non atria diviti' Crassi."
The style here reminds us strongly of Horace.
(3) From the _Bimarcus_.
"Tunc repente caelitum altum tonitribus templum tonescat,
Et pater divon trisu cum fulmen igni fervido actum
Mutat in tholum macelli."
(4) From the _Dolium aut Seria_, in anapaestics.
"Mundus domus est maxima homulli
Quam quinque altitonae flammigerae
Zonae cingunt per quam limbus
Bis sex signis stellumicantibus
Aptus in obliquo aethere Lunae
Bigas acceptat."
The sentiment reminds us of Plato.
(5) From the _Est modus matulae_, on wine.
"Vino nihil iucundius quisquam bibit
Hoc aegritudinem ad medendam invenerunt,
Hoc hilaritatis dulce seminarium,
Hoc continet coagulum convivia."
(6) From the _Eumenides_, in galliambics, from which those of Catullus may
be a study.
"Tibi typana non inanes sonitus Matri' Deum
Tonimu', canimu' tibi nos tibi nunc semiviti;
Teretem cornam volantem iactant tibi Galli."
(7) From the _Marcipor_, a fine description.
"Repente noctis circiter meridie
Cum pictus aer fervidis late ignibus
Caeli chorean astricen ostenderet
Nubes aquali frigido velo leves
Caeli cavernas aureas subduxerant
Aquam vomentes inferam mortalibus
Ventique frigido se ab axe eruperant,
Phrenetici septentrionum filii
Secum ferentes regulas ramos syrus.
At nos caduci naufragi ut ciconiae,
Quarum bipinnis fulminis plumas vapor
Percussit, alte maesti in terram cecidimus."
NOTE II.--_The Logistorici_.
The _Logistorici_, which, as we have said, were imitated from Heraclides
Ponticus, are alluded to under the name _Hrakleideion_ by Cicero. He says
(Att. xv. 27, 2), _Excudam aliquid Hrakleideion, quod lateat in thesauris
tuis_ (xvi. 2, 5) _Hrakleideion, si Brundisium salvi, adoriemur._ In xvi.
3, 1, he alludes to the work as his _Cato Major de Senectute_. Varro had
promised him a _Hrakleideion_. _Varro ... a quo adhuc_ Hr. _illud non
abstuli_ (xvi. 11, 3). He received it (xvi. 12).
NOTE III.--_Some Fragments of Varro Atacinus._
This poet, who is by later writers often confounded with Varro Reatinus,
was much more finished in his style, and therefore more read by the
Augustan writers. Frequently when they speak of Varro it is to him that
they refer. We append some passages from his _Chorographia_.
I.
"Vidit et aetherio mundum torquerier axe
Et septem aeternis sonitum dare vocibus orbes,
Nitentes aliis alios quae maxima divis
Laetitia est. At tunc longe gratissima Phoebi
Dextera consimiles meditator reddere voces."
II.
"Ergo inter solis stationem ad sidera septem
Exporrecta iacet tellus: huic extima fluctu
Oceani, interior Neptuno cingitur ora."
III.
"At quinque aethertis zonis accingitur orbis
Ac vastant mas hiemes mediamque calores:
Sed terrae extremas inter mediamque coluntur
Quas solis valido numquam vis atterat igne'."
From the _Ephemeris_, two passages which Virgil has copied.
I.
"Tum liceat pelagi volucres tardaeqne paludis
Cernere inexpleto studio gestire lavandi
Et velut insolitum pennis infundere rorem.
Aut arguta lacus circumvolitavit hirando."
II.
"Et vos suspiciens caelum (mirabile visu)
Naribus aerium patulis decerpsit odorem,
Nec tenuis formica cavis non erebit ova."
An epigram attributed to him, but probably of somewhat later date, is as
follows:
"Marmoreo Licinus tumulo iacet, at Cato parvo;
Pompeius nullo. Ciedimus esse deos?"
NOTE IV.--_On the Jurists, Critics, and Grammarians of less note._
The study of law had received a great impulse from the labours of
Scaevola. But among his successors none can be named beside him, though
many attained to a respectable eminence. The business of public life had
now become so engrossing that statesmen had no leisure to study law
deeply, nor jurists to devote themselves to politics. Hence there was a
gradual divergence between the two careers, and universal principles began
to make themselves felt in jurisprudence. The chief name of this period is
_Sulpicius Rufus_ (born 105 B.C.), who is mentioned with great respect in
Cicero's _Brutus_ as a high-minded man and a cultivated student. His
contribution lay rather in methodical treatment than in amassing new
material. Speeches are also attributed to him (Quint. iv. 2, 106), though
sometimes there is an uncertainty whether the older orator is not meant.
Letters of his are preserved among those of Cicero, and show the extreme
purity of language attained by the highly educated (Ad Fam. iv. 5). Other
jurists are _P. Orbius_, a pupil of _Juventius_, of whom Cicero thought
highly; _Ateius_, probably the father of that Ateius Capito who obtained
great celebrity in the next period, and _Pacuvius Labeo_, whose fame was
also eclipsed by that of his son. Somewhat later we find _C. Trebatius_,
the friend of Cicero and recipient of some of his most interesting
letters. He was a brilliant but not profound lawyer, and devoted himself
more particularly to the pontifical law. His dexterous conduct through the
civil wars enabled him to preserve his influence under the reign of
Augustus. Horace professes to ask his advice (Sat. ii. 1, 4):
"Docte Trebati
Quid faciam, praescribe."
Trebatius replies: "Cease to write, or if you cannot do that, celebrate
the exploits of Caesar." This courtier-like counsel is characteristic of
the man, and helps to explain the high position he was enabled to take
under the empire. Two other jurists are worthy of mention, _A.
Cascellius_, a contemporary of Trebatius, and noted for his sarcastic wit;
and _Q. Aelius Tubero_, who wrote also on history and rhetoric, but
finally gave himself exclusively to legal studies.
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